The Beautiful Truth

// 18

"You found her!" Micki cheered, smiling widely when Talyn and I walked through the doorway of our room.

"I almost had to call you to find out how to get back, she took so long," Talyn dramatically rolled his eyes and gently shoved my right shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," I mocked him, sliding my bag off my shoulder and falling lazily into my desk chair.

Talyn sat gingerly on the edge of my bed. "So what's going on in Berkeley tonight?"

"Ah, yeah, Mick, what's up?"

"Wellllll...." She stalled, hanging up the last article of clean clothing from her fresh laundry. Girl was forever doing laundry. "I just talked to Alex—"

"That's awesome!" I exclaimed. I knew she had a pretty good crush on him, and they had hung out a few times since the night we all met, but she was reluctant to admit it.

Micki just laughed. "Uh anyway, he said they're all going to some dive bar over on Claremont...and they all know Talyn's here, so he...and Barton said not to feel obligated to come, but they'd really, really like it if you guys did, and then I wouldn't have to go alone, and I'd really, really like it if you came with me."

I looked from her, to Talyn, then back again, trying not to laugh at her rapidly increasing speed when she talked.

"Well I'm in," Talyn agreed before I could answer.

I crinkled my nose and smiled. "Anything for you, Micki. They can get us all in?"

"When are you gonna stop asking that?" Micki teased. "You're not in Oklahoma anymore, baby!"

"Right, so when are we heading out?" I asked, glancing at the clock. "Cause Hollywood over here has to be back to the hotel by midnight."

Talyn sighed loudly from my bed, and leaned back on the mattress. "After the season, I'll come back and we can really do it up. Besides, don't let my curfew hold you back. Just cause I can't drink doesn't mean you two aren't allowed."

Micki scoffed. "Good thing they don't do breathalyzers on the cheerleading squad before games."

"Oh Jesus," I groaned.

"Probably about nine or so," she shrugged. "That good?"

I looked over at Talyn. He just shrugged agreeably. "Take me to eat, SF, I'm a growin' man, you know."

I laughed, "Yes, your highness."

Micki giggled, too. "I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna go to the gym and then come back to get pretty. Hey, you should take him around campus...convince him to transfer, maybe?" she added, cutting her eyes at me to gauge my reaction.

Talyn and I both laughed, albeit a little nervously.

"Have fun at the gym," I offered as Micki picked up her iPod on her way out.

She shot me a begrudging look before taking off down the hall.

"Not a fan of the whole fitness regimen," I explained as Talyn sat up.

"I gathered."

I sat there for a moment, with my eyes locked on his dark green ones. It was uncomfortably difficult not to stare.

"What's happening here?" Talyn asked quietly, his voice as unsure as I'd ever heard it, but his eyes were trained on me.

I had to force myself to focus. "What?"

As if restating the question would give me more time to think about the answer.

Talyn suddenly grinned widely and sprang to his feet, back to his old self. "Like, what's happening here? Where're the good places to eat? I'm runnin' on 'E' here, Sawyer."

I smiled, biting my lower lip. "Well, there's this awesome diner a few blocks down Durant. Cheap food, huge portions...right up your alley, right?"

"Sounds spectacular," he agreed, extending his hand to pull me back up. "Let's eat, then you can give me the sunset tour of campus."

"Sounds spectacular," I mocked him again, elbowing him on our way out.

"So give me the gossip on Micki and this Alex guy—I gotta know the story before I walk into a place with all these people I don't know," he said once we had reached the sidewalk.

"Are you sure you don't mind meeting them?" I hedged.

"You mean...am I sure I don't mind meeting Barton? Come on, Sawyer, if he's important to you, I wanna know him. Period."

I smiled to myself. What was happening here?

After we cleared that mental hurdle, it seemed, we settled back into our old friendship. Following my light dinner, and his massive feast, we toured the Berkeley campus, and as the sun went down, so did the temperature.

"Ah, I cannot wait to play in this weather tomorrow," he grinned, watching me cross my arms over my chest and shiver. "It's always so stinkin' hot in Los Angeles."

"No..." I laughed in mock-disbelief.

"Shut up, you know what I mean," he groaned, throwing his arm over my shoulder and pulling me into his warm body like he'd done so many times before back home. "Ah, this is like one of those Airport Road nights, you know?"

I smiled. "Definitely."

"So you ever been to this bar we're going to tonight?"

"Nope. But those guys are pretty low maintenance...so—"

"Low maintenance despite being rockstars?"

I laughed softly. "Yeah...they're pretty cool. But look out for Seth, if he's around. Good God," I groaned, saying a silent prayer that he wouldn't be around.

"Think we should head back soon? It's a little after eight," he noticed, checking the time on his phone.

"Yeah, probably. Dude, who keeps texting you today?"

"Ah, so you noticed that?" he sighed, pushing his hands into his pockets uncomfortably.

"You've checked your phone fifteen times since we left my dorm for dinner, and I'm pretty sure I caught you slipping it back into your pocket after I came back from the bathroom at the diner. I mean, honestly, Talyn, I don't—"

He interrupted me by laughing. "I'm trying my damnedest to tell Hadley Catalano to leave me alone without taking out a restraining order! I guess her producers were a little upset that things didn't go farther 'cause they think I'd be ratings gold...nevermind the fact that USC and the NCAA would never let me be on the show, I don't want to."

I laughed softly. "See, if you came here, you wouldn't have to deal with the plastic people of LA. There's your football stadium right there," I nodded toward it as we crested the hill.

"Mmm, right," he said softly, yet sarcastically, looking out over the stadium. "Instead of plastic people, I'd get a bunch of commune-inhabiting hippies, right?"

I smiled. "And me."

Talyn pulled me into his side again, and we walked like that all the way back to my dorm.