~ mick jagger imagines ~

~ fair lights pt. 1 -

Mick and I pulled into the parking lot of fairgrounds, pebbles popping on the pavement underneath his tires. We sat in silence for a moment, trying to fight the burning tension.
Mick has been my best friend for the majority of our lives. Ever since he'd first moved next door to me when we were both about eleven-ish, we always hung out and found ways to fuck around with each other.
I have to admit that we've gotten ourselves in the stir of trouble with our parents quite a few times. Whether it be putting thumbtacks on my dad's squeaky office rolling chair or carving our names onto the walls of Mick's bedroom, prompting his dad to scold him until he looked like a volcano about to erupt, we always had mischievous little things in mind.
But now the mischievous things in mind have taken a twist. Now, ever since we were younger, I've always thought Mick was cute. I didn't have a big crush on him or anything, but he was cute enough for me to kiss & hold hands with him on the playground by our houses. But now that we're older, I've found that he's just becoming more breathtaking by the day. I mean, really, really breathtaking. Breathtaking in the literal sense even. When I look at him, I feel my stomach drop and my lungs seemingly stop functioning. I grow shaky, my palms start to sweat, and my eyes can't stop obsessively glancing at his sweet face.
His lips, which I've always adored, look so delicious and kissable. His eyes beam warmly into my soul like glaring headlights on a rainy night. His hair is so soft and so perfectly fallen over his head. I'm constantly finding excuses to run my fingers through it, whether he realizes I'm getting something out of it or not. Everything about him is so yummy. I really don't know how else to explain him. He's just perfect.
And I wanted to tell him all of these things so bad. I just couldn't bring myself to spoiling the harmony of our friendship. I had no clue whether or not he thought the same things of me that I thought of him.
I thought everything of him. I was nervous that he just only thought something of me.
As we sat in his hot car, I twiddled my thumbs rapidly waiting for his word.
He looked over at me very slowly, taking a quick glance into my eyes and then looking back forward. He looked down at his wheel, dropping his lip as he does this and lowly sighed.
'What is he thinking of me?,' I worriedly ponder. 'Is he repulsed by me now? He can't even look me in the eye.'
He quickly perked up as an excited expression rushed over his face.
"You ready to go in?," he said, his thumbs nervously tapping the top of his steering wheel as he rests his hands on the leather surface.
I look at him and slightly smile.
"Yeah," I timidly said, my expression immediately changing back to a melancholic one.
In that moment, all I could worry about was Mick's perception of me. I didn't want him to think of me as a leech he just couldn't detach.
He sighs lowly once again. "Let's go," he said. He slowly creaked open the car door and stepped out onto the gravelly pavement.
He walks around to my car door and opens it for me, gesturing his hand outward like a chauffeur.
I got out and I looked slowly around. I hadn't been to the annual traveling fair in a couple of years. I didn't like rides very much. They made me feel vulnerably scared & I hate that feeling. I'm not the type to outwardly display my emotions.
We both walked into the fairgrounds, not saying a word as Mick bought us our wristbands. We head to a wooden picnic table to settle for a moment and put on our wristbands.
I tried to fasten mine to my wrist but the sticky end of the paper wouldn't cling to the other side just right. Therefore, the band just kept dismantling and sliding off.
"Shit," I mumble under my breath.
"What is it?," Mick says as he's sticking on his wristband intently.
"I can't get this... this goddamn wristband to stay on my wrist," I said, trying over and over to get it on.
He looked me up and down slowly, holding his own wrist.
"Here, I'll do it," he said as he grabbed my hand and put on my waistband for me. He pushed together the sticky piece and the paper end by gently pressing on the middle of my wrist. He looked up into my eyes with a gentle smile.
"There," he said, slowly letting go of my wrist and stroking my hand as he lifted his away. "That should be good."
The charm he exudes exhilarates me and makes me feel engulfed in a warm, fuzzy sensation. I could barely even look at his face without quivering slightly.
"Tha-thanks," I stuttered out, thinking about how embarrassing I must seem.
"You're welcome," he said with a warm smile.
He looked over to his right at the fairgrounds lake. It was calm and serene, the misty blue of the sky reflecting onto it & giving it an angelic haziness. Then he looked back over to me. The same eyes he used to admire the lake are the eyes he used to peer over towards me. He looked into my soul, garnering my heart & mind.
"Come on, I wanna ride the big swings," he abruptly said.
"Okay," I perk up a little with a smile.
We got up and walked slowly over to the tall swings across the dirt path from the picnic tables we were sitting at.
"Damn, are we sure about this?," I said as I looked up at the swings. The mere sight of them alone made me weak in the knees. The height was staggering and anyone who knows me knows I don't mess with heights.
He chuckled a little and nudged my shoulder. "Come on, y/n. It's really not that tall," he said.
"Really? Not that tall?," I said with a sarcastic tone. "When we ride it and you're screaming like a little girl because we're 150 meters off the ground, try to tell me then that it's not that tall, m'kay?"
He laughed with me, holding my arm. "I am so not going to scream like a little girl," he said.
"Oh, yeah? Just watch," I said, glaring at him up and down sassily.
"No, you just watch," he said pointing at me.
He walked over to the long line of people ready to get scared shitless at the top of the swings (or if rides like this don't spook you, ready for couples to get frisky at the top of the ride when no one can see them). I followed behind him and stepped in line.
We waited for a long time, bantering on about either the most existential topics or the most unserious topics with no in between. You could've overheard us talking about the philosophies of a Buddhist monk settled in the snowy mountains of Nepal one second or you could've very well overheard us talking about how, if I had a dick, I would stack donuts on it the next.
It was finally our turn to get on the swings when my legs got real shaky.
"Oh, my fucking God, Mick. I'm scared," I nervously said.
"It'll be okay," he reassured me with a slight laugh. "Do you need me to hold your hand?"
"YES," I abruptly said, grabbing his hand as fast as possible.
Mick laughs. "Okay, easy, we're not even on the ride yet," he said.
"Yeah? Well, we're going to be. So, I need all the emotional support I can get," I said.
Mick smiled, trying to hold back his laughter.
The ride operator checked our wristbands for the identification stamp and assigned us to our swings. We got on with me still holding Mick's hand. I squeeze his hand really tightly as my palms began to sweat and my breath grew heavy.
"Oh, God, Mick. I don't know about this," I said shakily.
He put his arm around me and held me tightly.
"It's okay. I promise," he said softly in my ear. "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I'm probably gonna start screaming as soon as we lift off the ground. Like, we're not even gonna be anywhere near high up and I'll already be terrified."
I laughed loudly and then proceeded to bury myself in his chest, closing my eyes as I anticipated the ride.
"So much for not screaming like a girl, macho man," I said to him, continuously gripping his hand.
Mick laughs and I can feel his heartbeat suddenly flutter.
The ride began to slowly lift us up. My palms resume getting sweaty. I hold Mick as closely and tightly as possible.
"Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit," Mick quickly exclaimed.
He proceeded to hold me tighter, too.
"I'm scared shitless, I'm scared shitless, I'm scared shitless," Mick repeats.
I could feel his heartbeat grow faster and faster like a rolling steel timpani in a classical march.
"It's okay, we can be scared shitless together," I yelled out as we got higher and higher.
I closed my eyes as the wind violently gusted onto my face like icy shards needling & prickling my body. The ride began to spin faster and I suddenly felt the chain begin to jolt.
"Holy, shit! Is it supposed to do that?," I screamed out.
"Nope!," Mick screams back.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," I repeatedly mutter. "In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, please save our souls from this terrible swing ride and spare our lives if we shall die. Amen."
"Amen," Mick chuckled.
The ride began to pick up again and Mick & I clung to each other harder than before, both of us screaming at the top of our lungs many profanities.
After what seemed like forever, the ride began to finally let us down. We both sighed with relief in unison and unclench ourselves from each other's bodies.
As our feet touched the grass below, our heartbeats quickly became regular again & we laughed hysterically at our own scared behavior.
We got off the ride and walked the dirt bath aimlessly.
"The sad part about that ride was the fact that there were children on that ride less scared than us," I said to Mick.
"Really? I didn't notice. I was too busy fending for my own life than worrying about some crusty kid with more balls than me," Mick remarked back.
"There was like a 4-year old in the seat behind us, I think," I say as I laugh.
Mick winces while laughing. "Ooo, well that kid just added like twelve brand new words to his vocabulary and they're not words that are gonna make his mama too happy," Mick said.
We laugh together while speed walking through the fairgrounds, kicking the rocks underneath our feet.
Mick all of a sudden looked to his left and gasped. He grabbed both of my arms giddily with his mouth open.
"We have to ride the rollercoaster!," he exclaimed.
I took one look at that thing and my heart dropped.
I chuckled maliciously. "Oh, hell, no, man. You're insane."
"Awww, come on. It's not that bad," Mick said.
"Hell, no. You said that last time," I said smiling.
"Well, last time, I was lying and this time I might also be lying but you'll never know unless you just ride the damn thing," Mick said.
I sigh and roll my eyes with a slight smirk.
"Oh, my God," I softly mumble.
"C'mon, pleeeease," Mick said, putting his hands together in a pleading motion and puckering out his bottom lip.
I rolled my eyes once again and sarcastically scoff.
"Ugh, fine. We can ride it," I said looking into Mick's eyes.
"Aww, thank you," Mick said when out of nowhere he leans in and pecks me on the lips.
As he pulls away, my eyes are wide open with complete shock. I couldn't process what had just happened.
Sure we'd kissed before when we were little, but never in a very public space and especially not at this age.
He casually ran over to the line for the rollercoaster. I was still in shock about the kiss and simply couldn't take in the moment as it was happening. It felt like being drunk when you're living out moments but not actually comprehending them until minutes later. You can see what's happening around you but you have no control over them until it's all too late.
"Y/n! Come on! Get in line before it gets too long!," Mick yelled out to me, motioning for me to get next to him.
I snapped out of my denial and ran over next to him in line. We were basically at the front since everyone and their mother was over at the swing rides, leaving every other ride reasonably accessible & vacant.
By this point, it had already gotten decently dark out and they had just started powering on the rainbow toned lights that were sprinkled around the park. The whole fairgrounds became an array of blossoming colors, each light beautifully coruscating into my eyes and hypnotizing me with their aura. But out of all the colors & lights meant to dazzle and impress me, the most beautiful thing present at the whole park was right in front of me. It was Mick.