Dancing In The Dark - A Jimmy Fallon Fanfiction

Chapter 12

"I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow."

Jimmy and I were sitting on the rooftop drinking hot chocolate, sharing a fluffy fleece blanket. He'd snuck us up after dark, the wintery night sky peppered with twinkling stars. "I know," I said. "When we started going out, I forgot about it completely."

He chuckled. "You forgot about your first world tour because of me?"

"I forgot about everything because of you," I replied, munching on a marshmallow. "Well, everything except you."

He smiled and took a sip from his mug. "I'm gonna miss you, Tasha."

My arms flew up in goosebumps completely unrelated to the chill in the air. I rested my head on his shoulder. "I'm gonna miss you, too." I sighed. "I wish there was some way I could bring you along."

"Yeah," he said. "I've never been on a world tour before."

"Maybe I can bring you next time."

"Mm, that'd be so cool."

Snap.

I whirled around. "What was that?" I hissed.

"It sounded like the rooftop door," Jimmy whispered.

"I thought you locked it."

"I must've forgotten to."

Without another word, clenching our mugs, we skittered over to a large concrete thing and ducked behind it. I peeked over the edge, hoping to catch a glance of who had interrupted our moment. When I saw who it was, my heart stopped beating.

I turned back to Jimmy, his nervous, ragged breath visible in the cold. "Paparazzi," I mouthed. His brown eyes widened.

"What?" he whispered. "What do we do?"

I shrugged. "Stay hidden?"

He nervously grabbed my hand with his free one. I squeezed his fingers. "It's okay," I whispered. "We'll be fine." I peered above the thing again and noticed the guy with the camera was nowhere in sight. "I think he's gone. Let's - ,"

FLASH.

Jimmy and I turned in horror to find a camera in our faces, snapping away like mad. "C'mon, man!" shouted Jimmy, trying to shield me. My eyes welled up with tears. The guy with the camera was laughing, snapping picture after picture. I broke free and ran, unsure of what else to do.

"Wait! Wait!!" called Jimmy. I kept running, stopped only when a pair of strong arms held me back. "It's fine," he whispered. "It's okay."

I wanted to fight until I realized it was Jimmy who held me.

"Guys," stuttered the paparazzi. He was struggling to speak, choking on his own wild laughter. I wanted to punch him. "It's - it's me."

"Me"? What?

Jimmy and I turned in unison and released each other, becoming limp with relief. "HIGGINS!" yelled Jimmy. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU. LITERALLY KILL YOU."

Higgins, still lost in laughter, waved at the air like it was nothing. "I - I didn't mean to freak you out that much!"

Jimmy lunged for him, though I could see him smiling. I was smiling, too, shaking my head at the adrenaline rush I was still feeling. He got ahold of the camera and started flipping through the pictures.

"These are cute," Higgins said, pointing at the screen. I walked over and looked over Jimmy's shoulder, holding onto his arms for balance. He glanced back and smiled at me.

"Higgins," said Jimmy, "you are the worst paparazzi ever."

"What?" he snapped defensively. "I'm the best paparazzi ever. Who else could uncover Jimmy Fallon's mystery lady?"

"You can't even tell that's Tasha!" he cried. "You can't even tell that's me!"

Higgins snatched the camera away. "Whatever, Fallon." Jimmy and I laughed, Higgins' face still red from his own laugh attack. Jimmy turned to face me, holding me close.

"The real paparazzi would kill for a shot of this," he whispered just before kissing me slowly. Higgins made gagging noises in the background. "Oh, shut up, you!" shouted Jimmy.

The three of us gathered the blankets and mugs and made our way back to the main floor. "Is anybody here besides us?" I asked.

"Nah," said Higgins. "I stayed behind to work on some stuff, but I'm pretty certain I'm the only one that did. I mean, it is Friday."

"Good," said Jimmy. "I've had enough close calls tonight."

Higgins was finished with his work and had taken a cab that day, so Jimmy offered to give him a ride home. We all piled in the car, with me in the front seat at Higgins' insistence. I turned on some Zeppelin and we drove off.

"I didn't know you were a Led Zeppelin fan," said Higgins.

"I sure am," I said.

"You knew that," said Jimmy. "Remember? I sang Tasha a Zeppelin song to win her heart."

I chuckled. "You already had my heart, you weirdo."

"Yeah," said Higgins, "you weirdo."

"Kashmir" is such a wonderfully long song that by the time we got to Higgins' place, it wasn't even over yet. "That man is insane," I said as he waved to us from the driveway.

"Yeah," said Jimmy, "he gave me a heart attack tonight."

"Same here," I chuckled. "I mean, it's funny now, but I wanted to kill him for a minute there."

I skipped through the music as "Kashmir" ended before finally landing on "Close To Me" by The Cure. Once we got to my building, I unplugged my phone and slipped it in my pocket, wishing the song could've ended before we had to stop.

"Can I walk you up?"

"Maybe you shouldn't...the paparazzi might catch you as you leave."

He sniffed. "I can be sneaky."

I smiled. "Oh, alright - but be real careful!"

He took my hand as we walked up to the elevator, slipping in as quickly as possible. It felt like such a short time had passed before we made it to the top floor; I wanted it to last forever. I hate goodbyes. Before I knew it, we were standing outside my door.

"It isn't really goodbye," he said, tracing my cheek with the back of his fingers. I hugged him quickly to hide my teary eyes.

"I'm gonna miss you so, so much."

"I'm gonna miss you more."

We stood there hugging for a long time, neither of us wanting to let go and face the world alone. I wouldn't be seeing him for two months because of the tour; two months was too long. If a night apart felt like an eternity, what would sixty nights feel like? Actual hell, I'm guessing.

"Maybe this doesn't have to be goodbye," he whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've slept here once before. Maybe I could crash here again."

I considered the possibility and its many implications. We made it through that night without anything happening - could we survive again? It had been almost a month since we'd cuddled for eight hours straight. Would it be harder to avoid other stuff happening this time?

"I won't try anything," he added, reading my thoughts. "I promise."

I turned to unlock the door. "Come on in."