Nothing Else Matters [sequel to Kissing In Cars; Tony Perry fic]

Chapter 1 - Up In Smoke

Evelyn's POV

The clock on the dash flashed 2:30am but the bustling streets of Cali begged to differ. Then again, California was always alive at night, wasn't it?

After Tony had woken me up complaining he couldn't sleep and me reluctantly pulling on my shoes to get into the car with him, we set off to one of our favorite restaurants in town. It wasn't too far from the house and boy did it have some great memories.

The both of us sat in the car parked in one of the parking spaces chowing down on our food. Even if it was 2:30am, I was not passing up an opportunity for this place.

"So how do you think they're liking it?" Tony asked through a mouthful of burger. I shot him a glance and took a bite out of my own, chewing on it thoughtfully as I recalled two nights before; my best friend's wedding.

"Oh, I know she's loving it. I'm the one that helped him plan it, after all." I couldn't resist that arrogant hairflip or taking on that oh-so-modest stature as my mind wandered to the tropical beauty of a destination they had set foot on yesterday. I had to admit, even I was jealous of her trip.

"You did a great job with it," he complimented me, tossing his In-n-Out burger wrapper back into the paper bag. Suddenly a laugh bubbled up out of Tony, a full, hearty one that was enough to make me shoot him a look.

"What? Do I have mustard on my face?" I swiped the back of my hand across my lips only to have it come up clean. Tony's laughter finally began to die out as he shook his head no at me.

"Do you remember when we came here after that God awful dinner at that uh... fancy place?" A fond smile appeared on his face as he recalled the memory. 

"And we ate just about the entire menu? How could I forget?" That had been one of my favorite memories ever since we met; it wasn't cliche or intensely romantic... but it was spontaneous and impatient and semi-ridiculous. It was Us.

"Well don't look now, but that guy was the same cashier working when we came in that night."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"I'm not lying!" 

"You totally are." I shot him a skeptical look and leaned forward in the passenger seat to try and peer into one of the side windows. 

"Then explain this," Tony plucked his soda from the cupholder and rotated the cup toward me, a messy scrawl of lettering across the side that read 2nd date?

"No way." I squinted through the windshield and into the burger joint, finally catching a glimpse of a familiar face behind the counter. "Oh my gosh. Maybe we come here too much..." I broke off into laughter and fell back into my seat, amazed at the whole situation -- which had all taken place at approximately 3am.

"Nah--" He cut off with a loup burp that stunk up the entire car. Remind me again why I love this man? "Okay maybe."

That's why.

"We should probably head back, yeah?" Tony cranked the key into ignition and held out his hand for me to take, which I did only a second later. His fingertips were rough and calloused from years of plucking strings but his palms felt smooth to the touch. Our hands fit together perfectly. 

"Fine by me. I'm exhausted anyways."

-     -     -

The house was unusually quiet. It had been like this ever since my best friend and her fianc-- husband, left for their honeymoon. Sure, Nat and Freya had been around with the guys, but Cara and Vic were the night owls of the group. I sort of missed hearing the bickering every time I stepped into the house.