Somewhere in the Middle

The First Lull

She hadn't come by, and Jamie wasn't happy about it.

He'd stayed up all night. Waiting, hopeful and excited, at first. But as the minutes ticked by, as a half hour turned into an hour, and that hour turned into two, he was more and more anxious. More and more worried that what had happened between them the other night had scared her enough to stay away, even though she'd agreed earlier.

And he couldn't go to her room for fear that the real reason she hadn't come was because she was with Luke.

So, he stayed in his room, turning over endless possibilities in his mind, hoping that the worst of those possibilities—that she'd fallen violently ill, or that she'd passed out somehow—were wrong. When the sun rose, peeking through the ugly beige curtains he'd drawn closed the night before, he had to keep himself from marching down the hallway and banging on her door.

She had to wake him up, after all. A little bit longer when he'd waited all night couldn't hurt. So, he jumped in the shower, spent ten minutes renewing his hope, feeling excited all over again, readying himself to explain the other night, to tell her that she had nothing to worry about where he was concerned again.

Because being with her—talking with her, watching her smile, hearing her laugh—all of it was better than not being with her at all. Even if it meant keeping his feelings carefully hidden away.

Jamie was just zipping up his suitcase when he heard the knocks, two quick ones that almost sounded as nervous as he felt. But he was smiling when he pulled the door open.

And that smile fell when he saw that it was Pete.

"Wha -"

"Oh, good, you're awake. Be downstairs in twenty." Pete started to walk away, but Jamie felt his pulse throbbing in his throat as he lurched forward, grabbed Pete's arm, fear filling him quickly and absolutely.

"Wait, wait!" He glanced past Pete for a moment to reassure himself that Evie was, in fact, not there. "What are you doing here? Where's—where's Evie? Is she alright?"

Pete eyed him for a moment, waited for Jamie's wandering gaze—still hopeful that he'd see her come out her door, or smile at him from around Pete's burly frame—to meet his. "She overslept. Asked me to come get ya while she finished getting herself together. That's all."

Overslept. Jamie processed the word, wondered whether that was because she'd spent the night with Luke. Wondered whether she even remembered that she was supposed to come see him. Wondered if she regretted not being able to come, or if she'd chosen not to. He knew he should've talked to her sooner about what had happened between them the other night.

But that would've meant being brave. Braver than Jamie ever was or ever had been.

"Oh," he said intelligently, trying not to seem as disappointed as he felt.

Pete raised his brows, tried to suppress a smile and failed. "Mhmm," he mumbled before clearing his throat. "Just be downstairs in twenty, alright?"

Jamie nodded, not caring what Pete thought he saw or thought he knew. There was too much that was unsure between he and Evie to care about anyone else for the moment.

So, he grabbed his suitcase, made his way downstairs as Pete knocked on Greg's door, and wondered all the while, how he would make things right again if she wouldn't even give him the chance.

Because he couldn't act on his feelings. He knew that now, and he'd known it then... when he'd felt the heat of her body mixing with the heat of his own, when he'd felt the soft touch of her breath on his face, and saw the darkness of the same desire he was feeling in her eyes...