Restraint is Useless Here

Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Thank you to all who have kept up with Anna's story, even through a Brian shortage. I promise the good stuff is coming, but I can't get to the goodness without throwing in a crap ton of bad first.

Comments are SO appreciated!

The remainder of the night went off without a hitch, minus Maria shooting daggers at Anna for her prolonged absence. She felt lighter. She felt better. Jack had apologized and she was optimistic about his mental state. He seemed to resurrect his old self in that moment in the alley. The night was nearly over and she'd been kept busy by customers and nonstop drink orders, mostly from Jimmy and Johnny, who seemed to be in competition to see who would projectile vomit first.

The crowd had dwindled considerably as the ‪three o'clock‬ hour approached, but Anna's new friends danced and drank on. Val flitted back and forth between the bar and the dance floor, stealing small moments with Anna between drink orders and stealing kisses from Matt as they danced freely, clearly overjoyed to be back in Southern California. When not signing autographs and posing for photos with approaching fans, Brian, Zack, and Johnny took turns performing karaoke, the latter of whom was so beyond inebriated that it was truly impressive when he articulated every word of ‪Eminem‬'s "My Name Is" without skipping a beat. Seeing this band, these friends, in this carefree environment evoked a melancholy in Anna. Her happiness for Valary far outweighed her envy, but it was difficult to forget that her whole life had become this bar and school. And Jack. She had no time for friends and, the more she thought about it, couldn't name a friend with whom she'd spent any leisure time in the past six months. But Val had begged Anna to take an afternoon away from studying for finals to meet her for brunch, to which she gladly agreed. Now that Val was back in town for the foreseeable future and Anna had the summer off, she had no intent of letting her slip away again.

Jack and Jimmy had taken a shining to one another, which she found peculiar. The two couldn't have been more different. Jimmy was color and vibrance and twitching; Jack was angles and order and calculating. They hadn't left each others' side for hours, disappearing randomly amidst fits of laughter, dancing with big-haired cougars until the breathless ladies could no longer keep up with their youthful stamina. She didn't care, as long as Jack was smiling. Even Jimmy's playful flirtations with Anna didn't seem to bother him. Maybe he's better now. Seeing the grin on his face as he sauntered up to the bar, his eyes tired but glistening, was worth everything. He is better now. Anna figured if she affirmed it enough, certainly it would come true.

Jack leaned across the bar top and kissed Anna's cheek, cupping his hand around the back of her neck. She winced from the pressure on her bruises. "Tonight has been...God, I needed this," he exhaled, outstretching his arms as if to embrace the evening in its entirety. "I feel incredible. This bar. This band. You. Why do I never do this?"

She smiled in return as she collected empty bottles and glasses, smelling the alcohol on his breath from God knew how many shots she and Maria had served the group. His good mood was reminiscent of the man who laughed with her until early hours of the morning, pointing out medical inaccuracies in all their favorite shows, but she chose to tread lightly. "You did need a night out. I'm happy for you! But don't you have to be back at the hospital in like, 4 hours?"

Jack scoffed, eyes wilder than his hair. "Don't be a buzzkill, babe. I don't need sleep. I'll rally. Better yet, I'll take a mental health day. This is the first night in forever that I've felt alive. When will I get this chance again?" It was true; he looked alive, super-charged.

"Rise and shine, Annie! Sleep is for babies and kittens and coma patients," Jimmy crowed—and then literally crowed—as he walked up next to Jack. "This dude. Just hook me up to a scotch IV and shoot it straight into my bloodstream. Give me all the drugs in this city and I'll do them all at once. I've got Dr. Jack, a human 'get-out-of-death free' card. I can't be mad at this guy, even if he's got claim to the first woman I've ever loved."