True to You

At Night's End

1999

"Yo!" Brian's shout burst in to Elliot and Jimmy's little bubble. "Is that you and Elliot lurking out there in the dark Jimmy? Because I will not be happy if it's some scary ass fucking witch!"

"Serve your ass right if it was witch Haner!" Jimmy shouted back before releasing Elliot from his embrace. Taking her hand he led her back to the fire and their friends.

"We went for a walk," Elliot felt compelled to explain as they approached the others. She was glad the dim light from the fire meant that no one would notice the blush that heated her cheeks.

"Making out more like," Johnny mumbled as they passed him. Jimmy dropped a hand to lazily deliver a slap to the back of Johnny's head.

When they sat down Jimmy tucked her tight into his side and one glance at Matt and Val told her they knew exactly what she and Jimmy had been up to in the outer darkness. It didn't take long for Elliot to realise that the others hadn't been idle in their absence. Judging by the way Brian was letting Michelle hang all over him they'd made a sizeable dent in the alcohol supply. Zacky and bass Matt hadn't even bothered to find secluded shadows to hide in before embarking on heated make-out sessions with the girls they'd brought along.

Jimmy nudged her and held a bottle in front of her. "Want a drink?"

"Sure," she said as she took the bottle from him and took a sip. An errant drop escaped her mouth and she dipped her tongue out to swipe it from her bottom lip.

She went to pass the bottle back to Jimmy and found him looking at her with parted lips and fire in his eyes.

"Fuck it," he murmured and before she knew what was happening he'd raised a hand to cup her jaw and kissed her square on the lips in full view of everyone.

Val and Matt hooted in approval. A barrage of marshmallows landed on them courtesy of Brian who made a belligerent sound of objection and the only other reaction came from Zacky who looked up from the girl wrapped around him to say, "About fucking time."

Despite his caveman like grunts Brian made no other objection other than to throw the universal 'I'm watching you' symbol of two fingers to his eyes in Jimmy's direction.

Elliot was inclined to think that the alcohol had left Brian uncharacteristically mellow, particularly so when late into the night he allowed Michelle to lead him off to his tent. Elliot knew that even with the 'go get 'em tiger' look Michelle gave her it wasn't Michelle who was the sacrifice. It was Brian who was the all too willing, if oblivious, sacrifice at the altar of getting Elliot laid. Elliot just hoped that Michelle didn't get her heart broken. It wasn't that Brian didn't want her specifically it was just that Brian didn't want anyone with girlfriend potential, and despite all her bravado Michelle definitely had girlfriend potential. It was only after a few drinks that Brian let his guard down and gave in to what he really wanted, which was Michelle.

Elliot's heart was pounding when, clad in a tank top and sleep shorts, she slipped into the giant sleeping bag she and Jimmy had created by zipping two smaller ones together. The tent was dark, she'd quickly shut off the small torch she'd been using for light as soon as she'd changed. This was it; she was minutes away from losing her virginity. Still she didn't have the courage required to strip completely naked before crawling into bed. After all, although Michelle had laid the foundation for seduction by taking Jimmy's place in Brian's tent, no one could force Jimmy to do anything more than sleep beside Elliot if he didn't want to.

Oh how she hoped he wanted to do more than sleep.

"James!" she whisper yelled into the darkness. "You can come in now!"