Homecoming Queen (Such a Shame, Shame, Shame)

Of All the Pressure

"Those movies sucked dick."

"I know, entirely predictable." Bam and Rikki were sitting outside the theater, leaning against a wall with their arms crossed. "I had fun tonight." Rikki added, holding out her box of cigarettes, Bam taking one and her lighter. She had smoked the same brand since she was fourteen, Bam had changed brands, therefore, Rikki's was a dose of nostalgia, a reminder of dark nights spent smoking outside of this very theater.

"Me too, it's fun to hang out when we aren't constantly at each other's throats." Bam agreed, watching as a group of girls walked by, Rikki slapping him on the back of the head.

"No whoring this evening Bam, you're supposed to be fixing that." Bam nodded and looked at Rikki. Nothing had changed the moment he knew who she was, he still found her attractive, and the dark part of him still wanted in her pants. She was smirking and blowing smoke rings, something Bam never mastered. "Dude, stop drooling." Rikki muttered, stomping out her smoke and tossing it in the ashtray.

"Sorry. You look good, I'm a professed man-whore, do the math."

"Bam, let me tell you something. The girls worth keeping around? They're not going to sleep with you because you smile and flash the keys. They'll make you work for it. Girls play games too Bam, like this one." Rikki placed her palm on Bam's chest and leaned forward, but the moment he moved forward, she snapped back, her lips spreading into a wide grin. "And I happen to be a professional athlete. Let the games begin Doll." Rikki flagged down a taxi and climbed in, leaving Bam on the sidewalk, unsure of what just happened and slightly aroused. He shook his head and climbed into his car. He drove quietly past two bars before giving in, pulling into Duffers.

"Oh, hey Bam." Ryan grinned and waved from a table, he and Astrid turning to face him. "Rikki told us to come out here and keep you from getting tail."

"And if we know how to do anything, it's kill your game." Astro grinned, her hand on top of Ryan's. Bam sighed and went to leave. "Oh don't worry, we got look-outs at every bar around here, in your best interest to just go home." He looked at Ryan and Astrid exhasperatedly and went to the car, finishing the trip home, dragging himself through the door and into the bathroom.

"HOLY SHIT! OUT OUT OUT!" Rikki shouted, diving into the shower and falling down, Bam tumbling out of the bathroom backwards. "Great, now he's got a boner." Rikki groaned, pulling her head back into the shower, Bam sheepishly shutting the bathroom door and slinking upstairs, the full sized tattoo of angel wings that were falling to pieces on her back still heavy in his mind.

"God damn. I have to get her an apartment. Boss, stop attempting to eat my shoe, I know it's you." Boss slinked out from under Bam's bed and out the door. "Crazy dog." Bam murmured, peeling off his clothes and tossing them in the corner, curling up alone in his bed for the first time in a long time.

Rikki climbed out of the shower and pulled on her pajamas, a pair of silky green shorts and a similarly silky black tank. The black wings on her shoulder blades were always slightly visible ending at her hips, they were large and elaborate, taking two years to complete. she still had a heartagram on her inner right wrist above Savior, and Bam on her chest, just over her heart. The microphone that read Radio Rikki  was covered up by her clothes, but the cord still showed on her hip. She sighed and walked to the living room, curling up on the couch under a sheet. She was half asleep before she heard a rustling in the kitchen, Bam in his boxers sauntering around, apparently making a pot of ramen in the middle of the night.

"Seriously?" Rikki groaned, rolling off the couch, Bam turning to look at her. "Bam, It's two A.M. I wanna sleep."

"Well, I can't and I'm hungry."

"Why in god's name can't you sleep?" Rikki asked, taking a huge bite out of the noodles before Bam could cook them.

"Hey! And I don't know why I can't sleep. I just can't. Get off my counter." Bam grumbled, Rikki sitting beside the stove and swinging her legs. She couldn't help but glance at Bam, she had to admit, he was still really good looking despite his lifestyle. he'd gotten a new tattoo since she'd left, a tribal heartagram just over his boxers. Rikki glanced away quickly and shook her head.

"No, you woke me up, thus, my sweet ass is staying on your counter." To emphasize her point, she slid her butt around on the counter, Bam frowning. "This counter is comfortable. I'll just sleep here." Rikki made a show of laying down, still sliding her butt around. "And this counter also likes my ass."

"Are you drunk?" Bam asked Rikki shrugging.

"Not at all, I just get weird when I'm tired." Rikki said, dangling backward off the counter now.

"Right. Get off my counter." Rikki pouted and rolled off the counter, Bam looking back at her shoulder blades. "When'd you get those?" He finally spoke, Rikki looking at her shoulders and shrugging.

"Two years ago, they started on them almost a week after I got to Italy, just got them finished a month or two ago. Why?"

"No reason." Bam answered quickly, watching the timer blankly to avoid the smile on Rikki's face.

"Right. You're going to go to sleep after your stupid noodles, right?" Bam nodded and Rikki sighed, dragging herself into the living room and curling up on the couch. "Keep it down in there." Bam sighed, but obliged, attempting to keep quiet while making his food. He kept glancing to the living room, Rikki's back to him. She never slept in a normal position, which explained her splayed legs and head dangling off the end of the couch. Bam chuckled in spite of himself, despite her past, and the fact she had grown up much faster than him, she was still the bright eyed fun loving girl he'd known since kindergarden, just farther behind that barricade.

He thought about her comment from a few days back. Was there really a part of him, a part of the teenager dead-set on hitting it big and being with his high school sweetheart still inside? Was there still a part of him that wanted something emotional, not just physical, to feel something for the person he'd been with? Or, as he had once thought, did that part of him die when the "Goodbye" passed Rikki's lips? He stopped thinking as it was giving him a pounding headache and walked to the living room, flopping on the adjacent couch and eating. If he didn't have someone to sleep with, he'd at least have someone to sleep near.

"Bam." Bam perked up, looking at the sleeping figure across the room.

"What?" No reply, just a quiet sigh and another quick uttering of his name before she rolled onto her chest, face in her pillow. Bam shook his head, writing it off as one of the weird things she said in her sleep and rolled over, drifting to sleep with one question still on his mind: Why do I hate her again?