I Just Wanted to be Edgy Too

Chapter Forty-Four

Van

I buttoned up my shirt and combed my fingers through my hair. It fell nearly to my shoulders now, waving at the ends, and I'd meant to get it cut weeks ago. Steve was right. When I was recording an album, everything else kind of went haywire. Now that Ellie was here, my mind was sidetracked into a whole new meaning of procrastination. It was a good thing the album was nearly complete, and our end was done. I wouldn't be able to focus if it wasn't. Not with her here.

I smiled to myself as I exited my room, noticing Ellie's bag and her clothes on the floor. It was as if I needed visual confirmation that I wasn't actually making all of this up. Something in the way her clothes were folded on top of the dresser made me feel at home.

I stepped into the hallway and paused outside of the bathroom door. She'd been in there for nearly an hour. I tapped my knuckles gently on it and waited. I could hear her moving just behind it, and suddenly the door opened and her eyes locked in on mine.

She had her hair in loose waves and pinned up into a low bun. Her lips were painted the same shade she'd turn when she would flush. I swallowed deep and looked at the ground.

"You...you look lovely." And she did. And it was the first time she looked that way for me. The times before when she looked like this, she was always with him. But this time it was different. This time it was us.

"I just need to change and then we can go."

She still had my shirt on from the night before. It looked good on her, and I had half of mind just to tell her to keep it. She moved past me slow enough that I could catch the scent of her perfume and I felt myself getting dizzy. Why did she do this to me? How did someone who I'd only ever kissed make me feel this way? She was my reckoning.

I gave her some privacy while she changed and sat on the barstool at the kitchen island. Bondy, Blakes and Bob had all gone to get burgers, Larry was too hungover to join them and asked for them to bring him something back. He was currently passed out on the couch, the sound of the tele playing in the background. I tapped my hands against the top of the island to an unknown beat in my head, but looked up as I heard her approach.

She had on a tan skirt with buttons down the front, and a deep lace Vneck top tucked into it. I didn't move.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. Ready?"

I took in a long breath and stood up nervously. "Yeah, lets go." She smiled as she walked toward the front door and I followed two steps behind her.

"We're taking the car, the lids walked to get burgers."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You can drive?"

"I can...quite well might I add."

I opened her side of the car and she smiled as she climbed in. I moved to the driver's side and turned the engine over, my phone syncing to the car immediately and filling the car with the light sounds of Jim Croce.

"I Got A Name?"

I laughed deeply, something I only did with her. "You're a Croce fan?"

"My stepdad...he loves Jim. Played him a lot. Highly underrated artist."

"It was a simpler time in music, an easier time to just ride the concept of art. He was like an outlaw to me. Working odd jobs to fill in the holes where his music couldn't, until he finally found success. He was one of the great ones."

She nodded in agreement and sang along softly to the song. I let her finish without interrupting. It was soothing to hear someone other than myself croon on about something. Her voice lingered longer on the lines than the song did, but it didn't matter. Her voice could linger as long as it needed to.