#he stole the bottle just for him and he wont even let him make silly game references :(

[todayisafridaynight]

based off of real words my brother said to me

[joanofarcbutsilly]

this is just a simple drabble about hobie being a menace when you paint his nails!

reader is gender neutral, ask to tag for warnings if necessary!

rn i'm thinking about hobie letting you paint his nails, because of course he would! it's pretty, another way to express himself, and he will take ANY excuse to hold your hand even though he knows he doesn't need it.

he also just loves that it is another excuse for him to be a silly little goose :)

when you ask him if you can paint his nails, he makes a little show of thinking about it,

"i d'know love," he'd murmur with a lazily masked smile, "wont be able to use m' hands for a bit'

he's got the tiniest little smirk on his face while he's turning his hands over and over and looking intently at each and every one of his fingers

it's only after you beg for a bit that he laments and sits himself down with a sigh, positioning his arm on the chair's side and turning his head away from you, "do what you have to, but i want the works, yeah?"

his silliness will NOT end there. he

REFUSES to stop being a goofy guy. (although he makes sure to stay very still and not fidget while you apply the base coat)

you've got his hand curled around yours where he has it resting, lightly blowing on the drying paint when you ask what color he thinks he'd like to have. he scrunches his face up and hums while tapping his fingers on his free hand. this goes on for AT LEAST two minutes before he shakes his head, "i jus' don't know..”

you ask him EVERY POSSIBLE QUESTION, whether he'd like a color that is warm or cool, bright or more subdued, maybe a neutral, something natural, etc etc. eventually you just gotta bring out the stash for him to inspect

picking a color is the biggest issue during the whole debacle.

he picks up EVERY SINGLE BOTTLE to turn over in his hand, hold up to the light, and asks sooooo many questions

he's got a bottle in each hand, a dark plumish purple in his right, and a black paint with iridescent sparkles in his left. he's spun them both around countless times, he periodically frowns and holds one up towards the open window before doing the same with the other. you've got your head resting on your hand staring off into the abyss because you KNOW he is doing this on purpose and there is NO WAY he is thinking this much about such a little decision.

hobie loves that he can sense your exasperation coming off of you in waves, and cannot resist poking the bear, "hard decision luvie," he speaks lowly with a shit eating grin, "gonna be a permanent part of me for a bits

"hobie it's gonna last a week at MOST, maybe less"

he sighs and shakes his head and drops the two bottles in the chair next to him,

"big decision big decision, that's a commitment love"

you tip forward with a groan and your head lands on hobie's knee, "please for the love of god just pick one"

he snickers a bit before he taps your head, “fine. i have a few questions first. which one matches my skin tone?"

"hobieeee i don't knoooow," you moan, "i just got them cause they're pretty"

"that brings up another issue," he tents his hands together, "we have to consider the ethical ramifications of where these came from, don't we?"

you let out a fake sob and lean back up so you can see what he's talking about, and hopefully reach a decision faster, "if we have to”

he grins and nods matter of factly,

"right love," he leans forward to reach onto the side table that is holding the rest of the polishes grabbing some in handfuls before dumping them in the seat next to him along with two previously discarded

he gently picks up one of the bottles and holds it up to your face, "where'd this come from"

"christmas gift from my sister"

he grabs the next

"got it from a friend who was a nail tech for a bit"

"how 'bout this?"

"stole it from somewhere, don't remember, big chain"

a big grin breaks across his face and he nods approvingly before grabbing the next, "this?"

"same story"

this goes on for much longer than necessary, before he makes it to a dark navy blue polish, holding it up with an expectant look on his face.

"uhm, amazon i think"

his nose crinkles and he sets the bottle on the floor and kicks it a good distance away, "not a chance," he's got a grimace on his face.

he does this with EVERY SINGLE ONE.

at some point you just have to put your foot down and demand he chooses. he's got a little frown on his face cause his little game has finally been put to an end, but he quickly recovers and grins before reaching through the pile to grab a plain black polish

he's got a toothy grin on his face as he thrusts it out to you, "goes with everything, yeah?"

[timeaftertime-chriscornellfanfic]

*CONTAINS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT,READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED*

Chapter 9 - I’ve Been Away Too Long

Seattle Washington, July 28 1984

(Chris is 20, Andi is 20)

CHRIS:  I was tightening the bolt to one of the symbols on my drum set, that I had situated in the living room of a small 2 and a half bedroom apartment - the half part is the small little den room that I'm taking - that I'm sharing with my new band mates, Hiro Yamamoto and Kim Thayil in the University District of Seattle. I answered an ad in the local Seattle paper 'The Stranger' for a couple of 'dudes' looking for a drummer/singer for a band they were trying to start. I answered the ad and met Hiro first and we hit it off really well I think. I mean he is a little older than me - they both are -but he's into the same kinda stuff that I like to play so... which lead me to meeting Kim just a few days later and we hit it off really well too.

Kim went to school with Hiro so they were already close.  After a few band practices with them, Hiro just asked me if I wanted to just move in so we could basically play as much as we could. I was all for it, since I really didn't have a place to stay at all. We've lived together now for a couple of months now and it's actually pretty freaking cool. Since the neighborhood is riddled with college and university kids, we can play until like 3 in the morning and no one even gives a shit how loud we are.

I left home not too long after my 18th birthday and I've been staying with friends, basically couch surfing until my brother Peter found out and said I could stay with him until I found a place on my own. I just couldn't stay in that house with my mom anymore. I'm not going to get into specifics but let's just say that we weren't getting along anymore. Honestly, I don't think we ever got along really well, but I did get along better with her than I ever did with my dad.

The stuff that we are coming up with though, is really fucking cool. the first few times we were jamming together, we wrote like 5 songs in just a couple of days. A lot of it is instrumental though, but there are a couple that we wrote that I have put some lyrics to and I'm going to try them out when Kim gets here. It's my first try at writing something that isn't some sort of sappy poem, and I want to make sure it sounds great. Not to discount the poem that I wrote for Andi when I was 16 or anything, I mean... I didn't want to tell her that's what it was. Fuck, I couldn't even read it to her I was so self conscious about it. This time is different though.

We did try out a couple of guys to sing for our band but it wasn't working out. So right now I'm sort of drumming and singing, kind of like Phil Collins in Genesis - yea I know, but whatever.

I haven't seen Andi in over 2 years. The last time we were together was when I was still living with my mom. We were hanging out as usual in my basement, listening to tunes and talking like we always do. When she started to tell me a little more about how her dad left - though she did add that they are somewhat ok with each other now -  and  how he pretty much broke her heart, I knew exactly what would cheer her up, other than me be being silly and making her laugh.  I surprised her with a guitar I stole - yea, I know but I didn't have a lot of money ok, and that shit's expensive!

I was pretty fucking sneaky about it too. I borrowed a friends guitar case and went into a shop way over on the east side of town. I pretended to apply for a job and handed the store clerk my resume. When he went into the back room, I quickly swiped a guitar from one of the displays and put it in the case. I had no idea which one I grabbed, all I knew was that I had to do it quickly. When the clerk came back out of the room and informed me to fill out an application, my fucking heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to crack and have a heart attack, but the clerk never noticed a thing. I took the application and walked right out of the store and never looked back. I still can't believe I got away with that. I'll never do anything like that again though. I mean I'm no stranger to stealing - though I knew that I shouldn't have - but it was always just small stuff like records from peoples houses, breaking in and fucking shit up.

Anyways, I didn't tell her that I stole it, but I have a feeling she kind of knew, since it was an '81 black Gibson Les Paul Standard which was pretty much 12 hundred bucks that I just walked out of the store with.

She was so cute when she would play it. I didn't have an amp or anything so her playing it 'unplugged' so to speak was funny, especially when she would get so silly with trying to make it loud. I ended up saving up enough money from my job at the Ray's Boathouse diner and bought a little used amp. Listening to her play through that thing was amazing. I never really gravitated towards the guitar since I started out with drums first. I did take piano lessons when I was really little but I just didn't keep up with it. Like I said before though, as soon as my mom got me that drum set, that's where the passion started for me. When Andi left, I started to play around with that guitar, just to get a feel for it and it was actually pretty cool. I mean I'm not as good as she is, but I'm not bad at it either. I waited for her to come back so that I could show her a few things but, she never did.

Weeks and weeks went by and nothing. Then the weeks turned into months and still she never showed up. It pretty much threw me back into the depression I had before she showed up, so I started playing just to get some feelings out and it has helped me with my writing.  I know it's not her fault and I know she can't help it but I hate it more than anything, especially since I never got the chance to tell her how I feel. She probably is just doing better now and that's why she hasn't slipped. I just miss her so much. I still haven't told a single soul about her like I promised. It's strange though not telling anyone, almost like is she really real? Or is she just all in my head and I'm crazy? Anyways...

"Hey," Kim says as he walks through the door as I finish setting up my drums.

"Fuck, finally," Hiro says as he rises from the one reading chair we have in the room.

"Well fuck,  did you want beer or not?" Kim says sarcastically as he sets the two 12 packs down on the floor.

"Yea, like an hour ago," Hiro says.

"It was busy, there was a fucking line up around the block for some band playing at that pizza place over on Sydney,"

"What band?" I ask.

"I don't know I think it was Skin Yard, or somethin'" Kim says opening up his guitar case and cracking a beer at the same time.

"You wanna go check them out?" I ask.

"I thought we were gonna jam," Kim says taking a sip.

"We can do that when we get back. C'mon lets check' em out... see just why they have a line up around the block," I say flipping my curls out of my face and heading to the door, patting Kim on the shoulder as I walk by. Kim raises his eyebrow at Hiro and he shrugs while I throw on my leather jacket.

"You guys comin' or what?" I ask as I look back at them, turning the apartment door knob, then making my way out into the hallway and down the stairs while Kim and Hiro follow me.

*****

Mourning Star Pizza and Pub, Seattle Washington

It was a short walk to the pizza place that was pretty much just around the corner and you could see the kids lining up to get in. It was pretty much your typical pizza place which was also a bar and night club. I think the owner was just like 'I wanna open an everything kind of bar' and came up with that so he would get business but it seems to be working.  Kim was apparently exaggerating a little cause the line wasn't around the block, but it was lined up out the door.

"Dude, it's like 4 bucks to get in, we wont have any money left to drink," Hiro says and reaches into his pocket to scrape together some money.

"We got beer at home, I just wanted to see what the band is like," I say reaching into the pocket of my leather jacket and pulling out a few dollar bills. I turn back to see Kim had a beer still in his hand as we were moving up in the line.

"What? I'm thirsty alright?" Kim chuckles and then downs the last of it, setting the empty bottle down on the curb. I shake my head and chuckle turning back to move up even further in the line, and a few minutes later we were inside.

The band was already playing and you could hear the booming sound of the drums echoing throughout the place. It was a small place so it seemed like there was more people inside than there actually was, but mostly everyone was ordering and eating pizza than paying any attention to the band.

They sounded heavy, like, really heavy almost brooding. Not like the stuff that Kim, Hiro and I were coming up with at all. It was awesome and man, that drummer can fucking play.

"Fuck,  I didn't know it was Matt's band what the hell?" Kim says, somehow appearing with a beer for me and Hiro.

"Matt?" I ask, taking the beer from him and taking a sip.

"Yea, he's drumming. Oh wait, yea, you haven't met him yet," Kim says taking a sip of his beer.

"Alright guys, we're just gonna take a short break, have some drinks or whatever..." The lead singer says into the mic and everyone seems to immediately pile off the stage.

"Hey, how are ya? I didn't know you guys were showing up,"

Matt Cameron, a tall, lean long haired blonde, wearing a loose plain black tank and ripped baggy jean shorts walks up to us and shakes Kim's hand.

"I had no idea it was you playing tonight, when did you start playing for Skin Yard?" Kim asks.

"Actually, not that long ago. Their former drummer just like, up and quit on them so I just sort of slid myself in there I guess," He chuckles.

"You're Chris right? I saw you when you were playing with The Shemps, like a couple of years ago now. You fucking blew me away man," Matt says when he sees me and holds out his hand for me to shake.

"Yea? Thanks," I say and shake his hand. Hiro then comes over and joins us as well all start with some small talk and I get to know Matt a little more. After a while, I really needed to use the bathroom so I excuse myself to make my way passed the large crowd of people, towards the back of the bar, down the long hallway.  Since the place was so crowded I ended up bumping into a few people while on my way to the washroom which was only slightly annoying.

"Fuck, watch it man," a large guy says to me. I apologize and just as I was turning to go into the washrooms, I bump into a girl who was looking down, fixing her Ramones tank top.

"Shit, I'm sorry - wait, Andi?" I ask when I catch her and she looks up at me with those beautiful brown eyes, her gorgeous dark curls flowing down passed her shoulders and much longer than they were the last time I saw her.

"Holy shit, I - "

"Shhh," She hushes me, placing her forefinger against my lips, taking my hand and leading me passed the bathrooms and out the back entrance to the parking lot.

"Andi?"

"Is it only you here?" She asks as she takes me around to the back side of the building away from everyone.

"No, but wait - when did you come from? I mean well, when did you get here - or -" I start but she hushes me again looking around the corner of the building for a moment, then turns back to face me.

"Sorry I, I just didn't want anyone to see you with me, cause well - you know," She says looking up into my eyes and for a moment we stand there looking at each other and I suddenly pull her into me, wrapping my arms around her, embracing her in a hug. Her small arms reach into my leather jacket and snake around me as she giggles a little with her face practically buried in my shoulder as I hold her to me. The feeling of her in my arms sends my heart soaring.

"My god it's so good to see you," I say as I continue to hold her.

"I guess it's been a while eh?" She says so cutely, turning slightly to look up at me. I nod still holding her to me, closing my eyes and just relishing in the moment with her.

"I uh, slipped into your bathroom but the basement was different. I guess you moved?" She says as I finally let her go from our embrace.

"Yea, I moved out about a year and a half ago now. Wait - did my mom see you?" I ask as I look into those beautiful eyes of hers and brush a curl away from her face.

"No, no one was home, but I found an address that your mom wrote down - 18th and Roosevelt?" She asks.

"Oh yea, that's my new place. I'm uh sharing it with my band mates. Weird how my mom knew though. Peter must have told her," I say glancing down at my feet.

"Weird, why is it weird?" She asks.

"Oh, um, nothing... no reason," I say hoping Andi will just leave it so I don't have to explain. I glance back at her and she gives me a concerned look but doesn't say anything.

"You, um... do you want to come back and see my place?" I ask after a few moments.

"I do... but..." Her eyes light up for a moment but then her expression changes to worry when she realizes that I don't live by myself.

"There's no one home right now, they're all inside the bar... It's ok no one will see you," I re-assure her in my best convincing flirtatious voice. She glances at the back door to the Pub and then around the parking lot, her dark curls gently moving in the cool evening breeze, then looking back up at me.

"Ok," She says and with that, a smile spreading across my lips, I take her hand in mine and lead her down the sidewalk to my apartment.

*****

"So um... you never said when you're from?" I ask as we walk down the side walk, her hand in mine with her fingers laced through.

"Um... 1991. What year is this?" She says quietly looking around for a moment and then glancing up at me.

"'84..." I say as I pat down my chest looking for my cigarettes. I then let go of her hand for a moment to take one out and light it up.

"'84? When was the last time I was here with you?" She asks raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

"It's been a couple of years," I say exhaling a cloud of smoke and we keep walking.

"Is everything ok?" I ask glancing down at her and taking another drag of my cigarette.

"Yea... why?" She says flipping her curls out of her face as the breeze blows through.

"No reason... just you usually slip back in time if you're stressed out or... you know, if your seizures start acting up," I say. She glances ahead and then down at her feet as we keep walking and I feel her squeeze my hand for a moment and I have a feeling that she just doesn't really want to talk about it.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," She says.

In pretty much no time we were back at my apartment. Once we are inside, I show her around a little bit, through there really isn't much to see, it's so small.

"You kept the Gibson?" She says as she walks over to the corner of the living room where I had it set up beside my drum set.

"Well yea," I chuckle as I move over to the door to my bedroom.

"Funny, you still take that on stage and play it, even though..." She says quietly to herself which I almost didn't catch.

"Huh?" I ask, not sure if I heard her right.

On stage? Wait... what?

"Nothing, never mind," She waves it off as she turns back to face me, flipping her curls out of her face. For a moment I was confused but then she walks over to me and I completely forgot about it.

"...and this is my room," I say as I open the door to the den, the door barely opening all the way because of where I had to put my bed. She walks in and looks around for a few moments, then back at me, giving me the sweetest smile she could and then she immediately finds a spot right on my bed, sitting cross legged, patting the space in front of her for me to sit down.

"Let's catch up... tell me everything," She says so cutely as she pushes her curls behind her ear. I give her a coy smile and slide my leather jacket off, setting  it down on the bed. I flip my curls out of my eyes and move over to sit across from her much like I did when I was still living at my moms.

"Everything huh? Like what?" I say.

"Like, anything... anything you want to tell me... or not. We can just sit here and hang out or... I don't know..." She trails off and gives me that cute little smile across those perfect lips that I so desperately just want to kiss.

"There really isn't much I could tell you, everything is still the same other than I live here and I have a different band now," I say.

"I just feel bad that I haven't been back in so long," She trails off and looks down at her hands.

"Well you could tell me what's been happening, if we're together at all?" I ask.

"Chris..." She giggles.

"You've never told me if we are or not, You say we meet in 1988 but you never tell me anything beyond that," I say, sounding a little resentful but not meaning to.

"Chris - "

"Andi, I just want to know. I don't want to go through missing you like I have been, when you leave again, because I know you're going to end up leaving again. At least if you just tell me now than it wont hurt so much when you go because I know I will see you again," I say.

"Chris - "

"-Andi,"

"Chris I love you ok? I've been trying to say that but you wont shut the hell up," She giggles as she reaches out for me, cupping my face in her hands and touching her forehead to mine, looking straight into my eyes.

"Really?"

She nods so cutely, biting her bottom lip and without even thinking I press my lips to hers, finally feeling what it's like to kiss those perfect lips of hers that I've so desperately craved since the moment I met her.

I move my hands to pull her into me as she shifts herself to sit in my lap, my tongue swiping across her bottom lip, her fingers lacing through my hair. She feels so amazing, her skin so incredibly soft as I slide my fingers under her shirt and trail them across the small of her back. As my tongue plays with hers, my hands make their way up under her shirt, discovering that she's not wearing a bra at all

Fucking Christ that's hot.

She begins to move her hips ever so slightly against me and I could feel my erection growing taller inside my jeans. She drops her hands from my hair, immediately moving down to the bottom of my white tank top and for a split second she breaks away from my lips to pull it up over my head. She tosses my shirt somewhere in my room and then lifts her own shirt up over her head, tossing it in the same direction, her dark curls falling down around her.

I can't fucking believe how beautiful she is, completely topless in front of me. I mean I know I've somewhat seen her naked before but that was under different circumstances. My eyes flick over her, landing at her gorgeous breasts, full but not too full... you know, just perfect, and I draw her back into my arms, my chest pressing to hers as I brush her curls off her shoulder and place my lips to her neck. She sighs so sweetly as my lips trail down, she arches her back, her hips moving even more so and my erection at this point is practically bursting out of my jeans.

In one movement, I lay her down on my bed, her cute giggles filling the room as I do so. She positions herself underneath me while my lips trail down to her nipple, gently flicking it with my tongue as her fingers lace themselves through my hair, her letting out the most wonderful sighs as I play. All I can fucking think about is how I want to be inside her but I know I should take this slow.

My hands make their way down to the rim of her ripped jeans and I quickly unbutton them and pull down the zipper. I part my lips from her for a moment to swiftly remove her jeans while she helps by kicking them off and I drop them to the floor. Seeing her in her lacy black panties makes me want to rip them off her, cave man style, but instead she takes the hint and slowly but seductively removes them and tosses them on the floor with her jeans.

"Now let me," She says and sits up for a moment, her hand moving to my jeans and quickly unbuttoning them, pulling down the zipper and instantly my cock springs out before her.

Jesus I knew I was hard but this is a whole other level

I give her a coy smile as she looks up at me, and suddenly her lips are full on around the tip. I let out a groan in surprise then close my eyes and relish in the feeling of those perfect lips around my dick.

Fuck this is like nothing I've ever felt before. I mean, well I've had my fair share of being with a few girls but nothing like this at all. She knows exactly what I like just the way I like it. Especially since she is sucking me perfectly, her tongue swirling around and flattening at just the right moment, her hand gripping me and squeezing, moving at just the right speed and I swear to god I'm not going to be able to take it much longer.

"Oh shit... Andi," I exhale and pull myself away from her and she looks up at me worried with slight disappointment.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asks.

"No, no... fuck no, just... if you keep doing that, I'm gonna..." I start to pant and she bites her bottom lip again. She then places a kiss on my abs, right below my belly button and leans herself back on her elbows, wasting no time in opening her legs for me.

"You're gonna what?" She asks innocently, her dark eyes gleaming and I just couldn't help myself. I move my hands to her thighs, trailing my fingers up closer to her center using my fingers to reveal that perfect little pink nub. As soon as I place my lips, gently sucking at first and flicking my tongue, she lets out the most beautiful moan, raising her arms above her head.

"Oh my god, Chris," She exhales as I slip a finger inside her, softly teasing and prodding, feeling her hips respond to my playing. The wetter she becomes, the harder I feel myself grow but I am determined to make her cum first. I want her to. I want to hear her scream my name. I suck her little pink nub just a little harder and flick my tongue, circling around as each moan she lets out fills the room.

"Chris," She whimpers but I don't let up. I continue sucking as I slip another finger in and I feel at any moment she is about to cum. Then just like I wanted, she cries out and I continue to play her through it. After a couple of moments, I lift myself away from her and I look up to see her hands over her eyes, panting as she tries to come down from her high.

"Andi?"

"Yea?" She says in a small voice.

"Are you ok?" I ask.

"Uh huh... just, oh my god," She starts to giggle.

"What?"

"That was fucking amazing," She says and a smile spreads across my face. I glance down and see that I'm still so incredibly hard. Harder than I've ever felt in my life. I swiftly reach over into the drawer of the little side table that was beside my bed and pull out a condom. Just as I was about to open it, Andi reaches up and takes it from me.

"It's ok we don't need it," She says. I raise my eyebrow at her a little confused as she puts it back in the drawer but I'm not going to protest since I fucking hate wearing those things anyways. She leans back and I move myself over top of her, leaning down and pressing my lips to her stomach first and placing soft sweet kisses up to her chest, then to her nipple once more. Her fingers make their way back through my hair as I tease her nipple with my tongue, hearing her sigh against me. She wraps her legs around my hips and I take her in my arms, position myself perfectly, and push myself inside her.

I go slow at first realizing that she is having a little trouble adjusting to my size but as I thrust a few times, relishing in the feeling of her, she responds. Her hips move matching my rhythm as she grips me in the most perfect way. I bury my face in her gorgeous dark hair, feeling her hands move up my back and digging her fingers into my skin.

"Fuck, you feel so fucking good inside me," She moans throwing her head back as I place my lips against her throat. The sound of her words instantly send me over the edge as her hips move with me.

"I'm... I'm gonna cum," I manage to get out wishing it could last longer but knowing I can't hold back anymore.

"Fuck, yes, do it," She pants, and with a few more hard thrusts, I release, crying out as I bury my face in her hair once more. After a few moments of coming down together, I lift my head up from her hair, placing my hands on either side of her face, brushing some of her curls out of her eyes,  and looking into those dark eyes of hers.

"So, I take it you love me too?" She says with a coy smile which makes me laugh.

"Oh, Andi... you have no idea," I chuckle and she laughs.

[wellmeaningshutin]

Short Story #3: Breakup.

Written: 12/17/2016

The night before was a long one, she had been broken up with and spent a majority of the night in her room, drinking by herself, listening to old opera records that her grandfather left her when she died. She had never really had an interest in opera but she had never really been alone in years, so the alien feeling of the music she’d lever listened to paired well with her newfound loneliness. Her boyfriend had stopped by her house the other night, as usual, and she was just finishing up the stew she was cooking for both of them, it was a recipe they worked on together through the years, since they liked the opposite kinds of foods the stew was a project of finding a balance between them, common ground, and creating a meal they could both enjoy together. When she made the table and they both sat down to dinner he was awfully quiet, just ran his spoon around in the bowl, not really eating, just staring off. She tried to talk to him but his replies were so curt and vague that she gave up trying, it was an awful moment for her, that discomfort and silence, when this was their happiest tradition they held. He checked his watch, she asked what was wrong, he said “Something at work, boss being a dick , you know…” and started stirring up the stew just to find something to occupy himself with. Then her roommate came out, who had been in the process of moving so the couple could live together by themselves, and then the boyfriend stood up, relieved, said “We’re done”, took the roommate in his arm, and walked out the door. She could hear his engine roar and the car quickly drive away, and like that the longest relationship she ever had was over, and she just stared at the door, hoping it was a joke, but after an hour of blank staring and wishful thinking she had to come to terms with reality, so she threw their dinner at the door, bowls shattering, and dumped the rest of the stew down the sink, just knocking over the pot and causing it to sit upside down in the sink. When she woke up it was hard to come to terms that this was her reality, but the bottles lying across the floor showed her that it was all too real.

She lied there in the dark, not sure how to even start her day. It was a Saturday so she didn’t have to worry about work, and she really had nothing planned for this weekend since she was just going to help who she thought was the-love-of-her-life move in. She wondered what she should do, just for a couple minutes, then she pulled her blanket over her head and stopped caring, just resined to lie there until she had to use the bathroom. She was in bed for an hour before her phone started going off, it was one of her childhood friends, Rose, a girl whose name was the only classy thing about her, she was like boxed wine, trying to seen sophisticated while still actively being the inverse. She didn’t really want to talk to Rose, it seemed like her boyfriend would get brought up no matter what and she really just didn’t want to talk about the breakup, she was still coming to terms with it herself. Her phone stopped ringing, problem solved. The phone started up again and this time the sound of it really got to her, that shrill noise that reminded her both of her hangover and of the outside world, she preferred to only care about the room, outside world not mattering, and the phone went silent again. It started to ring a third time so she snatched it up and hurled it at the wall, breaking in half, problem solved. Who did she need to call now anyways?

A couple minutes later she had to get up to use the bathroom. She sat there pissing while staring at her shower, wondering when she’ll bother get around to washing herself, but she considered just letting the water run over her, but she’d have to get undressed and it would be too much trouble. So after she was done she just got up, made her way to the kitchen, but realized the stew was everywhere and had been sitting out all night, in the heat, so she just grabbed a bottle that her roommate left behind, an aged scotch that her grandfather left her when he passed. Her roommate’s grandfather raised her, the parents died in a car accident, and he had that scotch brewed on the day she was born, aging until her 21st birth day, when he went into cardiac arrest and died. Her roommate was leaving it behind for a special occasion. So she picked it up, and first wanted to pour it down the sink, but that would mean she’d have to move the stew pot, so she just gave up and decided to start drinking it. It burned like hell but she was sick of being hung over anyways.

Then she noticed her door was starting to be unlocked, at first she thought it was her ex or his new lover so she propped up her arm to throw at them, but it was Rose who walked through the door with a panicked look on her face, “I really fucking need your help right now Victoria.” Rose had shoulder length blond hair that she wore like Marilyn Monroe, had drugstore makeup plastered all over her face, and fake designer clothing that she got through a special, sexual arrangement.

Victoria just took another drink, “Can’t you see I’m busy?” she said as she waved her hand in the direction of the mess in the house, which lead Rose to process, for the first time since entering, the state of the house and the awful stench that filled it, but she didn’t have time to care.

“Fuck, doesn’t matter this is important,” she used that word a lot, “remember that taxi driver I used to sleep around with?”

“Yeah, I still don’t get why you did that.” The driver was about 300 pounds, covered in hair, and spoke almost solely in dirty jokes. Victoria had to double date with Rose and the driver before, and it was probably one of the worst nights of her life, but not close to topping the night before.

“Well the guy was actually fuckin’ LOADED.”

“I have a hard time believing that.” She took another big drink.

“Well you better believe it baby, cause-” she waited for Victoria to stop coughing from the scotch, “cause well.. You know what? Fuck it. Wait here.” Then she did a twirl as she elegantly walked out the door with posture and flourishes that had been practiced to death in front of a mirror. Victoria was curious now, for starters she didn’t know how Rose even got a key to her house in the first place, and also she had lied a ton over the years just to get attention, but she never left mid conversation or anything, this seemed real. Victoria moved to the kitchen table and sat on the edge, facing the door, where she could see Rose make her way back into the house, quickly this time without the practiced movements, with something held under her knock off jacker. When she got into the house she slammed the door behind her, made her way to the counter, placed something down, then turned around with her back to the object, right in its way. She looked at Victoria with a glimmer in her eye, “Guess.”

“Like, guess what you brought in?”

“Yeah yeah, guess.” She said this as she spun her index finger in the air to speed things up, excited for the big reveal.

“Is it a new purse?”

“Nope”

“Umm,” taking another drink, “like a pair of shoes?” She really didn’t know what to guess, Rose never got this excited and the only objects she’d ever talk about is her clothes.

“Fuck it,” she moved to the side and revealed a brick of marijuana. Victoria didn’t know how to react to this, she smoked like a little bit at parties in college but had never such a large quantity before, she looked to Rose for help but she only returned with an excited look on her face, then was suddenly disappointed in the lack of a reaction. “Its a brick of swamp!”

“Yeah, I can see that, but… why?”

“Why what?”

“Why the fuck did you have to bring it here?”

“Because…” she glided over to the table and started drumming it with her fingers, “we’re going to sell it!”

“We?”

“Yeah I can’t do it alone silly. If a girl like me does a deal out in the desert by herself she’s gonna get raped and her throat slit.”

“I don’t think I’m good muscle.”

“Don’t worry about that,” ending the sentence with a wink.

“Wait where’d you get this?”

“Well, remember that cab driver?” Victoria nodded. “He was a drug runner, and, well, I’m in a little bit of trouble with some lone sharks so,” she gave a big shrug, “I stole it cause I needed cash. Fucker shouldn’t have showed me his stash anyways.”

“Wait, won’t he want it back, why are you bringing me into this?!”

“Well he takes so many bricks to, well, whoever he deals with, so it wont be noticed till the deal is made, and by then they’ll probably think he’s skimming off the top or something and break his legs I guess. And like I said, I can’t do it alone.”

Victoria wasn’t sure if the plan became reasonable, or the liquor was kicking in and her decision making was stunted, but somehow she ended up in Rose’s rose red, tattered convertible, barreling down the desert road to do a drug deal. The view was nice at least. Rose was smoking a cigarette, she felt it made her look classy since thats what people would do in all the old films, and when she wasn’t taking a drag she’d hold it upwards, held between her index and middle finger. Then she suddenly remembered something, took the wheel with her left hand which clenched the cigarette, and reached across Victoria and popped open the glove box, and then smiled when Victoria saw what was inside, a big fucking pistol. “With this fucker you don’t have to worry bout being overpowered. Just fire a couple rounds if things get bad, told you you didn’t have to be worried about being the muscle.”

Victoria took a little while to process this, staring down at the gun, then when everything clicked she stared over at Rose who did her best movie star laugh, well until the cigarette in her driving hand burnt its way down into her fingers and she had to quickly toss it out the window, causing the car to swerve for a brief moment. After the car was back under control, she just gave a smile.

In the distance Victoria could see another car parked a little ways out in the desert, waiting, and she figured this is who the deal would be with. It was just some beat up, gray, dirt encrusted mustang with three men surrounding it, one sitting on what looked like a blanket, checkered red and white, on the hood, with the two other men standing at either side. She started to realize she had still not fully realized the situation she had agreed to, and decided to take the pistol from the glove box, it was heavy, cold, and all too real in her hands, and she replaced it with the bottle of scotch. As they pulled up to the other car, and were about to get out of the car to greet the buyers, Rose turned her head to Victoria, gave a movie star smile, and said “Showtime”