| Taylor stopped drinking when he noticed that suddenly Jamie was having two shots for every beer she drank, from the minute she came inside. He also managed to eat enough pretzel and peanuts to soak up what he'd had and wondered what was eating at Jamie. Jamie played with everything she had in her, as much because she LOVED to play as she was doing it to bury her head in the sand at the moment. During their next short break, she managed to keep calm, stay in the building, and keep a light conversation going with her Dad, uncle and the rest of the group as she had two more shots and another beer. "Hey...Shaney boy..." Jamie giggled, feeling the effects of her last three drinks almost immediately. "C'mere.." "Whatcha need, kid?" Shane asked as he moved toward her group. "Pssht. Kid." she giggled again. "Would you do me a HUUUGE favor?" she asked" leaning heavily on the burly man she'd known since she was a little girl. "What, Jameson? Need a ride?" he asked looking directly at Taylor. "Noooo..no. Tay can take me...oh shit. Tay..this is Shane. He works with me...he and Jimmy were friends. They went to school together." Taylor and Shane sized each other up, and said their cautious hellos as Jamie draped herself over Shane's shoulder. "Would you pleeeease make sure my daddy and Uncle Mongo get home alright? Call them a cab? Pleeease?" she flirted shamelessly, her balance slightly off. "Sure thing, KID." he told her grinning, and steadying her so she was standing on her own. "Thank you..." she said and took a long pull off the beer she was drinking. She was startled into spinning to look behind her, when her uncle placed his large hand on her shoulder, and almost dropped her beer. "I'll take that." Taylor stated and set it out of her reach, still a little at a loss at Jamie's behavior. "Bye, shorty. You played great tonight." Mongo kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "We'll ride in Shane's stupid cab, if you straigten up, brat. You're breakin' the boy's heart. I" and he stressed the word, "like him." Jamie stared at her uncle for a moment then tiptoed up to kiss his cheek. "Dunno what you're talkin' about. I'm always good." she chuckled. "You KNOW." he whispered in her ear again, then gave her a gentle shove, almost knocking her off balance. "Wanna DANCE, old man?" Jamie teased, trying to put the subject off yet again this evening. "Brat. Let Taylor drive. You're toast." he answered. "H'lo Mr. Pot...I'm the kettle.." she stuck her tongue out at him. "Jameson." her father pinned her with the stare that he'd used with both her, and her brother when they were young and he meant buisness. "Daddy?" she looked at her father, stunned. It's been a long time since he'd used that tone with her. "You let Taylor take you home, you hear me? You are in NO shape to drive. I want you home in one piece." he said flatly. "Okay Daddy." she squeezed his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "I meant it, Jamie." he said in her ear when she turned to hug him. "I promise, Daddy." she said directly into his ear. "YOU be nice, pumpkin. You're killin' the boy. And I like him." he said and kissed his daughter's cheek. "Be careful, Daddy. There's stuff in the fridge if you guys get hungry, so you don't have to cook.." she said, avoiding the subject for what seemed the MILLIONTH time that night. "Good dodge, girlie. Good as your mother used to be.." he shook his head, grinned and shook Taylor's hand, as did Jamie's uncle. "Night guys." They said to all three brothers as Shane returned to let them know their cab was on it's way. Everyone returned the goodnights, watched as the men left, then the girls got back up to play another short set. Taylor watched the rest of the set, his arms folded over his chest, mostly to contain the ache he felt there at the moment. If he'd thought that Jamie could get herself home, he probably would have left, to let her get her head together. But then again, he wrestled with himself, he probably would have stayed no matter what, and tried to make her TALK to him. It was obvious that there was nothing for him to worry about with Shane, Shane was treating her like HE would have treated one of his sisters in the same situation. Jamie was still wrestling with whatever she'd never dealt with concerning her brother, he was sure of it. Otherwise, she would NOT keep alternating locking eyes with him as she played, and downing as many beers as it was possible to drink without passing out. He sighed heavily, took a long pull off his last beer and caught Shane, watching him. Jamie kept playing, but she couldn't keep her gaze from Taylor's, no matter how hard she tried. Between glances at Tay, she'd felt a serious desire to make herself numb and to pound Shane's nosy self into oblivion. The bar finally started to clear out after Jamie announced tha they were done for the night, and promised the die hards they'd be back and ready to 'kick some more ass' the next night. Two or three beers later, the rest of the group had their stuff loaded and were ready to take off, except Jamie. Jamie was still struggling with taking apart her drumkit, swearing loudly and refusing any help anyone offered. "Jamie I SWEAR I never ever thought I'd ever say this to you seriously in all my life.." Jade began, "but as your best friend, and because I am waaaay more sober than you, it's my duty to tell you. YOU ARE BEING A ROYAL BITCH! Knock it off.." she said to a stunned Jamie, squatted down in front of the kit and looking back at her with her jaw hanging open. "Big ass balls, huh?" Jamie muttered and went back to trying to take apart the drumkit. "Yeah. Guess who I learned from?" Jade replied sarcastically. "MOVE." Jade grabbed Jamie by the arm and ushered her outside, much in the same manner Jamie had done to her earlier. Jamie protested loudly, while Jade ignored her and yelled to Zac. "ZAC! D'you mind? We'll be here all fucking day if you don't.." Zac just raised his eyebrow and jumped from the barstool he was sitting on. "No problem.." he chuckled as he watched Jade give Jamie a rough shove out the back door. Issac looked at Taylor, questioningly. "What'd you do to her man?" he asked. "How the fuck should I know? She hasn't come close enough for me to say two words since the set before last..." Tay ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "I don't think it's me anyway. I am battling a damn GHOST, and she's wasted, big time." Ike shook his head and gripped Tay's shoulder. "Good luck, dude." he said in sympathy, and both went to help Zac finish taking apart the drumkit. |