| Taylor strode toward Jamie, almost reaching his hand out to catch her, after John gave her a shove in his direction. He thought better of it when his blood began to boil, the vision of HIM kissing Jamie full on the lips searing white hot bolts of pain through his head and his heart. He felt himself soften just a bit when he got a good look at Jamie's face. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks were flushed, the little make up she wore was completely gone as well. His confusion deepened when Jamie caught her own balance and turned to give John a look that should have put him six feet under. "Somethin' you wanna tell me, Jame?" Taylor asked his voice flat and quiet. He folded his arms over his chest and waited, determined this time to make her say the words, or make him go. Jamie could only stand there, her body trembling, her stomach in knots and one syllable away from breaking down and letting these two men see her at her absolute weakest. A state she was not willing to enter at the moment. She opened her mouth once and quickly shut it, not knowing what to say and desperatley wishing Jadeleigh was here to hold her hand, shove her, berate her, ANYTHING to unglue her feet from the patch of eath they were planted on, or unglue her tongue from the top of her mouth. She only stared at Taylor, tears streaming down her numb cheeks unchecked. "Jesus, Jamie." John muttered from behind her and rolled his eyes. "Open your damn mouth and say it.." he urged her and lit a cigarette, shifted his position and waited as impatiently as Taylor. "SAY WHAT?" Taylor practically growled, his eyes flashing angrily, figuring Johnny was urging her to tell him that she was going to take off with him, and just leave him here with his heart ripped out of his chest, broken and bleeding, to eventually become as numb as she liked everyone to think she was. Jamie blinked in shock and took a step back. She opened her mouth to try to speak and nothing came. She glanced back at John, not knowing what to say or do, still wishing that Jade would please hurry and show up and help her make everything turn out the way it was supposed to. John nodded in Taylor's direction, took a long drag off his smoke and only said, "Tell HIM." "TELL. ME. WHAT?" Taylor snapped through gritted teeth, wanting desperately to reach out and touch her, pull her to him and make sure she knew she was HIS. But how could he do that when he was certain he was losing her right before his eyes? That kiss he'd just witnessed was NO ordinary, "good to see you and stop by when you're in town again" friendship kiss. Jamie felt as if her body was no longer her own, as if she were watching from outside herself as she ran both hands through her hair, sniffled and wiped her cheeks, finally, with the backs of her hands. She looked from Taylor, back at John, and back at Taylor again, sheer panic welling up and making her chest ache. She wasn't sure though, if the ache in her chest was due to the pain and anger in Taylor's eyes. "God..." she whispered, and rubbed her cheeks dry with the back of her hands again. "Gotta go..." she breathed and was on her bike and had it started before either John or Tay could catch her. Taylor felt all the wind leave his chest, as if someone had just kicked him in the gut when he realized Jamie was determined to run. "Jame...damn it..." he muttered as he finally managed to move, a hair of a second quicker than Johnny. He grabbed Jamie's shoulder as she gunned the bike slowly away from them, not wanting to hurt either, but needing to be as far from here as possible so she could think. She felt Tay's hand on her shoulder and bit back a frustrated yell. She whipped her helmet off and left it rolling in the driveway as she sped off. "JAMIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Taylor yelled suddenly filled with a sense of doom. He turned and stared at Johnny, sure that John could see quite as clearly as he, that his heart was there on the pavement along with Jamie's helmet. Taylor roared a string of profanity that would make his grandmother roll over in her grave and kicked Jamie's helmet across the parking lot in frustration. He spun on his heel when he heard the low chuckle from behind him. John took a long slow drag off his smoke and stood up straight, stuffing one hand into his pants pocket. "What are you waitin' for man? You followed her all the way here...why?" he asked, took another drag and blew it out, he flicked the cigarette to the ground and ground it out with the toe of his black leather shoe. Taylor ran a frustrated hand through his hair, then stuck them in his back pockets, wishing he had a pack of his own smokes. His nerves were fried and his chest still ached. He looked at John and asked, "Why do you care?" John stared at Taylor, amazed at the guy's control. If it were him he'd have blown, and took a swing at him. John lit another cigarette. "Cause I loved her first." he said. Taylor's eyes flashed angrily. Jamie was hammered, speeding off to god knows where, and Johnny was being so nonchalant he wanted to choke the man. "So?" Tay asked, wondering if John was going to go ahead and finish stomping his heart into oblivion since Jamie had suddenly forgotten how to speak. "So? She never loved me, Taylor. She's in love with you. Jimmy screwed her brain waaaaay past reality man. Knowing Jamie..." he took a long drag off his smoke and blew it out. "Nevermind man. Tell her she has until Monday to answer me about the gig. I don't care whose bed she sleeps in as long as she fucking gets off her ass and stops wasting all that talent." he said, resigning himself to the fact that if he wanted to at least keep Jamie as a friend and get her to play as she was meant to play, he better get used to Taylor and get to know the guy. "If I find her I will..." Taylor ran his hand through his hair, frustrated and unsure where to start looking now. John handed him a cigarette and held out his lighter. "Thanks.." Tay answered, lighting up and taking a long drag. "Where the hell...?" he did not finish the sentence as he looked at John. Two pair of blue eyes met in understanding and Taylor knew where to go. "I'll get her in touch with you as soon as I can, man. Thanks..." Taylor said and walked backward to his car. He sped off, knowing exactly where to look for Jamie. "Later, man." John said and flicked the butt of his smoke to the ground. "Johnny you are a fucking fool." he muttered to himself then smiled. Suddenly he felt like writing. home back next |