How Many More Times

Give Me One Last Shot

Jimmy's POV

I spread myself out onto the couch like a cat and yawned. It was about twelve in the afternoon and I was already tired, fuck it. I lay on my side, staring at Bonzo on the floor, who was still out like a light. Jonesy was also out cold on the bed from all of the cough medicine that he had. The half empty bottle was laying on the small nightstand, waiting for Jonesy to snatch it up again. 

I thought I was going to die of boredom right then and there. There was nothing to do in this damn hotel, except maybe bore yourself to sleep. I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling for a while, for no apparent reason at all, just because I can. My eyes wondered around the room, examining everything there was. I counted three house plants (one of them being dead), a smudge on the glass sliding door, a piece of stray lint tangled up in Bonzo hair, and a dead fly on the window sill. Was this what my life came down to? Just looking around the room, looking at things that meant absolutely nothing to me? Fuck it, life as I knew it was gone... or so I thought.

I heard faint laughs from down the hall. I shot up and listened closer, trying to make out who it was. One of them was Robert, for sure, his thick British accent giving it away. So then the other person had to be Kat, since they always spent their time together. I sighed and flopped back onto the couch. I didn't have the will to talk to her, knowing that I didn't even have a shot at her. She dug her heels in and that was it, case closed and nothing else. 

The voices grew louder and louder. Dammit, they were coming this way. I threw a pillow onto my face, hoping they would think that I was asleep, too. I heard the doorknob turn and the door click as it swung open. I heard their voices hush as they quietly paraded into the room. Besides Bonzo's snoring, the room was dead silent. I peered over the top of the cushiony pillow and searched the room for nobody in particular. Then,  out of the blue, I spotted Kat sitting quietly in the chair by the glass sliding door, gazing out into an unexpected world called Earth. I ducked my head so she wouldn't see me, but it was no use. Her head shot my way and her eyes held a gaze with mine. She got up and snatched the pillow off of my face. I looked up at her, her face beaming, almost glowing, even. "Ah, so you're awake." 

"Took you long enough." She brushed my bitterness away and kept on smiling. I got up and squinted, "Do you do anything else besides smile?" She crossed her arms, "Well, someone is feisty." 

"I'm sorry, but if you were stuck in here with these guys for over an hour, you would be the same way." She looked down at her feet where Bonzo lay, still fast asleep. "Should we wake him?"

"Do you want to stay in one piece?" Kat's eyes widened and she stepped back a little. "I'm joking, Bonzo would never hurt a fly... most of the time." Kat pursed her lips and nodded gravely, "Noted." 

I got up and brush myself off, still tired as hell. I trudged my way over to my acoustic guitar, which was propped up against the wall, as if it were waiting for me. I grabbed the neck and brought it over to the chair which Kat was sitting in earlier. I put my fingers in the G chord position and strummed, making sure it was tuned. As always, it sounded perfect, like it was almost speaking to me. I was so absorbed in my music that I didn't even notice Kat staring at me from the couch. I frowned, "Something wrong?" She shook her head, "You're just so good at guitar, nobody could ever live up to that." I felt my face soften a little, "Thank you, love." I continued to strum the guitar, my fingers dancing up and down the different frets. 

I glanced up at Kat, who was still in awe at my playing. I stopped in the middle of playing and shook my curls out of my face. "Do you play guitar, Kitty Kat?"

"No."

"Then, I'll teach you." She tilted her head, confused, trying to find out if it was a trick or not. "Sit," I demanded, tipping my head towards the open seat next to me. Kat got up and glided over next to me. I handed her my guitar and she took it a little hesitantly. "I'm not very experienced," she confessed. "That is what Hendrix said." She chuckled and shook her head, "If you say so."

I taught her the basics of guitar, the notes or each string, some easy chords, and even the intro to Heartbreaker. It was so much fun, I was spending most of the time cracking jokes, but overall she was actually pretty good, and I'm not just being nice.

I was glad that we could spend this time together, just the two of us. It was as if what happened between us never even happened. Like we got a brand new chance and that I could start over again.  But it all ended when Robert showed up in the doorway, his arms crossed and his face was expressionless. We haven't talked at all about the incident the other night, and I really hope he wasn't mad at me for that. 

Kat looked up at him and his face softened a bit. "What are you up to?" he asked curiously. "Jimmy was teaching my a little guitar." Robert looked at me and arched his eyebrows. "How come when I ask you shoot me down?" 

"Because the last time you touched my double neck, you broke almost half of the strings."

"Oh yeah, I still owe you for that." He chuckled, a twinkle in his eye. I was so relieved that he wasn't pissed at me, or else there would be a fucking cat fight going on right now. I sighed and picked at one of the strings on my guitar. "So no hard feelings, Percy?" He gave me a warm smile and put his hand on my shoulder, "None." Robert was always so understanding, which made him one of my best friends, which made it even harder to try and take Kat from him.