Jack & Lucy

Jack

I pull up to the curb and notice a couple of men loitering on the corner, underneath the lamp that illuminates the Starbucks parking lot. I hope to god she always has parking right in front of the house. 

"Lucy," I say before she goes for the handle. She looks back at me, "I'm glad you are back. And I want you to know that I am proud of you. I can see how much baking makes you happy, and not many people pursue things that make them happy." She blinks, her large hazel eyes staring at me and then swallows the lump in her throat down. "Let me walk you to your door." 

She waves a hand around in front of her as she unclips her seatbelt, "No, no I am fine." 

"Lucy, I am not letting you walk up there alone in the dark with that dress on," I tell her and am glad when she doesn't argue with me. She nods before slumping forward to grab her purse off the floor. 

I walk over to the passenger door and help her slide out of the Jeep. I make sure she lands gracefully on the pavement, but I don't let go of her hand as we make our way up the driveway. I'm surprised how intimate holding her hand feels. I don't do a lot of hand-holding, I'm more of a hand on the ass or back kinda guy, but her hand feels comfortable in mine. She lets me hold it as she stumbles up the pavement, avoiding the deep cracks in the concrete. When we reach the gate that leads to the back house, she says, "I'm glad you don't hate me." She pushes the small wooden gate open and I see the wide sliding door that opens into her small studio. 

"I never hated you, Lucy," I reply quietly as she drops my hand to search for the key inside her purse. "I just..." I couldn't say, I just had realized I was in love with you and was mad you were leaving me. I could, but I really want to tell her everything when she's sober and not swaying in her high heels. "I was just worried you were making a mistake. I should have kept my mouth shut." She finally plucks the keyring out.

 "I'm glad you said something. You were the only one who did." She's looking up at me, with her big glassy eyes and her pink lips slightly parted. I look down at her and she slowly moves her head closer to mine. She's asking me to kiss her, and I really really fucking want to. I've wanted to for years. But not like this. Not while she's drunk and sad. I shouldn't have brought up her living situation. I shouldn't have let a drunk girl think about her ex and never-satisfied parents. The mood is awkward and kissing her is not the move. 

"Lucy..." I whisper as she tilts her chin upward. I also can't reject her, I have to be smart about this. Rejecting a sad, drunk girl is not a good move either. I watch her blink again, snapping out of the moment and she quickly shakes her head, as if shaking away her intention. 

"Sorry," she says quickly and then moves back toward her door, turning away from me. I quickly snatch my hand out to grab onto her forearm, preventing her from putting the key in the lock. 

"No Lucy, I want to," I tell her, which gets her to look at me. "I want to kiss you so fucking badly, but not like this." 

"Not like what?" She asks with confusion splashed across her pretty face.

"I want our first kiss to be...I think we should wait until you're sober." 

"Why?" She asks with a light laugh. 

"Well consent, mostly but..."

"You want to kiss me?" She asks in disbelief like she just processed my words. I nod as her lips part, her jaw dropping in amazement. "For how long?" 

I shake my head, finally dropping my hand from her arm, "I dunno. Years I guess." 

"Years?!" She exclaims as her eyes widen. "Why? I don't...years?!" I somehow made her angry. I wipe my hands down my face. I want to tell her everything, but as she takes a step away from me, her heel gets caught in between the lopsided pavers and she goes stumbling backward. She reaches out to me and I grab her hand as she topples backward, slamming her back into the sliding door. The glass luckily doesn't crack but the door slides open an inch. 

"This fucking lock!" She yells as we manage to get upright. We both look to the open door and then to the key in her hand. "I told Steve it sticks and he said it was going to be fixed." 

"Lucy are you sure you want to stay here? You can come stay with me. Until the lock gets fixed?" I offer but she just put her hands on her hips. 

"No, it's fine. I need...I need to think. I need to go to bed." She nearly shoves me off the patio step, angry at the lock situation and my confession. 

"We'll do this when I am sober," she snaps and I cross onto the driveway with her slamming the door in front of me. 

"Lucy!" I call out to her but a light flickers on somewhere inside and I know the conversation is over. I finally got my opportunity to kiss Lucy Halloway and I completely fucked it up.