True to You

Late Night

1999

"Slash or Axl?" Elliot shivered as the question was murmured in her ear. It wasn't cold that had her shivering, her hair was dry after her dunking in the pool and she'd peeled off her wet clothes to don a pair of Jimmy's sweat pants and a hoodie. It may have been summer but her unexpected swim had left her chilled. Her sock covered feet were carefully tucked between Jimmy's as they lay stretched out on their sides on his bed facing each other. No it wasn't the cold that had her shivering; it was Jimmy's proximity in the darkened bedroom.

Outside the closed door were the faint sounds of a party winding down.

"Hmmmm," she pondered. "Slash...no Axl...no Slash. Sorry I can't get past Axl's bike shorts. It's just not right. No man who isn't competing in the Tour de France should be wearing something that fits so snuggly around his junk."

"Good call." Jimmy touched the neck of his beer bottle to the one in Elliot's hand with a clink. They both sipped.

"Okay my turn," Elliot tapped her bottom lip with forefinger as she thought. "I know...Ozzy or Bruce?"

Jimmy took a sip of beer as he considered the question before he grinned and replied, "Lemmy." Elliot couldn't help her giggle at his answer. Jimmy's grin spread even wider across his face.

She watched mesmerized as he took another sip of beer. What would it feel like if those lips that pressed around the mouth of the bottle were pressed to her mouth? She couldn't help but shiver at the thought.

"Are you cold?" Jimmy asked with concern. Before she could answer he sat up and dragged the covers from the end of the bed up and over them. Once he had them snuggly settled he turned back to her. "Next one Layne or..."

Elliot slapped her palm over his mouth. "There is no or. The answer will always be Layne." There was no question in her mind. She would always be team Layne Staley. The soft nip of teeth against her palm had her yanking her hand back and narrowing her eyes at Jimmy.

"You seem pretty set on that," Jimmy said as he twisted around and reached for the bottle of whiskey that sat among a pile of pens, notebooks, crumpled up pieces of paper and a spare pair of glasses on the nightstand. "What if the or was me?"

Elliot's heart began to pound in her chest as if she was running sprints. What did that mean? Did that question have some hidden meaning? She cocked her head and pretended to think all the while supressing the urge to shriek 'You! You! Always you!' Eventually she summoned up a smirk and said, "Oh well, why didn't you mention that you were included in the equation?"

"I know right? I am a fucking awesome friend to have!" He smiled as he passed her the whiskey bottle. Dropping her empty beer to the floor and took a long swig of whiskey. Hopefully he mistook the grimace on her face for a reaction to the alcohol burning its way down her throat rather than the pain that threatened to crack her chest open as her heart broke. Of course he thought of her as a friend, it wasn't as though he'd lured her back to his room with promises to ravage her body. They'd fled to escape an increasingly drunk Brian who was looking increasingly likely to succumb to Michelle's advances. If they weren't around when he finally relented he couldn't blame them for not reminding him of all the reasons he'd decided to avoid her.

Forcing a note of humour into her voice that she was far from feeling she said, "One final one for you. Scary Spice or Ginger Spice?" She shoved the whiskey bottle toward him. I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry.

Jimmy dipped his head to look closely at her, "Are you in the equation?"

She forced back the tears. Of course I want to be in the equation but you've friend-zoned me. No way was she going to get her hopes up again. Maybe the friend zone was for the best. What if something happened between them and it didn't work out? That would be their friendship destroyed and Jimmy was important. If she had to label him he was her best friend. He got her. He was her people, more than anyone she'd ever met. She hadn't even had to think about it, he just slid on in to inhabit that corner of her psyche where previously only her parents had held space. Maybe she should be grateful that all he wanted was to be friends, she didn't think she'd be able to go on if he disappeared from her life. Determination to accept what he offered and make the best of it strengthened her resolve, after all Jimmy was the best of great guys it wasn't as though he deliberately wanted to hurt her. "Just answer the question sir, Scary or Ginger?" she asked in her best Law and Order voice.