NINE.
"Vivi!" Gwen shouted out as the door swung open, her sneakers squeaking echoing through the house as she ran around the corner. She caught Vivienne in the foyer, struggling to push the door closed against the harsh winds blowing it back against her. When the door latched, she spun around, and although Gwen couldn't see her smile from behind the visor it was obvious in her body language. Vivienne pulled her helmet off, and Gwen gasped loudly. "Oh my god! You look amazing!"
Vivienne smiled; a genuine grin that was almost unheard of for her, turning her head to hide her face as Gwen continued to gush over her new haircut. "It fits you so well! And the bangs are stunning! And you're so beautiful! And you're-"
"Gwen." Vivienne cut her off as she hung up her suit and kicked off her boots. "If you're going to propose just do it now."
"I'll buy the ring today!" Gwen joked back. Her commotion had drawn Ciarán from the living room, his head peaking around the corner.
"Woah. Looking good, kid." He commented, and Vivienne gave him a simple a simple nod as a thanks. "Just wanted to try something new, eh?"
"I had a coupon to a shop and I gave the girl full control. I think she did good." Vivienne shrugged with a smile, shaking out her helmet hair as she walked past him. Ciarán and Gwen followed, splitting back to their stations. Andrew almost didn't notice the new presence as he still had his earbuds in. He caught a glimpse of flannel pass by him, causing him to whip around to look at the drumset while pulling the cords from his ears.
Vivienne settled into her seat, grabbing her sticks and adjusting her stool into the perfect spot; all the while unaware of Andrew's eyes. His gaze scanned every bit of her face, taking in her new appearance that had his heart burning. Her straight hair had been cut into thick layers, with soft bangs hugging the sides of her face and a few wispy pieces of hair for bangs. It tucked right behind her ears and fell just below her shoulders, framing her jaw like a heavenly painting.
Andrew had to force himself to take a breath before Vivienne glanced up, finally catching his eyes. She said a few words that went completely unknown to Andrew due to his enchanted state.
"Sorry- what?" He asked, and Vivienne shook her head with a smile. She pointed her ears.
"What were you listening to?"
"Oh-" Andrew pulled his phone from his pocket, pausing the song. "Just some Destiny's Child."
"Really? I didn't think you'd like them." Vivienne tilted her head, mindlessly spinning her sticks.
"Is this another spice sensitive issue of mine?" Andrew bantered back, gaining a sweet giggle from Vivienne.
"Have you ever heard of TLC?" She tapped each of her toms and cymbals to test them as she talked, her eyes away from Andrew's but his waiting desperately for their return.
"No, actually."
"That's an issue, then. Get on that." Vivienne pushed a bit of hair behind her ear, and Andrew nodded, turning back around as Gwen took her place in front of the band. She gave a quick talk about their progress, how tour started in 4 weeks so they would begin rehearsals 3 times a week, and how the songs for that day would be Would That I and Sunlight, and how everyone needed to get their outfits ready for tour and send them to Gwen so she could coordinate every shows outfits. Vivienne giggled at her overbearing nature, dressing up everyone like dolls to get the perfect amount of publicity, but she would comply anyways.
The rehearsal went without much issue, consisting of 4 hours of work into perfecting the songs to everyone's liking. Vivienne felt much more confident in her performances after the many rehearsals, getting just about no notes from Andrew and Gwen. In fact, it seemed Andrew was getting the most frustrated. He was hypercritical of his singing, at times restarting the song entirely to fix his one mistake that only he noticed. By the end of the rehearsal, his eyebrows seemed permanently knitted together.
"You seen Vivi?" Isiah whispered as Andrew aided in tear down, wrapping up cords and picking up sheet music. He stopped in his tracks at the odd new nickname that seemed to carry in the group quickly. "That haircut..." Isiah trailed off, arms crossed over his chest.
"Yeah. Looks good." Andrew muttered, organizing the papers into a neat stack between his hands.
"She'd look better under me." Isiah remarked, earning a quick smack to the side of his head from Andrew. He winced, turning to complain, but quickly shutting his mouth again when he caught the piercing glare from Andrew's eyes. "My bad, mate."
It took no more than 10 minutes for the band to clear out of the house, leaving just Andrew and Vivienne.
"You ready?" Vivienne asked, walking back into the living room with her biking suit. Andrew sighed loudly as he turned around, rubbing the skin between his brows. "What's with the attitude?"
"It's not an attitude..." He grumbled, throwing sheet music onto Gwen's empty desk.
"That looks like a shit ton of attitude to me." Vivienne joked, and Andrew had to force back a smile.
"I'm just..." He exhaled through his hand over his mouth. "We're a few weeks out and I feel like i'm underperforming."
"Underperforming?" Vivienne scoffed. "You're the main talent."
"Exactly, and I'm not operating at the level that I need to be." One of Andrew's hands accentuated his words as he began to pace around, his other hand running through his hair.
"Andrew, you're doing just fine." Vivienne replied, not reading his anxious state.
"It's not, I need to be better. I need to impress the crowds-"
Vivienne quickly caught on to his spiraling. "Andrew."
He continued to pace in small circles. "And I need to impress the record-"
"Andrew." She emphasized, raising her voice a bit. Andrew just waved his hand and continued his erratic steps.
"And I need to impress Gwen with the sales. A-and I need to impress yo-"
Before he could finish the word that had his heart racing from the idea of saying; Vivienne had firm hands on the flaps of his jacket, yanking him into place in front of her. He stumbled to a tall standing position, craning his neck down to look at her. She peered up with an expression screaming of concern, but also confusion at his sudden breakdown.
"Dude." She spoke, monotonous yet her voice smooth and sweet to Andrew as always. "You need to calm down."
Her blunt statement, although seemingly unhelpful, was enough to make him finally take a breath. "I know..."
"If you keep worrying yourself like this you're gonna drive yourself mad." She realized her hands were still tightly gripped around his jacket. She let go and gave him a light pat on the chest. "You're doing... really good. Your singing is beautiful, and... it always sounds perfect. Really perfect." She stuttered over her words, not used to talking to him like this. She avoided his shaky pupils, looking to the side for a moment to recollect her thoughts.
Andrew's mouth opened to thank her, but all that came out was a silent breath. The air felt thick through his lungs, his gaze trained on her through all of the thoughts clouding his mind at the moment.
"And we're going to be late. Billards starts at 9 and I want to get a table before the place pools with drunk dumbasses." She fished the keys from the back of her suit, fiddling with them as Andrew followed behind her to the door.
"Billards?" Andrew questioned."
"Billards. Pool. 8-ball— Same shit. Have you ever played?" She asked while opening the front door. Andrew grabbed the extra helmet she had left for him before trailing close behind her onto the lawn.
"Barely— we had a broken table in the basement when I was a kid but it fell apart in a flood." Andrew's voice became muttered as he fixed the helmet on his head just as Vivienne. She pulled her bike from its stand and settled herself at the very front of the seat.
"I'll teach you when we get there, then. Get on."
————
Vivienne punched in the quarter machine, causing a slew of colorful balls to slide down the wall ramp in front of her and pool into a bowl. She shuffled them into a pile in her arms, carrying them masterfully over to the pool table where Andrew waited.
The bar wasn't yet full, but quite lively for the early hour, with just a few groups chattering around the TVs and two tenders rushing back and forth between orders. Light music played in the background, loud enough that Andrew knew it was a Biggie track, but it didn't cover Vivienne's voice.
"There are 15 balls, with one eight ball and then one cue. You want to hit every ball but those last two in. You'll break— meaning you'll hit that white one onto the rest and try to get one in. If you knock a solids in, you're solids. Same with stripes." Vivienne placed every ball into a triangular piece of plastic, sliding them onto a dot on the green tarp with a quickness that made Andrew nervous for his winnability in the game. "I'll go light on the rules, so we won't do fouls, but try your best not to jump the balls or knock the cue ball in. If you pocket all of your balls and then the 8 ball, you win."
"What's my prize?" Andrew bantered, and Vivienne shook her head with a smile, she tucked the rack under the table and strutted over to the barrel full of sticks.
"I don't flame you in front of Gwen." She grabbed two sticks and pressed one into his chest. "Here."
Andrew grabbed it, eyes trailing her as she strutted to the opposing side of the table. She plucked a square of green chalk from the edge, sliding it across the top of her cue and then tossing it to Andrew. He barely caught it, doing the same and then placing it back on the edge.
Vivienne stared him down from the opposing end. "Go on, break it."
Andrew nodded, folding his body in half to reach the low level of the table and lining up the end of his cue to the white ball. He stuck his tongue between his lips as he pulled the stick back, slamming the end into the very edge of the ball.
It went flying into the middle of the triangle, clattering through the colorful balls and causing a racket of noise to erupt. Vivienne's hand shot over her mouth to cover a laugh as Andrew stood slouched. "Not funny."
"I'm sorry- it's just... it is funny." She stood up straight, shaking her head to flip a bit of hair out of her face. She stepped to the long end of the table, not even leaning to line up her hit on the ball.
A few of the balls rattled against the edge, and Vivienne clicked her tongue. "Shit."
"Not good?" Andrew inquired, setting himself up on the edge of the table where the ball had ended up.
"Was tryna' set up a shot. I fucked it a bit."
Andrew hummed, pulling his cue back again and missing the ball almost entirely. It rolled pathetically a few inches away, followed by Andrew sighing and letting his head fall onto the table.
"Need help?" Vivienne asked, teasing enough to make Andrew groan in annoyance.
"Yeah..."
Vivienne padded over to him, his presence making him pick his head up again.
"First off, you're holding it very wrong. Do it like the chopsticks." She reached to his fingers, positioning them around the cue diligently. "And don't lean so far." She transferred his hands to his waist, encouraging him to straighten his back. Andrew inhaled sharply through his teeth as she wiggled herself between him and the table to reach for his arms. "Hold it here... and... here." She murmured as she slipped his hands up and down the stick.
Andrew knew that she knew what she was doing, but it made it no less impactful on him. As she twiddling with his fingers and twisted his wrist to hold the stick in a way that was more comfortable, Andrew's eyes were sharply trained on her black leather covered body; her ass pressed against his thigh. He felt the air catch in his throat, his hands struggling to stay on the stick for much longer before she slipped out from between them.
"Go ahead."
"Hm?" Andrew tilted his head to her. Vivienne stood with a smile and her hands on her hips; scanning his face. His eyebrows pushed together, his lips curled down ever so slightly in a frustrated grimace, his pale skin just barely tinted pink and his lips parted as he took shallow breaths.
"Take your shot."
Andrew nodded, turning his eyes away from her. She wanted the attention, she barely tried to hide it; and Andrew refused to give it to her after her stunt.
He pulled back the cue and lined up a shot on a patch of a few balls, slamming it in to knock them around. Surprisingly, the solid red one landed in the pocket across the table.
"Good shit!" Vivienne exclaimed, expecting a similarly excited response from Andrew. Instead, he just bit the inside of his cheek and paced to the cue ball's position.
"I get another now, correct?" He asked. Vivienne narrowed her eyes with a nod. Andrew examined the table for a moment before leaning down for another shot. No balls landed in any pockets, but Andrew's attitude was unwavering as he stood back up and gestured for Vivienne to take her turn.
She approached the opposite side of the table with skyward confidence and a cheeky smirk, checking out the positioning. After a good 20 seconds of silent thought, she bent herself over the edge slowly. Andrew watched as she shifted from foot to foot, catching the attention of a man at the bar behind her. Andrew's chest singed as he and the man both stared, but Vivienne made it obvious she only cared for one as she peered up at Andrew through thick lashes before taking her shot.
The cue bounced off of two walls before knocking a striped ball into a close pocket; a shot Andrew didn't know was possible before she preformed it. She ran her tongue across her teeth as she strutted to the short end. Andrew followed.
"Watcha doin'?" She questioned his movements, but tried not to pay mind to his presence looming over her left side.
"Just checking out your shot." Andrew placed a hand over the small of her back, his breath brushing over her ear as he watched her set up her cue, her hands gripping the stick tightly. Andrew took delight in watching her little ticks, signs that she was breaking first. Signs that he had controlled. To only further his ego, he glared up at the man who had previously been watching Vivienne, causing the man to quickly spin in his stool to face the bar. Vivienne took another shot, missing as she slipped against the side of the ball. She let out a tsk.
They traded spots, now with Vivienne following Andrew and leaning herself next to him. She propped herself on to table next to him, hands behind her to hold her up and the pool cue between her feet. She watched Andrew through half lidded eyes, his every movement under careful observation. The nerves of it all caused him to ricochet his ball off of a random wall, knocking into a small heap of the balls in the corner and knocking them apart.
Vivienne giggled under her breath, the sound piercing through Andrew's ears and making it hard for him to take a full breath. "Intentional?" She teased. Andrew tightened his grip around the stick as he pressed the end against the floor.
"Intentional." He whispered, barely audible. He stood in place as Vivienne skipped to the adjacent end, perching herself in front of the ball with a smile.
Andrew rolled up his sleeves, knowing Vivienne was watching through her peripheral. Her eyes twitched as she focused back in on the ball, acting unbothered and slamming the cue ball across the table, knocking two in at once, landing the ball back on her side. She hummed as Andrew joined her on that edge of the table.
"You're aware you're losing, correct?" She asked softly, her voice smooth and damaging to Andrew's mental strength at the moment. He rolled back his shoulders with false confidence as he set up his shot, refusing to give her even a look to feed her need for attention.
"Correct." He dropped his voice so low, and so close to her it made her skull vibrate as his words slipped through chapped lips. "But you're still shaking, darling."
Vivienne barely noticed her hands trembling, but she quickly put all of her mind to ceasing it. She cleared her throat, and Andrew laughed under his breath.
They traded shots in tense silence; Vivienne hitting two, Andrew hitting one. Vivienne hitting one, Andrew hitting none. Vivienne hitting two. Andrew hitting one. Although he caught on quickly, Vivienne didn't seem to break under his pressure. Andre huffed at the result as she sunk the 8 ball, pressing his cue into the toe of his boot.
"Oooohh, nice try, Andrew." Vivienne sucked her teeth, and Andrew rolled his eyes at her inflated ego. He thought of ways he could break it down, both through words— and the completely sacrilegious ideas that floated in the back of his mind when his eyes darted to her leather covered curves as she strutted to his side. "You just can't beat me here."
"Oh, that's not all you've got for tonight, right?" Andrew's voice was teasing and steady.
"You sure you can go another round?" She smiled up at him, and Andrew tilted his head with a mirrored grin as she turned to the quarter machine.
"You don't even know."
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UHMMM. UHM. UHH!! UHH!!! my fault i got a MF FEELING writing this LMFAOOO. i'm gonna be gone a few days but i'll see yall when im back :)!!!!