"...nothing that I wouldn't do, go to the ends of the earth for you, to make you feel my love..." - Adele
Love was bittersweet. It was a lesson that both he and his best friend had learned all throughout high school and several times since then. It had it's joys and it's sorrows but when it was gone, it almost always left you feeling empty and a little bitter. The sweetness of that love though, still lingered and still made you want to find it again. The feeling of a new love and all that, that entailed - even the less than joyful aspects - was something you always wanted, craved even. The bitter sorrow is why he suspects someone had the brains to invent tequila. Which, of course, led someone else to discover the joys of drinking said liquid as a shot with salt and lime - and has he mentioned that lime is his new favorite fruit?
"Hmmm." Her bitter sigh is accompanied by the need for another shot because she lifts her head from her hand and reaches for another shot glass on the tray.
A hard swallow, a splash of lime and a pinch of salt is all it takes to get the tequila scorching a fiery trail down her throat accompanied by the cool sourness of lime and the tang of salt. The glass tumbler slams down on the aged, slightly splintered wood of the booth they're sitting at in Julian's Tavern. She's a straight-shooter, in more ways than one. He's never been able to comprehend how someone like Melissa Wu of all people can throw tequila back like a seasoned professional but she can and when the opportunity presents itself, she does.
"So," He grabs a shot of the fiery amber liquid from the tray and in the same manner she does, throws it back. He clicks his tongue against the wave of fiery pain in his throat as the blazing trail of tequila enters his bloodstream. "What went wrong with this one?"
"Some cheap stripper who could have given new meaning to the phrase, dumb blonde." Melissa bit out, gritting her teeth as she reached for another shot. "I mean, she really could have given new meaning to any phrase relating to blondes and a high level of idiocy."
He just laughs as he watches her toss back another shot of Jose Cuervo and quips easily; "I see your relationship with Mister Cuervo hasn't suffered in any way from your latest bitter breakup."
"'At's right," She's starting to get a little slurry and is tipping over slightly in the booth. "'ose never lets me down."
He knows when she sounds as if she has a lisp, it's time to cut her off. With a wave of his fingers, he calls the waitress over and quietly tells her to take the tray of tequila way and bring back a glass of ginger ale. Melissa's heartbroken, there's no doubt about it, but as her best friend, he knows that when Melissa is heartbroken, Melissa is a very heavy drinker and without someone to cut her off, she'd drink herself into oblivion. At least, this way he can save her from the hangover from hell, she'll have if she drinks anymore. Melissa's eyes light up when the waitress places a tall glass of iced ginger ale with a cherry dropped in it, in front of her.
"I mean," Melissa grumbles, plucking the cherry out of her drink by the stem and popping the juicy red fruit in her mouth, pulling it off of the stem with her teeth. "Is it really hard to find someone who isn't going to cheat?"
He wants to tell her that he has been right in front of her the whole time, but she's drunk and telling her now would be taking advantage of a heartbreak in order to be a rebound. He doesn't want to be the rebound but at the same time, he's sick of being her ever supportive best friend, who is there to cut her off when she's on the verge of too many drinks, because some idiot wasn't smart enough or man enough to see what he had and broke her heart. He loves being her best friend, don't get him wrong, but he was sick of watching her get her heart broken time and time again. He wanted to show her that there were men out there who didn't cheat.
He wants to show her that he loves her more than those ridiculous idiots she dates ever will.
xxx
He's in full-on supportive, caring best friend mode the next morning. Pancakes are frying to golden brown perfection in a pan lightly coated with melted butter; bacon is sizzling to a dark brown crispiness and a carafe of hot coffee is brewing in the coffee maker. A bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water have been placed on his bedside table for her when she wakes up and her jeans have been washed and dried to a warm softness and clean freshness after having been puked on the night before. One of his flannels have been placed on top of them on the bathroom counter as her shirt had absorbed the pungeant odor of puke and the acid stain of tequila and stomach acid.
"Did I get in a fight with Satan last night?" Her question is sleepy and slightly breathless as she pads into the kitchen, fingers curled around the edge of the sleeves of his gray button-down.
"No," He shakes his head, flipping a couple of pancakes onto a plate and plucking some bacon out of the frying pan with tongs. "But you and Jose Cuervo re-consummated your relationship several times last night." He winces as he remembers one particularly colorful part of the evening. "That is before your stomach protested your oh-so-friendly relationship with Mister Cuervo and you were reduced to puking neon green liquid into the mud outside of the bar."
"Oh," Melissa reels back as he tells her what happened. It takes a second for her brain to recall the particular chain of events he's regaling to her but when she does, the nausea returns full-force and the headache worsens. She winces as the memory flashes behind her eyelids; "Oh dear God!"
"Yea, I don't think the owner appreciated your contribution to the fertile grounds outside his bar." Jackson chuckled, watching as she pours a cup of coffee and pads over to the kitchen table to sit down. "Although, apparently you, ahem, tossed your cookies in a pretty popular spot."
"There's a popular place to puke?"
"Outside the seediest bar this side of L.A., yea." Jackson laughed as he turned the stove off and carried plates of food over to the table. "Apparently, the spot you chose to introduce Mister Cuervo to the ground, is always wet because somebody pukes before it can dry up completely. Congratulations, you've made a contribution to the puke spot of Julian's Tavern. Pancakes?"
"Hangover food." Melissa smiled as she let him dish her some pancakes and bacon. "I think my stomach might appreciate the re-consummation of this particular relationship."
"Now that I've filled you in on your wet, wild and puked up night, care to tell me what brought it on?" Jackson asked her, crunching on a strip of bacon.
"I caught my oh-so-wonderful boyfriend," The term of endearment is said with a tinge of acidity that you'd be hard-pressed not to catch. "In a hotel room with a cheap blonde stripper."
He doesn't say anything, instead choosing to focus on the syrup-drenched pancakes on his plate. He won't say that he could have told her she'd catch her scumbag ex-boyfriend with a cheap blonde, who had nothing better to do than help low-class idiots cheat on their girlfriends. Apparently a lack of response on his part leads to irritation on her part but the buttered fluff of pancake muffles the colorful snarl of irritation that's thrown in his general vicinity.
"I love you too, Mel." Jackson mocks her, forcing a pseudo-sweet smile onto his face.
"I should hate you," Melissa grumbles after she swallows the mouthful of fluffy, buttered pancake in her mouth. "But hangover food so can't."
"Wow!" Jackson chuckled with a shake of his head. "Hungry Melissa is a very inarticulate Melissa."
"And a chipper, over-caffeinated Jackson is mocking and irritating." Melissa spat, taking a sip of her coffee. "How's that for articulate?"
"Hungover, de-caffeinated, inarticulate and grumpy." Jackson listed off, pushing his plate back. "Yep, you drank too much tequila last night."
"And did I ask for your opinion?" Melissa growled, finishing off her pancakes.
"No but I usually provide my opinions anyway, free of charge." Jackson crossed his arms over his chest. "And my opinion is that you and Jose Cuervo got a little too cozy last night. Of course, you also got to know the puke soaked ground pretty well and I think your jeans caught more of the puke than the ground did."
"Lovely,"
"I managed to save your jeans but your Bon Jovi t-shirt is still steeping in a bucket of hot water." Jackson told her as he stood up and started gathering the plates. "That poor t-shirt, I think it saw every drop of tequila you consumed, in reverse."
"It's my favorite t-shirt," Melissa defended with a child-like pout.
He'll never say this to her but he finds her pout adorable. Mostly because her lips are naturally full and her pout looks cute, unless she's wearing lipstick than it goes straight from cute to just sexy. Her child-like mannerisms is one of the things that made him fall in love with her in the first place, among her many other endearing qualities.
xxx
At noon, a cheaply made thin cardboard box with a clear plastic window is delivered. The bouquet of blood red roses, lacy white baby's breath and lush greenery is beautiful but the note attached is insincere and he knows that if the note is insincere than whoever sent the flowers to her did so out of habit. He had bought flowers before as a way to apologize but Jackson knew Melissa well enough to know that the cardboard box won't get opened and the flowers will die of oxygen deprivation as the box is sent sliding down the garbage chute along with the insincere note.
"Nothing says 'I love you' quite like boxed flowers and a note that wasn't handwritten." Melissa grumbles as she crumples up the card and carries the box of flowers over to the garbage chute outside of his apartment.
A thin, tan shoulder peeks out from the collar of his flannel shirt as she pulls the chute open and shoves the box into it along with the card before closing the chute again. She hates the insincerity of boxed flowers delivered by some pimply teenager and if she receives another box, they'll meet the same fate as that box.
"You okay, babe?" Jackson leans against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Yea," Melissa nods, turning to face him. He can see the tears in her eyes but he knows her well enough to know that she doesn't want them mentioned.
"Babe," Jackson almost singsongs knowingly.
She crosses her arms over her chest and looks down at her feet where toenails painted a dark purple peeked out from the distressed, light denim. Her hair falls over her shoulders in curtains of black as she raises one hand to wipe her eyes; "I thought he was different...I thought he was the one guy who wouldn't cheat..but he did."
"Mel,"
"Jackson," Melissa looks up at him, desperation clear in her dark eyes. "What's wrong with me? Why do they always cheat on me?"
"Nothing is wrong with you. Nothing." Jackson reassures her, pushing himself off of the wall to move closer to her. "It's them. They don't see what an incredible girl they have. They're the idiots, baby. Not you. Nothing is wrong with you."
She slides her arms around his abdomen and nuzzles her face into his chest. He wraps his arms around her, tangling one hand in her mass of thick black curls. Pressing a kiss into her soft hair, he let her cry out her sorrow, ignoring the dampness seeping onto his t-shirt. He could have cared less about the shirt, all he cared about at that moment was his best friend. He carefully led her back into his apartment and slammed the door shut, determined to keep the world out.
"You okay?" He murmurs a few minutes later when she seems to have settled against his chest.
"No," Her strangled sigh is muffled by his t-shirt. "But I will be."
"I hope so." Jackson murmurs into her hair. "I hope so, Mel."
He doesn't tell her that a plan is forming in his head. A way to tell that he loved her. A way to be with her without completely scaring her away or being the rebound relationship that didn't have a shot in hell at working out. He doesn't want to be the rebound relationship; he wants to be the one guy that proves to her that unlike her previous boyfriends, not all guys - he's talking about his self for the most part - cheat. He doesn't tell her that this plan involves a couple of weeks, a thousand flowers and a bunch of handwritten notes.
xxx
His truck growled and rumbled as the tires crunched through the wet gravel of his parent's driveway. He had a plan but his plan was going to require assistance, which he hoped his parents could provide. His parents loved Melissa so he didn't think he'd have an trouble getting them on board with his plan. It had taken him two weeks, several balls of notebook paper, hours of research and countless calculations to come up with his brilliant plan but he had it, it was brilliant and he was going to start putting his plan into motion, as soon as he got his parents on board with the plan. As soon as his shoes hit the wet gravel, his mom came rushing out of the door, honey blonde curls flying behind her.
"Hey Mom," He caught her easily, years of practice from catching Melissa coming in handy as his mom liked to do the same thing. "How've you been?"
"Good," Cindy pulled away from her son and held him at arm's length, to look at him. "Look at you. Still skinny."
"Keeping up with Melissa is a workout." Jackson quipped, easily as he followed his mom into the house.
"Mentioning Melissa, how is she doing?" Cindy asked her son, leading him into the kitchen.
"Okay, I guess." Jackson told her, taking a seat at the kitchen table while his mother poured some coffee into two mugs.
"Just okay? What's wrong?" Cindy asked, setting a mug of coffee in front of him.
"She's just been so depressed lately." Jackson sighed, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Melissa? Why I don't think she's ever been depressed in all of the years I've known her." Cindy commented, taking a seat across from him with her own coffee mug. "Why is she depressed?"
"She was dating this guy, Ethan, I think his name was. Anyway, she comes home a couple of weeks ago saying that she needed a drink. We go to Julian's Tavern, she's drinking tequila and the truth comes out." Jackson sighs softly, looking down at the swirls of steam billowing from the mug of black coffee. "He cheated on her."
"Why would anyone cheat on Melissa?" Cindy asked him angrily, slamming her hands down on the table. "She's such a wonderful girl."
"I don't know, but I do know I fully intend to kill the guy if I cross his path." Jackson growled angrily.
"Hey," Cindy slapped at her son, "Melissa doesn't need her best friend in jail. Don't kill him."
"But - " Jackson sounded like a petulant child, as he looked over at his Mom with something of a childish look on his face.
"No." Cindy laughed at her son's childish display - even though she knew that underneath that was a fierce protectiveness of his best friend. "You cannot kill him."
"Fine, but I don't have to like it." Jackson grumbled petulantly, taking a sip of his coffee. "Anyway, the reason I'm here."
"Oh yes, why are you here?" Cindy asked him as if just remembering that he had called and said that he needed ask them a favor.
"Where's Dad?" Jacksn asked her.
"Out in the garage, I'll get him." Cindy disappeared through the kitchen door and reappeared a few minutes later with her husband behind her, wiping his hands on a red mechanic rag. "Here he is."
"Jackson, what are you doing here, son?" Johnny asked his son, moving past his wife to shake his son's hand.
"I need your help," Jackson shook his father's hand.
"What kind of help?" Johnny narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his son. "Anything to do with Melissa."
"Yea," Jackson nodded, as his father sat down at the kitchen table while Cindy poured them fresh coffee. "I have a plan."
"To do what?"
"Tell Melissa how I feel." Jackson told them, already knowing what their reaction would be.
"It's about time!" Johnny and Cindy chorused, staring at him pointedly.
"I know, I know but things have been complicated." Jackson shook his head, "She's been with other guys."
"And cheated on with other guys," Cindy pointed out, staring at her husband and son pointedly. "And no, boys, you do not get to kill the jerk."
"Do I at least get to know his name?" Johnny stuck his lower lip out for effect.
"It's Ethan-something. Real slime-ball too. Cheated on her with a stripper." Jackson growled clenching his fists.
"Unclench the fists," Cindy tapped her son's balled fist. "You don't need to come unhinged on the guy. Melissa needs you. So what's the plan?"
"She loves flowers but she's been sent the same flowers over and over again until I think she's starting to feel like flowers are insincere. I want to change that." Jackson told them, pushing his coffee mug away for the time being.
"How?"
"By filling her room with a thousand flowers." Jackson told them, laughing when he saw the disbelieving look on their faces. "Daisies, actually. None of her previous slimeballs knew that roses are not Melissa's favorite flower. They just assume because she's a girl. She loves daisies and - "
"By filling her room with them, you might be able to prove to her that you aren't like other guys." Cindy smiled, wondering when her son became such a romantic. "Aren't you a romantic?"
"I'm just tired of seeing someone who's always so happy, so depressed." Jackson sighed wearily. "If I can prove to her that I'm not like other guys than I might have a shot in hell with her."
"Count us in." Johnny laughed, "Just tell us what you need."
With his parents on board with his plan, Jackson knew it was only a matter of time before he had his best friend as his girlfriend. He was determined to restore her seemingly lost faith in guys being able to stay faithful to their girlfriends.
xxx
Daisies were harder to find than he thought. Especially when his plan involved one thousand of them. No amount of planning and careful research could have prepared him for the massive amount of phone calls he would have to make, just to find a floral shop that had the proper amount of daisies. Finally, after a week he had found a floral shop that catered to large events and had more than enough daisies to make his plan work. Just to add a classic touch, he also ordered some red and white rose petals.
So one maxed out credit card - his credit card to be exact and two trucks - his and his Dad's - full of daisies later, Jackson was fully prepared to set his plan in motion. After shooting a quick text to his best friend to confirm what he already knew, he pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. Melissa worked at the downtown community center everyday from three to six to help teach kids of all ages about art and give them free art lessons. Which was perfect because it would take him about three hours to set the whole thing up.
"Okay," Jackson readjusted the load of his daisies in his arms so that he could unlock Melissa's apartment door. "Here we go."
"Why exactly do you have a key to Melissa's apartment?" Johnny asked his son as they carried the first load of flowers into the apartment.
"I don't. The landlord does. She just sees me so much, she knows who I am and knows I wouldn't be asking for the key unless I needed it." Jackson carried the flowers into Melissa's bedroom and settled them on her bed. "Set them on her bed for now."
"Okay," Cindy came into Melissa's bedroom with plastic bags hanging on her arms. "I got vanilla candles and a CD with a song I think is appropriate."
"What?" Jackson asked his mother.
"Adele," Cindy pulled the CD out of a bag. "I heard Melissa mention wanting the CD so now she has it and the song I'm talking about is 'To Make You Feel My Love'."
"Sounds perfect," Johnny kissed his wife's head as he headed out to get another load of flowers.
Between the three of them, they managed to get the flowers into Melissa's apartment in record time. Once everything was in and ready to be set up, Johnny and Cindy wished him luck and bid him goodbye before leaving him to his job. Jackson grinned as he locked the door and made his way into his best friend's bedroom and started his work. He grabbed the container of rose petals and started about spreading them on the slick black surface of her dresser before arranging the candles on there.
Once the candles were set up, he started his job with the daisies and roses. He removed the flowers from their cellophane wrapper and separated them; before laying them around the room. After every available surface of her room had been covered in daisies and all the cellphane had been thrown away, he opened the other containers of rose petals. The mix of red and white rose petals would be just enough to form the shape he wanted. He carefully scattered the red and white rose petals around her bed in the shape of a heart and with the extra bouquet of daisies, he formed a circle of white around the heart. In the center of the heart was a piece of artifically aged paper with the words, 'Love Everlasting...' scrawled in thick red letters.
"I hope this works," Jackson mumbled looking up at the clock. Melissa would be walking through the door any minute and he still some last minute touches to put on his work. He put the CD in her stereo, skipped to the right track, lit the candles, shut the lights off and stepped out of the room just as Melissa was walking through the door. "Hey Babe."
"Jackson?" Melissa dropped her keys and purse on the couch. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I have a surprise for you." Jackson shrugged as he pulled a black silk scarf from his pocket and held it up. "I have to blindfold you."
Melissa reluctantly let him blindfold her, and lead her into another room. The soft scent of vanilla mingled with the scent of daisies and rose petals; the soft strains of To Make You Feel My Love poured into the room immediately followed by the soft, tender contralto of Adele crooning the sweet love song.
"Jackson, what's - ?"
"Shh." Jackson whispered in her ear, untying the silk scarf and letting it fall away from her eyes. "Not yet."
Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the vanilla candles in the dark room and what she found took her breath away. Rose petals scattered on her dresser, glowing a deep blood red in the soft golden light of the creamy white candle burning. Her room was covered in daisies. The soft white flowers covered every flat surface and he had created swirl patterns on the floor with them. Her bed was covered in rose petals and daisies and a piece of paper.
"Jackson, what is all of this?" Melissa moved farther into her room to take in everything. "Jackson, this is...how long did it take you to do this?"
"A couple of weeks of planning, two trucks full of flowers and a little over two hours to set everything up." Jackson shrugged it off. "It was worth it though."
"Why?" Melissa breathed in confusion, looking over at him. "Why do all of this just for me?"
"Because I think you're worth it." Jackson smiled at her. "I think you're worth more than a cheap stripper and a box of chemically preserved roses. I think you're worth a lot more."
"But Jacks - " Melissa could barely finish her sentence when Jackson interrupted her.
"I know. I know he hurt you." Jackson finished for her, his voice tender and slightly hoarse from the anger at what her stupid ex-boyfriend had done to her. "I know that him cheating on you made you think that you weren't worth the trouble of a relationship. You've been my best friend for a long time now, Mel and I think you're worth a relationship and whatever comes with it."
"But what if I can't be in a relationship? What - what happens if I completely suck at relationships?" Melissa asked him tearily, the pain of possibly dealing with another bad relationship clear in her dark brown eyes. "What if it doesn't work out? I can't lose you."
"You don't suck at relationships." Jackson shook his head as he walked over to her. "No, your exes suck at relationships. They forget that girlfriend means they are no longer entitled to the cheap thrill of strippers or other women."
"Ethan - "
"Was a disaster waiting to happen. I hate that he did what he did to you, Mel." Jackson told her softly. "Ethan was always gonna cheat on you. I know guys like him. They think they can do whatever they want, even if they have a girlfriend so they cheat and try to feed their girlfriend some lie about what they were doing, not knowing that the girl will find out eventually."
"He hurt me." Melissa looked down. "More than I thought he would."
"I know and for that, I'd like to kill him but my Mom tells me that you'd kill me so I'm resisting the urge." Jackson chuckled softly, before sobering up. "I love you, Melissa. I know that you've had your faith in men shaken and believe me when I tell you that I understand and that it's completely justified but I don't want you to think bad about yourself because of something you had no control over. You couldn't have known that Ethan would treat you like he did."
"What if I hurt you?"
"That'll never happen." Jackson shook his head.
"But how do you know?" Melissa asked him, desperate to know how this could possibly work. "How do you know?"
"Because I know you, baby girl." Jackson told her tenderly. "I know you. You would never do anything to hurt anyone around you especially me."
"Well not maybe not intentionally..." Melissa trailed off.
"Baby," Jackson brushed her cheek with his hand. "There is nothing you could possibly do that would hurt me, intentional or not. After dating Taylor, there is nothing in this world that could hurt me more than what she did."
"I don't want to lose you, Jackson." Melissa's bottom lip trembled. "I love you too much. I can't lose you."
"You won't. I love you too much to leave you." Jackson reassured her softly. "I don't want to see you hurt anymore, baby girl. I don't want to sit back and watch you get hurt by idiots who don't know how to treat a girl right."
"I'm scared." Melissa admitted, her voice hoarse with a vulnerability that Jackson had never seen in his best friend. She was so vulnerable and afraid of getting hurt that letting someone in too close and opening herself up to loving that person seemed like too much of a burden. "I'm scared that I won't be good enough...that I might hurt you."
"Sweetheart," Jackson murmured pulling her into his arms. "I can't do any better than you. You're the best. You're my world...my life. I know you're scared and I know that you don't think this is going to work and that you'll hurt me but I promise you won't. There is not a thing you could do that would make me love you any less."
"Are you sure?" Melissa wrapped her arms around his abdomen and buried her face in his chest.
"I'm sure, Sweetheart." Jackson held her tighter. "I'm positive."
"I want this." Melissa looked up at him. "I want this as much as you do. It's just going to take some time."
"I know, baby girl. We'll go slow." Jackson told her, leaning his forehead against hers. "We'll do it right this time. I'll help you."
"Okay."
Jackson smiled as he leaned closer until their lips were almost touching, "Can I kiss you now?"
"I'd like that." Melissa nodded before he captured her lips.
It was slow, sweet and mindblowingly amazing. The tenderness and the love in it made her feel safe and protected like only her best could do. He only deepened the kiss when she opened her mouth and let him. It was easy to get lost in it because it was what they had both wanted for so long that it just made sense. They only pulled away when oxygen became a necessity. He smiled at her as he leaned his forehead against hers again and whispered a promise that she knew he'd keep; "I'll love you forever, baby girl."
"Promise?"
"Always."
And in her candle-lit bedroom, surrounded by thousands of daisies and enveloped in the warm, richness of Adele's contralto voice, he proved it to her. Her best friend had gone above and beyond for her; all because he wanted to give her back that feeling of being so loved and so protected that it literally felt like nothing could touch you. He had done everything he could do to make her feel the love he had for her. And he'd continue to do so for as long as it took.
Whew! Several days and many tears (literally), it's done! I had this idea in my head and I ran with it. This is the end result. TheOnceAnonymous14, I feel like I should dedicate this to you because dammit, you've been my best friend and you've been so patient and so understanding with how long it takes me to write things! You even gave me the idea for the flowers! You're the best!
Leave me some love, Dolls!
Love you,
RobertDowneyJrLove