"Come on Frosh." He's begging again. I'm sick of all the begging. I slam my door in his face once again and yell, "My name is Ellie. E-L-L-I-E! Is that so hard to comprehend?" He's startled by the slam, so it takes him a few minutes before I hear Jesse knock on the door again and I groan, open the door and he's pouting but he can't pull it off as well as Craig can.
O.O.O.O.O.O
"Ellie! Phone's for you!" Marco yelled up to Ellie, who was currently working on an article for the Core. Coming out of her journalist trance, she picked up the telephone and said, "Hello?" into the receiver as Marco hung up. "Ellie?" Craig's voice came on the phone.
"Uh, hi Craig." Ellie said and moved from the desk to stand up. She walked over to the door and leaned her head against the doorframe. She could hear the relief in his voice.
"Good, you're not completely one hundred percent furiously angry at me still," he sighed and Ellie is not so sure.
"So it's been too long, eh?" she asked.
"Yeah, it has." Craig replied.
"So, um, what have you been up to?" she asked.
"Well, I'm out. Of rehab, I mean." Ellie smiled at Craig's nervousness. He got himself nervous too often.
"Yeah, well, that's good. Was it terrible?" she asked. He coughed and replied, "Well, it's not the best thing in the world." There was a pause and Ellie broke the silence.
"Uh, Craig? Why did you call me?" Craig cleared his throat nervously, "Honestly? I uh, I miss you. A lot Nash. I mean… Ellie." Ellie laughed a bit and said, "Well Craig… I mean Manning… I missed you too." Craig was silent, Ellie could feel the tension in his pause.
"Do you want to go have coffee… or something?" she asked and Craig's voice was happy again, "Yeah… sure. Coffee sounds good."
O.O.O.O.O.O
It had been two years since Craig entered rehab. He was back in Toronto and he and I had rekindled our friendship since then. Coffee every once in a while, a few concerts here and there. He was different now. He was quieter, and obviously had thought a lot about his life. He was still writing music, playing gigs every once in a while. Night after night he would call me up and talk about how badly he wanted to start doing drugs again. I'd laugh and say, "No you don't," and he'd ask what I meant.
"Do you really want to go down the road that leads to pain and misery and losing the people closest to you?" I'd ask him and he'd sigh and agree with me, and I'd tell him to sleep and he'd feel better in the morning, and then we'd hang up. It felt like high school again. Craig and Ellie, the dastardly duo back together again. The rockstar and the cutter. And then one day, it all changed.
O.O.O.O.O.O
"I… can't even begin to imagine you in lingerie, Nash!" Craig laughed, leaning over his coffee, which he now took black. Ellie smacked him lightly and said, "Well, what's that supposed to mean, Craig?" He just smiled, "I've only seen you in a dress once, never again. What makes lingerie so different from a dress?" Ellie laughed, "A lot okay! First of all, lingerie is more revealing than a dress any day."
"Unless, you're Lil' Kim." Craig smiled and Ellie laughed, throwing her red hair behind her shoulder. Craig's hand unfurled from the mug of coffee in front of him and he ran his hands through his hair. Ellie looked at him and said, "What's wrong, Manning? Getting a little skeeved at the idea of me wearing a black negligee?" He smiled.
"Not, really, actually Nash. I said I couldn't imagine it. Not that I was skeeved." He smiled again and then all of a sudden, their lips were together.
O.O.O.O.O.O
I was so sick of Jesse and his stupid little games. It was always on or off or somewhere in between with him. Not just on or off. This was the last straw. I reached for the phone and dialed Craig's number. He picked up on the third ring.
"Hello?" he said into the phone.
"Craig? It's Ellie. Listen, what are you doing, I need to vent." He laughed, and said, "Right now I'm talking to you. You wanna go get some coffee in about ten?" I sighed in relief and said, "Yeah, sure, I'll be right there."
O.O.O.O.O.O
By the time I got to the coffee shop, my teeth were chattering, and I was shaking. I saw Craig looking all warm and cozy with a coffee already in his hands. I went over to him.
"I fucking hate you right now M-manning." I shivered and he laughed, putting his mug down and held his arms out for me and I fell into his lap and he tried to warm me up. When my teeth stopped chattering, I moved to my side of the table.
"So, Nash, tonight… it's New Year's Eve! Got any plans?" he asked and I shrugged.
"I was going to go to a party with Jesse, but I hate him, so that's gone." He frowned and said, "Fought with him again?" and I nodded.
"Not like its news or anything… happens all the time." I sighed and looked up at him, "Why, do you have any plans?" He shook his head.
"I was going to sit in front of my TV and drink beer, watching the ball drop in Times Square and getting drunk off my ass." I hit him in the arm and said, "No. You know what we are doing?" He cocked his head to the left and asked me, "What?"
"We are going to party! Like no drinking, flat-out plain party fun! Run around the city of Toronto and freak people out. Or you could set up at a street corner and show off that talent of yours. And I could dance around like an idiot." Craig laughed and said, "Sure. Nash, you and I are going to party tonight!"
O.O.O.O.O.O
"My name is Craig Manning and I am better than you!" Craig yelled, his head lifted up to the sky, his arms out wide. I laughed and said, "Wow, Craig. A bit weird there?" He looked at me and laughed, "Weird? You're calling me weird?" He pointed to the springy bumblebee headband on my head. I laughed and he said, "Come here… one of them is losing an eye." I went towards him and he checked his watch.
"Oh, shit! El! Ellie!" he laughed, waving at me, "What?" I asked. He smiled.
"It's almost time!" He pulled me close to him and we watched the seconds on his watch count down to twelve.
"Five, four, three, two, one! HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!" It rang throughout the streets and Craig pulled my chin up towards him and kissed me, long and hard and sweet. It felt like the kiss lasted three years, and I was kissing back, and he was all around me, enveloping me in his… Craig-ness. He let go of my lips reluctantly and slowly. I couldn't even breathe.
"I love you Ellie," he whispered and my breath was let out, whispering, "I love you too." And this time, I knew he meant it.