Good evening, my lovely, wonderful, amazing, fantastic readers! From my other story of drabbles, I asked all of you to pick a drabble that you wanted to see made into a full one shot! So, the first one I'll be doing is Home by The Goo Goo Dolls which was requested by three people. This is the story I'll be posting all of my drabbles-turned-one shots!
On another note, I got my braces BACK on today (:P...) but it doesn't matter becauuuuse... Covert Affairs has a new episode out tonight! YAY!
I want to give a shout out and a HUGE thank you to oceanmoon, starbuckfaerie21, Rue Dumaine, Emaelin, SeluciaV, and HattaGirl for reviewing on my other story "Love In The Dark" and a BIG thank you to everyone who subscribed and favorited that story! I hope you enjoy this one as much as you do that one!
Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs, the song "Home", or... (sadly) an Auggie :'( Let me know if you find one! :)
Home by The Goo Goo Dolls
"Oh, come one, Annie! Last night's dinner wasn't that bad. Sure, your sister set you up on what probably would have been an excruciatingly boring blind date-," Auggie began, his tone laced with slight exasperation along with a splash of his usual sarcasm.
"Again. She set me up on what would have been an excruciatingly boring blind date, again."
"Annie… I think you're being too hard on Danielle. She's just trying to help out-," Auggie continued only to be but off once again by an exceptionally annoyed Annie.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. She could've at least checked the guy out instead of just randomly inviting him over for dinner! I mean, honestly? If you hadn't asked me to show you where the bathroom was when you did, I was seriously contemplating whether or not I should strangle him." Annie's tired voice seemed to float across the table to his ears, the subtle swish of her hair barely audible through her rant. Auggie couldn't suppress a grin, shooting a "Really, Annie? Really?" look in her general direction before lifting the rim of his nearly empty mug to his lips. "Hey, I saw that look!"
Twisting his face into a mask of ignorant innocence, he replied, "What look? I'm not giving you any look, not that I can, anyway. And even if I could give you a look I wouldn't."
"Oh, don't pull that on me, Mr. I'm-So-Innocent," Annie scoffed at him, pulling another grin across his lips. "But seriously. That guy last night? Total douche bag." Auggie swore he could hear her grinning at him, picturing her in his minds eye leaning forward slightly, her hair flowing gracefully around her faintly rosy cheeks. He chuckled at her statement before finishing off the last of his drink, thumping his now empty mug down rather loudly on the table.
"Good thing I was there then, huh?" Her tinkling laugh filled his chest with a sense of euphoria and brought smile to his face.
"What would I do without you by my side, Auggie," she chuckled lightly before checking her watch. "Damn, that late already? We should head out, Aug." He nodded his head, pushing back from their table but not before pulling out his wallet.
"Drinks on me tonight?" He asked her, already pulling out the necessary cash.
"Ah, ah, ah! Its my turn to buy drinks! You bought them last week," she scolded, gently placing a hand over his. Grinning, Auggie shrugged and pocketed the bills once more. After a moment, Auggie felt Annie's slender hand slip around his arm, gently guiding him towards the exit.
However, before they had even taken ten steps, the overly self-confident and snobbish voice of the "oh-so-charming" Jai Wilcox intercepted them at the bar.
"Annie Walker. What a pleasant surprise, meeting you here at this time of night. Care to join me for a drink?"
Auggie sighed. Could there possibly be a more annoying human on the face of the planet? Just because Auggie couldn't see Jai, didn't mean that Jai couldn't see him. Thankfully, Annie's sweet and slightly condescending voice washed away any remaining thoughts of His Royal Prickness.
"Sorry, Jai. I just finished my rounds with Auggie here. He's my designated drinking buddy. Maybe next time."
"Oh, come now. Anderson isn't helpless. I'm sure he can call a cab to pick him up. You're not his babysitter, you know-," Jai began, his tone shifting slightly from sultry to just down right rude.
"If anything, you're the one that needs babysitting. Get down from your high horse and yank that stick out of your a-," Auggie retorted, sarcasm dripping from every word.
"Oh, what are you, three? And who said I was even talking to you, Anderson," Jai skulked, his voice coming from Auggie's right.
"You have something you want to say, Wilcox? Now's the time," Auggie's tensed, his jaw setting firmly into a straight line, teeth clenching in sink with his fists. Annie's hand still twinned around his arm was the only thing keeping him from knocking the living daylights out of Jai. Well, that and the fact that he couldn't exactly tell where Jai's face was thanks to the rather loud music. God, there were times like these when he really regretted ever having agreed to that mission in Tikrit-
"Leave it, Auggie," Annie's soothing voice in his ear quickly drew him from his steadily downward spiraling thoughts. "Thanks, but no thanks, Jai. See you at work on Monday."
The car ride back to his place was silent and by silent he meant awkward, "I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to talk" moments.
Even after Annie had parked the car and shut off the engine, neither of them spoke a word. Finally, Auggie let out an uneasy sigh.
"Sorry about earlier."
"It was no problem."
"No, you should've stayed with Jai. There was no need for me to get so worked up."
"Auggie, I didn't want to get a drink with Jai. You know that-"
"Do I?" Auggie sighed again. This was not how he wanted to end a night with Annie. He dragged his hand down his tired face, letting it drop heavily into his lap. "Look, I'm sorry, Annie. It's just been a long day. I'll get out of your hair now so you can hopefully get a decent night's sleep. See you Monday."
"Wait, Auggie, don't-," Annie protested, her smooth hand barely brushing my forearm as Auggie stepped out of her car. He hesitated before closing the door. Sucking in a deep breath, he managed to catch one last whiff of her Jo Malone Grapefruit perfume before replying.
"Bye, Annie."
Late into the night, Auggie thrashed uneasily in his bed. He couldn't seem to get her out of his mind after all the things that had gone down. Moaning in exasperation with himself, Auggie flipped onto his back, angrily throwing his head into his downy pillow. Taking in a deep, calming breath, Auggie closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander. Roaming about through the fields of darkness that enveloped his mind, an epiphany seemed to strike him, like a sucker punch the face.
She saw through his mask, the many layers of protection he'd built to keep others out. The people he'd known before were like empty faces. But her… she saw him for who he really was, for who he had been and for who he was now. That night he lay in bed staring unseeingly up into oblivion. He needed her. He needed to tell her before it was too late. His hands fumbled with the phone, his fingers punching in her number, one he's made a point of memorizing. He waited for two rings before she answered.
"Auggie?" her voice sounded tired and he instantly realized his mistake.
"Annie, sorry, I woke you didn't I?" She groaned in response. "Look, I know it's late but there's something I need to tell you."
"And I'm assuming it can't wait till morning?" She sounded more awake, alert now that he'd gotten her attention.
"Annie… I…" He fumbled over his words, suddenly unable to speak.
"Auggie?" She sounded confused, almost anxious.
He sighed. "Annie, you took down my defenses. Of all the people that I've ever known, it was you. You see me for who I am and when you're not around I… I feel lost. I know you probably don't want to hear this at 3AM in the morning but I needed to tell you." There was a pregnant pause from the other line. "Annie…?" A loud rapping on his front door startled him so much he dropped the phone. Grabbing it he called her name into the receiver once more.
"Open the door, Auggie."
It took Auggie about a minute to comprehend what it was that she was asking for, his brain shooting thoughts through his disorganized mind like bullets, only barely allowing him to catch segments of what was happening.
Swiftly, Auggie moved across his apartment, the tips of his fingers hardly touching things as he passed them.
Sliding the door open, a wave of that oh, so familiar Jo Malone Grapefruit perfume tickled his nose.
"Annie? What are you-," Auggie began, wondering how on earth Annie had managed to get from her house to his in under minute, when a pair of silky soft lips crashed into his.
"Don't talk…" Annie's velvet voice sent shivers down his spine. Reaching his hands up to her face, he found that it was wet, the slightest hint of salt tingling his tongue.
"Annie…"
"Please… just don't say anything."
They stood, locked in each others embrace, the pounding of their hearts the only sound that penetrated the soft silence that surrounded them.
Finally, Auggie just couldn't help himself. "Annie, how did you get here?"
"You're really bad at listening to directions aren't you…" her voice laced with amusement. "After our… well, after you left, I couldn't leave. It just didn't feel right, the way we had parted. So, I was thinking for a long time, just watching the stars through my sunroof-"
Auggie barely suppressed a chuckle, earning a dirty look from her before she continued.
"And then, I opened my eyes and realized that I'd fallen asleep in my car and that my phone was ringing. So, I answered and it was you…" Annie fell back into silence after that.
Auggie opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.
"Did you mean it?"
"Did I mean what?"
"Did you mean what you said earlier… on the phone…" her tone was once again nervous and slightly embarrassed.
Leaning in until their foreheads met, his sightless eyes gazing, unbeknownst to him, straight into hers, Auggie wondered if this was what it felt to be home at last.
"I meant every word of it, Annie."
Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate favorites and subscriptions and I adore reviews! I really hoped you like it, and I'll try and update by next Tuesday! I started school today, which is why I say try, but I'll do my best to follow through!
~Kara~