Author's Note: Sorry it took a while to get this next chapter up! TT I'm very grateful for all the reviews that I've gotten so far. It is definitely encouraging! I cannot promise I'll be quick with the chapters, but I will definitely try my best. If you have any suggestions plot-wise, feel free to let me know! Like I said before, I don't really have a set place the story is going, but I'll welcome anything plausible. :D Thanks!
Summary: Two young adults who have preconceptions of each other meet once again in Brisbane, Australia. The rest, as they say, is history. –Jin/Julia.
Brisbane's Secret
CHAPTER 2: But It Feels Good
He spotted her right away amidst the numerous bodies at The Mustang Bar. Her normally-braided hair was let down across her shoulders, and he noted that it was much shorter than the last time he saw her at the tournament. The glasses from earlier were gone, and her plain clothes somehow made her stick out from the crowd. A plain denim skirt and brown top along with a colorful beaded necklace finished her look with a pair of high brown boots.
Jin watched her look around nervously, surrounded by a small group who he assumed were her friends. He saw Jennifer holding onto her arm with a big smile and a very short skirt – apparently she frequented this place often since she stopped and said hi to a bunch of people already.
He had arrived a couple minutes ago, with a pair of gray plaid pants and a white dress shirt. He toyed with his left earring for a moment before deciding to approach them, trying to look nonchalant.
Jennifer noticed him first. "You made it! Wanna get a couple drinks before we hit the dance floor?"
Truthfully he wasn't much of a dancer, but he could definitely do a few rounds of drinks. Glancing at Julia before turning to Jenn, he gave her a lopsided smile. "Sounds great. Can I get something for you and Julia?"
Julia looked to him as she heard the sound of her name. She couldn't recall another time that he had actually said it. Shaking herself out of her momentary lapse, she nodded quickly. "A wine cooler is fine." Truthfully she wasn't much of a drinker, but she could definitely do a few rounds of dancing – if in the mood. And she wasn't particularly in the mood to dance in front of Jin Kazama, but she'd worry about that later.
"I've been trying to get her into the harder stuff, but she just won't," laughed Jenn as she suddenly took a spot next to Jin. "Get me a vodka, love." Julia noted that her friend was standing awfully close to him.
Jin didn't notice. "I'll be right back," he said, disappearing into the crowd of people.
"Jules," Jenn said sternly, "listen. I took you here so you could get your nose out of the books and research and have a little fun, okay? I know what we're doing at U of Q is really important, but I think it's also really important to take a time out and live a little." She winked. "For starters, you need a boy, honey."
The one thing about Jenn was that she liked to butt into other people's business, and Julia was finding that out quite fast. "If you're thinking about setting me up," Julia rolled her eyes, "forget it." And wasn't Jennifer the one rubbing up against Jin anyway?
"Aw, come on. You two would be so cute together," she pressed. "Not to mention you know each other already! If anything, just let loose and have fun. Sometimes I think you're too uptight for your own good. And if you won't take him, maybe I will."
Jin came back with their drinks, and Julia was grateful for his timing. "Here you go." He handed one to each of them, taking a sip of his own vodka.
"Thanks," Jenn batted her eyelashes at him and gave Julia a look. "Let's go sit down for a bit!" She dragged the other two to a booth where she shoved Julia in one side and took Jin with her to sit across from Julia, crossing her legs and making sure her leg brushed his slightly. "So, Jin. What are you doing here in Brisbane?"
Jin took a long hard sip of his drink, knowing that he was probably in for a night if he spent it with this girl. He knew girls like her. She was nice for the most part, but there was only one thing they were usually after. Tonight he wasn't in the mood to give it. Brisbane had changed him in different ways. The shy quiet Jin that might've turned down an invitation for a night on the town had disappeared over the last two years. He was rebuilding a life that had been controlled by the Mishima lifestyle, and he had probably experienced more in the past two years than Julia even cared to know about.
He ignored all the signals Jenn was giving him, instead scooting a bit away from her. For some reason he felt a little embarrassed in front of Julia, but little did he know that Julia's own cheeks were burning from embarrassment of her friend.
"I'm learning a new style of martial arts at the dojo. They specialize in karate, which is what I want to focus on at the moment," he shrugged.
"Wow, so you can just learn different styles like that? It's amazing that you came here to Brisbane. It's a great place to live, don't you think?" She seemed a bit distracted by a blonde guy that had walked past, and suddenly thought of something. "Oh, Julia," Jenn noticed that her friend had finished her wine cooler, "do you want my vodka? Finish the rest, okay? I'll be right back." She slid out of the booth and left Jin and Julia both very uncomfortable and awkward.
Julia tried to think of something to say as she sipped the vodka, trying not to make a face as she felt it burn down her throat.
"That bad, huh?" Jin's crooked smile returned, and Julia wasn't sure what to make of it. "You get used to it."
"I didn't know you… well, that is to say, I didn't know that you… um." She flustered, obviously not very good at finding the right words.
Jin had quickly finished his drink, and hailed down the waitress for another. "That I drink? Or that I actually go out?" He almost laughed. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you."
Julia couldn't believe that this man that she thought was once so shy was being more forward than she was. "Yeah, I don't know." She looked everywhere but at him. "Jenn kind of made me, if you couldn't tell. But I did want to relax a bit," she said a little defensively, drinking her vodka with a little more confidence.
"I can tell," he eyed her as she tipped her glass, tipping his own new drink back to feel it burn his throat. "Does it taste good?"
She shook her head with a little laugh. "It tastes horrible." She could feel her head spinning slightly. "But it feels good."
"I suppose that's why people drink it." Jin took a swig of his drink as if to compete with her, his eyes fixated on hers.
Taking the silent challenge, Julia eyed him back, almost beginning to chug the drink, holding back the urge to throw it all back up. It burned, and it felt gross, but there was something thrilling about it and she kept eye contact with him as they went through another silent round. And another. And maybe another. She wasn't sure, but maybe there was another one too.
Jenn came back to find her friend laughing loudly, in an out of character way, with Jin grinning slyly at her. Empty glasses were shoved to the side and Jennifer yelped as Julia fell over in her seat. Helping her up and brushing some hair out of Julia's face with a hand, she looked horrified over at Jin. "What happened?" She wasn't used to seeing her like this.
Jin just shrugged with a laugh. "I think we drinked… too much," he stuttered, trying to stand up and dusting off his pants.
"I have to get back to my friend," Jenn said, looking over at the nearby blonde from earlier. "Will you watch her and make sure she's okay?"
"Well…" He was nodding his head, but his mind was still trying to process what she actually said. Who was he watching again?
Julia finally made it up to hook her arms around Jin's neck, clearly unaware of what she was doing. "I wanna… dance. Let's dance. Wanna… dance." She took his hand and brought him into the swarm of warm bodies that were close together. With her hands above her head, she began to move and stumble, and Jin's arms found their way around her waist.
He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be this close to someone physically. Sure, he'd had previous girls, but they were all after something. They had viewed him as an enigma, someone who needed saving from himself. He supposed that was the rush and chase after going after a guy who seemed disinterested, so he played it that way. The girls would eventually get tired, though, and he had figured it to be all a game: a game that occasionally he liked to play himself.
"Why did you stop?"
Jin looked to see Julia frowning slightly at him, her body pressed next to his probably closer than she would've liked if she wasn't drunk, and his eyes suddenly grew soft. "We have to get you home." He knew she wasn't really like this, didn't fit into this crowd very well.
Her hand flew up to his cheek as the other lay on his chest. "Jin, it's barely 10. I'm not going home." Suddenly she sounded very serious, and he started to doubt whether she was really that drunk after all.
"What? Am I that bad of a dancer?" At first she looked hurt, but then she clutched the front of his shirt, pulling his face dangerously close to hers. "Wanna know a secret?"
Jin found himself hypnotized as he stared into her eyes, noting that they were hazel with a hint of green around the middle. "What?" he rasped, almost afraid to know what it was.
Then she giggled, her lips moving past his cheek to brush against his ear as the loud music pulsed through their bodies. "I've kissed a boy before."
"… really." He didn't know what to say, and the sensation that her lips had played on his ear, while ever so slight, was having a sort of effect on him. He tried to shrug it off.
"Really." Julia pulled back to raise an eyebrow at him. "So don't worry. You're not my first." She pulled him down again by the collar, and raised herself up for her lips to meet his, before he could even act or say another word.
Jin wasn't all too sure why he didn't pull away. Maybe it was the alcohol getting to him, maybe it was the way her leg had slipped in between his, or maybe it was even because they hardly knew each other. The kiss was rough, messy, and uncoordinated as their teeth clashed and their noses bumped, but there was showing no signs of stopping on either part. It was desperate, seeking need and acceptance.
In that moment, both of them felt wanted.
