Don't change for you,

Don't change a thing for me.

INXS - Don't Change

I awoke face down on my sofa. Opening one eye, I could see Samson staring at me from the coffee table. He offered a 'mrow' in greeting before hopping down and skittering into the computer room, indicating breakfast time. I stood up groggily and stretched. Groggy and stiff, but, as usual, no hangover. I looked down at myself, relieved to find that I was still fully clothed, though at some point through the night, I must have thrown my sweater off, as it was discarded on the back of my chair and I was wearing only the camisole I'd had underneath. Laughing to myself that I had gone and passed out drunk on my first date with Jack, I padded into the computer room to feed the cats. I jolted with a gasp when I heard a groan from the old sofa along the far wall of the room. Jack crashed here? Why? I shook my head and quietly fed the cats, not wanting to wake him. He may not be as lucky as me in the hangover department, so I thought it best to let him sleep.

I looked at him a moment. He was on his side, facing the back of the sofa, his face buried in the corner. I smiled to myself when I saw the reason for his groan, Stanley, pull himself to the back of the sofa, from where he had been sleeping between Jack and the sofa back. His cat, indeed. Giving Stan a pat, I turned and headed to the kitchen. May as well make breakfast, seeing I am up. If Jack's up to eating when he wakes it will be ready for him. I glanced at the clock on the microwave, which read 10:24am. I reached into the fridge to pull out the eggs and sausages as snippets of the night before came back to my memory.

"Ah, fuck it! four more, c'mon, Sugar, we'd may as well finish off the bottle at this point," Jack reasoned. We were many shots in - to be honest, I don't trust Jack's count on that - and what had been a full bottle of whiskey was now a mere two shots at the bottom, waiting to be poured.

I laughed and waved my hand at him, shaking my head, leaning forward and nearly tumbling even further to the floor, which I was already sitting on. "That's not fair, Jack," I admonished him. "I think you're just trying to get me drunk!" I took my sweater off and threw it in the direction of the chair, hoping it'd find it's mark.

"Well, now, I'd call that mission a complete success, then," he raised the bottle. "To celebrate, a shot!"

He poured the remaining whiskey into our shot glasses and sat down in front of me on the floor, holding mine out to me. I narrowed my eyes at him, but relented, taking the glass. With a grimace and a final 'clink,' we both tossed the gold liquid into our mouths with a satisfying, breathy "Ah!" Jack set his glass and the bottle on the coffee table and twisted himself so that he could lean his back against the sofa. He smiled at me with sleepy eyes and put his left arm out. I grinned back at him and skidded into place under his arm, which he dropped to my shoulders as I turned myself to sit next to him.

"This was a good time, Sugar," he said quietly. "Long time coming."

I nodded. "A bit better than two weeks. Not too bad to get a first date set up."

He turned to look at me. "First date? No, no, no, no. No, Sugar, this is our second date. And it's been just about two weeks between date one," he moved his hand infront of him as if drawing a line between two points. "And date two."

I looked back at him, confused, and closed my eyes, "Wait, so, what was our first date, then?"

He mocked insult, clutching his right hand to his chest. "I can't believe you've forgotten already! The second night we met? You practically begged me to come in for tea? I think that counts."

I glared at him, "That... So does not count," I waved my arm infront of myself. "If it did, wouldn't this, then, be... like, our fifteenth or sixteenth date? If tea after work counts?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No, not every one counts. Just that first one," he explained. "You were so adament," he exaggerated with a knowing smirk.

"Whatever, Jack," I laughed, turning back to lean against the sofa again, his arm relaxing over my shoulders once more. "So, if this is date two, when does the first kiss happen?" I looked to his face without turning my head, wanting to gauge his reaction.

He tensed momentarily before turning his head and looking at me, leaning forward slightly and pulling his left arm back, so his hand was on my right shoulder. "No surprising you, is there?" He said, softly, before turning my face to his with his right hand and slowly bringing his face to mine, to catch my lips in a slow, sensual kiss, that would have knocked me to the ground had I not been there already. He pulled back and looked me in the eye.

"I'm surprised," I whispered breathily, putting my hand on his neck and pulling him back in for a second kiss.

I reddened slightly at the memory, as I scrambled the eggs next to the frying sausages. I turned to put two slices of toast in the toaster and heard the 'thud' of Jack's feet hitting the floor in the next room. When I heard him walk into the hall, I called quietly to him. "Coffee?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder to smile at him. He sleepily smiled back and nodded, rubbing his eyes with one hand and stretching with the other. He still had his jeans on, though his button down was open revealing a white wife-beater.

"Hope you don't mind I crashed," he said, sitting down in his usual spot at the island. "You passed out on the sofa, and I didn't want to go over there and leave your door unlocked," he explained.

"I don't mind at all," I assured him, setting a cup of coffee down in front of him. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired," he raised his eyebrows with a wide smile. "Hungry now that I'm smelling that food. Good, though. Very good."

"Good," I said, turning my back to him so I could pick up our breakfast. Setting the plates down on the island and sitting down across from him, I noticed a peculiar look in his eye. "What's up?"

He smiled slightly and took a bite of his toast. "You are beautiful, you know."

I turned red and looked down, embarassed smile on my face.

"You are, don't look away," he put his toast down and stood up, lifting my chin with his other hand. I met his eye. "Beautiful," he caressed my cheek with his thumb before sitting back down, looking at his food with a mischeivous grin. "So, when's date number three?"

I reached over and shoved his shoulder gently. "Sometime after date number two," I replied with a wink.

He glared at me jokingly, still smirking, before continuing to eat. The rest of breakfast was eaten mostly in silence, with the occasional random chatter happening, as always. As I started clearing away the dishes and cleaning up, Jack disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, and then came out with his coat in hand. "Heading over?" I asked him.

He nodded in reply, coming to stand by the island, knocking gently on it twice. He looked in thought. I stopped what I was doing and looked up at him. He came alive as though he'd never paused and rounded the island, coming to a stop again in front of me. He brought his left hand up to push my hair over my shoulder and pulled me into him with his right hand on my lower back. "Thanks for breakfast, Sugar," he said, his voice rough, before bringing his face down to mine and delivering the most passionate, intimate kiss I'd ever experienced. When he was done, he smiled that smile of his at me, turned, walked to the door, and winked before walking into the hall, closing the door gently behind him as he went.

I smiled to myself before turning to carry on with the cleaning up. As I was finishing, I went to wipe down the countertops, and next to my microwave was the flower he'd given me the night before. Picking it up, I rolled one of the soft petals between my thumb and forefinger. 'I guess I'm wearing purple on the stage tonight,' I thought to myself, before rushing to my closet to find a dress that would work.

It didn't take long. As soon as I opened my closet door, my eyes fell on the long, chiffon number in two shades of purple, one matching the flower exactly. It fell in layers, it's longest reaching the floor, and had one strap reaching up over my right shoulder. Purple and green vines were embroidered along the strap and curved gently just below the bustline. It was perfect. I beamed at the choice, hanging it up outside the bathroom door for when I had to get ready for work.

I puttered around the apartment most of the day. Cleaning up, moving some things around, just to keep busy and pass the time. I opted to wait to call Hallie until tomorrow, as she would just be done her first day of school, and we'd both have, presumably, fun news to share. The day passed fairly quickly, just the same, and the time came to get ready for work.

I showered quickly, blowing my hair dry and deciding on an elegant chignon, with lots of twists, pulled to the right side of my head and situated the flower in the top centre of the bun. It looked great. With the details on the dress, a necklace wasn't necessary, but I went with some dangly, pale green earrings to compliment the green in the embroidery. As usual, I went light with the makeup, the only addition was a sweep of green eye shadow over my eyelids. The look was complete, and I was beyond satisfied. Tuesdays aren't usually a busy night at the hotel, but that didn't matter to me. Sometimes, it's just nice to be a girl.

By the time I was done getting ready, it was time to head to work. I grabbed my long, old, black leather trenchcoat to pull over the dress, hoping to shield the look (you never want to look 'well off' in the Narrows) and protect the dress from the elements. It was looking a bit grey out there, and headed to my bus stop with a smile on my face.

...

A/N Thanks, again, to everyone reading this story. I'm having lots of fun with it. Hope this chapter was to your liking, even if a little bit short.