A/N: I still own nothing.
The holidays had come and gone with the usual fanfare. The group had spent Christmas night at Roger's house after they had returned from their own family gatherings. They hadn't given each other presents, they would rather enjoy each other's company and eat good food then worry about finding presents for everyone. Collins' parents had their annual New Year's Eve party the following week, inviting the rest of the group and their parents to the celebration. Elsie smiled to herself thinking about New Years while driving over to Roger's. She would never forget the look on Mark's face when Maureen kissed him at midnight. Poor Mark's face flamed even more when Elsie, Roger, and Collins whooped and whistled at them. The two had been inseparable ever since and she had to admit that they made a cute pair. Mark calmed some of Maureen's hyperactive tendencies while she made Mark a little more outgoing.
She broke out of her thoughts as she pulled into the driveway to see Roger pacing back and forth on his porch. As soon as he heard the car he practically sprinted toward the car.
"Are you ready?" he asked bouncing around like a child waiting to open presents on Christmas morning.
"Someone's really excited." Elsie laughed as she began pulling out of the driveway.
"How could I not be? We're going to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live!" He couldn't believe this was happening to him. His grandparents had gotten him the tickets for Christmas. His dad was supposed to go with him originally but something had come up so Roger had asked Elsie to go with him. She loved The Boss too, just not as much as Roger.
"I know." She grinned. She hadn't seen Roger this excited about anything ever. Bruce Springsteen was his number one idol. Roger worshiped the ground he walked on and his songs were sacred and if you said otherwise Roger would tear you a new one. She really liked The Boss but Roger took it to another level. "So what songs do you most want to hear?"
"That's a tough question," He took a minute to think about it, he owned every album and knew most songs by heart. "Well Born to Run goes without saying."
"Of course."
"I guess it's a tossup between The River, Atlantic City, and Thunder Road." He said as he turned the station.
"Atlantic City always makes me sad." She said as he settled on one radio station. The Long and Winding Road by The Beatles played softly through the speakers.
"True, but it's such an amazing song. I wish I could write just one song that effects people the way his songs affect me." He turned his head to look out the window as they got on the highway.
"Your songs are spectacular, Roger. One day they'll be playing your songs on the radio along with Springsteen. You really are that good; I wish you would have a little more faith in yourself." It always frustrated her to no end that he never had confidence in his music.
"Hi pot, I'm kettle. It's really nice to meet you." He said turning to face her sticking out his hand.
"Touché." She replied as the opening of Born in the USA came on. Roger instantly started pounding his fist on the dashboard; Elsie did the same with the steering wheel.
"Born down in a dead man's town, the first kick I took was when I hit the ground." They both belted out at the top of their lungs. They both knew that by the end of the night they wouldn't have voices but that was the last thing on their minds. This was something they would be talking about for years to come.
An hour and a half later found them pulling into an already crowded parking lot at the arena. It looked as if all of New Jersey had come out to see their local boy come home. Roger leapt out of the car before Elsie had completely stopped the car.
"Don't get so excited you pass out, because I'll leave your ass where you fall." She pulled her beanie on and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck as she laughed. It was defiantly too cold to be outside for too long.
"Glad to know you care." He laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they made their way to the end of the line. "God I really hate winter."
"This line better go fast. It's way too cold to be standing out her for too long." She shivered again so Roger pulled her closer to him.
"The doors should open in five minutes and I'm sure the line will move really fast." Elsie nodded as she huddled closer to him. Elsie hadn't realized just how comfortable she was with him until Maureen had pointed out how they always seemed to be touching, whether it was her resting her head on his shoulder or him wrapping an arm around her waist or shoulders. Maureen had gone on to ask whether there were feelings between the two. Elsie had of course denied it because at the time it was true. Roger was probably her best friend; she could talk to him about almost anything and vice versa. She felt comfortable with him, which was something she hadn't thought possible only a few months before. After Maureen had brought it up though Elsie couldn't help but notice what a great guy he was. There was no denying that he was good looking. He was tall with slightly curly blonde hair. His eyes were pale green and his smile was wonderful. There were several girls that would die to go out with him in their grad. But he never seemed interested in them, he was content with his music and spending time with his friends. Although he hadn't mentioned any girls he was interested in to her, Elsie figured he would go to Mark and Collins to talk about those kinds of things. She realized on New Years that she had feelings for him. When the clock struck midnight, Collins and Roger kissed her on her cheeks. She'd felt tingles on her right cheek the rest of the night. Someone had taken a picture of that moment, it now hung on the mirror of her vanity. She closed her eyes and sighed as she once again asked herself the question that had been repeating itself in her head for the past three weeks. Was she ready to trust someone like that again? As a friend was one thing but on a relationship level that was a whole other ball game. She knew she still had a lot of issues to work through and it wouldn't be fair to either of them to start something and have it be doomed because of her lingering issues.
"You still with me?" He asked tapping her forehead. "You've been a million miles away for the last few minutes."
"Sorry. I just got lost in my thoughts for a little while." She gave him a small sheepish smile.
"That's been happening a lot lately. Are you ok? Is there anything you need to talk about?" He hadn't noticed that she'd been slightly distracted lately until Collins had mentioned something to him about it last night.
"I'm fine. I promise." Her eyes met his and she gave him a reassuring smile.
"You know I'm here for anything you need right?" She smiled and nodded her head. The line started to move in front of them and Roger smiled one of the biggest smiles Elsie had ever seen. He lifted her up off the ground causing her to yelp then laugh. "Are you ready to see The Boss?" He asked as he put her down before dragging her forward.
It was almost twelve thirty when they got out of the show. They had watched as Bruce and his band played some of their favorites for just under four hours. Roger was still high on the energy from the concert but he could see Elsie starting to get tired so he offered to drive them home. She accepted gratefully before climbing into the passenger side. They spend the first hour of the care ride going over the high points of the show.
"Are you hungry?" He asked noticing a sign for an all night dinner they would be passing in a few minutes.
"Yeah I'm pretty starved."
"Me too. Those nachos and popcorn really aren't as filling as you would think." She laughed as he pulled off into the parking lot. There weren't many people in there at this hour so they were seated right away. They both ordered cokes, the waitress left them with two menus to look over while she got their drinks.
"Oh a Philly cheese steak sounds awesome right now," He said patting his stomach. "With an extra large plate of cheesy bacon fries."
"Your stomach is going to explode if you eat all that junk." She said as the waitress came back. She set the drinks down before pulling out a pad and pen.
"Hi I'm Traci, I'll be your waitress tonight." She smiled at them. "What can I get you today?"
"Can I have a philly cheese steak and a extra large plate of cheesy bacon fries? Oh and an order of onion rings too." The waitress blinked twice before writing down his order. "And what can I get you sweetie?" She asked turning to Elsie.
"I can I have the tomato soup and a side of fries?" She asked shutting her menu.
"No problem. It shouldn't take too long." The waitress picked up the menus and left.
"I should probably go call my dad to tell him we stopped for food." Elsie said as she slid out of the booth. "I'll have him call your dad too so he doesn't worry."
"Ok. Thanks." He watched her walk away and sighed. Tonight had easily been one of the best nights of his life. But it wasn't just because he saw his idol live. It also had a lot to do with the person he shared the night with. He had realized shortly after he played his song for her that his feelings went deeper then friendship. It made sense to him though, they spent a lot of time together, they could easily talk to each other about most things, it would seem like a natural progression of their feelings. They just clicked. And the fact that she was absolutely stunning long curly chocolate colored hair with matching eyes and a million other reasons that made her beautiful. She never wore a lot of makeup, she had a natural beauty that she didn't need any help with. He kept trying to weigh the list of pros and cons he had come up with. The one thing he knew with overwhelming clarity was he couldn't lose her as a friend no matter where these feelings went, she had become far too important to him to risk losing her in his life for good.
By the time they got back on the road it was close to two in the morning. Roger sighed as he pulled into his driveway with a sleeping Elsie next to him. Her falling asleep had given him an opportunity to really think over the situation of his growing feelings for her. He had realized shortly before he pulled into her driveway that he had to take a chance and see if she felt anything for him too. As much as he feared what could possibly happen to their friendship he realized that he would never forgive himself if he missed a chance to have something more with her. He turned off the engine and slowly turned to look at Elsie as she peacefully slept in the passenger seat. He slowly brushed her chocolate colored curls away from her face before gently shaking her awake.
"How long was I asleep for?" She asked darting awake.
"Since about 10 minutes after we pulled out of the diner." He laughed as he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to her.
"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep like that." She gathered her purse into her lap and turned to face him.
"It's fine I'm sure that you must be exhausted right now." He smiled at her. "Thanks a lot for coming with me tonight. I'm really glad I shared this night with you."
"It was a blast for me too Roger." She smiled as she leaned into hug him. "I had a really great time too, and I wouldn't have missed this for the world."
"I'm really glad that you moved here." Roger whispered quietly into her hair.
"Me too." She pulled back a little from him and gave him another smile. And in that moment Roger gave into to the thought that had been in the back of his head for weeks. The voice that said there was something more between them that just basic friendship and that they could have something great if they let themselves try. With that one thought in mind he slowly leaned in and pressed his lips softly to hers.
A/N: I'm sure you all hate me for my lack of updates, I really and truly am sorry. And I know everyone says this but it really was just a matter of real life sucking and having a horrible case of writers black. But I'm proud to say that I finally got this chapter done and I'm slowly starting to get my groove back in regards to writing. Hopefully you won't have to wait so long for another update. I hope you guys are still interested in reading this and I really look forward to hearing what you think, so please please please review and let me know if you're still interested in this story. Oh and I'm sorry for the cliffie but that's where I had to end it, I'm starting the next chapter right now though so hopefully you won't be waiting too long to find out what happens next.
Until Next Time, Lot's of Love,
BohemianGirl06
