A/N: The lyrics in this part are from the song Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G.
This chapter ended up taking me in a whole different direction then I was originally going to go with it but it ended up working out better.
Chapter Ten: Life Defining Moments (JJ's POV)
If you had told JJ, he'd had been actually having fun with Katie Fitch: he would have probably had the uncontrollable urge to laugh in your face or punch you for making such a joke, or maybe even a little bit of both.
JJ had never thought in a million years, he'd actually love being around Katie, seeing her, breathing her in but he had. When Katie wasn't being a gigantic bitch, she was actually quite lovely and unbelievably vulnerable; almost like she was eager to please him and for the life of him JJ couldn't understand why. He was just plain old JJ Jones and she was Katie Fitch, they weren't even in the same category socially let alone mentally but it seemed that night they had be on same weird radio wave link that only people who truly understood each other were able to decode it's weird meaning (Almost like soulmates.).
Not only had this all thrown JJ off his feet and on his ass all night long (Even though they had had a few disagreements not even soulmates were perfect.) but that hadn't been what had caused such a perfect night to become JJ's most life defining: It had been a simple kiss!
It had all started after JJ had offered to buy Katie a drink:
2:30 Am
"Where do I start? For one, it's got like a zillion zippers on it…" Katie smiled.
"Well, what about what your wearing?" JJ smiled a little inwardly at that. He knew that perfection mattered greatly to Katie and him commenting on her outfit in any other way than flattering was going to send her into panic mood.
JJ wasn't disappointed (or surprised) by Katie's next question, "What's wrong with my outfit?" Katie exclaimed, frantically searching in her purse for her mirror to check herself.
JJ's first hearty laugh of the night had started right there as he looked at Katie with an amused look, "Nothing! I wanted to see if you could take what you dish out." Katie closed her mirror with a snap and throw it at him. It missed JJ (Barely).
"It seems you can't." JJ said looking at the broken compact mirror on the stone floor next to him. "That's bad luck, you know?"
"Well, then that's your bad luck because it was your fault that I throw it." Katie was still glaring at him.
"It doesn't work that way." JJ looked at his hands again, his expression one of his usual pensive stare. "It never does."
"Whatever, I've had enough bad luck to last a lifetime. What's some more gonna do?" Katie said with a turn of her heels and headed to the bar.
JJ looked at her with a little curiosity at that what had she meant by having enough bad luck to last a lifetime? But instead of prying (Which was something JJ would neverdo) he decided to take of his jacket and sit in the bar stool next to Katie.
Even though JJ wasn't the prying type, JJ knew Katie was when she asked "What did you mean by It never does?"
JJ simply stared at her before saying "If I hadn't asked what you meant about the bad luck thing than you shouldn't ask me about my personal shit, Okay?" JJ had snapped. He wasn't in the mood to go soul searching into the past nor was he going to talk to Katie Fitch of all people about it.
"What do you want to drink?" JJ asked ignoring the hurt look Katie had on her face. JJ wasn't about to feel bad for wanting his past to stay private nor was he going to apologize about snapping at Katie for being impolite either.
"Oh, umm… Jake and coke." JJ was a little surprised by her order, he had always thought she was a martini or sex on the beach kind of girl.
Katie seemed to notice the look he was giving her because a few minutes later, she scowled at him "You must think just because I'm a girl I should be drinking a wine cooler or some wimpy shit like that! Huh?" the look Katie sent him next could have broken glass "Real women drink the hard stuff."
JJ was still in awe of her by the time the bartender came to order their drinks "What will we be having?" the bartender asked eying Katie real close and that annoyed JJ greatly she isn't a piece of meat, asshole! JJ's own thoughts had surprised him a little, since when did he feel the need to defend Katie's honor from creepy perverts?
Katie smiled at the bartender's unsubtly eye fucking and JJ felt his mood sour further Why did she encourage that shit? JJ felt like poking his eyes out.
"I'll have a Jake and coke and my friend will have…" It took JJ a few second minutes to realize someone was asking him something.
"Oh, just a diet Coke." JJ mumbled picking chips off the bar stand.
"What? Don't think you can keep up with a real women, JJ." Katie smirked. The bartender laughed.
"No, I just don't drink." JJ said annoyed. Maybe offering to hang with Katie had been a bad idea if this was how the night was going to go.
"The baby will have a plain coke." Katie answered the bartender who smiled at her and went to fill their orders.
"I said I wanted diet." JJ furrowed his eyebrows at Katie.
Katie gave JJ an irritated look, "I'm not drinking with any man who orders a diet coke, I prefer to be the woman at this table." Katie said with a roll of her eyes.
"Who said you were any kind of lady?" JJ spat and Katie gave him a dirty look.
"Watch yourself, Jones! I'm not above punching you!" JJ couldn't tell if she looked upset and livid.
"One second thought give me a Budweiser!" JJ yelled angrily at the bartender.
"I thought you didn't drink." Katie mocked.
"Normally, I don't but I really need it." If I'm gonna be around you! JJ thought silently.
JJ and Katie sat in silence until the bartender came back with their drinks, Katie gave him a "Thank you" and JJ just snatched the beer from the bartender's hand and took a large gulp.
"Now, who's being impolite?" Katie said sending him a disgusted look. JJ choose to ignore it.
JJ drunk the rest of it before waving the bartender over again and ordering another one. The bartender also sent him a dirty look at his impolite behavior and JJ suddenly felt ashamed. He was taking his anger out on someone who had absolutely nothing to do with what was bothering him; it was JJ's own problems with Katie that had caused him to be a spoil sport not the bartender.
JJ looked to the bartender and forced himself to say, "I'm sorry, all right?" He may have been an asshole but he didn't like to have to admit it. The bartender gave him a wary glance before leaving to take other orders.
Katie sent him a tired look before saying "You seem to say sorry a lot, JJ" she took a sip of her drink before adding "It's exhausting, you know?"
"Only around you." JJ said before being handed his second beer.
"You always seems to have to apologize around me, JJ." Katie looked about ready to cry and that alarmed JJ but almost a split second later Katie's face went to stone. "Is the problem me? Or is it you?"
JJ thought about that for a second before shrugging.
"Both." JJ stared at his beer; thankful that he decided to go with the beer if this was the kind of conversations they were going to have all night.
Katie honestly looked confused by his answer, "How is it my problem too?"
"If you weren't always being a bitch, Katie maybe I won't always go on the defensive." JJ said rubbing his forehead in frustration how could she not see that she was the main factor in all this?
"Well, maybe you shouldn't be so damn serious all the time, JJ." Katie said defensively "You're so uptight, learn to take a joke." Katie gave JJ a bitter smile at that before downing the rest of her drink.
Katie's words had stuck with JJ the moment they had come out, was he too serious? Was he so uptight he couldn't understand that maybe Katie was really just joking? Naomi had once said the reason it took her so long to get along with JJ had been because he was so serious it made her nervous. Was he doing the same thing to Katie? He supposed he was and he didn't like that.
"Maybe your right? Maybe I should just have fun?" JJ truly believed what he was saying; it was just that he had no idea how to have fun. Not a clue. "Only problem is I don't know how." JJ was ashamed to admit it.
"Oh, just leave that to me but in the mean time order me another drink." Katie demanded, sliding the empty glass toward JJ.
"Please wouldn't be too much of a stretch, would it?" JJ took the glass and waved the bartender over.
"Please." Katie mocked before looking down at her hands, this night look promising again.
4:30 Am
"There is no way I'm allowing you to say that the Bristol rovers are your favorite football team!" Katie exclaimed, shaking her head.
"Why not? They have a decent scoring average and that Danny Guillermo guys not too bad?" JJ laughed taking another sip of his fifteen beers he had had in the past three hours. He was actually having a great time and most of it had to do with Katie.
The party was in full swing now; People were actively high off their asses and some were even having Sex in plain view of everybody (That wasn't JJ's idea of how sex should be.) and none of it didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon. And JJ was definitely drunk if not a little hammered by now (He had a strong tolerance for someone who hardly ever drinks.)
Katie suddenly dropped her glass on the bar stand with a bang and stuck her fingers in her ears like a child and for a minute JJ thought he had said something wrong but Katie's hysterical laughing had fixed his fear right away "Don't ever say that name again! I had to date that sack of shit for nearly a year and it was the worst year of my life!" Katie stopped laughing at the last part and took her fingers out of her ears.
"You dated him?" JJ sobered a little at that, his jealously was making an appearance once again.
Katie sent him an annoyed look, "I've dated a lot of guys, JJ. Get over it."
"Did you date them all? Or did you just fuck them?" JJ wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"A little of both." Katie said vaguely " But we're not talking about me! We're talking about you and your insane like of the Bristol rovers."
JJ scoffed at that, his mood lighting again "What's so wrong with having pride in my hometown?"
Katie rolled her eyes "It's wrong when you pride the stupid parts of it." She picked up her Jake and coke again and downed it.
"How do you know so much about football, Katie?" Just like with the Jake and Coke, he had been in awe of her unexpected answer.
Katie scoffed, "Are you fucking joking? My sister plays for Roundview's football team, so she's pretty much on top of all things football but she did nearly have a cow when I told her I was dating Danny." Katie smiled as she said, "Something about him having the worst scoring average on the team. I guess I just paid attention after that." JJ could tell Katie was leaving something out about why she even cared to listen to football averages when she gave him a nostalgic look but it was quickly replaced with her own question "How do you know so much about football?"
JJ stiffened at her question. He didn't want to answer that.
"My father and I use to watch ever game together." JJ said simply with such finalization that Katie didn't dare pry for more.
"Were you close to your father?" Katie asked soberly.
"Kind of, You?" JJ took a sip of his beer again but it tasted bitter in his mouth.
"I love my father more than anything." Katie grabbed JJ's beer and took a sip herself. "Your mother?" JJ signed at that, he didn't like where this was going. There was nothing that made JJ want to punch a wall more than talking about his parents.
"No." JJ snatched his beer back from Katie and downed it.
"I'm not close to my mother either."
JJ glanced at her. "Why not?"
Katie signed, "It doesn't work like that, JJ. You can't just pick and choose what questions of mine you want to answer and then expect me to divulge everything with nothing in return." Was that really what JJ was doing? It wasn't on purpose, JJ just never talked about his mother and especially not his father.
"Sorry."
Katie looked angry at that, "Stop saying you're fucking sorry all the time!" Katie snapped "It's starting to mean nothing."
JJ was surprised by her outburst but that didn't make Katie any less right: Sorry meant nothing if you keep saying it over and over again without seeing any results. JJ's father had taught him that when he would come home every night stammering drunk always apologizing but would go out the next night to do the exact same thing.
"You right." JJ held out his hand for Katie to shake "Won't happen again."
Now it was Katie's turn to look surprise at JJ's admission but she shook his hand anyway and said "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day where you actually agree with me without fighting about it first." Katie laughed than and JJ joined her He couldn't believe it either.
Unlike the laughter, the strong electrical current that pasted through their hands as they connected was something that neither Katie nor JJ were sober enough to understand and join in on.
It was then that Thomas' smooth voice came over the loud speaker. Thomas had been DJ-ing ever since he had gotten done checking invitations, he was actually really good and had played music that JJ liked (Surprisingly) and that was a feat in and of itself since JJ hated most music of this day and age.
"This next song goes out to the lovely ladies throwing this party! Give it up for them!" Everybody cheered (Everybody who wasn't high off their ass or on someone's ass.) and a young playful girl with shining blonde hair gave Thomas a kiss before he fooled around with something knobs that looked incredibly complicated for JJ at this stage of drunkenness he was sure Thomas was suffering from.
Soon the song blared:
To all the ladies in the place with style and grace
Allow me to lace these lyrical duches in your bushes
Who rock grooves and make moves with all the mommies?
The back of the club, sippin Moet, is where you'll find me
The back of the club, mackin hoes, my crew's behind me
Mad question askin, blunt passin, music blastin
But I just can't quit
Katie and JJ were snapped out of their daze, "Oh, my god! I love this song!" Katie exclaimed, jumping off the bar stool and turned around to JJ.
"Dance with me?" Katie asked taking a hold of his hand. JJ was really tempted (Really) but…
" I can't dance." JJ wasn't about making a fool out of himself.
"Oh, come on. You can't be that bad!" Katie pleaded, tugging on his shirt sleeve.
Ohh but he was JJ had said he was never going to dance again when a girl he had once had a crush on had said he looked like an epileptic on speed. That had hurt and he wasn't looking for a repeat.
"I don't know." JJ keeping telling himself to be strong but he could feel himself losing this battle.
Why blow up my spot cause we both got hot
Now check it, I got more Mack than Craig and in the bed
Believe me sweety I got enough to feed the needy
No need to be greedy I got mad friends with Benz's
C-notes by the layers, true fuckin players
Jump in the Rover and come over
tell your friends jump in the GS3, I got the chronic by the tree
"You what I don't care! Your dancing and that's the end." Katie said with such determination that JJ knew there was no use in arguing. She was going to make him dance wither he wanted to or not. May as well be complicate.
"Fine!" JJ groaned and set down his beer. Katie had such a radiant smile on her face that the embarrassment that was to come made it all almost worth.
(I love it when you call me Big Pop-pa)
Throw your hands in the air, if youse a true player
(I love it when you call me Big Pop-pa)
To the honies gettin money playin niggaz like dummies
(I love it when you call me Big Pop-pa)
If you got a gun up in your waist please don't shoot up the place
Cause I see some ladies tonight who should be havin my baby
Katie led JJ toward the dance floor and it quickly came apparent that Katie's definition of dancing was different than JJ's. JJ believed in the middle school method (Main reason was that JJ hadn't danced since middle school): where you held each other close but there wasn't much touching but Katie believed in the full bump and grind. It wasn't that JJ didn't know how to bump and grind he just wasn't comfortable with it but JJ was so drunk in this night that he didn't have the sense to care, he was just thanking to whoever had ever had made up these moves … and a body like Katie's.
Most of these niggaz think they be mackin but they be actin
Who they attractin with that line, "What's your name, what's your sign"?
Soon as he buy that wine I just creep up from behind
And ask what your interests are, "who you be with"?
Things to make you smile, what numbers to dial
You gon' be here for a while, I'm gon' go call my crew
You go call your crew
We can rendezvou at the bar around two
What happened next was something that JJ believed that even if he had been sober he couldn't have been able to stop it; he had kissed Katie's neck and it hadn't been a simple peck either. No, it had been a full on giving you a hickey kind of kiss and What surprised JJ even more was that Katie seemed to be enjoying it.
Plans to leave, throw the keys to Lil Cease
Pull the truck up, front, and roll up the next blunt
So we can steam on the way to the telly go fill my belly
A t-bone steak, cheese eggs and Welch's grape
Conversate for a few, cause in a few, we gon' do
What we came to do, ain't that right boo (truuuueee)
Forget the telly we just go to the crib
and watch a movie in the jacuzzi smoke l's while you do me
Soon JJ and Katie were full blown making out. The kissing was aggressive and electric (JJ knew he wouldn't have been so forceful with her if he was sober.) soon the kissing was became needy and JJ knew where this was heading, He was going to sleep with Katie tonight.
Katie stopped kissing JJ, pushing him lightly and taking his clammy hand.
"Come with me." Katie said pulling on JJ's hand leading him to god knew where.
(How ya livin Biggie Smallz?) In mansion and Benz's
Givin ends to my friends and it feels stupendous
Tremendous cream, fuck a dollar and a dream (whaat)
Still tote gats strapped with infrared beams
Choppin o's, smokin lye an' Optimo's
Money hoes and clothes all a nigga knows
A foolish pleasure, whatever
I had to find the buried treasure, so grams I had to measure
Katie and JJ pushed through the crowd, Katie had some destination set but JJ had absolutely no idea where he was going and decided to take in his surroundings, he was soon met with the faces of an upset looking Emily and angry looking Naomi and JJ was a little alarmed. JJ thought that tonight roles would be reversed; with JJ angry and yelling at Katie and Naomi going to a darkened corner to fuck around with Emily but that obviously wasn't the case. Was he upset he wasn't in Naomi's shoes right now? Hell No!
Emily and Naomi soon faded from JJ's line of view when Katie pulled him into what seemed as some kind of weird untouched part of the cave that had much like when JJ had first entered the party had a odd affect on him, strange lighting was reflecting off the wall; causing hypnotizing patterns but the only difference was this light was completely natural.
"It's beautiful in here." JJ heard himself say from a million miles away.
Katie laughed breathlessly, "I discovered this part of the cave last month when Pandora, Emily, and Effy and I partied here. I ended up spending the whole party in here just thinking about if you would like it." JJ was touched that Katie had only ever brought him here, only ever thought of him here.
"Yeah," JJ smirked "I like it." JJ kissed her than but this kiss had been different than the ones from earlier; not only were they softer but JJ made sure they were much more intimate. Katie pushed JJ against the wall and JJ's last coherent thought for the night as Katie pulled off her shirt and pulled him in for another kiss had been that he might actually be in love with Katie Fitch.
(I love it when you call me Big Pop-pa)