When seven o'clock rolled round, Jesse quietly made his way down stairs and snuck out the back door. As soon as he was outside he sprinted over to Cassie's car which was parked a little ways down the street. She flashed her headlights at Jesse as he approached her, and signaled him to get in from behind the wheel. Jesse sat down next to Cassie and shook his hair out of his eyes.
"Hey…" he said flirtatiously. Cassie smiled slyly as she caught a glimpse of the bad boy she knew him to be back home breifly reappear.
"Hey yourself…" she replied sarcastically as she drove towards the highway.
"So where did you wanna go tonight?" Jesse asked as he looked through a case of Cassie's CDs.
"Just this little place in town where my cousins like to hang out, its cool they know the owner and everything." Cassie replied.
"Alright, sounds like a plan." Jesse said while placing a mix into Cassie's CD player.
"I love this song…" he said anxiously as he skipped to track ten.
"Which one is it?" she asked while skillfully reapplying her lip gloss as she drove. Cassie's question was soon answered when she heard Craig David's "Fill me in" begin to play. She smiled.
"Wow Jess, If I didn't know any better I'd say this song was written about us." She said teasingly.
"Yea maybe two months ago…" He replied.
"Why not now?" she said flirtatiously. Jesse glared at her.
"Look I already told you I'm with someone…" he said irritably.
"So where is she then?" Cassie pried.
"I…don't know…at home or something…why does it matter so much to you anyway?" he replied angrily.
"It doesn't I just like messing with you…" she said with a smirk on her face. "But seriously, you seem a little on edge about things between you and her…are you guys okay?" she asked seeming concerned.
"…I don't know…lately things have been…kinda…difficult…." Jesse said solemnly.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Jesse sighed.
"She's just been really confusing…its like… every time I try to get close to her…she just…" Jesse stopped himself.
"…chickens out right?" Cassie sneered.
"No…its not that all…I just think I pushed her too far, and now I don't even know how to get back to her…things are just really messed up right now…" Jesse said as he looked out his window at the highway lights.
" Listen Jess, just forget about this whole deal with her, and relax and have a good time! We're back together tonight and that's all that matters." She said contentedly.
"…Yea, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't have a good time while I was with you…" he replied as they pulled into a street lamp lit parking lot outside a large building. Cassie pulled into a spot closest to the back entrance.
"Where are we?" Jesse asked.
"You'll see." She said as she got out of the car and lead Jesse inside, what Jesse later would discover was Fletcher's Bar, the one place he had worked all summer to avoid.
Cassie took Jesse by the hand and led him over to the bar, where she waved at three older looking guys who shouted over to her. Jesse frantically looked around for the nearest door as he realized that Cassie had taken him to the last place he wanted to be. He called out to Cassie ahead of him, but his voice was drowned out by the loudness of the music. Cassie weaved her way through the crowd until she reached a set of stairs leading away from the dance floor to a neon lighted bar where her friends were waiting for her. Jesse reached over and placed his hand on Cassie's shoulder.
"Cassie, I think I'm gunna go...I shouldn't be here!" He said loudly.
"What did you say? I can't hear you Jess! Anyways I want you to meet some people, follow me!" she shouted back, then took Jesse's hand in hers and continued towards the bar. Jesse forced a smile and unwillingly followed her. As Cassie approached the bar, the tallest of three guys got up and hugged her. Cassie ran into his arms, squealing in a high pitched girly voice as he hugged her.
"Trev!" she exclaimed.
Jesse stood awkwardly distanced from the three guys and Cassie while they laughed and talked amongst themselves. After a few minutes of conversation, Cassie turned around to Jesse and pulled him over next to her.
"Guys I want you to meet my ex Jesse, Jesse this is Sam, Conner and my cousin Trevor." Jesse's face went blank. Why Cassie just call him her ex-boyfriend? In his mind they'd just hooked up for the wrong reasons, it never was anything serious…or at least that's what he thought. And what were the odds that Trevor of all people was her cousin? He could already tell this was going to be a bad night. He stared emptily at Trevor who returned his gaze but seemed unable to properly focus on glaring at Jesse. Jesse looked at the large purple bruise on the top of Trevor's nose that might as well have had "Jesse Was Here" written all over it. At first he didn't quite realize why Trevor didn't immediately knock out his two front teeth, but then noticed that Trevor was way to drunk to stand up straight much less throw punches.
"So Jesse…are you really with my cousin?" Trevor asked suddenly.
"Uh…." Jesse hesitated as the thought of Jen crossed his mind.
"Me and Cassie? Haha no! We might have had a thing a while back…but we never really were together...we've always been just friends…" he said smirking. Cassie glared at Jesse as if what he said had hurt her. Trevor who had somehow picked up on this reached out and grabbed Jesse by the collar.
"You sure about that?" Jesse cringed at the smell of Trevor's breath.
"…whatever man…I told you we're just friends…" Jesse replied honestly.
"Good…cuz I wouldn't have let a punk ass pretty boy like you go out with her anyway…" he said snidely.
"What did you say!" Jesse said angrily.
"Did I stutter? Pretty boy! Huh?" Trevor shouted. Before either one of them could throw the first punch Cassie stepped in between the two.
"Guys! Chill out? You don't even know each other!" she said loudly while struggling to push Jesse and Trevor apart.
"I know him well enough…" Jesse said under his breath.
" I don't know what's going on between you two but I'm here to have a good time…so settle this like men…" Cassie began. Jesse and Trevor both turned and looked at her. Cassie walked over to the bar and ordered ten shots of vodka for each of them. She pulled out two stools for Jesse and Trevor and motioned to them.
"Now we'll see who the real pretty boy is… Trevor you think can you handle this?" she said to him.
"No problem, I bet this loser's a straight edge if anything…haha typical." He snarled. Jesse was silent while Trevor and his friends continued to mock him. Cassie gave Jesse a confused look.
"What's wrong? Are you seriously gunna punk out? What's happened to you Jess?" she said. Jesse didn't look at her. Trevor laughed even louder then before.
"Ha! I told you he's just a p…" Jesse interrupted him.
"I'll take the first shot…" he said quietly.
"That's more like it!" Cassie exclaimed. Jesse grabbed her by the wrist before reaching for his shot glass.
"Promise me you won't tell Tanner about this…you know I can't go home if I'm messed up…please!" he said looking directly at her.
"Y-Yea…I promise…you can come back to my place if things get too crazy…I know Tanner hates me...but I can tell him you and Trevor patched things up and that he let you stay at our house for the night…okay?" she said smiling.
"…Yea thanks Cassie…I definitely owe you one…" he said trying to block out the sound of his conscious screaming at him.
"I know…" she said as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
"Alright pretty boy lets see what you've got!" Trevor shouted as he and Jesse began to empty their shot glasses one after the other.
Cassie and the rest of the world blurred in and out of focus as Jesse downed his 7th shot of vodka that night. He hadn't had a drink in nearly two months and now that Cassie was around to bring out the bad boy in him he felt no reason to hold back. Trevor fell out of his chair before even trying to top Jesse's 7th glass. His three cronies glared at Jesse then carried Trevor over to the lounge where they threw him on a tattered leather couch. Trevor's friend Sam came back over to Jesse before returning to Trevor's side.
"Looks like your not so much of a punk after all…kudos dork." He said, then gave Jesse a friendly punch to the shoulder and walked back to the lounge. Jesse smiled idiotically then looked over at Cassie.
"Wanna dance…" he said while blatantly checking her out .Cassie smiled as she picked up on Jesse's sudden attraction to her.
"Yea…C'mon…" Cassie said as she took him by the hand and led him to the dance floor, knowing full well that tonight he was hers and that nobody could get in between them.
Jesse stumbled after her neither knowing nor caring where he was going. He quickly gave into the fast paced rhythms of the music and pulled Cassie in towards him. Cassie seductively moved her hips up against Jesse while he moved his hands up the length of her body. He felt incredible, almost as though nothing could touch him, he'd nearly forgotten just how easily a few drinks could make him stop caring. He didn't have to worry about Cali or Tanner or anyone tonight, he was doing exactly what he wanted, maybe for the first time that summer and nobody could stop him. Jesse loved the feel of Cassie's body up against his. He loved the way she knew exactly how to get his attention every time they danced together. He spun her around and looked right into her eyes. Cassie wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in towards him. Jesse felt the intense rush of blood running through his veins as Cassie pressed her lips firmly against his. He kissed her back with equal passion enjoying every moment of her. Jesse gave into the heat of the moment and let his hands wander. Cassie let out a soft moan as she felt Jesse tracing the outline of her body. Cassie smirked, she admired how he was so irresistible yet easily manipulated. She loved how quickly he fell out of love with that other girl and back into her arms as soon as he had a few shots in him. He clearly hadn't changed since the last time she'd seen him. Cassie who was enjoying her sudden sense of control over him, briefly pulled away and placed her fingers over his lips. Jesse looked down at her.
"Cassie…" he whispered.
"Shh lets go…" she said as she turned and headed towards the back door. Jesse watched her walk away for a bit then followed her outside. Cassie reached into the back pocket of her short jean skirt and pulled out her keys. Before she was able to unlock the car, Jesse pushed her up against it and picked up where he left off back in the bar. Cassie could tell that after seven shots of absolute Jesse was after much more then just a make out session. She held him back denying his drunken ambitions a little longer.
"Wanna go home?" she whispered enticingly into his ear.
"…yea…" he said leaning up against her.
"Lets do it cowboy…" she said grinning, then kissed her way down his neck and stepped into the car.
Upon reaching her house, Cassie snuck Jesse inside, lead him upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Jesse grinned as Cassie took off her shirt and stretched herself out on her bed. She motioned to him and Jesse walked unsteadily towards her. He threw off his shirt then climbed on top of her. Cassie kissed him again and again, further reminding herself of just how good Jesse was. He leaned over and whispered something softly to her.
"Déjà vu?" he said in a slurred French accent.
"You're so hott when you talk like that…" she said as she reached down and slowly undid his belt.
"…Really?" Jesse said as he worked Cassie out of her skirt.
"..Really, really…" she replied while kicking her way out of her Seven's. Cassie knew she was getting her way, she could feel how turned on he was. She took advantage of the moment and pressed her chest firmly up against Jesse's body. He moaned. Cassie pressed Jesse's lips against hers, eased her tongue into his mouth, and slowly began to slide off his boxers. Then almost as though he had been woken up from a dream, Jesse briefly became aware of what was going on. He suddenly lost his focus, and for the first time that night he felt ridiculously unsure of himself. "What was happening?" he thought. Cassie picked up on Jesse's sudden indecisiveness and figured she'd better get his full attention before he passed out or punk'd out on her. She slowly began ease Jesse down on top of her. She bit down on her bottom lip when she felt him inside of her for the second time. Jesse's breathing quickened as he only just realized what he was doing. He only half understood that there was something very wrong about what was going on, unfortunately his body said otherwise. Cassie shifted her hips underneath him again making him breath even faster then he had before.
"Cassie I…" he mumbled in between breaths. She ignored him.
"…don't……" he whispered but she hushed him once again by seducing him into another one of her kisses.
Cassie was now reassured by the fact that she had gotten him into a position where he couldn't possibly change his mind. Jesse bit down hard on his bottom lip. He didn't want to do this but he couldn't help himself, his mind was in no condition to make good or accurate decisions, and at this point his body was calling the shots. Cassie could now hear how fast Jesse's heart was beating…he was nervous but she didn't care. She brushed her hand along the side of his face, pretending to be mildly concerned about him.
"Don't be scared Jess…this is just like old times…just relax baby…relax..." she whispered. Jesse couldn't hold back any longer. "Oh G-d…"He let out a soft moan as he gave into her. Every muscle in his body tightened then slowly relaxed along with hers. Cassie then collapsed down next to him on her bed. His cheeks were flushed but his breathing slowed back to its normal pace. Cassie grinned, knowing she'd gotten what she came all the way to California for. She never had any intention of apologizing to Tanner, her little "I'm hurt and heartbroken" episode was a set up to get back to Jesse. Ever since she'd heard about Jesse's new love interest from Trevor in a long IM conversation a few weeks before, she'd been planning on how to get Jesse back. She remembered the day he left for California at the beginning of the summer. She hated how uncaring he was, how he acted like everything they'd done didn't matter. She'd given her virginity to him and he had the nerve to tell her it was all a mistake that "sleeping around behind his brother's back just to get even wasn't worth it". No one never even tried to realize that the reason why she cheated on Tanner was because she really was in love with Jesse. Jesse didn't take the time to try and feel anything for her, he wasn't even sober enough in the morning to remember what he'd done. She hated him for that but could seem to deny the way she really felt about him. After Jesse left, her friends tried to convince her that his accident was the reason why he treated her the way he did, but despite the truth in the statement Cassie wasn't about to accept that excuse. He'd gotten the best of her and then walked out, but this time she wasn't about to let it happen again. This time she was the heartbreaker.
For the sake of total self-satisfaction Cassie leaned over an whispered something to Jesse, "I love you Jesse" she bluffed acting as though she really cared about him when all she was after was his love stricken response. "…I-I'm…so sorry…Jen…" Jesse whispered just before he passed out.