Song: Last Name- Carrie Underwood
Requested by: MissCrazyChick
Dedication: Hmmmm…I was ABOUT to dedicate it to Disney Channel for finally airing the music video but NOOOOOOO. They ruined it, so forget that Disney!! (heh…I originally posted this right after the Get Back video aired…teehee)
Pairing: Nate x Tess (Natess)
Tess Tyler was at a party, celebrating her mom's new CD. That was great and all, but all Tess wanted to do was go home and curl up with a good book or go and see a movie with her friends.
"TESS! Come on, chill out, have some fun!" Her mother said, slurring her words and walking up to her.
Tess rolled her eyes; her mom was obviously drunk. She always cut loose when she was drunk. Tess had seen it happen before at these types of parties. Tess always had to call her dad, who was smart enough to stay home, to come and pick them up. Tess couldn't help but think that her mom would be a little bit more responsible, but apparently not.
"Here, drink this." Tess' mom handed Tess what looked to be a fruit smoothie. Tess sniffed it and immediately threw it out. It had the deep scent of alcohol in it.
Where was she?
Tess didn't even know. She wasn't exactly paying attention on the drive down (she had been sleeping) and it seemed as though they were in the middle of no where.
What is her mom thinking?
Tess didn't know that either. Tess wasn't even old enough to drive yet, much less have an alcoholic beverage. Tess laughed bitterly. Her Friday movie night with friends had been ruined. And for what? Another pointless party that half the guests won't remember in the morning? The whole party seemed pointless, and there was nobody that was her age.
"Hey."
Tess looked up from the chair she was sitting in. She had gotten used to being alone at her mother's parties. She was used to sitting alone in silence for hours. She was not used to teenaged boys (roughly her age) coming up and saying hello.
"Hey." Tess said in return.
She couldn't help but think that the boy was pretty cute. His hair was a deep brown and it curled and he had big, brown eyes and-
Tess immediately stopped all trains of thought. He was probably the son of one of her mom's co-workers or producers. And because he was at this party, he was most likely drunk.
As if reading her mind he said, "I didn't drink anything, don't worry."
Tess smiled and looked at him again, "Ok, you're clean."
"What are you doing here?"
"This party is in honor of my mom…what about you? Or did you just come here to crash a party?"
"My dad owns the record company."
Tess smiled and nodded her head, pretending to be interested and then interrupted his rambling on music, "Why are you talking to me?"
"Does anyone here seem like they can carry an intelligent conversation?" he asked. Tess smiled and shook her head. The boy gave a crooked grin and asked, "Wanna dance?"
He held out his hand and Tess gave a small smile. One dance wouldn't hurt, right?
--
"So, you from around here?" he asked, putting his arms around her waist.
Tess smirked and said, "Why, are you planning on stalking me?" she placed her hands on his shoulders.
He laughed and said, "No, but I live in another state for most of my life. During the summer I come out here and spend time with my dad."
Tess nodded, "I live…well, actually I have no idea where we even are, so I can't exactly give an estimated distance," she paused and said, "we live in California."
"So…you're not even in your home state."
"Where are we?"
"I'll tell you later." He said with a smirk.
Tess opened her mouth to retort, but couldn't think of any clever comebacks. She decided just to enjoy the dance.
And then one dance led into another.
And another.
And pretty soon, the party was coming to a close.
"HEY! Sweetheart!!"
Tess groaned and turned to her mother, "Mom, have you called dad?"
Tess' mom dizzily walked towards Tess, and ignored her question, "Who is this cutie?!"
Tess suddenly realized that she had no idea as to who this person was, "Uh…this is my new dance partner. Mom, we really got to go call dad now."
"I can give you a ride." He said coyly.
Tess turned to him and raised an eyebrow, "You can drive?"
He looked at her sheepishly, "Well…my aunt can, and she's coming to bring dad home. I bet he isn't in any better shape then your mom is."
Tess bit her lip, "Is she…coming right now?"
The boy looked at his watch and nodded, "She'll be here in about fifteen minutes. I'll go get my dad."
He walked away, and Tess now had to hold her mother upright, "How much did you have to drink tonight?" she asked warily.
"I think I drank my age in Jell-O shots…"
Tess groaned. Her mom was going to have a hell of a hangover the next morning, and she prayed that the boy's aunt would get here soon.
--
Finally, they were going home. Tess gave "Auntie Mae" her address, and luckily she knew the general area well enough to get the gist of where her house was.
Tess also called her dad, so that he didn't get worried. He already had enough to handle at home, he didn't need to be bothered by worrying about his wife and kid.
Tess looked at the radio clock in the car. It read 3:01 AM. She hadn't realized it was so late (or early) in the morning. She sighed. Her mom and what's-his-face's dad were sleeping. Tess looked at her mom caringly. She wished more then anything that she could be one of those parents who told their kids never to drink. She wished that her mom would be the grown up for once.
"What are you thinking about?" the boy asked softly.
Tess shook her head, "Nothing…"
"Are you sure, you look like you're about to cry."
"I said NOTHING!" Tess snapped. It wasn't her fault. She was tired, and wanted to go home. The boy curled himself up and looked out the window and away from Tess, who suddenly felt extremely guilty. "Sorry…" she muttered.
He didn't say anything, so Tess figured that she wasn't forgiven. She crossed her arms and propped herself up against the back of her seat. They were in for a long ride.
--
Apparently, the party place was further from her house then Tess had originally thought, because now it was about 5 AM and they still weren't home. She sighed, wanting to be in a nice warm bed.
She looked over at the boy, who hadn't moved a muscle in three hours. She grimaced and said, "Look, I'm sorry alright."
He looked over at Tess and gave a half smile, "It's…cool. I guess you and I…were just tired." He yawned, "And I guess I still am."
Tess nodded, and then realized she still didn't know his name (how sad?), "Hey, um…not to be like…rude or anything but I've known you for about…seven hours and I still don't know-"
Tess was interrupted by the car lurching forward. She lost her balance and crashed into her mother, who woke up for about a minute, and then fell back asleep.
Tess repositioned herself and looked back over at the boy, who was now sleeping. Tess silently prayed that she'd soon be home, and could just forget that this night ever happened. Nothing seemed to be going her way. She closed her eyes and laid her head back. Tess fell asleep within five minutes.
--
If only it was a dream.
If only the past couple of hours were just a part of some crazy dream. Then Tess wouldn't be in the middle of Nevada, far from home, with a drunk mother and her drunk company owner, with two other total strangers.
Tess had woken up to someone shaking her. She sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes, "Where am I?"
"Uh…Vegas."
Tess' eyes suddenly opened and she glared at the boy, who was the one to wake her up, "What are you talking about? I live in California, remember?"
He grinned sheepishly and ran a hand threw his curls, "Uh…well, Auntie Mae needed gas, and we're all hungry and we're going to stop for breakfast. Please don't be mad."
Tess rubbed her head, unable to take in it all. She was exhausted and just wanted to go home. She nodded and said, "Pancakes?"
He smiled, "I think that can be arranged." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the car. He never loosened his grip on her, causing Tess to become uncomfortable quickly.
Auntie Mae looked at them and smiled, "Good morning sweet pea. How'd you sleep?"
Tess shrugged and the same time the boy did. Auntie Mae looked at them with a knowing smile and turned away. Tess raised an eyebrow and looked at him, he was now smiling (and blushing a little bit too) and looking away, "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"Why are you holding my hand?"
"Why do you care?"
"Why are you answering my questions with questions?"
Tess glared and shook her hand away from his. The last thing that she needed this morning (or her life for that matter) was more drama. And this boy was definitely drama. Tess could see it, it was written all over his face. "Where are my pancakes?" she finally asked.
The boy grinned happily and took her hand once more, receiving an eye roll in return, "In this restaurant."
"IHOP?" Tess asked with a smile. IHOP was one of her favorite places to get pancakes, or anything from the breakfast category for that matter.
The boy smiled and said, "Shall we?"
Tess nodded, "But afterwards, we HAVE to get home."
He nodded and said, "Of course. After you get your pancakes, I'll tell Auntie Mae that you need to get home to your comfort zone."
Tess was amazed at how well he could read her, and was thankful that he had been there last night, "Thank you." She said softly, so that she was the only one who could hear.
--
After having a plate of pancakes and a tall glass of orange juice, Tess could honestly say she felt better. She hadn't eaten anything at the party for fear it was spiked or been poisoned or something.
She was about to strike conversation with the boy, but was too hungry to. And he was as well, so the two had eaten in silence.
After he paid the bill, much to Tess' protest, the two walked outside and towards the car. Tess looked up and out at her surroundings. It wasn't as glamorous in Vegas as she thought it was going to be.
"HEY BABE!"
Tess turned her attention to the voice. She cringed when she saw it was one of her exes. Why ex? She dumped him after he tried to convince her to smoke weed. "Go away."
"Hey, hey, no hard feelings from earlier. We're in Vegas." He stepped towards her.
"Old friend?" the boy murmered to Tess.
"As if…old boyfriend…his name is David. I never want to see him, or talk to him, again!"
"Is this your new boyfriend?" David asked, looking at the boy with disgust.
"So what if he is?" Tess snapped. Honestly, couldn't David go make out with his NEW girlfriend, who just so happened to be standing no more than five feet away.
"Wow." Was all David said, "You've certainly changed."
Tess' nostrils flared, "No, I haven't changed one bit."
And, on an impulse move, she grabbed the collar of the shirt of the boy whose name was still unknown and pulled him into a kiss. He stumbled back when she let go. Tess glared at David, who started backing up towards his girlfriend, who was also giving him a dirty look.
Tess smiled triumphantly, and looked at the dazed boy, "Oh…God…"
--
Tess couldn't believe what she just did. It was an impulse move, sure, but she still did it. Not that he seemed to mind, but he was pretty surprised.
And she still had no clue as to what his name was. Sad, huh?
Tess decided not to talk to him for the remainder of the time they had together. It was already embarrassing having run into him at a party where your MOTHER gets drunk, eat like a pig in front of him, and to top it all off, kiss him in front of an ex.
Without ever learning his name.
Tess checked her watch. It was nearly noon. Both the adults were still sleeping and Auntie Mae glanced at her own watch and called, "Alrighty! Time to head home!"
Tess smiled, "Finally." She climbed into the car without assistance from the boy and leaned against the backing. The car started and she started humming to herself, avoiding the gaze from the boy who was sitting right across from her now.
"Hey…that…stunt you pulled back there…" he trailed.
Tess looked up, she wasn't exactly in the mood to talk about it. Ever. And considering that they'd only be spending about two more hours together tops defeated the purpose of talking. She looked away, "Yeah. What about it?"
"Why?"
"I don't know OK?!" Tess spat, "It was an impulse move! He was bothering me and I couldn't help it!"
The boy was silent for a moment and finally said, "I liked it."
Tess looked away and said, "Well…I guess that makes one of us."
--
Finally.
Tess was home. Finally. Her father came out of the house and thanked Auntie Mae about a thousand times before he hauled his wife inside. Tess stepped out of the car, happy for fresh air, and happy to finally be home.
She turned around as the car started. She quickly knocked on the window. The boy rolled it down and looked at her curiously, "Hmm? What do you need?"
"What's your name?" Tess asked hurriedly. If nothing came out of this experience, at least if she ever saw him again she'd be able to say 'hi' plus his name.
The boy smiled, "Thought you'd never ask. It's Nate."
Tess smiled, "Tess."
"Listen, I know you probably DON'T want to hear this but…well when I'm living here…in California…I'm only down the street."
Tess' jaw dropped to the floor as the Nate waved and the window rolled up. She watched as the car drove away down the street, becoming nothing more than a little speck.
--
Tess had been to a lot of her mother's parties before. But this was definitely the best.
End
Story 51 of 100
