Misery was trying as hard as she could not to laugh at Pistol's obvious discomfort. Really, she WAS trying. Pistol looked up sharply as the two girls seated themselves on a bench in the park, when a honking snort issued forth from Misery's nose. When Pistol looked at Misery, the other girl clapped her hands over her face and hid against the arm of the bench, but nothing could hide her shaking shoulders and the sparkling trail of tears that had erupted from her eyes.
"Why the hell are you laughin' at me?" Pistol slapped at Misery's upper arm and Misery jerked away, making a face but not stopping her laughter. Gasping for breath the older girl held up her hands and then wiped her tears onto her sleeve.
"I'm so sorry Pistol, it's not that you're upset please believe I'd never laugh at that. I'm just remembering how reluctant I was with Race and then Bourbon when Riddle came to Manhattan to tell her that he had feelings for her. You would have thought that the end of the world was coming." Slightly mollified, Pistol stuck a cigarette into her mouth and lit it, taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly.
"I don't have FEELINGS for Blink; I just get royally pissed off when I see him with other girls. Oh and he drives me crazy." Pistol thoughtfully exhaled and squinted one eye shut then nodded.
"Yup he drives me crazy."
"Do you get a fluttery feeling in your stomach when you see his face every day?" Pistol thought for a second and shrugged.
"I guess so, but then again I eat A LOT of candy. Candy makes me sick. Especially when I mix it with sauerkraut on hot dogs." Misery made a face and scratched her chin. Pistol was going to be a tough egg to crack.
"Ok well let's go back to how it makes you mad when you see him with other girls. WHY does it make you so mad?"
"That's easy, because it means he's spending less time with me."
"Pistol he spends every waking moment with either you or Mush."
"As it should be."
"So you don't think he should be trying to find a nice girl to spend some time with?" Pistol blew out a sputtering raspberry and rolled her eyes.
"What does he need a nice girl with when he has me?"
"Do you WANT to be his girlfriend?" Pistol hunkered down and finally gave Misery a forlorn look.
"I've never even kissed him. How am I supposed to know the answer to that?" Misery gave a cry of triumph.
"Maybe you should kiss him then. Usually when you kiss someone and you are both interested you can tell just from that kiss."
"Boys have cooties."
"PISTOL!"
"Okay, okay it's worth a shot." Pistol felt like a bird was trapped in her ribcage, its wings beating frantically at her insides trying to get out. It pained her to realize that it was her heart making that entire racket. Standing up, she put her hands on her hips and spat onto the ground.
"Well, I'm definitely going to need more alcohol in me than what I have now if I'm going to try this crazy stunt." Misery stood up as well, and laughing, the two girls went back to Medda's, one thinking she had helped her friend, and the other not knowing what she had gotten herself into at all.
"Hey Blink have you seen Pistol?" Blink shook himself and tore his gaze away from Ruth to look up with annoyance at Emotions. The Brooklyn girl calmly met his glare and smiled blissfully at him. He felt a jab of worry pierce his stomach when he looked around and didn't see her anywhere.
"Last I saw, she was with Race and Misery over at that table. Come to think of it, I don't see Misery either." Emotions breathed on the fingernails of her right hand and buffed them against her shirt, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Maybe you should ditch the stranger and go find your friend before the little hooligan gets herself into trouble." Blink looked back at Ruth, dark, pretty, mysterious Ruth and with a pang of regret, excused himself to go find his wayward friend. When he was almost at the entrance to Medda's, he realized that he had forgotten his cap. Jogging back to get it, he was taken aback to see that Ruth had disappeared.
Cocking his head in surprise, he looked around but couldn't find her everywhere. Pursing his lips, he put his cap on over his dirty-blonde hair and shrugged. His mind wandered towards Pistol and he shook his head, intent on finding her and giving her a piece of his mind about wandering off at night after she had been drinking.
"And so then, when he wasn't looking, I took the tack and stuck it under his bum and …..Oh hi Blink." Pistol flushed furiously and Misery snorted back her laughter, trying to remain solemn at the sight of the grouchy looking Kid Blink. His cheeks were stained crimson and he raised a sardonic eyebrow at Pistol.
"So that's where you've been? Sitting out here in the alley with Misery telling stories about how you've made fun of me in public?" Pistol lifted up a bottle of wine that they had swiped from Medda's kitchens and shook it at him.
"Not only that, but we've been emptying this!" Blink let out a sigh but at the cheerful tone to her voice and sparkle in her eyes, he couldn't help but smile and sit down next to them, all three of their backs against the brick building next to Medda's. Grabbing the bottle away from her, he took a healthy swig. Pistol yelped and swatted at him in mock outrage.
Misery took in her friend's still overly pink cheeks and slightly glassy eyes and the determined set to her narrow jaw. Grinning to herself, she rose and stretched, flipping a lock of her hair over her shoulder. Knocking a fist against the top of the bowler hat Pistol wore that used to be hers, she smiled openly this time.
"I'm going inside, Race is probably wondering where the Hell I am and boy does he worry. Like a mother hen that boy is. I'll see you kids later." And with that she stuck her thumbs under her suspenders, hooking them around where her suspenders attached to her pants, elbows slightly cocked and swaggered down the alley back into Medda's. Pistol watched her go, her stomach leaping into her throat before she gagged it back down with a swallow of sweet wine.
"So uh where's Ruth?" Despite all the booze he had consumed that night, Blink knew when Pistol was dallying around talking about something important. He had hoped that maybe they could settle what was between them once and for all in the near future but the girl skated around it like her feet were coated with butter.
"Emotions came and told me to go find you because she hadn't seen you in awhile. Ruth disappeared; I don't know where she went. Y'know Pistol, you really need to stop running around the city as if you were still five. People could do bad things to a girl alone at night. I'm not your keeper."
Pistol ground her teeth and turned sideways so that she was facing Blink who looked down at her, the moonlight illuminating the grim set to his mouth and angry eye. Sticking a finger in his face she waggled it, although words failed to come to her mouth. Suddenly her shoulders slumped and she looked away.
"You're right, I need to grow up. Maybe if I grew up then people would like me more." Blink squinted, confused.
"Like you more? People like you just fine. What do you mean like me more?"
"Forget it! Forget I said anything, it doesn't mean nothin' just forget it." Blink was taken aback by how angry she suddenly got, her temper flaring like a struck match. She leapt up and was about to bound away, when he grabbed her sleeve, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards onto him. Rolling over so that they were face to face, him still sitting up, her lying against him, she hiccupped, reeking of the wine.
"What's the big idea Blink? Goddamn it you can be such an ass sometimes."
"Oh yeah? Look who's talking ya queer little leprechaun of a girl." Pistol blinked at him and the corner of her mouth twitched as if she might laugh, but she didn't. Blink studied her for a heartbeat. The girl had grown up whether either of them wanted to admit it. Though she was small of stature she still had a feminine figure and face, and she was by far not ugly. Pistol's eyes snapped shut for a second and she huffed out a breath, and then opened them again.
"Ya know you can get off me whenever ya want," Blink stated slowly. She shot her eyes towards his again; searching it seemed to see how serious he was. After a minute or two, she nodded in a determined manner then smiled leisurely up at him.
"I could do that yah." Then she punched him solidly on the shoulder. Blink yowled in pain and grabbed her wrists throwing her off of him and up against the wall. She smacked her head and winced, trying not to look at the royally pissed off boy who restrained her.
"I swear to God Pistol you drive me crazy," he growled out, their noses touching. When she gave him her challenging grin, he felt that weird little feeling in his stomach whenever she was around flame up. He was instantly overly aware of the girl he held half in his lap and half against the wall. Her usual smell of cigarettes and flowers from the soap Misery gave her to wash her face mixed with the wine. He leaned forward so that their foreheads rested against each other's and breathed deeply.
Pistol's belly was a mess of nerves. She believed Misery, believed that maybe she DID need to try something like kissing Blink to see what would happen. She already knew that she liked him, she just didn't know if she was ready to admit it or not. That was a big step. What if they weren't right as a couple and lost their friendship? She couldn't live if that happened. Blink was as necessary to her as air or food; he was the only constant steady thing she had in her life. Throwing caution to the wind, she shifted until her lips touched his.
She could feel his breath hitch and she knew, although there was no way she was going to look at him that he was watching her now, wondering what the hell she was doing. She pressed her mouth against his harder and just like that he dropped her hands and wound his arms around her, returning her kiss.
When they broke apart, both were flushed and dazed. Pistol couldn't think straight, but there was one thing her mind and body were telling her to do. She needed to get out of there, and fast. Disentangling herself from him, she leapt up and stammered something about being tired and needing to sleep. Then she took off at a dead run, only pumping her legs faster when she heard him shout something out behind her.
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes when later, as she lay in her bunk she saw through half-open eyelids the unmistakable male form of a boy pause in the doorway to the girl's room mutter something under his breath, and then continue on. Rolling over, she bunched up her blanket and hugged it to her, letting out a shaky breath.
She knew that she had probably wounded him deeply by her reaction to something that she herself had been the one to instigate. But when her body and head told her 'Run!' she obeyed. No street kid would do otherwise. Besides, that kiss HAD made her realize something. She did have a thing for Blink and she had it bad. But she wasn't sure she had the guts still to do anything about it. The thought of facing him tomorrow morning was unbearable. But the idea of seeing him with Ruth after tonight was equally just as bad.
There was no doubt about it; a visit to Misery was in order. Maybe she would know how to keep things running smoothly. After all she had given Pistol the idea of kissing him and what better girl to get advice from then the one who had managed to get the King of Brooklyn to fall head over heels for her, deny him and have him STILL be one of her best friends.
Feeling a little bit better, but her stomach still racked with unease and guilt, she managed to fall into a fitful sleep that was plagued with nightmares and strange dreams.
A/N – Ugh I feel like this chapter sucks. More so the ending than any other part, but I don't know. Let me know what you guys think and I can change it if need be. Or add stuff in to the next chapter.
Shout Outs!
My dog ate my penname – Hey there welcome back Spitball!
Spot: It's about damn time too…:::glare:::
Whoa. Easy there chief. Soon, Spitball soon. ::cackles:: I don't think I can make this story TOO long although I do have more plot twistage coming up. Skittery is your sort of side-kick but more than that. I need to develop that a bit more as well.
Pokey7 – Thanks I'm glad you still read this! Yeah I love bringing old characters into stories especially ones that I'm familiar with how to write them already. Hah Pistol is a tough nut to crack.
Nada Zimri – Thanks yeah I'm doing alright. It was sudden and all that, so no one was expecting it. I feel bad for Pistol, this chapter was actually sort of something that happened with me and one of my guy friends, so I hope it's believable.
Kays14 – Yeah I like the whole jealousy thing with Spot and Misery too, that's why I keep it in :D Haha..there's still a little bit more to do with Ruth before Blink and Pistol can stop being idiots.
JamieBell – Yes, much easier. I hope that things start to pick up a little bit more with this story myself, I have some other things to add to it that's for sure.
Just Duck – Cameos rock and men are VERY VERY VERY frustrating. ::grinds teeth::
Jocelyn Padoga – I always get excited to see my characters in stories, so I know how you feel. You're welcome I'm glad you liked it!
Erin Go Bragh – As always, you have an awesome ffnet name. ::gets tackled::
Spot:: Hehe…now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about.
Perv. Anywho, yes jealous Pistol is very fun, especially to write. :D
Emotions – Yay I'm so glad that I got your characters right! I'm sorry this took so long to update, I have tons of stories I'm working on so I try to rotate and update each one in a row. Next up is my Spot story.