These are the limits when one's buried
This body's left the soul
Could we have known
Never would I , helped to nail down
Careful of drifting off
Now losing taste and touch
Tristan sat in his room, tossing a tennis ball up and down as Rick talked on his cell phone, a small smile on his face, "So you take Miller Street to the end and you're the last house on the right?" he smirked at Tristan, "Yeah. Okay I'll see you tomorrow." he hung up and grinned at Tristan, "Bow down to your savior."
The blonde's eyes were following the tennis ball that he was throwing up and down. He glanced over at his friend, "What the hell are you going on about now?"
He fell onto his bed, a smug smirk in place, "I happen to have just scored us an invite to the party of the year this Friday night."
Tristan's eyes stayed on the ball, "Yeah?" he asked, uninterested.
"Yeah." Rick replied, "Amy Norton and Mackenzie Myers are throwing it. They are without a doubt the most kick-ass party throwers for seventy miles and the hottest girls in Clarksville. Come on, you can't turn down an invite from these girls"
"Did you get invited, or did we gent invited?" Tristan asked from his place in Rick's bean bag chair.
"I got invited with the request to bring the, and I quote, 'Hot new piece of ass that is said to have been hanging around with me' end quote."
Tristan snorted, rolling the tennis ball between his hands. The school was out in the country. Something about keeping the boys' minds on school and training rather than on the other things young people do. There were three small towns within fifty miles of the school and the boys went to the towns on their leave weekends. It was a very southern feeling, being more than eighty miles from a large city. The three towns together only supplied meager entertainment; a pool hall, a drive in movie, a small bowling alley, several restaurants, a liquor store that didn't check ID, and the occasional high school party.
"I mean come on, you need to get out."
Tristan glanced down at the ball thoughtfully before coking his arm back and throwing it at his roommate. Rick crashed to the floor and covered his head to avoid a concussion. He sat up and looked at the wall where the ball had hit before turning to look at his friend in disbelief. "Yeah" Tristan shrugged, "I guess I'll go."
FRIDAY
Tristan sat on one of the couches in Amy Norton's living room. His right hand was curled around the neck of a glass bottle that was resting on his knee. His left hand was balled into a fist and laid limply on the cushion. He took a drink, his eyes not leaving the people dancing...the people grinding. It made him think of Rory. They had danced like that before, and the thought almost brought a smile to his face. She'd never danced like that before, but after a quick lesson from Louise she'd been willing to try it with him. She hadn't had much practice, but she was a natural. Everything with them was natural. Everything fit.
He was pulled from his musings when a weight was deposited on the couch next to him, "You're not dancing."
"Very observant."
"Ha. Ha." she obviously wasn't very amused. He laughed lightly and glanced over at the girl next to him as she spoke again, she didn't seem like an idiot, which was refreshing, "So you're the new guy."
"That would be correct."
She rolled her eyes, "I'm Mackenzie."
"Tristan."
"You're from Connecticut, right?"
"Yeah." he took another drink.
She shook her head, clicking her tongue, "Yankee."
He laughed, "Damn straight."
She smiled, "So how do you like the south?"
Tristan took another drink and glanced at the couples dancing, "It's humid."
She laughed, "Yeah." Tristan looked over at her as she continued talking. She was hot, he'd give her that. Long, straight, light brown hair. Tan with a little compact body. Green eyes. Full lips. Straight white teeth. She had a nice voice. Not too high. She wasn't a fast talker. She always sounded like she was about to laugh. "So do you want to dance?" he glanced over at the clock,
had she really been sitting there for ten minutes?
He took another swig of his drink, "Maybe later."
Her eyebrow arched and she gave him a questioning look, "Mm-hmm."
"What?"
She shook her head, amused, "Nothing. I'll see you around, Yankee." she stood up and made her way into the kitchen.
Tristan just smiled, looking back at the couples as Stewart came and fell onto the couch next to him, "Did I just see Mackenzie Myers walk away from you?"
"Is that her last name?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Did she ask you to dance?"
"Yeah."
His jaw dropped, "And you turned her down?"
"I said maybe later."
"What? Dugrey, man, you're not in your right mind. Myers never asks anyone to dance. If she does, the guy gets laid. She's only asked two guys to dance since I met her. I cannot believe that you just turned down an opportunity like that."
Tristan just rolled his eyes as Stewart stood up, "You're such a sad person, Stewart."
He shrugged, "Any guy would have to be fucked in the head to turn her down, my friend. I just lost like, eighty-five percent of the respect I had for you."
He laughed, "Nice to know I can disappoint you."
Stewart grinned and stood, "See you around Dugrey."
"Later."
KITCHEN
Rick made his way into the kitchen to see Mackenzie leaning across the counter, talking to Amy. He cam up behind her and kissed her cheek. She turned and smiled widely, kissing him gently. "Hey sweetie."
He grinned, "Hey Kink. Amy." he nodded to the other girl and she returned the greeting.
Mackenzie spoke, "How long have you been here?"
He shook his head, "Not long. Hey, can I talk to you real quick?"
She nodded, "Yeah." she bid good bye to Amy and led Rick out the back door and into the yard. They walked in silence to a swing set. She sat and he began to push her gently, "So how've you been?"
"Great. What about you?"
She shrugged casually, "Can't complain."
"Is Trey still messing with you?" he asked, referring to a guy who had tried to hook up with her at a previous party...of course he hadn't allowed that to happen since Mackenzie didn't want it. The ass had walked away with a shiner over his left eye.
"No. He hasn't come near me since his eye healed."
"Good." They had a strange relationship. They'd hooked up several times when they first met, but it had been months since they had realized that although they were physically attracted to each other, their feelings were platonic. And now they were more like brother and sister than anything. And Rick worried about her. "I saw you talking to Dugrey."
"Yeah. He seemed like a nice guy."
"He is."
They sat in silence for a while, the only sounds were her toes scraping the ground, his hands hitting her back, and the chains creaking as she swayed. "He just seems different." she said quietly, knowing that Rick had brought her out here for something important.
"He is a really good guy, and I love you to death, but Kink-" he used her nickname, "-do not get involved with him."
"What?" they were close, but they both had their hookups, and he had never tried to stop her form hooking up with anyone before.
"It's just..." he shook his head, "He's my roommate, and you're one of my best friends. Hell, you're like my fucking sister. So I'm going to tell you this because I care and I don't want you to get hurt." she was silent, inviting him to continue. He grabbed her waist as she swayed back in the swing, "Don't get involved with him. He had to leave a girl when he came here, and he's nowhere near being over her. I don't want either of you to get hurt. I know him and I know you. He's the type of guy that you would date. You'd want a relationship and you'd just wind up hurt, because he wouldn't want one. I don't even know if he'd hook up with anyone." he took a breath and she dragged her feet on the ground to stop the swing. Rick walked around so that he was in front of her, and he grabbed the chains, leaning closer. She looked down.
"Kink." he said her name quietly and she looked up at him, "I know that I can't stop you if you're dead set on getting him. But please just trust me when I say that you'll wind up hurt. I'm only looking out for you." She turned her face away and stood up, not looking at him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Just be careful." he whispered.
CONNECTICUT
Rory pulled her knees to her chest, "Oh Adam..." she called in a sing-song voice.
"Oh Rory..." he called back from his place next to her on her front lawn, his eyes closed and his hands under his head.
She smiled, laying on her stomach, "It's almost April."
"Yes it is."
"You know what that means..."
"No, I don't."
"It's spring."
"Ahh." he laughed at his girlfriend, "Yes, so it is."
"Which means we only have a month and a half left in school."
"Yep." She smiled, laying her head on the back of her hand and closing her eyes. They laid in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until he spoke, "Hey Ror?"
"Hmm?"
"I've been thinking."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"About what?"
"You and me."
"Good thoughts?" she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.
He smiled to himself, "Yeah. Good thoughts. And I've come to a conclusion."
"What's that?" she asked, not really listening. He was quiet, and when he didn't answer her, she tapped him lightly with her foot, "What's your conclusion, babe?"
"I love you."
Her eyes snapped open, "What?"
"I love you." he was silent for a moment, "I've never said that to anyone before. But I do."
She shook her head slowly, "Adam, I don't-" but he cut her off.
"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to get that out. I do. I really do." She sat up, her legs stretched out in front of her and her hands pressed palm down behind her, holding her body up. He sat up as well, and they were facing each other. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly, the fingers of his right hand finding her hip and rubbing light circles into it. It was wrong, it was all wrong. She pulled away, looking over every inch of his face, but she didn't see him. She knew he had light skin, black hair, green eyes. But she didn't see that. All she saw was blonde hair. Blue eyes.
NEXT DAY
Jess stood from his place on the couch in the Hayden's basement, looking over his friends as they moved around the room. Henry and Lane were standing outside; Rory and Paris were in the next room watching a movie; Blake and Madeline were sitting across the room with their heads bent, talking quietly, and Louise and Baker had disappeared fifteen minutes ago. He looked around to try and find Adam, and he grinned to himself when he spotted him getting a drink out of the fridge.
He made his way over to him, "Hey Hart, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Adam looked up, surprised. He and Jess didn't get along all that well, they didn't talk. "Sure." Jess nodded towards the stairs and they went up to the main floor. "What's up?" he asked, tossing the bottle between his hands.
Jess shrugged, "Look, normally I wouldn't say anything, but I feel kinda bad for you-"
Adam interrupted, "Wha-"
Jess ignored him, "-I mean, I can tell that you're a great guy and all, but you're just trying way to hard."
"What are you talking about?"
"Rory."
Adam's eyes narrowed, "What about her?"
Jess shook his head, "She didn't say it back, did she?"
"What?"
"You are trying way too hard. She likes you. I mean, God knows why cause I sure as hell don't, but she seems to like you alright."
"What the fuck-"
Jess cut him off, "Look, I'm only saying something cause you're bugging me, and I'm worried about Rory. Now I know I'm probably crossing a line, but I really don't care. Slow down. I know you said that you love her-"
"How do you know that!"
He rolled his eyes, "I know Rory. I can tell you said something to her, and the only thing that would bother her that much would be you saying that you love her. Now look, you're a nice guy, I don't have a problem with you. But be careful. Rory isn't in this for love. She's in it just to have fun and be a teenager. Don't try to get you to fall in love with you because she won't. I don't even know if she believes in it anymore-"
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I"m just trying to save you a lot of heartache. Look, you weren't here when any shit with Dean was going on. You weren't here when all the stuff with Tristan happened. There's a lot of history with the nine people in this house that you don't understand. And that's okay, no one will ask you to understand because you just can't. But I'll tell you one thing: the girl you're after, while she is going out with you, she's not going to fall for you. She'll never love you. Rory already had her high school sweetheart. She had teenage love. I mean yes, I do care about Paris, but I'm not going to marry her. It's not real love, I know that. None of us are actually in love with each other and we know that. But Rory and Tristan-that was real, and they were the last ones to realize it. What they had was real, it was more than a lot of people will ever have. Somebody doesn't just walk away from that, and Rory hasn't.
"So I'm not telling you this to piss you off, I'm not telling you to hurt you. I'm telling you to try and help you. I know you told her that you loved her because I was around when Dean said it." Adam's eyes were narrowed, and Jess could tell that his best friend's boyfriend really didn't like him at the moment, "She didn't say it back, did she?"
He crossed, his arms, "No."
He smirked, "Yeah. All I'm saying is be careful. Don't rush in."
NORTH CAROLINA
Tristan sat on Mackenzie's bed the next night. A large group of people were watching a football game in the living room. He'd been watching it for half an hour before they'd wound up back there. He didn't even know who was playing or what the score was when he left. All he'd been able to focus on was the girl talking non-stop next to him. Mackenzie was a sweet girl, and she was hot for him. So fucking hot for him. He knew it. Several guys from the academy, along with a few girls and some boys from Clarksville High were lounging around the house, eating, watching TV, swimming, whatever. At two o'clock in the morning.
She walked out of the bathroom that was adjacent to her room and smiled at him, having fixed her hair and makeup. Tristan was sitting on the edge of the bed with his jeans on and no shirt. She was good in bed, he'd give her that. He grabbed his drink off the bedside table and took a long swallow. He felt bad because he knew that she picked up on it, but he couldn't help it. It was wrong. This was all wrong. He had to wash the taste of her out of his mouth.
Mackenzie looked at him uncertainly, her eyes falling onto the amber liquid in the glass, uncertainty flickering through her eyes. She wasn't used to guys drinking after sleeping with her. She walked over to him and bent down to kiss him, but he turned his head. She wasn't the right person. And he felt like shit for treating her the way he was.
She bit her lip and stood up, looking away form him, "What?" he asked.
Mackenzie shook her head, "Nothing." and that was their agreement. That was what this was. Nothing.
He sighed, standing up and running a hand through his hair before pulling on his shirt. This wasn't right. He actually felt bad about it. He hadn't felt bad about fucking a girl and then hurting her...ever. Other that Rory, who didn't fall into the category of a one night stand. He wasn't like most sixteen year olds. His sex life probably didn't even sound real if you looked at it from the outside. He could've gotten any girl he wanted...and had wound up in compromising situations with most of them. He looked and acted older than he was. No one believed his age when he told them.
He wasn't like most sixteen year olds, but right now he felt like shit for being like this to her. Tristan walked over to her and touched her face, "Kenzie..." he raised her chin so that she faced him, and his breath caught in his throat. Her eyes met his and his stomach dropped. He shook his head and dropped his hand, leaving the room without looking back. He made his way quickly through the living room, and he was out the front door by the time his friends realized he'd passed by.
Kyle, Stewart, and Rick ran out the door after him. "Man, did I just see you walk out of Kenzie's room?" Kyle asked, grinning as they followed him down the deserted street.
Tristan continued walking briskly down the road, "Yeah."
"Hell yeah. You got her?" Stewart asked, hitting the blonde on the back.
"Get the fuck off me." Tristan growled, pushing him away. The two boys stopped, shocked, but Rick continued to follow his roommate down the pavement.
"Tristan."
"Leave me alone."
"Hey man, it's alright." He turned to face Rick and opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and shook his head, turning back and walking away. This time no one followed him.
She wasn't the right person. Her hair was too light. Her eyes were the wrong color. He hadn't really seen her until after the fact. He knew what she looked like, but all he'd seen was someone else. All he'd seen was dark brown hair. Blue eyes.
Could we have known
Never would I, helped to nail down
With nothing left to gain
Here's the clincher
This should be you
A/N: Uneventful, I know. But stuff will start happening soon, I promise.