"He carries the stars in his pockets because he knows she fears the dark. Whenever sadness pays her a visit, he paints galaxies on the back of her hands." -Alaska Gold
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They were able to sneak into a bar through the back entrance without anyone noticing them. They claimed a table in a dark corner and settled in. They were all drinking in small amounts, limiting themselves because they were filming the next day. They were sitting in a corner booth, Jared on one side of Daphne, Shannon on the other. Daphne was already starting to feel a bit of a buzz and Jared was enjoying seeing her lose her inhibitions a little bit.
"So Daphne," Jared started, taking a swig from his drink before setting it back on the table. "What turns you on?"
She gave him a bit of a laugh and turned to face him a bit. "So we're playing that game now, then?"
"Just a curiosity of mine," he replied with a bit of a grin on his face.
She gazed at him, well aware of his flirting. He didn't seem to care about whom he flirted with, that was obvious. Nor did he care who he was flirting in front of. In fact, Shannon was almost exactly the same. Daphne had noticed that Jared flirted with everyone-men and women- and almost seemed to enjoy watching his 'conquests' squirm under his attention.
"Tell me Jared," she said, moving closer to his ear. "Do you ask everyone that question or just the people you want to sleep with?" He narrowed his eyes, enjoying the game she was playing. "I know your dirty little secret," she said in his ear.
"And what's that?" he asked with a grin.
"You like to flirt. You like getting people excited. It's a game to you," she replied. "But what you don't know is that I can play that game, too." She scooted over to Shannon who was watching their exchange with a smile on his face. "See, you and I have a rule, Jared. Hands off, right?" She glanced back at him as he bit his lip. "But I don't have that rule with Shannon." She ran her fingers across Shannon's neck, trailing them down across his chest.
Shannon stared blankly at the table in front of him, fighting the urge to grab her and kiss her. He knew she was playing with both of them and he knew she was enjoying the teasing. Hell, he was enjoying it, too. It was nice to get attention from a woman, especially one as sexy as Daphne. It was a nice ego stroke. But it didn't do anything to stem the thoughts he was having of her or the things he wanted to do to her.
"I could tease you both all night long and I don't think either one of you would care," she said with a smile, leaning back against the pleather booth and crossing her legs.
Jared let out a low sigh. "See, this is why you and I work so well together, Daphne. We're both beautiful, smart, funny, well-educated people who also happen to have great legs."
She laughed loudly. "Nice to see Rayon hasn't completely disappeared."
Shannon laughed as he got up. "If only you knew, Daphne. If only you knew." He walked to the bathroom, leaving Jared and Daphne alone.
"So how much longer are we playing this 'Turn Each Other on As Much As We Can' game?" she asked Jared.
"As long as you want," he replied, his mouth hovering close to her ear.
She gazed at him in the dim light, narrowing her eyes a small amount to get a better view of his face. His blue eyes were sparkling with laughter as they stared each other down.
"What I don't get, sweetheart," he started. "Is how you can be so open about flirting when you've made it clear you've got a boyfriend?"
She sighed. "Jake and I probably won't be 'Jake and I' for much longer." She rested her chin on her hand heavily, twirling her straw in her drink.
Jared blinked. "But he's crazy about you, that's what it seems like anyways."
She nodded. "I know. But I just don't get the feeling that he's into me like that. Or maybe I'm not into him like that. I don't know." She shook her head in confusion. "We haven't even slept together yet. It doesn't even feel like he wants to."
Jared's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "You two haven't…"
She shook her head. "Nope."
"Is he blind? Or gay?" Jared asked, sipping his drink.
She chuckled. "Shannon said the same thing."
"Look, maybe he just isn't sure you want to sleep with him," he replied. "You do…don't you?"
She nodded. "I mean, I guess."
He smiled. "Well there's your problem, darling. You heart's not in it." He glanced over at the bathroom to see if Shannon was coming out yet. "Trust me; it's easier to leave someone BEFORE you sleep together than it is to leave afterward."
She sighed. "But how do I know you aren't just saying this because you actually have a crush on me?"
He paused and blinked, shocked with her revelation. "Did Shannon tell you?" he asked, sliding away from her a bit.
Daphne shook her head. "I figured it out all on my own," she said with a laugh. "It's so obvious, Jay. I don't mind though."
He smiled slightly, running his tongue against his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to speak, but Shannon came back to the table.
"Alright, Daphne want to dance?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.
She glanced over at Jared, who nodded slightly and leaned back against the booth. She took Shannon's hand and got up, giving Jared a nice view of her ass. He grinned to himself as he watched them move away. The bar was full of people bobbing to the beats coming over the speakers. Shannon navigated the way easily, pulling Daphne through the crowd gently until they were in the center of a large group of people. He pulled her to face him, resting his hands against her slim hips. She smiled seductively at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and coming in closer to him. His eyes never left hers as they moved with the hypnotic beat. She looked over at Jared who was just sitting there, watching them with an amused look on his face.
She turned her attention back to Shannon, enjoying the feel of his hands against her body and the light pressure he was applying to pull her closer to him. They danced like that for another ten or fifteen minutes before he got tired and decided to head back to the table, bringing her with him. Jared met them halfway, taking Daphne's hand from Shannon's and guiding her back out on the dance floor. He had rhythm, but next to zero dance ability. She laughed at his inability to move rhythmically and placed her hands on his hips to try to guide them.
"If you wanted to grab my ass, all you had to do was ask," he growled sexily in her ear.
She laughed again as he pulled her closer. "For a musician, you have terrible rhythm for dancing."
"I'm not supposed to be a good mover, just a good singer," he replied, meeting her eyes. "My talents are wasted on the dance floor. Come check them out in bed," he winked at her and she rolled her eyes.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked, turning her back to him.
She spotted Shannon watching her intently as she danced with Jared. What she didn't see was the phone in a girl's hand as she took a photo of the two of them. Jared turned her to face him again, holding her close. Both of them were oblivious to the camera snapping photos next to them, Jared because of Daphne's closeness and Daphne because of the copious amounts of alcohol she had imbibed. Shannon however spotted it and made his way over quickly, albeit slightly clumsily. He tapped Jared's shoulder and whispered in his ear, taking Daphne's hand and pulling her after him as they made a beeline for the door.
"Dude, how did you miss that?" Shannon asked as they walked down the street.
"It's been a while since I drank, alright?" Jared said, hurrying after his brother. "I'm not as alert about things as I usually am. Give me a break."
They stopped after rounding a corner, leaning against a brick wall. Daphne had turned an interesting shade of green as they rushed away and she was now leaning heavily against the brick. Jared took one look at her and knew what was going to happen.
"Daphne, let's find you a trash can," he said, taking her hand and leading her over to one nearby.
She teetered on her heels as she tried to stay balanced. Instead, Shannon ended up holding her up as she vomited profusely into the mostly-empty trash can. Jared held her hair back, looking around to make sure no one recognized them-because that was the last thing they needed then.
"Get it all out," Shannon said, rubbing her back lightly. "This is why I don't drink very often."
"No, you don't drink very often because you don't know your limits and you turn into a crazy moron who does stupid shit," Jared corrected his brother.
Shannon nodded. "That's true."
Daphne moaned, taking a break from emptying her stomach contents into the metal trash can in front of her. Jared winced at the sound of her vomiting again and looked away. Shannon was a little wobbly, but still functioning. Between the three of them, they were all well over the legal blood-alcohol limit.
"This is why we never go drinking," he added. "Because we always go overboard."
Jared laughed a little. "Alright, I think she's done."
Daphne had stopped vomiting and was now leaning heavily against the trashcan, one hand on either edge, breathing deeply. Jared surveyed the damage.
"You kind of got it into the trashcan," he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the sight in front of him.
Daphne moaned again, collapsing against Shannon. "Okay, we need to get her back to the hotel," Shannon said.
"Are you good to walk?" Jared asked his brother.
"Yeah, but I can't carry her," Shannon replied. Even in the dim light of the alley they were stopped in, Jared could see his brother was a little green himself.
He sighed and took Daphne from him. "If you're going to puke, puke. I'm not stopping again. People already know we were out. They'll be at the hotel soon enough."
"I'll be good, I think. Let's just get going," Shannon replied.
"I guess I'm carrying her," Jared said, leaning down to hoist Daphne into his arms. She was surprisingly heavy when she was passed out. He hefted her small frame in his arms and nodded his head for Shannon to take the lead.
They meandered their way through the streets as inconspicuously as they could, being two slightly drunk men in their forties carrying the intoxicated body of a scantily-dressed young woman through the streets of Toronto in the middle of the night. Finally they reached the hotel and managed to scurry past the front concierge without trouble. In the elevator, Daphne came to a little bit.
"Hi," Jared said, looking down at her.
She groaned and shifted in his arms, looking around the confined space. Shannon was leaning against the opposite wall, forehead pressed against the cool mirrored wall. The elevator dinged and Jared had to reach his foot out and kick his brother to get him to move off the elevator. A rather large forehead print was left on the mirror in his stead. Jared rolled his eyes and led him down the hallway.
"I can walk," Daphne said quietly.
Jared put her down and immediately she started to sink down to the floor, her legs giving out under her weight. She was wobbly on her high heels.
"Why don't we take these off," he said, sliding her feet out of the shoes and tossing them to his brother. "Here. Hold these."
Shannon looked at the shoes in his hands in confusion. "These are so not my style."
"Yeah, I'm never going drinking with either one of you again," Jared muttered under his breath as he opened his hotel room with his key card.
He picked Daphne back up and carried her through the open doorway to her room, dropping her as gently as he could on her bed. The only light in the room came from the light in Jared's room. He turned to see Shannon, still examining Daphne's shoes, standing in the doorway.
"Give me those, you dumbass," he said, taking the shoes from his brother. He tossed them through the doorway behind him. "Are you good to go?" he asked, steadying Shannon with an arm on each shoulder. He looked into his eyes, trying to gain perspective on his intoxication. "'Cause I'm not leaving her alone in there if she's puking this much. I don't want her to choke or anything."
"Yes, I'll be fine, go," Shannon said, nodding.
Jared nodded in contentment, turning to go into Daphne's room. "I'm going to leave this open, ok?" he asked, pointing toward the door. "Yell if you need anything."
Shannon nodded before collapsing onto the bed face-down like a starfish, both arms and legs stretched out on either side of his body, loud snores escaping his open mouth. Jared sighed and went into Daphne's room. He didn't want to leave her in that dress-it didn't look too comfortable and the halter top also seemed like a plausible choking hazard. He kicked her shoes out of the way and went to her suitcase, unzipping it carefully. He sifted through the various articles of clothing before finding a pair of shorts and a tank top. He took the opportunity to investigate her underwear as well, pleasantly surprised to see a mixture of slightly slutty ones alongside the more practical ones. He was so busy debating whether or not to choose a slutty pair of underwear for Daphne that he didn't notice Shannon had stopped making noise. It hit him and he paused, listening in the silence for his brother to breathe. He let out a sigh of relief when a loud snort escaped him. Jared stood, moving through the mostly-dark room. He tossed the clothes in the bathroom and went over to pick up Daphne. She was semi-conscious enough to notice it was him. He set her down on the bench in the walk in shower and knelt down in front of her.
"Daphne, you should take a shower. You need to get as much of this out of your system as you can before tomorrow," he said, shaking her slightly. Her head lolled to the side and a small snore escaped her lips. He growled. "This is not what I wanted to do," he said to himself.
He slid his shirt off and stripped down to his boxers before returning to Daphne and lifting her arms over her head to take off her dress. He tried to avoid looking at her as he took the dress off and tossed it outside of the shower. He left her underwear on and flipped the water on. It came down on them both from the rainwater shower head above. He sighed as she came to when the water hit her face. She was still REALLY drunk. He hosed her off as best as he could, getting her long hair (and the vomit that had gotten into it) and shampooing it as well as he could.
He lifted her up, holding her bare chest against his as he shut the water off and went to dry them both off. He wrapped her in the towel as best as he could. It was really hard to keep his mind on the task at hand when he had a mostly-naked, very attractive woman in his arms. It would have been so easy for him to gawk at her completely, but the gentleman in him-damn him to hell-kept him from doing that. He slid the tank top over her head and down her body. He clenched his jaw as his hand brushed against her breast. He picked her up in his arms and took her to the bed, laying her down gently and sliding her soaked underwear down over her ankles. He quickly slid the fresh ones on and pulled the shorts over top of them. He settled her into the bed and turned to go grab some fresh clothes of his own when he heard her soft voice.
"Don't leave me alone," she said quietly. "I hate being alone. I'm always alone."
He was shocked at her speaking. He turned to face her. "I'll be right back. I'm not going anywhere."
Jared went into the other room after pressing a kiss against her forehead. He hurriedly grabbed a fresh set of boxers and pajama bottoms, sliding them on as he tried to write a note to Shannon-telling him where he was in case he woke up-simultaneously. The result was a hastily-scribbled, barely legible note written on a Post-It that Jared simply slapped onto his brother's forehead. He went back into Daphne's room and saw that she was asleep. As he settled in on the sofa after checking on her one last time, it suddenly hit him that her plaintive cry for him not to go wasn't merely one of drunkenness, but also one of a lonely child who didn't seem to have anyone in this world. And it was mostly true. She was alone, even though she had so many fans, and had been for a very long time.