Don't Make This Easy

When I woke up the next morning I left before Tony woke up and went straight to Vic’s. I pulled into his driveway, parked and killed the engine and ran to the front door, knocking on it loudly. A moment later Vic opened the door, a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Jacie? What are you doing here?” He asked, clearly surprised to see me, especially this early.

“Can I come in?” I asked quickly.

“Yeah, of course.” He said and moved over so I could go inside. “There's coffee in the kitchen.” He told me as he closed the door.

I went straight to the kitchen and grabbed a mug out of the cabinet, then made myself a cup. Vic sat at the table and once I finished making my coffee I sat down across from him.

“So what are you doing up before noon after drinking all night?” He laughed.

“I couldn't be at my place.” I said, staring down at the mug in my hands.

“Cammy bring her one night stand back to the apartment?” He asked. I shook my head and sipped my coffee.

“No, it's my own mess that I'm avoiding.” I sighed.

“What? You left alone didn't you?” He asked, clearly confused. I sighed and leaned back in my seat.

“If I tell you, you can't say anything to anyone.” I said seriously. “And I mean no one. Not even Mike. I know he's your brother but I need you to be my brother too right now because I don't have one anymore and you're the only person I can talk to about this.”

“Shit, what happened Jacie?” He asked, concern clear in his voice.

“Tony is at my apartment right now.” I told him.

“I'm assuming he went there after he left the bar?” He asked. I nodded and sipped my coffee.

“He drank my liquor cabinet dry of all my whiskey.” I said.

“He was pretty pissed when he left.” Vic sighed.

“Yeah, I know. And he was pissed when I got home too. And completely wasted.” I told him.

“Did he tell you tell you what was up?” He asked. I gave a short laugh and nodded.

“Yeah, I got a fucking earful alright.” I sighed. “Spent like twenty minutes screaming at each other.”

“Why? You didn't do anything.” He said, sounding confused. I sighed again and rested my head on one hand.

“He kissed me.” I told him.

“At the airport?” He asked. “I know about that, he came back freaking out.”

“No, not at the airport.” I said, shaking my head. “I mean he did, but I mean yesterday. After I left the studio and went back to my place Tony showed up and we kissed.” I explained. “Then Cammy came over and dragged me to the bar for that god awful date. That's why he got pissed and left, because that girl kissed me.”

“Well shit.” Vic sighed, leaning back in his seat. “So are you just avoiding him now because you guys fought? Because you know Tony, he's gonna wake up and feel horrible for whatever he said.”

“No. That's not why I'm avoiding him, he already apologized.” I sighed.

“Alright, so why are you avoiding him then?” He asked. I bit the inside of my cheek and picked at my nail polish. Vic's eyes went wide suddenly. “Jacie, you guys didn't-”

“No!” I almost yelled. “No. We didn't.” I said quieter. “We started making out and thing started getting a bit, uh… heated, I guess. But I stopped it and he slept on the couch after that. And now I'm hiding here because I'm completely mortified.”

“Why? Because you almost had sex with a guy? Or because that guy was Tony?” Vic asked, trying not to laugh.

“A little of both.” I said as I bit my nail. “Mostly the Tony thing though. I mean I may have only dated girls recently but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't do anything with a guy ever again.”

“Clearly.” He laughed.

“Not helping, Vic.” I said, pointing a finger at him threateningly.

“I know, I'm sorry.” He said, calming his laughter. “How long has it been since you've done anything with a guy anyways?” He asked. I shrugged and sipped my coffee.

“Like three, maybe four years.” I told him. “But that wasn't like actual sex. Mostly hand stuff. The last guy I actually had sex with was Alex, before I moved to San Diego.”

“You're kidding, right?” Vic asked. He leaned forward, completely stunned by my answer. “You're twenty-three, and you've only had sex with one guy? Six years ago?” I nodded. “Well I kinda get why you freaked out then.”

“You mean other than the fact my best friend had his hand down my pants? Yeah.” He cringed and held his hands up telling me to stop.

“Okay, first of all, I didn't need to know that.” He laughed. “And second, I thought I was your best friend!” He said, pretending to be offended.

“You are, but you're more of my brother than anything. Doesn't count.” I told him.

“Okay, so what are you gonna do about this whole thing?” He asked.

“Honestly, I don't know, that's why I came to you.” I admitted. Vic sighed and leaned back in his chair again, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I mean, honestly really don't know what to tell you Jacie.” He said. “I know Tony’s liked you for a while. That's kinda why we’ve been trying to get you two together for all these years. But I also know that you're still not totally over Rachel, which is why you haven't been dating, and now you've got the whole Alex thing biting you in the ass, which are both kinda my fault because I introduced you to her and convinced you to come to Warped with us.”

“Hey, neither of those are your fault. You didn't know Rachel was gonna cheat on me or that Alex was gonna do any of that shit.” I told him.

“I know. Can't help but feel like it is sometimes though.” He sighed. “I'm supposed to look out for you and the last two shitty things that happened to you I somewhat caused.”

“Vic, just because you've taken on the role of big brother, doesn't mean you can protect me from everything.” I laughed. “However, it does mean that you're supposed to give me advice on my current problem, so tell me what to do.” I said, slapping my hand on the table jokingly. Vic and I both laughed, but I stopped when Vic's phone started ringing and Tony’s name appeared on the screen.

“Well, you could always answer that for me and talk to him.” He suggested. I shook my head quickly and pushed my chair away from the table.

“Or you could lie for me and tell him that you have no idea where I am or that I'm busy?” I said, smiling sweetly at him. Vic laughed and shook his head, then answered the phone.

“Hey man, what's up?” He asked when he picked up the phone. He pushed his chair away from the table and got up. “Yeah, she's with me.” He said as he headed into the living room.

I stayed at the table, finishing my coffee while Vic was on the phone. All I could do was hope that Vic would tell him that he and I had plans, or that I had stuff to do today. I really didn't want to talk about last night, and I knew there was no way in hell that Tony would just let that slide. All I wanted right now was for things to go back to how they normally are, not dealing with all of this awkward bullshit.

After a couple minutes Vic came back into the room while I was washing out my mug. He sat back down at the table to finish his coffee and I leaned against the counter with my arms crossed over my chest.

“So?” I asked.

“Well, he's just as thoroughly freaked out by all of this as you are, so he's going back to his place to avoid you, just like you came here to avoid him.” He told me. I sighed and immediately relaxed.

“Is it bad that I'm relieved?” I asked. Vic laughed and shook his head.

“No, but you guys are gonna have to talk about it eventually. We've got another tour coming up and you guys are gonna have a really hard time avoiding each other in a bus.” He said.

“Or we can just not talk about it ever and pretend it never happened.” I suggested.

“Well there's that too.” He laughed. “Normally I'd say I don't think that's gonna happen, because Tony really doesn't let things like this go. But I think he's freaking out more than you are so there may be a chance that he just never brings it up.”

“I really hope not.” I sighed. “I'm sick of the weirdness already, and yesterday was only the first time I've seen him since I left Warped.”

“Yeah well a lot happens when your go to drink is tequila.” He pointed out. I laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, that's true.” I said.

“So since your apartment is now empty, are you heading back there?” He asked.

“I don't know.” I shrugged. “It's been awhile since you and I have hung out just the two of us. I was kinda hoping we could hangout.”

“Yeah, that's fine by me.” He said with a smile.

Notes