Norman Osborn will always be a (ex_supervill870) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-10-05 00:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | christine daae, phantom, red hood, snow white |
Who: Neil, Sam, Tess + Jack
What: A night out.
Where: XS.
When: Recently~
Warnings/Rating: Nah.
Sam had stopped in at Aria on her lunch break to pick up her dress. She'd left the neon yellow tie that Iris had picked out for Neil on his bed, mainly because she wanted to see if he'd actually wear the fucking thing, and then she'd headed to Tess' for the afternoon, deciding to fuck off work for the rest of the day. She was medicated, but only enough to take the edge off all the shit that had been happening lately, and she was getting so good at functioning on a high dose of Xanax that it wasn't even evident she was on anything at all, not unless someone knew her well enough to know she should be panicking at the prospect of being around a bunch of fucking people in an upscale nightclub. The fact that she'd checked on the reservation in advance and learned it was for one of XS' cabanas admittedly helped, because it meant she could go fucking hide if it became too overwhelming.
But Sam refused to think about any of that shit unless it became a problem, and she was pretty fucking sure that the combination of the Xanax, a few drinks, and Neil's presence would make it ok. She wanted to have a good time, because that shit never happened lately, and she wanted Tess to forget Kevin for a few hours. That was the game plan.
Sam spent the afternoon lying in Tessy's bed, listening to opera, and eating chocolates from Tess' stash, and once Tess came home, the music turned louder, and the focus became getting dressed. She wore the dress Iris had picked for her, along with the black fuck-me boots, and she did her hair up in a high ponytail. Cat's Eye black eyeliner and red lined lips finished the ensemble, making her look like she'd walked out of a 60s flick, and she kind of dug it. The dress was more conservative than her usual style, but the shoes made up for it, and she felt pretty fucking good wearing six months rent.
Transportation was a car from Aria, which Sam had ordered earlier, and she hurried Tess along when the thing arrived. "Remember, no fucking matchmaking, and no grilling him," she reminded her older sister. She knew how Tess could be, and she'd hate to have to punch her in the middle of the most upscale club in Vegas.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tess sighed as she flopped into the seats of the car, sliding across to make room for Sam before smoothing her hands over her dress. “Just remind me about it after the third drink. But seriously though. A fucking car? XS? It’s not a bad life to get used to. Stick with him so I can ride your coat tails to the high fucking life.” Her grin was too cheeky, too bright and wide to be entirely sincere. The living it up or slumming it, Tess could always adapt but she wasn’t going to not enjoy this.
“And this dress!” Granted, this was from their rich ass sister but still. It was far nicer than anything she or Sam had in their lives. It was less daunting and more amazing, and she glanced down at her outfit with a smile before looking over at Sam. “Your friend. Think he’ll dig it?” Not that she cared too much about impressing Sam’s friend, whoever he was. Her sister knew her well enough to set her up properly, and if things didn’t go well she could always just dance the night away with someone else. “Is he a friend of Neil’s too?”
"Wait till you see the fucking suite," Sam said of Aria. With anyone else, she would have been slightly worried about sounding like she was out for Neil's money. But this was Tess, and they'd both grown up in the same cramped fucking room with seven boys. Taking to Tess about it was different, and Sam still remembered what it was like to meet Neil and fall into the high life's lap. She was used to it now, which was kind of hysterical, but that didn't mean Tess was. "And to think one of us could have gotten adopted into one of those rich and wealthy families instead," she added, because both Lou and Iris made out like financial bandits. She tucked a strand of hair behind Tessy's ear, and her expression turned somber for a second. "We actually turned out better than either of them. They're kind of fucked up." Not to say she and Tess weren't, but they were resilient.
Sam smiled. "But enough serious shit," she said, sitting back and giving Tessy's look a long look, even though she'd made her twirl around in that fucking dress a million times back at Avenue 8. "He'll fucking love it," she said with the certainty of someone who thought her older sister was fucking gorgeous. "No. Neil's never met him. I met him at the junkyard. You know my thing for welding. I was working on getting some scrap free, and he helped out. He'll definitely look good on camera, this one, and we can make sure Kevin sees the pictures and eats his fucking heart out," she said as the car pulled to a stop in front of XS.
The driver came around to open the door, and Sam nudged Tess out. The line to get into XS went across the building, but Sam tugged Tess toward the un-roped entrance to wait. "Reservations," she said, flicking one Tess' long earrings and making it swing.
“We definitely know how how to roll with the punches,” Tess murmured her thoughts on their other siblings, only pulled from her reverie when Sam insisted they go on with lighter fare. “Met him at a junkyard. Are you sure I should go with this dress and not some coveralls?” Her smile faltered at the mention of Kevin, somehow voicing that concern aloud making it more dire.
“Fuck that guy. I don’t care if he sees or not,” which didn’t sound too convincing to her own ears but soon Tess was linking arms with Sam tossing the bouncers bright grins. “Reservations? Ooooh,” she said with a little too much awe though she was still impressed. Then she leaned on Sam’s arm and let her sister lead the way inside.
Sam gave the hostess Neil's name, and she slipped half a stamp under her tongue once she saw how fucking packed the place was. Then Tess was leaning against her arm, and Sam nosed her sister's temple and laughed, a few mere seconds taking the tension away. The hostess gave them both a look, one that came with an interested quirk of brow, and Sam nudged Tess' side, before nudging her ahead to follow the woman to the cabana that was reserved. Inside, Sam moved away from her sister and flopped back onto the couch, wiggling her brows at Tess before laughing at their waiter, who was looking into the cabana like it was his lucky night.
Tess merely rolled her eyes at the look the hostess gave them, a soft laugh that made her loosen her grip and untangle when they finally reached the cabana. While Sam flopped on the couch, the elder sister stood at the door, hands on her hips as she admired their surroundings. “Nice digs. But no men!” She gave a long and dramatic sigh before turning over her shoulder to flash a playful smirk at the waiter. “Well, for starters...”
To get into XS, Jack had to get some new clothes. He didn't own a suit, as it happened, or anything that qualified as 'semi-formal', but he had received a first paycheck from his new clandestine job. It seemed like as good a cause as any to put the money toward, particularly if he wanted to avoid Sam's plan to make her friend's ex-husband jealous backfiring completely. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been required to look respectful, or not worn one of the same few pairs of threadbare jeans and fingerless gloves, but apparently that wasn't going to quite cut it. In the end, he picked out a simple black suit, and just hoped that it would work.
Jack had never been to a place like XS, either, so it was a night of firsts all around. He didn't get stopped, which was what he was primarily concerned about, though the scar on his face did earn him a second look from the bouncer. The name of his reservation ensured he made it through the door, though, and he found himself being led through the crush of people, around the luxuriously decorated club. So, apparently this was what living in Las Vegas was supposed to be like.
The hostess ushered Jack toward the cabana just as the waiter was arriving, and Jack slipped neatly past him. He saw Sam first, and smiled faintly, feeling not a little ridiculous. Then his eyes fell on Tess. Familiarity registered, and then recognition, and his smile widened a touch a flat surprise. Oh. Would she remember him? Should he even mention it? Did Sam already know?
Honestly, it didn’t matter whichever way. The coincidence was too insane for Jack to do much except say, "Hey," with that same, incredulous smile.
“Hey yourself,” Tess drawled, spinning on one heel to turn and take a proper look at the newcomer. The surprise was reflected back on her face, brilliant grin and wide eyes that roamed over him, not too unlike the night they met. She hadn’t forgotten what he looked like but he certain did clean up nice and the moment deserved to be relished.
“Jack’s your friend?” Tess didn’t bother to turn her head back to Sam, her gaze holding Jack’s with no small amusement dancing behind her eyes. “Well, I am surprised.”
Sam was busy asking the waiter - bartender, really - for a couple of lemon drop martinis and a round of shots and chasers for the cabana, and she didn't notice the familiarity in Jack's greeting to Tess until she looked back up. She was still on the cabana's couch, one leg draped over the edge and a look on her face that went from curiosity to entertainment. "I'll be fucking damned. You two know each other?" she asked, but the question wasn't necessary; she'd know that look on Tess' face anyday, and she hopped off the couch and walked behind her sister, whispering in her ear. "Someone's been fucking holding out," she said, before brushing Tess' blonde strands back and looking at Jack. She didn't say what she was thinking, that he obviously had a type. Instead, she grinned. "You have surprisingly good taste, and you look sharp in a suit." That statement was offered as she walked past Jack to the entrance of the cabana, fingers dancing across the shoulder of his suit. She looked over her shoulder at Tess. "I take it you approve, Tessy?"
“It never came up,” she muttered with a quick aside, head tilting to give Sam her attention without turning away from Jack. As for approving, Tess hummed as she pressed her lips together thoughtfully, closing the small distance between them to let nimble fingers dance up his suit before tugging gently on his lapels. “Oh, yeah. Definitely,” she agreed with a soft smirk before turning her attention to her sister, standing behind him, fingers still holding onto the fabric. “But where’s Neil? You’re not off the hook yet.”
Neil really wasn’t in the partying mood, but if there was one thing he could do, it was put on a good show and pretend. He’d spent half his life doing just that, after all. Maybe, if he was lucky, he might even end up enjoying himself somewhere along the line. He didn’t intend to be late, but he wasn’t overly concerned with timing either, and places like XS were so deeply ingrained in his lifestyle that he didn’t spend much time agonizing over what to wear or what the place would be like. Normally he hit the town when he was bored, because having money was useless if you didn’t spend it once in awhile, and getting reservations was a walk in the park. It all was, really, and as he got dressed he contemplated the potential consequences of leading such a shallow existence. Maybe he should be doing something worthwhile with his family fortune, or at least with his life, instead of coasting along until he found something that interested him... or someone.
Ah, well. Introspections were for people who weren’t intending on getting severely wasted, and when Neil arrived at XS about half an hour later he was informed that the rest of his party had already arrived. He thanked the waitress with a dazzling smile and allowed himself to be led inside, saying the occasional hello to familiar face, and even to faces that didn’t seem that familiar at all (oops). He was wearing a brown suit paired with the yellow tie Sam had left out for him, courtesy of Iris, and he appeared in the cabana’s entrance just as the other woman--not Sam, so Tess, he assumed--mentioned his name.
“Neil’s right here,” he said with a grin, his gaze going to Sam first before studying the other two people present. “Going to introduce me?” He leaned one arm on Sam’s shoulder, though there was barely any pressure, as he kept himself centered, rather than relying on her weight to do so.
Sam was more than a little worried about Tess meeting Neil. Or she had been before the drugs made her not worry about anything. Even still, she knew how Tess could be; it came from being the only other girl in a huge family of boys, and from Sam being enough years younger enough that Tess felt some sibling need to make sure she was ok. Regardless, yeah, worried, but not as much as she had been.
And yeah, so maybe Sam stared for a minute when she heard Neil's voice. "You clean up nice," she managed after the delay, which was long enough to let him press his arm to her shoulder. Maybe she pressed back for a second, but she wasn't going to go and be all affectionate, not when the rules of whatever the fuck they had going didn't call for it. "Yeah, sure," she said, nodding toward Tess and Jack. "Tessy and Jack." She nudged Neil with her shoulder. "Neil. My-" There was a hiccup of uncertainty there; blame the drugs. "My roommate." Yeah, harmless, and totally fucking platonic enough that she felt like it was ok to tug on the end of the yellow tie as the first round of drinks was carried into the cabana.
“Roommate,” Tess breathed, the smirk hidden away there at the corner of her mouth though Sam would know it all too well. Her hands lingered on Jack’s lapels as the newcomer entered and only when introductions were made did she spin around. “Nice to finally meet you. Sam’s told me a lot about you.” Her eyes darted to her sister to check for any murderous glances sent her way but as she saw the other girl’s fingers tugging at the tie, she could help the small nod of approval. Cute, and well dressed, and Sam liked him enough to get a little touchy. Well, she probably pre-gamed a bit before they got there but still. Nicely done.
Tess’ attention shifted from him and Sam to the bartender bearing all the drinks Sam had ordered, and she reached around to snap up a lemon drop. “And you’re the one to thank for the cabana?” It was his name on the reservation after all. She raised it up with a quick salute, flashing the bartender a grateful smile before taking a sip and sighing with approval. “Oh yeah, definitely thanking. But I can’t be the only one drinking.” She gestured to the plethora of other drinks as took another sip.
“Come on. Drink. So I can start asking questions like ‘how’d you all meet’ and then move on to really embarrassing shit.” Of course Tess did know a bit of those answers already but it never hurt to break the ice and who knows. Maybe with a bit more liquor she’d start getting some really interesting stories.
Now that Jack had a chance to see Tess and Sam side by side, the resemblance was obvious enough that he almost felt he should have noticed it when he and Tess met. Sam had never said the friend she was bringing along was her sister, but there was no mistaking it. And Sam's light touch on his jacket and Tess' easy slide into his space did much to wash away any worries he might have had that their previous encounter would leave them all awkward. They'd parted on good terms, anyway, and Sam had brought him here to help Tess make someone else jealous, after all. Now he could just apply himself to that with a decent amount of truth behind appearances.
At the appearance of Neil just on Jack's heels, Jack turned toward him, letting Tess maintain her grip on his lapels until she let go herself. "I'm Jack," he clarified, from Sam's introduction, with a touch of warm humor. "She's Tess." He offered Neil a hand to shake. Jack liked Sam, but just looking at how she lingered so closely against Neil, it was hard to believe the 'roommate' title she kept emphasizing over and over. And because he liked her, he hoped for Neil's sake that he turned out to be a good...whatever he was to her. He took one of the shots from the waiter when Tess implored they start drinking. "I promise this won't turn out like last time," he murmured into Tess' ear, with a small, smile that threatened to widen with suppressed mirth. He paused. “Unless that seems like a good idea.” He had no idea how Sam would react if she was aware just how he knew her sister, so maybe best to keep that on the quiet side.
Oh, Sam knew Tess well enough to connect the body-language dots. Plus, if Tess had a steady fuck in Vegas, Sam would have known about it, and Jack would have protested this whole fucking date idea. Yeah, one-nighter that turned out to be not so fucking bad, she guessed. She moved away from Neil with a roll of her eyes, and she walked toward those drinks. A press against Tess' side and a whisper in her sister's ear came with an affectionate gesture of tucking Tess' hair back. "You've been fucking holding out on me," she whispered loudly with a smile that said it was all tease and no ire. A glance back at Neil a second later was all laughter in her inky blue eyes, and Neil was likely the only one in the room who would know that meant she wasn't entirely clean that night. "Drink, baby?" she asked, scooping up her own lemon drop before sitting on the arm of the couch and taking a long, long sip.
Neil hadn’t done the whole impress-the-family-routine in a long time. A good decade or so, at least, and he’d thought he left all that behind him, but a part of him wanted to make a good impression on Tess. Hell, he wanted Sam’s sister to like him, even if they were some sort of weird roommates who had sex and other complicated feelings they didn’t admit to thing going on that drove him crazy trying to figure out. It made boundaries tricky, and the level of affection to display almost like a damn puzzle, but one step at a time seemed like a good plan to him. He grinned down at Sam in response to her observation that he ‘cleaned up nice’, adjusting the bright yellow tie almost proudly. “Thanks. I think the tie really completes the ensemble, you know?” He was interested to hear how he would be described, and while roommate was the simplest term, he was pretty sure it didn’t fool Tess. Women always seemed to see right through that sort of thing.
While Sam didn’t elaborate on who was Tessy and who was Jack, Neil could connect the dots just fine on his own, and besides, the similarities between the two women became more apparent the longer he looked between them. “Nice to meet you too, Tess. I’d ask what she’s told you about me, but that’s probably confidential, huh?” He raised his eyebrows, but it was all in good humor, and really, he didn’t mind that Sam talked about him. In fact, he kind of liked it. As for the cabana, he shrugged off her thanks as he regarded the array of proffered drinks, deciding that there was no way he was staying sober tonight. “The more the merrier. Places like these are best enjoyed with company,” he said, and maybe his problem was that he’d been stuck with rich, self-important snobs whenever he hit the town for a night out. None of the three fell into that category, which might make all the difference.
“If we’re going to start getting into embarrassing shit, then I’m going to need those drinks,” Neil added before turning to Jack, regarding him with well-hidden curiosity. He looked normal enough, and while Sam hadn’t mentioned him knowing Tess, their body language suggested something he’d missed out on. Huh. “Hey, Jack,” he said in greeting, accepting his hand and giving it a firm shake before letting go. He raised his eyebrows at Sam in a silent question, but if there was a story here, he didn’t mind it one bit. No, what did chip away at his good humor was the look in her eyes, the one that said she’d had something to help her get through the night. It worried him, but Neil knew now wasn’t the time or the place to discuss it, so he shoved it aside and grinned instead. “Of course,” he said, grabbing a shot and tossing it back before taking a seat on the couch beside her.
Tess could only roll her eyes as Sam none too quietly proclaimed that she had been holding out on the details. “Later,” she promised, in an equally loud whisper, hip bumping hers to send her sister spiraling out of her orbit with all that mock hurt. To Jack she spared a sidelong glance, lips twisting into a thoughtful smirk before she said in a softer voice, “Later,” which was an entirely different promise altogether.
Tess slid away and turned her attention to more important matters, and after another long sip she flashed a bright grin to Neil across the top of her glass. “Definitely confidential. Sisters only and scouts honor and all that shit. That’s not fun. So you should tell me something instead. Like how is it, being roommies and all.” Tess’ brows lifted at that, unable to keep the straight face now that she was using their term. “She was crashing on my couch for a while so I’m guessing – if the cabana’s anything to go by – your place is a nice upgrade. Does she make you cook for her too? Or am I just extra special?”
Sam had grabbed one of the fresh shots on the table and downed it, while handing another to Neil with a stretch that landed her newly bare feet on the seat of the couch between Neil's thighs, while she perched on the arm, an unthinking hand on his shoulder for balance. "Oh, fuck no. No secrets," she said, pointing her empty shot glass at Tess and Jack. "I want to hear all about the hook up," she demanded, "and I don't fucking cook. Do I, baby?" she asked, turning her attention back to Neil and rubbing one bare heel against his thigh as she posed the question.
Sam was paying attention, though, even through the booze that was quickly settling into her system. Tessy seemed awfully touchy with Jack, and Jack seemed smitten, and Sam felt a little better about Tess' ex being back in town just from that interaction alone. So Jack's past may have been a little questionable, but it's not like she and Tess came from anywhere decent. Running away from who you'd been was pretty fucking normal in their lives, and she was willing to give Jack the benefit of the doubt, especially if he proved himself by treating Tess good. "You have to go out there and make a scene, you know," she added to Tess, same empty shot glass pointing at the balcony. "If you want to end up in some gossip snaps."
The interaction between Tess and Jack was regarded with barely suppressed amusement, because weren’t they just adorable, but Neil said nothing, just leaned back against the couch and downed another shot. “Ah, I get it. The whole ‘sibling code’ thing. I wouldn’t want to interfere with that,” he chuckled. Judging from her expression, no one in the cabana was buying the whole roommates thing, and he shot Sam a look before shrugging. “It’s a big place, and with just me, it gets kind of empty. Sam definitely livens things up, and don’t tell her, but--” He leaned forward and lowered his voice to a stage whisper, despite that she was seated right next to him, and her feet were between his thighs. “I like having her around.” He was less inclined to go for the emotional-and-unattached routine, interested in seeing how she reacted to it, if nothing else.
Neil swirled the shot Sam handed him around in its glass, a cover for the feel of her heel rubbing against his thigh, and he laughed when she said she didn’t cook. “Nope, you don’t. She doesn’t,” he added to Tess, in case it wasn’t clear. “I don’t argue. I’d hate to inconvenience my neighbors with a house fire.” Neil hadn’t known anything about making a scene, but he’d seen his fair share in the past, and if that was what Tess was going for, it wasn’t going to happen in here. “Ah, so there’s a game plan, huh? The more exposure, the better, if you want all eyes on you.”
Tess' promise drew Jack's momentary but full attention. He didn't usually end up in situations like this one, where sex had a likelihood to happen for a second time. Normal human beings had fuckbuddies, but the last few years had been a little too weird for any such situation to present itself. Thus, it took him a second to fully register Sam's comment about the hookup. "What hook up?" he replied, all easy innocence. It was easier to get back into the swing of get togethers than he'd expected, despite the fact that he hadn't been to one in ages.
Neil and Sam made a good couple, and Neil’s unwillingness to be distant made Jack that much surer that they were more to each other than Sam had wanted to say. Well, he had come to help Tess get someone else's attention, after all, so the suggestion they step out and get some exposure to potential watching cameras was probably a good one. It would also give the couple a chance to be alone, cozied up on the couch. "I didn't know you were famous," he observed, to Tess, with a smile. "People follow you around with cameras? Congratulations." He set his drink down, off to the side. "Shall we, then? No one can be jealous of you from in here.”
Tess was momentarily lost in thought as she cast sidelong glanced to the couple on the couch. Granted, she hadn’t seen Sam in a while, but she hadn’t seen her sister like this with someone in a long time. She had almost forgotten the reason for the outing until Jack reminded her, pulling a low laugh from her in turn. “Oh yeah. Bonafide celebrity,” she confirmed with a nod. She set her drink down as well, hers noticeably empty, but quickly snatched up a shot and downed it one go. She wasn’t so sure anymore that this was the best idea but they were already out and she wasn’t one to disappoint her little sister.
“Come on,” Tess said, sliding her arms around Jack’s middle, no point in hiding the familiarity anymore. “We can’t leave here until someone snaps a pic of my tongue down your throat.” She said like a challenge and a game, a commonplace tone whenever she seemed to talk to Jack, and she tugged him close to follow her as she started to make her way out of the cabana. “You two have fun while we’re gone,” she call, walking on her tip toes to peek over Jack’s shoulder. “Keep your clothes on or try to put them back on before we return.”
Jack kept close to Tess. The point of this was to look intimate after all, wasn't it? To that end, he slid an arm around her waist, not letting her get more than a few inches from him. He'd seen tabloid pictures in the line at the grocery store before - it didn't seem to take much to create controversy and spark rumors. He looked down at her as they moved further from the cabana. "Mind if I ask you a question?"
“Hm?” Tess maneuvered them around, past the other partiers and the waiters, wondering where they should stop. Finally her heels came to a halt and she spun in his embrace, hands settling on his arms as turned a warm smile up to him. “Shoot.”
“Sam said you’re here to make an ex-husband jealous,” Jack said, looking down at her. This was a comfortable spot. It was more pleasant than he remembered, having someone warm and soft in his arms, even if it was mostly make-believe. “You can tell me to go fuck myself if it’s not appropriate to ask, but what happened?” Tess was so young that it was a little surprising to think she’d already been married and divorced. Such things happened, obviously, but it had made him curious. Clearly she’d cared about him, or making him jealous wouldn’t be an issue.
Tess laughed softly as he hemmed and hawed over the appropriateness of his question. Sure it wasn’t really any of his business but it wasn’t anything she was really ashamed of. And he was taking part in some grand scheme to make someone jealous. He might as well know the details of it all.
“We got married too young. High school sweethearts and all that. But when I wanted us to...” Well, maybe there were some details to leave out. Can’t go around telling almost strangers and fuck buddies that you used to be help out your con man husband. “Settle down. Just stop all the childish shit and get on the straight and narrow. Just... grow up. He said he would but...” She shrugged, her hands throwing up into the air. “And then I found him in bed with this other girl,” she added quickly, an important but apparently less hurtful offense than the first one. “So I said fuck it and left. Haven’t seen him since.” Well, until that other night, but Jack didn’t need to know about that.
She cast her eyes in his direction, searching his face to see his reaction. “I mean, I’m not really trying to make him that jealous. Not for nothing, it would feel pretty good, and I am pretty pissed that he’s here. But only in that I’m not fabulously wealthy and three hundred times better without him. Just maybe a hundred times better. I don’t hate him, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Jack listened to Tess' story, and found none of it shocking. A story of high school sweethearts meshed with her age and the fact that they'd already split. He smiled when she mentioned her chagrin that she wasn't fabulously wealthy yet. "I was wondering that," he said. "Well, if it's any consolation, you're at least guaranteed to look like you're fabulously wealthy tonight." She was dressed beautifully, and the cabana, even if it was being paid for by Sam's 'roommate', would make her look like one more high roller.
Jack settled his arm comfortably around her waist, and pressed her lightly up against a nearby wall. "I'm sorry things turned out for you the way they did," Jack said. It wasn't just lip service. Tess seemed like the sort of girl who deserved better than the type of guy who would renege on his promises and cheat. He didn't mention that he'd been married, too, once upon a time - that conversation wasn't really fit for a night out. He knew what it was like to get married young, but his own split hadn't been for lack of love. "I'll work that much harder to make him jealous." A promise he followed through on by catching her mouth with a careful kiss. He was still mostly sober, just a slight edge of a buzz going from the drink in the cabana, and without his inhibitions completely obliterated, he didn't press down on her with nearly as much aggression and immediate need. This was measured, thoughtful, ready to pull back if she gave any sign of reluctance.
Tess grinned up at him, though her smile softened as he expressed his condolences over her marriage. Maybe it was the alcohol still buzzing through her system, maybe it was her confession that she didn’t want to gut her ex that had her quiet. She merely sighed, offering up a low, “Yeah, me too,” because few were sorrier that it fizzled out than her. But that was long since passed and Jack was there, capturing her lips in a kiss that helped pull her from those thoughts. She was here to forget and to enjoy herself, after all.
She leaned back against the wall fully, arms looping about his shoulders and letting her hands bury themselves in his hair. Deepening the kiss she pulled him close, ignoring the murmured conversation of people who passed them by in favor of kissing him nearly as fervently as the night they first met. “If I remember correctly,” she said, teeth worrying at his lower lip, “you liked it a lot harder than that.” Oh no reluctance here.
Jack smiled crookedly. "I thought you might have forgotten all about that," he said. “But you’re right.” Alcohol had lent him the bravery to go after what he wanted without worry, but Tess certainly still seemed game. When he kissed her again, he made a conscious decision to forget about holding back, to not worry about how it might look. After all, who would be jealous of a purely chaste kiss? He pressed his mouth against hers with sharp force, crowding her body with his. "If," he said, briefly coming up for air, "I don't make you forget who might be watching -" He dragged his teeth across her neck, surely leaving bruises, and rough fingers slid across her stomach, "I'm not really doing what I was brought along to do."
“You’re doing, ah...” Tess hissed through clenched teeth, arching her body under him as his mouth trailed along her neck, “a good job so far.” It was hard to think of much else, occasionally hearing a surprised or disapproving sound of the other party goers but then his hands would move and she’d shift her hips against him and her world narrowed until only he was there. She dipped her and lifted his lips to kiss him, sighing softly at the taste of his drinks she could find with her tongue. She pulled away with a fond grin, one leg nearly winding around his as her fingers traced patterns across his shoulders. “My turn to ask a question? What made you come out tonight? Sam said she needed someone to pretend to sweep her sister off her feet? ”
Jack wasn’t paying attention to the partiers anymore. Really, his many worries and feelings of shame surrounding sex had nothing to do with who might be watching, or what someone else might think. They were wrapped up entirely in his own conscience, and the worries that dug in deep about what was good and what was bad, what was pleasurable and what crossed a line. He felt on firmer ground with Tess, though, who made it clear when she liked something. So far, so good. That easy, soft warmth and the leg tucked around his couldn’t have been much clearer.
“Something like that,” Jack said. “She didn’t tell me you were her sister, just that she knew someone who wanted to make an ex jealous. Imagine my surprise to find it was you.” He smiled, and in that expression there was something of the man he’d been once, warm, handsome, and unscarred. He took her chin by the hand, thumb stroking once over the edge of her jaw, and kissed her again. He pulled away after a moment, enough to speak. “Very, very small world.”
It was a refreshing change of pace, the way his fingers gently roamed over her skin. Tess enjoyed their last night together, the rough press of his hands and hips, but the softness was something missed between casual flirting and one night stands. Though she didn’t know him, he wasn’t a perfect stranger, and she found her lips parting into a smile before he kissed her, the curve lingering against his mouth when he pulled away. “Tiny,” she agreed. “But who needs all space,” she asked before kissing him again, pulling him close, trapping her between him and the wall.
There wasn’t any urgency in her kiss though it wasn’t missing any heat, and Tess pulled away when someone nearby loudly cleared their throat about the scene they were making. She gave a low laugh, unable to resist one final tug on his lip with hers before she inclined her head back in the direction of the cabana. “We stay out here longer and someone’s going to get a pic of us doing a lot more than kissing.” She actually couldn’t recall if there had been any pictures taken, the sounds of the party blurring together too much to remember a click of a camera. But any longer out there in the party and she wasn’t exactly sure they’d stay this clothed for much longer.
Jack parted from her with a small smile, glancing to to the side, where the miffed throat clearing had come from. This was a club, wasn’t it? He was under the assumption such things were the norm in places like this. But Tess was right, anyway - if they didn’t stop now, any further might get them in some actual trouble.
“Good point,” Jack said. He moved away enough to give her space, and turned back toward the cabana. “Maybe we should check on the other two.” They might very well be entangled in a...personal moment of their own, but that was a risk he was willing to take.
Tess’ thoughts were along the same lines, making her give a sharp bark of a laugh. “Oh god I really hope we can catch them doing something. Roommates my ass.” She shook her head as the giggles continued, leaning on his arm as she lead them back to the cabana.
Sam wasn't concerned about her sister going off with Jack, but then Sam had never worried much about Tess. Her older sister had always been resilient, and she'd always gone after what she wanted. If she wanted Jack, she'd go for it. If she didn't want Jack, she'd scream her head off and knee him in the nuts. It made Sam yearn for her own fucking resiliency, which seemed long gone. But no, no fucking way as she getting on that train of thought. She grabbed a third shot, downed it, and smacked her lips as she pressed her toes to Neil's inner thigh.
"Tessy's working with Lou," Sam told Neil, in case he didn't know. She wasn't sure how much he talked to Louis these days, since she barely talked to him at all, though they had made a fragile peace. But fuck that, because she wasn't going to get caught up in family bullshit either. No way. She slid her feet to the floor, and she stood, walking to the edge of the cabana without beckoning him forward. Below the balcony, the crowd was loud and wild, and the booze and drugs warmed her up and made the music sound better than it normally would. She considered beckoning him forward, but fuck that. It was much more entertaining to make him come to her, without needing to ask.
Barefoot, Sam took the few steps forward to the balcony, and she slid up on it. No safety net, and a quirked brow to the man inside the cabana.
Neil looked to Sam first, gauging her reaction as Tess and Jack went to draw the attention of cameras and make a scene. She didn’t seem worried, and he figured XS was public enough that nothing horrible was going to happen, even if Jack turn out to be nothing like either of them expected. He raised his eyebrows when she mentioned her sister was working with Louis, trying to remember if his brother had mentioned it. No, he was pretty sure he’d have remembered that... or maybe not. “Oh,” was his response, coupled with a shrug. “She’s helping him out with the P.I. thing?” Unless Louis was doing some other kind of work, which he doubted, that was the logical conclusion.
Neil was more than content to stay on the couch with his shots and her feet pressed against his thigh, but apparently she had other plans. She didn’t beckon him forward, so he didn’t move right away, watching as she walked to the edge of the cabana and waiting to see what she would do. Which, apparently, was to get on the fucking balcony like a genius; at any rate, it got him on his feet quickly enough. She wasn’t sober, he knew, and probably for more reasons than one.
“Nice view from there?” From the cabana to the balcony, it was only a few strides, which Neil crossed quickly enough, and he leaned on the balcony next to her.
Sam settled and swung her feet off the edge, facing him, her hands on the railing at her hips, and she watched him approach. Ok, so maybe she wasn't as fucking brave as she'd been once, and part of her wanted to grab onto the sleeve of his jacket for safety when he got close enough, but she refrained. It still felt good, that old thrill coursing through her that said she was doing something completely fucking stupid. Except for the part where he was there and, seemingly unconcerned or not, she was pretty fucking sure he wouldn't let her fall. "She's helping him with the P.I. thing," she said about Lou, mirroring his words exactly. Maybe it should have surprised her, the fact that he didn't seem to know what Lou was up to, but it didn't.
"You tell me," Sam said of the view, which was now at her back. Letting go of the railing slowly, carefully so as to not tip backward, she stretched her arms out and gave him a look that dared him not to come closer and ensure she didn't fall. Making Neil have to visibly give a shit was one of her new fucking obsessions. "So? Is it a fucking improvement? Me wearing a multi-thousand dollar dress instead of a wifebeater stolen from your underwear drawer?" she teased, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder.
A great deal of effort was put into not letting on that Neil was fully prepared to catch her if she fell, though even the slightest movement, the barest hint that her balance was in danger, made him tense. “That’s not a bad job,” he remarked. “It’d be interesting, at least.” Part of him, maybe, was troubled by the fact that he didn’t know much about what was going on in Louis’ life these days, not unless he was prepared to push and push until the other man gave in, but he didn’t want to discuss that. Not right then, with a building number of shots adding to his buzz and he was trying to at least feign having a good time.
Neil inhaled sharply when she let go of the railing, because there was really nothing at all keeping her from falling back. The challenge was not doing what she wanted, even as she outstretched her arms and gave him a look that clearly said she expected him to do just that. “It’s okay,” he shrugged, glancing over the side idly, a distraction to keep himself from reaching for her. He tilted his head to the side and regarded her, as though cataloging the differences between what she looked like now and what she looked like in one of his wifebeaters. “It’s different. Both have their appeal,” he said with a grin, and while he didn’t quite reach out to grab her, he did move closer, just in case.
Sam didn't notice all the effort that went into Neil's not acting like he gave a shit, she only noticed that he didn't move. Huh. Might have to up the fucking ante, she thought, drugs and booze a swirl of warmth in her belly. "You sound like you don't think your job is interesting, baby." Now, that reminded Sam that she had no actual clue what Neil did when he went to the offices of his family business; she only knew that he went somewhere and did something. If he was a more daring kind of man, she might think he was off having affairs instead of working. Except for the fact that a) that would be a lot of fucking work and b) he didn't actually have to hide it if he was sleeping with a thousand women.
Sam was pretty fucking sure she heard that sharp inhale, though it was impossible to tell by looking at Neil's face a second later. The fucker didn't even look mildly concerned. She watched him idly glance over the side, and then she watched that head tilt with an anticipation that she would have hidden on a day with fewer drugs in her system or, maybe, on a day when she wasn't wearing an honest-to-fucking-goodness dress. "Aren't you just the fucking king of compliments," she said a second later and, giving up a game she thought had fallen flat on its face, she reached for his tie and tugged on it. "I could always go ask someone else what they think, baby."
“My job?” Neil raised his eyebrows and laughed, privy to a joke only he was in on. Half the time he wasn’t even sure what his job was, and the other half he was certain he was just a wealthier, better dressed version of the kind of loser who mooched off his parents his entire life and camped out in their basement. He might have moved out, but family wealth and what he would eventually inherit fed his lifestyle; the job was just to keep himself from going insane, and so he could tell people he was gainfully employed, like it would make him less of a rich bastard. “No, it’s not very interesting. Louis has me beat there.”
Neil didn’t realize his act would work so well, and it left him momentarily uncertain, as though he wasn’t sure whether to let it pass or correct the misconception. Saying he thought she looked great in both an expensive dress and his wifebeater sounded unbelievably corny, even with the shots, but compliments in general seemed something his tongue wasn’t yet loose enough for. “I’m not saying you’re-- hey, someone else?” His brow furrowed as he tried to work out a way to backtrack, but then he realized she was tugging on his tie, which meant her hands weren’t free and she could fall over all too easily. “Fuck, Sam,” he groaned, reaching out to grasp her shoulders just in case. “Get off the damn balcony before you give me a heart attack.” So maybe his act was all shot to hell, but he wasn’t thinking about that just then.
Sam remembered, vaguely, him mentioning a desire to do something more with his life than work for his old man, but it was a thought clouded over with drugs and booze, and she had trouble holding onto the idea when he laughed. "I'm sure Lou's job has its boring moments," she assured him, and she glanced over in the direction of Tess and Jack, who were currently lip-locked. "Tessy will get him figured out, though. She's the only one in our family who finished college," she said proudly, all gushing approval for her older sister. "And I think they like each other," she said, before looking back at Neil. "You can quit, you know. Leave all this shit behind." She motioned to the expensive bar and their clothing.
A waiter wandered by and Sam ordered another round of shots, all without letting go of Neil's tie. "Someone else," she repeated, looking after the waiter like she was considering him as a possibility. "He's kind of hot," she added, and really the waiter wasn't bad looking. "I could find a woman, if you'd rather watch," she teased, her inky blue eyes alight with her torture of him. The groan was unexpected, and her gaze sharpened a moment before she glanced down at his hands on her shoulders. "You wouldn't have a fucking heart attack," she challenged, and she slid back, back, dangerously on the thin perch, his hands the only thing that was keeping her from falling the two-three stories down at that point. Her center of balance was completely off, and she knew it, and the thrill of it danced across her features. Ok, fuck, yeah, she could still feel this and not panic. "Don't let go," she taunted, and she let go of his tie and slid her fingertips down and between two of the shirt buttons, low on his belly, calloused fingertips dragging along skin and hair on his stomach.
Neil followed Sam's gaze, unsure if she was talking about Tess and Louis or Tess and Jack, and how finishing college would factor into sorting either if them out. "Don't tell Louis that," he quipped. "I don't think he'd take too kindly to being sorted out. As for liking each other, kind of hard to work together if you don't get along, no?" When she suggested he quit, he shook his head, laughing quietly. "Yeah, and do what? This is all I know," he shrugged. He'd been the rich, unattached one for as long as he could remember.
He regarded the waiter as though sizing him up and rolled his eyes. "I know I'm not an expert on hot men, but come on." It was obvious that she was teasing him then, about the woman, and he raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her. "Mhm, I don't know. Watching doesn't have enough participation for me," he countered, and his hold on her only tightened when she said he wouldn't have a heart attack. Crazy, she was actually crazy, and he stepped forward as she slid back. "I swear, you're acting like a child," he told her, wary of tugging her forward with her already precarious balance. "I'm not going to let go," he began, but then her fingers against his skin silenced him, and he let out a low rumble of frustration instead.
"Lou doesn't like anyone scratching beneath the surface," Sam agreed, but fuck if she understood why. Like most kids raised on scraps, she thought that money would have fixed every single thing in her life, and she didn't get why Lou and Neil and Iris had so many issues. She shook her head when he said Lou and Tess had to like each other to work together. "No, baby, look over shoulder and that way," she said, motioning to where Tess and Jack were making the most out of visibly making out with one another. "They like each other," she corrected, before turning her attention to his question. She wasn't sober enough to offer much enlightenment, but she gave him a look that said she'd remember that comment when she was sober. "Something you like, baby. I could teach you how to weld. You'd look good with a torch."
"You think you're better than the waiter, huh?" Sam asked next, her expression turning a little darkly heated when he mentioned there not being enough participation in watching. But the comment that she was acting like a child stilled her. Normally, she would have teased him about it, joked and acted like it was nothing, but not that night. Her gaze settled on his face for a long moment, and then she pulled her hands from his body and set them firmly on the balcony railing instead. Maybe, just maybe, she was finally figuring out that he wasn't in the mood for any of this tonight, though she didn't understand why. "I got it," she said, sliding forward and safely placing her feet on the floor in front of him. "So, if you weren't in the mood, you didn't have to come, baby. No strings, no expectations, no need to tell me I look good in this dress," she said, managing to keep any emotion she felt from bubbling to the surface thanks to the drugs. "Let's wait in the cabana? They can't go too much farther without getting us all thrown the fuck out of here," she said of Tess and Jack, and she slipped beneath his arm to cross the small space between the balcony and inside.
“It runs in the family,” Neil remarked dryly, but there was more truth to it than not. Louis may not have been blood, but the two of them had been raised together, and nearly all of the Donovan kids had issues in one form or another. It just hadn’t been something Neil had really thought about until recently. He dutifully followed Sam’s motions and raised his eyebrows as he watched Tess and Jack, who definitely looked like they liked each other a lot. “Yeah, they do,” he agreed. Even if it had started off as a one night stand, he was pretty sure it was about to extend beyond that, though for all he knew, the whole friends with benefits thing might be all they wanted. If only things with him and Sam could be that cut and dry. He shook his head and laughed, because the problem was he didn’t know what he liked, but he’d definitely gone over that already. “When I find something I like, I’ll let you know,” he told her. “Welding is your thing. I’d look good with a torch until I burnt my stupid ass, or set a building on fire.”
Neil nodded, all smug assurance when she asked if he thought he was better than the waiter, but the way she stilled made him pause, uncertain, and he realized too late that while he’d meant the comment as a joke, it hadn’t quite translated well as one. “Hey, listen,” he began, pulling back his hands once she’d slid down and her feet made contact with the ground, but he stopped once she said she got it. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been Mr. Sunshine, but she was clearly on something, and what, he wasn’t supposed to be worried about that? And yeah, she’d made the whole no strings thing really clear, and he bristled at the implication that it was somehow on him. “I didn’t say I wasn’t in the mood,” he said, trying and failing not to frown. “And yeah, Sam, I know. No strings, no expectations. I got that part. Doesn’t matter how good I think you look in that dress.” He wished for another shot, because this was just great. He was really going to make an impression on her sister when he was doing such a good job of being the night’s asshole. Like Erik, Neil was willing to take what he could get when it came to Sam, but like Christine, neither of them were ever really going to have either.
“Yeah, sure,” Neil said a moment later, his frustration becoming more subdued and almost ashamed. All he had to do was put on a good act for the rest of the night, because they were just roommates, right? She’d said it herself.
Sam had turned for that hey, listen, and she came up short when he frowned. "You didn't have to say you weren't in the mood, baby. I can read you without you coming out and saying it," she told him, her expression more serious than it normally was, even given the fact that she'd left sobriety behind a fucking long time ago. He'd never been worried about her being drunk, and he'd never given a shit about her drugs, and she didn't even realize he noticed that she was using them more and more, so she had no idea what his damage was. "Hey," she said, following him into the cabana after that yeah, sure of his, "I wasn't fishing for compliments," she told him, as if the idea had just come to her. "And you don't like strings. I get that. It's no big thing," she added, just in case he thought she was being clingy, or that she'd been pushy with the whole meet my sister thing. "Like I said, if you didn't want to meet Tessy, you could have just said so. That's all I'm saying," she clarified, grabbing one of the new shots from the round the waiter had left on the table and downing it, just before dropping down onto the couch and curling her legs up beside her. Just then, she wanted to get rid of the ridiculous fucking dress, the makeup, everything that was making her skin itch with self-consciousness. She was a fucking idiot, thinking she could net someone who had no interest in being netted.
As luck would have it, Jack and Tess walked back in just then, looking all tousled and kiss-swollen, and Sam managed a smile for her sister. "Hey, baby. Have a good time?" she asked, giving her a knowing look that didn't manage to be quite as teasing as it should have been. "Neil's beat, and I have work in the morning. You two mind if we split?" She knew Tess would say they didn't care, so long as Neil paid the tab, even if she did realize something was wrong.
Of course Tess realized something was wrong. One minute she was outside the cabana, half on Jack’s arm, smile blooming wide across her face. The next she was inside the cabana, glancing between Neil and Sam and even with the smiles, Tess thought she was wading in a sea of landmines. But it hadn’t been so long ago that she was married to a man who conned for a living, and lies through easy smiles were the hardest habits to break.
“Everything’s all taken care of? Then go for it,” Tess said smoothly, turning her face up to Jack’s with a dreamy smile, pretending that she only had one thing running through her mind. “Breakfast tomorrow, though. I’ve got details to share, remember?” And details to hear, but that was an undercurrent meant only for her sister.
"Everything's cool," Sam assured her sister, lying through her fucking teeth and giving Tessy a kiss on the crown of her head, even as she smoothed her sister's blonde hair back. "Breakfast tomorrow. I'll wake your ass and bring beer." Jack got a look too, one that had some warmth to it. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, and make sure she gets at least one fucking dance in," she ordered, before stepping back. Neil, Neil, what to do with Neil. She turned. "I have to go get some stuff from work, so I'll hop my own cab." Her smile, the one that followed, was a little forced, even if she reached forward and tugged on his tie as she continued. "You get the place to yourself, and I'll even spare you the cab fare, baby," she said, letting the tie drop and stepping back into Iris' ridiculous fucking heels.
Neil was practically fuming by the time Tess and Jack showed up, though he was doing an admirable job of hiding it behind the guise of more shots to numb the burn. He didn’t even bother pointing out that she’d set down the ground rules about no strings, and she was the one who was all casual sex and no commitments, and she never seemed to get the fact that he wanted more, and he had wanted to meet her sister. The night had been just as much of a disaster as he’d feared it would be, and right then all he wanted was to go home, drink himself into a stupor, and pass out for the night. He might have retorted if they’d been alone for a little while longer, but he only managed a look in Sam’s direction before turning his attention to the arriving couple.
He was quiet while Sam asked if it was cool if they took off, and he was grateful when Tess agreed. From here on in it was bound to be awkward, and he didn’t feel like going through the motions, or getting an earful from the older sister either, and when Sam said she was taking her own cab, he just nodded. Whatever. He’d get the place to himself and he’d be alone, like usual, no big deal. She probably wasn’t coming back after this, and he told himself he didn’t care. “Sure. I’ll see you later, then,” he said, before offering Tess and Jack a smile. “It was nice meeting you two. Enjoy the rest of the night.”
There was a moment of hesitation where he thought he should say something else, maybe along the lines of sorry, but he didn’t want to do it with an audience, so he simply gave Sam a look and nodded before turning to leave. Goddamn tonight, and his own idiocy.