"Huh?" Wayne swings his head around, bringing Jackie into focus. "Oh, just, um... observing."
Erik laughs, his smile making his eyes sparkle. "Earth to Wayne."
"Mm-hmm." Wayne grins and focuses on the table for a moment, wishing Jackie hadn't noticed his quietness. "I'm from a faraway planet to begin with - forgive me when my mind wanders from Earth."
Erik still smiles and gives Jackie a glance. "He doesn't ever take you off-planet with him, does he?"
"You kidding?" Wayne smirks. "This chick wouldn't let me take her across the street let alone off the planet."
Erik quirks an eyebrow, not having yet figured out the relationship between these two. "Aw - I think she trusts you more than that."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with trust. I'm just a pain in her patooty."
"Patooty." Erik swallows another laugh. "Careful. Someone might think you were being inappropriate."
Wayne coughs, his face turning red. "Sorry. Neck. We'll stick with neck."
"She has a nice neck too."
Wayne blinks, seeing Erik remaining completely cool while implying that... Wayne's mouth hangs open.
Erik's laugh slips out and he pours a glass of water, pushing it over to Wayne. "You look like you need this."
Wayne blinks again and takes the glass, throwing Jackie a look. "You... you were saying?"
Hearing Jess' words, Axel believed her... she never had thought he'd committed the crime, and for that, he would be forever grateful. As she hugs him, he still feels a little numb from everything, but starting to recover, he slips his arms around her too.
Burying his face into her shoulder, he isn't sure whether his emotions would continue to hold up or not. He straightens a little and grabs the tv remote to play the movie again, but only so there's some noise. Then turning, he pulls Jess sideways into his lap. Holding her close, he rests his head on her shoulder, not allowing her to see his face as he kisses her cheek softly.
"Thank you for believing in me." His voice wavers as he gropes for control. He was so relieved, but it was such an emotional topic to begin with that it felt as though his heart just didn't know how to handle it.
His arms stay locked around her and he sighs deeply before giving her neck a gentle kiss, then another before moving up to her cheek again. "You're special, Jess... you always will be."
Pete shakes his head. "Naw... Nikki's busy tonight - party life isn't quite her thing anyway."
Grinning, he rolls his eyes. "Yeah... I might be able to set you up with a girl. Depends on who's there." He winks and moves towards the door. "Come on. Get back to your room and behave for a few more hours then I'll be back to get you. Don't do anything to tip off Reese and..." He pauses, his grin growing sly. "...we'll slip out of here under the radar."
Carson smiles as he talks on the phone with Misty, moving about the kitchen and reaching over Dani's shoulder to add more cheese to the pizza she was making. "I'm not so sure you really are kidding," he teases. "I'll be extra careful tonight if I dare ask again what you were doing."
He glances back out to the tables and gestures for Aerith to take out some more pitchers of soda while still talking to Misty, his smile softening. "Love you too. Call me when you get out of work... if I'm still here you can come here instead."
9/4/10
Own Mind
Giving a small chuckle she realized how silly she must have sounded asking him what he did in his pass time seeing as he just moved here. It was a conversation starter though and the only thing she could think of. She had friends but not many she saw on a regular bases so building conversation that was not around work was not her strong point.
"Ohh..hiking...being out in nature is defiantly a nice pass time for sure."
Little time was left for herself to really do anything but work. Wayne and Music was pretty much her life, but when the free time did come it seemed even better. Knowing she earned it and got to hold onto it.
Giving a nod and turning a little to see Wayne Jackie cocks her head a little bit. Wayne was always quiet but he seemed extra quiet today. Her really never seemed like he stayed in a shell before.
"How about you? What do you think about this all? Your so quiet over there."
Getting lost in the moment with Axel and the movie it seemed like everything else was gone. The movie was getting to the intense point that when Axel sits up it startles Jess a little. The movie going into pause she was about to ask Axel what was wrong but his words come out.
Raising and eyebrow at his comment she wondered for a moment what on earth he was talking about. For a moment it just all seemed like babble. Finally understanding what he was getting at the smile on Jess face grew slightly as she takes his hand.
"Oh Axel, if for anything else it puts you own mind at rest, and thats a good thing. I new you didn't do it."
Wrapping her arms around Axel and pulling him into a hug Jess gives a squeeze. She wanted to cry for him out of happiness. This was good news that he remembered and it would put his mind to rest so he wouldn't second guess himself anymore.
Shifting a little at the mention of a party Trey lifts an eyebrow. Pete was cool, but Trey wouldn't have pegged him for a party guy but since he was offering he wasn't going to turn it around. Getting out of here, having some beer now that sounded like a great time.
"A lift there tonight would be great. You sure your girl wont mind? I figured you two would be hanging out."
Pete seemed cool, Party sounded fun, maybe this would be a lot of fun. Who knows what else might happen and who he might meet. This could turn out to be an interesting night after all.
"Maybe you can introduce me into the cuties too."
"Yeah, Rick has me doing some extra work, so you don't have to feel bad being late at work because I am not there either."
Labeling two vials and transpiring a little of blood from each Misty sits at on of the computers and prepares to run some tests. It would take a few days to do, and get everything back so she might as well start now. Chatting with Carson on the other phone she holds it between her ear and shoulder.
"No I can't tell you, If I did I'd have to kill you and that would be a shame."
Giving a laugh and putting the vials into the mixer Misty than takes the phone and stands.
"I'm kidding. Just doing some blood samples for Rick since he was going out of town. I love you babe."
"Ohh..hiking...being out in nature is defiantly a nice pass time for sure."
Little time was left for herself to really do anything but work. Wayne and Music was pretty much her life, but when the free time did come it seemed even better. Knowing she earned it and got to hold onto it.
Giving a nod and turning a little to see Wayne Jackie cocks her head a little bit. Wayne was always quiet but he seemed extra quiet today. Her really never seemed like he stayed in a shell before.
"How about you? What do you think about this all? Your so quiet over there."
Getting lost in the moment with Axel and the movie it seemed like everything else was gone. The movie was getting to the intense point that when Axel sits up it startles Jess a little. The movie going into pause she was about to ask Axel what was wrong but his words come out.
Raising and eyebrow at his comment she wondered for a moment what on earth he was talking about. For a moment it just all seemed like babble. Finally understanding what he was getting at the smile on Jess face grew slightly as she takes his hand.
"Oh Axel, if for anything else it puts you own mind at rest, and thats a good thing. I new you didn't do it."
Wrapping her arms around Axel and pulling him into a hug Jess gives a squeeze. She wanted to cry for him out of happiness. This was good news that he remembered and it would put his mind to rest so he wouldn't second guess himself anymore.
Shifting a little at the mention of a party Trey lifts an eyebrow. Pete was cool, but Trey wouldn't have pegged him for a party guy but since he was offering he wasn't going to turn it around. Getting out of here, having some beer now that sounded like a great time.
"A lift there tonight would be great. You sure your girl wont mind? I figured you two would be hanging out."
Pete seemed cool, Party sounded fun, maybe this would be a lot of fun. Who knows what else might happen and who he might meet. This could turn out to be an interesting night after all.
"Maybe you can introduce me into the cuties too."
"Yeah, Rick has me doing some extra work, so you don't have to feel bad being late at work because I am not there either."
Labeling two vials and transpiring a little of blood from each Misty sits at on of the computers and prepares to run some tests. It would take a few days to do, and get everything back so she might as well start now. Chatting with Carson on the other phone she holds it between her ear and shoulder.
"No I can't tell you, If I did I'd have to kill you and that would be a shame."
Giving a laugh and putting the vials into the mixer Misty than takes the phone and stands.
"I'm kidding. Just doing some blood samples for Rick since he was going out of town. I love you babe."
Don't worry...
Erik chuckles at Jackie. "When am I not in band mode?" His grin remains and he shakes his head. "Haven't really picked up too many other interests around here yet. Still getting settled I guess."
Truth be known, Erik had always thrown himself fully into whatever he did, leaving room for little else besides his dedication.
"Everyone in the band - those are my friends, so when we hang out, it's band time." He shrugs. "Just works out that way. I guess if I didn't have them twenty-four/seven..." He thinks for a moment. "Not sure what I'd do," he admits ruefully. "Maybe find a nice hiking trail or something."
"Yeah... a movie sounds good." Axel tries to keep his head in the game for Jess' sake, helping with the pie, then heading back to the living room with her. Getting settled once more on the couch, he's not quite as cuddly but does sit next to her and leans back to eat dessert while the movie they chose plays. He's quiet... seeming to be totally focused on the movie, even if his mind is a million miles away.
Eventually, empty plates are stacked on the coffee table along with Axel's feet and his arm is around Jess as the movie plays on. At some point in the plot, someone sets a trap for a bad guy and winds up with a homemade alarm from a string of bells. Sure enough when the bad guy comes around the corner, the whole world knows he's there from the racket.
Axel's eyes focus on the screen as he watches, but as that scene plays, his whole body tenses and he's suddenly no longer caring about the plot. "Alarm," he whispers. "The alarm went off. How could I have not..."
Grabbing the remote, he stops the movie without warning and looks down to Jess, shock in his eyes. "Why didn't I remember it before?" Everything had been a blur... he'd been so worked up and scared at the time, that thinking straight had been hard to come by anyway. And ever since then, he'd tried not to think about it at all. But the one forgotten piece was the one that could have provided him peace all these years.
Still staring at Jess, he blinks. "I set my alarm that night." He didn't even think about the fact that she might not have a clue what he was talking about. "I had an electronic alarm set up so if I opened the door in the middle of the night, it would go off. Sometimes I forgot to set it, so it wasn't consistent, but when I did, not once did I ever disarm it while sleepwalking - I always set it off."
His eyes search Jess' as his mind processes what felt like a thousand and one bits and pieces. "When the police came, they set it off. The alarm went off when they came in which means it was still set, which means... I never left."
He blinks again, the shock remaining in his gaze. How could he have not remembered that? It didn't prove a thing to anyone else, but to him... to him, this was a freedom. He was innocent... and now he knew it for sure. "I never left," he whispers. "It really wasn't me."
Pete shrugs and keeps the gun, fiddling with it a little more before wandering over to the gun cabinet to put it away. "Somewhere to hang out, huh?"
He thinks for a couple moments before finishing and turning around, hooking his hands in his pockets. "Guess that depends on what you like. We got bars, we got clubs, we got fights but technically I'm not supposed to know about those, there's desert races on some nights but Alec would know that schedule."
Pete studies Trey for a moment, cocking his head. "There's a party tonight up at the lake. Hamburgers, hotdogs, good beer... I'm going for a couple hours if you wanna grab a ride with me." He grins a little. "And don't worry about curfew... I'll have you covered."
Truth be known, Erik had always thrown himself fully into whatever he did, leaving room for little else besides his dedication.
"Everyone in the band - those are my friends, so when we hang out, it's band time." He shrugs. "Just works out that way. I guess if I didn't have them twenty-four/seven..." He thinks for a moment. "Not sure what I'd do," he admits ruefully. "Maybe find a nice hiking trail or something."
"Yeah... a movie sounds good." Axel tries to keep his head in the game for Jess' sake, helping with the pie, then heading back to the living room with her. Getting settled once more on the couch, he's not quite as cuddly but does sit next to her and leans back to eat dessert while the movie they chose plays. He's quiet... seeming to be totally focused on the movie, even if his mind is a million miles away.
Eventually, empty plates are stacked on the coffee table along with Axel's feet and his arm is around Jess as the movie plays on. At some point in the plot, someone sets a trap for a bad guy and winds up with a homemade alarm from a string of bells. Sure enough when the bad guy comes around the corner, the whole world knows he's there from the racket.
Axel's eyes focus on the screen as he watches, but as that scene plays, his whole body tenses and he's suddenly no longer caring about the plot. "Alarm," he whispers. "The alarm went off. How could I have not..."
Grabbing the remote, he stops the movie without warning and looks down to Jess, shock in his eyes. "Why didn't I remember it before?" Everything had been a blur... he'd been so worked up and scared at the time, that thinking straight had been hard to come by anyway. And ever since then, he'd tried not to think about it at all. But the one forgotten piece was the one that could have provided him peace all these years.
Still staring at Jess, he blinks. "I set my alarm that night." He didn't even think about the fact that she might not have a clue what he was talking about. "I had an electronic alarm set up so if I opened the door in the middle of the night, it would go off. Sometimes I forgot to set it, so it wasn't consistent, but when I did, not once did I ever disarm it while sleepwalking - I always set it off."
His eyes search Jess' as his mind processes what felt like a thousand and one bits and pieces. "When the police came, they set it off. The alarm went off when they came in which means it was still set, which means... I never left."
He blinks again, the shock remaining in his gaze. How could he have not remembered that? It didn't prove a thing to anyone else, but to him... to him, this was a freedom. He was innocent... and now he knew it for sure. "I never left," he whispers. "It really wasn't me."
Pete shrugs and keeps the gun, fiddling with it a little more before wandering over to the gun cabinet to put it away. "Somewhere to hang out, huh?"
He thinks for a couple moments before finishing and turning around, hooking his hands in his pockets. "Guess that depends on what you like. We got bars, we got clubs, we got fights but technically I'm not supposed to know about those, there's desert races on some nights but Alec would know that schedule."
Pete studies Trey for a moment, cocking his head. "There's a party tonight up at the lake. Hamburgers, hotdogs, good beer... I'm going for a couple hours if you wanna grab a ride with me." He grins a little. "And don't worry about curfew... I'll have you covered."