Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 28

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 31
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

Clockwatching
Lately we're running out of time, aren't we?

I rolled over, reaching for Rachel, but she wasn't there. It was a Rachel morning, wasn't it? Where the hell was I?

I opened my eyes, glancing around the room. This was my house in Marathon, not a hotel room. I could smell Rachel's shampoo on her pillow, so she should be here.

There had been drinking and the boat race and more drinking. Then Rachel and Anna and I had played a couple of songs at the bar… had I asked Anna to be in my band when I toured? That would be cool. I liked having Anna around.

But then Vinnie would complain if I… Vinnie. The last time I'd woken up with a hangover in Florida, Vinnie had done something to get Rachel mad at me. What the hell had he done this time?

The last time I'd seen him, he'd been at the bar. What could he have done from there?

I rolled out of bed, surprised when my head didn't hurt too much when I stood up. I'd had a lot to drink yesterday, but my hangover wasn't too bad. It wasn't good, but it could be worse. Rachel had made me drink a lot of water before I fell asleep.

Where was she? I pulled on some shorts and stumbled into the living room, finding Vinnie asleep on the couch.

"What did you do to her?" I asked, looking down at him.

He blinked up at me. "Do what? Who? Dude, you're fucking scary looking in the morning. What time is it?"

"Where's Rachel?"

"I don't know. She came to the bar and brought me and Tony back here last night. Last time I saw her, she went into your bedroom. Did she get lost?"

I looked around the room. "Where's Tony?"

"He went to sleep with Anna and stuck me with the couch. I used to fuck her. I should have gotten the bed."

"I think Anna would rather shoot you. Take my bed."

He didn't argue with that, although he was mumbling something about 'stupid girlfriends' as he went. Whatever.

I checked outside. No Rachel, and no car. So she hadn't just gone up to the main house. She was gone.

What did I do?

I tried her cell, but a phone rang across the room. She wouldn't have gone far without her phone, so I tried not to freak out and took a shower. Whenever she got back, it would probably be better if I were clean.

When I came out of the bathroom, the front door was wide open, and I looked outside. I could see the bottom half of Rachel as the rest of her was wrestling with something in my car.

"Where did you go?" I asked, joining her.

"You wanted waffles."

"I did?" I pulled her into my arms before she could pick up another bag.

Smiling, she put her arms around my neck. "You were rather drunk at the time."

I kissed her, relaxing for the first time since I'd woken up. "So you went to get waffles?"

"I did. You have nothing for waffles, you know, so it took a while."

I looked into the trunk of the car. There were a few bags in there. "Is that a waffle maker?"

"It's not like I can make waffles in a frying pan, bunny. You need the right equipment."

"I would have taken you out to breakfast," I offered, but she shook her head, smiling.

"You wanted my waffles."

I had to kiss her again. "Thank you."

"This way, maybe I can bribe Vinnie into liking me."

"Screw him. He said you picked them up last night?"

"I couldn't sleep," she told me, moving out of my arms and handing me things from the trunk. "I was too worried they'd do something stupid, or get a ride home with some drunk person, and… I was worried."

"Was he an asshole about it?"

"He was bitching that he didn't need another mother or something. That boy has issues."

I now was holding everything that had been in the trunk, so she shut it and we started inside. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "Whatever. If I can't win him over with waffles, I give up."

Waffles would work, right? I didn't know what to do about Rachel and Vinnie. She'd been nice enough to him yesterday, but he'd barely spoken to her. If I had to choose, I'd chose Rachel… but I didn't want to choose. Vinnie was a lot of fun when he wasn't being an asshole to my girlfriend. It's not like they had to spend a lot of time together, but when they did I didn't want it to be a big deal.

No one was in the living room, and I looked back at Nick. "Did they leave?"

He dropped the bags in the kitchen. "No. Tony is sleeping with Anna, and I gave Vinnie our bed when I got up."

"As long as Vinnie isn't sleeping with Anna. What's going on there?"

He gave me a blank look as he pulled stuff out of bags. "They broke up like two years ago and she hates him."

I started opening cabinets, looking for a mixing bowl. He had to have one. Right? Fuck. I didn't want to go out again. "She might hate him, but did you catch how he was looking at her last night?"

"Uh… no. He was looking at her?"

Success! The big salad bowl would do. I somehow doubted that Nick had ever made a salad in his life. "When we were on stage. He couldn't take his eyes off of her."

"Really?" Nick looked at me for a moment. "I was behind the drums, so I couldn't really see the audience. Really?"

I laughed, making a space on the counter so that I could start the waffle batter. "You sound shocked. Anna is gorgeous. Especially when she's playing bass."

"I know that, but… all Vinnie does is complain about her. He can't stand her. What do you need?"

"The sugar." He handed it to me as I went on. "He might say that, but maybe he's just covering up the fact that he still has feelings for her."

"I don't think that Vinnie has feelings for any girl, Rache."

"Give me the eggs. If you're right, isn't that sad? What's up with his mother?"

Nick handed me the eggs, giving me a totally perplexed look, and I had to kiss him.

"His mom?" he asked, when I let him go.

"He was going off about moms last night. Sounds like he has issues."

Nick leaned against the counter, considering as I cracked eggs into the waffle batter. "He doesn't see his mom. I guess. I don't know. He moved to Florida when he was in high school to be with his dad, and I don't know what happened to his mom. I guess she still lives in New York. And his dad has been married twice since I've known him. He's on wife number four or five."

I snickered, mixing the batter. "Yeah, I'd say Vinnie has issues with women, with a history like that. No wonder Anna stays away from him."

"Do you want her to stay away from him?"

I snickered, plugging in the waffle iron. "Yes. I'm not thinking they should get back together or anything. I'm just trying to figure out why he's got such a chip on his shoulder about me."

"What does that have to do with Anna?"

I smiled, patting his cheek. Boys never thought about this stuff. "I think he has problems with commitment, and he sees you and me together, and we're happy. Most of the time."

Maybe not so much lately, but we were getting better. Yesterday had been good, even with Vinnie around.

"So," I went on, "He sees you and me, committed and happy about it, and Anna is around, and she was probably the best relationship he ever had…"

I looked to Nick to correct me, but he just shrugged. "I don't think there's been anyone serious since her."

"So, we're happy, and Anna is around, looking amazing, and he has to convince himself all over again how much commitment sucks. Hence, why he was such an asshole to me yesterday."

"I'm sorry, Rache, really. I don't know…"

I shook my head. "Not your fault. You were wonderful. Have I told you that yet?"

"No," he said, and I put my arms around him, smiling up at him.

"You were great. Not that you protected me or anything. I didn't need that. You just ignored his little comments and paid attention to me. Thank you. This was much better than the last time he was around."

"I am not stupid enough to experience Halloween all over again, buttercup."

I kissed him. I was going to tease him more, but he pulled me close to his body, our kiss growing more insistent, and I fell into him, the waffles forgotten.

"We haven't had sex in my kitchen yet," he whispered, biting my earlobe lightly, and I pushed him away.

"We're certainly not going to start now, with your friends in the next room, either."

He pouted at me, and I kissed him again. "When are they leaving? Tonight? We've got one more night before you leave me to go to London again."

"You could come with me…"

"I really can't. My schedule is packed. If I don't show up in New York they might kick me out of the band."

Our eyes met for a moment, then I laid my head on his chest. I hated stealing these few moments together. No wonder I was jealous of his friends, when they were cutting into the little time I had with him.

"I'll see if I can finish up early, and come back to be with you. Hey, I'm doing those shows with Aaron, so we'll be together then."

"I know, bunny. I just… it's going to be another busy summer." For both of us this time. Last year, he followed me around on tour, and it was great.

"I can record whenever I want. The album's practically done, anyway. I'll look at my schedule and make time to be with you."

I pulled away from him. "That's not fair to you. You should take all the time you want for this album. It's fine. We'll work it out."

It had to be better than the *NSync tour. We'd talked about that, and we were cool. It would be fine.

"Hey, Nick. Can I talk to you for a second?"

I looked around me. I was on the deck of the boat, and Rachel and Anna were downstairs, fixing dinner. I had no idea where Tony was.

Vinnie sorta had me to himself, if he wanted that. "Sure. What?"

"I just wanted to apologize for being such a jerk yesterday."

I shrugged. "It's okay. You should really apologize to Rachel."

"I just did. I just… well, I don't want to be making excuses. I was a jerk. It's just been a really rough semester, and I thought yesterday was going to be different."

"Rachel or not, Marathon is not party central, dude."

He laughed, leaning next to me on the railing. "You're right. Rachel is a really great girl, and she takes care of everybody, and I just wanted to get drunk and stupid and not think. I guess I have to get used to the fact that you're settling down."

"Am I?" A few months ago, I thought I was. But not anymore. Rachel didn't want that, and neither did I.

"You were making waffles together this morning," Vinnie said with a laugh. "That looks sorta settled. This time last year, I don't think you would have given us a Pop-Tart for breakfast."

"Yeah, but… that's just Rachel. She's good at taking care of people."

"You're lucky, Nick. She's great. In a couple of years, you're going to be married with kids, and I'm still gonna be going out every night with a different girl."

In a couple of years? I was only 22! I had years yet before marriage and babies.

"You're done for the semester, right? You're still in college, aren't you?"

I lost track. There had been a couple of semesters off, hadn't there? I knew Anna was graduating in a couple of weeks.

"Yeah. One more to go, then I graduate in December. Why?"

"Come with me to London. I leave tomorrow. I've got to work all day, but the clubs there are great."

"Are you sure? Is Rachel…"

I cut him off. "Rachel has to work. You and me and Tony. It'll be a blast."

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