[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Fourteen
Point of View: Narrator


Nick was the one that took the last sip from the bottle of Jack, though Krystal had certainly drank more of it than he had. He held the bottle over his upturned, opened mouth long after it had run dry and shook it to make sure every last drip of the warm liquid had evacuated its glass haven. Then, he threw the bottle; somehow it managed not to break.

"Yo-ho, yo-ho," he bellowed out, his voice shaky and way off key, his hands clutching the helm of the boat, his eyes drooping and threatening to fall. The sunlight beamed off his bare back, toasting his skin to a deep purpley-red color. He warbled on his feet. "Aw fuck," he laughed, "If I go to jail at least I had a fucking blast doing it!"

Krystal laughed and hiccuped from the floor behind him.

Suddenly Nick stopped navigating and he sat down on the floor beside her and wrapped his long arms around her body. "Krys," he whispered, "I love you."

Krystal looked at Nick - all four of him - and giggled. "No you don't," she whispered, "Nobody does."

Nick shook his head, "Not true, because I do. I love you." He leaned towards her to kiss her and she pushed his face away. "Krys," he whimpered.

She stared at him, struggling to focus on him, the topic slicing through her inebriated state and reaching her very core. "Nick, you're lying to me," she said, "I don't need you to pretend to love me. I don't need you to pretend to care about me or to say kind words to me that you think I wanna hear. I don't need it."

Nick cupped his hands around her chin, "I'm not lying to you. Why would I be lying to you? What's not to love? You're a beautiful, talented woman..."

Krystal's boisterous laugh was sharp. "Talented? Ha! Beautiful? Christ Nick, get your eyes checked..." she pushed him in the chest, shoving away from him, and stood up. Towering over him now, since he'd remained seated, she said, "I'm nothing, Nick. You know what I'm most amazed about? How in the fuck you decided to latch onto someone stupid and ugly and ridiculous and horrible, like me."

"You aren't any of those things," Nick countered, also hearing the words through the alcohol. He struggled to his feet.

Krystal backed away from him, "You're fucking full of bullshit! Nick, I'll sleep with you without the lies and the humoring and the crap that you gotta do for every other girl. I don't need to be charmed, Nick, I just want to be fucked."

Nick stared at her, his mind racing to keep up with the words she was saying. "So wait," he muttered, and he suddenly felt about 2 inches tall. "You don't want to be loved?"

"I can't be loved," she snapped, "It's impossible to love something hideous."

"You aren't hide-"

"Nick, seriously, don't. I don't wanna hear it."

They stood there facing each other, and Nick couldn't help but feel like he was the odd one of the two here. Any other guy - AJ for example, he thought - would've been so excited by the words she'd just said, but for the first time ever, Nick had actually started to be interested in something besides the sex. This was a new feeling for him, he'd never had a relationship, really. Everything he'd ever had had dissolved within a couple months.

Krystal advanced slowly, laid a hand against his face, and stared into his eyes. "You don't have to invest in me, I don't expect it. Consider us like friends with benefits, kind of," she added. "That's all I need from you, Nick."

Nick hesitated. "What if I want to give you more?" he asked.

Krystal shook her head, "You won't."

“And if I do?”

“Then you’re stupid,” she whispered.

Nick leaned closer to her, “Maybe. But that’s not why I’m stupid,” he had his mouth right against her ear, their jawbones touching softly. He wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her back, “You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice husky, “You must’ve been painted special by God himself.”

“Then I’m a waste of paint,” Krystal responded.

He was about to answer her when the blaring of a loud horn made him jump. They both looked up and saw the large, hovering form of a Coast Guard boat.