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Before: It's Always Sunny in Tampa


Ashley

Chris was holding a sign. Chris was holding flowers.

Chris's eyes met mine. Chris's eyes met Nick's.

Chris dropped the flowers. Chris dropped the sign.

I felt like my heart was gonna stop. Nick stopped walking, and I advanced toward Chris alone. I wondered if he saw before, when I was holding Nick's hand. I couldn't tell. His face was a puce color. He looked over my shoulder at Nick.

"Honey!" I said, grabbing Chris's hands into my own, "Aw you surprised me! Hi!" I leaned up on my toes to kiss his mouth, but he was still glaring at Nick. "I'm so glad you didn't listen to me when I said I didn't need a ride. I missed you so much."

"It looks like you already got a ride," Chris mumbled. Still staring at Nick.

I didn't know how to respond, I didn't know how to make things better. Why hadn't I told Chris in the first place where I was going and who I was going with? It seemed so stupid to have kept it a secret from him. Like I was setting myself up for trouble. Now it was obvious, all the reasons why not telling Chris was a bad choice. I felt ashamed. But I didn't know how to tell him what I was feeling, or what I'd done.

"I just bumped into Ashley," Nick piped up.

Chris's eyebrow raised. "What're you doing at an airport?" he demanded.

"Practicing," Nick shrugged. "I gotta tour sometime with the Boys right? And my therapist, he said the only way to get better about flying is to do it so I just took a flight out to Witchata and back."

"Witchata? Kansas?" Chris looked surprised, yet also doubtful, "What the fuck is in Kansas?"

Nick shrugged, "As it turns out, not awhole hell of a lot." He laughed. "Anyways, I was walkin' along, spotted this one here gettin' off her flight and I offered her a ride."

Chris wasn't sure if he believed that or not, I could tell. He looked from Nick to me and back, and I tried to erase the guilt off my face. I wasn't sure if I was more thankful Nick was doing this, or unnerved that he could lie so smoothly and quickly. Chris hesitated. Then he bent down and picked up the flowers from the floor, and the sign and handed the flowers to me. "Welcome home," he said, smiling.

I let out a breath of relief, disguised as me sniffing the flowers, and I wrapped my arms around Chris's waist, pressing my face to his chest. I heard that heart beat of his. I sighed and decided I was more thankful for Nick's questionable talent.

"Well, I can take her from here, Carter, but thanks for your offer. I owe ya one. Wait... we actually already owe you a couple slices of pizza, don't we Nick?" Chris said, "Why don't you drop by our place tonight for dinner?" he asked.

Nick looked uncertain, "Oh I dunno, I got a lotta stuff to do and --"

"I insist," Chris said, smiling.

Nick nodded. "Okay then," he said. "Later Ashley." And just like that, Nick sped off in a powerwalk across the airport, disappearing in the mixture of the crowd before I could even answer him.

Chris wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and led me out of the airport. "How was your trip?" he questioned, looking down at me.

"It was good," I replied.

"I miss Florida," he commented. "It's nice there."

"Yeah," I agreed.

Chris squeezed my elbow, "How was the weather?"

"It's always sunny in Tampa," I answered.

Chris laughed, "It is, isn't it?"




Nick

I had no god damn desire to go anywhere near Chris's place that night. I put off heading over there as long as I could and finally trudged out to my car and drove across town. Ashley's apartment never seemed so boding as it did when I hit the buzzer to be let in. Upstairs, the hallway smelled of the pizza they must've ordered and when they let me in, I found the table was set with paper plates and solo cups and cans of beer. Ashley was grinning and humming and Chris seemed okay, too, so I relaxed quickly, my nerves melting away.

They stayed away, too, until about halfway through the night, when Ashley excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Chris smiled and watched her leave the room, then he wiped his mouth, and he turned to me, still smiling. "So it rained all weekend in Tampa," he said simply.

I had no clue what this was supposed to mean, so I said, "Okay?"

He studied me for a moment. "C'mon Nick, you can stop lying. Ashley wasn't in Tampa this weekend, she was with you. Wasn't she?"

I didn't have a clue how to respond. I felt like a ship putting out the SOS code. Mayday! Mayday!

"Did you sleep with her?" he demanded.

"What? No!" I said. I couldn't quite bring myself to say of course not because I totally would've if she'd made the offer.

Chris laughed. He looked away for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, then he turned back to me. "Look, I'm not stupid, okay?" he said.

"I didn't say you were stu--"

"I know you're trying to steal her back, Nick," he said levelly.

Okay well that I can't really deny, I thought.

Chris shook his head, "I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing, or why you're doing it, but back the fuck off my girl or I'll have to beat the crap out of you." He said it in a friendly manner, a slight laughter to his voice, his mouth smiling, but his eyes stone cold. "We clear?" he asked.

I nodded.

"As long as we're all on the same page..." he said.

And he finished his words just in time, as Ashley came back in the room and Chris, who had just taken a sip of beer, lowered his can and said, "So how about them Buccs, ey Nick? Think they can go all the way this year? They got some work ahead of'em, huh?"

I nodded.

Ashley smiled as she slid into her seat.

"That's what I like about you Nick," Chris said, patting my back, "You always root for the underdog." He smiled.

"Hey I love the Buccs," Ashley laughed, then grabbed her beer, "To the underdogs."

Chris smirked at me as he lifted his beer enthusiastically and I kinda half raised mine. "To the underdogs," he echoed Ashley as the three cans clicked against one another.