Chapter 7
“What’s eating you?” Lily hip-bumped Darcy at the bar.
Darcy gave a gentle shake of her head instead of trying to speak over the loud music. She had just turned down yet another offer from a guy for a free drink. Usually by this time Darcy had a couple of shots in her system, but now she was nursing a fruity mixed drink that she had gotten when they first arrived. It wasn’t that Darcy was an extreme drinker, just usually when she went out, she went out. Turning down the pursuits was just because of her mood. She was supposed to be interested in Too Much Hair Gel Guy when she could still see Steve’s face in her mind. Pssh, forget that shit.
“Darcy,” Lily yelled over the music. “You’ve been acting weird all night. Well, actually you’ve been acting weird for a while now. What’s up?”
“I met a guy!” Darcy blurted.
Lily’s eyes widened as her face morphed into surprise. “Really? Who?”
“You don’t know him.” Darcy shook his head.
“At least tell me his name!”
“It’s Steve,” Darcy had a secret smile as she took a sip of her Sex on the Beach.
“Well, where is this Steve?” Lily teased.
“It’s complicated!” Darcy shrugged. Her ears were beginning to pound with the mix of the yelling and the music.
“Complicated?” Lily’s face scrunched at the word.
“Yeah, he, um, he lives in another place.”
“Long distance relationships are a no-no!” Lily said seriously. “You made us both swear after I was dumped by that Eddie guy senior year of high school.”
“I know!” Darcy lifted her hands in defeat. “I didn’t go looking for him. He was just there one day!”
“You can’t, Darcy.” Lily insisted. “It will do nothing but end up in heartbreak.”
“Some long distance relationships work!” Darcy defended.
“Darcy, listen to me.” She grabbed the other girl’s hands. “We are young and single. We have our whole lives to worry about serious relationships. Don’t go and start harping on this guy when you can’t even go out on a date with him.”
“So what you’re saying is…” Darcy led.
“Just be friends with the guy! I wouldn’t try and be anything more, trust me.”
Darcy stumbled into her room late that night. Or rather morning. She wasn’t really sure what to call it. She was exhausted and filled with pancakes from their ritual post-drinking breakfast. She looked over at Diane’s bed to see the other girl was not in. Probably banging her idiotic boyfriend, Darcy thought as she plopped onto her bed.
“Stevie?” She called blindly. “Stevie, wake up for me, please!”
“Darcy,” she heard him grumble. She could feel his body start to wake up. “What’s wrong? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just so lonely, Stevie.” Darcy sighed into her pillow.
“Oh god, my head is swimming. How much did you drink?”
“Not much, you must be a light weight. Though I wonder if alcohol is different now than then.” She mused. “It’s not going to make you sick, is it?”
Steve snorted. “I’ve had worse than leftovers of someone else’s potential hangover.”
Darcy giggled. “I was trying to have fun. No point though.”
“You didn’t have fun?”
“Did you?” She shot back.
“Nah,” Steve answered honestly. “After seeing you, no other gal compares, Miss Lewis.”
“All the guys there either wore too much hair products or too much cologne. I about choked being near this one dude.” Darcy lazily kicked off her heels. “I didn’t like those guys. Makes a girl think.”
“Think about what?” He asked softly.
“About why I used to like guys like that.” She snorted. “Guess it was all I ever knew. But then you…you waltzed into my brain and I just like your cute face so much better.”
Steve gulped. “I like your face better too, Darce.”
“Steve, what would you do for our date?” She whispered.
“For you? Anything you wanted. I would take you to dinner first, the best place I could find.”
“And if I said I wanted cheap hotdogs instead?” She snickered.
“You got it, doll.” He breathed. “I would still take you out on a dance floor.”
“Spend me around a few times?”
“I don’t know. You might not want to dance with me after I keep stepping on your toes.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” she shrugged. “Rather them be bruised than not be dancing with you.”
“I would show you off to all the fells.” He admitted softly.
“You would show me off?” She asked surprised.
“Of course! You’re a sensational woman, Darcy. You deserve to be shown off.”
“Would you walk me back home?” She asked, continuing their tale.
“Of course, even take the long way back so I could have you just for a little bit longer.”
“I would just walk slower, holding your hand the whole way. Haven’t let go since we were dancing.” She stated.
“When we got to your door, I would stand there wishing we could go back in time and do it all over again.” He whispered.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have a second date.” She laughed. “But there’s one thing you’re forgetting.”
“What’s that?”
“A goodnight kiss,” she whispered silkily. “I think after the abuse of my poor feet I deserve at least one, don’t you?”
Steve gulped. He ran a hand roughly through his hair. “A good night kiss would be, uh, swell.”
“I want this, Steve.” Darcy admitted. “I want to be with you.”
“You are, Darce, remember. You are with me more than any other girl will ever be.”
“You have to promise me something!” She said suddenly.
“Anything, doll.”
“If there’s any possibility that we could actually be together for real,”
“Darcy,” He interrupted softly. He knew that was never going to happen and the pain of it was just too strong.
“Just listen to me, okay? If we ever do end up in the same time together, then I want you to take me out on this date.”
“And if I’m a ninety something your old man?” He snarked.
“Then it’s good for you that I like older men.” She replied saucily. “Just promise me, Steve.”
“Doll, if we ever end up in the same time and together, I won’t be stopping at one date and that’s your promise.”
“Good,” Darcy smiled and snuggled deeper into her pillows. “Talk to me till I fall asleep?”
“What do you want me to talk about?”
“Tell me about your mom, or your dad, or Bucky.”
Steve swallowed the grief away of his parents and decided to focus on Bucky. “Let’s see, Bucky is my best pal…”