i swear to god.. // j. neal

Chapter 25

Chapter 25: James's POV

"Let's go somewhere." I whispered to Megan, who laid next to me. Together, we were a sweaty heap.
"Where?" She rolled over, from her back, to her side, so she was propped up by one arm. We were on the floor, in, obviously, her closet.
"Downtahn." I mimicked a heavy Pittsburgh accent.
She rolled her eyes. Even though the darkness of the closet was thick-as-fog, her piercing, achingly gorgeous, emerald eyes were still visible. "Don't try to be a Yinzer. You don't choose the Yinzer life, it chooses you." Her tone was incredibly over-dramatic. "And anyways, we can't go out. People would catch us together, and ask questions, like, 'Why the bloody hell are the Penguins' assistant coach and winger out together?'"
"First off," I sat up, "I doubt anyone will recognize me. I mean, I am pretty new, here. Secondly, like I said, I'm pretty new here, but I'm still ashamed to say I didn't know the people of the 'Burgh were British. Thirdly, it's at least one in the morning. Who the hell is going to be out, in downtown Pittsburgh, that late?"
Megan sighed, symbolizing that she knew I was right, then sat up. "I still don't want to get caught. I'm not particularly in the mood to lose my job, as crazy as it may seem."
"Please?" I pouted. No one could deny my pout. I didn't use it too terribly often -partly because it was weird as fuck to be a pouting 26 year old- but when I did, it was undeniable.
"God, fine." She began to stand up. "Just one thing," She reached up, to a shelf above us, and pulled something down, that I couldn't see. Honestly, I was too busy staring at her body. "This stays on the entire time. And your hood stays up." She flipped a soft, dark beanie down towards me.
"Yes ma'am." I teased, standing up. I entangled my arms around her, and drew her in.
"I thought you wanted to go out." She breathed, breath hot on my lips.
"I do." I whispered.
"Then let's go." She snuck out from my grasp, and dashed from the closet, leaving me alone in the fog of darkness.
Keeping one hand on the wall to stabilize myself, I meandered through the dusk until I got to the doorframe. She had a small, bedside lamp on, illuminating the darkened room. I watched as she got dressed, slowly, carefully putting on the lace bra. The black, lace bra.
"Where the hell are my...?"
Megan wordlessly pointed to a pile of clothes on the floor, while using the other hand to clasp the back.
I stumbled over to the heap, pulling articles out one-by-one. "Dammit," I murmured. "I don't remember having this much clothing on me.."
"Take it from the person who had to watch you take it all off, painstakingly slow," Meg interrupted. "You really were wearing that much."
I smirked to myself. Not-so-secretly, I loved the sex. Secretly, I loved the sexual tension more.
"Are you almost done?" Megan bitched, turning around to face me. I was throwing my t-shirt on, over my head.
"Almost." I replied, poking my head through the hole, and reaching for my jacket. "There. Done." I confirmed.
She flicked the bed table's lamp off. "Beanie." She then ordered.
I smiled, guiltily. "I might have, sorta, well, left it in the closet..." I scratched the back of my neck.
She sighed loudly, before telling me to make sure my hood was up the entire time.
I smirked, all flirty, "Yes Coach."

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Megan and I sat down, on the ledge, feet dangling over the Allegheny River. As predicted, the downtown was a ghost town, but everything remained aglow.
The bright, blinding lights making up the nothing-but-picturesque skyline reflected off the water, forming a carbon copy of the first. It was honestly just breathtaking.
"Do you ever think about death?" I asked, abruptly. "I mean like, how you'd want to die?" After about midnight, I started getting weird as fuck. My conversations would range anywhere from Popsicles, to the Supernova. Seriously, I blabbed about crazy shit, and this was the beginning of my talking-out-of-my-ass phase.
"What the hell have you been smoking?" Megan was evidentially thrown off by my randomness.
"How do you want to die?" I repeated, unfazed. "Like, don't you ever think if death?"
She sat there, flustered, before uttering, "Well, I do tend to think about death, sometimes. I mean, look at my goddamn past."
"Then how do you want to die?"
She shrugged a small shrug, and fiddled with her hands, gluing her eyes to them. "I guess," She looked up, affixing her gaze on the doppelgänger of skyline. "I guess I want to die with meaning, ya know? I don't want to die the way my parents did; in vain, ya know? What about you?"
I laid back, so my top half was laying on the concrete, while my legs dangled over the water. "I do tend to think about death, too. I mean, look at my goddamn past. It's not necessarily as horrific as yours, but it wouldn't exactly be turned into an animated Disney movie, ya know? I mean, my best friend hung himself." I trembled, slightly. I never really talked about Spencer, and when I did, it was always short lived.
"How'd it happen?" She asked, softly.
I stared up at the starlit sky. When I was little, I was really, bizarrely into astronomy. Seriously, I wanted to be an astronomer.
"It was a fucked up, dark-as-hell stage of my life." I began, "My grandma had just been diagnosed with heart disease, I had been fired from my job at the local rink, and I was absolutely bombing my Spanish class. However, getting axed from my minimum wage job, and being unable to say more than ten worlds in Español was about the least of my concerns.
I was in my sixth period biology class, when an announcement came over the PA system, ordering us all to the auditorium. It was there that they made the announcement. The announcement declaring my best friend's suicide. So yeah," I brushed a hand through my auburn hair.
"It really sucks when someone you love kills themself." Meg noted, quietly.
"Yeah." Was all I could muster. I was whisked away in though of Spencer.
And with that, we just remained together, under the stars, over the clam water, silently observing our surrounds.