CAT'S POV


Gah, what the f-, I thought as my alarm went off at precisely 3.30am, but then I realized. Today is the day. Today I'm going on a honeymoon with Matt, totally not in love and thank God not married. Immediately, I felt energized and a rush of excitement roamed my body. I'd never been on another continent (except for that one time with Dave, that asshole), let alone on the opposite side of the world.

It would be a long distance to travel, though. First 18 hours of flying to Abu Dhabi in the Arab Emirates, a place I only knew from movies. There, we'd spend the night in an airport hotel before facing another five hours to Mahe airport. Mahe was the biggest island of the Seychelles, which were located in the Indian Ocean, just east of Madagascar. You see, I did my homework. I read up on everything I was going to see.

As I quickly changed into my sweatpants and a comfortable hoodie, I went through my packing list one more time. Passport? Yup. Phone charger and adapter? Yes. Toothbrush? Positive. Can't be that bad, right? I suddenly heard a noise outside. Is that Matt already? Normally, he's never early. Well, better get going then.

I closed my suitcase and put on my bagpack. My phone started ringing. God, calm your dick, Sanders. Oh wait, it's Jimmy. "Jimmy?" I said as I picked up the phone. "Open up, Doctor Cat, I'm in front of your house," he ordered in his Sergeant Sullivan voice. I grinned as he was using our drinking game alter egos. I knew that whenever he used them, he was up to no good. Jimmy, Jimmy, what the fuck are you planning now?

Half a minute later, Jimmy the fucking assface Sullivan was standing in my room, and so was a big suitcase and his bagpack. "So Jimmy, can you explain again why you're moving into my room while I'm gone?" I asked and gently brushed a strand of his dark, messy hair out of his face. He's the craziest, most spontaneous person I ever knew, I thought admiringly, and I'm so glad he's my best friend. "Well, I need to hang with Maman Frédérique," he said, emphasizing the French words.


He threw me one of his Jimmy-grins that made it obvious there was no point in reasoning with him. If James Sullivan was convinced to do something, there was no way you could tell him otherwise. "Sure," I replied.

I grinned at the imagination of my mom finding him at the breakfast table in the morning. She'd be happy about some company, though, of that I was sure. Especially since my dad was going on a five day business trip anyway. And right after that, the guys were heading to Vegas for the weekend and two more days.

Still, it was such a typical thing for Jimmy to just make a plan and then turn up and pretend it wasn't a big deal at all. I smiled at him. In the pale moonlight, he looked tired, but his eyes sparkled with excitement. I loved him, his strange, adorable personality, his crazy comments, his watery blue eyes, and I knew if I didn't find anyone else, I'd end up marrying this guy. Being with the best friend isn't the worst thing, after all.

"Hey Jimbo, it's time for you to find a girlfriend. Remember our pact?" I said and he nodded.

It was the second day we hung out together at lunch. Back then, I didn't even know his friends yet. We were just sitting there, and up to that point, he'd only asked questions about me. All I knew about him was that he was a Senior, and that his name was Jimmy Sullivan. And that silence or whispering weren't his things.

He knew basically everything about me, so I figured it was time to ask some questions myself. "So, Jimmy, tell me more about you now," I said as I took another bite of the disgusting school cafeteria ramen noodles. Seriously, they didn't taste like anything. At all. Just some glibbery, unspiced stuff that jibble-jabbled around in your mouth like fucking eels or something. Just, ew.

"Me?" Jimmy said, well, rather screamed, "There's not much to tell. Music is my passion and I'm gonna be a famous rock star one day, and I'm not gonna live past 30, but that's alright." I thought he was joking at first, but then I saw his dead serious expression.

Now it's a strange thing to hear an 18 year old say that more than half of his life is over, believe me. When I asked him why, he just said "My heart is too big and it sometimes hurts and swells and my other organs don't have enough space. I've always known it." I swallowed thickly.

He then got up and jumped onto the table before doing a flip off it, almost as if to show me he didn't want to talk about that matter anymore. Immediately, we heard my, uhm, favorite teacher, Mrs Grunberg, yell, "Sullivan, a behavior like yours will not be tolerated in this cafeteria. Detention today."

"Absolutely, Mrs Grunberg," Jimmy responded in his you're-an-asshole voice and threw her a broad, goofy grin, "I know you want a piece of Rev again." He then wiggled his eyebrows at her flirtiously. I laughed and he faced me, now serious again. "Caitlin, if I don't have a girl by twenty-five you're gonna need to have my child, okay?" He whispered.

I didn't know him at all. In fact, I thought he was pretty strange. But something in his eyes told me it was important to him, so I simply said "Sure." And I meant it.


"Easy there," Jimmy laughed, "still got a couple of years. But still, I couldn't think of anyone who'd suit me better than you." He jumped on me, knocking me down on my bed before placing purposely wet, sloppy kisses over my face. "Jimbo," I laughed, trying to push him off and wipe my face with my hands at the same time. And, thank God, I succeeded.

"Is it weird that I've never really been in love?" he asked, now dead serious. "What do you mean, Jimmy?" I asked, still breathing heavily from his stupid attack. "I mean, I've been with girls. A lot of them. Like I said, there's no-one as close to perfect for me as you, but still. I mean, I never look at someone the way you looked at Matt back then."

He swallowed before continuing, "Or how Brian looks at Chelle, that bastard. And despite you being perfect and the girl I love most in this world there's no fucking way I'd want, you know, this," he said, and before I could say anything about me and Matt back then, he pressed his lips on mine. My brain was too surprised to even process it. Jimmy?

It felt alright though. They felt strange on mine, almost as if they didn't belong. He didn't deepen the kiss, he just slightly moved his lips on mine. When I opened my eyes, I saw his were wide open, too, and he was practically staring at me. After some neither awkward nor pleasant seconds, he pulled away.

"See?" he whispered, looking at the floor,. Jimmy silent? Uh-oh... "See, I didn't feel a thing, not even with you. Sorry I kinda attacked you, but I needed to prove myself I was right." I could tell it was really bugging him.

"Maybe you just... haven't met the right person yet, I don't know, Jimmy," I said and he got up from my bed, smiling now. "Maybe. But I know you have to go now, enjoy your trip and screw him hard!" He winked at me, and just like always, it was crazy how he could go from serious to normal Jimmy in seconds. Right then, a car honked in front of my door. It begins.


MATT'S POV

Cat got into my car and Jimmy carried her suitcase outside. I wasn't surprised to see him at her house. Ever since he brought her to detention all those years ago he's practically been glued to her. And ever since, it hasn't bugged me. Well, until today.

Why is he here, I thought, and why did I never wonder if he's in love with her? She smiled as he hugged her good-bye and kissed her cheek as always. Then, she turned to face me. Her eyes sparkled with the love of adventure and her broad smile made my dick twitch. It was crazy that I even thought she was hot with no make-up and just a hoodie.

What the fuck are you doing little Matt? I need to get in control of my urges, seriously. "You ready, Cat?" I asked as Jimmy waved us good-bye, using his whole body and jumping up and down.
No, he's so not in love with her, and I have no reason or right to be jealous. Why am I jealous anyway? Cat's just a friend, I though, I tried to reason with myself. Yeah sure, keep telling yourself that, an ugly inner voice remarked, you know you want to screw her. But there's nothing wrong with wanting that, I mean, she's a solid ten.
But that never really bothered me, either...

"Are you alright, Matt?" Cat asked with a worried expression, pulling me out of my deep thoughts. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I just kinda...," I didn't finish my sentence, but instead started the engine and finally left her house. Sure, like I'm ever going to tell you what I just thought about... What kind of crazy thoughts are suddenly planted in my brain...

There were almost no cars on the nightly roads, and so we reached the airport in no time. I parked the car and we checked in, went through the security check and finally arrived at our gate's waiting area. Cat quickly disappeared into the duty free shops, and since we had plenty of time to kill, I took a stroll through them, too.


See, I didn't want to buy condoms. I really didn't. I knew I'd be more tempted to try something on Cat if I knew I had them, but the thing was, I had a feeling like I wouldn't care about not having them in case we actually... God, I shouldn't even be thinking about it. Why is she all I can think about all of a sudden? Am I that underfucked? I felt incredibly guilty, but I ended up buying a pack anyway. I knew she wasn't on the pill, never had been. She was convinced it was bad for her health, since there were no studies whatsoever. But why, why do I care? It's not Cat I want, it's anyone.

But wasn't that what I thought about Val, too? I was so heartbroken when Cat told me it was over. Of course I didn't want her to know, so I acted as if I didn't have a care in the world.


When I got her text saying we needed to talk, I knew this was it. It hit me at full conscience, like a bottle of Jack, straight to the head. There was no numbness of shock, no need to process. It wasn't completely unexpected, either. I knew it was coming, that well I knew her. It was much more learning I'd failed that hurt me, not essentially losing Cat. At least that was what I told myself.

When I drove over to her place, I almost crashed the car. I went almost 100 on the empty city road. This tree just came out of nowhere, I swear. In the last moment, when I thought I wasn't even going to get to Cat's, I somehow managed to turn around the steering wheel, bringing it to a halt on the road.

The driver behind me braked sharply. He screamed at me, and I pushed down the accelerator again. I needed to get to her, so I could get used to the new situation. I rang the Andersons' bell when I finally parked my car in their driveway, and Frédérique looked at me with a worried expression. "I know," I said, and I did.

"You were just too early. She's too young for something real," she said and hugged me. And then, I bravely walked up the stairs with the full knowledge that when I walked them down, I wouldn't be Cat Anderson's boyfriend anymore.


We eventually boarded and before we even left the parking position, her head seemed to grow heavier and heavier and eventually landed on my shoulder. It was sweet how she had that content, baby-like expression on her face and how her steady breathing sounded. Soon, my eyelids grew heavy and I was wrapped into darkness, too.

Notes

Hello my lovies,

thank you everyone for your encouraging comments and DMs. I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long, but I hope it's worth it.

Darla, here's your Jimmy-scene. See, they just don't feel that way, but they tried. Matt's jealous. What would he say if he ever found out that moment happened? But thanks for the tip.

What do you guys think?

Love