Trashed and Scattered

Peyton slid the pan layered with nachos into the oven, glancing reluctantly up at the clock. 9:47
It was times like these that she found herself irritated with Past Peyton. If she'd bothered to ask Jimmy for his number, she wouldn't be stuck lurched in the void waiting for him. As each hour passed, she grew less and less certain that he was coming at all. She was particularly irritated by the sheer amount of disappointment pooling inside her blood. Either way, she was going to eat nachos; but she'd have to choose a different movie. It seemed like a waste, given that she'd envisioned her evening spent watching Jacob Singer run around the afterlife.
She leaned against the counter, tapping her phone against her thigh as if it might magically spring Jimmy into her kitchen. She contemplated asking Brian if they were still huddled together in the studio...But she wasn't sure how forthcoming Jimmy had been with their friendship or their plans. Hesitant to get Jimmy into some trouble, she held back. Not that she couldn't swing asking Brian casually if he was still there...They'd been texting throughout the day. Each time her phone would chime with an incoming message, her spirits would lift a little.
Life in Huntington danced on the line of boring. Her life in New York was busy; she rarely managed extended breaks from work, her best friend was overbearing...If she wasn't tattooing, she was sharing a laugh with Joanna. This house was quiet...always. The only refuge Peyton found from its unsettling silence was when Jimmy would burst in unannounced. But there she was, waiting on his arrival and the silence was louder than ever.
The phone in her white-knuckled grip chimed happily from within the clutches of her palm. She sighed to herself, deciding that Jimmy wasn't going to turn up. With the weight of her disappointment pressing down on her chest, she bothered to check her phone.
From: Brian Haner
Zach just sneezed actual beer. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
Peyton laughed lightly to herself, trying her best to visualize the spectacle. Opportunity presented itself.
To: Brian Haner
Awesome. Hopefully not all over the soundboard.
From: Brian Haner
Nah, we're sharing a beer in the parking lot. Slave-driver Shadz is forcing us to re-record some shit.
Okay, Peyton thought to herself. Independent nacho excursion confirmed. At least he wasn't blatantly hanging her out to dry; he had to work late. She'd had plenty of nights where her appointments had run into one another and she'd been shackled to her chair until unreasonable hours. Couldn't fault the guy for having to work.
To: Brian Haner
Sounds romantic.
As her phone chimed once more, a distinct crash sounded at her back door. Peyton scrambled into herself, terror pulsing through her. Just as she thought she might have an actual heart attack, a grinning coyote appeared in the tiny back window. He waved sheepishly before pointing over at the locked door. Peyton, now breathing again, released her muscles and pushed her way from the counter and across the floor. She unlatched the door and pulled it open.
"Hi!" Jimmy greeted enthusiastically, wiggling a DVD case as he slipped by the confused pile of Peyton standing in the doorway.
"You scared the fucking shit out of me," she told him flatly, pushing the wooden door closed.
He laughed, "Yeah, funny story. I assumed the door would be open--and I think it's fun to scare you--so, I fucking threw my body into the door. It didn't open. I think I broke my arm."
He rubbed at his bicep with a distinct pout. Peyton erupted into a fit of giggles, letting the sound sooth her worries. She shook her head at him, turning to the fridge. She dumped a tray of ice into a towel and promptly handed it to her lanky friend.
"You're an idiot," she told him affectionately.
He smirked, "It would have been so good. Stupid locks."
"It served its purpose today," she shrugged with a laugh. "Solid lock. I'm going to write a glowing review."
"You should," he nodded. "I can attest to their bullshit strength. And they can pay my hospital bill."
Peyton smiled, "You didn't break your arm."
"You don't know that, Lex," he told her seriously, eyes wide. "You're not a doctor."
"I could be," she offered.
Jimmy grinned, "Are we really going to play doctor?"
He stepped nearer to her, closing the gap between them. His eyes bore into hers as he dropped his head down low, pushing himself closer and closer. She swallowed hard, caught entirely off guard by the sudden advance. Her knees buckled beneath the lust anchoring her down to the floor.
"Last time was pretty fun," he purred quietly, his eyes flickering from her eyes to her perfect lips.
She opened her mouth to speak but found her vocal chords had been rendered useless.
In a flash, Jimmy straightened himself out and spun around on his heel. Peyton released the breath she hadn't realized she was still holding. If she thought she'd moved passed the desire phase, she quickly realized just how wrong she was. She internally pummeled herself for getting swept away.
"What do we have here?" Jimmy sang, prying the oven door open.
His face lit up as he let the door slam shut and he spun around to face Peyton again. The excitement was enough to erase, if only temporarily, the sexual tension in the room. Peyton smiled, bumping Jimmy out of the way with her hip as she slipped on her mother's oven mitts and pulled the tray from the heat. The delicious smell of melted cheese filled the kitchen.
"Wait a second," Jimmy deduced, narrowing his blue eyes. "Were you going to eat these without me?"
Peyton cringed, "Maybe...?"
Jimmy gasped, heartbreak rippling up into his gaze, "You monster!"
"I thought you were ditching me," she confessed sadly. "And I'm hungry."
"Ditching you?" Jimmy caught with a little offence. "Why the shit would I ditch you?"
She shrugged.
"I could never ditch you, Lexi," he assured her with enough honesty that she felt herself swooning all over again. "Anyone else? Sure. You? Never."
Peyton smiled, the colour in her cheeks burning red, "Good. I'm glad you didn't."
"I got stuck at the studio," he explained sheepishly. "Fuckin' Matt wouldn't let me leave!"
"So how'd you escape?" she asked curiously, pulling two glass plates from the cupboard.
Jimmy grinned, "I slipped out the bathroom window."
"No you didn't," Peyton challenged with amusement. "Can you grab those?"
She gestured to the steaming sheet of nachos, which Jimmy happily carried down the hall.
"I did," he assured her with a devious laugh. "I told them I had to piss and then I just...slithered out the window."
"Jimmy!" Peyton howled, setting the plates down onto the wooden coffee table.
He cackled, waiting for Peyton to lay out a towel to set the nachos down onto. Not that the table was something to be salvaged; the wood was chipped and the stain faded. It was wobbly and entirely untrustworthy--but Peyton was protecting it's last legs anyway.
"What?" he snickered. "Matt wouldn't let me leave, Lex! What else could I do?"
"Use the door?" Peyton smirked over her shoulder.
Jimmy grinned, "But windows are my thing."
Peyton ducked out from view, hiding her blushing from view. She spread the kitchen towel out over the table and gave Jimmy the okay to set down their food. She skulked away, grabbing the case of beer she'd bought and sliding it down the hall into the living room. Jimmy's eyes lit up at the sight of it, Peyton wiggled her eyebrows in response.
"A woman after my own heart," Jimmy gushed playfully.
Peyton grabbed two beers from the case and set them down onto the table.
"You're up," she smiled. "We have food and beer...Now all we need is Jacob Singer."
"I'm all over it!" Jimmy declared, prancing over to the television and slipping the disc into the DVD player.
He retreated back to Peyton's side, settling into the couch cushion next to her. The pair dove into the chips with haste, savoring each cheesy bite as if it were their last.
Peyton and Jimmy took turns stealing glances, each one marveling at the way time could manage to stand still despite the world turning.
"I love Jezzie," Peyton mused at the screen.
Jimmy scoffed, "What? Why? She's a fucking demon, Lexi."
"She's not a demon," she challenged. "She's a temptress. And, you know, if we're operating on the assumption that this afterlife is real and not a hallucination--"
"We are," Jimmy nodded.
"Then I think it's safe to assume that she cares about Jacob," Peyton continued, despite the interruption.
Jimmy furrowed his brows, "Yep. She cares so much that she helps keep him restrained."
Peyton laughed, "Yeah, maybe. But she looks so sad when that happens...And she fights so hard not to let him die. I don't know; I think there's more to Jezzie than they let on."
Jimmy had no words. Listening to Peyton explain her theories about his favourite movie was like a drug. She'd obviously watched the movie on more than one occasion in her adult life to have such a hold on the plot lines and the subtleties woven into them. Natalie refused to watch the movie with Jimmy, despite her knowledge that it was his favourite.
"What?" Peyton half-laughed, leaning away from Jimmy's stern gaze. "Am I wrong?"
He shook his head, "Nah."
"I like her," Peyton reiterated with a smile. "And she's beautiful. She's dark and powerful and mesmerizing."
Jimmy smirked, "I know the type."
Peyton glanced at Jimmy from the sides of her eyes, a sly grin forming beneath her lips. Jimmy was in fine form that night, pushing at Peyton's self control. It took everything she had not to straddle him right then and there.
They slipped back into silence, each entranced by the film they adored. The nachos slowly depleted, only the rogue chips stripped of cheese remained. They'd drunk nearly the entire case by time Jacob had realized his fate. Peyton yawned against her will; she'd had a remarkably shit sleep, thanks to Jimmy. He'd kept her up until almost three in the morning. And then she'd woken early to a Joanna call. It was a long day.
"Tired?" Jimmy asked lightly.
Peyton nodded.
"I can go," he offered hesitantly.
"No," she answered quicker than she'd have liked.
Like an instinct, she leaned up against Jimmy's shoulder. His insides melted; he lifted his arm, quietly inviting her into his embrace. She wasted no time crawling into his chest, burrowing into his t-shirt. His fingers fell against her arm as they cuddled together; the same way they had all those years ago.
"Hey, Lex?" Jimmy mused quietly as Jacob climbed into a cab.
She sniffled, forcing her fluttering eyes open, "Mhm?"
"Have I welcomed you home yet?"
She smiled softly, "No, I don't think so."
"Well," he paused. "You know...Welcome home."
The pair settled into one another, each fighting sleep more furiously than the other. Peyton was the first to go; she was fast asleep before Jacob had even made it into his home. Jimmy caught her shifted breathing, leaning to glance down at her. He brushed the hair from her face, tucking it neatly behind her ear. She was breathtakingly stunning, even in her sleep.
Jimmy leaned back further into the couch in effort to give Peyton's neck a better angle. He smiled to himself, feeling more at ease in that moment than he had in years. As Jacob strolled through his darkened home, Jimmy's consciousness betrayed him.
With the glow of the credits illuminating their newfound security, Jimmy and Peyton slept the night away.

Notes

Pellivan?

xx