Saving the Doctor Pt. 02

"Guest room?" she asked.

"That door there," he pointed

She shuffled off quickly.

He made his way downstairs, slowing his breathing and mentally willing his cock to settle down. He stopped in the kitchen to talk with Jeff who grabbed him one of his home-brews from the fridge, and he helped Helen who was cleaning some more glasses as they talked. The beer tasted amazing and he complimented Jeff, who had been brewing for quite a long time apparently, and had a bit of an art to his process. He asked him how late they could stay with kids back home, and he explained with a grin they were at a sleepover at their cousins place.

Carly walked down after a few minutes looking refreshed and back in her yellow sundress. They made eye contact and he gave a cautious smile which she returned. His eyes couldn't resist a glance at the upper curves of her dress having seen so much of the what it contained a few minutes before.

"What'cha drinkin?" she asked.

"Jeff's brew. It's delicious," Jon replied

"Can I try?" she asked.

Jon gave her his glass and she sipped.

"That's really good!"

"I know right?" Jon said in agreement.

"Don't act too surprised," Jeff chuckled "You want one?" he asked Carly.

"Absolutely. Thanks," she opened it and took a big swig.

Beth bounced into the room, "Hey! Time for shots! Let's go!" she beamed excitedly.

"Shots of what?" Jeff asked.

"Doesn't matter. It's mandatory. Come on!" Beth laughed and took Jon by the hand pulling him out of the kitchen. Carly and Jeff shrugged at each other and followed.

Jared had a row of shots already lined up.

"Oooo colorful" Carly said, getting excited.

"Grace! Doug! Get over here, we're ready!" Jared called down at them on the lawn.

"Hey Jon what's all this bullshit about you not having firewood, there's a bunch already chopped up under the deck!" Doug said as he walked up to the bar.

"There was even this!" said Grace brandishing an old hatchet.

"Oh God I'm in danger," Jeff joked. "Someone get that away from her."

"I didn't know that stuff was there." Jeff said "How did you even get under there?"

"There's a little door built into the lattice over on that side," Grace said, handing him the hatchet.

"Any blood on it?" Jon joked as he looked at it.

Carly giggled.

"So let's get a fire going after this, no excuses now!" Doug said.

"You guys want to?" Jon asked.

"YEAH!" they all agreed.

"Shots first!" Beth persisted.

They turned around and passed the glasses to each other.

"First one's called a bazooka joe," Jared announced.

"To Jon and Elaina!" Jeff announced as they raised their glasses, "For throwing a hell of a party!"

"Cheers!" they all said and clinked, downing the shot.

"MMmmmm yummy," Carly exclaimed. They all agreed.

"K, next," Jared continued, "This one's called a red-headed slut."

"Hey!" Grace shouted in mock insult, putting her hand over her auburn hair.

Jeff bellowed in laughter as she swatted him, and everyone else chuckled.

"Just the name of the shot," Jared reassured.

"To Jared and Beth for all the drinks!" Jon said as they clinked in a "Cheers," again. Beth caught his eyes with hers and flashed him a warm smile as they downed the shot.

"And finally," Jared announced. "I couldn't get the ingredients exactly but it's basically it... A purple starfucker!" He grinned.

They laughed at the name and handed them out, gave one final "Cheers" and complimented him on the taste again.

"Let's get that fire going!" Doug said and he and Jared went to haul the wood from under the deck. More guests had said their goodbyes at that point, and other than a handful of people having a conversation on the other side of the deck, it was only their core group left.

"The night's getting cold," Carly mentioned hugging her arms around herself.

"Yeah you've got goosebumps." Jon agreed rubbing his hands over her shoulders. She looked up and gave a small smile. It was so tempting to pull her in for a hug.

"I didn't think to bring a jacket, it was so nice out earlier," she said.

"I can see if Elaina could lend you a sweater," he offered.

Jon looked through the window at the clock - almost 11 pm. He caught Elaina walking towards the door and she came out on to the deck, wearing a green tasseled sweater and holding a glass of wine, looking like she had decided to have a shower as well before coming back out.

"What was all the noise?" She asked.

"We were saying cheers with few shots," Jon explained.

"Oh, that's nice," Elaina said, seeming more reserved than before.

"Here, since you missed out. There was one extra," Beth said handing her a shotglass.

Elaina smelled it and sipped it.

"No you're supposed to..." Beth smirked mimicking doing a shot.

"I know dear," Elaina said patronizingly, almost rolling her eyes at her, "I just... Oh okay fine," and she tilted it back.

She cleared her throat and put her hand on her chest. "Actually that was okay," she said.

Then she noticed the others on the lawn with the firewood piling up by the pit and Doug making kindling with the hatchet.

"Oh no, tell me they're not..."

"It's okay honey they all wanted to" Jon tried to reassure her "Apparently we had some firewood under the deck we didn't know about."

Elaina sighed and crossed her arms. "I hope the neighbors don't complain."

"Two of them are still here why don't you ask them," John smiled and gestured towards the other group on the deck.

Carly let out a soft giggle.

Elaina crossed her arms and stared daggers into him, not amused.

"Honey, just try not to stress over it, let them have fun. Hey, is it okay if Carly borrows a sweater? Maybe you can head inside and find one."

She stared at him with a tight-mouthed expression for a few seconds then suddenly smiled politely at Carly, "Of course. I'll see what I can find for you dear," then walked back into the house.

"Well now I feel bad," said Carly.

"Don't," said Jon looking at her apologetically, "I think she's probably just exhausted, she was up really late last night getting everything ready."

They sipped on their beers and Jon explained their plans for the back yard. Carly was devastated that they were going to tear up the garden. She thought it had a ton of potential to be absolutely beautiful if only they had moved in before the spring. She mentioned she had been eyeing it out before had noticed some of the perennials growing on their own, that were valuable and hard to get established.

Elaina came out of the house holding a shawl.

"I wasn't certain any of my sweaters would be able fit you so I settled for this." she said. "It doesn't exactly match that dress but I don't know if anything w-..." Elaina cleared her throat, stopping herself and handed her the shawl.

Carly gave her a neutral stare, "...Thank you," and took it, unfolding it and draping it over her shoulders.

To Elaina's credit it looked very soft and warm, and Jon thought the purple and black design complimented Carly's yellow dress well enough.

Jared ran up to the bar on the deck and then ran back with some balled up paper towel, a whiskey bottle and one of the tiki torches. They followed him down to the pit, where Doug doused the paper towel and fed it into the kindling, then lit it with the tiki torch and (almost) all of them cheered as the fire roared up. The wood began to crackle and sparks lifted slowly into the night air.

They all stood around the flames absorbing the warmth.

Jon moved up behind Elaina and wrapped his arms around her delicately. He tried pecking a kiss on her neck, but she tilted her head away.

"This is nice isn't it?" he asked her.

She sighed, "I think I'm going to go join the others on the deck," and broke away from him to walk back to the other group.

Grace was standing beside him and watched Elaina leave, "Sorry man I did what I could, she was fun for a while there..."

Jon smirked "Yeah thanks... for your efforts, but I guess the stress of the party's just stronger than the booze at this point. She has to put her whole self into everything and ends up trying too hard."

"Won't disagree with you there. You know I got a bit of bud in my purse, maybe that's the ticket?" Grace suggested.

Jon raised his eyebrows and looked at her seriously, "Do Not. I forbid you to try."

Grace gave a defensive smile, "But don't you kinda think maybe it's what she REALLY needs, like-..."

"Yes. Actually I often do. But she won't. I guarantee it. And if you try, well... I'm starting to like you guys and I'd like to be allowed to invite you over again sometime."

"Awww did you hear that honey?" Grace said.

Jeff smiled and clinked his beer with him.

"What about you?" Grace asked.

"Huh?"

She held a finger and thumb to her lips mimicking a joint.

"Ah. Yeah um... Haven't in a while... but might be up for it later," he smiled.

Jeff chuckled.

"Don't tell too many people though I only brought one," Grace said quietly. "Maybe Carly, she seems cool," She smiled, raised her eyebrow and looked over to see if she could hear her.

"As a cucumber girl," Carly said smiling back from Jon's other side, obviously listening in.

The others were talking about food and mentioned they were getting hungry. Jon said he had a bunch of snack food back in the kitchen and asked what they wanted.

"I kinda want smores," Beth said.

"Awww yeah totally babe, great idea," Jared agreed.

"I... don't think we have the stuff for that," Jon said apologetically.

"Not even chocolate?" Beth said in disbelief.

"Well there's Elaina's stash of super dark expensive chocolate, but I think I'd need that hatchet to defend myself if I stole it."

Carly giggled, "Yeah and I wouldn't even blame her."

"Well you know what, there's a 24 hour convenience just a few blocks away at the main drag, I could just take a jaunt down there and grab what we need."

"Awww would you?" Beth cutely beamed at him.

"Yeah man she's got me craving them too now" Jeff said with an amused smile

"Sure, no problem," he reassured them, "I could use a stretch of my legs anyway."

"Refills?" Jared asked. They all agreed and followed Jon back up to the deck.

He went into the kitchen and brought out some bags of snacks, and what he realized were the last 2 bottles of mix.

"I think I'll pick up some of that too," he said.

"And some Oreos. All I'm seeing is salt here," Grace said, looking over the snacks.

Jon sighed and laughed, "Sure. Anything else?"

"Beef jerky?" Doug ventured.

Jon made the list in his head "Okay, I think I got all that."

"You want some help hauling it all back?" Carly offered.

"Yeah go with him I have a feeling he's gonna fuck it up otherwise," Grace laughed.

"Yeah he might come back with soda crackers for the smores or something," Jeff joked.

"Oh come on!" Jon laughed back.

He walked over to Elaina to tell her he was heading out briefly. She was curled up on a deck chair, looking half-asleep listening to the other guests conversation about vacation spots. She squinted at him when he told her what he was doing, like he was speaking utter nonsense, but just rolled her eyes and said "okay" and turned back to her group.

He headed out the door with Carly.

"It's quite the neighborhood you live in here," she said, as they strolled down the sidewalk.

The street was quiet and dark. Faint noise from the main road a little ways up the street. A high pitched bark came from a dog a couple houses down.

"Yeah, even the barking dogs sound snobby and pretentious," Jon joked.

She giggled, "Oh come on, it sounds cute."

"Yeah it probably is. Do you have a dog?" he asked.

She sighed, "No. Brent's never wanted one. I get it, it's a ton of work, but I miss the one I had growing up."

"Yeah me too actually," he said. "German shepherd mutt, loved him to bits."

"Big fluffy St Bernard for me," Carly said.

"Ooo, lucky you," Jon smiled.

"Yeah, my parents lived on an acreage, so we had lots of room to spread out and run around."

"You never told me that," Jon looked at her with new interest.

"Yeah, I was a bit of a country bumpkin. It's why I rebelled and went sorta punk in college I think."

Jon laughed, "Right. You still never told me what color your hair was."

Carly shrugged, "Depended on which semester. Pink, Green, Purple..."

Jon grinned, "The purple would match the shawl right now, I could see it working."

Carly gave a naughty smile, "So you could call me your little purple starfucker."

Jon raised his eyebrows and laughed with her, trying not to turn red.

"Are you naturally blonde? You've got me wondering now."

"Hey you're not supposed to ask a woman that."

"Oh for Christ sake, don't YOU suddenly become a prude. I'm asking a good friend that," he smiled.

She sighed and leaned into him squeezing her arm around him in a half-hug, then left her arm on his waist and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked.

"I really like you Jon," she said wistfully.

"I really like you too Carly," he replied, and put an arm around her as well.

It felt like they were back in the park again, strolling through the trails to feel better after a hard day. He squeezed her arm and rubbed affectionately.

"Yeah it's naturally blonde by the way, but don't tell anyone."

He chuckled "You could totally rock pink or green too."

"I DID totally rock them. Maybe I should dye it back," she said confidently.

"Nah, you're perfect the way you are."

She suddenly stopped and wrapped her other arm around him, pulling him into her in a close embrace, the softness of her chest against him, now a comforting and familiar feeling.

"You give such good hugs," he said smiling and wrapping his arms around her as well.

She wasn't smiling though. As she suddenly brought her eyes up to his she had a look of exasperation and worry, like she was thinking very hard and very fast.

"Why are you so amazing to me?" she asked.

He was taken off guard and stood speechless for a few seconds feeling her breathing heavily against him and her hands slowly kneading his back.

"What do you mean?" was all he could muster.

"Why are you so nice to me? Why are you such a prince? Why do you care? Why me?" She looked confused and scared and excited, as though she was begging him not to push her off a cliff, that she didn't trust the parachute.

"I... well... because YOU'RE amazing to ME." He struggled to find his words. "Because you're so nice to me, because you care. Because you understand. Because you're just pure... sunshine. My day feels brighter, my life feels better when you talk to me, when you hug me, when you flash your dimples at me, it just feels r-"

She kissed him.

Her soft warm lips collided with his and for a second his body and mind couldn't compute. Then as soon as the realization struck him he kissed her back, pulling her up into him and their mouths started to open as she dug her fingers into his back. Excitement and relief flooded him, like he had finally found something he'd been missing and craving despite never tasting it before. She felt perfect.

The headlights of a car turning onto the street flashed over them and they suddenly stopped, realizing how public of a place they were in. The convenience store and the traffic of the main road were less than half a block ahead.

They let go of each other and both stared in disbelief.

Suddenly she wrapped her hands around herself and stepped back.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking away and wiping her lips.

"I... I'm sorry too," he said. He wasn't. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Just... Let's ignore that. Let's just pretend- I mean, let's FORGET that ever happened okay?" she said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Okay," he looked at her helplessly. "Okay we'll forget it."

He couldn't. He never would. Not for the rest of his life.

He had to fight to stop himself from shaking.

"Yeah," she croaked. Her eyes began to look moist. "Thanks."

They started to walk again, a foot apart.

"Fuck, this night feels like I'm in college again," she said.

"Yeah, I've had the same thought," he said, and ventured a chuckle. "It had been mostly in a fun way though..."

"Yeah, yeah it has," she admitted. "Can't have the fun without the drama I guess."

"Maybe Grace will make good on her promise of that joint. You know, just to complete the college effect," he said.

She made a tight smirk and looked up at him, "Yeah I feel like I could use that right now."

"Well we're walking up to a convenience store, it's probably best we're not high. Otherwise we'd need two shopping carts," he said.

She laughed. Their fingers found each other briefly for a squeeze.

They walked in the store and started to look for the items they needed.

He could see her much more clearly in the bright lights of the store. The intricate embroidery of the purple shawl against the floral pattern of the sundress giving her an amazingly elegant appearance.

"You look almost regal in that shawl, you're kinda overdressed for a store like this," he said.

She blushed and smiled. She let the shawl slip down her shoulders to just above her elbows and pulled it around in front of her with her hands clasped together against her bosom, and raised her nose up snootily. "A queen may wear what she chooses."

John laughed. It was funny, but... My God does she know she's ballooning the tops of her breasts up like that? he thought.

"It amuses me to come down among the commoners on occasion," she said in her best impression of a royal snob. "Please servant, forget not the Oreos."

Jon chuckled, "As you wish, my queen," and kissed her hand with a bow, looking back up to see her fighting off a blush.

They gathered up everything and went to the till. As the cashier was scanning everything Carly came back and plopped a bottle of Fireball whiskey on the counter as well.

"I know you like spicy stuff," she smiled, having dropped the royal persona.

He laughed, "Okay NOW I'm back in college."

He paid and they walked out, each carrying a very full bag.

She opened the whiskey and took a swig.

"Wwhhhhooo that hits ya," she said and handed him the bottle.

He took a swig and immediately coughed and cleared his throat, "Yup, that brings me back."

They laughed and chatted as they walked back. It was quicker and easier going downhill now. He felt like the tension from their 'incident' was mostly gone by the time they got back to the house.

As they walked up the door they heard a "Pssssttt" to their right on the the front porch.

Jeff and Grace were leaning against the house in the shadows sharing a joint.

Jon and Carly both smiled and walked over.

"You were almost too late, there's less than half left," Grace said.

Carly grabbed it first and took a long drag.

"Girl, I'm starting to like you," she told Grace, and they shared a laugh.

Carly passed it off to Jon and he took a drag, coughing a bit despite himself.

"Sorry, I'm a bit out of practice," he said.

"Aww," Carly teased, patting his back and then rubbing it supportively.

"You know, if you're not sure where to go to for your own supply I could hook you up," Grace offered.

Jon chuckled, "Jeff did you marry a drug dealer?" he joked.

Jeff laughed, "Yeah I got a thing for bad girls."

Jon looked at Grace again, "I'll um... let you know. This stuff does seem pretty high quality."

"What the hell else would I be slingin?" Grace laughed.

Jon shrugged.

Carly handed him the joint again and met his eyes with a smile, seeming to be thinking and wondering as she stared at him. One more drag and he handed it off to Grace who finished the last of it.

"Alright lets go see what goodies you kids brought us," Jeff said.

They headed back into the house.

He looked at the clock as they walked by the kitchen. Just after midnight. They came out on the deck to see only a few people left chatting next to the hot tub. Elaina still with them, her head resting on the back of her deck chair, he couldn't see her face to wave hi, but decided against going over to chat. The rest of them had brought most of the rest of the deck chairs down to the fire and they raised their drinks in salute as he walked up.