August 1st, 1984

DJ's Point of View

Jeena came back home sooner than I expected. Her expression was very relaxed, and she seemed satisfied.

"What happened?" I asked.

Andy went up and kissed her lips a few times before she could reply. "It went much better than I expected. I thought he was going to throw a fit like a child and ignore me."

"And he didn't?" I asked.

"Nope," She put down her stuff, and her eyebrows raised, but her face stayed straight. "He actually called George to talk to him."

I started choking on the water I was drinking. It was so painful, but Andy came over to me and started whacking my back. I recovered about a minute later, but my face was red. And partially from the anger that I felt. "He what?!"

"Sorry Deej, maybe I should've waited until you didn't have something in your mouth." She apologized. "Yeah, I was just as shocked as you are-"

"What did he say?" I asked. I knew I interrupted her, but I didn't care. What would Jimmy need to say to George?

"He had a very serious conversation with him about how you were really upset when you listened to his song." She said.

My face flushed an embarrassment type of red. "Jimmy didn't say that we..."

"No." She reassured me. "He didn't bring it up. Jimmy is no longer trying to make George jealous."

"I guess that's a relief," I said.

"He also admitted he's still in love with you-"

"But he's still with Alexis?"

This silenced Jeena. I knew my answer from that.

"As I expected."

She scoffed. "I think he'll soon realize that this relationship isn't helping him. And honestly, DJ, don't you miss being in his arms? How it feels when he kisses you and holds you like he won't let go?"

I was staring at the floor. My brain felt conflicted.

"I don't know." I shook my head.

She didn't react since my response wasn't shocking at all.

"Hey, do you guys want to come with me to the grocery store? We need to stock up again." Jeena perked up.

"I'll go," Andy said, already getting his shoes on. "How about you, Deej? Are you coming?"

"No, I'll stay here," I said flatly and turned on the TV.

They exchanged a look but didn't say anything except "see you later" before walking out the door.

Jeena's Point of View

We had been sitting in the parking lot of the food store for a few minutes because Andy decided to distract me by starting to kiss me.

I was the one who pulled off. "Later."

He sighed. "It's always later..."

"Why are you..." I started and couldn't help but look down. I smirked. "Someone's excited."

His face turned a shade of pink. I giggled uncontrollably.

He slumped in his seat, not making eye contact with me. "Now we can't go in."

"Why not?" I asked, kissing his cheek.

"Because I can't walk in there all-"

"Bricked up? Boned?" I finished his sentence.

He tried to hide his face over his shirt since his face was getting even redder.

Now I was laughing even harder, and I took the keys out of the ignition, then got out of the car and started walking to his side.

I opened the door and tried to drag him out. "Come on! No one is going to care."

"People are going to think I'm weird! I should just stay in the car." He pouted.

There was no way I was getting him out, so I just gave him a hard couple of kisses and shut the door. His window was partially open so that he could get some air.

I wasn't in there for long since I knew where everything was. I brought our bags and packed everything in as much as I could.

I got an idea and smiled lightly. If I smiled too aggressively like I wanted to, many people might think I'm insane when I start laughing.

I walked out of that store as fast as possible, a stupid smile on my face. I opened the trunk and tossed the food inside.

When I got back into the car, I plugged the keys in, but I didn't turn it. So instead, I started putting my hair in a low ponytail to keep it out of my face. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Don't ask. Just enjoy." I started unzipping and unbuttoning his jeans.

He didn't protest because the only thing that came out of his mouth were noises of pleasure.

DJ's Point of View

They had been gone for an hour. I wasn't sure what they were doing, but I wouldn't have been shocked if they were getting it on in the parking lot.

I decided to nap, leaving the TV on for some background noise.

Before I opened my eyes, I felt myself being shaken awake.

I was being roughly handled when I woke up. I couldn't see anything because it was dark. My breathing started to get uneven. I began calling out for someone, but there was no reply. It seemed like I was in a bag, being carried around.

I almost got the wind knocked out of me when I was thrown somewhere hard. The bag dropped from my head, and I was in a large van. How was it already nighttime? Where were Jeena and Andrew??

This black figure was back to haunt me.

They got into the front seat and slammed the gas, making me fly backward.

"Hey, sit down!" This was definitely a male.

"What do you want from me?" I asked. I was very calm, but I didn't understand how. I should've been freaking out and screaming, hoping someone would hear me.

"I said sit down." He growled.

This voice wasn't familiar to me, so maybe this was just some stranger who wanted to haunt me. I sat down and spoke again. "What do you want?"

"To find some joy." He said.

I scoffed. "In what, kidnapping people?"

"That's right. I got a smart one."

"How many of us do you have?" I asked, looking out a small window. We were at a stoplight, and I could see the signs. But I couldn't read them. It was all gibberish and weird symbols.

"Oh, I'm dreaming again," I said.

"Only you. And this other couple I've had for a few years." He said, taking a sharp turn.

"If I'm dreaming..." I said and started laughing like a crazy person.

I could only see his eyes over the mask in the rearview mirror.

I began taking off my clothes, distracting him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Well, If I'm dreaming, I may as well get a little freaky. Usually less clean up," My pants came off next. "Although, sometimes you can wake up in a sweat. Then it is no fun."

While I was going at it, he tried so hard not to look back at me. But because of the number of noises I was making, it was very hard for him. "Would you stop that! I'm going to crash this thing. It's hard enough to drive."

"Oh... no, I will not. Because then you'll get in trouble, and I'll be set free."

He shook his head. "If you know you're dreaming, why would you get me in trouble? What difference will it make?"

"I-I don't k-know- Crap, I was close that time!" I whined. "Maybe to explore my abilities while I'm asleep. For example, I could... shove this plastic thing inside of me, but I won't because I'd be worried it's a toothbrush or something in real life. I could be walking around my apartment naked r-right n-now- Ohh." I finally got to my high, and it felt even better than flying solo on a regular day. Doing this in dreams felt even more immaculate than in real life.

I was being shaken awake by Jeena now. This time, I was sure I was awake. "Hey! Gosh, what was happening in that dream? It sounded like George was having sex with you or something."

I was smiling, but then it faded at the mention of his name. "Sorry," I laughed, lightly. "Flying solo."

Andy looked entirely out of it because he couldn't walk straight. Jeena looked at me and winked.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes with a smile.

Then the phone started ringing. It came from Jeena's room.

"Can I pick it up?" Andy asked.

Jeena looked at him. "Sure, but why?"

"I don't know. I wanna see who it is." He said, but he wasn't looking at her when he said it. She followed him into her room, and the ringing stopped when he picked it up. I couldn't hear Andy's voice too clearly.

I gave up on trying to listen since I assumed he handed the phone back to Jeena.

I turned off the TV since I wasn't really paying attention anymore and went into the kitchen to unload whatever food items were brought home. I smiled when I saw ice cream in the first bag.

When I put everything away, I got a spoon out and scooped the ice cream into my mouth.

That's when Jeena and Andy walked back in. Andy looked a little shocked, while Jeena was concerned.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I just... I got some interesting news. Great news." He said.

My brain could only think of one thing I would never admit to hoping for. "What is it?"

"George," He said. "He got an invited to go onto The Top of the Pops."

Oh.

"I used to watch that when I was a kid! I mean, sometimes they'd air random episodes here on TV." Jeena exclaimed, sitting down next to him on the couch. "I'm sure my mom has a few videos of me as a kid dancing to it."

He looked at me with sad eyes. My heart ached a little, and I swallowed hard. "Andy-"

"I think you should go." He blurted.

I sighed heavily and shook my head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" He was sharp with his response.

I was a little shocked at his tone. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Andrew, what the hell kind of response was that?" Jeena looked at him in disgust.

"I'm sorry." He ran his hands through his hair. "Seriously consider this. We could leave tomorrow just to see him perform, and then you don't have to come back again!"

Was he getting fed up now?

As if he read my mind, he said. "I call him every day when I'm not with him. I can just hear his depression getting worse."

My heart sank a little. "He has depression?"

He was silent, unsure whether or not to answer the question. But the longer he stayed quiet, the more my stomach began to hurt.

"I can't lose my best friend. The least you could do is get over your feelings and go see him." He stood up, grabbed his keys, and slammed the door behind him.

I was astonished by his behavior. I had never seen him so stressed out. And so suddenly?

"Aren't you going to go after him and yell at him?" I scoffed.

She sat there, a sheepish look on her face.

I started laughing unbelievably. "I'm not shocked."

"He has a point." She said.

I wanted to argue, but I knew neither of them were wrong. A tear slipped out of my eye, and I whipped it away, acting like it was just an itch.

"I'm just going to bring him back. Maybe you should talk about this alone. I'll just go to my room." She said and went out into the hallway with no shoes on.

He eventually returned with her, but his face was a little red with anger.

"Andy," I shook my head and sat with him on the couch. "I can't let you break. If you do, it'll make me feel like an ass. And It'll make Jeena feel even worse if something happens to you. And if something were to happen to you because something happened to George, she would blame me for the rest of her life and move out within a few hours. And then I wouldn't really have anybody..."

He looked at me with a frown. "So, what are you saying?"

I stood up and sighed.

"Get those plane tickets. I'll go see George."