Chapter 4

by Fidomom

 

Mimi had overslept. She was a little frazzled as she locked the door to the house. As she walked to her car she went fishing in her purse for her car keys. She stopped and her search in her handbag became frantic,

"Ohmigawd! I've lost my keys! They aren't here!"

She looked up then from her purse to see if she'd left them in the ignition and gasped. The keys were there alright but she remembered now that she hadn't left them there. She tapped impatiently on the window,

"Jason!! Jason!! Wake up!!!"

Jason frowned and tried to turn away from the tapping sound. He opened his eyes in puzzlement when he found he couldn't get comfortable. He was initially disoriented as he squinted in the pre-dawn light at Mimi through the car door window, then it all came back to him and he groaned aloud,

"Alright already! I'm up! Don't get your fucking panties in a knot!"

He re-adjusted his seat from it's reclined position and leaned across to the passenger side door to unlock it for Mimi. Mimi went around the front of the car and got in quickly amid much shuffling of purse and gym bag before finally closing the door,

"Jason what on earth were you doing?"

He cast a perturbed glance her way,

"Exactly what it looked like Sherlock. You done up yet?"

Mimi's face turned pink,

"Well no I don't usually put my make-up on until after my workout."

Jason looked at her like she'd grown another head,

"Your seatbelt. Is it on?"

She blushed harder,

"Ohhh! That's what you meant! Yes. I'm done up. You bet I am. I'm late too. Can we go now?"

He rolled his eyes and started the car. When it was obvious he wasn't going to talk Mimi queried tentatively,

"So I take it you're not a morning person?"

Jason sighed heavily and refused to answer. Mimi was starting to wonder if she had made a huge mistake in persuading him to chauffeur her around for the next six weeks. She tried her luck again,

"Why were you sleeping in my car?"

He chewed the inside of his cheek and pulled into the parking lot of the gym. She gave up expecting an answer and prepared to gather her things and get out. She looked at him curiously when he suddenly spoke,

"I'm sorry about last night ... being late. Those punks. I'm not used to getting up this early and I didn't want to be late picking you up."

Her jaw hung open but he didn't notice because he wouldn't look at her.

"Oh. I see. Were you there all night?"

He clenched his jaw,

"No. What time you finish here again?"

Mimi's eyebrows rose in wonder but she didn't press him further,

"Seven. I'll just spend less time in the whirlpool."

Jason set the timer on his sports watch, reclined the seat again and closed his eyes,

"See you at seven then."

Mimi felt a small smile tug at her mouth,

"Thanks Jase."

He gave no indication he'd even heard her. She got out of the car in a bit of a hurry to get her workout started and in her haste earlier she hadn't properly closed her purse. Something fell out of her purse onto the seat on the passenger side but she didn't notice. After she slammed her door shut, Jason opened one eye and watched her walk away trying to decide if Jet would think she was hot or not. He saw a small bottle on the seat. He quickly leaned over, grabbed it and opened the passenger door,

"Hey Mimi!! Mimi?!"

She was too far away by then and didn't hear him. He shut the door and sighed. He was about to settle back into the reclined driver's seat and was looking for somewhere to stash the bottle in his hand. He took a closer look at it and grinned. Jovan Vanilla Musk. He opened the bottle and sniffed tentatively. His grin widened,

"Damn you're good, Jet!"

He chuckled quietly as he put the bottle back on the passenger seat. Then he crossed his arms and huddled down in the driver's seat for another power nap.

Chapter 7

by Fidomom

Jet saw that Jason didn't know where to start so he prompted,

"Why don't you start with why you aren't driving your T-Bird?"

Jason visibly tensed,

"Because that fucking airhead scratched the shit out of it when I had just gotten it back from the custom paint job. She looked so beautiful too! Then I somehow get roped into a deal where I'm her fucking slave, driving her around to the gym, and Salem U and the hospital and everyfuckingwhere else in Salem her lil heart desires all in exchange for the use of her crappy wheels and she's the one who scratched MY car and now I've gotta wait six weeks to get it back! Oh and somehow I'm supposed to help her figure out what to do about her having a chauffeur once I do get my car back cuz no way in hell is she gonna be driving same streets as me and my T-bird ever again! She's a menace! Fucking airhead shouldn't be driving at all!! Still think I'm crushing on this chick, Jet? NOT!"

Jet stifled a chuckle,

"Matter of fact Jason I think it's gone way beyond crush. I think you're in love with her. But man oh man are you ever pissed at her ... I just don't think it's about your car. "

Jason looked positively baffled,

"What the fuck are you smoking Jet? Love her? Are you kidding me? I barely even like her! And fucking right I'm pissed at her and it is too about my car! Until two days ago she wasn't even in my life at all so how could there be any other reason?"

Jet grinned suddenly,

"Word! That is exactly why. Because she hasn't been in your life. I think you've decided to put her on your shit list and call her names so you won't feel like she's rejected you by being absent from your life. Sorry dude but your entire attitude about this Mimi chick smacks of you caring more than you are saying you do. You're clearly in love with her big time."

Jason was confused by Jet's logic,

"What?"

"The opposite of love isn't hate Jase- it's indifference. Not caring, not giving a thought or a rat's ass about someone is the opposite of loving them. She gets you this riled up and she isn't even here. Dude she so does have you over a barrel and you are just stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that! What I'd like to know is why?"

Jason shrugged and looked away,

"You are way off base my friend and anyway what would be the point? She's got a thing for brainiacs which is pretty fucking ironic considering she's not one either!"

Jet's brows furrowed,

"Easy there buddy, she can't be all that dumb if she's in college like you say she is. And what the fuck is up with this 'either' crap? Don't make me slap you upside your head! You're no dummy Jason."

Jason rolled his eyes,

"Yeah okay fine she's in college. She studies a lot too. Maybe you're right Jet, maybe she isn't exactly dumb but she sure comes across as an airhead most of the time."

It wasn't lost on Jet that Jason hadn't acknowledged his own intelligence. He decided to let it slide for now,

"So how do you know she likes brainiacs?"

Jason's lip curled in contempt,

"Cause her only steady boyfriend in highschool was the resident Geek Prince, Kevin Lambert. Smartest guy in the whole fucking school maybe even the whole state."

Jet nodded and called Stephanie over to refill their beer mugs and bring a bowl of peanuts in the shell. This time when he flirted with her she flirted back a little. When she left the table he fired off another question at Jason,

"So what broke them up or do you know?"

Jason laughed derisively as he cracked open a nut,

"He got accepted into some posh brainiac school in England but I think they were doomed from the get go anyway! I mean what the hell could they have possibly had in common? What the hell could they have ever even talked about?"

Jet winked and watched Jason carefully,

"Maybe they didn't do a lot of talking."

A dusky red flush colored Jason's cheeks and his eyes turned almost black. The muscle in his jaw was visibly clenching and unclenching,

"Whatever. Like I care!"

Jet just barely managed not to smile in triumph,

"So what was your nick name for Mimi in highschool?"

Jason looked flustered,

"I dunno uhh loser umm airhead? Why?"

Jet laughed incredulously,

"Let me get this straight ... you had fabulous creative names for the other 3 chicks you had crushes on but all you could come up with for Mimi was loser or airhead?"

Jason rushed to defend himself,

"Susan, Penny and Chloe were easy to nickname. They were all obviously weird and unpopular!"

Jet laughed again,

"Then weren't you risking your own popularity even asking them out? What would have happened if either Penny or Susan had turned you down?"

Jason colored and fought a grin as he ate another peanut,

"Nah, I wasn't risking fuck all, I woulda pretended I was just joking anyway; just trying to make a fool of them. If either of them had turned me down they would still be known by the nick names I gave them and I'd have still had my rep intact; I'd have still been popular! I think Penny only agreed to go out with me cuz she hated Jan more than she hated me and she wanted to get back at her. Plus she wanted an in with Hawk. After Penny and I split up, I asked Susan out on a whim expecting her to turn me down but by then she knew I had dated Penny and she surprised the shit outta me by saying yes. You know the rest!"

Jet grinned,

"Yep! Let me just say that the best thing that ever happened to me was her saying yes to you!"

Jason laughed,

"Yeah, I had no idea she'd become such a hottie and dump my ass almost a year to the day after her gastric bypass surgery or maybe I wouldn't have encouraged her to do it! And you were banging her not even a week later you dog!"

Jet laughed loudly,

"Look, I swear I didn't know that she was your ex! Some reason your name never came up during our bump and grind sessions!"

Jason gave his best friend a forced garish smile and flicked an empty peanut shell at him.

Jet only grinned and ducked to one side,

"Her and your buddy Tim still together?"

Jason nodded,

"Yep. They got married last summer. She even let me be his best man. Susan's cool."

Jet smiled fondly as he nodded his head in agreement,

"Yeah she's my only ex fling I can say that about. She still pretty hot?"

Jason grinned widely,

"Well she's starting to fit her old nickname again! Her and Tim are having a kid and she's lookin a lil rotund around the middle like in highschool but yeah other than that she still looks pretty hot."

Jet smirked,

"Other than that? Right! Like you ever minded her being big to begin with!"

Jason laughed,

"Yeah well I was curious and it turned out to feel pretty damn good, too! I think it's funny now that the very same guys who ribbed me about dating Shy Girl and Gigantor are now with them themselves! Guess you ain't the only one who doesn't mind my left-overs!

Jet flicked an empty shell at him for that remark and prompted

"So, what about Chloe? Do you ever wonder what if?"

Jason shrugged and pushed his chair back further from the table,

"You mean what if she wasn't already with Brady by the time Susan and I broke up?"

He made a jerking motion with his cupped hand at his groin while grinning widely,

"I 'wonder' all the time dude! All the time!"

Jet's blue eyes gleamed in amusement,

"Okay so let's get back to Mimi then ... what if you had asked Mimi out and she'd turned you down?"

Jason's eyes lost the gleam of humor,

"Mimi was different from them ... there wasn't anything wrong with her. If I'd ever asked her out and she'd said 'no', it would have looked bad on me; not on her. No way I could have lived that down."

Jet nodded,

"So why is it this is the first time I'm hearing about Mimi?"

Jason shrugged, looked away, then finally looked Jet directly in the eye,

"Waste of time for me to talk about her or think about her- I never stood a chance."

Jet raised his brows skeptically,

"Maybe then but what about now Jase?"

Jason countered with a grin,

"You gonna get Stephanie's phone number, tonight?"

Jet made a wry face and shook his head,

"No way. Leigh would be devastated."

Jason chugged the last few mouthfuls of his beer and excused himself to use the washroom. He turned back to Jet,

"When are you gonna quit hiding behind your crush on my cousin and get yourself a real girlfriend?"

Jet sucked in a breath,

"I'll get Stephanie to call us a cab."

Jason grinned and nodded,

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Jason's avoidance of answering Jet's question told him that at least he'd made Jase think about it. He'd have to figure out a way to get Jason to act on his feelings for Mimi. He also had to find the courage to admit to Jason that Leigh was more than just a crush to him. Way more. He didn't foresee that going over too well. Not with Jason and definitely not with Leigh's parents either. Jet sighed heavily and took out his wallet to pay the tab. He paused to gaze wistfully at the picture he kept there of Leigh sandwiched between himself and Jason. They were all laughing. He shook off the loneliness, put some money on the table and stuffed his wallet back into his jeans pocket. He settled in to wait for Jase. The cab driver leaned on the horn just as Jason returned and the two friends left the Cheatin' Heart; each lost in their own thoughts.

Chapter 8

by Fidomom

Jet and Jason climbed into the back of the cab and Jet gave the driver Jason's home address. He turned to Jason then,

"I've got this covered."

Jason knew better than to argue. It occurred to Jason as they approached his neighbourhood that he hadn't informed Jet about his current house guest yet. They were about 5 minutes away from his place before he finally broke the silence,

"Hey, I suppose I shoulda mentioned this earlier but she's spending the next 3 weeks at my place."

Jet was clearly puzzled,

"Who is? Mimi?"

Jason's eyes widened,

"Fuck no! That's all I need is to have that vanilla crap inside the house! Bad enough I came home tonight smelling like it!"

Jet laughed momentarily side-tracked by Jason's little rant,

"How'd that happen? Were you hugging her or something?"

Jason's perturbed expression made Jet laugh loudly as Jason hurried to say,

"NO!"

Jet narrowed his eyes as he pondered,

"Did you happen to be near her when she put it on?"

Jason started to shake his head no then slapped his forehead,

"SHIT! YES! This morning! She dropped the bottle in the car and when she got back to the car she was babbling something about wondering where it was and then she just started spraying it! I had to roll down the window just to breathe!"

Jet shook his head and started laughing hard. When it seemed he couldn't stop, Jason interrupted him,

"It's not that funny! And anyway don't you want to know who my house guest is?"

Jet started to calm himself as he wiped at tears of mirth,

"Sure. Who's staying with you?"

Jason gave Jet an evil grin,

"Well I'll give you some clues ... she's 5'3, short brown hair, underraged, has a wild crush on you ..."

Jet had trouble breathing,

"Don't fuck around Jason. Are you serious? Leigh? For real?"

Jason nodded as a look of sympathetic understanding crept into his eyes,

"Yeah. For real."

Jet looked at his watch just as the driver pulled into Jason's driveway behind Mimi's car.

He implored Jason with his eyes and a hand on his arm,

"You have to let me come in Jase. Come on please? I have to see her. I promise I'll behave. I just want to say hello to her. I haven't seen her since Christmas. I won't stay long. Please?"

Jason rolled his eyes and sighed,

"Her parents would kill me for less."

Jet paid the driver and rushed Jason out of the cab,

"Thanks buddy. I owe you one for this."

Jason raised his eyebrows,

"You owe me more than one and for more than just this and you know it. If her parents find out I'm deader than roadkill. I shoulda kept my fucking yap shut."

Jet grinned in deep albeit smug appreciation,

"You're too good a friend to deprive me of the chance to see her."

Jason grinned and rolled his eyes,

"Actually Jet I'm starting to think you were right earlier ... what I am is an idiot!"

Jet grinned as he clapped Jason on the back and did his best impression of a slurring drunk,

"I love you man!"

Jason laughed and shrugged away from Jet,

"Fuck off! Cut that shit out you fucking homo!"

Jet laughed heartily,

"Fuck I love messing with you!"

Jason still laughing gave him the finger then motioned for Jet to follow him into the house,

"Come on already before I change my mind. She might not even still be up, you know."

Jason and Jet had barely made it over the threshold and shut the door when Jet looked up at the sound of his name being squealed. Leigh jumped off the fourth stair from the bottom, straight into Jet's arms, wrapping her legs around him and rained kisses on his face. Jet knew he was supposed to be discouraging this but he honestly thought if he died right then he'd die a happy man. Jason was so gonna kick his ass any minute but he didn't much care just then. He tightened his arms around her briefly, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

Chapter 9

by Fidomom

Jason looked up to see Leigh coming down the stairs in her PJ's . He saw her eyes widen and tear up, as a huge smile lit up her whole face when she saw who he was with,

"JET!"

Jason's heart stopped as she flew off the stairs and then started again in relief when Jet caught her easily. He knew he was supposed to interfere right about now. Knew it but couldn't do it. He hadn't seen his cousin smile like that since ... well since last time she'd seen Jet. To hell with his Aunt and Uncle, they weren't here. Besides it's not like Jet and Leigh were doing anything wrong ... exactly. He rolled his eyes as they kept up their PDA completely oblivious to him. To his surprise he saw Jet slowly putting a halt to Leigh's enthusiastic affection. Within seconds she was on her own two feet and Jet was merely smiling at her fondly,

"Easy there kiddo! I missed you too by the way."

Jet's heart constricted at the uncertainty in her eyes when he'd had to push her away. He'd tried to extricate himself as gently as possible but he could see she was hurt. He couldn't help himself and opened his arms. She smiled gratefully as she moved back into them. He gave her a hard squeeze and kissed her forehead. He waited for her to be the one to pull away this time and she did after only a few minutes. She looked up into his face,

"When did you get here?"

Jason interrupted them,

"Two days ago. Listen it's late guys you know you're both in town now. You've said your hellos now say goodbye. I have to get some sleep."

Leigh glared at him,

"Go ahead then. We'll be just fine catching up without you spying on us anyway."

Jason gave Jet a warning look and Jet picked up the cue,

"Sorry kiddo I can't stay anyway. I did really just stop in to say hello to you. Hey Jase can you call a cab for me? I'll wait for it outside. And don't look so sad kiddo, I'll be in town for a while yet and I hear you're in town for a few weeks too. We'll have planty of time to catch up. I promise okay?"

She couldn't hide the disappointment in her deep brown eyes but she nodded and tried to smile for him anyway. He dropped another kiss on the top of her head and her hands tried to linger on him but soon he was out the door. Jason went to call the cab and Leigh rushed upstairs to put some clothes on. Jason caught her with her hand on the doorknob trying to leave the house,

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Leigh scowled at him,

"To see Jet while he waits for the cab."

Just then they heard a car pull up. Leigh peeked through the window beside the front door just as Jet was climbing into the cab. She sagged in defeat and spun on Jason,

"Why do you have to be such a jerk? You know I love him! How could you not tell me he was in town? And why are you playing the heavy? Since when do you care what I do or with who?"

Jason clenched his fists and tried to give her a placating smile,

"Since always and you know it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you okay. You know you really should be dating guys your own age. This crush you have on Jet is getting a little out of hand. No wonder your parents are so freaked out."

Sparks of insulted outrage lit her dark eyes,

"It isn't a crush! I LOVE HIM! But you wouldn't know anything about that would you Jason? You don't know what it' s like. You've obviously never loved anyone or you wouldn't dare tell me all this is, is a crush! I may be younger than you cousin but at least I know what love is! It's what I feel for Jet. And I know he loves me too!"

Jason frowned,

"Leigh you're just setting yourself up to be hurt. Yeah okay maybe Jet does love you ... like a kid sister or something- not like what you are talking about. Just how creepy do you think he is that he'd be after you that way? I thought you had a better opinion of him than that? I know I do. Forget about him that way Leigh. He's your friend - that's it. You really oughtta give guys your own age a chance. You're a good looking girl. You shouldn't be pining away for someone you can't be with."

Leigh lifted her chin defiantly,

"Eat shit and choke on it! You are so wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Jet and I will be together someday and there's not a damn thing anyone can say or do to stop us!"

Jason's eyebrows rose in amusement at her vehemence and he tried not to smile knowing it would only infuriate her further,

"So when do you want me to take you out to the movies?"

Leigh was thrown for a loop. She'd been expecting him to get mad or to keep trying to change her mind,

"Never."

Jason grinned,

"Liar!"

Leigh tried not to smile in return but caved,

"Okay well maybe. When I'm not so pissed at you anymore, maybe then I'll let you treat me to a movie."

Jason laughed,

"Think you'll finish being pissed at me by Saturday?"

Leigh smiled and shrugged,

"Yeah. I guess. Maybe. But only if Jet comes too."

Jason narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips.He was torn between doing what her parents would want and doing what he knew would make both Jet and Leigh happy. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly,

"Fine but if your parents find out I'm selling out on both of you!"

Leigh squealed and flung her arms around Jason's neck. She kissed his cheek hard and quick,

"You're my favorite cousin!"

Jason gave her a funny look,

"I'm your only cousin."

She laughed over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs,

"I know!"

Jason shook his head smiling fondly after her,

"Brat."

Then he looked at his watch and cursed aloud,

"Fuck."

He did a quick lights and locks check of the downstairs and headed up to his room. The minute he opened the door the scent of Jovan Vanilla Musk hit him,

"Great. That's just great."

He stripped down to his boxers, used the washroom, brushed his teeth, set his alarm, shut the light and climbed into bed. He bolted upright and flung the heavily perfumed shirt that had been on his pillow away from him. He lay back down and groaned. There was just no escaping it. He wished he had the time and energy to get up and change his bedding and mid thought he fell asleep.

Four hours later Jason rolled over onto his stomach, rubbed his cheek against his pillow as he hugged it and mumbled in his sleep,

"Mmm, smell so good Mimi."

Chapter 10

by Fidomom

Jason smiled as the water droplets fell upon him and soaked his skin. He murmured appreciatively when her tongue flicked across his nipple and up the column of his throat while she rode him. His hands gripped her hips as he helped her move over him. He felt the familiar thrill of impending orgasm. He took her nipple in his mouth briefly then kissed his way up to her ear,

"Mmm. Smell so good Mimi."

Jason awoke just as his alarm sounded. He lay on his back breathing hard feeling disoriented even as he automatically reached over to hit the 12 minute snooze bar. As he became more alert he realised what had happened. He switched on the bedside lamp and looked under the covers to confirm it. Hard as a rock, as well as residual evidence he'd already had a productive dream about her. Evidence that was partially dried up. He huffed audibly,

"Fuck, not again! I'm way too fucking old for this shit."

He quickly got up and put his sticky boxers in his now empty laundry basket. He almost headed for the shower. He looked down. It wasn't going to go away on it's own apparently. He considered getting out one of his porn magazines but by now he knew that wouldn't do it. Only one thing would. He sighed as he retrieved the now only lightly perfumed shirt from his top dresser drawer. He'd stashed it there to try to keep the perfume from permeating his room or so he told himself. He'd 'forgotten' to wash it with the rest of his laundry yesterday because it wasn't in sight. Forgotten. Right. As usual it only took about ten minutes once he had the shirt pressed against his mouth and nose as he breathed in the scent that had driven him crazy all through high school. He hadn't known what it was called back then. Knowing now in no way reduced it's effect on him. He let himself remember the dream. The feel of her. The feel of the rain as it soaked them. That damn scent. The scent of her. He groaned loudly as he came,

"Mmmimi!"

He was careful not to get his essence on the shirt as he stashed it back in his drawer. The snooze alarm sounded and he turned it off on his way to the bathroom to shower.

As he stood under the scorching hot spray his mind wandered over the events of the past few days. It had been a chaotic few days to say the least, now that he thought of it. Mimi wrecking his paint job on Sunday. Mimi nearly getting ... but no that had turned out okay, no thanks to him. Jet coming into town unexpectedly early, later the very same day. Leigh becoming his house guest on Monday. That was the day Mimi got her perfume all over his shirt. Beers with Jet that night and him figuring out way too quickly how he really felt about Mimi.

~Which is? Ahh hell! Doesn't even matter. It's moot.~

Trying to keep tabs on Leigh these past three days and nights since she'd found out Jet was in town. No small feat while being at Mimi's beck and call the whole time. Trying to keep tabs on Jet on top of that was proving impossible. He grinned at that thought,

"Like I ever could! I wonder if he's ever gonna make his move on Stephanie? He can't keep letting Leigh crush on him like this. Friend or not I swear if he hurts Leigh- I'll kill him. Why oh why did I agree to let Jet tag along for movie night? They're probably gonna be all googly eyes at each other all night- ugh! Yeah THAT should help her get over him! Oh man her parents will so kill me if they find out about this- right after they kill Jet for sniffing around where he shouldn't! I so gotta find a way to get Leigh to see Jet for the dog he is! It's for your own good buddy! Time for you to get yourself a real girlfriend! Maybe then Leigh will finally get on with her own life and start giving guys her own age the time of day."

He rinsed the thick, soap lather from his body. He was briefly distracted by the sight of the water cascading down his own chest and his mind touched on the dream he'd had about Mimi but he halted it by quickly turning the water to full cold,

"Oh no. Not going there! Bad enough I'll have to deal with the smell of that stuff all day. She better not give me any grief either about having her car for movie night tomorrow. She scratched MY car- ain't no way in hell I'm letting her forget that!"

Hard on the heels of his harshly uttered edict was the unbidden thought,

~I wish she was coming to movie ...oh man ... no ... no I don't. Get it out of your head Masters! Just forget that idea!~

He haphazardly dried his body with a towel. He put gel in his hair. He shaved. He grabbed his cologne and stopped short of putting it on,

"What in the hell? You aren't going on a date, you idiot!"

Another idea niggled in his brain,

~It might block out the smell of hers and stop any embarrassing situations from uhh cropping up.~

He splashed some on before he could talk himself out of it and rolled his eyes at himself as he couldn't help wonder if Mimi would notice and whether she would like it or not. He scowled into the mirror,

"I hope she hates it!"

~Who're you kidding? You're so fucking hopeless!~

He hurried into his bedroom to put clean clothes on. Dark beige, snug-fitting jeans over gray boxer-briefs. An Egyptian cotton. green camouflage patterned, tight T-shirt that showed off his well muscled chest, shoulders and biceps. Gray sport socks and tan Doc Martins.

He took the stairs two at a time and popped into the kitchen to grab a Special K cereal bar and an instant coffee. Now that he was getting used to Mimi's early schedule he found he was hungry for breakfast earlier as well. He snapped the lid onto his travel coffee mug and bit open the packaging on the cereal bar. He spat the torn off piece into the trash on his way out of the kitchen. He glanced at his watch as he opened the front door and breathed a triumphant sigh of relief before he could check himself,

"Yes! I'll be right on time!"

He hurried to get settled into the Sentra, begrudgingly admitting to himself that though it was no T-bird, it was a really comfortable, reliable vehicle ... and that he actually dug the way the interior smelled like her. He breathed deeply once with his eyes closed. He opened them again and with a grin plastered on his face, he backed the Nissan out of the driveway.

Chapter 11

by Fidomom

Mimi came out of the library and lost her breath to see Jason already there and leaning up against her car,

"Oh! You're earlier than usual."

His face remained impassive as he shrugged,

"I didn't go home to nap today."

Her eyes widened and then she smirked,

"Are you actually getting used to my schedule?"

Her teasing manner kinda surprised him and he smiled ,

"Maybe. Hey, here. I grabbed it on my way over. Now you won't have to stand in line."

To Mimi's surprise he turned around and grabbed two enormous cups of coffee from off the roof of the car directly behind him; hidden until that moment by his broad chest and shoulders. For the brief moment he wasn't looking, her eyes devoured his body. When he turned to face her holding out one of the steaming cups to her she looked blankly at it. Jason tried to catch her eye,

"Yo! Mimi! Don't you want this? Wrong one or something?"

Mimi smiled at his choice of words as she finally reached out to accept the cup from him,

"Yes of course I do, Jason. Thank-you. Mmmm! Nope - definitely the right one!"

Jason was inordinately pleased he'd gotten it right and smiled for about two seconds until he inwardly berated himself for caring at all,

"So you wanna stand here and drink that or head directly to the school?"

Mimi's heart sank. She had actually dared to hope he'd gotten her the coffee to be nice but he seemed to be in as big a hurry as usual,

"We can go now, Jason. Thanks again for the coffee. It saved us both some time. Here's what I owe you for it."

Jason frowned at the money she held out to him,

"Keep it. I don't want your money."

He got into the car and Mimi followed suit.

She offered again,

"Are you sure, Jason? Cuz I woulda had to pay anyw..."

He continued to face forward and tersely cut her off,

"You done up?"

She saw the muscle in his jaw twitching and tucked her money away,

"Yes."

He put the car into drive and drove over to Salem U. Mimi frowned in puzzlement when he didn't just pull up to the main entrance to drop her off like he usually did but instead parked the car in the lot and got out.

She was struggling with her half full coffee cup and her book tote as she tried to get out of the car, when Jason surprised her by taking both out of her hands. He handed them back to her once she'd made it out of the car. He remote locked the car. She tried to smile her thanks but he missed it as he turned to grabbed his own cup from the roof. He walked in tandem with her to the main building. She finally stopped and looked at him in confusion when he opened the main door for her,

"What are you doing Jason?"

He widened his eyes like he thought it should be obvious,

"Going into the school."

She pressed for more information,

"Okay. Why?"

He gently nudged her to continue through the doorway,

"Gotta pick up some brochures and an application."

She asked over her shoulder as she preceeded him into the school,

"For yourself or someone else?"

Jason was looking around distractedly for some indication of where he should be headed,

"Uhh, no not for me. Listen I gotta go. I'll see you at 2."

He got about 20 feet away when he heard Mimi call out his name. He turned back to her,

"What?"

Mimi smiled and motioned him back,

"Wrong way. You'll find what you're looking for this way. Come on thanks to you I've got a few minutes to spare. I'll take you there."

His face colored slightly,

"I can find it on my own."

She narrowed her eyes at him in a challenge,

"Sure, you can Jason, but do you want to be finding it on your own all day or does finding it now seem like a better idea?"

He rolled his eyes and fought a losing battle with his grin,

"Fine. Lead on. And it so would not take me all day to find it."

Mimi held her laugh in check,

"Uh-huh."

Her perfume found it's way to his olfactory sense as he followed closely behind her down some twisty turny corridors and he started hoping that it really would take all day. Less than 7 minutes had passed since they'd arrived when Mimi turned toward a big door marked Student Services and opened it. She went inside with him and pointed him in the direction of the brochures and applications. He didn't say thanks but she hadn't really expected him to. She turned to leave but stopped. She went over to the brochures and quickly scanned them. She smiled when she found what she wanted. She went over to Jason and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped slightly,

"What?"

Mimi smiled smugly at him,

"I'm going to class now. Here. Thought this might come in handy."

He looked in curiosity at what she had handed him and couldn't help grinning,

"Thanks, Mimi."

He looked up and was startled to find she'd already gone. His shoulders sagged slightly. He shrugged, shoved the campus/school map she'd given him into his back pocket and continued looking for the brochures Leigh wanted.

Chapter 12

by Fidomom

Mimi watched in barely concealed lust as Jason hoisted the heavy bags of groceries as though they were air and carried them into her kitchen for her,

"On the counter?"

Mimi was busy looking at the way his muscles moved under his thin white cotton T-shirt,

"What? Oh. The counter. Yeah the counter is good. The counter is very good."

He gave her a funny look and went to get the rest of her groceries. Mimi held onto the counter trying to calm herself,

"What was I thinking? Five more weeks of this torment? Oh dear God, does he have to look that good?"

Jason re-entered the kitchen with the last of her groceries and he was stopped short by the way she was standing at the counter. He groaned inwardly wondering how the hell he was to get through the next five weeks without making a fool of himself. He fought the urge to drop the groceries and just get it over with right then and there,

"This is the last of them, Mimi. You uhh need any help putting any of this stuff away?"

She was tempted to use that as an excuse to keep him there longer but she didn't want him getting suspicious,

"No. That's okay Jason. Thanks for bringing them in for me."

Jason shuffled his feet, stalling and finally managed to ask,

"So what are you doing tonight?"

Comprehension lit Mimi's eyes even as she felt the sting of disappointment that the question wasn't a prelude to him asking her out,

"Ohh! The car. Yours from now until tomorrow morning. Belle is gonna drive us around in her car tonight."

Jason was a bit disappointed. So she did already have plans. It was just as well. Even if she didn't she probably would have laughed in his face anyway. He silently berrated himself for almost proving Jet right and doing something so idiotic as asking out a guaranteed "no" girl. Then he would have had to deal with her for five more weeks with her having that to lord over him. He mentally shrugged and chalked it up to a close call. He pulled what could almost pass for a smile,

"Alright then. See you tomorrow."

She nodded,

"Yeah. See you tomorrow Jason."

She covertly watched him leaving through the window until her car was out of sight.

Jason and Mimi unbeknownst to each other sighed heavily in unison,

"Five more weeks."

Mimi proceeded to put away her groceries and Jason went to go pick-up Jet. Leigh had managed to invite him over for an early dinner before the three of them went to the movie tonight. As far as Jason was concerned, as long as her parents didn't find out, everything was cool.

Chapter 13

by Fidomom

On their drive over to his place to have dinner, Jason was telling Jet about trying to find his way back to the car yesterday after he'd picked up the stuff Leigh had wanted. After being lost for over half an hour he'd eventually remembered the map Mimi had given him and finally found his way back outside. Jet was laughing heartily enough at this point for his eyes to tear up,

"So did you tell her you got lost, Jase?"

Jason let out an incredulous chuckle,

"No fucking way, man! Uh-uh! I'm not giving her any ammunition to shoot me down with! She's on my case enough without it!"

Jet gave him a curious look,

"On your case how?"

Jason shrugged,

"I dunno .. it's weird. She's always criticising me about something. She even tried telling ME how to drive better! I couldn't fucking believe it! Chick scratches my car and then tries to tell me how to drive! You know what really burns me though? Is when she gets on my case for no reason at all! Like if she even thinks I'm gonna do something wrong! Same fucking thing in highschool too, man! She was always elbowing me or stomping on my foot for no reason at all! I think I spent most of highschool saying, 'Ow! What the hell is your problem?'"

Jet looked at his best friend amazed he could be so blind,

"You're kidding right?"

Jason frowned,

"Naw. For real. She was always on my case like that."

Jet chuckled,

"So this Mimi chick was bullying the school bully? Is that what you're telling me?"

Jason shot him a perturbed look,

"What the fuck ever man! I dunno. I guess. I never thought of it that way. Besides it's not like I was scared of her or nothing."

Jet's eyebrows rose,

"Now you are lying! And you're still scared shitless of her!"

Jason grimaced,

"Fuck you. No I'm not."

Jet chuckled,

"Oh man you got it bad my friend! Worse than I even realised."

Jason was annoyed,

"How do you figure?"

Jet laughed and clapped a hand on Jason's shoulder,

"No dude! I ain't telling you shit! You'll figure it out soon enough on your own!

Jason shot him a quick glare and gave him the finger as he pulled into the driveway.

Jet just laughed and shook his head. They got out of the car and walked toward the house.

Jet's heart was beating faster already just knowing he'd be seeing Leigh any moment.

He didn't have long to wait. She flung open the door and greeted Jet with her usual enthusiastic affection. Jason winced thinking she was making a fool of herself,

"Take it easy there cuz! Would you let us get in the door at least?"

Leigh stuck her tongue out at Jason and partially released Jet from the big hug she'd just laid on him. Jet hesitated uncertainly,

"Are your parents home, Jase?"

Jason shook his head,

"No man. They're gone until Friday next week."

That cinched it for Jet. He decided to follow his heart for a little while. He pulled Leigh back into his arms to hug her back properly,

"Then chill out and cut Leigh some slack buddy! Far as I'm concerned Leigh, you can hug me like this any old time you want to! Oh. Hmmm. I guess except if either yours or Jason's folks are around!"

He winked and smiled at her as he released her, loving the way it made her eyes shine up at him.

Jason rolled his eyes at them both,

"Yeah, okay whatever! What are we having? Pizza? Chinese? KFC?"

Leigh shook her head,

"No delivery fast food. I made dinner."

Jason's jaw dropped open,

"You?! You feeling alright? You hate cooking!"

Leigh cocked a wry smile,

"Yeah but I'm cursed with being good at it anyway!"

Jet laughed out loud,

"Oh I smell it now! What is that? Pasta? Something Italian for sure! It sure smells good!"

Leigh beamed proudly,

"It's chicken cacciatore thank-you very much!"

Jason grinned,

"Hey Leigh? Do you know that you're my favorite cousin?"

She grinned at him with narrowed eyes,

"Watch it now that's my line!"

Jason laughed and tried to mess her hair. She ducked, laughing as she smacked his hand away for his effort.

Jet watched the exchange between them with a wistful smile then he cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together greedily,

"I'm starving! What can we do to help?"

Jason held his hands up,

"Whoa! Speak for yourself, dude! I'm on post meal KP!"

Leigh's jaw dropped open,

"Oh of course cuz! Hope you don't sprain anything pushing the button on the dishwasher!"

Jason colored slightly and defended,

"There's a bit more to it than that."

Jet and Leigh rolled their eyes at him. He just shrugged and grinned refusing to be guilted. He plopped down on the sofa, put his feet up on the coffee table, and turned on the tv,

"Let me know when it's time to eat!"

Leigh glared at him but kept her grin. She turned to Jet,

"Only thing left is setting the table and last minute prep for the Caesar salad."

Jet puffed out his chest mock proudly,

"I been known to set a mean table."

Leigh giggled appreciatively,

"Thanks Jet!"

On her way to the kitchen she passed behind the sofa and couldn't resist a quick smack at the back of Jason's head. He ducked away too late and laughed,

"Ow! Hey watch it!"

Jet saw what Leigh had done and gave her thumbs up. Leigh winked, smiled smugly and went into the kitchen. Jet waited until Jason was relaxed and engrossed in the reality TV program he'd turned to, then he walked up behind the sofa and did the exact same thing Leigh had just done.

Jason laughed,

"Ow! What was that for?"

Jet grinned and shrugged,

"Leigh seemed to think it was fun. Turns out it is!"

Jason's laugh turned incredulous,

"Oh and this is the thanks I get for letting you even be here!"

Jet's smile fell and he reached out to smooth Jason's hair,

"You're so right. I love you man!"

Jason whacked his hands away laughing in embarassment,

"Fuck off Jet!  Go set the damn table ... Molly Maid!"

Jet ignored the jibe and was laughing heartily as he went to do just that.

With Jet and Leigh both otherwise occupied, Jason concentrated on the tv screen. He had no idea what he was watching though, because he was too busy thinking about Mimi. He wondered who she was going out with tonight- just Shawn and Belle or did she have a date? He wondered where they were going. He found himself hoping they'd be at the movies too,

"Yeah right."

"Uhh, Jase? The people on the tv can't actually hear you buddy!"

Jason didn't even look up to flip Jet the mandatory finger. He smirked when he heard Jet laugh.

Less than a minute later, Leigh walked into the combined living-dining room,

"Food's ready! Turn that crap off too, Jase or you don't get fed!"

Jason grinned. She knew him too well,

"That's low cuz!"

He turned off the tv and sat down at the table to eat with them.

Chapter 14

by Fidomom

Jason dropped off Jet and Leigh outside the main theatre doors and went to find parking. With Jason gone and not scrutinising them Jet and Leigh both relaxed a little. Both of them unknown to the other were pretending in their mind that they were on a real date even if only for the few minutes Jason would be absent. As they stood in the ticket line-up, Leigh cautiously and full of hope slipped her diminutive hand into Jet's. He looked momentarily startled but didn't pull his hand away. He tightened his grip and gave her that charming wink and smile she so loved. Leigh blushed with pleasure and smiled up at him,

"So I still don't know why you are in town, Jet. Business or pleasure?"

He paused at her words as he thought to himself ~Right this minute definitely pleasure.~,

"Well technically it's business but you know me!"

She giggled and nodded,

"Oh yeah! So what's the business part?"

Jet was having difficulty concentrating on her words as he watched her mouth when she spoke. He showed no outward sign of his inner struggle,

"I'm looking into starting up a machine shop here. This is on the QT by the way. Haven't even told Jase yet. I'm hoping he'll help me out with it though if the deal goes through. I don't want to get his hopes up just yet. What about you? Jase said something about brochures you wanted from Salem U. Anything you feel like sharing?"

They were startled by Jason physically separating their hands at that moment,

"Geez you guys, can't leave you two alone for two minutes! This is a small town, people talk! All I need is to catch hell from my parents, Aunt and Uncle for even leaving Leigh alone with you, Jet but do you have to make things worse by holding hands like that as if you're a couple?!"

Jet colored slightly and looked at his feet,

"You're right Jase. Sorry. I should have known better."

Jet noticed the hurt, disappointed look on Leigh's face and felt awful. He tried to smooth her feelings with a wink and a small smile as he offered,

"I just can't help wanting to hold the hand of the prettiest girl I've ever met."

It worked. The bright glow returned to her face and her eyes shone with happiness again. Jet's sigh of relief was cut short as Jason groaned aloud and pulled him off to the side. He spoke so quietly that despite her attempts to eavesdrop Leigh couldn't make out a single word being said. She could only tell that Jason was not impressed. She was right.

Jason spoke through clenched teeth with a warning note in his voice,

"Dude comments like that so do not help. How do you expect her to ever get over you? She's just a kid for crying out loud! I mean I know we joke around and stuff about you having a crush on her but really Jet come on we both know it's just a joke - but she doesn't! Stop leading her on cuz you're just gonna hurt her and if you do that I'm gonna have to kick your ass for you! You got me?"

Jet contemplated confessing to Jason right then but he couldn't. He couldn't bear the thought of his best friend losing all respect for him. He looked properly contrite as he nodded. He really couldn't help but admire and respect Jason's protective stance over Leigh, anyway. He knew she was lucky to have Jason looking out for her,

"Yeah Jase. I got you buddy. You gotta know I'd never want to hurt her though right? I mean I don't mean to lead her on ... it's just she gets this look in her eyes like a wounded puppy if I don't flirt back. I'll ease up though from now on. For real. We cool?"

Jason nodded and pounded the bottom of a closed fist against the topside of Jet's closed fist,

"Yeah. Course. I'm not mad Jet I just worry about her. She's family, ya know?"

Jet nodded,

"Yeah. Fair enough, buddy."

They returned to Leigh's side. She scowled at Jason and smiled up at Jet. Jason rolled his eyes in exasperation. They moved forward in line for the movie tickets and Jason slid some money through the ticket window,

"Three for Kill Bill combo."

The guy in the ticket booth took Jason's money and gave him the tickets and his change. They walked into the lobby and crossed the room to the concession line-ups.

"Hey cuz, we're gonna go nab some seats for us. Why don't you order up the refreshments and I'll come back in a few to help carry them?"

Leigh shrugged and refused to look at Jason,

"Fine. Whatever. I have to go to the ladies' room first. Keep a place in the line for me. I won't be long."

Jason and Jet looked at each other with wide eyes at her moody exit. Jet whistled low,

"Dude I think you pissed her off with your chaperone tactics."

Jason's face reflected his regret about her thinking he was being a jerk,

"I'll get her to come around. I'm still her favorite cousin even if she is a little pissed at me right now."

Jason's voice trailed off and Jet saw his gaze shift and lock on something across the lobby. He looked to try to figure out what had distracted him and saw a very pretty auburn-haired girl staring back at them. Jet smiled as a he had a sneaking suspicion who it was. Jason was fighting to control the unfamiliar knot of jealousy in his guts when Mimi saw Jet and quite obviously found him attractive.

When Mimi realised she'd been caught staring at Jason, she shifted her gaze to the kinda cute guy standing beside him and tried to get her breath back as her mind spun,

~Why? Why does Jason always have to look that good? Why is it everywhere I go lately there he is? Duh! Probably because he usually takes you everywhere you go. But here? Tonight? Why? Why does he have to be here? I wonder if I should go over and say hi at least? No. He's got a friend with him. I don't want to intrude. There. See? He doesn't want me to. He's already looking away. Damn my nervous bladder! I hope Belle and Shawn don't think I've left when they come back from parking the car.~

Mimi had to walk directly past Jet and Jason on her way to the women's washroom. Jet sniffed the air slightly as she did and smiled knowingly at Jason. Jason blushed,

"Shut up."

Jet raised his hands in mock surrender,

"I didn't say a word!"

Jason mumbled as he looked at his feet,

"Good. Keep it that way. I don't wanna hear it."

Jet grinned but obliged by keeping quiet.

Jason started to fidget and he looked at his watch,

"So much for not being long. What the hell is keeping Leigh?"

Jet laughed,

"Hey Jase?"

Jason looked at him blankly,

"Yeah?"

Jet's grin widened,

"She's cute!"

Jason started to protest but then just shrugged and nodded, feeling inexplicably pleased by Jet's comment,

"Yeah, I guess."

Jet shook his head at his friend and chuckled,

"Yeah you guess!"

Jason gave him a warning glare and Jet laughed and made a zip motion across his lips. The line-up they were in moved forward bringing them to the counter. Jason placed their orders, while Jet's mind drifted to Leigh. He too wondered, mildly concerned just what was keeping her this long?

Chapter15                                                                                             

by Fidomom

Leigh had been on her way back to Jet and her obnoxious cousin when she saw some girl staring at Jason, blush then fix a blank gaze on Jet. Then she saw the girl take a deep breath and walk toward the guys. Leigh held back curious about who this girl was, that obviously had the hots for her cousin. When Leigh realised the girl meant to walk past Jet and Jason she knew where she was headed. Leigh quickly ducked around the corner to wait for her to pass by. When she caught a whiff of that perfume Jason always smelled of lately she did some math and almost laughed out loud. She peeked at the guys and sure enough Jason was pacing, blushing and glaring at Jet. Leigh smiled smugly to herself,

~So cuz, you wanna mess with my love life do you? Let's see how you like it.~

Leigh walked purposefully back to the women's washroom and fiddled with her hair and make-up some more waiting for Mimi to exit one of the stalls. When Mimi stepped up to the mirror right beside her, Leigh turned to her and blurted out,

"You smell just like Jason!"

Mimi flustered immediately at hearing someone say out loud the very name on her own mind,

"Huh? Jason who? And what do you mean?"

Leigh laughed and touched Mimi's arm,

"Oh sorry, I do that sometimes; you know blurt stuff out at total strangers. You probably don't even know him. Jason Masters. He's been driving some other girl's dinky little car around and it reeks oops sorry I mean it smells just like the perfume you're wearing. I'll be so glad when he gets his T-Bird back cuz well her car is nice and all but the backseat isn't very comfortable. Anyway sorry to have rambled on at you like this. You must think I'm completely nuts."

Mimi showed no outward reaction as she calmly assured,

"No problem. I'm used to it. Jason tactlessly blurts stuff out all the time, too. It so happens it's my car he's been driving around."

Leigh couldn't help but be impressed. This girl was a straight shooter. No wonder her cousin had it so bad for her. Leigh feigned embarassment,

"Oh my God I'm so sorry! Please don't tell him I told you he thinks your perfume reeks! He'll be so mad at me!"

Mimi's cheeks pinked up a little,

"He thinks ... oh, I see. I have to go now."

Mimi hastily left the washroom. Leigh actually did feel a little bit guilty. She really hadn't meant to hurt the girl's feelings. She had only meant to give Jason some grief for a change.

She followed close behind Mimi but held back when she saw Mimi walk up to Jason and tap him on the shoulder.

Jason turned at the touch knowing full well who it was. He tried to maintain an impassive expression,

"Yeah?"

The look in her eyes startled him. She looked furious.

"Let's just be very clear about one thing Jason, there will be no more sexual escapades in the backseat of MY car!"

Leigh giggled behind her hand as she saw the stunned, utterly puzzled look on Jason's face as he watched Mimi stomp off in a huff. His face reddened as he realised many pairs of eyes and ears had borne witness to that little exchange. Jet clapped him on the shoulder,

"Gee Jase you holding out on me, buddy? You never said you scored with her already!"

Jason pushed Jet away from him shaking his head in denial,

"I have no fucking clue what she is talking about. Why the hell does she think I had sex in her c- ... LEIGH!!!"

Leigh was openly laughing out loud as she re-joined them in the concession area,

"Sorry cuz but you had it coming! Besides at least now you know she likes you, too!"

Jason's face contorted in disbelief,

"Likes me? Where the hell do you get that? She just reamed me out in public ... and for something I didn't even do!"

Leigh's eyes widened in shock,

"Jason you're missing the point."

He looked from Jet to Leigh and back,

"Huh? What? What point am I missing?"

Leigh took a deep breath and would have clued him in but Jet stopped her,

"It's best to just let him figure this one out on his own Leigh."

Jason gave up trying to figure out what just happened. He narrowed his eyes at Leigh,

"So just who does she think I had sex with anyway? What the hell did you say to her?"

Leigh started to look a little sheepish,

"Well I may have misled her a tiny little bit. All I said was that the backseat of her car wasn't as comfy as the backseat of your T-Bird."

Jason frowned,

"Well it isn't. The backseat of my T-Bird was custom installed for optimum comfort. So what? What's that got to do with .. ohhh ... ewww ... Leigh! You mean she thinks ... but you're my cousin! As if she thinks I'd do that with my cousin nevermind that you're underaged!"

Leigh reddened,

"I kinda didn't tell her we were cousins and you know Jase not everybody can tell just by looking at me that I'm not 16 yet!"

Jason closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation. He looked to Jet. Jet shrugged,

"Not much you can do about it now. Let's go watch the movie. I'm sure you and Mimi will have a very interesting conversation tomorrow. I am already anticipating hearing every juicy word!"

Jason groaned and rolled his eyes,

"Fuck. Okay fine let's go watch the movie. Here you two can carry your own snacks. Hopefully we can still find some seats, no thanks to you, cuz. Fucking brat."

Leigh bit her lip and wondered if she'd gone too far. Jason seemed really upset with her. They were about to go into the theatre when they heard a female voice raised in protest. They all turned to look,

"No Shawn! I mean it! I really don't want to see Kill Bill! Anything but that!"

Shawn looked at Mimi and shrugged,

"Sorry Meems. Looks like we won't be seeing Kill Bill tonight afterall."

Mimi sagged in defeat,

"Well that's just great! I already bought my ticket! Come on Belle please? You know I hate watching movies by myself."

Belle spotted Jason looking over at them,

"Jason's over there. Looks like he and his friends are seeing Kill Bill. Why don't you see if you can sit with them?"

Mimi shook her head,

"In the words of Buffy, "A world of no!"

"Why not? You're certainly welcome to join us. It's Mimi right?"

Mimi turned to find the girl from the bathroom standing there smiling a friendly smile,

"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes my name is Mimi and no really I couldn't possibly."

Leigh looked sad,

"It's because of me isn't it? I'm Leigh. Leigh Masters. Jason's cousin. I usually get to ride shotgun but his best friend got to tonight."

Mimi took a few seconds to absorb what she said. Her face turned red as she realised Jason must think she was nuts telling him not to have sex in her car anymore. She frowned at the girl,

"Why did you do that?"

Shawn and Belle looked at each other completely baffled about what the two girls were talking about. Belle caught Mimi's eye, pointed to her watch and made hand gestures indicating that she and Shawn were going to go see the movie they'd decided on. Mimi nodded and returned her full attention to Leigh.

Leigh felt she owed Mimi an explanation but it was too complicated to get into and there really wasn't time- they'd already missed half of the movie previews and she didn't want to miss the beginning of the movie. She smiled reassuringly,

"I promise I'll explain later but the movie's gonna start really soon. Come sit with us. The guys have already found us some seats. Please, Mimi? I feel really badly about earlier."

Mimi still hesitated,

"I really don't think Jason ..."

"Yo! Leigh! Movie's about to start you coming or what?"

Leigh smiled,

"Yeah. Mimi's gonna watch the movie with us. You don't mind do you, Jason?"

Mimi reddened and glanced at Jason apprehensively expecting him to protest.

He could tell she was embarrassed about earlier. He was surprised that he wanted to reassure her that all was cool. His heart raced when he realised suddenly that his earlier wish was about to come true. Mimi was gonna be watching the movie with him afterall. He gave nothing away outwardly,

"Fine. Whatever. Let's just go sit down."

Leigh looked at Mimi and winked,

"See? He doesn't mind and it's better than sitting all by yourself."

Mimi sighed and nodded as she followed Leigh into the darkness of the theatre. When they got to the seats Jet was saving for them, Jet stood up to let the girls in first. He smiled and gave thumbs up to Jason. Jason gave him a warning look and shook his head. Mimi sat furthest in. Leigh sat beside her and her face fell in disappointment when Jason rather than Jet sat next her. The four sat looking at the movie screen feeling pretty much equally miserable about the seating arrangements. Three of them were resigned to it. One devious brunette was not. She smiled to herself as her mind began to toy with some ideas on how to get the seating rearranged to everyone's satisfaction. She settled in and pretended to watch the movie. It was gonna be a long one. She had plenty of time to put her ideas into play.

Chapter 16

by Fidomom

About forty minutes into the movie during a Japanese anime sequence, Leigh heard Mimi exclaim almost under her breath,

"I love this part!"

Leigh's eyes lit up with a plan to finally get the seating arrangements reordered to all of their liking. She wouldn't be able to do it without Jet's help and funnily enough Jason's unwitting help. She almost giggled in her realisation that at least the guys in question were particularly easy for her to manipulate. She leaned toward Mimi,

"Psst! How can you watch a movie without any movie snacks? "

Mimi nodded,

"I know! I meant to grab an extra butter popcorn and a diet cola but things out there were kinda rushed. I'll go for a snack run as soon as the scene where Oren Ishi tells off the suits at the table is over."

Leigh smiled bewildered,

"Suits? Table? Huh?"

Mimi laughed at something in the subtitle dialogue in the sushi bar scene,

"Oh sorry it's an upcoming scene. Didn't mean to spoil you. I've seen this volume already just haven't seen the second volume yet."

Leigh elbowed Jason. He looked at her while trying not to miss the subtitles as the dialogue was particularly funny,

"What?"

Leigh leaned up and whispered in his ear,

"I feel really bad about the prank I pulled earlier. I'm sorry."

Jason shrugged,

"Don't worry about it. I'll deal with her later."

Leigh whispered again,

"Mimi didn't get any movie snacks. You should go get her some."

Jason scowled,

"Me? Why?"

Leigh shrugged and smiled unseen by Jason,

"Cuz you've already seen this. Anyway whatever. Nevermind then. She said she's gonna go get her snacks herself right after Oren Ishi tells off the Japanese suits whatever that means."

Jason shrugged and nodded not letting on his surprise that Mimi had already seen the movie too,

"Good so why you bugging me to do it? Let her go get 'em herself."

Leigh shrugged,

"Okay fine Jase but do you really think she'll come back and sit with us after? I know I wouldn't want to squeeze past three people twice when they are trying to watch a movie, especially if one of the people was being as unfriendly to me as you've been to her tonight."

Jason didn't respond. Leigh hadn't expected him to. She had planted the worry in Jason's mind and she knew it was just a matter of time now. She smiled when two minutes later Jason sighed and got up. He squeezed past Jet and spoke to him quietly,

"Snack run. Want anything?"

Jet shook his head,

"Naw I'm good. Your boss lady doesn't have ..."

Jason interrupted,

"I already know that. I'll be right back. Just don't let her leave and don't get any ideas about stealing my seat to sit beside Leigh either."

Before Leigh could start working on Jet to help her with her plan he got her attention,

"Psst! Switch seats with me!"

Leigh was surprised and puzzled,

"Why?"

Jet grinned,

"Do you trust me?"

Leigh grinned back and switched seats with Jet.

Mimi was getting kinda nervous. First Jason up and left making her wonder if it was because of her. She thought maybe it was and she had nearly made up her mind to just leave and go home. Suddenly Leigh was getting up too but before Mimi could ask where she was going Jason's cute friend sat beside her where Leigh had been and Leigh was now sitting where he had been. Mimi sensed something was going on but she didn't know what. Jet leaned closer to her and put out his left hand to shake,

"Hi. I'm Jet."

Mimi smiled a little uncertainly but shook his hand,

"Hi. I'm Mimi. Nice to meet you Jet."

Jet smiled encouragingly,

"Don't look so nervous. I won't bite. Jason and I may be best friends but we are very different."

Mimi laughed a little,

"Yes. That much I could tell!"

Jet got right to the point,

"So how long you been in love with him?"

If Mimi had been expecting the question she may have been able to come up with a denial. All she could manage was a sharp intake of breath.

Jet put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed reassuringly,

"Relax, Mimi. He hasn't figured it out yet and I sure as hell won't tell him. My advice to you though is be in his face obvious. Subtle and tentative are completely lost on him."

Mimi hedged,

"I'm not saying you're right ... cuz anyway you so aren't but you make it sound like I could actually get him to stop hating me ... maybe?"

Jet's eyes widened,

"You're kidding right? Oh shit! You aren't either. Tell you what Mimi. When Jase gets back if he lets me sit beside Leigh and I'm certain he will that's your green light to go for him with everything you've got! Just tolerate my arm around you until ... well for a while longer anyway. Can you handle that?"

Mimi was still embarassed and puzzled but she nodded anyway,

"What do you mean by lets you sit beside her? Is there a reason that would be a problem?"

Jet nodded,

"Yep. She's underraged. She has a crush on me and I'm head over heels in love with her. Huh. That's the first time I've said that out loud. Haven't had the guts to even tell Jase yet. He thinks I'm a perv for even flirting with her. Hard to say if our friendship will survive when I tell him the truth. Plus her parents hate me because Leigh is very outspoken about her crush on me. They want her to date guys her own age and she keeps citing her crush on me as the reason she won't. Apparently the fights about it between her and her folks gets pretty nasty."

Mimi's heart melted in sympathy,

"What about Leigh? Does she know how you feel?"

He frowned thoughtfully,

"I think she knows I love her just not that it's that way, you know?"

Mimi nodded and smiled kindly,

"Well not that my opinion matters very much but I don't think you're a perv at all. You're very sweet. She won't be underraged forever right? If the love you feel is real it'll wait for the right time ... just gotta be patient. Easier said than done I know but still it's not impossible."

It was Jet's turn to experience a sharp intake of breath,

"Wow. Where have you been all this time? What you just said has helped me in ways I can't even express right now. Thank-you Mimi. Jason's a damn lucky guy. Your own patience will pay off too Mimi you'll see."

Mimi sighed heavily,

"Yeah right. Once I get him to stop hating me it should be easy to get him to fall ... uhh nevermind."

Jet grinned and impulsively kissed the side of her head,

"You're closer than you realise!"

Suddenly popcorn and a beverage were practically shoved in Mimi's face. She looked up startled to see Jason offering them to her. She hadn't even noticed him return. She couldn't see his eyes but she recognized the twitch in his jaw and her heart sank. She wondered what she'd done to piss him off this time. Maybe it was just the fact she was there at all. She accepted the snacks awkwardly,

"Oh. You didn't have to ... I mean I would have ... uhh thanks, Jason."

Jason had already sat down between Jet and Leigh but he leaned over to blurt out to Mimi,

"I forgot to ask what you wanted. Hope you like extra butter on your popcorn."

Mimi nodded in surprise and tentatively sipped the beverage,

"Yeah. Oh hey is this diet cola?"

Jason nodded,

"Yeah you want regular instead? Give it here and I'll exchange it."

Mimi held it away from his reaching hand,

"No! It's exactly what I wanted. Thanks Jason."

While Jason was distracted with Mimi, Jet looked over to see Leigh looking forlorn and jealous. He got her attention. She looked over and tried to glare at him. He gave her puppy dog eyes. Pointed to her then to himself then showed her his index finger and middle finger crossed. He kissed the tip of the crossed fingers and blew it to her. He mouthed the words 'trust me' and finished up with a wink and a smile. The entire message took less than five seconds and Leigh was back to smiling and beaming.

Jason sat looking at the movie screen fuming with jealousy. He elbowed Jet sharply in the arm. Jet winced even as he fought his grin,

"Problem Jase?"

Jason ground out from between his clenched jaws,

"Get your paws off of her!"

Jet pretended confusion,

"What's it to you? She doesn't seem to be minding."

Jason retorted,

"What about Leigh? You know how she feels about you and here you are flirting with Mimi right in front of her! If you make her cry I won't hesitate to take you on, best bud or not!"

Jet shrugged,

"See for yourself. Does Leigh look at all miserable to you?"

Jason looked beside him. Leigh looked up at him and smiled. Jason grit his teeth. He didn't answer Jet's question. He tapped his foot restlessly a few times and got up again,

"Gotta take a piss."

Jet grinned and watched Jason's progress back up the aisle and out the doors. He quickly removed his arm from Mimi's shoulders. He patted her knee,

"Just so you know. He is pissed but not at you. He'll be right back."

Mimi looked at him skeptically,

"How can you be so sure? Maybe it'd be better if I just left. You all seemed to be such a happy little group until I came along."

Jet was startled,

"No you can't leave now! We're making real progress here!"

Mimi raised her eyebrows,

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Jet smiled mysteriously,

"You'll see if you take your own advice and have a little patience."

Mimi sighed,

"Okay but if he's still all bad moody by the time volume two starts I think I'll just go sit somewhere else alone, even if I do hate watching movies by myself."

Jet lifted her chin and turned her to look at him,

"If you try to go sit alone I will just follow you and Leigh will follow me and Jason will follow her to keep an eye on us. Face it you're stuck with the lot of us. Hang in there Mimi and I promise you he won't stay as you put it all bad moody."

Mimi couldn't help but be charmed and laugh at the scenario he described,

"Okay, okay. I won't try to go sit by myself. I just wish he didn't hate me so much, you know? It was just a little scratch; just an accident. He acts like I did it on purpose. I think maybe he'll never forgive me."

Jet laughed,

"Forgive you? He hasn't stopped thanking his lucky stars for that little accident since it happened!"

Mimi looked completely baffled,

"Huh? Wha ..."

Jet interrupted her curiosity,

"Oh he's on his way back. Moment of truth. Patience Mimi. Don't forget."

Just as Jason got to their row, Jet hastily sat beside Leigh and challenged Jason with his eyes. Jason paused for only a second before squeezing past Jet to sit between he and Mimi. He leaned toward Jet,

"Keep your paws off my cuz."

Jet smirked and batted innocent eyes at him even as he entwined his fingers with Leigh's fingers well out of anybody's sight. He nodded in agreement.

Jason sat back in his seat and stole a quick sideways glance at Mimi then quickly averted his eyes to the screen. His heart was racing so fast he worried she might hear it. He tried to calm himself and just watch the movie. He was having a bit of difficulty focusing because even above the smell of the popcorn he could still detect her perfume ... if he breathed deeply enough. He took another deliberate slow deep breath and squirmed a little as he tried to subtly adjust the crotch of his pants. Mimi misunderstood the fidgeting and the tension emanating from him. She thought it was resentment and that he was uncomfortable because he didn't want her there. She sunk lower in her seat feeling miserable. She decided to try to ignore Jason and just watch the movie. Some of her favorite scenes were playing out and soon she was engrossed. She wasn't able to ignore Jason, however because with all his fidgeting sometimes his knee would brush up against hers and she found herself wishing fervently,

~Please do that again.~

The first time his knee touched hers Jason yanked it back even though it felt good. He let it happen a few more times and started noticing that she wasn't pulling away. He finally took a chance and leaned his knee against hers fully and left it there wondering if she'd pull away or not. Mimi sat stock still waiting for him to yank away from her again. She nearly gasped when she felt the pressure of his knee leaning against hers seemingly unnoticed by him since he seemed very involved in watching the movie. She forced herself to relax her knee against his even while she also managed to continue following the movie. Jason stopped fidgeting and their knees remained in contact. They were both very still pretending to be oblivious to that fact, each hoping the other wouldn't move away and each fixating on the movie as a reason to pretend they hadn't noticed the contact at all.

Jet leaned a bit closer to Leigh,

"Can you see them? How are they doing now?"

Leigh leaned back and looked behind Jet's head over toward Jason and Mimi. She looked back at Jet,

"It doesn't look promising. They look very uncomfortable."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Mimi and Jason both burst out laughing at the same part in the movie.

Jet raised his eyebrows suggestively,

"You were saying?"

Leigh grinned and snuggled her hand into his just a little tighter,

"Looks to me like they're doing just fine!"

Jet blew into Leigh's ear,

"Hey."

She shivered slightly and turned toward him,

"Yeah?"

He smiled into her eyes,

"Have I mentioned yet that you look beautiful tonight?"

She blushed with pleasure and he fell deeper in love with her. Her eyes brightened suddenly,

"JET! I just thought of something - her friends are gonna be done with their movie way before this one ends - do you think they'll wait for her?"

Jet grinned,

"Nope. Not when they get the message Mimi left for them."

Leigh frowned,

"Mimi hasn't left the theatre since we got here, so there's no way she left her friends any message. What are you even talking about?"

Jet chuckled,

"Well I haven't left it for them yet, silly but I will!"

Leigh gasped with delight,

"Oh! You're so devious!"

He winked,

"Takes one to know one, hmm? Know what else? It isn't right for Mimi to ride in the backseat of her own car. Jason won't want you and I in the backseat together for any length of time and Salem Inn is closest so I'd bet Jase will get rid of me first. Then it's up to you if you want to help them out or not."

Leigh smirked and winked,

"I don't think I can handle being in the perfume wagon for very long without getting a headache, and Jason's place is closer to Salem Inn than her place is, even if it isn't, just cuz I said so!"

Jet smiled appreciatively,

"That's my girl!"

Both their faces took on a wistful expression at his edict as they both wished it was really true. They tightened their clasped hands and Jet caressed the back of her hand briefly with his thumb as they both directed their full attention back to the movie.

Chapter 17

by Fidomom

Mimi had finished her large diet cola. Her nervousness about the whole knees touching dealio had made her suck it back pretty fast. This had given her nervous bladder plenty of ammunition to act up. She squirmed trying to hold it in but if she didn't do something soon she was likely to embarass herself. The first volume of Kill Bill was almost over. She had already seen it but had not seen the second part. She dreaded the idea of squeezing past three people but she didn't want to miss any of the second part so she took a deep breath and stood up,

"Excuse me please, Jase. I need to get out of here."

Jason panicked but tried to appear calm,

"What? Why? Oh you're out of soda. I'll go get more for you."

She held him back from getting up,

"NO! More soda is not what I need right now!"

Jason looked at her in consternation,

"Well tell me what you need then, I'll take care of it."

Mimi tried hard not to laugh even as she blushed,

"No Jason you really can't take care of this for me, trust me! Just let me out of here!"

Jason swallowed hard and decided to just say it,

"I don't want you to leave."

Mimi's mouth dropped open and her heart leapt with happiness,

"Leave? You don't? I mean I'm not leaving ... I just umm drank my soda a little too quickly ... kinda went right through me."

Jason's face grew hot with embarrassment. He felt like such an idiot,

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so?"

Mimi rolled her eyes,

"I didn't think you'd want TMI."

He moved his legs aside to let her by,

"Oh. You are coming back though?"

She gave him a smaller smile than she was feeling,

"Yeah. I'll be right back."

Jet let her by next and then he nudged Jason,

"Is she leaving with her friends now?"

Jason frowned,

"Shawn and Belle? No. They're probably still watching that other movie. Mimi's coming right back."

Jet nodded and smiled as he pointed out,

"This combo movie is gonna run long Jase."

Jason nodded absently,

"Yeah it is."

Jet didn't drop any more hints.

As Mimi squeezed past Leigh she was halted by a hand on her arm,

"Where are you going?"

Mimi laughed lightly,

"I swear nosiness must run in your family. I'll be right back."

Leigh sat back in relief and let go Mimi's arm,

"Oh, okay. Sorry."

Mimi smiled at her quickly and rushed off to the ladies room. Jet watched until she disappeared then counted to five before quickly getting up and leaving too.

Jason looked at Leigh questioningly and she whispered loudly,

"Washroom I think."

Jason seemed to accept that answer and returned his attention to the movie. Leigh smiled smugly to herself, ~Good. He bought it.~

Jet approached the pretty cashier at the concession counter,

"Hi there. I was wondering if you could help me out with something?"

She beamed a hopeful smile at him,

"If I can, sure. What is it?"

Jet leaned in like he was about to share a really juicy secret with her,

"Could you tell me what time Legally Blonde 4 lets out?"

She looked disappointed but nodded,

"Sure. It let's out in about 2 minutes actually."

He smiled and winked at her. Then glanced quickly at the name on her nametag,

"Thanks ... Noelle."

She smiled back,

"No problem."

Jet pulled out his wallet and extracted some money. He put it on the counter and smiled at Noelle somewhat sheepishly,

"Long as I'm here ... one large popcorn extra extra butter, please."

She quickly got him his popcorn, took his money and gave him his change. Jet was about to walk over to the other theatre doors to watch for Shawn and Belle when he heard his name. He turned toward the speaker,

"Oh hey Mimi. Glad I bumped into you out here. Could you do me a favor and bring this to Leigh? I gotta use the men's."

Mimi's unasked question having been answered she merely smiled, nodded and accepted the popcorn,

"Sure Jet. No problem. See you in there."

Just as she turned to go back into the theatre the other movie let out and people started milling out. Jet breathed a sigh of relief that Mimi didn't seem to place any importance on that and she re-entered Kill Bill combo without hesitation. He scanned the faces that were still ambling out of Legally Blonde 4 but didn't see the ones he sought anywhere. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned. He smiled when he saw it was Mimi's little blonde friend,

"Yes?"

Belle smiled back,

"Hi. Did I just see you talking to my friend Mimi? Mimi Lockheart?"

Jet nodded but didn't say anything. Belle frowned in puzzlement,

"Well do you happen to know if Kill Bill is almost over?"

Jet shook his head feigning non-chalance,

"Nope. It's the combo so it won't be over for at least another hour and a half; maybe longer. Why?"

Belle's eyes widened in surprise,

"Oh my God! That long? Darn. Shawn is supposed to give her a ride home after the movie. Could you tell her we decided not to wait around but he'll come pick her up and take her home if she calls him on his cell after the movie? She knows the number."

Jet smiled slowly,

"I have a better idea. I'm here with Jason and his cousin Leigh. As I'm sure you know, Jason has Mimi's car tonight. He can drive her home afterwards since we're all seeing the same flick anyway."

Belle thought about it for a moment,

"Are you sure that'll be okay with Mimi and Jason? Last I saw they weren't exactly getting along."

Jet grinned,

"Well they are sitting together in the theatre and I know they were laughing earlier. Looked to me like they were getting along just fine."

Belle smiled slowly this time,

"Sitting together and laughing? Mimi and Jason? Wow. Hmmm. Okay then. Just tell Mimi to call me when she gets home would you please? Oh my name's Belle, by the way."

Jet grinned widely and nodded,

"I knew that and sure thing. Will do. You have yourself a good night, Belle."

Belle smiled back,

"Thanks you too."

Jet re-entered the Kill Bill combo theatre smiling in triumph. He was amazed at how easily everything was falling into place without much help from either Leigh or himself. He could hardly wait to fill Leigh in on what had just transpired.

Chapter 18

by Fidomom

Mimi handed off the popcorn to Leigh and then squeezed by her to return to her seat. Leigh gave her a funny look,

"What's this f ... oh lemme guess - Jet?"

Mimi nodded and squeezed past Jason. Jason's eyes bugged out of his skull as her tight-jeans clad ass passed only inches from his face and he had to think hard to remember to breathe. Mimi glanced at him sideways as she sat down in her seat and he met her look with a grateful smile. She smirked and rolled her eyes,

"See? Told you I'd come back!"

He grinned sheepishly and attempted a shrug as he nodded,

"Cool. You came back just in time - part two is about to start."

Just then Jet returned to his seat. He reached around Jason's back and tapped Mimi on the shoulder. Mimi looked his way questioningly and Jet leaned over half in front of Jason,

"Hey Mimi, just saw your little blonde friend in the lobby. She and her date are splitting. She said when this movie's over you can call Shawn to come get you."

Jason smacked him in the head,

"You dufus! Why didn't you just tell them since I've got Mimi's wheels I'd drive her home?"

Jet grinned widely,

"I did!"

Jason colored slightly,

"Oh. Well good then. Now get outta my face I'm trying to watch a movie here."

Mimi had a bit of trouble closing her mouth but she finally managed it. She looked at Jason's profile for several seconds trying to figure out why he was being so nice. He felt her gaze and looked at her,

"What?!"

She shook her head with a small smile,

"Nothing Jase ... just thanks. I forgot their movie let out first and I wouldn't want t..."

He interrupted her,

"No prob Mimi - part two's starting."

Mimi snapped her mouth shut and focussed her eyes on the screen in front of them. She was a little annoyed and a lot baffled as to how he could be so nice one minute and in the very next so rude as to cut her off in mid-sentence.

Leigh saw Jason smack Jet in the head and wondered what was going on. A moment later Jet settled back into his seat with a huge grin on his face. He leaned in to whisper to Leigh,

"It's a go sweetheart! I didn't even have to bully him into it - he offered before I could tell him it was a done deal!"

Leigh grinned,

"He's got it bad huh?"

Jet laughed quietly,

"Oh yeah. It's bad alright!"

Leigh frowned suddenly,

"So why'd he hit you?"

Jet looked puzzled,

"Hit me? He didn ... oh that? He thought I'd deprived him of the chance to drive her home!"

Leigh grinned,

"You mean as usual Mr. Impatient interrupted you before you could bully him into it ?"

Jet grinned and winked,

"You are one smart cookie!"

Leigh beamed,

"As a matter of fact yes I am AND I also happen to know my cousin very well! It wasn't hard to figure out once you told me that one lil detail."

Jet nudged her then and redirected her eyes to the screen. They each settled back and their hands laced between the seats right about the time Jason's knee became mysteriously glued to Mimi's.

To the casual observer the four of them appeared to be quite engrossed in the movie. There was no outward sign that Leigh was already planning a tantrum to be dropped off first, or that Jet knew that Leigh would demand to be dropped off first and was planning to insist that Leigh shouldn't be left home alone so late at night knowing Jason would have no choice but to leave he and Leigh alone together, or that Jason was trying to figure out a way to drop Mimi off last without anyone catching on that he just wanted to be alone with her or that Mimi was disappointedly certain that despite his earlier claim to want her around, that Jason would probably drop her off first in his hurry to get away from her and her 'stinky' perfume. Leigh's remembered slip up still stung. She bit her lip and savored the feel of his knee against hers. The racing hearts of all four hadn't much to do with the scenes playing out on the screen in front of them at all.

Not far away a couple of beat cops happened upon four youths messing with a little blue Nissan Sentra. One of the cops called out,

"Hey!"

Four startled faces whipped toward the voice and the four took off in different directions. The cops shrugged realising it was pointless to give chase and briefly inspected the vehicle. Seeing no discernible damage they concluded the youths had been chased off before they could do any. They decided it was a good time for a coffee break and walked away - completely oblivious to the fact that the rear right tire was slowly leaking air from a single nail puncture.

Disclaimer/Credits: The preceeding fiction is loosely based on characters currently and/or previously created,  owned and operated by the producers and writers of NBC-TV's Days Of Our Lives, with the exceptions of Jet, Leigh, Dean and Claire which are my own original characters. Movie quote in Chapter 27 is from a 2004 Columbia Pictures movie, entitled Layer Cake. I claim no affiliation to NBC-TV, to Days Of Our Lives or to Columbia Pictures.  Gratuitous entertainment purposes only.