War

Carson smiles as he works in the kitchen, calling back out to Jess. "Now why would I mind?"

He creates a strawberry milkshake for her, making a small one this time, knowing that she probably wouldn't want a whole lot. He tops it off with a bit of whipped cream and a whole strawberry sliced in half.

Coming back out to the counter, Carson sets the shake down in front of Jess and leans his elbows on the counter. "So how you doing? I was gonna come see you today but it was crazy in here and I couldn't get away."


"So where you all staying anyway?" Phil questions Rocky.

"Well, we got our reservations at the hotel on the edge of town - don't know how long we'll be there, but the bus should roll into town in a couple days with all our stuff. Right now we just got a few changes of clothes on us."

Phil nods as he fidgets with his napkin. "You got gigs lined up after that?"

"Not now...we're not breaking up, but we're just tired of being on the road. Too busy...we want something stable for a while."

"I can understand that."

Rocky shrugs. "So...we're gonna be looking for jobs and stuff. Kinda get back into 'normal' mode for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"Don't know yet. But it could be six months...could be a year...could be two. We just want to play it by ear and see where we go. And if we never hit the road again, so be it. But we all want to be in agreement whatever we do."

Mike joins in to the conversation. "Got places to go after the hotel?"

"Nope. Have to find some apartments or whatever. Starting from scratch...blessed enough to afford it for a little while."

"You guys could come stay out at my place," Mike offers. "Pay for your own meals and I won't charge rent. might have to sleep on a couch, but I got room."

Joel had been listening, and lifts an eyebrow. "Aw, we can't do that."

"No...really. It's just me and my dog."

"Well..." Joel and Rocky exchange glances. "Guess we'll wait until the bus comes in with our stuff and...we'll talk it over with the others then."

Mike nods. "Fair enough."


“So then we get to that place and…” Logan continues his story to Kyle, elbowing Axel every once in a while for him to join in.

Axel swirls the ice around in his glass, barely paying attention. Instead, his eyes roamed the room, bounced off faces, stared at the table, then back to roaming the room again.

Logan has paused his conversation and smirks Axel. “Hey, I was talking to you.”

“Hmm?”

Logan rolls his eyes. “How many pictures are hanging on the wall?”

“Six.”

“Paintings or photos?”

“Both.”

“How many ceiling fans?”

“Three.”

“What’s for desert?”

“Apple pie.”

“How many stools at the counter?”

“Eight.”

Logan throws up his hands and shakes his head, looking over to Misty. “I’m telling you, this guy is weird.”

Axel’s eyes narrow and he smirks at Logan. “You just don’t know what observant means.”

Logan shakes his head, still looking at Misty. “He’s not observant. He’s weird.”

A grin spreads on Axel's face. Though his sense of humor was very dry, he let it shine in his eyes, and he tosses Misty a wink, clearly owning the upper hand in this one, even if Logan thought he was the one in control.

Letting the conversation fade into the background again, Axel's eyes wander back to the counter, seeing the waiter talking to the woman. He watches for a moment, summing up their interaction.

Rising from his chair, Axel sets his napkin down.

“Yo, Grease, where you going?”

Axel turns around and throws Logan a look. “Keep up with that name and you’ll find out what axel grease feels like in bed.”

Logan raises and lowers his eyebrows, giving a silly grin. “Slippery.”

Axel points a finger and clicks his tongue. “If I were you, I wouldn’t want to find out.” He turns around again, aiming for the men’s room.

Logan calls after him. “Have fun!”

Axel just waves. He heads back down the side hall, slipping past the front counter on his way.


As Katie tucks the flower behind his ear, Jason’s eyes go to the side even though he can’t see it. He lets it sit for a moment, contemplating his options.

His eyes roam back to Katie and her laughing, and he grits his teeth to keep his own laughter in. You did not just put a flower in my hair.

Con spots Jason sporting a flower and starts to laugh. “Why Hotshot, you look right pretty tonight!”

“Shut up, Con.

“What?” Con cocks his head, still laughing. “I didn’t hear you.”

“You did too, you big tank.” Jason stands up from the table, throwing a balled-up napkin in Con’s direction.

“Hey!” Con receives the napkin to his own head even though he tries to jerk out of the way. “Watch it before you start a war, mister.”

“Me?” Jason fakes innocence. “It was her who started it!” He points to Katie, knowing good and well it had been him to make the first move. “Her and her flowers.” He grabs the flower from his hair. “And look, she even broke it!”

“Ohhh no!” Con shakes his head in dismay. “She broke the flower. She’ll have to go turn it in to Mabel now. You know what happens to people who break flowers.”

Jason hadn’t a clue and neither did Con. But it sounded good. A grin spreads on Jason’s face. “Yep. Flower killers must pay.” Before stopping to think, Jason grabs Katie from her chair, bends over and in one motion he has her slung over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, her head hanging down his back. “Mabel!” He marches toward the counter, flower in hand. “Katie gone done and ruined a center piece.”

“Don’t let her go, Jase!” Phil hollers.

“Take him down!” Laura yells to Katie, laughing.