| Title: Getting Reacquainted Author: Priscilla Chapter 3 "Damn it Jasmine, we're going to late!" Gavin bellowed from the stairs as he helped the driver bring down their bags. He blew out a sigh and ran a hand back through his curly brown hair. He had never expected to have to come home under such circumstances. Wesley was gone, the band was extremely upset at the fact that he had delayed tour for a couple of weeks, and now to top it off, his girlfriend was going to make him late for a funeral. Gavin tensed his jaw as the word hammered in his brain....Funeral, Wesley's funeral. He would of cried, if he had been given the time or if he had been afforded the comfort of having someone's shoulder to cry on. But he didn't have that, the woman who shared his heart and his bed no longer allowed him to feel, just took and took. Sooner or later he was going to have nothing left to give... ****************************** The sun flowed into the room bathing it in a warm glow. Jane got out of the bed and took a shower. When she came downstairs she was surprised at the amount of movement taking place about the kitchen. Most of the women she'd met yesterday were moving about preparing food and such. Mildred walked to her slowly, an apron tied around her waist. She looked.....less haunted than she had yesterday. "How are you love?" She asked. Jane didn't know how to voice the fact that she still didn't believe Wesley was gone. How she had cried most of the night for the sense of loneliness that had overtaken her. So, she didn't say anything, just smiled down at the small woman. "I'm alright. Can I help with anything?" "No sweetheart you are our guest. Just make sure that you have something to eat before the funeral." ******************************** Time seemed to fly by without her notice of it. Jane sat amongst the mourners. Wearing the dress Wesley had given her. She silently looked around the people gathered there, all dressed in black. Everyone looked so pale. A priest was talking to them, relaying the bible's teachings about life and death. Telling them how Wesley would be missed but not completely gone for he would live on in their hearts. But he was gone, Jane thought bitterly, he was gone and she'd never gotten the chance to tell him how much he meant to her. It would be left unsaid. The sound of gravel crunching under the weight of car tires stopped her mental bombardment. Jane turned her head along with everyone else to see who had arrived to pay their last respects. The door to the navy blue 2002 Bentley GT opened and out stepped a lovely young woman with dark hair and fair skin. Sunglasses hid most of her face, even though the sun was hidden amongst puffy gray clouds. But Jane's attention was not on the young woman, but on the man that also came from the back seat of the car. Dressed impeccably in a black suit, unruly brown curls tucked behind his ears and the unmistakable Widow's Peak high on his forehead. Gavin Rossdale took the hand of the young woman and nodded his greetings to the mourners gathered as he past. He walked straight to Wesley's mother, kneeling in front of her and whispering soft words while holding her hands in his. Vivian nodded, managing a smile on her tear streaked face. All the strength present this morning seemed to have been sucked out of her. Jane had kept her eyes on every move Gavin made from the time he had arrived until now. He sat two rows in front of her to the right, the young woman sat next to him. He looked much thinner than she remembered, and pale too. She wondered how things had gone for him in the States, if he had found that way of connecting to people through his music. It would truly be a shame if he hadn't, Gavin had this way of reaching into your innermost thoughts and voicing them in such a beautiful and truthful way. Gavin had the sudden feeling of being watched but refrained from looking around. No one back home wanted to know or cared about the fact that he was considered "a huge rock star" in the U.S. They were here for Wesley, because he was gone. They had been best friends growing up, him, Wesley, and Jane. Gavin's gaze drifted through the crowd but he didn't find what he was looking for. He didn't find the big glowing hazel eyes and velvety soft black hair. He wondered where she was, and if she knew that their small link to each other had been broken. Gavin was so lost in his thoughts that he'd barely heard the end of the ceremony. Everyone was walking away, hugging each other, and drying tears. "Gavin, everyone's leaving babe." Jasmine's voice cut through the fog in his brain and he turned to look into her clear green eyes. Gavin nodded and got up, looking down at the medallion in his hand. It had been his father's and he wanted to give it to the one person who would always be with him in spirit. Gavin ignored Jasmine's whine of protest that it had begun to rain and looked towards where Wesley's coffin still lay above the soft green earth, at the woman placing a white rose amongst the many others on the lid. Disentangling his left hand from Jasmine's grasp, he walked towards the slender figure clad in the almost soaked black dress, a million thoughts running through his mind. Could it really be Jane? Had she been there all along? Why hadn't he noticed her? He stopped about a half foot away from the woman and with an emotionally deepened voice asked, "Jane?" Jane took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. She had wished that he would of just left with the others and left her alone. She slowly turned around to face him. "Hello Gavin. How have you been?" The best approach was to pretend that nothing was wrong at all, right? Title: Getting Reacquainted Author: Priscilla Chapter 4 Gavin looked shocked. Maybe it was the cold _expression on her face, the monotone in which she'd greeted him, or maybe it was that he couldn't believe this was supposed to be one of the best friends he'd left behind. She was taller than he remembered, her hair was longer and she was very thin, but unbelievably beautiful. Something was missing though; her eyes had lost that shine.... "J-Jane, um how are you?" He managed to stutter out. Gavin instantly wanted to slap himself for such a stupid question, but the truth was he wasn't sure how to go about this, how exactly would he greet someone at a funeral? Jane looked down at the ground and took in a breath. "I just buried my best friend. How do you think I am?" She said looking up at him. Gavin clenched his jaw against the pain that little jive caused. "I cared about him too." He said quietly, trying to defend himself. Jane snorted and smiled sardonically. "Yeah, I could tell by the birthdays that passed and the Christmases that passed. I was there, but you never seemed to make it. Or was it that it wasn't deemed important enough for a rock star such as yourself to attend?" Jane was damn near tears, but she wouldn't let them fall, not before giving him a piece of her mind. "That's not fair." "No it wasn't......and I'm sorry. I'm not feeling very talkative today." She said looking down at the ground. "Gavin can we leave now? This place is giving me the creeps." Jane looked up to see the young woman grab hold of his hand and try to lead him away. "Just give me a couple of minutes Jas, ok?" He said. The girl, Jasmine, gave him a very irritated look and then walked up the gravel path to their car. Gavin turned back to Jane. It had started to rain again and she was shivering from the cold. He would have offered her his coat, if he hadn't already known she would refuse it. She'd never admit she was cold, such was his Jane. "Where are you staying?" He asked softly. "Why do you want to know?" Jane said quirking an eyebrow at him questioningly. "You know why. We have to talk, let all this out between us." "I'm at Wesley's parents right now with my mum, but I should be home by tomorrow." She looked into her bag for a piece of paper that had her address on it or something. She found a card detailing her business and that had her address. "Here, this has my address. You can come at any time, I should be there." Jane watched as he read the card and smiled. He brought his eyes back up to hers and she noticed that they were also smiling. She looked past his shoulder at the retreating Bentley. "Um, your girlfriend just left." She said matter-of-factly. "It's not that far to the hotel." He looked down at the card and smiled." I'll see you soon." He said before walking away. Jane stood there for a couple of minutes, watching him walk away. She shook her head at the sudden bad memories. Snapping out of it, she made her way to her car and went home. ************************** Gavin cursed under his breath as tiny raindrops began to fall on his head. He was cold enough as it was, he didn't need to be soaking wet right now. He was going to kill Jasmine when he got to the hotel. Jasmine. God she had changed so much. She used to be this bright light in his life, full of energy and love. Where had that Jasmine gone? He asked himself. Gavin took a deep breath and closed his eyes momentarily, and without wanting to, went back to one of the darkest points in their relationship. ******** A year and half ago........ Jasmine placed the metal spoon over the candle's flame and waited until the powdery substance dissolved into a clear liquid. She had already tied the elastic around her upper arm and had a hypodermic needle nearby. All the essentials. Gavin closed his eyes to what he was seeing, he couldn't believe she was still doing this. After she'd nearly died. "I thought you quit." He said coming up behind her. Jasmine dropped the spoon; it's contents making a small splat on the floor. She cursed under her breath as she looked up at him. "Damn it Gavin! You should at least warn me next time." She said kneeling on the floor to clean up the mess. Gavin kneeled down next to her and took hold of her face. "There won't be a next time Jas. And if there is, I won't be here to see it." He said looking into her green eyes. Tears sprung into Jasmine's eyes and she tried to blink them back, but they came anyway. Soon she was sobbing on Gavin's chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rocked back and forth in a soothing motion. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Gavin. I'll stop. I promise." ******** Gavin unlocked to the Suite he and Jasmine were sharing and stepped inside. He took off his coat and shoes. The television was on. Jasmine was watching a movie. He was hoping this time together would do their relationship some good, get them out of that rut they seemed to be stuck in. "Who was that girl you were talking to at the funeral?" Jasmine asked suddenly, when he sat down next to her. It took him a little off guard but he answered her question. "A friend of mine. We grew up together, her, Wesley, and me." Jasmine shrugged her shoulders absently. "I don't like her." She said sitting up and walking towards the mini fridge to get a soda. Gavin sat up and watched her as she took a sip, holding the anger that suddenly welled up at bay. "You don't have to. You don't have any ties to her, I do." He reminded her, standing up to look out the large windows overlooking the city. Jasmine put her can of soda down and glared at his back. "That's what I'm worried about." She said coming up behind him. Gavin spun around and squinted his eyes at her. "What the fuck are you talking about Jasmine?" He asked annoyed. He was pissed now. Jasmine chuckled to herself. It was a condescending chuckle, made him feel as big as a piss ant. "You don't exactly have a great track record with 'old friends' Gavin. Remember what happened last time? You slept with her." Jasmine said, crossing her arms over her chest. Gavin shook his head in disbelief. "I'm getting sick of this Jasmine and I'm getting sick of you. What happened between Jules and me was a mistake, a mistake I thought you forgave me for and we put behind us. I guess I was wrong." "It's hard for me, Gavin. You expect me to ignore the way you looked at her today? God, it was the exact same way you looked at Jules!" Jasmine was screaming now, her eyes had blurred with the onslaught of unexpected tears and she was trembling with rage. "If you can't trust me then maybe you should think about where this relationship is going. I don't think there's a future for us if you keep this up. You've got a lot more to hide than I do." "What the fuck do you mean? Are you threatening me?" "I'm not threatening you Jasmine. I'm just telling you that a super model with a crack addiction is not the kind of thing you should let leak out. I thought you stopped." He said grabbing her arm and pushing her sleeve up to show fresh tracks, or puncture wounds from hypodermic needles. Jasmine pulled her arm free of his hand and picked up her coat. "You're not my father Gavin. I don't need you to run my life." Gavin sighed and nodded his head. "I'm not trying to do that love, I just want what's best for you, for us, and you can't just keep accusing me of cheating on you. Jane and I are just very good friends. That's all." Gavin said, lowering his voice. Jasmine just stared at the floor and when she looked up, her eyes were shiny with tears yet again. "I--I think we need to start seeing other people Gavin, I don't see us working anymore." She said, wrapping her coat around her body and walking out of the room. Gavin stood in the doorway dumbfounded. He shut the door, and ran his hand through his hair. He couldn't believe this just happened. He picked up a glass and smashed it against a wall. "Damn it!" ************************* Jane had finally unpacked all the clothes from her stay at Wesley's parents. She had wanted to stay longer, but the task had been easier said than done. It was too hard to mourn openly. She'd much rather cry in the privacy of her own home. She was about to pour herself a cup of coffee when someone knocked on her front door. Jane cursed under her breath before making her way to the front and opening the door. She couldn't believe it was him. What was he doing here? "G-Gavin?" |