At Random

"I don't understand how you can just get up one morning and say 'I'm going to find meself a girlfriend' and then go out and get one! It doesn't work like that." Dom picked up his step so he wouldn't fall behind.

"How do you know?" Elijah countered, quickly moving out of the way of a pack of tourists.

"I've tried it," Dom responded obviously.

"You can't have done it properly, then. Where'd you look for a girlfriend? At the supermarket?"

"At a club, thank you very much." He jumped over an empty Starbucks cup lying on the pavement.

"See? That's your problem. You can't find lasting relationships in clubs."

"Says who?"

"It's statistically proven." Elijah turned left and pushed open the door of Amoeba, letting the loud music float out onto the streets; Dom stepped inside behind him.

"You're full of shite."

"I most certainly am not, Dominic." Elijah pushed through a crowd that was congregated at the front of the store, looking at all the concert notices, and began browsing the rows and rows of CDs.

Dom couldn't concentrate on looking for new music, when he had this pressing matter to deal with. "Wait a minute. I don't understand."

"I am very tired of being without a girlfriend." Elijah picked up a CD, handed it to Dom for inspection. "So, I woke up this morning and was completely and totally sure that I would find myself one today. No matter what it takes."

"You might have to go to a whorehouse, though." Dom handed the CD back. "This one's good."

Elijah nodded. "I am not going to a whorehouse." He huffed out a long breath, and handed another CD over for a potential veto. "You can find perfectly respectable girls, sans boyfriends, pretty much anywhere. Especially LA. There are girls all over the place here."

Dom chuckled. "I've noticed."

Shrugging, Elijah moved on to the next row of discs. "What do you have against this endeavor?"

"Nothing, really." Dom picked up a CD, twirled it in his hands and set it back where he'd found it. "I just think that when a guy has a girlfriend they usually come together naturally. Not because the guy says he needs to find a girlfriend today, or else the world ends."

"I never said the world would end," Elijah pointed out, adding another CD to the gradually growing stack he was holding in one hand. "Maybe you should find yourself a girl, as well."

"I'd rather not plan it. I'd rather just let it happen, if that's okay with you."

Elijah shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Well, how about that one, then?" Dom questioned, pointing indiscreetly to a girl standing in the 'P' section a few feet away from them.

"Who said I was going to pick at random?" Elijah replied, not looking up; he was reading the track names on the back of an Outkast CD. "We should get this one. We've been too long without it. The entire population owns it, and we're the only two without."

"I doubt that," Dom laughed, but put the CD in his pile. "You didn't say you were going to pick at random, but I thought it was a nice idea. Plus, she's cute, and definitely your type."

Elijah put his hands on his hips, turning away from said girl, and looking at Dom angrily. "What's my type, I'd like to know."

"She likes music." Dom turned Elijah back around, steering him towards the girl; he gave him a little kick in the arse that made Elijah yelp, but not loud enough to be heard over the music playing on the overhead speakers. "Go chat her up, mate. You've nothing to lose. And it's already 3:30. You only have a few more hours to find a girlfriend in your regulation 24 hour period."

Elijah walked steadily towards the girl, briefly looking back at Dom to give him a sour look of disdain; Dom pretended not to notice, and went off towards the record room.

"They're good," Elijah said, as soon as he had gotten within hearing distance of the girl; she wore jeans and a t-shirt, like him, only in different shades.

She looked up, surprised. "Oh, yeah. I know. I'm trying to decide what one I want to buy."

"If you're a fan, then I'm sure you'd like them all."

She nodded, sliding her sunglasses further back, pushing brown hair out of her face. "I would like to get them all, but I've got a whole list of CDs to buy, so I can only afford one." She laughed slightly, and shrugged. "I have to put myself on a CD budget, or I'd spend all my money in here and not realize until I got home."

Elijah chuckled. "I'm like that as well." He stuck his hand out to her. "I'm Elijah."

"Laura." She paused, and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You, as well." He smiled at her, and turned to examine what CDs she was holding.

"Do you work here?" She asked, gesticulating around the store.

"Ah, no." He shook his head. "No, I just...came to see if you were a fellow Placebo fan, that's all."

"Oh," she nodded, looking back down at the CDs.

"Actually, I came over to ask you out." He wanted to bite his tongue, but felt that would hurt, so he settled instead to mentally berate himself; he hadn't meant to straight out ask her. He had planned to gently ease into it.

Laura's eyes widened. "You just randomly go up to girls and ask them out?"

"Not usually, no." He sighed, raking his hair back out of his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"I didn't mean to ask if you worked here. I know you don't." She laughed nervously. "I just wasn't sure what to say. If I had said I knew who you were, I didn't want you to run off in horror, or something."

"I don't know who you've been talking to," he grinned, "because I've never run off in the middle of a conversation with a pretty girl." He congratulated himself; that had been very smooth.

Laura laughed. "Thanks."

"Do you want to maybe go grab some dinner somewhere? I'm here with my friend, but I can ditch him. I'm pissed at him anyway."

"I guess I could, yeah, sure." She looked around, then let her eyes land on his again. "Your friend can come, I don't care."

"He wouldn't want to. He has this thing about being a third wheel."

"Understandable."

Elijah nodded. "Let me just go tell him I'm leaving, and I'll meet you out on the sidewalk, okay?"

"Yup." She put one of the CDs down and smiled at him.

Elijah was smiling broadly when he located Dom not very far away. "I'm taking her out to dinner."

"What, right now? Only old folks eat right now."

"I am pretty old."

Dom snorted. "What's she like?"

"She's very sweet."

"And?"

"She likes Placebo."

"Score."

"Definitely. So I'll see you later, then."

"Okay." Elijah turned to leave, but Dom grabbed his elbow and swung him around. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"What wouldn't you do?"

Dom hit him playfully. "You're right. There isn't anything I wouldn't do. Have a jolly good time!"

*

"I didn�t know people did that," Laura said, cocking her head to the side curiously.

"Me either, to be honest." Elijah laughed a little. "I�m glad you�re not pissed about it."

"Why would I be?"

"I don�t know. Most girls would be fucking pissed off if they found out they�d been asked out just because some guy wanted a girlfriend."

Laura shrugged. "Yeah. I can see how some girls would be fucking pissed about that."

"When Dom suggested I ask you out, I didn�t think anything would come of it. I honestly thought it�d just be a fun little whim thing�but I was wrong; it was fun, but it was more than that." He cleared his throat and sat back against the leather of his seats. They were outside Laura�s house; they�d had dinner, and had walked around Hollywood Blvd without anyone trying to rip his clothes off. Which was a definite plus these days.

She turned in her seat to face him. "You can never tell if you like someone just by how they look, anyway."

"This is true," Elijah answered, nodding. "But I do like you."

"Well, I like you, too."

"Not just because I�m Frodo?"

"Nope."

He let out a fake �phew� and laughed. "Good to know."

"I should go in," Laura said suddenly, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. It was well after 4am; she wasn�t sure where the time had gone. Last she�d known, it was the middle of the afternoon and she was browsing Cds at Amoeba. Now it was early the next morning. It seemed time really did fly sometimes. "I don�t want to. But I probably should."

Elijah let a yawn slip out. "Yeah, I should probably get home. Do you want to catch a movie tomorrow? I mean�later today?"

Laura nodded. "Absolutely. Give me a call." She handed him a slip of paper with her cell phone number on it. "I had a really good time."

"I did, too." He leaned closer to her. "Too bad it has to end."

"All good things do, I guess."

He leaned even closer, his voice getting quieter. "I guess so."

The only sound was that of their breathing as his lips pressed firmly against hers in an aggressive kiss that caused his heart rate to pick up considerably, and her breath to catch in her throat.

When they pulled away it was nearing 5am.

"Better get some sleep so you can make it to a movie," Elijah joked, leaning over her and opening the door. He gave her a quick kiss before she jumped out.

"I�ll see you later," Laura said, smiling happily at him.

He grinned up at her as she leaned in the car. "Yes, you definitely will."

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