Unexpected Company

tcost

Really Really Experienced
Joined
Apr 15, 2006
Posts
407
Neil Scott handed in his blue book, feeling elated. His last final was over for the semester, and he was ready to head out to Vegas.

His suitcase was already in the back of his old Passat. It had been his father's car, before the man had passed away a year ago. It was a definite step up from the car he'd had before, so he sold the clunker and kept the station wagon.

He was clad in sneakers and jeans, and a dark blue polo shirt. He tried to be quiet as he walked over to the door, wanting to avoid any disturbance for the other students still working on their essays. But one of his classmates, who had already finished up ahead of him, had said that she wanted to talk to him, and Neil was curious about what she wanted.

The plan had originally been for Angie to come along with him, and to meet Jim and Linda there at the Bellagio. They were flying in from the east, and would be arriving the next day. It was handy that Neil was driving, so he could pick them up from the airport.

But Angie had found a new boyfriend, and Neil was on his own now. It would be a bit strange, being there with another couple, even if one of them was his cousin, while he was by himself, but it was Vegas, after all. He might be able to meet someone.
 
This was it.

Chelsea had been waiting to have this conversation with Neil for weeks now. But she’d always chickened out. It was either too soon. Or inappropriate. Or the wrong time. Well…time was running out. Finals were over, and he would be leaving for Vegas. It was now, or never.

Chelsea had been good friends with Neil for almost a year. Her connection with him, at least in her eyes, was undeniable. The playful flirting always existed, even if she did play by the rules and cooled off whenever his girlfriend was around. She considered him a really good friend, and she worried that now that the school year was over, that they’d lose touch. That friendship and bond that they’d formed would fade away. He may have been too blind while they were friends to see that bond, considering he only had eyes for Melissa, but...she just had to know.

The first time Chelsea had found out that him and Melissa were planning a trip to Vegas, she was excited. But unfortunately, due to lack of funds, and lack of a boyfriend, she wasn’t able to save up enough to go with them. All of her money she earned at the café went directly toward her tuition. It seemed like a couple's trip, and there was no way in hell that she would have wound up going solo.

But…now that him and Melissa were broken up…well, this was her chance. Not her chance to be a rebound and swoop right in. Just to see…what if?

Chelsea was standing outside the classroom in the hall, pacing. She was wearing a tight pair of blue jeans and a white tank top. Her auburn hair was bouncing in it's ponytail, like it usually was. And that's when she saw him, quietly stepping out of the classroom.

"Hey," She smiled over at him, waving him over. "That essay question was a bitch, hm?" Chelsea laughed softly, trying to easy the tension. Or at least, the tension on her end. "So, look, I've been uh...meaning to talk to you. Or ask you, really. God, I don't even know how to--" She started, going off into one of her rambles. He must've learned by now that she did it whenever she was overly excited, or nervous. She was definitely nervous.

"Okay, here it is." She sighed, taking in a deep breath, her green eyes lifting to gaze up at him. Since he was slightly taller, she always had to tilt her head back just a little to look up at him. "I know you had planned to go to Vegas with Melissa, but...after everything that happened, I was wondering if you had room for one more. I'd really like to go with you, and I think it would be fun." Her lips curved, and she smiled wide. "Don't act like you don't know we wouldn't have fun." Oh yes, they'd been to their share of parties all around campus. There was no question that Chelsea and Neil knew how to have a good time.

"So, what do you say? Please, Neil?" She hadn't even considered the fact that he'd invited someone else, and she swallowed hard at the thought.
 
The second that he saw her, Neil had to smile. She almost always had that effect on him. But Chelsea had always put him firmly into her friend zone, so, as sexy as he found her, and despite all the flirting they'd done over the past year, he'd always kept his distance.

When he had still been with Melissa, that had been just as well. But since he'd finally started getting over her, he'd found that some of his wet dreams featured a new guest star, one with that bouncing auburn ponytail. She had that job at the cafe, though, so while he had thought of asking her along for his trip, he had said nothing about it. Besides, Chelsea really was just about his best friend, and messing that up would be foolish.

Pushing his blond hair back from his forehead -- it always got into his eyes -- he waited until he was fairly close to her to start talking, thus giving her the opportunity. And that changed everything.

His brown eyes met her green ones, and he stood particularly close to her, so they wouldn't make enough noise to bother anyone in the classrooms. The sound out here could carry.

When she was finished, he exhaled, and then reached for her right hand with his left one. "Chelsea, there is no one on earth I'd rather have with me. C'mon with me to my car, and I'll drive you over to your room, so you can get whatever you need for the trip. I've got reservations for ten days -- can you be gone from your job for that long?"

Ten days at the Bellagio was going to be expensive, but Neil's father's estate had been settled, and now he had a lot more money than he had ever had before. This would be his first real extravagance with all of that money.
 
Thankfully, Neil didn't make her wait that long.

"Chelsea, there is no one on earth I'd rather have with me." had sounded like some kind of proposal as he took her hand, and it made her let out a silent laugh. "C'mon with me to my car, and I'll drive you over to your room, so you can get whatever you need for the trip. I've got reservations for ten days -- can you be gone from your job for that long?"

Ten days! She would have never guessed that he would have been gone that long. But...that just made her all the more excited. She had ten days to test the water. Ten days to win him over, and see just exactly what was really going on with him, without a girlfriend to hold either of them back.

"I'm not working at the cafe again until we're back in school. I should be okay. Money will just be...a little tight." But Chelsea just couldn't stop smiling. She was going to Vegas! She could hardly believe that he had agreed. And so easily!

"You're so easy, you know that? Now, if we can keep this up, the act of you agreeing to anything I ask, I'm already predicting you'll be buying all of my drinks." She teased jokingly, grinning up at him before she squeezed his hand tighter and tugged him closer. But not too close, because as soon as he was inches from her, she was stepping back and leading the way out of there so he could take her to her dorm room.

He knew exactly where it was; he'd been there a million times and Melissa lived in the same one. It's one of the many reasons how they met, knew each other, and hung out all of the time. When they got to her room, Chelsea packed her bag as quickly as she could. Dresses, bikinis, and other clothes for warm weather was stuffed inside, and in hardly any time at all, she was done.

"Thank you again for letting me come, Neil. I'm so excited, you have no idea." She smiled at him from across the room, then reached behind her head to let her ponytail loose so her long hair could fall past her shoulders. "And I'll pay you back for the hotel, and whatever you need. Promise." Clearing her throat, she was clearly hiding something behind her back. Two dresses.

"I need your opinion. Red, or black?" She held out for him, one at a time. The black one was smaller, and would be more revealing. But the red one was...well, it was red! He was staring back at her, and finally she just rolled her eyes. "Forget it, they're both coming. No more fashion advice from you." Carefully fitting in the rest of what she could, she zipped up her bag, already knowing that the thing would weigh a ton.
 
Neil had been afraid that he'd run into Melissa again, but, thankfully, both of them were spared that awkwardness. It didn't take him long at all, after they had arrived, to put her out of his mind, because he had something better to think about.

"Both is the right answer, I think. We'll be gone for awhile, after all. I'll be happy to pay for your drinks, and for that matter your meals, since we will probably be going to some expensive places, and I don't want to make you a pauper. You don't have to pay for the room, either. I can afford it easily, you know. If you want, just think of this as one gigantic date, where the guy pays for the girl."

He walked over and picked up the suitcase for her. "That's provided that you'd even want to go out on a date with me, of course. You know me so well that you probably know better than to get involved with me."
 
She didn't have to pay? Chelsea raised an eyebrow. She may not have had a lot of money, or come from a family who did, but she wasn't a freeloader. She'd find a way to pay Neil back, one way or another.

"If you want, just think of this as one gigantic date, where the guy pays for the girl."

As he took her bag, Chelsea just froze and stared at him. A date. That was all she really wanted from him. Only, she thought she'd have to work a little harder to get it out of him. Maybe he was more willing to move on from Melissa than she thought.

"Don't be ridiculous, Neil. We're definitely going on a date." She nodded at him, her tone almost promising. "We've been out together before, lots of times. I guess those were kind of like dates, only...you had a girlfriend." Chelsea shrugged, hating bringing up Melissa. They all used to be friends. Chelsea and Melissa used to hang out a lot too, just not much as her and Neil. But now that they had split, Chelsea hadn't spoken to Melissa since his break-up either. She could never support what she did to Neil. Usually people picked a side when their two friends split; and Chelsea picked Neil. She'd always pick him.

Chelsea could hear the other students in the halls and other rooms packing up and moving out. The building was packed and busy for her. Luckily, her roommate had finished finals early and moved out the week prior. It had left her place available and open for a great party last weekend.

She was standing closely to him, but not close enough to touch. Even if she wanted to. "I can't wait to go out with you this week, Neil. Now that Melissa is out of the picture, well," She grinned up at him, that pretty head tilting back again. "We can do whatever the hell we want."
 
"This is true," Neil returned, standing there unmoving for a moment, and then he put down the suitcase, setting it back down on the floor. Maybe they didn't need to hurry so much.

"We can do whatever we want," he repeated, stepping toward her. Now they were definitely close enough to touch, so he touched her, extending his right hand and lightly running the palm along her bare side, between the jeans and the tank top.

"You look great, you always do, but is this exactly what you want to wear on the car trip? It will take a good eight or nine hours, most of it through the wilderness. We won't be arriving until the middle of the night, and it gets cold in the desert then, at this time of year."

He slipped his thumb between the fabric of the tank top and her warm, smooth skin. "A gentleman would offer to help a lady. Would you like me to help you take this off?" Their faces were still close enough together that they could focus on one another, and Neil's eyes were intent on Chelsea's.
 
All at once, Neil was setting her suitcase down and walking toward her.

Good god. That look in his eyes just about set her on fire. It was like her biggest fantasy come true. Him looking at her like that. Stepping closer. Inches from her. And then he touched her.

"We can do whatever we want," Chelsea swallowed.

She was more aware of his hand on her side than she was of anything else in her own room. The flesh of his hand was touching the soft flesh of her skin, between her tank top and the waist of her jeans. Just that one touch had jump-started her heart that began to race wildly in her chest.

As always, she tilted her head back to look up at him, her pink lips slightly parted.

"A gentleman would offer to help a lady. Would you like me to help you take this off?"

What kind of game was this? Chelsea was used to flirting with Neil. Countless times they'd gotten close like this. But...this felt different. He was looking at her longer. Daring to touch her young skin like he had a right to. Normally, she'd come back with a playful retort and the two would laugh it off, as always. But...Melissa was out of the picture. She didn't have to restrain herself. And neither did he.

But...was this supposed to be some playful game she was supposed to play along with? Or...more? Well, there was only one way to find out.

Green eyes gazing up at him, Chelsea's pink lips curved into a smile. She could feel his warm breath on her face and in her hair, he was so close.

"It would be the...gentlemanly thing to do." She agreed with a nod. And testing him now, Chelsea slowly raised her arms in the air above her head, waiting for him to either step in and remove her tank top like he'd hinted, or back out from the flirting like old times.
 
No gentleman on earth should fail to follow through when a lady did -that-. Using both hands, he smoothly and quickly took hold of both sides of the tank top and pulled it up and over her head, and off of her arms as well. It had been clear from the start that she had been wearing nothing else beneath it, or at least so Neil supposed.

"I should have done this when I first met you -- but if I had, we might never have become friends. So I think that this way was better. But I am so glad that the wait is over now." He spoke the words a little above a whisper, looking into her eyes rather than down at her breasts. He would be looking at those later -- this was Chelsea he was dealing with, not someone who wasn't this important to him.

He wrapped her in his arms, and prepared to kiss her, but first, he had more to say -- this was Chelsea. "Promise me that no matter whatever else happens, you will stay my best friend. I need you for that, Chelsea."
 
Swiftly, Neil's hands lifted her thin tank top up her body and over her head. Her ponytail loosened on her head, but her hair stayed in place as the fabric slid over her fingertips and her arms slowly came back down again. He was right to assume that she wore no bra underneath. Her green eyes shot right up to him, watching him. Seeing if he'd study her body. Because this was definitely new territory for both of them. Already, they were crossing lines they hadn't come close to crossing when they were friends.

"Promise me that no matter whatever else happens, you will stay my best friend. I need you for that, Chelsea."

Of course Chelsea wanted that too. But she wanted him to be clear. Was he willing to work the friends with benefits ind of relationship, or something else? She wasn't sure, but she convinced herself she didn't care. She only wanted him, and she didn't care how.

"I'm not going anywhere." She promised, her arms wrapping around his neck, over his shoulders. Her breasts pressed against the soft fabric of his shirt as he held her, the two embracing in her room with her door still halfway open.

Finally, Chelsea took what she'd been waiting for since the day she met him.

With her small hands curling behind his neck, she pulled him closer, bringing him to her level as she stood on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips to his. His mouth was warm and his lips were surprisingly soft. Without a shirt on in that cool room, that kissed warmed her inside and out. His hands were exploring her body, gently sliding down her sides and over the curve of her hips. It drew her closer to him, and in turn, she kissed him more firmly, but just as slow. That kiss was deep and slow, growing hotter by the second. Her tongue was just about to slide between his lips and explore his mouth when she heard a gasp.

"Well, that didn't take long." The familiar voice called out. It was Melissa.

Pulling back, luckily Neil's back to Melissa to cover her, Chelsea peered around his shoulder to glare back at her.

"I always knew something was going on between you two, and neither of you would fess up! You probably thought I was a fool, for not seeing the signs. I saw them, and I came here to actually apologize to you, Chelsea. To see if we could still be friends, and-- Chelsea cut her off. She wasn't about to stand there, shirtless, and be accused of something that wasn't true.

"Let's not play the innocent card, Melissa! You cheated on him. Instead of working out your problems with Neil, you resolved them by finding someone else. Neil has always been faithful to you, and I have always respected your relationship." Even if she thought he was too good for her. "So, before you start going around and looking for someone else to put the blame on, look somewhere else. We'll never be friends again. The only reason we hung out was because of Neil. So get the fuck out of my room." Chelsea turned, so she could grab her shirt and put it back on, while Neil finally turned to Melissa, hopefully to get rid of her for good.
 
"Believe it or not, Melissa, it was just happening now. It would have happened months ago if it hadn't been for you, but no, I wasn't the one who was stepping out. Not that I hadn't been thinking about it."

Neil and Melissa had had a civil breakup, compared to this at least. "I'm taking Chelsea on the trip I planned to take you on. The trip I'd bought the engagement ring for. I'm only glad that we broke up when we did -- before I made the biggest mistake of our lives."

That was about the time that Melissa threw the bookend at him. It was heavy enough that it hurt a bit when it bounced off of his shoulder, but it had been aimed at his head. Without another word, Melissa turned on her heel and stormed out.

"What do you know?" Neil said after a moment. "She finally had the nerve to call me on it. Maybe it will do her some good. I hope that Craig is happy with her, but I doubt that that will work, either."

Yes, Neil still had some issues with Melissa, but he had fewer of them now, and he was more than willing to put them behind them now.

He set about collecting up the books that had spilled onto the floor. "Talk about a way to break a mood, though!"
 
Yes, definitely a mood killer.

By now, Chelsea had slipped on a bra from her dresser, and a blouse that would keep her warm on the trip. While her heart still raced and she could still taste his lips on her mouth, the moment was over. Melissa had ruined that, and maybe that was her intention.

"You never told me that you bought her a ring." She said softly, carefully. They were good friends. Best friends. And he hadn't mentioned that he wanted to propose to Melissa, not once. Maybe he knew if he had brought it up, that she'd immediately tell him to wait. That it was too soon. Maybe she would have made some confessions of her own. But...it did hurt a little, not realizing that Neil had really loved her enough to want to marry the girl.

Maybe they needed more time. They shouldn't be standing there, kissing in her room.

"We don't have to talk about it, I just...didn't know." She shrugged, casually, pretending it didn't bother her, even if he knew better. Had she been too caught with him that she hadn't really seen how serious Neil and Melissa were? Could she even compare? Well, of course she could. Chelsea was ten times the woman that Melissa would ever be. But would Neil ever feel that way?

"We should probably get going, hm? We want to miss the traffic getting out of the city."

Chelsea could hardly look him in the eye now that the feeling in the air was more...awkward. Stepping passed him, she reached for her own bag to take it down herself this time.
 
"Please, Chelsea," Neil said, quietly enough. "Let me get that suitcase for you. Let me do that for you. Don't let what just happened rob me of that privilege."

He walked over, and stood next to the suitcase. "If Melissa is watching someplace, I'd just as soon that she saw me carrying it, apart from anything else. But, much more important, this is something that I want to do for you."
 
Chelsea couldn't even grab her own suitcase without Neil insisting on taking it for her.

"If Melissa is watching someplace, I'd just as soon that she saw me carrying it, apart from anything else. But, much more important, this is something that I want to do for you."

So, did he want to do it for her, or Melissa? She was confused. And a little annoyed. Pissed off. Did he just want to carry her bags to make Melissa jealous? She wasn't some game for him to make his ex-girlfriend jealous and want him back! She actually cared for him, and the whole purpose of her taking this trip was to explore that. And now he was making it difficult.

Maybe she was being dramatic. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. But if she didn't care about him and the result of their friendship, she would have let it go. But she just couldn't.

"Do whatever you want." She said coldly, the tensions in the room changing from hot, heated, and sexy, to cold and angry.

Chelsea walked out of the dorm room first, letting him take care of hers bags while she led the way back to his car. The doors were still unlocked, and she slipped inside, claiming the passenger seat. Chelsea pursed her lips together while she waited, the taste of him still lingering there. She could only daydream what would have happened in that dorm room, hadn't his ex-fucking-girlfriend walked in on them.
 
Neil didn't have many choices here, so he followed the program and carried Chelsea's bags out to the car and put them in the back with his own two suitcases and his laptop. When he pulled the cover over them, there was just as little sign of anything being inside there as there would have been in a trunk.

Then, he came around to the driver's side, and got in, and put on his seat belt as he looked over to Chelsea. "If I had done whatever I wanted, we'd still be inside your apartment, Chelsea. Couldn't you tell that? But, you know, Melissa was right about one thing -- it didn't take much time for us to get together, and I wish that we'd done it even sooner. I haven't misjudged you, have I? Isn't this what you want, too -- for us to be boyfriend and girlfriend, not just best friends, but both kinds of closeness -- or am I mistaken?"

He had been tempted to start the car before he began this conversation, and start driving, so it would be more awkward for Chelsea to back out of the trip, if that was what she wanted to do here. But it would be using circumstances to his advantage, so Neil didn't do that.
 
Chelsea didn't want to back out. She couldn't. She needed this trip. If she didn't go, she'd never know what could have been, with Neil. For a long time, she'd be hating herself for not making bigger moves or telling him how she felt sooner.

"I want you, Neil." She admitted, swallowing the nervousness in her throat. "But...I don't want to move too fast. Maybe it was good, that Melissa stepped in like that. If we move too fast, it might all come crashing down. If this is going to work, I need to make sure that you're over Melissa. I mean really over her." She looked at him, those eyes showing him that she knew what she was talking about, and she meant it.

"What happened back there was amazing. I just need to be sure. I think this trip is just what we need." She smiled over at him from her seat, and before he could even think about really starting that car, she was leaning over the center console to press her lips against his once more. A promise.
 
It was a big car, wide, with a storage compartment between the two bucket seats. Since Neil had his belt on, he couldn't quite meet Chelsea halfway, but he came as far as the straps would let him, and kissed her back -- for just as long, and in very much the same way, as she would kiss him.

After a moment, though, he let the tip of his tongue apply gentle pressure to her lips. He couldn't use words right now, but he wanted to get across whatever part of his feelings that he could to Chelsea. He reached out with his right hand, somewhat blindly, for her left hand.
 
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