Lights Out on the Night Shift

Getting Out, Episode 1

by Vulgar Argot

(MF, M/ reluc , oral, coldplay)

Julian didn't bother to comment when Caitlynn jogged into work twenty minutes late. It wasn't on time, but it was better than it had been in the past.

For a change, Caitlynn was at least aware of her own tardiness. She trotted around the magazine rack and made an apologetic face, "Julian, I'm really sorry. I swear. I was all ready to come on time. My alarm clock didn't go off. The whole neighborhood is blacked out.

Julian looked down at Caitlynn. Her long, red hair was wet, like she had towel-dried it in a hurry, then run out. Surreptitiously, he traced his finger in a drop of water that had sluiced dripped off of her hair and landed on the counter. It was ice cold, even though it had been easily over one hundred degrees out earlier in the day.

He smiled at her, "Don't worry about it."

Caitlynn smiled back. It was a sight that would have melted Julian's heart if everything about him wasn't melted already from the heat.

"Does James totally hate me?"

Julian shook his head, "I sent James home at eleven. He had a party to go to."

Caitlynn nodded and said wistfully, "That would be Doug Draber's party down at the lake."

Julian smiled, "Work cutting into your busy social life again?"

Caitlynn frowned and gave her head a half-shake, "Nah. I wasn't going to this one anyway. What's on the schedule, boss?"

Now it was Julian's turn to frown. He didn't like being night manager, having only taken the added responsibility because he couldn't say no to the extra money. Given his druthers, he would have rather been at Doug Draber's party, too. If they were anything like his older brother Jake's, it would be a lot more fun than keeping track of a convenience store.

"Why don't you go in the back and dry your hair," he said. "After that, you can watch the register while I stock the cooler."

Caitlynn leaned across the counter and batted her eyes at Julian, "Is there any chance you could keep working the register and let me do the cooler?"

It was all Julian could do not to stare down the v-neck of Caitlynn's top when she leaned forward like that or, for that matter, when she did any one of a thousand things she seemed to do during an eight-hour shift that gave him a panoramic view of her chest. Even after more than a year of working together, he still found himself constantly tempted to look. Instead, he turned away and said, "Do you want to get out of the heat that badly? With the air conditioning, it's actually pretty pleasant in here."

"It's not that," said Caitlynn. "I'm just betting that Doug's coming here to try to buy beer and I don't want to have to tell him no."

Julian nodded, "Are you sure? Doing the cooler is a lot of heavy lifting."

Caitlynn pulled up her shirt sleeve and made a muscle, "I've got it covered. Feel that."

"All right," said Julian, laughing. "I'll take your word for it."

Caitlynn made an odd face, "Boss, when a lady asks you to feel her muscle, the polite thing is to do what you're told."

Julian laughed again, reaching out over the counter and gripping her forearm. To his surprise, she really was quite muscular--not in an unfeminine way, but there was real definition in her arms.

"Wow," he said earnestly. "You been working out?"

"Yup," said Caitlynn, pulling her arm away. "Check out my lats." She lifted her shirt up so that Julian could see anything from her waistband to the bottom of her bra. Sucking in her gut, she showed him a well-toned stomach.

Julian didn't realize he was staring until Caitlynn said, "What do you think?"

"It's...um...very impressive," said Julian.

"I'm glad you appreciate it," said Caitlynn. "I gave up a lot of parties to look like this."

Julian smiled gently, "I'm sure Brian appreciates it."

Caitlynn gave the frown and half-shake again, "I gave up Brian to look like this, too."

Before Julian could respond, Caitlynn pulled her shirt back down, "I'm going to go dry my hair before a customer comes in and catches me flashing you."

Once she was in the back room, Julian frowned in puzzlement. As he went back to absentmindedly wiping down the deli slicer, he let his imagination wander. He'd always liked Caitlynn, ever since she'd transferred to Kenshee High School at the beginning of his junior year. While they'd never been friends, they'd hung around with all of the same people.

After Julian had graduated, he'd come to work nights at the town's only 7-11 for a year, saving money towards college. At least, that had been the plan. He'd come to discover that, even as a night manager, he was lucky to put aside a few hundred dollars a month after paying the expenses of living alone. After two years, he'd finally managed to put away enough money to be able to attend the local community college, so long as he kept working.

Last summer, Caitlynn had started working nights with him. She was, as he remembered from their time in school together, a bit of a party girl and didn't always make it to the store by eleven o'clock like she was supposed to. It didn't bother Julian much. He only had to work with her. The people who worked the 5-11 shift got upset with her, though, because they couldn't leave until she clocked in. Julian had found himself going to bat for her almost without meaning to, promising that she would be on time. At the same time that he wondered if he was being played for a sucker, he found that he really liked working with her.

The reason he didn't believe he was being played for a sucker was that Caitlynn didn't flirt with him more than she did anyone else. In other words, she flirted with him constantly, but never in such an overt way that she lacked plausible deniability were she called to task on it. After realizing that Julian wasn't going to rise to the bait, they actually developed a friendship. Some nights, they could go three or four hours without a customer. As such, they spent a lot of time just hanging out and talking.

Now that she mentioned it, Caitlynn hadn't talked about a party since the "Spring Fling" the high school had thrown. It had been a miserable experience for her. She'd drunk too much and ended up making out with another boy other than her boyfriend Brian. She wouldn't tell Julian who the other boy had been and Julian suspected that it had gone a lot farther than "making out," but decided that what she decided not to tell him was her own business.

Julian suspected that he knew who the boy was anyway. Ryan Schwartz had started hanging around outside the store at night shortly thereafter. Caitlynn had asked Julian to be the one to empty the trash cans into the dumpster at about the same time. After about a week, Julian had decided to chase Ryan, who had now gathered a half-dozen friends to join him on his nightly vigil out of the lot. He allowed a certain amount of slack to the no loitering policy, but they were pushing their luck.

Julian would have followed that line of thought, but a customer came in carrying a half-dozen party bags full of ice. He laid them down and started picking up disposable styrofoam coolers.

"Good evening, Mr. Flattery," said Julian amiably. "Having a party?"

The customer shook his head, "No. Our power just went out about ten minutes ago. I'm trying to save all the meat I just put in the cooler."

Julian nodded as he rung up the purchase, "Oh, yeah. Caitlynn mentioned something about a blackout. It hit your neighborhood too?"

Mr. Flattery nodded again as he got his money out, "Yup. Hit my sister about two hours ago. It seems to be moving east to west."

Julian nodded absentmindedly, "I hope the ice holds out, then."

"You'd better hope it doesn't hit the store," said Mr. Flattery. "You're right in its path."

"It shouldn't," said Julian. "The blackout two years ago stopped right across the street. I think we're on a different grid or something."

Mr. Flattery looked doubtful, "Well, best of luck."

Soon, other customers began trickling in, buying ice, batteries, and other sundry supplies for a blackout. There were a half-dozen people on line when Caitlynn emerged from the back room, her hair freshly blown out and dried. Without having to be told to, she started working the second register. It took about a half hour before they were alone in the store again.

"Boy," observed Julian. "It must suck to be without air conditioning tonight."

Caitlynn nodded emphatically, "It was still like ninety-five degrees out when I left for work and the AC in my car is still busted."

Julian raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were getting that fixed."

"I was," Caitlynn sighed. "But, the stepbitch has been making it pretty damned clear that she wants me to move out now that I've graduated. So, I've been saving up for first, last, and one month's deposit."

Julian said evenly, "I bet you'll be glad to be out of there, though."

"Yeah," said Caitlynn. "I just wish she'd given me a hint like back in April when you needed a roommate."

"Actually," said Julian. "I need a roommate again. He...didn't work out."

"What happened?"

Julian shook his head and began counting cigarettes to restock, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Caitlynn came up behind him and placed a hand between his shoulder blades, "I think I should know. If we're going to be roommates, I want to know if you're going to go all psycho on me in a few months."

Julian crouched down to get a carton from under the desk, "Who said we were going to be roommates?"

Caitlynn ignored the customer coming in the front door, "I did. I need a roommate. Unless I move like forty-five minutes away, there can't be more than a half-dozen options in the area. We're friends. What could be a better solution?"

"Excuse me," said the customer. "How much is the ice?"

"A dollar fifty nine a bag," said Caitlynn without turning around. Then, to Julian, she said, "What do you say?"

"It would be weird," said Julian.

"Why?" asked Caitlynn.

"Well..." said Julian, "we work together."

"Do you have any more in the back?" asked the customer.

Caitlynn turned to face him, "Any more what?"

"Ice."

"No," said Caitlynn. "Whatever's out front is what we have."

"What about what's in the soda machine?"

Caitlynn sighed, "That's for soda."

"Can I buy a bag of it?"

Caitlynn turned to Julian, "Can he, boss?"

"Sure, Mr. Collins," said Julian. "I don't have any ice bags for it, though. Will a shopping bag do?"

Mr. Collins grunted. Julian went down to get a bag from under the counter. As he went past Caitlynn, he whispered in her ear, "Make a couple of signs that say 'NO ICE.' Stick them on the cooler outside and on the inside of the front door. Make them big and clear in block letters."

Caitlynn nodded. While Julian filled a shopping bag with ice for Mr. Collins, she went in the back, emerged with an out-of-date window display and began tearing it in half.

While Julian was still filling the bag, two more customers came in looking for ice. He wound up having to fill shopping bags for them, too. They were walking out when another customer came in. By the look the new customer gave their bags of ice, Julian knew he wasn't done. It was seven more customers before the signs were up and Julian could stop filling bags--not because of the signs or a stop in the flow of customers, but because the soda machine ran out of ice.

With only two customers in the store, Caitlynn asked, "Do you want me to keep working the other register or get to work on the cooler?"

"Go ahead on the cooler," said Julian. "I'll holler for you if it gets crazy."

"Okay," said Caitlynn.

"Have you done the cooler before?"

"No."

"Okay," said Julian. "If you have any questions, come out and ask me."

The next hour and a half were a steady flow of customers. After the ice went, the batteries went next. In a span of ten minutes, Julian got to hear people complaining about how exhorbitant the prices of their batteries were then to hear them offer him ridiculous amounts of money if he would, "go in the back and find them some batteries."

Several times during those ninety minutes, Caitlynn came out to ask him a question. In spite of the controlled frenzy, Julian couldn't keep from losing his train of thought when she stepped out of the cooler, her nipples obvious through the khaki-colored t-shirt. Based on the breaks in conversation, his customers were having the same problem. Caitlynn, for her own part, seemed oblivious.

As luck would have it, there was a lull in the flow of customers around five minutes to two. That was when the overhead lights flickered off, momentarily dropping the store into darkness. After a couple of seconds, the emergency lights came out, bathing the whole store in an eerie red light.

"Julian," shouted Caitlynn as she rammed the cooler door open with her shoulder. "The lights in..."

Julian said, "Out here, too."

Caitlynn shut the cooler door, "So, now what?"

Julian hit the manual release on the cash register, pulling out the cash drawer. From the empty space behind the drawer, he extracted a key. Going to the front door, he locked it.

"We can lock the doors?"

"We can lock the doors."

"I thought we were open twenty-four hours."

"We are," said Julian. "We've been open at least that long. Now, we're closed."

"Can you do that?"

"I have to do that," said Julian. "It's what I'm supposed to do."

"They told you this at super-secret manager training?"

"Yup," said Julian. "And now that you know, I'll need you to take a blood oath of silence or you'll never leave this store alive."

"A blood oath?"

"That's the rule."

"All right," said Caitlynn. "As soon as the deli slicer is working again."

"Fair enough. Now, I need to call Tony."

"More super-secret manager stuff?"

"Yup. It's time to find out if this is an ordinary black-out or the beginning of our plan to take over the world." As he spoke, he reached for the phone. It rang about eight times before the store owner picked up.

"Rlerm?" came the voice on the other end.

"Good evening, Tony," said Julian pleasantly. "We're having a power outage at the store."

"No shit," said Tony. "The power's out here, too. And it's like a million fucking degrees. I just got to sleep. What the fuck are you calling me for?"

"That's my job when the power goes out--lock the store and call the owner for further instructions."

"Fuck," moaned Tony. "You know how the fucking store works better than I do."

Julian smiled to himself, "What I know is that I'm supposed to call you for further instructions when the power goes out."

Tony grumbled, "Lock the door."

"Already did that," said Julian.

"Don't let anybody in," said Tony.

"I would think that locking the door would be a fairly effective deterrent," said Julian.

"I mean don't open it for anybody, smartass. Nobody gets anything from the store until the power comes on. It doesn't matter what they need. No ice. No batteries. No nothing. All I need is some jerkoff slipping on a roll of Mentos in the dark and suing my ass."

"Should we go home?"

Tony groaned, "Give it an hour or two. If the power's not back, go home. I'll come in at seven and open the store."

"Anything you want me to do while I wait?"

"Get some ice from the ice machine. Pack all that expensive shit from the cooler in a box full of ice--the bacon and that imported cheese the fuckers at Southland insist we carry."

"Anything else?"

"That's it. Let me go back to sleep."

"All right, Tony," said Julian. "Sleep well."

"Fuck you, too," said Tony without rancor. He hung up.

"Well," said Julian. "Tony wants us to pack a few things from the cooler in ice, then wait a couple of hours to see if the lights come back on."

Caitlynn grunted. Julian said, "If you want to go home, I can take care of this."

"If the lights come back on, there's going to be a lot of work to do."

"Probably," said Julian. "But, the lights still seem to be in the process of going off. I can't imagine they'll be going on again real soon."

"I don't mind staying," said Caitlynn.

"Okay," said Julian. "Keep an eye on the front while I go pack things in ice."

"It's pitch dark back there," said Caitlynn.

"I'm going to go in the back room and get the flashlight," said Julian.

A pair of headlights scanned across the front window. Julian tried to wave them away, but the driver insisted on getting out of his truck and rapping on the door. Julian went to the door and shouted, "We're closed. No power." The man tried to pantomime something, but Julian decided not to try too hard to figure out what it was and instead turned to go slowly enough that the man had time to walk away.

"It's pitch dark in the back room, too," said Caitlynn.

"That is the one flaw in my otherwise brilliant plan," observed Julian.

"Is it the flashlight sitting on the toolbox near the office door?"

"Yup," said Julian. "And there are a million boxes between the doorway to the store and there."

"I bet we can find it if we work together," said Caitlynn, grabbing a couple of boxes of matches from the counter. "Take some matches and come with me."

He did. Caitlynn lit a match and started walking towards the office door. Julian lit one and followed. As long as they kept some distance between them, the twin points of light were enough to give them a rough idea of where things were. Caitlynn bucked her shin and dropped her match about halfway across the room. A short, but frantic search revealed that it had fallen on the floor and gone out, not on anything flammable.

It took them about ten minutes to go twenty feet. During that time, several more cars pulled into the parking lot and pulled back out again.

When they got to the flashlight, Caitlynn blew out both of their matches with a single breath. With no windows, the entire room went pitch black.

"Whoops," she said, giggling in the darkness.

Julian could feel how close Caitlynn was standing to him, even in the darkness. Her breath was little puffs against his chest. The proximity made it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.

"The uh...flashlight...should be just below your left hand," he managed to say without much stammering.

He felt Caitlynn lay a hand on his chest for balance, then crouch down and begin feeling around for the flashlight. Then, suddenly, she was falling away. He reached out to catch her just as she swung at the previously open air to try to find purchase. Julian felt the back of her hand smack into his cheek, then lost his own balance and went tumbling backwards.

As soon as he landed, he asked, "Caitlynn, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said after a second. "And..." Julian was suddenly blinded by the room lighting up, "I found the flashlight."

She peered at him in the glare, "Are you ok?"

Julian pressed the back of his hand to his face, "Yeah. I think I landed on a box of paper towels."

Caitlynn crouched in front of him, "I mean where I hit you."

Julian smiled, "It's only a flesh wound."

Caitlynn laughed, seemingly in spite of herself, "It looks like I scratched you pretty good."

Julian stood up and made his way carefully to the sink where employees were warned to wash their hands at every available opportunity. He looked at himself in the mirror. A thin line of red traced his cheekbone. And, even in the reflected light of the flashlight, he could see that he was probably going to get a bruise on his jaw line.

Caitlynn stood next to him, concern in her eyes, "Julian, I'm so sorry. I..."

Julian shook his head as he wet a paper towel, "Not your fault. Fucking Tony's worried about getting sued by customers, but he's got us climbing around in the dark to try to save his bacon." He pressed the paper towel to the scratch.

Caitlynn gave him a wan smile, "Well, maybe it will give you some street cred. You could say your girlfriend gave it to you in a moment of passion."

Julian smiled back, "That'll be great--until they see the bruise and realize she beat me up afterwards."

"You should put some ice on that."

"Later," said Julian. "Let's get this job done first."

So, each of them grabbed a bucket, filled it from the ice machine, and went back into the cooler. It took them about a half-hour to get the most perishable items packed in ice and put aside. When they were finished, Julian turned over a couple of milk crates and sat down on them.

"Now what?" asked Caitlynn .

"We go to the break room and wait," said Julian.

"In this heat?" asked Caitlynn. "Why don't we just stay back here?"

"In the cooler?" asked Julian.

"Sure," said Caitlynn. "It's stiflingly hot out there. This is probably the only place in the entire town under ninety degrees and ninety percent humidity."

Julian shrugged, "Fine with me."

"Good," said Caitlynn. "Now, sit still and let me put some ice on your face before you get a bruise."

Julian thought it was probably already too late, but didn't bother to say so. Caitlynn put the flashlight on the floor, pointing upward, so that it gave the room some small amount of illumination. She wrapped a few ice cubes in a paper towel, grabbed a couple of milk crates for herself, sat down, and placed the wrapped ice on his jaw.

"Is that the spot?"

Julian nodded.

"So," said Caitlynn. "Can I ask you a question?"

Julian nodded, "Sure."

"Why don't you want me as a roommate?"

Julian paused, then said, "I told you. It would be weird. We work together."

Caitlynn looked thoughtful, "It would certainly make it easier for you to make sure that I got to work on time."

Julian chuckled, "It's not just that."

"I didn't think so," said Caitlynn. "What else?"

"I just think that it would make dating...awkward," said Julian. "Who's going to believe that I live with you and we're not..." He trailed off.

"Close your eyes," instructed Caitlynn, moving the pack of ice towards one of them.

Julian did. He heard Caitlynn reach back into the bucket of ice. Then, he felt her place a single, naked ice cube on his jaw. He gasped for a second, but only in shock. It felt good.

Slowly, she began to move the cube down his jaw. Then, she slid it back up. Once she'd traced his jaw line, she kept going, tracing it up past his ear and down the side of his neck. Between the heat and the work, Julian could feel it sluicing away a layer of sweat he hadn't realized he'd worked up.

He reached up to gently take her wrist, opening his eyes, "You didn't hit me there."

Caitlynn gave him a scowl of mock ferocity, "Hold still or I will."

Julian released her wrist. Caitlynn resumed her tracing, drawing the ice cube down his neck to his throat, then following the neckline of his shirt.

"Now, doesn't that feel nice?"

Julian nodded, his eyes closed again.

"Good," said Caitlynn. "Now, you do me."

Julian opened his eyes again, "What?"

Caitlynn stood up and got another ice cube, which she handed to Julian. He looked down at it wistfully, "Caitlynn, I'm sure we can work something out about the roommate thing."

Caitlynn took his wrist in both hands, "Julian, I talked to Amanda Adamson about you."

Julian looked at her, surprised. Amanda had been his prom date and secret crush throughout high school. That nothing had ever come of their prom night was one of his greatest regrests, "Why?"

"It was sort of her idea," said Caitlynn. "And sort of mine. We've been friends since she dated my brother. And, I wanted to ask her a couple of questions."

Julian looked puzzled, "And what did she tell you?"

Caitlynn lifted Julian's unresisting wrist and placed the ice cube on her own neck, "That you came on to her once when she was too young and stupid to know that she should have said yes." She moved his wrist in her grip, tracing downward. "She also told me that you were so afraid that you'd lost her as a friend afterwards that you were so sweet and noble she could have broken a whole cord of clue-by-fours over your head and you would have been none the wiser."

Julian lowered his head, feeling the flush rising in his face, "She said that?"

Caitlynn nodded, pushing his wrist so that the ice cube traced the line of her collarbone and nodded, "She also said that, if I wanted to get anywhere with you, I was going to have to give up any pretence of being a 'nice girl' and make the first move."

Julian looked up at her, trying to say something, anything. But, no words would come out. Caitlynn let go of his wrist.

"Stop being so goddamned noble, Julian."

Of his own volition, Julian let the ice trace its way from the outside to the inside of Caitlynn's collarbone, then traced it into the hollow of her throat. Then, he traced it down the line of her throat, into her cleavage, and along the line of her décolletage. When Caitlynn tilted her head back, he leaned down and kissed where the ice had melted, licking the cool water from her skin.

Caitlynn stepped in closer, wrapping her arms around Julian's barrel chest. Julian lifted his lips from her throat and kissed her lips, which parted willingly at his touch. As the kiss went on, Caitlynn made a low growl in her throat.

Julian chuckled. When he finally broke the kiss, Caitlynn asked, "Isn't that better than staring down my shirt whenever you think I'm not looking?"

Julian laughed and slid his hands along the bare flesh of her back, under her shirt, "I might have to do it a few more times before I can give a definitive answer."

Caitlynn nodded, reached up, and undid the top button of Julian's shirt, "Nothing beats empirical evidence." She kissed the flesh she had exposed. Somewhere, she'd come up with another ice cube, which she placed where she had kissed. With her free hand, she undid a second button, repeating the process.

After the third button, Julian took Caitlynn's wrists, rising, and made her sit on his improvised chair. Reaching for a fresh ice cube of his own, he crouched in front of her, slid up the front of her shirt, and began tracing a lazy spiral around her navel. Wherever the ice touched, his lips soon followed. Soon, Caitlynn was shivering at the touch, both from the ice and from his lips.

"Oh, Julian," she moaned.

When the spiral began to reach her bra, Caitlynn reached down with both hands and pulled her shirt off over her head.

Julian looked down at her, "Caitlynn, how far is this going to go?"

Caitlynn took the opportunity to undo Julian's last two buttons. She didn't say anything, only kissed his stomach and smiled up at him wickedly. There was something in the smile that answered his question.

Julian looked alarmed, "We're in the cooler of a 7-11. Wouldn't you rather wait for somewhere more...appropriate?"

Caitlynn stood up, retrieved the flashlight, walked back to stand in front of Julian and, with a flourish, turned it off.

"Caitlynn," asked Julian in the darkness, "why did you do that?"

She pressed herself against him, "Because in the dark, we could be anywhere." Julian felt her lips touch his chest. "For instance, we could just be in a big, cold metal room in Hawaii ."

Julian laughed, "That's quite an imagination you've got there." His hands ran down her back, cupping beneath her bottom, lifting her off of the floor into a powerful kiss that started at her mouth, went down her chin and throat, and finally settled on the upper slopes of her breasts. He felt her muscles tighten beneath his lips as she arched her back. Stepping forwards, he kept kissing her. Her hips sliding up his torso told him she was leaning back against a wall.

Mid-kiss, she pushed Julian's shoulders back a little. A second later, the flashlight clicked on again. Julian scanned Caitlynn's face, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.

Caitlynn smiled apologetically, "I didn't realize how cold this wall was going to be. I need my shirt back."

Julian reached down, retrieved Caitlynn's shirt, and offered it to her. Caitlynn put her arms out so that he could put it back on for her. Caitlynn wrapped her arms around him again, but Julian pulled away. When Caitlynn gave him a querulous look, he said, "I have a better idea."

She looked like she was going to ask a question, but Julian held up a finger, "Wait here." Then, he left the cooler. When he came back, he was carrying a duffel bag. He walked past Caitlynn, picking up a bucket of ice as he passed, "Come on."

Caitlynn followed him out the back door of the cooler into the small loading area. The area, barely eight by four, was swelteringly hot. In the loading area, he handed her the bucket, "Give me the flashlight."

Flashlight in hand, duffel bag over his shoulder, he began to ascend the ladder to the roof. Carefully balancing the flashlight on the top rung, he unlocked the trapdoor to the roof and climbed through.

Outside, the heat had broken as he'd expected. And, they were up high enough to have a breeze. Caitlynn walked slowly around the edge of the roof, looking out in all directions.

"Wow," she said. "I had no idea. It's really pretty up here."

Julian came up to stand next to her. It really was beautiful. They were at the top of a hill and could look down over one side of the store far enough to see most of the town, now mostly dark. Beyond, they could see the smooth stillness of the lake. Above, stars stretched out like a huge, domed roof.

"When they put the new roof on, I used to bring coffee up to the workers. This was when I was on the dreaded seven to three shift." As he spoke, Julian dropped the duffel bag, unzipped it, and extricated a beach blanket, grains of sand still falling off of it in every direction, "I had this in the car. I thought it might make us more comfortable up here."

Caitlynn smiled, reached into the ice bucket, and pulled out a pair of beer bottles, "I thought it might be worth saving a few of these in the ice. Unless the lights come on soon, everything in there is going to be skunked."

Julian took a beer gratefully, twisting the top off as he sat down on the blanket. Caitlynn followed his lead, sitting with her back pressed against his chest.

To Julian, the way Caitlynn leaned her head back on his shoulder seemed almost post-coital, like they'd skipped over the sex and gone right to the afterplay. He laid a hand gently on her belly, sliding beneath the cloth of her shirt.

"Finally," she said. "Three am and it's finally tolerable to be outside."

Julian chuckled and kissed the top of her head, "Caitlynn, can I ask you a question?"

Caitlynn burrowed against him, "Sure."

"What do you want to do next?" When she shot him a bemused glance, he said, "I mean in life. I can't imagine you want to be a seven eleven clerk forever."

"Not for a minute longer than I have to," she said. "This is just to get out of the house. I can't think when I'm there."

"Are you thinking about college?"

She shook her head, "Maybe some time, but I'm not really ready for it. I barely graduated high school. I don't want to make excuses, but I could never study at home. And, when I went out of the house, there were certain...social expectations."

"So, what next?"

"You promise not to laugh?"

"So long as it's not funny."

She shot him a scowl, "I want to sing." When Julian didn't seem inclined to laugh or interrupt, she went on, "I've been taking voice lessons since I was ten and in the choir at school. I even started going to church so I could sing."

"You want to sing professionally?"

Caitlynn nodded, "I want to give it a shot. I figure I'll do whatever crap job I have to in order to pay the rent while I try. I'll give it four years--until I'm twenty-two. If it's going somewhere, I'll give it three more. If I'm twenty-five and it's not my career, I'll get out. By then, I should be ready to buckle down and go to college. You?"

"I'm starting classes at Plainsborough CC in September," said Julian. "They've got an interdisciplinary program in computer game development. If I do well, there's a school down in Florida I can continue at."

Caitlynn wrinkled her nose, "Sounds like math."

"There's a lot of math involved," admitted Julian.

"Better you than me, then." Caitlynn took another sip of her beer and leaned back against him more.

As Julian's hand began to trace a path up her belly, she asked, "Does it matter?"

"What?"

"What I want to do? If I get the wrong answer, do you stop petting me?"

Julian nodded, his eyes apologetic. "I really like you, Cait. If I got involved with you and then found out that you had no ambition but to stay around here and party for the rest of your life, it would become even harder for me to get the hell out of here. I can't say that I would have the fortitude to stop what we're doing, but it's definitely a load off of my mind."

Caitlynn turned and kissed his chest, "It doesn't matter that I don't want to go to college?"

Julian shook his head, "A lot of the kids I graduated with two years ago went away to college, thinking it was what they wanted, and came back after a year because they couldn't accept that they weren't ready. If you're not ready for college, you shouldn't waste your time and money."

"Julian..."

Julian hugged her shoulders, "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're clueless."

Julian laughed, "Why?"

"Because...you're such a decent guy, I'm betting a lot of girls have dropped subtle hints and had them completely bounce off of your Armor of Cluelessness."

Julian kissed her on the mouth, "You say the sweetest things."

Caitlynn unbuttoned Julian's last button, pulled his shirt out of his pants, and down over his shoulders. Julian gripped her shirt by the bottom and pulled it over her head. Caitlynn reached back and undid her bra, laying it on top of her shirt.

Julian smiled, "Definitely better than stealing glances down your shirt."

Caitlynn laughed, "It's about time you said something incorrigible. I was afraid you were completely corrigible."

Julian leaned down, kissing one of her nipples, licking it, and taking it with his teeth momentarily before releasing it. Caitlynn let out a surprised moan.

His other hand found the ice bucket. Pulling out a cube, he applied it to the top of Caitlynn's other breast, stroking it in smaller and smaller circles until it was right on her nipple. Caitlynn moaned more in earnest and arched her back.

"God. That feels good tonight."

Julian switched the ice to her other breast. As he repeated the process, he lowered his head to her freshly-iced nipple, kissing and licking it gently, knowing that it was now hypersensitive. Caitlynn moaned and writhed at the touch.

By the time Julian decided that she'd had enough, Caitlynn was making unintelligible, little groans like long "n" sounds with no vowels. The ice cube had long since melted away. Julian let his hands rest on either side of the snap on her jeans, framing a question. Caitlynn answered it by unbuttoning her pants for him, raising her hips so that he could slide off her pants and underpants.

"God, Julian. I am so turned on right now." As she spoke, Caitlynn's hands reached for his fly. Feeling him straining against the denim, she laughed. "I can see I'm not the only one."

Julian shook his head, "Hell, no. I've wanted you for a long time, Caitlynn."

She opened his pants, sliding them down over his ass, "I wish you would have told me sooner."

Julian wiggled free of his pants, but slid down a little so that his head was between her legs. Caitlynn had only a moment to gasp in surprise before his tongue darted out, licking the lips of her pussy. Caitlynn cried out. Julian took that as permission, his tongue probing more deeply inside of her. After a couple of minutes teasing his way around it, he honed in on the clit. Using only the tip of his tongue, he worked it from end to end.

Caitlynn's whole body began to tremble in short order. Julian lifted his head only long enough to find the ice bucket again. A cube in each hand, he traced them up and down her thighs while his tongue continued its plunder inside of her.

"Goddammit, Julian," shouted Caitlynn. "Stop it. You're going to kill me."

Julian sat up, pulling away his hands.

"Why did you stop?"

"You told me to."

Caitlynn sat up, taking the back of his head, "I didn't mean it like that."

Julian rested his head on her pelvis, "If you don't want me to stop, don't say stop."

Caitlynn laughed off his earnestness. "Fine. I believe the word I missed was, 'don't.' God, Julian. That's quite a tongue you've got there. I'm already flying high and you haven't even fucked me yet."

"You're quite a firecracker," said Julian.

Caitlynn was still panting, "Well, I think you found the fuse."

Julian took one of the ice cubes and laid it directly between her legs. Caitlynn looked up, alarmed, but didn't say anything.

"The other side of the coin," said Julian, "is that I won't stop unless you say so." He pushed the ice cube against her, opening her, pressing it directly against her clit. Caitlynn shivered violently, but bit her lip, not speaking.

After about a minute of that treatment, Julian said, "I want you, Cait."

Caitlynn wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down with her as she lay back, "Fuck me, Julian. Please."

Julian needed no further prompting. Already lying between Caitlynn's legs, he lined himself up. Impatiently, Caitlynn grabbed his cock and slid it inside of herself. Julian drove it in as deeply as it would go. Caitlynn was already soaking and took him easily. Julian started to thrust into her, slowly and methodically. Caitlynn locked her legs under his bottom, driving his to go faster. Julian altered his rhythm. Already aroused and hypersensitive, it didn't take Caitlynn long to start crying out in pleasure. Afraid they could be clearly heard in the dead silence of a blackout at three thirty, Julian clapped a hand over her mouth. Soon, her cries of pleasure changed timbre until someone only hearing them could have mistaken them for heart-rending sobs. But, the look of bliss on her face and the pressure on his bottom told Julian they were cries of pleasure.

They went on like that for a long time, Julian gradually shifting positions from time to time. He could have come five minutes after starting, but felt like he had something to prove. Pulling out of her, he said hoarsely, "Get up--on your knees."

Caitlynn nodded and did so. Julian crouched over her, sliding back inside in the new position. His hands gripped and stroked her breasts now, kneading and fondling them, no longer caring if anyone heard her cries.

As it turned out, hearing her cries did something to Julian inside. It drove him on, pounding as savagely into her as he could. All the while, she drove her hips back into his in rhythm, wanting it even harder. The feel of her body beneath him, her breasts in his hands, her cries echoing in the darkness, it was soon too much for him.

"I'm coming soon," he whispered in her ear.

Caitlynn nodded, "Go ahead, stud. I'm thoroughly vanquished."

That was all Julian needed to hear. He came explosively inside of Caitlynn. Even after the last shudder wracked his body, he held himself inside of her, sitting back, holding her in his lap.

Caitlynn curled up against him, trembling and mewling like a kitten. For a while, neither spoke.

"Julian," Caitlynn whispered. "Promise me that wasn't a dream. Promise me I'm not going to wake up from it."

Julian kissed the top of her head, "The next time you wake up, I want it to be in my bed. If it was a dream, I promise that we'll do it all over again."