Shorts Series: A series of unfortunate events
Dorian DeLoughrey. Was it bad that Jessica was anxious for their date? In retrospect - a date was a date. It was just a day, another moment to get to know someone better. But here’s the thing - Jessica knew Dorian. She knew his ins and outs. What he liked, what he didn’t. Okay… well mostly knew him. There had been those four years and they did have a little bit of catching up to do but in retrospect, she did know a lot about Dorian. They say that dating someone you consider your best friend can be the best… or worst choice you ever make. So was this that? Was it a mistake or was it… the best choice she could make. Fck.
Honestly, Jessica Pierce didn’t know the answer to that. All she knew was that she was laying on a hospital bed, thinking… . maybe overthinking about something her and Dori talked about. A date. Well maybe she strong-armed him into asking her out over text message but in either case, he said he would. And she had no idea what that meant. One of the reasons being HE HADN’T TOLD HER.
For the last few days, Dorian had been visiting her. Well… since she woke up he’s been visiting. Jess could still remember the intense pain that filled her body as her eyes opened - finding herself in the room with a worried Daniel and Jezebel right beside her. More than the pain that accompanied being… well… alive was the pain she felt for Jezebel’s baby. But there were a few people who made the pain feel better - Dorian being one of them who visited her the moment he could. It was weird though… for the longest time she had never seen Dorian in real pain. Honestly, perhaps it was because he was good at hiding it but the day he visited her and wrapped his arms around her muttering “thank god” was different. It didn’t matter how many I’m invincible jokes Jess made - there was still a somber tone in the room that took a few days to get past. Then there was the wedding that Jess wasn’t supposed to go to and got more… hurt and he wasn’t very happy about that either. Though, in retrospect, neither was Dan… nor Jezebel… nor anyone else she knew who understood she should have been on bed rest.
In any case - here she was. Still in the wretched hospital, however, with the help of Jezebel - ready for the said date. Something Jez had told her was a welcome distraction from the worry about her baby. The one thing she hated was the fact that she was once again wheelchair-bound. All the strength that she had garnered before the wedding disappeared with her additional injury and now she was once again starting from the beginning meaning she couldn’t muster up the strength to walk more than a few minutes before collapsing. So things she usually would do on a date she couldn’t.
Though any worry she had fallen away when she saw the man entering the room and she smiled at him cheekily. “So I see you have no food in your hand which is an automatic strike in the bad dates column,” Jess joked as he leaned in to hug her, retorting to her sentiment. Though as he leaned in, both of them hit their heads against one another - causing an “Owwww” to leave Jess’ lips with a laugh as she nursed her forehead and he did the same. "Well the date can only go up from here huh? . Despite the weird start, the two continued in their retorts. It was the back and forth that Jess always loved about him - the fact that they could talk and joke for hours without ever getting tired. He made a statement about her still not being able to walk and she threw her tongue out at him. Was this it? The happiness that everyone was constantly searching for? Because honestly, Jess did feel those butterflies in her stomach that she had heard in all those stories when she was younger. That she had only felt maybe once before.
Okay… so it was… interesting so far. If the world was trying to throw them signs that this wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing - it was bloody working. Everything that could go wrong on their first date was going wrong. And listen - Jessica Pierce was not someone to believe in fate but this was just… yeah. First of all… it was just… awkward. Was it her? Was it him? Who the hell knew - all she knew was that it was… strange. The conversation wasn’t flowing as it had a few hours ago… hell as it had a few days ago. And that was just the start of it. Maybe it was the pressure. The hope that this date would be… perfect. Who knows… all Jessica Pierce knew was this wasn’t… what she had expected.
First, as Dorian was wheeling Jess out of the hospital, her wheelchair had gotten badly trapped in a crack in the cement outside the hospital… and there was a need of getting Dorian, and two other guys to actually pull that wheel before it got out. Which really… well it kind of went like this.
“Hey maybe we should ask those guys to help?”
“No it’s… I got it Jess”
“You sure… that looks mighty… trapped in there, love.”
“Just… trust me okay?”
~20 minutes later~
After 20 minutes, Jess just gave up on it coming out and screamed at the top of her lungs for the guys sitting on the bench to help which easily got Dorian frustrated and what resulted was Jess on the floor with a small scrape on her hand from the fall as the wheelchair went up a little too fast and tumbled her out. Yep… you see what I mean. There was a strange expression on Dorian’s features as one of the men that had helped them immediately went to help Jess up and back on the chair - a bright smile on her own lips as she thanked them, brushing the bloody cut off. There was an uncaring expression on her face as she told Dorian it was okay and that she was fine.
But it really seemed as if that was just the start because the moment Jess was settled in Dorian’s car… well… it wouldn’t start. Curses emitted from Dorian’s lips as he tried a few times before going to the hood and looking at something under there. Usually, Jess would come out and give some unhelpful, yet, hilarious commentary while pointing at random things and saying that perhaps that was the issue - but with her current situation, she was stuck in the front seat. Since the window wouldn’t roll down, Jess opened the front door - asking if everything was okay. The answer? Kind of? After a one-hour wait with him on the phone for most of that time with Geico to send some roadside assistance, it seemed his battery was dead and needed a jump. Though soon enough, he was back in the car, and Jess could see he was trying to calm his frustration. “Hey… it’s okay love” Jess whispered, placing her hand on top of his with a soft smile. “I’m just excited to see what you have planned” she smiled genuinely, her smile growing when she saw his eyes soften.
That had to be it right? The worst of it. And for a few moments, Jess thought it was. Dorian brought her to a McDonalds, a grin on his lips as told her to choose one thing from the menu. She obviously gave him an incredulous look - jokingly arguing for a few seconds about how in the WORLD she could narrow her options down to one thing before sighing in defeat. Though, her first choice seemed to be “out” as the person through the drive-through told them that the ice cream machine was broken and that they had a shipment delay on nuggets. Really all they had were a few items on the menu. At the next fast-food drive-in, the two got stuck in the drive-through for 40 minutes when someone in front of them popped a tire and couldn’t move - holding the lineup. And at the one after that, their fire alarms came on and all the employees had to exit the building meaning Jess and Dorian didn’t get the food they ordered for some time after that. And this continued - at almost every single place they went to. From getting wrong orders to getting overcharged - things just kept going wrong.
Though Jess kept her cool, keeping a bubbly attitude. Though Jess could tell that Dorian was getting more and more frustrated as the day went on - up until the moment they were at a lake that they used to go to as children. Supposedly the whole thing about ordering one item from the menu was for a picnic which Jess… well she honestly thought it was adorable. Coming over to her side, Dorian carried her to a blanket he had set… or a blanket he had set until it flew away due to the wind. Jess laughed as she sat on the dirt, watching him run after the blanket - though giving up after a few moments as he went back to the car and brought the food they had gotten.
For a few moments after that, things did seem to calm down. The two eating and talking - though the obvious frustration in Dorian made most conversations fall away… which meant… well… jess just talked about random things. Talking about things she did in London during the 4 years she was away, telling jokes to lighten the mood. And it almost seemed as if it was working for a while… up until… well it started raining. And not just a little rain… a thundering rain that almost immediately started pouring out of nowhere - drenching what food they had gotten and rendered them unedible immediately.
It was then that she saw Dorian just… well, get up and kick the ground. "What the fck is going on, you have to be fcking kidding me. Jess could see he was annoyed and maybe she was too - because on the ranking of worst dates - this was up there. But…
With a sigh, Jess struggled to push herself up as he stared away from her - the rain still pouring down on them. It was difficult, but after a few moments - she had done it. Wobbling over to him and wrapping her arms around his back for support the moment she had gotten over to him. “Soooo…” Jess started, turning her head towards him as she laid it on his shoulder.
"It wasn’t… he started, taking a deep breath under the rain. “… this was supposed to be perfect… it just”
“Dorian…” Jess whispered, struggling to walk so she was in front of him. She found his hands going to her waist for support, and she moved her hand to his cheek. “It never had to be perfect… maybe that was the problem… we just… were looking for something that it was never going to be. All I wanted was to be with you Dorian and that’s what we were.”
He started to say something and Jess shook her head. “Give me your phone idiot,” Jess muttered - taking it as he handed it to her and she put a song on. “Dance with me,” she whispered, holding on to him tightly with her arms so she wouldn’t fall. He was confused, and perhaps he usually would have put up an argument - but it seemed as if the day had worn him out and he agreed. After a few minutes of slowly moving in the rain, Jess talked to him. Mentioning the fact that rain had always brought them luck before… and a mention of her trying to jump out of his window which brought laughter to both their lips. “Wow DeLoughrey, you got better since that ball I dragged you to” Jess stated cheekily, “Wayyyy less stepping on my feet this time,” she joked which brought him to retort. This was it… what she was hoping for from the beginning. As the song ended, it seemed the rain had passed and the two were in the middle of an empty lake. Dorian was about to say something though before he could get it out, the wind had moved an object and it brushed against Dorian’s leg. The item being a seemingly wet blanket that they had lost earlier. Irony huh? After a few seconds, Dorian laid it out and helped Jess onto it before taking a seat next to her.
“Hey,” Jess muttered after a few seconds of them sitting, smiling as he turned towards her. “This was perfect” she continued, before bringing her lips to his and spending the next few hours lost in each other’s lips - needing nothing else but one another.