Categories > Original > Drama > Beat of Their Own Drums
A/N: Here's a break from all the fluff, peeps. And yeah, I realize the fact that reading about Ollie and Kevin fighting is getting really old, and I promise that the next one with them in it won't have them fighting.
Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to "Tonight".
Song Used: Jonas Brothers' "Tonight".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thirty-Three: Tonight
Puppet: Paul Jonas Jr.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, here we are again,
Throwing punch lines,
No one wins,
As the morning sun begins to rise,
We're fading fast,
And we won't work this out...
I hated arguing with her.
I hated feeling like I had to raise my voice at her in order to be heard. I hated knowing that she wasn't listening to me. I hated telling her that she was wrong. I hated feeling like the girl I loved didn't care about my side of the story. I hated it that she made me think of her in a bad light. I hated the fact that I felt so guilty.
Yeah, I hated arguing with her. It just started this whole circle of loathing and ill feelings that were impossible to avoid no matter how hard we tried. On one hand, I wanted so badly to be able to defend myself against my flame-haired tigress' claws, but on the other, I knew that I was hurting her just as much by flashing mine right back.
But it wasn't my fault!
...Was it?
It had all started out harmless enough, I suppose; a big misunderstanding. Her birthday had was coming up and she had just recently finished the long-term project of rebuilding her car, a yellow-and-black Plymouth Barracuda that she'd named Bolt; the thing was about as old as I was famous. She had been saying that it would be nice to have another one to start working on as soon as possible and, though she hadn't been purposely dropping hints, gave me the idea for the perfect birthday gift.
The only problem was that I didn't know what kind of car she would like, and I wanted it to be a surprise. I knew she loved muscle cars, but that was the furthest extent of my knowledge, and something told me that she was particular about the makes she worked with. It had been easy enough to find some old cars, but I just couldn't get the idea of her being dissatisfied with the one I'd picked, so I went to the closest source I could; Izzy, her little sister.
She'd been a huge help. She knew exactly what makes Ollie liked and it took her only three days to find the perfect one: another Plymouth car, this time a red Fury. Izzy was sure she'd love it; it bore a striking resemblance to Stephen King's Christine, the film version of which the adopted Hawaiian girl said Ollie loved.
Everything had gone smoothly. The original owner couldn't be more happy to be rid of the useless old vehicle and I ended up spending a lot less than I'd planned for, and was thinking maybe I could take her someplace really for dinner with some of the extra cash I'd set aside. We purchased the car, hidden it in my garage, and went our separate ways to wait for Ollie's birthday to roll around.
But we hit an unexpected snag when Izzy came home late in my car and Ollie suspected the worse.
No, we're not gonna work this out tonight,
(We won't work this out),
No, we're not gonna make this right,
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye,
(Give a kiss, say goodbye),
'Cause we're not gonna work this out tonight...
While Izzy called me up only minutes after I'd dropped her off and told me what had happened, hoping to warn me before the tigress leapt out at me and took me by surprise, I didn't understand why she was so upset. It was her sister, after all, and she was barely 16, while I was 20. How could she confuse herself into thinking that I wanted anyone but her? How could she get away with thinking that I was so bold as to break the law?
How could she? She was supposed to trust me!
And to top it all off, for more than just a few days she refused to talk to me about it. She avoided me, practically ran from me as if I were some sort of poisonous snake when I tried to talk to her. She refused to answer my calls.
That hurt.
But this, watching her face twist and contort itself into an expression of hurt, anger, and confusion all at once, hurt more than any of all of that. I wanted to comfort her, to hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right, to kiss her and show her that there was no one on this earth that I wanted more than her.
But my anger at her held me back. I didn't want to comfort her until she'd apologized for putting me through her absence, which I was doubtful that she'd do. I didn't want to tell her it was going to be all right because I couldn't help but think that if she doubted my word when I told her I loved her, she wouldn't believe me when I told her that I'd make everything better for her. I didn't want to kiss her because, quite frankly, I didn't want to get bitten.
I felt as if I had a battle raging just behind my eyes, and for now, the side that was telling me to abandon her just the way she'd abandoned me was winning.
I wondered if she noticed that at all and, if she did, she wanted to change it.
If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: with Olivia Rokit, it was impossible to tell if she really wanted me back or not.
Guessing from the burning fury in her gaze, though, she didn't want anything to do with me at all. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't think it would be of much use and closed it again. I knew all too well that she was a stubborn, almost immovable soul once she was convinced of something.
And it was obvious that she'd convinced herself that I'd been unfaithful.
But I hadn't. “I swear, Ollie, it wasn't anything like that.”
Every single word's been said,
(Whoa, oh, oh),
Broke each other's hearts again,
(Oh, oh, oh),
As this starlit sky begins to shine,
We're breaking down,
She screams out...
“Then what the Hell were you two doing?!”
I chewed the inside of my cheek anxiously. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, but was it really worth keeping it a secret? It was just a gift...just a car...
But then again, it was more than that. It was a token. A symbol. It was something that would show her just how much I was willing to give her if it meant that she would trust me, love me...there seemed to be no other known way to her heart. I'd tried everything else and yet she still felt the need to fight with me.
That wasn't what lovers did, was it?
“I told you already,” I murmured finally for what seemed to be the millionth time, “I...I can't tell you. It's a surprise.”
“A surprise,” the contempt in her voice both stung and inflamed my heart, but I wasn't sure which one was the one I should've attended to first, “a surprise. Answer me this, then...is this the 'hey Ollie, guess what, your sister's a better kisser than you' type of surprise, or a 'you couldn't tell something was going on?'?”
I'd heard that same sentence, the one that told me I my word meant nothing to her, with different words once too many times. “It's neither!” I cried, slapping my palms against my thighs as if somehow that would help relieve me of my rage, “How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care about Izzy?!”
“Could've fooled me!”
That's when something else, startling but only serving the sole purpose of adding fuel to the fire, occurred to me. I wondered why it hadn't struck me earlier.
Not only was she accusing me of lying, but Izzy, too. Undoubtedly her adopted sister had tried desperately to tell her that it was a surprise and we couldn't talk about it, but with no avail. Had she been subject to this resentment too? Was Ollie feeling the indignation coming from her, too?
“Ya' know what?” Ollie said suddenly, drawing me from my sudden realization, “I'm done!”
At first, I thought she meant that she was done fighting, but one look into those cold emerald eyes and I knew otherwise. “Ollie, no. You don't understand...”
“We're not getting anywhere, Kev. I'm done.”
No, we're not gonna work this out tonight,
(We won't work this out),
No, we're not gonna make this right,
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye,
(Give a kiss, say goodbye),
'Cause we're not gonna work this out tonight...
I wasn't quite sure how, but the pain in my chest suddenly got a million times worse. She was right. This wasn't getting anywhere and we'd fought far too many times before tonight; there was too much heartache, too many tears in this for us to ever be happy. “Ollie, please,” I begged anyway, suddenly not caring that she'd hurt me before, “you don't understand...if you just...just wait...”
Ollie was suddenly much closer than I was used to, her finger to my lips and her eyes glistening with...tears? “Wait for what, Kev?” she questioned, her voice choked and broken now rather than patronizing and brazen as it had been a moment before, “For us to put this behind us and then end up fighting like this over something else?”
I stared back at her, my mouth half open and small, helpless gurgling noises coming from somewhere in the back of my tightening throat. She was still right...so painfully correct in the realization that we were just too different to ever make this work.
I didn't want it to end this way. Not up in flames.
I leaned in and kissed her as if that would make it all seem a little better, tasting the bitter salt on her lips with a slight wince.
No, I thought suddenly, I'm not losing this. I'm not losing her.
We don't have to fight,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight,
We just gotta try,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight,
(We're gonna work this out),
We don't have to fight,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight,
We just gotta try,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight...
She pulled away first, drawing her frame farther and farther away from mine. Tears were flowing freely down both of our faces at this point, but neither of us tried to hide it. “Bye, Kev.” She murmured softly.
“Ollie,” I tried one last time, “please just wait. I can't let you just walk away like this.”
She paused. I had to tell her the truth now.
No, we're not gonna work this out tonight,
(We won't work this out),
No, we're not gonna make this right,
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye,
(Give a kiss, say goodbye),
'Cause we're not gonna work this out tonight...
“We were out buying a car for you for your birthday.” The words, so simple and yet so hard to say earlier, came tumbling down my tongue and out past my lips into the world without me having much say. I held my breath and braced my shoulders, ready for her to start yelling and telling me I was a liar and a cheater and a pedophile again...
But it didn't happen. She stared at me, eyes wide, voice as useless as a French fry against a broadsword.
I decided to take this as my opportunity to assure her that she was the only one I needed. Cautiously but purposefully I closed the gap between us, placing my arms firmly around her middle and staring hard into her eyes, daring her to fling another accusation my way. “I didn't want to tell you because...well, that was kind of the surprise.”
She continued to gaze at me, her mouth closing and no words at all coming from her throat.
I continued, daringly pressing my forehead against hers and touching the tips of our noses slightly. “I don't care if you don't believe me, Ollie,” I told her seriously, “I just need you to know that don't love anyone nearly as much as I love you. I...I don't like fighting with you, but if that's what I have to do to keep you around for just a little bit longer, so be it.”
More tears started to slide down her cheeks, and for a moment I was scared that maybe she really was going to break it off completely with me. Had I hurt her? Had I just made it worse? Was this the part where she broke out of my arms and ran and I would never see her again?
But all that doubt went away as soon as she buried her face into my shoulder. “God, I'm so stupid...” she murmured, “I'm so sorry Kev. I just...”
She trailed off for a moment, then what she said next made it all worth it. “I'm just so damn scared of losing you.”
Well, there's no need to fight,
We're just wasting time,
(Tonight),
If you give it a try,
Well, then maybe you'll find,
(We might work this out),
Well, we know we're in love,
So let's keep it alive,
(Keep it alive, keep it alive),
Tonight,
I'm starting to see the morning light,
(We've finally worked this out).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Yeah, I know what you guys are thinking. "If these two fight so much, how'd they ever fall in love?" And I can't really answer; it remains unknown, actually. XD I think the only reason is probably 'cause Kev's determined not to lose her.
Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to "Tonight".
Song Used: Jonas Brothers' "Tonight".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thirty-Three: Tonight
Puppet: Paul Jonas Jr.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, here we are again,
Throwing punch lines,
No one wins,
As the morning sun begins to rise,
We're fading fast,
And we won't work this out...
I hated arguing with her.
I hated feeling like I had to raise my voice at her in order to be heard. I hated knowing that she wasn't listening to me. I hated telling her that she was wrong. I hated feeling like the girl I loved didn't care about my side of the story. I hated it that she made me think of her in a bad light. I hated the fact that I felt so guilty.
Yeah, I hated arguing with her. It just started this whole circle of loathing and ill feelings that were impossible to avoid no matter how hard we tried. On one hand, I wanted so badly to be able to defend myself against my flame-haired tigress' claws, but on the other, I knew that I was hurting her just as much by flashing mine right back.
But it wasn't my fault!
...Was it?
It had all started out harmless enough, I suppose; a big misunderstanding. Her birthday had was coming up and she had just recently finished the long-term project of rebuilding her car, a yellow-and-black Plymouth Barracuda that she'd named Bolt; the thing was about as old as I was famous. She had been saying that it would be nice to have another one to start working on as soon as possible and, though she hadn't been purposely dropping hints, gave me the idea for the perfect birthday gift.
The only problem was that I didn't know what kind of car she would like, and I wanted it to be a surprise. I knew she loved muscle cars, but that was the furthest extent of my knowledge, and something told me that she was particular about the makes she worked with. It had been easy enough to find some old cars, but I just couldn't get the idea of her being dissatisfied with the one I'd picked, so I went to the closest source I could; Izzy, her little sister.
She'd been a huge help. She knew exactly what makes Ollie liked and it took her only three days to find the perfect one: another Plymouth car, this time a red Fury. Izzy was sure she'd love it; it bore a striking resemblance to Stephen King's Christine, the film version of which the adopted Hawaiian girl said Ollie loved.
Everything had gone smoothly. The original owner couldn't be more happy to be rid of the useless old vehicle and I ended up spending a lot less than I'd planned for, and was thinking maybe I could take her someplace really for dinner with some of the extra cash I'd set aside. We purchased the car, hidden it in my garage, and went our separate ways to wait for Ollie's birthday to roll around.
But we hit an unexpected snag when Izzy came home late in my car and Ollie suspected the worse.
No, we're not gonna work this out tonight,
(We won't work this out),
No, we're not gonna make this right,
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye,
(Give a kiss, say goodbye),
'Cause we're not gonna work this out tonight...
While Izzy called me up only minutes after I'd dropped her off and told me what had happened, hoping to warn me before the tigress leapt out at me and took me by surprise, I didn't understand why she was so upset. It was her sister, after all, and she was barely 16, while I was 20. How could she confuse herself into thinking that I wanted anyone but her? How could she get away with thinking that I was so bold as to break the law?
How could she? She was supposed to trust me!
And to top it all off, for more than just a few days she refused to talk to me about it. She avoided me, practically ran from me as if I were some sort of poisonous snake when I tried to talk to her. She refused to answer my calls.
That hurt.
But this, watching her face twist and contort itself into an expression of hurt, anger, and confusion all at once, hurt more than any of all of that. I wanted to comfort her, to hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right, to kiss her and show her that there was no one on this earth that I wanted more than her.
But my anger at her held me back. I didn't want to comfort her until she'd apologized for putting me through her absence, which I was doubtful that she'd do. I didn't want to tell her it was going to be all right because I couldn't help but think that if she doubted my word when I told her I loved her, she wouldn't believe me when I told her that I'd make everything better for her. I didn't want to kiss her because, quite frankly, I didn't want to get bitten.
I felt as if I had a battle raging just behind my eyes, and for now, the side that was telling me to abandon her just the way she'd abandoned me was winning.
I wondered if she noticed that at all and, if she did, she wanted to change it.
If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: with Olivia Rokit, it was impossible to tell if she really wanted me back or not.
Guessing from the burning fury in her gaze, though, she didn't want anything to do with me at all. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't think it would be of much use and closed it again. I knew all too well that she was a stubborn, almost immovable soul once she was convinced of something.
And it was obvious that she'd convinced herself that I'd been unfaithful.
But I hadn't. “I swear, Ollie, it wasn't anything like that.”
Every single word's been said,
(Whoa, oh, oh),
Broke each other's hearts again,
(Oh, oh, oh),
As this starlit sky begins to shine,
We're breaking down,
She screams out...
“Then what the Hell were you two doing?!”
I chewed the inside of my cheek anxiously. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, but was it really worth keeping it a secret? It was just a gift...just a car...
But then again, it was more than that. It was a token. A symbol. It was something that would show her just how much I was willing to give her if it meant that she would trust me, love me...there seemed to be no other known way to her heart. I'd tried everything else and yet she still felt the need to fight with me.
That wasn't what lovers did, was it?
“I told you already,” I murmured finally for what seemed to be the millionth time, “I...I can't tell you. It's a surprise.”
“A surprise,” the contempt in her voice both stung and inflamed my heart, but I wasn't sure which one was the one I should've attended to first, “a surprise. Answer me this, then...is this the 'hey Ollie, guess what, your sister's a better kisser than you' type of surprise, or a 'you couldn't tell something was going on?'?”
I'd heard that same sentence, the one that told me I my word meant nothing to her, with different words once too many times. “It's neither!” I cried, slapping my palms against my thighs as if somehow that would help relieve me of my rage, “How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care about Izzy?!”
“Could've fooled me!”
That's when something else, startling but only serving the sole purpose of adding fuel to the fire, occurred to me. I wondered why it hadn't struck me earlier.
Not only was she accusing me of lying, but Izzy, too. Undoubtedly her adopted sister had tried desperately to tell her that it was a surprise and we couldn't talk about it, but with no avail. Had she been subject to this resentment too? Was Ollie feeling the indignation coming from her, too?
“Ya' know what?” Ollie said suddenly, drawing me from my sudden realization, “I'm done!”
At first, I thought she meant that she was done fighting, but one look into those cold emerald eyes and I knew otherwise. “Ollie, no. You don't understand...”
“We're not getting anywhere, Kev. I'm done.”
No, we're not gonna work this out tonight,
(We won't work this out),
No, we're not gonna make this right,
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye,
(Give a kiss, say goodbye),
'Cause we're not gonna work this out tonight...
I wasn't quite sure how, but the pain in my chest suddenly got a million times worse. She was right. This wasn't getting anywhere and we'd fought far too many times before tonight; there was too much heartache, too many tears in this for us to ever be happy. “Ollie, please,” I begged anyway, suddenly not caring that she'd hurt me before, “you don't understand...if you just...just wait...”
Ollie was suddenly much closer than I was used to, her finger to my lips and her eyes glistening with...tears? “Wait for what, Kev?” she questioned, her voice choked and broken now rather than patronizing and brazen as it had been a moment before, “For us to put this behind us and then end up fighting like this over something else?”
I stared back at her, my mouth half open and small, helpless gurgling noises coming from somewhere in the back of my tightening throat. She was still right...so painfully correct in the realization that we were just too different to ever make this work.
I didn't want it to end this way. Not up in flames.
I leaned in and kissed her as if that would make it all seem a little better, tasting the bitter salt on her lips with a slight wince.
No, I thought suddenly, I'm not losing this. I'm not losing her.
We don't have to fight,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight,
We just gotta try,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight,
(We're gonna work this out),
We don't have to fight,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight,
We just gotta try,
(Tonight, tonight, tonight),
Tonight...
She pulled away first, drawing her frame farther and farther away from mine. Tears were flowing freely down both of our faces at this point, but neither of us tried to hide it. “Bye, Kev.” She murmured softly.
“Ollie,” I tried one last time, “please just wait. I can't let you just walk away like this.”
She paused. I had to tell her the truth now.
No, we're not gonna work this out tonight,
(We won't work this out),
No, we're not gonna make this right,
So I'll give a kiss and say goodbye,
(Give a kiss, say goodbye),
'Cause we're not gonna work this out tonight...
“We were out buying a car for you for your birthday.” The words, so simple and yet so hard to say earlier, came tumbling down my tongue and out past my lips into the world without me having much say. I held my breath and braced my shoulders, ready for her to start yelling and telling me I was a liar and a cheater and a pedophile again...
But it didn't happen. She stared at me, eyes wide, voice as useless as a French fry against a broadsword.
I decided to take this as my opportunity to assure her that she was the only one I needed. Cautiously but purposefully I closed the gap between us, placing my arms firmly around her middle and staring hard into her eyes, daring her to fling another accusation my way. “I didn't want to tell you because...well, that was kind of the surprise.”
She continued to gaze at me, her mouth closing and no words at all coming from her throat.
I continued, daringly pressing my forehead against hers and touching the tips of our noses slightly. “I don't care if you don't believe me, Ollie,” I told her seriously, “I just need you to know that don't love anyone nearly as much as I love you. I...I don't like fighting with you, but if that's what I have to do to keep you around for just a little bit longer, so be it.”
More tears started to slide down her cheeks, and for a moment I was scared that maybe she really was going to break it off completely with me. Had I hurt her? Had I just made it worse? Was this the part where she broke out of my arms and ran and I would never see her again?
But all that doubt went away as soon as she buried her face into my shoulder. “God, I'm so stupid...” she murmured, “I'm so sorry Kev. I just...”
She trailed off for a moment, then what she said next made it all worth it. “I'm just so damn scared of losing you.”
Well, there's no need to fight,
We're just wasting time,
(Tonight),
If you give it a try,
Well, then maybe you'll find,
(We might work this out),
Well, we know we're in love,
So let's keep it alive,
(Keep it alive, keep it alive),
Tonight,
I'm starting to see the morning light,
(We've finally worked this out).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Yeah, I know what you guys are thinking. "If these two fight so much, how'd they ever fall in love?" And I can't really answer; it remains unknown, actually. XD I think the only reason is probably 'cause Kev's determined not to lose her.
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