XVIII

Jesse and Maria had retreated to the balcony, escaping from the suffocating humidity of the condo. She was perched in his lap, arms slung around his neck while he held her with an arm around the waist.

"So, what do you do?" she asked, alcohol evident on her breath.

"Um… I'm sort of in between jobs at the moment," he admitted, his speech somewhat slurred.

"Oh, well that's too bad… Do you live around here?"

She was running her fingers through his hair, one hand planted on his chest. Jesse had his eyes closed, reveling in the feeling of another human's touch. He had no idea what time it was but he knew it had to be late. After the entire birthday scene, he had become increasingly popular amongst the rest of the party goers, but had a strong feeling that his popularity would not last – considering more than half the attendees were drunk. Regardless, he was still touched that Felicity managed to organize something for him, even if it was just a small cake and a song.

Speaking of Felicity, Jesse had no idea where she had run off to. After they cut the cake, she seemed to disappear into thin air. He figured she was somewhere with Antonio. It was a slightly hard pill to swallow but Jesse tried to calm his own bitterness.

"Yeah, I actually just moved into a condo not too far from here," Jesse explained.

"Is that so? That must be nice…" Maria slurred, tapping on his nose.

Jesse didn't know too much about this girl other than that she was a friend of Lila's. She seemed nice enough and it was obvious that she was at least somewhat interested in him. However, he wasn't about to just drop everything for a girl he met at a party. Initially he had taken her for the girl next door type. She appeared to be a bit shy when he first met her but then again, he knew well enough that parties brought out a different side of people. Despite this, he needed to know that she would be someone that would accept him, even without the influence of alcohol. It was easy this time. Not like with Andrea. He didn't have to worry about hiding anything from her. He had a clean slate.

"It's sorta bare right now, I mean I literally just moved in. Felicity helped me a lot and stuff," he rambled, shrugging.

Maria moved back to look at him.

"Oh? So… What's the deal with the two of you, anyway?" she inquired.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Like is there anything going on or… Like she did that whole birthday thing for you and stuff," Maria reasoned.

Jesse shook his head, feeling strange about having to explain this to multiple people.

"Nah, no, we're just friends. We go back, that's all," he said.

His own words began to sound foreign to him. That's all they were. Just friends. So, why was it that he felt jealous of Antonio? He tried to shake his head of the thoughts, trapped in a cycle of scolding himself for being jealous then scolding himself for even feeling jealous in the first place. He had spent a grand total of one full day with Felicity. There was no way he could develop feelings for her now.

"I see! Hehe, well that's good. I mean, I wouldn't want to… I don't know, step on anyone's toes or anything," Maria admitted, giggling shyly.

"Don't worry about it. And hey, I guess since you're… On the same wavelength as me or whatever… How's about you and I go out for coffee or something? Like… Later – sometime… I don't know…" Jesse mumbled. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he had actually formally asked a girl out on a date. He was drunk but not drunk enough to just ignore the fact that he was being as awkward as a fourteen year old.

"I'd really like that!" Maria exclaimed as she pulled out her cell phone. "Here, gimme your number."

Jesse pursed his lips, realizing he didn't even have a phone.

"Um… My phone is broken right now so… Why don't you just give me your number and I'll call you when I get a new one?" he offered, trying not to sound too flustered.

"Oh, sure… Hm… I don't have a pen…"

At that same moment, the sliding door of the balcony opened and the blaring music flooded out into the open air. Both Maria and Jesse turned to see who had come to join them. It was Felicity. Her eyes darted between them quickly and she made an apologetic face. She was already wearing a jacket and had her purse in hand.

"Shit, hey… Sorry to uh… Interrupt you guys," she started, "But it's pretty late and I'm heading home… I'm kind of Jes- Alex's designated driver person so…"

Jesse narrowed his eyes, finally realizing that she must have been at Antonio's house all day and that she must have driven there herself, meaning her car was parked in the garage somewhere. He frowned slightly, looking back to Maria who also wore a disappointed look on her face. Jesse patted Maria on the shoulder, signalling for her to get off him as he slowly stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets like he was being carted off to jail.

"Hey! Do you have a pen?" Maria suddenly piped up.

With a furrowed brow, Felicity nodded slowly and rummaged through her purse, producing one ball point pen. Elated, Maria snatched it from her and quickly scribbled her number on the back of Jesse's hand. Felicity smiled slightly as she watched Jesse stare at the digits intently before looking back at the blonde, a wide grin on his face.

The three of them shuffled out from the balcony and dipped into the now dwindling crowd, only to pop out on the other side. Antonio was at the door, waiting to send them off.

"I'll see you Monday," he spoke, unlocking the door and swinging it open.

"Of course," Felicity answered, offering him a small smile.

Jesse felt Maria hook her arms around his.

"I'll call you as soon as I can," he assured, waving around his hand with her number on it.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle in admiration as she nodded vigorously. From the corner of his eye, he could see Antonio go in for another kiss, to which Felicity responded by holding his face in her hands and returning it. Jesse bit his tongue, giving one last look at Maria before sliding out into the hallway.

Felicity soon joined him, extracting her keys from her purse.

"So, I'm guessing you had fun?" she inquired, flashing him a smirk.

"Yeah, and so did you, obviously," he snorted. "What're you guys like… Friends with benefits or some shit? What are you? Like eighteen? Hah, give me a break."

Felicity paused, her brow knitting as she stared at him incredulously. She narrowed her eyes, stomping passed him. She knew he was drunk. Anything he said needed to be taken with a grain of salt. While Felicity was still frazzled over having to cut off communication with him, this didn't exactly make the decision any harder.

"Oh, yeah, because you're really in the position to judge what I do with my life," she snapped, beating the elevator call button with her fist.

"What do you think your friends think, hm? You know, about you fucking your boss?" Jesse retorted.

He had no idea what had come over him. The moment Antonio's door had shut he felt as if a wall had suddenly dropped between them. Every ounce of irritation that he had been suppressing throughout the night had suddenly bubbled to the surface.

Felicity felt her face flush with rage. What was he going on about? Where was this all coming from? Her hand balled into a fist as the elevator dinged and they slid in.

"I'm not going to talk about this right now. Especially not with you," she hissed. "You're drunk and honestly, you're just being an asshole."

"What, you're having trouble handling the truth? What happened to you Felicity? I used to know you. We were best friends. You never used to sleep around like some kind of wh-" Jesse chided, his mind incapable of filtering his words.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Pinkman, or I swear I'll drop you off at the nearest police station and turn you the fuck in," Felicity threatened, fuming now. She would never, of course, but she almost had half the mind to, now.

That worked to shut him up promptly. Felicity bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from slapping some sense into him. The elevator ride was silent before they reached their destination. Felicity stomped out of the car and into the parking lot, heels clacking on the pavement. Wordlessly, she got into her car and unlocked the door, letting Jesse stumble in himself.

They were silent until they finally reached Jesse's apartment. She let him fumble with his keys pathetically before sauntering into the suite. Jesse slumped down on the couch, obviously tired from the party. While Felicity was also tired, there were a few more things she had to pick up before she could finally leave Jesse alone for good.

All it took was a quick run to the gas station where she picked up a bottle of Advil and a disposable cell phone. Her mind was blank the entire time. She was hurt, for one thing. Jesse had never spoken to her like that before and even though he was drunk, his words still managed to seep in all the wrong places. Secondly, Felicity was still uneasy about having to cut herself off from him. She had no idea what would come after this but she had given him all the tools to build himself a better life. In the end, it was up to him.

By the time she got back to his condo, he was already passed out on the sofa. In the usual good friend manner, she laid out the painkillers and a glass of water on the counter, right beside the phone.

Don't call me. Don't come to my house. I'll contact you if I need to.

Take care, Felicity.