Lee hadn't seen Jay in a couple of weeks. And, while Lee had found that she was missing him, and not just what they tended to do a lot of while they were together, Lee had been so busy that she hadn't been able to do anything about it. Because as well as the boutique finally being open, and spending time with Kevin, Lee had also started learning how to manage the bar in the evenings. Which of course resulted in a lot of flirting with Matt because of all the time they were spending together. Which ended up making Lee miss Jay even more.

It was weird, though. They had started getting to know each other, head actually been talking, and with the amount of cuddling that the two of them had been doing, it was feeling like Jay was getting more invested in her than she had expected after that first day. Very it wasn't serious, not like her and Tarin had been serious. That were light years away from that.

But the band for the night seemed to be having some sort of issue as they were getting ready, Lee noticed. Finishing up with the told behind the bar, Lee glanced over to see them getting more agitated. Having a sigh, Lee made her way over. ”What seems to be the trouble, guys?”

”Our damn bass player bailed on us,” one of the men said.”And everyone we know is booked tonight.”

No bass player, note that did pose a problem. While Lee knew that they could play without the bass, the songs wouldn't should right. But she knew a certain canine-shifter that played the bass, didn't she? ”Give me a few minutes, let me see if I can do any magic.”

Walking away, Lee pulled her phone out and started tapping to pull up Jay's number. If he was free, this would be a win all around; the band would have a bassist to play with, Jay would get a gig and it was the perfect excuse to get to spend time together. Clicking Jay's number, Lee held her phone up to her ear and waited for him to pick up.

Jay was home, sitting on his couch and playing around with his bass. Not really playing anything in particular, just sort of making things up as he went along, to sort of ease his mind. The TV was on as well, but it was more or less background noise; he wasn't paying any sort of attention to it.

The canine-shifter had been wracking his brain for the past week or so. On the one hand, he was happy and thankful to have something serious, but on the other, he was going to have to break the news to Lee somehow. He realized he may have invested more in her than he thought. Then again, she did go from a potential mark, to a fling, to...whatever this was. They definitely weren't dating, but they were far beyond the one night stand phase as well. They talked, and hung out(sometimes), and were slightly--just slightly--more than just physical.

And yet he worried what she'd think. What she'd do.

He sighed, standing up and walking over to turn off his amp and put his bass away before plopping back down on the couch. And then...he noticed his phone was about to vibrate off of the table. He grabbed it and looked at the name: Lee. His breath caught in his throat, but he answered.

"H-Hey, Lee," he said, "What's up?"

"Hey Jay, are you busy tonight? There's a band that needs a bass."

"Nah. What kinda band?"

"Rock. Mostly covers, I think they have a couple original."

"Shouldn't be too hard for me to follow, then. How quick do I need to be there?"

"Now, if you can, they're doing set up right now."

"Alright. See ya in a few." With that, he grabbed his bass and set off walking to the Trasheteria, though it struck him that now he was going to have to tell her about him and Zelda, tonight. But...he knew the longer he put it off, the less he'd want to do it.

A while later, he walked into the bar, bass in tow and made his way over to Lee, once he saw her.

"Somebody called for a bass?"

Hanging up the phone with a slight smile, Lee walked back over to the band to give them the good news. Then she got back to her own work. There was more than enough to do, and now that Jay was on his way, Lee wanted to get it done as quickly as possible.

Before she was expecting, but not soon enough for the band, apparently, Jay was walking in asking if someone had called for a bass. Lee couldn't help it, she grinned when she saw him. Walking out from behind the bar, the smile still on her face, Lee just took Jay in for a moment.

”Thanks for coming on such short notice. I guess their bass player bailed, and they couldn't find anyone else,” Lee said as she came up and stopped in front of Jay. Then she gave him a bit of a teasing smirk. ”Don't worry, I'll make it worth your while.”

"Oh, it's no problem," he said, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I'm sure you will~" he said without thinking, and then it hit him. "I do need to talk to you later, but...it looks like they need me like, yesterday," he said with a chuckle before going over to them, hoping he wasn't being too obvious about what was going on. He really sucked at this part.

Making his way over to the band, he stepped on stage and set his bass up. "I'm Jay. Lee told me you guys needed a bassist?" he told them before adding. "I know we have no time to rehearse, so you just lead the way, and I'll follow." With that, he strapped on his bass. And soon, the gig began, but every now and then, he'd shoot a glance at Lee.

The first song was a cover, and one Jay actually played quite a bit: Black Hole Sun, originally by Soundgarden. The next song was an original, but it wasn't too hard for Jay to figure out; at first he'd play just the root notes and the basic rhythm, but little by little, he progressed into something more advanced, yet still letting the rest of the band members shine. After all, this was their gig, he was just there to back them up a bit.

Though at the same time...Lee was really getting to see what he did best, and he actually somewhat dreaded the gig ending.

Lee's smile widened slightly when she heard Jay say he was sure that she's make it worth his while. She had already planned to pay him well, everything else would just be fun. Who needed to sleep every day, anyway?

But as Jay continued, saying that he needed to talk to her later, her smile slipped a bit. Talk, she wondered. While he wasn't opposed to talking with her, it was normally her idea to talk, not his.

Lee didn't have a chance to ask what Jay wanted to talk about, though, because he needed to get up on stage with the band. Of well, they had all night, if they wanted.

It didn't take long to get everything set up, and people were starting to trickle in to the bar. And Lee decided to say screw it for the night. Normally, she would be of working, in the back or helping out with what she was actually able to help with. But for tonight, Lee decided to simply grab a table close to the stage so she could watch Jay play. If there were any problems in the bar, they could come find her.

He really was good, Lee couldn't help but think as the band made their way into the second song. She didn't recognize it, thinking it was probably an original, yet as the song progressed, Jay was playing more intuitively, while still meshing with what the rest of the band was playing. Seeing Jay glance toward her again, Lee grinned at him before trying to tell him that he was really good.

But the smile she got in return wasn't nearly as big as she would expect. But not only that, there was no teasing in it, no smirk, no wink. As Jay looked away again, Lee's smile faded, her brow creasing. What was going on, Lee couldn't help but wonder.

In between songs, Jay found his mind wandering; he could already see Lee's fading smile in the crowd, and just knew it was going to completely disappear when he told her. Even if he did promise her honesty. Why did he care so much, anyway? He knew the answer to that. He'd stuck around, gotten to know her as a person instead of just another person he'd slept with. He knew her name, and even her son loved him--granted Kevin still thought he was a dog.

The third song started up, and Jay erased all this from his mind, fading into the music. Like shifting, this was his escape. He lost himself in the music as the third song turned into four, and he just let the thump of his bass carry him past the nervousness, past the guilt, and past the impending conversation.

During the fifth song, he could tell that it was going to feature a little more bass, and he made sure to make eye contact with Lee on this one. He smiled as his fingers danced knowingly up and down the strings, even though he was improvising, but it was working. On cue, he faded back and let the other musicians have their moment. Then...came intermission. He set his bass down, though he wasn't the first one off stage as he usually was. Walking over to Lee, he sat down next to her, biting his lip a little.

"I uh...I have to tell you something," he replied, looking in her eyes, as sincere as he'd ever been. "I found someone...I've been in a serious relationship for a few days now, and...I didn't know how to tell you." He gave a nervous chuckle. "And then you called me, so I figured...I shouldn't put it off anymore. I promised you I'd be honest, so...there it is." He looked away, dreading her reaction just a bit.

As the band continued to play, Lee noticed that Jay was looking her way less and less. That was weird, Lee couldn't help but think. The last time she had watched him play, he had kept looking at her, quite frequently in fact.

But then the band was taking a break, and Lee saw Jay making his way over to her table. Trying to push away the worry that had been building in her during the set, Lee flashed a smile at Jay.

He sat down, without a smile or greeting, and Lee's smile faded again as Jay said he had something to tell her. As he continued… That was not what she had expected, and less face dropped, creases forming between her eyebrows. What else she was not expecting was how much those words hurt[/].

Then Lee did everything she could to write the surprise and pain off her face trying to leave it as blank as she could. Taking a deep breath and clenching her teeth for a moment, Lee nodded. ”Ok,” Lee said slowly, not realizing that her eyes were dropping down to the table. ”Thank you for that, Jay. For the honesty.”

Lee sat there and just nodded a few more times. ”I should probably get back to work. I'll be in the back office of you need me for anything. You were really good, by the way.” That said, Lee took one more deep breath and stood up y to leave.

Jay was expecting it to be bad, but this....this tore his heart in two. "You're welcome, I guess," he said softly, his voice somewhat shaking as a lump caught in his throat. This wasn't supposed to hurt this much. This never hurt this much. What made her so special? Honestly...he didn't want to know. Because it was over now, and she wasn't even going to stick around for the rest of the show. "Thanks for the gig..."

And then she stood up. "I'm sorry...it wasn't supposed to hurt this much..." he almost whispered. And then...it was time to get back on stage. He grabbed his bass, and strapped it on, closing his eyes as the band got ready.

The song that followed featured the most soulful, emotion-driven bass Jay remembered playing. Sure, he was happy with Zelda, but seeing Lee hurt like that really did something to him. The next few songs were more upbeat, but he still gave his all.

The last song was more of a power ballad, and again Jay put his soul into it, following perfectly with the guitar right up to the solo as sweat and tears flowed down his face--what the hell was he crying?!?

Ask Lee send to be able to do at the moment was nod as she looked at the table. Nod because he said she was welcome, because he had actually told her the truth after her said that lying was what he did naturally. And another nod after she stood up when Jay apologized, saying it wasn't supposed to hurt so much.

No, Lee thought as she walked to the door that would lead away from the main bar and back to the office, it wasn't supposed to hurt like this. It wasn't supposed to, because Jay didn't do serious. The only reason he had even been with her for more than a day was because she had told him that it didn't have to be serious. She hadn't thought it had gotten serious. But the pain she was feeling because Jay said he wanted to be with someone else… Apparently things had gotten more serious than she had thought, at least on her end. Obviously not for Jay.

As she stepped into the office, Lee closed closed the door and leaned against to two solitary tears running down her cheeks.

_____

Hearing the music come to an end, muffled though it was through the walls, Lee grabbed the two envelopes she had prepared, took a deep breath, and stood up to make her way out front again.

Making sure to keep her face carefully calm, Lee walked quickly over to the stage, handing the one envelope over to the lead singer. ”Great job, guys,” Lee said, trying, and most likely failing, to make her voice sound like she was happy. ”Give me a call next week and we'll see about booking you in again.”

Then Lee turned to Jay as she held out the envelope with a bit more money than would be normal pay for a gig like this to him with a small, slightly sad smile. ”Here you are,I told you it'd be worth your while,” Lee said softly. Hopefully her voice didn't sound as bad as she was feeling.

The song ended, and the gig was over. Now that there was no music to hide behind, Jay tried his best not to look broken up about this, but he was failing miserably as he put his bass back in the case. "Nice playing with you guys," he said sincerely, voice shaking a little. And then, she came back out, also looking a little out of shape, but she did a much better job of hiding it than he did.

She went to the lead vocalist first, and then him, and he bit his lip, taking the envelope. "Thanks, Lee," he said, voice cracking. "For...well, everything." He gave her a week smile, brushing his hair out of his face. He wanted to hug her, but figured that was a bad idea.

"I didn't mean to hurt you...."

Again, Lee couldn't seem to do anything but nod. Nod when Jay said thanks, nod when he said for everything. But she couldn't look at him, not directly, not in the eyes. Instead, Lee was looking at Jay's throat; close enough that maybe he wouldn't notice that she wasn't really looking at him, but not so close that she could accidently see his eyes.

View but when Jay said that he didn't mean to hurt her, Lee's eyes moved up of their own accord. And his eyes looked pained too. ”I know you didn't…” Lee whispered. ”And I know we weren't going to have this be…” Lee shook her head slightly.

Jay too deliberately avoided her eyes; it would make things so much worse. And then....their eyes met. "It wasn't supposed to be...but somehow I guess we invested a little more than we intended..." he whispered, putting the envelope in the pocket of the jacket he actually remembered to bring.

There were no words he could say, no witty comments, no flirty one-liners that could make this all better. Another tear streamed down his cheek, and he forgot about the crowd. To him, it was just him and Lee. "Again, thanks. Give Kevin some love for me, okay?" he gave a weak smile, but he didn't want to say goodbye. Gripping the case, he gave a sigh and turned to step off of the stage, but then he gave her one last look. "I guess I'll see you around, Lee. Come see me play sometime though, right?" He gave a wink, though it lacked the charm his other ones had carried.

Not just her, they both had unintentionally put more into this, into each other, than they had planned, than they had thought. Then there was silence between them, and Lee saw a tear rolling down Jay's cheek. Without even thinking about it, Lee reached her hand out, laying it on the side of Jay's face, brushing the tear away with her thumb.

Lee just left her hand there, on Jay's face, until she heard him speak again. Letting her hand drop back to her side, Lee nodded. ”I will,” Lee replied, her voice just as quiet as Jay's had been. ”Maybe even get him an actual dog.”

And that was it. Jay grabbed his guitar case and turned to make his way of the stage. Into the crowd that was still there. Apparently, it wasn't just with Tarin that she was able to completely forget that there were other people around.

But Jay stopped and turned to look at her one last time. Lee nodded to him with a small, sad smile. ”I will. Let me know where and when.”

Then Jay was walking away and leaving the bar. Lee just took one more moment standing there before she too left the stage. But she went in the other direction, back toward the office. It was going to be a long night.