Flipside

Another One Bites the Dust

I wake up to my alarm, feeling groggy. I go to the bathroom and wash my face, then get dressed and head downstairs. Taz is in the kitchen and he has breakfast made. He smiles at me and sits me down, I smile at him and take smoke my vape. He lights me a cigarette and then one for himself.

“Here, I got you a present.” He goes to the fridge and pulls out a big Red Bull, handing it to me.

“Aww. Thanks, Taz.” I grin and open it, taking a drink. He gets me some food and then sits with me. “Where’s Iñaki?”

“Oh, he left, he had a few extra scenes to film so they picked him up early.” He nods and looks over at me.

“Okay,” I smile. I’m heartbroken but try to put on a happy face.

“Hey…I know we have to go film and this is gonna be a tough day for you but I’m gonna be there for you. If you’re ever not okay, you grab me. Okay?”

I look in his eyes and feel a tear roll down my cheek, which he quickly swipes away. “Okay. Thank you.”

He smiles and we eat in a comfortable silence. He surprises me again by driving us to the studio, instead of a chauffeur picking us up. He gets me smiling and feeling a bit more myself.

He sits with me for hair and makeup and then we break away to get changed. Our scenes aren’t together so I spend most of the day away from him, which sucks. But Jeffery picks at me until I tell him what’s happened. I start crying and he hugs me until I stop and spends the whole day, at least while we’re not in scene, making me laugh. As soon as my scenes for the day wrap, I go and watch the others. It’s cool to watch them work and I can’t wait until we’re together. Once the day wraps and everyone changes and cleans up, Taz grabs me and the other crewmates and takes us to a bar. I talk a while with Jacob, who I hadn’t previously gotten to know and he’s hysterical. We all have dinner together, play games, and laugh.

As the night comes to a close, we take Emily, Jacob, and Mackenyu back to their hotel and then head home. Iñaki goes and changes then heads to the pool. In the kitchen, Taz looks at me and smiles. “You wanna go for a swim?”

“Hmm.” I think about it. “Actually, yeah. That sounds awesome.” He nods and we head upstairs to change. Once I’m in the pool, he makes me a strong whiskey and Coke and then joins us. We spend the next few hours talking and I think how nice it is to feel some normalcy while my back home life is crumbling to bits. Iñaki goes to bed, since he has another really busy day tomorrow and Taz and I stay up.

As we start to get tired, he suggests we head to bed. I nod and he takes my arm and starts walking me up the stairs. We’re about halfway up when the doorbell chimes. We look at each other for a second.

“Go up to bed, I’ll be right there.” He starts walking downstairs.

“Wait, Taz!” I reach out and grab his arm. “It’s midnight, I don’t think anything good is behind that door.” My eyes meet his and plead with him not to go.

He smiles, “it’s okay. I’ll be fine, I promise. Wait here, but stay back, okay?” I nod slowly and lean against the wall of the landing. He looks through the peep hole and steps back. He stands there for a second, staring at the door. Finally, he looks up at me, “you might want to go to bed. This isn’t gonna be fun.” He sighs and I furrow my brows as he opens the door.

“Baby!” A small blonde woman jumps on him as soon as the door opens. She wraps her legs around him as he kind of braces himself so he doesn’t fall over.

“Anna. What are you doing here?” He stares at her, looking concerned.

“I missed you.” She puts her legs down and runs her hand down his cheek. “And we need to talk.” She pulls away from him and turns to grab her bags, noticing me. My breath hitches in my throat and I look upstairs, thinking this must be his girlfriend. I should have listened to him. “About her.” My eyes go wide.

“Harmony? What the hell?” He looks at her with a confused and angry expression. He turns to me and softens his gaze instantly, speaking to me in a soft and calm tone. “Harmony, go up to bed. I gotta deal with this, but I’ll drive you to the studio tomorrow morning, okay?” I nod and turn to walk away.

“Not so fast, I want to ask you both some questions.” I pause and look back. Taz shakes his head.

“I promise this doesn’t involve you. Please just go.” He looks at me with something I can’t read. He looks pained, maybe sympathetic? I nod and take off up the stairs.

I hear her scoff and call out, “great loyalty to fellow girls!” I shake my head and laugh. Thinking to myself yeah right. My loyalty lies with Taz.

I get to my bedroom and sit on my balcony. A few moments later I hear a gentle knock on my door and say “come in.” Iñaki peeks his head in and then quickly enters my room and shuts the door behind him. He walks quickly over and joins me on the balcony. “I thought you went to bed?”

“I did. But I heard her and woke up. I’ve seen this before, any minute now you’ll understand why I won’t be getting back to sleep for a while. Thought if I’m gonna be up and you’re gonna go through this for the first time, we might keep each other company.” He offers me a new pack of cigarettes and I laugh, taking it and lighting one up.

“What do you mean?” I look over at him as I blow out smoke. Just as he opens his mouth, I hear Anna shouting from downstairs. He points.

“That.”

“Whoa.” I look out the balcony and shake my head, the shouting continues. “She said she was here about me.”

“Oh god, you met her? I’m sorry.” He shakes his head. “Don’t think too much on whatever she said. She’s crazy.”

Her voice somehow raises and I hear Taz shouting back. Suddenly she gets much louder and I hear the doors downstairs crash open. I look at Iñaki and we look over the railing downstairs. She pushes him outside, saying something like “if you’re gonna disrespect me enough to smoke in my presence, you’ll do it outside. I feel my blood boil watching her push him. Against my better judgment, I call out to her. “Hey!” They look up and I see Iñaki sit back, trying to pull me back. “If you’re gonna shout at him and keep everyone in the house awake, keep it inside so you don’t wake the whole neighborhood. But if you push him one more time, we’re gonna have issues, you and I.”

She glares up at me and scowls. After a minute of quiet, she turns to him and gives him a hard shove, pushing him in the pool. “What now?” She holds her arms out.

I turn and walk inside, hearing her shouting behind me and Taz yelling at her. As I make for the door, Iñaki grabs my wrist and pulls me back. “Wait, Harmony, don’t do this. She’s awful but Taz can handle his own.”

I meet his eyes, with my hand on the doorknob, “yeah but Taz can’t do anything about her hitting him. I can.” I yank my wrist away and start walking down the hall.

He catches up to me, walking behind me. “What are you gonna do?”

“I dunno.” I run down the stairs, Iñaki close behind me.

“Don’t hurt her, okay? I just,” he pauses when I stop and look at him, “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

I laugh softly, and pat his shoulder, “I don’t start fights. But if she does, I’ll finish it. She’s out of line.” I start walking again, Iñaki with me. “I’ve had abusive relationships and I won’t watch Taz in one.”

Iñaki stops, “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

I wave over my shoulder, “I’m fine, love. Just stay here.” I get outside just as Taz has climbed out of the pool. Anna walks up to him and slaps him hard. I walk over and with one quick bump of my hip against hers, I send her flying into the pool. She screeches and I look at Taz. He’s covered in handprints and red marks. I take a deep breath and look in his eyes, barely hearing her shrieking from the water. “Are you okay?”

He looks into my eyes and nods, he speaks kind of rough and softly, “I’m okay.” I grab his hand and pull him away gently, leading him into the light from the kitchen. His face has a red handprint forming. I touch his chin softly and inspect it, shaking my head. His eyes go wide and he grabs my arms, pulling me out of the way, just as Anna lunges for me. I pat his chest and nod, turning to her. She gets in my face and starts yelling, but I stand there calmly, letting her yell. When she stops for a moment, I say softly, “are you done?”

She glares at me, huffing and puffing. She says nothing but tries to swing a punch at me, which I block and push her back relatively easily. I walk up to her quickly while she’s off balance and grab her soaking wet shirt, pinning her against a wall. “Listen to me right now. You are out of control and you need to get a f*****g grip.” I turn, facing her to Taz, still gripping her shirt tightly. “Look at him. All those marks? That’s from you.” I turn her to face me again, my other hand grabbing her shirt too, pulling her towards me. “I won’t stand for that. I gave you a warning. You could have yelled at each other til your voices were gone inside. You could have stopped pushing him. But no. You chose to keep pushing him, yelling outside, and then escalated it. Tell me, what for? What’s your reasoning?” I shake her a bit.

I see Iñaki grinning out of the corner of my eyes. She pants and stares at me, looking back to Taz and then to me. “You, you dumb b***h! You’re trying to take my man and I won’t stand for it.” She shouts at me.

I shake my head, “well you’re doing all this for nothing then. We’re not like that, I’m fact, I have a boyfriend so I’m not available. Try again.” I stare her down. She tries to find words but can’t. She tries to pull away but can’t. I shake her again, making her look at me. “I get it. So tell me, Anna, who’s the last guy you slept with?”

She stops moving for a moment and then glares at me, “Taz, obviously.” I hear Taz come closer and hold up a hand to stop him.

“No, I didn’t say to lie. I said who is the last person you slept with?”

She glares and shakes her head, “babe, help me, she’s crazy!”

Taz clears his throat and speaks in a low tone, “Harmony, what are you doing?”

I look back at him and look down, “look, I’m not gonna give you my whole troubled past but I’ve been in a relationship much like this, with the roles reversed. When someone lashes out about you maybe being with someone else, or you might leave them, there’s almost always a reason behind it.” I turn to her, “isn’t that right, Anna?”

She breaks free from my grip and keeps an arms distance from me. “You don’t know shit.” She turns to Taz, “babe, it’s not like that…it’s just,”

“What?” He frowns at her and glares, “Anna, what did you do?”

“Babe…I love you, you know that.” She says, trying to walk towards him, but I block her and she steps back. I see a tear roll down her cheek and raise an eyebrow. “I made a tiny mistake. This guy got me drunk…”

Taz puts his hands behind his head and turns. “Oh my god.” She sobs when he won’t look at her. She tries to come past me again, but I stop her and she glares at me. At that moment, I can see how fake her tears are.

“This guy got me drunk and offered to take me home, so I said yes and well, it all happened so fast…”

“So she’s right?” He points at me, “is she right?”

“I don’t know.” Anna says quietly, refusing to look at either of us.

“Did you cheat on me again?” His voice raises slightly.

She looks up at him and fake sobs again, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to.”

“But you did. God!” He throws his arm and walks a few paces back before coming up a couple feet behind me. “That’s it, I can’t do this anymore!”

She looks up at him, and I’m unsurprised to see her eyes dry. “What?” Her voice is clear.

“I’m done. We’re over.”

“No!” She yells and glares at me.

Taz grabs my arm and pulls me behind him, leaving his hand on me. “Yeah, we’re done. Get out!” He points to the door. She starts trying to plead with him but he raises his voice, “I said get out!”

She starts to cry, it looks genuine this time. “Taz, please don’t do this…”

He stares at her for a minute and then looks at me for a second. “You have 10 minutes to get out of this house. If you’re not gone by then, your s**t will be in the driveway.” He softly pulls me away, back inside, leaving her sobbing behind us. Iñaki stares as we enter the kitchen, shocked but smiling. Taz looks at him, “buddy, you should get to bed. I’m so sorry about all this.”

Iñaki laughs softly, “it’s okay. I’m proud of you!” He comes up and hugs him tightly, Taz releases me to hug him back. “And for what it’s worth, I am sorry.” He pats Taz on the back. Taz nods and Iñaki goes upstairs. Taz stares out at Anna, who is kneeling on the ground, making a big show of sorrow. He shakes his head.

“Come on.” He grabs my hand and walks with me to the stairs. He sits down a few steps up. “I’m gonna wait and make sure she leaves. You should head to bed.”

I sit next to him and shake my head, “no way I’m leaving you alone. You’ve been here for me, I’ll be here for you.”

He smiles and pats my knee. “Yeah. Crazy. I never would have seen this coming.”

I nod, “I know.” A few moments pass quietly. I look over at him and nudge him with my shoulder, “you okay?”

He thinks for a moment, “actually, yeah. You know, the first time she cheated I was a mess. The second time I was crushed but more pissed. This time, I’m angry, sure. But I just really don’t care. I know I deserve to be treated better and clearly she doesn’t learn. So, yeah. I’m okay.”

I smile slightly and lean against him. After a few minutes, we hear footsteps. I sit up straight. Anna comes stomping toward the door, throwing her bags down when she sees us. “Taz, please don’t do this. You have to see that this woman is trying to tear us apart.”

He laughs out loud and I laugh with him. He stops laughing and turns to her, “no, Anna. You tore us apart. Please just go. I wish you well and I hope you learn to respect yourself.”

She stares at him and shakes her head, then picks up her bags. “Whatever. When you regret this, call me.” And with that she opens the door and leaves. Taz jumps up and runs down the stairs, locking the door behind her. He leans against the door and then turns and smiles up at me.

“Atta boy.” I grin. He laughs and comes up to me, offering his hands and lifting me to my feet. He leads me up the stairs and to our rooms. I look up at him, “are you sure you’re okay? I mean, I can stay up with you for a while if you want?”

He shakes his head, “I’m okay. You get some rest.” He looks down in my eyes, I notice him looking around my face. He gently rubs his thumbs on my hands and then pulls me against him, hugging me tight. “I mean it, I’m okay. But we both need to rest. Okay?”

I nod against his chest, my heart beating a little faster. For just a second I think way back to a couple weeks ago, when I overheard Taz say he liked me and thought I liked him too. And honestly, I do. But this isn’t a good time to engage.

He pulls away and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Goodnight, Harmony.”

“Goodnight, Taz.” We turn and walk to our rooms, closing our doors as we smile at each other.

I head to my bathroom and get ready for bed. Once I’m in my pajamas, I go to my balcony and light a cigarette. Staring out at the moonlight on the ocean. I hear a very quiet, gentle knock. For a moment, I think I imagined it. I go to my door and open it as Taz is crossing the hallway back to his room. He stops and faces me, laughing sheepishly and scratching the back of his neck.

“Uh, I’m too wired to sleep. Got a smoke?” He smiles.

“Come on in!” I hold the door open for him and close it softly. He goes to the balcony and lights a cigarette for himself. We sit and smoke together and watch the moonlight in quiet. He chuckles softly. I look over at him, “what?”

“Oh, nothing.” He smiles and shakes his head. “I, uh, I know you’re in pain from breaking up with your boyfriend but…I’m so relieved to be rid of Anna.”

“It’s okay. I know.” I pat his knee and smile. “If it makes you feel any better, I knew my breakup was coming. It still hurts, obviously. But it was going to happen. And if it’s meant to be, it will be.”

We finish our cigarettes and head inside. I sit down on the couch in my room and pat the space next to me. He smiles as he sits with me. We talk about the events of the night and I start feeling a bit drowsy. As I start to lean, my head falls on his shoulder and I snap up. He laughs and stands up, helping me to my feet and then carrying me to bed. He lays me down softly and brushes my hair out of my face. “Goodnight.”

I grab his hand and give it a soft squeeze, “goodnight.”

_________________________________________

The next day, Taz and I head to the studio and film a couple action packed scenes. It takes a long time, and will require a lot more work, but it turns out amazing. We finish filming earlier than normal so the whole crew comes to the house. We all have some drinks and Taz makes a beautiful big dinner. After dinner we sit around listening to music and talking. Emily shows me a couple of t****k edits of the crew. She shows me one of Sanji/Taz and we all laugh. It’s got the song Collide behind it and Taz brags about getting such a sexy edit. He and Mackenyu bicker for a moment about whether Sanji or Zoro get sexier edits. I show everyone one of Zoro/Mackenyu with the song Oh Mickey behind it. We all laugh and have the best time.

Finally, Emily, Jacob, and Mackenyu get a ride back to their hotel. Iñaki takes some sleeping pills, since he and Jeffery have a scene to film and they plan to start filming it at 4 am, so he has to head to the studio at around 2 am. Taz and I stay up a bit longer, playing some games. When we start a new game of pool, I look at him and grin.

“Hey. Let’s make this one interesting.”

He looks at me and raises an eyebrow mischievously, “oh? Do tell.”

“Each missed shot, the shooter takes a drink and must choose truth or dare. You in?”

“Hell yeah, sounds fun.” He grins as he breaks. The balls scatter but he doesn’t make one. He glances at me.

“Truth or dare?” I smirk.

He takes a drink, “hmm. Dare.”

I inspect the table and think. “Let’s start off easy. I dare you to light me a cigarette.” He grins and grabs a cigarette, placing it in my mouth and lighting it for me. He lights one for himself as well. I take a shot and sink stripes. The next shot I miss. I take a drink and look at him.

“Truth or dare?” He grins.

“Hmm. I think dare.”

“I dare you to take a super sexy pool picture.”

“Easy mode.” I have him open the camera on his phone and angle him so the camera is even to the pool table. I grip my shirt and pull it down, showing a good deal of cleavage. I place the pool stick between my breasts, and then put one hand on my neck. I bite my lip and look into the camera. He snaps the picture and grins.

“Damn.” He shakes his head and sets his phone down. He takes three shots before he misses. “Ugh. Truth.”

I watch him take his drink and think, “okay. Truth…what was your very first thought of me?”

He laughs, “I thought you were gorgeous. And then you spoke and I realized you were cool and funny too.”

I laugh as I aim for my shot. I make another three and the scratch on the fourth.

“Hey, a scratch should be a shot.” He smirks.

“I like where your heads at.” I pour a shot and take it.

“And, truth or dare?”

“I’ll go truth as well.”

“Okay.” He thinks for a minute. He laughs out loud, “okay, where is the craziest place you’ve ever had s*x?”

I clutch my invisible pearls, “Beg your pardon, I’m a lady!” I smirk as I walk behind him while he’s aiming. I lean forward and whisper, “but it was on the roof of a grocery store.”

He grins at me with wide eyes, then takes his shot and misses. Before I ask he says, “dare.”

I nod my head and take my shot, sinking it. “Dare…I dare you to play the rest of the game shirtless.” He smiles and takes off his shirt. I make another shot and then miss. I respond before he asks, “dare.”

“I dare you to take a sexy pool picture of me.”

I laugh out loud and nod. I position him so one hand is flat on the pool table, and the other is holding the stick against his hips. I pull his shorts down a bit, highlighting the V shape on his abs. Then I open the camera on my phone and take the picture. I show him and he gasps.

“That’s the best picture I’ve ever seen of me.” We both laugh. He takes his shot, makes one and then scratches the second. He pours a shot and shoots it back, looking into my eyes. “Truth.”

“Mmm.” I watch him, smiling softly, “what are you thinking right now?”

“I don’t know if you want to know.” He says, looking down and smiling.

“Of course I want to know, tell me!”

“I’m thinking about how amazing you look right now.”

I feel my face flush and I giggle. I line up and take my shot, making two. I lock eyes with him, “might be my last chance since I’m two shots away from winning. So…I think, truth.”

He nods, leaning on the pool table in front of me, “truth…why did you stand up to Anna last night?”

I look up at him, “well, she was hitting you and I hate seeing that. Plus, you deserve better than her.”

He stares at me for a second, before lining up for his shot. He makes one then misses. “Damn it. Truth.”

I look at him. He’s upped the level in his questions so I smirk and say, “what was your first thought when I said my boyfriend and I broke up?”

He holds eye contact with me, and I feel goosebumps on my skin, “I was relieved. Because you were available.” He walks over to me slowly and stands inches from me, “the second thought was that I needed to break up with Anna.”

I feel my heart rate pick up. I nod and quickly take my next couple shots, I almost make the eight ball and win, but I put too much heat on it and accidentally scratch. “Damn!” I toss my pool stick on the table.

“Well, that’s a lose. So that means the ultimate…truth or dare?”

I turn and face him, crossing my arms. “Dare.”

He walks back up to me, standing before me. “I dare you to kiss me. If you want.”

I look up at him for a minute, then I slowly wrap my arms around his neck and pull his face to mine. I take a breath and then gently press my lips to his. Softly at first and then more passionately. He returns the same intensity, lacing his fingers through my hair, and running his other hand to my waist. I let one hand run down his chest and fall to his hips, grabbing his belt, my other hand resting gently on his shoulder. He tightens his hold on me, pulling my body tight against his. I moan happily, his touch and kiss feels so good.

His hands move to my legs and he bends down and picks me up, then sets me down gently on the pool table. I wrap my legs around his hips and pull him close. His hands move up my waist and softly graze the sides of my boobs. He breaks away from the kiss and places his forehead against mine, breathing slightly heavy. He looks into my eyes and speaks in a low, rough voice, “I have wanted to kiss you since the moment I saw you.”

I nod, catching my breath. “Yeah, me too.” I touch his cheek softly and look between his eyes. He smiles and kisses me again, soft and deep. The longer we kiss, the more intense it gets. He finally picks me up and carries me upstairs. As we get to our bedrooms, he sets me down and softly pins me against the wall.

“You wanna…uh, come in?” He looks at his bedroom door and then back to me. I think for a second and then nod. He smiles and takes my hand, pulling me softly into his room. He sits on his bed next to me and kisses me softly. “Maybe…we should take things slow.”

I smile and kiss him softly, “okay.” We lay down and kiss until we fall asleep together.