Tailspin - Part 1 (Fanboy Garcia x F!OC)
SUMMARY ››››› Having grown up just across the bridge from North Island, Carolina Alvarez has been told her whole life to stay away from the Top Gun boys. And for the most part, she has. That is, until Fanboy catches her putting quarters in the jukebox at The Hard Deck and initiates a game of cat and mouse that ends with her exactly where she swore she’d never be.
PAIRING ››››› Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia x F!OC
WORD COUNT ››››› 5,721
WARNINGS ››››› None
MASTERLIST ››››› Here
A/N ››››› These two are my babiest babies. I'm absolutely in love with this couple. Mickey is such an underrated character, and everything I've been planning for this love story just has me so excited to share more of this.
If Caro had things her way, they wouldn't be here.
Instead, the group of girls would be in the middle of a dancefloor, surrounded by strangers as they downed enough shots to feel like they were living inside of a synth pop song.
She'd even be happy with taking over a line of stools at the shitty bar three blocks down from their apartment, drinking beer and alternating between telling stories and guessing at what was happening on the sporting event broadcasted on the TVs.
And if there was no other acceptable place in the vast array of options that the San Diego nightlife offered, they could have bought a couple bottles of wine and binged The Bachelorette from the comfort of their own home.
But they were here. And instead of a scandalously tight dress or shorts and a cute tank top or a soft set of pajamas, she wore a cotton sundress from Old Navy which had only been meant for Sunday dinners with her abuela. Then again, wearing it to the pseudo-goodbye party for her best friend for the past four years seemed like an acceptable exception.
Sami grinned at her across the table. "I still can't believe you agreed to come here," she said.
Caro shrugged. "You have to finish your bucket list, and I wanted to spend time with you."
"But you're here," Sami said, gesturing around the room. "You hate this place." It felt surprisingly cramped for a beach front bar where one whole wall was windows. If Caro had to guess it had something to do with the little model airplanes and mugs that hung from the ceiling and the fact that every wall that wasn't a window was covered with Navy memorabilia. The bar also might have felt more crowded than it actually was given that half the people here wore the same tan uniform. But as small as the place felt, there was a relaxed atmosphere that permeated the place, reminding her of her abuela's living room during a family party.
"I don't hate this place," Caro corrected, her tone suggesting Sami's ridiculousness. "Just everything it stands for."
Sami laughed at this, and the other girls broke into smiles and shaking heads.
"Drinks are good though," Caro said, toasting Sami with the Collins glass of her mojito. "And the company's not bad."
"You can't tell me you don't enjoy the eye candy either," Amber added, lifting the tiny black straw and pointing it towards the group of Navy guys in the back whose loud cheers carried across the bar as one of them stood up from where they'd just taken a shot on the pool table. He was shaking his head, but a friend had already peeled off from the group and towards the bar.
"It's like they were plucked out of an Abercrombie ad," Amber said, her voice laced with awe.
"That's their whole appeal," Caro remarked, watching as the red haired pilot drummed his hands against the bar top waiting to be served.
Sami acknowledged this with a nod of her head and wry smile. "You're not wrong."
"You're a little wrong," Kayleigh disagreed, punctuating the statement with a pause and a glance around the table to make sure she had everyone's attention. "They're fantastic in bed."
Caro rolled her eyes with a smile as Amber and Sami laughed. Kayleigh took a sip from her drink looking very self-satisfied.
"I'm sure they're only half as good as they think they are," Caro remarked, and Kayleigh gave another shrug.
"Still three times better than most men."
As Kayleigh was the only one with experience, having snagged a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Texan pilot last year, Caro ceded the point with an incline of her head.
"Speaking of all this," Sami said, waving a hand in Kayleigh's direction. "You need to help me with strategy."
This seemed like an excellent opportunity for Caro to slip away and make her way over to the corner of the bar that she'd been eyeing all night. "Got it," Caro said, pointing a finger at Sami. "I'm going to go find the perfect song to make someone come over and sweep you off your feet."
Sami's brows furrowed in confusion before her eyes landed on the old fashioned jukebox that was currently belting out Creedence Clearwater Revival. Her face softened into a teasing grin. "I'm not going to see you for the rest of the night, am I?"
"Not if everything goes according to plan," Caro shook her head, scooching out of the booth. She smoothed down the skirt of her dress before looking up at her friends. "Any requests?"
The group shook their heads, and Caro turned away from them, weaving through the crowd towards the jukebox, its neon lights guiding her way.
There was something innately comforting about sifting through a jukebox's catalog of songs. Even when she found herself in the very place she'd been warned away from for most of her life, at least she was here with the Beatles and the Eagles and Patsy Cline. The familiar song titles greeted her like old friends' faces in a high school yearbook, and as she flipped through them and remembering people she'd forgotten about and finding other surprises like "Mambo No. 5" it was enough to put her at ease for the first time all night.
Sami might be leaving. Adulthood might be before her. But her music was here and would be for as long as there were jukeboxes.
So, even when she sensed someone come up behind her, she didn't stop to look at them or feel tension creep up her spine at the prospect of conversation. She remembered that a jukebox naturally caused lines and that she had all night to peruse through its songs before making sure her friends were either going home with someone else or safely back in the Lyft with her.
Caro finally located the song she had been searching for in the back of the alphabet, pressing in the number and smiling softly as the familiar strums of the guitar filled the bar along with the shaking tambourine.
It was in this moment, as she listened to the first few lines of the song and fiddled with her next quarter, that the person behind her spoke.
"This is a great song."
Caro looked over her shoulder, finding a young Naval officer with a buzzcut standing a few paces behind her. Maybe, if he hadn't been so right that this was a great song—or if he hadn't left so much space between himself and her, honoring the privacy of her jukebox ritual–or if hadn't offered up the warm and earnest kind of smile he gave her—maybe, if he hadn't done all that, she would have just nodded or shot a quick smile and gotten out of there. But instead, because he seemed to get it and the compliment was simple and straightforward and not about her at all, she offered her own genuine smile back along with a "Thanks."
"It's the Temptations right?" he asked, taking a step closer.
The smile faded from her lips as her lapse in judgment became all too clear.
"Van Morrison, actually," she corrected, turning back around to the jukebox and slipping her second quarter in.
She flipped through the pages slightly faster this time, passing by "Dancing in the Moonlight," "Hey Mickey," and "American Girl" as she worked her way back to the beginning of the alphabet. Behind her, she could feel the officer take another step closer, and her back stiffened. Rather than continue to creep up behind her, though, he moved into her line of sight, standing next to the jukebox to watch the catalog pages turn.
"Need a recommendation?" he asked, shooting a slightly more hesitant smile than before, this one going completely ignored.
"From the man who thought The Temptations sang 'Brown-Eyed Girl?'" she asked, letting the question sink in as another two pages of song options went by. "I'm good."
He exhaled a laugh, shaking his head at himself. "Maybe I can redeem myself."
"And maybe I'm not interested," Caro retorted.
The words hung in the air between them, the sheepish smile slipping from his face, instead replaced by a slightly bewildered expression. She couldn't entirely blame him. The words had come out sharper than she'd meant them to, and all things told, this was far from the worst pick up attempt she'd ever faced.
Her finger slipped from the next button as her shoulders relaxed from where they'd been raised in defense. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "I just–I don't date sailors, so you're wasting your time with me."
Confusion overtook his features, his eyebrows drawing together in a questioning look as his head tilted to the left. It was almost like he'd never experienced rejection, which, based on his boyish good looks, wouldn't be all that surprising.
"You do know you're at a Navy bar, right?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.
"And you know people come to bars for reasons other than picking someone up, right?" she returned, mirroring the head tilt.
He laughed at this, acquiescing the point with a nod. "I don't suppose it'd make a difference if I told you that I was more of a pilot than an actual sailor, would it?"
She eyed his haircut which was unusually basic for a Top Gun boy. His demeanor also seemed to hide the trademark overinflated sense of ego especially well. Compared to Kayleigh's Texan from last year, she had to wonder if he was lying in hopes that her answer would be anything other than what it was.
"Not a good difference," she remarked, a smirk curling up the corner of her lips. "I don't even talk to Naval Aviators if I can help it."
"In that case, I'm honored," he said, grinning good naturedly, and she shook her head at him, turning back to the jukebox and her selection.
He moved a bit closer to her, the smile fading as his eyebrow rose instead. "So, no Navy boys at all no matter what? No dating or flirting or letting them buy you a drink?"
"Nope," Caro said, letting the "p" pop.
"What about a song?" he asked, tilting his head towards the jukebox, and Caro felt a smile grow despite herself. She tilted her head to look up at him.
"I already put my quarter in."
"Another song?" he persisted, and she shook her head.
"If it means that much to you though, I'll dedicate my next song to you." Caro said, looking back down to the song selection. It was in the beat between her offer and his response that she found the perfect selection, pressing in the selection as he voiced his doubt.
"This isn't going to be good is it?" he asked, and Caro grinned as she backed away from the jukebox.
"It's a great song," she responded with a shrug before spinning on her heel and making her way back to her friends, enjoying the last verse of "Brown-Eyed Girl" in peace.
Upon arriving at the table she found they were down a girl.
"What happened to Amber?" Caro asked, sliding back in next to Sami.
Kayleigh looked over her shoulder towards the bar. "She went over there to buy some girl a drink and hasn't come back." She shrugged, turning back to face the other two girls. "Looks like it's going well."
Caro's gaze was drawn to Sami who seemed perfectly fine with Amber ditching the group for a girl despite the fact that tonight was their last night together and supposed to be all about Sami. Before Caro could comment on it though, Sami spoke.
"Oooh, I like this song," she said, nodding along to the lyrics. "Good choice."
"Thanks," Caro said, pausing to listen to "Fox on the Run" instead as she contemplated whether or not to push the issue of Amber's disappearance.
...you think you got a pretty face
But the rest of you is out of place
I've heard it all before…
Seeing Sami bop along to the upbeat song was enough to make Caro decide to let the issue drop. Instead, she steered the conversation into learning Sami's top picks of boys for the night and what she had nicknamed each of them. From there, Kayleigh picked out a few that she thought might be underrated–Buzzcut included–and both teased Caro mercilessly for her lack of interest in choosing any of the boys whatsoever.
It was in the middle of pestering Caro to at least choose the one she'd find the least objectionable if they were the last two people on earth, that Sami stopped mid-sentence. "Didn't we, like, just hear this song?"
The table quieted, each girl listening to the familiar tambourine and tenor voice.
"We definitely did," Kayleigh agreed, the confusion Caro felt mirrored on the other girls' face.
"I swear to God Caro, if you're going to John Mulaney us with 'Brown-Eyed Girl,' I'm giving out your number to every Navy boy in this place," Sami threatened.
"I only put in the two songs!" Caro protested. "It's probably just a weird coi–" she stopped mid-thought, turning in her seat to face the jukebox. No one was there. Or anywhere near it really. But as she scanned the bar, finally finding Buzzcut sitting by the pool tables, the source of the repeat was all too clear. Because he was already looking at her. He smiled and mouthed something to her.
As if she could read lips across a crowded bar. Or at all.
Annoyed confusion overtook her face, and he responded by tapping his ear.
A reluctant, mildly amused smile grew as she shook her head and turned back to her friends.
"Oh my God, Caro, who are you smiling at?" Sami asked, bumping shoulders with her.
"An idiot I met at the jukebox who keeps trying to shoot a shot he missed," Caro said, taking a sip of her mojito.
"There was an idiot at the jukebox, and you're just telling us now?" Sami asked, "Which one?" She stood slightly, looking over the crowd, and Caro flicked her arm.
"Buzzcut, with the other Navy boys," Caro answered, fixedly taking another sip.
"The one with the smile?" Kayleigh asked, fully turning around in her seat to look. Caro flicked her too, but she just waved a hand back.
"He's cute. Even with that haircut," Kayleigh mused, nodding approvingly at Caro.
Caro gave her a very unamused look as Sami grinned. The final bit of "Brown-Eyed Girl" played out as the song shifted to the Beatles.
And then she realized which Beatles song was playing and looked over to Buzzcut who offered her a smile and tilted his head towards the jukebox. As if to acknowledge that yes, he'd played this song too. She let out a small huff which could have easily been mistaken for a laugh as she looked back at her friends.
Each of them were still, listening to the lyrics as if trying to deduce whether or not this was another song played for Caro. It hit them at exactly the same moment.
So how could I dance with another? When I saw her standing there?
"So he totally played this song for you too," Kayleigh said.
"Yeah." Caro nodded, not even bothering to deny it. She looked down at her mojito, attempting to stir the ice even more as the lyrics continued to sink in.
Well, she looked at me, and I, I could see
That before too long, I'd fall in love with her
"Oh my God, this is working on you, isn't it?" Sami bumped Caro's shoulder with her own.
"It's not working. It's just surprisingly accurate," Caro refuted with a jerky shrug.
"So is his heart going boom right now, then?" Sami pressed, and Caro spun in her chair quickly as the girls laughed at her quick reaction only to find no one approaching.
She glared at them, sticking up her middle finger as the other two collapsed into giggles.
"Look, you could at least let me live vicariously through you," Sami reasoned. "And if you won't let me have that as my going away present, you could at least continue this song battle for my enjoyment."
Caro sighed dramatically as she stood from the table, and Sami cheered. "This is for you, and just for you," she said, pointing a finger at Sami.
"And it is much appreciated," Sami grinned back. With that, Caro took a long drink from her mojito before heading back off towards the jukebox. Buzzcut seemed to notice her approach and separated himself from his own friends, going to meet her, but instead she brushed past, not even bothering to look or speak to him on her way to the jukebox.
Laughter followed in her wake as did, apparently, Buzzcut.
Caro ignored his presence as she flipped through the catalog, looking for the perfect response.
"Told you I can pick a good song," Buzzcut said, and she could hear the grin in his voice.
"I don't think copying my song choice counts as you picking a good song," Caro responded, giving a shrug as she kept her eyes focused on the songs before her.
"Obviously that doesn't count," he agreed. "I just had to get your attention somehow."
"And annoy everyone else in the bar?"
He shrugged. "I annoyed you the first time it played, they can be annoyed the second."
She shook her head, fighting the smile that was attempting to make itself known. "How thoughtful," she said flatly.
"My actual song was pretty good though."
"It was the Beatles," she dismissed, eyes narrowing in on the jukebox's David Bowie offerings. "Of course it was good."
"Yeah, but it was so good it got you to talk to me again," he pressed, and Caro shook her head as she entered the number for "Modern Love."
She stepped back from the jukebox, arms crossed. "So is this like a bet?"
Surprise infiltrated his face. "What? No–"
"A dare? Because if your friends told you to come over here to like get my number or something, I'm not interested, but I do have a friend who might be." Caro said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"There's no game or bet or anything," the boy protested, looking back over at his friends and cringing slightly as he turned back. "I just saw you across the bar and thought I'd take a chance. The only thing my friends are doing right now is watching me blow it pretty badly."
Caro's eyes darted towards the pool tables, finding a group of boys staring in their direction. One of them waved at her when he caught her gaze, and another elbowed him. Her eyes flicked back to the boy in front of her.
"That's pretty embarrassing."
He huffed a laugh and looked back up at her. "Extremely," he agreed. A silence took over between the two of them, as Bowie continued his song.
Never gonna fall for Modern love, walks beside meModern love, walks on by
Buzzcut pointed to the jukebox, and Caro stepped aside, assuming his position on the side so she could watch him flip through the songs. He was mercifully quiet as he turned back towards the beginning of the alphabet. It took him a suspiciously short time to enter in the code, and as she matched it to the options available, she let out a laugh.
Take a Chance on Me - ABBA.
He looked up at her with eyebrows raised, and she shook her head.
"It's my friend's last night in San Diego," she said, shrugging. "And she's the only reason I'm here. Once she's paired off with some Top Gun pilot and crossed it off her bucket list, I'm taking off."
"Bucket list?" he repeated, quirking an eyebrow.
Caro nodded. "It's a thing we did at the beginning of freshman year. We each made up a list of things we wanted to accomplish before we graduated and left for the real world, and she, for some unknown reason, decided that she wanted to take a Top Gun boy home."
"I'm guessing you don't have that on your list," he said, an amused smile on his face.
"That would be correct."
"You know, I happen to know a couple of people that could help your friend out."
"You could help my friend out," she returned.
He shook his head. "Not interested in your friend."
"You haven't even seen her."
"Don't need to."
The comment hung between them and Caro rolled her eyes even as her cheeks warmed a bit.
"Why don't you guys come over and join us," he said, gesturing with his head towards the pool tables and the group of pilots over there. "You get to hang out with your friend, and she gets to cross off her bucket list item."
It was undeniably an offer she shouldn't refuse. It would give Sami the in she needed to be able to accomplish all of the major items on her bucket list, and she would still be able to spend time with her even as the other girl attempted to find her way into a pilot's pants. Knowing Kayleigh and the fact that it was practically a miracle no one had come up to whisk her away yet, she would also probably peel off with some pilot and have a great night. All Caro would have to do was put up with some admittedly respectful if not persistent flirting from a cute boy.
There were worse ways to spend a Friday night.
But as she looked over at her table and at Kayleigh and Sami laughing at each other, a protective jealousy rose up in her.
"As much as this might make me a terrible wingwoman, I kinda want to keep her to myself," Caro admitted, looking back at Buzzcut.
His face was surprisingly understanding. "I get it," he nodded. "Goodbyes are weird."
Caro pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, casting another glance at Sami, and wishing that she was a slightly better person. Instead she turned to the Navy boy and shrugged. "I'm sorry."
ABBA started up on the jukebox and rather than responding he pointed to the jukebox as it sang the line: If you change your mind, I'm the first in line.
Caro smiled. "Have a good night, and good luck, with everything…."
"Mickey," he supplied.
Her eyebrows rose. "Your callsign? Really?"
He grinned sheepishly, shaking his head. "No, uh, it's my real name."
Her jaw dropped. Actually hung open in disbelief. "No it isn't."
He nodded his head. "It is."
"Your parents named you after a cartoon mouse?" Caro asked, a laugh waving as an undercurrent in her voice.
He shrugged. "I think they just liked the sound of it."
She shook her head in continued disbelief before looking back up at him. "Well, extra good luck with a name like Mickey," she said before turning around.
"Do I at least get to know your name?" he called after her, and she looked over her shoulder at him.
"Caro."
He smiled, and despite herself, she did too before making her way, for the last time, to the booth that held both of her friends.
"Aaaaaaaaaaand?" Sami asked as Caro once more sat down on the bench next to her.
"That looked really flirty," Kayleigh said, putting her head in her palm. "You guys were smiling at each other a lot."
Caro shrugged. "He's nice."
"He's nice," Sami mimicked, nudging at Caro. "And yet you're still over here with us."
"Because he's still a Top Gun boy," Caro returned, pulling her mojito back over to her and taking a sip.
Sami and Kayleigh gave each other a look before Sami turned back to Caro. "You knoooow," she dragged out, waiting for Caro to acknowledge her before continuing. "It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for you to have one one-night-stand. Just to celebrate graduation and the last day of your unbridled youth."
Caro snorted at this, and even Kayleigh shook her head at Sami.
"You know, listen to ABBA, take a chance," Sami pressed, and Caro turned back to her drink, taking a sip and ignoring her friend. Sami looked like she wanted to say more, but before she could further press the issue, her eyes flicked up as two boys approached the table.
One was the bar drummer from before, with light orange hair and a scattering of freckles across his nose. He hardly looked any older than them, and looked like he could be one of the frat boys from Fiji. Next to him was a dark skinned boy, his hair cut into a close cropped fade and his hands tucked into his pockets.
"I don't suppose any of you know how to play pool?" The drummer asked.
Sami flashed a smile up at him. Because of course she was into the drummer. "When you say 'know,' does it mean I have to be any good?"
He exhaled a laugh and shook his head. "We can teach you. We just need partners," he said, gesturing between himself and the other man.
It was quite obvious that they didn't. For one thing, they could play just the two of them, and for another, the girls had witnessed them playing all night with the other people in their group. But, Sami didn't seem to mind how lame the excuse to talk to her was. Instead, she told him, "Yeah, I'll play. Kayleigh?"
Kayleigh eyed the quieter of the two, eyes dragging from his face down his thin muscular body to shined shoes. There was a pause before her eyes moved back to Sami. "Yeah, I'm in."
"Great," he smiled. "You're welcome too by the way," he offered to Caro. "There's a group of us in the corner." She didn't even bother looking. She knew exactly what corner he meant and who was probably there eyeing her. It was well played, she had to admit.
"Besides, you can watch me kick Kayleigh's ass," Sami said, motioning Caro out of the booth so that she could slip out to play pool. The guy laughed as the two girls joined them.
Caro shook her head at her friends. "You guys have fun. I think I'm going to finish my drink and head out."
"No," the two protested, but Caro continued to shake her head to ward off any protests.
"I've got breakfast with my parents tomorrow," she lied. "I'd have to leave soon anyway." Sami frowned but stopped fighting, instead stepping forward to wrap Caro in a tight hug. The two girls swayed back and forth as Caro fought to keep herself from crying in front of strangers.
"I'll call you on the road tomorrow," Sami promised into Caro's hair, and Caro squeezed her even tighter.
"You better."
Sami pressed a kiss to Caro's cheek and then released her, offering an attempt at a smile and letting Kayleigh give Caro a goodbye hug. This one was quicker and after she released there was an awkward pause before Caro told them goodbye and the boys started back towards the pool tables, the girls heading off with them.
Caro watched them leave, not even bothering to sit as she finished off the last of her drink and started towards the door, phone in hand to summon her Lyft.
She had barely been outside for five minutes, her ride just picked up when the door behind her opened and a familiar voice spoke. "You weren't kidding about leaving, then."
She didn't bother looking at him, instead eyeing the distance of her driver to the beachside bar. "Nope."
"Need a ride?"
This time, she did look at him, eyebrows raised. "I'm not getting in the car with a stranger who's been trying to take me home all night."
He laughed, hands raised in front of his body as if to demonstrate he meant no harm. "Fair enough." He dropped his arms and the two stood in silence, Caro looking at the 12 minutes between Faruq's present location and hers. The silence wasn't long lasting though, as Mickey spoke again. "I have a proposal for you."
"A proposal? Already?" Caro asked, and he laughed at her.
"If I can guess your favorite song, will you give me your number?"
She eyed him: the hope and amusement on his face and the unassuming nature of his smile. Matched with the absurdity of his request, the proposal seemed entirely harmless. Almost ridiculously harmless. More as if it were for show for her than an actual request.
"I'll cancel my Lyft if you can guess my favorite song."
He grinned slowly and then began nodding. "Alright. Ok." He patted down his pockets before noticing something over her shoulder. He darted away but before she could even turn to ask where he was doing, he was back, holding a cocktail napkin out to her. "Here, write it down on this so you can't change it."
Caro accepted the napkin but looked up at him. "I don't have a pen."
He looked at her and then the napkin, eyes cutting to a group of girls huddling around the side of the building with colorful drinks in hand. "One second," he said, holding up a finger before walking backwards and then turning to go over to the group of girls.
Caro watched as they each eyed him with interest and excitement, one letting her eyes trace up and down his body as he talked to her friend. Two of the girls dug into their bags with more enthusiasm than a request for a pen necessarily warranted, and Caro felt her lips turn up as she watched his face.
He was completely oblivious in his eagerness.
Mickey looked over his shoulder, as if to check that she was still there, and seeing her looking at him with amusement, he smiled at her and then turned his attention back to the girls, one finally digging up an ugly yellow and purple Planet Fitness pen and passing it to him.
Caro could tell he was thanking her before he walked quickly back over to her and passed it over.
She shook her head, leaning against the railing to write down the song name, one hand cupping over her writing as she did so. "You realize that any of them would happily give you your number, right?"
"No way," he said, shaking his head, and Caro paused her writing to give a raised eyebrow up at him. "They were married."
She leaned her head out, looking again at the group of girls, this time scanning their hands. At least three of them did have wedding bands on. Including the one who very obviously checked him out.
"Besides," he said, pulling her attention back to him. "I don't want their numbers."
She rolled her eyes and finished off writing the band name, passing the pen over to him to return. He did so quickly before coming back and looking at her with a mock intensity. His eyebrows narrowed, and he held his hand up to his chin.
"Am I allowed questions?"
Caro smiled and nodded. "Three. Yes or no only."
"So I get three yes or no questions and one guess or I lose my chance?" he clarified, and Caro nodded.
"And you'll shake on it?" he asked.
Caro laughed and offered her hand. "Yes, I'll shake on it."
"Good," he said, taking her hand in his and shaking it a few times before letting it go and taking a step closer.
"Hm." He squinted his eyes at her, back in his assessing mode.
"Is the song in English?" he asked, finally.
She nodded. Wondering if it was her own bronzed skin or cleverness that prompted the question.
"Ok," he nodded, almost as if her answer confirmed his expectation. He waited another moment before asking his next question. "Does it make you nostalgic?"
She tilted her head at this, eyeing him herself. It was a surprisingly good question. Not only did it speak to when she'd heard it for the first time and its age but it also covered the vibes of the song.
"Come on, you have to answer."
She smiled, shaking her head."No. It doesn't make me nostalgic ."
"No," he repeated, eyes raised. "I'll have to think about this," he said, turning out to look at the parking lot. Her phone buzzed. Your Lyft driver is approaching.
"Time's almost up," she said, looking up at him, and he furrowed his brow, eyes focused on hers as if trying to see into her head, reading her thoughts.
A pair of headlights pulled into the parking lot, circling a row of cars as it started towards her. She shrugged, moving towards the black Nissan that pulled up next to the curb.
"I still have a question," he called out, and Caro looked over at him.
Sami's words echoed in her head. Listen to ABBA.
"How about this," she started, and he walked forward, closing the distance. "I'll come back on some random night and some random time this week and stay for a drink. If you happen to be here too, I'll give you a guess. If not, I'll go about my life, and you'll find someone else for the summer."
A smile split his face in two as he nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Shake on it?"
She stuck out her hand again and he shook it. Even as he stopped moving it up and down though, he didn't let go, and despite herself and the Lyft driver patiently waiting for her to get into the car, Caro didn't pull it away. His thumb ran over the side of her hand, and she pushed the feeling of butterflies aside, keeping her face as straight as possible.
"Goodnight for good this time, Mickey," she said, attempting to slip her hand out of his. He stopped her with a slight squeeze before releasing his hold.
"Goodnight for now, Caro," he said, allowing her to get into the car.
He stayed in front of the bar until the car pulled out onto the main road, and even then, she lost sight of him before he went inside.
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