CHAPTER 41

Stuart and Darcy had arrived practically at the same time; he was walking up the sidewalk right after the door had opened. Stuart wore his ASO Low Brass T-shirt, complete with the section's nickname of "Heavy Metal." Darcy wore a navy blue tank top, lower cut than she usually wore, and tan capris. As Stuart entered, Mike introduced him to Melody, eliciting an inquisitive look from him. As Stuart extended his hand to shake hers, he surprisingly flipped his double-jointed fingers back and forth, causing Melody to squeal and laugh in amusement. A few more exchanged pleasantries, and the group headed to the kitchen to fill their plates with food.

Enjoying their munchies in the living room, Stuart listened to Mike and Melody's story of how they met. He turned to Darcy, questioning how she's not more intrigued by all of this, who responded that she met Melody on Friday when she came to pick Mike up. As the conversation turned to Melody's photography business, Darcy asked to see her full website, rather than just the samples she had previously seen on her phone. The girls grabbed Mike's laptop and adjourned to the small table near the kitchen, laughing and giggling all the while.

I'm gonna try to plant the seeds of interest for Stuart in Darcy, try to gauge her receptiveness, she thought to Mike.

Sounds good, I'll work on Stuart's confidence myself.

As the girls conversed at the table, Mike and Stuart fired up Mario Kart Wii, having played each other before. They were pretty evenly matched, though Mike's recent races with Melody ensured that he was in great practice. As they played, Stuart and Mike chatted quietly.

"Dude, your girlfriend's something else," Stuart said.

"Yep, she's one of a kind," Mike agreed.

Stuart mused, "Wish I could find someone like that…"

Leaning a bit closer to him, Mike asked, "Who says you can't?" He slightly tilted his head towards Darcy.

Snorting slightly, Stuart replied, "You're a crazy man. I'd never have a shot with her. She's way out of my league."

"I disagree. She just broke up with her boyfriend who, as we both know, was a total dickhead. Believe me when I say, she's completely over him and ready to move on. She wants something… real."

"Ok, that's all well and good, but I'm not even on her radar," Stuart protested.

"So?" Mike retorted. "If you're not on her radar, that just means that she's never thought about you in that capacity. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't find you attractive if she were to see you in that light."

Thinking for a few minutes as they finished their race, Stuart finally asked, "So, how do I get her to see me in that light?"

"Well, you've already started the process. You were your usual, friendly, if weird self in meeting Melody. Those two have quickly bonded and become good friends, as you can see, and girls love a guy who treats their girlfriends well."

"Dude, just LOOK at her! It's impossible not to be nice to her. She's not just pretty, her personality is infectious."

Chuckling to himself, Mike replied, "That's exactly why I know you two would be great together. Stephen was with Darcy when the two of us met them for dinner on Friday. By the end of the night, Stephen was doing everything he could think of to try and steal Melody from me. He even grabbed her on the dance floor and tried to force her to dance with him."

Wide-eyed, Stuart asked, "What happened then?"

"Darcy tried to stop him, but he kicked her to the ground, then tried to take a few swings at me when I pulled him off of Melody. He was too drunk to really do anything, but still, he showed his true colors. Just like you're showing yours."

"Huh… so you're sayin' it's actually possible for good guys to get the girl?"

"In Darcy's current mindset? Hell yes."

"So where do I go from here?"

"Just ask her out, dude," Mike said, slapping him on the back of the head lightly.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Melody's in your corner, too. I, uh, told her about that time on the band bus. When you lit into that asshole for wanting to wait 'till after spring break to end things with his girlfriend."

"You told her about that?"

"Yep. We were trying to think of good guys to try and steer Darcy towards, and that story just stuck out in my mind. Believe me, Melody's probably talking' you up right now,'' Mike said with his smartass grin.

By this time, the girls had migrated to the back bedroom, continuing to bond over Melody's photography website. Darcy recommended a few friends of hers for Melody to contact on Facebook as well. While Melody sent messages to them, Darcy couldn't resist being her nosey self, exploring their bedroom a bit. Soon, she came across Melody's corset and stockings hanging from the door to the walk in closet.

"Nice," she said with a smirk.

Giggling, Melody replied, "Yeah, a little something I cooked up for Mike. He's worked so hard this week, so I figured he needed a little reward."

"Wish I could find someone worth all that effort," Darcy muttered to herself.

Closing the laptop, Melody replied, "You will. In fact, that someone may be closer than you realize."

"What do you mean?" Darcy asked, eyeing her in the process.

"Well, what are the most important things you want in a guy?"

"Let me see… honest, decent, respectful, and he has to make me laugh. Those are all top of the list."

"So, basically everything Dickhead wasn't?" Melody said with a smile.

"Exactly!" Darcy said, erupting into laughter.

Thinking for a moment, Melody hesitantly said, "I couldn't help but notice that… Stuart does seem to fit those qualities."

Giving her a funny look momentarily, Darcy said, "Huh… I've never really even thought about Stuart. Honestly, I haven't worked with him a whole lot. He's in the brass, I'm a woodwind."

"Mike's in the brass."

"Well, yeah, but he and I have been friends for years."

"And he's known Stuart since college," Melody said. "I'll be honest with you. Mike and I have been scheming to try and find a good guy to set you up with, and based on his time knowing Stuart, we happen to think he's a great guy. I mean he is odd, a bit of an 'acquired taste' as Mike puts it, but that's pretty par for the course with musicians. And he's been nothing short of polite and respectful to me tonight, the total opposite of Dickhead."

"True," Darcy said, thinking to herself for a few moments. "Stuart's also the one who approached us about the fire drill this week. That shows a lot of loyalty and dedication. But, what if he's not even into me?"

Melody responded dryly, "You've known Mike for years. Do you really think he would have suggested Stuart if he didn't know whether or not he was into you?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Darcy sighed and said, "Dammit, you two are evil, diabolical, and quite possibly the best friends I could've ever asked for." After hugging Melody in gratitude, Darcy asked, "So where do I go from here? I mean I've never been the kind of girl to ask guys out myself. How do I know if he'll make a move?"

"Mike's working on his confidence," Melody assured her, "but even so, you can definitely increase your chances. Just be yourself that you normally are with Mike, but with Stuart. Be playful, banter with him, and it won't take him long to get the hint."

By this time, the girls were moving back to the living room to rejoin the guys, finding them starting up Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. With the girls wanting to join in, the group decided to play in teams of two against two. Darcy quickly volunteered to be on Stuart's team against Mike and Melody. The room was soon a mash-up of squeals of excitement, groans of defeat, and explosions coming from the TV speakers. After half an hour, the tournament was tied at two wins for each team.

"Ok, this is for the championship," Mike declared.

"Y'all are going' down, dude!" came Stuart's reply. He was clearly in a great mood, as he and Darcy made a strong team in this game. Additionally, Darcy was clearly sitting more closely to him than she normally would, occasionally patting him on the knee and nudging him with her shoulder playfully.

As the match began, each player spawned in with two lives. Mike got off to a strong start, heavily damaging Stuart. His streak ended, however, when Darcy got off a well-timed projectile shot near the edge, causing him to fall to his doom. As Stuart and Darcy cheered, they soon felt Melody's wrath.

"That's my boyfriend, you BITCH!" she yelled in mock anger, eliciting snorts of laughter from Darcy.

Her laughter, however, was enough to distract her from Melody's onslaught, sending Darcy to her death as well. As both Darcy and Mike spawned back in, Mike resumed his attacks on Stuart, bringing him to his first death, while Darcy went straight for Melody, knowing that she was the bigger threat. Stuart joined her upon respawning, helping Darcy to double-team Melody. This finally brought Melody to her first death, though she managed to drag Darcy down with her, eliminating her from the match.

"Ah, shit! Sorry Stuart, you're on your own," she said, gently rubbing his shoulder.

Redoubling his focus, he replied, "I got this."

Mike attempted to attack him from behind, but Stuart was ready with a quick evade, and gained the upper hand on him. Melody attempted to jump in and help, but Stuart was able to fend her off for just long enough to eliminate Mike from the game. Now one-on-one, both players with about fifty percent damage, Stuart charged straight at Melody. She easily evaded, but still took a light hit in the process. Changing up her tactics, Melody shifted to an aerial assault, scoring a couple of hits on Stuart before he could counter. However, after studying her patterns for a couple of passes, he finally managed to strike back hard, landing the knockout blow on Melody and winning the tournament.

"Ha ha! YEAH!" Stuart cried, pumping his fist in victory.

Darcy cheered in excitement, jumping up to hug Stuart in her exuberance. Though they separated a bit awkwardly after the sudden physical contact, the duo still shared a quick glance of mutual admiration. The tension between them was glaring; Mike and Melody were exceedingly proud of themselves.

Darcy decided to head home, as it was nearing 10:30. Stuart agreed, offering to walk her to her car, which she gladly accepted. As Darcy walked out the door ahead of him, Stuart looked over his shoulder with a look of thanks in his eye, pointing at Mike. He smirked and nodded in silent reply. Locking the door behind them, Mike immediately grabbed Melody in a celebratory hug.

"How long do you think it'll take him to ask her out?" Mike asked.

Giggling, Melody replied, "About ten seconds. He's keeping it low key, but she's still extremely happy; she hasn't been this excited about a guy since high school."

"Awesome. She deserves it. They both do."

After cleaning up the dishes, the couple called it a night and retreated to their bedroom. As they relaxed in bed, a light, yet audible rainfall began outside.

"Oh, wow… that sounds so relaxing…" Melody murmured.

"Couldn't agree more," Mike replied, rolling over to spoon with her.

He slipped lower, rubbing his cock against her ass as he moved. After rubbing the tip of his cock against her entrance for a few minutes, he slid himself into her moist pussy, eliciting a slight gasp from Melody. As they made love, he caressed her breasts and kissed every part of her that he could reach, from her mid back, to her shoulders, and up to her neck and earlobes. She lightly ran her fingers up and down his strong arms; she loved the feeling of safety and security that they always provided her. After twenty minutes of leisurely thrusting into her, he finally unleashed a load of his cum into her convulsing pussy, relaxing both of them perfectly. They continued to spoon, his soft cock still at home in her pussy, as the two lovers were slowly lulled to sleep by the peaceful sound of the raindrops.