I Need You, {Craig} You Know {Ferguson} One Shot

I’ve got your name on my lips, and your hands on my hips. I want you to go, but I need you, you know. I thought as I signed yet another copy of my book for a fan. I’ve had this song stuck in my head for weeks. It’s by some band with a girl singer. They seemed pretty talented, and the song was catchy. I don’t remember their name though.
I looked down the line, there were only a few people left and after them, I want some coffee. I’ve been on my book tour for a few weeks, and I’m running on little to no sleep. Looking in the corner of the shop I was at, there was a girl with straight red hair and glasses, typing away on a laptop. She had a sort of punk girl charm to her, and I liked that. She wasn’t surrounding me like everyone else was. She wasn’t flirting with me or trying to get in my pants like the other women in the bookstore were. Maybe she didn’t even notice me. Maybe she doesn’t even know who I am…
I made small talk with the last few fans, signed their books and sent them on their merry way. Letting out a large sigh of relief, I looked at my surroundings. I had the rest of the day and all of tomorrow to myself, so maybe it would be a good time to catch up on my rest. But first, coffee.

Looking over at the small coffee kiosk inside of the bookstore, I stood up and made my way toward it. Much to my surprise, the mysterious redhead that was sitting in the corner was now sitting at a table next to the coffee kiosk with what appeared to be an iced coffee in her hand. I don’t know much about all of these fancy coffees, I drink regular, plain coffee. The others seem too complicated. Idunno.
Walking up to the cashier, I ordered, received, and then paid for my coffee, bought two cookies and made my way over to the redhead’s table.
Sitting down across from her, she looked up at me from her computer. Looking sort of flustered, she gently shut it and awkwardly smiled at me. It was really damn cute. “Do you like cookies?” I asked, gesturing toward the small white paper bag in my hand. “’Cause I came bearin’ cookies.” I said. Very smooth, Craig. Very smooth.
“I do like cookies, actually.” She said with a hint of laughter in her voice. “Well, good, cause I came bearin’ cookies.” I said again, not sure why my brain was stuck on that, but it was. I handed her one of the cookies, and she took it, laughing at me softly. Well damn, this wasn’t how that was supposed to go…”I’m Dia, by the way.” She said just before her 

phone

 made a loud buzzing noise.

It’s hard to stay up, it’s been a long, long day, and you’ve got the sandman at your door, but hang on. Leave the TV on, and let’s do it anyway! It’s okay, you can always sleep through work tomorrow, Okay? Hey hey! Tomorrow’s just your future yesterday!

She fumbled to answer her phone, trying pretty hard to keep me from hearing her ringtone, and with her face now as red as her hair, she checked her 

text

. “Apparently, my band has a show tonight…” She said, flipping her bangs out of her face and adjusting her glasses. “Band, hm? Mind if I come? I mean, you are a fan and all… and I’d like to be a fan of you too.” I said, waiting for her to look up at me as I gave her my best creepy stare. Looking up, she laughed and avoided eye contact, fearing that I was probably judging her. “If you want to, sure. Sound check’s in an hour and a half. It’s nothing major, it’s just a last minute fill in spot at the local comic shop. And yeah… ignore my ringtone…” She said, her face flushing again.
“Honestly, I’m flattered. I do have a question though.” I said, turning to face her completely.
“Yes?” She asked, seeming to calm down a bit as she bit into the cookie I gave her. “I see you’ve got a copy of my book,” I gestured down to the book sitting on top of her bag on the 

floor

. “So why weren’t you in line to have it signed?” I asked, slightly confused by her lack of interest in meeting a celebrity she was obviously a fan of.
“Well, I can’t stand all of the people that go to those. They’re fake, and they honestly mostly, just want to use you or try to brush shoulders with you for bragging rights. I’ve been around people like that for a while now, and the less I have to 

deal

 with them, the better. I’d thought about jumping in line toward the end, but then I decided I wanted coffee, and well, here we are. It was nothing personal, I promise. You’re actually my favourite comedian. Don’t tell Hardwick that though, he’d never let me live it down.” She said before taking a long drink from the coffee concoction that was in her hand. “You know Chris then?” I asked watching her play with the bracelets on her wrists. I’m convinced this girl can’t sit still to save her life. Sorta like me.
“I work for him, and we’re moderately good friends. He’s my best guy friend, if we’re being honest. He knows just about everything about me, so I’m kinda screwed if we ever had a falling out. Hey, can I tell you something?” She asked, looking up from her bracelets and into my eyes for the first time this afternoon.
“Sure, anythin’.” I said. “I really like your accent. Scottish accents are my favourite, and yours is thick. I like that.” She said, making me blush slightly.
“Well, thank you, Lass. Can I tell you somethin’?” I asked, as she ate the last of her cookie. By this point, both my coffee and my cookie were long gone.”Of course.” She said, bits of cookie in her mouth. I laughed, “Your hair is very red, and your eyes are very blue. I like that quite a bit.” I said softly, she blushed as she finished the last of her coffee. “Hey, you’re coming to the show, right?” I nodded. “Then come on, I wanna show you something before sound check.” She said standing up, picking up her laptop and putting it in her shoulder bag along with my book. Tossing it over her shoulder, she pulled her hair out from under it’s strap and gestured toward the door.
“Shall we?” She asked. “We shall.” Taking her hand in mine, I opened the door for her, and she led the way.

Walking toward Central Park, I looked over at her, her hand still in mine. I couldn’t help but notice that she looked down as she walked. Not at the flowers around us, but straight down at the sidewalk. “Lass, can I ask you a question? It’s none of my business or nothin’, but I’m slightly curious.” “Hm?” She asked, looking up at me with curiosity in her blue eyes. “Do you have very low self esteem?” I asked, stopping and pulling her to me. Not meeting my gaze, she sort of looked up again.”Its almost nonexistent. How did you know?” She asked, now meeting my eyes with hers. “Th’ way you walk… You look straight down as if you don’ feel worthy of lookin’ up.” I said, gently lifting her chin to make her look at me. She had a moderately sorrowful look on her face, and I could see pain in her eyes as she looked at me. Stroking her cheek with my thumb, I whispered to her. “Lass, you’re beautiful. I don’ know why you feel so down, but as long as I’m with you, I’ll make sure you feel beautiful. Think of it as my new goal.” She quickly wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek. Lifting my hand to my cheek, she dashed off into Central Park without me. “Come on, Craig!” She shouted over her shoulder. Chuckling under my breath, I chased after her.

Stopping to hack up my lung, I looked ahead, and saw Dia crouching down on a concrete slab on the ground. Walking up to her, I looked at the slab. It was a round mosaic that said Imagine in the center of it. It was surrounded by benches and trees. I realized that it was Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial site.
I crouched down and wrapped my arms around her waist. She had a candle lit, with something she’d written on lined paper, next to the candle. Softly, she began to sing.

I’ve got your name on my lips, and your hands on my hips. I want you to go, but I need you, you know. Please don’t leave me alone, but I don’t want you to stay. I love you, but I hate you, what more can I say? You make me feel so low, but you’re all I’ve ever known. You knock me down further with every single blow. You’re breaking my heart, like you’ve broken my bones, but how can I let you know, I need to let you go…

She stopped singing, and I pulled her even closer to me. Turning around in my arms, she nuzzled her face in my chest, and I kissed the top of her head. That song… It was her… Her voice has been the one stuck in my head for so long now…
She began to cry softly, and suddenly her insecurities and self esteem issues all became clear. She’d been abused.
“Lass…” I whispered in her ear. “It’s okay, love. I won’ let them hurt you anymore. I won’ let anyone hurt you anymore.” She looked up at me with big, tearful blue eyes. “How can you be so sure? How can I be sure that you won’t hurt me?” She asked quietly, looking into my eyes, and allowing a single tear to fall from hers. Her question stung a bit, but I understood the reasoning behind it.
Without skipping a beat or breaking our gaze, I took my thumb and wiped the tear from her cheek. “Well, I’ll be honest, I can’ promise that I won’ hurt you. I can’ promise that you won’ get hurt. But I can promise that I will never purposely hurt you, and I can promise that I will never let you get hurt without puttin’ up a fight to protect you in the first place. I know we just met, I know you don’ know me, but I’m already starting to know you, and I want to get the chance to know you further. Idunno what it is, but you’ve drawn me in, and it’ll be harder than hell to get rid of me now.” She smiled and her eyes stopped tearing up.

As if on cue, a soft, cool breeze blew through the park, putting out the flame on Dia’s candle, and blowing her soft red hair into her face. Looking down at the beautiful girl sitting in my arms, I smiled softly. Taking my hand, I gently brushed the hair from her face, and leaned in. Letting her natural instinct take over, she leaned in as well, and our lips met. For the few moments that our lips were together, I could feel all of her burden lift, and all of her pain melt away. I could feel her pull herself together, but allow me to let her fall apart. I felt the warmth of her lips against mine, and I knew that she was something special, and I knew I didn’t want to let her go.
Once we finally broke apart, she wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled her face into my neck. “Lass, do you believe in true love?” I whispered into her ear.
Looking up into my eyes, she whispered back. “I do now.” Leaning close, she pressed her lips to mine once more, and I knew that everything would be okay.
“Good, because I came bearin’ it.” I said, once we broke apart. “Good.” She said, sitting in my lap and turning toward the trees in front of us. “Good.” She whispered again.

And then, there was silence, and the earth stood still. It stood still, for us. I took her small, soft hand in my larger rough one, brought it to my lips and gave it a soft kiss. “Good.” I whispered into the silence. We sat like that for the next hour, and it was perfect.