Things Chris Keller Can't Resist

1. Free Beer

Chris Keller snagged a beer at the bar after his gig. His hair was wet with sweat and he swiped at his temple with the sleeve of his jacket. A trio of girls inched closer, that "on the hunt" look turning their eyes glittery and bright. He smiled into the lip of his bottle. If they were on the hunt, he'd be happy to be their prey.

As he looked across the bar, he saw a familiar face in the corner that made his own eyes narrow, sharpen.

"Sorry, ladies," he said as he passed the girls. "You'll have to do without the Keller tonight." He handed the pretty red-head with the green eyes his card and tossed them a grin over his shoulder. "Next time," he promised.

He set his beer on the table and sat down next to Nathan without asking for permission. Nathan cocked his eyebrows and took a slow sip of his own beer.

"Who said you could sit there, Keller?" he finally said.

"It's a free country."

"But not a free table." Nathan gave him the "I'm about to kick your ass" glare. If he wasn't such a cool guy, he would have said that seeing Nathan scowl at him like he was going to knock him out of his chair made him feel a little bit like a thirteen year old girl. As in, maybe a little bit, he felt like he was about to bust out with a giggle and a blush. But he was far too cool a guy to do any such thing. So he just grinned instead cause he knew Nathan longed to wipe the smirk right off his face. Nathan scowled deeper, and Chris rolled his beer against his forehead, the cold chasing away a little of the heat (it was not an almost blush) he could feel building under his skin.

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"You may be old. But since when are we friends?"

"Ouch. And after everything I did for you and Haley." Nathan snorted, but Chris breezed on. "Where is Haley anyway?" He scanned the bar for another familiar face.

"Not here," Nathan said, the words clipped, a clear order in his tone to avoid this topic. Chris had never been very good at following orders.

"Yeah? So where is she?"

"Stanford," Nathan finally said, and took a long pull off his beer.

"Damn."

"Yeah."

They sat silently drinking for a moment. It felt good. Hanging out with Nate again. Like old times. Granted, they'd never actually gone drinking together back during the times of old. But Chris had a feeling this is what it would have been like. A little bit of talk. A little bit of beer. And there probably would have been a little bit of him getting punched in the head at some point. But it was cool, he could take a punch.

"Still playing basketball?" Chris asked.

"I was on ESPN2 the other day," Nathan smirked.

"Oh yeah, I think I saw you. You were one of those guys who painted their chests with the letters?"

"Yeah, I was the D."

"Nice." He leaned back in his chair. "I was on MTV the other day."

"Right, right. I remember." Nathan turned the sarcasm up to eleven. "You were in the corner of the screen during TRL. Justin Timberlake's new video, right? I bet I can even quote the interview. Let me think for a sec to make sure I remember the words. Oh yeah, didn't it go," he make little rock-on horns with his fingers, "Whoooo!"

Chris laughed. "Something like that."

They silently drank a little bit more. Yeah, he remembered now. How Nathan was the only guy he ever really felt like he had to try to impress. Being around Nathan was like trying to punch Jello or something. Chris just kept sliding past him, and Nathan didn't even look to see where he landed. It made him want to dance around, be his most provoking, shout NOTICE ME GODDAMN IT until Nathan had no choice. He didn't care if Nathan thought he was the most annoying guy in the world as long as he was on the radar. He finished off his beer and made a decision.

"Want to get out of here?" he asked.

"With you?"

"Who else?"

"No thanks."

"What else are you going to do?" He raised his eyebrows, and put a little sing-song into his voice. "I'll buy you your next beer."

"I can afford my own beer, Keller."

"Of course you can, you're a basketball hotshot and all that. But it's the principle of the thing. Haven't you ever noticed that free beer tastes better than regular beer?"

"It's just beer."

"It's beer. But free." Nathan seemed unimpressed with this impeccable logic. "Look, I don't mind staying here, man. I can settle in. We can catch up on old times. Have a little heart to heart. You can tell me what happened with Haley┘"

"If I go have free beer with you, will you shut up?"

"Shake on it." He extended his hand. Nathan ignored it.

"You're lying to me right now, aren't you?"

"Possibly, Nate. Possibly. Only one way to find out."

Nathan shrugged, and tipped his beer bottle back to catch the last sip. When he was done, he looked at the three empty bottles on the table. "You pay for these too, and we've got ourselves a deal."

"That's what I like about you, Nate. Always looking for a better angle." He started to clap Nathan on the shoulder, but stopped an inch from the skin, since Nathan looked like he was about to bite him. Or maybe just punch him in the head. Just like old times. He tossed some money down on the table. "Now we need to make one quick stop to pick up some things on our way out."