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Jareth threw Old Faithful’s stick shift into park. The decrepit car’s engine shuddered a few times before he withdrew the key and put her to sleep. He made sure to disconnect the battery terminal so the vehicle wouldn’t be dead in the parking lot when he returned from what was sure to be the most glorious week of his life. Jar unpacked his things from the trunk – just a single suitcase packed with clothes, a couple bottles of the good stuff, and some… ‘party enhancers’, and his beloved guitar was in a separate case, of course. He slung the instrument over his shoulder, made sure his wallet, keys, and phone were in his pockets, and pulled the wheeled suitcase behind him as he headed for the dock.

Liberty of the Seas was breathtaking. Seeing the pictures online when booking this trip was one thing, but seeing her splendor in the Galveston, Texas sunshine was absolutely captivating. He couldn’t believe they’d managed to afford this. Jar had to book Crim Son gigs at least one night a week to earn enough to pay for his share. But hell, this was SO going to be worth it.

Check-in went pretty painlessly, and Jareth received his keys to suite 8414 on the eighth deck of the ship. He could hardly contain his excitement as he waited in line to take the elevator up. The suite kicked even more ass – a dining space, three private/semi-private sleeping areas with big beds, and a huge balcony with a view of the ocean. 

[color=9e0b0f]“Damn…”[/color] Jar muttered in an impressed whisper as he closed the suite door behind him. It seemed like he was the first to arrive, so he picked the bedroom that seemed the best – the one in the back with an entrance to the balcony. The other available areas were the smaller bedroom immediately to the left of the entrance without access to the balcony, and the pullout king-size bed in the living room that had access to the balcony and was the biggest room, but it was only semi-private. The last to arrive would probably get that one.

After unpacking only slightly, Jar headed out onto the balcony. And by slightly unpacking, he took the bottles of Silver Tree vodka and Jim Beam single barrel whiskey out of his suitcase and put them on the balcony's table with some glasses for celebratory consumption once the guys showed up. Jar stood with his hands on the railing and breathed in the salty coastal air. Closing his eyes, he tried to drive out the guilt he still felt about what happened with Yuki. They were only together for three months, but that didn’t excuse what he did. She had fallen for him, hard, and he ruined it by drunkenly sleeping with a near-stranger at a party. At first, Jar tried to justify it to himself because Yuki was stuck on being celibate, but that only made him feel more like a dick. Maybe he was just a dick…

Jar pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. No, now was not the time to think about her. Yuki deserved better than him, he hoped she knew that. But this week was about self-forgiveness. Wendy, Jar’s college therapist, said that this trip should be about that, and that he should relax and have fun, but most of all, he [i]needed[/i]  to forgive himself.

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