Boy Next Door - Unrequieted Brian//Jimmy, Brian//Everyone and their mum - PG-15 for swearing
Technically, he wasn't the boy next door.
He actually lived two blocks from you.
You'd met through a mutual friend.
Johnny had decided that he'd like to sleep over your place and had informed his stepmother of the fact, she then called your own mother; she never got out of the habit of arranging your social life.
You didn't like Johnny much that week.
You knew he was only using you because you lived close to that kid.
But still he was your only friend since Zacky had left, not many people liked the gay 'emo' kid, and so what choice did you have than to follow him down the footpath and across the road to meet the fabled Brian?
You were expecting something else, something totally different.
What you got was perfection.
At least in your eyes.
You'd known that he'd be attractive, Johnny had been rambling on about him ever since Lynn had dropped him off and he'd dumped his bag on the floor of your room.
But you really weren't expecting someone quite so stunning.
Johnny had invited him back to yours; you didn't like the idea of that, him in your personal space? You just didn't like it.
But you let him in anyway, because he was just that mind blowing.
You steered him in the right direction talking a hold of his arm, before he could reach the stairs and ascend into the presence of your big breasted sister, you lightly pushed him into the room with the picture of two guys kissing on the door [strictly there to freak out your Grandmother and her husband, you're sure your mother wouldn't have allowed it, if they didn't commandeer your room when they came to stay].
You're room had two single beds [again because your grandmother took over your room when they stayed, you had to limit the possibility of old people having sex in your room] and when you followed after Brian and Johnny they were sitting next to each other on one [ironically the one where Brandan had bestowed on you your first kiss].
They talked and flirted.
You sat and watched.
After a few long pauses in the conversation where John would look at you pointedly, you left the room, glaring at the little bitch who called himself your best friend.
Even Zacky would never have done that.
You were once again proven wrong about the quality of your friends.
Johnny had lost interest in Brian and moved on to find someone more suited to him.
Zack was visiting you after nearly a year of only IMs and five minute phone calls, so you being the amazingly good person you are introduced him to Brian.
You knew it was a mistake the minute they locked eyes.
You didn't say anything because, well, what could you say?
Brian had become a really good friend, you hung out at the local gigs, and when he got fucked up on whatever substance he decided to abuse he got overly affectionate and clinged to you.
And Zacky had been your best friend for two years.
You proposed that you three attend a movie.
Pirates of The Carribean.
You liked it. The imagery was good. The acting was reasonable.
Plus you had a thing for Jack Davenport.
You would've liked it better had your two companions not been talking and flirting with each other the entire movie, later abandoning you to sit by themselves.
The night was topped off when the lights came on and they were making out.
You stayed friends with them though.
You had very few people to class as friends so you made sure not to lose any of them.
And it wasn't like they knew.
At least, that's what you told yourself.
Time passed and your infatuation dissipated.
You moved on.
Made a new friend, Matt, whom was generally a sweet guy.
He sat next to you in science and you talked about everything.
You developed a crush on him but he was snatched away when he met Johnny.
It's about this time that you decided to get less attractive friends.
Zack had gone back homeand you two drifted apart.
He'd gotten a new boyfriend.
You hoped this one would last longer.
You hoped this one would make him happy.
Because as much as you claimed apathy, you really did love him.
You spent more and more time on the internet, making friends who wouldn't, couldn't judge you.
You met a genuinely good person on myspace.
If you had been straight you think you could've married her one day.
She understood your dilemma about Brian, she was angrier at your friends than you could have ever been.
You didn't understand her anger most of the time.
You didn't understand a lot about her.
But time changed things and she got heavily into partying, drugs and alcohol, forgetting about the pathetic kid from Huntington.
You and Brian started talking more.
He told you at a gig that he was unhappy that you had stopped talking to him.
You replied that you were talking to him now.
Johnny and Matt broke up.
John claimed that Matt just wasn't what he wanted.
You didn't speak to John for a week after he told Matt that you had a crush on him.
One of your friends, James, had started dating Brian, the fact that James liked boys was surprising, the fact that Brian was actually dating someone was even more so.
They didn't last long, it hurt to say.
It hurt you to be the one to tell James that you saw his best friend, Mick, pressing Brian against a wall outside, hidden by shadows.
You weren't really sure what to do when you first saw them.
You wandered around in a daze for a few minutes before John had caught on to something, gasping when you explained what you saw.
You hated that James looked so fucking happy with Brian.
You hated that Brian had his arm around him, pretending to be the best boyfriend ever while smirking that ridiculous smirk.
You changed schools later that year.
You hated the way people saw you, so you made them not see you.
Being told to kill yourself was the straw that broke the camel's back.
You filed a complaint against them and left.
Your new school brought new people.
Your new school brought a sense of anonymity.
You were just the freaky kid who wore black.
People left you alone.
You liked it that way.
The perfection of Brian never really went away.
You learned about his flaws, the fact that he cheated, played games and was generally an asshole to people.
You think you were lucky to escape that.
He never cheated or played you.
He was rarely an asshole.
You think sometimes, that, yeah, you do love him.
You wonder sometimes if he could ever love you back.
Sometimes you wonder if he can even love.