Guess The Honeymoon's Over [2/5]
Title: Guess The Honeymoon's Over [2/5]
Author: stfu_pwentzz
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon, Pete/Mikey, brief Brendon/Keltie, and unrequited Brendon/Alex DeLeon
Rating:: Overall NC-17
Beta: stitches_later
Summary: Brendon has everything going for him: a nice job, great friends, and a loving girlfriend. A single act of infidelity and it all comes crashing down. Can anyone save him?
Disclaimer: This is an act of fiction. I don’t own any of the characters just the plot.
Previous: Part One
“I always said don’t trust someone named Sonya,” Jon consoled. Brendon nodded into his shoulder. Jon had left the good friend role to Gabe and got drunk with Brendon. Distantly Brendon felt bad for Ryan, who was sitting next to him, nursing the same drink that he got an hour ago.
Brendon felt horrible, and every time he felt horrible, Jon ordered them another shot. Ryan randomly rubbed his back every few minutes. It was comforting. He had Jon who was drunk as hell, Ryan who was trying to comfort a stranger, and Gabe who was just trying to be a good friend.
Gabe’s idea of being a good friend was reminding Brendon of all the bad things about her. Brendon didn’t think it would help, but it was helping a lot more than Jon’s I-told-you-so.
“She hated animals. I can’t be with someone who hates animals. And she was always flirting with other guys when we went out. I should have seen it already,” Brendon said in an outburst.
He wanted to forget her face. Forget her bleach-blonde hair. Brendon started laughing. Gabe just gave him a look that said Brendon was crazy. Brendon shrugged.
Brendon smiled sheepishly. “I actually don’t know what he natural hair color is. Every time I got a glimpse she just highlighted it again.”
Ryan laughed at that. Brendon looked at Ryan and felt bad. “Oh, I’m ruining our night out.”
Ryan goes to disagree but it can’t be heard over Gabe’s “Kinda.”
Brendon frowns. He didn’t want to ruin everybody’s night out. Brendon ordered water when Gabe grabbed Jon and forced him onto the dance floor. Brendon laughed; Jon hated dancing. He never did it willingly. Brendon sometimes thought that he asked Gabe to take him out on the floor to play up the façade.
Ryan slid closer to him, and Brendon looked up at him. He was nice to look at, he was girl pretty.
“You’re really pretty, ya know.” It didn’t seem like enough, but Ryan blushed all the same.
He pushed a lock of hair behind his ear, hiding behind the rum and coke that Brendon hadn’t seen him refill once.
“I know what you’re going through.”
Brendon nodded and took a large gulp of water. Brendon blinked and noticed it tasted a lot like straight vodka. Sometimes he really hated Bob the bartender. Bob and Brian both. He swallowed it down. “Ah.”
He wasn’t looking for sympathy right now. He didn’t want sympathy he just wanted to hit somebody. He wanted to scream until he couldn’t scream. As humiliating as it would be, he wanted to cry. And God, he would totally cry in front of Ryan.
Ryan brought his hand under Brendon’s chin to make Brendon make eye contact. “No, it’s not a sympathy thing. I had a girl cheat on me once. I was just so angry with her. She broke my heart. She didn’t really feel bad about it either, that’s what hurt the most I guess.”
Brendon blinked and holy shit. Ryan just wasn’t giving him sympathy; he really went through this before. Brendon kind of didn’t want to bullshit Ryan.
“I fucking hate her. I’m just so angry and hurt,” he felt a little exposed by admitting that but the alcohol covered him a little bit. “I just want to forget her, and just make this all stop.”
Ryan bit his lip, but his eyes looked a bit darker. He looked more jaded than he had been all day. “You know what I did?”
Brendon laughed. “Wrote a song about her? I don’t know.’
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Well, I did that, but I just hooked up with someone else. I think what you need is just something dirty to take your mind off of her.”
Brendon looked at Ryan’s face and looked away to take another gulp of vodka that Bob set out in front of him. He turned back to look at Ryan and rushed forward and pressed their faces together.
Brendon had never kissed a guy before, but he didn’t care that Ryan was a guy. He just cared that Ryan was there, hot and present, in front of him. Ryan brought his hand in Brendon’s hair and pulled, having Brendon’s mouth where he wanted it. Brendon did the same thing with Ryan. Brendon opened his mouth and shoved his tongue into Ryan’s mouth.
Ryan stood up and pushed Brendon into the bar, their mouths battling ferociously. Brendon tried to shove back but they were both in control, in different ways. They were playing this game of cat and mouse, using their tongues as bait. Ryan was flush against Brendon’s chest and the presence was nice, but he had to stop this before they got arrested. Brendon took his hand out of Ryan’s hair to grasp his collar and pull Ryan’s mouth away.
Ryan was taking deep breaths, and fuck if that didn’t make Brendon hard. Their faces were only inches away from each other. “Employee bathroom, I’m friends with the owner.”
Ryan’s eyes went out of focus and then Brendon was gasping his wrist and practically running to the bathroom. Brendon ignored all the faces of people rushing past him, he ignored the voice that told him that Brian was going to kill him, he just focused on Ryan’s hand in his and the target at hand.
Brendon finally walked by the bathrooms and stood in front of a mahogany door. Ryan was still in a daze and catching his breath. “Isn’t that a closet?”
Brendon laughed. “No.”
Brendon opened the door and yanked Ryan’s arm in. Ryan tripped into the room, running into the sink. Brendon didn’t bother turning the lights on, he seen no point. He pushed Ryan up against the sink and kissed him harder.
Ryan gasped into Brendon’s mouth and grabbed a fistful of hair, pulling him up a little higher, so he was closer to Ryan’s height. Ryan let go of Brendon’s hair as Brendon started biting his lip. Ryan bunched his hands in Brendon’s collar and shoved him to the other wall.
Brendon could hear the wall move as Ryan’s weight shoved him. Brendon looked at Ryan for a moment before Ryan’s mouth was back on him. Brendon was letting Ryan take control. Ryan held onto Brendon’s shoulders and held them to the wall so he couldn’t move.
Ryan’s kisses were harsh and biting, even with the occasional clenching of teeth on Brendon’s neck. Ryan brought his left hand off of Brendon’s shoulder and slid it down Brendon’s chest. Brendon knew where he was heading and that made his breath hitch.
Ryan took the opportunity to grind his hips down, causing Brendon to gasp, exposing his neck. Ryan bit down on his collarbone, making Brendon cry out this time, and this was the perfect medicine. Sonya was the farthest thing from Brendon’s mind.
…Until now.
Fuck.
Brendon shook the thought out of his head and reached down to undo his own belt, making less work for Brendon. Brendon just wanted, he just wanted.
“Fuck, eager?” Ryan breathed into his ear as he worked the button of Brendon’s jeans off with one hand. Ryan had some skills with buttons, but that was all forgotten the second his hot mouth bit on Brendon’s earlobe.
Ryan unzipped Brendon’s pants and Brendon felt a clenching in his lower stomach. He knew exactly where this was going, the point of no return. And he really didn’t want to return, anyway.
Brendon could make out the shadows of Ryan, but he couldn’t see much in the room. He watched the shadow of Ryan’s hand come in front of his face and watched slowly, agonizingly slow, as he licked a line from the base to the tip of his middle finger.
Brendon choked on the air he was breathing on and Ryan brought his mouth back to Brendon’s, to make sure that he had no more air, ever. At least that’s what it felt like to Brendon.
Ryan shoved his hand into Brendon’s jeans, over his briefs and holy shit. Brendon forgot what it felt like for someone to touch his cock. Brendon leaned his head back onto the wall and tried to pull his jeans down farther with his one unrestrained arm.
He felt Ryan’s laugh bubble in his ear and Ryan’s hand was leaving his cock. This was not good. The faze that he was in, was slightly leaving him until he felt Ryan’s strong, muscular hands grasp his hips, forcing the haze to come back immediately, almost like a rubber band.
Ryan grabbed onto his belt loops and just held onto them, yanking on them, but not pushing Brendon’s jeans down any farther. Brendon jerked forward, hitting Ryan’s hip. Ryan just looked down at him; Brendon couldn’t make his expression, so he just continued the action.
And fuck, that felt good.
All of a sudden Brendon’s jeans were shoved down to his thighs and Ryan was pressed flush against his side, his target gone. Brendon whimpered and turned to look at Ryan.
Ryan was smiling, but he was making no move to finish what he started. Brendon couldn’t even remember why he brought Ryan to the bathroom; he didn’t do it so Ryan could start something without finishing it.
“Hey,” a deep voice breathed out in Brendon’s ear. It was Ryan but it was more deep and musky than it had been previously. Brendon felt his knees melt a little.
That was his sex voice, Brendon just knew it. Ryan put his hand on Brendon’s chest and slid it down a few inches at a time. “How bad do you want it?” Ryan asked.
Brendon didn’t even think before he said, “Bad.”
He felt Ryan smile against his neck. His hand slid all the way down to his shaft and Brendon sucked in a breath. Ryan was just holding it there, not doing anything with it.
Ryan squeezed his hand around Brendon and Brendon thrusted forward unwillingly. He couldn’t even help himself. Then Ryan’s hand was gone, and Ryan was gone from his side.
Brendon looked forward, and there Ryan was. He held down Brendon’s hip and grabbed Brendon again. “Ah, ah,” Ryan chastised. Ryan moved down until he was on his knees in front of Brendon, and why the fuck couldn’t he just move. He just wanted to rub against Ryan’s cheek or something.
Ryan put his mouth closer to his hand over Brendon’s cock, and his other hand grasped tighter on Brendon’s hip. The hot air brushed against Brendon’s cock. “You gotta work for it.”
Ryan mouthed against the side of Brendon’s cock and Brendon’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. He would work for anything at this point.
Ryan started moving his hand up and down again, going ever so slowly, but at least it was something. “How bad do you want it,” Ryan asked again.
Brendon vibrated against the wall. “Bad, bad. I want it.” Ryan’s hand got tighter and it moved a little faster, his breath still falling all over Brendon’s dick. Ryan ducked forward to lick Brendon’s tip and Brendon took a deep breath. “Please. Please.”
Ryan’s hand moved faster still and Brendon started mumbling incoherently. Brendon couldn’t stand it, this slow pace that he had no control over. He broke free from Ryan’s grasp and just started pushing into Ryan’s tight fist.
Instead of stopping, which Brendon thought Ryan was going to, Ryan laughed against his cock and started pumping up and down. It felt good, with the two rhythms going on, Ryan’s and his. Ryan swiped his thumb over Brendon, and that was the point Brendon couldn’t stop.
Brendon was falling apart, just thrusting forward into Ryan’s fist, and he didn’t even notice the unzipping of Ryan’s own pants. Brendon opened his eyes to tell Ryan he was close, but the second he seen Ryan, hands in his pants, there was no more warning.
Brendon came, with Ryan never stopping with his pumps, keeping up with Brendon’s hips. When Brendon was done he just slid down the wall onto the dirty ground. His leg was blocking Ryan from moving anywhere, which he didn’t look like he wanted to go anywhere anyway.
Ryan’s hand kept moving faster and faster in his pants. Brendon brought his mouth back to Ryan’s and caught Ryan’s groan in his mouth mid-kiss. Ryan fell pliant against Brendon’s chest and tried to climb his way up Brendon to reach his lips. When he finally reached his goal, he kissed Brendon so hard they fell over onto the ground.
Brendon didn’t even care.
---
Brendon slept for thirty years it felt like. Brendon woke up, feeling disorientated, not remembering much of the last few days just taking in his surroundings. There were ice cream cartons, an opened condom wrapper and many bottles of Gatorade. He had no idea how long he was out, but he was pretty sure that he missed work.
His head hurt and his forehead felt pasty. Brendon brought his hand to his forehead and there was actually something on it. He pulled it off and it was just a post-it with small, spiky handwriting that he didn’t recognize.
Brendon squinted his eyes and read the post it.
Gabe took your shift at the Pet store, so don’t freak. Left some aspirin on your counter... Peace, Ryan.
Then underneath that was Jon’s own note.
Hey, Sleeping Beauty, if you wake up its Wednesday and you don’t work today. Meet me at the mall, like four. Later, sweet cheeks. J
Brendon raised his eyebrow, and that was just weird. Why would Jon want to meet him? Four was when Jon was the busiest at the food court. Brendon shook the thought out of his head, and tried to think about the last thing that happened before he passed out. Suddenly everything from the breakup came to him.
Sonya and the elevator. Jon and the vodka. Ryan and the hand job.
Brendon jumped up in his bed and holy fucking shit. Brendon’s heart was pounding in his chest, and he wasn’t even focusing on his girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, being a skanky whore and focused on the making out with guy he just met.
Brendon needed to clear his head.
---
Brendon took a shower, and that didn’t make him feel any better about anything. When he got out of his heated escape he was still heartbroken, a little hung over and still a little wary about what happened with Ryan the other night. The thing that he was most worried about was how long was this hangover supposed to last?
It was probably just worse because he was going through a trauma, and heartbreak. He was most likely imagining the hangover but he didn’t really care.
He really wasn’t one to avoid someone, especially someone he just met who was trying to help him get over someone. He also wasn’t one for one night stands. Especially one night stands with guys.
And Brendon wasn’t so put off from that idea as he thought he should be. Brendon walked into his bedroom, towel sitting at his waist, and just thought about that. He wasn’t really upset with kissing someone from the same sex.
Well, he was. He wasn’t upset with kissing Ryan, and if given the opportunity to do it again he would in a heartbeat and Brendon didn’t really know what that meant. He would ask Jon about it later. Or Mikey, actually. Mikey didn’t work, not that Brendon recalled at least.
Brendon walked over to his side table to pick up his phone and noticed he had three missed calls from RESTRICTED. He didn’t have anyone in his phone under restricted, so he did a little undercover work. He looked at the number and realized that it was Sonya’s number.
It was right under a number for RYAN ROSS, he was obviously the culprit for this little coincidence. It was nice that someone was looking out for Brendon. That was one thing Brendon didn’t miss from his relationship with Sonya. Always taking care of her. Relationship wise and sexually wise.
Brendon sighed and texted Mikey to see if he wanted to hang out. The response came right away, and of course Mikey was free to hang out. Mikey didn’t have anything to do and Gerard’s comics were getting boring.
Alright, maybe it was a good thing he was getting Mikey out of the house. He didn’t want to be spending the next week being compared to this comic character. That’s one of the quirks about Mikey; being compared to random comic book characters.
Brendon got dressed, said goodbye to Jon’s cat Dylan and headed out into the real world a new man.
A man without a girlfriend, a man who hooked up with a stranger and someone who wasn’t fazed by stereotypes. A man he didn’t recognize, but he was a new man.
---
Mikey saved him a spot outside the café by Borders. Upon closer inspection Brendon noticed a latte and a chocolate chip cookie. Brendon smiled; Mikey was always the one to sneak him treats when he was upset. Mikey was a good friend, even if Brendon knew that cookie was going to end up straight to his ass.
Brendon stopped that thought before it ended up somewhere. That was not the most heterosexual thing he could have thought. He thought about sports. Sports were good. Sports and beer.
He continued on to Mikey, taking the seat across from him. He noticed the way Mikey was checking out the pet shop from afar. Brendon looked down at his watch and it was nearly four in the afternoon. Holy shit he slept in.
Brendon threw a chocolate chip at Mikey’s face. Mikey looked over at Brendon and scrunched his nose. “I don’t think your brothers working today.” Brendon didn’t even know what day it was, so he couldn’t be sure.
Mikey ducked his head and smiled. “Oh, I know.”
That was odd. Brendon looked over to the pet shop and he couldn’t really see anyone specific. He watched Gabe serenade Pete with a broom, while Spencer laughed. That was about it.
Brendon looked at Mikey and Mikey had his dreamer expression on. This was the same look he had when Brendon took him to see some shitty hard-core band that Mikey had been obsessed with.
Brendon laughed and took a tiny sip of his latte. He could find out who Mikey was crushing on later. He was pretty sure that it wasn’t Spencer. Spencer didn’t seem like Mikey’s type. Gabe or Pete could be valid choices for his affections, he just couldn’t choose which one it was yet.
“So, I have this problem,” Brendon drawled out, getting Mikey out of his little daydream. Mikey looked at him, completely serious this time and focused all of his attention on Brendon.
“Yeah, you didn’t invite me out to your post-break up drinking binge,” Mikey pointed out and even though Brendon knew Mikey didn’t drink anymore he still felt immensely guilty.
Brendon ducked his head and took a deep breath. “But, you don’t drink.”
Mikey laughed. “So?” And he did have a point. He would want to be there if Mikey ever went through a bad breakup.
Brendon smiled. “You're right, I’m sorry.”
Mikey just waved it away with a grin. “Don’t worry. Next time you have a horrible break up and decorate a girl in soup, just invite me to get wasted with you.”
Brendon took a giant breath and exhaled. It was a relief that he went to Mikey for the sober help-me-get-over-Sonya part of the plan. Jon was great for just being there, Gabe was great for making Brendon laugh but Mikey just helped Brendon feel at ease.
“So, what all did Gabe tell you happened?”
Mikey shrugged. “Nothing really. He just said you and Jon got really smashed and you ended up hooking up with some kid. Some kid who was not a girl,” Mikey shot Brendon a knowing look, and he really hated Mikey’s knowing looks.
Brendon swallowed and his throat seemed really tight. “Yeah, so you didn’t miss much.”
Mikey slammed his palms down on the table, forcing Brendon to look at him. He looked a little amused but mostly scary.
Mikey sighed. “Brendon, I’m not going to… beat you up or anything. Jeez this isn’t high school.”
Brendon felt a little relieved. Not that he was honestly worried about Mikey beating him up. Just about his thoughts on this new development. “Do you have a problem with it?” Brendon asked.
Mikey laughed again. “Do you have a problem with it?” Brendon shook his head and Mikey smiled. “Good. Because between you and me I’m having a dilemma with your tasty co-worker, so I can’t really judge.”
Brendon looked over there again. Pete caught his eye and winked. Brendon was pretty sure that wink was not for him.
Brendon’s jaw dropped. “Pete? You have a thing for Pete?” And he called him tasty? What planet did Gerard and Mikey come from?
Mikey shrugged but that was answer enough. Brendon couldn’t find it in him to lift his jaw up. “New Food Court kid? You have a thing for some kid that works with Jon?” He mocked.
Brendon laughed and shoved at Mikey lightly. “It’s not a thing if we actually went to…” Brendon stopped in thought. “Whatever hand jobs are. We went to that base.”
Mikey punched Brendon in the shoulder, not lightly, and smiled again. “Yeah, whatever. You’re on the rebound; you’re supposed to get more hand jobs.”
And Brendon’s never been on a rebound before, and especially with a guy. It can’t be that hard.
---
“Ice cream then! Ice cream always cheers you up, man.” Jon pleaded as they were walking around the shops by their apartments. Jon had already bought Brendon the Spinal Tap cd that he’d been waiting for and some candy.
Brendon laughed. “Jon, its fine. I don’t need ice cream. I’m not suicidal or anything.”
Jon sighed and placed his hand on Brendon’s chest. Brendon looked down at Jon’s hand and then looked back at his face. “This is your post break up. You’re supposed to tell me things like that so I don’t worry about you. But I am, Bren. You’re far too not depressed for a breakup.”
Brendon giggled; Jon always brought that out in him. Jon was upset that he wasn’t depressed. Usually Jon told him to stop being melodramatic. Or to stop mooching things off of Jon. Now Brendon was actually pretty fine, considering. And he was trying to get Jon to stop buying him shit.
Jon was the most bi-polar dude that Brendon’s ever known.
“Put your money away, I’m fine,” He stressed. He was. The initial shock was gone and he just felt a little empty. Nothing he couldn't handle.
Jon gave Brendon a condescending look. “You are not fine, B.”
Brendon raised his eyebrows, because how would Jon know if he was or was not fine? He wasn’t inside Brendon, he didn’t know what he was feeling. He wasn’t mad at Jon or anything, and he knew exactly where he was just coming from. It was nice having someone to have your back, but Brendon really wasn’t as far off as everyone thinks he is.
Mikey has him on a dessert kick, Gabe has him on suicide watch, and Jon has him on a shopping spree.
Brendon sighed again. “Jon, listen to me. I don’t need to own every record player known to man. My girlfriend of six months cheated on me, it’s not like my wife of seventeen years did. I liked her, and that hurts so much. But, I can handle this myself, okay? I know it’s over, and you emptying your bank account isn’t going to fix me any quicker.”
Jon bit his lip, and Brendon wasn’t too sure what was going through his head. Jon smiled so it couldn’t be that bad.
“Sorry, Brendon. I just-you’re always taking care of me, I just wanted to take care of everything once.” Jon confessed and that was really sweet of him. Brendon was always the one to pick up the pieces in Jon’s life. He was there for him when he got a DUI a few years ago. He stood by Jon’s side when his girlfriend couldn’t handle it anymore and decided to leave Jon.
Brendon always had Jon’s back and Brendon knew Jon always had his.
Brendon lunged on Jon and gave him a giant hug. “Dude, you take care of me, don’t worry. Take me to see a movie or something. That’ll make me feel ten times better, I promise.”
Jon smiled against Brendon’s neck and asked which movie he wanted to see. Brendon liked being able to make Jon smile like that, because it was always a sad day when Jon Walker was frowning.
Two hours later, outside the theater, Jon was frowning and Brendon was laughing. Jon had his arms crossed over his shoulders, and that just made everything funnier. Brendon took a look at the people around them and they just had a disgusted look on their faces. Brendon realized they kind of looked like a couple, but it was just how it was. Brendon loved scary movies and they were the bane of Jon’s existence.
“You didn’t have to go to that one, Brendon,” Jon warned as Brendon was still laughing. “You could have gone to one that was really cheesy that we could have laughed at.”
Brendon was still chuckling to himself, but he was trying to keep it at a minimum. “That wouldn’t be any fun. I remember one time I took Sonya to see…” Brendon broke off mid-sentence and he didn’t feel the need to talk anymore. He felt his skin pale and the chill Chicago air felt colder than it was.
Jon put his arm on Brendon’s shoulder but Brendon just shrugged it off of him and wanted to bury into himself. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall filled with movie posters.
He closed his eyes but the only thing that was behind his lids was her. He was trying to forget who she was, and she was just haunting him. Wasn’t it enough that she broke his heart? She had to keep coming back for more. He just wanted it all to end.
He was filled with memories of movies that he took Sonya to. He was trying to forget all of this, but it just had to come back to him. Brendon was so angry at his subconscious for bringing up all of these stupid memories back. He was so angry at her for doing this to him. He just wanted someone who wouldn’t do this to him. Brendon was so hurt and he had the strangest feeling he knew how to get this feeling to go away, even for a little bit.
Jon turned towards Brendon and his face softened. “Are you alright, Brendon?”
Brendon shook his head. He felt too big in his own skin. “I have to. I have to go, okay? Let's go back?" Jon nodded and led him back to Jon's car. Brendon hated this feeling. He felt so weak, but he just wanted to curl up in his room and disappear.
---
Working back at the Pet Store was weird for Brendon. It felt like he hadn’t worked in a week, but it was really only two days. Nothing really changed. Gerard just berated him for his actions and made him sweep up the shop while Spencer and Tom just made fun of Brendon.
And no one wanted to purchase a voice for their animal.
The slogan “Same shit, different day” seemed to ring pretty true for Brendon. Brendon sighed as Gerard pointed to a spot that Brendon missed on the floor before going back to the register. The soft sound of Lady Gaga poured through the speakers by the cats.
Brendon turned around to where Joe was cleaning out the kitty litter boxes. Brendon didn’t work with Joe a lot, but when he did, he tried to talk to Joe some. Joe was a pretty cool guy. For a city of workaholic Cubs fans. But Joe didn’t really watch sports, so that was probably why.
“Hey, did we get a new tape?”
Joe looked up from the cage he was working on, to put his ear up in the air to listen to the music a little better. Joe looked back at Brendon and shrugged. “Nah, she was on the old tape. Oh did I mean her? I meant her fashion sense.”
There was a rebuttal on the tip of his tongue, but having conversations about fashion sense, and who had it and didn’t have it, were conversations Brendon was really trying to avoid with his current situation. Sure, no one here knew the current situation, but the less people who knew, the better Brendon was going to like it.
Brendon just stared Joe down until he laughed. “Yeah, it’s a new tape. Music totally sucks though. I liked it when we only had one Fergie song playing on loop.”
Brendon would argue again, but he was on Joe’s side of the argument. One Fergie song was really enough to last a lifetime, and they still hadn’t even gotten her good song.
Brendon smiled at Joe. “No, we still need Fergalicious up in here, for it to be complete. We can get rid of the rest of that shit.”
Joe scrunched his nose up in distaste. Brendon was only half kidding. He agreed with Joe’s music taste, and he agreed that there should be more Pantera and early Green Day. That really didn’t bring the atmosphere to the store though.
Joe usually hung out at the tattoo parlor that his friend Andy worked at if he wanted to listen to the good music.
Brendon knocked Joe’s shoulder and smiled at him. “Don’t lie; you know you dance to it.” Joe started laughing while Brendon did his impromptu dance of “Fergalicious” to the tune of “Just Dance”.
Joe threw a few pebbles of litter at Brendon’s face, and Brendon stopped dancing to actually do his job. He started sweeping up the pile of litter that was by his feet and caught Spencer’s eye. He was still laughing.
Brendon ignored the looks he was receiving from Spencer and Tom. He knew that they knew about the breakup, and he just didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about anything. Not really.
Eventually Spencer made his way over to Brendon’s station to ask him how he was doing.
Brendon couldn’t do much but shrug at him. “I’m doing alright. I mean, I’m dealing.” Spencer nodded like he knew exactly how Brendon was dealing with it. He was pretty sure that Spencer didn’t know how he was dealing with it.
That was the way he liked it.
---
Brendon wasn’t really looking forward to seeing Jon because there was a high chance he was going to run into Ryan again. He was in training still, so it was highly possible that he was going to be there all week. Brendon, being a mature adult, tried to avoid the food court as long as he could.
Jon wasn’t going to be that bad, but he didn’t want it to be that awkward when he seen Ryan the next day because Brendon might not be into one night stands but that didn’t mean that he’s never done one.
He has, and they’ve always been awkward the next day. And he really didn’t want it to be awkward with Ryan. Especially with Ryan. But he's never seen a one night stand participant two days after said one night stand. It was going to be especially awkward.
He tried sneaking away from the food court to go into FYE, but he was caught by Jon’s friend William. “Brendon!” He called from his spot right next to Jon’s food stand. He was in charge of the Taco stand and the Hamburger stand. Brendon turned around and gave William a little wave and walked his way, not looking at Ryan because Ryan was staring right at him.
William’s smile disappeared as Brendon neared closer, and Brendon didn’t really want that. Brendon put his hands in his pocket and tried to give William a smile. William patted Brendon’s shoulder. “Jon told me. How are you doing?”
Brendon shrugged. He didn’t think it would be that bad to smudge the truth a little bit. “I’m doing well. You know, considering.” It still hurt a lot when he thought about Sonya, so he just wouldn’t think about her and he would be totally fine.
William gave him a sad smile, and Brendon really didn’t want to be at his own pity party hosted by William so he said a quick goodbye and walked into the fire that was Jon and Ryan’s stand.
He stood in front of the counter for a minute until Ryan finally looked up.
Ryan gave Brendon a weak smile. “Hey, Brendon.”
Brendon gave a little realistic one back. This was just Ryan. Brendon took a deep breath. “Hey, Ryan. I just wanted to know. Everything's cool, right?"
Ryan smiled, knowing Brendon wasn't going to be weird about all this. "Yeah, it's fine. I thought it was going to be weird, but it's not. Right?"
Brendon smiled. "It's not, but I have to go to the bathroom, so give me three seconds."
He took a piss, and right when he was washing his hands the door opened. Brendon spun around, thinking it was Ryan. It was not Ryan. “Hey Brendon!” He beamed.
Brendon smiled and nodded. “Hey,” Brendon was at a loss of his name. “Alex, right?”
Ryan’s friend nodded and his smile only wavered a little. “Yeah, it’s Alex.” He looked like Brendon should have remembered his name so Brendon felt a little bad about it.
Brendon shut the water off and shook his hands off, getting little droplets on the mirror. He wasn’t really worried about it. It was a mirror for Christ’s sake. “Sorry about that. I’m really terrible at names. It took me three weeks to even remember my boss’s name. True story.”
Alex laughed and bumped his shoulder against Brendon’s. “Liar.”
Brendon walked out of the bathroom and Alex started to follow him. Nothing could ruin his mood, even this teenager following him. He would even ignore his Bob Marley hair and Marilyn Monroe mole.
Brendon looked down at Alex’s hand as they made their way across to the food court. “What happened to your glove?”
Alex’s eyes glowed and he shrugged. “Didn’t feel like wearing it today. My hands wanted to breathe.”
Brendon laughed. “I know the feeling. That’s the reason I don’t wear pants half the time.
Alex blushed and it was kind of adorable. He was like a little puppy, if puppies could blush, that is. Alex started talking about random things, random things that Brendon enjoyed actually.
“Yeah, so I was in FYE and I saw the new Spinal Tap cd and I was thinking about buying it,” Alex continued on.
Brendon stopped to look at Alex out of the corner of his eye. “You like Spinal Tap?”
Alex blushed again, but immediately crossed his arms, looking disinterested. “I mean, yeah. Who doesn’t like Spinal Tap? Probably the same people who hate John Cusak.”
Brendon’s eyes widened and he possibly loved this Alex kid. “I love John Cusak; he’s one of my favorite actors.” Alex bit his lip and looked away from Brendon. Brendon heard him say mine too.
They finally made it up to the food court and Ryan immediately waved to them. Brendon smiled at him and didn’t feel awkward at all. This was the weirdest feeling Brendon’s ever had. He was waiting for himself to look like a fool or embarrass himself but it just never happened.
“Hey, Brendon and Alex.” Ryan greeted, setting his elbows on the counter, licking his lips.
Brendon scratched his head. “Hey, Roger, right?” Brendon asked. Ryan shot him a questioning look, while Alex nodded to himself, somehow impressed. Brendon made vague gestures to Ryan to go with it.
Ryan shrugged and narrowed his eyes. “Actually, it’s Ryan.” He warned, even though Brendon knew he wasn’t serious. And as if Brendon couldn’t remember his name, his name's only been circling in Brendon's head for the last 48 hours.
Alex laughed and bounced over to the counter where Ryan was at. “Don’t worry, Ryry. He’s really bad at remembering names.”
Ryan raised his eyebrow and his lips twitched in amusement. “Oh, really?”
Brendon leaned closer to Ryan. “Oh, yes, Ryan Ralph,” he said softly.
Ryan rolled his eyes and pointed above Brendon’s head. “Alright, Don Juan. Your own Casanova is waiting over there,” Brendon looked behind him to see where he was pointing and Brendon looked at Jon standing by the exit, pointing at his watch.
Brendon rolled his eyes and held his hand out for Alex. “Nice seeing you again, Alex.” Alex shook his hand rather vigorously but gave it up without a battle which was nice. Brendon looked over at Ryan and held out his own hand. “You too Ryan Ralph.”
Ryan shook Brendon’s hand, a mischievous glint in his eye. Brendon felt something press into his palm at Ryan’s warning Watch it, Urie that only Brendon could hear.
Brendon immediately took his hand out of Ryan’s and put it into his pocket jogging after Jon. He gave Jon a sideways hug and they walked out into the cold air where both their cars were parked.
They agreed to meet at the club because Jon wanted to talk to Brendon. Brendon walked over to his car and at the last second he looked into his pocket for the little note that Ryan passed to him.
It was an address with a little note.
Roommates gone tonight ;)
Brendon just threw it back into his pocket. He would deal with that later.
Author: stfu_pwentzz
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon, Pete/Mikey, brief Brendon/Keltie, and unrequited Brendon/Alex DeLeon
Rating:: Overall NC-17
Beta: stitches_later
Summary: Brendon has everything going for him: a nice job, great friends, and a loving girlfriend. A single act of infidelity and it all comes crashing down. Can anyone save him?
Disclaimer: This is an act of fiction. I don’t own any of the characters just the plot.
Previous: Part One
“I always said don’t trust someone named Sonya,” Jon consoled. Brendon nodded into his shoulder. Jon had left the good friend role to Gabe and got drunk with Brendon. Distantly Brendon felt bad for Ryan, who was sitting next to him, nursing the same drink that he got an hour ago.
Brendon felt horrible, and every time he felt horrible, Jon ordered them another shot. Ryan randomly rubbed his back every few minutes. It was comforting. He had Jon who was drunk as hell, Ryan who was trying to comfort a stranger, and Gabe who was just trying to be a good friend.
Gabe’s idea of being a good friend was reminding Brendon of all the bad things about her. Brendon didn’t think it would help, but it was helping a lot more than Jon’s I-told-you-so.
“She hated animals. I can’t be with someone who hates animals. And she was always flirting with other guys when we went out. I should have seen it already,” Brendon said in an outburst.
He wanted to forget her face. Forget her bleach-blonde hair. Brendon started laughing. Gabe just gave him a look that said Brendon was crazy. Brendon shrugged.
Brendon smiled sheepishly. “I actually don’t know what he natural hair color is. Every time I got a glimpse she just highlighted it again.”
Ryan laughed at that. Brendon looked at Ryan and felt bad. “Oh, I’m ruining our night out.”
Ryan goes to disagree but it can’t be heard over Gabe’s “Kinda.”
Brendon frowns. He didn’t want to ruin everybody’s night out. Brendon ordered water when Gabe grabbed Jon and forced him onto the dance floor. Brendon laughed; Jon hated dancing. He never did it willingly. Brendon sometimes thought that he asked Gabe to take him out on the floor to play up the façade.
Ryan slid closer to him, and Brendon looked up at him. He was nice to look at, he was girl pretty.
“You’re really pretty, ya know.” It didn’t seem like enough, but Ryan blushed all the same.
He pushed a lock of hair behind his ear, hiding behind the rum and coke that Brendon hadn’t seen him refill once.
“I know what you’re going through.”
Brendon nodded and took a large gulp of water. Brendon blinked and noticed it tasted a lot like straight vodka. Sometimes he really hated Bob the bartender. Bob and Brian both. He swallowed it down. “Ah.”
He wasn’t looking for sympathy right now. He didn’t want sympathy he just wanted to hit somebody. He wanted to scream until he couldn’t scream. As humiliating as it would be, he wanted to cry. And God, he would totally cry in front of Ryan.
Ryan brought his hand under Brendon’s chin to make Brendon make eye contact. “No, it’s not a sympathy thing. I had a girl cheat on me once. I was just so angry with her. She broke my heart. She didn’t really feel bad about it either, that’s what hurt the most I guess.”
Brendon blinked and holy shit. Ryan just wasn’t giving him sympathy; he really went through this before. Brendon kind of didn’t want to bullshit Ryan.
“I fucking hate her. I’m just so angry and hurt,” he felt a little exposed by admitting that but the alcohol covered him a little bit. “I just want to forget her, and just make this all stop.”
Ryan bit his lip, but his eyes looked a bit darker. He looked more jaded than he had been all day. “You know what I did?”
Brendon laughed. “Wrote a song about her? I don’t know.’
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Well, I did that, but I just hooked up with someone else. I think what you need is just something dirty to take your mind off of her.”
Brendon looked at Ryan’s face and looked away to take another gulp of vodka that Bob set out in front of him. He turned back to look at Ryan and rushed forward and pressed their faces together.
Brendon had never kissed a guy before, but he didn’t care that Ryan was a guy. He just cared that Ryan was there, hot and present, in front of him. Ryan brought his hand in Brendon’s hair and pulled, having Brendon’s mouth where he wanted it. Brendon did the same thing with Ryan. Brendon opened his mouth and shoved his tongue into Ryan’s mouth.
Ryan stood up and pushed Brendon into the bar, their mouths battling ferociously. Brendon tried to shove back but they were both in control, in different ways. They were playing this game of cat and mouse, using their tongues as bait. Ryan was flush against Brendon’s chest and the presence was nice, but he had to stop this before they got arrested. Brendon took his hand out of Ryan’s hair to grasp his collar and pull Ryan’s mouth away.
Ryan was taking deep breaths, and fuck if that didn’t make Brendon hard. Their faces were only inches away from each other. “Employee bathroom, I’m friends with the owner.”
Ryan’s eyes went out of focus and then Brendon was gasping his wrist and practically running to the bathroom. Brendon ignored all the faces of people rushing past him, he ignored the voice that told him that Brian was going to kill him, he just focused on Ryan’s hand in his and the target at hand.
Brendon finally walked by the bathrooms and stood in front of a mahogany door. Ryan was still in a daze and catching his breath. “Isn’t that a closet?”
Brendon laughed. “No.”
Brendon opened the door and yanked Ryan’s arm in. Ryan tripped into the room, running into the sink. Brendon didn’t bother turning the lights on, he seen no point. He pushed Ryan up against the sink and kissed him harder.
Ryan gasped into Brendon’s mouth and grabbed a fistful of hair, pulling him up a little higher, so he was closer to Ryan’s height. Ryan let go of Brendon’s hair as Brendon started biting his lip. Ryan bunched his hands in Brendon’s collar and shoved him to the other wall.
Brendon could hear the wall move as Ryan’s weight shoved him. Brendon looked at Ryan for a moment before Ryan’s mouth was back on him. Brendon was letting Ryan take control. Ryan held onto Brendon’s shoulders and held them to the wall so he couldn’t move.
Ryan’s kisses were harsh and biting, even with the occasional clenching of teeth on Brendon’s neck. Ryan brought his left hand off of Brendon’s shoulder and slid it down Brendon’s chest. Brendon knew where he was heading and that made his breath hitch.
Ryan took the opportunity to grind his hips down, causing Brendon to gasp, exposing his neck. Ryan bit down on his collarbone, making Brendon cry out this time, and this was the perfect medicine. Sonya was the farthest thing from Brendon’s mind.
…Until now.
Fuck.
Brendon shook the thought out of his head and reached down to undo his own belt, making less work for Brendon. Brendon just wanted, he just wanted.
“Fuck, eager?” Ryan breathed into his ear as he worked the button of Brendon’s jeans off with one hand. Ryan had some skills with buttons, but that was all forgotten the second his hot mouth bit on Brendon’s earlobe.
Ryan unzipped Brendon’s pants and Brendon felt a clenching in his lower stomach. He knew exactly where this was going, the point of no return. And he really didn’t want to return, anyway.
Brendon could make out the shadows of Ryan, but he couldn’t see much in the room. He watched the shadow of Ryan’s hand come in front of his face and watched slowly, agonizingly slow, as he licked a line from the base to the tip of his middle finger.
Brendon choked on the air he was breathing on and Ryan brought his mouth back to Brendon’s, to make sure that he had no more air, ever. At least that’s what it felt like to Brendon.
Ryan shoved his hand into Brendon’s jeans, over his briefs and holy shit. Brendon forgot what it felt like for someone to touch his cock. Brendon leaned his head back onto the wall and tried to pull his jeans down farther with his one unrestrained arm.
He felt Ryan’s laugh bubble in his ear and Ryan’s hand was leaving his cock. This was not good. The faze that he was in, was slightly leaving him until he felt Ryan’s strong, muscular hands grasp his hips, forcing the haze to come back immediately, almost like a rubber band.
Ryan grabbed onto his belt loops and just held onto them, yanking on them, but not pushing Brendon’s jeans down any farther. Brendon jerked forward, hitting Ryan’s hip. Ryan just looked down at him; Brendon couldn’t make his expression, so he just continued the action.
And fuck, that felt good.
All of a sudden Brendon’s jeans were shoved down to his thighs and Ryan was pressed flush against his side, his target gone. Brendon whimpered and turned to look at Ryan.
Ryan was smiling, but he was making no move to finish what he started. Brendon couldn’t even remember why he brought Ryan to the bathroom; he didn’t do it so Ryan could start something without finishing it.
“Hey,” a deep voice breathed out in Brendon’s ear. It was Ryan but it was more deep and musky than it had been previously. Brendon felt his knees melt a little.
That was his sex voice, Brendon just knew it. Ryan put his hand on Brendon’s chest and slid it down a few inches at a time. “How bad do you want it?” Ryan asked.
Brendon didn’t even think before he said, “Bad.”
He felt Ryan smile against his neck. His hand slid all the way down to his shaft and Brendon sucked in a breath. Ryan was just holding it there, not doing anything with it.
Ryan squeezed his hand around Brendon and Brendon thrusted forward unwillingly. He couldn’t even help himself. Then Ryan’s hand was gone, and Ryan was gone from his side.
Brendon looked forward, and there Ryan was. He held down Brendon’s hip and grabbed Brendon again. “Ah, ah,” Ryan chastised. Ryan moved down until he was on his knees in front of Brendon, and why the fuck couldn’t he just move. He just wanted to rub against Ryan’s cheek or something.
Ryan put his mouth closer to his hand over Brendon’s cock, and his other hand grasped tighter on Brendon’s hip. The hot air brushed against Brendon’s cock. “You gotta work for it.”
Ryan mouthed against the side of Brendon’s cock and Brendon’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. He would work for anything at this point.
Ryan started moving his hand up and down again, going ever so slowly, but at least it was something. “How bad do you want it,” Ryan asked again.
Brendon vibrated against the wall. “Bad, bad. I want it.” Ryan’s hand got tighter and it moved a little faster, his breath still falling all over Brendon’s dick. Ryan ducked forward to lick Brendon’s tip and Brendon took a deep breath. “Please. Please.”
Ryan’s hand moved faster still and Brendon started mumbling incoherently. Brendon couldn’t stand it, this slow pace that he had no control over. He broke free from Ryan’s grasp and just started pushing into Ryan’s tight fist.
Instead of stopping, which Brendon thought Ryan was going to, Ryan laughed against his cock and started pumping up and down. It felt good, with the two rhythms going on, Ryan’s and his. Ryan swiped his thumb over Brendon, and that was the point Brendon couldn’t stop.
Brendon was falling apart, just thrusting forward into Ryan’s fist, and he didn’t even notice the unzipping of Ryan’s own pants. Brendon opened his eyes to tell Ryan he was close, but the second he seen Ryan, hands in his pants, there was no more warning.
Brendon came, with Ryan never stopping with his pumps, keeping up with Brendon’s hips. When Brendon was done he just slid down the wall onto the dirty ground. His leg was blocking Ryan from moving anywhere, which he didn’t look like he wanted to go anywhere anyway.
Ryan’s hand kept moving faster and faster in his pants. Brendon brought his mouth back to Ryan’s and caught Ryan’s groan in his mouth mid-kiss. Ryan fell pliant against Brendon’s chest and tried to climb his way up Brendon to reach his lips. When he finally reached his goal, he kissed Brendon so hard they fell over onto the ground.
Brendon didn’t even care.
---
Brendon slept for thirty years it felt like. Brendon woke up, feeling disorientated, not remembering much of the last few days just taking in his surroundings. There were ice cream cartons, an opened condom wrapper and many bottles of Gatorade. He had no idea how long he was out, but he was pretty sure that he missed work.
His head hurt and his forehead felt pasty. Brendon brought his hand to his forehead and there was actually something on it. He pulled it off and it was just a post-it with small, spiky handwriting that he didn’t recognize.
Brendon squinted his eyes and read the post it.
Gabe took your shift at the Pet store, so don’t freak. Left some aspirin on your counter... Peace, Ryan.
Then underneath that was Jon’s own note.
Hey, Sleeping Beauty, if you wake up its Wednesday and you don’t work today. Meet me at the mall, like four. Later, sweet cheeks. J
Brendon raised his eyebrow, and that was just weird. Why would Jon want to meet him? Four was when Jon was the busiest at the food court. Brendon shook the thought out of his head, and tried to think about the last thing that happened before he passed out. Suddenly everything from the breakup came to him.
Sonya and the elevator. Jon and the vodka. Ryan and the hand job.
Brendon jumped up in his bed and holy fucking shit. Brendon’s heart was pounding in his chest, and he wasn’t even focusing on his girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, being a skanky whore and focused on the making out with guy he just met.
Brendon needed to clear his head.
---
Brendon took a shower, and that didn’t make him feel any better about anything. When he got out of his heated escape he was still heartbroken, a little hung over and still a little wary about what happened with Ryan the other night. The thing that he was most worried about was how long was this hangover supposed to last?
It was probably just worse because he was going through a trauma, and heartbreak. He was most likely imagining the hangover but he didn’t really care.
He really wasn’t one to avoid someone, especially someone he just met who was trying to help him get over someone. He also wasn’t one for one night stands. Especially one night stands with guys.
And Brendon wasn’t so put off from that idea as he thought he should be. Brendon walked into his bedroom, towel sitting at his waist, and just thought about that. He wasn’t really upset with kissing someone from the same sex.
Well, he was. He wasn’t upset with kissing Ryan, and if given the opportunity to do it again he would in a heartbeat and Brendon didn’t really know what that meant. He would ask Jon about it later. Or Mikey, actually. Mikey didn’t work, not that Brendon recalled at least.
Brendon walked over to his side table to pick up his phone and noticed he had three missed calls from RESTRICTED. He didn’t have anyone in his phone under restricted, so he did a little undercover work. He looked at the number and realized that it was Sonya’s number.
It was right under a number for RYAN ROSS, he was obviously the culprit for this little coincidence. It was nice that someone was looking out for Brendon. That was one thing Brendon didn’t miss from his relationship with Sonya. Always taking care of her. Relationship wise and sexually wise.
Brendon sighed and texted Mikey to see if he wanted to hang out. The response came right away, and of course Mikey was free to hang out. Mikey didn’t have anything to do and Gerard’s comics were getting boring.
Alright, maybe it was a good thing he was getting Mikey out of the house. He didn’t want to be spending the next week being compared to this comic character. That’s one of the quirks about Mikey; being compared to random comic book characters.
Brendon got dressed, said goodbye to Jon’s cat Dylan and headed out into the real world a new man.
A man without a girlfriend, a man who hooked up with a stranger and someone who wasn’t fazed by stereotypes. A man he didn’t recognize, but he was a new man.
---
Mikey saved him a spot outside the café by Borders. Upon closer inspection Brendon noticed a latte and a chocolate chip cookie. Brendon smiled; Mikey was always the one to sneak him treats when he was upset. Mikey was a good friend, even if Brendon knew that cookie was going to end up straight to his ass.
Brendon stopped that thought before it ended up somewhere. That was not the most heterosexual thing he could have thought. He thought about sports. Sports were good. Sports and beer.
He continued on to Mikey, taking the seat across from him. He noticed the way Mikey was checking out the pet shop from afar. Brendon looked down at his watch and it was nearly four in the afternoon. Holy shit he slept in.
Brendon threw a chocolate chip at Mikey’s face. Mikey looked over at Brendon and scrunched his nose. “I don’t think your brothers working today.” Brendon didn’t even know what day it was, so he couldn’t be sure.
Mikey ducked his head and smiled. “Oh, I know.”
That was odd. Brendon looked over to the pet shop and he couldn’t really see anyone specific. He watched Gabe serenade Pete with a broom, while Spencer laughed. That was about it.
Brendon looked at Mikey and Mikey had his dreamer expression on. This was the same look he had when Brendon took him to see some shitty hard-core band that Mikey had been obsessed with.
Brendon laughed and took a tiny sip of his latte. He could find out who Mikey was crushing on later. He was pretty sure that it wasn’t Spencer. Spencer didn’t seem like Mikey’s type. Gabe or Pete could be valid choices for his affections, he just couldn’t choose which one it was yet.
“So, I have this problem,” Brendon drawled out, getting Mikey out of his little daydream. Mikey looked at him, completely serious this time and focused all of his attention on Brendon.
“Yeah, you didn’t invite me out to your post-break up drinking binge,” Mikey pointed out and even though Brendon knew Mikey didn’t drink anymore he still felt immensely guilty.
Brendon ducked his head and took a deep breath. “But, you don’t drink.”
Mikey laughed. “So?” And he did have a point. He would want to be there if Mikey ever went through a bad breakup.
Brendon smiled. “You're right, I’m sorry.”
Mikey just waved it away with a grin. “Don’t worry. Next time you have a horrible break up and decorate a girl in soup, just invite me to get wasted with you.”
Brendon took a giant breath and exhaled. It was a relief that he went to Mikey for the sober help-me-get-over-Sonya part of the plan. Jon was great for just being there, Gabe was great for making Brendon laugh but Mikey just helped Brendon feel at ease.
“So, what all did Gabe tell you happened?”
Mikey shrugged. “Nothing really. He just said you and Jon got really smashed and you ended up hooking up with some kid. Some kid who was not a girl,” Mikey shot Brendon a knowing look, and he really hated Mikey’s knowing looks.
Brendon swallowed and his throat seemed really tight. “Yeah, so you didn’t miss much.”
Mikey slammed his palms down on the table, forcing Brendon to look at him. He looked a little amused but mostly scary.
Mikey sighed. “Brendon, I’m not going to… beat you up or anything. Jeez this isn’t high school.”
Brendon felt a little relieved. Not that he was honestly worried about Mikey beating him up. Just about his thoughts on this new development. “Do you have a problem with it?” Brendon asked.
Mikey laughed again. “Do you have a problem with it?” Brendon shook his head and Mikey smiled. “Good. Because between you and me I’m having a dilemma with your tasty co-worker, so I can’t really judge.”
Brendon looked over there again. Pete caught his eye and winked. Brendon was pretty sure that wink was not for him.
Brendon’s jaw dropped. “Pete? You have a thing for Pete?” And he called him tasty? What planet did Gerard and Mikey come from?
Mikey shrugged but that was answer enough. Brendon couldn’t find it in him to lift his jaw up. “New Food Court kid? You have a thing for some kid that works with Jon?” He mocked.
Brendon laughed and shoved at Mikey lightly. “It’s not a thing if we actually went to…” Brendon stopped in thought. “Whatever hand jobs are. We went to that base.”
Mikey punched Brendon in the shoulder, not lightly, and smiled again. “Yeah, whatever. You’re on the rebound; you’re supposed to get more hand jobs.”
And Brendon’s never been on a rebound before, and especially with a guy. It can’t be that hard.
---
“Ice cream then! Ice cream always cheers you up, man.” Jon pleaded as they were walking around the shops by their apartments. Jon had already bought Brendon the Spinal Tap cd that he’d been waiting for and some candy.
Brendon laughed. “Jon, its fine. I don’t need ice cream. I’m not suicidal or anything.”
Jon sighed and placed his hand on Brendon’s chest. Brendon looked down at Jon’s hand and then looked back at his face. “This is your post break up. You’re supposed to tell me things like that so I don’t worry about you. But I am, Bren. You’re far too not depressed for a breakup.”
Brendon giggled; Jon always brought that out in him. Jon was upset that he wasn’t depressed. Usually Jon told him to stop being melodramatic. Or to stop mooching things off of Jon. Now Brendon was actually pretty fine, considering. And he was trying to get Jon to stop buying him shit.
Jon was the most bi-polar dude that Brendon’s ever known.
“Put your money away, I’m fine,” He stressed. He was. The initial shock was gone and he just felt a little empty. Nothing he couldn't handle.
Jon gave Brendon a condescending look. “You are not fine, B.”
Brendon raised his eyebrows, because how would Jon know if he was or was not fine? He wasn’t inside Brendon, he didn’t know what he was feeling. He wasn’t mad at Jon or anything, and he knew exactly where he was just coming from. It was nice having someone to have your back, but Brendon really wasn’t as far off as everyone thinks he is.
Mikey has him on a dessert kick, Gabe has him on suicide watch, and Jon has him on a shopping spree.
Brendon sighed again. “Jon, listen to me. I don’t need to own every record player known to man. My girlfriend of six months cheated on me, it’s not like my wife of seventeen years did. I liked her, and that hurts so much. But, I can handle this myself, okay? I know it’s over, and you emptying your bank account isn’t going to fix me any quicker.”
Jon bit his lip, and Brendon wasn’t too sure what was going through his head. Jon smiled so it couldn’t be that bad.
“Sorry, Brendon. I just-you’re always taking care of me, I just wanted to take care of everything once.” Jon confessed and that was really sweet of him. Brendon was always the one to pick up the pieces in Jon’s life. He was there for him when he got a DUI a few years ago. He stood by Jon’s side when his girlfriend couldn’t handle it anymore and decided to leave Jon.
Brendon always had Jon’s back and Brendon knew Jon always had his.
Brendon lunged on Jon and gave him a giant hug. “Dude, you take care of me, don’t worry. Take me to see a movie or something. That’ll make me feel ten times better, I promise.”
Jon smiled against Brendon’s neck and asked which movie he wanted to see. Brendon liked being able to make Jon smile like that, because it was always a sad day when Jon Walker was frowning.
Two hours later, outside the theater, Jon was frowning and Brendon was laughing. Jon had his arms crossed over his shoulders, and that just made everything funnier. Brendon took a look at the people around them and they just had a disgusted look on their faces. Brendon realized they kind of looked like a couple, but it was just how it was. Brendon loved scary movies and they were the bane of Jon’s existence.
“You didn’t have to go to that one, Brendon,” Jon warned as Brendon was still laughing. “You could have gone to one that was really cheesy that we could have laughed at.”
Brendon was still chuckling to himself, but he was trying to keep it at a minimum. “That wouldn’t be any fun. I remember one time I took Sonya to see…” Brendon broke off mid-sentence and he didn’t feel the need to talk anymore. He felt his skin pale and the chill Chicago air felt colder than it was.
Jon put his arm on Brendon’s shoulder but Brendon just shrugged it off of him and wanted to bury into himself. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall filled with movie posters.
He closed his eyes but the only thing that was behind his lids was her. He was trying to forget who she was, and she was just haunting him. Wasn’t it enough that she broke his heart? She had to keep coming back for more. He just wanted it all to end.
He was filled with memories of movies that he took Sonya to. He was trying to forget all of this, but it just had to come back to him. Brendon was so angry at his subconscious for bringing up all of these stupid memories back. He was so angry at her for doing this to him. He just wanted someone who wouldn’t do this to him. Brendon was so hurt and he had the strangest feeling he knew how to get this feeling to go away, even for a little bit.
Jon turned towards Brendon and his face softened. “Are you alright, Brendon?”
Brendon shook his head. He felt too big in his own skin. “I have to. I have to go, okay? Let's go back?" Jon nodded and led him back to Jon's car. Brendon hated this feeling. He felt so weak, but he just wanted to curl up in his room and disappear.
---
Working back at the Pet Store was weird for Brendon. It felt like he hadn’t worked in a week, but it was really only two days. Nothing really changed. Gerard just berated him for his actions and made him sweep up the shop while Spencer and Tom just made fun of Brendon.
And no one wanted to purchase a voice for their animal.
The slogan “Same shit, different day” seemed to ring pretty true for Brendon. Brendon sighed as Gerard pointed to a spot that Brendon missed on the floor before going back to the register. The soft sound of Lady Gaga poured through the speakers by the cats.
Brendon turned around to where Joe was cleaning out the kitty litter boxes. Brendon didn’t work with Joe a lot, but when he did, he tried to talk to Joe some. Joe was a pretty cool guy. For a city of workaholic Cubs fans. But Joe didn’t really watch sports, so that was probably why.
“Hey, did we get a new tape?”
Joe looked up from the cage he was working on, to put his ear up in the air to listen to the music a little better. Joe looked back at Brendon and shrugged. “Nah, she was on the old tape. Oh did I mean her? I meant her fashion sense.”
There was a rebuttal on the tip of his tongue, but having conversations about fashion sense, and who had it and didn’t have it, were conversations Brendon was really trying to avoid with his current situation. Sure, no one here knew the current situation, but the less people who knew, the better Brendon was going to like it.
Brendon just stared Joe down until he laughed. “Yeah, it’s a new tape. Music totally sucks though. I liked it when we only had one Fergie song playing on loop.”
Brendon would argue again, but he was on Joe’s side of the argument. One Fergie song was really enough to last a lifetime, and they still hadn’t even gotten her good song.
Brendon smiled at Joe. “No, we still need Fergalicious up in here, for it to be complete. We can get rid of the rest of that shit.”
Joe scrunched his nose up in distaste. Brendon was only half kidding. He agreed with Joe’s music taste, and he agreed that there should be more Pantera and early Green Day. That really didn’t bring the atmosphere to the store though.
Joe usually hung out at the tattoo parlor that his friend Andy worked at if he wanted to listen to the good music.
Brendon knocked Joe’s shoulder and smiled at him. “Don’t lie; you know you dance to it.” Joe started laughing while Brendon did his impromptu dance of “Fergalicious” to the tune of “Just Dance”.
Joe threw a few pebbles of litter at Brendon’s face, and Brendon stopped dancing to actually do his job. He started sweeping up the pile of litter that was by his feet and caught Spencer’s eye. He was still laughing.
Brendon ignored the looks he was receiving from Spencer and Tom. He knew that they knew about the breakup, and he just didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about anything. Not really.
Eventually Spencer made his way over to Brendon’s station to ask him how he was doing.
Brendon couldn’t do much but shrug at him. “I’m doing alright. I mean, I’m dealing.” Spencer nodded like he knew exactly how Brendon was dealing with it. He was pretty sure that Spencer didn’t know how he was dealing with it.
That was the way he liked it.
---
Brendon wasn’t really looking forward to seeing Jon because there was a high chance he was going to run into Ryan again. He was in training still, so it was highly possible that he was going to be there all week. Brendon, being a mature adult, tried to avoid the food court as long as he could.
Jon wasn’t going to be that bad, but he didn’t want it to be that awkward when he seen Ryan the next day because Brendon might not be into one night stands but that didn’t mean that he’s never done one.
He has, and they’ve always been awkward the next day. And he really didn’t want it to be awkward with Ryan. Especially with Ryan. But he's never seen a one night stand participant two days after said one night stand. It was going to be especially awkward.
He tried sneaking away from the food court to go into FYE, but he was caught by Jon’s friend William. “Brendon!” He called from his spot right next to Jon’s food stand. He was in charge of the Taco stand and the Hamburger stand. Brendon turned around and gave William a little wave and walked his way, not looking at Ryan because Ryan was staring right at him.
William’s smile disappeared as Brendon neared closer, and Brendon didn’t really want that. Brendon put his hands in his pocket and tried to give William a smile. William patted Brendon’s shoulder. “Jon told me. How are you doing?”
Brendon shrugged. He didn’t think it would be that bad to smudge the truth a little bit. “I’m doing well. You know, considering.” It still hurt a lot when he thought about Sonya, so he just wouldn’t think about her and he would be totally fine.
William gave him a sad smile, and Brendon really didn’t want to be at his own pity party hosted by William so he said a quick goodbye and walked into the fire that was Jon and Ryan’s stand.
He stood in front of the counter for a minute until Ryan finally looked up.
Ryan gave Brendon a weak smile. “Hey, Brendon.”
Brendon gave a little realistic one back. This was just Ryan. Brendon took a deep breath. “Hey, Ryan. I just wanted to know. Everything's cool, right?"
Ryan smiled, knowing Brendon wasn't going to be weird about all this. "Yeah, it's fine. I thought it was going to be weird, but it's not. Right?"
Brendon smiled. "It's not, but I have to go to the bathroom, so give me three seconds."
He took a piss, and right when he was washing his hands the door opened. Brendon spun around, thinking it was Ryan. It was not Ryan. “Hey Brendon!” He beamed.
Brendon smiled and nodded. “Hey,” Brendon was at a loss of his name. “Alex, right?”
Ryan’s friend nodded and his smile only wavered a little. “Yeah, it’s Alex.” He looked like Brendon should have remembered his name so Brendon felt a little bad about it.
Brendon shut the water off and shook his hands off, getting little droplets on the mirror. He wasn’t really worried about it. It was a mirror for Christ’s sake. “Sorry about that. I’m really terrible at names. It took me three weeks to even remember my boss’s name. True story.”
Alex laughed and bumped his shoulder against Brendon’s. “Liar.”
Brendon walked out of the bathroom and Alex started to follow him. Nothing could ruin his mood, even this teenager following him. He would even ignore his Bob Marley hair and Marilyn Monroe mole.
Brendon looked down at Alex’s hand as they made their way across to the food court. “What happened to your glove?”
Alex’s eyes glowed and he shrugged. “Didn’t feel like wearing it today. My hands wanted to breathe.”
Brendon laughed. “I know the feeling. That’s the reason I don’t wear pants half the time.
Alex blushed and it was kind of adorable. He was like a little puppy, if puppies could blush, that is. Alex started talking about random things, random things that Brendon enjoyed actually.
“Yeah, so I was in FYE and I saw the new Spinal Tap cd and I was thinking about buying it,” Alex continued on.
Brendon stopped to look at Alex out of the corner of his eye. “You like Spinal Tap?”
Alex blushed again, but immediately crossed his arms, looking disinterested. “I mean, yeah. Who doesn’t like Spinal Tap? Probably the same people who hate John Cusak.”
Brendon’s eyes widened and he possibly loved this Alex kid. “I love John Cusak; he’s one of my favorite actors.” Alex bit his lip and looked away from Brendon. Brendon heard him say mine too.
They finally made it up to the food court and Ryan immediately waved to them. Brendon smiled at him and didn’t feel awkward at all. This was the weirdest feeling Brendon’s ever had. He was waiting for himself to look like a fool or embarrass himself but it just never happened.
“Hey, Brendon and Alex.” Ryan greeted, setting his elbows on the counter, licking his lips.
Brendon scratched his head. “Hey, Roger, right?” Brendon asked. Ryan shot him a questioning look, while Alex nodded to himself, somehow impressed. Brendon made vague gestures to Ryan to go with it.
Ryan shrugged and narrowed his eyes. “Actually, it’s Ryan.” He warned, even though Brendon knew he wasn’t serious. And as if Brendon couldn’t remember his name, his name's only been circling in Brendon's head for the last 48 hours.
Alex laughed and bounced over to the counter where Ryan was at. “Don’t worry, Ryry. He’s really bad at remembering names.”
Ryan raised his eyebrow and his lips twitched in amusement. “Oh, really?”
Brendon leaned closer to Ryan. “Oh, yes, Ryan Ralph,” he said softly.
Ryan rolled his eyes and pointed above Brendon’s head. “Alright, Don Juan. Your own Casanova is waiting over there,” Brendon looked behind him to see where he was pointing and Brendon looked at Jon standing by the exit, pointing at his watch.
Brendon rolled his eyes and held his hand out for Alex. “Nice seeing you again, Alex.” Alex shook his hand rather vigorously but gave it up without a battle which was nice. Brendon looked over at Ryan and held out his own hand. “You too Ryan Ralph.”
Ryan shook Brendon’s hand, a mischievous glint in his eye. Brendon felt something press into his palm at Ryan’s warning Watch it, Urie that only Brendon could hear.
Brendon immediately took his hand out of Ryan’s and put it into his pocket jogging after Jon. He gave Jon a sideways hug and they walked out into the cold air where both their cars were parked.
They agreed to meet at the club because Jon wanted to talk to Brendon. Brendon walked over to his car and at the last second he looked into his pocket for the little note that Ryan passed to him.
It was an address with a little note.
Roommates gone tonight ;)
Brendon just threw it back into his pocket. He would deal with that later.