Teardrop In The Fire | By : MysticNight Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Incubus Views: 3776 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the members of Incubus. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
*
It had been the absolute best dream she had ever had in her life. That was the conclusion that she came to as she lay comfortable beneath the sheets. A smile spread across her lips as she remembered every move and every interaction flawlessly in vivid colors and detail. There was nothing better than a dream so intense that you could feel it.
His palms made soothing circular motions around her lower back, hips, and thighs as the silence ensued. The rising sun, a rich tangerine embellishment dipped in and out of the scene from behind the clouds and both wished that they could hide that way.
For the first time in a long time, Claire felt happy and secure, as if she had someone who truly loved her unconditionally.
Inhaling deeply, she spoke for the first time since their love making.
“What time is it?”
“7am” he answered almost disappointed.
“I wish we could replay the last few hours over again.” she sighed staring at the ceiling, only hear a smug smirk from Brandon.
Punching his shoulder blindly, she told him to “Shut up. That’s not the only reason I said that, perv”
“So now I’m a Perv?…I wasn’t a Perv when I was..”
“Brandon.” she hushed him, turning on her side to face him. “…I want to thank you for coming over last night, that was probably the most thoughtful thing any guy's ever done for me. Everything that followed was just impeccable.”
“I didn’t only come by for your sake, you know. I did it for myself as well, I needed to be with you; and despite what’s in store for me today, I don’t regret anything we did.” he took her hand that was draped along her side, and kissed it softly.
She smiled, “I don’t either” before commenting “Bran, I don’t want to spoil the moment, but don’t you need to get back…”
“She’ll be awake by 9 if memory serves me correctly. ”
“Oh” she shrugged as he yawned.
“Brandon, don’t tell me that you’ve been awake all night…”
“Okay, I wont.”
“Get some sleep before you have to go. You guys have a lot of shit to do today before I leave.”
“Yeah but…”
“I promise I’ll wake you.”
Making a face at the gesture, Brandon watched as she slid her body nearer to him beneath the sheets and let her hand slide up to his bicep. She heard him sigh inwardly at her touch before conforming and rolling onto his back turning his head on his pillow to look into her eyes.
“Fine”
“Good boy” she smiled.
He watched her sit up before he complained “No good morning kiss?”
Brandon couldn’t help but smile as she straddled his hips and planted her hands on both sides of his face.
“You’re so damn needy”
He shrugged his shoulders reasonably, his hands now scaling the bare skin of her back while she leaned down to press her lips to his.
"Behave yourself, we’ll be here all day if we start that up again” she chuckled with his lips still on hers.
“What’s so wrong with that… ” he whispered rashly and began to sit up when she shook her head avidly and pushed him back down onto the bed.
“Brandon, sleep” she warned sternly.
Rolling his eyes, he observed as she sat in the middle of the bed drawing the sheets shyly around her naked body.
“I’m going to check what’s on TV, then give an old friend a call.” She stood from the bed, walking around it, then stopped.
Her thighs ached and it definitely was not that ordinary, early-morning-jog feeling going on.
“What’s wrong?” Brandon asked.
“You trying to kill me, is what's wrong. I can barely walk!”
“Oh?” His mouth curved into an involuntary grin.
“Jesus,” she breathed out heavily and leaned down forward “And I don’t know why you’re smiling.” she lowered her eyes at him.
Laughing he told her “You cant possibly be upset at me over something that‘s beyond my control. You should be upset at yourself, if anything!”
Her eyes widened “Why you son of a..Are you implying that I‘m weak?”
“I said nothing of the sort.” he raised his hands in defence.
“I’ll remember that” she straightened herself up, and he immediately raised his head off the pillow pulling her down onto the bed.
Expecting her to fuss with him, Brandon was met with shock when her lavish lips pressed against his. Her small hands held onto both sides of his head lightly, deepening the kiss.
Before he knew it, she was on her back again with his body pressing hers down into the mattress.
“You sure?” he questioned between their heated kisses, his arousal now becoming physically apparent.
“Anything to prove you wrong.”
*
“Hello?” Claire asked, hearing someone pick up their end.
“Hi?”
“Ashley!”
“Claire?!”
“Hey!”
“How have you been?!” her college friend beamed at hearing her voice.
“I’ve been really good. How about you?”
“Great, I was wondering if you fell off the face of the earth! It’s been a good couple of months, nearly a year!”
Claire immediately felt bad, “I’m sorry, I..”
“We’ve all been busy,” she interrupted “I’m just glad you called, and if you ever
forget me again I’ll killyou” she joked
“Deal.”
“Good. Hey, are you calling long distance or something? The ring was different..”
“Actually I am. I'm in Las Vegas."
“Doing what?”
“Spending some time with my brother.”
“Oh speaking of which, how is he? and everyone else, especially that cutie Brandon.”
Claire felt her face flush, bearing in mind that it had been an hour from the time she left him in the bedroom asleep, now complacent at her ability to wear him out.
“Everyone’s great, Chris is fine, and Brandon’s…asleep.”
“Asleep? If I didn’t know better from the way you said that, I would think that…”
Claire said nothing, waiting for Ashley moonstruck reaction.
“Claire…you’re fucking lying!”
Ashley had always been the main friend Claire could turn to when it came to her needing some normalcy from a female’s point of view. The only excuse for the momentary hiccup in their relationship was Claire letting her studies and Michael take over the majority of her time, not to mention Ashley going off to Europe after graduating for a couple of months.
“I didn’t say anything” Claire teased.
“You and Brandon are…a thing now? What happened to being best buds!”
“We still are friends, things are just kind of going through the motions right
now.”
“I should have known! You know, all the girls thought you were a complete moron for not hooking up with him already.”
“I didn’t ‘hook up’ with him” she corrected, disliking the term. “And what girls?”
“Well I’m sure it was more than that. It’s always been obvious how much the guy adores you. It was just a matter of how long. So I take it you dumped old Michael boy.”
“Uh…something like that.”
“Claire!” she gasped “What happened to you? you hussy! Cheating on your boyfriend? Wow, the old you would have never thunk it... I LOVE IT!”
“It’s complicated, honestly it would take years for me to explain.” she exaggerated “But I’m ending it with him when I go home today.”
“You better, they both don’t look like the type to be keen on sharing. Now tell me about the sex, how was it? Brandon’s comes off all spiritual and shit,so does that mean you guys took the Tantric route?”
“Ashley!” Claire shook her head at her friend’s brashness.
“What? the cute ones are never good at the sex, but Brandon? He looks like he can fuck like a bull”
“My god, Ashley stop!” Claire said unable to suppress her laughter. “Remember
when we use to watch the Alex Taylor show after classes?”
“What do you mean use to? I still do!”
Putting on her best southern fried accent Claire did her best impression of the elder woman's sex rants
“You always gotta remember that there’s the good pee-nus vs. the evil pee-nus.”
They both erupted into the fits of laughter, before a small gasp was heard on Claire’s end.
“Don’t tell me Brandon's standing there” she continued to laugh.
Looking over Claire noticed Brandon leaning against a wall eyeing her oddly, in addition to being completely nude.
“I’ll call you back a bit later,”
“You better”
With a small laugh, Claire hung up.
The last time she checked he was lying on his stomach, one arm dangling lifelessly over the side of the bed with his knuckles kissing the carpeted floor, the tangled sheets barely covering the lower half of his naked body.
“You are so fucking strange.” he ran a hand over his face.
“Cocaine’s a helluva drug.” she smiled, and he smirked with telling her
“I hope you know that I am going to be useless for the rest of the day now”
Shaking his head to himself, Brandon noticed her eyes journey down to his manhood.
“Focus!”
She jumped slightly and looked up at him.
“What?” An innocent smile was plastered on her face.
“Don’t get all cute with me.” he scolded. “I’m going to take a shower before I leave…” He clued.
“Okay” she answered, naively.
“…Which includes you,” he gave up “Now get in there!”
Her eyes broadened at his order “Are you asking, or telling me?”
“Telling. Now move it.”
She laughed with the sheets still covering her as she walked past him, jumping at his hand meeting her bottom in a gentle yet subtle smack.
“Ouch Brandon, that hurt…” she whined while he following behind her.
*
With a few minutes to spare after getting out of the shower, Brandon got dressed to watch Claire pulling her jeans up and over her legs easily, shimming a bit to get the material over her wide hips, then zipping and buttoned them at her waist.
“So, I’m going to go check on my brother after I pack a few things, then I’ll accidentally bump into you at some point or another.” She told him, buttoning up her plaid shirt.
“You’re not going to wear anything under that?” he used his index finger to touch the bare skin between her bosoms where she failed to continue the buttons.
“Why? does it bother you?” a small smile tugged at her lips.
“Maybe”
“Well the sooner we‘re both single, the sooner you can give me your input on how you would like me to wear my clothes.” she winked, touching the tip of his nose.
“It’s a bit late to be talking about when we’re unattached, don’t you think?” he humoured, sliding his arms around her waist nestling his chin into her neck.
“Brandon, you’re tickling me” she laughed squirming away.
Moving his face from her neck Brandon evaluated her features and body language before saying. “Call me if you need anything, I want to spend more time with you before you have to leave.”
“Okay” she answered feeling somewhat down at him mentioning her departure.
“Claire,”
“-I will call when you’re not busy.”
“Call me even if I am.” He brought his head down to meet her lips.
Claire forced herself to break away, “I will, now get out of here”
“Going.” he started before she stopped him.
“Brandon.”
“Yes?” Just as he turned her fist collided with his shoulder.
“That was for pushing me out of bed.” she smiled watching him hold it in discomfort.
“Bitch.”
“Asshole.”
They both smiled at their affectionate words for one another as Brandon turned his back to leave once more, but she stopped him again.
“Brandon.”
“Claire Leigh Kilmore, I am warning you...” he moved out of arms reach before turning around again.
Instead of her hitting him again, she took something out of one of the drawers
holding it tightly in her hand before approaching him.
“Give me your hand.”
“Why?” Brandon asked almost afraid from years of experience with Claire and her
pranks.
“Just open it, and close your eyes.” she smiled.
“Fine.” he reluctantly stuck out his hand and closed his eyes.
Within seconds, he felt something cool against his palm. Taking that as his signal to look, Brandon smiled at the necklace she gave him years ago. The same necklace he gave her back when she told him she needed her space.
A succession of tender kisses followed, leaving Claire light-headed from the sensation.
"Thank you. I'll never take it off…again" he said pulling it over his head.
Claire smiled taking in everything about his face when he smiled, burning it into her memory to get her through the months when they would be apart.
“I Love you.” He whispered against her lips.
“I love you too”
When he finally left without anymore interruptions Claire made sure the door was locked and smiled to herself. She couldn’t recall ever glowing like this. Not to say that it was all due to Brandon, but he certainly buoyed her confidence.
Taking the elevator a floor down to his room, Brandon was relieved that things weren’t awkward between them. It appeared to have been a flawless transition from being friends, to lovers, to hopefully a future item.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to patrolling the town as an official couple with Claire. They simply looked good together.
Feeling that he had to be losing his mind, Brandon realized he’d never had these feelings before. Sure, he had been in a fair amount of supposed relationships but never had he wanted to intentionally broadcast them.
Nothing was wrong with a healthy secret in his opinion, but with Claire he didn’t want to keep anything hidden. He wanted the entire world to know that they were together, and with any luck he would soon get his coveting desire.
Just as he stepped into the suite, Marissa stopped what she was doing in the kitchen and walked into his view.
“Hey babe, where were you? I didn’t feel you in bed last night and when I woke up, you were gone.”
“Just took a walk.”
“Oh, okay. Well do you want some coffee?”
“Um, not yet.”
“Alright, well you should hurry up and shower before you have to go to another interview.”
“Promotions.” he sighed remembering that he had two interviews, but thankfully the entire day off after that. “Yeah, I’ll be back.” he walked into the bedroom unappreciative of having to take a shower not even 10 minutes from the first one.
Getting changed, she heard Brandon call her name from the shower.
“Yes?” she smiled, hoping to get an invitation.
“I need to talk to you later.” he told her vaguely, but she knew what was coming.
When he didn’t answer, he asked “Okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Whatever.”
*
“Hey, bro!” Claire jumped into his arm as he opened the door.
“Hi?” Chris closed the door behind them, “What’s got you so chipper this morning.”
“It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day” she told him in a sing-song voice.
Walking over, he placed a hand on her forehead “You’re not running a fever, but something’s got to be up.”
“Nothing’s up, I just want to spend my last few hours being happy with you. Is that too much to ask for?”
“No, but,”
“Good, Let’s take a walk shall we?”
“Uh, we have an interview in an hour but I can do that.”
Grabbing his key, he extended his arm “Let’s go.”
In the main area of the pool they could already spot Jose, and Ben socializing with a few fans who recognized them.
“What the hell do those girls see in him? Ben maybe, but Jose?” Claire shuddered watching them walk away giggling..
“You shuddered, which meant you were talkinf about me.” Jose greeted.
“Well I’m glad you recognize when you're being spoken about.”
“So much anger,” he walked over to her “It’s your last day, can’t we just get along? Hug, sing, a kiss maybe?”
She eyed him wearily. “Go away.”
“Come on, give us a hug” he extended his arms to her and she backed away.
“Jose, I’ll hurt you if you don’t get away from me. Chris! Make him get away from me!”
“Jose” Chris pleaded at her alarm. “Leave her alone” he carelessly said, mostly for the sake of saying it.
“One hug.” Jose tried again extending his arms to her before she tripped in the midst of dodging it, grabbing onto his hand before they both fell into the water.
Claire didn’t say a word as she rose from the chilling water like a wet cat, climbing out the side of the pool ignoring the glances and laughter from her brother and Ben.
She wrung out the bottom of her shirt watching Jose from the corner of her eye get out as well.
As soon as his feet touched the poolside, she spun around slapping him with her wet hand sending him directly back down.
“Where are you going?” Ben asked as she proceeded to walk away.
“To my room, I cant sit out here like this.”
“Why don’t you just drop the shirt and hang out in what‘s underneath, that’s how half the girls walk around in L.A anyway.”
“A) I’m not from Los Angeles, and B) I’m not wearing anything underneath.”
“And what is so wrong with that”
“You’ve been sitting out in the sun too long.” she shook her head,
“You want me to follow you back?” Chris asked.
“No it’s okay. You guys have to get going anyway, so you might as well and I’ll have a car bring me there.”
“You sure?”
“Yep” she smiled assuring him with vacating the scene.
*
Brandon and Marissa were now standing in elevator on their way down to the lobby
in regards of having someone sent up later in the evening to help bring her luggage into the cab for the airport.
“I’m going to miss you” she told him while he stood in front of her, hands in pockets.
“I’ll miss you too. It was nice of you to come out.”
Marissa clearly noticed the way he spoke to her as though she were a friend and nothing more.
Just as the elevator door opened she caught sight of Claire standing there waiting to get inside.
Without any premeditation, Marissa grabbed Brandon kissing him hard while pulling him closely against her body.
Claire’s eyes finally averted from elsewhere into the elevator, watching the make-out scene before her.'
“Marissa.” He pulled away.
“Sorry, I just kind of got caught up. Next time I‘ll do all my kissing behind closed doors” she told him sweetly with a smile.
His feelings of remorse took over once again when Brandon merely replied
“Thanks..”
“Oh, hello Claire.” She played as though she just noticed her.
At this time, Brandon whipped around to spot Claire soaking wet, and the least bit congenial, standing behind him.
“The wet-cat look does you justice” she snickered.
“And those implants don’t do you enough.”
“Claire, what happened?” He asked ignoring their backbiting.
“Nothing.” she answered somewhat peeved at what she had just witnessed first hand. “Can you two get out, so I can get in and get on with my day.”
“Your right, your ass needs all the room it can get.”
Marissa walked out, then stumbled forward as Claire’s foot connected with her bottom to help speed up the process.
As Brandon turned around to say something she allowed the door to close, bringing her up to her floor.
“Did you see Claire standing there when you kissed me?” He asked stolidly.
“No” She answered “And why does it even matter?”
“Forget it.”
One more night… he remembered.
*
It wasn’t too long after setting up arrangements for Marissa’s departure, Brandon decided to stop at Mike’s room.
He hesitated remembering last night’s spat, but knocked anyway.
Clearly still partially asleep, he rubbed his eyes with the door cracked open telling Brandon to “Get in already”
“We have to leave within a half an hour.”
“Yeah I know.” Mike strolled into the living area falling onto the couch. “I’ll be ready”
As silence settled in on the room Brandon cleared his throat with saying “Look, about last night.”
“Forget it, we both said stupid shit we didn’t mean and now it’s done. Sound good?”
“Sounds good.” Brandon nodded pleased that he at least got that out of the way.
When he didn’t say anything else, Mike sighed sitting up.
“Okay, what happened now.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary”
“Brandon”
“I just spent some time with Claire last night” He shook his head stopping himself from saying too much. “Not that I spent the entire night or anything. Because I didn’t. I was in my room. It wasnt like we were together though. She was in her room.”
Standing up, Brandon could feel Mike’s eyes boring a hole through him. He walked over to Brandon who was now seated on a stool chair around the kitchen island.
“You slept with cupcake?” his voice had some level of shock to it.
“..Can we not call her cupcake in this situation?” he exhaled lethargically.
“You didn’t answer my question”
“Mike, if you bring back one word…”
“How the hell did that happen? Where was Marissa in all this? Did she partake?….”
“Marissa was in bed sleeping and I snuck out. Jesus, Mike give me some credit.”
“Brandon I never thought I’d see the day” he said in revelation.
“You never thought you’d see the day? What about me?”
“Any regrets?”
Without any vacillation he answered “None what so ever.”
“Wow.”
“I plan on ending it tonight. The only problem is before I came here, Claire saw us kissing.”
Immediately Mike’s eyes wavered in confusion over to Brandon
“Not too brilliant on your part.”
“I think Marissa did it deliberately. The moment our elevator touched the main floor she grabbed me out of nowhere for a pretty aggressive kiss, and by ‘coincidence’ Claire was standing right there”
“No such thing as coincidence.”
“Hence, my emphasis on the word.”
“Brandon, after this interview you’ve got to do it. You can’t have Claire leave here thinking that your playing both fields, and Marissa believing that there’s anything left between you two.”
“I know, and I Will.”
“This time I hope you’re right.”
*
Back in her room Claire had now thrown down the towel she was using to dry her hair and moved on to the blow drier, something she rarely touched. Remembering she had to meet her brother she took her chances, knowing she had to get going.
Flipping her hair the other way to dry the other side, her mind travelled back to the elevator.
What the hell had gotten into Brandon?
She wasn't sure.
Moments ago he was telling her how much he loved her and minutes later he was kissing…his girlfriend.
“His girlfriend” she said aloud to herself.
How could she possibly be upset? She had no one to blame but herself. She allowed this all to happen knowing that she should have told him‘no’ until all ties were cut loose from their partners. Then again, Claire knew Marissa and her antics when it came to Brandon.
Now running a brush through her new-found wavy hair, she found another outfit, and changed.
*
A few hours later the interviews concluded for the day and the exhausted group made their way back to the green room.
Claire arrived while they were already in an interview, wandering around the building. She figured it was done minuted later when she bumped into Mike and Jose with no sign of Brandon since their last occurrence.
"So, you wouldn’t even shoot her if she stole your top and called your mother a bitch?”
All three were in the midst of discussing a local news story surrounding a woman who shot her friend for borrowing an article of clothing and not returning it.
“No. Even if that chick told her that her mother was uglier than a retarded pit bull, she didn’t deserve to get a bullet in her.”
Mike and Jose exchanged looks before bursting into body shaking fits of laughter.
The conversation died down as they all saw the others lounging around in the room doing various things.
“Different, but still cool.” Chris said running a hand through her somewhat new do. “How come I didn’t see you out there?”
“I got lost. You should have come along, it was fun.”
She noticed Brandon seated on a couch on the other side of the room. His eyes shifted wearily into her direction. It could have been that he merely sensed he was being watched, or that he was slipping further and further away inside of himself and knew the only way he could make it through the day was if she helped to pull him out. Either way it went, when they connected, Claire felt her stomach drop and felt somehow compelled to move from her position.
She walked over to the coffee machine spending a minute or two fixing them both a cup. She didn’t know where Marissa was but frankly did not care.
“Here” she extended the paper cup to him “You look like you need it. And hopefully it‘s still the same way you like it”
Taking a sip, he gave her a small smile “It's fine.”
She concentrated on his eyes, trying to read what was going on behind them.
“Claire, can we talk for a minute?”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” she said lightly.
He gave her a look.
“Fine” she gave in.
As Brandon stood to his feet, Marissa walked in. Claire didn’t say a word, and
they all waited for some sort of altercation.
“Hey” she walked past everyone including Claire, to stand not even an inch away from him. “I take it you made your own coffee,” she smiled “Since I can never make it right”
“Marissa I’ll be back, I need to discuss something with Claire.”
“Why can’t you talk to her here?” she put her guard up.
Not in the mood for another dispute, Claire spoke up “Brandon, we can do this another time"
“No, I want to talk to you and I will. Marissa, I'll be back soon.”
He walked past her and the rest, leading Claire behind him by the hand.
Mike walked up to her placing an arm around her shoulder. “It’s okay Marissa, he wont leave the country with her.”
Her eyes lowered to a dangerous glower, staring at Mike’s arm on her shoulder.
Intuitively, he slowly removed it and walked away.
*
They found a spot behind the stage-set that was completely vacant.
At this point Claire stood there staring up at him patiently.
“It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“I know.” she nodded and he was relieved, until she continued “But, Brandon what are we really doing?”
She had grown from a naïve little girl into a stunning young woman with all of her priorities right, and he was proud. She knew what she wanted out of life and had learned from enough mistake’s, the right and wrong ways of getting them.
“We are striving for something that I hope you would agree, is more than worth it.”
“Of course I agree, but what if along the way…we lose each other.” Her fear finally came into view for him.
Claire turned to face him and allowed him to step closer to her cancelling out the space between their bodies. They both closed their eyes as he brought his forehead down to hers and cupped his hands along her jaw line.
“We can never lose each other, unless we allow it to happen.”
“In a way, I'm afraid of becoming more than your friend because it’s been so comfortable being just that. I don’t want to be negative, but the thought of something intervening in whatever future relationship we may have, makes me wonder what will we have left if it goes down the drain? And I’m not so sure I want to take that chance.”
“You’re talking about Michael blackmailing you”
“You would really risk putting our career on the line just to be with me?”
She looked at him.
“The world is a lonely place without love, and with the way I feel about you, it makes everything else pale in comparison.”
Their lips met briefly and she felt her heart flutter.
“I’m trusting you Brandon. We're in this together.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
By this time Marissa had found them. Secretly, she watched from a distance in silent adoration. They were a team, the way they fit into one another’s arms, the looks in their eyes. She would give anything for Brandon to look at her that way.
He wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders and stared into her glittering eyes as her arms locked around his middle. “You are so beautiful right now.”
“Right now?” she laughed, using one of her fingers to jab him.
“Well you aren’t exactly 'Miss Universe' in the morning.”
She gasped in mock dismay.
“I’m joking”
“I’m sure” she playfully scowled.
Before any more could be said one of their phones went off.
Marissa watched from the sidelines, gratified at what would soon follow.
“Could you choose a more sombre song.” Brandon commented at hearing the dreary ring tone.
But watching as she reached for it in her purse, he noticed her hands shaking.
With her small stomach in knots Claire hesitantly greeted “Hi” rubbing her free palm on her jeans anxiously.
Brandon pointed to the phone gesturing to know who it was.
Claire removed the phone from her ear and put her hand over the mouthpiece
“It’s Michael.”
That’s all she had to say before he reached for it, and she ducked, moving away.
Brandon’s hands were all around her body at each equivocate she made, to the point Claire almost laughed at how ridiculous he looked.
“Brandon please” she hissed, dodging him once more.
“Give me the phone” he told her firmly.
“You’re only going to make things worse.” she whispered pleadingly, then signalled him ‘1’ more minute.
Enthralled with anger, he threw his hands in the air walking away briefly.
“I’m still here,” she reassured him. “I was outside and it was a bit windy.
So, What can I do for you?”
“Get home already"
“I will be, soon.”
“I miss you.” He somewhat derisively told her.
“That’s nice.” She couldn’t return the words. “Is that everything Michael? Because I really have to go”
Claire could tell Brandon was getting more and more wound up.
“There’s more, but we can discuss that when you get home.” he said pleasantly, somewhat too pleasantly from Claire’s experience with him.
“Alright, Bye.” she hung up, feeling gauche from her short conversation with him.
“Brandon,” Claire walked up to him, placing a hand on his bicep. “Please don’t be angry, if you started yelling at him it would only make things worse-”
“-Did he threaten you?” he sharply asked.
“No, he was just talking about me coming home tonight.”
The mere thought of her going home to him pained Brandon, not only for the reason that he loved her, but for her safety as well.
No one in their right mind would send the person they claimed to care about into the arms of a abusive partner. It just wasn’t ethical, Brandon realized.
“I don’t think you should go home by yourself tonight. I’m coming with you.”
“Brandon, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t just up and leave this tour, and I wont allow you to. I’m a big girl and I can hold my own. I know how to handle Michael,”
“Because you've done so well handling him already." he cut in curtly.
At that moment, deep in her eyes Brandon could see that she was truly hurt by what she had just said.
“Claire,” he reached over to apologize.
“No,” she moved away, “Do you think that I want to be in this position? You don’t think I’m afraid him losing it when I say it’s finally over? Of course I want you to be with me,”
“Then let me.”
“I cant.”
“Claire if something happens to you when,”
“I’m still here, aren’t I? After nearly a year of taking his bullshit I am still alive and kicking, so I cant possibly be that stupid”
“You’re not stupid”
“When are you going to finally start believing that? Do you think I’m going to walk in there and just waltz over with a great big ‘Hey Michael, it’s dunzo buddy! Nice knowin’ ya!’ and walk out? I’m smarter than that Brandon, I’ve learned a lot through my relationship with him. And as much as I hate to say this, there is some part of him I know that loves me in a really defunct kind of way. I know his weaknesses, I know him inside and out, so PLEASE just trust me to handle this,” she lost her breath unexpectedly throughout her berating, choking back on tears.
"Oh cry me a fucking river..." Marissa callously said, still watching them.
“Sweetheart, I don’t want to see you get hurt. That it what mainly concerns me. I do believe you are capable of handling this situation, but 9 times out of 10, things do not always go as planned.” Brandon whispered, taking her hands in his.
Claire stared back at him wordlessly but did not stop crying.
She felt one of his hands move to stroke away the tears flowing down her full cheeks, and breathed in deeply as his lips met with hers in a passionate kiss.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked bleakly pressing his forehead against hers, his lips pouting slightly.
Staring at him, she couldn’t help but laugh “You are a complete loser.”
“Only because I hang around with you. And I have hundreds of girls who would beg to differ.” he winked.
“In that case, you can have them kiss you because from this point on, I refuse.” she pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to kiss me, I’ll kiss you.”
She smiled as she fought away his hands that were wrapped securely around her waist.
Growing maddened at their kinship, Marissa threw a nearby clipboard onto the ground stomping away.
“What was that?” Claire looked in the direction it came from.
“I don’t know, ignore it.” he asked through steamy kisses.
“I swear every time we’re together it’s like someone was there watching us”
“Paranoia will destroy ya…” he sang lightly.
“We should head back anyway, the guys are probably wondering what’s taking so long.”
Reluctantly he nodded, “Let’s go” placing an arm around her shoulder, they walked
back.
*
Claire decided it best that her and Marissa go before them to avoid any unwanted attention, Marissa on the other hand took more convincing as to why it was a bad idea.
“They are here to see Brandon, Marissa, not you or me.” she tried to reason.
“I don’t want to hear a word from you.” she turned around.
Claire shrugged, “I’ll see you guys later for dinner.”
“Marissa, you don’t have to listen to her but can you do this for me?”
“Whatever.” She marched behind Claire, Mike commenting lowly “The sooner the better, Boyd”
The shrieks from the crowd were overpowering. But Brandon handled it like the professional that he was - smiling and waving, taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.
Now in the car, with the radio playing and everyone conversing amongst one another, Mike asked.
“Everything’s cool?” only so he and Brandon could hear.
“Yeah, but it’s really fucked up in a sense.”
“Enlighten me"
“I try to protect her the best I can, but it’s almost like it doesn’t help. I hate to hear that girl crying, It fucking breaks me apart.”
“Protect her from what? Or should I say who? Because if you’re referring to Marissa you should be worried about protecting me not Claire.”
Shaking his head, he said “I’ll explain later.”
“So when are you going to do it?”
“After dinner”
“Dont worry, I'll be 10 feet behind you. One, so I can make sure you do it and Two, so I can run for cover when she blows a gasket.”
“I hope she doesn’t embarrass herself.” Brandon shook his head wearily.
“I can see it now. Tables flying, The crying, the shrieking, a bar fight breaking out... The possibilities are endless.”
“Don’t wish that.”
“I wasn’t, I was merely forewarning.”
*
That night, Claire decided to dress up a bit wearing a casual yet formal tube dress, a bit of eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss with a punch of crimson to it.
Hearing a knock at her door, she walked over opening it.
“Chris” she let him in.
“Hey, just thought I’d walk you to dinner, you know with it being the last night an all”
“Give me a minute” she ran into the bedroom grabbing her clutch and a pair of heels. Returning she made a complaint
“You didn’t tell me how I looked.” she did a quick turn.
Sighing, and more than use to this routine when they lived home together he simply answered “Claire you know your beautiful, what does my opinion matter?”
“Of course it matters! You’re like my fashion consultant in a warped kind of way.”
“I’ll never understand women.”
“And that my brother, is why you still don’t have one.” she grinned.
“Even on your last night here, your still steadfast on killing me with low blows.”
“You know you’ll miss them-Wait, I think my phone is ringing.” She ran over to the bedroom, walking out with it seconds later.
“Yes, this is her. Oh, that’s the only one? ...I have no choice now do I?” she chuckled “Okay, 8am it is. Thank you for calling. Goodnight.” she hung up. “I guess you have one more night with me.” she smiled.
“What happened to your flight?”
“I’m not sure, but my next one is 8am tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good to me, that means we’ll all be leaving this place together.”
“Yeah, I think it’s best anyway, I think I’m catching a cold from today. My throat feels weird.”
“Then come back up and get some rest after dinner.”
“I probably will, you ready?” she asked collecting her purse again.
“Let’s go.”
*
When they arrived, everyone was already seated.
“Hey people” she waved at them all while Chris pulled out her seat.
They all greeted back with Jose expressing “Claire, you look just ravishing” with a growl.
“…Thanks. Anyway guys, I have some news.” she announced.
They all looked over at her, including Brandon who wondered what she had to say.
“Your stuck with me one more night.”
“What do you mean?” Brandon asked.
“I guess the flight got cancelled, so they booked me with the next one tomorrow morning.”
“Great.” he smiled, and Marissa almost kicked herself. All she could think of were the extra hours Claire would have alone with her man.
It wasn’t too long afterward, that their meals arrived and they were all consumed in comical conversation.
All of them were wrapped up in what the other was saying to the point that they didn’t realize Brandon and Marissa leave the table, all except Claire.
He brought her out on the balcony, and looked out onto the busy streets.
“So what did you want to talk about?” she was looking in the same direction as him.
“You remember when you asked if I would ever lie to you?”
“Mhm” she nodded.
“Well I don’t want to, not anymore.”
“Go on” she pushed him to continue.
“My feelings for you haven’t quite been where I expected them to be at this point.”
“Where have they been.”
“Marissa, that‘s not what I want to get into. I had to talk to you because I felt I was being unfair.”
“And?”
“And, I think that our relationship should take a backseat for now.”
“I see.”
He turned to face her, while she remained in the same position, still looking onto the streets.
“I want to give you everything you need in a relationship, but…my heart, it just isn't there.”
It felt as though someone had just punched her, but remaining calm she nodded.
“Say something” he asked feeling incredibly guilt ridden at her silence.
“What do you want me to say? We’re over, I get it. I accept it. ‘Nice to know you’” she quoted his lyrics vividly.
When she started to walk off he caught her hand.
“Marissa, don’t leave like that.”
Exhaling noisily she turned around “Brandon I don’t get what you want from me. You just dumped me and now you’re telling me to stay? Make up your mind already.”
“I don’t want you to be bitter. When you leave here tonight, I don’t want that to be the last time I hear from you. I want us to at least keep in touch.”
“Fine. We’re friends. Can we go back in now? I have an hour before I have to leave for the airport.”
“Mar,”
“Brandon.” She walked over and gave him a hug. “I understand, I really do. I just want us all to have an enjoyable evening, can you do me that favour?”
Brandon stared at her wondering if he were dreaming. She appeared sincere, no sarcasm or impatience this time.
“Come on, let’s get back to the table.” she smiled.
“Okay?” he followed behind her.
The dinner table quieted down as the two came back. Claire glancing at Brandon who gave her a quick nod indicating it was done.
Brandon wasn’t going to mention anything that night about the split, but to his surprise Marissa opted to make it known. “Guys,” She clinked her wine glass.
Accordingly they all turned their focus to her.
“I have a small announcement to make. Brandon and I have decided to be friends for the time being, but don’t worry, the decision was mutual.” She continued to hold her head high, smiling.
Not knowing quite what to say, Jose nodded. “Cool, now does anyone want a drink?”
“Sounds good.” Ben stood up. “Marissa you want to come along?” He offered.
“Sure.” she accepted the invitation.
“Brandon, let’s dance or something. You can tell Mike what we talk about later.”
They both found the beat of the fairly upbeat song when Claire asked.
“What the hell happened?”
“I wish I could tell you.”
“Then stop wishing and start telling.”
“She was really cool about it . She wasn’t angry or anything, everything went really smooth, almost too smooth but I’m not complaining.”
“You better not.” she grinned “1 down and one more to go.”
“Claire, I know you’re going to strangle me for bringing this up again, but are you sure you don’t want me coming with you.”
As he spoke she crossed her eyes.
“Yes Brandon I’m sure.”
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?” she continued to keep them crossed.
“That. Or I’ll poke you in the eye.”
She laughed, dancing in front of him teasingly.
“Stop, you’re creeping me out.” he pulled her close, tickling her sides briefly.
“Okay, okay. See? Normal eyes.”
Looking into Brandon and Claire’s direction, she took in how they were talking softly between themselves, smiling private smiles, sharing private laughs.
“I’m going to go get my things together.” She spoke to no one in particular.
“Alright, I’ll tell Brandon.”
“No, it's okay I can tell him” she smiled.
Hopping off the stool, she approached them.
“Brandon, I’m going to go pack a few more things.”
“Do you have the key?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll be up shortly to help.”
“Okay” She reached over hugging him.
Marissa let go turning to Claire. “Let’s leave on a good note.” She extended her arms.
Claire immediately looked behind her, checking from side to side.
“Are you talking to me?” She asked dumbstruck.
“Yes.”
With that Marissa reached over bending slightly to hug her.
Claire’s arms barely moved to meet her, still shocked at the situation.
Her eyes widened at Brandon and he shrugged in responce ‘Don’t ask me’
“Bye” Claire put on her best fake smile.
“See you on the flipside.” She waved still grinning, now moving past the other bodies on the dance floor.
“Brandon, did she just say…”
“Yeah I caught that too, but It’s Marissa, I’ve kind of gotten accustomed to her oddities.”
“Yeah…”
*
Marissa said all her goodbye’s, and Brandon walked her down to the cab.
“I’m glad we could be mature about this.” He hugged her “Give me a call when you get home.”
“I will” she kissed him on the cheek cordially, and waved “Bye” as she got inside the car.
“Bye” he did the same watching the car move off down the street before going back in.
Finally out of view and a block away from the hotel she stopped the driver.
“Did you forget something miss?”
“No, I have everything. I want you to take me back to the hotel, but take my things to this place.” She wrote down an address and handed it to him.
When he returned to the hotel, Marissa stepped out cautiously and for good reason
because as soon as she did, She spotted Brandon in the main Lobby talking to what she believed to be a fan.
“Shit.” she remained glued to a nearby wall, moving toward the staircase unwilling to take the risk of waiting on an elevator and getting caught.
Exhausted from the amount of staircases she had to climb, Marissa pulled out her
key for their room and vigilantly snuck in.
She walked into the bedroom immediately noticing Brandon’s wallet. Picking it up, she went through it ceasing Claire’s room key.
At that point she heard the door handle turn. Falling to the ground Marissa crawled under the king size bed.
He was talking on his phone and she didn’t have to ask to who.
“How are you feeling now?” Brandon asked. “How’d you even manage to get sick?” he inquired. “So let me get this straight, Jose pushed you in the pool today, and that’s why you were soaking wet when I saw you.” He chuckled “Well that’s why I cut dinner short so you could rest ” He sat on the bed, and beneath it Marissa could hear Claire coughing into the receiver.
“I’m going to come over and check on you.”
No, No, No Marissa prayed silently.
“No, I don’t want you to catch it. I’m going to change and finish putting some things away and I’ll call you before I go to bed.”
Good. She sighed inwardly.
“This is killing me, you know that right?”
“Yes, now I’ll call you in a bit.”
When they both hung up Brandon muttered “I’ll be right over.”
He stood up heading for the door.
Somewhat relieved, Marissa scurried from under the bed
“Brandon for your sake you better sleep here tonight. I don’t want to hurt you.”
*
Brandon stood before Claire's door minutes later, searching through his wallet for her key.
“Where did I put the thing.” he tried to recall.
Looking through each sleeve of his wallet, he repetitively came up empty handed so he finally knocked.
He heard her coughing, indicating that she was approaching the door.
Looking through the peep hole Claire moaned “Brandon, what did I tell you?” then opened it.
"I'm just checking that you're alright.” He walked in.
By now any of the make-up she wore had disappeared and her hair was back to being it’s usual untamed and curly self.
She stood there in a the hotel robe, two sized too big pulling her hair into a sloppy pony tail.
“Now you see that I’m okay. You can leave before you get sick!”
“You look horrible…but rather cute if that makes any sense.” he laughed.
“Thanks” she waved him off sarcastically walking into the bedroom.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her clothes packed into a few suitcases lined against the carpeted floor.
“Lay down” he positioned her on her back.
“Fucking Jose” she cursed, a small cough behind it.
“Don’t worry about Jose right now” he chuckled at her bitterness “Just get some sleep.”
“I will.”
He kissed her forehead, and moved a few strands of hair out of her face.
He sat on the edge, talking with her until her words became less and less lucid and she drifted off.
He left not too long afterward, stopping by Mike’s room then back to his own.
When Brandon finally settled into bed, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Brandon, it’s Marissa.”
“Hey, did you board yet?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s up?”
“I want to apologize for all the things I put you through, and I want you to
forgive me for hurting Claire.”
He figured she meant all their arguing and answered.
“That’s okay. I think she’s gotten over it.”
“I know we’ll make it back to one another Brandon. By then end of the night, i'll make everything easier.”
“Tonight?”
“I promise.”
“M-”
He abruptly heard the line disconnect and was left in utter confusion.
So, accordinly called Claire needing someone to talk to.
“Hello?”
“Hey baby. How are you feeling?” He was happy to hear her voice, and glad that Marissa was more than 10, 000 feet in the air.
“My head hurts, but I’m fine.”
“You sound stuffy.”
“I’ll be fine in the morning.”
“Is something wrong?” She asked softly, detecting it in his tone.
“Marissa called, and I think it’s finally hit her that we’re over.”
“What did she say?”
“She spoke of us getting back together and making everything right between us.”
“Give her time Brandon.”
“I know.”
The entire night, both phones remained off the hook after they both fell asleep in the midst of talking about nothingness.
Hours before dawn, with the moonlight still illuminated the her room, Claire felt a presence.
“Brandon you never listen do you?” she laughed lightly, her eyes still closed.
She heard him move across the room, and his weight shifting onto the bed.
“You’re such a sweetheart.” she mumbled.
After he didnt respond, she felt something wasn't right. She knew Brandon, and the little things he did when getting settled in beside her. For instance, besides the silence, Brandon would have at least put his hand on the slope of her waist and innocently peeped over to see if she was still awake.
Her eyes were as wide as day, as she tried to figure out what to do next.
"Brandon" Her nose was still blocked, "Can you get me the advil off the kitchen counter?"
Claire hoped the person would carry on, and continue to pretend that they were Brandon to help her buy more time. And for a split second she thought her persuasion worked when the pressure on the mattress decreased, meaning whoever it was, was getting up.
As soon as she heard a couple of footsteps toward the door. Claire didn't waste any time.
She turned around ready to get out of the bed, but was abruptly greeted by a gun in her face.
"Dont you fucking move."
TBC...
ps. I apologize for the long wait, summer course have been crazy...Exams!! Anyway thank you again for reading and i'll get back to you!
While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.
Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!
Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo