Chance Encounter ➳ Drew Dirksen

3. tickles & shit talking

It was the day of the concert and both Nate and Brandi were alive and well, much to Austin's and Levi's disappointment.

"Next time, you can always buy four tickets. Just saying," Austin suggested, raising his arms up. He was trying to make Nate feel guilty, but all it was doing was irritating him as he was changing into his concert clothes一 which he had already planned and laid out the night before.

"Next time, you could always buy your own ticket," Nate snapped, already getting a little ticked off.

Austin and Levi were at Nate's house, together with Brandi, and they were just watching the couple get ready to see their favorite band with envy.

"If you guys ever break up can I be your next girlfriend," Levi joked as he looked up at Nate's disgusted expression. He was just in it for the free stuff.

"Brandi and I are never going to break up," Nate declared, surely. "I love her too much to ever let her go."

Austin began to make puking noises and that was the last straw for Nate so he decided to go and check up on Brandi.

As soon as he opened the door to the guest room– where Brandi was getting ready– he found her sitting on the bed with nothing but a black bandeau covering her upper half and high-waisted, denim shorts covering her lower half.

Nate watched her from the doorway as she glided the scissors across the fabric, until it detached completely, and she looked pretty damn proud about the simple customization she had just made.

"What are you doing?" Nate said, slightly amused that Brandi had just cut up her birthday present.

"You know how I am with sleeves," she replied, stretching the cut-up armholes to make them wider. "I'm not quite fond of them."

Nate pulled Brandi onto his lap, just like all those other times before, and he started rubbing circles onto the bare skin of her stomach, creating invisible patterns that expressed his love for her.

"Nate, that tickles," Brandi squealed and let out a few giggles, which Nate found really adorable. "Stop it!"

"Kiss me first?" Nate said as more of a question than a demand as he started poking at Brandi's sides and making her jerk away just for him to pull her back into place.

Brandi forced herself to rotate her upper body halfway and place a short kiss onto Nate's lips.

"Come on, babe. You can do better than that," Nate replied, obviously not satisfied with the simple peck he had received.

"That's all you're getting until after the concert."

Nate stopped tickling Brandi一 much to her relief一 and she threw the All Time Low shirt over her head, letting the armholes hang down to her very last rib.

"So are you going to put a shirt on anytime soon?" Brandi asked, leaning against Nate's chest. She could feel his warm skin brushing her shoulder blades and this slight contact left her craving more.

"I would, but I can't really move right now, can I?"

She shifted a little until she was straddling Nate. Then she started tracing the outline of his abs with her fingers. Brandi knew he was getting tickled. He just didn't want to show it.

Nate squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back until they were both lying down and Brandi was on top, her shirt riding up until just below her bust.

She couldn't tickle him anymore because her hands were stuck in between both her weight and his. Nate had instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his nose against hers, making a small giggle escape her lips.

"Hey, you two are gonna be la- Oh," Levi said, walking in on them. "Did I interrupt anything?"

"Nope," Brandi replied, tugging her shirt down as Nate got out from under her to go wear his shirt.

"Oh. Well, as I was saying you poop heads are gonna be late for the concert if you don't leave soon."

"If you guys decide to just sit here and make out can we go to the concert instead?" Austin yelled from the room across the one they were currently in and all three of them rolled their eyes.

Brandi went over to the mirror in the bathroom and tried fixing her newly disheveled hair, before grabbing her stuff and walking out the door of his house, leaving Levi and Austin to trash it until they come back.

"If you guys break anything, I'm gonna make you glue everything back together," was Nate's final warning before they drove off to where the concert was to be held.

Brandi plugged her phone into the car radio and scrolled through her All Time Low playlist. They were gonna go to their concert so why not start early to get them even more psyched for the real thing. As their songs blared from the speakers, Nate's fingers drummed on the steering wheel, making his All Time Low bracelet bounce around on his wrist.

She practically grew up with Nate, so it was no wonder they started dating. And she could still remember all of those sleepless nights where he would sneak into her house through the window  and they would just stay up playing Guitar Hero until the sun was high in the sky. Nate loved playing the drums.

Most girls would prefer a guy serenading her with a guitar, and Brandi was no different. She was a sucker for guys who could play guitar, but there was something about Nate smashing his drums during the wee hours of the morning that she found very interesting. Brandi wasn't sure if she liked it or not, but it did intrigue her.

Nate removed one of his hands from the steering wheel— which made Brandi a little nervous, because he can barely drive straight with two hands, what more if he only uses one? And it was his non-dominant hand, as well— and took her small hand in his, before bringing it to his lips and planting a gentle kiss onto each one of her fingertips.

"I love you, even when I don't love you," he said. Nate was always like this. He always talked shit and said the most random things you would ever hear, and that's why Brandi loves him so much— even when she doesn't love him.

~

a/n: yo brochachos i finally updated and that last part was so fluffy and cute and my sappy little heart cant even handle them anymore and it's still chapter 3 oh gad. the best ship name i can come up with for brandi and nate is Brate and that sounds painful lmao so yah no ship name for now. and i s2g drew's gonna be in the story soon just be patient alright. also i was half asleep while scanning for like typos and stuff so pardon if there are any.