SEPTEMBER 20, 2003
Brandon is woken by the jiggling of a doorknob followed by three loud knocks. For a moment, he forgets his current circumstance and is convinced that someone has finally decided to break into his apartment to kill him. As quickly as it comes, the fear dissipates as he takes in his surroundings: this is not his dingy apartment.
Brandon can see London out of his window. The realization is just as powerful as it has been all week. The only difference is this time he's not hungover.
When they head back to the hotel at night, it's hard to see anything at all. You could almost pretend that you were in any old city—at least any place other than Vegas. But now as Brandon stands from his bed and carefully avoids the piles of luggage and gear on the ground, he can see the iconic architecture that is older than the entirety of America as it is known today.
The knocks on the door come again, this time more aggressive, and it reminds Brandon of what he's supposed to actually be doing. A quick glance tells him that Dave is not, in fact, in his bed and that the perpetrator at the door is most likely him.
"Oh, good, you're awake," the guitarist says as Brandon opens the door for him.
"You couldn't have been a little more quiet?" Brandon asks.
Dave knows that Brandon is jumpy and Brandon knows that Dave will often do anything to startle him. "I forgot my key," he says. He walks into the room and puts two take-out boxes on the table. "I wasn't gonna wake you up if you weren't, and then your food would've gotten cold." Dave sits at the table to eat. Brandon yawns and trudges over to the breakfast table, sitting as Dave slides his food to him. He would like to have something more traditional for their last full day in London, but he won't complain.
Luckily, the food is still warm and he is very pleasantly surprised when he finds a stack of waffles inside. Dave wastes no time, digging into his sausage and eggs at a speed that Brandon could never achieve while in his groggy state. Upon seeing the waffles, however, Brandon looks back to Dave with a small smile.
Dave, sensing the stare, stops mid-chew and returns his gaze. "Shut up," he says, mouth full.
Brandon shrugs and begins to cut his waffles, "I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it," Dave grumbles.
Brandon gave an amused huff, "Well, maybe if you were always this nice to me I wouldn't make such a big deal about it."
Dave continues to eat, not looking back to Brandon, "All I did was get you breakfast. Did you miss the part where I said I wasn't going to wake you up?"
"Yeah, but you got me my favorite so it's okay." Brandon begins pouring the syrup he found in the box over his breakfast, "Have you talked to Ron and Mark today?"
"Nah," Dave says, mouth full of eggs. "I haven't bothered yet. I've only been up for an hour." Brandon shoots Dave a confused glance.
"What time is it?" he asks.
"Eleven-thirty. You still haven't fixed the time on your watch ?" Brandon glances down to his wristwatch (which he evidently didn't take off before going to bed after last night's show) —it's still showing the wrong time. He puts his knife down and begins to fix it, then realizes it's pointless because they'll be leaving in less than twenty-four hours.
"We need to go by Lizard King today," Dave says, gazing out of the window. "Maybe if we get that over with, we'll be able to do something fun."
Brandon slumps, resting his head on his palm. "We haven't got long," he says. "I wish we could stay forever."
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Hopeless Haze - Volume I: Hot Fuss (Remastered)
Romance"If Brandon cared, he would wonder if Ronnie was also deep in thought about something and has only just absentmindedly found something for his hands to play with. But as Ronnie runs his fingers through his hair, Brandon finds that he does not care a...
