Becoming Mrs. Bryant

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄

Nick

March 25, 2023

"Damn" I yawned as I sprawled myself out on Jason's couch, "I can't remember the last 'guys night' we had." Lewis chuckled, "life's been pretty hectic" he said, "so you know, we've had other responsibilities."

"Worked out" Jason said as his upcoming alcoholic ass mixed drinks. "What better time for a rewind with the dudes than now?" I nodded, "for real."

"Yeah I hate to be a downer" Lewis began, looking at me,"but I'm just curious Nick, how are things going between you, Nova, and Aubrey? Have you talked to them in private or anything?" I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Nah."

"Well, don't you think you should?" Lewis asked. He had been sitting on the floor, disconnecting his PlayStation from Jason's TV. "Avoiding them is probably making them angrier. What if they think you don't care or something? Especially after what just happened with Nova."

"Lewis" I said, sitting my head up. "I literally chased the dude down and beat him up in front of them. How could they think I didn't care?" Lewis tilted his head. "You have a point, my bad."

"What I should've said, was that Aubrey might think you don't care. You beating up Rico only really defends Nova. You fucked Aubrey's wife and have yet to say a single apologetic word to her. I'd be sick to my stomach if I were her." I groaned, "and what am I supposed to say?"

"Sorry, maybe?" Jason chimed in. "I don't know Nick, that would be a good start don't you think?" I decided to stop lounging and sat my body up-right completely.

"Y'all don't even know what happened" I defended myself. "You just know what Rico's bitch ass said."

"Does it matter what happened?" Jason asked as he put the lid on one of the liquor bottles that had been sitting on the table. "At the end of the day, you slept with a married woman. And instead of apologizing, you're finding ways to support that action."

"Oh, oh!" Lewis said with a small chuckle, "don't forget the fact that he also apparently gave Nova an STI too." I huffed, "that isn't certain. She could've got that shit anywhere. I mean she slept with you last year, right? And May had an STI at some point."

"She slept with me before May had the STI" Lewis pointed out, "and if that were the case, Aubrey would've been contracted that whole thing. You're the culprit Nick. Just accept it." I looked over at Jason who looked as if he agreed with Lewis.

"Nick, no offense but your track record with girls during the first semester was a little wild. You having an STI wouldn't be far fetched" Jason voiced. "At least there was a positive that came out of sleeping with Nova if you look at it from that perspective, because you probably wouldn't have known you had one for a while." I stiffened my jaw.

"What happened to the whole 'guys before girls' thing?" I asked. "It seems like y'all are team Aubrey."

"I'm not 'team Aubrey' Nick, I'm team real" Jason replied, smelling the contents of a bottle before pouring it into a glass. "Being real is what differentiates a good friend from a bad one."

"Real shit" Lewis said in response to Jason's words. "We love you Nick, and that's why we're telling you this. Doing things like fucking a married woman could get you into some serious, dangerous shit one day. It's also just, a morality thing."

"Yeah" I said, dragging the word. "You wanna talk about morals, buddy?" Lewis looked as if he were seconds away from snapping my neck. "This isn't Norwood Nick," Lewis warned, "ain't no teacher here to stop me. Play that game if you fucking want to."

"Yo!" Jason called out almost immediately. "Don't do that shit. Either of you. We're supposed to be best friends." I nodded, "I'm sorry Lewis" I sighed, putting my face in my hands. "I'm just... I don't fucking know." Lewis folded his lips in before he spoke. "I'm sorry too. Sensitive topic still."

"I don't mean a lot of the shit I say" I said, looking at the ground with my eyebrow raised, "or do. I just..."

"Don't start that Maddie shit" Jason warned, referring to the fact that Maddie typically trails off like this mid-sentence and has to be brought back to reality. "What were you saying?"

"I wish people had the ability to read minds. Then they'd be able to understand the people that have good intentions but bad executions" I voiced.

Lewis nodded, "I think Nova would relate to that." I chuckled, "maybe. The Norwood version of her probably would. She was a real people pleaser."

"She still kind of is" Jason said, but Lewis seemed iffy about that. "Eh."

"Anyways" I said, as Jason finally stopped mixing and sniffing and was moving on to actually getting our drinks in glasses. "I'll talk to Aubrey eventually. I haven't figured out how. The whole situation is still fresh and I remember what I felt like when Nova cheated on me. I was like, a broken fire alarm."

"Goes off at any time" Lewis said, and I nodded. "Yeah, and Aubrey is probably even worse."

"Because she's a woman?" Jason asked, handing me a glass, "or because she's Aubrey?" I shrugged, "both I guess. I mean I showed my emotional side last year at times, but an emotional girl is a lot worse than an emotional boy." Jason and Lewis nodded, "true."

"And this is Aubrey we're talking about" I continued. "I mean I wasn't a girl or anything, so I've never fell into her ring of fire, but I've heard some things. Things that would make me skeptical of being near her while angry."

"But you need to also take what Aubrey was going through at that point of her life into account" Lewis said. "I mean, I was never exactly close to Aubrey while at Norwood, but I noticed that she seemed a lot more tolerable once she and Nova were open."

"Nah you're definitely right about that" Jason added to what Lewis was saying. "She's not the same Aubrey that she was a year ago. I think she was hard to handle in part because she was a closeted lesbian and didn't come to terms with it. She was an ass to Nova because she was in love with her."

"I think I said that last year" I said, thinking out loud, and Jason nodded. "You did," he confirmed, "before we knew anything."

"Well, then I guess my advice is take your time" Jason continued. "Don't take too long though. Maybe if you wait a little Aubrey might be in awe at the belief that you were trying to find the right words and get this whole apology thing perfect."

"We all make bad decisions my guy" Lewis assured me, "just, don't make it twice. It might take a minute, but I know you'll bounce back from this."