When (he)arts Prevail

24

The sun was setting when everyone started to leave. Denny was the first, since he was supposed to be at the bar later that night. Johanna and Mike followed next and finally Alyssa and Mateo, leaving Brian and Kaylee to themselves. Kaylee considered leaving before all the couples, not wanting to be caught alone with Brian after the girls' conversation. But as quickly as the thought appeared, she quickly dismissed it. Brian was her best friend. She wouldn't stop hanging out with him because of silly girl talk.

Aside from that, it was a beautiful end of day and she wouldn't miss it.

Brian and Kaylee came to sit by the water, side by side, letting the small waves touch their feet. They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Kaylee felt the tiredness of a day in the sun set in, yet she felt relaxed and at peace. It had been a good day.

Brian started picking wet sand between them and laying it on Kaylee's leg in small piles.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Sand poop."

Her chuckle bubbled into a full laugh but she let him continue. When he was done with his artwork, he leaned back on his hands, one coming just behind Kaylee. She felt his closeness and held her breath for a moment, fighting against fidgeting. She didn't want him to notice.

"Have you been playing?" Kaylee queried to distract herself from the skin of Brian's arm touching her back lightly, enough to fill her with warmth.

"A little."

"When will you show me?"

Brian's lips curved in a small smirk, glancing at her. "What? Is this a 'I'll show you mine, if you show me yours' type of thing?"

Kaylee averted her gaze to the water and smiled, too. "It's only fair. I did show you mine."

"You can come over when we get out of here. We can order food."

Kaylee hesitated with her answer and Brian searched for her face, a funny glint in his eyes. 

"What?" he prodded, nudging her foot with his own.

"Uh— nothing." The conversation with the girls was really getting into her head. She shook it off and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we could do that."

Back at Brian's house and after eating, as promised, Brian showed Kaylee two pieces he was working on the guitar. This time Kaylee had not been drinking and she thought it was still mind blowing and beautiful. She tried to focus on the melody being played and not on the way Brian's fingers moved over the strings or the way the muscles in his arm flexed whenever he struck a new chord. It was so distracting, it left Kaylee unsettled.

When he returned the guitar to its support, Kaylee took the opportunity to try and clear the images of him playing from her head. "Have you shown Mike and the guys at the studio?" she asked.

"Not really."

Brian walked back to the couch to sit next to her.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Not sure what they'll think about it. All of a sudden me writing music. It's not my place, you know."

"You're being ridiculous."

Brian smiled softly, leaning into the corner of the couch. "Maybe I am."

Kaylee punch his leg lightly. "You definitely are."

Brian shrugged.

"Promise you'll show them or at least mention you're writing stuff."

"I don't wanna promise that."

"I'll stop working on my stuff if you don't."

He grabbed the closest pillow and threw it at Kaylee. "Now you're being ridiculous."

She threw the pillow back. "I'm serious."

He went to swat at her for the second time but she caught the pillow in time and stuffed it in his face. "Fine," he laughed, hugging the pillow to his chest after combing his hair back to normal.Kaylee smiled. "Good boy. Now... What are we watching?"