Brad has been watching Tristan.
Sometimes he's careful and sneaks a peek out of the corner of his eye when Tris is playing. He watches his muscles flex and he watches how he smiles.
He's quick, he's silent, and he's happy.
Sometimes he gets caught. He watches Tris when he's struggling with his hairspray can, and Connor notices, making a comment about how Brad is drooling. Brad laughs along with him and pretends like nothing's happening. He acts like he doesn't find it cute when Tris sheepishly looks at the boys when they laugh at him.
Luckily enough, Tris never seems to realize. If he does, he brushes it off.
Brad mostly keeps to himself, but the boys know so much about him. In particular, the one he's known the longest - James. James knows almost everything about Brad. James knows that sometimes Brad talks in his sleep. James knows that Brad once straightened his hair - just for fun. James knows that Brad can be insecure. However, James doesn't know that Brad's gay.
The catch is, Brad doesn't even know that he's gay.
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"Brad! Tris!" Connor called.
"Yeah, what?" Brad replied as he made his way downstairs. He heard Tristan's door open, and had to stop himself from turning around and grinning at his bandmate.
"We're going to try out that new club tonight," Connor said. "You two want to come?"
Brad wasn't sure. He knew that Tris always managed to hit up some girl at whatever club they went to, and honestly, he wasn't ready for another night of unrecognized feelings. However, Tristan would go, and Brad wanted to be wherever Tris was.
"Okay, sounds fun," Brad responded. He hated himself for succumbing again, but he was so glad that he'd be able to be out with Tris - no, the band - again. It seems that lately, Brad has been torn apart over so many things, and he doesn't know what to make of it. It's so difficult for him to be around Tristan, but he can't stop wanting to be.
He must be getting bipolar or something. Something like that.
"None of us will be drinking though," Tris stated, putting his hand on Brad's shoulder. The touch sent sparks through Brad's body, and he almost couldn't comprehend what Tristan said. Almost.
"But I'll be eighteen in a few months," Brad protested.
"So you shouldn't have a problem with waiting a little bit longer, right?" James said as he walked into the room. He sauntered in like he wasn't guilty of eavesdropping.
"Somebody's been listening in," Connor said as he smirked at James.
"And Tris and I won't be drinking either, so you won't have any temptations," James added, disregarding Connor's comment. However, his eyes flicked over to Connor with a cheeky sparkle. It was so obvious that even Brad could see it.
Even though he's not the youngest, sometimes Brad feels like the other guys treat him as if he is. He's not sure if it's because of his younger-looking face or something else. James talks to Connor like his equal.
Brad doesn't want to be overly protected by James or told off by Tris just because he's a minor. It bothers him, and he hopes that when he's eighteen it will stop.
"Alright, fine," Brad said. James acts like his father sometimes. 'No temptations.'
The good thing was, club nights were definitely easier when everyone was sober. It's just that Tris flirted even more when he was tipsy. Brad wouldn't mind if Tris flirted with him, but that would never happen. The only things Tris thought about in clubs were the girls. Maybe he thought about the dancing, or the drinks, but it always led back to the girls.
He's not a player. He doesn't bring girls home for one-night stands. Tris doesn't think with his dick. Brad likes that.
Tris thinks with the mind of a straight guy. Brad hates that.
Later that night, Tris called Brad into his room.
"Hey," Tris said. Before Brad even got a chance to say 'Hi', Tris continued. "So which shirt should I wear? I know girls like red on a guy, but I'm also leaning towards this blue plaid, and I'm not sure which one would look better on me. So yeah, what do you think?"
"How would I know?" Brad replied. He didn't like talking about girls with Tris. Tris was just so perfect with girls and got exactly what he wanted because everywhere he went, there was always a girl checking him out. Brad didn't really like talking about girls at all, and he was trying to understand why.
"Oh, I don't know, I guess I wanted your opinion or something," Tris said. "It's no big deal, I think I'll just go with the red."
"Good for you," Brad retorted. He didn't want to have to deal with Tristan and the weirdness he felt when he was around the guy.
"Uh, Brad, are you okay?" Tris asked.
Brad started walking towards the door. "I'm fine."
"You're just like - PMSing or something," Tris remarked.
With that, Brad walked out the door and downstairs. Leave it to Tris to have everything relate to girls.
He's so straight it's painful.
James drove them to the club, and Tris got out as soon as the car stopped.
"Well he's eager," Connor said with a chuckle.
"Ready to pick up some girls, Tris?!" James called to Tristan. By now, Tris was in the doorway of the club.
Tris laughed. "Yeah, of course!"
"Of course," Brad muttered to himself.
"You know what you need Brad?" Connor asked.
"No I don't," Brad replied. What was running through his head was 'I need Tristan to stop being straight and explain to me what's going on with my feelings and hey, maybe feel that way about me too and we can figure it out together and I can actually feel happy when I think about him - for a change.' However, he didn't tell Connor this long, run-on sentence. He just said, "Tell me."
"You need a girl."
"A girl?" Brad asked as they walked. That idea didn't seem that appealing to him.
"It makes sense, Brad," James said.
When they entered the club it was harder for them to keep their conversation going. It was so loud in there, from the beats of the music to the clinking of the glasses.
They sat down at a table and managed to find Tristan in the mass of people.
"You know, normally I would say a guy like Tris is a player, but he's just so nice to every girl," Connor said.
"He told me he was looking for a girlfriend," James agreed.
Brad's heart sunk, and he wasn't even sure why. Later, he wondered why he even kept himself involved in the conversation.
"He deserves one," Connor said.
"Yeah, totally," Brad replied, putting on a cheery tone. Tris totally deserves a girlfriend for all the stress and confusion he's put me through. Doesn't a girl want that from him too? He's just totally the ideal boyfriend.
"And when he does get a girlfriend," Connor continued, "he's going to be bouncing off the walls."
"He seems like he'll have that kind of reaction, right?" James responded. "He'll just be so happy."
"I can't wait to laugh at him," Connor said.
"He'll be all embarrassed like 'but you don't understand,'" James added with an imitation of Tristan's voice.
"One, that wasn't a very good impression," Brad said with a laugh, "and two, are you going to talk about Tris all night?" Brad will admit, at that point, he decided that maybe he should try something new. He really didn't want his weirdness with Tris to continue, so he decided to maybe take the boys' advice - maybe he'll try to find a girl.
