I woke alone. I grabbed my phone from the side and looked at the clock, it was only just past 7am. I was surprised Brian had woken this early, but assumed it was due to nerves for this evening. I picked up Brian's t-shirt from the floor and threw it on before making my way downstairs. The kitchen was silent. Brian was siting at the counter, his head in his hands. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder. "You ok?" I asked lightly.
He turned to face me, wrapping his arms around me and nodded. "I am now." He kissed me gently.
"Nervous?" I asked.
"Like you wouldn't believe." He sighed.
I gave him a tight squeeze. "You've got this, Quinn." I smiled. "What time are we heading out?"
Brian had to be at the location for tonight at midday, so we had a little time. I suggested we just relax and watch a film, considering how stressful the rest of the day was going to be. We snuggled on the sofa with the cats for a few hours, before finally dragging ourselves to get ready.
We drove into the city, somehow avoiding any major traffic. Brian dropped us off, and with a quick kiss and a promise to be back for 7pm we said goodbye. Oli wanted to shop, I really wasn't too bothered so I let her power through all the shops she wanted to. By the time she was done, I was starving. We decided to grab some street food and take a walk around Central Park.
"So you and Q looked ever so cosy last night." Oli started. I knew this was coming, she'd been waiting to grill me about it. "To begin with, anyway. What happened?"
I shrugged, taking a bite of my food so I didn't have to answer straight away. "It was nothing."
"Bullshit. He was all over you then all of a sudden there's like a 5ft gap between you. Spill."
"Fine," I sighed. "The sight of all the Tweens taking photos of the guys. Made me think, I don't want to be plastered all over Twitter and shit. My kids have these social media accounts, they love the guys. What the fuck are they going to think seeing me with Brian all over me? That is not appropriate for a teacher."
"Yeah but it's not like you're a random, is it...?"
"No, I'm not," I interrupted. "But it's not like I'm not his girlfriend, am I? We're not in a relationship. Whatever this is, it's not that." Suddenly I didn't want to eat any more of my food. I threw it in the closest bin roughly.
Oli took my hands and sat me down on a bench. "Jesus Shae. You need to talk to him about this."
I shook my head vehemently. "No chance. You're the one that said he doesn't do serious relationships. Remember? He doesn't do them."
"Well it sure as fuck looks like he does from where I'm sitting." Oli said, raising her voice slightly. "Seriously Shae, whatever I said before was what seemed to be common knowledge. But seeing him with you, dude he is totally into you. It might not be official, but you guys are in a relationship. Come here, you daft thing." She held her arms out and hugged me tight. "You need to talk to him."
I sighed. "I know. Urgh, why do I get myself into these situations?"
"What situation? That a fucking hot, famous guy is so completely into you? Yeah...real shitty. Bitch." I laughed. "Then there's me. I've loved these guys for ages, but is anyone interested in me? Noooo."
I laughed again. Oli was gorgeous and could have her pick of any guy, but 9 times out of 10, she was completely oblivious to any advances.
I looked at my watch, we had a couple of hours before we had to start making our way back. I stood and held my hand out to pull Oli up. "Come on bird, let's go find that Doctor Who bar!"
We lost track of time and ended up having to run to get the subway back to the guys. At just gone 7pm, we all but skidded down the street. It had completely transformed. The tightrope was up, all the lights and screens had been erected and the crowd barriers were in place. I fumbled for my pass so security would let us through. As Oli was showing hers, I looked around for Brian. I couldn't see him but saw Joe and Murr stood under the tightrope. I pulled my phone out and quickly text Brian asking where he was before making our way over to Joe and Murr.
"Holy shit, that is high!" Oli blurted out before clapping her hand over her mouth. She hadn't noticed the look on Murr's face as he looked up at the wire. He looked terrified, the poor thing.
"Q's upstairs..." Joe started, smiling and nodding towards the doorway. I looked at Oli, then towards the door. Joe nudged my hip. "Go on, we'll look after her."
I grinned at Joe and quickly made my way inside.
The VIP area was extremely lavish. Decked out in TruTV colours with Impractical Jokers logos on the walls, there were also cut outs of there faces everywhere. I laughed out loud seeing at least 20 "Q's" staring back at me.
"There you are!" Brian all but ran over to me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a quiet corridor. "What's up?" He looked frantic. He nervously ran his hand through his hair. "You're starting to freak me out a little, Brian. What's going on?"
"My erm, my parents are gonna be here in a little while. I...would you mind...did you..." He said, stumbling over his words. He took a deep breath and started again. "Would you come with me to see my parents when they get here? My ma wants to meet you."
I was speechless. Of all the things that he could have said, I was not expecting that.
Brian frowned. "I mean, you don't have to. I thought it would be..." I realised I hadn't replied.
"Shit, sorry, yeah of course. Of course I'll meet your parents." He grinned wildly.
"Cool." He kissed me, his hands sliding under my t-shirt.
"Brian..." I warned. Anyone could walk down the corridor at any second.
"I can't. I need you...this whole thing is getting on top of me and I just need to not think about it for a while."
He looked at me, his eyes hooded. How could I deny him?
"Ok." I nodded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me further down the corridor and into a dark office. He shut the door and pushed me against it, his lips trailing down my neck.
"Fuck, Brian." I breathed.
