Tonight The World Dies

Chapter 6: Brian

For the first time in weeks, I woke up feeling pleasantly content. Last night had been...well, amazing.

In truth, I hadn't really been interested in anything intimate since Jimmy had passed. It seemed weird now I thought about it, but my mind had been too occupied on processing the loss of my friend. But talking to Avery yesterday at the park had eased my mind a little, I felt better: as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Not only that, but she'd given me something else to focus on beside Jimmy: the upcoming tour.

I cringed as I remembered how I'd reacted the other day at the studio. I needed to talk to Matt.

I turned my head to check the time on the clock on my beside table. It was 11:56 a.m. Had we really slept in that late?

As gently as I could, I tried to pry my arm out from underneath Avery. She was currently curled up beside me, with her head resting on my upper arm in use of a pillow. She looked so peaceful; I was probably about to ruin that.

I reached for my phone with my free arm, trying my hardest to not disturb Avery. But, alas, I failed.

"I'm sorry." I apologised, giving Avery a sympathetic smile before I shuffled over to grab my phone. Now that she was awake, it didn't matter if I moved.

"It's fine." Avery said, her voice muffled as her brain continued to wake up. "What's the time?" She asked.

"Midday."

"Did we sleep in that late?" She asked, shocked. And as if to double check I wasn't lying, Avery perched up on one elbow to check the clock. "Jesus..."

"I think we deserved a lie in, especially after last night." I commented, giving Avery a mischievous smirk.

Avery laughed, allowing herself to collapse back down on the bed. "Yeah." She agreed, blankly staring up at our ceiling, a small smile spreading across her lips as she recalled the memories from last night.

I smiled, and leant over to quickly peck her on the lips before I swung my legs out to sit on the edge of the bed. I sent Matt a text asking to meet him, before I headed toward the bathroom for a quick shower. As I walked through the doorframe, I double took and leant back to catch Avery's eye.

She raised her eyebrow in silent question.

"Care to join me?" I asked.

"In a minute." She smiled. I nodded and headed over toward the shower to turn it on.

Once we were both showered, and dressed, we headed down into the kitchen. I checked my phone. Matt had replied. He'd agreed to meet, and asked where and when. I told him I'd come round to his within the hour.

"I'm going to head over to Matt's place." I announced in the middle of taking a sip from my water. Avery looked up from where she'd been on her phone with a look of surprise on her face.

"Yeah?" She asked, silently asking me to elaborate.

I shrugged. "I thought I'd apologise to him about the other day, at the studio."

Avery smiled her billion dollar smile. "That's good." She said. I could see in her eyes how happy this made her, seeing me talk a bit more about how I felt. In truth, she still barely knew any of it. There was this feeling of emptiness deep within me that I felt couldn't be fixed by anything, not even her. But she didn't need to know that, especially now when I looked at her and saw that sparkle in her eye rather than the look of a broken soul.