Playing Strangers (Brendon Urie/P!ATD FanFic)

Nine In The Afternoon

I lied in bed with my left hand underneath my head, my right one holding Ruby close as she curled up beside me. She slowly pulled the joint away from her lips and blew the smoke up in the air, laughing as it spiraled upward and dissipated into the faint fog that had filled the dim room.

"You know, these kind of evenings are my favorite," She commented lazily, tilting her head back so she could see me, "With you, the rain, this..." She held the joint up in the air, smiling. "I don't know how it could get any better."

"I do," I challenged, plucking the blunt from her fingertips and bringing it to my own lips.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"I'm thinking..." I began to say, my voice trailing off as I coughed, setting the joint aside and sitting up, turning towards her and continuing with, "...I'm thinking Round Two. What do you say?"

"I don't know, Brendon, I'm kinda tired." She rested her head back on the pillows, having trouble keeping her eyes open to look up at me. "Maybe another night."

That is, if there is another night, A voice rang in my ear, that voice belonging to Pete. I furrowed my eyebrows together and looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. But it was just Ruby and me. No one else.

"Is everything okay?" She inquired, noticing my paranoia and sitting up, holding the sheets up to her chest - as if I'd never seen her shirtless before.

I swallowed hard and met her gaze, frowning. "No, no, everything's not okay."

"What's wrong?"

I ran a hand through my hair, my eyebrows furrowed together. "I can't tell you."

"If it's about the ring, Brendon, I would've said yes."

"No, it's not about the ring. I'm over the ring. Besides, it was a mistake buying it. We don't need rings to tell people that we love each other and that we'll always love each other. And anyways, what's the point of marriage? So that we're bound to each other until we die?" I rambled, not thinking straight as my nonexistent filter failed to stop me from saying something I'd regret. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, turning away from her, and put my head in my hands. "I mean, what if I choose I want to be with someone else?  All a ring's going to do is prevent me from being with that person and, Ruby, I don't want to deal with all that drama, you know?"

She giggled. "What are you even talking about?"

I rubbed my face with my hands before looking back at her. "I'm talking about how I'm probably going to have to break up with you soon."

The smile on her face faded, my words breaking through the warm, comforting cocoon the weed had engulfed her in and sinking in. "Y-You're going to have to break up with me soon?" I nodded my head. "What? Why?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet and throwing my hands in the air, "According to Pete, I'm going to have to date someone else because you're not good enough for me! Because you don't 'fit my image'." I even went to extent of doing air quotes with my fingers.

A hurt, painful expression crossed her face. "I'm not good enough for you?"

"Apparently!" I chuckled. "And you know what else?" I got back down on the bed with her, sitting right in front of her and looking deep into her eyes. "If my fans find out about you, it's going to fuck over the whole band. I don't know how, but I guess that's what would happen if the fans discovered I was dating the girl I've known my entire life."

She titled her head down, trying to hide the tears that had been brought to her eyes.

"That's so stupid, right?" I inquired.

"Yeah, so stupid," She mumbled in response, keeping her gaze locked on her lap as she twiddled her thumbs.

"See? I'm so glad you agree with me. Pete doesn't know what he's talking about!"

We sat there for a little bit before she spun around and reached over the side of the bed, picking up her discarded underwear and my shirt and slipping into them. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be back soon." She stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Okay!" I called after her, staring at the closed door, unable to understand her reaction.

Minutes passed and she still hadn't come back. I reached over to the nightstand and picked up the joint and lighter, igniting it once again and bringing it up to the end of the roll of paper which had burned out. I took a long drag and lied back on the bed, closing my eyes and exhaling slowly, fading into the darkness that was consuming me.