House Of Memories (B.U.)

Ch. 10

We walked like this in silence for a couple minutes until we came to my car. I leaned Brendon against the car so I could open the door for him, but he drunkenly walked over to the driver's side and opened my own door, then motioned for me to get inside.

I smiled at him and muttered thank you before stepping inside and waiting for him to get in on the passenger side.

As I leaned over to buckle his seat belt I felt him move the hair behind my ear and steal a quick kiss on my cheek.

I blushed and looked up at him to see him quickly look away and stare out the window, acting as if nothing had happened.

"I saw that." I giggled.

He sighed. "Yeah I'm not very sneaky I'm sorry. But I felt like I had to. You're just being so nice, and you look so pretty and I didn't even tell you how pretty you looked tonight, but its really pretty." He slurred over his words and talked with his hands, throwing them around in the air.

I blushed. "Thank you and you're my friend Brendon. Of course I will take care of you." I started the car and began to pull out of the neighborhood and Brendon leaned over and rested his head against my shoulder.

Suddenly I remembered something. The something that made me angry in the first place. "Where's Andrea?" I asked him.

He remained silent for a couple minutes before finally answering. "She broke up with me. She told me she was cheating on me with another boy and was going to break up with me earlier today, but couldn't bring herself to do it."

"I'm so sorry Brendon." I whispered. I felt a small surge of guilt travel through my body and end at my fingertips as I squeezed the steering wheel harshly. I knew all along and I never told him...

"Will you pull over for a second?" He muttered against my shoulder.

I nodded and pulled over to the side of the freeway and turned my body to face him directly.

He was playing with his hands nervously in his lap. He sighed before brushing back his hair and looking into my eyes. "I'm sorry for interrupting you and Pete. I don't know what came over me. I thought he was taking advantage of you..." He whispered.

"To be honest I think the only reason that I was kissing Pete was because I was angry at you. I said I liked him, and maybe I do, but it was wrong of me to use him."

He looked confused and cocked his head to the side. "Yeah why were you angry at me?"

"I saw you kissing Andrea. And I know that shouldn't bother me, especially because I'm the one who told you that we were only going to be friends when you first moved here, but I think you can do much better than her. I'm sorry she cheated on you, but I'm glad you broke up." I whispered the last bit and looked down to the ground, afraid of his reaction.

"I don't think so. I don't know why everyone thinks I'm so special. I'm such a shit person. All these girls act like I'm so fantastic, but here I am, being my true shit self, drinking my feelings away after getting dumped by my cheating girlfriend and then feeling jealous about one of my closest friends kissing my best friend." He looked at me momentarily when he called me his best friend then hastily looked down to his hands in his lap, still fumbling with his fingers.

I slung my arms tightly around his neck and hung onto him, squeezing his shoulders as tightly as I could to let him now how dearly he meant to me.

He closed his eyes and smiled softly at the gesture.

"You aren't awful Brendon." I said as I leaned back into my own seat, making his eyes flutter open to stare back into mine. "You were trying to protect me from Pete, although I didn't really need protecting, but it was still sweet of you to do so. You're my best friend as well."

Seeing Brendon so vulnerable and sad made me feel a lot of regret for the way I treated him this evening. I don't want him to ever feel this way again. I am going to protect him from now on. I nodded surely to myself; mentally making a deal that no one would hurt him as long as I was around.

I scrambled over the driver's seat so I was half sitting in Brendon's seat, half sitting in his lap, with my back against his chest and my legs inside his. I leaned back into him and felt his long arms wrap themselves around me. He rested his lips against my head and started to hum a familiar song.

"Will you sing to me?" I whispered, barely audible, but still loud enough for only him to hear me.

He nodded slowly and cleared his voice then began to sing.

"Turn down the lights. Turn down the bed. Turn down these voices, inside my head. Lay down with me. Tell me no lies. Just hold me close, don't patronize. Don't patronize. Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't. You can't make your heart feel something it won't. Here in the dark, in this final hour. Imma lay down my heart, and feel the power if you want. No you won't."

His arms tightened around my body at the end of the chorus and he softly began to hum again into my hair.

His voice was indescribable. It sounded similar to Frank Sinatra's but less mature and just as mesmerizing.

"You're so talented." I laughed softly. "I don't understand why you didn't want me to hear you sing before. You're absolutely incredible."

Before Brendon could answer, I felt the weight of his body droop down onto mine, and his head rested on the top of my own, breathing rhythmically.

Not wanting to disturb him, I snuggled in closer to his chest and pulled his arms tighter around me, to which he slightly shuffled in his sleep and pulled me closer to him, inhaling deeply, then sighing out.

I felt so safe and peaceful lying in his arms asthe rush of the cars on the highway raced past us, and we slowly drifted into aserene sleep.