A Pile Of Polaroids (Brallon)

1: I Found A Pile Of Polaroids...

Brendon shook his hips as he swept the record shop's floor. It was a dull summer's day outside, with the lowering sun making the shadows dance and hues of light shift every few minutes. Brendon loved this time of day. This was the slow time, just before closing, that Brendon always used to clean up and put misplaced music in its proper place.

Brendon sung lowly with the song playing on the overhead speaker. It was one of those over played radio hits that was in its beginning stages of being a pure annoyance, but Brendon couldn't help but slightly enjoy it.

He spun his broom as he slid across the floor, throwing one hand up in the air while catching his broom in the other. He laughed, scanning over the shelf next to him to make sure nothing was too out of place. He was so preoccupied with that task, that he didn't notice someone sneaking up behind him.

"URIE!"

Brendon cried out, dropping his broom as someone yelled out his name and grabbed hold of his shoulders. Brendon sucked in a deep breath as whoever snuck up on him began to laugh hysterically, holding onto a nearby shelf.

"Christ sakes, Ryan, was it your goal to give me a heart attack?" Brendon gasped as he slowly began to regain his normal breathing pattern.

"I'm sorry, Beebo, but that opportunity was irresistible." Ryan continued to laugh, wiping a tear from his eye. "You're such a dork at the end of the day."

Brendon rolled his eyes, bending over to pick up his broom. "Can you knock it off with the Beebo nickname, Ryro?"

"When you stop with the Ryro nickname, Beebo." Ryan winked before laughing again, "Boss man wanted to know if you'd look through the back room before you head out?"

Brendon stood back up with a shrug. He wasn't just going to ignore something the boss wanted him to do. Besides, it wasn't like Brendon had anything better to do with his Friday night. He was single and it was summer.

"Sure. Usual maintenance?" He asked, pretending to take a swing at Ryan with the broom handle.

"Clean and swing!" Ryan ducked, covering his head with his hands. "Nothing too bad. I'd help, but we have family in town." Ryan groaned.

"Have fun in hell, Ryro!" Brendon teased, walking past the brown haired boy and hitting his rear lightly with the broom.

"Hey! Have fun jacking off to your tentacle porn later, Beebo!" Ryan called out as Brendon hurried to the back room. Brendon just laughed, continuing on his path to the back area of the record shop.

"Lock the front door when you leave!" Brendon yelled as he stashed the broom away. He heard a muffled response from Ryan, but he couldn't make it out. Brendon would just double check it before he left.

He wandered into the storage room, shaking his fingers through his hair with a yawn. There were a few new boxes and crates scattered across the floor. Brendon plopped down onto the floor, letting out a soft 'ow' when his butt made contact with the cement floor.

Brendon rubbed his lower back for a moment before reaching out for a box in front of him. He pulled it close, digging out some promotional posters and flyers.

"Friggin' sweet, dude!" Brendon laughed, extending a poster for one of his favorite bands. "I might just steal you after the promotional campaign is over..." He nodded to himself, digging through the other posters in the box. Eventually, he pushed the box off to the side, determining that it would be going to the front of the shop.

Brendon yawned again as he pulled a crate over to him. He smiled at the old records in their worn cases. They were considered retro, but they still sounded just as good as a CD today. At least, in Brendon's opinion they did. He liked older things, though. The look, the feel, the way it was built to last just fascinated Brendon.

He finished pulling the records out of the crate when something at the bottom caught his eye. Brendon reached inside and pulled out several polaroid photos.

"Woah..." Brendon chuckled, squinting at the photos. Some of them were of laughing people while others were of blurry scenery. Brendon peaked into the crate to see if there were anymore. "Hell yea!" He exclaimed, pulling out another handful of photos.

The owner of the old records must of left them in the crate. Brendon pushed it away to lay the photos out on the ground. None of them were labeled, but Brendon was sure they all held stories. Everything has a story if you looked hard enough.

Most of the photos were just random party and scenery shots, but some felt more like puzzle pieces the more Brendon looked at them. There were pieces of a face in a few, then what looked like a partial torso in others.

Brendon stretched before laying across the cold, hard floor to better adjust them all. He slowly worked together the pieces, forming one large image. It was a person, someone probably around Brendon's age, smiling with one arm holding a cup up while the other... The other arm appeared to be missing. Brendon furrowed his eyebrows as he took in the aspects of the large photo puzzle.

The guy in the photo was fairly handsome. He was dressed a bit like he could be from Brendon's time, but it was also apparent that he was from some time earlier. His eyes were a sky blue with earthy brown hair attempting to cover them.

Brendon trailed his eyes along the edge of the photos that should of held the missing arm. His gaze stopped when he saw dark hair leaning into one of the photos.

"There has to be more!" Brendon exclaimed, popping up to hurry over to the crate the photos had come from. He picked it up, but there was nothing left inside. Brendon frowned, shaking the crate as if it would make more photos appear.

"This can't be it..." Brendon muttered, turning to look back at all the photos on the ground. "Who would leave half a photo?.." He sighed as he set the crate down in defeat. He didn't bother to pick up the photos as he sat back down, reaching for another crate.

He began pulling out more records, not feeling as enthusiastic as before.

"Who are you?" Brendon asked the photos, tilting his head at the boy that was looking up at the ceiling. "Who are you with?.."

Brendon shook his head, turning back to the crate. There were similarly old records, like the last crate. Brendon stacked them carefully as he came closer and closer to the bottom. When he reached the last record covering, his fingers brushed against a small square.

Brendon's eyes grew wide. He pulled out the vinyl to see dozens of polaroids at the bottom of this crate as well. He let out a cry of success as he pulled the old photos out, observing them closely. There was a lot of random things in the photos, but there was also something that made Brendon's heart leap with excitement.

A large blob of black hair took up most of one of the photos.

"Let's hook you up, mystery guy!" Brendon exclaimed, crawling over to where his photo puzzle was.

Slowly, Brendon began creating more and more of the image. Hair, face, and body came out next to the mystery boy. Brendon even found mystery boy's missing arm and hand in the extra photos.

Brendon let out a sigh as he put the last photo in place. His eyes trailed over the photos so that his brain could process them all together. It looked fine, until Brendon looked at the boy next to the first mystery boy.

The figure was also a boy at Brendon's age. He had raven black hair and chocolate brown eyes with a crooked smile on his face. Brendon looked at the photos in disbelief. It didn't make sense. He was looking at himself, staring happily back at him while leaning against the mystery boy.

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A/N~ take a guess at what song inspired me ;)

This is gunna be fun, just you guys wait! I'm excited & I hope you'll like it!

~Skittles Out~