Playing Strangers (Brendon Urie/P!ATD FanFic)

Camisado

"Brendon?"

My head snapped up and I looked back over my shoulder to see Sarah standing over me, her arms folded over her chest. I swallowed the lump in my throat and wiped the tears from my eyes. "S-Sarah, w-w-what are you doing here? How'd you get here?"

"I got a taxi," She answered, "I called Pete and asked him what your address was and...yeah...that's how I got here. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay, which it obviously isn't, so..."

I sniffled and picked myself up from the ground. "I...I just miss her so much, Sarah," I confessed, my inebriation making me sound less serious than I would've liked to, "She...She was my everything. You know that. I told you!"

"I know," She murmured, shortening the distance between her and me and embracing me in a much-needed hug, "I know."

"I-I just want to tell her how sorry I am," I mumbled into Sarah's shoulder, the scent of her perfume filling my nose, "I want to choose her instead of my job. I-I wouldn't b-b-be here if it...if it wasn't for her. I need her, Sarah. I need her."

Sarah heaved a sigh. "I know you do, Brendon, but..." She peeled herself out of the embrace and looked me dead in the eye, "...your life doesn't depend on this one girl. I get that you loved her and everything, but...you're a rock star. You have hundreds and thousands of girls willing to kill to be with you. So why are you stuck on this one girl?"

I hung my head, a horrible, guilty feeling washing over me. I was being selfish, thinking only about myself and not about my band members. This plan wasn't instituted to punish me, it was set in place to protect me, protect us. It wasn't just my career on the line because of this, it was three other people's careers, my friends' careers. I couldn't just be thinking about myself.

"I guess you're right," I mumbled.

She flashed me a weak smile before running a hand through my hair - like Ruby used to - and bringing it down to the side of my face, caressing my cheek. "Why don't we try this again tomorrow night? I'm thinking pizza and wings."

I feigned a grin. "Sounds good."

Sarah smiled before leaning in and giving me a quick kiss on the lips, stepping away from me with an even wider smile before turning around and leaving my apartment, closing the door behind her. I stood there for a moment or two, trying to process what had just happened, before retreating into the bedroom hallway to take a quick shower before going to bed.

*****

I was lying in the big lonely bed, my eyes closed but my mind wide awake. I couldn't fall asleep, no matter how hard I tried. I just couldn't stop thinking about the day's events, thanks to the buzz I had that was starting to wear off.

First I lost Ruby, then I was going on a date with Sarah, only for me to leave in the middle of the date and go to the bar to see Ruby, where she wasn't even at. I then went home, hoping to see Ruby there, but found Sarah, who told me the same thing everyone else seemed to be telling me - I needed to move on. It wasn't going to be easy, but it had to be done. I had friends to think about; their careers, their lives, their-

My eyes popped open, seeing the door to my bedroom being pushed in, a silhouette standing out in the hallway. I immediately shot up, holding the sheets up to my bare chest and asking, "Who's there?"

The silhouette's head snapped in my direction, muttering a "fuck" underneath their breath. Before they could retreat, I reached my hand out and yanked the chord to the table lamp I had sitting on my nightstand. Light filled the room and the identity of the silhouette was revealed.

"Ruby?"

She heaved a sigh and replied with a defeated, "Hey, Brendon."

"W-What are you doing here?" I asked her, "I-I thought you left."