The Blue Door (Van McCann Fanfiction)

Brynn: He Left My Hyper Heart Alone

"Right. Rachel," Van glanced over to the living room. "Do you mind staying here with Brynn for a bit, mate?"

"Yeah, sure. Anything," Van's friend smiled and looked at me briefly.

"Brynn, this is my best mate, Larry. And he is going to be your buddy this evening, is that okay?"

Truth be told, I wanted to leave. But Larry seemed like a chill dude. I nodded, and let Van excused himself to get to his date. I was honestly confused by what just happened. Van was passionately kissing me a minute ago and now he's running off to another girl's arm.

"So..." Larry exhaled, grabbing a beer from an open pack on the counter. "Are you from around here?"

"Yeah, I live nearby," I murmured, grabbing another drink for myself. "His best mate, huh? How long have you known Van?"

"All my life. He's like a brother to me," Larry smiled. "How long have YOU known him?"

"Four months or so..."

Forcing myself to get through the next couple of hours without being awkward, I sat in an empty chair near the counter and concentrated on making polite conversation with Larry. There were half-dozens of strangers around us and I was surprised that they knew that many people in New York.

I was listening to Larry talk to one of the few guys in the kitchen when I turned to people-watch in the living room.

A break in the bodies gave me a view of Van. He was standing and dancing with a very wasted Rachel. He was behind her, his arms around her waist, hand resting on her thigh, pulling her into his hips as they grind together in a way that was making me sick. He was dancing and holding me close an hour ago and that made me confusingly furious.

Van suddenly glanced up and for a second, he caught my eye. He nodded politely to me and he returned his attention to Rachel, who had come up to face him, aiming for his lips.

Larry, who had been watching me watched Van, noticed. "Are you okay?" He glanced at Van who was making out with Rachel, and then back to me. He whispered, "Is that bothering you?"

Panicked, I wasn't sure how to explain why that made me angry. I have no idea why myself, to be honest. I shook my head and looked down at my bottle. "No, of course not. Glad to see he is enjoying himself," I said, trying not to sound presumptuous. Larry laughed a little and looked over to Van. "Yeah, she's a good distraction."

"Distraction? Why?" I asked him.

"Van's been having a rough couple of weeks. I don't know if you know this, but our old guitarist left us. He and his brother, they are our best mates. We grew up together. I guess it sort of affecting Van that someone so close to him bailed out on him and the band like that. The band is everything Van had ever wanted."

"Oh," I said quietly. I couldn't help but think about my relationship with Van. And wondered if I was also his distraction. I kept my head down and purposely away from the living room. "He... He didn't talk much about the band. Or anything personal at all, really."

"That sort of explains why we are back in New York," Larry chuckled.

"So... Van and Rachel... Are they... Serious?"

Larry laughed again. "I have no idea to be honest. It's best to say that Van, well, he loves female attention. And right now, he's not looking for anything serious...."

Hearing that caused fire in my stomach. I wasn't supposed to be surprised about it. Van did tell me upfront when we first met. And we have agreed to the terms. But, knowing that Van might be seeing dozens of other girls was making me sad.