Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time

Chapter 21

 As the days go on, Brendon continues to distance himself from any bad memory or dream constantly trying to crawl back into his mind. As handy as denial is, marijuana and meditation also provide a safety blanket of naivety.

Gentle music flows through the room of Brendon's studio as he sits cross legged on the floor, trying to concentrate on his breathing. Only colors appear in his mind as he tilts his head back. He counts each steady breath from ten to one, making sure the consistent pattern doesn't get broken. When the musician feels satisfied, he gets off the ground and goes over to his computer to pause his music.

He hears the door open and quickly turns around. Sarah walks in with a small plate of food.

"Thanks, babe!" He says, taking the plate from her.

She pulls up a chair and sits next to Brendon, "Have you finished any songs lately?"

"I actually have. You remember Lauren Pritchard, she goes by Lolo?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sarah asks, while taking a small tomato from Brendon's plate.

"Yeah, she gave me some ideas a little while back for a song." The musician brings up the music file, "I wanted to wait until I put it all together to show you."

"Oh?" Sarah says, seeming fairly intrigued, which excited Brendon.

The musician opens the track. While it plays, he looks to his wife and anticipates a reaction. The only other person besides Jake whose opinions make Brendon gitty or weary is his wife. Even though she didn't have any say in Brendon's creative process, her honest opinion could bring him up or break him down. Sometimes he thinks that if she doesn't like it, no one will. This track in particular, was about her. That's more than enough to get Brendon's anxiety spiking.

He watches as a smile grows on her face. He can feel some of the pressure lift from his body.

She says, "Do I detect both Sinatra and Beyonce vibes from this?"

"Right on the nose, darlin." Brendon says, taking a bite of his sandwich.

A minute goes by before Sarah asks, "Is this about us?"

"That's definitely a part of it. Lauren wanted to write a song centered around our togetherness. What really drew me in was her title 'Death of a Bachelor'. It makes it sound like I'm killing off my old self."

She lays a hand on his back, slowly tracing circles into the fabric of his shirt, "You're definitely not the same. I think you're better now."

He looks in her direction, "You know, I only thought you liked me cause I was in a band."

"I knew you were running from something." She says, her eyes are sad.

Brendon feels his mood slightly drop, "I didn't just run away to run to you. I stayed."

"And I let you in slowly but surely."

"It wasn't wrong for you to be cautious. Fuck, I was a mess."

She places her hands on either side of his face, "You were, but I was still so drawn to you. You've changed in such a beautiful way, Bren."

Brendon holds her arms, trying to not let his emotions get the best of him. She places a tender kiss on his forehead.

"Damn it, Sarah! I didn't plan on crying today!" Brendon exclaims in a goofy voice.

"Oh no, I should leave then!" Sarah plays along, quickly popping up from her chair with a concerned puppy dog face.

"You're not going anywhere." Brendon says, dragging Sarah into his lap.

They come in for a passionate kiss. Sarah retracts and giggles.