What If

Punishment

"So you're telling me what you came from...like...the future?" Jimmy asked seriously.

Brian ran his fingers through his dark hair and took a deep breath. "Not exactly the future..."

"Then like...an alternate universe?"

Brian looked at his best friend...it had been years since he'd seen him and here he was...sitting next to him. Smiling, laughing...listening to Brian's crazy far fetched story as if he might actually believe him.  Unconsciously, Brian reached over to pat Jimmy's shoulder just to make sure he was real. The weirded out look on Jimmy's face was priceless.

Brian pulled his hand away. "Something like that."

"Then how did you get....here?" Jimmy asked.

"It was a girl..."

Jimmy began to laugh as he rolled his blue eyes. "Uh huh...a girl...."

"No really...she was having a fight with some guy and I intervened to help her out and I may have bragged a bit about my life and she sent me here."

"So this is a punishment?" Jimmy asked.

"Exactly," Brian replied quickly.

Jimmy gave him a skeptical glance "Your trying to tell me that your beautiful wife and gorgeous children are a mistake."

"Well..."

"No seriously...hear me out," Jimmy continued "You're trying to tell me that your studio musician job and guitar institute teaching position along with your 2 story house 4 bedroom house on the beach...and that's in addition to your lawyer wife and two kids are a punishment."

Brian looked down at his fingers. "When you say it like that..."

"Yeah...it makes you sound like a dick."

"But we were a band...a real one. We have a lot of good music and we've made a lot of money."

"Are you married in this alternate universe?"

"Well..no."

"So you're basically still sleeping around with chicks? Like you've never grown up."

"That makes it sound...bad," Brian said annoyed.

"It's not bad....it's just a far cry from where you are right now."

"But it's my life," Brian shrugged.

"Are you happy?" Jimmy asked, his blue eyes staring intently.

"Of course I am," Brian replied "I'm rich and famous."

"I didn't ask that...I asked if you were happy."

Brian considered.  He had thought he was happy. "This is so fucked up," he looked down at his hands again.

"It is a conundrum," Jimmy added.

Brian frowned. "So you...believe me?" he asked hopeful.

"Anything is possible," Jimmy offered. "The world is a crazy fucked up place."

"I'll say," Brian said.

"So who is President in your alternate universe?"

What an odd question? Brian had figured everything about the world was the same except the fact that he'd been thrown into domestic life blindly. "President Obama...but Donald Trump was elected."

"Fuck you...he was not!" Jimmy said sharply. 

"Really! I don't know how...or why...except people are fucking sheep...but it's true."

"That's not even remotely funny, Brian," Jimmy said flatly.

"I'm not trying to be funny."

"Who won the World Series this year?" Jimmy asked almost as if he knew the answer.

"Uh...the Chicago Cubs," Brian replied.

"Now I know that you're full of shit. The Cubs haven't been to the World Series since the curse of the goat was laid on them."

"You would have to ask the most obscure shit...you know that?" Brian asked and it made Jimmy laugh. The sound was music to Brian's ears.

"So I'm famous then?" Jimmy asked with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

 "Yeah...we're famous. We made more music after Waking the Fallen and people liked it....a lot."

"Did I write a lot of good songs?" 

"Yeah...you wrote some great ones. Matt did too. There are so many...so many to tell you about. Maybe we could...play...together...here....even if its not permanent...so you guys can see what we could have become."

Jimmy nodded but changed the line of question."Am I married to Leana? I mean...we are still together, right?"

  Brian could feel the lump form in his throat.  What could he say here? Luckily he didn't have to answer the question at all.

"Brian! Jimmy!" Matt's voice called loudly. "Get your asses over here. Zacky finally decided to grace us with his pretty face."

Jimmy stood and extended his hand for Brian to take. They made their way across the room and Brian was still feeling more than a little lost. He turned to see Kate with Val, Lacey and Leana. She was talking animatedly and had the girls complete attention.

As he passed, he caught her eye and she gave him a subtle smile. He remembered that smile well. It was usually a sign of good things to come...normally in bed. But he couldn't sleep with her...even if she was his wife in this place. It wasn't real. But that didn't stop him from watching her...the curve of her smile as she laughed at something Leana said to the group, the sound of her laugh that he remembered could make even the worse day better. Her attention was drawn to the full heart shape of her mouth. She looked over at him again and it was obvious his staring made her a bit self conscious. She smiled again but this time it was a shy one....like the one she'd given him when he introduced himself the first time they met.

Jimmy slapped him on the back and broke the spell of his memory. "Oh yeah....being Katie's husband...a total punishment. How are you ever going to live climbing into bed with that babe every night?"