Little Deaths In Musical Beds (Brendon Urie)

Chapter Twenty-One: If I Could Trade Mistakes For Sheep

The thing about LA was that no one was actually from there. It was a rarity to meet a person who had been born and raised in the city of angels, where there were no angels at all.

Aveline ordered her coffee as per usual, then found a seat near the window of the quaint coffee shop she frequented. She looked at the time on her phone. Brendon was supposed to meet her in ten minutes. He'd texted as soon as he was back in town pleading with her to meet with him, alone. She wasn't exactly alone, but it was as close as Brendon was going to get for now. She didn't trust herself with him, and she knew no matter how he felt about the girlfriend he would do anything she asked. Anything.

Brendon walked in the doors to the coffee shop right on time. He gave a small wave and a smile while he ordered his coffee. Aveline repeated his gesture feeling butterflies in her stomach as if nothing had changed between the two, only things had changed. Who they were in that moment was not who they once were, and she knew that time was good to both of them.

"Hey you." He smiled brightly as he sat down across from her.

"B." She answered with the same kind of smile.

"God, I can't express enough how happy I am to see you." He told her, sipping his coffee.

"Likewise. Your mom was the last person I thought I'd run into in that grocery store." She laughed a bit as she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Wrapping her hands around her coffee cup, she looked out the window. She knew the talk was coming, and she wasn't sure she was ready for it.

Silence fell over them before they both tried to speak at once. Laughing, she insisted he speak first, knowing whatever he was about to say had been weighing on him. He sighed and looked down at the table.

"Liri," he began, drawing circles with his fingertips, "that night..." He trailed off. "I don't remember it. I know I fucked up really bad, but I don't know how..." He trailed off again getting frustrated he couldn't find the right words. "Whatever hap-"

"I walked in on you fucking someone else, and you asked me to join. I had to leave. You were so far gone, B." She cut him off, a touch of bitterness in her tone. Brendon's eyes shot up from the table, meeting hers with a shocked expression.

"What?" He asked not believing what he was hearing. "I-I did that?" Aveline just nodded.

"Fuck. Wow." He raised his brows. "No wonder you left. I'm so sorry." She shrugged.

"It is what it is. I'm trying not to hold it against you."

"I wouldn't blame you if you did."

She laughed a little. "I would hold it against me. People fuck up. It's what we're good at." Letting out a sigh, she leaned back in her chair. "What I wanna know is why you never came after me?" Brendon looked at her confused.

"He told me you never wanted to see me again, so I was just trying to give you what you wanted." Aveline furrowed her brows.

"Who's he?"

"Ryan." Brendon told her honestly. Aveline's response was immediate.

"Excuse me?" Her eyes opened wide. "I never said that."

"I don't know Liri. All I know is I wanted to go after you. He told me not to that that's how you wanted it."

"Jesus, I want to kill him." She clenched her fists and looked down at the table then back up a Brendon. "He only did that because he wanted you for himself. God, that pisses me off." Brendon laughed a little.

"I thought the two of you were friends?" He cocked an eyebrow. She snorted.

"I thought so too. I guess not."

More silence fell over them as they sipped on their coffee. Eventually, Brendon broke the silence as he gave her a warm smile and put his coffee cup down, one of his hands coming to lay on top of hers.

"The important thing is us, here, now, friends again." He brushed his thumb over the side of her hand. She couldn't help but blush a little.

"Yes, that's true." She closed her hand around his, feeling so right inside, so where she was supposed to be. The only thing ruining her high was a little thing called a girlfriend.