The Fear Of Falling Apart

-3-

Let the drama begin 😈

Tanith's POV

I walk in after a long and tedious Friday, smiling to myself. Brendon promised we'd jam tonight, even if Panic! isn't doing anything for a while.
And I've already been thinking over what songs we should try. I think I'll ask him to help me fix my voice for the song 'Kids In The Dark', as it's the chosen song for my music performance.

"Dad?" I call, giving Buddy a pat and dropping my bag by the door.

"Tanith, hey. Could you come in here for a moment please?" He calls from the living room. I walk in a he asks, my dog by my feet. I'm ready to launch into a conversation about music, just as we always do.

But there's a woman on the sofa beside him. Brendon gets to his feet quickly. "Tan, this is my girlfriend Jenny."
Girlfriend?
I'm a little shocked by his words, I'll admit it. It's not that I have a problem with him seeing people, in fact I think it's a great thing. But he's never mentioned a Jenny to me before.
I shouldn't be feeling so betrayed by this. I need to give her a chance.

"Hi." I say, smiling for a second. "I'm Tanith." I hold out my hand. Jenny looks hesitant, but reaches out and shakes it.
Brendon smiles at the two of us, obviously assuming we'd get along. "I'm gonna grab us some drinks. What do you girls want?"

"Iced tea please." Jenny smiles sweetly.

"Just a soda Bren." I twitch my mouth into a smile. He nods and walks from the room. I take a seat beside Jenny awkwardly.

Buddy jumps up on my lap and lays down, resting his head on my arm. I chuckle to myself and give him a scratch behind the ear, and he closes his eyes happily.It gives me something to take my mind off everything I guess. This dog is a blessing.

"What kind of dog is that?" Jenny asks, looking at Buddy with distaste.

"He's a pit bull." I tell her proudly. "And I know they have a bad rep, but he's the sweetest little guy in the world. In fact, he's saved my life." I reassure her. She doesn't look convinced.

Buddy lifts his head and leans out to lick her arm, but she flinches away. So Buddy stood up and walked closer to her. I guess he was determined to lick her.

But Jenny screams, shoving Buddy on the floor as hard as he can. My poor dog goes flying, hitting the carpet on his side before skidding to a halt. He scrambles to push himself under my legs in a bid to hide from her.
"Hey!" I yell at her angrily as he whimpers in fear.

I gave her her fucking chance and I don't fucking like her.

Brendon races into the room. "What's going on? Jenny are you okay?!"

Jenny looks at Buddy fearfully. "That m-mutt attacked me!" Brendon looked over at me and my cowering dog.

"No he didn't!" I retort, glaring at the home invader. "He tried to lick you and you threw him on the ground! Buddy wouldn't hurt anyone unless they tried to hurt me." Just to prove my point I pick him up and hold him like a small child. Buddy wags nervously his tail and licks my face, pressing his cold nose into my collar. I smile at him and tell him that he's a very good dog.

Brendon eyes the situation carefully. "Tan, can you put Buddy in the other room please?"
I almost explode from anger. "But he didn't do anything! He was trying to be friendly!"

"He makes Jenny uncomfortable, so he's gonna have I stay elseware for a little while." He tells me firmly.
I glare at him as I take Buddy upstairs into my room and put him on the bed.
"Your a good boy Buddy." I promise him. "This bitch doesn't know what she's talking about."

---

"We're still gonna jam, right Brendon?" I ask hopefully. I've spent an hour with this woman and I've had enough. She's seriously getting on my nerves. He looks at me uncomfortably. "Tan we have a guest."

"So? When Pete's over we jam." I retort. He sighs, caving in. "Alright. Which guitar do you want?"

"Dark brown acoustic please." I smile sweetly as he leaves the room.

I try to ignore the woman beside me while he's gone, but she doesn't make it easy. "Do you even use makeup?" She asks, sounding bored with me.

"Only on stage. I use mascara to draw my Warpaint sometimes." I tell her. She wrinkles her nose.
"I'm so glad Brenny promised me he wouldn't leave this year."

I freeze on the spot at her words.

She is the reason Panic!'s on hold?

She is the reason my life is boring?

Before I can react to this news Brendon reappears carrying two acoustic guitars and a smile on his face. "Here you go Tan." He hands me my guitar. I thank him and strum it lovingly. I love jamming with my dad.

"Fall Out Boy?" He asks me.

"Jet pack Blues?" I ask with a grin. And with that we begin to play.

I sing through the verses softly. And as we reach the chorus I smile into it.

"I remember!" We both sing, our voices blending together.
"Baby, come home" he continues, aiming the choruses.

The song ends and we look to Jenny to see what she thought. "It was like, okay or whatever, but maybe try a good song this time."

I've had enough.

"What would you call a good song?" Brendon asks thoughtfully.

"I really like Nikki Manaj-" is as far as she gets before I stand up.

"Okay, so you hate Fall Out Boy, you hate Panic! At The Disco and you hate my dog." I say, glaring daggers at her. "I think we have a problem here."

"The only problem here is you, honey." She says, wrinkling her nose. We both look to Brendon to see which side he was going to take. I'm about to explode from anger. I hate her.

He takes a second, looking between us with a pained expression on his face.
"Tan, please go upstairs." He sighs, not looking at all content with his decision.

I think my face was enough to tell him that I was hurt, so I didn't use any words as I ran upstairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me. Buddy jumped all over me in an instant, so I sat down on my bed and pulls my faithful companion into my lap.

"I'll always have you, right Buddy?" I whisper to him. He licks my face happily, wagging his tail all the while.

Buddy's such a fun little pup to write in!

So here we are, another chapter! I'm on a roll.