CASUAL AFFAIR; brendon urie

Chapter Forty-One

Ten minutes later, I was in the clothes I'd worn on the plane, and two blocks down the road at one of the outside tables of a cafe, opposite Breezy.

A coffee sat in front of each of us, though neither of us made a move to drink them, or even move them. I think it was probably the first time in my life I'd ever had a coffee and not drank it like it was lifesaving elixir. And Breezy's was her standard fancy cream mocha. It was probably more because it'd feel wrong to mess up the status quo of the situation, when the status quo of everything else had been kicked to pieces.

I'd found Brendon, after going back to my room to change, in everything apart from his shirt, obviously, sitting on the edge of the bed, his thumb pressed to his lips, a troubled expression on his face as he stared off into space. He'd looked up when I softly clicked the door shut, his eyes widening and his eyebrows shooting up as he awaited what I would say. So I passed him his shirt and started to dress, as I'd told him, and he'd listened, nodding. And when I was done, he'd grabbed my hand. Something that should have been wildly inappropriate given the situation, but really was just a comfort. And he'd laced his fingers through mine as he asked "What do you want me to do?"

I lifted my shoulders and dropped them with a soft sigh. "You can stay, but it's probably better if you go home, and ... We'll talk when I've had time with Breezy."

He nodded slowly, and stood, hovering uncertainly, before leaning down, cupping my cheeks and pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. "I'll call you."

Breezy was nibbling on her nails, her expression even more troubled than Brendon's had been.

Finally, unable to stand the silence, I reached over the table, and slapped her hand gently. "You'll ruin your nails."

She eyed me warily, before lowering her hand slowly, looking at her nails - painted a glossy dark purple called Black Cherry Chutney by OPI, which I'd bought as one of her birthday presents last year - before balling them into a fist. Another minute of silence passed before she asked, her voice low "How long?"

"What do you mean?" I looked down at my coffee, into its dark depths, and skimmed my pinkie over the top.

"How long have you two been..." I looked up to see her wrinkle her nose and mime with her fingers. "You and ... Brendon."

"About ... Five months."

Breezy gasped and her hand fluttered to her mouth again. "Five ... Five months? Jesus!"

I felt the crushing weight of her disappointment hit me, and I simply nodded, mute, before lowering my eyes to the hands I'd balled up into fists lying on the table.

"Five months ... that ... the party." She said slowly. She gave a small shake of her head. "The party. Right?"

I nodded again.

"Before you saw me?"

Another nod.

"And since then...?"

I nodded once more.

Breezy slapped the table, making me jump, and her eyes were wide when I looked up at her. "Say something!" she said. "It's driving me crazy. Speak!"

"Ok," I nodded. "Ok." I repeated. "Since then, yeah. A whole bunch of times. A lot. A lot, ok? We met at the party. We started talking, because it was only the two of us, out on the railing looking at the lake, and after a bit, I suggested we go for a walk. We did, and we talked more, and we flirted, a lot, I guess. He made me laugh. And ... and then he kissed me." I shook my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. "No, I kissed him. Well, I don't know who kissed who, either way, we kissed. Then stuff happened." Great stuff my mind whispered, but I held my tongue on that one. "And when I was leaving, after I saw you, and they played their set, he kissed me, and he asked for my address, and I gave it to him. Then he showed up one night. And then ... I mean how else do you want me to explain it? Breezy... We started having casual sex. It worked for both of us. The whole no relationship part of the deal that usually comes with sleeping with someone. No emotional, just physical. Just great, no-strings attached sex." I rushed out, and when I was done, I felt a little better but a little worse, each cancelling the other out. "Like that Ashton Kutcher movie. Or the one with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. But not really."