CASUAL AFFAIR; brendon urie

Chapter Fifty-Three

Breezy was standing outside by her car when I arrived back, waiting patiently with her hands clasped and resting on her lower stomach, looking as flawless as ever in a pretty pink summer dress, pink suede wedges, hair in a preppy ponytail, smiling. She waved when she saw me get out the car, and began to speak brightly. "Hey, Flo! I was wondering if you wanted to go out for..." her smile wavered and she trailed off when she caught sight of me, replaced by a look of concern. God, I must have looked a sight. She strode over to me, and put her hands on my arms. "Flo, what's wrong?"

And just like that, I felt the hiccup of a sob trapped in my throat, which I pushed back, and shrugged. "Something happened." I said pathetically.

"Oh, sweetie," she said softly, and wound an arm around my shoulder. "Come on. Let's get you inside, I'll make some tea, and you can tell me - if you want to." she said, gently leading me on toward my building.

God, I love Breezy. Her sweet, good-intentioned, motherly ways. The way I could let her guide me, and the way she managed to keep me on my feet, all the way to my apartment, and in the door, and onto the couch, where she disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a couple of minutes later holding a cup of tea each. I loved the way she'd picked out my favourite mug, an Adventure Time Finn The Human one, and the way she made the tea exactly the way I liked it (the complete opposite to how I liked my coffee - sweet and not too hot). And the way she perched beside me, taking my hand gently and she just waited, without prompting me, to begin.

So I told her everything. Not just about what happened earlier, with Brendon and Sarah, but that I'd fallen for Brendon, some way along the line in the past eight months. That I didn't know if it was the day he'd made me misshapen heart sugar cookies, or when his hand had found mine when we went to the cinema to see the film, or over the bowl of Cheetos, or when he picked me up from the airport, or before that, when I talked to Sammi in the hotel, or maybe way before all that, when he'd turned up at my apartment the second time we'd ever met.

And not once did Breezy say 'I told you so,' even though there were plenty of opportunities to do so as I spilled my guts to her - even though she had. And I kind of wanted her too.

And when I was finished telling my sorry story, giving way to a brief silence, Breezy wordlessly leant over, placing her hands either side my face, and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"Flo, honey." she said, and pulled me into a hug.

And I just broke.

The tears that I'd held in from the moment I'd seen Sarah draped over Brendon now spilled free, my arms wrapping around her tight and I was making the ugly kind of sob noises, ruining the shoulder or Breezy's pretty dress, and Breezy, god bless her, just held me, making soft noises of comfort, waiting, again, for me to let it all out. And when the tears had eventually subsided to a miserable dribble down my cheeks, she broke our embrace and handed me a tissue, then my mug and I thanked her quietly, sipping on the tea like an unsure child might.

She took a sip of her own, before setting it down and reaching out to put a hand on my knee. "Aw, honey. I ... I'm not gonna lie to you, I really don't know what to say." she shook her head. "God, Brendon, you idiot." she muttered under her breath.

It was quiet for a moment. "You know what I think?" Breezy said. "I think Brendon's lost a damn good thing. He's lost possibly the most incredible girl there is. And ... And I don't think he was the one that was urged to throw it away. But still. He's a fucking idiot for letting her do that to him."

"Thank you." I said, sniffing and burying my nose in a tissue. "For listening to me. I really appreciate it."

"Sweetie, that's what I'm here for. You know how much I love you, Flo." she smiled softly. "And I'm always here if you need me." she paused. "Want me to stay the night?"

Being alone was both the first and last thing I wanted right then. But I could tell right away from Breezy's tone her mind was made up. My answer was merely a formality. But being taken care of wouldn't be such a bad thing.

After Breezy had spent the night, I'd awoken to the smell of batter on a hot skillet and the sound of soft, jaunty singing.

She looked surprisingly fresh and bright for having spent the night on the couch, hair scraped back, in a pale pink dressing gown, not a single sign or tiredness on her features. I knew she knew I was there, but she didn't turn to face me, with a smile, until she slid the freshly made pancakes onto two plates. "Morning," she said brightly. "I hope you don't mind that I helped myself."

I shook my head. "S'ok." I walked over to the kitchen island, sitting down and pressing my chin into my hands, inspecting the grain of the counter. "Thanks, Breezy ... But I'm not hungry."

A frown flitted across Breezy's face. "Gotta eat, Flo." she smiled again, as she gave generous amounts of syrup and butter to each stack. "Most important meal of the day and all that jazz. Sides', don't insult me and my best damn pancake ever makin' skills."

I knew that she was worried enough about me ... But me not wanting to eat threw up all sorts of warning signals.

She put the plate in front of me, and gave me a pleading sort of smile. "For me?"

So I gave her the best smile I could manage, and picked up a fork.

"I should get ready." I announced suddenly, when I was done pushing it around my plate after the few mouthfuls I could manage. Breezy really did make some of the best pancakes ever ... But I wasn't hungry.

Breezy frowned, setting down her fork. "Ready for what?" her tone was concerned. Again.

"For work." I replied, picking up my plate and taking it over to the sink.

"Whoa," she stood suddenly, putting a hand to my arm gently, but in a way to keep me in place. "Can't you ... Take, like, a personal day?"

"No." I shook my head. "I mean ... I think working will help, y'know? Keep myself busy."

I could tell she thought about saying otherwise, but she could see my point, and reluctantly, she dropped her hand and nodded.

After I was ready, Breezy insisted on driving me to work and dropping me off, and getting out the car, I felt like the new kid, getting dropped off at school for the first time by a cautious mother. She even smiled encouragingly and said 'have a good day, sweetie.' Heck, all that was missing was the kiss on the cheek and the 'call me if anything goes wrong.'

As soon as I was inside, waving to convince her I was okay and she could go, I ran to the bathroom upstairs, locking myself in and pressing myself up against the door, and cried. Ugly, loud sobs that racked my entire body. Sure, I'd cried last night, too, in bed, but I'd pressed my knuckles to my mouth, muffling the noise on the pillow because I hadn't wanted to disturb Breezy. Besides, I'd done my crying in front of her. Sometimes, it was something you wanted to do alone.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell at the front of the shop chimed, signalling Tommy's arrival, and I got up, grabbing a handful of tissues and fiercely rubbing my eyes, straightening before going back down.

"Chief?" Tommy's voice was concerned the second he walked through the door and saw me.

"I'm fine." I did my best to smile.

His expression showed he didn't believe me - and I didn't blame him. I wouldn't believe me, either. And without another word, he threw his arms around me and hugged me tightly. When he pulled back, he gave me a lopsided, soft smile. "You don't have to tell me a thing, but ... If you need a hug, Flo, just holler."

I punched his arm gently, smiling - if only a small one - for real. "Thank you, Tommy. That's really sweet of you."

He gave an awkward sort of salute. "Now I know it's only ten in the morning but ... Why don't we drown our sorrows with a two litre bottle of diet coke and takeaway pizza."

"You know what, Tommy?" I laughed. "That sounds fantastic."

I apologise for the length of this chapter, it's kinda just a little filler one, to be honest. I don't wanna spoil the next chapter, but a character that's only briefly been in this before gets properly introduced (idk, if you wanna guess, just comment, haha!)

-Beth