Butcher With A Smile - A short story

🌼 09.

Pieces of peace in the sun's piece of mind,
I know it's hard sometimes.

"Don't be nervous Ty. No reason for it." Josh squeezed my hand. He intertwined our fingers when we were walking. Standing at the door to Brendon's apartment, we were waiting for him to open up.

"I know, it's just that... I've never brought anyone over for them to meet, ever... you're my first." I blushed with a sour smile on my face.

"Aww, I'm very flattered." He leaned in and pressed a kiss on my cheek. "Promise I won't let you down."

I heard the door unlocking and just a second later Brendon was standing there, inviting us in. "Holy shit Dun, I haven't seen you since your junior dance!" He said and stuck his arms out. Josh smiled and ran to him like he was gonna tackle him, then hugged him.

"Bren! Congratulations, Tyler told me." Josh said. After he pulled away, Brendon threw his arm over my shoulders and pulled me closer.

"Thank you, please come into the living room, Sarah and I are making some thick ass steaks." He exclaimed, smiling and winking at me. Josh went on and before we joined him, Brendon whispered. "You two are cute af!"
I gave him my toothiest smile as we were walking to the living room.

"Josh, meet my lovely bride to be Sarah, Sarah, this is Josh, Tyler's lovely bride to be." Josh and Sarah just chuckled and I turned dark red.

"It's so nice to finally meet you Josh, I've heard nice things." She shook his hand. I don't have to point out how happy and all smiles we all were. This dinner was a great idea.

"Thank you, it's very nice to meet you as well and congratulations on the engagement." Josh said to her.

"Oh yeah, weirdos are my thing." She chuckled. "Please sit, would you like some wine, a beer?"

"Wine would be great, thanks." Josh took a seat at the table and signaled me to join him.

"So, cowboy, what have you been up to?" Brendon asked Josh. We were sitting, halfway through dinner, they got along great and I made a mental picture, then grabbed my phone to make an actual pic.

"Well, I'm helping the Tigers coach, he told me the spot is mine when he retires, so... yeah." Josh explained.

"You stopped playing?" Brendon asked.

"Well, I had to. I got injured pretty badly in my second year, it took it's toll on me. Too bad, but nothing I can do." Josh grinned, taking another sip of wine.

"Shit. Well, at least you found another way to play the field." Brendon said.

"Yeah, are there any games happening soon?" Sarah asked. She just happens to love football. Used to play it when she was a kid.

"Yeah, there are two games coming up, in a month or so, you like it?" Josh asked. She enthusiastically nodded.

"Love it. I used to play quite a lot. Me and Brendon used to go to games but not so much anymore." She said.

"Great! I'll get you tickets, you three should come to the next one." He invited us.

"Really? Oh my god, that would be smashing!" Sarah exclaimed. "Thank you Josh, that's very sweet of you."

"Oh, not a problem." Josh replied, running his fingers through his hair.

"Listen..." Brendon started. I had no idea what he was about to say. "How about you come to the wedding with Ty here?"

My cheeks turned rosy when Josh looked at me. "Yeah?" He smiled.

"Yeah, sure. Everyone's bringing their plus one, Tyler doesn't have one... well, now he does. It would be even better." Sarah said.

"I would love to come, thank you so much for the invite; and yes, I'd be honored to be your plus one." Josh said and looked at me again. I smiled wide and narrowed my eyes, blushing like my crush just asked me to prom.

"G-great!" I stuttered. Thankfully none of them took it the wrong way; I was just excited because he's going with me.

"Settled. How's the steak, are we worthy?" Brendon joked.

"Definitely, it was delicious." Josh said.

"Agree, you two are Michelin star material." I approved. I'm not really a picky eater but Brendon and Sarah are excellent cooks. She's even better with pastries, for example, that red velvet godlike cake, I could have it every day.

"Alright. How about a margarita?" Brendon asked with a mischievous look, his eyebrow lifted.

"Sounds perfect, haven't had one in forever." Josh smiled. So did I. I always smile when I see him happy, it's so contagious.

🌼

I woke up at noon with a headache. It appeared to be from me being hungover as hell. I don't think I've really had one before, like I said, I rarely drink. Except when Brendon makes a pitcher of margaritas and keeps filling my glass up before it's empty. It took me quite a while to process that it wasn't my room, it's Brendon and Sarah's spare bedroom. I tried standing up but I lifted myself too fast which resulted in me falling back next to Josh.
I didn't want to wake him up so I got up, slowly this time. First I stopped by the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. When I felt a bit better I continued my way to the kitchen. There was no one there so I made myself at home and turned the espresso machine on. This time I badly needed some coffee.

"Ah, fuck." I sighed as I sat down on the balcony, holding my cup of coffee.
It was cloudy outside, seemed like the sun was setting even though it was only noon. A gentle breeze was blowing and I closed my eyes, trying to mute all the traffic sounds. There weren't many, but my place seemed calmer, maybe because it's closer to the beach.
I was just sitting there for a few minutes, enjoying my warm caffeinated life source. I heard someone opening the balcony door.

"Thought I'd find you here." It was Josh. His voice was a bit raspy and I wondered, how much we actually drank last night.

"Morning." I chuckled. "I made coffee it's in the kitchen."

"Oh, maybe later, I don't feel like drinking anything right now." He smiled and buried his face into his palms after taking a seat next to me. Then he leaned his head on my shoulder, sighing. "I'm pretty sure I'm never having a margarita, like... ever again."

I chuckled and leaned my head on his. "I feel you. Did you have a nice time?"

I felt him nod. "I did. Brendon is just how I remember him and Sarah, she's really something. They're lucky. You are too."

"I am. They're the only friends I've got and I can't imagine my life without them anymore." I said after taking a sip of coffee.

"They're lucky to have you as well. You are such an extraordinary human being, I missed having you around all these years." He admitted yet again.

"Me too, which is why I'm so glad that you're here now." I smiled as my eyes gazed upon his sleepy face. His eyes were looking up into mine and I couldn't shake off the feeling that I might be dreaming. It's just that I've never been this happy before. It sometimes felt to good to be true.

"So, we're going to a wedding together, that escalated quickly, huh?" He joked.

"It did. I am excited though, I've never been at a wedding before." I said. He took my hand in his and intertwined our fingers.

"Promise it won't be the last one?" He replied. I think my heart skipped a beat or two, but even though I didn't know what exactly he meant by that, I didn't ask.

"I promise."