Drive

i. silence

     He wakes up at exactly 2:08 AM to the sound of his phone ringing. Julian, the caller ID reads. Brendan rolls his eyes as he picks up the phone. "What?" he snaps. "Don't you know what time this is?"

     "I didn't think that you'd be asleep," comes Julian's curt reply. "And now that you're up, I'm gonna be coming over in ten."

     "You're fucking impossible." But of course, the line goes dead and Brendan is sure that Julian doesn't hear his complaint.

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     Julian shows up at his house eleven minutes later. Brendan's arms are folded across his chest and he glares at Julian as his friend makes him way to the front steps.

     "What do you want, Porter?" he asks crossly.

     "Drive me."

     "What?" Brendan doesn't bother hiding his irritation.

     Sometimes he regrets staying friends with Julian because he's literally so impossible sometimes, but then again, Julian is the only real friend that Brendan ever has. Everyone else is fake—or they don't matter to him. Still, that doesn't mean that he's okay with the fact his best friend is paying him a visit in the middle of the night when he's supposed to be asleep. "Drive? Are you insane? It's nearly half past two in the morning."

     "And?" Julian prompts, obviously not caring that he's tired as fuck tonight. "You go home even later whenever you go out and drink. How is tonight different?"

     He almost growls, "Because for once, I'm actually needing rest."

     "Well, need rest during another time."

     "Fuck you. I really shouldn't have picked up."

     "But you did, and now I want you to drive."

     For a moment, all Brendan does is stare at Julian as if he has another head sprouting from between his shoulders. It's not his fault that his best friend is just so weird and demanding and unbelievably needy. He has every right to think of Julian as crazy. Besides, this is the third time that he has decided to come over and ask for a drive.

     Then again, it's not like what he thinks really matter. Not when it comes to Julian Karim Porter. No matter what he says, Brendan knows that Julian isn't going to leave until he agrees to drive.

     "Fine," he eventually relents. "I'll drive you. Get in the car." He doesn't ask where he's supposed to be driving them to, because he knows that he won't be getting a destination. Julian never has one in mind. Instead, he snatches the car keys from Julian's hand and storms into the car, pulling the door open and sliding in, before slamming it shut.

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     They drive for what seem to be hours. But one glance at the digital clock on the dashboard tells Brendan that it hasn't even been twenty minutes since they left his house to aimlessly drive around town. Maybe it wouldn't seem to be so much of a drag if the deafening silence doesn't bother him as much as it does. But the fact is, Brendan hates silence.

     "Say something," he mutters to Julian, fed up by the silence. It's slowly driving him crazy.

     "What do you want me to say?" Julian shoots back, still staring straight ahead. Even without having to look, Brendan can tell that his friend has a taut expression on his face while he clenches and unclenches his fists instead of filling the silence.

     Brendan knows that during nights like this, talking isn't going to make the situation any better. But then again, if they don't talk, they'll probably go in circles again and again and he knows that this won't be their last drive if Julian doesn't try to get better. And Julian showing up at his doorstep late at night demanding for a trip to nowhere is something that Brendan is beginning to get sick of.

     "Don't know," he responds, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner, his eyes also set on the road. What he wants to say is, Talk about what's wrong. Stop keeping it all in and tell me. But he doesn't say it. That's not how he and Julian work. If he gives it a push, then he knows that all Julian is going to do is take a step back. "Tell me about your damn boyfriend. Or about you sister. Anything. Just stop suffocating me with this unbearable quietness."

     He doesn't expect anything to fill the silence, though. It's always like this with Julian. Brendan isn't sure if he's not talking to just purposely annoy him, or if he really doesn't want to say anything. He's guessing that it's the latter, but it annoys Brendan all the same.

     "You're so goddamn cranky, you know that?" Brendan tries again, hoping that this time, Julian will say something.

     His words are met by silence.

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     It's 3:23 AM now. They argued a little, but even after an hour, Julian still refuses to say much. His replies remain direct and short, and it infuriates Brendan to no ends. He should probably just stop driving to piss Julian off.

     But he doesn't, because he's a good friend like that. As insufferable as Julian is sometimes, Brendan knows that he won't be able to leave even if he tries to, because Julian is the only thing constant in his life—the only reminder that he has of the fact that he's still sane and still coping and is still doing fine.

     ❖  ❖  ❖

     By 5:30 AM, they're already parked somewhere near McDonalds, having their breakfast in the car. The only sound filling Julian's Civic is the sound of them chewing on their food. It's frustrating that Julian said less than fifty words in the last three hours, but Brendan doesn't think of that and instead is glad that the drive will be ending soon.

     He yawns, then downs the rest of his coffee. "Sun's rising," he says. "I'm driving home. You can stay over at mine today. Get some sleep or something."

     Julian finally really looks at him for the first time that night and shoots him a grateful look. "Think I'll do that," he replies, which Brendan knows is the equivalent of, Thanks for everything, man. 

     Brendan snorts, dumping the rest of his uneaten food inside the McDonalds paper bag. "Yeah, you don't have to say it. You're welcome."

     ❖  ❖  ❖

     A/N: Yes, here I am with a new story. I wanted to write a friendship, so here it is. Drive will be written in fragments instead of day-by-day details of what happens in the story, and it's written in the same style The Story of Us is, except that it's written in present tense and the characters now have names. Oh, and picture on the right is Brendan.