Tokyo Is Our Vegas // Brolby

八

| | E I G H T | |

" 私はあなたが私を憎むことを望んでいませんでした。 "

———

I see you.

Kind of a dumb statement, right? Sorry, I can't help it, you're just on my mind.

Because you're in front of me.

You don't want to be, do you? Because I hurt you, didn't I?

I'm sorry.

That sounds like a lie coming from me, right? Because I left you, I ignored you, I walked away from what we used to have?

I know what I did.

I'm sorry.

————

Brennen shifted on the dark gray couch, feeling the tension between him and Colby, who he had been forced to sit next to. The boy was energetically doing the outro for his video that they had just finished filming. It was the happiest Colby had been all night, using hand gestures and loud voice to advertise various social media platforms. Brennen felt guilty as he smiled alongside the others who sat at the couch. Surely they could notice the change in Colby's mood.

While they had been playing truth or dare, Brennen expected Colby to call him out, to taunt him with his words just to get back at him, but he didn't. Brennen had hurt the boy so bad he didn't even want a shot at revenge.

Soon, the recording was over, and Colby had fallen back into his tired slump, mumbling he was going to bed as he walked upstairs with his camera. Brennen stared after him with regret and guilt.

"Sorry, he hasn't been feeling very well, lately. It's probably just a bug or something." Sam scratches the back of his neck as he apologizes for his friend's behavior. He doesn't let the anger he feels for Brennen show.

"Colby's just in a funk, he'll come around." It stings Brennen to know that Corey doesn't know why his roommate is acting this way. Neither do the others. As far as Brennen knew, not even Sam knows about what happened between him and Colby.

He leaves a few minutes later, guilt twisting his insides as he sat in his Uber. His camera sits in the bottom of his bag, he digs it out after staring out the window for a while. He wants to take a time lapse of the drive. LA looked so pretty at night.

As he held the camera against the window, he let his mind wander.

It wanders back to Tokyo.

———

Sprinkles of rain softly parted against his bedroom window, leaving droplets littered across the glass panes from behind Brennen's gray curtains. They were closed as he lay in bed, his closed eyes aimed at the ceiling as he explored his thoughts. He longed for slumber, but tonight it didn't seem to arrive, leaving the boy alone in his quiet room.

His phone buzzed softly on his nightstand, catching his attention although he made no move to check it. Slowly, more buzzes follow. Still, he ignored it, feeling a twinge of fatigue and being willing to give in. His notifications would still be there when he woke up, well-rested and ready to take on the day. He had things to film and then he had to start editing the footage he had gotten earlier that night.

Brennen fell asleep soon after the buzzing began, completely oblivious to what was happening on social media.

Tokyo was trending.