Tokyo Is Our Vegas // Brolby

十

| | T E N | |

" 彼らはそれを知らないが、彼らは私を憎む "

————

You called me out, I saw that.

I'll admit, I was late to the party.

But, I'm here.

You made them hate me, that's what you wanted, isn't it?

They don't know, but they hate me.

I hate me more than you do, more than anyone does.

Oh, just so you know, Tokyo smells like chances I wish I had taken.

———

Brennen woke up to the constant buzzing of his phone, his battery drained from the constant flow of notifications. He groaned, instantly waking up as he grabs his phone, finding that its vibrating in his hand. His face falls when he sees it.

Trending number one sat Colby's new video, the secrets of Tokyo out on display for all the fans to see. They already saw it.

No post from Colby though, not since he had posted the video. All of his friends were tweeting at him, yet there was no response. Brennen felt an ache in his chest as he sat up in his bed, opening the video.

Half-way through he had to pause it, composing himself before he pressed play again. "I just...I remember the way they looked at me, like I meant everything to them. I leant them my hoodie, they said I smelled like Tokyo...." Colby's voice cracked, he sounded so broken, Brennen was physically hurting.

The end was what really got to him.

"I know you're watching. I hope Los Angelos eats you alive, because clearly Tokyo didn't affect you at all." The malice in his words drove Brennen up a wall as he listened to them. So broken, so hateful.

He stared at the screen for a few minutes after the video had ended, his phone locking since he wasn't using it. His eyes blinked blankly at a black screen. For a single minute, everything was calm. No new notifications appeared, no noise from outside distracted him, the air felt still, everything was calm. Unmoving.

A single tear rolls down Brennen's cheek. "I-I'm sorry," he spoke softly into his empty room, his bedsheets a tangled mess and the only sign of life in the room. For a second, he was back in Tokyo, wrapped in Colby's warm hoodie, watching the sun slowly rise outside of their hotel window. On the other bed in the room, Elton snored quietly, in that moment he couldn't remember if they had gotten two separate rooms but maybe they had and he just imagined his friend was on the other bed.

"Now, I just feel like I'm being ripped apart...I see them everywhere I look, I just want to get them out of my head...want people around me to stop calling their name. I just want back my normal....that's all I want." Colby begins to curl in on himself, tears slipping between the fingers that covered his bloodshot blue eyes. "I'm sorry." His words were muffled. "I told myself I wouldn't cry, I told myself..."

Brennen's fingers hesitated over the digital keyboard on his phone. Millions of sentences dashed through his head, none of them having the right meaning. They weren't worded properly, they were unnecessary to post. No one knew it was him, he could just write something vague and short and concerned and it would drown in the endless sea of comments.

Although, he could go viral if he confessed. Stealing the spotlight out from under Colby, claiming a spot amongst the most hated individuals. It's like those at the top say, there is no bad publicity. Or, he could make Colby out to be a liar, turn it around and say that Colby broke him and that it hurts he's talking about all the things he had just put behind him.

The phantom smell of Tokyo wafted through his nostrils, hanging in the air as another tear rolled down. His spirit crumbled within him.

Finally, he posted the tweet.