Losing Touch

Convince Me

Convince Me

Brandon and I woke up about noon. I turned on my phone to see that I’d missed two messages from 2004 Brandon. Jesus Christ. What was I going to do about that? I didn’t want to ignore the guy, but it was a risk talking to him. Brandon sat on the edge of his bed.

“Did I text you?” I chuckled at the way he posed the question.

“Yeah, you did. I don’t know what do about it.” Brandon shrugged.

“Do whatever you feel is right.” I sighed.

“I don’t know what’s right. It’s obvious that I’ve never been in this situation before.” Brandon smiled.

“What would you do if a guy you met at a bar and were kinda wary about texted you?” I thought for a second.

“I guess I’d text him once or twice and then ignore all further texts. I mean, I don’t know! It’s you we’re talking about!” Brandon sighed.

“You can just ignore me if you want. Although, I seemed pretty interested.” I smiled.

“That’s kinda weird.” I read the texts and decided to reply with something along the lines of: ‘Hey! What’s going on?’ I read the text aloud to Brandon and he said it sounded fine.

Ten minutes later, we were up and out of bed. We had nothing to change into, so we decided to go shopping with what little cash we had. The hotel room was the only thing Brandon said would be safe to buy with credit cards. We were walking down the street, looking for stores, when I noticed that Brandon was being unusually silent.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?” Brandon shook his head and put his hands in his pockets.

“Not much. I just realized something though.” I urged him on.

“What is it?” He shrugged.

“It’s just that I realized that you were basically the inspiration for my entire career. You inspired the song ‘Who Let You Go?’ from Sawdust, you inspired the cover for Day and Age, you inspired the song ‘Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts’ with your clever use of the title, hell, you were even the girl ‘Just Another Girl’ was written about. I’d come up with the idea the night after I met you at the bar. Jesus Christ. My entire life has revolved around you. I guess that getting sent back here was essential to my career. Without you, I probably wouldn’t have written some of my best work.” Brandon fell silent after he finished his spiel. I could not believe that I was the inspiration for most of his life. It just didn’t seem possible. I was just another fan! Not just another girl! 

“That’s impossible.” We walked in silence. “I’m just a fan! There’s no way that this is actually happening.” Brandon looked over at me with a soft smile on his face and his words were as soft as the expression on his face.

“It is happening. You’re the inspiration.” I was in awe. I needed some time to think about this.

“Hey, I wasn’t the entire inspiration. You did use the alias Michael Valentine. So there’s that.” I tried to lighten the mood. Brandon smiled.

“That is true.” We spent the rest of the shopping day in a peaceful silence. Except for when we’d gotten to Hot Topic and I’d bought about seven black and white checkered wrist cuffs, because they didn’t sell them anymore in 2014. Brandon had seemed quite confused until I’d explained it all. He then understood fully and had even bought me two. It wasn’t until then that I’d seen all of Brandon. He could be the man on stage, and then an entirely different person offstage. The offstage man was the kindest one I knew. There was no way to describe him. His personality was just charming. It didn’t help that he was attractive too.

We finished the day and returned to the hotel with three or four bags on each arm. The same lady who’d mistaken us for a couple greeted us and we made it up to the room. I tossed my bags in the corner chair, along with my purse, but not after grabbing the new pajamas. I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste that I always carried and went into the bathroom to change.

Later that night, I lay in bed, thinking about the day’s events. I’d discovered that I was the inspiration for one of my favorite bands and I’d discovered a new side of Brandon. I stared at the ceiling. Brandon. He kept bouncing around in my mind, and I couldn’t sleep because the very subject of my thoughts was in the bed beside me. I went through the thoughts that I’d had that day. Charming. Attractive. Kindest man I know. I knew it was happening, and it couldn’t because he’d never feel the same. I was falling for my celebrity crush, Brandon Flowers. And I knew I was falling fast.

Sorry for the short-ish chapter, I figured that I could get away with it, since the previous chapter was so long. Anyways, I’m probably gonna sleep now, since it’s 4:01 when I’m typing this. So, goodnight.