The Best You Ever Had

Hurting You and Numbing Me

"What are you doing?" I asked as Brendon climbed into the SUV with me. "I thought you were running me to the car, not getting in the car!"

"Well, I'm here now. Let's just go."

"People are gonna talk!" I exclaimed, wiping tears away from my eyes.

"Piper, we ran together, holding hands. Whether I got in the car or not, people were gonna talk."

There was a thump, and suddenly the crowd was pressed up close to Brendon's door.

"Well, I'm not getting out now," he said dryly. 

I groaned in frustration, but tapped the driver on the shoulder. "We can go, please."

She drove away slowly and carefully, and once we were out of the crowd, I turned and looked at Brendon. 

"Where are you staying? We can drop you off."

He scratched the side of his nose. "Uh, actually, I saw you in the lobby the other day. We're at the same place."

"Perfect," I said, crossing my arms and trying not to think too much about the situation I found myself in.

That's when Brendon hissed, "Oh, shit, I'm bleeding everywhere."

I turned to him, and sure enough, there was blood running from his elbow.

"What the fuck happened?"

"I don't know! Must have gotten caught by something or someone as we ran. Fuck, man."

The driver handed back a bunch of napkins, and Brendon held them over the wound. "Thanks."

I sighed. "Look, I appreciate that you've been super nice and got me out of there with no fuss. Come up to my room and let me clean you up. It's the least I can do."

In the darkness, it was hard to make out his expression, but after a few beats he finally answered. "Yeah, okay. It is the least you can do."

"What does that mean?" Was he really trying to pick a fight with me immediately after rescuing me? Immediately after I got dumped?

"Nothing," he said. "It came out wrong. Yes, please help me get this taken care of."

It was a quiet few minutes ride before we got to the hotel. A quiet few minutes I spent trying to hold back tears and dwelling on Brian. I'd been totally blindsided. I had actually thought he wanted to marry me! Of course in hindsight, it was so clear that was never going to happen. I wanted to kick myself.

I also desperately wanted Brian to come back and tell me how sorry he was, what a fool he was, how badly he wanted to take it all back. Also never going to happen. Once he'd made up his mind about something, he never changed it. Not ever. And if he'd been seeing somebody else, did I really want him to come back to me?

Brendon had the good sense not to mention my renewed tears as we pulled up to the hotel. We hurried inside and into a thankfully empty elevator. The napkins he held to his elbow were soaked through. He'd really gotten it good.

He broke the silence. "I have no idea what happened here. I can't believe it's bleeding so much."

I shrugged. "We'll get it taken care of. I always travel with a little first aid kit. If it needs anything beyond that, you're on your own." My kindness only extended so far after our strange interactions over the last couple of days. I was still feeling him out.

We went silent again, Brendon leaning casually against one wall like he wasn't bleeding out through his elbow, me tucked into the opposite corner, trying desperately to make my mind go blank. I didn't want to think much about Brendon or Brian. Too bad one of them was only a couple of feet away.