A Beautiful Disgrace

Mae snuggled into Tim’s chest completely happy. Tuffy and Muffy were curled up together on the end of the bed. Mae let her hand run up and down Tim’s chest over and over. Tim’s eyes were closed and his thumb ran slowly over her side where it dipped down deeply just above her hip because she was lying on her side.
They didn’t know that Pat was on his way into the house. The only annoying thing about a little brother was that he showed up when he wanted because he had figured out all the possible hiding spots for a spare key.
When Pat got into the house he walked around looking for Tim. He was bored and had nothing better to do so he had decided to give Tim a surprise visit. Tim wasn’t anywhere Pat looked so he went to Tim’s bedroom. The door was open after all.
Pat rounded the corner and found Tim… and Mae. Tim rolled his head to the side and smiled at Pat. Pat could see just how happy Tim was to have Mae cuddled against him like she was. I can’t bother them and poke fun at them if they look so happy like this. Pat decided to ignore the whole Mae cheating on John with Tim thing right there.
Mae opened her eyes and saw Pat. She tensed for a moment forgetting that John knew and they had ended their relationship but then relaxed. Pat smirked and then climbed onto the bed so he could sit with them. Mae started to shift but Tim stopped her. She pulled her shirt over her side and hip because Pat was there. She didn’t want Pat to see most of her back because it seemed rude. Tim continued to rub his thumb in the valley just before her hip.
“You guys look comfy. Any room in there for me too?” Pat asked.
“No.” Tim responded. “She’s mine.”
That brought a never before felt wave of pleasure through Tim to be able to say that. Mae kissed his chest not caring that Pat was watching them closely.
“I didn’t want to cuddle with you guys anyways. I wanted to hang out with your dogs.” Pat said crawling to the end of the bed.
Muffy picked her head up off the bed and Tuffy shifted as if her were protecting her. Pat reached out slowly for Tuffy to sniff his hand, but Tuffy curled his lip back and growled. Pat started to giggle and he ran his hand up and down Tuffy’s side to make him growl more. Muffy put her head down and shut her eyes not caring at all.
“Tuffy, shut up.” Tim sighed.
“No, Pat stop messing with him.” Mae corrected.
Pat grumbled and sat back on the bed. Tuffy got up and walked over to Pat so he could get rubbed. Muffy couldn’t be left out so she got up as well. Pat soon had his hands busy with keeping both of them happy.
“How come you decided to show up today?”
“No reason. Just bored, you know?”
“No band practice or anything?”
“Already done.”
“How was it?” Mae asked even though she meant how was John.
“Fine, everyone seems good. John was his usual self.”
“Oh.”
“Garrett wanted me to tell you that whatever you said to John must have worked because he hasn’t mentioned you or looked sad for days.”
“That’s good. He still has yet to show up at my house though.”
Pat looked confused.
“I told him when he was ready to be friends then he could show up at my place and we’d talk about it.”
“Oh, makes sense.”
Tim took his free hand and lifted Mae’s chin so he could press his lips to hers. Mae shifted and curled one of her hands into his hair. Pat turned his eyes to the window not wanting to stare at his brother and his best friend.
Mae and Tim easily got caught up and forgot that Pat was there. Lately it had been this way for them. If they started to kiss then it was hard to stop. They didn’t know why, but Mae pinned it on the fact that she was all Tim’s now and there was no guilt left in her mind.
Pat cleared his throat. Mae pulled back with a smile. Tim nuzzled Mae’s cheek and then let her fall back into place against his side.
“Sorry about that little bro.” Tim said.
“No big deal. I just don’t want to sit here and watch that.”
“Sorry.” Mae blushed.
Pat shrugged.
“I love you.” Tim whispered in Mae’s ear.
“I love you too Timmy.”
They were quiet thinking that Pat wouldn’t hear, but he did. He smiled to himself for a moment thinking that Mae and Tim were cute. I wonder why it took him four damn years to see that Mae was in love with him. Pat shrugged and laid back against the pillows. Muffy and Tuffy curled up against his legs happy to have something warm to lie against other than each other.

John had been doing a lot of thinking. As of late it seemed that his mind was in several different directions. He was getting better at thinking that way though. At first he thought he was going to be insane in a week, but like a muscle his mind had gotten used to the strain.
He’d been preoccupied with what Mae had last said to him, what the next tour was going to bring, having to see Tim, and his home life with his family.
There was no doubt that John didn’t want to admit Mae made sense to him. He didn’t want to be able to find a way to forgive her. A part of him wanted to be mad at her and Tim forever, but that wasn’t his nature and he couldn’t be like that.
What Mae had said about how she felt about Tim struck a cord in him. John had known that Mae had liked Tim since she first met him her freshman year in high school. He knew that Tim had never really given her the time of day. It just had to be that he fell for her as soon as she agreed to date John. Sometimes John believed fate screwed things up on purpose to watch people scramble to put their lives back together. This was one of those times and he had almost decided it stick it to fate and not let it mess him up anymore.
The other part of his weakening was the fact that he and the rest of The Maine were about to embark on a long tour with Tim being there. Tim had to be there because both the bands he managed were on that tour. It wouldn’t be right if he weren’t.
John didn’t want to try and avoid Tim the entire tour. Tim was a fun guy to be around and if John were moody or pissy it would ruin it for everyone else. That and the fact that he’d been good friends with Tim for a long time made him know that Tim would never mess with anyone like he had with John unless this was really something close to his heart. From what John had heard, Mae was the closest thing to Tim’s heart now. How could I blame him for falling for her? I fell for her. I know what that’s like.
Before John could think about anything else with a clear and open mind he decided that he needed to come to a resolve with Tim and Mae. The first thing he wanted to do was talk to Tim. He’d talked to Mae and heard what she had to say; now he needed to talk to Tim.
That was just what John did. He called up Tim and asked if they could meet up somewhere. John did regret not meeting with Mae face to face like he was about to with Tim, but in that moment he couldn’t have met with Mae. He would have been angry.
Tim agreed to meeting with John. He was eager to repair the damage that he’d caused to their relationship. John was one of his best friends and he was really sorry for what he did, but he couldn’t regret it. In Mae he had found what he needed and no other girl had.
On a sunny afternoon Tim came to John’s and picked him up. They drove in silence to In N Out with the radio on low. They ordered and sat down. It wasn’t until after they had both eaten half their burgers that they began to talk.
“So I guess I should just start this. I wanted to talk about what happened with Mae. I’m sure she’s told you what we spoke about.”
“She has.” Tim nodded dipping a fry into ketchup.
“I wanted to hear why you did it.” John said picking up his burger.
He took a bite out of it and chewed while Tim thought for a second.
“Mae is a beautiful girl, I’m sure you’ll agree on that, and I don’t know how I never noticed her. I wish I had so this wouldn’t have happened. Regardless, she seemed to always be there for me when I needed her in the past few months. I would have never asked for her help, she was just there to help me with anything and everything. The girl washed me when I couldn’t do it for myself. I guess I realized then how much she liked me and then I realized how much I liked her. It wasn’t even intentional what happened. It was like when I was with her, nothing else was real you know? So what happened between us just seemed so natural. I’m sorry for what we did to you, but I love her.”
John nodded thinking that over. He ate the last bite of his hamburger and then started to work on his fries while sipping on his soda. Tim pushed a few crumbs around and waited for John to say something.
“I guess I can understand that.” John said slowly. “I know you’re not lying because I can see just how much you mean what you’re saying. You fucking glow when you talk about her.” John almost laughed on the last sentence.
“Yea, I guess I so. I feel like I am.”
“Trust me, you do. I could see that a mile away; maybe even hundreds of miles away.”
Tim smiled.
“I just wish that she or you could have come to me and said this before you guys went behind my back. I think if you guys explained this out to me I would have understood and let her go. I knew she wasn’t really into me. I could see that, and I could see how hard she was trying to be into me.”
“Why didn’t you let her go?”
“I couldn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” Tim said.
“I know, I understand. I won’t say I forgive you two yet, but I understand.”
John dropped Tim off at his home and then he drove to Mae’s. This was the last part of his healing. He had to see if Mae was willing to be his friend now. He would explain that she wasn’t forgiven, but this would be a step towards it.
Mae was surprised to see John on the other side of the door when she opened it. He smiled and asked if he could come in. She let him in and shut the door behind him. Mae led him into the family room. They sat down together.
“Look, I don’t want to go on tour and leave feelings of confusion or of frustration behind. I want to be friends again. You and Tim are not forgiven, but this is a step.”
“Of course John. I said when you were ready.”
“Well I am. I just had lunch with Tim and talked with him. I get why you guys did what you did. It wasn’t right, but I get it.”
Mae half smiled. “I’m glad we’re working this out.”
“Me too. I’ve got to run though. There are a few things I have to get done today.”
“Okay.” Mae said standing up.
She walked with John to the door. He turned and pulled her into a hug before leaving. Mae watched as he went down the street in his car. She shut the door and went up to her room feeling a lot better.
Garrett was in his room so she flung open the window and motioned for him to come talk.
“What’s up Mae Flowers?”
“John just came by. He said we could be friends again, but I’m not yet forgiven.”
“We figured that was going to come soon. He seemed to have been softening. I just didn’t want to say anything to you in case he didn’t.”
“He just left.”
“I’m glad. That’s good. I don’t like it when my friends are mad at each other. It makes hanging out difficult.” Garrett half smiled.
“Indeed it does. Though I would wait a little while before you plan something that had John, Tim, and I all included. Just because John and I are friends doesn’t mean Tim and I are free to behave as we do around you, around John. I don’t think that would be good.”
“No, but at least John would see how much you guys are into each other. It’s kind of… no it is sickening.”
Mae laughed.
They talked for a little while longer and then Garrett had to go. His mom wanted him for something. Mae did the only thing she wanted to; she got her car keys and picked up Muffy before driving over to see Tim.
Muffy jumped out of the car as soon as Mae opened the door. She ran up to Tim’s door and started barking as if she were announcing her presence. Mae picked her up though she was squirming and knocked on the door.
Tim answered a few moments later and smiled when he saw Mae and Muffy. He pulled Mae into the house and then pulled her into a hug. She lifted her face to kiss him. Tuffy was jumping at their feet and Muffy was fighting to get out of Mae’s arms.
The kiss had to end prematurely so Mae could put Muffy down. She and Tuffy ran off together playing already. Tim pulled Mae closer to him again and caught her lips with his.
“What brings you over here?” Tim asked.
“I wanted to see you. I missed you.”
“Mmm, it’s nice being able to see me when you want huh?”
“Well, not always when I want. I don’t get to spend nights here.”
“Would you like to change that?” Tim asked running his hand through Mae’s hair and kissing her lips.
“It would be nice.”
“Well then, Mae?”
“Timmy?”
“Would you move in with me?”
“I would love that. When can I?”
“As soon as you can I suppose.”
“How about tonight?”
“Okay, then you can live here and go to college instead of living in a dorm.”
“I would have lived with my mom and dad.”
“Now you can live here.”
“I’m excited. Thank you.”
“No problem. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They kissed once more and then went to the family room where they curled up on the couch and Tim flipped on the TV. It seemed irrelevant to have it on because it became background noise. They were too into kissing to even care that the news was on.