Just Say Yes

Brian barely got any sleep that night, he had tried but instead of sleeping his mind was going over the conversations he and Erin had, had. He was trying to pin point when exactly she found out who he was, or if she knew from the very beginning and just did a unbelievably good job of hiding it. He was almost positive the latter wasn't true. The night they met really seemed like two strangers meeting for the first time.

After going over it a million times, Brian managed to get about two hours of sleep before he awoke and after many failed attempts at trying to fall back asleep, he got up. Pinkly was curled up in a ball next to him, she lifted her head as he sat up, tilting her head at him. He laughed at her and pat her on the head before walking over to his window to open the blinds, it was just getting light out. He sighed heavily, he turned around to see Pinkly still staring at him.

“Let's go for a walk Pink.” He said, she jumped from her spot on the bed to the floor and dashed out of his room. He slipped on a hoodie and some sweatpants then met Pinkly down by the front door. He spent a good twenty minutes walking Pinkly in the area around his house, smoking two cigarettes along the way. He was being honest with Erin when he told her he was trying to stop but with little to no sleep, he needed something to calm him down.

He really needed to talk to someone and the only person he could was passed out on his couch. Which left him one option, to wake Jimmy's ass up and talk to him while he was sober. When he got home Brian let Pinkly off her leash, she immediately darted into the kitchen as he headed towards the living room where Jimmy's sleeping form lay awkwardly.

He considered being really mean and just screaming in Jimmy's ear until he woke but Brian decided against it this time. “Jim,” He paused, shaking Jimmy's shoulder just enough to bring him to consciousness. “we need to talk.” Jimmy stirred, swatting Brian's hand away.

“Give me fifteen more minutes.” Jimmy mumbled, turning away from him. Brian was starting to get seriously annoyed, he grabbed Jimmy's shoulder and tried to turn him over. Instead of turning him over on his back, Brian used a little too much force and Jimmy's body rolled completely off the couch and he hit the ground with a loud thud.

“What the fuck?!” Jimmy whined, rubbing the shoulder that made the hardest impact on the hardwood floor. Luckily his head had been spared during the fall, unfortunately his shoulder wasn't so lucky.

“We need to talk, it's important.” Brian looked down at him, keeping his face serious to let his friend know that he wasn't in the mood to screw around.

“If this is about me fucking around with your guitars last night then I'm sorry.” Jimmy being in a vulnerable position on the floor, prepared himself for a serious ass kicking. Everyone knew Brian hated when people played around with his guitars without his permission but Jimmy was never one to follow rules.

“What? No.” Brian said, putting aside what Jimmy had admitted to. “It's about Erin.”

Jimmy relaxed slightly, moving his body back onto the plush couch, all the while rubbing his left shoulder. “What about her?”

“Last night you told me she liked our music, but I never told her I was in a band...” Brian crossed his arms across his chest, staring intently waiting for an answer.

Jimmy wasn't a very good liar, and everyone who knew him was aware of that. Jimmy's face fell realizing he had broken the promise he'd made Erin several weeks prior. “Fuck, I wasn't supposed to tell you.”

“How does she know and long has she known?”

“I don't know the specifics but she knew at least by the day she slipped you her number. She asked me to sign one of our CD’s for her brother. I'm his favorite.” Jimmy beamed, but Brian wasn't smiling. “But that's not the point.” He added quickly noticing his friend's frustration.

Brian ran a hand over his face then down the back of his neck. “Why didn't she say anything?”

“Why didn't you?” Jimmy challenged, Brian didn't say anything, knowing that he had a valid point. “It goes both ways, but you were the one lying my friend.”

“I didn't lie exactly...” Brian tried to defend himself but couldn't come up with a compelling enough argument.

“Just call her man, stop driving yourself crazy. It's really not a big deal.” Jimmy always had a way of making Brian feel better, he was thankful to have him as a friend, no matter how bad of a liar or how crazy he might be.

Brian sighed heavily, “Yeah, I guess I'll call her later.” The more he thought about it the better he felt about it. He had planned to tell her soon, since him and the guys had some shows to do on the east coast which would last them a good two weeks. He figured if he was unreachable for two weeks it would look slightly suspicious on his part.

“Awesome. Good talk!” Jimmy smiled brightly, happy to have been some help and fix the predicament he had caused his friend.

“So what was that about my guitars?” Brian folded his arms across his chest for the second time during their conversation, little to no emotion being shown on his face.

Jimmy's smile faded almost instantly and looked very nervous for his life. “They might be a little out of tune.” He answered with a innocent shrug and a tiny smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That same morning, on her day off, Erin woke up early feeling better than she had in a long time. Her conversation with Brian had gone better than she originally thought it would, she pictured it being awkward with lots of silence on both ends but luckily she was wrong. She drove Jon to work and stopped at the local grocery store to pick up a small bouquet of yellow roses. She then headed in the direction of her next destination.

It took her a good twenty minutes since the cemetery was just south of Boulder, just a five minute drive off the highway that lead down to California. She pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery, somewhere she had been numerous times before in the years since her mother had passed. To most people visiting a cemetery wouldn't be the first place for them to go if they were having a good day but to Erin it made her feel better cause she got to talk to her mom. It was still difficult and emotion at times would overwhelm her and she wouldn't be able to stay long but over the years each time it got a bit easier.

Getting out of her car, she grabbed the bouquet of roses sitting passenger side and began walking towards her destination. She walked along the headstones, her eyes scanning over the familiar names that she had become accustomed to over the years, until she came to the one that she knew all too well.

Loving mother and daughter.

Elizabeth Joy Mason

1965 - 1997

Erin placed the flowers gently next to her mothers headstone, then sat herself down on the soft grass in front of it. She tucked her legs underneath her and took a deep breath.

“Hi mom,” She smiled softly, this was a common thing for her, she had been coming to the cemetery since the day she had gotten her license. It had taken four years to build up the courage to come though, but once she did it, it was hard to stop. She would sit for hours talking to her mom about things that were going on at home, school, her love life or until recently lack there of. It helped Erin feel like she still had a mother to talk to even though she wasn't physically there with her.

“Sorry it's been so long since my last visit. I've been busy working, and Jon's prom is in two weeks. He's already got his suit.”

Erin laughed at the memory of her, Corinne and Jon's trip to the store to try on suits, it had definitely been an experience. One that had caused heads to clash and at the end of the day they all wanted to kill each other but all was forgiven by the time they returned home.

“Also, that guy that I told you about before, Brian.” The wind picked up a little, blowing some hair in Erin's face. “We kinda went on a date last Saturday. I guess it was a date, he never asked me out he just kinda showed up, but it felt like a date. We had fun.” Erin smiled at the memory.

“He's different than most guys I've dated, you'd like him.” She tucked the hair blowing in her face behind her ear. “He's in a heavy metal band, I know it's not your type of music.” She laughed softly. “It wasn't mine either but they're amazing. Brian's the lead guitarist, and Jon tells me he's one of the best.” She had snuck into Jon's room the other day and looked up videos online of Brian and the rest of the guys. She watched a few and was amazed to see how exciting their live shows seemed to be. She had never seen any musicians with so much energy before.

“I really like him, and that scares me.” Erin admitted honestly, staying silent for a moment before continuing. “His lifestyle is a lot different than mine, he's constantly traveling. He just got out of a long term relationship when we met, and not to mention he lives a state away.” Erin sighed, she hated having these doubts but they were realistic ones, ones that if her and Brian were to become something official, would be major factors. Erin wasn't sure if she wanted to get into something if only to have her heart broken again.

“He's a California boy by the way.” Erin remembered fondly when she was younger her mom told her about the year she spent in California being one the best times of her life and that the boys there were unlike any others. Erin was starting to see why. She was about to tell her mom about the plans Corinne had for Jon's graduation but she felt someone touch her shoulder.

Erin jumped slightly, turning around to see Lisa standing behind her. “You don't sneak up on someone in a cemetery Lisa!” She scolded, her hand clenching her chest as her heart was beating faster than normal.

Lisa giggled softly, sitting down next to her friend. “Sorry, I couldn't resist.”

Erin glanced over at the brunette next to her. “How did you know I was here?”

“Corinne,” Lisa said, meeting Erin's eyes. “I was going to try to kidnap you to go shopping with me but she said you were visiting your mom. Which confused me at first cause I knew that you know...” Lisa paused not wanting to say the word 'dead'. “then I figured it out.”

“It's the first time I've been here in a month. I haven't really had much to tell her until now.” Erin explained softly, normally she came at least once or twice a month, maybe more if there was something going on that she wanted to talk about.

“How in our six years of friendship did I not know this?” Lisa questioned, she was legitimately astounded that Erin managed to keep something of this capacity from her.

Erin shrugged. “I just never thought to tell you. Most people don't think it's normal to talk to headstones.” She joked lightly.

“Well I'm not most people.” Lisa stuck her tongue out at Erin who in turn laughed, laying her head on Lisa's shoulder. Lisa then leaned hers against Erin's. “Are you going to introduce us?” Lisa inquired, she had never got to meet Erin's mom but she had definitely heard a lot of stories from Corinne and Erin.

“How rude of me.” Erin smiled to herself and cleared her throat. “Mom, this is Lisa, my best friend in the whole world. Lisa, this is my mom.”

Lisa grabbed Erin's hand and held it tightly. “It's nice to meet you, Elizabeth.”