You Only Get One Shot Do Not Miss Your Chance to Blow

“Hey, Kyle,” I greeted as I walked into Gilly’s.

“Hey, Em,” he said, glancing at the clock, “Wow, on time today! That deserves a pat on the back.”

I laughed at him and reached over the counter to ruffle his hair and then made my way back into the kitchen and then back into the break area, where we hung our belongings such as coats keys and bags, and put my purse in my usual spot. I sat down on the couch, because this was the break room too, and took out my phone and texted Brendon.

Hey. I get off earlier today, 11:30, so call me after you’re done at Spencer’s place and we can do something.

I sighed as I turned my phone and vibrate and slide it shut. Brendon and I don’t get to spend as much time as we did before I got this job – or so it seemed. I’ve been working at Gilly’s for a day less than a week but it seemed like forever. It felt like forever, because I was so welcomed here by everyone and I loved it, but it also felt like forever because I didn’t see Brendon as much.

He had been working hard with the band. And unlucky for me he was busy with them in the mornings and afternoons usually. And I worked evenings, so it didn’t work out well, still, we did spend all the time we could with each other. I sat on the old couch reminiscing for a couple more moments before I heaved myself up off the seat and found my apron and tied it around my waist. I slid my phone in the furthest left pocket, I was anxious for Brendon’s response, and went out behind the bar with Kyle.

“There you are, you were back there so long I was about to send a search party to look for you,” Kyle joked. I rolled my eyes at his stupid witty joke.

The first few days I laughed at his comments, and I didn’t get why none of the other employees thought they weren’t amusing, but after a couple of days I realized why. He made them all the time. Usually the humor got annoying, like at the end of the shift – I’m usually tired, irritated, and want to get away from the people here, but Kyle never showed his feelings so he was always giddy.

He wasn’t giddy like Brendon. Brendon’s giddy was joyful and happy, but Kyle’s giddy seemed more forced, and it didn’t appear like he was exactly ‘joyful’ but more over excited, which did get very maddening. Most of the time though I gave him a grimace, just to show I got the joke, and luckily he never noticed my annoyance in the forced smile.

The next couple I hours I spent serving costumers, paying close attention to my upper left thigh in hopes of a vibration. At nine, I was already feeling fatigue, which usually came around eleven or midnight, and since I was getting off early I decided to take my break.

I walked out side for some air and sat down on the bench that was conveniently placed right in front of our building. I dug for my phone and took it out, surprisingly the message I was waiting for came two hours ago.

Sorry, Em. Ryan wants to try to get this progression worked out :( We won’t get done till later.

I knew Brendon was legitimately disappointed; he only called me ‘Em’ or ‘Emily’ when he is frustrated at himself, anxious or distracted. I felt a pang of disappointment in my chest and I let out a breath of frustration, not at Brendon, but with the situation. I slide open my phone so I could text him back.

It’s all good, Brenny. :) Don’t worry bout it, we’ll get it soon! Lol

I looked at the time, I still had seven more minutes before my ten minutes of paid break was up. I decided to look at the bright side of the situation; I would be able to go shopping for some things we needed at home instead of putting it off to hang with Brendon. I got another vibration

I’m suuuuuuuper sorry! Tmrw at 6?

I was surprised that Brendon remembered all the things I told him. I thought back to the night Spencer was talking about Brendon to me after cake.

“She doesn’t like when you do it that way, ding dong,” I heard Brendon say, well more yell, to Jon as they were drying and putting away the cake dishes in the kitchen.

“Hhhh, Brendon, Brendon, Brendon,” Spencer exhaled next to me on the couch in the living room.

I gave a small laugh, “What?” I asked curiously.

“Brendon. He’s a love sick puppy.” I looked at Spencer weirdly, mostly because of how he worded the sentence, but I was also confused at what he meant. “What? You don’t see it?”

I shook my head.

“Brendon only listens to what you say to him. I could tell him that I didn’t like when he left streaks on the plates when he dries them and he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about it. But when you tell him to make sure there are no streaks on the plates he’s drying, he’ll take as long as he needs to make sure they are perfect.” He admitted and sat in silence thinking about what he said.

Ryan, who was sitting on the floor with Hayley, added, “It’s not that he doesn’t hear us when we say stuff, because he does. But he just doesn’t remember what we say. It just goes in ear and out the other. But you, you could tell him the most insignificant detail ever, like a piece of information about Thomas Jefferson’s pen when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, and he would remember it for a lifetime.”

I scoffed at the last part, “Yeah right.”

“No I’m serious, Emily.” I looked at Ryan, and he was serious. “Brendon is very immature and, oh how do I say it…, goofy. People have a hard time being around him.” I looked at him questioningly, now I had no idea what he was saying at all.

Spencer tried to explain, “Ry and I have this saying, ‘If you can stand to be around Brendon for more than hour, you’re golden’ and you, Emily, have definitely passed the test, because he doesn’t make it easy.” He smile and both him and Ryan laughed at their inside joke.

I looked at Ryan for some clarification.

“Look, we’ve all known Brendon for a while. We know when he is acting up and when he can’t control himself and stuff like that. People have a hard time being around Brendon sometimes because… he can be so frivolous and upfront. You seem to not notice that.”

“I get what you mean, but I don’t.” I have noticed Brendon get hyper before, but it didn’t seem to be what they were describing, and lately I have been around Brendon a lot.

“Emily,” Hayley looked at me like I was dumb, “He is the most annoying boy I have ever met in my life! I can’t stand to be alone with him! If I was locked in a room with him, I would seriously consider killing myself, he is WAY too much to handle. I could never pass Spencer and Ryan’s test!”

Ryan gave me an I-told-you-so-look and Spencer laughed at Hayley’s burst.

“Oh.” I said, still not sure what they meant. It didn’t seem notice Brendon was annoying and out of control?

I finally came around and understood what Ryan and Spencer meant. On mine and Brendon’s first date, he remembered the brainless facts I had told him about me and he always remembered what I liked and what I didn’t like. He also had some very…manic, if you will, moments.

I texted back,

That would be awesome :)

Today was Monday, which as you might expect, tomorrow will be Tuesday. I had once told Brendon briefly my hours that I was to work and he just so happened to remember that I didn’t have to work every Tuesday. I pondered whether this was just a coincidence that tomorrow would be our date, or if he actually truly remembered, but I was interrupted by a vibration in my hand.

Cool, I’ll pick you up at 5:20. Be ready for fun!

I smiled at the text, I could just picture Brendon saying that. I was about to text back when I got another message.

Ohp! Gotta go. Ryan is gonna beat me with Spence’s drum stick if I don’t listen. Bye Sweets!

I laughed aloud this time. He never failed to make me smile, on the other hand, the last part made cheeks turn rose and I think my heart skipped a beat.

---

It was eleven o’clock when I finally lost my patience with Kyle and it felt like every ten seconds I was glancing at the clock, hoping that some magical force would have made time speed up so I could get out of here. I thought about how every other night I’m here until one or two and how I could stand Kyle for that long. It amazed me.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like working, because I loved it. But it always seems that if, for example, I get off two hours earlier than usual, I get antsier for it, even though it’s a shorter amount of time.

All the costumers at the bar were helped and looked content and Kyle would not stop rambling. I stopped listening to him, he could be such a girl sometimes. I looked at the clock and only a minute and twenty-one seconds had past from the last time I looked at it.

I glanced at the door and no one was coming in, so I ditched Kyle at the counter and walked over to the other side of Gilly’s, which was a restaurant. I stood at the podium with Kate, the waitress who also had nothing to do. We talked about a lot of things, like how annoying Kyle was, and soon I got a tap on the shoulder and turned to see a man about 15 years old than me, dressed in the same attire I was.

It dawned on me that he was the next shift, so I smiled and said good-bye to Kate and left to go gather my things to leave.

I hung up my apron after emptying out the junk I had gathered in it throughout the night and dusted off my black tight fitting work pants. I took out my phone to see I had four new messages, one from Hayley, and the other three were from Brendon.

Omg! Brendon told Ryan who told me about what you’re doing tmrw! And I promised Ry who promised Bren that I wouldn’t tell you what it’s gonna be! But eee!

I rolled my eyes. Hayley was such a gossiper. I also got nervous, tomorrow was going to be fun, but not know what it was going to be, was getting me anxious. I read the texts from Brendon next.

If you were wondering, Ryan still beat me with the stick. I’m okay though. ;)

I rolled my eyes at his cockiness, but grinned at him none the less.

Jon said we will be done by 2! Ha! 2 my ass! I will be sleeping at 2!

I laughed aloud at this one too. He was such a cutie!

Hey Em, it’s RR, I’m stealing Bren’s phone. He is being punished right now cause he wont listen to a damn thing we say. Ow. He just lassoed me with an amp chord. Next step, the dungeon.

After I read that, I sat there for a bit, gawking at it. All I could think was that Brendon was in his crazy mood, and I needed to save those poor boys.

I headed out towards the door but Kyle stopped me, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Emily.”

“Yeah, bye Kyle,” I said absentmindedly.

“Oh, Emily?” I turned to face him, getting impatient. I just wanted to get some fresh air and out of the bar.

“Yes?”

“You busy later?”

“Um, yes Kyle.” I looked at him like he was stupid. He looked taken aback at my slightly bitchy tone. “I’ll be sleeping.”

“Oh! Right,” he laughed at himself and I fake smiled at him.

“I’ll see you Wednesday” I waved back at him and he said farewell as I walked out into Vegas’ cooler night.

I got a cab and directed him to Spencer’s house, and dialed Jon.

“Hello?”

“Hey Jon.”

“Oh, hey Em--Cassie!”

“Um, hi?”

I pictured him cupping the phone as he whispered, “Sorry.” He continued in a regular voice, “Hey! Why does he get to talk to his girlfriend and I can’t talk to mine?!” I assumed it was Brendon “Shut the hell up, Brendon and play the fucking chord!” and I assumed that voice was Ryan.

“I’m not talking to my girlfriend, it’s my mom! So both of you, shut the hell up!” I heard Jon yell to them in the distance. I heard Brendon debate with Jon about how he heard him say Cassie, but Jon denied him and put the phone back up to his ear and ignored Brendon. “Anyways, MOM, what’s up?”

“Well, Jon, I got Ryan’s text and decided I should come take Brendon off your hands so you can get some stuff done.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, he’s not your responsibility.”

“Yeah, but still, I know he can be a handful, besides, I’ll put him to work.” I did want to help the other guys out, but I was mostly excited to spend time with Brendon. “I’m here anyways, so I’m coming up.”

“Ha ha, okay. Sure. See ya, bye!” Jon was done talking but I still heard what was going on in the background for an instant. I heard a loud strum on the guitar and I heard Brendon mumble something I couldn’t make out, then I heard Spencer yell, ‘Shut the fuck up!’ and smash his symbols, and then the line went silent.

I chuckled to myself, Brendon was really, really hyper.

I walked into their practice space without them noticing and took in what was going on around me.

Spencer was in the center of the room at his drum set, spinning his sticks in boredom, unmindful of what was going on around him. To the right of him was Brendon, was sitting on a stool playing his guitar rather loudly and obnoxiously. Jon was to the left of Spencer, standing with his bass looking at Ryan, who was to the right of Brendon, trying to explain to Jon when the lyrics came in during the song.

“Then, when I play A major, then play the…” Ryan let out a frustrated sigh, “Brendon! Shut up for one second PLEASE!”

I looked at Brendon who was playing Bye Bye Bye on his guitar, but he stopped when Ryan yelled at him and looked up to give him an apology glance. As he did so, he saw me.

“Emmy!” he put down his guitar and ran over to me. Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. He tackled me in a hug and pushed me up against the door I just entered and attacked my lips. His smooth plump lips moved against mine, and I forgot where I was for a moment. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he enclosed the space between us by winding his around my waist.

At this point, I was lost in the kiss and oblivious to everyone around me and what I actually came here for.

“A-hem” one of the boys said behind us and I pulled away, I felt my cheeks heat up.

“Um, hey guys. I came to get Brendon out of here.” I winked at Ryan and relief instantly spread over his face.

Jon and Spencer agreed by shaking their head vigorously. I smiled at looked at Brendon, who was still marveling at me.

“Go get your stuff.” Brendon ran over to his stool, put his guitar in it’s case and unplugged his amp he was using, cleaned up his area then walked over to Ryan.

“My phone, Ross.” He stuck out his hand and wiggled his fingers impatiently. Ryan got up and went to guitar case and got it out from one of his secret compartments and handed it to Brendon. Brendon smiled jubilantly and walked over to me and gracefully slipped his hand in mine.

“Bye, boys!” I yelled to them behind me. They all mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as I walked out with their menace.

“Bye, man lovers!” Brendon yelled in my same enthusiastic voice as mine. They all grunted in response, except for Jon, who cracked a smile.

---

Once we were outside, Brendon fetched the keys out of his pocket and was swinging them around. “So where are you taking me to?” he asked as he unlocked the car.

“Errands. And besides, you’re driving.”

“Right.” He opened the door for me and stuck his guitar in the back, and we started driving

“This is what I like about Vegas, stores are open like, all night. Oh, I think that will be fine,” I said pointing out a Target.

We got inside the store and I read off the mental checklist I had made earlier.

“Dish soap, hangers, and shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, mascara, washcloths, towels and sports bras.” I listed, mostly for myself. I never realized how many little things you need for a house. It’s the little things that make the household function too, so if I didn’t get the items, it wouldn’t be good.

“Oo! Sports bras, I will help you with that,” Brendon stated. I rolled my eyes, and headed towards the toiletries.

I had gotten almost all the things I needed and headed to the foods quick. I was pondering over which lettuce I should get, mumbling to myself. I could see Brendon was getting impatient and he started whistling and tapping his foot.

He kept humming the same melody over. It was soothing and his voice was perfect, I enjoyed listening as I walked down the isle toward the cereal. I started reading the food labels of the cereal boxes. Brendon let out a sigh of impatience.

I’m sure we looked like the typical couple; the girl shopping carefully, comparing prices and finding deals, while the boy, who was dragged along, was shadowing her steps, bored out of his mind. I smiled at the thought.

Brendon started whistling another tune as I looked at fruit. It was really pretty but every time he got to the height of the song, he stopped abruptly, leaving it hanging. I didn’t understand why he kept doing this. He continued humming the short melody and stopped in the same place every time, and then I realized, he didn’t know what came next because there was no next.

He continued again, with the same melody. Suddenly, he took a quick intake of air and pulled out his phone and dialed swiftly. “Ryan! I got it! Put the first part second, then add the chorus to the…” his voiced trailed off as he walked away into a quieter place to talk about the epiphany he just had.

I finished getting the few food items Hayley and I needed and went to go find Brendon. I found him right where I thought I would, by the sports bras.

I got into my apartment and he helped me carry in the bags. Brendon started to help me put away things and I told him to bring the shampoo and other toiletries to the bathroom and the hangers and towels into my room as I finished putting away the food.

About ten minutes later I finished putting away and cleaning up the kitchen and wandered out to find Brendon. I didn’t find him until I went into my room. He was lying on my bed horizontally, with his lower legs hanging off the side of the bed.

I laughed at him and lay down next to him, pushing the towels off the bed. I looked up at his face. He looked like an angel when he slept, his light pink lips were slightly parted and his entire face was at ease.

With his eyes closed he looked different. Without his immense chocolate eyes to distract me, I saw his faint freckles that were scattered everywhere over his face. He let out a light snore every so often and I kissed his forehead and snuggled up next to him, wrapped and arm around his mid.

He was still not awake, but aware of my presence, he turned slightly and wrapped his arm around me too, pulling me close. My head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck. I breathed in and took in his sweet scent. I couldn’t describe the scent even if I had to, but if fit Brendon perfectly. I could feel his hot breath come down on me as he breathed evenly and it gave me shivers.

Every part of my body was pressed up against his now. I was still wearing my black pants and black polo, from work. I even had my nametag on. Brendon was wearing a simple long sleeve grey shirt and skinny jeans. The shirt was warm and so I tried to nuzzle even closer to him.

Brendon looked so innocent and it was hard to believe that an hour ago he was bouncing off the walls crazy. I guess Ryan and Spencer were right, I do calm him down.

I didn’t want to fall asleep. I wanted to reminisce in the moment forever. But sleep eventually took over me, but I fell asleep into the solid, unbreakable embrace of Brendon Urie.