Like Walking Into a Dream

After Brian and I got ready to go out in public, he drove us to the supermarket. It was packed so we quickly grabbed a cart and headed to the produce section. I was looking at the apples when I heard Brian fake cough behind me.

“Yes?” I asked looking at him. He held out his hand.

“Did you forget about our agreement?” he asked with a smirk. I rolled my eyes, but held his hand as we picked out apples. It surprised me, but Brian is really good at steering a shopping cart with one hand…

“What do you want for dinner?” I asked as we were looking at the lettuce.

“Whatever you want should be fine.”

“Bri, I asked you because I want your opinion.” Brian stared off into space for a while before looking at me again with a wide smile.

“I like Sheppard’s pie,” he said. I raised an eyebrow at his answer.

“Sheppard’s pie? You like that?” I asked with a smile. Brian smiled a little and looked away.

“I haven’t had it in a while, but my mom used to make it. Michelle, uh, she never really cooked so…It would be nice to have it,” he mumbled and it looked like his cheeks were slightly red, but I would never point that out to him.

“Okay, we’ll have Sheppard’s pie because I like that too,” I replied and squeezed his hand. Brian helped me pick out all the fruits and vegetables in the produce sections before we moved onto the rest of the store.

Brian insisted on getting steaks because he wanted to cook them later this week on the grill that he rarely used. I'm not even sure that he knows how to use it at all, but we’ll figure it out. We got everything we needed for dinner including the ground beef, tomato sauce, corn, potatoes, and cheese.

As we were looking at the different pastas to get, my worst nightmare appeared.

“Brian?” Michelle’s shrill voice filled the aisle we were on and Brian and I bother cringed.

“Maybe if we don’t move or breathe, she’ll go away,” he whispered quietly in my ear. I held back my giggle and went along with him, not answering her.

“Don’t play dumb, Brian. I know you can hear me,” she continued and began to tap her foot. Sighing, Brian gave up and turned around pulling me with him because he refused to unlock our hands. Now I was forced to look at the witch too.

Michelle eyed our hands and glared at them before making eye contact with Brian again. She pushed her messy hair out of her eyes and forced herself to smile sweetly at him.

“Can we talk alone?” she asked. Brian scoffed before shaking his head.

“I’m not in the mood, Michelle. Peyton and I are restocking our pantry and fridge-“

“Ours? Like mine and yours? I thought we already split the furniture up…”

“We did. Peyton is living with me and she actually likes to cook so we need food in the house,” Brian said with hate. I felt awkward listening to the two of them, but Brian squeezed my hand again to comfort me.

“Living with you?! Peyton? The girl from the article?! I knew you were screwing her behind my back!” she hissed at us. I felt like yelling at her, but held back and let Brian talk.

“No, Michelle. I never cheated on you. That was your job! Peyton and her fiancé broke things off and she needs a place to stay—Why am I even telling you this? Never mind, c’mon Peyton, we need to check out.” Brian pushed the cart again with one hand. Michelle was calling him again, but he ignored her and kept walking through the now crowded aisles to the checkout.

“Sorry, I don’t even know what she’s doing at the grocery…” he grumbled once we got into a checkout line. I gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’s fine, but now people are going to know we’re living together. I don’t think she’s going to keep her mouth shut. She’ll probably sell the story to some magazine and exaggerate everything,” I groaned just thinking about it.

“Ha, that happens all the time to me. You get used to it,” he said with dry humor. I thought about my future with Brian for a second and wondered if it would always be like this, like a giant publicity scene…

“Does that bother you?” Brian asked looking suddenly worried. I smiled again and shook my head.

“I’m not used to the attention, but like you said, I’ll get used to it.” Brian slowly smiled and kissed my cheek. We loaded everything onto the checkout counter and it rang up to be well over 100 dollars. Brian happily paid for it all, but the cashier couldn’t stop looking at Brian.

“You’re Synyster Gates, right?” the teenage boy asked. Brian glanced at him and nodded.

“Wow, I’m a huge fan. Could you uh sign this?” the boy grabbed a napkin from behind the counter along with a sharpie. Brian chuckled and signed the napkin before giving it back to the boy.

“We’re having a live show in a few weeks. You should come see it,” Brian said. The boy, whose name turned out to be Sam, nodded.

“The one at Yellow Palm Avenue? I already have tickets!” Brian chuckled before shaking Sam’s hand and leaving with me. It made me feel good to see him interacting with his fans. At least he isn’t a cold rockstar who only cares about himself.

Brian and I pushed the cart to his truck and loaded all 22 bags into the back. I still can’t believe we got so much.

“We have a lot of unloading to do,” I laughed once we were driving home. Brian smiled and held my hand over the center console. I blushed and looked away still not used to so much PDA even though we technically weren’t in public. Eric and I weren’t very touchy in public, but Brian is the exact opposite.

When we got back to Brian’s, I saw Jimmy waiting for us at the door. I jumped out of the car and gave him a flying hug.

“Good to see you all cheery!” he exclaimed and hugged me back.

“I’m happy because you’re here to unload my groceries!” Brian opened the door to show Jimmy all the bags. His jaw went slightly slack at the sight.

“Holy Stallion Duck… You actually got Bri to go to the grocery store and even then you two bought this much??” he asked in disbelief.

“Yeah and we’re cooking Sheppard’s pie for dinner,” I explained. Jimmy smirked and looked over in Brian’s direction.

“I love Sheppard’s pie,” Jimmy hinted.

“You and the guys can come over and eat with us. I'm sure Brian wouldn’t mind,” I said. I saw Jimmy smirk again and Brian somewhat sighed. Was I missing something? I shook it off and made Jimmy help us.

After several trips back and forth, we were finally able to get all the food inside and unloaded into the fridge and pantry.

“I’ll call the guys,” Brian said and went into the living room while Jimmy and I began cooking. I was browning the meat while Jimmy leaned against the counter next to me.

“What was that between you and Brian outside?” I asked him once Brian was gone. Jimmy thought back before laughing lightly.

“I was trying to interfere with his plans for tonight. I knew he wanted to be alone with you tonight and eat dinner alone, but I couldn’t help myself.” I gave him an Are-You-Serious? Look before laughing once.

“You two are like little kids,” I told him. He nodded happily before pulling his cellphone out.

“I’m going to call Leana over so she won’t be alone tonight.” I nodded and Jimmy left the room as Brian came back in.

“Leana,” I said to answer his unasked question.

“Cool, I called Matt and he said he would get the rest of the guys and come over. It’s been a while since we all ate dinner together like a real home cooked dinner that is.”

“Well, I’m happy to help,” I grinned before kissing him quickly and going back to cooking.