Like Walking Into a Dream

The dull beeping of my alarm clock woke me from my sleep and I looked around the room I was in. Where was I…? Oh yeah, I moved in with Brian. I slowly sat up and stretched before throwing my legs off the bed and standing up.

Last night’s dinner went well with the guys and I’m finally feeling more comfortable around them. Smiling, I headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I pulled my hair up into a side ponytail and then put on a jogging suit. I felt like going for run to wake me up.

Walking into the kitchen, I passed by Brian’s room and saw that he was still asleep. I opened our now fully stocked fridge to pull out a water bottle, but I ended up knocking 3 water bottles off the shelf and they hit the floor. I looked back to Brian’s door and sighed when I saw that it was still closed. I picked up the other two water bottles and put them back in the fridge.

“Having fun?” I let out a small scream and turned around to frown at Brian.

“Not exactly,” I mumbled. Brian looked me up and down with a curious face.

“I’m going running. Do you want to come with me?” I asked and looked outside to see that the sun was just now rising. I didn’t think that Brian would agree to go, but surprisingly he agreed and went to change his clothes.

“Do you normally run in the mornings?” he asked as he laced up his tennis shoes that looked like they didn’t get worn a lot.

“Sometimes. I just really felt like running when I woke up,” I replied and got another water bottle for him.

“Where are we going to go?” he asked as we walked outside.

“Probably just down to the beach light house and back. Stretch!” I laughed and made him do a few stretches with me so he wouldn’t pull anything. I started jogging slowly so he could get a pace and keep up with me.

“I don’t think I’ve run since high school…” Brian said breathing a little heavier. I smiled and picked up the pace.

“Wait! We’re going faster??” he asked trying to keep up.

“Yeah, Babe, it’s call running,” I said with a laugh. Brian groaned, but kept up with me until we reached the large white lighthouse on the beach. I came to a stop and chugged half my water bottle. Brian was panting and drank almost all of his water.

“I vote we walk back,” he said seriously.

“Fine fine, we can walk. But I want to watch the sun rise,” I said and sat down on the shore. Brian looked down at me before joining my on the patch of grass just before the beginning of the sandy shore. We faced away from the ocean and to the East so we could actually see the sun rise.

“You know, sunrises are colorful because the molecules in the sky are scattering the sun’s light…” I said thoughtfully.

“I didn’t know that. I just thought that we were polluting the air or something.”

“Ha, I bet that has something to do with it too,” I said glancing at him from the corner of my eye.

“I’ve never actually watched the sunrise. I’ve never been up this early especially not running this early,” Brian said looking at me fully now instead of the sky.

“I’m happy I influence you so much,” I laughed lightly and tucked a few stray hairs behind my ear. Brian brought his hand up to rest on my cheek forcing me to give him all my attention.

“I really like you, Peyton,” he mumbled and slowly pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes and rested one of my hands on his arm and kissed him back. This is the most romantic kiss I’ve had, not the most passionate, but the most romantic for sure.

Brian was the first to pull away and looked me in the eyes with a gentle smile.

“I like you too,” I said biting my bottom and feeling like a shy teenager all over again.

~*~

“So what are you doing today?” I asked brushing my wet hair. Brian and I walked back home and I took a shower and got dressed for the day. Now we were sitting on the couch and he was flipping through the channels.

“I’m going to the studio to record some solos. You can come too. I bet Jimmy will be ecstatic if you did,” he laughed. I nodded and agreed to go with him. After fixing my hair and makeup, Brian and I got into his truck and headed to the recording studio.

All the guys were already inside when we got there and Johnny was in the middle of recording his bass.

“Peyton!” I turned just in time to see Jimmy launch himself at me. I quickly took a step back and hugged him so he wouldn’t knock me over.

“What are you doing here?” he asked happily. Brian set his guitar case down next to us and took out his signature striped guitar.

“Brian and I went running this morning and I decided to come with him here so I wouldn’t be bored. I only have a few more days of vacation before I have to go back to work.” Jimmy grinned and looked at Brian who was getting his instrument ready to play.

“Running, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Brian running willingly that is,” Jimmy commented. Brian glanced up at him and narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I was up early and felt like keeping Peyton company.”

“What, did you guys watch the sun rise too?” he asked sarcastically. I blinked a few times and nodded.

“Yeah, it was really pretty too.” Jimmy howled with laughter until Matt came over and smacked the back of his head.

“You’re turn. Get your ass in there,” Matt said pointed to the drumming booth. Jimmy winked at me again before he went into the recording room and sat down at his drums. I’m always amazed when I hear his amazing skill of drumming.

“I haven’t heard him live in a while,” I said staring at him. Brian set his guitar down and we sat down on an empty couch together.

“Good thing you're coming to our live show at Yellow Palm,” he said.

“I guess I don’t have a choice, huh?”

“Nope. It’s required of all roommates and girlfriends,” Brian said with a smirk.

“Well, I guess as your roommate, I really don’t have a choice. Hmm, I need to see if I'm working that day. When is it?” I asked him again.

“2 weeks from now on May 5.”

“I’ll check and make sure I'm free then.” Jimmy finished his drums for a while and then it was time for Brian to record his solos. Jimmy took Brian’s seat next to me and the first solo he played was from Afterlife. It sent chills down my spine as I watched his fingers fly across the neck of his guitar. I wish I could play like these guys could.

“You know what they say…” Jimmy said leaning back.

“Who says what?” I asked.

“Guitarists are great with their hands…” he smirked.

“Dirty! Have you been talking to Casey? She told me something like that too…” I said trying to remember when that was or if I was imagining it.

“Haha, it’s true though. Bri’s probably really good with his too.” I covered my ears with hands.

“Lalalalala, I can't hear you and your perverted words,” I said. Jimmy laughed and I looked over to see Brian looking at me oddly. I quickly dropped my hands and held them in my lap.

“I’m finished for today. Want to go get lunch?” he asked. I nodded and glared at Jimmy on my way out, but he tried to look innocent about the whole thing. Brian and I got in his car and we drove to the Dot. Memories of me talking to Eric here flooded my mind, but I pushed them back.

Brian and I took a seat near the back of the café. There was flat screen TVs on the walls with the local news, sports, and celebrity gossip shows. The waitress who was tending to us kept glancing between us. Brian finally got irritated with it too.

“Can I help you?” he asked her.

“Um, I was just wondering if the rumor about you two was true…” she mumbled.

“What rumor?” I asked. She simply pointed to the TV a few feet away from us. There was a blonde girl on it talking with a picture of me and Brian shopping at the grocery store together behind her.

“Interesting,” I mumbled. Brian pulled out his phone and typed quickly on it.

“What are you doing?” I asked him trying to see the screen, but failed.

“I’m recording this on our DVR so we can watch it when we get home. I want to know what people are saying about us,” he said with a broad smirk. Well at least one of us was happy about the publicity.