Like Walking Into a Dream

Brian and I talked until the buzzer on the dryer went off and then he followed me into the small room to get his clothes.

I pulled his clothes out and smelled them before giggling.

“Sorry, Bri, I made your clothes smell like flowers,” I grinned. He raised his eyebrows and playfully glared.

“You did what to my clothes?!” he asked. I threw his shirt at him which fell to the ground because he failed to catch it.

“Nice reflexes, Buddy,” I joked and kneeled down to pick it up. He did the same and we were face to face. I don’t know why, but for a minute I couldn’t move. Brian locked eyes with me and tucked some of my dirty blonde hair behind my ear.

“Brian…” he never looked away from me. I felt familiar butterflies swarm in my stomach as he leaned closer. I was curious to know what it was like to kiss a great guy like Brian, but it was wrong. So very wrong. I was engaged…

“Don’t,” I whispered and stood up. Brian stood up too and I handed him his clothes.

“I think you should leave,” I mumbled, refusing to look him in the eye.

“Peyton, I’m sorry. That was a mis-“

“Please just leave,” Brian hesitated before apologizing again and leaving. I didn’t care that he left in Eric’s clothes. He wouldn’t even realize that they were missing.

My legs gave out underneath me. I wasn’t upset that Brian tried to kiss me. I was upset because I actually wanted him to… I’m such a horrible fiancée. Slowly I stood up and went into my bedroom and fell onto the bed, not bothering to change or get under the covers.

How could I be so selfish and not even think about Eric?

…………………………………

Brian groaned when he felt something smack his back. He came in late last night because he was mad at himself for trying to kiss Peyton and stayed at the beach until almost 2 in the morning. Michelle was asleep when he got in.

Brian sat up and saw a magazine slide off of him. Confused, he looked up at a mad Michelle. She was dressed and had her purse hanging on her arm. Looks like she was already out shopping and what not.

“What?” he asked. She woke him up by throwing a magazine at him?

“Don’t what me! Look at page 5!” she demanded. Brian raised an eyebrow and opened the magazine to page 5. There was a 2 page spread of him and Peyton from yesterday. There was a picture of him having lunch with her and another one of them walking on the beach and laughing.

Gates and a new love interest having fun under the sun.

He frowned and read part of the first paragraph.

Brian Haner Jr. also known as Synyster Gates from the band Avenged Sevenfold was seen having lunch at the Lunar Café with the nurse, Peyton Harrison, who took care of him recently after he had been in a car accident. They spent the day at the beach laughing and having fun. People can only wonder if this new girl is replacing Haner’s current fiancée, Michelle Dibenedetto.

Brian closed the magazine and sighed heavily. Of course someone would have seen them and started a bunch of drama and rumors.

“A sigh? A fucking sigh?! You could at least deny it!” Michelle yelled. Brian tossed the covers off of him and he stood up, towering over Michelle. She backed away a little, but still glared at him.

“Seriously, it’s just the tabloids. We’ve been through shit like this before.” He grumbled and ran a hand through his now flattened hair.

“But they have pictures of you two being all buddy buddy!” her screaming was going to make him go deaf.

“Michelle, her fiancé had to go to the hospital. He was beeped and they were about to have lunch. I saw her alone so I joined her to cheer her up.” He explained.

“Did you sleep with her?”

“Michelle, for fuck’s sake! She’s engaged!” he emphasized.

“So! We were engaged back in 2008…”

“Yeah and you cheated on me, but I forgave you. I’m not like you Michelle. I don’t fuck other people when I'm in a steady relationship.” He glared at her and remembered how he wanted to break off his engagement to her.

“Don’t turn this around on me!”

“You're the one who brought it up!” he yelled back.

“Are you cheating on me?! That’s all I want to know!”

“NO! And you know what? I don’t want to marry you either! Pack your shit and get out!” he yelled. Michelle froze and hers eyes started to water. Brian rolled his eyes.

“Don’t even try to make me feel guilty about this. You and I both know you pressured me into proposing to you. Just get your stuff and go run to Val.” The tears vanished and were replaced by a strong glare.

“You’re going to regret this,” she threatened.

“No I think this will be one of the best things I’ll do,” he snapped. Michelle grabbed a large suitcase and shoved most of her things into it.

“I’ll have Val come get the rest,” she grumbled before walking out the front door and slamming it shut behind her. Brian sighed and fell back onto the messy bed. The magazine was clumped slightly next to him.

He picked up his phone and found himself dialing Peyton’s number but stopped. There’s no way in hell that she’d want to talk to him right now. Instead he called Jimmy thinking that talking to his best friend would do him some good.

………………………………….

“Peyton!” I was walking back to the nurses’ station and saw Casey waving a magazine around. I looked at her oddly and went over to see what the big deal was.

“Look! You’re on page 5!” she almost screamed.

“I’m in a magazine? What the hell?” I took it from her and looked at the 2 page article about me and Brian at the beach. I groaned and tossed it into the trash not even wanting to read it. It would only make me remember how bad I wanted to kiss him yesterday. And that would make me feel even guiltier.

“You’re not going to read it?” Casey asked sitting next to me. I shook my head and started working on my computer.

“Pey… What happened between you two?” Casey asked softly sensing something was wrong.

“Nothing happened between us and it’s going to stay that way,” I mumbled. I thought about Eric. He was probably back at home asleep. He spend almost the whole night here doing multiple surgeries.

“Something almost happened didn’t it?”

“I didn’t let it happen and I'm not going to let it happen,” I answered.

“Peyton, look at me!” I turned my swivel chair to face her.

“You should at least talk to him. It looked like you two were having fun and that doesn’t mean that you two can't be friends. Seriously, if nothing happened, then nothing happened. Just put it behind you two and move on. You’re getting married in a month and a half.” Casey told me. I nodded.

“I’ll call him once I get off,” I said to make her feel better, but I didn’t know if I would actually call him.

“That’s all I ask,” she said with a small smile.

“Thank, Casey,” she nodded and we went back to working. Maybe I should call him. He’s a nice guy and would probably agree that that never should have happened. After a few minutes of arguing with myself I decided that I would call him once I finished my shift.