Burn

After Drew had finished up an excruciating meeting with Michelle over wanting a white sand beach and not any regular looking sand at the wedding, she made her way into the diner to meet up with Brian. He was sitting back in their usual table, waiting for her. Drew couldn't help but think of her dream and how real it felt. The heat from his fingers across her skin, the way his breath tasted; it was all too real. "Drew!" Brian smiled as she walked towards him. She pushed the images of him into the back of her head. Brian stood up and wrapped his arms around her. It was harder to get the thoughts of him away. "I thought that you would be late. I know how demanding Michelle is about the wedding." He laughed as they sat across from each other.

"I really wish you could convince her to keep the old plans." She groaned. Brian sighed, sitting back into the chair.

"You know her. Once she has her mind completely set on something, she has to have it." He told her.

"Just like she had to have that giant fish ice sculpture because that was her first damn pet?!" Drew outboasted. Brian chuckled knowing that she was right. "Brian, it's your wedding too. Is this what you even want?" She asked. Brian was silent for a while. "Brian?"

"I want her to be happy." He replied. "I would give her the whole world if she really wanted it." Drew sighed. No matter what she did, there was no getting out of this wedding.

"Let's just order. I have to meet with some more brides later." She replied, looking down at the menu. Brian smiled, taking the menu from her. "What?"

"You order the same thing every time we come here. I already ordered for you." Drew smiled, relaxing.

"Brian, I love you." It came out. Drew tried to hide her shock over what she had said. It just came out like word vomit. Brian smiled and reached over to grab her hand.

"I love you too, Drew. You're my best friend." There it was. The two words that killed it all. 'Best Friend'. That's all that Drew would ever be to him. Thankfully the waitress brought their food, saving them from the awkwardness. Brian and Drew ate their food with some comfortable conversation. Drew had to realize that Brian was in love with Michelle and nothing she could do, or dream, would change that. All she could do was sit and smile. She was his best friend after all. Why would she want to hurt him? "So what else do you have to do this weekend?" Brian asked, biting into his steak.

"Just meeting with one new couple at their venue today. Gotta negotiate some deals." She told him while she pushed around her salad. Brian laughed.

"Gonna shake some people down, huh?" Drew smiled and nodded. "Alright, What's wrong with you?" She asked, staring at her with concern. "You're never this quiet around me."

"I'm just tired, that's all." She lied. Unfortunately Brian and Drew had been friends for so long that he knew when she was lying.

"Have you thought of taking a vacation?" He asked. Drew scoffed lightly. "I'm serious. You get so stressed out with all these brides, you need to take time just to be you." I don't want to be me without you.

"Right. I'll just drop everything I'm doing. I'll cancel all the weddings just so I can sit on the beach and relax." She sarcastically replied.

"When is your next day off?" He asked, ignoring her comment.

"With your fiance, never." She muttered pushing her bowl away. Brian sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm trying to help you, Drew. You're not making it easy." Drew rolled her eyes. She dug through her purse to get the money to pay for her food.

"I don't need your help. Trust me, whenever you try to help, it only creates more work for me." She spat, throwing the money on the table.

"Drew! That's not fair!" He groaned. Drew just shook her head and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you!" She yelled, storming out of the diner. Once again he had pissed her off. He was already doing enough damage to her; his 'helping' wasn't what she needed.

"Drew!" He called running after her again.

"Leave me alone, Brian!" She yelled. He laughed, wrapping his arms around her.

"You know you don't really want to leave me." Drew pushed herself out of his arms. She didn't want the physical contact to hinder her frustration towards him.

"Seriously, I have to go. I'm late for a meeting that's an hour away." Brian smirked folding his muscular arms across his chest.

"I got nothing else to do today. I'll go with you." Drew laughed loudly.

"Brian, You're funny. I gotta go." She laughed as she went towards her car. Brian smirked, grabbing hold of her hand. "I don't have time for games today."

"Who said I'm playing one?" He asked. "Let me go with you to see how 'stressful' your job is." Drew gasped when she head him put the sarcastic emphasis on the word 'Stressful'.

"Are you trying to say my job is easy?" She asked, her hands perched on her hips. Brian smiled mimicking her actions.

"Easiest job in the world." Drew laughed, not believing he was actually saying it.

"You think that your job is harder than mine? All you do is play a guitar and have thousands of girls screaming your names in their wet dreams." She retorted. Brian chuckled, walking closer to her.

"No need to tell me of your dreams honey." Drew madly blushed. She quickly turned towards her car to hide her embarrassment. Images of her dream came flooding back. "So you going to let me come or what?" Bad choice of words, Bri. Drew took a deep breath and turned back towards him.

"Fine! You can come with me and see just how hard my job really is." She defended.

"Good. Then tomorrow, you come with me to the studio to see how hard my job is." Drew smirked, putting her hand out to seal the deal. He rolled his eyes, grabbing her hand to pull her into a gentle kiss. Drew gasped. The feeling of his lips on hers was amazing. He pulled away quickly. He held her against him to keep her from falling over. "Sealed with a kiss. Much better than a dumb old handshake." He laughed. Drew was still speechless. Sure he had kissed her before but it was never anything like that. "Drew?" He asked, snapping her out of her daydreams. She quickly pulled away from him and went to the driver's side.

"Are you going to follow me or are you coming with me?" She asked avoiding eye contact.

"I'll go with you. you can just drop me off at my place later. I walked here." Drew nodded, getting into the car with him. She blasted her Disturbed CD as they made their way down PCH. "Where exactly are we meeting this couple?" Brian asked a few minutes into the drive.

"Oceanside." Drew replied keeping her eyes on the road.

"That's an hour away!" He complained. Drew smirked knowing he hated being in a car far too long.

"Which means it's an hour and a half away from my house. I come down here a lot."

"Why?"

"Because Oceanside is right across from Camp Pendelton Marine Corps Base. Lots of military couples get married before their partners go overseas." She told him. He nodded, leaning back and resting his feet up on the dashboard. Drew glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Get your damn feet off my dashboard, idiot." Brian laughed and put his feet down. He continued to laugh lightly to himself. "Alright chuckles, what is so funny?" Drew asked with a light smile on her face. She couldn't help it. His laugh was so addicting.

"You haven't called me an Idiot since we met." He told her. Drew laughed lightly and remembered when they were at MIT together. "You flash backing now?" Brian smirked. Drew shook her head. "You have that look in your eyes like you did."

"Why do you always pick on me?" She playfully whined. Brian smiled and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Because I love you." He smirked before leaning up and kissing her cheek. Drew shuddered lightly. "Whoa, that was cool." Drew shook her head, knowing what she had to do was going to hurt.

"Brian, do you think you could not kiss me anymore?" She asked, it coming out like acid burning her tongue. Brian pulled back with a hurt look adorning his perfect features.

"But...I always kiss you." Drew sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Yeah, but I'm your wedding planner. It's kind of weird to go around kissing me. You know how the press are." She reasoned more to herself than to convince him.

"You are my best friend before you're my wedding planner." He told her.

"Brian, please." She whined. Brian reluctantly agreed. He didn't want to but he would give her whatever she wanted.

"Fine, but only because I love you." He told her, grabbing her hand. Drew winced lightly, those three words stabbing at her heart. Brian knew that look. "No. No way." He argued.

"What? I didn't say anything." She innocently said.

"You didn't need to. You want me to stop telling you that I love you." He glared. "I won't do it. You can't make me." She smiled genuinely. He made her feel wanted. "I will never say that I don't love you."

"That a promise?" She mumbled thinking he couldn't hear her over the sound of the music.

"Yes, that's a promise." She smirked as she looked at him in shock. "I'm a rock star. I'm used to hearing little comments over loud music." Drew focused back on the road to hide her blushing face. Brian smirked, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. The rest of the ride to Oceanside was relatively quiet. Brian fell asleep about half an hour into the car ride. He always fell asleep on car rides. It was funny whenever he was on tour. He would be practicing on his guitar and just fall asleep. She glanced over to him, admiring his sleeping form. His thin lips were slightly parted as small snores escaped his mouth. She noticed a small smile form on his lips. She wondered what he could be dreaming of. "Mmm, that's nice." He mumbled. Drew rolled her eyes; her question had been answered. She looked away from him and back to the road. Sadly, they were stuck in traffic so they weren't going anywhere fast. The waiting made it more awkward to watch Brian have a sex dream. "Babe, that's it." He moaned. Drew's face instantly blushed. She always imagined that he would say that with her; but not like that. "Ohhh my god..." He moaned again. Drew couldn't take it anymore.

"Brian!" She yelled at him.

"Yeah, scream my name baby." Drew groaned, taking her hand and hit him hard in the stomach. He gasped, waking up instantly. "What the hell Drew?" He sighed as he sat up.

"Sorry, I was tired of hearing your moans." She smirked. Brian's eyes went wide. Drew couldn't help but glance down at him. She blushed lightly and tried to keep in hermoans laughter. Brian noticed her looking. He covered himself and smirked.

"See anything you like?" Drew scoffed. "You know you want me, Drew." Yeah, so tell your fiance to fuck off.

"Nah, I'm good. I've had enough packets of mentos for one lifetime. I'm looking for something more substantial." She smirked. Brian laughed, shrugging off her insult. He had better questions in mind.

"So when was the last time you got laid?" He asked bluntly. Drew began coughing on her own air supply. She never expected that to come out of his mouth. "Come on, Tell!"

"No! There is no reason for you to ever know that." She groaned, embarrassed that she would bring it up.

"I am your number one friend in the whole world! Why would you not tell me?" He asked, feigning a hurt look.

"I want to keep some mystery between us, Bri." Drew laughed really wanting to get off the topic.

"Well I know for sure you aren't a virgin." He replied.

"How the fuck would you know that?" She gasped. Brian laughed, putting his seat back up.

"Sophomore year at MIT. Right after we stopped hating each other,"

"Juries still out on that." She muttered. "Ow!" She laughed as he smacked her arm.

"We went to a party on the beach. I was hitting on one of the art majors and you were hanging out with Kyle Campbell. From what I remember, you left with him." Drew rolled her eyes. "Did he rock your little virginal world?"

"Ha! He could barely open his eyes no less have sex with me." She laughed. Brian looked at her like she was out of her mind. Drew smiled lightly. "All that night I was making sure he didn't start puking blood." She told him. "I didn't lost my virginity to him. Even if he was sober and naked, I wouldn't. He was a pig." She scoffed.

"Then who was your first time with?" He pushed.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Brian rolled his eyes and dropped the subject when she pulled into a restaurant. "What are we doing here?"

"This is where we're meeting the couple." She told him as she grabbed her back with the files in it. Brian got out of the car and went over to open Drew's door for her. Drew smiled and took his hand as she got out of the car. "Wow, Thank you."

"Anytime, My dear." He smiled. She blushed, not used to that kind of attention from him. She loved it. The wanted into the restaurant with Brian holding the door open for her.

"You don't have to do that, ya know. I am perfectly capable of doing it myself." Brian laughed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Now what kind of man would that make me look like?" Drew laughed, removing his arm from her.

"A real one." She winked as they went to the hostess. "We're meeting 2 friends here."

"Ah yes. They are already seated. Follow me." The girl smiled after giving Brian a glace over. Drew rolled her eyes. You would think that after being friends with a famous rock star for a while she'd be used to it. When it came to Brian though, she couldn't help but get jealous. The hostess brought them to the table where her couple was waiting. Brian looked at the man, feeling like he had seen him somewhere.

"Hi guys!" Drew greeted, shaking the man's hand and hugging the woman. "I hope you don't mind. My friend wanted to see how hard my job really is." She laughed.

"That's fine!" The woman smiled going to hug him. "I'm Bianca. So nice to meet you!"

"Pleasure's mine. Congratulations on your engagement." He smiled politely.

"Thank you!" She gushed. "This is my amazing fiance, Kyle." That's when it clicked. Brian looked over to Drew who was trying her hardest to contain her smile.

"You wouldn't happen to be Kyle Campbell, would you?" Brian asked. Kyle shot him a confused look as he shook his hand.

"Do I know you?" He skeptically asked. Brian laughed lightly and nodded.

"I'm not sure if you remember me. I'm Brian Haner Jr. We went to MIT together." Kyle's face brightened with realization.

"Oh wow!" He laughed. "Now I remember. I haven't seen you in forever."

"Brian's a famous musician now." Drew smiled as she sat down next to Brian across from the couple.

"Oh really?" What do you play?" Bianca asked, intrigued.

"I'm a lead guitarist in a band." He replied, boosting his ego. Drew rolled her eyes as she looked through their file.

"That's amazing. What band?" Kyle asked.

"Avenged Sevenfold." He smirked. Kyle and Biance just stared blankly at him.

"I've never heard of you before, sorry." Kyle apologized. Drew snickered next to Brian as she could practically feel his ego deflating.

"How about we do over some wedding plans while Brian's big head deflates." Drew smirked over to him. He glared at her playfully. Kyle and Bianca laughed lightly before they got to working with Drew. Brian watched as Drew worked her magic. He had seen her doing it before with him and Michelle; but then he wasn't fully paying attention. Now that he was actually sitting and watching her, he realized how passionate about her work that she was. It was amazing. Michelle wasn't passionate about anything. He had given her the job of running his clothing line, but she ran that straight into the ground. All she cared about was spending money; his money. She wasn't the same girl that he had fallen in love with all those years ago. She changed. Drew however was the same girl she had always been. Passionate, independent, fiery, stubborn, funny, witty, beautiful, the list goes on and on. So why was he still with Michelle if he wasn't happy? What was he marrying her? Brian was never one for change. He also was afraid of being along. Some days he wished he had never met Michelle and go after Drew. She was everything he could ever want. There was no way that he would go for him though. She deserved better than some stuck up rock star. It was why he always protected her from the guys she would go out with. She was too good for them. They didn't deserve her. If only he could have figured out that he loved her sooner. Now, it was far too late. "Everything seems to be in order." Drew smiled, bringing Brian out of his thought cloud of her. "Oh there is one thing. What are your wedding colors?"

"We've been debating that. Kyle wants Red, White, and Blue because he's military. I want black, purple, and white." Bianca sighed.

"Why don't you combine them?" Brian suggested. Everyone turned to him, almost as if they forgot that he was there. "How about Red, Purple, and White? Best of both worlds." Drew smiled lightly, loving that he was into what she did. "Black, Blue, and White wouldn't work. Makes me think of someone being punched. You wouldn't want that."

"Red and Purple go really well together. The contrast of warm and cool colors is very in this season." Drew threw in, putting her art degree to good use. Bianca and Kyle looked at each other for a moment, silently discussing the options.

"That sounds perfect!" Bianca finally smiled. "Thank you, Brian!" Brian smiled proudly. Drew laughed and wrote down their color choices. She then looked at her watch seeing that it was already 7pm.

"This has been great. We really must be going. Someone had to be in the studio early tomorrow." Drew smiled standing up from the table. They all bid their goodbyes and went on their ways. "So, think my job is easy?" Drew asked with a smirk as they got on the highway home.

"It's not easy, but it's not the hardest in the world." He told her. She rolled her eyes. She knew that she wasn't going to win the fight. "I could never do it though." He admitted.

"Usually men don't. Unless they're gay." She replied. "Is there something you aren't telling me, Mr. Haner?" Brian scoffed, shaking his head.

"Nope, I said that I couldn't do it. Besides, you think this beauty could be gay?" He laughed.

"You do spend more time on your hair than I do." She smirked.

"Hey! My image is what makes all the girls go crazy for me." He defended. Drew laughed as she drove down the highway. The drive was always gorgeous. It was right along the coastline and the waves looked absolutely breathtaking from the view. "Pull over." Brian ordered.

"What? Why?" She asked. Brian smiled and put his hand on her arm.

"Pull over," He gently told her. Drew nodded and pulled to the side of the road. Brian got out of the car and sat on the guard rails. Drew sat in the car looking over at him. The silhouette of him against the setting California sun was setting her heart on fire. She pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a perfect picture of him. She couldn't help it. If she was going to lose him forever, she needed at least one picture that reminded him of how amazing he was. "Come out here," He called to her. Drew got out of the car and sat next to him. She looked over the horizon in the distance meshing with the colors of the sunset. It all hit her. She was really about to lose her best friend forever. Tears came to her eyes. She couldn't do it. She refused to. "Hey, you alright?" Brian asked, looking at her with concern. Drew nodded, wiping her tears away. Brian smiled sympathetically and wrapped his arms around her. "It'll be alright." He whispered, kissing the top of her head. If only he knew how wrong he was.