Scars

With his eyes still closed, Brian squinted as he rolled over, the early morning sunlight hitting him in his face. He let out a moan as he rolled back over, his arm reaching out in search of Tonya’s bare skin only to find and empty space. He finally opened an eye only to find Tonya stood in front of the mirror, dressed for work and clipping her hair back.

“You’re up early.” He said as he watched her make sure that each strand of hair was in perfect place.

“Not all of us can laze around in bed until mid morning and stroll into work at lunch time.” She said without turning her head to look over at him. “And anyway I’ve got that doctor’s appointment before I go in this morning too.”

“I don’t laze around in bed until mid morning.” Brian protested through a yawn. “Me and Jake were actually thinking of heading down to the beach to catch some waves before I head into work.”

“He’s supposed to be studying for his exams not catching waves with you.” Tonya stated.

“Babe, that’s’ all he’s done recently, the break will do him good. And it’s only for an hour or two.” Brian justified.

“Okay, fair point.” she said walking over to the bed and leaning down towards him. “Will you be here when I get home?”

“I didn’t think you agreed with me lazing around bed all day?” he teased.

“You know exactly what I meant Haner, will you be here or not?” she replied with a grin.

“I should be yeah, I’ve only got the one tattoo booked today and that shouldn’t take much longer than an hour or two.” He replied. “I’ll cook if you like.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you later. Love you.” she said leaning down for another kiss.

“Love you too.” he replied a large smile appearing on his face as he watched her leave.
He lay there for a little while longer finally deciding to get up and take a shower before heading downstairs for some breakfast.

When he walked into the kitchen he turned the coffee machine on followed by the radio, Lady Gaga meeting his ears as he walked over to the cupboard and took out a bowl and a mug. He poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down at the counter where he poured the last of the Frosties into his bowl. After splashing milk over the cereal he added some to his coffee before starting his breakfast.

He had only eaten two spoonfuls when Jake slouched into the kitchen with a yawn. “Morning.” Brian replied with the same greeting as he continued to eat his breakfast. “You know, if you’re not using your apartment, Sophia and I could put it to good use.” He said grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and pouring himself a mug of coffee.

“Oh yeah, and I could really see your mom going for that idea.” Brian replied as Jake crossed the kitchen and took a seat opposite him.

“Well what else are you going to do with it, you spend more time here than there these days.” He replied picking up the box of Frosties, giving it a shake and peering into the empty box.

“Sorry dude. They’re my favourite.” Brian said as Jake got up and took the box of Cap’n Crunch out of the cupboard.

“and if you did get rid of the apartment you could spend the money you save on bills on more food so I no longer have to starve or miss out on my favourite cereal.” He continued as he poured the cereal into his bowl.

“What are you saying dude?” Brian asked with interest.

“I’m saying, move in here. Properly.” He explained.

“Yeah?” Brian asked “I mean would you be okay with that?”

“I’m suggesting it aren’t I? And anyway, you practically live here anyway.” Jake replied.

“I guess. Do you think your mom would be up for it?” he asked.

“I don’t see why not. Like I said, you practically live here anyway; you may as well help with the bills and make it official. Plus think of all the gas you’d save not going back and forth to your place to get clean clothes and to check your mail.”

Brian sat back and nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. He had a point. it would save a lot of time and money and he did basically live there anyway, it had been weeks since he had last slept in his apartment.

“Guess it wouldn’t hurt to make the suggestion to your mom hey?” he said, Jake nodding as he ate breakfast.

“Give me money for food and I’ll get out of your hair for the night as well.” He said with a smug grin, his hand open and out stretched towards Brian, who couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s boldness.

“>”

Leaning over the counter, Brian read the recipe he had found in the cookery book. “Sounds easy enough.” He said to himself straightening himself up once more. He took the book into his hands and started to open the kitchen cupboards, looking through the list of ingredients and checking to make sure everything that he needed was available.

Collecting all the ingredients, he placed them all on the counter in front of him and read through the recipe again before beginning to follow it through step by step. Almost two hours later, the kitchen was starting to look a little more like normal. During the preparation process it had began to look like a tornado had swept through, the sink and counter around it full of pots, pans, chopping boards and knives. The smell was divine; the aroma of a beef goulash filling not only the kitchen but the entire house as Brian hastily cleared up and began to set the table ready for when Tonya came home from work.

Once the kitchen was tidy, a bottle of Shiraz ready, and the table set, Brian turned down the heat under the casserole dish and headed upstairs for a quick freshen up, not wanting to spoil the mood with the smell of body odour. He was spraying some aftershave when he heard the front door open and close.

Kicking off her heels at the bottom of the stairs, Tonya inhaled the aromas coming from the kitchen. “Mmm, something smells good.” She said following the delicious smell into the kitchen. She walked over to the stove and gently lifted the lid of the casserole dish, stirring the contents gently before lifting the spoon slowly to her lips.

“Can’t wait for me to dish up hey.” Brian’s voice made her jump slightly, a drop of the sauce dripping off the spoon onto her blouse.

“Shit.” She muttered putting the wooden spoon back into the dish and turning to face Brian.

“Sorry baby, you can go change while I dish up if you want.” He said with a wry smile.

“I’ll be back in two.” She said pecking his lips as she walked passed him, unbuttoning her blouse as she went.

Brain dished up the goulash and poured them each a glass of wine and set everything on the dinner table just as she made her way back into the kitchen wearing sweat pants and one of Brian’s shirts.

“Looks like someone’s been a busy boy this afternoon.” She said sitting down and taking a sip of wine. “Looks and smells amazing by the way.”

“Just hope it tastes as nice as it smells, I’ve never cooked this before.” he said piercing a piece of beef with his fork.

“Mmm, delicious.” She almost moaned as she took her first mouthful of the goulash, the beef almost melting in her mouth.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” Agreed Brian putting more on his fork.

“Where’s Jake?” she asked between mouthfuls.

“Gone out with Sophia.” Brian replied simply. “Pizza Hut I think.”

“He’s chosen Pizza over this?” Tonya asked rhetorically.

“More like he’s chosen Sophia over us.” Brian replied. “Plus I think he wanted to give us some time together.”

Tonya smiled at that thought, “I’m so glad he’s finally happy about us being together.”

“Me too.” Brian agreed. “In fact we were talking about that this morning.”

Tonya looked over at him with raised eyebrows and widened eyes. “Yeah?”

Taking a long sip of wine Brian nodded, “He said something at breakfast that really got me thinking, well actually its something I’ve thought about for a few weeks now but wasn’t sure if the two of you were on the same page as me, but after what Jake said at breakfast I know he’s cool with it. Actually he’s the one who brought it up this morning.”

“Bri, what the fuck you waffling on about.” Tonya said with a giggle.

Brian took in a deep breath before he began to talk. “Moving in together.”

“Moving in?” Tonya replied with a smile.

“Yeah. If it’s okay with you that is. But Jake and I think it makes sense. I near enough live here anyway, I haven’t slept in my apartment since just after Valentines and I only go over there to check my mail and pick up more clothes, and there isn’t many of them left over there to be honest. And if I live here, I could sell or let the apartment, save some money on bills and shit and the gas that I waste driving over there, pay my way here instead, buy more Frosties for me and Jake. That’s if its okay with you that it, I mean if you’re not ready for us to take that next step that’s fine, hell, you might even be sick of the sight of me and want me to spend less time here, which is fine, just tell me and I’ll…”

“Bri, shut up for a second.” Tonya said taking hold of his hand. “I’m not sick of the sight of you and to be honest, I kinda like the idea of you living here permanently, but I was a little nervous about how to broach the subject with Jake.”

“He’s fine with it, like I said, he was the one who mentioned it this morning when he was moaning about me eating the last of the cereal.” Brian began to ramble again.

“So, shall we talk to him later about it and work out when we can get the rest of your stuff over here?” Tonya asked placing down her knife and fork next to each other on her empty plate.

“Really? You sure?” Brian asked with a beaming smile.

“Defiantly.” She replied matching his smile. “Now, what’s for desert?”

Brian’s eyes twinkled as he eyed her up and down. “I was hoping that would be me.” he said, smirking as he stood up and leaned over to kiss her, his hands cupping her face as his tongue slipped into her mouth.