Only Time Will Tell

Janey closed the front door quietly behind her, laying her purse on the counter as she entered the kitchen, Pinkly yapping at her feet excitedly. Janey picked the little ball of white fluff up, holding her close. 

"Daddy's not home yet Pink, maybe later huh? Come on, let's go outside," Janey murmured.

Sliding the patio door open, Janey let Pinkly out, standing in the doorway, her head resting against the frame as she finally allowed herself to let go of the tears she had been holding onto at the airport. Janey had tried calling Brian, only to be greeted by his voicemail message. She'd even called his dad's house, but there was no answer. Janey had toyed with the idea of going over there, but knew that if everyone was at home, Brian wouldn't discuss what was happening between them infront of his family.

Janey was starting to feel as though she was losing a grip on everything. She sighed, not quite believing how fucked up the situation had become. Janey wanted nothing more than to turn back the clock and have the oppurtunity to do that phone call over again, only this time she would remember to think before she spoke. 

"Forgetting to put gas in the car has to be one of the dumbest fucking things I've ever known you to do."

Janey whirled round at the words, Brian standing right behind her. 

"I..I didn't hear you come in," she whispered, quickly wiping away her tears.

"That could be because I've been here the whole time,," Brian murmured.

"What? Matt said you went to your dad's."

"That's where I was going, til Leana realised she had messages from you on her phone. She let me listen to them, and I knew I had to come home" Brian explained. "Why the hell didn't you try calling me instead?" he asked.

"I tried before I left the airport, but I just kept getting put through to your voicemail. I figured maybe you didn't want to talk," Janey stated quietly. 

"Ok...seems we're both being dumb as fuck today, I thought I had it switched on," Brian replied, a smile tugging at his thin lips. 

Janey closed her eyes as Brian enveloped her in his arms. Breathing in his familiar scent she had missed so much over the last week, Janey was unable to control the fresh flow of tears. Brian caressed her back, wanting to comfort her as she sobbed against his chest. 

"Janey, we're gonna work through this I promise," he murmured "It's just a little bump in the road. I was tired as hell, and having to be away from you wasn't helping. I snapped, you snapped...we both need to learn to think before we speak, because I refuse to lose you over something so fucking trivial."

Brian tipped Janey's chin with a carefully placed finger and looked down at her.

"And I should never have ignored your calls, but at the time I thought it best because I just didn't want to fight with you anymore. I love you too fucking much for that." 

"B, we're gonna fight, it's inevitable, all couples do," Janey pointed out.

"I know, but I'd kinda like it if we managed to put that off as long as possible. I kinda like the idea of us being old and grey, sitting on the porch swing together under a blanket and still be as much in love then as we are now, not some bitter twisted old couple who constantly dig at each other because all we did was fight when we were younger."

"That's a nice ideal," Janey whispered.

Brian took her hand and led her to the couch, pulling Janey onto his lap. His long fingers playing with her hair, Brian gently pressed his lips to her forehead. Janey's eyes closed once more, the sensation of Brian playing with her hair making her feel relaxed and bringing forth the tiredness she'd been trying to ignore for days. 

"If you want to put this whole starting a family idea on hold for a while baby, and think about that job then we can do that," Brian murmured softly. 

Janey snuggled further into Brian, inhaling his scent once more as she tried to stifle a yawn. 

"They're apparently looking for two people to share the workload, they've realised it's too much for one person. They're going to get everyone that's interested to do a week with Beth at some point to see who might be suitable candidates and take it from there."

"I want you do try out for it at least," Brian assured her.

"Ok, but I don't want to put our plans on hold because of it, we're more important B," Janey whispered.

Brian held her tightly, knowing she was going to be asleep any moment. Kissing her forehead once more, he sat forward slightly, still holding her as he stood up.

"Come on you, let's go to bed," he told her, heading for the stairs. 

Brian lay Janey carefully on the bed, removing her jeans and shirt, pulling the covers over her before making his way into their bathroom. As he cleaned his teeth, his eyes were drawn to the small bin next to the counter. His heart soared as the used pregnancy test caught his full attention, only to fall again at the negative result it held. Finishing up, disappointment washing over him, Brian slid under the covers next to Janey, his arms wrapping round her once more. Kissing the top of her head, Brian couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't mentioned it. Giving into the tiredness that plagued him from a week of sleepless nights, he decided to talk to her about it in the morning, just glad to be back home where he belonged.

**********

Janey glanced at the clock on the nightstand, sighing heavily when she saw it had just gone 2 am. Brian slept on peacefully beside her, arm around her, his lips parted slightly as he snored lightly. Ordinarily, Janey would have just stayed where she was, enjoying having him next to her again, but for the third night that week she was experiencing the most awful night sweat, and needed to cool down.

Carefully lifting Brian's arm, so as not to disturb him, Janey managed to slide out of bed without too much fuss. She stifled a giggle as Brian mumbled in his sleep, taking hold of one of her pillows and hugging it close to himself. She quietly made for downstairs, grabbing one of Brian's clean shirts from the laundry room before heading outside.

Pulling the shirt over her head, Janey settled herself by the edge of the pool. She let out a grateful sigh as she dangled her feet in the water, the sensation of the cool wetness against her skin easing the unwelcomed heat she was experiencing. It was one of the most uncomfortable feelings Janey had known, and it was bothering her that it seemed to be occuring with such regularity.

The only reasonable explaination was that she was sickening for something, which was the last thing she wanted with Brian being home. She didn't want to be passing anything on to him before they set off on the US tour. Although she didn't seem to be suffering any other symptoms, so whatever it was was certainly baffling her. 

"Baby...what are you doing out here?" 

Janey looked over her shoulder in time to see Brian stepping outside, his hair deliciously messy, clad in only his boxers. 

"Sorry B, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologised quietly.

"You didn't, the fact that I was having a dream that can only be described as pure filth, and was about to start putting the moves on the pillow I was hugging is what woke me," he told her with a smirk, sitting down beside her, his feet joining hers in the water. 

"Is everything ok?" he asked softly. 

"I was having an incredibley bad night sweat, I needed to come out here to try and cool off," Janey explained "That's the third one this week."

Brian lay a gentle hand on her forehead, then her back underneath the shirt she wore.

"Fuck Janey..." he murmured at the heat radiating from her skin. "Do you think maybe you should make a doctor's appointment, just incase?"

"I'll give it a couple more days, because I feel fine apart from this," Janey assured him.

"Are you sure it's just the sweats, seeings as you've skipped this month...." Brian's voice trailed off a little.

Janey's lips curved into an apologetic smile.

"I was going to tell you about the test, it just slipped my mind what with everything today....I wasn't going to keep you in the dark B, I wouldn't do that."

"I kinda figured that in the end. I was just a little shocked to see it sitting there, staring at me," Brian admitted. "You haven't skipped like that in years...well as far as I know...since we were kids, then you went on the pill and saved me from having a fucking heart attack each month!"

Janey laughed lightly at the memory of Brian almost passing out when she'd skipped a couple of months when they were dating.

"No I haven't...I've been regular every month since then," she answered, letting out a low breath as another wave of warmth began to envelope her.

Brian slid into the pool, facing Janey as he took her hands to help her in, wanting to do anything he could to help her.

"Just seems a little weird that this has all started since you stopped popping one of those little suckers every day" Brian mused. "If it keeps on, or gets any worse, promise me you'll go see the doctor," he added, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I promise," Janey whispered.

"Good. Now, this can go, because I'm positive that can't be helping," Brian stated, his hands taking the hem of his shirt and lifting it over Janey's head.

Throwing the shirt onto the poolside, Brian's fingers ran lightly across Janey's shoulders, slowly removing the straps from the bra she still wore. He slipped a hand behind her to unclasp it, ensuring it soon joined the wet shirt. 

"Brian!" Janey whispered with a laugh.

"What?" he replied with a smirk "Our backyard, our pool...who gives a fuck what the neighbours think! Besides, I'm just trying to help you cool off a little more."

"Oh really now?" Janey answered sceptically.

"Oh you know you love it! And you've never been one to refuse a skinny dipping oppurtunity," he pointed out.

Janey looked as though she was having a hard time trying to even remember what Brian was talking about.

"Don't give me that look Janey Elizabeth. Summer of '98, camping trip to the lake....and as I recall one very naughty Ms.Sanders practically forced my seventeen year old self into the lake, as naked as the day as I was born and then went on to rob me of my innocence."

"Hmmm, and as I recall, you put up very little resistance, infact you couldn't get in that damn lake quick enough....and I'd robbed you of your innocence way before then anyway!"

"Yes, yes you had...god that was a good year," Brian sighed with a grin.

Brushing the breeze blown hair away from Janey's face, Brian gazed down at her for a brief moment.

"Feeling any better?" he murmured.

Janey nodded with a smile.

"Much, it really helped, thank you," she answered, leaning up, pressing her lips against his.

"Enough for a little outdoor recreation?" he asked, pulling her legs up around his waist, guiding her to the edge of the pool.

Janey's arms wound round Brian's neck.

"I wondered when you were going to stop taking your time," she whispered with a wink.