When the Moon Fell in Love with the Sun

The day after the couple tossed their caps at graduation, Brendon and the boys were on their way to Los Angeles to sign with Fueled by Ramen. Katelyn had stayed home to spend time with her mom, because she knew that when Brendon came back every moment was going to be spent with him.
During his trip, Brendon texted his girlfriend whenever he could to let her know what crazy things he was up to and how much he missed her. If it was this though being apart for a few days, they could only imagine how it would be when they were separated for months.
"Brendon. It's 2:30. I want to go to bed... you should sleep too." He had kept the girl on the phone for probably three hours and she was past being tired.
"You're not my parents! You can't tell me to go to bed!" Brendon sounded like he had been drinking coffee and eating candy- he was wired.
"Your parents still tell you when to go to bed?" Katelyn laughed as she got into her own bed, plugging her phone into the cord on her nightstand. Brendon blatantly lied, saying that she didn't know his life.
"I'm pretty sure I do, Bren... Anyways, I need to sleep."
"Why? You're not doing anything tomorrow!" His disappointed voice made her miss him even more.
"And how do you know?" Katelyn didn't have any plans, but Brendon didn't need to know that.
"Because the only thing you should be doing is in LA!" Despite being in a completely different state, Brendon could still make the girl blush. Lately he had been making a lot of sexual jokes and Katelyn was always just a little embarrassed by them.
"Whatever Brendon. I'm going to bed."
"You know it's true! Don't deny it." Katelyn told him goodnight and he did the same before they both hung up and the girl went to bed.

Katelyn and her mother were out shopping the next morning when she got a text from Brendon. He was supposed to be coming back later in the day and the girl was beyond excited.
'We need to talk when I get back to LV.'
Katelyn stared at her phone, her heart beginning to race as panic mode set in. Helen asked her daughter what was wrong, but the girl shook her head.
'Ok. Come over whenever you want.'
After hitting send, Katelyn stuffed her phone in her pocket. It wasn't like Brendon to be so vague... This was going to drive Katelyn crazy all day.
Katelyn had gotten a few summer dresses and denim shorts from the mall on her mother/daughter-shopping excursion and once she returned home all she could think about was what Brendon wanted to talk about.
"Honey you need to quit pacing around. It’s making me nervous." Helen was getting ready for work and could see her daughter in her bedroom from her bathroom mirror. Katelyn plopped onto her mother's bed, saying that she couldn't help it.
"Well, let me know what happens... It'll be fine." Helen kissed her daughter on the forehead before heading off to work.

Around 7:30 the doorbell rang and Katelyn opened it to find Brendon standing there with more luggage than he had taken to Los Angeles and a tired look on his face. She stared at him curiously and he said that it was a long story. Katelyn allowed him to come in and set his stuff down before asking what was going on.
"I went home and told my parents about my record deal... They told me to get out."
"Oh, Bren..." Katelyn pulled him into a hug, which he returned stiffly, making the girl let go of him nervously and say that wasn't what he wanted to talk about.
Brendon shook his head before saying that they should sit down. Katelyn led him to her room and they sat on her bed, a nervous tension in the air. She watched him carefully as he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, his brown eyes avoiding her hazel ones at all cost.
"Uh... We got studio time to record our album this summer."
"Really? That's what you wanted to talk to me about? That's great, Bren!" Katelyn instantly felt relieved that she had gotten worked up over nothing.
"It's from June to September." Brendon watched Katelyn absorb the blow and fight back her emotions as she merely nodded. To add salt to the wound, he told her that it was in Maryland.
"Oh..." Katelyn had no idea what to say. She didn't think he would be leaving so soon.
"I know. I’m really sorry... I don't want to go but this is our chance." It was obvious that Brendon was sorry that he had to leave so soon... He hadn't planned on spending his entire summer in Maryland without Katelyn.
"I understand. When are you guys leaving?" Brendon responded that they were leaving June 15th and the girl felt like she had been punched in the gut.
"I promise I'll be back to help you move into your dorm room…" They had made all of these plans to road trip to Irvine and move Katelyn in for her fall semester but for some reason the girl felt like this wasn't going to happen, despite Brendon's promises.
"You know what, Bren… Let's just take this time and be together. I don't want to deal with the thought of June 15th."
"Kay, you can't just ignore it. Nothing good will come from that." Brendon took her hand with his and kissed her fingers. He knew there was no way to put it gently; they were going to be a long distance away from each other in a matter of a few weeks.
"I don't want you to leave me." Katelyn finally admitted what she had been thinking since he had gone to Los Angeles.
"I'm not leaving you, Kay. I'd never leave you." His sincerity did wonders for the girl and she smiled softly, giving him a sweet kiss.

"Bren… My mom won't be home till late." She gave Brendon a look that sent shivers down his spine as she set her hand on his leg.
"Wait. Are you saying that you want to…" Brendon had no idea where this was coming from. Sure, they had gotten hot and heavy before but they had always come to their senses and stopped before it got to be too much. Now she was suggesting that they go all the way out of nowhere. Usually they never talked about it, it just sort of happened.
"Come on, Brendon. We both want to." She was planting kisses along his jaw and neck, letting her hands run through his hair and along his back and he was doing all he could not to throw her down on the bed and take things to the next level right then and there.
"Kate. I'm not gonna pressure you. You don't want this right now, I know you." It wasn't that Brendon didn't want to be with her, he just didn't feel like they were ready. He didn't want things to be awkward or weird between them because they were going to be apart and rushing it could do just that.
"Whatever." She huffed because she didn't get her way, but in the back of her mind she knew that Brendon was right. Katelyn didn't know what she was saying… She was acting out of desperation due to the fact that she wanted to be as close as possible to him and she felt stupid.
She apologized and Brendon told her not to worry about it.

"Hey, I bet you could play violin on our album… You could come out to record whenever we need the parts." Brendon and Ryan had talked about having strings included in the second half of their album, and who better to play on it than Katelyn?
"That sounds nice, Bren. Where are you going to stay now that your parents kicked you out though?" Katelyn was more concerned with now rather than what was going to happen in the future.
"I dunno. I don't really want to go to Ryan's with his dad being the way that he is." Brendon had recently revealed to Katelyn that Ryan's father was an alcoholic. The girl really felt for Ryan and always tried to brighten his days whenever they hung out.
"Well. I don't think my mom would have a problem if you stayed here… Especially if it's only for a little while." Katelyn averted her eyes from Brendon's and his hand cupped her face, making her look at him.
"Hey, don't make it sound like we only have a few hours left before I fall off the face of the Earth."
"I'm trying not to, but that's what it feels like to me."
"Let's go watch tourists on the Strip." Brendon's sudden idea made Katelyn giggle. He was sporadic and she loved it.
“That sounds like a good change in scenery.”

Holding hands and walking along the insanely bright, bustling Las Vegas strip, Katelyn and Brendon watched the people passing by them and made up stories about their lives.
“That lady right there, in the palm tree shorts, just lost her kid’s entire college savings playing slots.” Brendon chuckled at Katelyn’s assumption, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him as she instinctively slid an arm around his waist.
“The guy and chick coming out of the Luxor over there in the fanny packs. Secret agents on the hunt for card counters.”
“I love you, Brendon…” Katelyn laughed before realizing what she had just said, hoping that he thought she was kidding around.
“Oh Kate, I love you too.” He kissed the top of her head, squeezing her shoulder affectionately, letting her know that he meant it just as much as she did.