Be Quiet You Might Piss Somebody Off

”Amanda, open the door! Amanda!” I woke up to the sound of Brian shouting and knocking on the door. I was still very much asleep as I forced myself out of the bed and stumbled my way to the door. I unlocked and opened it.

”What?” I muttered and glared at him.

”Why'd you lock me out?” he exclaimed, ”What the hell is going on?”

”Where's Jimmy?” I asked and crossed my arms over my chest.

”In the guest room.”

”Will you let me talk to him?”

”No.”

”Then you're not sleeping here,” I muttered and was about to close the door but he stopped me, glaring at me.

”What the hell, Amanda? Are you acting like this because I don't want you to know what happened to Jimmy? Look, babe – ”

”Do not BABE me!”

”What happened to him isn't anything nice, okay? We don't want you to know!”

”You've changed. You used to tell me everything. Now, now that Jimmy's using drugs and all that bullshit, you've become an asshole to me!” I exclaimed.

”I'm just trying to protect you!”

”No you're not! I'm not a child anymore, I deserve to know what happened to my best friend!”

And while standing there, shouting at him, I realized that that must've been our first real fight. I didn't like it, not at all, but I understood why we were fighting. This whole Jimmy thing had really changed him. Maybe he really was trying to protect me, but honestly I wasn't buying that bullshit.

”Whatever. It's not worth this,” he muttered suddenly, ”Go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning.” He was about to walk away.

”No. No talking in the morning. We're not getting married tomorrow, not after all this. I'm done with this, for now,” I mumbled. And then I asked myself, what was I doing? Was I out of my mind? Was one fight enough to ruin our relationship?

”Don't give up this easily,” Brian told me, ”It's not worth it.”

”No. I know what I've been through, I know when to give up,” I said.

”Don't do this, Amanda.”

”I don't know what to do anymore. Ever since you told me about Jimmy, we haven't been the same.”

”Look, like I said, let's talk about this in the morning,” he said softly. He cupped my cheek and gave me a smile. I only shook my head as I closed the door.

What was I going to do? If I wanted, I could be married in 24 hours. But considering the fact that we hadn't been so close to each other anymore in months made me hesitate. What if we got married and our lives together would suck? What if we were unhappy? What if we would end up divorcing after, like, 70 days like that one Kardashian? I couldn't take that risk. I didn't WANT to take that risk.

-

The next morning I woke up to a headache. I groaned as I opened my eyes and found my vibrating phone from the floor. Someone was calling me. Whoever it was ended the call before I had time to pick up. So I put the phone away and got out of my bed.

Last night's events came rushing back to me and I felt disgusted. Someone had hurt Jimmy, I had propably ruined my relationship and I really, really needed to pee. So I rushed into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet seat and relaxed a bit.

After I had put on some clothes, I made my way out of the bedroom. I went into the kitchen where I found Jimmy and Brian. I didn't say a word as I took some juice out of the fridge.

”Morning,” Brian said as I sat down. I didn't even look at him as I poured myself a glass.

”Oh, I see,” he muttered, ”We're not talking to each other, are we?” I shrugged.

”I should go,” Jimmy said suddenly. I looked at his face and I hated to admit it looked pretty bad. Someone had REALLY hurt him.

”You're not going anywhere,” Brian said.

”Come on, man, it's your wedding day,” Jimmy said quietly.

”Are you sure about that?” Brian muttered quietly. I rolled my eyes.

”Fine. Let's not get married. I'll go call everyone,” I muttered as I got up.

”No, no – What? What is going on?” Jimmy exclaimed in shock.

”Amanda doesn't want to get married,” Brian said with a shrug.

”What, why?”

”I want to split up!” I exclaimed.

”No you don't,” Brian said.

”You don't,” Jimmy said and shook his head, ”Look, I don't know what's going on but I have a feeling it's got something to do with me... And, uh, you've been together for too long to give up now. Whatever the hell it is, that's bothering you both, you can talk it through. And by the end of today, you'll be happily married!” As Jimmy spoke he had walked to the doorway. He gave us a thumbs up as he left.

”Jimmy, get back here!” Brian exclaimed. I looked out of the window and saw Jimmy walking away from the house.

”What are we going to do?” I muttered and looked at my boyfriend.

”Get married. Forget all this,” he said.

”I, uh, was wondering if we should take a break.”

”Really? Can you honestly say that you don't want to be with me right now? After all that I've done to you, after everything we've been through?” he asked quietly.

”Look, I just... I don't know. I feel like we should try and help Jimmy and not think about ourselves all the time.”

”Oh? So, in the end, it was Jimmy who came between us? It started out with a kiss and here we are! Fucking great!”

”I'm not in love with him or anything! Stop acting like a complete asshole!” I exclaimed.

”Then tell me exactly why do you want to break up!”

”First of all, you try to protect me so bad that you've started pushing me away. You don't tell me anything anymore. You won't let me help my best friend. It's like, I don't even know you anymore,” I muttered.

”I'm not the only one that wants to keep you away from Jimmy. Even he, himself, doesn't want you to be around him while he's like that. You have to understand that we all try to do what's best for YOU,” he told me.

”Exactly! There's nothing wrong with me, I don't need everyone to protect me!”

”Yes you do! You were in a fucking car accident, your sister wants you dead and if we weren't here for you, you wouldn't have anyone!” he exclaimed and I froze. He was right but I didn't need to hear it from him.

”Truth hurts, eh?” he muttered and shook his head.

”So what you're saying, is that I should marry you because you're all I've got?” I asked quietly.

”I think you should marry me because even if I weren't all you've got, I'm still the right one for you,” he said, ”And we both do know it.”

”You're right. But don't you think that if we get married, right now, that we will have problems once we're married?”

”Of course we'll have problems. Every couple has problems,” he said, ”But I think you're scared. You're scared that it won't last. You're so scared that you won't even take the risk that we could have a happy life together.”

”What if you're wrong? What if, all of a sudden, I need to get out of this relationship? Or what if you one day realize that I'm not good enough for you?”

”I'd say that let's do it. Let's get married. And if, once we're married, you want a way out, just tell me. We can make this last. Please, Amanda, give it a chance,” he begged, ”Please.”

”Do you promise to let me help? Will you, no matter what, let me help with Jimmy? Will you tell me all about last night?” I asked. It took a moment for him to answer.

”If that will make you marry me, then yes.”

”Do you promise?”

”Yes.”

”Okay.” I nodded.

”I love you. Isn't that all that matters?” he asked as he stood up and took a step closer to me. He cupped my cheek with his hand as he looked into my eyes.

”I love you too,” I whispered. He gave me a smile.

”Good, now, we've got a lot to do. I'll give you a ride to Val's place,” he said before he leaned down to kiss me softly.

”I love you,” he mumbled against my lips, ”Never forget that, okay?”

”Okay.”