Safe Haven

After spending the day shopping around for some maternity clothes, Marnie decided that since it wasn’t too late yet that she would fix herself some dinner and relax for a little while, and then she would clean up the house a bit since it seemed to be messier than she liked. Plus, Scott was driving down the following day to pick up a few things from the attic and to visit for the day, and she didn’t want him to see the house so messy.

Walking past her shopping bags, she headed into the kitchen. She tossed her purse aside and immediately went to work on making herself a healthy salad to eat. Once her salad was made, she sat down on the couch and switched the TV on. There was nothing on that really interested her, but it did help her relax.

Marnie sighed to herself a half hour later as she stood from the couch, turned off the TV, and started to pick up the house. She started by cleaning the kitchen. It took her fifteen minutes to load up the dishwasher, sanitize all the counters, and throw out any leftovers she had in the fridge. Then she moved to the living room, making sure to put her shopping bags away for the time being, deciding she would hang up all her new clothes tomorrow. After an hour she finished and she could finally relax for the rest of the night.

The second she sat down to watch a little TV; the phone began to ring, startling Marnie slightly. With a soft sigh, Marnie reached over to grab it off the coffee table. She pressed the green call button and pressed it to her ear, “Hello?”

“Did you lose your cell phone?”

Marnie smiled at Brian’s voice ringing through the phone, “No, it’s buried somewhere deep inside my purse which is in the kitchen currently.”

He chuckled, “Well at least you answered this phone.”

She rolled her eyes and asked, “Why are you calling so late, Bri?”

“Late?” He questioned her, “I didn’t realize it was so late? I don’t know what your clock reads, but my clock reads 8:42. That doesn’t seem too late to me.”

“Alright, smart ass, maybe it’s not late, but still, why are you calling me?”

“I don’t know.” Marnie could picture him shrugging his shoulders while smirking ever so slightly. “I guess I’m just bored.”

“Bored?” She snorted, “Where the hell is your fiancé at to entertain your ass?”

“She went to visit her parents for the night,” He said, “Which means it’s your job to entertain me for the night.”

“Brian!” She whined, “Why can’t one the guys entertain you?”

He chuckled, “Because! They’re all busy tonight with their own problems and girlfriends.”

Marnie sighed softly and leaned her head back against the cushioned couch, “So what are you saying, Bri? You want to come over?”

“If you don’t mind, Marnie,” He murmured.

“Brian Haner!” She scolded the window ahead of her, picturing it was his amused face instead. “I am not some little toy made for the sole purpose of entertaining you!”

“Oh come on!” He laughed, “You’re my best friend. It’s part of your job as being my best friend. Besides, I would do the same for you.”

Marnie knew that was true. Brian would do just about anything for her. In fact, he would do or die for her. They were best friends who had been through so much shit together, and the bond and friendship between them was as tightly wound as it had ever been before.

“Fine,” She muttered, “Come on over. And bring some clothes and shit since we know you’re just gonna end up staying over.”

Brian smiled, “I’ll see in a bit. Bye, Marnie.”

“Bye, Brian.”

Marnie hung up the phone and tossed it onto the couch by her feet with a slight grumble. She didn’t mind Brian coming over for night since it was something they hadn’t done in quite a while, but it was different now. He was engaged to be married in two months, and she was almost five months pregnant with his child that he knew nothing about. How was she supposed to hide her bump now? She didn’t know, but she needed to figure it out before he arrived, because he would freak if he found out randomly by complete accident.

-x-

“Do you have any idea how bored I would be right now if I were home?” Brian questioned through a mouthful of popcorn.

Marnie tossed her head back against the couched and laughed at him, “Extremely I’m sure.”

“You are correct,” He confirmed with a small nod of his head.

Reaching up to rub her eyes, Marnie exhaled a deep breath. Brian arrived about an hour and a half ago, and so far all they had been doing was eating some delicious popcorn, watching some stupid horror movie about zombies on TV, and talking about random things when a commercial came on. It had been nice so far, and luckily Marnie was able to hide her baby bump with a loose and comfortable sweatshirt, so Brian didn’t seem too concerned. So far all he knew and thought was that she had gained a little weight over the past few months, which really wasn’t that big of a deal since before Marnie’s pregnancy, she was thinner than she should have been and it wasn’t healthy.

“So tell me something,” He muttered, picking up the practically empty popcorn bowl and setting it onto the coffee table in front of them, “Why are you so tired? It’s just going on eleven a clock.”

Marnie shrugged, “I don’t know. I just had a long day. Why? Am I not a loud to be tired earlier than midnight?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” He allowed an exasperated sigh to pass his lips, “It’s just strange. Everything about you is strange and seems different in a way for some reason, and I don’t understand why. I don’t get why you’re suddenly so different.”

She sighed, “People change, Brian. You know that.”

“But not this much,” He shook his head, “People do not change as much as you have over the course of five or six months.”

Marnie rolled her eyes, “I am not having this conversation tonight, Brian. I’m too exhausted for this.”

“That’s exactly my point,” He muttered, “The old Marnie would stay up till five in the morning talking to me about whatever I needed to discuss with her.”

She narrowed her eyes together as she turned to look at him, “You need to stop doing that, Brian. Stop comparing me to the ‘old Marnie’. I’m not the same person I was then, and I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I will never be that person again. I’ve changed and so have you, it is what it is. Get over it already.”

He raised his hands in defense, “I’m sorry, Marnie. I’m sorry that I care about my best friend and that I’m worried about you. I can’t help it.”

“You can care about me all you want, I just wish you would stop getting into my business,” She sighed, “In other words, just stop being nosey, Bri. We lead two very different lives, and I don’t want you snooping around in mine, okay?”

“Fine,” He nodded, “I’ll mind my own business for now on.”

Marnie didn’t utter a single word in response as she switched the TV off and then stood from the couch. Glancing down at Brian for a quick moment, he lifted one eyebrow asking silently what she was doing.

“I’m tired so I’m going up to bed,” She said as she moved past him and around the couch, “Are you coming or not?”

Brian sighed as he rose up off the couch and onto his feet, “Yeah, I guess.”

She smiled softly as she flipped off the light before the two headed upstairs. Everything was locked and secure, and Marnie felt safer with Brian staying over since she knew he would never let anyone hurt her or rather get to her in order to hurt her.

“Why are you sleeping in here?” Brian asked as he stood in the doorway of her old bedroom and watched as she made her way over to the bed and pulled back the blanket.

“Because, sleeping in my parent’s room makes me feel uncomfortable, and Scott’s room still has a bunch of his old junk in there,” She replied.

“Oh,” He nodded, “Well I guess I’ll just sleep in the guest room then.”

Looking up at him rather alarmed, Marnie shook her head, “No can do, Bri. There’s no bed and the room is a fucking mess.”

Marnie wasn’t lying either. Scott had moved the bed out months ago and stored it in the attic so the guest room could be used as an office, which Marnie was grateful for seeing as now it was pretty much empty and she could start working on the nursery. Plus, there were several shopping bags of baby clothes and other things currently being stored in there until she could get the furniture she would need for the nursery.

Brian nodded, “Alright. Well, you don’t mind me staying in here with you, do you?”

She shook her head, “Not at all. I mean, it’s not the first time we’ve shared a bed, Bri.”

“True,” He smiled softly as he entered the room and shut the door behind him, remembering how Marnie could never sleep with any doors open.

Thankful that he had already changed into his pajamas, he took off his sweatpants and laid them aside before climbing into the bed next to Marnie who was already comfortable. Once he was settled he looked over at her with one eyebrow raised. “Are you really gonna sleep in that?” He asked, gesturing to the sweatshirt she had on.

“Yes,” She murmured, “Why? Is there a problem? I’m cold,” She defended.

“That’s because it’s cold as fuck in here,” He snorted, “But you don’t usually sleep in sweatshirts. Actually now that I think about it, the only clothing you used to sleep in was your underwear and a loose t-shirt if I can remember correctly.”

“Now anymore,” She shook her head, “And so what if it’s cold? I like it.”

“Okay, fine,” He laughed, “I weren’t about to get up and turn the air off or anything.”

“Good,” She muttered, “’Cause I would have to slap you if you did.”

He stared at her for a moment before asking, “Are you serious?”

She stared back, smirking faintly, “Dead serious,” She confirmed.

“Wow,” He breathed out as he reached over and turned the lamp off.

Marnie sighed out peacefully, feeling more comfortable than she had in a while. Maybe it was because she didn’t feel as alone as she usually did since Brian was with her for the night. Actually, no, she was sure that was the reason. She hated sleeping alone, but there was nothing she could do about it. She would just have to suck it up and get used to it for now, because she was sure that it wasn’t going to change for a while. Marnie knew that having a new born baby was practically a guy’s worse nightmare, especially if they weren’t the father, so she knew she wouldn’t be dating for a long time. She had come to terms with it though. Besides, dating had only caused her life to go off track anyways. Now she was fixing her life and making her own choices, and she was actually somewhat happy about the baby now. She couldn’t wait for her little girl to arrive, even though she was more than terrified about giving birth.

“Hey Marnie?” Brian whispered after a few minutes of silence.

Keeping her eyes shut and not moving a muscle, she muttered, “What?” It came out sort of as a groan. A very irritated and tired groan that basically said to shut the fuck up because I’m trying to get some sleep. But of course Brian ignored it, as usual.

“Do you love me?”

Marnie grumbled incoherently before saying, “Are you kidding me? Of course I fucking love you, you big dumb idiot!”

“I’m just asking, calm down,” He smiled.

“Well don’t ask me stupid questions when I’m trying to sleep,” She retorted.

He laughed as he inched closer to her before kissing her forehead, “Go to sleep then. We’ll talk some more tomorrow.”

“Wait,” She said.

“What?” He asked.

“Do you love me back?”

Brian nodded, “More than you could ever imagine.”

Marnie smiled as she leaned against him, “Night, Brian.”

“Good night, Marnie.”