Misconceptions
You Are An Idiot
Brandon looks up fast enough to make his head spin, fingers gripping the sticky edge of the bar. “What?” He knows Zack’s a wanker, but messing with him now seems beyond the pale, even for him.
Zack’s dark eyes bore down into his, and for once, the handsome face is utterly serious. “Cody and I never had sex in rehab. Well...” Zack pauses and frowns. “We did both have sex in rehab, but not with each other. I think you misunderstood. Or I did.”
“What?” Brandon repeats, stomach churning once more as he tries to recall their conversation.
“Madison said it was my fault, so I went after you, but apparently I wasn’t quick enough.”
Irritated and confused, Brandon rests his head in his hands, elbows up on the bar, and sighs heavily. “Zack, you’re talking out of your ass. Even if that were true, which I doubt, Cody actually said himself that you’d... been together.”
“I know,” Zack says. “I heard him. But that doesn’t make it true.”
“Why would he say that if it wasn’t?” Brandon mutters, staring into his glass. Something, a weird mixture of hope and confusion and fury is twisting inside him and he doesn’t know what to make of it.
“Buggered if I know, Wonder Boy. I expect he was angry with you.” Zack sits down carefully on a bar stool as though it’s going to bite him.
“Can I get your friend a drink? Dinner? Breakfast?” ventures Laurie, who has returned and is now leaning over the bar to display her cleavage to best advantage. Brandon hasn’t the heart to tell her that she’s completely wasting her time, and Zack looks horrified, so he decides that Laurie can lean over as much as she likes.
“He’ll have a Jack Daniels and soda,” Brandon puts in, shooting Zack a dark look. “And he’ll like it.”
Wide-eyed, Laurie fills the glass and hands it over.
Brandon sniffs and folds his arms. “Now, what the fuck do you want? Why is it that I can’t even be angry in peace?”
“Looks more like self pity than anger from where I’m sitting,” Zack opines.
“Then fuck off and sit somewhere else.”
“Were it that easy to get rid of me, Wonder Boy. I have staying power.”
Brandon exhales messily. “I don’t care, Flo.”
“Oh, nice move.” Zack holds up his hands in mock offence, and Brandon still really hit him. “Alright. What I don’t get is what you have to feel sorry for yourself about.”
Infuriated, Brandon turns to him, eyes hot. It’s not as though he ever planned to spill his guts to Zack, but then again, he never planned for any of this and it’s academic anyway, because the words are coming whether he wants them or not.
“Well, you wouldn’t, you insufferable prick. I’m tired, alright? I’m exhausted. There’s a limit to my tolerance, believe it or not. I can deal with working twelve-hour shifts for a boss who hates me. I can deal with dragging my ass to the Manor every free minute I get because actually, I want to help Cody make a go of this thing—it’s important to him and it’s important to me. What I can’t deal with is between Tremellen at work and you at home and Rita everywhere else...” Brandon gulps air repeatedly and hopes that the stinging behind his eyelids is going to stop very soon. He scans the area for Laurie, but she’s nowhere to be seen.
“O that I’m confused completely about whether he has or hasn’t shagged you, and to top it all off, I’m sitting here with you at five o’clock in the afternoon, and honestly, if I cry now, I think I might just go and finish myself off in the gents.”
Brandon presses his forehead to the bar that smells of stale beer and varnish, and Zack looses an odd little snort.
“And not in the good way, you fucking insensitive pervert,” Brandon mumbles. “Now do me a favor and leave me alone.”
All ranted out, Brandon breathes slowly and unsticks his forehead from the bar. He rests his chin in one hand and gazes at his reflection in the tiny bit of mirrored wall underneath the optics. Everyone’s right—he does look like shit. And he’s certain he never ranted like that before he started seeing Cody. Then again, there are a lot of things he never did before Cody, and his gut twists abruptly at the thought of them.
Zack is silent for a long time, and Brandon’s just wondering if he’s still there when he hears him order more drinks from a startled Laurie.
“You’re an idiot,” Zack assesses.
“So are you.”
Zack’s dark eyes bore down into his, and for once, the handsome face is utterly serious. “Cody and I never had sex in rehab. Well...” Zack pauses and frowns. “We did both have sex in rehab, but not with each other. I think you misunderstood. Or I did.”
“What?” Brandon repeats, stomach churning once more as he tries to recall their conversation.
“Madison said it was my fault, so I went after you, but apparently I wasn’t quick enough.”
Irritated and confused, Brandon rests his head in his hands, elbows up on the bar, and sighs heavily. “Zack, you’re talking out of your ass. Even if that were true, which I doubt, Cody actually said himself that you’d... been together.”
“I know,” Zack says. “I heard him. But that doesn’t make it true.”
“Why would he say that if it wasn’t?” Brandon mutters, staring into his glass. Something, a weird mixture of hope and confusion and fury is twisting inside him and he doesn’t know what to make of it.
“Buggered if I know, Wonder Boy. I expect he was angry with you.” Zack sits down carefully on a bar stool as though it’s going to bite him.
“Can I get your friend a drink? Dinner? Breakfast?” ventures Laurie, who has returned and is now leaning over the bar to display her cleavage to best advantage. Brandon hasn’t the heart to tell her that she’s completely wasting her time, and Zack looks horrified, so he decides that Laurie can lean over as much as she likes.
“He’ll have a Jack Daniels and soda,” Brandon puts in, shooting Zack a dark look. “And he’ll like it.”
Wide-eyed, Laurie fills the glass and hands it over.
Brandon sniffs and folds his arms. “Now, what the fuck do you want? Why is it that I can’t even be angry in peace?”
“Looks more like self pity than anger from where I’m sitting,” Zack opines.
“Then fuck off and sit somewhere else.”
“Were it that easy to get rid of me, Wonder Boy. I have staying power.”
Brandon exhales messily. “I don’t care, Flo.”
“Oh, nice move.” Zack holds up his hands in mock offence, and Brandon still really hit him. “Alright. What I don’t get is what you have to feel sorry for yourself about.”
Infuriated, Brandon turns to him, eyes hot. It’s not as though he ever planned to spill his guts to Zack, but then again, he never planned for any of this and it’s academic anyway, because the words are coming whether he wants them or not.
“Well, you wouldn’t, you insufferable prick. I’m tired, alright? I’m exhausted. There’s a limit to my tolerance, believe it or not. I can deal with working twelve-hour shifts for a boss who hates me. I can deal with dragging my ass to the Manor every free minute I get because actually, I want to help Cody make a go of this thing—it’s important to him and it’s important to me. What I can’t deal with is between Tremellen at work and you at home and Rita everywhere else...” Brandon gulps air repeatedly and hopes that the stinging behind his eyelids is going to stop very soon. He scans the area for Laurie, but she’s nowhere to be seen.
“O that I’m confused completely about whether he has or hasn’t shagged you, and to top it all off, I’m sitting here with you at five o’clock in the afternoon, and honestly, if I cry now, I think I might just go and finish myself off in the gents.”
Brandon presses his forehead to the bar that smells of stale beer and varnish, and Zack looses an odd little snort.
“And not in the good way, you fucking insensitive pervert,” Brandon mumbles. “Now do me a favor and leave me alone.”
All ranted out, Brandon breathes slowly and unsticks his forehead from the bar. He rests his chin in one hand and gazes at his reflection in the tiny bit of mirrored wall underneath the optics. Everyone’s right—he does look like shit. And he’s certain he never ranted like that before he started seeing Cody. Then again, there are a lot of things he never did before Cody, and his gut twists abruptly at the thought of them.
Zack is silent for a long time, and Brandon’s just wondering if he’s still there when he hears him order more drinks from a startled Laurie.
“You’re an idiot,” Zack assesses.
“So are you.”