Pink Is the New Black

Waking up after drinking is not my most favorite thing in the world, and today I’d rather crawl in a hole and die, than get out of bed in search of water and Tylenol. Unfortunately, Johnny didn’t seem to be home, so I am, in fact, dragging my sorry self to the kitchen for water to go with the Tylenol I found in the bathroom.

“Morning sunshine,” Jimmy shouts as I walk into the kitchen.

I groan, glaring at him with confusion in my eyes, “what the hell are you doing here?”

“Well good morning to you too, Johnny wanted me to pick you up and bring you to the studio,” he tells me, grinning as I down a glass of water.

“Sorry, but I’m busy Jimbo,” I state, looking at the clock on the kitchen wall. “Brys should be at work by now, and I’ve got to go see him before I go over to the studio.”

“Bryson. You’re going to see Bryson?”

I turn around to see Leana looking at me in disgust from the doorway, “morning Le, I can’t very well just dump him over a text, that’s rude. I’d much rather do it in front of his friends.”

“Oh then I’m going with you,” she states, grinning widely.

“What are we doing in front of whose friends?”

“Seriously, who the fuck else is in my house,” I snap, watching Gena walk into the living room.

“Val; she’s pulling your car around to the front,” she tells me with a smile on her face.

“Ugh, whatever; Jimmy go to the studio and tell the guys that we’ll be there soon. I’ll take the girls with me,” I mutter.

“Uh, Blaise, you’re going like that? Those aren’t even yours,” Leana states, pointing at my outfit.

I look down, confused to see myself in a pair of jeans, that were obviously not mine, and a fake long sleeve Fender shirt, that was also, obviously too big to be my own, “I don’t really know who they belong to,” I mutter, looking back up at Leana, “so I guess I am because I’m comfortable.”

Val opens her mouth to say something, but Gena elbows her in the side; I simply ignore it, chalking it up to their normal weirdness before I reach for another glass of water, downing that and then nodding my head, “alright, let’s go.”

I follow the girls and Jimmy out of the house, locking it behind me as Jimmy gets in his car, waving to us before pulling away. Val hands me my keys but I shake my head, pushing them back towards her and trudging my way over to my car, climbing into the back seat with Gena.

“You know what gym, right Val? It’s the one by McDonald’s,” I tell her, leaning my head against the window and closing my eyes.

“Blaise, we’re here,” Gena tells me, softly shaking my shoulder.

I open my eyes, completely surprised that I had fallen asleep in the first place, and look around, realizing that we’re parked outside of the gym that Bryson works at.

“Come on,” Val mutters, getting out of the car.

I groan and open my door, following all the girls into the gym. Gena pushes me to the front as we walk up to the desk, the clerk giving me a nasty glare, “Bryson’s been working out all morning, refuses to see any clients. So you better go in there and apologize,” she snaps, pointing towards the private part of the gym.

I bite my tongue to keep from snapping at her, my head pounding as I turn around and walk in the direction of the private gym area. I can feel my heart speeding up and my palms start to sweat as I see him hitting the punching bag repeatedly, his form slightly off, probably due to some pent up aggression.

“Brys,” I call out when I get to the sliding doors.

He looks up at me as soon as I say his name, and I wince at how badly his face has been busted up. Bruises make up a majority of it, while his lip is split as his eyebrow sports a nasty looking cut. I take a deep breath as he walks over to me, pulling the gloves off and tossing them on a bench before crossing his arms and stopping a few feet away, “what do you want?”

“Just to tell you that it’s over, thought I’d do it in person,” I mutter, trying to look everywhere but at him.

“Thanks for that, I guess. Look, Blaise, I’m sorry I called you a slut, it was uncalled for,” he states, causing me to look up at him in surprise.

“Thanks, for apologizing. It doesn’t change anything, but I appreciate it,” I tell him, smiling a little bit.

“Well tell that guy he better treat you right, or I’ll kick his ass,” he tells me awkwardly, a grin on his face.

“What? Oh, Brian? No, we’re not…” I trail off, chuckling, “it’s not like that.”

“Are you sure? It sure looked like that last night. He followed you out of the club and he looked like he had just been hit by a car when he saw you upset.”

I frown and shake my head, “no, he’s just a friend.”

Bryson smirks and shakes his head, “whatever you say.”

“Oh! I almost forgot,” I mumble, sliding the ring off my finger, “no way am I keeping this Brys.”

He shakes his head, “No, keep it. Just because we’re not together, doesn’t mean I don’t care about you, and I don’t have anyone to give it to anyways. You don’t have to wear it or anything, but you should keep it.”

I nod my head, sliding it into my pocket before stuffing my hands in both the pockets, shrugging my shoulders, “so uh, I’ll see you around?”

“Sure,” he replies with that same grin on his face.

I nod my head and turn around, smiling at the girls before walking out of the gym with all of them behind me. Val passes me the keys, and this time I take them, glad for the distraction.

“To the studio,” I tell the girls, starting up the car and turning on the radio before pulling out of the parking lot.

“You know, Bryson was right, you and Brian should just finally get together,” Gena states, trying to sound casual.

“Oh yeah totally,” I mutter, glaring at her in my rear view.

She sighs and shares a look with Val, but I ignore it, glad to have a little bit of girl time before they swarm the guys at the studio. The rest of the drive is quiet, no one really saying anything as we sit in traffic, until we finally reach the parking lot.

“’bout time, Blaise you drive like an old woman,” Leana mutters, smirking at me.

“Leana, I swear to God, if you keep making comments about my driving, I’m going to beat you up, and I’ll get Jimmy to help me,” I snap at her, playfully glaring at her.

She laughs and nudges me before running off towards the doors with me hot on her heels. We burst into the recording room, laughing loudly as Val and Gena jog to catch up to us, Leana rushing over to Jimmy and pulling him in front of her, “Blaise is going to kill me!”

I laugh as Jimmy holds his hands out in front of him as I rush towards him, grunting when a pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind, “hey! What’s the big idea? I’m trying to kill Le!”

Everyone in the rooms cracks up as I struggle against the arms, laughing too hard to actually get anywhere, and laughing even harder when Leana steps out from behind Jimmy, dancing in front of me, “alright, I give! You win,” I tell her, breathing in between my bursts of giggles.

I breathe out a sigh as I stop fighting against the arms, but the arms don’t release themselves from my waist. Before I get a chance to turn around and see who it is, Matt walks out of the recording booth, “Blaise, why are you wearing Brian’s clothes?”

Realization dawns on me; that’s what Val was going to say this morning and that’s why Bryson thought we were together. I slowly look down at the arms around my waist, to find that they’re covered in monster tattoos, they’re Brian’s arms. I try to keep a blush from creeping up as I slowly turn in his arms, looking up at him with a shy smile, “hi.”

“Hi,” he greets me, his voice soft.

“Can we go outside and talk? I promise I won’t bite,” I tell him.

He nods his head, pulling his arms away, but taking my hand and lacing our fingers together as we walk out of the room and towards the doors of the building. I bite my lip as we get outside, looking through my pockets for cigarettes, and finding none.

“Here,” Brian says, handing me one of his Marlboro’s.

I smile at him and light it with the lighter he holds out, handing it back to him as I take a drag, inhaling the thick smoke before blowing it out, “Syn, I’ve been really ignorant these past few years,” I start, turning to face him, “and I think it’s about time that I tell you that I love you as much as I love Donny, and in the same way that I love him.”

Brian smiles and leans against the wall, crossing his arms, “and?”

I chuckle and shake my head, “and you’re not going to like what I have to say next…” I trail off, watching sadly as his smile fades, “I love you so much Syn, but I’ve been through so much lately, between Jason, and Bryson, and I still… I blame myself for Donny’s death still, and nothing you say can change that, but I need some time to heal, the right way, and I can’t do that and work on a relationship with you, I just can’t.”

He nods his head, still frowning, “I understand Blaise, but I’m not waiting around forever, I can’t do that anymore.”

“I know, and I don’t expect you to. Here I thought you were going to make me wait around, but it’s always been me making you wait, and I’m sorry about that,” I tell him, “I really am.”

“Don’t apologize,” he tells me softly, dropping his cigarette.

I stub mine out on the wall before tossing it aside, and sighing, “so should we head back in?”

He shakes his head ‘no’, putting his hands on my waist and pulling me against him, “I’ve been wanting to do this for so fucking long Blaise, without any interruptions, and without anyone else in the way,” he whispers, leaning down and pressing his lips against mine in a hungry, but passionate kiss.

“Hey, break it up you two!”

I growl as I pull away from Brian, turning around to see Jimmy leaning out the door, a large grin on his face, “great, you’re together, Syn’s got a solo to record!”

I close my eyes and grit my teeth, “great. Now everyone’s going to think we’re together because Jimmy can’t keep his mouth shut,” I mutter.

“Eh, it can’t be bad if it’s just one day, right?”

I turn around to see Brian smiling hopefully at me, melting away my anger. I sigh and hold my hand out to him, but instead of taking it, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me tightly against him, “you’ll see Blaise, one day, that this is where you’re meant to be forever.”

“Maybe, Syn, but until then, we’re friends.”