Fragile Hearts

Brian takes a deep, nervous breath as he finally swings his left leg over to the sidewalk. He had killed the engine a while ago, ten minutes to be exact, and yet he sat there doing nothing up until this point. No, he wasn’t anxious about picking up Kasey. He was dreading that moment where Michelle’s new squeeze walked in through those restaurant doors. Or if he was already there, sitting at the table in his mechanic’s work uniform.

Okay, well, it wouldn’t be that bad. Michelle had better taste than that. Right? Brian wouldn’t know. He never really labeled himself.

The point for Brian was: he had no idea how he’d control his actions and reactions around the guy. Because he would only want to punch the guy when he first saw him.

The guitarist jabs the buttons of the apartment number for Ferris and Pearson, met almost immediately by the buzzing of the door.

“Hi!” Kasey’s bouncy roommate opens the door, almost as wide as her smile as she lets him in. “Kasey will just be a few minutes. I’m Tess by the way, I don’t think we were ever introduced properly.”

Brian takes her hand, shaking it with a smile. Every time he saw the girl, it seemed like she had just gotten off a caffeine drip. “Brian. But, you probably already knew that.”

Tess giggles. “Yeah.”

He waits for the awkward silence to hit. It never comes, but something else does, nudging his ankles and twisting itself around his feet. Brian never expects it. He looks down, startled to see a grey tabby kitten playing with the laces of his shoe.

“Oh, sorry! I’ll get him-”

“It’s fine,” Brian can feel his lips curving into a much-needed smile as he bends down, petting and scratching the adorable cat. “What’s the name?”

“Tex. I swear, he loves everyone except me.”

The kitten playfully bites Brian’s finger, and he waggles it around, trying to let Tex go easily.

“Have any pets?”

Brian nods. “Her name is Pinkly.”

Tess’s eyebrows shoot up and Brian snorts.

“Yeah, she’s definitely not the type of dog you’d see a guy like me walking. Trust me.”

He straightens himself out when he hears the clacking of high heels enter the room. When his eyes finally land on Kasey, he almost forgets that he has to breathe. The only thing that snaps him out of his short trance is a small giggle from beside him. He blinks, shaking his head before giving his date a polite smile.

“You look nice.”

Kasey smiles. “So do you. First time I’ve seen you without board shorts and a beanie.”

And as a normal man would, Brian comes to this conclusion: he’d totally bang her. If there weren’t so many impositions. Like the fact that she doesn’t sleep with clients. Or the fact that he wouldn’t be able to last five, maybe ten minutes without Michelle and guilt simultaneously creeping into his mind. He gulps, feeling the guilt settle in already for even thinking such a thing.

“Ready?” He asks, clearing his throat.

“Mhm.”

He just hopes Tess doesn’t catch him looking down Kasey’s ass as they walk out the door.

“Thanks again for doing this,” Brian sighs as Kasey hops onto the motorcycle’s seat. He enjoys watching how the little black dress clings to all the right places perfectly.

“Brian, I swear to God, if you thank me one more time-”

“You’ll do what?” Brian smirks, handing her the helmet.

“I don’t know. I still have to think about it.” Kasey giggles, biting her lower lip.

The restaurant is nice, she concludes as Brian lets her off on the sidewalk so he can find a parking spot. She can see through to the inside that the atmosphere they were trying to go for was romantic, with the lights inside dimmed and the beach front right outside the back.

“Where’s Brian?” Kasey turns around, greeted with a friendly smile by Val. “He didn’t ditch you or anything, right?” The blond jokes.

Kasey chuckles. “Just parking his bike.”

Val sighs, shaking her head. “Matt too. They’ll probably find each other there too.”

Kasey feels the urge to speak, before the silence overwhelms the two. “This is a really nice place here.”

“Yeah, it is. Sometimes we need something more sophisticated than a bar or hanging out at a friend’s, you know? It’s nice once in a while.”

Kasey nods just as Val’s face sours.

“I knew it,” she frowns.

Kasey turns around, seeing Brian laughing and talking with Matt.

“Hey, babe. Look who I found,” the latter smirks, leaning in for a peck on the temple.

“Uh huh,” Val squirms, trying to get out of his enormous grasp, but fails miserably. So does the frown she was trying to hold.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kasey can see Brian’s lips curl into a bittersweet smile. She touches his arm softly, successfully grabbing his attention. “Ready to go in?”

“Yeah,” he breathes, putting an arm around her waist to lead her inside.

Jimmy and Leana arrive next, then Johnny, Lacey, Gena and Zacky simultaneously. Kasey can see, with furtive glances in Brian’s direction every now and then, that he’s nervous as they all sit down and order drinks.

She wants to ask if his ex and her new squeeze are coming at all, because she’s starting to feed off his anxiety, biting her lips, looking around everywhere, but that would be rude. So she forces herself to shut up and wait.

“Kase?”

Kasey looks up, startled out of her trance. Leana giggles. “You know what you’re getting?”

Kasey doesn’t even know how the menu ended up open in her hands. “Uhm. I haven’t decided, you?”

“I was thinking the special.”

It’s after drinks arrive when Kasey looks up, recognizing Val’s sister and a stranger walk through the entrance. She can feel Brian tensing up immediately, testosterone leaking out of every pore he has. Kasey gulps, placing a hand on his knee. A larger hand, in turn crushes it, causing Kasey to breathe in deeply to control herself.

“Bri- Brian, that hurts,” she whispers.

“Sorry.” His grip release as the new couple draws closer.

Michelle arrives at the head of the table, and everything goes dead silent, everyone’s eyes gravitating around her.

“Hi guys,” she says quietly. “This is- this is Beau.”

Beau?

Beau?

As in Bojangles?

Seriously?

Kasey’s stomach tightens, the nervous giddy feeling rushing up and catching in her throat. Her lips seal shut as an extra precaution and her body stiffens.

The tense, awkward silence doesn’t help.

She can feel her face heating up about a thousand degrees.

Not even Jimmy comes in to save the day.

“Hi,” Beau gives a small wave.

And Kasey can’t take it anymore, she cracks. And coughs out a laugh. Everyone looks at her as she excuses herself, rushing to the bathroom before she breaks down in a fit of hysteria, slumping against the pristine white tiled wall. She hopes with the amount of chatter going around other tables, no one can hear her.

Suddenly, the bathroom door swings open again, and for a second, she’s terrified it’s Michelle. But Leana’s worried face greets hers.

“Are you okay?”

Kasey nods, picking herself up. “I’m so sorry, I just got so nervous.”

Leana nods, cracking a grin. “I figured. Actually, I think everyone figured. Zacky almost broke too.”

Kasey breathes in deeply, trying to compose herself. “Am I okay?”

“You look fine,” Leana smirks, grabbing her arm and leading her back outside.

The girl doesn’t get to have another chance to sit back down because Brian is pushing in his chair, facial expression unreadable.

“We’re going,” is the only thing he says.

Kasey takes this by surprise. “Oh, okay?”

She takes one last look at a desperate Michelle and shy Beau. She frowns. She’s seen him before. When she had to bring Tess’s fifteen-year-old lemon in to be fixed.

“Shit,” she whispers, as he recognizes her too.

Because he’s actually a pretty cool guy to hang out with when you are getting your car repaired. Not to mention good looking. In a gruff sort of way. He actually reminded her of Dallas Winston from The Outsiders if she had to think about it.

A cool off-shore breeze hits Kasey and Brian as soon as they walk out of the restaurant.

“Wait right here,” Brian fumes. “I’ll get my bike.”

“I- it’s fine, I can walk it.”

No answer, so she has to speed walk to keep up with his long gait.

“Look, I’m really sorry about back there, I was totally rude.”

“It’s not you,” Brian replies shortly. “I just- I thought I could do it. But I’m not ready.” He stops, running his fingers through his gelled hair, looking absolutely devastated.

Kasey’s heart goes out to him in a split second. She wants to open her mouth and say something, but she knows it’s not her place. She wasn’t invited to interfere with his life.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to do with it, it’s not your fault.”

Kasey’s mind flashes back a couple of years. Back to when Tess was newly dumped.

She had seen him at the same grocery store where she bumped into Leana. He already had a new girl, a blond bimbo, hanging off his arm, literally, and she looked totally oblivious. By the way she had been talking with him, Kasey thinks she didn’t even know there was a previous relationship.

“It’s not his fault either. It’s no one’s,” she finds herself blurting. “This shit just happens. How we deal is our own problem.”

Brian’s face hardens. “Thanks, Dr. Phil,” and he’s walking again.

Kasey frowns, feeling as if he had just jabbed her in the gut. She should’ve just kept her fat mouth closed.