Three's a Crowd

Monday morning arrived in a rush of birdsong and bright sunlight, Brian groaning at the heat of the sun on his tattooed skin and turning over onto his side only to find that he was alone in the bed he shared with Raven. Waking up with a start, he glanced around the room and smiled when he saw his red-haired lover standing by her dresser brushing her hair. She was fully dressed in jeans and a black band tee and he realized with a sigh that she must have class.

“I take it you have to go be a good little college student today?” He asked her, Raven looking over at him and smiling as she placed her hairbrush down onto the dresser.

“I have a total of three classes today…” She told him, making her way back over to the bed and Brian immediately pulled her down against him. “And I’m already late for one…”

Brian pouted; “Do you really need to go to the other two?”

“Yes, Brian Elwin, I do!” Raven giggled, pushing her hand against her boyfriend’s chest. “Are you fit to drive?”

Brian nodded, stealing a quick kiss from her lips before grinning at her; “I guess so but I’d rather stay in bed… With you…”

“Sometimes I wonder how you get anything done…” Raven teased, kissing him before moving out of his embrace and standing back up. “Come on, get your cute ass out of bed and drive me to class…”

Brian rolled his eyes at his lover, throwing back the covers; “You know, we’ve discussed this before. I am not cute…”

“Sure you are, honey…” Raven winked playfully at him, picking up her backpack. “I’ll wait for you downstairs…”

Just under an hour later, Brian pulled his car to a halt in the parking lot on campus and looked over at Raven who was rummaging through her backpack, making sure that she had everything she needed for the day ahead. She had already missed her first English class but she wasn’t too worried about that as she knew she could score some notes off one of her classmates. The one thing she was worried about though was the fact that she couldn’t find her pen.

“So, uh, are you sure you want to go to class today and not come back to bed with me?” Brian asked, Raven huffing as she continued to search through her bag.

“Damn it, where is it?” The redhead cursed, Brian raising an eyebrow at her as he tried to meet her gaze.

“Are you even listening to me?” He asked, Raven looking up at him and letting out another frustrated breath.

“I can’t find my pen,” She said. “I swear it was in here and now…. I can’t find the damn thing…”

Brian grinned at her, reaching into the glove box on the dashboard and pulling out a pen before handing it to her; “Here…”

“Thanks, Bri’, you’re a lifesaver…” Raven grinned, reaching out to take the pen but Brian pulled it back, smirking at her.

“Not paid for, Bonnie…” He teased, Raven rolling her eyes before leaning in and kissing him.

She broke away from him, smiling as she snatched the pen out of his hand; “Thanks, Clyde…”

“You want me to pick you up later?”

Raven nodded, opening the car door and stepping out into the bright sunshine of the day. She turned to look back at her boyfriend behind the steering wheel and smiled.

“I finish at three, meet me here and maybe we can spend the rest of the day in bed…”

“Now there’s an offer a guy can’t refuse,” Brian winked playfully at her. “I’ll see you later, Bonnie…”

“Don’t go getting into trouble without me…” Raven blew her boyfriend a kiss before turning on her heels and walking off towards her next class, Brian honking the car horn at her as he drove off.

Walking into her English Literature class, Raven took her usual seat beside the window at the back and pulled her notebook out of her bag. The class was only half full and the professor hadn’t arrived yet so she started doodling on the cover of her notebook while she waited, sketching the name of the person who was on her mind just as Kellin took a seat beside her.

The blue eyed male peeked over at what she was doing, shaking his head at what she had wrote.

“Synyster Gates? You know for an English major your spelling is awful…” He spoke, Raven trying her best to ignore him. Kellin had been a thorn in her side since the start of the second semester, always trying to make get her attention like a playful puppy. He annoyed the hell out of her. “Shouldn’t that be an ‘I’ and not a ‘Y’?” He asked, leaning over and pointing at the word she had just scribbled.

Raven huffed out a breath, gritting her teeth as she turned to look back at him; “That’s the way you spell my boyfriend’s stage name, you idiot…”

Kellin looked surprised by her words, leaning back in his seat; “You have a boyfriend?”

“Yes, for almost two years now…” Raven nodded, her fingers instinctively finding the guitar plec that hung around her neck and toying with it as she spoke. “What’s it to you?”

“Nothing, I just never knew…” Kellin shrugged, looking a little crest-fallen. “I mean, Austin never said that you were involved….”

“You mean that giraffe who’s trying to hook up with my best friend?” Raven questioned, Kellin nodding. “Well I shoulda known that you’d be the Rocky to his Bullwinkle…”

Kellin pushed his floppy dark hair back out of his eyes; “So, I guess there’s no point in me asking you out then…”

“Not unless you want an ass kicking off my boyfriend, no…” Raven said, returning her gaze to the notebook in front of her and continuing to draw on it as the professor entered the room.

“I figured I didn’t have much of a chance with a girl like you anyway…” Kellin sighed, Raven looking back at him and frowning at his self-depravation.

“Look, KQ, you’re really cute…” Raven started, Kellin looking up at her with hopeful eyes. “But you’re not my kind of cute…” She continued, Kellin sighing again. “You’re like a puppy, you know? And puppies are great and everything but I like big, mean junkyard dogs…”

“I can be mean…” Kellin insisted, Raven shaking her head at him.

“KQ, you cried at Les Mis’ when we watched it in class last week…”

The professor scrawled his name on the chalk board, signaling the start of class and Raven turned back to her notebook, flipping it open and uncapping the pen Brian had gave her, ready to study.

The rest of the day passed quickly, Raven declaring it a success after she had managed to grab a quick lunch with Ashley, get a copy of the notes she needed from her missed class and avoid Kellin for the remainder of her time on campus. Now she was waiting in the parking lot, watching the light wind that was blowing rustle the leaves off the trees, scattering them to the ground. The various shades of orange, brown and yellow were a sign that her favorite holiday was on its way. Halloween was only around the corner and she could feel the familiar build-up of excitement she felt every Fall as she thought about how much fun this year’s celebrations were going to be.

As she leaned back against one of the trees, watching its dead leaves blow away in the wind, she felt her phone vibrate in her jeans pocket. Pulling it out she frowned a little when she realized that it was her older brother and that fact alone instantly had her worried. He hardly ever called her and when he did it was usually because something had happened at home that she needed to know about.

“Hey B', what's up?” She began, her voice wavering.

“Hey kiddo, are you sitting down?” Brandon asked her, Raven moving away from the tree she was leaning against.

“No, I’m at college waiting for Brian to pick me up in the parking lot…” She told him. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, there’s something I need to tell you and you may want to sit down for it…”

“Brandon, quit being an ass and just tell me…” Raven snapped, her body starting to tremble. Whatever her brother was about to tell her, she knew that it couldn't be good news.

“Dad’s sick, Rae…”

“Well, yeah, I mean I know he’s not been feeling himself lately…” Raven began, Brandon cutting her off.

“No, you don’t understand, kiddo…” He told her. “He’s sick, like, really sick…”

“What, like the flu sick or something?” Raven asked, looking up upon hearing the familiar sound of Brian’s car pulling into the parking lot.

“No, it’s, uh, a little more serious than that…” Brandon paused, Raven waiting anxiously for him to finish as she started to pace the sidewalk. “He’s got cancer, Rae…”

Raven stopped abruptly upon hearing the word ‘cancer’ leave her brother’s mouth, her mind going blank. She couldn’t comprehend that her father could have such a serious illness and not tell her. He just had a couple of chest infections over the last couple of months that’s all, it was nothing for her to worry about he’d said.
He’d lied.

“Kiddo, you there?”

“Uh, yeah… B’, how come I’m only just finding out about this now?” Raven managed to ask, spotting Brian walking towards her and she raised her hand, gesturing to him to stop.

“Dad didn’t want you to worry…”

“Well he’s an ass for keeping it from me and so are you,” Raven snapped, Brian furrowing his brow as he looked at her. “Do I need to come home? I mean, you wouldn’t be calling me to tell me this if I didn’t…”

“We thought he was getting better, kid, but, uh, he took a bad turn last night…” Brandon paused before speaking again, his voice shaky. “Rae, the doc reckons he might not make it through the week…”

“Uh, okay, Bran', I'll be there as soon as I can…. Tell Dad I love him…” Raven informed her brother, hanging up and staring at her cell phone in shock.

“Rae, baby, what is it? What's wrong?” Brian asked, approaching the stunned redhead cautiously and Raven looked back at him, opening her mouth as if to say something before collapsing into his arms in tears.

“My Dad’s sick, Bri’…” She told him through choked sobs. “I have to go home…”