Horns Sound

Brandon's phone pinged excitedly, and he ran to his bedroom to retrieve it. The pad of his thumb swept across the screen, and Madeline's name illuminated his room. Pictures, presumably of her apartment, came in one after another. Furniture had gaping holes. Pillows were completely shredded and their innards strewn about the rooms. Her curtains were torn down and lying in a heap on the floor. A thick layer of feathers coated her entire bedroom. Every single bottle in her bathroom was bitten into and leaking. A bag of dog food laid empty in the middle of her kitchen. And the last picture, her large Irish Wolfhound laying on her ruined bed smiling, the caption underneath it read “This little shit is so proud of what he did. Do you see his face? He has no shame.”

Then she switched over to texts. “Would it be inappropriate to blame you for this? Haha. -Madeline Timestamp 9:47pm.”

“Completely understandable, how about we go to IKEA for some temporary furniture tomorrow? -Brandon Timestamp 9:49pm.”

“Seriously? -Madeline Timestamp 9:49pm.”

“Yeah, it'll be a super cliché date. -Brandon Timestamp 9:50pm.”

“Way to sell it... -Madeline Timestamp 9:51pm.”

“How does noon sound? -Brandon Timestamp 9:51pm.”

“Doesn't sound quite as good as noon thirty. -Madeline Timestamp 9:52pm.”

“I'll be there at noon thirty then. :) -Brandon Timestamp 9:53pm.”

“I'll be waiting... -Madeline Timestamp 9:53pm.”

Brandon chewed on his lower lip unsure if he should've responded. He decided against it and placed his phone back on top of his night stand. In order to resist temptation, he left the room. Immediately he noticed the pizza box on the floor and picked it up. The box had flipped in the process of falling so the pizza was destroyed. Brandon placed the box on the counter right side up and snuck a slice. His stomach was so elated that hot food was making it's way down his esophagus that it gurgled, much like Madeline's had when they decided to order dinner.

Madeline, his mind wandered, her mouth, the soft sighs she inadvertently made every time he looked at her, how she looked in his clothes. A light bulb went off when Brandon realized he hadn't retrieved her clothes from the dryer. He hastily ran to the front door, and grabbed his keys from the small table next to it. He took the stairs to the laundry room two at a time and jogged to the dryer, which buzzed just as he reached for door. The seal popped and he dug both of their clothes out.

Once back in his apartment Brandon took her sweater, put it just under his nose and inhaled deeply. “Holy fucking shit!!” A clenched fist hit his wall. “She smells so fucking good.” He walked into his bedroom, his face still buried in Madeline's sweater. “Does she wash her clothes in ambrosia?”

He threw his clothes in the corner and laid down on his bed not bothering to pull back the covers. He fell asleep with a bundle of her clothes next to him.

***

“Go to your crate!” Madeline screamed at Evan, her finger pointing to the other room. His ears fell back as he loped through the door frame. She threw the remainder of her comforter on the ground and grabbed a reserve pillow from her closet. With the pillow down on the mattress, Madeline nestled into her blanket lacking bed, drew the hood of Brandon's sweatshirt up and took a deep breathe. “Damn, he smells good...” She muttered as her eyes fluttered closed.

***

After being buzzed in Brandon knocked on her door, Madeline opened it, a wide smile on her face. “Do you want to come in? I'm not quite ready.” She gestured to the apartment behind her.

“Sure.” He shoved his hand into the pockets of his dark wash jeans, and walked past Madeline holding the door open. The damage her dog had caused hadn't been cleaned up yet. “Those pictures didn't do the destruction justice.”

“He mainly went after pillows and other small stuff, but he did hit the couch, so you probably shouldn't sit there. Please make yourself at home and I will be out in five minutes!” She was walking backward toward her bedroom as she talked and then quickly turned to slide across the floor in her socks to get to her room.

Brandon watched her hop giddily into her room and smiled as she disappeared. He made his way over to an over stuffed, burgundy recliner and sat down. Nails tapped across the floor and Evan appeared, his brown eyes staring curiously at the man sitting in his master's chair. One paw went forward, and Brandon looked in his direction. “Come here buddy.” Evan ran full speed toward him and barreled into his legs. Evan shook his head to collect himself and jumped up onto Brandon, his paws easily reached his shoulders.

Brandon's hands rubbed the Irish Wolfhound’s sides as the dog's nose went over every square inch of his new human friend's face. It was impossible for him not to laugh as Evan sniffed and nudged his nose on and around Brandon's mouth, but Evan looked proud of what he made the human do. He took it a step further and let his large pink tongue lick Brandon's cheeks, which led to more laughter. Madeline came out and saw what her dog was doing.

“Evan, down.” His head whipped around and he pushed off of Brandon to be petted by his owner. “I'm so sorry,” She looked at Brandon apologetically, “crate!” Evan scooted down the hallway. “The bathroom's just over there if you want to wash your face.”

“It's fine. He's a sweet dog.” He got up from the chair. “You ready to go?”

“Yep!” She cheered and opened the door to let Brandon go and then locked it behind her.

“IKEA!” He shouted when they were outside, and pulled a set of keys from his pocket. After pushing the unlock button the lights flashed on his 2012 black Chevy Suburban.

“That's your car?” Her mouth was nearly on the ground as she walked to the passenger's side.

“Is that a problem?” His eyebrow went up as he watched her through the driver's window. Madeline opened the door and jumped inside before pulling the seat belt across her body.

“No.” She smiled and shrugged. Brandon shook his head and got in. The drive to IKEA took a little over an hour, but they made the best of it. They talked, sang along to eighties music, and laughed, it was arguably the best car ride either of them had had in a while.

They got out of the car, and the gigantic yellow IKEA sign beckoned them. “You,” Madeline paused, “should take a picture of the sign and send it to all the Swedish guys on the team.”

“Why?” He questioned.

“Swedish imports, that's what they specialize in. That's why the store's blue and yellow, the Swedish flag...”

“I think I'll pass on the picture, but I appreciate the idea.” He put an arm around her shoulder and brought her in close so he could place a kiss on her temple. And they walked into IKEA.

Together they walked through the store. Occasionally Madeline would get frustrated by not being able to find the right furniture, but Brandon would place a reassuring hand on her back and calm her down. But, they found a replacement for everything Evan had ruined, plus a few other things.

They stood in the checkout line, their hands loosely entangled, completely content. Madeline's head rested on his blue plaid clad shoulder. Slowly the line moved forward, until they were at the register. The cashier scanned everything and Brandon went to give him his debit car while Madeline searched through her wallet for her own. She had a “eureka!” moment when it spilled out from behind her license, and she looked up at the cashier being handed another card. “Excuse me,” she interrupted the soon to be transaction, “he gave you the wrong card.” She handed the awkward looking twenty-something her card and took back Brandon's. “Sorry about that.” She apologized as she took the receipt and plastic card from the kid.

Once the had everything loaded in Brandon's car they got in themselves. The shopping had taken four hours, and they were beat. “Please don't ever try to do that again.” Madeline said giving him back his debit card.

“But it was my fault.” He looked directly at her.

“No it wasn't, I just said that so you'd come with me. I want you to know that I'd never expect you to do anything like that. You're not some cute boy I exploit on the side. I like you, a lot, but it's because you're adorable and sweet, not because you have money.”

Brandon took her left hand and put it to his mouth. He kept his hold on her hand as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove back home. They unloaded and brought all of the furnishings into Madeline's apartment. Evan watched them cautiously from a distance.

“Do you need help with anything else?”

“No, I think I'm good.” She responded putting her hands on her hips. “Thank you though, for everything.”

“No problem,” he walked closer to her and put his hands over hers. “I never told you, how beautiful you looked...” He bent down and pressed his lips to hers. “And for that I am truly sorry.” Madeline's cheeks blushed furiously, she hadn't even picked out anything particularly spectacular to wear, rolled up jeans and a faded Cubs tank top.

“You look pretty handsome yourself.” Her eyes were focused on the floor, she wasn't completely sure on how to give or take compliments properly. Brandon enveloped her in a tight hug and kissed the top of her head.

“I have to pick up my brother, but I will see you...”

“sometime in the near future.” She finished.

“Yes.” He placed one more innocent kiss on her lips before heading out.

“Bye.”

“Have a good night, Madeline.” The door was closed and he was gone.

“You too.”