Blood

The following morning was a wave of despair that Kory hadn't prepared herself for. It took every single fiber in her bones not to just drop everything and go on tour with Brian. But, she had to remind herself that she'd just make things more complicated somehow. She always did.

"You okay?" he questioned, pulling her against his bare chest even tighter than she was. Her hands were even colder than usual, which he had deciphered to be a sign of her distress. He brought both of her pale hands up to his lips, breathing softly on her freezing fingers.

She nodded, looking up to give him a saddened smile before sighing and reaching over him to grab her cell phone. She giggled softly, muttering, "Thirteen different messages from Rissa in the last five minutes."

Brian didn't say anything, he just closed his eyes and felt the muscles in her wrists tense up and relax as she quickly typed out a reply. He just appreciated the fact that she was here, nothing setting them apart in this particular moment. Even if he did have to actually get up soon, it was quite satisfying to just feel her skin against his, her heart beat perceivable against his side.

Kory groaned, placing her phone back on the bedside table before entangling herself between the blankets and Brian. "Only a few weeks is too long," she complained, burying her face in his neck, taking long steady breaths, wishing against all odds that the smell of him would never leave this bed. The thought sparked a question in her mind. "What about Pinkly?" she questioned, giggling softly as paws could be heard on the steps the second the name left her mouth.

"It's a shorter tour, so we've decided not to bring her. My mom's supposed be to taking her until we get back," he said, not wanting to ask Kory to stay here and take care of Pinkly. Kory happened to be one of the rare girls that Pinkly loved, but he couldn't ask that of her.

She suggested it anyways. "I'll watch after her, if you want," Kory said, pulling Pinkly into her arms and hugging her gently. "She could stay with me at Mason's, or I could stay here. Whichever's easier. Whataya think little cutie?" Her voice was high pitched as she cuddled the small dog, giggling up a storm as she did so.

"You can stay here. I'd like it if you did," Brian confessed, causing Kory to avert her attention from Pinkly to him, almost immediately. "I'm not asking you to move in - yet anyways," he smirked at her, and laughed at the death glare she sent his way. But, the suggestion made him consider the future for a moment. Usually, Kory never stuck around long enough to even consider the future, but this time, things seemed different. Kory was different. After a few seconds of silence, Brian asked a question he had spent much too long condensing down into only a few words. "Would you ever move in? With me, here, I mean."

Kory thought for a while before actually answering. "I dunno. I wanna get my apartment first. I want to make sure I'll be okay before I lean on someone again. But, maybe. It would only be for Pinkly though, obviously," she teased.

Brian laughed, sitting up and throwing his arms around her, being more gentle than he needed to be. By the time she had stopped laughing, she laid comfortably on her back, Brian's head on her stomach, his arms wrapped protectively around her waist. "I don't want to leave without you," he confessed, sighing.

Viscous thoughts of the day she left for New York flooded Kory's mind. It was like being injected with stale poison; it left bitter thoughts to linger in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about how he didn't show up at the airport, how she didn't blame him, and how much she hated herself that day. "Brian?"

"Hm?"

She wanted to ask him why he had tried with her, even after what she had done to their relationship. She wanted to ask him what he saw in her, because she sure as hell couldn't see anything in herself. She wanted to ask him what was so different about her, as opposed to any other tan girl with tattoos in California. But she didn't. "When do you have to leave today?" She already knew the answer; they had to be on the tour bus by 1PM. But she wasn't sure what else to ask.

He answered the way he had before, and sighed in contentment as she traced the ink on his skin. They still had a few hours before either of them needed to get out of bed, but he knew Kory well enough that she wouldn't want to stay in one place much longer. She had once explained to him that having the same exact scenery for more than two and a half hours was "bad for her health," but then continued on to explain that it left her too much time to think about things that had the potential to tear her apart. He vaguely considered going out for breakfast, even though he knew that he and the guys would get something to eat on the way to the venue anyways, but then decided that they wouldn't have enough time.

Kory seemed to be thinking along the same lines that he was. Her fingers suddenly stopped tracing his skin, and she moved her legs from under Brian. She reached her hand out for him to take, and once his fingers were securely interlocked with hers, she tugged on his arm to get him to stand up. "You have to leave in an hour, and I have to get to wedding planning in two. Let's conserve energy and shower together," she teased, a smirk on her lips.

Brian couldn't help but laugh at her choice of words, but stood up and followed her down the hall anyways. She turned the water on, her hand never leaving his as she did. She turned to place a sweet kiss on his lips, letting herself get carried away. Her hands stayed tangled in the ends of his hair, while his rested gently on her hips, pulling her close.

It was Kory that pulled away, her heart beating hard inside of her chest. Her lips slowly traveled down his neck, and she took extra time to leave a mark, claiming him as hers. She left another on his collar bone, this one much more defined than the last, and let one of her hands travel down his torso. "Six weeks is a long time," she purred against his skin, "I don't know if I can handle it."

Brian couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped his lips. "Hm," he placed one hand on the small of her back and held her so there was no remaining space between the two of them, the other hand made it's way to her neck, his fingers wrapping around her throat, "I think you'll do just fine." The smirk on her face that mirrored Brian's was enough to let him know just how willing she was to submit.



Kory wasn't sure how long she had been standing here, sandwiched between Jimmy and Zacky, but this was going to be one of the hardest things she's ever have to face, she was certain.

"Once the wedding's over, we're taking you both with us. No arguments," Jimmy said, finally picking his chin up off of the top of Kory's head, releasing her as Zacky did.

Zacky nodded in agreement. "Just no sex on the tour bus. You'll have to wait until we're at a hotel," he teased, laughing at the bright pink of her cheeks. He continued anyways, a counterfeit look of sympathy on his face. "I know it'll be hard for you two love birds, but for the love of all things holy - keep the PDA to a minimum."

"Alright, alright. That's enough embarrassment for one day," Marrissa interjected, laughing as Kory buried her face into her shoulder. "I had to deal with it too, Kor. Don't worry," she said, smiling.

Brian, Matt, and Johnny all wandered off of the tour bus then. The three notified that everything was ready to go. The look of pure dejection which Kory gave Brian crushed him, but he knew better than to ask her to do anything she would regret. So, instead, he just pulled her into a tight embrace, noticing how cold her hands were pressed against his back.

Kory inhaled more than she exhaled, embracing the scent of Brian and hoping that it would never leave her and ignoring the subtle pain in her chest. "Call me everyday, okay? Don't forget."

He laughed softly against her shoulder, and shook his head. "I won't forget."

"Promise?" The smile on her lips hadn't been that genuine in ages. It made her feel oddly victorious.

Brian nodded, chuckling at her. "I promise."

She placed a quick kiss on his lips, her stomach doing flips just like the first time he had ever kissed her in the studio. She laughed softly at the memory. "I'll talk to you later then, alright? Don't be late because of me," she giggled.

"Hate to be a bother, but we need our guitarist," Johnny interrupted, placing his hand on Brian's shoulder. "Zacky's getting a bit impatient," he added, laughing softly.

Both Brian and Kory sighed, exchanging one last kiss before he finally departed. Marrissa held Kory's hand tightly, once both Brian and Johnny had disappeared onto the bus.

"C'mon, we have a wedding to plan," Marrissa said, knowing Kory well enough to be aware that she needed to be occupied as soon as possible.

For the next few weeks, Kory wasn't sure what was going to happen or how she was going to feel. But, one thing she did know, was that she and Brian were oddly real this time. She hadn't hurt this much about someone she knew would be back eventually for as long as she remembered.