Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time

As the days go on, Brendon continues to distance himself from any bad memory or dream constantly trying to crawl back into his mind. As handy as denial is, marijuana and meditation also provide a safety blanket of naivety.
Gentle music flows through the room of Brendon’s studio as he sits cross legged on the floor, trying to concentrate on his breathing. Only colors appear in his mind as he tilts his head back. He counts each steady breath from ten to one, making sure the consistent pattern doesn’t get broken. When the musician feels satisfied, he gets off the ground and goes over to his computer to pause his music.
He hears the door open and quickly turns around. Sarah walks in with a small plate of food.
“Thanks, babe!” He says, taking the plate from her.
She pulls up a chair and sits next to Brendon, “Have you finished any songs lately?”
“I actually have. You remember Lauren Pritchard, she goes by Lolo?”
“Oh, yeah!” Sarah asks, while taking a small tomato from Brendon’s plate.
“Yeah, she gave me some ideas a little while back for a song.” The musician brings up the music file, “I wanted to wait until I put it all together to show you.”
“Oh?” Sarah says, seeming fairly intrigued, which excited Brendon.
The musician opens the track. While it plays, he looks to his wife and anticipates a reaction. The only other person besides Jake whose opinions make Brendon gitty or weary is his wife. Even though she didn’t have any say in Brendon’s creative process, her honest opinion could bring him up or break him down. Sometimes he thinks that if she doesn’t like it, no one will. This track in particular, was about her. That’s more than enough to get Brendon’s anxiety spiking.
He watches as a smile grows on her face. He can feel some of the pressure lift from his body.
She says, “Do I detect both Sinatra and Beyonce vibes from this?”
“Right on the nose, darlin.” Brendon says, taking a bite of his sandwich.
A minute goes by before Sarah asks, “Is this about us?”
“That’s definitely a part of it. Lauren wanted to write a song centered around our togetherness. What really drew me in was her title ‘Death of a Bachelor’. It makes it sound like I’m killing off my old self.”
She lays a hand on his back, slowly tracing circles into the fabric of his shirt, “You’re definitely not the same. I think you’re better now.”
He looks in her direction, “You know, I only thought you liked me cause I was in a band.”
“I knew you were running from something.” She says, her eyes are sad.
Brendon feels his mood slightly drop, “I didn’t just run away to run to you. I stayed.”
“And I let you in slowly but surely.”
“It wasn’t wrong for you to be cautious. Fuck, I was a mess.”
She places her hands on either side of his face, “You were, but I was still so drawn to you. You’ve changed in such a beautiful way, Bren.”
Brendon holds her arms, trying to not let his emotions get the best of him. She places a tender kiss on his forehead.
“Damn it, Sarah! I didn’t plan on crying today!” Brendon exclaims in a goofy voice.
“Oh no, I should leave then!” Sarah plays along, quickly popping up from her chair with a concerned puppy dog face.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Brendon says, dragging Sarah into his lap.
They come in for a passionate kiss. Sarah retracts and giggles.
“I definitely taste like the sandwich you made me.” Brendon says, “Fuckin food, killing the vibe.”
Sarah picks up a piece of the sandwich and takes a bite. After she swallows, she says, “I did a good job.”
“Mhm.” Brendon nods in response, taking in the warmth of their bodies together.
She goes in for a quick peck, but before she can move back completely, Brendon pulls her in for a deeper kiss.
After they both remove from each other, Brendon says, “We’re gross.”
“True.” Sarah replies with a goofy smile. She then gets off his lap and starts to head towards the door.
“What are you thinking of doing today, babe?” The musician says.
“Probably gunna get some shopping done.”
“Cool, yeah I think I’m going out later tonight with a couple friends.”
“A bro night?” Sarah questions.
“Oh you know it,” The musician puts on a silly voice, “Gunna get fuckin smashed with the bros. No chicks allowed, you know. The reg.”
“Have fun.” Sarah says with a small smile before walking out the door.

~~~

Jake stands in front of his mirror, radiating giddy energy. He just knows his lips will fall onto Brendon’s tonight, and he can’t wait. It’s been weeks, and tonight would be one night before a full moon. He wonders if The Chosen One could even be affected the night before. If this demonic elixsure progresses, it might very well trigger some actions or memories prematurely. At least, that’s something the black eyed demon would like to see. God, how long would it even take for Brendon to turn anyway? He questions.
A door opens and Kenny walks in the room, “Did you take my socks?” He says.
“I’m gunna borrow them. I wanna look… good tonight.” Jake says, fixing his collar.
Kenny pauses, “Our socks are the same.”
“I lost mine.”
The shorter demon doesn’t want to bother, “Sure. Also, I could ask why you’re dressing all fancy just to meet Brendon at some bar, but I’m sure if I had a guess, it would be correct.”
Jake turns to face Kenny, “I like looking good for him. Fuckin’ sue me.”
“Yep, thought so.” Kenny says before leaving the room.
Jake rolls up to the bar right on time. He walks in with a confident posture and a swagger to his step. He scans the dimmed room and Brendon is nowhere in sight. He figures he’s early, and takes a seat at one of the tables. He takes out his phone, wondering if he should let Brendon know he’s already there. Why not? He thinks.
He opens the last message received from Brendon and says:
Just arrived, saving a table for us.
He avoids adding a winky face, although the temptation is great.
Five minutes go by, Jake counts the seconds as they pass. He keeps checking his phone after every minute and soon feels relief when ‘seen’ appears below his message. Brendon posts the following reply:
Awesome, be there soon!
Jake smiles and decides to order a drink. The only reason being is to give the illusion that he’s not just waiting around. Soon enough, he sees Brendon walk in with a couple other people trailing behind him.
Jake stands and exclaims, “Hey, over here!”
Brendon makes eye contact with the taller man, and joins him along with the others. They embrace with a quick hug before sitting down. The black eyed demon looks at the other men accompanying them. He doesn’t know them, and that bothers him slightly.
Brendon says, “Jake, I don’t think you’ve met…”
His words fade from Jake’s ears as he becomes mesmerized at how good Brendon looks tonight. Clean shaven, messy hair, and a black t-shirt. God, Brendon looks good in anything…
He snaps out of it for a moment to shake the other individuals’ hands.
The night proceeds with copious amounts of alcohol and stories. Jake finds himself laughing at Brendon’s words a lot, even if some of the things he says aren’t terribly funny. He also finds himself closing the space gradually between him and the musician. Jake can feel the heat radiating off of Brendon’s body. He lays his chin on the musician’s shoulders.
“This is fun.” He says in Brendon’s ear.
“Hell yeah.” Brendon says, turning his head to look at Jake.
The black eyed demon moves back slightly and notices Brendon’s eyes falling to his lips. He moves in without hesitation, and they fall into an open mouthed kiss. It’s sloppy, but so ridiculously sensual. The kiss doesn’t last long enough to Jake’s liking, but he continues to take in the moment, licking his lips. He absentmindedly rests one of his hands on Brendon’s thigh, and it seems as though the musician doesn’t mind. His hand soon retracts quickly, however, as he watches Brendon’s lips fall onto his other friend’s. The burning feeling of rage and jealousy bubbles in the pit of Jake’s stomach. No one else kisses Brendon…
“Oh my god.” Brendon exclaims before laughing, “I should probably call it for tonight.”
Everyone agrees in their own various drunken ways. Jake doesn’t reply, still feeling the intense jealousy flair up in his being. That man Brendon kissed isn’t even attractive. If Brendon was more sober, he would have never done that, Jake thinks.
They all start to head out of the bar and for a split second Jake considers turning invisible and harming this man. He restrains himself well enough. As he heads home, there’s a conflict of emotions swimming around his brain. Even if he reflects on the the kiss he shared with Brendon, he can’t help but think of the other asshole taking those lips away from him. He angrily stomps into his apartment, and it catches Kenneth’s attention.
The shorter black eyed demon sets his guitar to the side, “Not a fun night?”
“No, I mean. Fuck!” Jake flops on the couch, “Brendon and I kissed. It was really good. I mean really-”
“Kay, what’s the problem, then?”
“He kissed one of his other goddamn friends too.”
“Wow. You know switching is a thing right?”
“Course I know that! But it’s Brendon… and that guy wasn’t even hot.”
“Tragic…” Kenneth murmurs, taking out his phone.
“I just wanted to turn invisible and punch him in the throat.”
Kenneth sighs, “You know, you’re not the only dude in Brendon’s world.”
Jake huffs before saying, “Speaking of… now all I can think about is this Ryan guy he probably smacked face with too.”
“Ryan Ross?” Kenneth questions, looking back over at Jake.
Jake sits up and looks over to Kenny, “You know him?”
“I replaced him in the band. Well, first it was Ian Crawford, then me.”
“Were they a thing?”
“I don’t know. Why does it matter?
“He mentioned him once when I was over. He seemed kinda off after just saying his name. If I throw out my anger on anyone, it should be people who’ve fucked Brendon over. Gotta defend his honor,.”
“You should ask Brendon about it if you’re so damn curious.” Kenneth rolls his eyes and goes back to looking at his phone.
“I will.” Jake finishes.