Too Scared to Love Again

Brian was settled outside on his porch. Pinkly was sleeping by his feet, enjoying the early morning, meanwhile Brian was having his morning cigarette. The reeking smell was attached to the tip of his fingers, and the guitarist was dressed in a pair of long grey sweatpants and slippers on his feet.
As the dark-haired man turned to tap his cigarette over the ashtray, he was all but tackled to the ground, before a familiar voice reached his ears.

“HELLO, JERK!” Michelle sniggered, the hazel brunette throwing her entire body on top of him.

“Fuck!” Brian groaned underneath her, realizing that his body wasn’t as strong as it had been when he used to work out every day.

“Is that a way of telling me that I’m heavy now?” Michelle cocked her eyebrows at him, meanwhile she climbed off his body.

“No, I’m calling myself old and weak!” he retorted, and then sat up and noticed the brunette, who was now settled next to him on his porch. “What the freakin’ hell are you doing here, DiBenedetto?” he asked, realizing that Michelle didn’t live here, like she once used to.

“I decided to pay my favourite people a little visit!” the brunette replied, and then felt his heavy arm that wrapped around her.

“That was very kind of you.” he dropped teasingly, and felt how Michelle snuggled into his side, the familiar smell of her perfume reaching his nose.

“You know me, Haner.” Michelle sniggered back, and placed a hand on top of his knee.

“I’ve missed you.” Brian admitted, still a little shocked that the brunette had simply just tackled him unto the ground of his porch this early.

“Don’t turn sappy now, old man!” Michelle let out, just as her ex-boyfriend frowned at her.

“Does Val know that you’re home?” he asked, meanwhile he picked up another cigarette from his package.

“Of course she does! Do you seriously think my ex-boyfriend would be the first to know?” the woman asked, and noticed how he rolled his eyes at her.

“Maybe I don’t miss you that much!” Brian confessed, feeling Michelle nudge his side.

“Bullshit!” she stated. “You’ve missed me like hell!”

“If you say so…” Brian muttered, and took a long drag from his smoke.

“So, is it now you invite me in for breakfast and tell me what’s been going on in your life since last time?” Michelle asked, glancing at him, meanwhile he tapped his cigarette over his ashtray.

“Do I really have any other choice?” the guitarist muttered back.

“Of course you don’t!” she told him. “And I’m fucking starving, so come on!” the woman grabbed a hold of Brian’s arm and then pulled him up to his feet.

Michelle was settled on top of the bar stool, a cup of reeking black coffee resting in her delicate hands, meanwhile Brian was standing in front of the stove, where he was currently flipping eggs.

“So, let’s follow the manuscript,” the dark-haired guitarist said, cracking a slick smirk. “How’s life going, Misha?”

“Thanks for asking!” Michelle chuckled, unable to resist the laughter that escaped from her lips. “Things are great! Liam’s busy with work most of the time, and so am I. I miss Huntington though! Baton Rouge is nothing compared to this place!” she said almost dreamily.

“Nothing’s like Huntington, babe. I thought you knew.” Brian sniggered back, and then sat down across from his ex-girlfriend.

“What about you, Haner?” Michelle wiggled her eyebrows a little. “You’re still not admitting that you’re a little attracted to Lynn?”

Michelle had a look on her face that told Brian that it didn’t matter how much he tried to wiggle his way out of this. The woman was persistent to the core, and she could read the man as though he was an open book, something most people couldn’t. Brian watched as she circled her fingers around the mug and then took a slurp from her coffee, before she placed it down on the marvel island and waited for him to answer.

“We’ve barely been friends during the last couple of weeks.” Brian admitted, and then got up to his feet in order to plate the island that often worked as a table in his house.

“Seriously? What happened?” she voiced back, sounding genuinely surprised.

“We had a little misunderstanding.” the guitarist shrugged back, not really in the mood to go into details, as he placed a plate in front of Michelle.

“But things are okay now?”

Brian had to chew on that question for a little while. Was everything okay between the two of them? His mind could still recall a drunken memory of their lips pressed together. The kiss had lasted for merely twenty seconds, before Lynn had realized what she was doing and then told him that she had a long day ahead of her. The brunette had been faster than ever before, as she drunkenly collected her belongings and demanded that he left the bar.

After the intense moment between the two of them, he hadn’t really seen her again. According to Blair, she was spending a lot of times at the campus, were she was apparently reading like a champion for her finals. Every time he had gone to the bar, he’d found someone else behind her usual spot, so at this point he wasn’t really sure if she was avoiding him or just being busy.

“I think so.” he replied, and then started digging into his food, expecting Michelle to do the same.

“You know, I think she could be really good for you,” the brunette started, obviously not ready to let go of this subject. “Like, something new for a change.”

“What do you mean?” Brian muttered back, food resting in his mouth, while he glanced up at her.

“Aren’t you sick of the rock star life, Bri? You’ve been going on like this for years. Matt and Val have settled down, Johnny’s crazy about Rebecca and don’t even get me started on Zee and Blair.” Michelle chuckled to herself.

“Misha, I’m 27, not 37.” he reminded her, and then lowered his gaze back to his plate.

“Yeah, but if you keep going on like this, you’ll be living this life when you’re 37 too!” Michelle pointed out, waving her fork at him. “I’m not saying that you have to get a girlfriend and knock her up, but wouldn’t it be great to have something stable?”

“My life’s really stable now!” Brian reassured her. “It’s not like women can resist me anyway.” he dropped with a smirk cupping his thin lips.

“Oh, please!” she groaned. “You know what I mean! I know that you don’t have a romantic brain cell inside that skull of yours, but I think you’d be an amazing boyfriend if you just tried to search for something other than pussy sometimes!”

“Are you suggesting something, Misha?” Brian wiggled his eyebrows at her, unable to take her seriously, as she shot him a glare.

“Elwin!” she half-snapped. “I’m being serious!”

“Don’t ever fucking call me that!” Brian grumbled at the woman.

“I will if you don’t take this seriously! I genuinely think you like Lynn!” Michelle told him, almost tempted to kick his leg under the table.

“Why? Because I look at her like I look at any good-looking woman I see?” Brian asked.

“No, because you know she’s not like any other good-looking woman you see!” she pointed out.
“Damned, I can see it in your eyes, Bri! And I fucking know that you can too!”

“You’re mental, babe! I love you, Misha, but you’re fucking mental!” the guitarist told the woman.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not right, though!” the brunette protested, waving her fork rather frantically at him.

“Whatever!” Brian shook his head.

♠ ♠ ♠

Cynthia woke up as the sun came peeking out from the tiny gap of his purple curtains. The blonde woman groaned lightly, and then shuffled her face further into the soft pillow, her bare toes soon bumping into Jimmy’s hair leg, as her move soon made the drummer groan and then wrap a lanky arm around her bare torso.

“The beast is awake!” she quipped, her voice cranky and thick with sleep, as the man trapped her body inside his embrace.

“Not yet!” Jimmy reassured her, and then placed his chin on top of her hair, the smell of shampoo lingering into his nose.

“What time is it?” Cynthia muffled, feeling his grip tightening around her body, as he soon rolled over her and left her body on top of his.

“Too early to get up!” he said, barely opening his eyes, meanwhile his big hands travelled towards her hips and started playing with the fabric of her panties.

“Mommy has taught me that if it’s too early to get up, and then it’s also too early to fuck.” the woman announced, and then jumped off of his body and rolled unto the other side of the bed.

“Your mother taught you that?” the dark-haired drummer wiggled his eyebrows, not really believing what was coming out of her mouth.

“No, absolutely not! My mother’s a bitch, and if anything, she taught me how to not raise a child!” Cynthia all but snorted, shaking her head a little, as Jimmy nodded slowly.

“I don’t think we’ve talked about this before.” he muttered and then propped himself up on his elbow.

“Oh, we have! But we were drunk! Very drunk!” Cynthia chuckled a little, and then ran her thumb over the apple of his cheek.

Jimmy caught her wrist in his hand, running his rigid fingertips over her soft skin, soon moving over the thick scars that were all but carved into her toned skin. The drummer had noticed them before, as well as the ones on her thighs and hips, which had been stitched several times. He had never made a comment on them, as he considered that to be personal and something she would tell him about if she wanted to.

“What are we doing today, pretty girl?” the dark-haired drummer asked, and then started stretching his long legs, yawning a little as he did.

“Let me check my phone first.” Cynthia replied, and then rolled over to her stomach, the covers sliding off her skin and exposing her body that was only left in a pair of lace panties.

The blonde grabbed a hold of her phone and then unlocked the screen, before she almost choked on her laughter.

“Okay. I have to call Lynn. Look at that fucker!” she said and then moved her phone into Jimmy’s reaction, so that he could see the picture of Lynn and Blair, the two of them drinking what was left of her Bacardi.

“If she asks, I’m not with you!” Cynthia added, looking rather sternly at the drummer, who simply sniggered back.

She soon moved towards the end of the bed, almost tripping over the edge of it while dialing Lynn’s number on her phone, ready to at least leave an angry voicemail.

Jimmy enjoyed the sight of an almost naked Cynthia who was moving around in his bed. The two of them had been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now, as it had all started as hang-outs, and now developed into sleepovers at his place. The dark-haired drummer knew that Cynthia was yet not ready to come out as a couple, and the two of them hadn’t even talked about what they were to call themselves. Some people would probably stress about that, but Jimmy, on the other hand, enjoyed the fact that none of them felt pressured to label the fling they had going on.

“Of course that bitch is sleeping!” Cynthia growled as she entered the room again and all but jumped into his bed.

“Well, babe, it’s still early as fuck.” Jimmy pointed out, trying to dodge the threating glare she shot him.

“I’m gonna sleep and dream of my Bacardi!” she announced, stubbornly covering her body with the sheets.

“Do that, babe. And when we wake up, we can plan a sweet revenge!” Jimmy suggested, chuckling rather darkly and then slipping an arm around her waist.