Masterpiece Theater

Hey babe. With Jason. He needed a sober buddy. Shouldn't be too long. xx.

I smiled. I hadn't expected Brian to be on board with my brother's constant need for attention. The way he'd been handling things the last couple of weeks had earned him a lot of respect from both of us.

The time stamp read before five. It was after eight and he still wasn't back. He also hadn't sent any other messages or called. Most likely, he passed out as soon as he was able to.

I lit a cigarette and scrolled through the rest of my messages. Ali wanted to have lunch, Danny wanted to know when I was gonna tell him I'd been sleeping with his favorite guitarist. Nothing out of the normal.

Brian's face last night told me he hadn't been happy with who I chose to bring me over. I couldn't blame him, but Jason hadn't answered the phone and he was busy. I didn't have any other options.

I tried to call Ali and she didn't answer. Danny was there and offering.

Instead of talking about it, I showered, tried to eat, and he took me to bed. I fell asleep shortly after, content in his arms. I didn't even notice when he left.

Downstairs, I helped myself to coffee. I'd become just as familiar with his fancy machine as I was with my simple twelve cup. We'd only been dating for three weeks, but I was here more than I was at the apartment. Jason, too, preferring to sleep on the pullout in the basement.

We both felt comfortable here. Welcome.

"Yo! Brian!" I heard Matt come through the door and holler up the stairs. I closed my eyes and sighed, lighting another cigarette.

"Synyster Gates! Where the fuck-"

He stopped when he saw me, a scowl forming on his face. Even behind his aviators, I could tell he was glaring at me. He hovered in the entryway, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms and ankles in front of him.

"Where's your boyfriend?"

"At my apartment with my brother."

"So why the hell are you here?"

"Why are you?"

"Came to drag his ass to the gym."

Reluctantly, I pulled out two coffee mugs and handed him one. He took up residence on a stool and tapped a Marlboro out of his pack. I felt him watch me as I grabbed milk out of the fridge and brought the sugar over. The flick of a lighter sounded and I tried to hold back my annoyance.

Matt had an issue with me, but he refused to tell me, or Brian, what it was. For whatever reason, he didn't like me, and he really didn't like that I was dating his best friend. Brian made sure we were never alone together, but I guess with having to go see Jason, he forgot that he had plans with Matt.

"Can I ask you something?" He sucked down on his cigarette and spoke as he exhaled.

"Sure." I mumbled over the rim of my mug.

He flicked his ashes and leaned onto the counter with his forearms. After another sharp inhale, he said, “Do you actually love him, or are you just after his money?”

I swallowed wrong and coughed up burning liquid. It spewed out of my mouth, down my chin and my neck, and more splashed out if the cup and hit my chest. I hissed and slammed my mug down, causing it to fall over and spill all over the counter.

“Damn it.” I muttered, flicking my eyes to glare at him after I grabbed a washcloth and started cleaning. He leaned back and took his sunglasses off, tossing them onto the granite just out of my range of cleaning.

“Why the hell would you ask me that?”

“I know he’s in love with you. I don’t wanna see him hurt because of some gold digger.”

I choked again, this time trying to hold back a scoff. “Brian is not in love with me. He doesn’t even know me.”

“Clearly.” He muttered.

“And what does that mean?”

I watched him stab out his cigarette, taking his sweet time in answering my question. “It means that you’ve walked out on him twice already. If you’re going to do it again, you might as well do it before he finds out you have a husband back in Chicago.”

I felt my eyes grow wide. I watched my hands as they fumbled to pick up my forgotten cigarette and relight it. He watched me as I took a long, steadying drag. Closing my eyes while I exhaled, I asked, “how the fuck do you know about that?”

“I do my research.”

“You checked up on me?”

“He’s my best friend. Of course I did.” He said it with that same, smug smirk he’d worn when he walked into the kitchen.

I didn’t care that I was almost half his size. I didn’t care that he was Brian’s best friend, or that he was M. fucking Shadows. I bared my teeth and I lunged, gunning for flesh, and snagging some skin under my nail as I managed to scratch his cheek.

He grabbed my wrist when I moved to smack him again, and then the other to stop me from trying. He backed me against the counter, pinning my arms against my chest, and leaned in. Our breath mingled, our foreheads touching. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me.

“Don’t play this game with me, Laurel. You’ll lose. Tell him or leave him, but don’t give him false promises.” He growled.

Just like that, he let me go. He put his glasses back on and stepped away. I nursed my wrist gingerly, staring at the broad expanse of his back, thinking that it was a good idea I chose Brian instead of him, but feeling sorry for Val for being stuck in his orbit.

“Tell me, Matt,” I spat, gaining courage, “are you threatening me for his sake, or yours?”

He stopped in the entryway. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m not the only one in this room in love with him. Am I?”

I expected him to turn around. He surprised me by leaving without getting the last word in. Feeling briefly triumphant, I finished what was left in my mug before going upstairs to get dressed for the day.

I’d gotten in the habit of leaving a few days’ worth of clothes at a time. Brian even managed to clean out a drawer in his dresser for me and set out an extra toothbrush in the bathroom. We were getting rather domestic rather quickly, and it surprised me that I didn’t mind. It was probably due to my brother’s refreshing support.

While I pulled my favorite pair of stretchy jeans over my ass, I thought about the underlying reason why I left Chicago, the secret that Matt had managed to uncover and that I’d been running from for a year.

Finn gripped my arm with bruising force, trying to stop me from packing. “Where the fuck are you going?”

“I’m going to stay with Jason for a few days. Maybe you can cool off.” I snapped, trying to shake him loose. He only held on tighter.

“The hell you are. I’m not gonna sit here with my thumb up my ass while you go coddle your faggot brother. For all I know, you’re fucking him, too.” Spittle landed on my cheek. I wiped it away and pushed him.

“Get over yourself, Finn! You’re drunk. Sober up, cool off. I’ll see you in a few days.” I pulled the zipper loudly and slung the bag over my shoulder. He blocked my exit.

“You’re staying right here, where you belong.” He grinned, baring teeth, and wrapped his hand around the side of my neck. If he hadn’t been drunk, and my face wasn’t already pulsing with pain, it would’ve been almost lovingly. Adding the kiss, the slow sensual peck of my lips, was a nice touch while he maneuvered the bag off my shoulder and tossed it down, out of the way.

I’d finally managed to leave Finn and got a restraining order. He knew where I was, he knew where I worked, where Jason and my dad worked. A piece of paper didn’t stop him from stalking me, but he never approached me, or tried to contact me. He was always there, though, letting me know he was watching.

After our dad died, Jason saw it as the perfect opportunity to get out of Chicago. I didn’t argue with him. He wanted to find our mother, I wanted to get away from Finn.

We only succeeded in one of those things.

In a bout of rage, I screamed and swiped everything off the top of Brian’s dresser-spare change, guitar picks, an ashtray, a picture of him and Jimmy from high school. It all clattered to the floor and I left it, deciding to light a cigarette instead.

I couldn’t see Brian right now. I didn’t want him to see me this flustered over what Matt had said. I didn’t need to cause problems for them. I’d calm down and then meet him later.

Going for mani/pedis with Ali and then the gym. See you later.