‹ Prequel: Masterpiece Theater
Status: Sequel to Masterpiece Theater. Go back and read it if you haven't or you will be lost.

Sound Effects and Overdramatics

Sidewinder

I drank my coffee, frustrated as hell with Beth, annoyed that Ian was still here, and confused as to why Jason had let him in in the first place.

Well, not that confused, but the last time I talked to him, he seemed to have made himself pretty damn clear. He wasn't on the market so much as available to the highest bidder.

Ian had to have known that. Still, as I watched the two of them, I could see why they made a good couple.

Ian had genuine love for Jason. I could see it clear as day in the way Jason held his attention, but that didn't change the fact that Ian cheated on him and had him arrested. It also didn't change the fact that Jason cheated on him, and would continue to do so.

I knew Beth and Ian didn't know that Matt had fucked Jason. It wasn't my business to tell, and would cause a hell of a lot more problems if it ever got out. I was betting that it was something Jason wasn't going to tell him anytime soon.

My phone rang. I took my coffee with me outside to the back porch and answered, not bothering to close the door. It didn't really matter if any of them heard me. I was beyond secrets and beyond caring.

"Hey." I greeted Michelle, wondering if she was going to fight with me.

"Are you okay?"

"Honestly? I don't know."

"Val said you stayed at Zack's last night. Alone."

"Yeah, I did. Look, I want to apologize-"

"Don't. Okay? Don't worry about it. I know it didn't mean anything."

"I'm still sorry." I sighed and sat down in a chair and drank more coffee. I felt Beth hovering behind me but I didn't acknowledge her presence. "I fucked up. I shouldn't be bringing my problems to you. It isn't fair."

"Brian, I told you last night, and I'll tell you again. I'm always gonna be here for you. Just maybe, for now, keep it to phone calls."

"Probably a good idea. Thanks, Mich."

"Always."

She hung up. I leaned back in the chair, tilting my face up towards the sky, eyes closed, and took a deep breath.

Leave it to her to be the most understanding person in the world. She was such a saint.

Beth sat down in the chair next to me. She took my hand and smiled softly, placing a kiss on my knuckles before speaking.

"You know, I thought about it last night, after I got home and saw Ian here. I laid on the couch all night, thinking. Michelle is always going to be in your life. Her sister is married to Matt. She was in your life long before the band even existed. She will always be in your life. I have to accept it, but I can't watch you go to her because I fucked up again."

I squeezed her hand in reassurance. "It'll take a while, but you're not gonna have to worry about it anymore." I smiled at her. She smiled back. I gently pulled her hand, asking her to come to me, doing my best not to be demanding.

She hesitated for a few seconds before moving to sit in my lap. I played with her fingers while she played with my hair. We were calm, but not so relaxed, because Michelle was the easy part of the conversation.

After a couple minutes of silence, I stilled my hands. "Promise me you won't sleep with him, and I won't bring it up again." I mumbled. "Promise me that he's just a friend, and I'll let it go."

She sighed and kissed me. I kissed her back hesitantly, waiting for her answer.

"I don't love him, Brian. I don't have to have sex with him, but that doesn't mean I won't share a bed with him."

It wasn't the answer I wanted. It wasn't even an answer I was willing to accept. I didn't want them anywhere near each other if they were going to be that close. The fact that she was still going to be staying there still got under my skin.

"Beth-"

She stopped me with another kiss. "I love you. Kai isn't even here for me. He's here for the baby. Just like I will be. I have no intentions of having sex with him, and he has too much respect for you to try on his own."

I didn't get a chance to comment on Kai's integrity. Instead, she kissed me again, fully, sensuously. Her lips fit mine perfectly, our mouths were slightly open. She slid her tongue inside and brushed mine, all while managing to pull her legs around to straddle me.

I wanted so many things in that moment. To stop her, to keep going, to talk to her, to let everything go. I was full of contradictions, but she was piloting the ride. She'd stopped me not twenty minutes ago, and now she was acting as if it had never happened.

All sense of unease went out the window when she ran the tip of her tongue along my collarbone and up my neck, latching onto my earlobe and sucking on it.

My body reacted. I jerked and dug my fingertips into her sides, pressing myself harder against her. My head wasn't clear, and I couldn't find a reason for hers to be. We needed to stop.

And yet, she dragged her teeth across my skin and flicked her tongue over my bottom lip before taking it between her teeth, as I had done.. I jerked and clawed at her skin underneath her shirt. Had clothes not been in the way, I would have already been inside her.

"Baby," I tried, my breath hitching in my throat. "Babe, hold on."

She pulled away, flicking her hair out of her face. Her eyes moved up, behind me, and I could only guess that Jason and probably Ian were standing there, waiting for us to be done.

Reluctantly, she moved off of me. It hadn't been my intention for things to get heated between us when I was only seeking to offer comfort, but that's what happened.

That's what always happened.

Whether she put the boundaries in place or I did, they always got crossed, and I saw her point.

If we weren't fucking and we weren't fighting, what else did we have?

It was as good a time as any to find out.

Maybe her staying at Ali's with Kai wasn't such a bad thing, after all.

My head was going to explode. I was just tired. Tired of fighting, tired of questioning everything, tired of the drama.

Zack had a point.

I got up and disappeared back into the house and down to the basement. I didn't really care that Ian and Jason had made a mess of things. I just sat my ass at the bar with a fresh bottle of whiskey, but I couldn't bring myself to take more than a swig of it.

I ended up chain smoking and staring at the same faded water ring until long after my ass had gone numb.