Vegas Boys

I woke up at two o'clock in the morning that night and immediately wondered why I was awake. I was just starting to fall back asleep when something hit my bedroom window with a loud ping!, and I got my answer.

It happened two more times before I finally realized I was going to have to get up, and I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and over to the window. I looked down and saw exactly what I should have expected to see: Brendon, standing on the grass below, looking up and grinning mischievously at me.

Grumbling under my breath, I opened the window. "Brendon!" I hissed crossly. "It's two o'clock in the morning!"

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?"

"Oh no," I warned, "don't start this--"

He just grinned wider and went on, "It is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and--Kelsey!"

I had turned to go get back in bed when he yelled at me. I stopped and returned lethargically to the window. "What?"

"I just thought you needed some extra practice," he explained, smirking cheekily.

I rubbed my eyes sleepily, groaning. "I was asleep."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, and all my previous irritation melted away at the sight of the concern in his face. "You can go back to bed if you--"

"No, it's okay." I changed my mind suddenly, realizing that he had a point. "You're right--we should practice."

He beamed triumphantly, turning back to the notes in his hand before continuing, "...And kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief..."

And so we practiced the balcony scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet until almost three o'clock in the morning, when we had already run through it completely twice and gone over a couple rough spots multiple times. Brendon checked his watch and said worriedly that I should probably get some sleep, but I just shook my head.

"I'm not sleepy anymore. I'm wired up now."

"Me either," said Brendon, grinning. "If you had a lattice, I could climb up it, and we could practice for real."

I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, so I just raised an eyebrow at him.

He laughed. "You know what I mean."

It was quiet for a while. We just stood there--he, down on the ground below looking up, and I, up in my bedroom window--smiling at each other and enjoying the cool evening breeze. Then Brendon suggested quietly, "You should come down here."

"And do what?"

"Go for a walk with me," he replied immediately, without pausing to think at all.

I raised my eyebrows at him again. "At three o'clock in the morning? In Las Vegas? My dad would kill me."

"Not if he didn't know about it."

I just stared, completely unsure. "Brendon..."

"Come on," he urged, giving me an irresitable smile. "It'll be fun."

"Okay," I agreed, before I had even had time to really think about it. Sometimes my body just acts without thinking--especially when Brendon's around.

-----

"Oh, yeah," said Brendon suddenly as we walked hand-in-hand past my house, cloaked in darkness, "by the way, there's a curfew, so if you see a cop, just jump in the bushes or something."

"Curfew?!" I hissed, jerking out of his grip and starting to walk back.

He whirled around and stepped in front of me, so that I ran right into him and our foreheads almost knocked together. I tried to side-step him, but he grabbed my wrists and held me still. I glared at him a little, balling my hands into fist as I struggled to get free, but then he kissed both sets of knuckles and I stopped fighting him.

Brendon dropped my hands and slipped his arms around my waist instead, and kissed me on the forehead. "Come on," he whispered, pushing a strand of my hair behind one ear. "You trust me, don't you?"

I looked up at him, his beautiful brown eyes gleaming even in the darkness, waiting for an answer they were all too sure of. I don't think he realized how important that question was, or how unsure I was in answering it. I did trust him. But the voice in the back of my head was still telling me not to.

I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind, where I kept my mother's warnings locked away carefully, and said, "Of course I do."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me. I kissed him back for a while, and then pulled away; he just moved on to kiss my cheeks, and nose and forehead--and then I twisted out of his grasp and started off down the street.

He chased after me past a couple of houses, and then I slowed down to allow him to catch me, and he spun me around a couple of times before setting me down purposefully and kissing me. I pulled away a little soon, again, and smirked teasingly at him.

"You like to watch me squirm, don't you?" he said.

I grinned. "Well, it's only fair."

He knew what I meant and smiled back at me in silent response. He reached out to interlace his fingers with mine, and we walked off into the darkness together.

-----

I didn't get back home until almost five o'clock the next morning, so naturally, I was an extremely grumpy zombie when I had to get up and get ready for school at six. I turned my alarm clock off with a wrathful, unneccessarily-violent blow, and dragged myself out of bed. I stumbled into the bathroom and soon discovered that I looked like hell warmed over.

"The troubles of having a boyfriend," I mumbled to myself as I set about applying make-up. Not only did he keep me from my beauty sleep, but then I was expected to make up for the lack of it in the morning, lest I scare him off otherwise.

But, really, I knew I couldn't scare off Brendon. I had done my very best for months, and nothing worked. He was almost annoyingly faithful and accepting--obnoxiously perfect.

-----

"Damn you, Brendon," I told him as I met him out on the sidewalk an hour later. "Why must you always be so cheerful?"

It was barely seven o'clock in the morning, and, as per usual, he was in a way better mood than anyone had any right to be at that time of day. "Because I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said brightly, taking my hand and kissing me on the cheek.

"It's not gonna work," I grumbled. "I woke up this morning and looked like some kind of monster from the deep because of you."

"Impossible!" he declared, beaming.

"Shut up," I snapped. "And stop smiling."

He just laughed. "Love you, too."

And even though I knew he just meant it as sarcasm, I felt myself go completely red.

Brendon must have noticed too, because he fell silent and looked away. He cleared his throat and said awkwardly, with the air of changing the subject, "So...nervous about our prose presentation?"

"Yeah," I admitted. Actually, I was nervous about a couple of different things: the presentation, and then the fact that I would have to face Matt and the cheerleaders and all my other so-called friends for the first time since Brendon and I had officially started dating. And I wasn't sure what to expect from Matt. Would he cause a scene? Would he just ignore me? Would there be rumors circulating?

I had already decided that I was ditching my old "friends," regardless. I could always make new, genuine friends--and even if I couldn't, I still had Brendon, and he was all I really needed.

"Don't be," he was reassuring me now. "You'll be great."

"I don't know," I said uncertainly, then smiled and squeezed his hand, "but I'm sure if I'm terrible, you'll be good enough for both of us."

He laughed. "Yeah, sure. But really, don't worry. I have complete faith in you."

I sighed, thinking of the day ahead and feeling only dread. "Good to know someone does."