All Was Golden in the Sky

Ever since Ryan and Jon had decided they were going to leave Panic!, I knew Brendon had been hurting. He never showed it too much, instead working hard with Spencer to make Vices and Virtues kick ass, but Ryan and Jon had been two of his closest friends. I knew Pete had invited them to join us in Nags Head, since we were all getting two beach houses for the week, but I hadn’t heard yet if they were coming. They didn’t talk to us much after the band split, other than the occasional text, but even then, any and all communication was between me. Brendon and Ryan still were too raw to talk.

I could tell Brendon was anxious as we grabbed our bags. Spencer was waiting for us with a car, and the ride to the beach house was much less tense than the car rides with Dad had been. Brendon was laughing and talking and fiddling with the bracelet I wore around my wrist. I could see little lines forming between his eyes as his anxiety grew, and I ran my fingers through his hair to comfort him.

“Did you guys get Pete’s text about the different themes we’re having?” Spencer was laughing, his hand catching the air waves out the window. “He wants us to do all this shit. Like 80s night, pirate night. I hope you guys brought costumes.”

I giggled. “Of course we did! I’m so excited! I love themes.” After Brendon and I had started dating, I held Pixar Parties at my apartment every week. The party was themed around a different Pixar movie—dirt cake for Bug’s life, Mike and Sulley cupcakes for the Monster Mash. I was a theme-aholic. Brendon laughed and then was suddenly pressing his face against the car window.

“Damn, that’s the house? Holy shit!”

Our crew had scored a beach house practically right on the water. The worn wood on the front was painted a beautiful green, with white trim all along the edges. The porch was all wood that looked like it had seen a storm or two, but it was smooth and splinter free. Spencer told us that behind the house there was a little pool and then a path to the private beach through some dry grass. It was stunning.

“Bren, this is beautiful.” I kept tripping over my feet as we walked towards the porch; I was too busy looking up at the house. He smiled and slipped his hand in mine, leading my safely along the path.

“Nothing too good for my girl,” he said. Spencer guffawed and I chuckled, knowing Brendon had had no choice in where we were staying. Pete had planned this whole thing months ago, as a reunion for all their friends.

A lot of them were already inside when we walked in. Patrick and his girlfriend, Elsa, waved happily from the couch; Pete was angling his cue stick on the pool board, working for the perfect shot; William was leaning on his own cue stick, smirking as Pete scratched. I could hear hoots through the door behind William, which I could only guess led outside to the pool. Pete cursed and glared at the table, lifting us eyes to us as we walked further in.

“Well, look at who finally decided to show up!” He skipped over and pulled me into a huge hug, lifting me so high my feet left the floor. I laughed as he spun me around and smacked a kiss on my cheek.

Brendon chuckled when Pete set me down, and the two exchanged what could only be described as a bro hug. William siddled over, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “How come Brendon always hides you from us, Annie?” he pouted. His other arm wrapped around me, too, and he shot Brendon a fake glare as he pulled me to his chest. “He’s so bad at sharing.”

Brendon rolled his eyes and tugged me out of William’s arms. “Try not to lust over my girlfriend too much, Beckett. She’s just too polite to tell you to fuck off.” The laughter between everyone was so easy, so free. It had been wonderful seeing my family, but I had felt held back. Now, it was like we were with another part of our family, the branch where we didn’t have to worry about being ourselves.

William, Gabe, Joe and Andy were staying in a similar beach house just down the street, but dinner that night was at our place. I found out that the main floor was a big game room, and that all of our rooms and the kitchen were the next two floors up. Gabe and Elsa were fluttering around the kitchen, frying and chopping all kinds of goodies for us all to eat. I did my best to keep the other guys out of their way, but I was staying with a bunch of curious kittens. Brendon and William seemed to be determined to sneak a taste of the sauce Elsa was whipping up for a stir fry, and I could tell she was starting to become exasperated.

“So Bren,” I started, pushing on his chest to urge him and his shadow William away from the kitchen, “why don’t you tell everyone what you thought of my family?” Pete sat up straighter in his chair and clapped his hands. I noticed he already had a napkin laying patiently in his lap.

“Oh, yes! Do tell, Brendon. Tell us how it was to visit the Greene house.” He rested his chin on his hands, leaning on the table eagerly. “You know how I love a story.”

Brendon plopped down on a chair, pulling me onto his lap. “Why it was just fine and dandy, Pete.”

“How’d it go with Anne’s dad?” The minute the words left William’s mouth, his face turned a dull pink. I noticed each of the guys sending him a quick look, but then they were back to looking normal so fast I couldn’t be sure I hadn’t been seeing things.

“Bren and Dad actually had a bit of a rough patch,” I said, cautiously gauging the reaction of the guys. They all gave me blank and attentive stares. I cleared my throat. “They went golfing one day and when they came back neither of them would talk. Dad suggested Brendon sleep in the guest room.”

“But Anne’s mom belayed that.” Was it just me, or had the grip Brendon had on my hip become tighter? I glanced over at Pete with my eyebrows raised, but he avoided eye contact. Brendon cleared his throat. “And, uh, he ended up being cool with me. That last day he shook my hand and all. I think we’re good.” I felt like the silence between them held some kind of implication, but I wasn’t sure.

Before I had a chance to investigate, Elsa and Gabe announced dinner was ready, and everyone leapt into action to grab their food. Everyone kept up pretty steady conversation as we ate, but I still noticed none of the guys would keep up heavy eye contact with me. Elsa seemed pretty happy to chat me up, probably because she was happy to have another girl in the house at last.

Gabe let out a loud belch and rubbed his stomach, smiling contently. “Elsa my dear, I think we have scored major cooking points. Next person to try has no chance of beating us.”

Elsa giggled and linked her hands with Patrick. “I think an issue has been challenged,” she said.

Pete slapped a hand on the table. “Challenge accepted!” He pointed a finger at me. “Annie! Cooking partner?”

I grinned and held my hand out, and Pete slapped his palm into mine for a firm shake. “Cooking partner! When are we cooking?”

“Tomorrow’s luau day—let’s cook then!”

“Let’s do it!”

Pete and I had always gotten along well. Brendon joked that it was because upon first meeting me, Pete had snagged a glimpse of a thong I wore sneaking out of my jeans, and he was biding his time to see the rest of it. But all jokes aside, Pete was one of my favorite people. He had been the one to help Brendon set up the surprise for my birthday that first year, and the one to help Brendon find the balls to tell me he loved me. Pete was our biggest fan, and I loved him for it.

We waved goodbye to William, Gabe, Joe and Andy as they headed out to retire to their own beach house. Patrick and Elsa excused themselves to their room, and we innocently assumed they were just calling it an early night. Brendon pulled out a few bottles of beer from the fridge and handed them to me and Pete where we sat in the living room.

“So, you guys aren’t going to be spending the whole week just having sex, right?” Pete stuck out his tongue in repulsion. “It’s so lame sharing a beach house with two couples. I can already hear the mattresses creaking and the tears I’ll cry myself to sleep with.”

I giggled and took a swig from my bottle. “I make no promises, Pete. We practically had a chaperone the whole time we were at my parents’.”

Brendon spluttered out incredulously. “Yeah, there are no promises, dude. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to wish you had gotten sound proof walls, because I plan on loving my woman quite a bit on this trip.” An evil smirk spread across his lips and he pulled me into his side. I had to suppress an excited giggle and I pulled away.

“You’re a dork, Bren,” I said. I stood up and handed him my beer. “I’ll be right back, gotta pee.” I ended up using the one in Pete’s room since it was closest. After drying my hands, I reached out to push his door open to head back out into the hall, but paused when I heard my name being said.

“So Anne’s dad said no?”

“Uh…not in so many words. I mean, he didn’t really say anything at first. I think he just wasn’t expecting it during his swing.”

I could hear Pete chuckle. “You probably could have chosen a little better timing.”

“When would you have suggested? There were people spilling out of that fucking house. I panicked and just blurted it.”

I had a feeling I wasn’t supposed to be hearing this conversation, but I was really curious as to what Brendon had done to freak Dad out so much. But as deep in conversation as they were, I knew if I waited any longer to emerge jokes would start being made of a bathroom nature, and so decided to interrupt to save some face.

“Whatcha guys talking about?” I asked, sitting back down next to Brendon and taking my beer back. They glanced at each other and both flashed me their winning smiles.

“Brendon was gonna tell me what sex with you is like,” Pete said. Brendon’s eyes bulged and he spun on his friend.

“Dude, the fuck I was!”

Pete grinned sheepishly and held up his hands defensively. “It was worth a shot! I’m sure I’ll hear just how good it is later!” The laughter bubbled from them easily, and I watched them with narrowed eyes. They weren’t showing any signs of guilt or awkwardness; what wonderful actors.

We drank a few more beers and laughed about things from our visit in Maryland (Pete seemed particularly tickled with the image of me hitting a baseball directly into Brendon’s crotch), and finally decided to call it a night. Brendon gave me a swift kiss on the lips and excused himself to our room to go to the bathroom. I lingered behind and helped Pete put all the bottles into the recycling.

“Hey, Anne, I wanted to tell you something,” Pete muttered. I held my breath, wondering if he was about to share what Brendon had told him about golfing with my dad. Pete’s eyes glanced towards our door, and then looked straight into mine. “Ryan texted me earlier,” he said. “Him and Jon are gonna get here for dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip, wondering what Brendon would say. “Should I…do you think I should tell Brendon?”

Pete shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it’s up to you. I mean, they’ll be staying at the other house. I think William was gonna come take the other room here.” He ran his fingers through his hair, and I felt sad when I noticed the tan line on his finger from where his wedding ring used to be. “Guess we’ll just wait and see, huh?”

I smiled sadly and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.” I pulled him into a quick hug. “Night, Pete.” He patted my head and we walked down the hall together, Pete pausing at his door as I passed. I looked back when I heard him call my name as my fingers closed around my door handle.

“Just try to keep it down tonight, okay? My porn only gets so loud.”

I couldn’t stop the evil grin from spreading across my cheeks. “Oh, Pete. I’m sorry in advance. You might want to get some headphones.”