"So…How's Audrey?" AJ asked casually. Brian was driving him back to his house.
"I dunno. I never see her." He looked intently at a road sign.
"How come?"
"She's always with Kevin, ya know?" Brian looked at the next road sign then realized how bitter he sounded.
"I guess." AJ had hoped to bring that up. "Hey, you passed my place."
"Oh. Sorry." Brian made an illegal U-turn and AJ got out of the car. Brian went back to his hovel and immediately noticed something was wrong. "Audrey?" He called softly, sure that he heard someone upstairs. Yes, that was Audrey's voice, and that was.. Kevin?! Why was Kevin there? He went up the stairs quietly, seeing them through the doorway of the bedroom, then went back downstairs and outside.
Someone knocked on the door. That must be Brian looking for that THING, Glyn thought. Tyk(e) was looking at her happily from the bathtub. Marian was already asleep, so Glyn trudged out of the bathroom soaking wet to get the door.
"What's wrong?" Glyn frowned as she saw Brian.
"Audrey. And Kevin." He sighed and looked despondantly at the floor. Glyn wondered why he hadn't gone to AJ's, if indeed he hadn't only come there to get Tyk(e). Actually, Brian hadn't even noticed that he'd left Tyk(e) at Glyn and Marian's.
"You can camp out here if you want.." Glyn shrugged. What else was she supposed to say? Brian looked relieved.
"You don't mind?" He didn't ask if Marian minded.
"Nah.. I'll get you some blankets and crap." Glyn wondered where the extra blankets were. Still sitting in the bathtub up to his neck in soapy water, Tyk(e) heard Brian's voice. He leapt out of the bathtub, slid across the floor, and ran into the kitchen, dripping water everywhere and panting happily at Brian's feet.
"Tyk(e)!" Brian picked him up and noticed that he was wet.
"Yeah. You kind of left him here."
"Do you have a weird obsession with bathing dogs?"
"No! There was ice cream on his head, remember?"
"So, Tyk(e). No more forcing Glyn to put you in ice cream cartons when she doesn't want to. " He smiled half-heartedly and Tyk(e) licked his cheek.
"How cute, Tyk(e)." Glyn went into her bedroom and found some blankets Brian could use under her bed. It had only been a matter of time until he was more or less forced to believe that Audrey and Kevin were more than friends but she still felt sorry for him. She went into the living room. Brian was sitting on the floor watching, seemingly interested, as Spike and Tyk(e) stared at each other.
"Glyn, if it's a pain having me here-"
"No, it's okay." She smiled and threw the blankets at him.
"I can leave-"
"It's this couch, that couch, that armchair, or the floor. Brian, I'm sorry about Kevin." 'Kevin is his cousin, that must make him feel even worse. Audrey is just a spoiled brat anyone, including Kevin, would be better off without.'
"Oh... It's.." He looked away and shrugged. "It's okay. Thanks."
"Marian went to bed after you and AJ left. I'm extremely tired so I'm going to sleep now. If you need anything there's food and stuff in the kitchen and the computer's right there, um, you could play solitaire or whatever, I think you know where the bathroom is, and the phone's over there."
"Cool. Thanks."
"G'night." Glyn went into her bedroom and shut the door.
"Happy birthday." Brian turned off some lights and sat cross-legged on a couch, staring up at the ceiling in the dark, tired but wide awake. Tyk(e) scrambled onto the couch beside him and fell asleep. ~
'Ugh...Headache, headache, headache...' Marian woke up for some reason and stumbled out of her bed in the dark. She thought she might get a glass of water, then shivered. It was too cold in here. Maybe hot chocolate or something warm would be better. She dragged a blanket off her bed and pulled it around her shoulders then ventured into the living room. In the faint light from street lights she thought she saw Brian sitting on a couch, asleep. 'Damnit Marian, you're going crazy. Hey, maybe this is a dream... I'll just go get some hot chocolate and come back, then he'll be gone.' However, when she returned shortly he was still sleeping there. 'And there's Tyk(e)... Poor Brian! Why does he look so sad?' She sat on the floorand watched him contemplatively, not meaning to fall asleep. When she opened her eyes, her hot chocolate was cold and she was the one being watched.
"Hi Brian."
"Hey."
"What'sup?"
"Uhm...Glyn said I could sleep on the couch here. But if it's not okay with you I'll leave."
"No, it's fine. But ..um.. why?"
"Audrey and Kevin are..busy tonight," he mumbled, then picked up sleeping Tyk(e) and started petting his head unhappily.
"Oh...."Marian almost wished she had stayed in bed.
"So,um, where's Spike?"
"He's sleeping in Glyn's room." 'No wonder he looks so sad. First Nick and then this, both in the same month.' "I'm so sorry... are you okay?" Brian nodded and smiled briefly. 'No,' he thought. 'No. No. No.' "Do you mind if I sit on your couch too?"
"No! It's your couch, not mine."
"The floor is just kind of cold and hard and stuff," she said as she moved onto the couch. "Hello Tyk(e)." The rat-dog walked over to her and panted until she picked him up. "So... how've you been since, um, Christmas?"
"Oh, jeez..." 'Not so good. I miss you a lot. You think you're going crazy?' "Okay, ya know, considering." 'My life consists of waiting on Audrey when she's not with Kevin and bathing Tyk(e).' "Sorry I haven't called you."
"It's okay. I understand." 'Remember what I said to Glyn that night? 'Overwhelmed by the sudden prospect of singleness' or something? Yes, I get the picture.'
"I dunno... I, um, I like Audrey...."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"My family adores her. My mom and her... You have no idea. She's like family. My brother calls her his baby sister. ...If I had just been there on Christmas-"
"Stop it!" Marian interrupted. "It isn't your fault. It probably would have happened anyway."
"We've been engaged for almost a year... It'll be okay. I'll talk to her tomorrow and stuff. I'm sure she doesn't want to split up."
"So..you're..." 'Brian's still in denial. I can't believe he's... Marian, don't try to split up his marriage!'
"Oh, yeah. Unless she wants to break up... I can't do that to her now." Marian tried to smile. 'How can she do that to him now?! He doesn't deserve her shit. And Kevin, for that matter....' "You don't have to try to understand, it's just-"
"I do. Kind of."
"I miss you," he said abruptly, then shut up, taken aback by his bluntness.
"You're engaged!" Marian reminded him. She tried not to be bitter but couldn't help being kind of angry. 'I miss you! But you're simply less important than Audrey, even though she's probably lying in a bed naked with Kevin as we speak.'
"I know." He looked like a miserable child and he sounded so forlorn Marian wanted to hug him and it didn't make her feel any better.
"I miss you too...." His eyes lit up momentarily.
"Really?"
"Yeah..." 'If I don't mean anything to you, why even bring it up in the first place?' "I'm not going to be a mistress."
"I was not asking that!" Brian exclaimed indignantly then lowered his voice. "I just still want to be friends. I don't want to never see you."
"That's not fair for either of us. Or Audrey, for that matter."
"I guess..." He sighed. "Sorry I brought it up. I don't know what I'm doing right now." Noticing that he was upset, Tyk(e) returned to Brian's side. Marian suddenly felt exhausted.
"I don't think I can help. Good night, I'm sorry about Audrey, and I hope you figure things out." She met his gaze quickly then stood up and returned to her room, leaving her blanket on the couch. She went to sleep quickly.
The Next Morning, damnit
"Good morning Spikey! How ya doin', boy? Hmm?" Marian affectionately scratched Spike's ears. She'd gotten up early for her, around six, and taken Spike out for a long walk. "Are you hungry?" She found the bag of dog food sitting on its side a few feet away from where it was sitting last night and picked it up. The bag moved slightly. "Oh, no." Marian looked in the bag. "Tyk(e)! How could you?!" She wondered how much dog food Tyk(e) had eaten, and if he would be sick. Tyk(e) panted gleefully at her and she sat him on the ground, looking nervously into the living room. Brian was still asleep. Her blanket was folded neatly. "Here, Spike. Have some food." She put some dog food in his food bowl and looked at a clock. She looked over her shoulder at sleeping Brian and almost almost almost decided to wake him up and apologize for last night. 'Get out of here, Marian. Brian is engaged and his family loves Audrey,' she thought bitterly. 'If only I'd stayed in my room last night.' "I have to go to work, Spike. Don't eat Tyk(e), okay?" Glyn was sleeping, too. As she walked out, Marian saw her hot chocolate from last night sitting by the sink. 'Hmm.... I didn't put that there.' She tried to make herself forget about it and left.
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