Complicated Love

I woke up in the morning with Brooke in my arms. I looked down at her sleeping face. She seemed so happy and I was the cause of it. I smiled at the memory of my proposal the night before. I had been so scared that she would reject me when I first bought the ring, but she had told me that she knew she was going to spend her life with me so I had proposed. And now Brooke was my fiancee.
I quietly got out of bed trying not to wake her. I got up succesfully, grabbed a pair of sweatpants and made my way downstairs. It was almost eleven but I would let her sleep as long as she wanted to; I was too excited to sleep anymore.
As I was walking down the stairs, I stopped to smile at an old photo of me, Matt and Brian holding Brooke up on her thirteenth birthday that I had on my wall. I knew we all had a copy of that picture somewhere in our houses. We really had loved our Brooke, but now I had the privilage of marrying her. Me, James Owen Sullivan, who hadn't even believed in marriage before Brooke came along. And now I was going to marry her and make her the happiest wife in the world.
When I got downstairs, I went straight to my piano I had against the far wall. I had a melody stuck in my head that I had to play out. I sat down at the bench and started playing what had been in my head.
Soon, I heard my bedroom door open and shut. Immediatly, my fingers started to play Warmness on the Soul. When I knew she could hear me, I started singing. "And we have gone through good and bad times. But your unconditional love was always on my mind. You've been there from the start for me. And your love's always been true as can be. I give my heart to Brooke. I give my heart cause nothin' can compare in this world to Brooke! Whoa!"
I heard Brooke's laugh come from behind me then she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and I could see the ring I had given her. She kissed my cheek. "That should have been on the album," she said.
I laughed and turned on the bench to kiss her. "Can you imagine how many girls with the name Brooke would be our fan?"
"I'm glad I was the original."
I stood and held her to my chest. "Me too," I said against her hair.
We were supposed to all meet at Matt's house at four that afternoon for dinner and then a Christmas Eve party. I drove to Brooke's house to pick Kayla up and Brooke got out so she could change into something else. When I walked into the house, I knelt to pet Titan who had ran up to meet us at the door. "Hey there, Titan," I said to the huge dog.
Kayla came into the room in an extremely short green dress and knee high black boots. I looked up at her as she stopped next to me and leaned against the wall.
"Hey, Kayla," I said standing up. I had known she was taller than Brooke (who wasn't?) but in those boots, she was almost my height. "You dressing up for something? It's just a party with us. We have them all the time. Nothing fancy."
"As a matter of fact," she said looking me up and down. "I am dressed up for something. Someone actually." She met my eyes and she winked.
I took a step back. I was used to girls throwing themselves at me, but this was Brooke's friend. Surely she really wasn't flirting with me.
Before I could say anything, Brooke came into the room in her Vengeance University shirt and a pair of dark lowriding jeans. I moved quickly to pull her to my side and said, "Hey did you tell Kayla about lastnight?"
Brooke shook her head. "No. Look, Kayla." She held up her left hand and the ring sparkled. Kayla looked at the ring and then up at me. I couldn't really read her facial expression but then it quickly turned to happiness and she moved to hug Brooke.
"Oh he proposed?! I'm so happy for you, girl!" Kayla said.
Brooke noticed what Kayla was wearing. "Why you all dressed up?"
Kayla smiled. "It's for Johnny. I think he's kind of cute."
I let myself believe that on the way to Matt's house.
We had all taken our presents with us to the party because we had planned for it to be a giant sleepover that night and open presents together in the morning. The night passed quickly for me. Everyone congratulated Brooke and I on our engagement and then Val stole her away to start talking about wedding plans.
The guys pulled me to the side and patted me on the back.
"Way to go, dude." Matt said.
"Yeah. I'm proud of you, Bro." Brian said and he hugged me. Next to Brooke, Brian had been my best friend through these years and I loved him like a brother.
"Hey, Bri. Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked. He nodded and followed me outside where we were alone.
"What's up, man?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, I know I just got engaged but I have already decided this." I looked at him. "Would you be my best man, Brian?"
Brian was silent for a fraction of a second before he whooped and then fist pumped the air. "Fuck yeah, Jimmy! Of course!" He pulled me into a hug. "I'm honored, dude. Really."
We came back into the house and Brooke hugged me. I smiled as I kissed her. "I asked Brian to be my best man," I said to her.
She did a small squeak and kissed me again. "That's awesome!"
That night, most of us slept on the floor in the huge living room. Brooke and I slept together and Kayla slept next to Johnny. She had been hovering around him all night long but had still been throwing looks my way when Brooke wasn't looking. It made me uncomfortable, but I ignored it.
The next morning when we all woke up, it was Christmas . We sat around the tree and started opening presents. Brooke opened one from me and the guys.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed when she saw that it was the entire Star Wars saga. Brooke got up to hug each of us. "Thank you so much guys."
Johnny laughed. "We just know how much of a nerd you are, Brookie."
She hit him in the arm, but I knew she was really happy. I pulled her down next to me. "Merry Christmas, baby."
She nodded as she kissed me. "You too, Jimmy."
I was having the time of my life and I knew it would kill us both when I had to leave the next morning.

Notes