When Matt went back to the living room, alone and with a disguised disappointment written all over his face, Kim elbowed Emily slightly so they could pretend they weren’t eavesdropping. But yeah, they both were.

“She’s wrong, you know? I won’t make the same mistakes again. Look, Brian is not even speaking to me and I’m not planning to have a relationship with any of them anymore. I’m just trying to be their friend here.” She sounded upset.

“I believe you, Emily, I do, even when I know so little about you. I just think you might have to prove your good intentions now, you know. Regain their trust back.”

“Yeah, that’s what I wanna do. But they need to give me a chance. And maybe Val is just not willing to give me that.”

“With time she’ll notice. You’ll see.” Kim sent Emily a comforting smile but Emily still felt guilty about their fight.

“I just hope she won’t make Matt sleep in the couch again. That poor guy can never sleep on his bed.”

They shared some laughs and that remark aroused a few evil thoughts on Kim’s head. She hated to wish bad things to someone but… well, deep inside, she still hoped Matt would finally break up with Val and look at her with other eyes, the eyes to the first on his list, like he once said she was (in a joke, but he said it). Even when she knew this was a very long shot and very unlikely.

Kim excused herself from Emily’s side and walked towards the lonely big boy. That was her shot.

“Trouble in paradise?” she sat beside Matt on the couch and saw Mei on the other couch in front of her making weird lion claws with her hands. Kim tried not to laugh and made a sign for her to stop.

“There’s no such thing as paradise. Not when it comes to marriage at least.” Matt had a sexy and angry pout.

“Wow… that bad?”

“She wants me to make Jimmy break up with Emily, she wants me to kick Brian out of the band. She thinks I control everybody’s lives… and in the end… I’m just a man, you know…” he shook his head several times and when his eyes caught hers, he felt ashamed. “Why… why am I telling you all of this… again?”

“Because… it’s just how it is, you and me. We can talk about anything.” Her answer sounded almost like a seduction line. But when he didn’t take his eyes out of hers and didn’t say anything else, she just felt embarrassed and wanted to take it all back.

Her eyes finally ran from his and her cheeks burned as she drank her soda. He’s engaged woman, back off!

“All I did was to talk about my crap so far. What about yours?”

“Hmm, well… it’s not like I know much about relationships to help you. Last date I had happened in the last century so…”

“What?! Wait a minute, it’s 2009! You’re saying that… it has been, I don’t know, ten years since you don’t…”

The way he rephrased her confession should’ve made her cheeks even redder, but somehow it didn’t. She just felt comfortable sharing that personal info with him.

“Yeah, so… if you have a cute brother to introduce me…” she smirked.

“Oh… I definitely will.” He nodded with that big dimpled smile and her heart exploded. She could make him talk and make him laugh either, that’s all she knew he needed in a woman.

But why… why was she always so late?

---

It was only a few hours since he arrived but Brian had only one task in mind, to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. He hated to be at the same place as Emily, all smiley and jumpy, while he took all the pain for himself. He thought that getting rid of his long hair she loved so much would change something in his heart, but deep inside he knew it was worthless. He needed to drink her away and that’s what he’s been doing for a few nights until now, when he heard he had to be at Zack’s place without a single drop of alcohol around. Not an easy task at all, but he would do it for his friend. And the sooner he would deliver Jimmy’s present the sooner he could go straight to the first night club in his way.

“Hey, guys! Guys!!” he called out loud in the middle of the living room, making it quiet almost at the same time. He had their attention. “I have something to show to my friend Jimmy here, but you’re all welcome to follow me outside and take a look. C’mon, man.” Brian showed his hand to Jimmy and he raised his both brows while standing up with his help.

Everybody screamed and made surprise noises as they all walked towards the door.

“Tell me you have a six pack on your trunk. That would make me the happiest man on earth now.” He grumbled quietly to Brian while they were heading slowly outside and Brian laughed.

“No, I’m sorry man, you heard the doc.” He patted his shoulder and they kept walking through Zack’s dark front yard and then suddenly the place was all lightened up, including the Impala ’67 parked in front of them.

“Holy cow! That’s… that’s my baby in there?” Jimmy almost yelled it, his mouth wide open looking at the car.

“Yep, it is. And it’s all yours. Restored and with a badass sound system.” Brian handed him the keys and he kept staring at his friend without taking it.

“Shit, I thought… I thought she was on the trash by now!” he gave a walk around the car, amazed.

Brian rocked the keys again and instead of grabbing it, Jimmy went for the tightest hug he could give with his weak muscles on his oldest friend. The one he thought he had lost that night he went on coma.

“Haner, you son of a bitch, you had something better than a six pack on your sleeve, didn’t you?” he said it in his ear while they both tapped each other’s backs vehemently, like in the old times.

“You love that thing, how could I let it go to waste?”

It was such a beautiful scene to watch, no one could hide their smiles watching it.

“Thank you so much man, it means a lot to me, you know that.” They grew apart and then Jimmy hugged him again, unexpectedly, as he always used to act.

The place was filled with laughter by Jimmy’s big reaction and when Brian’s eyes opened up and found Emily’s ones, his smile vanished at the same time while still hugging his friend. She smiled and clapped her hands along with the others, but he just kept staring at her, never returning her grin. He was too hurt to even think about her and she noticed it, feeling guiltier than she was before.

“Look Ems!! How awesome this is!!” Jimmy looked like the happiest little kid and Brian was just trying to keep up.

There was no way she could make everyone happy, right? Someone would always end up hurt. But what mattered by then was to see Jimmy having his fun. Even when Brian’s and Emily’s heart pieces were secretly spread all along the way to it.

When Jimmy finally pulled away from his friend, he got the keys and almost ran to drive it when Brian reminded him:

“Hey zippy! I’ll take you for a ride, you can’t drive yet!”

“Oh shit… yeah, you’re right!” he threw the keys back to Brian and they both got inside, turning on the radio at a really annoying volume and screeching away from their sights.

---

“Hey…” Brian was standing alone at the balcony when Emily arrived by his side, talking to him for the first time that night. He felt his heart jumping when he heard her voice and he hated that. He just answered with a quick glance. “The glow on his eyes when he saw the car… it was priceless.”

“Yeah, it was…” he went as short as possible.

“Guess your friendship is finally back at what it used to be, huh?” she half-smiled.

“You can say that, yeah.” He grumbled.

“It makes me very glad.”

She stared at the waves breaking in the shore at the horizon and had an instant recollection of their last night together. She bet he was thinking the same. But what did it matter? It was past, it was over and she could feel he was still very mad at her.

“What happened with your hair?” she tried to break the cold mood for the last time.

“I needed a change. Didn’t like it anymore.” He answered sharply and dry, as if that act by itself could hurt her. And it surely did. Cause now she was sure he did it to hurt her. “Jimmy asked me if I was okay with you moving in with him…”

“Yeah, he… he totally caught me by surprise today with that question, in front of his parents, by the way. But we’re just friends, I’ll be helping him get back on his feet, keep him company and stuff. Separate rooms.” She emphasized this last part and he wasn’t so surprised, he even snorted a chuckle.

“Wow, really? It’s very nice of you.” She felt a lot of irony pouring out from his words but she ignored. She didn’t wanna fight. He could believe whatever he wanted to.

“Yeah… things change, right?” she threw a hurt glare to him but it didn’t change his coldness.

“No, not really… It all looks the same to me.” He let it out almost in a threatening whisper, looking deep inside her eyes. Drank his last sip of a Brazilian soda called guaraná and nodded arrogantly before walking away, throwing his irony all over her again. “Excuse me.”

He went inside the house and Emily followed him with her attentive eyes. He quickly stopped beside Michelle, who smiled broadly as he spoke. They’ve been talking all night and Emily was trying hard to ignore them, but now he was doing that scene in front of her with a purpose. She knew he wanted to rub on her face what she was putting to waste. He wanted her to have just a little taste of his pain.

She saw him facing his watch and then grabbing Michelle’s hand, their fingers tangling together, making her follow him towards the door. They said their goodbyes to Jimmy and the others and finally left, leaving a flabbergasted Emily shaking her head to herself.

Wasn’t he the one who cheated on Michelle as many times as possible? And she fell for his chin again? Emily couldn’t believe her eyes… Well, in fact, she could. His charms worked miracles around girls’ hearts, like it could erase all his mischievous past.

Why was she judging anyway? Emily and Brian had Ph.D. on cheating. But she was certain of something: he never had interest in another woman when he had her. And just by that, she knew how much she meant to him. Just as much as he meant to her.
With that thought, she walked back to the house and found Jess and Jimmy sharing the same piano bench, working their crazy magic on it.

“Oh god… you know when a party came to an end when people starts singing and playing Christmas songs in the middle of September!” Emily grumbled and they didn’t cease to play and sing terribly out of tune just to tease her. They knew her perfect pitch ear would drive her insane. "And you're not even drunk!!"

"C'mon Ems, sing with us!!"

But before she could be annoyed by their music, Jimmy’s beautiful smile shining for everyone to see and the contagious sound of their laughter erased everything else. That’s what really mattered, to make that man feel as alive as he was exhaling through his pores.

Zack was already snoring on his couch as everyone seemed to have left the house but Emily and Jimmy.

She sat on the couch comfortably and watched as her both Js had fun in there.

It was all almost falling into place.

Except for her heart. That was long gone with the chocolate eyes and short hair.

Notes

hmm yeah, tiny chap but there it goes, the second part :)

Is Brian finally moving on, or better said, moving backwards? =p