The Bond that Saves Us

Brian sat outside of his own house for a good ten minutes before he finally decided to go inside. As he walked up the path leading up to the front porch, Brian looked around at the front garden. He was going to miss this place after he’d put so much time into this place. He had worked hard, spent a lot of time and money on this place. He knew that this would probably be the last time he’d ever see this place.

For the last time Brian used his key to open the front door and stepped inside. He listened closely to see if there was any sound coming from inside the house. He knew that Michelle wouldn’t be home, Brian had talked to Val about everything going on earlier in the day and she’d greed to call her sister out for lunch and a movie

Brian took the few minutes of silence he still had to look around the house. He’d done all the work on this place himself. Including making the hard wood banister that led all the way down the stair case. It had taken him months to perfect but he’d been so happy when it was finished. Brian ran his hand across the dark oak. Committing the feeling to memory for the last time.

When he’d moved in the carpets had been stained beyond repair. By hand him and Matt and Zack had replaced them with wood flooring. With three sets of hands the work had gone by quicker than he had originally planned. Brian knelt down on the floor and smiled, remembering that day.

They’d all planned to do the floor together but Jimmy was sick as a dog and Johnny had decided that if Jimmy didn’t have to work then he wouldn’t either. Jimmy had come over anyway and crashed on Brian’s couch the night before. He was still wrapped up in the blankets when the guys came over to do the floors. Johnny decided to plop down on Jimmy’s legs and turned on the TV only moving when the couch had to be moved so they could work in the area it sat in. They had picked it up, Jimmy and all, causing the drummer to bust up laughing like a lunatic.

Brian smiled at the memory. Things hadn’t been the same without Jimmy around, nothing would ever really be the same again. His bright laughter that could turn any grim situation into something hilarious would forever be missed. Jimmy had a way about him to break the most tense moments with his jokes and bright personality.

A knock on the door pulled Brian out of his thoughts. Zack, Matt and Johnny walked through the door. Brian quickly wiped the tear out of the corner of his eye and stood up and clapped his hands together once just for something to do.

“Lets get started, Johnny you take the kitchen. Zack you start in here, make sure you get all my paintings. Matt you start in the basement, I want all of my music equipment out of this house. I’m going to start on the bedroom.” Everyone nodded and quickly got to work, Brian let Bossley in through the back door and took him into the bedroom to get started on removing his things.

Bossley watched from the bed when Brian made his way over to the closet. He had made two different sides to one closet. It had been one room when he’d started renovating it; he made a his and hers side each with their own racks, cubbies and shoe holders. He started to grab things off the racks and packed up two suitcases full of just his clothes.

Matt had left some boxes just inside the door for him so he made quick work of packing away his shoes and various hats. He packed all of his accessories into a plastic tub and put them in the box as well. After he had completely cleared out his closet he made his way into the bathroom. It took a few minutes to pack up his soaps and shampoos; his makeup and daily usage stuff was already in a plastic container with a few drawers on it. He grabbed that and his favorite towel, making sure to box them as well. He searched through the dresser and grabbed any socks and underwear that were his. Brian also made sure to go through the safe and the nightstands. Making sure to collect all of his legal paperwork and the deed to the house. He grabbed a few personal items out of the nightstand and hid them in a box that said ‘do not open’ and put it in a bigger box with some of his other stuff.

Brian looked around one more time, shaking his head. He knew why he was leaving and no matter how upsetting it was to leave his home, this house had been his before Michelle. He knew that she would claim it in the divorce battle. It would look better on him if he just let her have it.

“Come on boss” Brian jerked his head, motioning for the dog to follow him. Bossley looked at him with bright blue eyes for a second, he slowly stood up and stretched. His front legs on the floor, his back legs frogging out for a second on the bed. He gave a good shake and bolted out the door past Brian, who shook his head at the dogs antics.

“Need help?” Matt asked as he took the last step on the stairs. He noticed that Brian had a box in his hands and took it when the guitarist offered it up. Matt took it downstairs, Brian grabbed the other box and wheeled the two suitcases out before closing the door. As a team him and Matt loaded up all the stuff he’d collected and all the other stuff the other boys had found of Brian’s while going through the houses. By the time they were done the moving truck was full. It had taken a while to get all of the equipment inside safely since most of it wouldn’t fit in a box. But they eventually figured out a way to get it all in without breaking anything.

Brian and Matt went back inside for one last look around, they had grabbed his gaming consoles and his cookware. Johnny and Zack had known Brian long enough to know what was his and what wasn’t. In the end they had left almost everything else in the house. Brian’s paintings excluded of course. No way in hell was she getting his artwork. He’d spent a fortune on some of those pieces. She could keep the sculptures, he got the paintings.

Brian closed the front door and locked it for the last time. As he walked down the path and too his car he couldn’t help but feel like he was walking away from his past. Oddly enough he was okay with the idea of leaving Michelle and all of the bullshit they had been through, behind.

Brian climbed into the moving truck and loaded Bossley into the middle seat. Brian would buy him new things. Hell half of the stuff he’d taken out of the house would probably be replaced anyway. He didn’t want Michelle to sell his things on the internet.

Zack climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, leaving Matt and Johnny to follow in his cars. As Brian drove away from his home he refused to look in the rear view mirror. Driving down the road Brian saw Michelle’s car come down the road. Her eyes met Brian’s as they passed, hers went wide and she slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road. The band kept going, passing her and waving as they went. Brian even caught Johnny flipping her off in his mirror. He chuckled at his friends antics and kept driving.

They pulled into Matt’s drive way, the singer opened the garage for Brian to park the truck in. This way his stuff would be safe until he got it into storage or found somewhere to stay. Matt offered Brian to stay at his place for however long he needed or wanted. It wouldn’t be the first time that they had lived together.

Bossley jumped out of the truck, sniffing around at everything around. He had been to Matt’s house tons of times but still the husky was a curious as ever. Matt even had some of Bossley’s food in the cupboard for the times when the band had spent days together working on music in the small studio he had build out back. Brian always had the puppy with him when he knew he would be gone over night. Matt had felt a little envy toward their bond, his cat would never be as close to him as that darn dog was to Brian.

Bossley had been bought just after Jimmy had passed. Brian was lonely and upset and needed something to make him smile. Matt would never forget when Brian walked through the door carrying the little fuzzy bundle in his arms. Michelle had been at his house visiting Val when they had still been together. Brian walked through the door with the puppy and Michelle freaked out. Talking about how Brian was an insensitive ass for buying a dog, knowing that she was allergic. At first Bossley had stayed at Matt’s house with Brian, because she’d told him not to come home with that ‘THING’. So Brian told her fine and had crashed at Matt’s.

Matt would forever razz Brian about how many socks Boss had eaten as a puppy. Almost every pair that Matt had owned at the time had holes in them. A nasty habit that Matt helped Brian break him of in the two weeks he’d stayed there. Michelle eventually came to him begging him to come home and Brian had gone.

Maybe if Brian had realized that he’d been happier at Matt’s house than he’d been at his own home for a very long time, all of this wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t have gone back to Michelle, maybe he wouldn’t have fallen so far into depression after Jimmy’s death because he would have had one of his best friends around. Someone who knew and loved Jimmy just as much as Brian did. Maybe Michelle wouldn’t have come to Brian and told him she was pregnant.

Brian had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. What if the baby wasn’t his? Now that he’d caught her cheating now he knew that there was a chance that she wasn’t his. The one thing Brian had wanted all of his life was a family of his own, and now he’d lost his wife and maybe his baby girl.

Letting out a sigh Brian followed the guys into Matt’s house and closed the door behind Bossley. Since it was around dinner time and none of them felt like cooking, they ordered Chinese Food. Brian didn’t realize it but the band did, he was drawing himself away from them. It wasn’t all at once, it was happening very slowly. At first he stopped laughing so much, then he got quieter and finally started to get lost in thought.

“Okay lets get this night started on the right track! My mom took the baby for the night and I’m not going to just sit by and waste my night!” Matt stood up abruptly, he made his way to the closet and grabbed the fold up table and chairs. While the guys sat up the rest of the poker game and divvied out chips Matt went in search for snack foods. He found some pretzels, chips, a bag of assorted candies and grabbed a few tumblers. He sat everything up on the table and grabbed the ice and alcohol from the island bar he had in the kitchen.

The guys all took their respective places around the table and started playing. As time went on the atmosphere in the room started to lighten up a bit and Brian came back out of his shell. Half way though their playing time Brian had consumed twice as much alcohol as the rest of them. They were a little bit drunk where as Brian was almost shitfaced.

“I’m as bad at this as I am keeping my women around.” Brian complained, laying his head on the cold table. They’d all just lost to Johnny once again.

“Oh shut up. It’s nothing you did.” Matt bitched back at him; he pushed at Brian’s shoulder, just that light shove sent Brian toppling on the floor. They all bust out laughing. Brian stuck his arms and legs strait up in the air and started to splutter when Boss came over and started to lick his face.

“Ger off me!” When the dog finally left him alone Brian sat up and crossed his legs. He drunkenly rambled, slurring the whole time as he spoke. “I want to go get the fuck out of this town. I want to go somewhere for a while. Where no one will see me, know who I am or just wont give a fuck. I want to spend the nights under the stars if butt ass naked in the rain!”

Everyone busted up laughing at the last part, Matt the most sober of them all made his way over to Brian and laid down next to him.

“How about one of these days we rent a house next to the beach? Go surfing every day and spend our nights next to a fire.” Matt looked around at his friends who all nodded in drunken agreement.

“Nah, I wanna be naked.” Brian stated next to him, turning his head to look over at his best friend.

“You do know that you don’t have to be out in the woods to be naked right?” Matt laughed at his friends ridiculousness. A little too drunk to care about how what he was saying sounded. “Fuck you could be naked right now!”

“Meh.” Brian closed his eyes and started to drift. “A nude beach then.”

“A resort with a villa on a nude beach actually doesn’t sound all that bad.” Matt yawned, Brian mumbled in agreement as he finally passed out.

Matt didn’t remember falling asleep when he woke up at six in the morning, on the carpeted floor next to his best friend. He took a minute to work the stiffness out of his muscles. Someone had covered them up with a blanket and had put pillows under their heads.

Matt groaned and popped his back when he stood up. Something in the kitchen smelled really good and drew him to it. When he pushed open the revolving door he found his mother in the kitchen once again with Kaden.

“Morning Mom.” Matt walked up and kissed her cheek, she beamed at him and gave him a big hug.
“Good morning to you too. It looks like you boys had some fun last night.” His mother smirked at him as she pulled away from the hug. “How’s he doing?”

“He was okay at first yesterday, then he started to seem a bit more down last night.” Matt grabbed Kaden off the floor and kissed his forehead before putting him back down to play on his play mat.

“If you want I can keep Kaden a bit longer so you boys can sort this out.” Kimberly offered, she smiled when Matt walked over to her, kissed her cheek and stole the spatula out of her hand.

“I think we’ll be fine Mom but thank you for taking him last night. I know it was sudden on you and dad but I didn’t know what Brian would do after we got his stuff.” Matt took over cooking breakfast, his mother walked over to the fridge and grabbed drinks out of the fridge.

“Well I’m sure it will do him good to have you boys around.” She put cups and dishes on the table as well as the pot of coffee and orange juice.

“Have you talked to Gary?” Matt wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer but he knew it would make his mother happy if he at least asked.

“I’m filing divorce papers tomorrow, I’ve decided to just be done with it.” Matt hadn’t talked to his father since the day he found him abusing his mother. Both he and Amy had tried to get their mother out of the house but she refused to come with them back then. She didn’t want their help, he was her husband. She knew what he was doing was wrong but she still loved him.

Then a few months ago she had up and moved into the place above her little book store. Matt had offered to buy her a house but she’d refused, saying that the small apartment was more than enough space for her and Kaden when he came to visit. And her cat of course. Grumpy as Brian had nicknamed him as kids. The damn cat was mean as could be toward him, he’d never done anything to warrant the behavior, they always laughed when the cat would hiss and bat and Brian just for waking into the room. It was only him that the cat didn’t like and no one knew why.

“You’re always welcome to come stay here anytime mom.” Every time Matt offered she declined but he made sure to say it often enough that she knew that it was still an option.

“Mmm morning.” Brian mumbled walking in, he looked like crap. “Ah my head.”

Matt smirked at him when his mother went and grabbed some Tylenol and orange juice. Knowing it was his own damn fault Matt let out a laugh, Brian sent him a glare.

Kaden walked up to Brian, the older man just stared down at the toddler for a minute while he rambled about something Brian couldn’t understand. He held up his arms and said ‘up’. Brian, though he didn’t feel good, bent down and picked up the baby. Brian took a seat at the table and put Kaden in his lap, the little boy kept babbling about nothing until breakfast was put in front of him.

“Thank you.” Brian smiled when Matt put two plates in front of him. One was pre cut up food for the baby and one was for Brian. Holding on to the toddler with his left hand so he wouldn’t fall off, Brian poured himself some coffee with his right hand.

Zack and Johnny came in followed by Kimberly, both looking like hell warmed over. They took the medicine handed to them and each grabbed a plate from Matt with thanks.

Everyone settled around the table, things were quiet for the most part. Kimberly started talking randomly half way through breakfast. Things about how her book store was doing and how she’d had to take the cat to the vet because he ate a whole bag of chews for his joints. He’d almost been poisoned the fool.

While Brian was washing up the breakfast dishes and the rest of the boys started to put away the blankets Kimberly had covered them up with, Matt’s mother swayed a little bit in the kitchen.

Brian didn’t hesitate to steady her, Matt caught the motion on the corner of his eye when he bent to collect Kaden off the floor.

“Mom?” Matt hurried over to them.

“I’m okay boys. Just over did myself a little bit today. I’ve been feeling a little bit under the weather these last few days.” She smiled at them and patted Brian’s hand. “If you don’t mind I think I’m going to catch a little nap before I go home.”

“Of course.” Matt followed her out of the kitchen, Brian stood in the kitchen, a worried look on his face.

He didn’t want to think about how frail she’d seemed. Maybe she had a cold or something that was dragging her down. Brian convinced himself as he finished up the dishes.

Later that evening Kimberly had gone home Matt, Brian and Kaden all sat down to watch a movie. Firstly they watched Finding Nemo, when Kaden had fallen asleep laying across their laps Matt had taken him and put him to bed. When Matt had returned Brian already had The Fast and The Furious on the start screen, waiting for him.

Brian found himself slowly drifting to sleep half way though the movie. Matt stood up and grabbed his wrists, hefting him off the couch. They shut off the TV and made their way to their respective bedrooms to pass out.

Notes