All Falls Down

Brian woke up abruptly from his spot on the couch as his head bobbed forward causing him a bit of pain. He had a bit of stiffness in his neck from his head being propped against the hard unforgiving arm. He stretched out his sore tense muscles in his back that formed from the uncomfortable couch. He rubbed his eyes roughly as he grabbed his cell phone. No missed calls. No missed text messages. He tried waiting up for Regina after she didn't answer his first string of calls. He walked upstairs to their bedroom thinking that maybe she had come home early that morning and didn't want to wake him. But Regina hadn't come home. If he was in her shoes he wouldn't have come home either.

He had been beating himself up all night until he passed out on the couch. He tried calling her again, but her phone went immediately to voice mail. He thought about all of the places she could be and he figured she could have gone to her friend Taryn's apartment. He dialed her number and prayed that she would pick up her phone.

“Brian, do you have any idea what time it is?” she asked groggily.

“I know, but I wouldn't call this early unless it was an emergency. Regina and I had a fight last night after we had dinner with her mom and Gavin,” he explained, “She stormed out after and she hasn't come back. I tried calling her, but it goes to voice mail. I was wondering if she went and crashed there.”

“No, she's not here.” Brian could overhear her movement on the phone, “She's not in my guest room either.”

“Thanks,” he sighed.

“It'll be okay Bri. You said you two had a fight, right? Maybe she went to her mom's for a bit of comfort. I'm sure that she's fine,” yawned Taryn, “Call me if you find out anything, okay?”

Brian thanked her again and hung up his phone. He knew there was no way in hell that Reggie had gone home. If she wasn't at Taryn's then maybe she had gotten a hotel room for the night. He rushed upstairs to his computer and checked their accounts. There weren't any new or pending charges so that was a dead end. He tried calling her again hoping that maybe where ever she was she had turned it back on or at least charged it. Yet again it went straight to voice mail.

He hated feeling helpless waiting for her to return home. He knew that he screwed up, but his usual dosage of roses and chocolates weren't going to fix this. He sat on the couch and stared at his cell phone for what felt like hours. No matter how mad they got at one another they never went without letting the other person know they were okay. They've never actually gone to bed angry since they've been married. Neither one of them wanted to for a fear that if something were to happen they would never get a chance to apologize.

Brian wanted to be angry. He wanted Regina to be the one lying on the couch waiting for him to come home and racking her brain to find him. He had every right to be angry since she had been deceiving him for two years by taking birth control behind his back. It would be perfectly acceptable for him to be angry in this situation. Anger was a valid emotion at this point. Yet all he felt was guilt. The guilt of what he had done was eating at him and he couldn't take it anymore. All Brian wanted was for her to run through that door so that he could beg her to forgive him.

For all he knew Regina could throw in the towel and divorce him. If that was what she wanted he would gladly do it if it meant that she was going to be happy. But not without a fight. He couldn't give her up without doing everything in his power to show her that he was never going to do that again. Not until he exhausted all options to win her trust again was he going to walk away.

Brian knew he couldn't spend his entire day on the couch waiting for her. So he took a shower and tried to eat a bit of breakfast. He felt Pinkly jumping against his leg and he picked her up petting her head gently. She whimpered lightly and he knew that she missed Regina as much as he did. His phone lit up and he noticed he some missed alerts. He had a few missed text messages from Matt and one call from Michelle. He told Michelle to quit calling him weeks ago, but apparently she couldn't catch a hint. With everything going on he figured it would be best to ignore her call and try and figure out what was going on with Matt. He dialed his number and waited for his friend to answer.

“Hey, Matt. What's wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong. Can't a man call his best friend without there being a problem?” asked Matt.

“Yes, a man can. You, however, are a completely different category.”

“Have you seen Val?,” asked Matt anxiously, “She said she was hanging out with a friend today and she didn't tell me who exactly. She just said a friend. So I was wondering if maybe she and Regina hooked up this morning or something.”

“No,” sighed Brian. He had hoped Matt had calmed down a bit since he and Val finished their marriage counseling, but he didn't have such luck. Ever since Matt found out that Val had an emotional affair with a co-star from one of her films he's been on edge, “I thought you said that you two were working things out. You don't have to have her on low jack. She's you're wife. Mother of your child.”

“I know man, but it's just that I can't get it out of my head. How would you feel if you found out that Regina had cheated on you?” spat Matt.

“Think about how Val feels. You have to understand that paranoia isn't very flattering and you'll more than likely push her away from you,” said Brian. He hated the way Matt felt, but he knew what it felt like to have your partner not trust you. Regina had suspected him of cheating once and it almost ruined their marriage.

“I know. I know, but I just can't forget what she did,” mumbled Matt.

“It'll be fine. She's probably just out with Michelle or something. Don't worry so much and just work on trying to trust her. Trust is what marriage is based on.”

“You're right. By the way, how did dinner with the in-laws go last night?”

Brian sighed, “It was okay. We met up at that new jazz spot off Hillcrest Drive. It was pretty nice until Gavin asked when we were going to have kids. She all but jumped out of her skin when he asked her. She said we had plenty of time to have kids.”

“You guys do have time to have kids Brian. You've only been married for four years. Before you know it you'll have a house full of them.”

“You don't understand Matt. We've been trying for two years and before you utter an apology. I found out last night that she's been on the pill the entire time.”

“She just up and admitted it?”

“No, I found them in the closet. After dinner I asked her about it and she told me that she wasn't sure if she wanted kids at all. God, I wish that I hadn't asked her because then maybe she'd be home right now. She stormed out of the house last night and she hasn't called or anything. I'm really worried man.”

“She's probably just at the studio recording. She'll come home. Until then you should get out of the house and get your mind off things a bit. Go visit your Dad. He'll help you make sense of things. He always does,” said Matt, “I gotta go. I think Trent just got up. Call me if you need anything.”

Brian hung up his phone and placed it on the counter. Matt was right he couldn't sit around all day and sulk waiting for Regina to come home. If she was at the studio she was going to have to come home sooner or later. He decided the best thing would be to get out of the house for awhile. He took Pinkly out for a long walk on the beach and sat down in the sand until late in the evening. Part of him wanted to go home, but he didn't want to have to face the fact that Reggie might not be there just yet. He decided to talk things over with his father. Brian Sr. was the best person for him to talk to about his marital problems.

“Hey junior, what are you doing here?” asked his father as he let him inside.

“I need to talk.”

Brian's father nodded and escorted him into his music room where the two shared many conversations over the years, “What's the problem son?”

“Regina and I had a big fight last night after our dinner with her mom and Gavin. He asked about grandchildren and she just told them we had time. When we got home I lost it because I found her birth control hidden in the closet. I confronted her about it, but she just said that she wasn't ready. She wasn't sure if she was ever going to be ready. Then it turned into this whole big thing and next thing I knew I hit her,” explained Brian.

“Wait! You hit her. Brian didn't I teach you a damn thing besides how to play the guitar. I'm pretty sure I taught you how to treat a woman. How would you feel if someone did that to McKenna?”

Immediately Brian felt twelve again, but he knew where his father was coming from. If anyone had done that to his sister he'd kill them, “I know. The problem is that after I did it she left. I tried apologizing before she drove away. I begged her to come back inside and talk things out with me, but she left. She hasn't come home yet Dad. I'm worried and I don't know what to do.”

“There may not be anything you can do son. The balls in her court now and all you can do is wait for your shot. Odds are she's just blowing off a little steam somewhere. She'll come home,” he said as he patted him on the back, “For some odd reason she won't leave you. No matter how large the bribe.”

“Thanks Dad,” chuckled Brian as he stood.

“Your welcome. If you need anything just call okay?,” Brian nodded and hugged his father good-bye.

All he could do now really was wait for her to come home. He walked the block to his house and was met with an eerie silence. His conversation with his father let out some stress, but he did point one thing that Brian hadn't thought off all day. It wasn't like her to just not call him. Even if it was just to yell at him and tell him to stop. She would still call him. She was a bit of a firecracker, but she'd never leave him to squirm this long without some type of explanation. He racked his brain on where she could possibly be and came to one conclusion – Rodney.

Regina's twin brother was the only person in her family that she would run to at a time like this. Mitchell, Wyatt, and Elijah were her older brothers, but Rodney was her best friend. The two of them shared everything when they were younger and continued their bond into adulthood. Brian called his brother in law and waited anxiously for him to answer.

Brian sighed when he heard his voice mail, “You've reached Rodney Murray. I'm unable to answer the phone right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you.”

“Hey, RJ. It's Brian. I haven't seen or spoken to her since last night. I was just wondering if you heard from Regina today. If she's crashing at your place just let me know she's okay. Bye.”

Brian went to his bedroom and got into bed. He tried to go to sleep, but his mind wouldn't let him. He just kept replaying the fight over and over again. He kept thinking if he had just done or said something differently then he wouldn't be lying in bed alone. He wanted nothing more than to hold her close and never let her go. Just thinking about her brought a bit of warmth to his barren chest. He needed her more than life itself and he that until he had Regina back in his arms this feeling of emptiness was there to stay.