Broken Arrow

As I was lost in my thoughts, scrawling away in a new notebook Jimmy had given me to try and encourage me to begin writing songs again, a knock came at my bedroom door.

"Come in." I called out, closing the book and sliding my pen into the spiral-bound spine.
Brian threw me a towel. "Come for a swim."
"Right now?"
"In the pool." he clarified. "I bought a house with a pool for a reason."
"It's been awhile." I grinned, scooting up from the bed. "Let me grab my swim suit."
He strode over and scooped me up. "Nope, you're coming in like this."
"Brian!" I laughed as he threw me over his shoulder in my black spaghetti strap top and bonds shorts.
"What you're wearing is fine!" he chuckled, descending the staircase.
"Dammit, Shithead!" I cried, pounding his back.
"Shut it, Cuntbag."

He pulled open the sliding door and stepped outside into the humid evening air. The tiki torches around the backyard were alight and bathing the backyard in a soothing orange glow. Brian dumped our towels on one of the lounging chairs and plunged into the pool, taking me with him. We broke the surface and I scowled at him.

"This water is gonna fade my hair." I grumbled.
"It's fading anyway." he sniggered.
"Yours is fading, too." I noted, tugging at the ends of his hair where the black had begun to transition back to his natural dark brown, only just visible in the dim light.
"Maybe I should go red, huh?" he teased.
"It'd look nice in the ends, but for the love of god, Brian, don't go red." I cringed. "Just no."
"I still think you should go purple." he smirked.
"I still think you should suck my dick." I retaliated.
"No, that's your job." he challenged me, backing me up against the edge of the pool, placing his hands on either side of me.
"I thought we said what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas?"
"Maybe it doesn't have to..." he breathed.

He brushed aside the ever-so-stubborn stray strand of hair that always stuck to my face when it was wet and I felt my chest tighten, he hadn't done that in a long time, not since I'd first come back to Orange County. The firelight reflected in his eyes as he licked over his lips, his face only a breath's distance from mine, and I struggled to control my breathing.

"Brian!" came McKenna's voice.
Brian pushed himself away from me as she emerged into the backyard.
"April's here."
I closed my eyes, feeling my heart sink. Of course she's here...
"Hey!" April's ginger head popped out of the door, and she came to sit by the edge of the pool, kicking off her flats and dipping her feet into the water.

Hell, she was even dressed similar to me, in a tight-fitting black racer-back tank and black denim shorts. I lifted myself out of the pool and retrieved one of the towels Brian had dumped earlier.

"Where are you going?" Brian asked.
"You've got company, I'll leave you guys to it." I stated, my tone monotonous.
"Ruby." he protested.

I waved him off and went back inside, climbing the stairs and making my way back to my room. I stripped off my wet clothes and dumped them into the hamper, drying myself off before slipping on my Skeleton onesie again. A knock sounded at my door and I opened it to find McKenna standing there.

"You okay?" she frowned.
I shrugged, flopping myself down on my bed.
She came to sit beside me. "What happened with you guys?" she asked. "It honestly looked like you were on the verge of something before you left for Vegas."
"I don't know." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "It's complicated."
"I can see that."
"Things were so good in Vegas, honestly." I breathed. "It was perfect, actually..."
"I gotta ask..." McKenna began, seeming hesitant to get her words out. "Are you falling in love with him?"
"I'm not sure..." I mused, playing with a strand of my hair, suddenly noticing how much it truly had grown these past six months. "I know there's something there, I'm not sure if it's love, but it's definitely not just friendship anymore."
McKenna wrapped her arm around me and squeezed me. "Why is he such a fucking 'tard?" she sighed. "I mean, he's my brother, and I love him, but he is one big bag of dicks."
"You've been watching too much Supernatural." I sniggered, catching onto her reference.
"Seriously though." she groaned. "You're the coolest girl he's ever introduced me to, you beat any of his past girlfriends."
"I thought you liked Jenna?"
"I did, until she cheated on him."
"Yeah that'd do it." I agreed.

We suddenly heard shouts coming from downstairs, ending our conversation. Curious, I got up from the bed, making my way down the hallway and leaning over the railing, watching the scene below.

"I guess I'm just another one of your little fucktoys, like she said!" April snapped, storming toward the front door.
"Who said?!" Brian retaliated.
"Ruby." she said, ripping the door open.
"Don't you dare speak about her like that, Ruby's my best friend."
"Ask her yourself!" she spat. "She told me you'd get bored of me, that you don't keep your girls around for long."
"I might've in the past but-"
"Just go and fuck her!" She cut him off. "We look enough alike, it's clear I'm just your substitute for her."
"April-"
The door slammed, and she was gone.

Brian growled and kicked one of the bar stools, making it topple to the floor and startle Pinkly, who'd been sleeping on the couch nearby. She leapt to her feet and scurried toward the staircase, bounding up the stairs toward me. I scooped her up in my arms and tried to calm her. Brian turned his attention to McKenna and I.

"Did you really say that to April?" he asked, his tone was calm, but I could feel the rage bubbling away under the surface.
I couldn't answer him.
"What's your fucking problem?"
"My problem?" I snapped, passing Pinkly to McKenna.
"I'm staying out of this." she said, retreating to her room and closing the door.
"You're the one who can't keep it in your fucking pants, Brian." I snarled, descending the stairs.
"Why does that bother you so fucking much?" he growled, advancing toward me. "I've fucked plenty of girls in the past, and you've never cared, what's so different now?"
"I'm one of them!" I cried. "I'm just another one of your little conquests, you used me, just like you use everyone else!"
"YOU CAME ONTO ME!" he shouted.
"YOU SEDUCED ME!" I screamed back.
"YOU NEVER FUCKING TOLD ME TO STOP!"
"Yes, I did!" I cried, my voice cracking and preventing me from screaming again. "I told you it would ruin our friendship, and look at what it's doing to us!"
"Well, we know how to settle it, don't we?" he snapped.
"How?" I pouted, folding my arms.
He leaned over me, piercing my eyes with his own. "I won't touch you, ever again."
"Fine."
"Fine." he agreed, maneuvering around me and heading back up to his room, slamming the door behind him...

***



The moment I opened my eyes, the memory of last night's argument flooded back into my mind. I laid there for awhile, processing the words we'd exchanged, my heart aching over how things had turned so sour so soon after we'd had a moment out in the pool. The conversation McKenna and I had had also came flooding back, and I recalled what she'd asked me; "Are you falling in love with him?"

It wasn't Love. It was too soon after Jack to be Love, and I still missed Jack every single day. Maybe it wasn't stinging as bad at this point, but I still missed him. What I felt for Brian was different. It still had the same warmth, the same fluttery feelings that loving Jack had brought me. But when I really thought about it, I couldn't really pin the word "Love" on it. I had known Brian for too long. He had been my best friend for three and a half years, even if we'd fallen out of touch for two of those years, I'd still cared.

But the circumstances at the time had prevented me from reaching out and speaking to him. I was so stuck on trying to make things work with Jack that I wasn't willing to risk angering him by chatting away to Brian behind his back. Jack had a tendency to snoop through my messages, he would have found out, and the repercussions would have been horrible.

Still, I was thankful that Brian hadn't given up on me. Despite our time apart, he'd had sympathy for me. He'd brought me back home, where I was surrounded by the people I knew loved me most in this world again. He had made laugh, made me dance, had taken me to Vegas, had encouraged me to sing again. He'd made me smile. All things I thought I'd never do, or do again when I left for Chicago.

Okay, he'd fucked up. But so had I. It took two to do the horizontal tango, after all. But Vegas had felt like a different world, and I had fooled myself into believing that I could mess around with Brian and then come home and pretend it'd never happened. I hated myself for feeling so jealous when I saw him with anyone else. I hated what it was doing to us. It couldn't keep going like this, our friendship was too damn important to let a few too many drinks and a bit of physical intimacy ruin everything.

I threw back the covers and made my way to Brian's bedroom, but opened the door to find his bed empty. I glanced to the end of the hallway, where McKenna's bedroom door stood ajar.

"Hey." I said, knocking on the doorframe. "Where's Brian?"
"Oh, shit."
"What?"
"Things got so messy last night, I guess he didn't get a chance to tell you."
"Tell me what?" I asked.
"He and the guys have gone to New York for a couple of days, MTV wants them to do an appearance on TRL." she informed me.
"When did he leave?!" I demanded, my anxiety suddenly flaring up.
"About an hour ago, actually." She checked her phone. "They might not have boarded the plane yet."

I left her room and hurried back into my own, snatching up my phone from the nightstand beside my bed and dialing Demi's number.

"Hello?" her voice answered.
"Please tell me you haven't already left."
"I'm at the airport now." Demi replied. "The guys board in an hour and a half."
"Fuck!" I cursed. "And Krista?"
"She's here too."
"Dammit!" I cried, realizing there was no point asking either of them to turn back and grab me; by the time we'd made it through the traffic back to LAX, the guys would've boarded the plane.
"Try to stall them, please." I begged. "Brian and I kinda had a fight last night, and I don't wanna spend the next two days dwelling on it."
"I'll see what I can do." Demi said.
"Thank you." I replied, and hung up.

Demi couldn't help me. Krista couldn't help me. Jason would surely be going with the guys to New York so he'd undoubtedly already be at the airport. I couldn't ask Larry, it wasn't his problem, and I knew he didn't like me interfering in band matters. Brian Snr and Suzy would be at work already. I continued to scroll through my phone, looking for anyone who might be able to help, when I stopped on one number I had forgotten I even had.

Bam

"Please, please, please, please, please." I whispered as I waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?" Bam's voice answered.
"Oh thank god." I sighed. "It's Ruby."
"Oh, hey." he sounded pleased to hear from me. "What's up?"
"Forgive me if this is a little unexpected, but I really need a massive favor." I asked. "It's urgent."
"How can I help?" he asked...

***

"I cannot tell you how grateful I am." I said as Bam's purple Lamborghini tore down Pacific Coast Highway.
"Honestly, it's no trouble." he chuckled. "Any excuse to take this baby out for a spin, and get the fuck away from Don Vito for awhile."
I snorted with laughter, recalling all the funny footage I'd seen of his Uncle on Viva La Bam. "I don't blame you."

Despite my laughter, I was still on edge. All my mind could think about was not getting there in time, what if the plane crashed? What if something happened in New York? If the worst should happen, god forbid, I didn't want "Fine." to be the last thing I'd said to Brian. I knew that was just my anxiety talking, but it troubled me all the same.

My phone buzzed, breaking me out of my thoughts;

From: Demi
Ten minutes. Gate 17.

"Crap." I spat.
"What's up?" Bam asked.
"We're pushing for time."
"Not a problem." Bam chuckled, slamming his foot down on the gas.

The car sped up to well past the speed limit, pushing me into the passenger's seat with the force. Three minutes later, LAX came into view. The traffic was crazy, but that didn't stop Bam. He weaved through it like it was nothing, all his years of stuntwork were seriously coming in handy today. We reached the airport and instead of parking outside, Bam drove straight at the entrance, the automatic doors parting just in time to allow us entry. He hit the brakes, jolting me in my seat as the car pulled to a stop.

"I've probably broken about a dozen laws just now." he grinned.
"Bam, you didn't have to-"
"Shh!" he cut me off, clicking my seatbelt open and leaning over to open my door. "Run."
"Thank you." I smiled, before getting out of the car.

I ran to the elevators by the main entrance, slamming my thumb into the call button and bobbing impatiently on the spot as I waited. It was taking far too long, so I jogged around to the escalators and began to climb, dodging every second step and pushing aside strangers who shot me dirty looks.

"Flight 409 Los Angeles to New York, boarding in five minutes, please make your way over to Gate 17." Came an announcement from overhead.

I dashed down to the Virgin America wing of the airport, frantically reading each sign. I skidded to a stop at Gate 17, where people were already standing in line waiting to board. The guys were at the front of the line, and Brian was handing his ticket to the stewardess.

"Brian!" I called, lifting up the rope that enclosed the line of people boarding the plane.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, you can't-" the stewardess said.
Brian interrupted her. "Just give us a minute."
"I can't let you leave while things are still fucked up." my lip quivered as I spoke.
"Ruby..." he sighed. "Right now's really not the time to be doing this."
"Just tell me you don't hate me." I croaked, tears welling up in the corners of my eyes.
He closed his eyes and swallowed. "I need space..."
"I wish we didn't have to part like this..."
"It's not forever." he said, adjusting the backpack slung over his shoulder. "I'll be back."
I grabbed his hand. "Just tell me you don't hate me." I requested once more.
"Ruby-"
"Tell me that, and I'll let you go, I'll leave you alone."
"I don't hate you." he breathed. "I never could."
"I'll miss you."
He frowned, and pulled me in for a one-armed hug, the only kind of hug I ever got these days. "I'll be back, and then we'll talk."

I let him go, watching him board the plane with everyone else. When he was out of my sight, I walked over to the window, resting my hands against the glass. As his plane pulled out and made it's way up the runaway, I felt sick to my stomach. I felt an all-too-familar, heavy sensation in my chest as I watched his plane take off, and ran out of the airport before anybody could see me cry...

Notes

I've been working on this chapter all week. It's been planned for awhile.
So happy I got to bring Bam back and make him go full Jackass style to get Ruby there in time. :3

You know what would make me even happier? Comments. They motivate me to write more because it shows me you're all engaged in the storyline. More comments = More frequent updates. So get on it, fam.

Don't suppose ya'll noticed the new story banner, too?
Threw that lil beauty together a couple of nights ago, the story needed a facelift

ALSO WHO ELSE IS FUCKIN STOKED ABOUT BABY GATES FINALLY ARRIVING INTO THE WORLD??

Until next time xx