Broken Arrow

My eyes slowly fluttered open, and I immediately registered the smooth texture of Brian's skin. I sighed happily, it was nice, really nice, to have somebody to cuddle up to last night. I was amazed at how good he felt in my arms. I felt safe where I was, lying beside him, my head resting in the little dip in his shoulder, one of his strong arms around my shoulder, his large hand holding my arm.

"Mmm." I moaned peacefully, burying my face in his chest, bringing my leg up to wrap it around him. I felt his morning glory against my leg, making a tent in his black sweatpants. "Oh Brian..." I chuckled to myself, shifting my leg.
He grunted in his sleep, making me smile.

My stomach suddenly growled, and I became highly annoyed. The last thing I wanted right now was to get up and eat. Brian was so warm and comfortable to lay on. I grumbled and pushed myself up, carefully unwrapping Brian's arm from around me, much to my dismay.

I quietly crept out of the room and downstairs, crossing the living room and walking into the kitchen. I pulled open the fridge, but there wasn't much that took my fancy at this early hour of the morning. I raided Brian's cupboards a bit, and smirked with satisfaction when I found a stash of Mi Goreng on the bottom shelf in the corner cupboard.

I set the kettle to boil and turned on the stove, I preferred to boil the water and pre-heat the stove when I cooked my noodles, they cooked faster that way. I ripped the noodle packets open and put the noodle bricks into a pot beside the stove, ready for when the water was boiled, and set to work crushing the fried onion sachets with a pair of metal scissors with a heavy handle that I found in the cutlery drawer.

When the kettle was boiled and the fried onion was crushed, I poured the hot water into the pot with the noodle bricks in it and placed it on the stove. I raided the cupboards while I waited and found a noodle bowl. I stirred the noodles every few minutes with my fork, and heated up the chilli, soy sauce and seasoning oil in the boiling water ready for when they were cooked.

I pulled the pot off the stove when the noodles were ready, and drained the water in the kitchen sink with a strainer. I threw in all the flavourings and mixed it together, being careful to only add a tiny amount of the chilli or it'd burn my fucking mouth out.

I sat down at the bar on one of the stools and began eating my "Breakfast" if you could call it that, practically rolling my eyes back into my head at how great it tasted. I had unhealthy addiction to these noodles, they were like fucking Sex in the mouth. I heard a scuffling about my feet, and a small "Ruff!" and looked down to see a tiny fluffy white dog with it's paws propped up on the bars at the bottom of the stool.

"Pinkly!" I cried, reaching down to pet her. "I've missed you!" I went back to my meal, and she barked again, making me look down at her. She was eyeing off the noodles dangling from my fork, her head cocked to the side. "No, Pinkly."
"Ruff!" She barked.
"Pinkly, no!" I giggled. "You can't have my noodles, I'm hungry."
"Ruff!"
"Shut up, Pinkly!" I laughed.

I ignored her as I finished my meal, taking my bowl over to the sink when I was done. I fucking hated doing my dishes but as it was Brian's place and I'd just helped myself to everything, I figured I could at least clean up after myself. I filled up the sink with hot water, with enough cold water to make it bearable, and began cleaning up everything I'd used.

I set the kettle to boil as I washed everything up, setting the dishes on the draining rack to dry. By the time I had finished cleaning everything, the kettle had boiled, and I spooned some coffee and sugar into a mug. I filled it about three quarters of the way with boiling water, before stirring the coffee and sugar as I poured the milk in; it all blended really well that way.

I sat down at the bar, staring into space as I waited for the coffee to cool enough for me to drink it. My thoughts wandered, and there was only one place they would wander to; Jack. I wondered where he was right now, what he was doing. He would always cross my mind at least once a day, though I knew I probably never crossed his anymore.

I doubted he even remembered all the sweet, precious moments we'd shared. Did he remember the night he asked me to be his forever? Did he remember holding me through an anxiety attack, and making love to me to bring me back down to earth and take my mind off it? Did he remember how we'd lay awake for hours just talking when we first met; learning everything there was to know about one another? Did he remember telling me he was really there and I wasn't dreaming when I told him he was too good to be true?

I guess he really was to good to be true after all...

I shook my head and tried to direct my thoughts elsewhere. Thoughts like that only made things worse. I tried to ignore the heavy feeling in my chest as I remembered our first kiss and the way his hands slid down my back the first time we made out. How his voice had sent shivers down my spine when he'd whispered; "You are so hot, Ruby."

Stop thinking about him!

I was finally able to yank myself out of the clutter in my mind when McKenna trudged downstairs; clad in Superman Pyjamas, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her bright Lilac hair was sticking up at odd angles all over her head, and her eyeliner was smudged; she'd clearly not removed it before going to bed last night.

She gave me a sleepy smile as she approached; "Morning Ruby." Her voice was slightly croaky, her throat clearly dry from not having had a drink yet.
"Good morning, Mini Gates." I smiled. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah, I did." She replied, making a cup of coffee for herself. "You?"
"Yeah." I nodded, sparing telling her that it was due to being cuddled up to her brother all night.
"I should make Brian a coffee, he'll want one to go with his morning smoke." She giggled, getting out another mug. "You should go wake him up."
"No need!" A voice sounded from the stairs. "I'm already up."

Brian descended the staircase still in nothing but his black sweatpants. His hair was messy from sleeping and I could see a definite similarity between him and his sister this morning. He smiled at me as he approached, wrapping me up in a hug. He squeezed me tightly for a few seconds, and drew away.

"Have a good sleep?" He asked, his eyes tender.
"Yeah." I smiled.
"I'm glad." He nodded; a little incognito way of voicing his satisfaction that his cuddles had helped me get a good night's sleep; un-plagued by tears and loneliness.
"Johnny will probably be up soon." McKenna piped up, rounding the bar to go sit on the couch. "He's the only one still here, the others left before sunrise this morning." She said, picking up the remote and turning on the TV. "He's asleep in my room."
"I don't even wanna know what happened in that room last night, Mac." Brian chuckled, shaking his head. "That's not a visual I need, short shit fucking my sister."
"When are you gonna get used to it?" Mac laughed.
"Never." He shook his head. "It's so fuckin' weird, my best friend and my little sister." He sighed. "It's too fucking weird."
McKenna shrugged. "You'll have to accept it sooner or later, your coffee's on the counter, by the way." She smiled, settling in to watch the morning cartoons.
"Thanks." Brian picked up the mug and headed for the back door. "You coming?" He asked.
"Sure." I smiled.

I followed him outside and he took a seat at the glass table, pulling out a packet of Malboro cigarettes and placing one between his lips. "You mind?"
"Nah." I shook my head; sitting down opposite him. "Jack used to smoke around me all the time."
He nodded, but didn't respond, flicking his lighter and bringing the flame to the end of the cigarette. "So." He blew out a puff of smoke. "Who gives better cuddles; me or him?"
"Wow, Brian." I smirked. "Barely Nine in the morning and already you're being a cocky son of a bitch."
"Just answer the fucking question." He chuckled.
"I'm not quite sure yet." I teased. "I've only had one night of cuddles from you to go of off."
"You said mine were better last night, if I remember correctly." He teased.
"They were the first cuddles I'd had in ages, and I was tired."
He rolled his eyes, taking another drag from the cigarette. "Guess I better crawl into bed with you a few more times."
"Don't try to make it sound suss or anything." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh please." He snorted. "Like I said last night; I wouldn't fuck you anyway."
I looked at him with an expression of mock-hurt.
"Aww, don't be so sensitive." He smirked, puffing on his cigarette once more. "You're pretty, but you're no porn star."
"You don't know what I'm like behind closed doors." I teased.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Really, you?" He sniggered, and took another drag. "I don't think so," He chuckled. "You're 'Little Ruby', you're too fucking innocent." He smirked with satisfaction at the annoyance written in my expression. "I could only picture you being one that likes it slow and soft, which is something I don't do." He winked suggestively.
"That's enough." I grimaced. "I don't need to know every detail about how my best friend fucks, thank you."
"If you knew every detail from experience, you wouldn't say that." He smirked. "Guaranteed."
"You're so fucking full of it, Brian." I snorted. "Seriously." I shook my head. "It's a wonder you even get as many chicks as you do, you're a downright sleaze."
"I'm a charmer." He winked again. "I know exactly what to say to get those girls fucking dripping."
"Brian!" I snapped. "Enough!"
"Okay, okay!" He held his hands up in defeat. "I'm sorry, but I'm honest, alright?" He chuckled, taking one last drag from his cigarette. "You should know this by now, we're been friends for three and a half years." He said; stubbing out the cigarette in the ashtray on the table.
"Yeah, beats me how I've put up with your bullshit for that long." I laughed.
"Fuck you." He smirked, picking up his Coffee and taking a sip.
"Oh you know you want me." I teased.
He swallowed quickly; careful not to choke on it. "Do not make me laugh while I'm drinking, God!" He laughed. "You trying to kill me or something?"
I smirked; satisfied I'd gotten my revenge and nearly made the cocky son of a bitch choke on his coffee.
"I've missed this." He said; his shit-eating smirk fading into a genuine smile. "This harmless flirting."
"I won't lie and say I haven't missed it myself." I gave him a smile of my own. "It's nice to be able to just be ourselves around each other again."
"Without worrying about Jack being all like;" He put on a silly, husky voice "You're fucking him, aren't you?"
I snorted at the terrible impersonation. "Yeah." I giggled.
"He should've known I was only fucking around though." He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but you know Jack..." I muttered, crossing my arms upon the table and propping my head up on them. "He's always right, you're always wrong." I grumbled.
"Why'd you put up with his shit, Ruby?" He asked. "You and I both know you deserved better."
"I loved him." I frowned, looking down and biting my lip, trying to fight back against the lump in my throat that rose every time I spoke about him.
He sighed. "Look," He leant across the table, putting his thumb and pointer finger under my chin and tilting my face upwards. "You're home now." He smiled. "Focus on that."
I smiled.
"You think you'll stay?" He asked, his eyes hopeful.
"I'm not sure."
"Seriously, what is left in Chicago for you, like, at all?" He raised his eyebrows, his lips pouted.
I didn't have an answer for that.
"We all miss you, and you did say you'd sleep on it."
"That was only one night though." I said, before he could make any comment about me having to make a decision right here and now.
"Ruby." He ran his hand through his long dark hair as he got up, squatting beside my chair. "Look at me."
I turned in my chair to face him, my red hair falling around my face.
"I really, do not want you to leave again." His words were sincere. "I already lost you once, I can't lose you again." I swore I saw tears in the corners of his eyes. "You're my best friend."
"And you're my best friend, Bri." I sighed.
"So don't go." His voice cracked as he put his hands on my legs, looking into my eyes. "Please?" A single, lone tear streaked down his cheek.
"Brian." I breathed.
"Your whole life is here, you were fucking miserable there," He cupped the side of my face with one hand. "And your Anxiety was all fucking crazy, you've been more relaxed since I brought you back here."
I nodded in agreement.
"So stay." He breathed, just like he had last night.
I bit my lip and looked away.

He had a point; Everybody I loved was here in Orange County. The weather was nicer. Home life was warm and inviting after the Exile I'd felt in Chicago. There were no reminders of Jack here, I was able to breathe again here. I looked back at Brian, staring at me with that sad look in his eyes. We'd both been hurt, we were both lonely. He didn't have to say it, I could see it in his eyes; He needed me.

"Okay." I breathed, a weak smile spreading across my face.
His eyes lit up, and his lips parted, revealing that beautiful smile. "Really?" He asked, in disbelief.
"It's like you said," My smile strengthened at the sight of his, becoming more genuine. "Everyone I love is here."
He let out a cry of joy and pulled me towards him, enveloping me in a tight, warm hug. "I'm so fucking glad to hear you say that." He smiled as he pulled back a little. "Things just haven't been the same without you around." He reached up and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me in to kiss my forehead softly. "I need my best friend." He grinned, pulling me against him again, burying his face in my hair.

I heard him sniffle and knew he was crying tears of joy, and I tightened my hold on him. I allowed myself to sigh and bury my face in his neck as he tightened his arms around me. A few tears slid from my eyes and I let out a light sniffle; Realizing just how much I really had missed him. He rubbed my back soothingly.

"It's good to have my 'Little Ruby' back." He whispered...

Notes