MARLEY

I watched in amazement as Brian began to record the guitar for one of the new songs on the record; Nightmare. "I may have issues with the guy, but your guitarist can seriously play." I said, leaning back in my chair and stretching. Matt grunted in agreement and continued to fiddle with various buttons.

"I still don't understand why you don't get on with him, Marley. When you get to know him, he's really nice and sweet." I looked over at the speaker, Michelle, and resisted the urge to sigh. "Mich, I've known him longer than you." I reminded her, gently.

"I know, but you don't know him." I closed my eyes at her words, glad that she was sitting behind me and couldn't see me. Matt nudged my leg with his foot and I looked over at him. The look on his face said : don't go there.

Of course he didn't want me, his sister to scream my head off at Michelle. She was his sister in law for Christ's sake. And moreover, it'd piss off Brian, which in turn would piss me off even more. I was meant to be helping a little with this record and that probably wouldn't be a good idea.

Brian finished playing and looked up at the window. Matt gave him a thumbs up and once again, began to fiddle with the buttons.

Brian set his guitar down and walked out of the booth to us. He sank onto one of the couches and yawned, lazy ass. Behind me, I heard Michelle get to her feet and walk over to him. Unfortunately, they were just in the corner of my vision, which meant that I got to watch as she sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

His arms snaked around her waist and thankfully Matt hit the 'play' button before they could start sucking face. We listened to the playback in silence and Matt nodded as it finished. "Sounds fucking amazing, dude. Even bitch-face here agreed when you were recording." I glared at Matt for his words and saw Brian smirking happily out of the corner of my eye.

"Even she is powerless to my amazing guitar skills." I sighed at Brian's words. "Wonderful. Now he has an inflated ego, thank you brother." Matt just grinned at me. I really wished that my glares worked on my brother. He turned to ask Brian a question but froze.

I spun my chair round to face the irksome guitarist, only to freeze myself. He literally had his tongue down her throat and was feeling her up. I could have sworn my heart stopped for a moment. What the fuck was this aching pain in my chest for?

The realization slowly hit. Holy fucking fudge cakes. I shook myself out of my mini-trance and got to my feet. "Uh, you guys good without me now?" I asked before clearing my throat. Matt raised a curious eyebrow at me but I shook him off. He could always tell when there was something bothering me.

"Yeah, why?" He asked slowly. On the couch, the lovers hadn't still surfaced for air. I refused to look. If I didn't acknowledge the pain, then it didn't exist. "I'm playing tonight with Hilary at Sacrifice, so I need to pick my shit up and go set up for them." I explained, grabbing my bag off the floor and moving towards the door.

"Laters people." I turned and almost sprinted out of the door. Determined to out him, her and this pain in my chest behind. I was telling Matt the truth, partly. I was playing at Sacrifice but all of my stuff was already in my car and Will- one of the members in my band- was setting up tonight.

I rummaged in my bag for my key, cursing as I walked down the driveway towards my car.

"Denise, wait!" The screen door to Matt and Val's slammed shut. Closing my eyes and mentally grimacing, cursing even more, I turned to face him. "What?" I asked, surprisingly calm. Brian ran a hand through his hair as he came to stop in front of me. "I...uh...look.." He stammered and I continued to search for my keys.

"Hurry and spit it out already man, I'm gonna be late." I said slightly frustrated. "We weren't making you uncomfortable or anything were we?" My head snapped up to look at him. "What?"

"Michelle and I."

"No, Brian you weren't. I honestly have to go." I lied through my teeth. He didn't give up. "Because if we were, just say something and we'll tone it down." I looked at him curiously. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground. "Look, we may not get along most of the time, but you spend a lot of time hanging out with us. I don't wanna make you or the others uncomfortable."

He glanced up and met my gaze. Dusk was falling, so it was hard to make out his expression but he looked...I don't know...like he really meant it. I sighed and went back to searching for my keys. "Thanks but it's fine. I'll probably be the same, well similar, when my boyfriend will visit me." I commented, only to regret instantly. No one else was supposed to know that, Marley!

"You have a boyfriend? Wha- since when?" He asked raising his tone a little and looked slightly off. And so I told him a little about Greg and I also asked him not to tell Matt, yet. He remained quiet for a while, looking at me nonchalantly. I finally pulled out my keys out of the depths of my bag and when I looked up, he'd stepped closer.

"Are you happy, with him?" His voice was quite and I nodded. Greg was a great guy and he knew my likes and dislikes. He did his best to make me happy and well, succeeded almost always. A strand of hair came loose from behind my ear, falling onto my face. He gently brushed it back behind my ear. "Have a good show tonight, Denise." He murmured, turning to walk back inside.

About fifteen minutes later, I rubbed my forehead with one hand as I knocked on Kay's apartment door. Thankfully she only lived a block away fron Sacrifice, so I had plenty of time to stop at hers before my show tonight. I just hope Jimmy wasn't there, I needed my best friend alone to myself for a while. She pulled open the door, smiling. But her smile fell when she saw my face.

"Marls? What's wrong?" She asked, stepping aside to let me in. She shut the door behind me and pulled me in a hug. I closed my eyes, fighting the tears that wanted to fall. "I have an hour until I have to be at Sacrifice and I need some serious....girly counselling." She let go of me and studied my face before nodded.

"I shall go and summon Master Ben and Master Jerry from the freezer," she announced before marching towards the kitchen. I took a seat on one of the stools at the island and watched as she pulled three gallons tubs of ice cream from the freezer. Man, she knew how to stock a freezer.

"Fuck, do I really look bad enough for all of those?" Her look said everything; apparently I did. "Physically you're as gorgeous as ever my little cherry blossom, but it's your eyes that are manifesting that you need all of these." Abruptly, she turned around and pulled open a cupboard, rummaging through it. She pulled out a box full of chocolate sprinkles and sauce, and set it with a firm bang on the table. "And this."

She took a seat next to me and we promptly dove into the tub with our spoons. Once I'd had a few spoonfuls, Kay looked at me. "Tell me all, Marls."

I sighed and took another spoonful of ice cream before beginning. I told her everything, from how Brian would act strange around me to my fucked up reaction to seeing him and Michelle sucking face. By the end, I was fighting back the tears again.

"She's such a slag." I looked at Kay, fighting the urge to scowl at her for insulting my friend and to laugh at the expression on her face. Kay did not like Michelle, and neither did Hilary. She grinned before taking another spoonful and covering it in chocolate syrup. "What, she is." She said before she wolfed down her spoonful.

"She should totally move to Amsterdam, heard there's a district she'd fit in perfectly." She winked and I choked on my ice cream. "Let's not talk about her anymore, please. " I said before recovering from my coughing fit. "Fine, ignoring her for a while, what are you going to do about your other issue?"

All the tension came back again, hitting me like a tonne of bricks. I sighed and took a huge mouthful of ice cream. "Stuffing your face isn't gonna get you out of this. You need to talk to him." I shook my head firmly at her words, absolutely not. That was the only thing that I won't be doing. "You can't just run and hide from this Marls. Look what happened last time."

I thought back to a year and a half ago, when Brian had kissed me at a local club we all went to. I'd wanted to kiss him back but I'd ended up running away from it. I didn't confront him about it and he didn't bring it up. We'd both chosen to ignore it and now here it was, back to bite me in the ass.

"I know but I can't just go up to him and talk about it either." I swallowed hard. "And why not?" I looked at Kay guiltily. "I may have told him about Greg." I muttered and Kay looked at me horrified. "The fuck Marley, why'd you do that?"

"I don't know." I said feeling really very stupid.

"Marley, answer me honestly." Kay said before sighing. "Are you really serious about this Greg? I know the answer but I wanna hear it from you." I sank my teeth onto my lip, biting it hard as I came up with an answer. "He's a nice guy." I muttered. "Marley." Kay said as a warning.

"I don't know." I sighed. "Then why would you even bring him up? Don't let the guy who isn't even here get between you and what you want."

"But he said he'll come." I enlightened. "So? Let him come, he'll just visit Cali and you. And then you tell him that you don't want to be in a relationship. Come on, a little lie never hurt anyone." Kay said with a shrug. "What about Brian?" I asked after a while.

"Well, you two bicker constantly like kids. Maybe he actually wants to talk to you. What he said earlier obviously indicates that he feels bad about something. Most guys don't offer to 'tone it down' for their best friends never mind someone who they argue with constantly."

I knew she had a point but I didn't want to admit it to her or to myself. "I'm not talking to him about it." She put a hand over mine before saying, "Well, then what are you going to do?" I knew what I wanted to do but there was no way I was going to do that either. Kay, unfortunately, knew me far too well.

Her jaw dropped, "Tell me you're not thinking about turning into a flirt around him?" I looked away. "Thinking about it and doing it are entirely different things, Kay." I replied and she sighed in relief. "Thank god. I love you and all Marls, but that is a stupid idea."

"I know. I'll be back later, if that's okay. I just don't want to run into him." Yeah, he was still in my loft. "Avoiding him isn't going to make the situation go away either." Kay said. "I know, babes. But for tonight it will make me feel better. Laters." I walked out of her apartment and drove myself to Sacrifice.

Notes

Holy fucking fudge cakes!!

What the fuck just happened in this chapter?
Hahahahaha :p

Until next time <3