Eternal Blossom

Brian woke up the next morning and got up from the pallet. His whirling thoughts going to sleep had been enough that when he fell asleep it had been a restless sleep. He was irritable and wanted to shake his mood before Aiyana woke up.

Moving to the bathroom he quietly closed the door and locked it before starting the shower. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw the small freckles that dusted his nose, and the fine lines that had begun to appear around his eyes and lips.

Turning away, he climbed into the shower and scrubbed like he could wash off his bad mood. Aiyana didn’t need to see this side of himself, he kept rationalizing in his mind. She didn’t need to see the moody Brian that didn’t have a sense of humor, and didn’t want to do anything but sulk all day just a few months into their relationship.

As he washed his hair, he began to think about what he could possibly do that would put him in a better mood. What had worked in the past? His mind went straight to Jimmy, and he winced. True, Jimmy was always someone that could help lift even the biggest of mood funks. But, Jimmy wasn’t here anymore, and no amount of wishing would bring him back.

Brian sighed as he rinsed his hair and body before finally getting out of the shower. He dried off and wrapped the towel around his hips before looking at himself in the mirror. He could just go home and tell her that he had some things he needed to work on, but he didn’t want to go when she had the day off. It was Sunday, so they should be spending time together.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face roughly before thinking about his pack of Marlboros. He opened the door and peeked out to see if she was up and moving before he made his way to the living room again. Stopping for a second to look at her relaxed face as she slept, he grabbed his smokes and stepped out of her back door, still only wrapped in the towel.

Sitting on the back step beside the door, he lit a cigarette and let the relaxing smoke fill his lungs. Breathing out the smoke, he looked down at his cigarette, and tried to pin point why he was feeling this way. He was feeling great yesterday because he’d spent the day with his friends and Aiya. Then they came home, and had three great rounds of sex, and everything was better than great. It was wonderful, but then every bit of time he spent with Aiyana was wonderful.

Then, it clicked. He went to bed with his head racing with thoughts of how Aiyana wasn’t confident in their relationship, and how it was all his fault. He sighed and took another drag, staring at the embers.

How was he going to fix how she felt? How was he going to make her realize that she was different to him? His brow furrowed in concentration as he continued to smoke. Before he knew it, that cigarette was finished, so he lit another cigarette off of it’s predecessor.

Aiyana woke up to an empty pallet and frowned as she looked around for Brian. Not seeing him, she listened closely for a sound that might relay to her where he was. When she didn’t hear anything she got up and put on her t-shirt and shorts from the previous night before checking the bathroom. She saw where he’d taken a shower, and smiled to herself before walking through the living room, towards the kitchen to start coffee.

She heard the back door open and close, and she looked up, surprised to see Brian walking in dressed in only a towel.

“You know, if you were so eager to smoke, you could have done it before you showered,” she said with a smile as she pointed to his towel clothed waist.

Brian looked down in confusion and then back up at her, waving the thought off as he crossed the little distance to her. He stopped in front of her and took her hand in his. Leaning down a little, he kissed her softly, and rested his forehead against hers.

“I’m sorry. I was in an irritable mood when I woke up,” he said by some way of explanation.

“Are you still in a mood,” she asked calmly as she looked up at him, a little confused at how he’d just walked over and kissed her when he normally would have given her a witty retort about taking the towel off.

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at the counter instead of at her.

“Is it something I did,” she asked, biting her lip a little, her nerves betraying her.

Brian actually felt a real smile pull at his lips, “No, babe. It’s not you.”

She sighed softly in relief and stood on her tip toes to kiss him lightly.

“Then go put some shorts on so I don’t ravage you, and I’ll start coffee,” she said over her shoulder with a wink. She understood being in a mood, and it didn’t faze her. It actually relieved her a little to realize that he was in fact human, and wasn’t just too good to be true.

He watched her walk off, and turned slowly to do as she told him, his little hamster racing quickly at her sudden turnaround from worried to smiling. He found his sleep pants from the night before, and pulled them on, glad she at least seemed to accept his mood today.

He started folding blankets from the pallet, still trying to think of something that he could do or say. Aiyana waited for the coffee to perk, and began pulling mugs out of the cabinet.
Coffee in hand a few minutes later, she entered the living room to see Brian finishing up with folding the last blanket.

“As I live and breathe. Did you just fold those blankets,” she gasped in mock surprise.

He looked down blankly at the folded pile, and shrugged before taking them to her linen closet to put them away. Aiyana set the coffee down on the floor so she could move the table back, and then put the coffee on top of it.

“What do you want to do today, honey,” she asked as he came back from the hallway.

“I don’t care,” he answered and picked up his mug before sitting beside her.

They drank in silence as she thought about what they could do today until she looked over at him. He really was in a funk, she thought to herself. A deep one from the looks of it. She bit the inside of her cheek as she thought, trying to think of what she enjoyed doing when she was down. Coming up with a few options, she looked into her cup to realize she’d finished her coffee.

“Well, when I’m down, I like to read on the beach, or hike on a trail,” she said as she stood up, holding her hand out for his now empty cup as well.

Brian looked up at her and handed her his coffee cup. She was trying to help him get into a better mood instead of running for the hills, and that realization surprised him. He thought about both of those suggestions, and he shook his head no.

A moment later, she returned with refilled cups, and handed him his as she sat back down beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder as she tried to think some more about what they could do since he didn’t like her previous two suggestions.

“I usually just hide out at my house alone until it passes, to be honest,” he said to her, his voice coming out harsh when he hadn’t meant for it to.

She looked up at him, surprised by his tone, and sat up. She wasn’t sure what caused the tone, but she was going to give him a little space in case her invading his bubble had caused it.

“But I don’t want to do that today. I want to spend time with you since I know you’ve got work to do tomorrow,” he groaned, “and that came out really harsh. I’m sorry.”

Aiyana listened to him, and then waved off his apology. She hadn’t been offended a moment ago, just surprised. It did relieve her a little though, to find that it hadn’t been her laying her head on his shoulder that had caused his irritation to be so evident in his voice.

“You’re fine. Lets figure out something to do though that might take your mind off this,” she told him before laying her head back on his shoulder.

Her taking everything into such consideration and not running at his grumpy mood had a small smirk pulling on his lips, and he rest his cheek on top of her head, thinking about his own dilemma instead of what she’d told him to think about.

“Oh! I know! We get two pints of ice cream, and go sit under the dock. It’s cool and breezy. There won’t be many people, and you can tell me what has you in such a funk,” she said, rather pleased with herself when she realized something that would normally help Rayne feel better.

“No, that’s too girly,” he grunted, a full smirk now tugging his lips where she couldn’t see. He knew exactly who enjoyed that during her moods. Zack had been complaining half-heartedly about how she’d drug him down there for just that type of thing last week.

They sat there quietly for longer as she continued to think.

About 30 minutes later, after thinking of and then also mentally crossing things out as too girly, she tried to think of what he had told her before about his bad moods. That is, the things he did other than talk to Jimmy, and the fact that the other guys gave him a wide berth. Finally, it dawned on her.

“I’ve got it,” she said as she sat up and turned to face him.

“What,” he asked her with a blank face.

“I’ll go cook us something to eat, and you sit here and play your guitar. You left your acoustic here a while back. You told me once that sometimes playing helps you clear your head,” she told him as she smiled, feeling really proud of herself for thinking of it.

He looked at her a moment before nodding that he would give it a try. She immediately got up and went to her art room to grab the hard black guitar case for him that he’d left. When she got back she handed it to him and kissed his forehead before walking into the kitchen.

Looking at the time, she saw it would be closer to lunch than breakfast, so she reached into her fridge for the ingredients to make them a nice grilled chicken salad. When she heard him tuning the guitar, she went ahead and pulled out her crock pot and the ingredients for gumbo so that it would be ready for dinner.

As she got started with the gumbo first since she knew the chicken wouldn’t take long, she heard him begin to play a slow and sad melody on his guitar. It pulled at her heart strings, and made her frown as she chopped the sausage and chicken for the crock pot.

About an hour and a half later, she finished prepping the gumbo, and the chicken was finished for lunch. She already had the salad ready, so she began to clean up her work area and plate when she heard him stop playing.

By the time she was done plating, she looked up to see him leaned in the doorway watching her work, a light smile on his handsome face.

“Looks like you’re feeling a little better, or is that a cautious smile,” she grinned over at him as she grabbed forks.

“I’m feeling a little better,” he said as he took a plate and a fork.

Sitting beside one another, she didn’t want to pry, so she began to eat. She assumed that if he had a big epiphany that he felt like sharing he would. He glanced at her, a little surprised when she didn’t question him about his break through moment, and began to eat as well. It was best that she didn’t ask anyways, as it would totally ruin his plans.


After they ate, he cleared the plates, surprising her when he grabbed hers as well. She was used to him helping to clear by taking his own plate, but she wasn’t going to decline his kindness. Instead, she thanked him and walked to the gumbo.

Notes

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