6 Months Later.
"Vegas, Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!" Brooke chanted, dancing on the spot.
"Please for the love of God and all that is pure and holy. SHUT. UP." I snapped in response.
Usually I'd be all for some party time in the Viva Las Vegas, but these last few months have been a total nightmare. I dreaded this trip. I loathed the coming of this trip. My sole reason for coming was my sense of friend-duty. Yes, that's a thing. Brooke chose Vegas as the destination for her belated honeymoon: shortly after the wedding, she and Joey had tried to get to Bosnia for their foreign-after-wedding party. However, Joey's passport was revoked after immigration caught him trying to carry forty cigarettes abroad in his suitcase; they didn't believe he would smoke them all himself over the course of a week. Never underestimate my brother's ability to be unhealthy. So, several months later, we were finally heading off on a Vegas-themed adventure.
Oh. I forgot to mention, that, as Joey's best man, Brendan Urie, my ex-boyfriend (and at present, mortal enemy) would be joining us over the coming fortnight. I wasn't anticipating anything special. The night of my brother's wedding, he had asked me to marry him, and I said no. We hadn't spoken since.
"Daisy, you're 22 years old smoking hot, single and in Las Vegas. Why aren't you pumped?"
While Brooke was unpacked her suitcase, I lay on her and Joey's bed, on my stomach, my head supported by my elbows. I was watching her slowly taking clothes out of her bag, placing them against herself then folding them neatly away into the drawers. We booked rooms at Caesar's Palace on Mom and Dad's dollar. I shook my head as Brooke held up a lacy red negligee. I did not want to know what she was wearing when she and my brother...did things. The door to the room opened and shut and footsteps came springing into the room. Lucy Little, Brooke's younger sister ran up to Brooke and jumped up and down on the spot, excitedly.
"OH MY GOD! My room is so sweet!" Lucy squealed.
"Why can't I share with this little bundle of enthusiasm?" I asked Brooke.
"Joey said that one of the guys is, and that's he's pretty stoked about it..."
"Which guy?" I cocked an eyebrow, suspicious.
"Joey thinks he and Lucy will hit it off!" Brooke retorted.
"Brendan!"
I narrowed my eyes at the disturbingly preppy Lucy. When she saw my glare she quickly went quiet and stopped her maddening bouncing. Brooke shook her head at her little sister.
"No, not Brendan, I wouldn't do that to you, best friend. It's one of their high school friends," she replied calmly.
"All of Joey's friends are so yummy!" Lucy said happily.
I made a silent gagging motion behind Lucy's back, who was all-of-a-sudden helping Brooke go through her suitcase. I rolled over onto my back, and laid my head on the soft sheets of the king size bed. In the background, Brooke's phone went off. She squealed and pulled it out of her pocket.
"Hey baby." Brooke said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
Cue the vomit.
"Oh really? Okay we'll be down in a second. Love you too."
The vomit is so close.
"Daisy get up! Your brother is here..." Brooke snapped. "and your ex boyfriend."
"What was that?" My head perked up from the bed.
"Nothing let's go Em!" Brooke called.
"I still can't understand why I had to come down here to get my brother. I've had to deal with him for 22 years; he could be spared five minutes without me!"
"Brooke!"
"Joey!" Brooke squealed.
Brooke ran off leaving Lucy and I trailing slowly behind her. She jumped onto Joey he placed his hands under her butt hoisting her up while they made out rather publicly in the Caesar's Palace lobby. Lucy and I reached the rest of the guys and I felt my stomach drop. Brendan was standing before me right next to Zach Carmichael. The Zach Carmichael from the incident when Brendan and I were kind of complicated.
"Daisy?" Zach said rather surprised.
"In the flesh." I said and spun around.
I saw Zach's eyes wander up and down. Brendan glared at him. Lucy cleared her throat and stared up at Zach through her eyelashes, a bright smile plastered from ear to ear. His eyes went from me to her, an evident smile at the corners. I looked at Lucy shaking my head.
"Zach this is Brooke's sister Lucy. You two met at the wedding," I said.
"Oh Lucy. Hi. Good to see you. You look...so good." Zach said, looking her up and down.
"Brendan," I said, by way of greeting him. I dodged eye-contact, instead focusing in on a small, vintage one armed bandit in the corner of the foyer.
"Daisy," he replied.
I looked over to where Brooke and Joey were stood, still attached at the mouth, and cleared my throat...loud. When that didn't work I was prepared to break out the big guns.
"JOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" I screeched like a banshee.
Joey pulled away from Brooke, startled, and looked at me. I had my arms crossed and was giving him the Gregory-glare. Brendan and Lucy had their hands over their ears; Zach was laughing. Joey placed Brooke back on the ground, smiling at her. She was smiling too, as she headed over to the rest of us.
"Joey!" Brendan yelled.
"Sorry." Joey said without his in-love beam fading.
"Sleeping arrangements for Zach and I?" Brendan asked.
"Oh yeah. Zach you're rooming with Lucy." Joey said then returned to Brooke.
"And me?" Brendan asked. "You know you're my best friend."
"Oh, Brendan you're with Daisy."
As if scripted,
"WHAT?" We both yelled.
"You know what guys. I'll see you later. Brooke wanna help me unpack?" he asked his wife.
"Love to."
The newlyweds ran out of the lobby towards the elevator, holding hands. I was going to kill them; they had something to do with this. I knew it. It wasn't accidental. It was fact that she had planned this with Joey. Ever since I'd said "no", they'd been awkwardly trying to pick up the pieces – and unfortunately for Brendan and I, they'd even tried to stick them back together on a couple of occasions.
"Zach switch rooms with me, I mean it!" Brendan demanded.
"Nah dude I'm good with my roomie," Zach replied, lazily smiling at Lucy.
"Zach switch with him or I swear to God, you will most definitely not be "good" with your roomie!" I warned.
"Zach...let's go get a coffee." Lucy said, cautiously, linking arms Zach, and leading him off down the crowded foyer.
I looked towards Brendan with my famous arched eyebrow. This was more than awkward. I folded my arms across my chest as we stood in silence.
"I'm gonna go try and find a new room," Brendan mumbled.
"You do that," I replied.
I turned away from Brendan and headed towards to elevator dragging my feet, I was not sharing a room with my ex boyfriend. No way no how. No.
My room had two full-sized beds, instead of one queen. This hadn't immediately made sense to me, when we'd arrived a couple of hours earlier, but now...It appeared to me that this "love match" was most definitely planned.
I was watching Desperate Housewives on the flat-screen TV, while eating some peanuts from the mini bar, when the door opened. I heard the footsteps slowly creep closer and closer, until Brendan appeared, bleary eyed and angry. I looked at him properly for the first time as I kept eating the peanuts.
"They're completely booked for the week."
"Why?" I asked, through a mouthful of peanuts.
"Some retreat for Agnostics United." Brendan said. "I don't want to be here."
"Oh yeah, and I'm just thrilled about this nauseating-water-torture of a vacation, and more so about spending it almost solely with you(!)" I snapped.
He didn't answer. I threw the empty peanut can at the wall, and stood to leave.
"Remind me to never speak to you again after this week!"