The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 9 - Brenda and Dylan tell her parents and Brandon gets a rude awakening
Dylan walks up and knocks on the front door. He waits a few seconds and hears some footsteps. Brenda opens the door and smiles at him.
'Hey,' she says as she kisses him, 'come on in.'
He steps into the house and she takes his hand and leads him into the kitchen.
Cindy is cutting up vegetables for the salad and without looking up says, 'Brenda? Is your dinner guest here?'
'Yes, Mom, he's right here,' Brenda says. Her heart was pounding so fast that she thought that it would beat right out of her chest. She feels Dylan grip her hand a little tighter as her mother looks up from the salad.
Cindy stands frozen for a few seconds at the sight of Dylan standing in her kitchen holding her daughter's hand. She smiles brightly as she connects the dots in her head and says, 'Dylan!' She walks over to him and gives him a hug.
'Hi Mrs. Walsh, how are you?' Dylan says nervously.
'Oh, I'm fine, Dylan, just fine. How are you? Brenda, why didn't you tell us it was Dylan? Christ, you got me all worked up,' Cindy says.
Brenda smiles, 'Well, Mom, I wasn't quite sure how you were going to take it, so we figured the surprise approach was a little easier. And besides, we really want to talk to you and Dad about this and make sure that you know what we went through to get to this point,' she explains.
'Well, I am all ears and I'm sure your father will be too. Jim!' Cindy yells.
'Be right down!' they hear from up the stairs.
'How's Suzanne, Dylan? Any progress with her making amends?' Cindy says.
'Um, not yet, but I actually haven't been around all that much this summer, so I'm sure things will pick up now that I'm back,' Dylan says quickly.
'Dylan?' Jim says as he comes into the kitchen.
'Jim, how are you?' he says.
'I'm fine, what's going on? Do you need anything?'
Brenda smiles at her father. 'Dad, it's not business, Dylan is here for dinner,' she says.
Jim looks at her as she walks over to Dylan and grabs his hand to show her father what she means.
'Huh?' Jim pauses as he tries to figure out what Brenda is trying to tell him, 'Oh, okay, I get it. Dylan is the special dinner guest and this is your way of telling us that you two have gotten back together, right?'
'Welcome to the land of the living, Jim,' Cindy says with a smile and then a laugh.
Brenda laughs at her father. 'Can't put anything past you, can I Dad?' she says, 'Look, we want to do this right. We want to talk to you guys about how this came about and all of the things that we've talked about with each other. It's really important to me, to us.' She looks at her father and then at Dylan.
'Okay, well let's eat and talk,' Jim says.
Brandon and Kelly sit in the car outside of her house. 'Brandon, I had a lovely time with you tonight. That restaurant was amazing!' Kelly says.
'Yeah, I thought so too, we'll have to go back there sometime,' he says.
'Definitely, I really like being with you Brandon,' Kelly feels a lurch in her chest as she says, 'I just don't know what is going on right now.'
'Kel, is this the closure/regret thing with Dylan? I talked to Dylan because I was feeling a little regretful myself and he didn't seem like he needed closure. He wasn't even mad and didn't really say anything when I told him that I was sorry for hooking up with you while you were still with him.'
'Really, he didn't? Don't you think that's a little weird, Brandon? I mean, everyone said that he was pissed off when he found out that we had been kissing. How does he just drop it like nothing ever happened? Like my relationship with him didn't exist, so why would he need closure?'
Brandon begins to think about what Kelly said. He shakes his head trying to figure it out, but comes up with nothing.
'I'm not sure, Kel.'
'Maybe he's drinking again, that would explain the distant look in his eye and the fact that he can't seem to focus on one thing and that every time I talk to him he seems distracted,' she says.
'Distracted? What would be distracting Dylan?' Brandon opens his mouth a little to say something and realizes that Kelly doesn't know about Brenda and Dylan getting back together. 'Of course he's been distracted and not caring about his relationship with Kelly. He's not drinking, he's in love and preoccupied with Brenda to even care about anything else.'
'Brandon, what are you thinking?' Kelly asks.
'Oh, it's nothing, I was trying to remember if I saw any bottles while I was over at Dylan's the other day, but I didn't. He doesn't smell like stale liquor either, so I'm going to guess that he's not drinking again. Anyway, let's stop talking about him, okay?' Brandon says quickly, trying to change the subject.
'Okay,' Kelly says with attitude toward Brandon, 'I was just trying to make conversation. Look, I'm going to go in now. Goodnight, Brandon,' Kelly snips at him. She huffs her way out of the car and to her front door. She hears him yell her name but goes in and closes the door behind her without turning around.
'Damn it,' Brandon says. 'Wow, she turned quick on me. I hope she's not taking those stupid diet pills again.'
Casa Walsh
Brandon walks into the house and hears laughter coming from the dining room. 'Geez are they still in there? Well, at least they're laughing, right?'
He walks into the dining room and sees his parents and Brenda and Dylan playing a card game. They are all laughing at each other when he comes in.
'Hey, guys, what the hell is going on?' he says.
'Hi, Brandon,' Brenda says between laughs.
'Well, either you haven't told them yet, or you told them a lie and got them to believe it,' Brandon says, knowing that his parents must have been somewhat accepting of Brenda and Dylan for them to be sitting here calmly playing a card game.
'Very funny, Brandon,' Cindy says, 'why don't you join us, we're not that far along?'
'Oh, no, I'm good. I'd rather not stimulate my brain cells too much until school starts. Goodnight,' he says as he makes his way up the stairs.
Brenda smiles at him as he leaves the room to go upstairs. They finish playing the game with Jim winning, as he always does.
'Well, looks like I'm going to take my winnings and head on up to bed. Goodnight you two,' Jim says. As Brenda hugs her mother goodnight, Jim winks at Dylan and nods his head in approval.
'Goodnight, Dad,' Brenda says.
'Goodnight, sweetheart,' he says. Cindy leads him up the stairs as Brenda begins to clean up the cards and put them back in order.
'Well, Bren, that has got to be the weirdest night with your parents in the history of our relationship,' Dylan says as he helps her gather the cards from across the table.
'Yeah, I agree. I don't understand. They didn't really even flinch when we told them that we were going to try again. It's like they expected it to happen. Maybe they're psychic or something,' she says.
'Or maybe,' he says as he comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, 'they know that we were meant to be together and just needed to grow up a little.' He kisses her neck as she leans her head against his shoulder.
She turns her head up to his and he kisses her slowly and tightens his grip around her waist. She reaches her hand up to caress the side of his face as he begins to move his hand down her hip.
'Okay, you two, that's enough of that right here in the dining room,' Brandon says loudly, as Brenda and Dylan break apart slowly.
'Sorry, Brandon,' Brenda says as her face gets a little red and she moves to finish gathering the cards. Brandon gives her an 'oh-great-this-is-what-I-have-to-look-forward-to-AGAIN' face and continues to walk through into the kitchen.
Dylan follows Brandon into the kitchen. 'Hey, you alright, man?' he says.
Brandon opens the refrigerator and looks back at Dylan. 'Yeah, I'm alright,' he says.
'That is not very convincing,' Dylan observes.
'I just, well, Kelly and I had a great time tonight until I went to drop her off at her house,' Brandon starts.
Dylan sits on the stool at the counter to listen.
Brandon continues, 'Well, we get there and she starts talking about how uncomfortable she is with this feeling of regret still and then she tells me how she thinks that because you're not responding to her and seem distracted every time she talks to you, that you're drinking again.'
Dylan screws up his face a little with confusion, 'Drinking? Where on Earth would she get that idea?'
'Well, I couldn't figure that part out either, until I remember something I had learned earlier in the evening,' he says as he nods his head and looks toward the dining room, where Brenda is separating out the cards into decks. Dylan follows his gaze to Brenda and then looks back at Brandon. Brandon sees the light bulb turn on in Dylan's head.
'Yeah, you got it, now. She obviously doesn't know that it's not drinking that is distracting you, it's Brenda,' Brandon says.
Dylan takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. 'Ah, now I see. Well, now that we've told your parents and they strangely approved of our decision pretty quickly, I think Brenda will feel more comfortable letting it slip that we're back together. So, she'll find out soon enough that it's not the drink that's making me crazy,' he says.
'Yeah, well, let's make it sooner rather than later, because it's making me crazy. When I finally figured out what she was missing, I tried to change the subject away from talking about you to something else,' Brandon says.
'Yeah, I would have too,' Dylan agrees.
'Well, she bit my head off and stomped into the house and slammed the door.'
'What? What the hell is that all about?' Dylan asks.
Brandon shakes his head slowly. 'I have no idea, but the quicker she realizes that you and Brenda have moved on, maybe she'll drop this lovely attitude and get over it, because I don't think I can take her flipping out on me like that,' Brandon admits.
'Man, I'm sorry, I had no idea she would not be able to process her feelings for me and move on with you, which is what she really wants. I really thought that she already had gone through this. I really am sorry,' Dylan says.
'It's not your fault man. I brought this on myself sneaking around on you and not shooting straight. Well, I'm going to head upstairs and try to block this night out of my memory,' Brandon says as he puts his hand on Dylan's shoulder and walks out of the kitchen.
Dylan sits at the counter looking at his hands. 'What the hell is wrong with Kelly? Why can't she get over this already? She was the one who moved on first, why the hell should she be even worried about this?'
He gets up from the stool and joins Brenda in the dining room, where she has just finished separating the cards into decks.
'Hey,' he says, 'so, now that your parents know, when can we plan to break it to everyone else?'
'Oh, anxious are we?' Brenda smiles at him.
'Don't get me wrong, the sneaking around everyone else could be fun and dangerously exciting for both of us,' he says as he grabs her and presses her body into his, and she lets out a little moan as he holds her tight, 'but I do want to be able to wrap my arms around you and do this in public,' he says as he dips her and kisses her passionately before standing her back up.
'Oh,' she says, 'well, then, we should think of a great way to shock everyone at the same time and that way we don't actually have to tell them.'
'Shock them, as in have sex in public places and wait for them have the guts to ask us about it?'
'Dylan!' Brenda says a little embarrassed. 'That is not what I meant!'
He laughs at her. 'Okay, we'll think of something tomorrow, okay? I better go,' he says as he kisses her.
'Goodnight, sweet dreams, sleep well, and I will see you tomorrow,' he says. She smiles up at him as he walks toward the door and leaves.
Brenda smiles all the way up to her room. She sits on her bed and thinks about Dylan. 'I feel so great right now. We told my parents and they didn't freak out on us, we told Brandon and he didn't freak out on us. Dylan is being so great and attentive. We need to do this right. I need to keep my eyes open. I don't want to be blindsided again, ever. I'm a little nervous about telling everyone about us. I wish we could just keep it from them, that way they can't get involved or screw us up.' Brenda sighs and gets up to get ready for bed.
