A/N: I am SOOOO sorry for the long wait for the update. I have been dealing with a LOT of stuff lately which prevented me from even getting on the computer, let alone continuing to work on the story. Some warning for you: There's going to be some rough points in here, lots of awkwardness, and finally some nice fluff finished off with some passion.
Brady
I didn't intend for anything like this to happen. I had just jeopardized the initial reunion with my best friend and I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. I didn't realize where I'd gotten until I glanced around. I was walking toward the stadium, completely ignoring everyone around me. I looked behind me, searching for something, anything. I pressed a hand to my forehead, suddenly worried. What was I doing?
"Jesus, what are you doing out here?" Someone asked, grabbing my shoulder and steering me into the nearest building. I glanced up, feeling warm and safe suddenly as Collin's face came into focus.
"Collin?" I asked, worried. He glanced at me and a smile appeared.
"What's up?" He asked, sitting me down.
"I... the news... didn't you see it?" I asked incredulously, trying to defend myself but failing miserably.
"I didn't see it until I woke up, but I had practice to go to. Besides, we're just reuniting, the press can kiss my ass," He chuckled. It was only then that I realized we were in a coffee shop - Lorenzo's to be exact. It was this quaint little store where the baristas wore white button downs and black pants and people from hipsters to business men communed in quiet resolution.
"So... you aren't upset?" I asked tentatively. I had expected him to blow up at me, to be furious. What on earth was going on with him? He definitely wasn't the Collin I remember.
"Of course not! I deal with awkward press all the time. Besides, you're my best... well, you're a friend of mine," He amended. I acknowledged this with a small tilt of my head. He ran a hand through his hair, blinking repetitively.
"You look like you could use something to drink. I'm going to order some coffee. Dark chocolate mocha with double espresso shots?" I asked, recalling his favorite drink from years ago. His eyes widened and nodded. I returned soon after ordering with the steaming drinks in hand, mine a cinnamon dolce latte. He raised an eyebrow at my choice of beverage but shrugged it off and uttered a small thanks as I handed him his.
"Are you excited about the gig tonight?" I asked to break the tension while we sipped our drinks.
"Yeah, with it being the promotion of the new album and the kickoff to the new tour, we're all pretty hyped," He replied. "Seth told you that the others are coming in too right?"
"Yeah, big reunion," I smirked.
"When was the last time you even saw anyone?" He asked astonished.
I had to think about that. The silence that ensued was almost painful for me.
"When Jacob and Renesmee got married." I finally managed. Wow, it had really been so quick. Because of Renesmee's enhanced growth, Bella and Edward had both agreed to allow Jacob and Renesmee to marry two years ago in a small private service that was composed of the pack, the Cullen's and the Denali's, as well as Bella's father. They had had to stage Bella's death seven years ago after Renee's repeated insistence that she get to see her daughter. It had ended painfully.
"That was a long time ago," He murmured.
"I know,"
The silence pressed in on us and I started tapping my foot in response. How would everything go? Would it blow over like a storm, or blow up like a bomb?
"What time is it?" I asked distractedly.
"Around noon," He answered, pulling his sleeve up to check the watch on his wrist. "12:45 to be exact."
"Damn. How did it get to be so late?" I asked, more to myself than anyone else. I brushed a hand through my hair and then stared at him. "So. I have no will to return home. Care to take me to your hotel?"
Collin
"I guess," I answered, shrugging. Like I had said a moment ago, the press could kiss my ass. Besides. There wasn't anything going on between the two of us. Right?
Roughly thirty minutes later I was walking him into the hotel room, shut and locked the door, and then flopped onto the bed. He stood there awkwardly, glancing around the room. I've always been messy - and hotels were no different for me. My bag was tossed awry in the corner, clothes lying about everywhere. I motioned for him to sit and he did so very gingerly on the edge of the bed.
"I knew you were pretty much the same," He groaned looking more closely around the room. I laughed at this and shook my head. He scowled at me then. "It looks like a tornado tore through here."
"Well you know I've always been a bit of a slob," I responded easily. Sometimes it was as if this whole connection thing was getting easier to deal with, I thought pensively behind the smile.
"Maybe I ought to clean it up like old times," He muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair.
"Remember when we turned fifteen?" I asked to distract him. He glanced at me and blushed scarlet. That was something else we had close together: our birthdays fell within a week of one another so we celebrated at the same time - or we used to anyway.
"The bonfire birthday," He answered. "The one where Seth phased right after and we both thought something bad happened to him so we spent the night with each other like we were babies."
"That's the one. Remember how awfully dirty my room was? You literally cleaned every inch of it before you consented to laying down,"
"Yeah well that's me I guess," He laughed. I wondered at his bright smile. So much had happened in our life both together and apart. I wondered how long it had been since he had really smiled like that and how hard it was for it to show. "Do you remember thirteen?" He added as an afterthought.
"The batter birthday? What about it?" Thirteen was the year that our parents had all decided they wanted us to go out for sports - particularly baseball. Neither of us turned out to be very good at it.
"Remember when I got hit so hard with one of the balls that my nose wouldn't stop bleeding?" He continued. "And you cried the whole time because you thought I wasn't going to be okay."
"Yeah..." I finished slowly, uncomfortable with the sudden shift in the conversation.
"I miss that." He said with an air of finality. "I miss just being friends."
"You know I do too." I added and the silence weighed down on us like the pendulum of joy had come to a stop. After a few moments of this, he glanced at me and then laid down beside me, staring at the ceiling.
"You do know that I tried to stop this right?" He asked, and I could feel the yearning for closure there. I could hear it. And I couldn't bring myself to look at him because seeing it would have been worse.
"I know," I answered thickly.
"You know I never tried to hurt you on purpose right?" Came his fast question. It hit me like a bullet and I breathed in deeply.
"Yeah..." I trailed off, attempting to end this conversation before I started crying. Jesus.
"And... Collin?"
"Jesus Brady, what?" I asked hauling myself up.
"I was going to say thank you," He answered softly. When I turned around to look at him, silent tears were streaming down his face.
God I was a fucked up human.
Brady
I wanted to die. In that moment, in that very bed, right beside him, I wanted to die. I felt the tears, I could feel the pain, and I just wanted to vanish. All I ever did was cause people pain.
How was it that I couldn't just accept that my imprint, my best friend, could never be those things? Couldn't even be a friend anymore? Why was fate so incredibly harsh to people like me?
I took a deep breath and was about to open my eyes to deal with the mess I had caused when I felt his arms suddenly wrapping me into them. I pushed against them, unwilling to let him tempt me and trick me into thinking he might really care, but he held me close, not letting me escape his grip.
Finally, the flood really started and before I knew it, I was sobbing into his chest, allowing him to rub my back and whisper 'shh'. Violent shudders wracked my body and then, after what seemed like an eternity, I had nothing left to cry. I had no more tears. The violent shudders continued and despite the warmth of his body, I felt cold. It took me a moment to realize that he was crying, too.
"I'm so sorry," He whispered when he gained control of himself.
"It's okay. I'm the one who should be sorry," I responded, but suddenly I felt a hand lift my chin and I was gazing into his deep brown eyes - the eyes which caused all of this in the first place when I phased. Something was holding my gaze there as much as I wanted to tear my eyes away. I knew it wasn't an imprint - he had stared into my eyes like this before and he had never imprinted. There was a small tug on my mind and as if something clicked, I came back to reality. He was still staring at me with wide, huge eyes. Within them I saw thousands of things. I saw the fire for performance, the passion for the art he created. I saw the hurt he had from hurting me, and I saw something glimmer. I saw a lot of things that I couldn't remember seeing before.
Suddenly, but very gently, he moved in closer and pressed our lips together in a kiss.
As if I had a raging storm in my head and the rest of my body were an ocean that was raging underneath, everything calmed and became still. His lips were soft but firm. We held each other, locked in an embrace and a kiss. We both pulled away at the same time for air, having just laid there, not moving, just... together.
I glanced at him, an enormous blush on my face and he looked at me with an enormous smile and blush on his face. He crashed back into me, our lips meeting once more. This time, his tongue flicked out and traced my lower lip. I shuddered with anticipation and this caused my mouth to open gently. He pushed his way between my lips, tasting, exploring. I pulled away when reality hit me again.
"Collin..." I started. If this was something he would come to regret, then it would kill me.
"Trust me, Braid," He answered.
Collin
I grabbed his hips and pulled him on top of me so that my back was on the bed. He settled into place with both legs on either side of my body and rested there as if he was always supposed to have been, but he looked so entirely uncomfortable.
I pulled him down to me again and proceeded to kiss him. His body shuddered with anticipation.
I knew what this way. I had imprinted on him, after all this time. I guess it wasn't the Brady I had known so long ago that was meant for me - but rather this one right here. Brady had changed and grown up and become a different person, as much as he was like his old self. I was determined, right then and there, to make up for all the wrong and pain I had caused.
When he pulled away to breath, I reached up and rubbed my hands gently down his torso. He raised an eyebrow at me and reached down to pull his shirt over his head. It was beautiful - his body. Perfect, as if he had been phasing and keeping himself youthful all this time. Just as I pulled my shirt over my head in a rush of heated dizziness, there was a knock on the door. The both of us scrambled, attempting to rearrange ourselves. I hastily pulled my shirt back over my head and checked to see if he had. Then I noticed the enormous boner in my jeans. I squashed it into my leg, hoping to drive it down, and succeeded in making it larger with the friction. I groaned to myself and then walked to the door, the moment that had just passed ruined.
"What?" I demanded, opening the door. In front of me was a reporter, a curly-haired blond woman, and a cameraman.
"Hi, I'm Katie Harper and I was wondering if you would mind giving an interview?" She asked with an air of sophisticated determination.
"How the hell did you find my room and get up here without my security team taking you out?" I asked incredulously. She grinned and then waved her hand in a flourish, basically asking me to look at her figure and outfit. She was dressed as scantily as possible to pass for an escort rather than a whore. She wore a white mini-dress which barely went to mid-thigh and a small white parka. Her breasts seemed impossibly large, and I rolled my eyes. "Sorry Miss Harper, but I'm afraid I don't do impromptu interviews - only those set up with my managers." And with that, I slammed the door on her and returned to the room. I found Brady curled up on the bed, looking wounded.
"Braid..." I said, sitting down beside him.
"What was that?" He demanded.
"I think... I think I imprinted," I said without skipping a beat. His face fell into such a surprised look that I wasn't sure if it were normal or not. "Brady?" I asked out of concern.
"You imprinted!? After all this time!?" He shouted enraged, standing up. Uh-oh.
