Chapter 12 The S**T Hits The Fan
Silence filled the car as Brandon drove to the treatment center Ellen had set up for Dylan. He felt the glances coming from Brandon through the rearview mirror and because Brandon and him really hadn't made up officially for how he had treated him in the peak of his addiction he didn't say anything or call him on it. He pretended not to notice, instead he caught Brenda's eye as she would turn and look at him periodically and give him a small smile. Dylan smiled back raising his eyebrows at her and motioning with his head to move to the back seat. She rubbed her lips together moving her lipstick around and looked over at Brandon. He looked at her quickly as Brenda looked away just as swiftly. What did she care, she was so mad at Brandon right now she didn't give a crap what his opinion was at this point. She began to climb and squeeze herself through the driver's seat and passenger seat.
"Oh nice. Now I am a chauffeur." Brandon said grumpily.
"Yep." Brenda said with a teasing smile.
Dylan wrapped his arms around her cuddling and bringing her close to him. She leaned up kissing him long and hard knowing that they were getting close to the treatment center. "Mmmm." Dylan groaned, "You taste good." He whispered.
Brandon sighed loudly and shook his head. Brenda and Dylan leaned out from each other and looked over at him, "What exactly is your problem Brandon?" Brenda spoke up raising her voice.
"Nothing." Brandon lied not very believably.
"I don't get it, why do you even care?" Brenda said sighing.
"Fine…you know what my problem is Bren…I had to listen to dad bitch at me the whole night about letting you in on Dylan's intervention and then you pull a stunt like this. I put myself out for you. Can't you ever just be normal, why do you have to be so theatrical about everything you do?"
Brenda shrugged and looked at Dylan before looking back at Brandon, "Because I am an actress." Brenda felt Dylan laugh under her breath at her smart ass comment.
"Yeah…well maybe you actually would be if you stayed at RADA." Brandon said harshly.
Brenda was in no mood to fight with Brandon, the truth was her and Brandon had not been close in over a year and even though they loved each other, she was neither surprised nor hurt by him being such a jerk. "Why do you care?" she repeated, "As if you have cared about anything I have been doing since we started college. This…believe it or not Brandon has nothing to do with you…not like everything always has been; you're just being a selfish prick." Brenda felt Dylan squeeze her tighter. And Brenda regretted the name calling. She loved her brother, but everything she was saying was true.
"I am selfish?" Brandon raised his voice, "Do you know what this is going to do to mom and dad?" Brandon took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He pulled into the treatment center parking lot and parked the Mustang. He turned around to look at her, "Brenda…I have always been there for you, I watched and heard you cry your eyes out the entire end of senior year and college because of him, I saw you go from happy and social to quiet and reserved."
Brandon looked at Dylan quickly but Dylan looked down at Brenda, "Is that true?" Dylan whispered close to her ear. Brenda just looked at him not answering. Dylan knew he hurt her but he had always assumed she was more mad at him then actually heartbroken, well crying heartbroken that was. She had never cried to him before or called him professing her love for him or even asked questions about it. She put up a good front and even after questioning his decision in choosing to date Kelly a few times, Brenda never once let on that Dylan would had even have a 2nd chance. In fact until Brenda told him that she would have taken him back in a second after everything, the summer, Dylan being with Kelly, he never knew how she felt about the whole situation until that day before poetry class. He never saw her sad or depressed and he didn't see the social to reserved difference either. Was Dylan just too busy being a jerk, he didn't notice?
"I also have known you my whole life, and you have always had the same dream…to study acting and hopefully do it for a living. I am not being selfish, I just want what's best for you and honestly, I love you with Dylan, no matter what has happened between us lately, he is one of my closest friends. I just would hate to see you throw away the opportunity at RADA, I think you will regret it." Brandon spoke calmly and nicely, he just wanted to get his point across without fighting. Brandon got out of the car saying he would let them know Dylan was there.
Brenda looked down and took a deep breath. She didn't say anything, mostly because she was a little embarrassed Brandon had said some of things in front of Dylan. The truth was when all that happened in high school, yes Brenda was angry at Dylan but she was heartbroken as well. She didn't want him to know that he literally ruined her life at that moment. She at the time didn't want to give Kelly or Dylan the satisfaction.
"Bren." Dylan slowly spoke, "I am sorry..." his voice shaking with emotion.
Brenda interrupted, "Dylan…stop, it was a long time ago…and it doesn't matter does it? We are together now."
Dylan looked at her sweetly and nodded slowly, "What Brandon said…are you sure you don't want to go back to London? I understand if you do and I would never want you to resent me one day…"
Brenda pressed her lips firmly against his and closed her eyes; she kissed him hard and gently released his lips from hers, "I want to be with you." She reassured him.
Dylan gave her his famous half smile as the two of them got out of the car. They watched as Brandon walked out with Ellen.
"Nice to see you Dylan." Ellen said holding out her hand.
"You too Ellen." Dylan said meeting his hand with hers.
"Brenda." Ellen moved to her next.
"Hey." Brenda said softly.
"Are you ready?" Ellen said with a smile.
"Uh yeah…give me one sec." Dylan took Brenda's hand and led her a few feet away. He looked down at her and gently brought his hands up to Brenda's arms, rubbing them gently, "I'll see you in 2 weeks."
Brenda felt her eyes tear up as she nodded her head, "I am going to miss you." She said softly.
"I am going to miss you too Bren." Dylan leaned in and kissed her softly. They lingered there for a second, going in again and making the second kiss more intense and passionate. Dylan leaned his forehead against hers as they closed their eyes sighing softly.
Brenda strongly wrapped her arms around Dylan's neck as she hugged him tightly. Dylan smiled lightly until he heard her sobbing softly. "Hey…Hey." Dylan whispered leaning out from her. He took his fingers moving her hair behind her ear and wiping one of the tears that had glided down her cheek. "We have been apart for months Bren, we can handle two weeks." Dylan looked into her watery eyes and tilted his head to the side.
Brenda took a deep breath, "I know." She felt him pull her in for another tight hug. "I love you." Brenda whispered.
"I love you too." Dylan looked up and ran his hand down the back of her head.
Brenda and Dylan both leaned out from one another and began planting small pecks on each others lips.
Ellen and Brandon watched from afar, "Thank god your sister came, he looks so different than yesterday, she has a good hold on him. I honestly don't think he would have agreed to come if it wasn't for her, good thinking Brandon." Ellen said softly to Brandon.
Brandon stared at his sister and long time friend, he took a deep breath exhaling, "Yeah." He said under his breath.
"You knew it would work to include her. You guys did a good job, Dylan is lucky to have so many people that love him and want him to get better. Now it's up to Dylan to work the program." Ellen said as she smiled seeing the love between Brenda and Dylan. "It won't be easy for him but something tells me he will do fine, as long as he has her."
Dylan and Brenda walked hand and hand up to where Brandon and Ellen were standing. Brenda crossed her arms standing close to her brother as Dylan moved away from her picking up his bag. "See ya, Bran." Dylan gave him an awkward smile. He swung the duffle bag strap over his shoulder and leaned in towards Brenda gently pecking her lips, "Love you Bren." He leaned out quickly.
Brenda nodded and gave him a smile, "I know…love you too." Brenda stared into his eyes. Brandon looked down feeling like a jerk. Who was Brandon to judge them and Brenda was right, it wasn't his business. He wasn't blind he knew how they felt about each other; you didn't even have to know them well to see it. He had gotten that much from Ellen, who had met both Dylan and Brenda once. But still, even though Brandon was a fan of Brenda and Dylan as a couple, he was also a fan of his sister and he wanted her to succeed and follow her dreams. Brandon was torn between the happiness that Brenda and Dylan gave to each other and the brother in him, who wanted his sister's dreams to come true.
Brenda's eyes never left him until he was in the doors and out of sight. She turned toward Brandon giving him a blank expression and then moved to the car. Brandon followed her lead as he got in and looked over at her. "Where am I taking you, home or Dylan's home?" he said in a soft tone.
Brenda swallowed hard and slowly looked over at her brother, "Home. I guess I am going to have to tell them." Brenda took a deep breath, "You know Brandon, I understand your concern and I do appreciate it and I don't expect you to have my back with mom and dad, you haven't in a long time but…"
Brandon interrupted her, "I may not agree 100% on your decision to drop out of the program at RADA, but I know I owe you loyalty and you have it. I promise."
Brenda felt her lip quiver as she looked up at Brandon, "Thanks." She said softly. It was a start and she knew Brandon was right, her parents were not going to like this news and the truth was whether she forgave Brandon entirely for being a big jerk or not, she needed him. With Dylan in rehab for two weeks she was all alone, standing up to them again. This time it meant a lot that Brandon was actually going to help her. She needed all the help she could get.
**
Brandon pulled into the driveway of the Walsh house and parked. He looked over at Brenda who was nervously looking down, "You ok?"
Brenda took a deep breath, "Yeah…I am fine. Ready?"
Brandon looked at her with a nervous smile, "As ready as you are I guess."
Both Walsh's got out of the car and looked toward the house as they climbed the steps of the porch. Brandon looked at Brenda one last time as he opened up the front door. They walked in and heard voices and noises coming from the kitchen.
"Hey." Brandon said first as they stepped down into the kitchen one after another.
"Hi guys." Brenda said shyly making eye contact with her parents.
"Hey sweetie, how did it go? Is everything ok?" Cindy said seeing Brenda's hesitation right away.
"Oh yeah, Dylan is in rehab and he didn't drink or do anything when I was with him last night. I think he will do fine."
"Good." Jim said with a small smile, "So…what are your plans? Do you want to have your friends over or are you guys planning anything? I guess it was a good excuse to visit and properly say goodbye to your friends considering you had intended to come home after the summer program." Jim tried to be supportive and nice. He wasn't all that happy with the fact Brandon had gotten Brenda involved in the Dylan fiasco but what was done was done and he was happy to see her.
Brandon looked back and forth between them as he clapped his hands together, "No, no plans yet but I am sure we can throw something together." Brandon said breaking the silence that Brenda was giving off.
Brenda nodded quickly and giving her father a small smile.
"When does your flight leave on Monday sweetie?" Cindy said nonchalantly in the middle of cutting vegetables for what Brenda assumed was for dinner.
Brenda nervously looked at Brandon and then back at her parents, "Actually…I kind of need to talk to both of you. Is now a good time?" Brenda shifted her weight as she bit the side of her lip.
Cindy knew the tone as she looked at Jim who knew the same one, "Yeah sweetie, what did you want to talk about?" Jim said nervously as he crossed his arms.
"Its about London, I have decided I am not going to go back." Brenda made eye contact with her father as she finished her sentence.
Jim laughed, "What? I thought you just said you weren't going to go back school?"
Cindy set down her knife hearing Brenda perfectly.
"That's what I said dad." Brenda concluded as she looked at Brandon.
Jim's temper fueled as he began to raise his voice, "I knew this would happen…"
"Jim…please." Cindy stopped him, "Brenda…why, what made you change your mind?" she said calmly.
"Oh come on, we know what changed her mind." Jim added.
"Jim." Cindy raised her voice a little stopping him again, "Brenda?" Cindy waited for an answer.
Brenda swallowed hard not wanting to be completely honest with them, "I just miss home, I don't like being so far away…"
"Far away from Dylan?" Jim said with his voice raised still.
Brenda exhaled out of her nose, here she went again with him, her father would never understand, "Yes…from Dylan." Brenda said loudly.
"Wishful thinking that we would be done with Dylan McKay. I can not believe you would give away your future for him…a guy that broke your heart and is in rehab for God sakes. Brenda…I did not raise you to be so irresponsible, so inconsiderate, so…"
"Dad calm down, she wants to live here in L.A., relax it's not the end of the world." Brandon shook his head, not believing his father could be so mean.
"Brandon…I don't want to hear anything from you…this is totally your fault, I told you not to bother Brenda in London, I told you not to get her involved."
"Well I did, so shoot me. It worked didn't it? That was the point to help Dylan, because we all care about him and we wanted him to get his life together, or did you forget the point of all this?" Brandon's heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to jump out of his chest.
Jim stared at his son in shock, he gave him a look before looking at Brenda again, "So…what happens now? Are you and Dylan moving in together? Are you going to live off your good looks, he's broke…it's not like he has his trust to support you."
"I was going to try out for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts here in L.A. They have a good program and I am sure I could get some good references…"
"How convenient." Jim interrupted, "And how do you suppose you're going to pay for that?"
Brenda glared at her father but spoke calmly, "I thought…"
"You thought we would pay?" Jim shook his head, "And why would we do that? You have been set up in London, you have a full scholarship, it would be incredibly stupid of you to give that up."
Brenda swallowed hard and looked down not knowing what to say, "I guess…" Brenda's voice cracked as she tried to withhold from breaking down, "I guess…I don't know." She said honestly.
"Yeah…I figured." Jim shook his head disappointed as the whole room grew silent. Cindy hadn't talked in a while, Brandon was stunned and Brenda felt overpowered.
Brenda shook her head as she turned to leave, "And where do you think you're going?" Jim yelled.
Brenda stopped as she stared at the wall, she turned slowly looking at her father, "You can't control my life anymore. Maybe not going to London is a mistake but it's my mistake. If I want to stay here because of Dylan than it's my decision to make, I am almost 20 years old; I am not a kid anymore." Brenda turned quickly.
"Brenda." Cindy stopped her. "Where are you going?" Cindy said almost exhausted.
Brenda took a deep breath but didn't turn around, "I am going to stay at Dylan's." Brenda was exhausted too.
"Over my dead body." Jim didn't know when to give up.
Brenda smirked as she turned around and crossed her arms, "And where are you going to put me? You gave my room away. I love how I wasn't even talked to about Valerie living here or no one seemed to think I deserved a space here in this house for holidays and sorts. Ship her off, you won't have to listen to her anymore or worry about her anymore. But the laugh is on you because having Valerie here is a hell of a lot worse. She is a much bigger package with a much brighter bow." Brenda left the kitchen walking up the stairs to her old room. There were a few things she wanted and she had hoped they were in her closet somewhere because there was no way she was going back down there to ask.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Jim said angrily looking back and forth from Cindy to Brandon.
Cindy looked down, not knowing the answer, "You are going to let her go." Brandon said calmly making eye contact with his father and leaving the kitchen as well. He hopped up to his bedroom. There was a few things he wanted to grab as well, he hadn't planned to go and spend the night at Kelly's but that was what he decided. With Brenda gone, his parents fuming, there was no way he was going to stay there and deal with it.
Brenda walked into her room and sadly looked around. It looked the same but it was so different as well. Her pictures were taken down, her dresser had been cleared, the bed spread was different and even the smell was different. She swallowed hard as the tears filled her eyes. This was definitely a big part of her anger toward her parents. She wasn't surprised they had reacted the way they did with the news. Brenda knew they would…with everything they had gone through recently with Dylan, she knew he would have to earn their trust. It was the replacement, it was Valerie, it was the fact that her parents almost were more relieved she would be living in London. She didn't understand it and it hurt her. Brenda shook her head, wiping her eyes, all she wanted to do was go back to Dylan's, take a hot bath and get the hell out of that house. She opened her closet and looked around. Nothing was familiar in it. She looked up and saw a couple boxes sitting on the top shelf. She reached up and lowered the box seeing that it was her stuff. She gently set it on the bed and looked inside. This was the box she wanted; it had pictures, letters, and Mr. Pony. She had gotten rid of most of the "Dylan" stuff after they had broken up but she kept a small box of things that no matter how mad or hurt she was at him, she would cherish forever. Including her St. Genesius metal, the half heart Dylan had gotten her for Christmas, a couple pictures from her Baja trip, some pictures of the gang, some letters that Dylan had written her after they had broken up in college and some other random keepsakes. It also had Mr. Pony, which she had not taken with her over the summer expecting to come home and was actually surprised her mother didn't ship it with the other stuff she had shipped making room for Valerie. Brenda stared down at the pictures, she needed Dylan and he wasn't accessible. Brenda's head turned suddenly hearing a knock on the frame of the door. Brenda took a deep breath and stared at her. Her facial expression still, her eyes bitter.
It was Valerie.
Sorry to leave it there but it was getting way long and the Brenda/ Valerie could take a little while lol I am sure you are all thinking how torn you are. I got mixed and very confused reviews and that's good because that was my point. I am sure some of you are thinking you agree with Jim, Brandon and well Cindy has just been quiet and then the B/D lover in you wants everything to be good and for Brenda to tell her father where to go once and for all. I know, I feel the same way. I guess you are going to have to stick with me and continue reading. In the next chapter you will read about the Brenda and Valerie confrontation and Dylan in rehab and some BD interaction. There may be more it just depends on how those subjects go. Okay I hope you enjoyed it and please REVIEW! Tell me what you are thinking.
