Pretty In Ink - Brendon Urie

6:00 pm

I found myself running.

I didn't know where, and I didn't quite know why. All I knew was my legs were moving rapidly under me as I rushed to nowhere in particular.

I guess this is the "fight or flight" reaction to a particular problem- or when a person is in a stressful situation, and as the adrenaline starts to flow through their body they have the sudden motivation to either fight or flight.

Eventually, I found myself at an exit door at the end of the hallways that I had somehow managed to wind myself through. I sat down on the cold concrete step on the outside of the building, with my body still shaking from the over-accumulation of adrenaline that pumped through my bloodstream. My phone sat on the ground as I scrolled through the previous messages and conversation with my mom and Nichole.

Many questions were racing through my mind at this time, when did Brendon develop feelings for me?, Should I let me and him become a thing?

Why does he like me?...

Their was a knock on the door behind me, and a slight sigh that followed when I refused to acknowledge the tapping. The door slightly opened, which caused a strip of light from the inside of the building to light up the stone that surfaced the alley.

"Alaina?" Brendon said quietly. "Can you scoot over?" I sighed as I re-positioned myself next to the door instead of directly in front of it. Brendon took my place as he sat in front of the door and cleared his throat. "Look, I'm sorry that I had cleared any uncertainty in our relationship in this way, but I figured it would be easier." He said nervously. I rolled my eyes and gave a small scoff to follow, just to make it more evident that I was annoyed with him. "Look, I know it was stupid," he said as he took one of my hands in both of his, "but I really do want something to happen here." I looked down at his hands, whose knuckles were bruised from the night prior to this one.

"Me too," I admitted, even though throughout this whole experience I had been denying most of the feelings that I had felt for him. "But I can't." I managed to say. His eyes fell slightly, and the corners of his smile began to fade, but he still sat with my hand wrapped in his.

"Why not?" He asked after a few seconds of sitting in this position.

"Brendon, isn't it obvious?" I stated as I removed my hand from his. "I still have to finish college, and you still have to finish your tour."

"You can come on tour with us!" He exclaimed, desperate for a way to make this work. I looked down at the cracked concrete that lied beneath my feet as I tried to keep my eyes from watering.

"You still have months left in this tour, and if we're going to make this work we're going to need to spend time together. Long distance relationships never work. And besides, I can't quit college," I finally decided. "I've made it this far, and I can't do this to my parents or my future." He sighed as he turned to me and pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear.

I don't exactly know when it happened, but I do know that his lips somehow managed to find their way to mine, and all time seemed to stop. For once in my life, all I had to worry about was right then.

But then, eventually we pulled back, and the clock pressed resume, and I was faced with reality.

"Please?" he begged one last time. I felt a tear run down my cheek as I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," I said as I stood up and opened the door behind Brendon.

With mixed feelings of regret and sadness, I watched as the door closed behind me and left behind a hopeless Brendon with his head lying in his hands.

~ end of part one ~