Mercurial (Brendon Urie)

5

"A-Anniversary?" I stutter, completely shocked by her declaration. Brendon doesn't even bother looking up from what he's doing to acknowle the girl standing in front of us, who is now looking at me. "Hi there!" she says with a smile as wide as a river. "I'm Brendon's girlfriend Emily."

I feel my stomach churn with guilt and remorse, but I wouldn't dare call Brendon out right in front of this girl. "I'm Aspyn," I tell her with a forced smile. I reach my hand out to meet hers and shake more intensely than I intended.

Brendon finally clicks off his phone and looks up at Emily. "Hey baby, happy anniversary," he says, not even putting the effort into smiling at her. Instead he stands up and pulls her in for a quick kiss, then sits back down on the couch. All of the guys are stirring uncomfortably in their chairs.

"I got you something," Emily tells him, bouncing lightly On the balls of her feet. She pulls a small box out from behind her back and presents in to Brendon. He takes it out of her hands and pulls off the lid like a kid of Christmas morning, and his face lights up. I step over to him and look inside the box, where I see four nearly arranged guitar picks, each with a different scribbly signature on it. I don't even know who signed the picks, but knowing that this girl put that much effort into Brendon when he's been off cheating on her makes me sick. "Brendon," I interrupt before I say something I'll regret, "can I speak to you for a moment? Privately?"

Brendon smirks at me and stands up. As we walk towards the door of the bus, I see Emily's concerned face. "It's just band stuff, it'll only be a moment," I tell her to try and ease her nerves.

The second my foot hits the pavement, I start speed walking to a bench across the parking lot away from the bus so that I know no one is listening to me and Brendon. When my feet are planted again, I turn to look at Brendon's face, which is so smug I want to personally rip it off. "What the literal fuck is wrong with you? You've been dating this girl the whole time I've known you and you didn't think to mention it once?" He shrugs and looks away.

"It didn't really come up..."

"'It didn't really come up' is that honestly your excuse? It should have come up when I agreed to have sex with you while I was on vacation in Italy."

Brendon continues to avoid looking at my eyes which is pissing me off more and more. "Brendon," I say very sternly. "You're going to go in there right now and tell her exactly what you did, or I will." He scoffs and takes a step towards me. "No you won't. You really think you have the guts to walk in there and tell her that you slept with her boyfriend who she loves with all her heart and soul?"

I get a bit quiet.

"That's what I thought," he concludes and starts walking back to the bus.

"Yes!" I yell back to him before too much time has passed. "I will tell her. I'll do it right now." He stops where he's walking and laughs. "Fine then, go ahead!" He shouts back.

I pull my shoulders back and stand up straight, then walk back to the bus with as much faux confidence as I can muster. I can hear Brendon's footsteps right behind me the whole time.

"Emily," I say when she's in my line of view. She smiles at me as Brendon walks in and sits back down on the couch, who also puts his eyes on me, along with Dallon, Spencer and Zack. Brendon looks like he's fully confident that I won't be able to go through with this, which is exactly where he's wrong. I look Emily straight in the eyes and tell her how it is.

"Brendon cheated on you. With me. And probably a lot of other girls. I'm sorry, I didn't know he had a girlfriend until you walked in here today and if I were you, I'd dump his ass before he has a chance to apologise."

I spit it out without really thinking about what I'm saying, but it feels good to say. That is until I see the look on both Emily and Brendon's faces. Brendon looks sheet white and humiliated, and Emily looks like I just broke her spirit. Her eyes start watering and she rushes off the bus crying like a little girl. When she's out of ear shot, everything is completely silent.

When the quiet is broken, it's done by Brendon who no longer looks embarrassed but now looks angry.

"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT!?"

"You literally told me I could!"

"I WASN'T SERIOUS, I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D REALLY DO IT!"

"Well I'm not sorry."

With that, he storms off into his tiny bedroom and slams the door. I should feel bad, but I don't. The emotion I'm feeling us completely and utter bliss: it's the feeling you get when you're winning.