"Put this on your... everywhere."
Brian took the ice from Lauren, placing it over his left eye. They were back at Darren's, Brian curled up on his bed. His entire body was aching as Lauren and Darren tended to him.
"I should, I should move to the couch."
"L-lay down," Darren shoved Brian back down by his chest, a little harder than he'd meant to. "Sorrrrrry, I'm still a weeeeee-bit drunk." He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his head. "Y-you're sleeping here. Period."
Brian rolled his eyes. "I'm not t-taking taking you out of a—" he rolled over to his side, coughing. His throat was still incredibly sore. "I'm not taking you out of your bed." While his voice was slowly coming back, it was still sounding raspy as a result of Sam choking him.
Lauren took another ice pack and rested it against the right side of Brian's neck. "Darren's right. You need to just rest. So does Joe, where the hell is he?"
"He'sss claiming that he's not huuuurt, b-but I know that 'e is." Darren slurred. "I'm-I'ma set 'im up in m-my brothersss room."
"I'm going to go look for him." Brian whispered, sitting up.
"No, let me go look," Lauren insisted, gently placing a hand on Brian's shoulder. "He's probably with Joey."
"I'll go!" Darren yelled excitedly, turning and immediately tripping.
Lauren sighed miserably. "You need to go lay down on the couch."
"No, Lauren!"
While Lauren started trying to get a drunk Darren to comply with her, Brian sat up, groaning a little. He brought both ice packs with him, resting one on his cheek and another on his rib cage. He hobbled around them, ignoring Lauren's pleads to get back into bed. Trying his best to correct his limp, he made his way down the hall, finding Joey and Joe in the bathroom.
Joe was shirtless, slight bruises and scratches all along his back. Brian raised an eyebrow; had those been there today when they'd done the show?
"Did Darren pass out yet?" Joey asked.
"Almost," Brian told them, stepping into the room. "Lauren's trying to get him to go sleep on the couch."
"Why the couch?" Joe asked.
"He wants me to sleep in his bed."
"You should," Joe told Brian, walking over to him. He gently ran a hand through his hair, causing Brian's heart to start beating rapidly. "His brother Chuck is away for college right now. You can sleep in his room."
"I-I think Darren said that he wanted you to sleep in his brothers room." Why was he touching his face like that? As if fact that he was shirtless wasn't enough.
Joe rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. You should be laying down." Before Brian knew what was happening, Joe scooped him up bridal style again, walking them out of the bathroom.
"Whoa, what are you—why?" Brian caught Joey's eye over Joe's shoulder. He had buried his hands into his mouth, trying with everything he had not to break out into hysterical laughter.
Joe shrugged as he made his way over to Chuck's bedroom. "Why not?" He kicked the door open, walking over and settling Brian down gently on the bed.
Joey poked his head in, watching eagerly as Joe sat down next to Brian and reached out to hold his ice for him. He smirked to himself, turning on the lights. They glanced in Joey's direction when the lights came on, gesturing for him to come sit with them. He shook his head. "Nah. I think you guys have some stuff to talk over." He winked at them, before pulling the door to close it.
He turned to find Lauren standing behind him, grinning. "Are they in there?" She whispered.
Joey nodded, biting his bottom lip. "Would it be wrong if we kept the door cracked?"
Lauren pursed her lips. "I mean... Probably. We should give them privacy." They both stared at each other for a moment, before jumping so that they could peer into the room through the crack.
Joe was still sitting down next to Brian on Chuck's bed. "Would it be stupid of me to ask you how you're feeling right now?"
Brian snickered, adjusting himself under the blankets. "I mean, I could say the same thing to you." He propped himself up on his elbows. "You're the one that just... you know... ended their relationship."
"Damn, he really already went there." Joey whispered into Lauren's ear. The sensation of his breath against her skin made her hairs stand on end.
"Shhh! I'm trying to listen!" Lauren whispered, rubbing the back of her neck to settle herself down.
Joe groaned, a frustrated smile spreading across his face. "I um, I get now why you didn't want to tell me who beat you up."
Brian smirked at him, cocking his head to the side. "Oh do you?"
"Yeah..." Joe ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I um, I don't even know where to begin with apologizing."
Brian shook his head I'm confusion. "Whoa, why would you apologize?" He pushed himself all the way up so that he was level with Joe. He winced slightly from the pain in his back. "It's not your fault."
Joe shrugged. "I... I don't know. Maybe if I had just... stayed away from you like she told me to... she wouldn't have felt the need to try to get to you."
Brian reached out nervously, resting his hand over Joe's. "I, err, I trust that you would know that I'm obviously happy that you didn't stop talking to me when she told you to."
Joe glanced down at their touching hands, before looking up to meet Brian's eyes. He blushed. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Brian responded lamely, starting to feel incredibly nervous. "So, just, please don't blame yourself. I don't blame you for anything. Again, it's not your fault." Tears started to swell up I'm Joe's eyes, making Brian's heart drop. What had he said wrong? "I—I, shit I'm sorry—I didn't mean to—"
"No, no," Joe cut across, shaking his head. "It's nothing you said. I just, I—fuck." He reached up, wiping his eyes. "I-I just don't want you to hate me. I've been so stressed out ever since last week, and now I find out that I'm the reason you've been getting beat up—"
Brian reached out, pulling Joe into a hug. Joe immediately broke down, knowing that Brian's arms were a safe space for him. As he cried into his shoulder, Brian laid back, bringing Joe with him. "I don't hate you. I... I could never hate you." He nervously reached up, running his hands through his hair. Part of him felt like this was the ultimate set up for him to finally confess his love, but a bigger, louder part of him was insisting that this wasn't the right time. He'd quite literally just broken up with Zoey about forty-five minutes ago; he probably shouldn't be trying to make romantic advances on him. "You know how much I care for you," he moved his hand down to Joe's back, stroking up and down to comfort him. "And how much I love . . . being around you."
After a few minutes, Joe finally looked up at him, his eyes still watering. "I, um, I... I wanted to talk to you at the party."
Brian felt his heart drop. He was doing this now? After everything that had happened, Joe couldn't wait a few more hours before moving forward with rejecting him? "Yeah? I, err, I saw you walking over? I think."
Joe let out a small laugh. Brian really was too cute. "Yeah, too bad Darren had to go and interrupt."
"Oh yeah, it's Darren's fault that you had to strip for a whole party of admirers." Brian teased, finally allowing his eyes to drift over Joe's shirtless body.
"It was!" Joe propped himself up on his elbow, so that they were lying side by side. "But yeah. Anyway. Uhh... let me start off by apologizing for last week. That was super dickish."
Brian shook his head, feeling himself instinctually lean closer to Joe. "You didn't do anything wrong."
Joe let out a soft laugh. "You're so forgiving. I don't know why you tolerate my bullshit, but I'm thankful that you do." He let out a sigh, staring into Brian's eyes. Their faces were millimeters apart.
He allowed his gaze to drift down to his lips. They were so close that Joe could feel Brian's breath against his. Were they doing this? He was still crying, he was still hurting, he was still heartbroken over what had happened at the party, and yet he found himself leaning in even closer. Maybe it wasn't the right time for this to happen, but he fucking wanted it to happen. "Well apology aside, I hate that we got interrupted last w—"
"I JUST CAN'T LOOK, IT'S KILLING ME, AND TAKING CONTROL—"
"FUCK!" Joey yelled loudly, Lauren jumping and slamming her hand over his mouth. To their luck, Brian and Joe hadn't noticed, both of them pulling back, eyes still locked on each other.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Joe groaned. Did he get it? He couldn't pretend that part of him wasn't wondering if it was Zoey. That being said, nothing on earth was going make him leave Brian right now. He looked down at the younger boy, who had slid down to his back so that he was laying flat. Joe leaned down and kissed his forehead before he could talk himself out of it. "Hold on." He jumped up, turning around so that he didn't see Brian's reaction. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, which was still ringing.
"Zoey?" Brian asked, covering his eyes with his hands.
"Y-yes, but don't worry, this'll just take a second. First, let's decline." He quickly pushed the button before his anxiety could get the best of him. Unable to believe that he'd really done it, he then opened his phone, texting both of his parents letting them know that he was spending the night at Darren's and wishing them good night. "My parents know where I am, so I have no worries about not checking this." He turned his phone on silent, before deciding ultimately to just shut it off. He placed it on the windowsill, before crawling back into bed with Brian.
"No fucking way," Lauren said audibly, Joey taking his turn to slam his hand over her mouth.
"Sorry about that, it won't happen again." Joe told Brian, who was peaking at Joe through his fingers. "Anyway, um—like I said, about last week—"
"Listen I, I really want to finish that conversation." Brian told him, sitting back up. "You know that I do. Or at least, you should. But... you just left Zoey." He bit his lip, really not wanting to say any of this, but knowing that it was the right thing to do. "I, I think we should wait, because you... you may just be confused right now."
Joe let out a small laugh, reaching out and cupping Brian's cheek. "I'm not confused. Trust me. I... I know what I want."
Brian had frozen up, paralyzed; he'd imagined this scenario, this conversation, this moment so many times. He'd talked this out with Joe in his head over and over again, and yet now in the moment he was mute. "Are, are you sure?" He whispered, unable to stop his eyes from glancing down at Joe's lips.
"Of course. Cross my heart. The question is, what do you want?"
Brian's voice got caught in his throat. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes; this was too much. He wanted this—he wanted it more than anything else—but getting it right now was wrong, and he knew it.
"Are you okay? You're trembling." Joe whispered, pulling his hand back. "Shit, am I—you don't, fuck." Joe rolled back, running his hands through his hair. Had he just seriously fucked up?
Brian reached out, pulling Joe back over. "It's not you. Please, I promise it's not. I just... I can't do this right now." He gripped Joe's arm desperately, trying to find the right words. "We shouldn't do this right now."
Joe forced a nod, disappointment settling into his chest. Yup. He'd fucked that up. "O-Okay. Of course. What.... Whatever you want. I'm, I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything." He looked around the room awkwardly, anywhere but at Brian. This was too much; he could feel the tears beginning to swell up. "Do you, do you want me to leave?"
"No, not at all!" Brian insisted, a little too intensely. He was probably revealing too much, but he didn't care. He gave Joe's arm a reassuring squeeze. "I... I want you here. With me. If you want to be here, of course. I—please don't leave. If you want to stay."
Joe let out a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face. He curled up closer to him, allowing Brian to rest this head on his chest. "I'll stay as long as you want me to."
Brian smiled against Joe's chest, breathing in his scent. "Thank you." He nervously placed a hand on Joe's stomach, over his abs. Was this happening? He needed to memorize this moment forever. "I'm, I'm just so tired Joe."
"Me too," Joe admitted, stroking his arm gently. "Do you think we... should just sleep this off?"
Brian nodded. "I think so." He was exhausted, and the warmth of Joe's body wasn't helping him feel any less sleepy. "We can talk about all of this tomorrow... if you still want to."
Joe reached down, intwining his hand with Brian's. "I'd like that." A moment of silence passed between them, as they both cuddled and allowed their bodies to relax. "Do you, do you want me to stay with you while you sleep?"
"Do you want to?" Brian asked, his cheeks flushing even though his body had already begun to succumb to exhaustion.
Joe squeezed his hand. "One hundred percent. I feel... so safe right now."
Brian glanced up at him, the two boys blushing as their eyes met. "Good. Me too."
Joe kissed the top of his forehead again, the two of them curling up. "Hey Joey, can you get the lights instead of continuing to whisper at the door with Lopez?"
Joey and Lauren's hearts dropped as they turned and looked at each other in horror. Evidently, they had in fact been too loud. Joey reached into the room, flicking off the light switch. "G'night lovebirds!" He yelled, before slamming the door shut.
I know what you're thinking and yes, the next chapter is all about Richpez👀👀