#brady ashoona

[charlotte-haig]

Charlotte and Brady ; that evil worm.

Charlotte sleepily rolled over in the bed, brushing against a warm body and thinking nothing of it. Years spent sharing a bed, meant she was no stranger to spooning or cuddling. She didn’t even register or contemplate opening her eyes. Her brain wasn’t quite caught up to her body yet. There was a dull thud in her head, and she knew the second she did, she would have a hangover. Sleep was definitely the better option.

Nate’s party had been interesting, to say the least. Teenagers and drinking nearly always led to trouble – but somehow Charlotte had found herself spending most of her time, with Brady. The two of them had bonded over the lack of fun they were having and managed to make some of their own. She’d coached him on the joys of grade 9 girls – and even saved him at one point by pretending to be interested. Then there was his little crush on Aubrey, which Charlotte found adorable. She’d even convinced him to try out for the play. He’d been someone to talk to about Julian, and Rory... and the mess she’d made of their friendship. Towards the end, it had gotten rather messy – but that’s what she should have expected after making him eat the god awful worm in the tequila bottle. She vaguely recalled half carrying the soccer player out to the safe ride car and assuring him that she wouldn’t drop him at his house. Her parents were in New York still visiting Mason and the new baby, so it was safer to go to hers. There would be no lectures. Just a safe place to crash.

Brady Ashoona was definitely entertaining when he was wasted. He’d kept her in stitches, doing impersonations and what not, and rambling drunkenly of everything and anything. He’d passed out in her bed, and she’d been unable to move him; so instead she’d simply taken off his shoes, and tucked him in. Her own alcohol had kicked in by this point, and she passed out beside him, watching old reruns of The Big Bang Theory.

Brady. Her eyes flickered painfully open, and she realized who in fact she was spooning. Gently she tried to move her arm out from underneath him. Too late, he was waking up. Charlotte made a face, and decided to avoid the awkward, closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep again, against his shoulder. Oops.

[bek-stories-blog]

Hanging with Brady.

“Stupid girls.” Brady grumbled under his breath as he pulled his shirt over his head and slipped on some jeans. Bek had been ranting and raving for a few days about wanting to find Brady a date to the valentine’s dance Degrassi was having in two weeks. He, of course, argued that he didn’t need one and that he was fine without one. He didn’t even want to go to the dance anyways. All a dance is, is a place for kids to awkwardly dance to overused songs, try to make small talk, and the occasional couple devouring each others faces somewhere in the school whilst trying not to get caught. Not exactly the place Brady felt most comfortable. Yet, Bek continued to push and push. Even going as far as mentioning love. Love, or gods sake. He knew she was going through things with Will, whatever he was to her, but there was no need to force Brady into going to a dance with somebody he didn’t even know, or even attempt to for that matter. 

Shoving his feet into his ratty old converse, Brady grabbed his phone and house keys, heading towards the front door with a jacket in his hand. He had already tapped a note to the fridge saying he was at Bek’s, even though his dad has long since remembered that if Brady wasn’t home, he was either at the Martin’s or blowing off steam at the park a few blocks away. Slipping out into the slightly cool evening air, he slammed the door shut, not even caring if anyone were to complain about the echoing of the noise throughout. He stepped away from his house, walking down the sidewalk and reaching the Martin house in a few minutes, seeing as it was only a block or so away from his house. Sticking his hands in his pockets he jogged up the steps and knocked twice, waiting for someone to answer, and hoping Bek would be quiet on the subject of the dance. 

Things with Will were weird. They had feelings for each other but they couldn’t exactly be together thanks to meddling twin brothers pretty much making it an ultimatum. She knew what she would have done if she were in his shoes. If Fisher or Caleb (who weren’t even her twin) told her to choose between them and some guy in her life, she’d have chosen them because they were family. It didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about him when she was awake and she dreamt about him when she wasn’t awake.  It was a never ending process and she missed him. She missed him so much. She kept looking at her phone hoping he’d break but there wasn’t much of anything except for the occasion flippant remark from one of her other friends. She was definitely looking for a distraction from her depressing love life and the fact Nate had made it clear he’d never accept her in Will’s life. The obvious solution had been Brady. Maybe her luck would be better in setting him up with some random girl. It was about time he hung around a girl who was not here anyways. His rather violent rejection to any idea that she might set him up made her cave though. She didn’t want him getting mad at her. The last thing she needed was her best friend mad at her too right now.

She helped her mom finish the pork roast, careful to help chop it up for sandwiches. She was about to help her set the table for the rest of the family when she heard the door knock and excused herself. Everyone knew Brady was coming over so she wasn’t expected to hold fast to family dinner or anything. She was allowed to break away and do her own thing. She intended to eat bbq pork sandwiches and a ridiculous amount of chip in front of the couch. This was what her Saturday night was this time. She couldn’t help but think about what she was doing around this time the previous week. Her cheeks flushed slightly at the memory of loving embraces, passionate kisses — words murmured in the heat of the moment. Dammit Will.  Dammit.  She pushed it out her head and answered the door. “I take it you’re not made enough to blow me off after all,” she teased gesturing for him to make entry. “Hope bbq pork sandwiches works for you. We got all sorts of chips too.”

Brady walked in past Bek, jokingly rolling his eyes, a smile on his face. “I could never be mad at you, annoyed? Slightly.” He joked, poking her shoulder before continuing, gesturing with his hands. “Me actually being made at you long than a millisecond would be the equivalent of the oceans drying up.” He explained, using a not-so-cheesy example, compared to saying when hell freezes over. “Or, every human being suddenly growing a rainbow afro, dolphin fins and starting to speak gibberish.” Sure, he and Bek have had and would have their minor disagreements, but who doesn’t? If they did ever get mad at each other, it wore off after a minute and they would go back to acting like they had their whole lives without even blinking an eye. 

“Of course bbq pork sandwiches work for me.” He said, the ‘duh’ tone evident in his voice. “I’ll eat anything. As long as it’s not moving, green, or both at the exact same time. I’d rather starve than eat something like that.” Brady had an endless pit for a stomach, like a majority of the male population of the world, something that he used to his full advantage whenever he got the chance. “And might I add, it smells amazing in here. I’m guessing your mom cooked? No offence to your dad, but his cooking never smells this good. Ever.” He asked, rasing his voice a little bit while leaning back towards the kitchen, knowing he might get a reaction out of Mr. or Mrs. Martin for his comment. 

In truth that was sort of how it worked. That’s how she was with most people really. There were very few exceptions to that rule. She got mad, she got over it. She went back to being her bubbly self. People had to really bother her to get put on her crap list. She could only really think of maybe three people who’d managed to get on that list and not get off of it. She didn’t really tend to give any of them much thought unless she had to anymore. Brady was her best friend though without exception. They had their disagreements from time to time but they usually just went right back to the way they had been before. There would never be anything bad enough to break their friendship apart. He was one of those people that she could depend on. It didn’t matter what was going on. If she in serious need of someone to be there for her, one text or phone call and he would be there. He’d been there for every major life event she’d gone through. When Fisher had first started seeing girls, they joked about how disgusting it was together. When she’d started her period, he’d let borrow his jacket.  It wasn’t always big things but he was always there. He always would and she’d always be the same. 

“I think you’re talking about when the aliens come and implant our brains,” she remarked stealing a hug from him. “I’m glad you’re over it already though.” She lead the way to grab plates and steal a couple bags of chips. “Mom made it but I helped thank you very much. What sort of drink would you like? And chips? We have doritos, cheese puffs, pringles in pretty much any flavor imaginable, pretzels, salt n vinegar and sour cream.” She felt like she was reading out a laundry list. Hey, she wanted to make sure she had her bases covered. “It’s not even green and moving. That had to count for something right?” Bek wouldn’t know what it meant to cook something bad if it killed her though. She was an exceptional cook just like her mom and it was something she tended to do more of when she was upset or extremely stressed out about something. She’d been holding back the past few days because it was such a give away but she’d felt good helping out in the kitchen today even if it wasn’t cupcakes or cookies. Man, she wanted to make some confetti cake later. She was pretty sure there was still a little bit of the bacon flavored icing somewhere. Where had she put it when she’d been cleaning up the epic mess she and Will had made weeks ago?

Brady pretended to think it over for a moment before quickly answering, “Coca-Cola and Doritos?” As he titled his head, following her into the kitchen, saying Hi to her family along the way, even giving Caleb a quick ‘bro hug.’ “I have really weird food combination preferences, don’t I?” He asked as he grabbed the bag of Doritos from beside Bek. He would pretty much pair any food with any other side, as long as it smell good together. It all ended up in the same place eventually anyways. “So are we couching film noir, or whatever random movie you like best and will most likely put on, despite any objections I might have against it?” He wouldn’t object to really anything, as long as it wasn’t a sappy chick flick that normally made girls cry for hours without any major reason. “If we do watch whatever you want, which we probably will, keep in mind I like fire, explosions and anything gory.” 

Bek rolled her eyes and made him a glass in his cup as he greeted her family. Yes, Brady had a particular cup at her house. It even had his name on it and everything! She poured his soda before getting herself a ginger ale. She’d been feeling slightly under the weather anyways so she supposed it couldn’t hurt. She didn’t really say much about the choice though. She just rolled with it, grabbing salt and vinegar for herself. It would stink up the place but she didn’t care. She was going to do whatever she wanted. With the chips, her plate and her drink in her hand she made her way back into the living room. “I’m used to how weird you are,” she told him as she sat her bag down and her cup, along with her plate so she could actually bother to set up the player. She thought it was for the best that she did not mention the history of this couch to Brady. She hadn’t gotten into any specifics with him and if he knew she had a feeling, he probably would have freaked out. “That sounds like you’re demanding an action flick,” she told him before completely disregarding his desire for explosions and gore. She wasn’t in the mood for blood and guts. She went with “Dead Reckoning”. How could Bogart ever be a bad choice? “It’s called Dead Reckoning so we’ll see — doubt it’ll be all explosions and gore though,” she told him knowing nothing from that period would be that gory. She started it playing before going back to her food and taking a bite of her sandwich.

“I am demanding an action flick.” He joked as Bek joined him in the living room. “As long as it’s not Marley & Me, I think I’ll be perfectly okay with Dead Reckoning.” He’d seen Marley & Me only once, when he was a kid after his parents divorced. His mom had went through an entire weekend straight of sobbing while watching chick flicks and eating everything in sight, though if you brought it up today, she’d deny it and walk away mid-conversation. Grabbing the bag of chips, he set his plate down and ripped the bag open, tucking his feet underneath him. “By the way, my dad says Hi and he says that next time you come over he’s hugging you to death.” He said, sticking his tongue out at her. Like Brady was like a son to Mr. and Mrs. Martin, Bek was like a daughter to Brady’s dad and, sort of, his mom. “Last time I mentioned you to him, he was saying how much he missed his favorite kid. Even my dad loves you more than me.”

“When someone you love takes a chainsaw to your heart because their twin made them then you can pick the movie,” Bek told him rolling her eyes. That was pretty much never going to happen either. She might have been smart when it came to school but there were times when Brady had more common sense than her. She was pretty sure he’d have gotten it right the first time. It was part of the reason she thought he was so damn choosy. He was just saving himself for the right girl and she couldn’t exactly blame him for that. It was why she was going to cut him a little slack. She was just protective of him and she wanted the best for him. It was what happened after being around someone forever. He was like family. She munched on a couple chips, savoring the flavor before she watched the a few second of movie. “I think I’ll be looking forward to that much. He’s a pretty cool dad and it’s no wonder why I’d be his favorite kid. There is just so much to love about me.” She laughed and sticked out her tongue. “I mean, I’m pretty, nice and I smell good. I thought you said you were going to take a shower before you came over here, Brady?” He smelled fine but she couldn’t help but jack with him just a little.  It was just there friendship. She moved her hands to gesture to her face with a small smile. “When you have an innocent face like mine maybe he’ll love you a little more.”

“I did take a shower, you buttmunch.” He said, jokingly glaring at her. Brady laughed as Bek said she was innocent, trying not to laugh too hard. “Innocent? Yeah right. You are the devil in so many ways.” He commented, shaking his head. “For example; An innocent girl wouldn’t whore her best friend out on Tumblr, or force him to get a date to the dance.” He choose not to bring up other things he knew about, knowing that it would either piss her off and end in a hug fight, or would end up hurting the both of them in the end. He didn’t want to loose his best friend over a stupid thing. “Or comment on his smell, thank you very much.” He added before turning back to the TV, starting to devour his dinner.

The buttmunch comment caused her to punch his shoulder. Not hard enough to actually leave a bruise but enough to get across the message that she didn’t appreciate it a whole lot. An incredulous expression spread across her face as he said she wasn’t innocent. Of course, she knew she wasn’t. She’d done more than enough things that would made Reverend Fitzgerald’s head spin lately. She imagined he wouldn’t have approved of her flagrant intimacy with someone she was not married to or even in an official relationship with. She’d been and still was committed to Will though. “First off, I am a saint,” she said making a face at the fact he found all of this so amusing. “I wouldn’t eat anything you drop on this couch though. Secondly, it’s not my fault you’re stubborn and picky. I’m going even if … well, I’m just going. I’ve already bought the dress with mom and I’m going to get my hair done and put on makeup and be beautiful and you’re going to be a total loser playing video games with Keegan. It’s called school spirit. You could find some, Soccer Boy.”  She ate a few more bites of her sandwich, munching quietly as she watched the screen. “You smell like a boy. I’ll comment on that all I want. You’re just going to have to get over it.”

Brady made a face and set his food down on the table at her couch comment, knowing exactly what she meant, pretending to be trying not to gag. “If playing video games with Keegan instead of going to a school dance makes me a looser, then I would gladly accept the title of Looser of the World.” He commented back, turning his whole body on the couch to face her. “Soccer boy? Wow. Quite an insult. I’m hurting, really. There is a hole forming in my heart as we speak.” He mocked, laughing at the fact that out of all the insult in the world she could call him, she choose the one that would make him laugh rather than hurt him. “Well of course I smell like a boy. I am a boy. Unless there is something horribly wrong in the world and my body parts are there for no reason whatsoever. Comment all you want. Deep down, I know you love me very, very much, Bek.”

The fake gagging made her roll her eyes even more. She pulled her legs up under her sitting her half-eaten sandwich down. She wasn’t craving it so much anymore. “Okay, Loser of the world, have fun on your date with Keegan,” Bek told him with a shrug. She wasn’t going to argue it all that much. She found her attention waning. Her phone in her pocket was vibrating and she couldn’t help but pull it out to look at it. Of course, it wasn’t Will. The momentary hope that always seemed to flood her features was clear though and in a minute she was right back to crestfallen. How long were they going to let this go on before one or both of them completely lost it? She sat it down on the table after a moment’s thought, turning her focus back on her best friend who was there and the movie. “I’m aware your a boy. I’ve seen you awkward baby pictures way too many times. Gross. I don’t think that last part was under question. You might be an annoying pest sometimes but you’re pretty much family. Of course, I love you, dummy. When are you going to start beating up boys for me? You’re on the soccer team. You could totally give Nate a dose of his own bully medicine.”

“It’s not a date. It’s simply two guys hanging out, playing video games, and eating everything in my house instead of going to a school dance. I’m at school enough, against my will, as it is. I’d rather not be there after school hours when it’s not mandatory for me to.” He added, crossing his legs as he watched Bek check her phone then suddenly look like someone had just killed her kitten, but chose not to comment on it. “Let’s not talk about awkward baby photos, shall we?” He’d rather not get into discussing all of the embarrassing photos they had seen of each other sometime or another. “Beating up boys? Seriously. Nate Coyne? Yeahh… no thanks! I actually want to live to graduate high school. Have you seen his best friend? I’d be a goner in under five minutes. Besides, violence is never the answer. Except when there are those very rare, special moments when violence is your only choice. And I hate to break it to you, but this is not one of them.”

“Yeah, that’s perfectly normal. Too teenage boys who’d rather spend their night alone together playing video games than going to a school dance and having a chance to socialize with the other gender,” she teased. “What’s next? Is Keegan going to talk you into becoming his bride in the LARP? I don’t think I could resist that photo opportunity. I’d have to come and take a crap load of pictures. I think it might be screensaver worthy actually. How much would it cost to bribe you into doing that? It would probably really cheer me up.” Sometimes she got rambly and this was one of those moments. She didn’t mind though as she sighed and took another few bites from her bag of chips. She didn’t really need it but she sure as hell wanted it. “And I was a cute baby. It’s the awkward photos that I have issues with.” She did not need the school seeing her going through her awkward, pre-development phase. God, those were horrific years.

“You’re officially uninvited to my wedding,” Bek announced though she knew he’d be there. Hell, he was one of the few people she actually wanted to invite from the school these days. She just wished there was some way to deal with the twin problem and have it be done with. She wanted Nate to just back off. It didn’t help that every time she logged on other people were bringing her up to him. She wasn’t going anywhere near him. She had no reason to. The only time she’d thought about it was in defense of Will and even then she’d decided it would make things worse than better. He was something that Will was going to have to deal with. All she could do was trust that eventually he’d work up the nerve to do it. He had to because if he felt anything like she at the moment, they weren’t going to be able to make it too many more days like this. She couldn’t just not hang out with him and if she hung out with him, she doubted she’d be able to control herself. That was definitely not something she wanted to go and advertise at the moment though. “You forget, Rory is Keegan’s older brother. Maybe I ought to make Keegan do it. Rory won’t jump in to beat up his own brother.” That was a thought. “Keegan doesn’t have your athleticism though. I can’t believe I’m admitting that but you know it’s true. Ugh, I don’t even want to talk about him anymore. Makes me want to hurl. Might just be that I ate too much though.”

“It is normal. And the opposite gender is too much drama.” He responded, rolling his eyes. “No offence.” He laughed at her joke about Keegan’s LARP, taking a sip from his cup. “Oh totally. We’re planning to elope right out of high school too.” He joked, glad the mood wasn’t bombing. “I’d take your camera, and give it a nice, good chuck to the nearest tree and watch it smash into a million tiny pieces. Like little technological confetti raining down in celebration. And I wouldn’t do it for a million dollars, For your information.” The movie was still playing in the background, not that they were paying attention to it. They were more absorbed in their conversation, if you could even call it a conversation. It was more like insulting each other back and worth without really caring. “Baby Bek was a cute baby, I’ll admit that. Everyone has problems with their awkward phase photos. Hell, it should be illegal to take a photo of someone going through that phase because it doesn’t turn out pretty.”

“Pfftt. You know I’ll be there. Like your ‘man of honor’ or whatever whacked title you decide bestow upon me to make me look like an even bigger goof.” He didn’t know that they would be best friends til death, seeing as people did grow apart with time, but he did hope that they would. After all, she knew more about him than anyone else alive, even his parents, and would probably be the one to drive him to the hospital after his first elderly-aged stroke or something weird like that. “Rory would still kick my ass, even if Keegan is his little brother. Keegan would die faster than me, no offence to him.” They were both scrawny compared to the football team, but at least Brady had some muscle from soccer. “So you admit I’m athletic? My life mission is complete! We can stop with this subject if you want. We can find someone else to bash behind their backs like we’re gossipy little eighth grade girls who look up to high school seniors like they’re god.”

“Yeah, that’s perfectly normal. Too teenage boys who’d rather spend their night alone together playing video games than going to a school dance and having a chance to socialize with the other gender,” she teased. “What’s next? Is Keegan going to talk you into becoming his bride in the LARP? I don’t think I could resist that photo opportunity. I’d have to come and take a crap load of pictures. I think it might be screensaver worthy actually. How much would it cost to bribe you into doing that? It would probably really cheer me up.” Sometimes she got rambly and this was one of those moments. She didn’t mind though as she sighed and took another few bites from her bag of chips. She didn’t really need it but she sure as hell wanted it. “And I was a cute baby. It’s the awkward photos that I have issues with.” She did not need the school seeing her going through her awkward, pre-development phase. God, those were horrific years.

“You’re officially uninvited to my wedding,” Bek announced though she knew he’d be there. Hell, he was one of the few people she actually wanted to invite from the school these days. She just wished there was some way to deal with the twin problem and have it be done with. She wanted Nate to just back off. It didn’t help that every time she logged on other people were bringing her up to him. She wasn’t going anywhere near him. She had no reason to. The only time she’d thought about it was in defense of Will and even then she’d decided it would make things worse than better. He was something that Will was going to have to deal with. All she could do was trust that eventually he’d work up the nerve to do it. He had to because if he felt anything like she at the moment, they weren’t going to be able to make it too many more days like this. She couldn’t just not hang out with him and if she hung out with him, she doubted she’d be able to control herself. That was definitely not something she wanted to go and advertise at the moment though. “You forget, Rory is Keegan’s older brother. Maybe I ought to make Keegan do it. Rory won’t jump in to beat up his own brother.” That was a thought. “Keegan doesn’t have your athleticism though. I can’t believe I’m admitting that but you know it’s true. Ugh, I don’t even want to talk about him anymore. Makes me want to hurl. Might just be that I ate too much though.”

“It is normal. And the opposite gender is too much drama.” He responded, rolling his eyes. “No offence.” He laughed at her joke about Keegan’s LARP, taking a sip from his cup. “Oh totally. We’re planning to elope right out of high school too.” He joked, glad the mood wasn’t bombing. “I’d take your camera, and give it a nice, good chuck to the nearest tree and watch it smash into a million tiny pieces. Like little technological confetti raining down in celebration. And I wouldn’t do it for a million dollars, For your information.” The movie was still playing in the background, not that they were paying attention to it. They were more absorbed in their conversation, if you could even call it a conversation. It was more like insulting each other back and worth without really caring. “Baby Bek was a cute baby, I’ll admit that. Everyone has problems with their awkward phase photos. Hell, it should be illegal to take a photo of someone going through that phase because it doesn’t turn out pretty.”

“Pfftt. You know I’ll be there. Like your ‘man of honor’ or whatever whacked title you decide bestow upon me to make me look like an even bigger goof.” He didn’t know that they would be best friends til death, seeing as people did grow apart with time, but he did hope that they would. After all, she knew more about him than anyone else alive, even his parents, and would probably be the one to drive him to the hospital after his first elderly-aged stroke or something weird like that. “Rory would still kick my ass, even if Keegan is his little brother. Keegan would die faster than me, no offence to him.” They were both scrawny compared to the football team, but at least Brady had some muscle from soccer. “So you admit I’m athletic? My life mission is complete! We can stop with this subject if you want. We can find someone else to bash behind their backs like we’re gossipy little eighth grade girls who look up to high school seniors like they’re god.”

“They’ve yet to make a species that isn’t dramatic I’m afraid,” she made a point to tell him. She’d spent way too many days in the girl’s bathroom hearing the way a lot of other girls talked. It was why she didn’t have that many girl friends. She supposed if she could find one who was like Brady or Keegan, she might have let them in. She’d had girl friends come and go throughout the years but most of them had ended up transferring to other schools or moving up the social food chain and forgetting all about her. Boys weren’t really that much better though especially when it came to relationships. She wasn’t a fan of the drama. She liked peace and mellowness. That was why she tried to pick mellow, chill people to have in her life. Unfortunately outside circumstances always had a way of jacking with that. She knew it would be easier when she was older though. Everything would be much, much easier. “I’m not sure what my camera did to deserve that sort of abuse. You’re being a little bit of a Diva Brady. Try having a near constant source of se-“

She saw her dad walking through the room toward the stairs and it immediately shut her up. Maybe she didn’t want to say that. She rethought that. “Let’s just say, it’s no fun when you have someone who helps reduce stress and you can’t reduce stress anymore,” she told him, talking with her hands. “If you ever shared my pictures from the awkward phase, I don’t think you’d have to worry about ever reducing your stress. I’m slaughter you.” It was pretty true. She would definitely kill him if he did. She didn’t want to go there. She had enough problems at the moment anyways considering her ex was mister popular and he never missed an opportunity to make her look like the world’s ugliest bitch when she pretty much moved through life as if he wasn’t there.  ”If you’re dead, you don’t have to worry about your title at my wedding either. I figure I’ll just throw some glitter on you and convince everyone you’re my fabulous friend Brady. They won’t question my judgment. My groom might take pity on you though and let you stand on his side. It’s kind of scary to think in two years we’re all going to be adults.” God, she didn’t really want to go thinking about that now. She was changing the subject on her own. “Keegan is never going to grow up though.”

Brady laughed as Bek stopped speaking at the sight of her dad, knowing what she was about to say. “Yes because I’m really going to dig up the awkward pictures to show them to people for shits and giggles. Have you really no trust in me, Bek?” He asked, feigning hurt by placing his hand over his heart and pouting. He knew he’d never do anything of the sorts, not even if Bek were to do anything extremely bad to him. What happens and what is said between best friends, stays between best friends. He’d never tell anyone anything Bek told him, unless it was something that could end in life or death for her. “Throw some glitter on me? I’m a guy, not a sparkling fairy. And I think Keegan would question it, Or I at least hope he would. If he wouldn’t, he is a terrible friend and deserves to get kicked down there.” He joked, letting his head fall sideways onto the couch. “Oh god don’t even bring up becoming an adult.” He groaned, not wanting to think about turning eighteen and having his life completely change. “In a way, I think none of us will ever grow up. Well, at least completely. There will always be that part of us that loves the first snow fall of winter for the sheer reason of going sledding down big hills, or the ones who will always try to catch at least one of those Saturday morning cartoons before rushing off to finish that paper or get the report turned into our boss on time. Even if we’re old and gray with mental and physical scars, there will always be a part of us from our childhood.” He commented, staring down at the cup in his hands before laughing. “Wow. That was some seriously deep shit.”

Bek opened her mouth to question his comment about Keegan before it processed that he meant as a friend he couldn’t let it go down. Her head was definitely not working right. With all the mental distractions, she’d almost thought he was suggesting Keegan was the groom and she was about to smack him because that definitely was not in her future. When she figured out what he meant, it didn’t bother her as much though. “Yeah well the third leg of our tripod won’t let me gay you up too bad,” she teased. “Though, I do think you’d look nice in pink. If I can’t try and hook you with other girls you could at least be my sassy friend. Geeze. What fun are you?” She was teasing him of course. She enjoyed Brady just the way he was. She always had and she wouldn’t change anything about the boy. She knew he knew that.  She sighed dramatically, leaning against the other side of the couch as he started to talk about how they wouldn’t ever really grow up. She knew pieces of her childhood would remain but she saw herself growing up. She wanted to go places she’d never been before. She saw herself as a mom. She saw herself happily married like her mom and dad. She had big plans for her life and maybe she wouldn’t achieve all her dreams — but she’d be damned if she didn’t try to achieve them. “When did you become so mature?” she asked quietly. “I get what you’re saying though. We all have to grow up sometime though. I mean, I get that some people can be immature and dumb forever but I guess I want more. You know? I want what my parents have. God, I guess that makes me really foolish but - you know, you can just look at them and know they’re happy. I want to be that happy. Maybe not be stuck here forever - but yeah, I want that sort of thing.” In her head, she definitely was thinking about Will but she didn’t come out and say it. She forced her mind away from her future and gave her best friend a pointed look. “What about you? Will Uncle Brady be coming to dinner in 2050?”

“And thank god I won’t get gayed up too bad, although I’m still slightly terrified of the idea.” He replied, shaking his head. “Pink is so not my color. You should know this! I’m more of a turquoise or a deep plum.” He joked in a feminine voice, trying to keep a serious face while looking at Bek, but inevitably ending up breaking his straight face and laughing. “I’m going to be your sassy friend even if i’m straight as a ruler. You’ve had that guaranteed since the second grade.” He listened to Bek talk about wanting what her parents have, and he could easily picture Bek as a mom. Picking her kids up from school, making dinner before her husband comes home, being one of those cool moms that every kid adores because she brings snacks to the games and practices. The mental picture of Bek in a mini van made him softly chuckle though. “Of course Uncle Brady will be there. I’m going to be the favorite uncle and I’m not even blood related, though I’m pretty damn close.” He joked before looking down at his cup of soda, biting his lip. “If there’s one thing in life that I would never put any kids I may have through, it’s a divorce. The screaming, the lawyers… Everything. No kid should ever have to spend time between two different houses, or two different families even. Even though the divorce is long over for me, it still has it’s effect. The look in my dads eyes every two weeks when he says bye to me before my mom gives him that god awful bitch glare of hers. The way my mom still avoids talking about or to my dad as much as possible. Like that one time she called Chuck my dad after they got  married and I lost it and went on that screaming and crying rampage for twenty minutes, before running away to my dads. How they took down every god damn picture involving my dad in that house after the wedding. It’s like she didn’t even want to remember the good times, or the fact that she loved him for so many years.” He sighed, remembering the toll the divorce took on the family all those years ago. “Okay, this is just depressing now. Make a joke or do something stupid before I start ranting about animal cruelty or slave labor or something else that can drain a room of all happiness in less than a second.”

“I think you’re more a chartreuse,” Bek teased with a wink. She valued the fact that Brady was comfortable enough to crack jokes like that and his voices never ceased to make her bust up even when she felt like she could easily jump off a ledge at any moment. She definitely didn’t need him stressing out over how down she was feeling anyways. “You mean, those years of pre-school were just fake. You didn’t start adoring me until second grade?! I’m hurt. Deeply deeply hurt, Brady Ashoona.” She smiled and listened to him talk though her smile faded as she heard him talking about divorce. She honestly didn’t want that for her kids either. She saw how bad it had been for Brady. She knew it was the worst thing imaginable. She hated knowing how badly it affected him. She reached a hand over to grab his and squeeze his as support. She loved her best friend and no matter how many boy friends she went through, she’d always be there to support him through his issues. “You’ll be a good dad and you won’t put them through that,” she told him reassuringly. “You’re so picky, you’ll only give the time of day to the one who won’t abandon you. Then I’ll spoil your kids rotten and they’ll just have to deal with it. And our kids are going to be best friends just like we were. Forever. Actually, we can go ahead and arrange the marriage contracts now. I’ll have a girl and you’ll have a boy and they’ll just have to get married. Then we can be related for real. how awesome would that be?” Leave it to Bek to think up optimistic future thoughts like that.  ”If me and Will had a kid we’d probably get cursed with a kid who is just like Nate,” she muttered under her breathe. “At least your kids will be sweet, right? That’s about as funny as I can get at the moment. Let’s not talk about world crisis or nuclear fallout, okay?”

Brady squeezed Bek’s hand in returning, meaning thank you. “Of course! That’s my master girl plan.” He joked. He honestly didn’t care for girls, seeing as he didn’t talk to them at all anyways, except for the few he would get partnered up with for projects in class who he would never speak to again once the project was done. Relationships only brought unnecessary drama into the lives of those involved, which sucks. “We’ll force them to become best friends and if they fall in love I think I’d die right there. I could imagine us throwing a part and all that crap, which would freak them out so much.” Knowing him and Bek, if they were still best friends when they started making families, their kids would grow up around each other much like they had. “I just hope, whenever I’m that age, I don’t have a girl because I could not imagine raising a girl. Boys, periods, mood swings…. Yeah, I’d rather not. I’d lock myself in the room and tune it out.” Yet another reason Brady wasn’t worried about dating; That one week when girls bitchiness was at an all time high and they went from happy to one moment, then pissy the next. “Well I’m glad the mood isn’t depressing. By the way, do you have any bacon?”

“You don’t exactly get to choose what you want and you’re not allowed to die. You’re just going to have to deal,” Bek told him simply. “There is a reason why kids usually get a mom and a dad. You need both. It’s just easier to have a mom deal with girl stuff sometimes. I mean, it’s pretty awkward trying to explain girl stuff as a dad, I guess. Can’t say that I really have a lot of experience in that department.”  But speaking of mood swings, she lost it at the word bacon. It was one thing for her to bring it up but the sheer mention of it sent her into tears. She went from laughing and talking about the future to just outright sobbing. She grabbed a pillow and leaned into the arm of her chair, letting it out like she’d just lost a pet or something. It wasn’t really about bacon. She just thought about Will and that made her a mess. A lot of people in the school didn’t have the attention span to remember the fact she’d been with him before Nate. They didn’t take the time to get the full story. No one really got what she was going through but her and Will and it just sucked. It all sucked. She missed him. She missed him and she didn’t like this at all. She hated feeling emotional and crying. She hated being such a girl. She just wanted to curl up and be depressed until all time and avoid the people who would judge her for all of this. They didn’t know though. They just didn’t know.  ”I’m sorry,” she sniffled. “Uh, yeah. There is some bacon in there if you want to make it.”

Brady look at Bek in shock, her whole body trembling with sobs. “I’ll pass on the bacon now.” He commented, placing his cup down on the coffee table, scooting closer to her. “C’mer.” He ordered, holding out his arms and engulfing the sobbing girl in a hug. He didn’t know why she was crying, nor why it was full frontal sobbing instead of a few tears, but he didn’t need to know the reason. All he knew was that his best friend needed some sort of comfort, and he needed to be the one comforting her. “It’s okay. Everything is fine right now, Okay? We can talk about this later, only if you want to. There is zero pressure to talk. When, and only when, you’re ready. It’s all okay. I’m here. You’re fine.” He said softly, running his hand through her hair, trying to calm her down like he had done many times before in their friendship. He continued to try to calm her down, but her crying only lessened a little bit. Pulling away, he used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the tears from her face. “Whatever it is, It’ll all work out in the end. Everything works out eventually. You just have to have a little faith, Okay?” He said, looking her in the eye as he spoke. The thing is, they were so close, that whenever Bek started crying, Brady instantly felt sad too. He wanted to make her stop crying for whatever reason, but couldn’t because he knew that it was better to cry now than bottle it up and explode that. “Just let it all out. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. It’s all okay.”

She couldn’t verbalize it though. She’d been bottling it up for so long, trying to be this strong, powerful girl. She had her faith and she had her hope but the world was weighing down so heavy on her. The time alone had been used as time to think and she’d been doing a lot about the past and the present. She couldn’t believe she’d allowed herself to get into the situation she had when it came to Nate. She’d been a stupid, young girl who allowed herself to get caught up in what she wanted so desperately that she couldn’t see how bad something was. She couldn’t see how horrible someone repeatedly was to her. Even if there were ‘good’ moments, she allowed him to use excuses and flattering words. He’d always told her what she wanted to hear because he thought it would make it better. She’d given so many parts of herself to him that she’d never get back. The worse part was knowing that all those weeks of letting that go on had screwed up something that was so good and pure. She hated it. She’d been trying to get things back on track but it didn’t take back her mistakes. It didn’t take back the fact she wished it had been Will she’d given those pieces of herself to. She wished it had been Will she’d been with for weeks, sharing holidays and special moments with. She wished she’d never given Nate the power to hurt them both so completely and that’s where they were now. They were prisoners. They were trapped because she’d made a bad decision and stuck with it way past when she should have and Will was his brother. And her heart was in pain because she was too young to be dealing with stuff this complicated or complex. It was supposed to be easy. It should be as easy as two people liking each other and it just happening. It hadn’t been that easy though. It was never that easy. “I’m trapped,” she sobbed into Brady’s arm. “I know people don’t get it. We’re just butterflies in a jar. He’s sealing off the oxygen holes one by one until we can’t breathe. He’ll never let Will be free. He’s going to hold this over his head forever. He’ll pretend to forgive him and then rip off his wings. But first he wants to suffocate me to death.  I’m a a suffocating butterfly.” Where this shit was coming from she couldn’t even begin to know. It was the only metaphor she had on hand at the moment.  She was choking, way too emotional over it and she felt herself feeling sick. “I’m trying so hard to not let it show how frustrated I am because it’s what he wants but I’m dying. I’m dying because if I’d just trusted my gut to begin with I would have never ended up here.”

“Shh. Shhh. It’s okay.” Brady whispered, trying to get her to calm down more before she got so worked up she threw up everything she had eaten. Lifting Bek’s face to his, he looked her dead in the eye. “You listen to me right now, Rebekah Grace Martin. None of this is your fault, Okay? It’s a sick and twisted game Nate is playing. Maybe it’s because he still has the tiniest bit of feelings for you, or maybe he just feels like being the worlds biggest dick. Either way, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is what you’re feeling in your heart. If you and Will love each other, then Nate sure as hell as no right forcing you two to break up. I don’t care if he is the god damn, fucking Queen of Sheba. He is a douchebag, who needs to learn to let his brother and you, be happy. If you and Will really love each other, really, really do, then you’ll find I way to make it work. I have no doubt about it, whatsoever. People need to learn to get over the past, and think about the future. Think about the people their choices will effect later on in life. Okay?” He said, nodding once before pulling her into another hug. “You can always talk to me, Bek. About everything and anything.”

Bek had used to think Nate had a soul. It’s what she’d used to justify putting up with the moments when he treated her like trash. The truth was that a guy in love wouldn’t go out of his way to do things that made his girlfriend uncomfortable. He would have been there for her. He would have made her feel the way — well, the way he hadn’t. “The second one,” she told Brady. She was convinced that was the way it had always been. She’d just been blind and stupid about it all. She’d been wrong. She’d been so very, very wrong about him.  ”We weren’t together though. Not this time. I mean, we were - well - we might as well have been together but we weren’t. I just - it’s sucks so bad. I hate feeling like I’m tugging him apart but I don’t feel like I can live with myself if I never say anything. If  I just - sit back and accept things as they are. I mean, I don’t want to be my parents age and still wanting to know what could have been. I want to know I gave it my everything because we just - we click. When we - it was beautiful. I mean, not the first time. That was … well.  But we - you know, it’s like our souls converged and he still has a piece of it and if we can never talk again, I’m scared. I’m really scared.”   She really hoped none of her family was eavesdropping on this stuff of course she was too emotional to really care if they were at the moment.  She wrapped her arms tighter around Brady, needing the comfort of her best friend. “I’m scared if he keeps us apart, I’m never going to feel like that again.”

For one of the many times in his life, Brady didn’t know what to say to make Bek feel better. He had never gone through anything remotely similar to what she was going through. “I don’t know what to say, Bek. I wish I had all the right words to make you feel better, but I don’t.” He said, frowning. “The only thing I really want to say, is that whatever your final decision is… Make it count. Because you’re not going to get another chance. Once whatever happens, happens… There is no going back. At all. You have to be one hundred percent sure of what you want. I know you’re a bright girl and you’ll make whatever choice is best, according to your heart, and I really hope it works out in the end of it all.” He sighed, hugging his best friend tighter than he ever had for as long as he can remember. Seeing Bek cry was like watching someone hit a puppy. You would do everything you could to stop and prevent it, and you didn’t want it to happen ever again if it did happen. “Are we done crying now?” He asked, pulling away from  their embrace. “I think you have ice cream. We can always drown our sorrows through food instead of tears.”

This was why she didn’t need a best friend who was a girl. She had Brady. Brady knew her soul. He knew her better than herself a lot of the time and he would always support her regardless. He had her back and he loved her unconditionally. He was just there. He also knew her favorite ice cream flavors to pig out on when she was in need of food therapy. Of course, she was still feeling a little queasy but she suppose maybe if she ate the ice cream and she actually vomited she might feel a little better. “If I had a million choices, I’d still choose to be with him,” she told Brady firmly. It was the sort of thing she could really only say around certain people and not get judged. Even her own cousin had judged her and he didn’t even like Nate. She couldn’t help who she loved though. She couldn’t help that everything had come to pass in such a fucked up way. She’d taken time to figure out a lot of stuff but now she had and she knew what she wanted. She knew how she felt and — all she could do was hope that somewhere out there Will Coyne was sitting there feeling as horrible as she was and wishing she was there. Only she didn’t really want him to feel bad. She never wanted him to feel bad. She just wanted him to miss her, to long for her in the same way. “Right now, I suppose, I’ll have to settle for turtle tracks. Give me extra peanut butter turtle chunks.”

“Then it’s settled. Up you go.” He said as he stood up, pulling her up with him and pushing her towards the kitchen. “Tonight, we shall drown ourselves in ice cream that will more than likely give us a terrible brain freeze.” He let her go, walking towards the fridge and pulling out what they needed, knowing where everything was. “Get the toppings you want.” He called out over his shoulder as he grabbed spoons for them. Turning around, he placed the heaping pile of sugar onto the counter and grinned at Bek in a cheshire cat like way. “We are going to have such a sugar high it’s not even funny.” He popped the lid off of the container, hopping up onto the counter as he had done as a kid, digging in and taking a spoonful. “We don’t even need bowls. I’m perfectly okay eating it like we have no manners whatsoever. I just hope your parents won’t mind us eating the rest of the ice cream in the entire house.”

Bek groaned as he made her get up but she made her way to the kitchen with a pout. She let her feet guide her toward the kitchen, shoving her head down on the counter for a minute until he told her to get the toppings she wanted. She grabbed a thing of fudge from the fridge and just drizzled some straight into her mouth. Okay, she was officially bad. She was going to hell for that if not everything else. She never knew sin could have so many calories. She was perfectly okay with it though. She grabbed some cherries too. She pretty much wanted everything. “I’m probably going to vomit all of this up,” she announced as if that was even remotely appropriate to say when you were about to eat with company but hey - Brady wasn’t company, he was family. There was nothing sacred with family. “Let’s just throw everything in there and get some spoons. There won’t be anything left for the rest of the family to eat. We’re going to eat this whole thing and when we’re done with that maybe we can have another — or there might be some brownie stuff in there — or a cake.  Stress baking and eating. It’s what we do.”

“That’s really something I needed to envision before eating.” He joked sarcastically at her vomit comment. “That sounds good to me.” He started pouring all of the toppings onto the ice cream, making sure none of it dripped off of the side and onto the floor. He was sure Mr. and Mrs. Martin wouldn’t appreciate a ton of dessert toppings along with drippings of ice cream piling up on their floor. “We can make brownies? Well, you can. I’m a horrible baker. It would come out black and be as hard as a hockey puck. But anyways, Brownies and ice cream is a pretty good combination after a sob-fest.” He commented right before shoving a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, a glob missing the target and falling back onto the spoon under his mouth. “Do you have any whipped cream?” He asked. No ice cream was complete without whipped cream if it was available. Plus, he couldn’t pass up on an opportunity to fling some at Bek. It was just too good. 

“Whatever you love me,” she said rolling her eyes. She was about to just stop talking and start shoving food in her mouth. She had a mouth full when and was simply nodding to the brownie comment when he mentioned the whipped cream. She went over to the refrigerator door and pulled it out, smirking as she twisted the little spray thing and sent the white goo flying at Brady. There was a reason they were best friends. They could read each other pretty damn well. She snorted before adding some to her bowl. “What you asked for some whipped cream?” she said looking all too innocent. “You didn’t say you wanted it in the bowl — and for the record you’re not a terrible cook. You weren’t so bad a few weeks ago. Every good chef needs a sous chef though. I’ll just make you break the eggs or something.” It wouldn’t be the first time they’d cooked together and she doubted it would be the last. Obviously they were doomed to go there forever. Maybe she didn’t go around talking about the inner workings of their friendship all the time but that was because she didn’t need to. He knew he mattered and that was all that mattered to her.

“What are y-” was all Brady managed to get out as he raised an eyebrow before having a stream of the fluffy, white goo hit his face. Wiping off his face, he looked over at Bek, his mouth hanging open in shock. He was supposed to spray her, not the other way around. “You know what? I just really want to hug you right now. Really, really badly.” He said with a devilish grin before walking up and engulfing her in another hug, making sure to get some of the cream all over her. Pulling away he wiped more of it off his face before squishing it into her hair. “There. I’m good now.” He flashed her a cheesy grin before jumping up onto the counter and continuing to devour the ice cream, adding the whip cream in too. “Oh I’m sorry. Did you not want a hug from me?” He added in after a few spoonfuls, looking over at Bek. Two can play at that game. 

[bek-stories-blog]

Bloody Bacon with best friends.

Brady removed the laptop from his lap, setting it on the side table. His vision was slightly blurry and he rubbed his eyes groggily. He had been doing school work since he got home over two hours ago. His mom or step-father weren’t home he had to make dinner. He invited Bek over, adding bacon to the menu as well. He knew she had just broken up with Nate. Hell, he knew all of the details. That’s partially why he invited her over; So she could get her mind off of it. Pushing all of the thoughts from his head, Brady stood up and out of the bedroom and down the stairs. 

The house smelled overwhelmingly like cinnamon, a scent Brady hated. Yet, his mother and step-father loved it. That was one of the many reasons why he preferred his father’s house over his mother’s. That, and his dad didn’t care if Bek was over when he wasn’t around. His step-father on the other hand, would always raise questions about everything. Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? It’s a school night. Why our house? What will you two be doing? They never ended.

Sliding into the kitchen on his socks, Brady put his hands out in front of him to stop before he rammed into the counter. He glided over to the fridge, grabbing the bacon from the top shelf. His eyes roamed for the other things he needed, spotting them in miscellaneous places. He kicked the door shut with his foot as both of his arms were full with items for the night’s meal. Managing not to fall, he set it all down on the counter before separating them into smaller groups.

Grabbing the pan from the below cupboard, he tossed it onto the bottom-left burner and added non-stick spray. He ripped open the package of thick-slice bacon. His stomach growled at the scent and he merely laughed in response. Placing the meat onto the pan in neat rows, he waited for Bek to show up.

Bek had been all over the place emotionally since the breakup with Nate. Once minute she was on top of the world and the next she was a sobbing mess. She was trying desperately to be strong but it was hard considering how much she’d loved Nate - still loved him. She pushed him from her thoughts determined to have a good night over at her best friend’s place.

Her mom helped her get over to Brady’s mom and up the stairs, carrying the chair up. She sunk back down and waited after knocking at the door. She always felt weird at his mom’s place. His dad was usually cool about her being there but his step dad made her feel awkward. He always assumed they were up to no good. He didn’t seem to trust her for some reason and she didn’t know why. His mom was nice though.

She waited anxiously, tugging her coat tighter as she waited. She waved her mom off with a promise that she’d call whenever she was ready to get home. She could already smell the food and the door wasn’t open yet. Her stomach began to growl a bit. Tonight was about food and friendship.

Brady heard a knock at the door, his mood instantly perking up. He turned off the burner with the remaining chicken before quickly walking up to the front door. He made sure he didn’t accidentally get any grease onto his shirt before unlocking the door and gliding it open. He grinned upon seeing Bek, wheel chair and all.

“Hey!” He greeted, not quite sure if he was supposed to push her in or she would wheel herself in or not. Deciding to go with the first option he propped the big wood door open and stepped outside.  ”If I run you into something, You can seriously hit me as much as you want.” He warned her, stepping behind her and making sure the wheelchair brakes weren’t on. 

“Here goes nothing.” He mumbled under his breath before gently nudging it forward. It was pretty easy, until he got to the door, where there was a bump upwards. Tilting it back towards him a bit he lifted it up and over the bump, successfully wheeling her into the main foyer. Closing the door behind them, Brady smiled. “Okay! We have…. Chicken taco’s and Bacon for dinner, and cake, cookies and other random sweets for dessert.”

When the wreck had happened at first, she got wheeled around a lot. Nate was forever pushing her from class to class and when he wasn’t there was always someone else there. Over time she’d had to learn to fend for herself which was harder with one arm in a cast. She made due though. She smiled as she saw Brady, allowing him to help push her in.

“Are you trying to fatten me up or what?” she asked with a geniune laugh. She was trying to not think too much on the bad stuff at the moment. She couldn’t resist reaching to grab a chicken taco and taking a bite. She sighed contently. It tasted great. Then again Brady’s food always tasted good.

It was peaceful around here which only meant they were home alone. She started to wonder what was up. “Everyone else out?” she asked after a minute before nodding and adding, “Or did you kill them and hide their bodies in the backyard?” She knew Brady would never do anything like that but it was fun to joke around on occasion.

“You caught me. Keegan and I are going to fatten you to the point where you’re about to burst then we’ll feast upon you like it’s Thanksgiving.” He joked, sticking his tongue out at her. He loved how they could easily joke around and neither of them would get offended or take it seriously. Then again, they would never say anything offending… on purpose. 

“Don’t look under the porch.” He sarcastically said with a wink. He laughed, the sound bouncing off the wall behind him. “Nah. Mom is working really late, as usual. Chuck is..he… well I don’t really know. At work, I assume.” He answered with a shrug. He honestly didn’t really care where Chuck was either. 

“What did you want to drink by the way?” He asked, walking over to the fridge and throwing the door open. “We have pretty much everything, like always.” He called out to Bek over his shoulder. He did most of the grocery shopping on the weekdays, and liked to set aside money for splurging on junk food or anything his mom would deem unnecessary. 

“I knew you were no good from day one,” Rebekah teased. It was a complete lie. She’d gravitated to the dark haired boy from the first day of preschool. They’d played together, grew up together and he knew more about awkward moments in her life than anyone else in the world. He was the good sort of guy and that was why they’d be best friends forever. “Here I was thinking you loved me but all you want to do is kill me. I will haunt both of you,” she announced. “I’ll be like the Moaning Myrtle of Degrassi. Um, Blubbering Bek.”

She ate a few more bites of the food before covering her mouth to swallow. “Cream soda?” she asked knowing the usual random contents of the fridge. It didn’t really go with what they were eating but she didn’t care. No one was going to judge her on eating like a weirdo at the moment. If Brady did, she’d just dish it back.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked once she had a drink, taking a sip. She supposed she was curious about what he had in mind. She knew he’d lured her there to cheer her up so she was going to go along with whatever. She was officially over making people worry. “We’re going to eat and then what?”

“Cream soda it is!” He announced in a booming announcer’s voice. He grabbed her cream soda along with a mountain dew for himself before shutting the door. He glided to where she was sitting, managing not to fall. “One cream soda for Queen Blubbering Bek.” He said as he handed her the soda with a big, chessy, child-like grin.

“To be honest I didn’t really plan anything.” He responded truthfully with a slight frown, biting his lip.  ”I didn’t know what you would be up for, but I’m assuming anything is fine. We could watch a sappy movie, pig out on sweets, share sobs stories, Pester Keegan…. Make fun of ‘Tate’?” He suggested but guessed that talking about Nate/Tate wouldn’t be number one on her to-do list.

He cracked open his soda, taking a long gulp before setting down the now half-empty can. “Oh, And I did get a brand new dart board, photo paper, and a color printer. Just in case you want to take out any anger on a certain someone’s face.” He joked casually with a smirk. Truth be told, he wouldn’t mind throwing darts at a picture of Nate’s face. They could even draw silly things on it with sharpie’s too. 

Bek loved his idea so much. This was why Brady was her best friend. Only he could come up with such passive pasttimes to help her cope. She didn’t want to talk about Nate really but she didn’t mind the idea of throwing darts at his face at the moment and getting out some of her feelings. She was glad mentally Will and Nate were separate in her head or it might have bothered her on that level.

“Darts sounds like fun. Let’s pick out the absolute worst picture of him in existence,” she told him as she continued to shove food in her mouth. She hadn’t eaten this much in days. It was good though. “While we’re all it, let’s destroy ‘her’ face too. Should be somewhere.”

Bek intended to get it out so that her birthday weekend could be fun. She already had some plans. She was going to make it a weekend to not be forgotten. At the moment, she was with her best friend though. He knew how to deal with her and this was nice.

“Will do. And if it’s not bad enough, Photoshop is our very awesome face-horrifying friend.” He commented as he walked into the living room to fetch his laptop from where he had moved it to when he was cooking dinner. He grabbed it and tucked it under his arm before walking back into the kitchen area. “Alright, pulling up his page now.”

“And I’m guessing the ‘her’ you’re suffering to has the initials of F.N?” He asked, not coming out and fully saying her name because he didn’t want to upset Bek. He selected two disgusting pictures of Nate and one of ‘her’ and messed them up a bit on Photoshop as well before mobile-printing to the printer in Chucks’s office. “I’ll be right back.” He warned before jogging out of the room and into the office.

He walked back into the room, the pictures in his hand and an evil smirk on his face. “Which one would you like to do first, Queen Rebekah? Nate number one, Nate number two, or the horrid ‘her.’” He asked, holding up the pictures. He pronounced the names and the word ‘her’ which enough venom and disgust that you would think he was saying the name of someone who was in jail for animal cruelty.  

“Nate never put me first so I think we’ll deal with her first,” she said as she saw Brady come back with the photographs. Looking at Nate made her heart hurt. Frankie Novak just made her sick though. She was little more than a slut who flirted with her boyfriend and then slept with him at the first chance she got. That was unforgivable. The worst part was not knowing how many others he’d been with since the breakup. How many people had he been counting the minutes until he could hook up with?

Her fingers clasped around the dart and with her good arm, she sent it flying toward her face. “That ‘s for flirting with my boyfriend,” she said aloud before she threw another. “And that’s for having sex with him.” And another. “And that’s for all the other sluts he’s slept with while claiming to love me.”

The picture was starting to fill with holes. Bek was a pretty good aim even with a disadvantage. She felt herself getting more upset as she thought about it. She’d trusted and loved Nate and he’d damaged her. He’d smashed her heart to pieces. She was never going to be the happy, naive girl ever again. She felt tears of frustration starting to form on her face. She just wanted this process to be over.

“Her first then.” He commented as he set the pictures of Nate down and walked over to where the dartboard was resting against the wall. He grabbed a piece of tape off of the roll next to the TV and swiftly taped her picture against the board. He stepped back a few feet before handing Bek the darts. “Go wild.”

“Damn you have a good arm!” He commented, staring at the several holes in the now almost-shredded picture of the junior girl, or slut as Bek dubbed her. He walked over, taking the darts out and ripping the paper off of the board before replacing it with a messed up picture of the head douchebag himself, Nathaniel Coyne. He walked back over towards Bek, a smirk on his face.

“Just don’t miss and make a hole in the wall.” He commented, knowing that she would throw ten times harder at his face than she did when she was throwing at Frankie’s. He hopped on top of the kitchen counter, grabbing his soda and drinking the remains of the can. “Would it be too hard to re-print those and post them all over school with the words ‘Degrassi Douchebag’ written in big, huge, red letters? Maybe with glitter too?”

“Nate never put me first so I think we’ll deal with her first,” she said as she saw Brady come back with the photographs. Looking at Nate made her heart hurt. Frankie Novak just made her sick though. She was little more than a slut who flirted with her boyfriend and then slept with him at the first chance she got. That was unforgivable. The worst part was not knowing how many others he’d been with since the breakup. How many people had he been counting the minutes until he could hook up with?

Her fingers clasped around the dart and with her good arm, she sent it flying toward her face. “That ‘s for flirting with my boyfriend,” she said aloud before she threw another. “And that’s for having sex with him.” And another. “And that’s for all the other sluts he’s slept with while claiming to love me.”

The picture was starting to fill with holes. Bek was a pretty good aim even with a disadvantage. She felt herself getting more upset as she thought about it. She’d trusted and loved Nate and he’d damaged her. He’d smashed her heart to pieces. She was never going to be the happy, naive girl ever again. She felt tears of frustration starting to form on her face. She just wanted this process to be over.

“Her first then.” He commented as he set the pictures of Nate down and walked over to where the dartboard was resting against the wall. He grabbed a piece of tape off of the roll next to the TV and swiftly taped her picture against the board. He stepped back a few feet before handing Bek the darts. “Go wild.”

“Damn you have a good arm!” He commented, staring at the several holes in the now almost-shredded picture of the junior girl, or slut as Bek dubbed her. He walked over, taking the darts out and ripping the paper off of the board before replacing it with a messed up picture of the head douchebag himself, Nathaniel Coyne. He walked back over towards Bek, a smirk on his face.

“Just don’t miss and make a hole in the wall.” He commented, knowing that she would throw ten times harder at his face than she did when she was throwing at Frankie’s. He hopped on top of the kitchen counter, grabbing his soda and drinking the remains of the can. “Would it be too hard to re-print those and post them all over school with the words ‘Degrassi Douchebag’ written in big, huge, red letters? Maybe with glitter too?”

Bek accepted the darts back, nodding at his compliment. See Nate there on the dartboard made her stomach turn. Her heart shattered. The tears definitely started to pour. She held her head up though, carefully throwing the darts at his crotch. She was remarkably glad they’d gone full body on him.

She opened her mouth to chastise his picture like she had with the other but she couldn’t get throat went dry. She sent another dart toward his heart. She was about to send another one flying when Brady said something about posting these all over the school. She accidentally let the dart loose and it went flying toward his heart instead.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized flailing a bit as it made impact with the wall. There was definitely going to be a mark there. It was better than his head though. “We can’t do that though. No matter how I feel - we just couldn’t. Maybe you should take a turn and keep sharp objects from me.”

“Shit I’m sorry Bek. I shouldn’t have said anything. We have spackle for the hole in the wall. I’ll go get it” He said apologetically before leaving the room to retrieve the spackle. He really should have kept his shut, and he was screaming at himself for it. Grabbing the Spackle from the garage, he only had one though though; If only spackle could fix the hole in his friend’s heart.

“I got it. No need to worry.” He commented as he reappeared in the room. He quickly walked over, uncapping the Spackle. Uncapping it, he used the tool he grabbed with it to scoop out a big glob. Thanking his lucky stars that the walls were white, he spread it out evenly over the hole and the surrounding area. He scrapped off the remains and set the container down.

“There. All fixed. If anyone notices, I’ll explain it to mom. I’m sure as soon as she hears that no major damage was done to anything, she’ll wave it off like it’s nothing. It really is nothing though. Honestly.” He said once he turned around to face Bek. A hole was a hole. It could easily be fixed. “What do you want to do now? I think I’ll pass on the darts.”

The few minutes he was gone she crumpled. She sobbed to herself. She hated this up and down. She hated feeling mad but okay and then going to this dark depressed place. She couldn’t seem to push past it for the life of her. No matter how hard she tried she ended up feeling sad when she thought about it. How had things gone from good to so bad? How was her life turning out like this.

“Can we just not talk about him anymore?” she asked. The less she saw or talked about him the better it would be. She really did not want to have to deal with thinking about that situation anymore. She wanted to think about something else entirely. She remembered a bag she’d attached to the back of her chair.

“I have a birthday …. Uh, thing tomorrow,” she told him quietly reaching around and pulling the bag out. There were two outfits. One was a dress that was barely there with it’s dark fabric and the other was a pair of dark skinny jeans and a skirt that wasn’t quite as revealing but it was flirty and would show enough if she moved in the right way. “Give me a male prospective on what to wear. I’m going for ‘What the Heck was he thinking?’”

“Talk about who anymore?” He joked with a sincere smile on his face. He really didn’t want to talk about rat-face or little miss humpty dumpty anymore. It was probably going to upset Bek even more, and Brady knew that if Bek started crying, he would do everything and everything, clown suit included, to get her to stop and smile. 

“Hmm.” He said, raising his voice to a feminine pitch. “I like the dress, but it might be a little too much. The shirt is more rockin’ and would definitely work on you, girl.” He stated with his voice still in the feminine tone. “In all seriousness, the shirt and jeans.” He stated finally, reverting back to his normal tone of voice. 

“So who are you trying to impress, Miss Martin?” He questioned, raising an eye brow and looking at her suspiciously. “That is, if there’s a someone and you don’t mine sharing who he is.” He added quickly, not wanting to over step any boundaries and upset her again.

“That is how you start rumors,” she teased about Brady’s feminine voice though she took note of his judgement call. She trusted that he’d never lead her astray intentionally.

On one hand, she knew if Brady had any idea what she she up to he’d scold her. On the other he was her best friend and she knew that he was obligated to not judge her for it. Her ex had flirted and hooked up with other people since their breakup, she couldn’t be judged for ‘hanging out’ with someone alone that there was a good chance she’d makeout with. Especially not when it was a distraction from everything she was feeling.

She put the clothes nearly back in the bag, looking a bit sheepish. She didn’t even begin to know how to tell him this. She knew the Bek she’d been prior to Nate would have never thought to do anything she’d thought of. She was sort of embarrassed to admit her plans. She was afraid he’d call her out for letting her grief over the relationship lead her to bad choices. Was it a bad choice though?

“Nate had his fun so I’m going to have mine,” she told Brady easing into it. She’d already broken her rule about not speaking of him. She couldn’t help herself. “I’m going to have a few drinks with Will.”

She’d let Brady connect the dots. It wasn’t as if she was planning on rubbing it in Nate’s face. She had more taste than that. He couldn’t go around the school doing whatever he wanted not let her do the same though. She was just planning on having some fun … with his twin… who was also her ex. Nothing complicated about that at all.

“I-uh…” Brady stammered out, furrowing his eyebrows. He wasn’t entirely sure on what he should or should not say. Then again, it wasn’t every day that your best friend was going out to have drinks with her ex’s twin brother, who coincidentally was also her ex. Yeah, there was no way of saying anything that made sense.

“Just, Be careful.” He said with a motherly-like sigh, running his hand through his somewhat shaggy hair. “I don’t want to to get hurt. Again.” He added. Bek was all ready in enough emotional and physical pain as it is, and he couldn’t bare to see her in anymore pain. 

“Did you still want any dessert?” He asked after a moments pause, gesturing with his hand to the cookie jar on the counter. He knew girls liked sugary foods when they were emotionally wrecked. “My mom made some of her chocolate cake the night before last too. Chocolate chunks and all.”

Bek knew Brady was going to be a hard sell on this one. That was why she left out the fact they weren’t actually going out. At least, she was pretty sure they weren’t. She was pretty sure they were staying in. She knew exactly what it looked like. She knew when/if Nate found out, he was going to be furious at them. She didn’t actually think he had much of a right to say anything at the moment though after what he did.

“I’ll be careful,” she told him simply. There were some things that she could say to him that she couldn’t say to family or other people and so she just nodded. “You know, if it doesn’t feel right — I’ll say no. I won’t let anything go on that I’m not comfortable with. I’m a big girl though and Will respects me enough to back off if I tell him too. It’s just about fun.” Which was a completely bogus thing to say because nothing was ever just about fun with her? It wasn’t about revenge though. That much she knew.

“Biggest slice you can cut,” she told him in reference to the cake. Yeah, maybe she needed to think on her decisions just a little more and that cake was going to be right up her alley. “How is that you always have the best food over here? It’s almost unfair. I mean, my mom is good cook but - I’m getting spoiled over here.”

“It’s because my mom loves you. Plus, Chuck doesn’t eat that much junk food so it’s more for me. Which I would then share with you.” He called out over his shoulder, pulling the cake out of the fridge. He pulled it out, balancing it on one hand while clicking the door shut with the other. Setting it down he pulled a knife out of the drawer.

“Here, or here?” He jokingly asked, making a really tiny piece the first time before making it bigger. He slid the humongous piece of cake onto a plate, grabbing another cream soda for Bek. “Your sugar rush on a plate, m’lady.” Setting it down on the table he went to retrieve his own slice and soda. 

“I do have to applaud your ability to not be mopping in your room twenty-four seven watching sappy movies and devouring pint after pint of ice cream. Unless you’ve secret been doing that and I just don’t know.” He commented as he returned to where Bek was. He hopped she hadn’t been mopping in her room since the break up. If she was, he wasn’t going to let it happen anymore. 

“That’s because they’ve been planning our wedding since we’ve been like four,” she remarked with a laugh. She didn’t really understand how people go off thinking guys and girls couldn’t just be friends. They’d always been great friends. She couldn’t imagine anyone else as her best friend really. She didn’t do well with girls. They were so dramatic and they were quick to backstab. Guy friends weren’t like that. Brady wasn’t like that. He wasn’t going to go try and makeout with any of her boyfriends. It was one of the many things she loved about him. “We’ll let her keep thinking it as long as she keeps making cakes like this.”

She took a few healthy bites despite the fact there was nothing healthy at all about what she was eating. She definitely wanting to keep eating this. She closed her eyes and savored the chocolate. It really did help with anything and everything. There was nothing that was going to keep her from cleaning this whole plate. Nothing at all.

“I’ve done plenty of moping,” she admitted. “I feel sort of bad actually. I’ve been complaining to Will a lot. I mean, he’s really tolerated a lot of whining about Nate. It can’t be easy on him seeing as they are twins and everything. I sort of feel like I need to make it up to him. I just — well, I get tired of holding it in or putting it all on you and Keegan sometimes. I’m just - trying to feel better. It’s not easy though. I really loved him and he betrayed me.”

“Way back when I though girls had cooties. Well, every girl besides you if I remember that correctly.” He laughed, remembering them playing together as toddlers. They were practically inseparable. Always having ‘play dates’ as their moms called them. Brady laughed at the sheer though of their moms trying to set them or something like that. Oh the awkwardness that would cause.

“This is going straight to my thighs.” He joked in his feminine voice again as he looked over his large chuck of the overly chocolate cake. He took a bite, a small chuck falling off of the fork and falling onto his jeans. He shrugged, leaving the chuck sitting there. He would probably either pick it up or flick it at Bek for fun later. 

“I’m sure if Will has a heart, he’ll understand. Keegs and I don’t really mind listening to you go on and on about your problems. You’re like the sister both of us half-wanted but never got. You don’t necessarily need to make it up do him, but it would be the right thing to do. Just don’t go all crazy.” He stated. “I know you did and I know he did, Bek.” He added to her comment about their love and betrayal. 

“I got my shot from Dr. Ashoona,” she joked. Lord, the games they used to play when they were kids! Just thinking about it made her smile. She really missed the days when things were not so complicated. She would have given anything to just be two kids who only had to worry about who was going to stay home with the dolls in their pretend marriage. She had a million and one awkward photos at home of making mudpies, playing with dolls and hanging out. She wasn’t sure what she’d ever do if they actually grew apart. “I hear that he’s sort of the best. He can fix anything.”

She snorted, almost choking on her cream soda at the comment about his thighs. He was almost skinnier than her so she doubted that was going to be happening. She resented the fact boys had it so easy. They could eat anything and it never seemed to go anywhere. She ate like this ever day and she’d turn into a beached whale. It might be worth it though.

“You would have returned me to sender if it had actually happened like that. Can you imagine having to share a house with Rory?” she asked making a face. To be honest, she didn’t exactly despise him. Rory was alright. She just wouldn’t have wanted to be his sibling. “I know, what you’re saying though. I’ll figure something out and I won’t go too crazy. You know me though. I do have a tendency to get carried away with myself sometimes. I’m a creature of habit — but you know, maybe I should stop being selfish and find out what’s going on in your life since the gossip blog is a total fraud who knows nothing about you and I’ve been a bad best friend lately.”

“Sort of? Sort of the best?! I’ll have you know that I am highly offended, Rebekah!” He feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart dramatically. The two of them, and sometimes Keegan, joking around was one of his favorite things to do. It always made any situations or mood turn into something hilarious that normally resulted in someone picking on someone about a comment for something random.

“I wouldn’t have returned you to the sender… Maybe. Yeah.. I honestly can’t.” He laughed. “You haven’t been a bad best friend and you aren’t selfish. I haven’t really been doing anything. Laying low under the radar is my specialty. I’m like a ninja.” He joked before he finished off the rest of his piece of cake. “Soccer, eating, sleeping, school. Pretty much my life in a nutshell. You of all people should know how boring I am.” He commented with a shrug. 

“Shut it!” she managed out over her laughter. There were some things only a best friend could fix and she was laughing a little more than she had in a while. She might have been crying a few minutes before but her mood was on an upswing. Laughter was definitely contagious and it had it’s way of making her feel infinitely better. The sadness didn’t feel so permanent. There was still good things in this world. She still had friends. She still had a life. At the end of the day, no matter how many boys came and went she’d always have Brady (and Keegan). She hoped their future spouses weren’t going to be freaked out by her always being around. “You know, you’re stuck with me forever.”

She smiled at hearing him talk about how boring he was. “You know, I would tell you to get a life but the last time I told someone that they took that as become a complete and utter dick so I’ll pass,” she managed. The fact Brady was not a dick was definitely one of the reasons they were friends. She liked the fact he was laid back and funny. She appreciated the fact he could do soccer and not turn into some crazy jock. Then again, she did rowing and didn’t act like a psycho (most of the time). She liked the fact he was down to earth. She planned on keeping him that way. “But seriously though, no matter what happens with me next. I’m going to be a better friend. I think it’s time to reinstate best friend night.”

“I’m stuck with you forever? Oh my god.” He said with a horrified look on his face. He continued to look at Bek like she was Freddy Cruger coming at him with a machete. “Since I’m stuck with you, so is Keegan. If I go down, he goes down with me.” He joked, remembering all of the times they would blame each other for pranks they pulled on Bek of things that got them in trouble with adults. 

“I have a life. It’s just a very, very dull one.” He said, sticking his tongue out at her. He honestly didn’t do much. He wasn’t very social, didn’t participate in any after school activities besides soccer, and didn’t get out much besides the occasional time when Bek or Keegan dragged him somewhere. His ears perked up at the mention of best friend night. “We’re going to do best friend night again? Yes!” He did a miniature happy dance, throwing his hands above his head and waving them around spastically. “And by the way, you’re an awesome best friend.”

“I know, I am,” she told him. She’d left time get away from her and she flinched as she heard her phone beep and looked down at the time. Her mother was texting her wanting to know when someone could come and get her.  She felt like she’d just arrived but she’d been there for a while and since the next day was going to be a really early day she needed to get home and try to get some sleep. The keyword was try. 

“We’ll work out the details later. For now, I should probably let mom come get me. She should be in here in a few minutes. When did it become so late?” she asked with a laugh. On a lot of occasions prior to a few months ago when she’d started seriously dating, she might have just crashed out at a friends house. Those days seemed forever ago now and the prospect seemed weird. Besides that, she did actually need to get home tonight.  She felt a little bad for abandoned Brady already though. “I’ll text you to let you know how everything turns out. Don’t you and Keegan have too much fun at school tomorrow without me.”

“Awe. I make no promises about how much fun we’ll have.” He joked, setting his soda can down and standing up. He stretched out his arms, only then realizing how much time had passed and how long he had been sitting there. “Wow we can not keep track of time. At all.” He observed, glancing at the clock behind the couch.

“I take it your mom is coming to get you?” He questioned, already knowing the answer even though he asked. He grabbed their dirty plates and empty soda cans, bringing them into the kitchen. He returned to her after a moment, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Thanks for coming over, Beks. I’m glad you did.” He commented with a smile, leaning down and giving her somewhat of hug considering she was in a wheelchair. 

“We’ll have a good time,” she said rolling her eyes. She wasn’t completely ready to go but she supposed she sort of needed to. She felt a little guilty for not helping him clean up. Under normal circumstances she would have. Hell, she would have hung around much later on a night when she didn’t have to be up so early. There were always other days though. She couldn’t wait!  ”But yeah, mom is getting me.” She gave him a hug and with another beep of her phone, she knew it was time to go. She waved him off and rolled it toward the door to her waiting mom and then made her way home.