Kris looked around. The place hadn't changed at all—then again she'd only been gone three weeks. It is probably more the fact that her and Brian hadn't fought in a while. Then again, they hadn't talked in a while. She never did tell him where she went. She mentioned visiting an old friend…which was partially Brian didn't even ask about anything.
She noticed Brian sitting at the counter. Why did he always have to sit at the counter? How informal. There were no booths, but there were tables. They could at least sit at the tables, act like a couple, something. Instead of just sitting there, talking quietly about their relationship's problems. When no one looks, they might squeeze hands or even—God forbid—share a small kiss.
Kris sat down next to Brian. "Hello," Kris said, not bothering to look over. Brian took a sip from his drink, not responding. She sighed. "I missed you."
"Where'd you go?" She gave him a shocked look. No, he had to know I was gone. "I knew you were gone, Kris. I want to know where you went."
"I was with Debbie," Kris said, and signaled to the familiar clerk. Brian smirked at the name of his favorite sister. He like Debbie a lot, probably because she was so sarcastic all the time. "She was having problems with Melanie. I went to help out."
"For three weeks?"
"No, I was there a week. You just haven't called in two weeks." Kris silently hoped he didn't call in the last two weeks.
"You can stop lying to me, Kris. I know you're doing something you don't want me to know. I'm not that dense." Kris paused. She hoped he didn't notice.
"I'm not hiding anything, Brian. I tell you everything." She looked at the food that as set in front of her. "Unlike you, I'm completely honest with you."
"Bull." Brian took another sip from his drink. "Let me know what you're thinking now. If you're so honest, you should have no problem."
"I'm wondering why you are the way you are, Brian," Kris said, not bothering to think about how he might react at all. "I'm thinking how you can hate me so much. I didn't do anything to you, but for some reason you're accusing me."
"I don't hate you, Kris."
"Then what?" Kris asked, speaking up. The few other people looked over. "How do you feel about me, Brian?" Brian looked around. "We've been dating for nine months! How do you feel about me?"
"Kris…you're causing a scene."
"Fuck you! We're having a fight! Does anyone car? No! This is what normal couples do, Brian. But according to you we're not even a couple! I'm fucking sick of it all. I'm sick of not being appreciated, I'm sick of having to come to this place every day so no one can see that I have a boyfriend! We used to go places, before we started dating. We were best friends before we started dating? What are we now?" Brian didn't say anything. "I figured. We're nothing." She grabbed her food and left.
"Better go after her," the clerk said.
"She's not worth it." Brian turned back to his food. The clerk looked back to Kris, running down the street.
I swear if he doesn't come after me I'm going to break up with him. Kris thought, looking behind her. He wasn't there; he wasn't even trying. Groaning furiously, she continued down North Avenue. If he wasn't coming, then she didn't want to be around him.
She got downtown quickly. She ventured deeper and deeper into the city before she even knew she was lost. As she looked around, Kris realized that she had absolutely no clue where she was. She'd never been lost before, but now she was fearing she was. At the city limits, she stopped.
Shit, she thought.
A car pulled up. The window lowered and Brian's face appeared. She gave him a look. "Just get in the car, Kris," he said. She groaned and stepped into the car.
The ride home was virtually silent. Kris was waiting for an apology. Close to home, she got fed up and turned to him. "Well?"
"Well what?" he asked.
"I'm waiting for an apology, Brian."
"You actually expect me to apologize?" Brian asked. "If anything, you should apologize to me! I wasn't the one who made the scene in Johnny's."
"If you never pissed me off, like you always do, then I would have never yelled at you! You always do that to me, Brian. Everything I do never seems good enough for you anymore."
"Only because it's whatever Kris wants that goes. Everything in the world revolved around you."
"At least I have the courage and the decency to say I love you." Brian remained silent. He did that whenever he was uncomfortable. "It's been nine months, Brian. If you can't say how you feel by now, then there's no help for you." She huffed and lowered her voice. "We were definitely better off as friends."
"What?" Brian asked. He had now stopped the car. She opened the door.
"Nothing." She stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. "Thanks for the ride." She left quickly and ran into the house. When she got into her room, her mother was in there listening to Taylor's voice on the answering machine. "What are you doing?"
"I noticed someone was speaking so I decided to listen in."
"I love you, Kris. Call me back; we'll be at the hotel for the rest of the day…" Taylor voice said, catching her mother's attention. Kris put her hand on her forehead, shielding her face.
"What's that about?"
"Um…you remember Taylor, don't you? Dad's nephew?" Kris asked. Her mother raised an eyebrow. "He came by a few weeks ago. I stayed with him for all that time."
"I don't recall ever meeting him before. You do know that your father has one brother—who's not married." Kris looked away. "I do know more about your father than you think."
"I didn't know that…"
"Who is he?" Kris remained silent. "Kristina, who is he?"
"My boyfriend."
"I know. I've known all along. I just needed to hear you say it." Kris sunk to the floor, upset. But her mother was even more upset. "Diana told me everything. I know you don't know me that well, but don't underestimate me. You don't know me as well as you think. Listen to me, you are still dating Brian! If anything, you should choose one and not both. This is definitely the most selfish thing that you have ever done." Kris didn't bother to look at her mother.
"I know, I know!" She finally yelled. "I'm not supposed to, but me and Brian will be over soon!" Kris realized what she said and put her hand over her mouth.
"Really?"
"We had a big fight; I finally told him how I feel about our relationship. I can't stand it anymore." Kris sighed and dropped her hand. "I know we haven't talked about any of this before, but Brian is so horrible to me. When I met Taylor, he was just everything I wanted. I thought I loved Brian, but now—now all I think about is Taylor."
"Does Taylor know about Brian?" Kris nodded. "But Brian doesn't know about Taylor?" She nodded again. "Get rid of him. Taylor's always been better for you. Even before you knew each other." Kris smiled.
"I will." Cynthia left the room.
"Did you and your little girlfriend have a fight?" Travis Hoffman, Brian's older brother, teased. "You're not usually this bad."
"Fuck off."
"Ooh, do I sense a threat? Whatcha gonna do, Bri?" Brian threw a book at him. "That was uncalled for."
"Stay out of my life."
"So you did have a fight. What happened?"
"I said stay out of my life." Brian turned back to the computer he had been listlessly typing away on. Travis still didn't go away.
"Brian, there's obviously something wrong, you have to let me know so I can help."
"I don't have to let you know anything. This is between me and Kris, not you." Travis took the opportunity to sit down, much to Brian's displeasure. But Brian knew his brother wasn't going to let up soon.
"We have a fight." Brian shook his head. "I can't remember the last time we stayed in a room for more than five minutes without fighting. Normally they're just small and are solved within a few hours," Brian said, "but it's been a day now and we still haven't made up. I tried calling her but she didn't pick up."
"Did you even talk to her after the fight?"
"Yeah, but it only made things worse." Brian looked at the nightstand, where a picture stood. It was of her and Brian, but before they started to date. Everything was so much more open. They went everywhere together and did everything together. It was just that they were suck good friends that they dared going out.
He was afraid that it was going to ruin everything now.
"I'm sure if you guys can be friends for thirteen years, you can get through a little fight every once in a while."
"But Travis, that's the problem. It's not a little fight every once in a while. It's a big fight every time we talk. This one was pretty bad, even though we've had worse. I think she's considering breaking up with me."
"Dude, if she hasn't done it those other times, she's not going to do it now."
"She mentioned her cousin again," Brian said. "She's been talking about him more and more lately. All the time it's Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. I hate to admit it, but I'm getting jealous of him."
"Woah, Taylor's a him?" Brian nodded. "The only Taylor I know that's a guy is Taylor Hanson."
"Who?"
"He was in the Entertainment Weekly the other day. I'll go get it and show it to you." Travis disappeared for a few moments and returned with a magazine. He flipped through it until he found what he was looking for. "I swear this dude is gay."
Brian took the magazine and nearly screamed. "Oh my God."
"What?"
"That's him!" Brian said, pointing to the picture of Taylor. "This is the Taylor that Kris is talking about all the time! I met him at Christmas." Travis gave him a look.
"Dude, you're screwed."
"I know." Brian looked at Travis. "How?"
"Well you said that Taylor is her cousin. Through her father's brother. Her father's brother would have the last name Carter. So he would have to be Taylor Carter. This guy that you met is Taylor Hanson. She lied."
"Then what do you think he is?" Travis shrugged.
"Another boyfriend?" Brian laughed. "I don't know; I'm just guessing."
"But why would she lie?" Brian asked. "I don't think she was mad at me then. But maybe she was so I shouldn't say anything."
"When is Kris not mad at you?"
"Leave, Travis."
"Still, when is she not made at you, Brian? I don't know what you do or what you say, but she's always mad at you. What do you do to get her pissed all the time? The last couple of times that I've talked to you, you've mentioned you had a fight with Kris and she was mad and stormed out. You mentioned that you had to go after her and try to talk her into not being pissed anymore."
"I don't know, she just gets mad over the littlest things." Travis stared blankly at his younger brother. "Okay, I don't take her out as often as she would like."
"Like how often do you guys go out?" Brian didn't answer. "Oh." Travis got up and left. Brian thought nothing of it and turned back to the computer. Everything just went over his head.
Like it always did.