Chapter Eight: Lay Down Beside Me

Deep within my heart
I feel
Nothings like it used to be
Sometimes I wish I could
Turn back time
Impossible as it may seem
But I wish I could
So bad
Baby

They stayed up celebrating this new turn of events, until Nick got sleepy and went to bed around two. Rylee was far too excited to sleep. She sat on her bed in the dark, but was too worked up to actually lay down and attempt to sleep. After a couple minutes, her door slowly creaked open and Brian peeked his head in. Seeing that she was still awake, he crossed the room soundlessly and bounced onto the bed beside her.

"I can’t even try to sleep either," he told her.

She laughed at his comical expression. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don’t know," he said airily, lying down with his hands resting under his head. "I suppose we could just sit here in silence. Or maybe make up an crazy, imaginary thirty-year-old friend for you."

She smiled down at him. "No thanks. I’ve got a crazy, REAL, thirty-year-old friend right here."

He frowned at her, good-naturedly. "I am not thirty!" he said, indignantly.

She just laughed and shook her head. She pushed back her thick hair so it was out of her face, and lean across Brian to reach her brush on the nightstand. As she leaned down, her hair slipped off her shoulder and swept across his face.

"I don’t get it," he said, breaking the momentary stillness. "What do girls put in their hair that always makes it smell nice? Is it just natural or do y’all put like perfume in it or something?"

She made a face at his strange question, but realized he was genuinely curious. "Its just shampoo, Bri. Girls usually have longer hair so the scent stays in longer."

He cocked his head thoughtfully. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, smiling at his skepticism.

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering."

She started brushing her hair, like she usually did in the evenings, but stopped when she noticed that Brian was watching her. "What, Bri?"

"Nothing," he replied, but he sat up and took the brush from her hand. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that her back was facing him. Then he began drawing the brush through her long hair.

"Having fun?" she asked him, amused at his actions.

"Yup," he replied in full confidence. "You’ve always had really long hair, haven’t you? I remember when I was younger, I thought it was so pretty, and I wondered why all girls didn’t have hair like yours. And I used to sit there and brush your hair, just like this." Brian rambled aimlessly, half out of nervousness. "I always thought that was so cool. Although I don’t really know why it fascinated me that much. I mean, I was actually having fun and stuff… It’s pretty weird, doncha think?"

He continued babbling on and on, talking about how he used to brush her hair, and how he didn’t understand why he enjoyed it so much. Rylee smiled at the image in her mind, a seven-year-old Brian and a four-year-old version of herself. They were seated together on a couch, while Brian concentrated heavily on making perfect strokes through her hair. She also smiled at the fact the he was nervous. The fact made him rather endearing to her right then. "I remember," she told him. "I used to just sit there while you were brushing my hair, like watching TV or something. Strange things that captivate the mind of a seven-year-old."

"Yup, those were the days," he replied. He kept brushing until every strand was perfectly straight and shining in the soft moonlight. "There. Now it looks perfect," he proclaimed.

"Thanks, you never know who I might meet in my dreams," she said jokingly.

He raised his eyebrows. "Uhuh! So that’s the way the wind blows!" He took in her curious expression and exclaimed, "Yes, I know! I’ve been hanging out with JC too much! I heard that already!" He threw up his hands in mock frustration.

"I didn’t say anything!" Rylee insisted. She leaned back against the wall, making herself comfortable.

Brian’s eyes narrowed at her. "But you were going too!" he accused. He, too, leaned with his back to the wall. He settled back, as they began to talk late into the night. They reminisced more about their growing up years, everything from different teachers they had to the strange escapades they plotted as children. Brian still felt a little flustered at her nearness, and vaguely wondered why, before pushing the thought out of his head. Something was different for him, and although he still couldn’t place it, he was almost sure it was nothing major and tried not to dwell on it. They both found themselves individually almost wishing for those simpler times, before their friendship became shrouded by confusion and uncertainty. But underneath all the haze, they knew their friendship would be able to withstand whatever it was. They kept talking, like only best friends can, until sleep finally caught up with them several hours later.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Here we are
In the arms of one another
And we still
Go on searching for each other
Knowing that hate is wrong
And love is right
For us tonight

The morning sunshine streamed through the large window, sending warm rays over the bed. But the two sleeping occupants were completely oblivious. The digital clock flashed 8:28, but they were only working on 3 hours of sleep. They had fallen asleep sometime during their talk, and had somehow during the night moved around so they were both stretched out on Rylee’s bed. Not only were they both lying down, but somehow, maybe subconsciously or maybe by pure chance, they were sleeping pretty much with their arms around each other.

Rylee’s head rested on Brian’s chest, and her hand was positioned just over his heart. Brian had his left hand covering hers while his right arm was wrapped around her waist. They slept on, oblivious to the sweet picture they made.

Three hours later, Rylee shifted in the growing warmth of the room. She squinted in the sunlight, her eyes peeking open lazily. She made out Brian’s form sleeping next to her, but her brain was still half asleep, and her eyes slid shut again. Her eyes flew open again in shock, as her mind registered what she saw. She blinked quickly several times, trying to decide if she was dreaming or not. Just then, Brian let out a sigh, and shifted in his sleep. "Oooookaaaaaaaay… So I’m not dreaming," Rylee thought. "So, how exactly did this happen? Not that I’m complaining…" She smiled ruefully. Brian looked so peaceful and innocent when he was asleep. Rylee’s grin widened thinking of how evil he could look, such as the time he and Nick stole AJ’s favorite cowboy hat and dumped baby powder in it, or that notorious incident when Nick was locked out of the dressing room in only his boxers. Oh, if only they could see him now!

The sunlight filtered across his features, casting shadows that only defined the clean sweep of his jaw line even more. His hair was getting slightly long, and a curl had fallen forward, resting on his forehead. His lips were parted slightly as he breathed deeply in sleep. Rylee reached up and brushed the hair off his forehead. She couldn’t stop herself from running her fingers down his cheek, her gaze stopping at his lips. Once again, she marveled at how beautiful he was to her. Not just in a physical sense, although he was that as well, but his personality, his character, his soul; everything that made Brian, Brian. She sighed a little, remembering how much she had wanted to kiss him that night. Slowly, she lifted her hand and lightly touched his lips. She slowly smoothened her fingers tracing his lips. She brought her hand away after a second, as not to wake him. The last thing she needed right then was to have Brian wake up and wonder why she was touching his lips. She watched him sleep for several minutes, just enjoying the warmth and security she felt. She could’ve kept watching him forever, but that might but a damper of future plans, like, say, a record contract? Rylee smiled brightly as she remembered. This was a whirlwind summer for her. It hadn’t seemed like too long ago that she was back in California, arguing with Jess over who ate the last Pop Tart. And now, here she was, in the pop capital of Orlando, and she just got signed to a major record label. To top it off, she was lying here, basking in the morning Florida sunshine, in the arms of her best friend.

Brian shifted in his sleep again, jogging Rylee back to reality. She glanced at the clock and knew she had to wake him. "Brian," she whispered, gently.

Brian just grunted in reply.

"Brian," she called again, a bit louder.

His eyes opened to mere slits, and Rylee had to stop herself from letting out a laugh at how comical he looked. Brian’s eyes opened a little more, the bright blue of his eyes glittering brightly despite his tiredness. His eyes seemed to register on her face, scrutinizing her intensely. Without breaking his gaze, he shifted on his side and wrapped his arms around Rylee’s waist. He pulled her tight against his chest until she was almost crushed. Rylee could do nothing but stare back into his eyes. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t even breathe. Brian, on the other hand, breathed deeply and comfortably. The last remnants of clean soap assailed her senses because of his nearness. He was so utterly captivating. Rylee finally found her voice, and opened her mouth to say something. Before she could say a word, his eyes fluttered shut as if he was going to… to kiss her? Sure enough, he leaned forward slowly. Rylee was shocked, but she was too mesmerized to question him. He leaned closer and closer. Rylee’s mind was screaming at her to wake him up. Even if he didn’t know what he was doing, one little kiss could ruin everything between them. And she didn’t want to take that risk. But her heart won out and she did nothing. His lips were but a hair’s breadth away from touching hers, so close that she could feel his warm breath on her lips.

Suddenly, the door to Rylee’s bedroom flew open, and Nick popped his head in, an extra cheery smile on his face. Startled, both Brian and Rylee turn to look at the door. "Rise and shi- Whoa!" Nick started to exclaim, then quickly backed out of the room laughing.

Rylee turned to look back at Brian, but the spell was broken. Brian blinked a few times and pulled back. He shook his head quickly to rid himself of the last traces of sleep. "Sorry, Ry," he said sheepishly. "I guess I thought I was still dreaming." That dream… what was it? Why was he about to kiss Rylee? And why- "Wait a minute!" He said. "Why am I still in here?" He looked puzzled and terribly confused.

Rylee smiled at the expression on his face. "We fell asleep while we were talking last night," she said smoothly, trying to ease his confusion.

Brian relaxed. "Oh." He brought one hand off of Rylee’s waist and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Oh," he repeated.

"Um. Bri?" Rylee didn’t want to leave the warmth and comfort of his arms, but she had to ask.

"What?"

"Are you planning to let go any time soon?" she said softly, referring to the fact that he was still holding on to her.

"What? Oh, sorry." He moved his arm away from her and Rylee rolled onto her back away from him. "I guess I better go get ready."

"Uhuh."

He got out of the bed and started to make his way to the door. He paused, his hand on the doorframe when he remembered. "Hey, Angel? You never answered me and Nick."

She propped up on her elbows to face him. "Answered what?"

"You wanna go on tour with us, next year or what?"

Her huge grin matched his. "Oh, definitely!"

Brian smiled at her one last time, before heading to his own room. He got maybe three steps before being accosted by Nick, who had been waiting right outside Rylee’s room.

"Well, isn’t this nice!" he said with a slow smile. "I went to sleep last night, in full confidence that you two would do the same. A bit misleading there, isn’t it?"

"Whatever, Nick. You know us; we just talked." Brian said, sounding rather defensive.

"UH-huh! That’s what you SAY. But it sure didn’t look like there was a lot of talking going on this morning!" Nick said with a laugh.

"Shut up, Nick." Brian said, continuing to walk towards his room.

"Okay, okay… I’ll lay off. For now."

Brian gave Nick a pointed look and Nick just laughed. Regaining his composure, Nick asked, "No, seriously…" He chuckled one last time. "What were you doing?"

Brian paused before answering. "I’m not really sure. I was dreaming. I think."

"’You think’?" Nick parroted, following Brian down the hall. "So in your dream you were kissing Rylee?"

"Yeah- wait, no, I don’t think I knew who I was kissing." Brian stated, half talking to himself.

Nick raised one eyebrow speculatively. "You were just kissing some stranger? Or a fan? LIKE THAT?!?! Cuz, not that I was studying you or anything, but you looked pretty intense."

Brian rolled his eyes. "No, nothing like that. I dreamed we were doing a concert, but it wasn’t in an arena or stadium or anything. It was some sort of field."

"Like Woodstock?" Nick interrupted.

"then – no, not like Woodstock. Just some field - after the concert, we all ran off the stage. And there was this girl that I knew. Well, I knew her in the dream anyways. But she grabbed my hand and we started running for the buses. But the buses disappeared, and it was just the two of us standing the field. And I was just about to kiss her. Then you woke me up." He finished, and looked to Nick to find him struggling to hold his laughter in.

Nick was fighting a losing battle, because soon enough he let out a huge laugh. In between fits of laughter, he managed to say, "Sorry… but….that sounded….like a…really girly dream!"

Brian’s eyes narrowed as he watched Nick laugh. "You’re way too hyper in the morning!" he said before turning on his heel and walking into his room. He slammed the door behind him before Nick could follow.

Nick stopped laughing and turn back down the hall, looking a Rylee’s closed door. He laughed once more, then made his way back to his own room in search of his phone.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

You are
My fire
My one
Desire
Believe
When I say
I want it that way

Now showered, changed, and more awake, Rylee sat on the edge of her bed trying to brush her wet hair. "Stupid thick hair!" she exclaimed in frustration.

Just then, there was a short knock on her door. "Come in!" she called. The door opened, and Nick was standing outside. He didn’t say a word, as he was on the phone. As he was listening to whatever the person on the other end was saying, he gestured to Rylee, pointing first towards her then in the direction of Brian’s room.

"Brian wants me?" she questioned.

Nick grinned broadly at her choice of words.

Noticing her mistake, Rylee quickly said, "I mean Brian wants to see me?"

Nick grinned even broader and nodded slowly.

"I mean, oh you know what I mean!" Rylee said finally. ""Shut up, Nick!"

Nick just smiled and shrugged, still not saying a word and went back to his own room.

Giving her hair one final brush, Rylee got up and headed towards Brian’s room. She walked in quickly to find Brian dressed only in a pair of jeans, a button up shirt in his hand. "Whoa, Bri!" she said, averting her eyes. "Warn me a little or something!"

Brian grinned, and slipped on the shirt. He sauntered towards her, his shirt still blowing open as he moved. She turned back to watch him. His stride was graceful and confident and he had a devious look on his face.

What Brian did next, no one would understand, not even Brian himself. But it would be the topic of conversation for a while. He stopped just inches from her, placed his hands on her hips and drew her to him quickly. Rylee lifted her hands to prevent being crushed against him, but only succeeding to contact with his bare chest. Rylee’s eyes widened, as she tried to figure out what Brian was doing.

Brian’s lips curved slowly into a smile as he took in Rylee’s expression. He leaned in closer, and said, "No need to be embarrassed, Angel-girl." He lowered his voice and almost whispered, "After all, we did just sleep together."

Rylee’s jaw dropped considerably at his comment. Brian didn’t move for a second, just long enough to enjoy the look of shock on Rylee’s face, before he laughed and moved away from her, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Rylee’s mouth was still opened. She licked her lips and gave Brian a critical look. "Okay," she demanded, "who the heck are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

Brian just laughed again and finished buttoning up his shirt. Rylee sat down beside him on the bed still eyeing him. "Well?" she asked.

"’Well’ what?" Brian responded.

"You wanted to see me?"

"’See you’?" Brian repeated. "Why would I want to see you? I just saw you like half an hour ago?"

"Fine!" Rylee said, going along with his teasing. "If you just don’t want to admit that you missed me, that’s just fine!"

Brian just shook his head as Rylee kept rambling.

"I know, being a guy and everything, you just can’t admit stuff like that! I totally understand. I mean, why would I expect you to voice your opinions and feelings like that! Of course not! That would be crazy! And just"-

Brian reached up and placed his hand over her mouth to silence her.

Rylee raised one eyebrow in defiance. "Don’t make me bite you!" came her muffled voice from behind his hand.

He moved his hand away quickly.

She grinned at him. "Thanks! You are smarter than you look!"

Now it was Brian’s turn for his jaw to drop. "You’re mean!" he pouted, sticking his bottom lip out.

Rylee laughed again. "I’m just kidding! So seriously, what did you want?"

"’What did I want’?" Brian parroted.

"Yes! Geez, are you having hearing problems today or what?"

"Oh!" Brian said, remembering. "I just wanted to ask you what you were doing today. Cuz we have to go back to the studio today, and it’s just a bunch of meetings. You’ll probably be really bored, but you can just hang out there or you can hang out here. Whatever."

Rylee opened her mouth to answer him, but before she could respond, Nick appeared in Brian’s doorway, minus the phone.

"Bri, we have to leave in five minutes. And Ry, you’re hanging out with Justin and JC today. Watching a movie, or something. They’ll be here in like ten minutes." His message delivered, Nick turned to walk away.

"Hello? What, I don’t get a say in what I’m doing today?" Rylee asked him. "What if I don’t want to hang out with Justin and JC?"

Nick gave her a strange look. "But you do," he stated, as if it were obvious. He looked at her strangely again, before walking down the stairs.

Brian laughed at the expression on Rylee’s face. "He knows you too well, Angel."

She smiled. "Well, I guess that answers your question about what I’m doing today!"

"Cool," Brian said, standing up. He grabbed his wallet off his desk and shoved it in his pocket. "We’ll catch you later for dinner tonight, okay?"

"Sure" Rylee responded lazily, stretching out on Brian’s bed.

Brian chuckled at Rylee’s peaceful countenance as she closed her eyes. "Hey, they’re gonna be here soon, ya know?"

"Uhm…"

Brian chuckled again. "Hey, when you see them, ask them if they want to go out with us for dinner, okay?"

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

*chapter seven*

*chapter nine*

*back to novels*