What We Could Never Be (gxg)

Part 18- Present Day

Something seemed to slightly change after Casey's party. For the week after at work Brianna was sweet when she saw me, and smiling at me, almost in a shy way.
Why did she kiss me again though? I felt bad for even going along with it for a second there. I mean, she was engaged. As crazy as Sydney seemed and as mean she was, she was still in a relationship with Brianna. I wondered how they even got together.
The Friday after Labor Day, Casey asked me on that morning if I wanted to go out with her and a few other girls who worked at the Nursing home with us. Brianna was going to be included in that group. As well as Miranda Hernandez, another case manager, Kelly Pendleton, an Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Rachel Daley, a nurse. So there would be 6 of us going out to a bar, they chose one about 20 minutes away called Shots. Very fitting. We would all probably be in scrubs too except Kelly and Brianna.
I knew that word had gotten around that Brianna and I were exes. She was good friends with some of the girls at work, and told them. It was also just obvious that there was some kind of tension there.
After work I met the girls at Shots, which was already crowded at 5:30. There was a huge outdoor patio which we got a table at.
I ordered a strawberry margarita. Brianna was sitting across from me, which had me slightly nervous.
"Something sweet, huh?" She asked me. She had changed out of her work clothes and into Jean shorts, a black v-neck t-shirt, and an Adidas hat.
I was still in my scrubs, not looking as good. "I'm in the mood for it. What are you getting?"
"A beer." She said, and a few minutes later we were served our first round of drinks. "Cheers." She lifted her glass up and looked at me. I raised my glass back to her. Once again there was just so much tension, I could feel it in the air.
All of us were talking when Rachel, a short 25 year old with long, dark hair who was next to me, turned to me and said, "It's good that you and Brianna get along. I think I would just about die if I was sitting across from my ex right now." 
Casey, who was next to Brianna shot me a wide-eyed as if to say, "Why the fuck would she ask that?"
I didn't quite know how to respond, but Brianna said, "It's hard to not get along with Blake."
Always there to save my ass. I just nodded. I didn't really want to talk about this.
"When did you guys date?" Miranda asked.
"You don't have to answer that." Casey said to me.
"It's okay...we dated back in high school and the first year of college." I said, avoiding Brianna looking at me.
"Oh wow, so for a while then?" Miranda asked me.
"2 and a half years."
"And you're cool with the fact that she's engaged?" Miranda said, looking back and forth between Brianna and I.
"Miranda, come on." Casey shot her a look.
"No no. I am not asking that to be rude. I admire you, Blake." Miranda said. She was a pretty Hispanic girl with dyed cherry red hair.
"No, I'm not cool with the fact that she's engaged." I wanted to say, but instead I just said, "As long as she's happy." I looked at Brianna. Now she wasn't looking at me.
The subject got changed, but I noticed Brianna slip away from the table. And she looked upset.
My guess was that she was at her car, so I excused myself and walked out to the parking lot. And I spotted her out, leaning against the hood of her car, just staring at her phone. She didn't notice me walk up to her, and I saw what she was looking at on her phone.
It was a selfie of her and in my dorm room when I first moved to school. We were laying on my bed and I was kissing her cheek. She had a big smile on her face. A few months before everything started to go downhill.
"Those were the best times, huh?" I said, and she looked up at me startled. And shoved her phone in her pocket.
"Sorry." She looked flustered.
"I'm surprised you still have that saved."
"Yeah...some things are hard to just get rid of."
"Tell me about it. Why did you get up?" I asked her.
"I just needed some fresh air. My mind just feels all clouded." She looked off into the distance.
"Want to talk about it?"
She looked at me, "Not here."
"Well, where at?"
"Want to come back to my place? Sydney is at work. She won't be back until the morning."
"You live with her?"
"I mean...yeah. We are engaged."
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Brianna."
"I won't do anything...I won't kiss you." She said. And I was slightly hoping she wouldn't stick to that. "Let's just go in my car. I'll bring you back here later if you're fine with that."
I nodded, "Yeah, that's okay."
We got into Brianna's car, and I almost couldn't believe this was happening. It was the same car she got when I was a freshman in college, a black Ford. She grabbed her phone and went to her Spotify account. "Do you still like rock?"
I nodded, "That'll never change."
She put on Three Days Grace. And the car ride, while quiet, felt very familiar. Comfortable. She kept looking over at me.
"I just realized I don't know where you live." I said.
"In Yardville. About 20 minutes from work."
"And about 10 minutes from me." I said. Wow. She was so close.
We eventually pulled up to her apartment complex. She told me she lived on the second floor. I made her reassure me Sydney was at work.
Her apartment was small, but cute. It was decorated very...girly. Lots of light pinks and cream colors everywhere with some touches of rose gold. So not Brianna.
She looked at me sheepishly. "I gave Sydney free reign to decorate."
"I can see that." I said, and she said down on the cream colored couch with rose gold pillows and patted the spot next to me to sit down. Then all of a sudden I heard a gentle meow. And I spotted an orange cat coming up to Brianna.
"You have a cat!" I said. Brianna always wanted a cat.
She leaned down and picked up up. "This is Miles." She said, cuddling into him, "He's my favorite guy."
I pet Miles, whose fur was so soft, and he gave me a few kisses on the hand with his sandpaper tongue.
"So sweet." I said.
"He likes you." She smiled at me.
"I like him. How long have you lived here...with Sydney?" I asked her.
"Around 5 months. We moved in back in April."
"So you had only been dating for-"
"4 months, around." Brianna cut me off. "I know, it's a bit quick."
"Just a little." I chuckled, feeling a pang of sadness, "How did you even get together with Sydney?"
"We started DM'ing on Instagram. We were liking each other's pictures. She sent me the first message. We met up and just kind of took it from there."
I was feeling a great amount of jealously, but I held it in. "I had no idea she was even gay."
"She came out after high school. Apparently was hiding it the whole time."
"That makes sense, why she made fun of me senior year for dating you. And now she's engaged to you." I felt my voice waver a tiny bit.
Brianna looked at me, sadly. "Yeah."
"So...why is your mind clouded?"
"It was supposed to be us. That had what I have with Sydney. It's just fucking with me so much. And I am sorry for kissing you. I just had to confirm that I was over you."
I felt my heart sink. Was she...over me? "And are you?" I asked her.
"I don't think I could get over you no matter how hard I tried, Blake." She said, and I felt my body get hot get prickle up with goosebumps at the same time.
"I know the feeling." I swallowed.
"What about Ellen Howell?" She was petting Miles, who then jumped off her lap.
"Oh...yeah. That's not a thing anymore. I think that after she saw that I worked with you she backed away."
"Oh, sorry." She said.
"You're not sorry one bit." I said to her.
"No, I'm not. And I have to be honest, you have this confidence about you now that you didn't have back when we dated. And it's beyond sexy." Brianna said, and I noticed she had moved in closer to me.
Fuck. "You think so?" Once again I could feel the tension between us multiplying by the second. God, I wanted her. Wanted her body and also just for her to be mine again.
"I know I said I wouldn't kiss you again. But I-"
And before I knew it I had leaned in and kissed her. Hard. I needed her lips on mine more than anything in that moment. I grabbed her face and kissed her passionately. And a minute later, I was straddling her and her hands were on my hips. And in my hair. She was kissing me like her lips needed to be on mine more than anything. I didn't want to stop. There was no fucking way I could stop this.

A/N: Once again, I don't condone personally what's to come or what has happened- but it's part of their story!