The sound of my phone vibrating on my bed woke me up. Without opening my eyes I fumbled around, searching for it with the intention of cancelling the call. I wasn't in the mood to talk to people. I had gone straight to bed when I got home from the theme park, wanting to wallow by myself. Opening one eye to look at my phone screen, I noticed it was an American number. Brian? I thought automatically, before remembering I had his number. Whoever it was wasn't giving up so I answered.
"Hello?" It was Sal. I sat up, wrapping my duvet around me. "What can I do for you Vulcano?"
"Please tell me you don't have any plans right now?"
I frowned. "What? Why?"
"Because we need you here. I know we only left last night but Brian stayed up drinking all night, he's not in a good way. He won't say as much, but I know it's because of you... Fuck that sounds bad. I mean, well how much do you know about Q's past?" I quickly repeated what we had discussed over dinner. "Ok I'm gonna get right to the point. And I really hope it doesn't freak you out or anything. He's scared, Shae. He hasn't had these kind of feelings for someone in a a long time, especially not this quickly and he's terrified of being hurt again. And I'm scared too. I don't want him to do anything stupid...again."
Those words triggered something in me. I jumped out of bed, grabbing clothes out of my wardrobe. "Text me the address Sal. I'll be there as soon as I can." I threw my phone on the bed and shouting to Oli.
"Oli? Oli?? OLIVIA!!" She ran into my bedroom.
"What? What's the panic?" She looked at my bed, where I was packing clothes. "Where are you going?"
"Birmingham. Sal just called, Brian's not in a good way. I've got to go." I picked my bag up and headed to the door.
"Wait, I'll come with you." She started to run back to her room.
"I can't Oli. I can't sit and wait. I've got to go now. Please," I pleaded. "Get the train up and meet me there if you must, but I need to go." She nodded, giving me a hug.
"Be careful. Text me when you get there."
I ran down the stairs and bundled into my car. The second I was on the road I tried calling Brian. It just rang out. I kept trying but he didn't answer. Frustrated I threw my phone down onto the passenger seat. Thankfully it was still fairly early and the roads were clear. I made it to the motorway quickly, I just hoped that the roadworks were competed. I couldn't get stuck in traffic.
I snatched my phone up when it rang, fumbling to get it on speakerphone. It was Sal again.
"Why isn't he answering his phone, Sal?"
"I don't know."
"Are you with him? Put him on please."
I heard mumbling, and raised voices. Finally, I sighed with relief as I heard his voice on the phone.
"Shae?"
"Hey Brian." I said quietly. "What's going on dude?"
I could picture him running his hand through his hair before he spoke.
"I...it's..."
"Don't worry about it. I'm gonna be there in like 40 minutes, we can talk then."
"You're coming here?" He asked, his voice lighter somehow.
"Damn right I am. Sal woke me up this morning and scared the shit out of me, of course I'm coming there."
"He shouldn't have called you."
"No, he shouldn't. You should have. You promised me Brian."
"I'm sorry..."
"Shush. It's fine. Just stay put, ok?" I said goodbye and wished the minutes away as I drove.
I pulled into the hotel car park 30 minutes later. I called Sal as I rushed into the hotel. He met me in the lobby and led me up to Brian's room before leaving me. I knocked on the door, nervous suddenly. The door flew open and there he was. He looked awful. His hair was disheveled, his clothes wrinkled and his eyes rimmed red.
Without saying a word, Brian pulled me towards him. He kissed me deeply, before pulling me closer to him, lifting me up and wrapping my legs around his waist. He kicked the door shut and carried me to the bed.
Some time later, I stroked his face, tugging playfully on his beard. "You scared the shit out of me Brian." I untangled myself from him and sat up in the bed. I pulled him up to sit beside me. "What's going on in that head of yours?"
He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I don't know, I just...thinking I'd never see you again...it kind of fucked me up." I didn't know what to say. "I know I should have just called you or something but you'd said that it was just that few days and I didn't think you'd want to know or didn't care or...I don't know." He put his head in his hands. I stroked his hair and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"You're a bit of an idiot, you know that?" He shot up, eyes narrowing. I couldn't help but chuckle. "No, I don't mean it like that...but if you had just called me, you would have prevented all this." I took his hand again. "Of course I said that. You were leaving, coming up here, then leaving the damn country at the end of the week. I was just being realistic. It's not like it can go anywhere..."
He silenced me with a kiss. "Can we not talk about this right now?" I nodded and kissed his forehead.
"We will at some point though, ok?" I thought ran through my mind. "Fuck, I need to speak to Oli. And let Sal know what's going on." I jumped out of bed, throwing on my underwear and one of Brian's t-shirts, and grabbed my phone out of my bag. I quickly typed out a text to Olivia, letting her know what was going on and asking if she had left yet. Next I called Sal, who said he would be right round.
I grabbed the rest of my clothes and took them into the bathroom. Sal didn't need to see me in any state of undress. I heard Sal come in and they started talking. I didn't want to interrupt but I couldn't stay hidden in the bathroom. They were just hugging it out as I came back into the room. "You sure you're ok man?" Sal asked Brian.
Brian shrugged "I will be." He held his hand out to me and pulled me close. "Thank you for calling this one."
He was smiling, but it wasn't reaching his eyes. We both knew that me being here now wasn't going to change a damn thing in a few days time.
