Lady of Sin City (BRENDON URIE)

07

Brendon and Carla barely talked at the pub. They listened to the cheerful folk music and glanced out the windows. He opened up about Sarah, but his soul was too heavy with guilt to spill all the details. She pretended not to notice, only giving him a slight comforting nod.

She didn't drink beer. He did, of course. He was fond towards the sweet, golden stuff. Brendon always had a love for alcohol; it buzzed in his throat and set of fizzing fireworks in his brain that made him happy. It was the perfect media to feel pain and to forget it at the same time. When Sarah first vanished off he face of the earth, he drowned himself in the stuff. Touching the stuff again faintly reminded him of the dark period, but Brendon chose to ignore that sensation lingering in the back of his brain.

"Water? Wimp." He scoffed.

"No!" She was quick to defend herself. "I just like my brain..clear."

"Haven't you ever heard you need clouds and rain for a rainbow?"

"I'm pretty sure the saying goes, 'You need a little rain for a rainbow.' What, you need beer to go a little gay?" She grinned. His cheeks flushed dark red.

"I am not gay!"

"You are definitely bisexual. You're like.. the epitome of bisexuality."

"How would you know?" He playfully glared at her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Carla rolled her eyes.

"You're seven." She tapped her fingers on the rim of her water glass. The old man tending the bar hobbled over slightly, reminding them they only had ten minutes. Carla reached for her pocket to pay but Brendon smacked her wrist. He paid, and she reluctantly let him. She had hoped her first steps towards total independence included paying for her own drinks.

"As the epitome of bisexuality, I insist that I prove to you chivalry isn't dead."

"The two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. You could be as gay as a character off Supernatural and be chivalrous or you could be as straight as a floorboard and be a gentleman."

He straightened his posture and huffed, sticking out his chest slightly, before holding his elbow out. She linked their arms and they lazily strolled out. By now, the glittering lights of the city sparkled with life. She tilted her head to the side, watching.

"I like this city."

"I like Vegas too."

"I don't like what it stands for."

"Prostitution, gambling, life in the desert? Yeaahhhh..." Brendon sighed.

"It's a place for new beginnings, but those beginnings are generally made heat-of-the-moment and terribly, so yes. Bad place. And yes, prostitution and gambling is pretty suck-ish, too." Carla shrugged.

"Damn, so I can't show you the song I wrote about Vegas?" He stuck out his tongue impishly.

She rolled her eyes.