Lush Life (Tradley au)

Chapter 15- Brad's POV

I'm currently sitting on my bedroom floor cringing about the stupid thing I did yesterday. I've tried to block it from my memory, but it's still there. Tristan had kissed me on the cheek just after I told him that Josh used to hit me, and although I loved the feeling of him kissing me, I panicked and ran off. Talk about wasting a golden opportunity. I look over and see the picture if Josh I still have smiling down at me, and my eyes fill with tears as I remember the nasty run in we had with him yesterday. 

He rudely asked if Tristan was my new boyfriend, and I was sorely tempted to say yes, despite the fact that that definitely isn't true. In a way, I'd like it to be- Tristan's one of my best friends, but I feel a kind of spark with him that I've never felt with anyone else before. Even the awkward kiss that we were dated to do was magical, and I get butterflies whenever I think of it. I hope I didn't offend Tristan by running off yesterday, I don't know why I did it.

In the end, I swallow my pride and decide to phone him. It takes a second for him to pick up, but I almost instantly smile when I hear his voice. "Brad? You ok?"

"Yeah," I say, although I'm a mess of emotions at the moment so that's not technically true. "I just wanted to ask you a favour."

"Which is?" he asks.

I sigh, as it's kind of awkward. "Can you come over? It'll make more sense in person."

"Sure." he says, and I smile to myself as I picture the confused, puzzled expression he probably has on his face right now. 

"Thank you." I reply gratefully. Soon enough, there's a knock at my door and I head downstairs to answer it. 

I find Tristan stood on the porch. "So, what did you want?" I instinctively take his hand and lead him upstairs.

As we go into my room, I explain "I thought about what you said, and you were right. I need to get rid of all Josh's stuff and I needed some moral support." I hear Tristan mutter something under his breath, but I don't catch it and don't want to ask. 

When I show him the stack of clothes and photos and so on he says "That's quite a stash you've got there. What are we going to do with it?"

"I don't know." I sigh.

"A bit pointless getting me to come and look at it then." he says moodily. I'm slightly taken aback by that- it's not like Tristan to be that blunt.

"Someone's touchy!" I comment, laughing awkwardly.

Tristan stares at me like I'm a bit stupid. "I'm not touchy." he says stroppily.

"You're not yourself." I point out. "Why are you acting like this? Have I upset you or something?"

"Yes, actually." he says, rolling his eyes. 

I already know the answer to the question but I still ask "What have I done then? Please tell me, I don't want you to be mad at me."

"I wonder?" says Tristan sarcastically. "It's not like I tried to help you yesterday and then you just ran off for no reason."

"It wasn't like that!" I protest. 

"What was it then?" he demands. "You just left me hanging there!"

"It's not all about you, you know!" I say angrily. "I just told you something that almost no one else knows. I trusted you with a huge secret and now you're complaining about me not worshipping you for it!"

"No I'm not!" he says, his voice raising to a shout. "I acknowledged it and tried to make you feel better! You could have at least said thank you or something!" We argue back and forth, me protesting that I panicked and that I'm sorry, and him lecturing me on basic manners. 

In the midst of our screaming match, he suddenly comes out with it- "Did you talk to Josh like this? I totally get why he hit you." As soon as he says it, his hand is over his mouth in shock, and I recoil like I've actually been slapped, tears (which I'd been holding back) starting to spill over. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." he says, looking horrified.

I move back from him. "Fuck off Tristan. Just go away." A strangled sob escapes as he turns and runs off, and as soon as I'm sure he's gone, I sink down to the floor and start to sob.

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Sorry for general crapness of this chapter, and for lack of update last week, I was on holiday with  no internet 😭 Out of curiosity, are you on Brad or Tristan's side?

I wore my wake up tour shirt to the sea life centre on Wednesday, and the man behind the till complimented me on it and said that he'd seen the boys in 2012 at a festival when they were tiny and no one had heard of them, which I thought was cool.