Weight In Gold (Brendon Urie)

The Arizona Sun

I wake up with blinding sunshine in my eyes, something I haven't experienced in a very long time. I take a moment to breathe in the smell of home and let memories flood my mind. This is the place where I spent many summers making friends and discovering myself. It's where I had my first kiss and where I went after my first heartbreak, and it's where I could finally be unapologetically myself.

I rub my hands against the cheap cotton sheets that smell faintly of cologne and distinctly of nostalgia. Brendon's arm is still wrapped around me as it was last night. It feels nice to have him at my side, although this room is significantly warmer than it was last night and I'm sweating like crazy.

After a few minutes, the heat becomes a bit too much so I gently lift Brendon's arm off of me. I try not to wake him up, but I'm unsuccessful. A few seconds later, his eyes open and find their way to meet mine. "What time is it?" he asks through a yawn. I reach over him and press the home button of my phone which displays the time. "12:30," I say, rolling over so I can peer over him. I lean down and give him a kiss before laying back down to my previous position. "What do you want to do today?" Brendon asks while stretching his arms in front of him. "I think we should visit around the city today, but talk to Avery and my old friends to try and sort things out tomorrow. Since they aren't in spring break yet, we could go see them at school." Brendon nods as he gets out of bed.

"I'm starving. Do you think they have any food around here?" Brendon asks as he walks over to his bag. "Probably not, but if we take showers and get dressed, we can go to a breakfast restaurant down town and get some food." He sighs and says, "fine I guess, but I want to eat now. Can we skip the shower?"

I get up and walk over to him, then reach up to grab his head and pull it down towards me. I smell his hair and say, "Nope. We're showering before we're leaving." He rolls his eyes as he walks out of the room. "The bathroom's at the end of the hall!" I yell after him.

He comes back into the room about 15 minutes later with a towel around his waist. "Get out of here, I have to get dressed," he says only seconds after entering the room. I laugh and grab my entire travel bag before going into the bathroom so I can just get dressed there. I take a fast shower and I'm in and out in about 10 minutes. Then I towel off my hair as best as I can before reaching into the cabinet under the sink where there's a blow drier. I pull a brush through my purple hair with one hand and blow dry it with the other so that it doesn't poof out like it normally does. After my hair is done, I put on a little bit of makeup. Then I dig through my bag and pull out a white romper, and to finish the look off I put on the black sandals I shoved in my bag before we left. I give myself a last look in the mirror before grabbing my bag and walking back to the bedroom.

When I walk into the room, I see Brendon sitting on the bed looking at his phone. When he sees me walk in, he stands up looking more than ready to go eat. He's wearing a white button up shirt and a plaid bowtie with black dress pants and dress shoes, which is surprisingly formal for him. "Why are you all dressed up?" I ask, somewhat suspiciously. "Just wanted to look good," he responds casually. I'm still a bit suspicious, but I let it fly.

We walk out of the house and get in the car. I type the name of the restaurant into Brendon's phone (Otto's Pancake House) before we pull away from the house and start driving. After a few minutes, a thought suddenly pops into my head.

"Did you ever tell Ryan where we were going?" Brendon makes a guilty face when I say this, so evidently he did not. "Brendon!" I say in the same way that a mother scolding her child would. "I'm sorry, I just forgot!" he says back. I shake my head at him. "He could be worried out of his mind," I continue to scold him, already pulling out my phone to call Ryan.

It rings three times before Ryan answers. "Hello?" He says, sounding like he didn't check the caller ID before picking up. "Hey Ry, it's Ashley. I just wanted to call because I realized that no one ever told you but Brendon and I are going to be in Arizona for the next few days." He's quiet for a few seconds before answering. "Ok. See you soon." That's all he says before hanging up. His response seemed a bit odd, but I don't think much of it.

"He's fine, right?" Brendon asks after I pull my phone away from my face. I nod. Brendon reaches over to the radio and flicks it on before grabbing my hand. It's a beautiful day, and warmer than it's been the entire time I was in Chicago. I feel my legs sticking to leather seat beneath me. My hair blows around me due to the now open roof.

We get to the restaurant at 1:30, but luckily they stay open until about 3 because a good portion of Arizonians are late risers. Brendon and I walk into the small building hand in hand. Luckily since it's Monday morning we're able to be seated almost immediately. Brendon orders an omelette with a side of bacon and I order my favorite thing here, chocolate chip pancakes. Our food gets brought out to us in a matter of minutes and it's as delicious as I remembered. Despite the circumstances, I feel extraordinarily lucky to be here right now. It's a beautiful day, I'm eating great food, and most importantly, I'm with the person I love.