Bleeding Emotions

Chapter 2

"No fucking way." Justin took another drag off of his cigarette. Daphne sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Justin was in a mood tonight.

"C'mon. It'll be fun."

"Nope." He continued flipping through his CD case with seemingly intense concentration.

"Emmett says there's supposed to be a lot of good bands."

"I don't want to listen to that MTV influenced bubble punk shit. If I wanted to hear good music, I'd put in my CD. If I could fucking find it!" Justin threw the large case onto the couch and crossed the living room of the small apartment he used to share with Daphne. She moved into the dorms because of money issues, and Justin was currently on the hunt for a new roommate. He wasn't hunting very hard though. He liked living alone and planned to for as long as he could before money became an issue for him as well.

He rummaged through a stack of CD's near the stereo. He let out a small "ah ha!" when he found what he was looking for. He put it in and pushed play, causing "Loretta Young Silks" by the Sneaker Pimps flood out of the speakers. Justin visibly relaxed, slumping down next to Daphne on the sofa.

"Uh oh," Daphne started, turning to face him. "I know what that song means. Boy trouble."

"Or lack there of. Sorry I'm being such a shit." Justin reached up and moved his golden hair out of his eyes. His usually bright blue eyes were slate gray and empty. His full lips refused to turn up into a smile. He stubbed his cigarette out in a nearby ashtray and sighed.

"What about that James guy? You had a date with him last night." Daphne put a comforting arm around her best friend's shoulders.

"He was an ass. Shallow as a rain puddle, and dumb as a brick. I couldn't even carry on a conversation with him." Justin sighed and got up off of the sofa. He paced the living room, his white tee and blue pajama pants hugging his lithe frame. He snaked his fingers though his hair as Daphne looked on worriedly.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm twenty-two. My last year of college starts tomorrow. I should be out there. I should be living, loving, getting laid. But I'm not. I feel like life is passing me by and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Oh Jus," she said sympathetically, taking his hand and pulling him back down next to her. "This is a whole new year. A whole new beginning. It's cliché, but it's true. You're going to go out more, live more, whether you like it or not. You can start by coming to Transitions with your best friends on Friday. And you're going to like it."

Daphne smiled at him and he couldn't help returning it. There was something almost prophetic about what she said. He believed her. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. He nuzzled her face against her curly brown hair and thanked his lucky stars, few as they were, once more that he had her. He had barely spoken to his mother and sister in the last three years, and spoke to his father even less. Daphne took him in when he had no place to go, and for that, he was eternally grateful.

"Fine, I'll go. But you better get me drunk first."

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"No." Brian flopped down onto the oversized beanbag chair near the center of the room. He looked up at his friend's forlorn, pleading faces. His face softened and he almost gave in. Almost. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin defiantly. "No."

"Brian, you are so fucking awesome," Michael cried out, causing a slight blush to rise from the collar of Brian's simple black collared shirt. "Open mic night would be a great place for you to get over your stage fright."

"It's not stage fright." Everyone gave Brian a raised eyebrow and a dubious look. He sighed. "Fine, it's partial stage fright. Playing has always just been my thing. The thing I do to lose myself. I've never shared it with anyone but you guys, and I still blame that on the pot."

"Oh shut up, Brian," Graham laughed. "You love to play for us. And you know we adore it. Your stuff is bloody brilliant."

"It is Brian," Lindsay added. "You should share your art with others. I was so happy with the way my stuff looked at that show at the GLC."

"Yeah Brian," Juliana added. Then she turned to face Graham. "It's funny how all of our friends are so very, very gay," she joked.

"Yeah, when we are so very, very hetero." He grabbed his girlfriend and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Graham asked Juliana out their sophomore year and they had been a happy couple ever since.

"Ew, hetero sex!" Michael and Brian cried out in unison. They covered their eyes and gagged. Lindsay laughed at their antics and the group broke out in laughter. Brian was relieved for the change of subject.

"Oh god. Brian, show me your dick, quick," Michael joked. He winked at Brian before laughing.

"In your dreams, stud." Michael snapped his fingers and shook his head in mock disappointment.

Brian smiled and settled back into the beanbag, grateful for the distraction. Michael and Graham struck up a discussion about the graphics class they had signed up for while the girls discussed art.

Brian spotted the discarded flyer on the ground and reached out to grab it. The paper felt rough against his callused fingers. He studied the flyer, his eyes roaming the page. There was nothing sinister, nothing evil about it. It was just a flyer. Brian wasn't so sure.

His stomach twisted up into knots at just the thought of performing in front a room full of strangers. Transitions was a local all ages club geared towards live music. Brian and the gang were well known there, as they were usually seen there at least once or twice a week. Graham even worked there for a brief stint before he got a job at the record store.

Brian glanced over at his British friend. He had done a lot of growing up in the last three years. His hair was still black, but a patch of hair above his right temple was dyed a vivid purple. He kept it in thick spikes. The purple contrasted with the green of his curious eyes. A silver hoop adorned the left side of his bottom lip, glinting in the light as he smiled. His accent had softened a bit due to his years in America, but it was still enough to make the girls swoon.

Michael had done some growing up as well. He stood a few inches taller. Joining Brian and Graham in working out had done him well, as he now filled out the tee shirts he always wore. He kept his hair short and neat, the opposite of his two male friends.

Brian's look hadn't changed much since freshman year. He was taller, his muscles were more developed, and he had graduated from a pubescent cute to drop dead gorgeous. He kept his hair shaggy and messy, pulling off the sexy just woken up look perfectly. His chestnut hair always fell into his eyes, and it hugged his ears and the back of his neck. His eyes were haunted, reflecting the lifetime of abuse and pain he had gone through. If someone looked into them long enough, they would reveal his soul. He still opted to dress in jeans, tees, blazers, and high tops. Brian's accent had also softened, but only a little bit. His voice was deep and sultry, his Irish lilt only adding to its charm. Girls lusted over Brian and Graham, even though neither were available to them due to different reasons.

Brian came out to his friends soon after their bond was established, and Michael followed suit shortly after. Both boys worked at the Liberty Diner, under Deb's watchful eye.

Brian had fooled around with a few of the diner's patrons over the course of the years, but he still had hopes for romance and love. He was still a virgin, even though he had received more than his fair share of offers to remedy that fact.

Juliana and Lindsay had both grown up to be quite striking as well. Lindsay was a classic beauty, with a timeless face and gorgeous blonde hair. Juliana followed suit with Graham. Her hair was dyed a deep plum color, and her eyes were lined with black kohl. A silver stud adorned the right side of her bottom lip, opposite of her boyfriend.

Brian tore his eyes away from his friends and returned his gaze back to the flyer in his hands. He turned it over and over, as it if held a secret. He bit his bottom lip and imagined himself up on the stage he usually watched from below. A chill ran down his spine and he shook his head.

He did get a rush every time he played for his friends. Gentle vibrations pulsed through his nerves and his heart fluttered against his chest. His fingers shook and his breath caught in his throat. It was the same every time. Graham was right, he loved playing for his friends, but for dozens of strangers he wasn't so sure.

He began to run over his many songs in his head. He had notebooks upon notebooks of lyrics written in messy scrawl. The rush he got from writing the songs was almost as powerful as the one he got from playing them. He narrowed it down to a handful of songs, toying with the idea of performing. He hadn't noticed he was humming the tune to one of them until he looked up and saw his friends all looking at him, conversations on pause.

"What?" Brian asked.

"You were humming," Lindsay replied.

"Was I?" He looked down at the flyer of his hands, edges crumpled from where he was clutching onto it.

"Yeah. So are you thinking about playing?" Juliana asked. "You really should. Do it."

"Graham, shut up your mot." Brian stuck his tongue out at Juliana, who playfully gave him the finger. "It's banjaxed. I'm not going to do it."

"That is so naff," Graham replied. "You wank." Brian promptly shot him a glare.

"Which one of me songs would I play?" Brian asked, he bit his lip and furrowed his brows, a sure sign that he was thinking. The rest of the gang smiled wide. Brian was giving in.

"Something fun," Michael offered.

"Yeah, I wouldn't play something too emotional. What about 'No Such Thing'?"

"That's my favorite," Lindsay replied with a clap of her dainty hands. "That and 'Love Song For No One'."

"Yeah, I'd do one of those two."

"So, you're going to do it?" Graham asked hopefully. Brian looked at their faces, knowing he couldn't deny them anything. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"This is such blarney. I can't believe I'm going to do this." Brian closed his eyes and shook his head. He jumped when the four of them erupted into cheers.

Brian looked over at his guitar case as he felt the nervous knot in his stomach harden.

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The diner was full of the usual after work crowd. Brian let out a low growl of frustration as his ass was grabbed for what seemed like the thousandth time. He turned to see that it was the same troll he shot down five minutes earlier. Brian gave him a withered look and the guy licked his chapped lips in what he seemed to think was an irresistibly sexy gesture. Brian grimaced and grabbed a bin to collect the dishes from a nearby table. He was pulling double duty as a waiter and a busboy because the regular busboy called in sick.

He turned to take the bin to the kitchen and saw the troll making eyes at him again. Brian positioned the bin on his hip in a way so that when he walked by him, Brian "accidentally" conked the guy in the head with the hard plastic bin. The guy cried out in pain and Brian bit down on his lip to keep from laughing.

"Nice going, kiddo." Brian set down the bin and smiled at Debbie.

"Well me bum couldn't take much more abuse from that idiotic prat," Brian replied with an amused smirk, nodding his head to gesture at table three. Debbie shook her head and laughed. "What?

"Three years and I still can't get over the way you talk. That accent of yours is so fucking sexy."

"Ew Deb. You're like me mum. Please don't ever refer to me like that again." Debbie let out a roar of laughter.

"How's school going, kiddo? Senior year is the best."

"It's alright, I suppose. I think I've had senioritis since grade school. This year I'm really going to try not to just foster about. I'm going to try to stay focused. But then again, today is Wednesday, and school started on Monday, so who knows."

"You'll do great, baby. You always do."

"Thanks. But I swear if I have to see Chris and his ugly mot snogging one more time I'm going to scream. At least he knows not to give Mikey shit anymore. We established that first term of freshman year."

"Yeah, thanks for always looking out for him."

"He's me best mate. Well one of four." Brian stopped and giggled. "That sounded like a toy commercial." He dropped his voice to imitate that of an announcer's. "Brian's Best Friends, by Dysfunctional Playthings. Collect the whole set!" Debbie giggled and Brian shook his head. "I'm so knackered. I haven't really been sleeping well, as usual. I blame all silliness on that."

"Your dad still giving you shit?" Debbie asked, her expression taking on one of concern.

"I'm alive aren't I? As much as he wishes I wasn't."

"Well, fuck him. You're always welcome at casa de Novotny!"

"Thanks, mum." Debbie smiled proudly at him and kissed his cheek.

"You ready for open mic night on Friday?" She asked, wiping the lipstick form his cheek with the pad of her thumb. Brian felt the nervous knot in his stomach clench.

"Well, me nerves are all banjaxed. I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I wager."

"You'll be great. I know it." Debbie had only heard him play on a few occasions, but she seemed to love it. "You're done for the night, kiddo. Go home and get some sleep." She counted out his tips and he shoved them into the pocket of his jeans. He untied his apron and tossed it on top of the bin of dirty dishes. He gave Debbie a kiss on the cheek and walked around the counter to leave.

Brian slung his backpack over his shoulders and started to walk towards the door. As he walked by table three, the old troll reached up for one last grab. Brian slapped his hand away in one swift move without slowing down or looking back.

He opened the door and held it open for a good-looking young woman with curly brown hair and mocha skin. He nodded to her and slipped out the door. He turned to the left and towards his car. The girl looked back out the door and to the right as Brian drove around the corner.

"Justin, hurry your ass!" Daphne shouted from the doorway to the diner. She was hungry. After a full day of classes she wanted nothing more than a nice warm meal. Justin got out of the passenger side door of Daphne's car and jogged up to his friend. "What were you doing?"

"Checking my voicemail. I wanted to see if I heard anything from that gallery that wanted to buy my paintings."

"Oh. Well, I'm hungry." Justin nodded his agreement and they trooped into the diner.

"Wow, the Liberty Diner. I haven't been here since I was nineteen. I wonder if-"

"Sunshine?" Debbie shouted across the crowded space, earning everyone's attention.

"Never mind."

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