brian and lauren

brian drove down the road silently. lauren fiddled with the radio next to him. "i saw big red's car outside your apartment complex last night," brian said, breaking the silence. lauren looked up from the radio and said, "what?" "yeah, did you see him?" brian asked. he kept his eyes on the road. lauren frowned, "no. i didn't know he came over." "maybe he was there for someone else?" brian said it as a question. "like who?" lauren asked. brian shrugged and lauren let the subject drop but it didn't leave her mind. she had no idea who else big red could have been there to see but that had to be the only explanation. it really wasn't that weird the more she thought about it and so the topic finally drifted from her mind. brian had reached the cafe before lauren even realized it. he parked and then they both got out. once they reached the door, though, they saw a sign on it that read, "closed for the night. sorry for the inconvenience." "what the hell?" brian said. "you've got to be kidding." "what do we do now?" he asked leaning against the corner of the building. lauren shrugged, "i don't know." she wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of going back to his apartment b/c it wasn't a safe location. anything could happen. "why don't we just go back to my apartment?" brian asked. "i don't know, brian," lauren said. that was the one suggestion she'd been hoping against. "come on, lauren. we can be good even if we are at an apartment with a bed," brian said laughing. lauren laughed too, "you're right." i can control myself. it's no big deal. i'm just worrying about nothing, lauren tried to assure herself. still, there was that one part of her that wasn't so sure.

"we need to talk, brian," lauren said picking out a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl between them. "yeah, we do." "i can't do this anymore. i feel so dirty hiding from mellisa. if this is going to continue, i have to tell her." "you know you can't do that, lauren. she'd flip out and you know it. we have to stop," brian said. lauren nodded, "i know. it sucks though. we don't even get a shot, you know?" "yeah, i know. i'm just thinking about you right now. you don't want mellisa mad at you and you know she would be," brian said. "i can't blame her though. it'd be like if she started seeing brandon. god, that'd kill me. i'm sorry, brian." "it's not your fault. friends, still though," he said holding out a hand for her to shake. she smiled and shook it. she did still want to be friends but for a while it would be hard to not think about other things when she with him. she knew they could have been great together had they ever gotten the shot. "oh well," was all she said aloud.