::Brook::

Following the party at Alex’s, things between to two of us were nearly perfect.

I had to spend much of the morning after convincing Alex that I was well aware of everything that happened that night. He practically had a nervous breakdown when he remembered that I was kind of drunk and felt that he had taken advantage of the situation.

It took some time but I think he finally understood that it was probably a good thing that I had had a few drink in me. Otherwise, I never would have had the courage to go camping like I had. Alex didn’t like that I seemed a little unsure and nervous after and I had to explain that’s just how I was. The insecurities ran deep sometimes.

It was sort of embarrassing, but in my attempt to calm him down, I went into word-vomit mode and confessed that it had been almost two years since I’d been with a guy. My relationship with my ex had ended about a year and a half ago but we hadn’t slept together in four or five months before we broke up. I know now that was most likely because he was satisfied getting some elsewhere.

Knowing Alex had been something of a ladies man was a definite blow to my confidence that night. Even all the liquid courage I had wasn’t going to stop me from second guessing my performance. I needed him to assure me that I had done a good job, no pun intended. Once he found out that he was my first sexual encounter in almost two years, he also needed encouragement that all was okay. I was sure to let him know he performed quite well.
Before I knew it, Alex was packing up his life again and I was hugging him tightly outside the airport, trying not to breakdown completely as we said goodbye and he jetted off to Japan for a few weeks. He was really upset about this trip because while he was gone he was going to miss my birthday by just a few days. I'm pretty sure he was taking it harder than I was.

On one hand I was getting used to the always present ache in my heart I felt when Alex was away and I missed him. On the other hand it was always a different kind of ache. I figured that was because each time he left, I was deeper and deeper in our relationship.

The first two weeks or so dragged on as usual but we made due the best we could with e-mail and video-chatting and occasionally texting and talking on the phone.

Then my birthday came and I woke up to breakfast made by Jenn. After I'd opened the gift she bought for me, she pulled out a box and said it was from Alex. I smiled a little at the idea that Alex had been sneaky and sent my gift to Jenn first to make sure I got it on my actual birthday but then I frowned a little bit because when it came to Alex and my birthday, I didn't want things, I just wanted him home.

I opened his card first and it said:

Dear Brook,

I'm so, so sorry that I have to miss your big day. I know right now you're thinking that it’s okay; it’s just your birthday. It's not JUST your birthday! It's the one day a year the rest of us get to just celebrate YOU and you deserve it. So whatever Jenn has planned for you tonight, suck it up and try to have a good time. You need it. I miss you so much! I can't wait until I'm home and we can celebrate your day together. We're in the home stretch at this point, right? Just a few more days!

Happy birthday, Brook!

XoXo,

Alex

PS. Don't freak out about the gift - I intend to give you a full course on how it works when I get home. <3

I opened the box he had shipped here. Inside that box was a smaller wrapped box. I carefully pulled the wrapping paper off and found that Alex had bought me an iPhone. I had stared at it, confused for a few seconds, because at that point I wasn't sure if it was an iPhone, iPod or an iPad. Jenn had to point out the big letters on the box that said PHONE.

I was a little bit wary about the gift because one, it was super expensive and two, I had low, low hopes of ever figuring out how it worked.

I spoke with Alex for a few minutes over video-chat that morning before work and he promised me he would get me to learn that phone and said the only real reason he got it for me was because it was going to make being away from each other easier. I didn't get how a phone could that but I trusted him.

When I got to work and walked into my office, it wasn't as covered as it was for Valentine's Day, but there was a gigantic flower arrangement on my desk and a few balloons with Happy Birthday messages on them. Sandy was quick to say it was Alex, again.

Throughout the day, Alex would send me e-mails with videos attached of him and different members of his band and crew wishing me a happy birthday. It was actually really sweet.

Later that night I went to dinner with my parents and after that Jenn and a couple of my friends, that were really Jenn’s friends from school, took me out for drinks. By the end of the night I was exhausted and could barely stay awake to talk to Alex when he had called me when I was home.

It felt like forever but finally Alex was back from Japan and he made big deal about wanting to take me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday together. I tried to object but Alex wasn't having it. For three days I begged him to at least tell me where he was taking me so I could know how to dress but he refused to even give up that much information. Finally, I got him to tell me that he planned on wearing a pair of black slacks, a grey button down long sleeve shirt and black jacket. I took that as a sign that it was a nice place.

"Holy shit," Alex gasped when I stepped out of my bedroom, dressed and pretty much ready to go to dinner that night. I just needed to put on my shoes that I was holding in my hand.

"What?" I asked, stepping further into the living room when he was.

"You look incredible," he gushed, standing from the couch and taking a few steps closer to me.

"Oh stop it," I shook my head, brushing passed him and taking a seat on the couch so I could slip on my heels.

"No, like seriously, Brook. You look incredible on a daily basis but there is something about thatdress that's so hot."

I laughed a little, shaking my head and standing up once both shoes were on.
"Could it be that it's shorter and more low-cut than anything you've probably seen me wear before?"


“Besides that Ravens jersey?” he smirked, stepping closer to me and closing the space between us and resting his hand on my hip. "That could definitely be it,"

It was hard to ignore that his eyes were practically glued to my chest.

"Okay. Forget it. I'm changing into something else," I said, wiggling away from him and heading towards my room.

"No!" he practically yelled, grabbing my arm and tugging me back to him. "Pretty, pretty please don't change."

I laughed a little and rolled my eyes.

"Okay. Fine. Did you need to take a cold shower or something before we leave?"

"No. I'm good right now," he said, leaning down and kissing me quickly. "But I'm sure we're going camping later."

Immediately my face felt hot. Needless to say Alex had made a thing out of going camping and brought it up whenever he could.

"Oh you're sure, huh?" I tried to play it cool.

“Oh yeah,” he nodded, kissing me again, longer this time. "Pretty sure."

"Well, we better get going so we can get back," I said with a wink, causing Alex to laugh.

"We'll leave in a minute, I just have something to give to you first," he said, rushing off to my room and grabbing a plastic bag from inside his overnight bag he had brought over with him earlier.

"Alex, what is that? I asked as he sat me down with him on the couch and I saw the two wrapped boxes inside the bag.

He pulled out one and handed it to me.

"It's not a big deal. This one is from Jack."

"Okay," I smiled a little and unwrapped the box and pulled off the top to find a multi-colored beaded bracelet with beads that spelled out FRIENDS.

"Jack's been wearing the match to that one that says BEST since he bought it for you in a shop in Tokyo," Alex explained.

I smiled. "He's adorable," I gushed, reaching for my phone that was sitting on the couch.

As promised, Alex had sat down with me a few times, for an hour or so at a time, since he came home teaching me how that iPhone worked. It took me just about two minutes to find the application and type out and send a quick thank you text message to Jack.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jack's the best. Whatever," Alex laughed, passing me another box. "This one is from me."

I tilted my head to the side and frowned.

"Alex, you already got me a birthday present," I reminded him, holding up the phone.

"I know," he shrugged.

"So, why get another one?"

"Because,” he shrugged again. “I was in a store and I saw something that made me think of you a million miles away and I wanted to get it. Don't even think of it as a birthday present. Think of it as a souvenir from Japan."

"I would think of it as that but you already gave me that giant Hello Kitty stuffed doll that you said was my souvenir."

"Brook, stop being a pain in my ass," he said, trying to keep a straight face as he shoved the box at me again.

I laughed quietly when a smile broke on his lips and took the box from him and started to pull off the wrapping paper, muttering under my breath the entire time at how unnecessary this was. I took the top off the box and inside laid a silver charm bracelet with three different charms hanging off it. I lifted the bracelet from the box, holding it up so I could get a better look at it.

"Alex..."

"Don't. Just say thank you and wear it proudly, okay?"

I smiled, leaning forward and kissing him quickly.

"I love it. Thank you."

He smiled, helping me fasten the bracelet around my wrist and pointed out each charm. The first one was a coffee mug and he explained it was because of my addiction to coffee. The second one was the New York Yankees symbol and he explained it was because he knew they were my team, even more so than the Giants. The third one was a simple, silver, shiny A.

"That one's just because I'm cute like that," he explained with a shrug.

"You really are cute," I smiled, leaning in to kiss him again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, patting my knee gently. "Ready to go?"

"Definitely," I said, kissing his nose quickly before I stood up and went to grab a jacket.

The entire car ride I tried to get Alex to let me know where he was going but he still refused. At first I thought he was going to take me where we had gone on our first date but once we completely drove passed that area, I knew I was wrong. It dawned on me the further downtown that we went, the nicer this place was going to be. Finally we pulled up and were immediately greeted with the valet guys. We didn't even have the option to park the car on our own.

"Alex, this place is really nice," I said under my breath as we walked inside and he held my hand tightly.

"I know," he simply said as we reached the podium at the front door and the lady asked if we had a reservation and Alex nodded and gave his last name.

She informed us that it would be just a few minutes; they were setting up our table now.

"This place is really, really nice," I said again, looking around a bit once we were seated.

"Brook, cut it out. Really, it's not a big deal. Please don't harp on it the whole time we're here."

"Okay. I'm sorry. I'll stop," I said, leaning across the table and kissing him quickly.

"Good," he smiled and turned his attention to the waiter who appeared at our table.

He went through the night's specials and the different types of wine the restaurant offered and Alex was quick to order a glass of wine for each of us.

"I'll be right back. I have to use the restroom," I excused myself from the table after we ordered our meals, kissing Alex quickly before I headed back through the lobby to the bathroom.

"Brook?"

I stopped dead in my tracks at the sound of my name. The voice belonged to someone I hadn't heard from in over a year.

I spun around and tried to keep the smile on my face from fading.

"Josh. Hi," I forced out at the sight of my ex.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you right now," he said, pulling me in for a hug and it felt incredibly awkward.

We're talking Draco Malfoy and Voldemort hugging awkward.

"Yeah. It's definitely been a while. I actually should be getting back to my-"

"I just checked on our reservation. The hostess said it should only be a few more minutes," A girl said slipping into the space next to Josh. "Oh, hi," she smiled at me.

"Hi," I said softly.

"Oh, Brook, this is Liz. You remember her right?" Josh asked, wrapping his arm around the tall blond.

I looked her over for a second and suddenly I realized who she was. I just knew her when she had brown hair.

"Yeah. Of course."

"So, how have you been?" Josh asked.

I was really uncomfortable now and just wanted to get back to Alex.

"I've been good. Really good. Great actually," I said when my eyes caught a glimpse of something and all I could do was stare at the shiny diamond ring on Liz's left hand.

"Well, that's great to hear," Josh smiled as if he really cared. "We've actually-"

"Look," I interrupted him quickly, trying so hard to keep my voice even. "It was great to see you guys but I really need to be getting back to my boyfriend now," I said, only stumbling over a few of my words as I tried to back away.

“Boyfriend, huh?” Josh smirked. “Last I heard you had sworn off all men. Good for you, Brook.”

I just shook my head before turning around and walking as fast as I could back to where I’d left Alex. I forgot all about having to use the bathroom.

"Brook, what's wrong?" he asked as soon as sat back down.

It didn’t dawn on me that he would notice tears in my eyes.

"N-Nothing," I said, trying my best to act like it really was nothing as I took a sip from my wine. "Tell me more about Japan. I've always wanted to go there," I tried to change the subject.

“Don’t bull shit me, Brook," he said seriously. "Who was it that you were talking to?" Alex asked, as Josh and Liz passed our table with the hostess, only to be seated a few tables away.

"No one," I shook my head quickly, feeling uncomfortable all over again with them so close to us. "It's fine."

"Brook," Alex frowned.

"I want to go home," I finally said and the words surprised even me.

"What?" Alex asked confused.

"Please? I'll explain later. I just really can't be here right now," I said, standing up again and taking my jacket and bag from the back of my chair and making a beeline for the exit of the building.

I suddenly felt like I was suffocating and needed fresh air.

About five minutes later, Alex rushed outside after me, apologizing that it had taken so long, but he had to let the waiter know that we were going and pay for at least the wine that we had already drank.

I felt terrible as we got back into his car and headed back to my apartment. The car ride felt longer than it did to get there and that was mostly because neither one of us were talking. The only sound was coming from me when I would sniffle every so often.

When we pulled up in front of my apartment, I practically jumped out of the car and ran up to the apartment. All I wanted to do was get out of this dress, into comfortable clothes and hide under the covers of my bed.

"What are you doing back so soon?" Jenn asked as I walked through the living room, ignoring her question and going right into my room and closing the door.


::Alex::

I had no idea what was wrong with Brook and it was really freaking me out. One minute she was totally fine, then she went to the bathroom and came back a totally mess. I know she told me they were no one but I was convinced it had something to do with that couple she had been talking to in the lobby. I was able to see them from our table and from that far away I could sense Brook's uncomfortable body language.

"What happened?" Jenn asked, standing up from the couch when I walked in the room a few seconds after Brook.

I felt a little awkward because she had to think that we had some kind of fight.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "She was totally fine when we got to the restaurant and then she went to the bathroom and when she came back she was a total mess," I explained.

“What happened?” Jenn frowned. “I'm going to go try and talk to her."

"No," I said quickly. "Let me. Please?"

Jenn looked up at me. For a second I felt like she was going to tell me to get lost but then her face softened into a small smile and she nodded.

"Go ahead. I'll be out here if you need me."

"Thanks Jenn," I smiled, surprised a bit when I turned the knob to Brook's door and it wasn't locked. "Can I come in?" I asked and when she didn't answered, I went inside anyway.

"I'm sorry," I heard Brook's soft voice come from underneath the pile of blankets and I quickly sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Please don't say you're sorry," I said quietly, brushing some of her hair from her face. "I'm just sorry if you were overwhelmed by that place being so nice. I just wanted-"

"It wasn't that," Brook interrupted me, sitting up slowly and I noticed that she had already changed out of her dress and into her pajamas that consisted of the Raven's jersey I had lent her the night of the party when she spent the night and she sort of decided that it was her own after that night. I couldn't argue with her. That jersey never looked better.

"Then what was it? I'm really freaking out right now."

She took a few deep breaths, using the corner of her comforter to wipe a few tears from her eyes.

"I swear to you that it was nothing you did. I promise. I just don't feel like talking about it right now."

"Okay," I nodded slowly. I didn't want to push her. "But you're okay?"

"I'll be fine,” she nodded. “I promise."

"Okay," I said again, leaning down and kissing her lightly. "I guess I'll call you tomorrow then."

"What?" she asked, reaching for my hand as I stood up.

"I figure you want to be alone right now. So I'll head home and talk to you tomorrow when you’re feeling better; it's okay."

"No," she said rather loudly, grasping my hand tighter and pulling me back down to her bed. "Don't go."

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

“Please,” she nodded, almost furiously, new tears welling up in her eyes. "Please. Just stay."

"Okay, it's okay," I said, sitting down and quickly pulling her into a hug as she officially broke and collapsed against my chest, harsh sobs leaving her body. "I'll stay," I comforted her, squeezing her tighter and rubbing her back in small circles. "I’m not going anywhere.
***

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Taylor Swift - Safe and Sound
Brook's outfit.

Poor Brook. :(

[I'm just putting this out there now as I don't want to hurt anyone. There is a slight trigger warning for the next chapter.]