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Post by Brendon Clarke on May 1, 2019 21:21:03 GMT -5
Brendon knew that he was in for it as he made his way to Nicole's house. He was very upset even as he went there, having fallen out with Cora over the fact that the blonde had even told Nicole about his past with Lacie. It hadn't been her place to do so, even though she seemed to think that he was the one in the wrong here for having not told Nicole about Lacie in the first place. That wasn't his view though, because she didn't need to every single person that he'd ever been involved with. Besides, given that Lacie lived all the way in Hawaii he extra didn't believe that his romantic past with her should have any place in conversation with his current girlfriend. Obviously, Nicole felt differently judging by the way that she'd just left Cora's place without even shooting him a text. So, he'd hopped a bus and made his way to Nicole's place. It didn't take long to arrive at her house, and he was knocking on the door a few minutes later, knowing that he'd have to talk to her. Her mum opened the door, and if Nicole had told her about what had happened she wasn't showing it. Only giving him a smile and inviting him in. "Nicole is upstairs," she said.
"Thanks," he answered and started his way upstairs, not surprised that Nicole's door was open. It usually was, so he had no trouble walking in, though he paused in the doorway as he looked over at his girlfriend. "Can we talk?"
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Post by Nicole Branwell on May 1, 2019 21:22:57 GMT -5
Nicole had to get away from Cora's place, away from Brendon's presence which was so strong in Cora's house. Time and time again people had asked her if she was worried that the closeness the two shared was more than they let on, but that had never been a worry for her. The two of them were close in the way of siblings and Brendon had always been very open about the relationship that they had - never hiding anything about it and never trying to downplay it. His relationship with Lacie though - he'd always been a bit more protective over. Still, the way that he interacted with her, when she was around anyway, had her thinking that they had the same sort of relationship. Now that Cora had admitted that it had been different, it was much easier to pick out those differences between how he acted about Lacie versus how he acted about Cora. Mostly, she felt betrayed by her boyfriend, that he would purposefully keep her in the dark. And it made her wonder just what the nature of that relationship actually was. So when he showed up and just walked into her room like everything was okay , asking if they could talk she couldn't help but snort lightly. "A bit late on that, aren't you?" Her arms wrapped around her, showing her anger and trying to protect herself at the same time.
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Post by Brendon Clarke on May 1, 2019 21:23:57 GMT -5
Brendon knew that he wasn't going to get off the hook easily with Nicole. She could be incredibly strong willed when she wanted to be, and he had no doubt that this was going to be one of those times. As he'd spoken she'd shifted from her laying position on her bed to sit up, looking at him in that way that said that she was not amused with him right now. It was the sort of look he rarely saw on her and her comment did nothing to help either. "I might have deserved that," he said, though he wasn't entirely certain that he did. "That isn't a no though, is it?"
"I'm not stopping you from talking, no," she answered, her tone still stiff. "I can't promise what responses you'll get though."
"Fair enough," he shrugged. Then he made his way closer to the bed, ready to take a seat.
At that she held up a hand. "Keep standing, I don't want you to sit next to me," she told him.
"Alright," he answered, and didn't make any moves to sit down. "Cora shouldn't have said anything to you. I-"
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Post by Nicole Branwell on May 1, 2019 21:25:01 GMT -5
Nicole wasn't sure it was such a good idea to have Brendon here right now, but then, he was the one who had decided to come and see her. Besides, she actually did like Brendon, a lot. He was cute, he had a good sense of humor, he was skilled physically too. All in all, he was a good boyfriend, if not a bit distracted at times. Maybe that was why she wanted to hear what he had to say. Maybe part of her wanted him to say something that would make sense of the fact that he hadn't told her earlier about the past that he shared with Lacie. He was not off to a great start, as one of the first things that he said was that Cora shouldn't have told her. "Cora shouldn't have told me? No shit, Brendon. You should have been the one telling me! Don't you dare turn this into something that is Cora's fault!"
"I wasn't making it Cora's fault!" he argued back, seeming very upset about the accusation. "I was just explaining that she doesn't have all the facts-"
"Cora doesn't have all the facts? Your best friend in the entire world, who knows everything about you is misinformed about this suddenly?" she didn't believe that for a second. Cora was someone who knew Brendon better than Brendon even knew himself. In this case she trusted the blonde a bit more than she trusted him. That in itself made her sad.
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Post by Brendon Clarke on May 1, 2019 21:26:14 GMT -5
Brendon could tell this conversation was going to go sideways the second that Nicole interrupted him. Maybe it was a bad idea to start talking to one another now. Maybe it was just better to take a break and come back to visit this when they both were a little less upset. Even so, they were into this now and it was probably better to do it while he was here. Turning back now wasn't any option. As she interrupted him again he was getting more frustrated. It didn't help that suddenly Nicole was the Cora defense team after he had gotten into it with Cora earlier today. His girlfriend and his best friend had teamed up against him and he didn't like it. "Cora has her own mind and she doesn't know everything. So, let's take Cora out of this and maybe focus on what the problem really is here."
She was huffy still. "Okay, fine, let's talk about the real problem here," she replied, her tone touched with sarcasm. "The real problem is you hid your relationship with Lacie from me."
"I did not hide it from you!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "You know I'm friends with Lacie. I've told you about Lacie. You've caught Facetime calls between us." Mostly the ends of them, but that wasn't important. It didn't matter.
"You told me that you were just friends with Lacie," she countered. "And clearly that's not the case."
"Okay, sorry I didn't give you a list of every person that I've ever shagged," he rolled his eyes a little at how overly dramatic this whole thing was turning out to be. "But considering that you didn't give me one either, I thought we'd be okay with that."
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Post by Nicole Branwell on May 1, 2019 21:27:28 GMT -5
One of the things that Nicole had always liked about Brendon was just how open he was. He seemed to wear his heart and his mind on his sleeve, showing his emotions easily and saying tons of things as they came to his mind. He had a good heart, even if he could be ridiculous at times. Or, she'd thought that he'd been very open about things. Now it seemed that apparently it wasn't the case, at least not always for the things that mattered. He was defensive, unwilling to see what she might take issue with in the hidden facts of his relationship with Lacie. "You know it's not that. Don't paint me as a jealous person," she replied steadily, looking at him and wondering why he'd gone down this road. "There's more to it than that."
"There's not more to it than that!" he said, his tone firm and his eyes lit up in frustration. His hair was unruly, and as he ran a hand through it he made it worse. Part of her wanted to soothe it down, but she made no move to do so. "Lacie and I are just friends. Yes, we're friends with a history but that doesn't mean you have anything to worry about. She lives in Hawaii."
That was exactly what she was worried about though. She didn't want to be anyone's second choice. She didn't want to be the girl that Brendon dated because she was around while he was really pining after someone who lived two oceans away. She wanted to know that even if Lacie was here, in England, he still would have chosen to date her. That he looked forward to seeing her and talking to her more than he looked forward to the talking that he did with Lacie. She didn't mind coming second to Cora - of course she would, that was okay - she minded coming second to a girl that he still had interest in. "And if she didn't live in Hawaii?"
He looked confused at that, not saying anything right away as if waiting for her to elaborate. "What?" he finally questioned, when she hadn't cleared things up for him.
"And if she didn't live in Hawaii, you'd still just be friends?" She watched him closely, wanting to see exactly what he'd say to this. Wanting to be able to tell if he'd be truthful with it too. She had to know the answer to this question.
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Post by Brendon Clarke on May 1, 2019 21:28:57 GMT -5
Brendon couldn't believe that he was in this situation. He and Lacie had a platonic relationship. Not platonic in the strictest sense of the word, considering their history and the way that they could be around one another at times, but he wasn't cheating on her or anything. Why she felt the need to be threatened by someone who lived thousands of miles away, he had no clue. Yet, she seemed very invested in this. He could tell that for unknown reasons this was important to her and so as she started questioning that friendship he couldn't help but get a bit defensive. Maybe because he knew that there was that technicality there. "You're asking me to predict what would have happened in an alternate universe?" That was just insanity. There was no way that he could do that.
"No, Brendon, I'm asking you about this reality. If she told you that she was moving here tomorrow and that she wanted to be with you," she was looking at him in this way that made him uncomfortable. As if trying to see into his head, to see what reaction he would give. He was certain that he managed to keep his face clear of any emotion. "What would you say to her?"
"I'd say that I have a girlfriend, Nicole," he answered back, a bit harshly. Part of him wasn't so sure that it would be his first reaction. But he wasn't an awful person. He wouldn't cheat on her and the fact that he had to keep defending himself against this idea was starting to wear on his nerves.
"But if you didn't. If you were single and you could pick, her or me. Who would you pick?" She was insistent, pressing the issue further.
He hesitated now, not sure what he would do. No, no, he knew what he would do. If he had the choice of Lacie or Nicole, nothing entangled in it, he'd pick Lacie. It was as he had told his brother, Nicole wasn't better than Lacie and maybe he was selfish but he would want the better option. If he could have only one, his choice would be made. The scales between the two of them were tipped so far in Lacie's direction that he couldn't try to deny it. He did try to think of something to say, something to lessen the blow of this harsh reality. Nothing was forthcoming.
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Post by Nicole Branwell on May 1, 2019 21:30:39 GMT -5
Even though it'd been stupid, Nicole had really hoped that Brendon might say that he'd pick her. She waited for him, when she asked who he'd pick to assure her that of course he'd pick her. Waited for him to say that it wasn't a competition because things really were platonic with Lacie and he wouldn't even consider dating her. That moment turned to two, which turned to three and all that was there was the deafening silence of a lack of an answer from her boyfriend. Of course, that in itself was an answer. If it was her, he would have said something already. The fact that he stood there, looking like he was thinking about this, looking like he was trying to figure out what to say - it said everything. It said that he'd lied when he said that things were platonic between him and Lacie; or that maybe it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't really what he wanted. "Well, I guess that just says it all, doesn't it?" she asked, a bit rhetorically. Her voice didn't show how much that hurt her, and she did feel it deep in her chest. That ache that said she had trusted more of him and wanted more of him.
"Nicole... what does it matter? What does this alternate reality matter? It's not even close to what's happening," he said, sighing as he looked down at her. His fingers were flexing and unflexing, a nervous habit that she rarely saw.
"I'm not interested in being your British stand-in because you can't have the girl you want," she said.
"That's not-"
"You don't get to decide how I feel, Brendon," she cut him off, her voice a bit higher now. "You don't get to decide what I'm okay with or not. You had one job. Be honest with me. That was all I expected from you. And instead, you made your own truth." He opened his mouth to argue again, but she cut him off once more. "No. Don't. I think now's as good a time as any to call this off."
"Nicole, we don't have to," he said. As if she wanted to keep this going knowing that there was the chance that every time they were together he was wishing that she was someone else. Knowing that his texting to Lacie would continue and that any texts she'd sent would take the backseat to the other girl's.
"We do, though. I do. I'm done with this," she said, although it hurt to think about that. She'd known they were never building anything lasting, but she'd thought that they had a bit more time left. She thought there were still some more things they'd get to do together. But, things didn't always work out the way that you expected them to. "So, I'll see you around, but I think you should go."
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Post by Brendon Clarke on May 1, 2019 21:31:21 GMT -5
Part of Brendon wished that he could lie to Nicole, to tell her what she wanted to hear, but he couldn't do that. And as she went ahead and mentioned being his stand-in he wanted to argue that back. He didn't think of her as a replacement Lacie. They were very different people, and he did like them both. So what if he liked Lacie more? He couldn't get that out though, before she was telling him that she had trusted him to tell her the truth. He still didn't see how he'd ever lied, just now he couldn't bring himself to lie to her. She seemed to be convinced that he'd lied to her and there wasn't really a way out of this for him. Though as she said that they should call things off he tried to reason with her that they didn't have to do it. It didn't seem like that was an argument that he was going to win either, she'd made up her mind and that was that, apparently. Besides, he didn't actually want to be in a relationship with someone who didn't want to be in a relationship with him anymore. Still, he hadn't counted on this. He'd thought that he and Nicole would continue on until about graduation before parting ways.
"Well, if there's nothing I can do to change your mind..." he trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the blanks there. If she had something - and judging by the way that she opened her mouth before closing it, she had but had decided not to do anything with it - she didn't speak up. Instead, she shook her head. "Then okay. I'll go." He turned to leave, still kind of thinking that maybe she'd call him back, but when he reached the door and turned to look back at the brunette she was staring resolutely at the ceiling. "Bye, Nic." She didn't say anything more and he headed out, feeling all the worse because he knew that he had no one to talk to about this now.
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