"Leighanne, can I talk to you?" Nick's voice carried through the paper-thin bus door from the living room into the little 'hallway' by the bunks. I leaned against the door, not wanting to miss a word that was said.
"Sure, Nicky," Leighanne said. I heard the TV's sound mute. She'd been watching a show about sewing on TV. She was into that sewing stuff. "What's up?"
Nick sighed as he sat down. "Hey, can I have some?"
"Sure," Leighanne answered.
The sound of Nick chewing something came through the door. I rolled my eyes. Stupid ass, I thought, Always eating...
"Thing is, I was thinkin' about some stuff," he said as he chewed.
Leighanne laughed, "What kind of stuff? Do you want a napkin?"
"Yeshpweeesh," Nick said around a mouthful of whatever it was. There was some loud smacking noises, then a large swallow, and Nick's after-swallowing-a-big-mouthful-of-stuff gasp, then he said, "Well about you and Brian mostly."
"Me and Brian, huh?" Leighanne asked. I could hear the nervousness in her voice climb. "What about us? You're not trying to break us up again are you, Mr. Carter?" she asked in an accusing way. I could almost hear Nick's face turn red.
I reached in my pocket.
"No!" Nick whined, "And I told'ja a hundred times already if I had any clue how fucking awesome you are at Nintendo I never would've tried to ditch you in the first place."
"So now you're hitting on me?" she asked.
"NO!" Nick yelled even louder. Then, with his voice directed towards the door, he said, "I am NOT hitting on you."
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Nothing, I thought I was gonna sneeze so I looked away."
You're such an ASS, Carter, just get to the point already!!! I thought.
"Okay, so what about me and Brian, then?" Leighanne asked.
Nick hesitated. "Well, see, I been thinkin' how great it was that you were mad at him and you still came up when he was in the hospital and stuff y'know? And you like believed him even though I kept trying to tell you he cheated on you and stuff, and like you didn't hate me after I was a liar and stuff..."
"Mmhmm," Leighanne hummed.
"Well I just... I think it's cool, and... Leighanne, I gotta question for you. It's kinda a girl question, yanno, but not like advice cos - well, God knows I don't need advice on the sex front but -" he cleared his throat, "But like it's a question..."
Leighanne laughed, "Okay. What's up Nicky?"
"Well, see, Leighanne, I was wondering if...maybe.. if maybe you'd be my Brian-in-law?"
I reached for the door knob, withdrawing my hand from my pocket.
"Your what?" Leighanne asked him as I creeped the door open.
"My Brian-in-law," Nick repeated.
"What on earth do you me--" she stopped mid-word as she looked up as I crossed the room and dropped to my knees in front of her.
"I think," I said, opening the little ring box up as I spoke, "He's asking if you'll marry me, Leighanne Wallace?"
Nick grinned, "Yeah, that's it."
Leighanne's eyes filled with tears.
"I love you, Leighanne," I said quietly, smiling up at her, "With every bit of my heart... even the broken parts."
Tears were falling down her face.
"I wanna be with you all of my life - and this time I'm not on morphine, so you really do gotta answer me." I winked. "Please, please marry me, Leighanne."
Nick looked from me to her and back again, then nudged her, "Pssst, you should say 'yes'," he said, nodding.
Leighanne grinned at Nick, "Thanks for the tip, but I think I've got this one under control." She turned to me and bent down and kissed my forehead, "I so want to marry you, Brian Littrell," she said.
Nick pumped the air, "YES!" He jumped up.
"Hey Nick?" I mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Think we could get some -ahem- alone time?" I asked, gesturing at Leighanne and winking up at him.
"Oh yeah, sure, sure, a'course!" Nick ducked out of the room quickly.
I turned to Leighanne and our mouths locked and I leaned into her, laying her backwards across the sofa. Her arms slid up over her head and she shimmied off her shirt. She was laying there in her bra and I started kissing her neck...
Suddenly the door opened again and Nick came in and grabbed a bowl of popcorn sitting on the table beside us. "Sorry," he hissed, "I forgot the -- WHOA! You do have great boobs!" he cried, eyes wide.
"NICK!" Leighanne and I both yelled his name at the same time.
"Okay, I'm going - I'm goin'!" Nick scrambled out of the room, clutching the bowl.
Leighanne laughed, "Oh God, Brian, I think I liked him better when he hated me."
"Oh just wait, the obnoxious clinginess hasn't even begun yet. You're gonna get so sick of him..." I winked and we leaned back into the sofa, "But y'know what?"
"What?"
"He's the best friend in the entire world."
This seems so hypnotic, smoke and mirrors,
lights and magic, Paper faces in gold
There's soldier boys, beauty queens, everyone's a mystery
It's got me losing control "C'mon."
"I don't know."
"Let's give the fans something to talk about."
Leighanne laughed. "You're drunk."
"True...but c'mon. It's our first cruise. You're going to deny me a dance? After all these years?"
Leighanne rolled her eyes, but she held out her hand. I took it in mine; she pulled ahead, leading me out onto the upper desk. The boat shifted a little bit; I clung to my drink. We began to dance to the music. The fans were singing loudly below us.
It's a masquerade, a love parade, so won't you stay and dance with me?"
Leighanne was wearing a red dress and a mask wtih red and black feathers. I was sporting my gold mask. She lead me out and I twirled her under my arm. The fans started to cheer. After a second she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hug.
Bri was watching us. He was smiling stupidly; I hadn't seen him this drunk in forever. Leighanne and I both laughed, heading back towards him. Bri shook a huge pile of Mardi Gras beads.
"For me?" Leighanne asked. Bri laughed. The wind picked up his hair and tossed it. "Nope." He slung three strands around my neck and smacked my ass.
After all these years, I'm pretty sure my ass is still better than Leighanne's.
"BRIAN THOMAS LI--"
Bri slung a strand of beads around Leigh's neck and pulled her close. They shared a long kiss. It was amazing that ten years of marriage hadn't killed their spark. I rocked back on my heels and grinned. It seemed like just yesterday Bri had proposed to her on the bus. Since that time girls had come and gone for me, but for Bri, his one constant was Leighanne.
Now that I'm older and wiser, I realize that breaking up is hard to do. Even harder is staying together through the good times and bad. Bri and Leigh are proof that it's possible.
I've never told him, but Bri is more than my best friend. He's my role model. As I caught Lauren's eye in the crowd, I felt the warm familiarity that her smile gave me. Back when Bri was falling in love, I'd been too young, too immature to understand what real love had meant.
Now I was ready to give it a chance.
