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You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
You're bringin' on the heartbreak
Bringin' on the heartache
Can't you see?



Music played loudly in the bar, Neilson sat at the bar, a bottle in his hand.

"Well well Neilson Carter" Charlie said seeing him.

"Hey Charlie" he said solemnly.

"Ooh, you're not looking so good there" Charlie said.

"Thanks for noticing" Neilson said "The last few days have been nothing but pure hell" he said.

"Yeah I've been there" Charlie said "So...what's got you diving into a bottle?" he asked when they heard the bells above the door jingle, they looked over to see Natalie standing there.

"Guess that answers your question" Neilson said to him.

"Well hello there dear" Charlie said to her.

"Hi Charlie" she said.

"Charlie, can I get another? and keep 'em coming" Neilson said to him. Charlie nodded and walked away "What are you doing here?" he asked keeping his back to her.

"Well" she said hopping up into the stool next to him “You keep avoiding me at school" she said to him.

"Yeah there's a reason for that" he said to her.

"And then Kyle told me that you're staying with your mom so I went there to see you and she told me you went out...she's not too happy with me right now either" she said.

"Can't imagine why" Neilson said.

"And since you and Bradley aren't speaking...I figured this is where you'd be" she said.

"Well great you found me...you can go home now" he said.

"No, not until you talk to me" she said "Neilson, we used to be able to talk about anything" she said.

"Okay fine, let's talk and maybe if we're lucky, we'll start fighting in the parking lot and end up making out" he said, she rolled her eyes "And then maybe after that we can go back to your house and have sex...that is how it happened right?" he asked "I'm still fuzzy on the details of the night you and Bradley decided to blow up my life" he said.

“Oh my god, would you stop? It wasn't like that!" she said to him.

"So tell me something, was he worth it?" he asked "No, really, I hope he was better than me, I hope he could do things better than I ever could" Neilson said.

"Wow...and here I was hoping we could have a conversation like mature human beings!" she said. angrily.

"Nat I was standing right outside your room, I heard everything, you sounded like you were enjoying yourself" he said.

“You want to do this? Fine let’s do it, yeah it was great, the sex was amazing, your best friend knows what he has and he knows how to use it” she said. "Is that better? is that what you want to hear?!" she asked "yeah I thought so" she said as he glared at her. "Neilson we didn't mean for it to happen it just did."

"God I am so sick of hearing that!" Neilson said angrily.

"Well what do you want me to do? I can't explain what happened okay!" she said "We were fighting, something changed I don't know what it was...heat of the moment? moment of passion type thing?" she said.

"So that's your explanation, you can't explain it?" he asked.

"As ridiculous and stupid as it sounds, yeah, that's it, we didn't mean for it happen, it just did" she said "Neilson, I don't know what's going to happen between us, obviously the damage to our relationship is irreparable...but your relationship with Bradley is still salvageable...don't waste it, forgive your best friend" she said as she hopped off the stool and left the bar.

He sat there when he heard a familiar song begin to play in the bar.

"Sister Christian, Oh, the time has come, And you know that you're the only one, To say, okay, Where you going, What you looking for, You know those boys, Don't want to play no more with you, It's true"

His bottom lip began to quiver, he picked up his phone, scrolling through his photos, coming to one he took while he and Bradley were up in the hills together not so long ago.


~*~



Bradley sat on his bed, old pictures scattered around him.

"Hey" Kyle said as he came into his room.

"Hey" Bradley said to him.

"Harry, Adam and I are going to Bill's for dinner, you want to come?" Kyle asked.

"No, I'm not that hungry, thanks anyways" Bradley said.

Kyle looked down on his bed at the pictures "You really need to stop torturing yourself" he said "You know Neilson he can't stay mad at you for much longer."

"Yeah Kyle that's easy for you to say, you didn't see his face alright? I've seen Neilson pissed off before but this is different okay? he hates me...and you know one part of me understands completely, the other part of me wonders why he needs to be such a dick about this, he knows how sorry I am, he can see what this is doing to me" Bradley said to Kyle.

"Kyle, dude, let's go, I'm starving" Adam said sticking his head into the room.

"Sure you don't want to come?" Kyle asked.

"No, I'm fine, I'd rather stay here and wallow some more" he said flopping over to his stomach and lying face down in his pillow.

"We'll bring you something back" Kyle said.

"Kay" Bradley said, his voice muffled by the pillow.


~*~



"Popcorn" Brian said bringing a bowl over to Vicki's couch, she filled two glasses with wine and grabbed the blanket from the back of her couch.

"So, how's Bradley doing?" she asked.

"He wrote a song" he said.

"Really" she said intrigued.

"Got to hear him sing it" he said.

"Wow" she said throwing the blanket over them.

"Then I told him he was more like me than he thought and he got sad again" he said.

Vicki sighed "I really wish there was something we could do for him" she said.

"Yeah I know" Brian said as they snuggled up together "Nothing more you'd like to do for your kid then take their pain away but...Bradley's an adult now, he's got to learn how to deal with this stuff on his own" he said.

"Yeah I know...I just wish Neilson wasn't so stubborn" she said grabbing the remote.

"Course he is, he's a Carter...gets it from his dad" he said.


~*~



Sasha sat on her couch, smiling as she watched an old home movie on her TV.

“Hey mom” Neilson said coming in.

“Oh hey, I’m glad you’re back, come watch this” she said, he sat next to her.

“Is that me?” he asked.

“Yes it is” Sasha said giggling.

“Wow” he said “Never saw this before” he said.

“Oh yeah I had them in the attic for forever” she said “Had to dig the VCR out too” she said.

“Neilson look at grandma!” Sasha said on camera.

“Wow mom, look how young you are” Neilson said.

She looked at him “Excuse me?” she asked.

“No I didn’t mean it like…I mean you were young…you were my age…I need to stop talking” he said turning back to the TV.

“It’s okay I knew what you meant” she said smiling at him.

“Bradley, hi sweetie!” Neilson heard his grandmother’s voice say.

“Bradley?” Neilson asked “That’s Bradley?” he asked.

“Yeah that’s him alright” Sasha said “You guys were about 5-6 months old here” she said.

“Say hi!” Vicki said lifting his little arm and waving at the camera

“Here we are, a nice summer day at the park with the family, Neilson has just made a new friend” his grandmother said on the tape.

“Yes and they are having a ball” Sasha said on the tape as they watched them play together, giggling and smiling.

“Okay, you made your point” Neilson said to her as she paused it.

"Sweetie, I know you're hurting and I know you're angry..."

"Angry? That's putting it lightly" he said to her.

"I know you miss Bradley" she said.

“How can you be so sure?” he asked.

“Know what else I remember from this day?” she asked “It’s actually on here I can just show you…”

“No…” he said.

“I was still using the ancient carriage type stroller your grandmother used when I was a baby so we put you guys in there together for a nap…you were so cute,snuggling close to each other” she said. “So when it was time to take you home? You didn’t want to let go of him, you were hanging on to each other for dear life and when we finally did get you guys apart you started to cry” she said.

“Yeah I was a baby, babies cry” Neilson said to her.

“True but so did Bradley” she said.

“Who was also a baby” Neilson asked “He still is a baby” he grumbled.

“Neilson, he is your best friend, he always has been, ever since the day in the park when you two met as infants" she said. “You two care about each other, you love each other, you share a connection no one else has.”

"Not anymore" he said sadly.

“I don’t believe that…I don’t think you do either” she said when her phone rang “It’s the store I got to take this” she said “Calista, hey what’s going on?” she asked walking out of the room.

He pressed the play button on the remote and began to watch the rest of the tape, watching himself and Bradley as infants underneath a mobile toy, laughing and playing together happily.


~*~



Kyle, Harry and Adam sat in a booth at Bill’s diner, they sat there in silence.

“So…” Harry said.

“Yeah…” Kyle said as they sat there.

“So, you just like wear that everywhere huh?” Adam asked about Kyle’s letterman’s jacket.

Kyle looked himself over “Yeah…” he said “Why wouldn’t I?”

Adam shrugged “Just sayin’…” he said as they once again became silent.

A waitress then passed by their table and set a basket down in front of them.

“Hey look rolls” Harry said “ One, two, three, four, five, five rolls” he said nodding.

“You know there’s a place down the street that has the best rolls” Kyle said to Harry.

“Really” Harry said.

“Yeah they’re all warm and…”

“Alright!” Adam bellowed “My god this is painful” he said “Can we PLEASE just talk about what’s on our minds here? What are we going to do about Bradley and Neilson?!” Adam asked.

“I told you guys there’s nothing we CAN do, we need to stay out of it” Kyle said to him “Look I know things are tough right now okay? But think about what this is doing to Bradley and Neilson I mean come on Neilson left! He’s staying with his mom, Bradley spends all his time in his room wallowing in guilt, Neilson spends lunch period in the art room and Bradley goes out to the bleachers to continue wallowing” Kyle said. “It sucks…” he said “Alright what do you guys want to do?”

"I thought you said not to get involved?" Harry asked.

"Well if they won't do it themselves we'll do it for them" Kyle said.

"About damn time" Adam said.

"So...any ideas?" Kyle asked as they sat there in silence, exchanging looks of confusion.

“I think I got something” Adam said.

“And just to be clear we’re going to do this without violence or yelling” Kyle said to him.

“Well then I got nothing” Adam said as they waitress put their food on their table.

“Gentlemen, we’ve got a mission on our hands” Harry said.

“We’re getting two people to talk to each other, we’re not going to war” Adam said.

“Yes, but like war, this could get ugly” Kyle said. “Alright, lets get these morons to talk to each other, good luck everyone” Kyle said.