Dream Like New York

Well. I need to ask dudes to send me selfies more often.

Brett Jennings ► Rhys Meyer

So, I realise I am 1) a Facebook stalker, and 2) fell on my face in front of you, but I was wondering if you would maybe like to get a drink with me some time?

I promise I'm not a complete stalker. My friend, Melody, is in a band with your sister. So, semi-stalker?

One brother from another mother getting engaged, and the other getting his life back #proud

Who: Brett Jennings, Richie Jameson and Adrian Hewitt
What: Brotherly duties
Where: Adrian's apartment, NYC
When: Sunday night

Brett was really glad he was there that night, or Richie would have tripped out of that cab and fallen flat on his face on the sidewalk in front of Adrian's apartment block. Then that would have let to an all-out bleeding-fest and those were never pretty. Brett had all intentions of having a decent amount of drinks that night because he had a really long and hard week at school and things were still playing on his mind about Melody and the pregnancy. They were in this push/pull situation now where they weren't sure if they should date, weren't sure what their feelings were, and weren't sure how the hell to deal with the fact there was a baby on the way. Melody told him that Zoran had been distant these past couple of weeks, and Richie was basically incommunicado every time Brett tried to call him or text him. So, he dragged both of them out to a bar.

It turned out they were the ones who were both going to get totalled, and he had a few but was mostly sober. When Zoran was totalled relatively quickly, Brett called Caleb and told him to come pick Zoran up, so Brett could get Richie home safely. Richie was a mess. Brett had made it around the side of the cab just in time for Richie to try to get out. He caught his honourary brother just as he tripped on the gutter and his own foot, and stopped him smashing his face in. Richie was an uncoordinated mess in Brett's arms now. He was skinny and lanky, and it took some juggling on Brett's part to get Richie up on his feet again.

"Just don't puke on me, for fuck's sake," he said while he held Richie up and threw some cash in at the cab driver to pay for their ride. He elbowed the door shut so the cab could leave, and then held Richie up around the waste. "You were ploughing through those fucking drinks, dude. Are you going to tell me what the fuck's going on now?"

Who: Brett, Joe and Heather Jennings
What: Facing the music
Where: Jennings Home, Dobbs Ferry
When: Friday morning

Brett was so nervous about facing his parents to tell them what happened that he had pulled over just outside of the MA border to throw up on this drive back to New York. Which was okay, because he had been chatting to Melody on the phone in the early hours of the morning and she told him she had started having morning sickness, so he deserved to feel the same. It was only fair. He felt bad she was dealing with that, and had promised her he would go over to her place that night to stay the night just so they could catch up on stuff. Stuff like a scheduled doctor's appointment if he hopefully survived this talk with his parents.

He had taken a 'sick' day from school because this was eating him up so much inside, he couldn't bear not telling his parents what he had done any longer. It was going to impact on them. He didn't want to be an asshole and not tell them just because he was scared. Which he was. Terrified, in fact. He was shitting bricks and sweating bullets by the time he pulled into the driveway of their family home. Life had this way of throwing you complete curve balls when you weren't prepared. He wasn't a fan.

He knew he just had to bite the bullet and get this over with. They were going to be disappointed, and he never wanted to do that to them. At the same time, he was an adult and had to deal with this like a man and step up. That was exactly what he had all intentions of doing. He let himself in with his key and then went through to find his parents in the living room. He didn't say anything at first, he just flopped down into one of the armchairs and gave himself a moment to brace himself before he spoke.

"I, um..." he tried to begin and cockblock himself getting cold feet. "I slept with Melody. She's pregnant."

Who: Brett Jennings and Melody Winters
What: That awkward moment when it wasn't supposed to be awkward
Where: Melody's place
When: Sunday morning

Brett had received a string of texts from Melody on Friday morning telling him to not make plans for Sunday before they were going to talk. She was a pretty determined chick, so he knew that 1) she wouldn't take objections, and 2) if he didn't do what she asked, Zoran would make his balls into sushi with a samurai sword and feed them to an angry Sumo wrestler. There was suddenly this delicate balance of not pissing his brother off, and feeling awkward about what happened. He had initially suggested they just keep it between themselves, but by that point, Melody had already told Zoran.

Now, he was sitting awkwardly in her living room of the apartment just one floor away from Zoran's apartment, though he was still staying at their folks' home. She had brought him a coffee and he was sitting there holding it tightly between his hands trying to figure out what he was supposed to do or say here. His leg was bouncing anxiously and he glanced over at her. "Isn't Z going to be pissed if I hang out with you? You know, considering you've now seen my dick."

HERE @ muserevival

Attraction

When Brett woke up with a hangover, he was pretty sure it was a miracle he didn't have a wet dream. There had been one hell of a sex dream, and as rotten as he was feeling waking up with a hangover from hell, he had to give kudos to the vodka and Red Bull for plying his brain with the makings of a really hot dream.

Of course, it probably would have been a lot safer if the person in the fantasy was just a faceless person with exceptional skills and not his brother's best friend. He was pretty sure if Zoran knew he was having a hot an heavy sex dream about Melody, he would be dead, buried, resurrected, and burned at the stake. Zoran wasn't generally a scary guy, but if there was one person in this world he was unconditionally protective of, it was Melody. Brett still remembered the time a guy tried to feel Melody up at a bar and he ended up face down and unconscious on the floor of the bathroom. Zoran never denied doing it.

Melody was a great girl. She was hot, smart, talented, funny. She could bitch you out so quick you would get whiplash, and she would kill anyone who hurt Zoran. That protectiveness went both ways. But beyond Zoran's BFF and like a sister in every way but blood, she had always been 100% off-limits and seemed to prefer hooking up with chicks anyway. Though that could make an epic threesome scenario...

Shit, he had to try to get up before he had to jerk off thinking about the dream. Jerking off when hungover was always destined for failure.

He pushed the covers down with a groan and made a messy attempt to try to sit up in bed. If he could manage that without puking, it would be a success. As soon as the covers were pushed away, though, he found himself on the rude end of a smack in the head and a knee in his side. "Stop fucking stealing the covers, for fuck's sake!" was the growl that accompanied the smack. Brett's stomach dropped somewhere down near his toes and he made a small squeak sound when he looked at who the offender was.

Gorgeous, naked, looking like she was about to murder him if he didn't relinquish the covers to him ASAP.

Well, fuck. It wasn't a sex dream at all.

You have boobs on your arm, Zoran Jennings.

Who: Brett Jennings, Cheyne Rousseau, Dion Rousseau and Sally Jennings
What: That awkward moment when you're accidentally a d-bag
Where: Pharmacy, NYC
When: Sunday, late morning

Brett wasn't in the best of moods. It was a result of a really stressful and painful week, plus he had been up during the night talking to Zoran, which was the priority over everything right now, as far as he was concerned. To top it all off, he woke up with a cold and he always had a history of being a miserable shit when he was sick. A cold was all well and good, but for Brett, it usually fucked with his asthma, which he hated having on the best of days. Not being able to breathe properly was something he wouldn't wish on anyone. It was mostly controlled, but still there.

Sunday was family lunch day for the Jennings family and had been as a tradition forever. Usually, Zoran would pick the girls up and drive up to Dobbs Ferry with them because neither of them had cars. Brett usually arrived home from Harvard on a Friday night, driving back with Callum. That week, Zoran was out of action. He had crashed out and it was pretty obvious he wouldn't be up to Sunday lunch. Even if he was feeling shitty, Brett said he would drive to the City to pick Sally and Lila up, and while he was there, he could pick up some cold and flu pills and get his prescription for his asthma meds while he was there.

Lila got tied up with an 'important telephone call', which Brett wagered a guess was nothing to do with work and everything to do with a guy Sal said Lila had heart-eyes over recently, though no one had met him yet. He picked up Sally and they headed to the pharmacy, Brett veering out of his bad mood a little to tease Sally about not needing condoms because her love life was non-existent. The store was busy, which wasn't helping his mood because he didn't feel like peopling right now.

He headed up the aisle with his shopping cart and there was a guy standing right in the middle looking at one of the shelves. "'Scuse me," Brett said, trying to get him to move aside so he could pass. The guy completely ignored him. "Oh, for fuck's sake, move! What are you, deaf?" he demanded bitchily.

Who: Brett Jennings and Zoran Jennings
What: Heart-to-Heart
Where: Jennings home, Dobbs Ferry
When: Very early hours, Saturday morning

It was about two am and Brett was up to use the bathroom. His college break had started so he was staying with his parents until New Year, something he was grateful for with everything going on with Zoran. Brett just wasn't coping with it. None of this was anything he could joke his way through to get by, and it was tearing him up inside. He had been tossing and turning all night. Richie had found him and they were going to get a drink together, but Brett didn't want to get drunk and hungover while Zoran was going through hell having to bury his father.

Over and over, all Brett could think of was how he would feel if it was his own dad's funeral, and he had harassed himself all night thinking about how much incredible pain Zoran was, but Brett hadn't been able to reach out to him because Zoran wasn't coping with so much help. He needed to be alone. Brett understood that. He did. But it wasn't easy.

He had shared a bathroom with Zoran ever since the first night he came to them, up until they both left home. He got up to get a drink of water when sleep just wasn't coming and just as he was approaching the bathroom, Zoran came out of it, flicking the light off. Brett hesitated, because this emotional stuff was hard. Then, with his eyes teary, he just stepped up and put his arms around Zoran, hugging him. "I love you, man," he told him hoarsely.

HERE @ muserevival

Wait

Brett was usually a stereotypical sort of guy. He liked sports, fart jokes were hilarious, and he wasn't the sort to cry. It wasn't that he didn't feel emotion, it was just more likely that he would cover up feelings with blokey stuff like thumping a punching bag or hooking up to get laid so he didn't have to think about it.

( The funeral for Zoran's father was going to change all that. Brett wasn't prepared for what happened... )

Who: Brett Jennings and Zed Blaze
What: Brotherly bonding
Where: Home @ Dobbs Ferry
When: Sunday evening

If Brett was honest with himself, he didn't quite know how to handle Zed in the bad way he was. They had become like brothers since his family adopted him in every way but the legal bit of paper, but all this was new. Not new in the sense of being new. When Zed came to them, he had been quite obviously traumatised, and it took a long time for him to get used to them all. They didn't push. Their parents made sure they were respectful of that and to go at the pace Zed needed them to. But they got there in the end, and Zed started to open up more and more, and they all got to know each other.

But now, Zed was blatantly physically and emotionally whacked. Brett was usually a gregarious sort of person, but that day for lunch, he barely said anything. He was just sort of there, feeling like everyone else but him knew more about what his brother was going through than him. Since he arrived back from Boston, he had been bitched out by Richie, and barely spoke to his sisters. Today was spoke to be the catch-up, but Zed was here and in a bad way and Brett barely even remembered the other dude's name, let alone known anything about him. So, he just kept to himself, chatting to Callum on his phone for the better part of this weak version of a family Sunday lunch.

Until he decided to just bite the bullet. Zed had just spent the last 15 minutes, give or take, throwing up into a trash can. He had been swarmed on by everyone to help him until he finally got frustrated and told everyone to just leave him alone. Brett was already doing that, but now he wanted to bridge the gap a little. If he didn't take advantage of this no one else around Zed thing, he would miss the window of opportunity. He went through into the living room was Zed was sitting on the sofa with his head resting back against it. Brett sat down beside him.

"So... what's a Zoran?" he ask, straight to the point. He had heard both his mom and the dude call Zed this, and he wanted to know what was going on.

Went to fill in the boyfriend's shoes with this unhappy chappy. Don't think he is at all impressed with the replacement #evildeathstareofdoomanddestruction