Who: Brendan and Justin Where: Laundry room When: Few hours after school on a Monday What: Brendan is sad that Justin's going away on a road trip. Justin is just as good as his sister when it comes to ignoring relationship problems. Or non-relationship problems.
He was doing laundry again. The last time he had done Kyle's laundry since Kyle Junior had pissed on his friend's jeans and now it was time to get his own clothes washed. There was just no time to do two loads and Justin had decided to wait until after the wedding and let the laundry basket pile up before going down to the laundry room again. And so here he was, separating the whites from the colours. His cell phone was nearby and was currently blasting Lady Gaga. Justin really liked the catchy songs but rarely had a chance to play them. Both Charlie and Arthur found Gaga's songs majorly irritating and he got teased enough really.
Since he was alone at this point of time though, Justin couldn't resist dancing to Beautiful. Dirty. Rich. Dancing was fun and something as tedious as laundry would be done in no time if he just concentrated on all the fun!
One of the few things Brendan had to learn how to do himself was laundry. He had never really had to do laundry before coming to Zener, but he had become fairly good at it. Although Brendan probably did an un-need amount, washing any clothes that got dirty even slightly. So he walked into the laundry room carrying a couple pairs of jeans as well as a couple of shirts. He stopped once he saw Justin dancing there to a song blasting from his phone. Brendan smiled a little and walked in. "I like that song. It is fun to dance to, yup."
Justin stopped, looking over his shoulder and smiling at the other boy. "Her songs are all fun, really." Justin replied brightly. And Justin was never one to comment on how a singer looks in their music videos and things like that. It was the music that mattered wasn't it? Reaching over, he grabbed his cell and quickly reduced the volume of the song playing. It was hard to have a conversation with music playing in the background and anyways that was always the polite thing to do. "Which of her other songs do you like?" Justin asked then as he continued to separate his whites from the colours.
Brendan really didn't know music artists. He normally just heard a song on the radio and would try to remember it and ask Brea to help him download it. But he did know who Lady Gaga was, everyone did after all. He smiled and shrugged a little. "Um...I like Just Dance and Boys Boys Boys." He paused a little, his face getting warm suddenly. "It...has a good beat." He moved over to open one of the washing machines and dumping his clothes inside.
"Just Dance is really great. Everyone seems to really like that one." Justin replied, as he finished up separating his clothes. There was a lot of clothes but he had let it all pile up and up and up and up. It was a good thing he had remembered to do the laundry or he'd have nothing to wear on the road trip! Watching as Brendan dumped all his clothes inside, Justin asked, "Don't you have to separate your whites?" He didn't want any of the other boy's white coloured clothing to be turning pink or orange or any colour like that!
Brendan looked at Justin with a slight look of confusion on his face. It has been a while since he had even seen Justin and the last thing he wanted was to look dumb in front of him. He frowned a little. You....have to do that?"
He grinned in response, and it was a nice friendly grin instead of a condescending one. Justin probably couldn't be condescending even if he tried. Walking up next to Brendan he took a look into the other boy's chosen washing machine and then nodded. "Yup, some colours run really and if you don't separate them you'll end up with something like tie and dye." He reached for Brendan's pile of clothes, and some people would probably be calling his meddling but Justin was just trying to be helpful. "Intentional tie and dye is fun." He continued, easily separating out the various pieces of clothing. "Unintentional...not so much." Justin's shoulders lifted in a shrug and then down again as he voiced his next question.
"So how have you been Brendan?" He saw the boy in class and in the hallways but Brendan didn't seem to be writing in the journals and they hadn't chatted there in a long while.
Brendan listened to Justin and nodded as he talked. He always hated sounding so dumb and immature. He had been trying so hard to be a normal guy, and Justin wasn't even around to see his efforts. All the same though, Brendan just smiled and let Justin meddle all he wanted. "Thank you, Justin." He had hoped Justin wouldn't notice his socks which were slightly tinted blue thanks to his last wash.
He looked at Justin again and shifted a little, moving his head so that his long dark bangs would move from in front of his eyes. "Um...I've been ok, yeah, ok. What about you?" He smiled at Justin. He always watched Justin in class and he always looked like he was having a good time. Brendan never showed his jealousy though, that Justin would always spend his time with his other friends and not him.
"You're welcome." Justin replied. He did notice the blue tinted socks though and dithered a bit, wondering which pile he should add them to. He didn't want to spoil Brendan's other whites but they could get worse if he put them in the coloured pile. In the end Justin simply settled for the latter, if Brendan wanted to move it then it was his choice. He started to load the other boy's whites into the washing machine first. Yes, he had forgotten about his own laundry at this point in time.
"You seem to be doing really well in class." Justin said then in an encouraging tone. Brendan always seemed to be very quiet in class but that was a good sign right? It showed that the other boy was paying attention. And it was really better then causing trouble for the teacher and the other students. "I've been doing fine as well." He replied then with a nod. "The wedding was really nice and I'm going for a road trip this coming march break." He smiled in an excited way.
Brendan just sighed a little inwardly as Justin picked out his obvious mistake. He tried to avoid it by looking around the laundry room. Sadly there wasn't anything to look at and no plants he could confide in.
He then looked at Justin. What? He was leaving again? Already? He frowned a little, but couldn't say anything, he wouldn't and he just had to smile a little when he saw Justin's excited smile. He didn't want Justin to go away. He hardly ever even saw him....maybe it was a sign that Brendan just needed to give up. Perhaps Justin wasn't going to realize just how Brendan felt. The plant lover once again felt small, and odd, shifting a little and brushing his hair, letting it fall over his face again. "Yeah....very nice. Where...um...are you going? How long will you be gone?"
"I have no idea!" Justin said then, somehow managing to put a few exclamation marks at the end of that sentence. "Kyle and Arthur and Charlie and I are just going to take my car, pick a direction and drive in it!" Driving into the unknown it sounded so adventurous. Maybe they'd stumble upon treasure! Or maybe they'd just sit in a motel room and bond over peanuts and junk food bought from the hotel's vending machine. Whichever. "And we're taking Kyle Junior along with us!" He continued to babble on excitedly, though his hands still moved loading up Brendan's washing and then starting up the machines. And as to how long they'll be gone, "Probably five or six days." Depending on if they get lost or not. That would be a very great possibility.
"I'm going to buy Miss Foster and Morgan a present each." He said then, leaning on one of the machines as he looked at Brendan. "Do you want one?"
Six whole days!? Brendan's heart sank. He had just gotten Justin back and now he was going again. He knew he shouldn't be, but they way Justin just spent time with his other friends made Brendan a little jealous. Maybe he would talk to Mr.Six about what he said the hospital had recommended. Six had told Brendan their last lettered suggested Brendan to go back. Now he was starting to consider it. He didn't say anything and just mindlessly walked to where all the soap and washing fluid was kept and picked out a small cup of Tide for his colors. He put it in the machine, keeping his eyes, and mind off of Justin. Trying to imagine the other boy was gone. Looking and talking to him would be too hard.
He was still waiting for an answer, still smiling at Brendan in that open way of his. That smile faltered a bit though as the other boy turned away and walked over to where all the soap things were. Maybe Brendan hadn't heard him? Or maybe Brendan was taking the time to think his offer through? "A present will be no problem at all." He said then reassuringly, totally missing the point. Of course he always missed the point. "You don't have to feel bad about me buying you something...We'll look at it this way, I never did give you a Valentine's day present so this is my chance to pay you back." Justin paused for a breath and then said,
"Speaking of that, your gift was very nice. Did I tell you that?" He could not remember. "It was wonderful how they kept growing on their own."
Brendan didn't say anything for a bit but he realized that just pretending Justin wasn't there wasn't going to help and it wouldn't make things any better and would be rude to Justin. Brendan just nodded a little as he closed the washing machine for his colors, and turned it on. "Um...thank you. You can if you want."
He certainly remembered his gift for Justin. A heart shaped from continuously growing flowers and smooth green vines. It wouldn't have been till after Valentines that they stopped growing on their own and stayed in full bloom. Although after this little encounter, chances are somewhere out there a heart of flowers was wilting. Brendan lifted his head to give Justin a short, small smile, his bangs covering his eyes. "You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it."
"I will!" Justin had not noticed this quiet moment and he just kept on smiling. "You're certainly worth buying a present for, Brendan." Reaching out he touched the other boy's arm gently before pushing himself off the washing machine he had been leaning again. His gaze had fallen to his own pile of clothes and he moved there now, loading them inside and then just skipping over to the soaps and things for his own small cup of Tide. Too bad there weren't any of those fancy fabric softeners but he could live with that.
"You're letting your bangs cover your eyes again." He remarked casually. "I told you that you looked better with them away from your face right?"
Brendan froze once he felt Justin touch his arm. Was this just cruel torture? He frowned a little but just shrugged a little, giving Justin a small grin. "Thank you, you've very nice." He turned and leaned against the machine. He should have probably left but he couldn't leave Justin, even if he wanted to. He peeked at Justin through his bangs then sighed and lifted his hand, pushing his hair from his face and smiled shyly at him. "Better?"
"Much." Justin replied. The song had ended though he hadn't noticed because he was babbling away on the road trip. Justin grabbed his cell then and looked at the screen checking to see if he had any texts before slipping it back into the pockets of his jeans. Now that all the laundry was loaded there was nothing left to do but wait. Wait and chit chat which was something that came easily for Justin. "Maybe it's time for a hair cut do you think?" He suggested, which was rich coming from him. Justin's hair was also getting a tad long, curling around the collar of the polo shirt that he was wearing.
"What do you intend to do for march break, Brendan." He was jumping from one question to the next but that was just him.
Brendan was used to long hair. He didn't exactly get haircuts often, and when he did he usually got the same emo-like style each time. People said it fit his odd personality. He shrugged a little, looking up at his hair and running his fingers through it. "I guess....its a little long. Almost as long as yours." He pointed to Justin's head. He shrugged a little, looking down at his feet. "....Maybe go back to the hospital." His hair once again fell over his eyes as he looked down.
"Yeah.." Justin wrinkled his nose. "Maybe I'll get one when Spring arrives." He had started pacing a little around the little laundry room, Justin couldn't really stay still for long periods of time. Unless he was asleep of course. Now he was walking up to Brendan again. The other boy was looking down and letting his hair fall over his eyes again. Justin didn't really like that. It always seemed that Brendan was constantly hiding and Justin was of the opinion that nobody should have to do that.
Reaching out, he was about to brush those bangs back (once again he had forgotten about personal space) when Brendan said something about the hospital. "Oh." He said, looking surprised. "Why would you need to go back to the hospital?"
: Brendan didn't really care when Justin invaded his personal space. He had grown used to people like him, Brea and Six. Not many others those. He let his bangs get brushed away before looking upwards at Justin, then straighting himself up a little so now he was standing straight, being only slightly taller then Justin. He paused a moment before stammering a bit. "They....thought it would be a good idea....if I went back."
Now it was Justin's turn to freeze, a quizzical look making it's way across his face. "Why would you think it's a good idea?" He asked then, his fingers still in Brendan's hair. He had forgotten about where they were because he was too busy trying to puzzle out why Brendan wanted to go back to a mental hospital. Wasn't Zener a much better place? "Are you feeling lonely because all the other plants are still asleep?" He asked then, knowing that that couldn't be right because Brendan had Fido and Charlie. The two ferns could keep him company right? There was bound to be something going on that he didn't know about!
"Brendan, are you having troubles? You know you can talk to me about them right?" Or Mr Six really.
Brendan lowered his head again, even if Justin's fingers were in his hair. The feeling of them there were slightly comforting. Brendan always liked his hair being played with and his head being rubbed. He didn't know why. He didn't know what to say to Justin. They had already been through this, and Brendan had already confessed liking Justin to his face but Justin continued to ignore it and never speak or act on it again. It was a clear sign that Brendan should probably accept. He sighed and shrugged. "They said it would be a good idea....I'm lonely here too....maybe they are right....maybe I am not ready..."
His fingers slipped up further into Brendan's hair as the other boy lowered his head. Not that Justin realized it though, he was too busy looking at Brendan. "When do they think you'll be ready?" He asked then, a bit of indigence creeping into his tone. Brendan was already nineteen and those hospital people couldn't make him wait anymore to finish high school really. "You've been doing great so far." There had been no major problems that Justin had heard off. "Maybe if you made more friends..." He paused and then smiled. "Though that won't be a problem when Spring comes along and everyone wakes up again!" He was trying to be optimistic about things.
Brendan just continued to look at the floor. He didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if Justin could see him but he didn't really care anymore. He didn't look happy like before. He actually looked quite sad. He didn't expect dreams to come true over night but every day seemed to get further and further away from what he actually wanted, and what Brendan actually wanted were a few very simple things. Spring, Central Park, and Justin. He just shrugged.
Justin wanted to sigh. Brendan's moods were often very confusing and he had a hard time keeping up with them. But still, the other boy was looking very unhappy and Justin just couldn't leave him like that! He shifted a little closer, fingers rubbing Brendan's scalp a little. "Brendan...you can tell me if there's something wrong." He offered again, speaking softly this time.
Brendan didn't move, mostly because he liked Justin's fingers in his hair. It felt good, calming and relaxing. He shrugged a little again. "I don't know...." He didn't what was he supposed to say? Don't go on the road trip with your friends? Actually recognize his feelings? Have you noticed me being normal for you? Its not like Brendan could say any of those things. He at least knew that, so he just sighed at a loss for words again. "I don't know."
The first question was the easiest one to answer. Had Brendan voiced that, Justin's answers would have been, I can't. I already promised to go on that road trip...but maybe I can ask the others if you could come along. It would be a tight fit but we can try. Has for noticing if Brendan trying to be normal for him, no Justin had not noticed in the least. And as to the question of recognizing his feelings...well, that was complicated and Justin would have avoided it altogether. He did sigh a little now, and then said,
"Alright. But I know that I like having you around school." He smiled a little now. "And if they want you to come for a visit during the break you should go. But only then. They can't keep you forever. Zener is really good for you and your abilities...they really do have to see that."
Brendan glanced at Justin before shrugging a little and looking towards the washing machines. He took a deep breath, moving his head a little against Justin's fingers, much like a dog or cat would when it wants its ears scratched. He no longer cared if it was kind of weird.
"Ive been trying really hard....so I didn't have to...I don't want to...maybe i should though." He glanced at Justin then the floor again. "You don't even notice that I'm being normal."
Justin found himself blinking. "You have been trying hard." He replied, echoing the words slowly and looking at Brendan. He was slow on the uptake but he wasn't stupid and all the pieces were falling into place. "Oh." Justin said, when the picture was completed and he could see all of it. His hand fell from Brendan's hair. "You can't possible want to leave because of me." Justin said then, his eyebrows coming together in a frown. "You can't want to throw everything away because I..." Justin turned away and back to the washing machine that held his clothes. A bad feeling was starting to creep up on him.
There. Justin might have finally got it. Brendan then stepped past him, thinking this was all going horribly wrong. He quickly gather up all his white clothes in his arms, in attempt to quickly get out of the room but upon trying to turn, all the clothes in his arms ended up toppling to the floor. This was all going so so wrong. In an attempt to actually be normal, Brendan just looked as awkward and stupid as ever and he let out a frustrated and tortured sigh before quickly dropping down to his knees to scoop up his whites in a hurry.
This time Justin sighed as well. And then he was grabbing one of the empty communal laundry baskets and going down on his knees next to Brendan. Silently, he put Brendan's whites into the basket though that silence only lasted for a few seconds. "I would be very disappointed if you left." He told the other boy pushing the basket over to him. And that seemed to be that. Justin was standing again, and walking away. "I think...I can bring your colours over to your room when they get done." He was hoping that Brendan would leave. All their conversations on this topic seem to go horribly wrong and he was trying to do some damage control.
Brendan looked at Justin once they were done picking up his whites. Depending on the weird things that were going on and since Justin was leaving for a while, Brendan decided to fuck it all and looked at Justin. He would be disappointed if Brendan left? Fuck it. Brendan stood and looked at Justin before leaning in and kissing Justin on the cheek. He didn't even say anything about the colors before hurrying past Justin and out the laundry room door so he could go hit himself in the head with a heavy book in the privacy of his own dorm.