Beyond [r e p a i r} [open!}

[Brendan Reid]

Brendan sighed. As much as he didnt want to admit it, but for the better part of 8 years, he had thought his brother was dead. But something inside him told him to keep pushing. To keep living. Because even if he was dead and gone, the best thing wouldnt be to hang on it. His brother would want him to move on, to make him proud. Dwelling on such a thing would only make matters worse. Nothing good could possibly come out of them constantly mentioning it.

"Im sorry for your loss. Both of us are. But you cant dwell on it. Stick your chin in the air and make them proud. They wouldnt want you moping about, complaining about how theyre gone. Theres no coming back for them now. So keep pushing forward." He said, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "And if friends is what you want, me and Braxton are here."

He forced a smile. Something about this girl said she needed a hug. Badly.

"And Im sure were not dying any time soon. Too hard headed." He added with a smile and a bit of a laugh.

[Diane McLain]

She laughed back, feeling that her voice was steady and she was feeling remarkably calm about it all. "I know, I know..." she said to them both with a shrug, and although she was quickly hurrying the conversation along it wasn't because it hurt. It was because she had been bored of it, hearing the same advice and the same words, most of the time being said to herself. She hadn't meant for it to come across as a plead or search for pity, just to let them know she wasn't all quite there. Like if she was saying that she'd had a bad nights sleep or relationship problems.

She folded her arms again, looking at them both with keen interest. "Sooo...." she said, tapping her foot lightly as she tried to hurry along the shift in conversation. "How come you didn't know what he looked like?" she asked, a question which had been taunting her since their meeting, though she wasn't sure if the answer would seem too personal or not.

[Braxton Reid]

Braxton laughed a bit, becoming very very uneasy around the girl suddenly. Something about the question seemed very personal, very burried in his thoughts.

"Uhm... Well, when we were little, we didnt look very much alike. It was obvious, of course because we were of the same size and stature, but still we looked very diffrent. Almost as if we werent twins at all. And then our parents spilt. Bren went with dad and I had to stay with mom. And we totally lost contact..." He mumbled. Something made him want to avoid the girl, but here he was, in the middle of a strip mall, spilling his history to the very girl he almost feared.

"I wouldnt have recgonized him otherwise. Hes identical to me. I though it was a mirror there for a second before I realized he had no booksack, he was dressed diffretly, and had spiderbites."

[Diane McLain]

Diane's eyes opened wide a little, taken slightly aback by this new knowledge. It had felt like these boys had been friends for years, though it was quite pleasing to hear that she was not the only one to suddenly feel the sparkle of energy that drew them together, even if it was leaving her quickly in favour of the brother. "Wow...." she said softly under her breath, nodding. "Um, do you guys want me to go then? I really don't want to ruin this...." she said, self consciously taking a step backwards and pointing vaguely somewhere behind her, though she never took her eyes off of them. It seemed rude to stay around for such an important family moment, and she was sure they'd have a lot to catch up on.

[Braxton Reid]

Braxton shook his head and adjusted his booksack.

"No. Ill leave. I have something to go do and Im already late. Nice meeting you." He said, then turned and walked off quickly, leaving his brother with the girl he was afraid of.

[Brendan Reid]

Brendan watched his brother go, something breaking in his heart. Brax really wanted it to work between him and this girl. And something told Brendan that Braxton didnt like her very much. He glanced back at the girl once his brother was completely out of sight.

Truthfully, he didnt think he wanted a girl that was in love with a gay guy. He didnt think he wanted her at all. She was entirely too caught up in this boy to realize she probably didnt have a snowballs chance in hell with him. But he didnt care. Let her walk over a bed of nails. What dumbass mistakes she made was no concern of his.

"So whatcha wanna do?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

[Diane McLain]

Her skin burned a light red as she waved goodbye to Braxton, though she wasn't sure if he could see or not. She sighed, feeling like she was tearing up the just reunited family. She looked back to Brendon, trying to forget her worries by beaming a kind smile to him, shrugging as she walked towards him, feeling herself once again in a bright white light of energy and confidence. "What do you want to do?" she said to him in a slow, slightly seductive voice as she considered swapping 'what' for 'who'.

[Brendan Reid]

Brendan raised an eyebrow, amazed how she bounced back quickly.

"Id do you, if you werent in love." He said. Not the most clever thing to say, but maybe it would drive her away a bit, let her know how he felt about her situation. But then again, who was he to judge?

"Well, we could catch a movie, grab a hotel room, go play lazer tag -although I dont feel like running around-, go tease little school girls, or go back to my place and play around on the bed, erm, instruments." He smirked. "Unless you have a better idea, then Im game."

[Diane McLain]

She looked at him, more than a little taken aback by the confidence and flirtatiousness of his words - barely even hints, but plain out suggestions. She smiled, knowing that she would like this boy. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it back out of her face as she looked up at him. "Hmm... It sounds like a shame." she said, biting on her bottom lip, realising how Antosha was often more of a burden then a joy. If only their agreement to not speak to each other had worked.

"Tell you what...." she said, looking up at him and taking a pen out of her bag, taking his hand and writing her phone number on it with large, curvy numerals. "I'm probably going to have to get back to the school sometime soon but... if you feel like a proper date, give me a call." she said, giving him a sweet smile. "I'll give you a chance to impress me, if you give me a chance to dig myself out of the hole I'm in with him" she said, genuinely fully motivated to cut all ties of love to Antosha if she knew that there would be something interesting in the horizon.

[Brendan Reid]

Brendan smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek gently.

"Take your time, love." He whispered, then pulled away.

-Finito!-