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"He's using you, Bren."
Bren shoved a t-shirt into his backpack, all the while refusing to look at his best friend. Despite keeping his eyes firmly locked on his task, he still knew exactly what look she was giving him. Her chocolate brown eyes narrowed, her dirty blonde hair raked back from her face, her tan, freckled fists planted perfectly on her hips, and her stance wide despite how skinny and fragile she looked nowadays. This was the look she always gave him when he talked about Galaxy.
"What could he even use me for?" Bren snapped back at her, even as he was pushing a small plush toy deeper into the backpack, where it wouldn't be seen. "I'm nobody. He's already got a career and a life and I've got nothing. If anything, I'm using him."
"…you've got nothing," Haley repeated, her voice soft and pained. "So I'm nothing to you?"
"That's not what I said!" Bren immediately protested. Still, he knew it was too late. Haley was already moving for the door of his bedroom, ready to head out of the small apartment and off into the night. "Haley, please!"
"Use him all you like, Bren. It won't change who you are. I just hope you can actually see yourself in the mirror someday. See what I see."
Even though Bren chased after her, Haley was faster than him, her little bit of headstart giving her just enough room to slam his apartment door shut once she was on the other side of it. Neither moved once the door was closed.
Haley stood with her back to his door, pretending she didn't still see the extra 6 Bren had tacked on to his address, pretending she didn't care that he was that kind of dork. Bren, on the other hand, stood just inside his apartment, hand partially outstretched for the doorhandle, but unable to complete the reach. She was so close, but he couldn't bring himself to stop her.
It won't change who you are, she'd said. Exactly what did that mean? That he was even less than he thought, that even she could see it? Or that…he couldn't see what she saw in him…?
He couldn't make sense of it, though he tried to. He turned the words over again and again in his mind, but still, he kept coming up short. What did she mean?
With the inside of the apartment silent and no one coming after her, Haley took a shaky breath and stormed out of the complex, rubbing her eyes to rid them of the tears that threatened to overtake her. If Galaxy is what he wants, then Galaxy is what he'll fucking get. I don't need him…I don't need anyone…
===
It was about an hour later when Bren finally turned up where he and Galaxy were supposed to meet. The other musician had suggested a hotel room, to keep prying eyes off of his place, and Bren had, of course, agreed without thought. It made sense, after all — Bren wouldn't want paparazzi bothering him if he were in Galaxy's shoes, so the least Bren could do was try to make the meet-up easier for his companion.
Bren knocked briefly on the hotel door, a series of two short raps of his knuckles followed by a harder hit from the side of his fist. The sound carried briefly in the empty parking lot around the singer, but only briefly. Galaxy opened the door as it faded.
"There's my little dragon…," Galaxy all but purred as he took his guest in, his eyes raking hungrily from the top of Bren's head all the way to the tip of his toes. Bren shuddered appreciatively, unable to keep the smile from his face. Galaxy always had a way of making him feel…special.
"Hi, Galaxy…," the shorter singer mumbled, his hips finding a little rhythm as his excitement bubbled up higher. "Can I come in?"
"Please do."
Galaxy moved backward, out of the way, as easily as a curtain falls into place. His boots seemed to glide across the floor, ghost-like in their grace. Bren followed him in, gripping his backpack's straps a little tighter. He really did like Galaxy, respected him, maybe even loved him, but…there was always that little feeling in the pit of his stomach. That small anxiety that maybe, just maybe, Haley was right.
It's only because she keeps saying it. Galaxy has never done anything wrong, least of all to me.
As the door closed behind him, pressed shut by Galaxy's hand reaching just a little too close to Bren's side, Bren took in the hotel room itself. It was a suite, of course, with the bedroom somewhere in the back, likely attached to a bathroom. In this front room, though, decorations had been set up. Above the couch was a beautiful soft red banner with pale pinkish-white words, clearly handpainted: 'HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!' The couch itself was littered with rose petals, as if to entice Bren closer, and on either side of the couch stood tall strings of heart-shaped balloons. Galaxy had really gone all out, as far as Bren could tell.
What surprised him, however, was the camera upon a tripod standing in front of the couch, pointed directly at it. It blocked the TV screen easily. Bren couldn't help but focus on it, his bright green eyes squinting nearly shut in confusion.
"What's the camera for?" he asked, glancing at his would-be lover as the other musician walked over to the couch, settling amidst the rose petals as if they weren't even there.
"For remembering a special night," was at first all he gave by way of explanation. "It is Valentine's Day, after all…I'd like to remember this one. Because it's with you."
Bren gave another little shudder as a thrill of excitement raced through him. "O-oh…right, that…that makes sense," he stammered in return.
"Take your shoes off, sweetheart. Then you can put your backpack down and come sit with me," Galaxy then instructed, patting the cushion beside him. "I think it'd be nice to chat for a bit, don't you?"
Galaxy's eyes, piercing blue and rimmed with dark eyeliner, briefly met Bren's gaze. Bren shivered again and nodded, his hands falling away from his backpack's straps as the bag slid down his arms and to the floor. In the same breath, Bren slid out of his converse, then trotted over to Galaxy. He wondered why he didn't glide across the floor the same way. Was it his socks? Or was Galaxy just that special?
Slowly, Bren lowered himself to sit beside his idol, hardly able to believe that this was really happening. Galaxy's hand came to rest on Bren's shoulder, but a slight tug had the singer leaning closer into his crush's chest. Galaxy then slid that arm around Bren's shoulders, easily holding him in place.
It wasn't the most pleasant of positions. Not for Bren, at least. He tried laying his head beneath Galaxy's chin, but the other musician's collarbones were rather sharp and poked against his face uncomfortably. Galaxy's fingers clutched at Bren's shoulder, nails digging slightly into his shirt and the soft skin beneath. Still, despite it all, Bren stayed where he was. He didn't want to upset Galaxy, after all…he just wanted his hero, his Galaxy, to like him.
"What, uh…what did you want to talk about?" Bren asked after a few moments of silence and adjusting to the discomfort.
Galaxy chuckled in a way that Bren felt rumble through both of them. "You've talked before about wanting to be more than what you are, my little dragon…is that right?"
Bren smiled, though he tried to hide it by pressing closer to Galaxy himself. It was always nice when someone so important, so beautiful and talented and clever, remembered something said by someone so beneath them. Like Bren.
"Y-yeah. I want to be like you, really, if…if that's even possible for someone like me."
Another thrill raced through Bren's body as Galaxy dared to press a kiss to Bren's carefully styled hair. "Of course it's possible…not just for someone like you, but especially you."
"How…how do I make that happen?"
"You trust me, don't you?"
"Of course I do."
"You want to be everything I am?"
"Yes. Yes, absolutely."
"Then close your eyes, little dragon. I'll take care of everything."
Bren did as he was told. His eyes slid shut. Although he felt Galaxy shift and move around him, even when he felt soft lips on his neck, Bren remained still, his eyes closed, and waited. After a few kisses, there was one sharp pain, as if he'd been bitten, and Bren gasped.
…but then the feeling faded. Bren's limbs turned into jelly. His body felt limp and for once, sensation-free as he cuddled in close to Galaxy. As the moments dragged on, Bren shifted briefly, his hips twisting slightly with desperation and need, but then Galaxy's free hand gripped at his waist.
"Hold still," came a soft, almost growled voice. Bren barely recognized it as Galaxy's, but still, he listened.
A few more moments and the darkness started to take hold. Bren wasn't sure what it meant, what could be causing it, but he assumed it was just the pleasure that streaked through every nerve like little bolts of electricity. Maybe he was overwhelmed. Maybe he was passing out.
"Galaxy…," Bren whimpered, small tendrils of fear spiking up somewhere inside his mind.
"Shhh, little dragon. Trust me."
So Bren took a breath. He made a choice. He trusted Galaxy.
…and that was the last thing he remembered that night.