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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 16:09:58 GMT
Morgan Tyler had never taken a bus ride that meant she had to go further than her family’s apartment building to somewhere else in the city. And so when she climbed onto a bus bound for Ithaca, she wasn’t quite sure what she was getting into. She hadn’t properly slept in a couple of days and even if she wanted to sleep on the bus ride, she wasn’t sure that she could. Too much had happened recently and all she knew was that she thought – maybe, Brody was the person that could help.
It occurred to her about an hour into the ride that she didn’t exactly know where Brody even lived.
“Do you want some?”
She jumped at the voice, having been lost in her own thoughts before turning to the young man sitting next to her with only about thirty minutes left to go of the ride. He laughed softly. “I didn’t mean to startle you, I couldn’t tell if you were zoning out or looking at these?” he held up a small box of baked goods. “My mom made them,” he nodded. “She makes like, three trays of brownies when I come home, and sends me back with them. I try not to eat them all on the bus ride.”
Morgan smiled politely at him and shook her head. A few moments passed before he tried to engage her in conversation again, introducing himself as Toby and asking her if she went to Cornell or Ithaca.
“No. I was hoping to see someone I know though,” she admitted. “Brody.”
“Brody Finn? No kidding. The kid lives next door to me,” he nodded. “You’re a friend of his? You coming up to meet his girlfriend, Alex? I’ve only really met her once, but she seemed neat.”
And then, without warning, Morgan burst into tears. To his credit, Toby was pretty good about it, seeming to realize his misstep, he tried to calm her down and when the bus pulled into its spot in Ithaca, he gestured for her to follow him. She argued that she should probably just get on the next bus going back to Manhattan, but Toby wouldn’t allow it. “You’re not going on a bus this late alone for another six hours. Come on.”
And so Morgan followed him to the apartment building. Toby dragged his suitcase behind him, trying to offer her a cookie one more time before he knocked on an apartment door. “Hey, man. It’s me. I’ve got something of yours…and brownies.”
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 14, 2015 16:33:55 GMT
Surprise maybe wasn't the best word to describe it, it didn't seem to encompass the magnitude of what Brody felt when he opened his door to find his neighbor standing there with Morgan. He wasn't even sure that he would have ever expected to see here here, at least not in this particular situation. Having just heard from Avery Thomas that no one knew where the redheaded young woman in front of him was, he had been trying to figure out what might have happened with her that had caused her to miss her study date with Avery. He had felt badly for Avery, but the concern that he had felt for Morgan had become overwhelming. Having been just about to tell Toby that now wasn't a good time, he instead sighed in relief.
"Avery, she's here," he told the eight-year-old, hoping to relieve her own fears. "I'll check and make sure she hasn't been affected by any Weeping Angels and I'll call you later to give you an update, okay?" Hanging up the phone, he pocketed it quickly, nodding at his neighbor.
He could only assume that the two had run into each other somewhere between the city and here, and while he was curious about the details surrounding the entire encounter, he had already decided that the best thing that he could do would be to get her inside and figure out what was going on. "Thanks, Toby," he said appreciatively.
Turning to Morgan, he tried to smile softly at her, realizing that they really hadn't spoken to each other since prom. "Hey," he said softly. "Do you want to come inside?"
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 16:58:07 GMT
Morgan looked down, it only took a moment to realize she’d missed her weekly plans with Avery Thomas and she suddenly felt enormously guilty, she cursed under her breath. When Brody invited her inside, she dipped her head with a slight nod and walked in past him, arms crossing in front of her chest.
Toby looked at Brody, nodding at him before leaning in and lowering his voice. “I was sitting next to her on the bus and tried to talk to her, you know – six hour trip and all. And when she mentioned she was coming here to see you, I might have accidentally made her cry when I asked her if she was a friend coming up to meet Alex,” he admitted. “Sorry, man. Anyway, I got that new video game when I was home, if you want to play later this week, come on by. My mom also made brownies.” Toby craned his neck to look past him at Morgan. “Nice meeting you. Sorry about…you know, before.” And with that, Toby left to settle back into his own apartment.
Morgan stepped further into Brody’s apartment, not wanting to look at him. “I’m sorry, I should have called first or something. I just…didn’t know where else to go.”
“I would have called to let you know when the bus got in – because I realized I didn’t actually know where you lived. But then I thought maybe I should just go home again. But Toby brought me here.”
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 14, 2015 17:10:17 GMT
Brody couldn't help but feel an even greater sense of relief once she was actually inside of the apartment. Part of him had been afraid that after everything she might have decided to leave after all, deciding that it wasn't his help that she wanted after all. He was glad that it hadn't happened, however, as just the sight of him made him realize how intensely he had missed her and how much he was glad that she had made her way up to Ithaca to see him.
Nodding at his neighbor, he tried to ignore the sudden feeling of guilt he experienced when he mentioned Alex's name. For whatever it was worth, he felt the sudden need to justify his relationship with her to Morgan, to explain why he had started seeing her in lieu of everything that had happened between them over the last year. "Thanks, Toby. I'll see you around," he told his friend, making a mental note to thank him later for looking after Morgan on the bus trip here, and for making sure that she made it here safely. He had thought that he had remained relatively calm while on the phone with Avery, but he wasn't sure that he would have been able to retain that for much longer.
Shutting the door behind the other man, he turned to Morgan, looking her over for a minute. She didn't look great, he had to admit. She looked tired, and sad, and suddenly his concern for her came rushing back. "Morgan, what's going on?"
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 17:22:59 GMT
Morgan looked away, leaning against the wall. “Everything’s gone to shit,” she told him softly. “Ellie and I are fighting. My roommate at Columbia is horrible, she’s mean and she always has guys over so I’m never allowed in the room – so I basically just stay in the library all the time.” She swallowed thickly and shrugged her shoulders up. “Remi and I broke up, which – whatever. He was a jerk. But after the Fourth of July, I slept with him and he dumped me right after, which is kind of just a shitty feeling.”
“But he gave me these pills. He said they were diet pills and they’d help me lose weight, but all they do is keep me up. So I started using them to study because college is different and I’m not the smartest person in class anymore. They keep me up all night. And I had a Statistics test, and I studied so hard for it, I really did. But I hadn’t slept in like two days, so I crashed during the test and ran out of time and I failed it. So now even if I get 100 on everything else, I’ll still only get a B. I’ve never gotten a B in my entire life except in gym class because I couldn’t reach the pull up bar.”
She took a deep breath. “And I miss you. I’ve been missing you so much. But you were with Melanie and I thought you were happy with her and now…” she trailed off and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she told him. “I shouldn’t have come. I’m going to go.”
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 14, 2015 17:36:18 GMT
Brody frowned, listening to her go on about everything that had been happening in her life. He suddenly realized how little he actually knew about everything she was going through as the only thing he had really been aware of was the fight that she had been having with Ellie. And that he had only been aware of because of the odd friendship that Ellie and Melanie had created through a very strange connection with Jamie. He was understanding of her problems with her roommate, knowing that his own fears had been part of what had driven him to ask his parents if it would be okay if he had gotten an apartment instead of living in freshman housing.
It was when she had gotten to the part about Remi sleeping with her and then dumping her that he had started to feel another surge of guilt, and even a little angry. The feeling of anger only intensified when she explained that he had also been supplying her with pills. A tangent of how stupid she had been and how he had been surprised that she would have made such a poor decision rose, but he pushed it away when he saw the look on her face as she continued on.
When she tried to excuse herself to leave, he intervened. Walking up to her, he placed his hand on the side of her face and smiled down at her sadly. "I miss you too," he told her. "And I'm sorry that all of this is happening, I wish that I would have been there to help." Hesitating for a moment, he suddenly heard his mother's voice telling him that he needed to just be honest with her, though it hadn't really hit him to just do it until his subconscious echoed the same advice from Melanie. "Morgan, I'm sorry for a lot of things. I just - I love you. I wish I would have told you that sooner. Maybe it would have stopped any of this from happening."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 17:49:56 GMT
Morgan’s breath hitched when he touched the side of her face and it seemed like an eternity as his words sunk in. She bit down on her lip and looked up at him, trying to even verify that she’d heard him correctly. “I love you, too,” she whispered softly. “I always have,” she nodded. Her arms wrapped around him and she pulled him in for a hug. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in before looking up at him again.
Part of her felt as though things seemed a little less terrible though. There was something comforting about being with him again even though she was sure that things still needed to be spoken about and sorted. And then, of course, there was the matter of his new girlfriend that she’d just been informed about. That fact gave her pause and she stepped back for a moment, looking down again.
“Your neighbor was really nice,” she mumbled. “And he told me you have a girlfriend now, so that’s…” she broke up and frowned. “Okay, I know I have no right to be upset because we haven’t talked since May and I want to be your supportive and happy best friend again – but that sucks.”
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 14, 2015 18:31:29 GMT
It felt comfortable hugging her body back, it felt like coming home after a long time to realize that everything around you still felt like home. Brody supposed that it was really the same thing, that after spending his entire life around her, having her back in his life felt like he was coming home to something familiar, something comfortable, something that he loved. When she broke away from him, he felt himself longing to fill the distance between them again, though he wasn't sure that a simple hug was going to cut it this time.
But he froze when she brought up Alex again. It was something that he was going to have to sort out, he knew that, but thinking about it now filled him with a strange sense of unease. He was going to have to end things with Alex, however loosely and unofficial they were at the moment, and while he knew that she was going to be perfectly understanding, he still wasn't sure if there was a proper way to phrase what he needed to say to her.
Though, he added, he didn't want to get ahead of himself if his admission to Morgan ultimately ended up coming too late. Sure, she had said it back and she had admitted her dislike for his new relationship status, but there was still the matter of distance between them. And it wasn't fair for him to always ask her to come all the way up here to be with him.
"Alex is ... Well, she isn't you." He didn't know how else to describe it. For whatever similarities he had thought the two had possessed, Alex still held the fatal flaw of not truly being Morgan. She could tease him for his height and come over to study and yet there were still dramatic differences between her and the petite young woman standing in front of him. The one that he knew would always be difficult to move past was the fact that he loved Morgan - he really always had. "She and I aren't really anything," he regretted it as soon as he said it because he knew it wasn't true. Alex was his friend when it really came down to it, the rest of it had just been extra, but he also knew that he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Truth be told, he wouldn't have been surprised had she been able to infer more about his relationship with Morgan than he had actually told her. "We're not - we're friends."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 19:45:01 GMT
Morgan looked up at Brody. Part of her knew that it wasn’t necessarily right. Even if his relationship with this girl Alex was as casual as he said, they were still together in some way. “I was just your friend,” she told him softly. “And when you were with Melanie it still hurt.” She took a breath, reaching out for his hand, she laced their fingers together.
Looking up at him she tilted her head. “I love you,” she stated again. “I do and I want to be with you. But I just feel like we should do things the right way,” she nodded. Still, she wrapped her arms around him again, sighing and allowing herself to relax when his arms folded around her. “I missed you a lot,” she muttered, burying her face against his chest.
Morgan had spent a lot of the recent months sad, lonely, and exhausted. And even though she knew that things were still a bit of a mess back home, she relaxed once she was against him.
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 14, 2015 19:55:53 GMT
She had a point, as much as he didn't want to admit it. He and Alex were friends, yes, but that still didn't change the fact that they had slept together or gone out on dates together. For whatever it was worth, he owed her an explanation as to why things were changing, he just hoped that she would understand. Tightening his grip on their interlaced fingers, he smiled softly at her and nodded. "I know, and I do think that we should do things the right way this time," it felt so weird to hear it out loud. For months now he had tried to push the idea out of his head that he and Morgan could ever really be together that he had convinced himself that he believed it. "I'll talk to Alex tomorrow," he promised.
Sighing as she wrapped her arms around him, he reciprocated the touch and pulled her close. "I missed you a lot, too. It was particularly bad when I finally admitted how I felt about you though," he added teasingly. "That made the thought of not having you in my life pretty unbearable."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 20:34:06 GMT
Morgan felt her cheeks flush and she grinned up at him. “Unbearable?” she asked with a soft laugh, but then she nodded, her face a bit more serious. “I know,” she took a deep breath. “I felt the same way.”
“I’m sorry about Remi,” she said suddenly. “He didn’t mean anything to me. But I thought that I needed to get over you and the only thing I learned was that I couldn’t.” She frowned, looking away. “It felt wrong the entire time, you know? Like I was with the wrong person and he didn’t even…I’m just sorry.”
She held herself tightly against him and shook her head. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against him and taking a moment to just soak up how it felt to have his arms around her again.
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 14, 2015 21:39:48 GMT
He was surprised by her mention of Remi. If he was being honest, he hadn't thought about Morgan French former boyfriend in some time, mostly because he kept hearing his mother's voice telling him that Morgan's relationship with him had ended. Brody hadn't cared for the other man in Morgan's life, not just because they had been dating but because the way that he had treated her had been slowly turning her into a person that he didn't recognize anymore. He wondered for a moment if Remi had actually been the cause of all of her problems over the last several months, but almost as quickly as those thoughts began, he started to wonder if it was actually him who had caused all of her problems.
Pulling her body away from his so that he could look down at her, he bent down and brushed his lips softly against hers, hesitant to move too quickly. "Don't apologize," he told her in a low voice. "It'll be different this time."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 14, 2015 21:56:44 GMT
Morgan nodded at Brody. The subtle touch of his lips against hers had her stomach doing somersaults. She knew that he still had to talk to Alex and she knew that it was maybe even a little bit wrong, but she pushed up on her toes and kissed him firmly on the mouth. And maybe that was her undoing, because it was far too easy to get wrapped up in kissing Brody. And while she’d known how much she missed it, she hadn’t realized just how much.
She pulled away after a moment, her cheeks flushing and a nervous laugh slipping out. Her fingers toyed with the fabric of his shirt idly. “I missed that, too,” she admitted sheepishly.
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Post by Brody Finn on Dec 15, 2015 0:31:07 GMT
He grinned down at her, brushing her hair out of her face before he leaned down and kissed her again, this time a little more forcefully. Brody wanted to say that it was like riding a bike, just something that you instinctually knew how to pick back up where you left it, but that wasn't true. As his lips pressed against hers it was much more than instinct that continued to drive him to remember the ways that her body reacted to his with every touch and every strategically placed kiss. After everything that they had gone through and after all of the history that they had built up together over the last fifteen or so years, it was sheer elation that he felt having her here again. It was difficult to remember why he hadn't wanted to tell her how he felt in the first place, or what he had been so afraid of once he had told her. It was even more troubling to think of why he thought that trying to move on would have been a good idea, particularly when now he could feel her body under his hands and her lips beneath his own.
Pulling away long enough to survey her face, he wanted to reassure himself that he wasn't pushing her too far too quickly. "I'm glad that you came."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 15, 2015 2:12:23 GMT
Morgan sighed softly against his mouth. When he pulled away, she nodded. "Me too." She leaned against him and sighed. "Everything is so screwed up lately Brody. And I feel horrible about missing my study date with Avery," she shook her head. "I lost track of the days and when I got that test grade back, I bought a bus ticket."
She kissed him softly again and shook her head before chuckling dryly. "Maybe I can just hide here," she suggested jokingly.
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