Patrice dozed the whole two hours it took to get to Brian's spacious house he used when he wasn't touring or in Orlando on business. The house was not the house you would expect a star to live in, but extravagant in its own right. Brian pulled into his driveway relieved when he noticed that he didn't have any company. He left Patrice's car outside the garage when he realized that he didn't have any room in there. He glanced over at Patrice's sleeping head resting against the window. He smiled. He didn't know why he was grinning, but he couldn't help it. He got out on his side and tucked the keys away in his pocket. He opened the door for Patrice and helped her out of the car. She had never felt so tired. Not just from the night's events, but from everything. He attempted several times to get his door open while Patrice shivered in the cold. He finally got it to cooperate. He showed Patrice inside. "You house is so lovely" she managed to say. "It's our house now 'Tricie." Brian corrected. Patrice mouthed "Our house" silently; thinking it was too good to be true. It was now 8:00am and they both had had minimal amounts of sleep. Brian showed her all of the downstairs area, giving her a halfhearted tour. She paid halfhearted attention only making sure to remember where the bathroom was. Brian and Patrice were both yawning in rounds. "I guess we should get to bed then." Brian said chuckling about them fighting sleep. He led her up a staircase that was in the kitchen. There were only two rooms on the second floor and a bathroom. Brian put Patrice in one. Patrice studied the decor of the room and felt out of place with all of the expensive things. She imagined the bedspread had cost more than her furniture at her old apartment. Brian returned seconds later with an oversized tee shirt and oversized pajama bottoms. "You should be comfortable in these"; he said handing them to her. Brian kissed her cheek and left her to change. He left the door cracked behind him. Before he made it to his room he found himself opening her door again. "If you need me, I am right across the hall," he said, wondering if he should say more. Patrice squeaked out an "Okay" before he left again. Brian settled into his room and stripped down to his boxers. He didn't even feel like bothering with pajamas. He crawled under his quilts and closed his eyes. He was so exhausted he could barely comprehend what had happened. He knew he would have some explaining to do. Patrice lay in bed thinking the same thing.
Patrice lay in bed wide-awake. It was 3:30 in the afternoon and she heard no noise so she figured Brian was still asleep. She lay on her side thinking. She didn't know how to even begin to explain to Brian what had transpired over the years that they were apart. "I don't know what to do." she mumbled out loud to no one. Patrice was never one to just lie in bed. She didn't want to bother Brian but she couldn't take it anymore. She got up and as soon as her feet hit the floor, her pants fell down. She picked them up and tied the waist into a knot, hoping that wouldn't happen in front of Brian. She giggled because she realized Brian had already seen her shaking her body in front of his friends. She opened her door and stood in the doorway. She saw that his door was open and she could see him lying in a huge bed in the middle of his room. She almost turned around and went back into her room before Brian said, "Good morning". Patrice jumped, startled. She thought he was asleep. "Good morning" she answered catching her breath. "How did you sleep?" Brian asked. "Fine, you?" Patrice replied. "I feel rested now.” “Should be, It is nearly 4:00" he chuckled sitting up. "Do you want to take a shower?" he asked, getting out of the bed. Patrice bit back a slight grin when she saw he was in his boxers, if Brian didn't notice, she wasn't about to tell him. "Sure but I don't really know what to put on." She said. Brian sighed and pulled on some sweat pant. "Tell you what, if you don't mind going out in some baggy jeans and a tee shirt, we can go get some clothes and some food." He said sitting down on his bed. "Okay" Patrice called across the hall. She leaned against the doorway knowing he wasn't finished. "Patrice" he called. "Yes" she answered. "After we are done shopping and everything, we need to talk." He said. "I...I know" she stammered, she knew it was coming. "Why don't you come in here…I mean your all the way over there and everything." Brian said trying to lighten the mood a little. Patrice walked into his room and sat down beside him on the bed. Brian got up and dug in his drawers trying to find something that was a little too tight for him. He settled on a pair of jeans that actually belonged to Nick's little brother Aaron. He must have left him the last time he visited. Brian handed them to Patrice before picking out a random tee shirt from another drawer. He showed her to the shower and left her alone.
Patrice let the hot water run over her body, relaxing her. She felt a lot of the tension in her body melt away with the steam. She spent most of her shower time thinking about how to explain when the time came. She knew it would be soon. Tears sprang to her eyes when she thought about the story she was going to have to tell him. How could she tell Brian how horrible his mother had been to her when she found out it was his baby? There were so many things that his mother had done to "protect" Brian. She didn't even know where to begin telling it to herself. She cried freely. Nobody would hear her in the shower. She finished washing her body and turned off the water. She could hear water running somewhere else in the house. She figured that Brian was taking a shower elsewhere. She wiped the fog off the mirror and stared at her reflection. Her eyes were red and tired looking. She dug in her purse and retrieved her eye drops. She always kept them on hand because of the late nights at the club. After she relieved her eyes of the itchy scratchy feeling, she began to dress. She pulled on the blue and white striped tee shirt Brian had given her. She ran her fingers along the faint scar on her belly. That once again brought tears to her eyes. She closed her eyes and saw him coming at her with the knife. She took a deep breath and pulled on her jeans. They fit perfectly. She pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and put on a little lip-gloss. She made sure to clean up her mess and left the bathroom. She went back into her bedroom and made up her bed. She sat down on her bed waiting. She could hear Brian rustling around in his room, this time the door was shut.
