Brody's Bedroom

[Raebee]

"This is where the action is.. seriously."

[Raebee]

Brody stormed down the stairs and threw himself on the bed. Anger still coursed through his veins, but it was tinged with guilt now. He knew it wasn't her fault that her hormones were messing her up. And he had realised that the only time they fought, was about Kylie until now. Which was actually quite reasonable, concidering she'd been honest and told him she wanted him to pick her.

Pulling the sonogram out of his pocket, he held it above his head and sighed. "It's gonna be ok little bean. Everything will be ok by the time you're born. I promise I'll have everything sorted out."

[Dani]

A little bummed that he had been exiled from his girlfriend's room, Jack headed down the hall to what he had assumed was Brody's room and knocked on the door. He hadn't seen him in ages, not since before he left for college, which was pretty pathetic for someone he had considered his best friend. He stood in the hallway and waited for the door to open. Hopefully Brody hadn't changed too much.

[Raebee]

Startled by the knock at the door, the sonogram fell from Brody's hand and drifted to the floor. Snatching it up, he shoved it back in his pocket, wincing as he imagined it crumpling in there.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he flung the door open, a scowl on his face. "Buzz of Mikaela. Can't you see I'm..Oh."

Rearranging his features into a more welcoming expression, he opened the door properly. "Uh... sorry about that man. Um..come on down." Running his hand through his hair, he grinned sheepishly and bounded back down the way he'd come.

[Dani]

Jack laughed and shook his head. "Well, it's nice to see you too," he said, following Brody down the steps. "So you got your own little bachelor pad down here, huh? Nice man, real nice." Randomly making himself at home, he plopped down in a corner, looking around the room in amazement. "I would kill for something like this. It beats the hell out of sleeping on my mom's couch." He laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

"So what have you been to up to, dude? It's been awhile." He wondered if he should tell Brody the good news or not. He had been kind of strange about his and Miki's relationship in the past. Would he be pissed at the prospect of them becoming brothers in law?

[Raebee]

Brody let a small smile stretch across his face. The past month had felt like years, and it felt like everyone had only wanted to talk to him because they wanted something from him. And more often that not, something he couldn't give them.

"Ugh...well you know.. girls." Casting a glance at Jack, he grinned more mischeviously. "Not that you have any problem with that, I mean Miki's still a kid so she worships you. Only, don't tell her I said that. She'd kill me."

Resting a hand on the picture in his pocket, he sighed. He may as well start telling people, and who better than Jack? Probably the only one I won't get a lecture from. "You wanna know what's going on? Here, look at this." Taking it from his jeans, he smoothed it out and passed it to him.

[Dani]

Jack laughed again and shook his head. Brody hadn't changed a bit. "Girls, huh? How many is it this time?" Before he left for college, he could recall seeing Brody cruise around town with at least four different girls on various occasions. While he knew in his heart that Miki was all he ever wanted and needed for the rest of his life, Jack still found Brody's little anecdotes amusing. "So are you trying to say that Miki won't worship me anymore once she turns eighteen?" He meant the question as a joke, but it worried him a bit that he had referred to Miki as "still a kid". I guess now's not a good time to tell him.....

His mouth dropped open when he glanced down at the picture. "Whoa dude, is that yours?" He couldn't believe it. His mother had told him that tons of people were settling down and starting families, but Brody was one of the last people that he would have put in that category. Chuckling, he gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. "Congrats, man."

[Raebee]

Brody grinned wryly and took the paper back. "Yeah. It's mine. He or she is due late July. So I've got about 5 months to work out how the crap I'm gonna be a dad. And 5 months to work out how not to piss off the mother of my child every time I see her". And how to work out seeing your sister, while keeping the peace with said pissed off mother.

Sighing, he stretched out on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "So what's new with you? Why aren't you at school right now? Don't tell me you've joined me in the no-hopers club?"

[Dani]

"Flowers, dude," Jack said with an all-knowing grin. "I tell ya, they work every time. Seriously, I used to date this one chick and she was always on my back about everything. I must have dropped a bundle on flowers just to get her to calm down. Plus, pregnant women are always insane. My mom was really out of it when she was pregnant with Molly."

Sighing as well, Jack placed his head in his hands. "Well a lot's new with me too." Still nervous about breaking the engagement news, he treaded lightly around the subject. "I dropped out of college," he confessed. "Nearly gave my mom a heart attack, even though she wasn't really that crazy about the school in the first place."

[Raebee]

Brodylooked over at Jack, his arms still under his head. His face wore a slightly curious look, but he smiled nonetheless. "Really? That's great. I mean, you know...not from your mum's point of view. But from my "I have no other friends" point of view, it's fantastic. We can hang out more now."

Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he gripped his hair with his hands. "I dunno about the flowers thing though man. It doesn't matter what I do, everything I say she takes the wrong way. I was thinking the only thing I can do now is tape my mouth shut when I see her."

Throwing caution to the wind, he took a deep breath. "So, the reason Liesl - that's her name by the way- is so pissed at me, is that we aren't together. And there's this other girl I kind of like."

[Dani]

Jack smiled and nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking, man. I can't remember the last time we chilled." He had really missed hanging out with Brody and the other Misfits. While he knew that he could never return to that kind of life, he still wanted to catch up with the others and see how they were doing. Perhaps he could ask them to be in the wedding. Yeah, right, like Heath would be caught dead in a tux.... "I'm going back to school though. My mom's making me go to Riverside. But I'll still be around if you ever want to hang."

Folding his arms across his chest, he smiled smugly. "Man, all females are like that, pregnant or not. You just gotta learn how to speak their language. Believe me, it's not the easiest skill to master. I can't tell you how long it took me to understand Miki."

His eyes widened at Brody's explanation. Brody was always a ladies man, so the revelation really shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. "Dude, you got another chick on the side? Wow...." Seeing as how he had once cheated on his ex-girlfriend years ago, Jack was really in no position to cast judgement, but he was still a little shocked. "Damn, she must really be something for you to risk enduring the wrath of a pregnant chick."

[Raebee]

Brody snorted and shook his head. "Well, congratulations to you if you've finally cracked the code. Trust me, she's a royal pain. You just haven't spent enough time with her yet to know that. She's still all lovely and well behaved with you."

He shook his head again and lifted his head. "It's not like that man. I'm not with either of them. I told Liesl that I was interested in the other girl, so she knows. She asks what's going on, but not cause she wants me with her. K-uh..this other girl, she's been awesome about the whole baby thing. She hasn't pressured me to make a commitment to her or anything, but I don't know what to tell her. Cause I'm still really into Liesl..."

[Dani]

Jack shook his head. "Well that's definitely going to change soon. We have a lot of time to make up for. And I'm sure I can handle it. I mean, I grew up with Kylie and you know how much of a whack job she is." He threw back his head and laughed. While he loved his sister to death, she could be a real psycho at times.

He stood up and leaned against the wall. "Simple, you just ditch the other girl. I mean, if she's all cool with the kid, then she'll get why you don't want her. Plus, if you're really into this Liesl chick, it should be really easy to forget about the other chick."

[Raebee]

Brody stared at him, realising too late that he should be joining in. He attempted a laugh, which died in his throat. "Uh yeah for sure. Really crazy that one."

Running a hand through his hair, he listened in frustration. You wouldn't be saying that if you knew who I was talking about! It's just not that easy. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "It's more complicated than that though. This other girl, we've known each other forever. As long as you and me. And it was only lately that we've really been hanging out. Before we kind of ignored each other. And I've only known Liesl for about 3 months."

[Dani]

Not realizing Brody's half-hearted attempt at laughter, Jack laughed again. "Yeah, you know it," he said. "She's upstairs with your sister now, whining her head off about her clothes."

He glanced back over at him in confusion. "So what? You just said it yourself man, you're really into your baby's mother." The fact that Brody had known this girl forever really set the wheels in his head turning. I wonder if I know her too.... "This other girl can't be all great if you spent most of your life ignoring her, right?"