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2026-02-22 06:58:28
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DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 108
The sunlight filtering through the curtains was what woke me up. For a few seconds, I stayed still, blinking slowly at the unfamiliar ceiling while sleep clung stubbornly to the edges of my mind. Then awareness crept in little by little, and with it came the realization that I wasn't at home, that I wasn't in Chicago, and that there was a warm, solid weight beneath my hand.My eyes widened.My palm was resting against Brandon's chest.Not just resting there casually, either. My fingers were curled slightly into the fabric of his shirt like I'd grabbed onto him in my sleep and refused to let go.Heat rushed into my face so quickly it almost hurt.For one horrifying second, I stopped breathing entirely as I stared at my own hand against him. Brandon was still asleep, lying on his back beside me, one arm bent beneath his head while the other rested loosely over his stomach. His chest rose and fell steadily beneath my palm, slow and calm and completely unaware of the internal crisis curre
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 107
The music softened around us after a while, transitioning from the loud celebratory rhythm that had people laughing and spinning around the dance floor into something slower, gentler. The kind of music that made people move closer without even realizing they were doing it. Brandon’s hand remained steady against my waist as we swayed together, and my cheek stayed pressed lightly against his chest, mostly because I hadn’t trusted myself to look up at him again after he’d called me beautiful in that quiet voice of his.I could still hear the words in my head.Not because no one had ever called me beautiful before. Dean had. Random men had. Even women sometimes did. But Brandon said things like he meant them in a way that made them settle under my skin instead of just brushing over it. There was something dangerous about sincerity. Especially when it came from someone like him.The strange thing was that I didn’t even realize how closely I’d drifted into him until his thumb brushed absent
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 106
The reception felt like something out of a movie I would have sworn I’d never care about, not until I found myself standing in the middle of it with a glass in my hand and my attention nowhere near the laughter, the music, or the speeches going on around me. The church ceremony earlier that morning had been… beautiful. There wasn’t another word for it. Everything from the flowers lining the aisle to the way Julia had looked walking down it had felt almost unreal. I had caught myself smiling more times than I could count, and somewhere in the middle of it, my attention had drifted to Joan. I hadn’t meant for it to, but it did anyway. And I could have sworn I saw her discreetly wipe at her eyes at one point, like she didn’t want anyone to notice. The image stuck with me longer than the vows themselves. I made a quiet mental note to tell Victor about it. He would have liked that. Or at least pretended not to, in his usual way.Now, at the reception, the energy had shifted into something
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 105
The next morning did not come gently.It came with sound.Not soft, polite sounds like the distant hum of conversation or the clinking of cutlery from breakfast downstairs. No. It came loud, abrupt, and entirely inconsiderate of the fact that some people had gone to bed far too late and woken up far too early the day before. It came in the form of voices, footsteps, doors opening and closing down the hallway, and somewhere, unmistakably, laughter that felt just a little too bright for the hour.My eyes fluttered open slowly, reluctantly, my body heavy beneath the sheets as if sleep still had a firm grip on me and refused to let go. For a moment, I simply stared at the ceiling, unmoving, trying to gather myself and figure out where I was, because waking up somewhere unfamiliar always came with that brief, disorienting pause. Then it settled in. Miami. The hotel. The wedding.Brandon.That thought alone was enough to make my awareness sharpen, my gaze shifting slightly to the side witho
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 104
The rehearsal dinner started the way everything in Julia’s world seemed to start, which was with urgency disguised as enthusiasm.I had expected something structured, maybe even slightly formal. Instead, I found myself standing in the middle of a shifting crowd of relatives, event planners, and family friends, all being guided into a ballroom that had already been transformed into something soft and overly intentional. Flowers everywhere. Warm lighting that made everything look slightly unreal. Chairs arranged in a way that suggested more thought had gone into aesthetics than actual comfort.Brandon stayed close to me as we moved inside, not in a way that felt deliberate enough for anyone else to notice, but close enough that I noticed it.I did not say anything about it.Julia was everywhere at once. One moment she was correcting a seating chart, the next she was laughing with someone near the entrance, then suddenly she was beside me again, taking the card from my hand like she had
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 103
The next morning started faster than I expected it to.There was already movement in the hotel when I stepped out of the room, the kind of organized chaos that came with wedding preparations. Voices echoed faintly down the hallway, doors opening and closing, footsteps that never seemed to settle. I paused for a moment, adjusting to it, then slowly made my way toward the main area where breakfast had been arranged for the family.Brandon was already there.Of course he was.He sat at one of the longer tables, a cup in hand, speaking with someone I recognized from yesterday but could not immediately place. He looked calmer than he had any right to be after the night before, like nothing about bonfires, root beer, or late-night quiet conversations had followed him into the morning.His gaze lifted before I could fully decide whether to approach or retreat.It landed on me and stayed there.I hesitated for a fraction of a second too long before walking over.“Morning,” I said when I reach
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 034
~~Dean~~I hadn’t planned on visiting the school that afternoon.The proprietor, Adrian, had called earlier that morning, sounding unusually enthusiastic about something he wanted to show me. He owned the place now, and ever since I’d invested in it, he seemed to think I had a personal interest in
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 032
For a full second, my brain simply stopped working.My eyes landed somewhere around Brandon’s collarbone before instinct forced them upward again. His hair looked slightly damp, like he’d just showered, and there was a faint flush across his shoulders.Heat rushed to my face."I—" I cleared my thro
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 030
"There's no and. I only met them once, I didn't even know they existed until that day, and it was at one's burial." He let out a low whistle. "That's fucking messed up, man.""I know."I picked up my pen and tapped it lightly against the page."I was actually thinking about reaching out to my aunt
DON'T BEG ME NOW, MR. ARMSTRONG 029
~~Brandon~~Last night felt like it had happened ages ago. Victor's announcement had settled somewhere in the back of my mind overnight, not disappearing, just... organizing itself into problems that would eventually require solutions.I’d always been good at compartmentalizing.Although, for some
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