What are they doing?

I'm a liar.  I was looking through the upcoming posts and realized next week will work out much better if this post happens this week instead of next.  So, here is your last post for this week, for real this time.  
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Saturday night we had plans to go out with Lauren, Cassie, Alex, Kevin, and Kinsley.  We took a cab to the bar and I was surprised to see Damien and James sitting with Lauren and Kinsley.  I felt a brief stab of anxiety and wish Kinsley had warned me.  But judging from the apologetic look she shot me as we approached them, she didn't know James was coming either.  James and Damien stood, and James shook Brody's hand before giving me a quick hug.  Brody didn't seemed the least bit fazed by his presence, and he went up to the bar to get a round of drinks.

"How've you been?" James asked, once I had sat down.  I hadn't seem James since the day I had played in his kickball game.  The night Brody kissed me at Kendra's.  It seemed like it had a been a really long time.

"Good," I said.  "I actually just got a new job, and I start in January."

"That's great," he replied with a genuine smile.  "I know your job was really running you ragged for awhile there."

I nodded, then returned his question.  "How about you?"

"Well, I found a house finally.  I close in a couple weeks."

"That's awesome," I said back, happy for him.  Brody came back with drinks and handed one to me.

"What's awesome?" he asked.  James told him, and they started talking about buying houses and painting and remodeling and other generally boring things.  They seemed to be having fun, so  I excused myself and went to sit by Cassie and Lauren.

"What are they doing?" Cassie asked curiously. 

"Talking."  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little weirded out by it.

"Willingly?" Lauren asked.  I nodded.  "That's really weird.  Is that weird for you?"

"It's completely weird.  But good weird, I guess.  It's far better than if they were over there taking swings at each other."  Lauren and Cassie agreed.  I watched Brody and James, deep in conversation.  I don't think either of them even noticed I had left.  Alex and Kevin walked in and came over.

"Hey, isn't that that guy you were dating for a little while?" Kevin asked me.

"It is," I confirmed.

"Huh," he said.  I laughed.  My thoughts exactly.  Eventually, Brody came back over to where I was sitting.  He slung his arm around the back of the chair I was sitting in and grinned at me.

"Sorry, we got sucked into talking about different kinds of paint," he explained.

"That sounds fascinating," I replied.  He laughed.   "But don't be sorry," I said.  "I'm glad you guys get along."

"Well in that case, maybe I'll ask him for his number.  We can hang out," he teased me.

"I said I'm glad you get along, not 'please start a bromance'," I protested.  Brody laughed.

"Sorry if it made you uncomfortable," he said, kissing my cheek.

"Not at all," I assured him.  Okay, so not exactly true, but close enough and I didn't want to give him any reason to not be friendly towards James.

We stayed for several more hours.  Every time I finished one drink, Brody would set another one down in front of me.  "Trying to get me drunk?" I asked when he handed me drink number 4.

"You're celebrating," he said with a grin.  "Might as well!"

"Be careful what you wish for," Lauren warned. 

"Seriously," James said with a laugh.

"Brody, haven't you heard about how Liv got trashed on her first date with James and almost blew it all?" Cassie asked.

I gave her my best "Are You Fucking Kidding Me?!" look.  "Yeah, can you not tell my boyfriend about dates that I went on with someone that isn't him?" I hissed.

Brody laughed.  "Actually, it sounds like a story I'd love to hear," he said.  I glared at him.

"You are all horrible people," I declared, covering my face with my hands.

But by the end of James's and Cassie's joint telling of the story, even I was laughing.  Brody kissed my hot, pink cheek.  "It's okay, I like my dates cheap," he said, chuckling.  I went to smack him in the arm but he caught my hand and kissed my knuckles.

"I promise that I will get you back for this," I declared, looking at Cassie.

She grinned.  "I look forward to it."

Even that story didn't stop Brody from bringing me another drink the next time he went up to the bar.  "You're going to have to carry me home," I warned him.

He shrugged.  "You seem okay now," he said.

"Just wait.  It'll all hit me at once.  And if you're not sorry tonight, you definitely will be tomorrow."
 
Sure enough, when we stood up to leave about 45 minutes later, I wobbled precariously on the heels of my booties.  I over-corrected and almost fell back the other way.   "Easy," Brody murmured, taking my arm.

"I just want you to remember that you did this," I reminded him loudly, as we walked towards the door.

"I have a feeling you won't let me forget," he said with a laugh.  He kept one hand on my back and one holding on to my arm to try to steer me in a relatively straight path.  Near the door, someone called Brody's name, and he stopped me, turning.  It ended up being one of his employees.  He cautiously introduced me, and I smiled broadly and enthusiastically shook the man's hand.  Brody quickly ended the interaction and pulled me away before I could act too ridiculous.  Good choice.

In the dark cab, I yawned and put my head on his shoulder.  "Right from belligerent to sleepy, huh?" he teased.

"I was never belligerent," I scoffed.  "You'd know if I was, trust me."

"Now that's something I can't quite picture, actually," he replied, putting an arm around my shoulders.

The cab ride was just long enough for me to almost be asleep when we stopped outside my house.

"Let's go, Sleeping Beauty," Brody said, pulling me from the cab.  I yawned and trudged slowly up to the door.  I fished my keys out of my purse and promptly dropped them on the ground when I tried to stick them in the lock.  Brody picked them up and unlocked the door.  I walked in and collapsed on the couch.

"Sleeping there tonight?" Brody asked with a smile.  I nodded.  He sat down and pulled my shoes off my feet, then slipped an arm around my waist and hauled me up.  "Come on," he said, pulling me towards the stairs.  He got me upstairs and helped me pull my clothes off and get into bed.  "I think," he joked while he was peeling my jeans off of me, "I would have preferred belligerent Liv to uncooperative dead weight Liv."

"Your fault," I mumbled, yanking my foot out of my jeans.  He laughed and pulled the blanket up over me.

"Goodnight," he said, kissing my forehead.

"Mmmhmm," I responded.  He laughed again.

I woke up to high pitched ringtone of Brody's phone.  That, combined with the sun streaming in the window, made me groan and pull the pillow over my head.  Brody stumbled out of bed and grabbed his phone, quickly walking out of the room.  He returned a couple minutes later and slid back into bed next to me.  I peeked out at him from under the pillow and he grinned.  "Good morning," he said.

"Fuck off," I grumbled.

"So hostile," he said with a soft laugh.

"Go away," I whined.  "I hate you.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to die."  Have I mentioned that in addition to getting drunk super fast, I'm also the most dramatic and ridiculous hungover person ever?

"There's a bottle of water on your nightstand," he told me cheerfully.  I groaned again.  After wiggling around, trying to get comfortable and fall back asleep for about 20 minutes, I finally gave up.  I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed the bottle of water Brody had gotten for me, and slunk downstairs. 

Brody found me there 45 minutes later, curled in a ball under a blanket on the couch.  He brought me more water.  "Have you eaten anything?" he asked.

"Don't even talk about food," I groaned.

It was mid-afternoon before I managed to eat anything.  After I ate and showered I felt considerably better.  Brody's phone was surprisingly quiet and he was content to lay on the couch with me for most of the day.   I was ready to go back to bed by about 8pm, and I kicked Brody out.

As I laid in bed, I thought about giving my notice at work the next day, and I was a little nervous.  But I was also excited, and it wasn't enough to keep me from sleeping.