Leave it in the Past

“Oh Peyton, I really hope he asks me to be his date to the charity thing.” Erica confessed, playing with her hands. I could tell that she was nervous, something that she would never actually admit to me.

“Relax, he seems like a total sweetheart. I think you’ll have fun.” I said, digging through my dresser. I was looking for something to wear later. She was going on a date with Brandon Saad, and I had helped set it up.

“Okay, but he is like 4 years younger than me. Isn’t that kinda bad?” She asked.

“Don’t let that bother you. He is obviously really into you, so just go have a fun time!” I said reassuringly. She smiled and looked at herself in the mirror.

“What do you think Patrick is going to say about it?” She whispered. I don’t know why she had to whisper, he wasn’t here.

“What do ya mean?”

“Do you think Pat will get mad that I’m going out with Brandon?” Well I hadn’t thought about that. There was no way he would want his sister to be with any of his teammates, especially without him being around. She looked at me expectantly.

“Nooo, I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.” I lied encouragingly. I nodded for extra effect. She rolled her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror.

“You’ve never been good at lying to me, Peyton.” It was true, she could always see right through me.

“Well, I’m sure the he will eventually warm up to the idea. I could help encourage him a little too.” I said, and I smiled to myself.

“Alright, if you’re really sure. And I don’t even want to know how you would do that.” She said, slightly disgusted.

“I’m kidding.”

“Well how do I look?” She asked nervously. She had on a cropped plain white short-sleeve shirt and a coral maxi skirt that almost reached up to the bottom of her shirt, but not quite; revealing a little of her tan stomach. She had on a pair of white sandals. Her hair was down, and it barely reached her shoulders.

“Like an 11!” I exclaimed. She smiled. I checked my brand new iPhone for the time. Patrick had taken me to get a new one last week.

“Thank you! Wanna watch Netflix until he gets here?” I nodded and we walked out of my room and into the living room. Brandon wasn’t going to pick her up until 5 and it was 4:15 so we had time to kill. We decided on That 70’s Show, since it had been our favorite for years. After 10 minutes in, she paused it and turned to me.

“How are you and my brother?” She asked. I frowned, confused as to why she had to ask now. We were just getting to the funny part of the episode.

“Fine, why?” There was a hint of annoyance in my voice.

“Because I just want to know.” She looked at me expectantly, waiting for a better answer. I thought it was odd, she lived here too, so she saw us together all the time.

“Well I don’t know how to explain it, it just works I guess.” Which was true, Patrick and I were like chocolate and vanilla. Very different, but we come together nicely. Erica nodded.

“So have you two, ya know, done anything yet?” She asked with a mischievous smile and a wink. I stared back at her in horror, if I were her; I would not want to know about my brother’s sex life. And besides, she seemed disgusted about the whole idea only 15 minutes earlier.

“No.” I lied, shaking my head. We hadn’t had sex yet, but I didn’t really feel like telling her some of the other things that we had done.

“Really? You’ve known each other since, well, forever, and you haven’t done anything yet?” She asked. I knew she didn’t believe me at all.

“Really.” I replied nonchalantly.

“Now come on. You can tell me!” She pried.

“I don’t know. It’s kinda weird cause it’s your brother.” I said staring at my hands. She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t push it anymore. Thankfully, Patrick walked in, breaking up the awkward silence between us.

“Whatcha doing pretty ladies?” He asked, inserting himself between us in the middle of the black leather couch. He put his strong right arm around me.

“We WERE watching That 70’s Show.” I huffed, stealing a quick glance at Erica. She rolled her eyes and pressed play again. Patrick looked at both of us, knowing that he was missing something.

“What did I miss?” He asked.

“Well, Jackie and Kelso got into a fight and Fez-” I started.

“I meant between you two.” He interrupted. I knew that was what he was implying, but I had tried to avoid it.

“Nothing!” I said, trying to act surprised that he would ask that. Erica nodded, agreeing with me. Neither of us wanted to bring it up again.

“Wait a sec, why are you all dressed up?” Patrick asked, staring at his sister.

“I’m going on a date.” She replied vaguely.

“With who?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. She bit her lip and shot me a nervous look. I
shrugged.

“Uhh, well, uhh, Brandon.” She whispered, barely audible.

“Brandon who?”

“Ohh, I don’t know his last name.” She responded, trying to avoid the question. He looked towards me.

“Do you know who it is?” He asked me. I bit my lip. If I lied to Patrick, and he found out, he would be furious. But if I did tell him, Erica would-

“Fine, it’s Brandon Saad.” She admitted, getting me out of a tough question. “But I don’t care what you say, I’m still going. You need to trust me and-“

“Erica, it’s fine. I wish you would have told me. He’s a good guy.” She looked taken aback by his calm reaction. I let out a sigh of relief. Patrick grabbed the remote and we watched the rest of the episode in silence, except for a few laughs here and there. Then it was time for Erica to go, Brandon would be here any minute. I walked with her to the elevator, leaving Patrick inside.

“Have fun.” I said, with as much as enthusiasm as I could muster.

“I will. Oh and Peyton? I’m sorry for intruding earlier. Just know that if you wanna talk about it, I’ll be here. Even if it my brother.” She suggested awkwardly, shifting her balance.

“Thanks.” I said with a smile. She stepped into the elevator and then she was gone. I walked back to Patrick’s apartment, to find him still on the couch.

“So where are we going tonight?” I asked, leaning over the couch and wrapping my arms around him.

“You’ll find out later.” He replied, kissing my cheek.

“C’mon please?!” I begged. I put on my best puppy dog face towards him. He laughed and shook his head.

“Hmm nope.” He smirked. I lightly punched him and went to go get ready. 45 minutes and at least 4 outfits later, I was nearly ready. Patrick walked into my room. He was wearing black dress pants and a white 3 quarters length sleeved shirt.

“You ready?” He asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind. He rested his chin on my shoulder, his lips inches from my neck.

“Just about.” I responded, putting in my earrings.

“Well you look amazing.” He whispered. He kissed my neck and then let go of me.

“Not as good as you.” I said, and kissed his cheek. He grinned. I walked over to the other side of my room and examined myself in the mirror. I was wearing a short-sleeve light pink dress. It reached the middle of my thigh and slightly poofed out. I wore nude heels. My hair was wavy like usual.

“That’s not even possible.” He complimented, and then we were on our way. We walked down to his car and got in. He drove us downtown, and we ended up eating at a tiny Italian restaurant. It was really nice; we got to talk about old memories and the high school years.

Notes

Sorry it's been so long since I updated! And I know this chapter ends at a bad spot, but the next chapter will continue on this one and I had to break it up because it would have been too long. Like always, please give feedback & thanks for reading <3