Bryan | saturday.morning

[Mike Payne]

Mike rolled out of bed late one Saturday morning. He stretched, cracking his back, and pulled a pair of basketball shorts over the boxerbriefs he slept in. He blearily walked down the stairs, scratching himself. Wandering into the kitchen, he saw his younger brother, Bryan, already awake and eating breakfast at the table. Mike poured himself a giant bowl of Wheaties and got a spoon out of the silverware drawer.
Mike put his bowl and spoon on the table, then got the milk out of the fridge. He sat down heavily and poured milk over his cereal, only spilling a little. He took a massive spoonful into his mouth, then looked around, noticing for the first time his parents' absence. He blinked, and asked around a mouthful of Wheaties and milk,
"Where's Mom 'n' Dad?"

[Bryan Payne]

[[Haha a little like my sample post]]

Bryan, dressed in his blue plaid pajamas pants and grey tshirt, pulled himself from his bed and walked out of his room, down the steps and to the kitchen. He looked over the clock, 10:48 a.m, on a Saturday. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bowl, then to the pantry for some Frosted Flakes. He shook the cereal from the box and into the bowl, then walked over to the fridge. He stopped short of opening the refrigerator door, noticing a note.

Working Some overtime today, will be home late tonight. -Mom-

and just under that....

Something came up, had to run to the office. I'll be back this afternoon -Dad-

Bry smirked, tore the notes from the refrigerator door and thew it in the trash, then reached in to grab the jug of milk. His bowl of cereal was complete and everything was back in it's right place. Nothing new, Bryan had always been the responsible type. He sat back down, just as Mike walked into the kitchen. He watched him walk around the kitchen, fixing himself a bowl of cereal. He turned back to his breakfast, lifting the spoon to his mouth, "Work"

[Mike Payne]

((haha i didnt notice that))

Mike nodded and scratched his head
"I shoulda figured."
Their parents were workaholics; there had been many times over the years when the boys had to fend for themselves during weekend overtime work hours. Mike shoveled down half his bowl of cereal before speaking again.
"What are you doin today?"
Mike and Bryan didn't get along incredibly well, but they had their brotherly moments. Saturday mornings when they were both sleepy, eating their breakfasts of choice in their otherwise empty house, wearing their pjs were always good for them. Sometimes the comraderie extended throught the afternoon and the brothers would play some one-on-one with the basketball hoop nailed to their garage, or go head to head in a marathon xbox tourney. But sometimes that just didn't happen.

[Bryan Payne]

Bryan gave a nod in return and turned his head back down to his cereal. Bry was never one with words around his brother, especially now because of their current status. He never really had a meaningful talk with his brother, not since he started dating Jo. He always thought it was weird that the both of them got together, not even a week after they had broken up. But Bry was more of the type to just sit back and absorb everything, unlike his brother. So instead of saying something, he said nothing at all. Aside from that, reguardless they were brothers, there was no running from that. They hung out, and did things together at times but that was expected.

But the latest problem was with Mike's girlfriend, aka Bryan's ex, aka Jo. She was pregnant and Bryan was confused, he hadn't spoken to her since the day she came to him, and it had been a while. And now, he was face to face with his brother, but again Bryan was one to absorb things instead of speaking on them. He zoned back in to his brother's question, "....I don't know, probably gonna run, work out or something.". he replied lifting his spoon again. "What about you" he asked, keeping his gaze on his cereal.

[Mike Payne]

Mike had finished his cereal and got up from the table, mentally taking note of how much faster he had eaten than his brother. He drank the milk that was left over in the bowl, then put the bowl and spoon into the sink with a clatter. He wandered over to the fridge. Mike opened the refrigerator door and took a good look at its contents. He pulled out the orange juice and drank some straight from the carton as his brother spoke.
Mike wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and let out a small burp. He replied,
"I was gonna take a run, too. Wanna maybe shoot some hoops later? Or maybe kick around the soccer ball?"
Bryan wasn't as into basketball as Mike was, but he still played from time to time. Mike, on the other hand, wasn't as good at soccer as Bryan. It was unusual that Mike made an offer other than basketball, but he was feeling pretty good this particular morning.
Mike noticed that there was a small puddle of milk on the table where he had been eating. He grabbed a couple napkins and returned to the table to clean up after himself.

[Bryan Payne]

Bryan watched his brother get up from the table, after finishing his food. It was typical for his brother to scarf down food and eat messily. But just watching him maybe Bryan narrow his eyes in disgust. Drinking from the orange juice carton, and burping afterwards only confirmed his reason for thinking that he was just a mess. But again, it was typical for Mike and Bry was just the opposite. For two guys to be brother's they were almost completely different, at times he couldn't believe he was related to him. But now wasn't the time for one of those You Sicken Me moments. "Yeah sure" he said plainly, just trying to get that out of the way.

There was no easy way to say this, the situation with Joie, so he decided he was going to ease his way into it. He assumed Jo was going to tell him, if she hadn't told him already, but Bryan felt guilty. He turned back to his bowl and began to play with his food, "So..uh..have you talked to Jo lately?"

[Mike Payne]

Mike wiped up the spilled milk, then walked back across the kitchen to throw out the napkins. He washed his hands in the sink, wiping them dry on his shorts. He nodded when Bryan agreed to work out with him. He leaned against the counter, folding his arms across his chest, watching his brother poke at his breakfast.
Mike furrowed his brow when Bryan asked about Joie. The two usually didn't talk about her, seeing as how the situation with her was more than a little weird. Mike assumed that Bryan didn't want to hear about him and Joie. Particularly the part about how he and Joie had already slept together, which would inevitably come out if they ever got into a conversation about the girl.
Mike shook his head 'no'
"No, I really haven't. We've both been busy, I guess."
He purposely didn't ask why Bryan was asking about Joie.

[Bryan Payne]

"Oh.... Bryan raised both his eyebrows in sarcasm, still picking at his bowl of cereal, I bet she has....really really really busy. There was no situation that would ever get him to talk about Jo, especially to his brother, aside from this one. He never really talked to his brother, mostly because he felt betrayed about the whole thing, by the both of them. But he had been thinking about this for a while. Would he just wait for Jo to tell him? Could he just let his brother, find out that the baby she was carrying could be his? Or would he just ignore the whole thing, in spite of what his brother had did to him?

Well Bry wasn't that heartless, he wasn't one for revenge, unlike most. And since he was face to face with him, there was no way he could not talk about it, already feeling a little guilty, now that he had already brought it up. "Do you plan on seeing her?" he asked, still creeping up on The Truth.

[Mike Payne]

Mike was beginning to think something weird was going on. He and Bryan hadn't had an in-depth conversation about Joie since she started dating Mike. It had been a while, so why start now? Was Bryan getting ideas about trying to get back together with her?
Or maybe he knew something that Mike didn't...
Mike stood up straight, his eyebrows raised in an imitation of Bryan's. He frowned. The frown deepened when Bryan asked if Mike was thinking about seeing her
"Well, she is my girlfriend, so, yeah."
He put emphasis on the phrase 'my girlfriend'.
"What's up with you today, man?"

[Bryan Payne]

Bryan smirked at his comment, you got that right, she is your girlfriend he thought to himself, and smiled to himself at the irony. He could tell by the expression on his brother's face that he was getting agitated, and could assume what he was thinking. He had gotten all defensive for a reason, and Bryan knew exactly why. For him to talk about Joie, there had to be something wrong. He paused again, letting the question hang in the air for a moment, before he had to tell him the good/bad news. He ignored the first comment, still in 'the good brother' mode. He glanced up at him, then dragged his spoon around the bowl. He sighed, "Well your girlfriend came to me the other day... he started calmly.

[Mike Payne]

Mike couldn't stand the smirk on his younger brother's face. Bryan had a way of dragging things out and creating what he probably thought was clever dramatic tension. What it really was was obnoxious. Any good feelings that Mike woke up with dissolved and scattered. He knew now, without a doubt, that something was up.
Mike almost lost it when Bryan sighed. What a theatrical gesture, so typical. But then he heard what Bryan said. Joie had gone to see Bryan? That wasn't right.
Mike's eyes suddenly took on a steely glint and his the muscles in his jaw and stomach tensed. He stared at Bryan.
"What?"
The word came out like a solid block of lead, heavy and cold. Mike stared down at his brother.
"What the hell is going on?"

[Bryan Payne]

Bryan could barely look at Mike while he stared him down, with every word her said Mike would get more and more defensive. Bryan never did find his brother intimidating, but typically the Big Brother vs the Little Brother never went too good for him. He could tell by the sound of his voice that he was wanted to hear what he had to say. Bryan did have his way of telling people things, just dragging them out gave him more time to think, in his own way you could say that he was still avoiding what ever he had to say.

He paused again, getting up from the table and placing his bowl in the sink. He glanced at his cancer medication then turned to face his brother. "...Joie's pregnant. he spoke the half-truth with a nervous expression. He knew that the two had already had sex, but there was a little more to his story.

[Mike Payne]

Mike froze, shocked, when Bryan made his announcement. He slumped back against the counter, but he quickly regained control of himself and his body tensed. He looked away from Bryan and down at the floor
Joie was pregnant? He was going to be a father? At this point, his emotional side shut down and the logical part of his mind took over. If Joie was pregnant, she should have told him. And she should have told him first. Or, at least, he should have been the first guy to know. Maybe second, maybe: Joie was pretty tight with Rylan Avery. That Bryan knew before Mike did indicatd that something was just not right. Mike's eyes narrowed. He had an idea about how things stacked up. He turned his eyes back up to Bryan.
If Bryan was the father of Mike's girlfriend's baby...Who knew what that was going to do to the Payne family. When Mike spoke, there was a distinct growl in his voice.
"Now, why do you know this and I don't? Enough fucking around, kid, tell me what you know."

[Bryan Payne]

Bryan leaned against the counter and folded his arms while his brother absorbed the statement. It took Bryan a while too, he thought it was some kind of joke, but then again, Joie had told him face to face. Despite all the things the three of them went through, Bryan wasn't the type to joke around like this. He just waited, his brother seemed shocked, nothing had been spoken and the silence continued for a while. He was going to wait for his brother to speak before he said anything else, and yet again it another question. Bry exhaled "...well she doesn't exactly know who the father is. And we all know how you get... he replied with a shrug. "...so she came to me first. I don't know when she was going to tell you, but obviously it wasn't soon enough. So I did.

[Mike Payne]

Mike put his hand to his head and raked his fingers through his hair. This was just unbelieveable. This was not happening. At this moment, Mike was more angry, frustrated, and confused than he could ever remember being before. He was mad at Joie for spilling to Bryan before him, but somehow it was probably the right thing to do. If Joie herself had come right out and told him she was pregnant and didn't know who the father was, there's no telling what Mike would have said or done. He would have never physically harmed her, but sometimes emotional damage is much, much worse.
Mike's head began to hurt. What did people do in situations like this? Mike stiffly turned and left Bryan in the kitchen without a word. He had to speak to Joie, and sooner rather than later.