Hello all! This story is called Reckless Decadence after a lyric in The Pink Spider’s song “Modern Swinger”. This story is in no way really related to that song, but I felt that that one particular lyric summed it up quite nicely, especially after realizing that my first choice (The Hardest Thing to Swallow… from Seed) sounded like a bad porn flick, and my second choice (All My Good Intentions… from Rumored Nights) was el lame-o. This is going to be a really long story, and the chapters are probably going to be pretty short, but there will be many of them. It will be written in third person, but with the POV of multiple character’s expressed throughout (unlike, say, Down and Out, which 95% of the time only followed Julia). It is a William fic (if you didn’t know that was coming, either you’re a noob or you’re really silly.)
The nature of this story is going to be somewhat controversial, but please keep an open mind when reading it. I don’t want to give too much away, but to explain a little further, this isn’t a slash or anything like that. I just don’t want anyone to be angry about the main female character’s role in the story. You’ll see why once you start it.
Usual disclaimer applies: I do not know/own TAI or any of the members of the band (I almost wrote character there. I don’t own TAI’s character’s either), or anything/anyone else with a name you recognize. The situations expressed in this story are all fictional. However, Bryn, Harriet, Mary, Fallon, etc, are all my characters.
If you read the story, I would greatly appreciate if you review!
Love,
Heavyheart21 (resorting to old sn for the mere purpose of not wanting people I know to know I write fan fiction. Lol)
Chapter 1
“You gotta help me out
It's all a blur last night”
It's all a blur last night”
Waking Up In Vegas – Katy Perry
“Join our hands and come along, the day’s about to dawn. You feel it coming on and on, the hours upon you now, it won’t be long. You feel it coming…”, Bryn’s cell phone alarm woke her out of a dead sleep, and it took her a minute, in her darkened surroundings, to remember where she was. Harriet’s apartment didn’t have windows in the living room, and Bryn couldn’t remember where the nearest light was, so she felt her way around the edge of the futon mattress until she found her phone, which was still blasting the Phantom Planet song. It wasn’t until he groaned loudly and covered his face with his pillow that Bryn even remembered that William was sleeping next to her. And in an instant, clouded memories from the night before flashed before her eyes.
“Oh my God,” she moaned, “What did we do?”
“I told you you were going to regret it,” Bill’s muffled voice came from under the pillow.
“You did? I don’t remember that,” Bryn racked her brain.
“It was the last thing I said to you before we fell asleep.”
“I don’t remember that. I remember the other stuff, but not that.”
“Why are we up right now?” he pulled the pillow off of his face, “It’s pitch black outside.”
“You can’t see outside from the living room. There are no windows,” Bryn pointed out to him, “But we’re up because I have to go to work.”
“Oh good, I’m going back to sleep now,” he rolled over.
“No, you can’t. You have to get up too,” Bryn nudged him. She was still laying on her back, too deliriously tired to move.
“Why? I don’t have to work.”
“Yeah, but Harriet’s roommate doesn’t know you, and you only met Harriet last night. You have to leave with me.”
Another muffled groan erupted from the pillow next to her, and in one fluid moment he sat up. “Hand me my boxers?”
*****
Despite the early hour, the sun was bright and the air was already hot, and Bryn knew that it was going to be a typical sweltering July day. “Can we just never talk about this again, and pretend it never happened?” She asked; an awkward beginning of their walk to the train station.
William stared at her for a moment, before nodding his head, “Yeah, of course. Nothing ever happened.”
“Soooo….” Bryn used the filler to stall for time as she thought of something to talk about next. “What are your plans for the rest of the summer?”
“We have a small tour in a few weeks. Fallon may join us if she can get some time off work. It should be pretty fun.”
“Yeah… sounds like fun,” she couldn’t believe how easily he brought his girlfriend’s name into the conversation considering the events of the night before, but figured that maybe he was just excellent at pretending.
William talked about the tour, and Bryn half-listened as they walked the ten minute walk to the station, and upon finally arriving they turned awkwardly to each other.
“Which train?” William asked.
“Hmm?” Bryn still wasn’t completely paying attention, but brought her attention back around to him, “Oh, purple line.”
“I’m red.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah…” he exhaled loudly.
“So, I’ll see you soon, I guess,” she half-smiled.
“Yeah. Bye,” he made a move to hug her - their usual goodbye - but she backed away, and stuck out her hand for him to shake.
He laughed as he shook it, “this isn’t going to be awkward forever, you know.”
She smiled at him, but her insides were screaming, HOW DO YOU KNOW?!
*****
On the train, Bryn was busy trying to put the pieces together. They had started off at Angels and Kings to see a band that she didn’t really care about in the first place, and she remembered later, dancing in a club-like setting at a different building. What she didn’t have any recollection of was how they had gotten there, and then how they had gotten from the club to Harriet’s place, and why William had stayed. He could have easily taken a cab home.
Nearby, another passenger’s phone started ringing with T.I. and Rhianna’s “Live Your Life”, and another flashback popped into Bryn’s head. Dancing, no, not dancing, grinding with Bill at the club to this song. And he had, what? He had kissed her neck? She wasn’t sure if the memory was real or if her mind was playing tricks on her, so she took out her phone and sent a text to Harriet: Call me at work ASAP!
*****
“You’re late,” Bryn’s coworker Mary glared at her as she rushed into the main door of the library in a flurry.
“I took the train. The train was late, therefore I am late. Sorry,” Bryn offered the half-assed apology, not really feeling apologetic at all. Mary was only twenty-two, but had the demeanor of a grouchy ninety-seven year old cat lady.
“You can make up for it during your lunch hour.”
Bryn turned around, putting her purse in a lockable drawer, and rolled her eyes. Mary wasn’t even her boss, but she knew that if she didn’t take the fifteen minutes out of her lunch hour, then Mary would actually turn around and tell her boss, “whatever,” she muttered under her breath.
“Also, the reference section needs to be reorganized. You can do it since you’ve neglected to for the past three weeks.”
Bryn wanted to tell Mary all about what else she would reorganize if she kept giving her orders, but instead stalked off to the reference section to start her work.
A little over an hour passed, and Bryn had barely made any progress in the section. It really was a mess. So when Mary walked up and stood at the end of the long aisle to inform her of a personal phone call at the front desk, Bryn was happy for the break.
She knew where the phone was located at the front desk, but Mary accompanied her anyway, most likely so that she could eaves drop on the conversation Bryn was about to have.
“We aren’t supposed to get personal phone calls, so keep it short,” Mary barked at her as she handed her the phone receiver.
“Hello, Bryn speaking,” she greeted her caller, and glanced over at Mary, who had averted her eyes, but had busied herself with sorting through a stack of papers.
“It’s Harriet.”
Bryn could tell she had just woken up by the huskiness of her voice. “Hey. I hate to have to ask you this, but what exactly happened last night? I don’t remember much of anything past Angels and Kings.” She could feel Mary’s gaze shift to her as she spoke.
“Oh. My. God. Girl, you were so drunk!” Harriet laughed, “Bill was too. You guys were all over each other the entire night, well at least after we got to Visions. You guys were dancing all up on each other and everything. He was even kissing your neck!” She paused to laugh again, “You guys were so fucked up. It was hilarious.”
Bryn groaned, “How did we get back to your place?”
“We walked. You guys held hands. It was very cute. Bill originally said he was walking us home so that the two of us weren’t walking around the city by ourselves at night, trying to make himself seem gentlemanly, I’m sure. But when we got to my house he said he was too drunk to get home by himself - which was true - so I told him to sleep on the futon, and I told you to sleep in my bed with me.”
“But I woke up in the futon.”
“Yeah. You refused to get into my bed. You told me you didn’t want to wake me up in the morning while you were getting ready for work, but I know that you really just wanted to get with Bill.”
“I did not sleep there so that I could ‘get’ with him!” Bryn tried to protest unconvincingly. She knew that that was precisely the reason why she’d wanted to sleep on the futon too.
“How the fuck do you know why you did anything? You don’t even remember!”
“Not true I remember one part pretty vividly.”
“Oh, really?” Harriet asked, “And what exactly do you remember?”
“The getting with him part,” Bryn mumbled and turned away from Mary as she said it, but she could feel her co-worker’s judgmental gaze burning into her back anyway.
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