~"Before you go I want you to know that I love you, yes I do
And though it breaks my heart, but darling we must part."~

*

Sun shone through Brian's bedroom window and brightened Celeste's face who still was sleeping peaceful next to him. A strain of hair was covering her face, which he gently tucked behind her ear before he caressed her face one last time. Brian needed to get up even if he didn't want to and would have preferred to spend his whole day with her in bed. His fear that he would grow tired of her as soon as he had her seemed totally stupid by now.

It were now four months that Celeste had been staying with him and not once had he wished for her to be gone or her to be a different girl- in fact he hadn't even been with somebody else than her during all that time. It might sound cliche, but Brian really only wanted her. Everyone else would just have been meaningless sex and he didn't see the pleasure in it anymore, when he had somebody at home waiting for him that he craved so much... Hence why he often arranged to get home just before David's bed time. At first he had tried to get home right after it, with the result that the boy had waited up to tell him goodnight and that Celeste had argued with him about her son needing his sleep. In every other case Brian wouldn't have bothered, but with her he just complied and soon he discovered that getting home early had its advantages.

He might still have mixed feelings about David, but he and Celeste made his life more lively. In the past he had gone out not to feel alone, but now he could just stay home and get the same result.

After what he had gone through in the last couple of years, his life finally started to look better again, even his worries about the others seemed less important all of sudden. Brian had found his peace.

With a smile on his lips he kissed Celeste's forehead before he got out of bed and got dressed.

It was rare that he got up before Celeste. She usually woke up very early and prepared breakfast for both him and David. Brian had to do without that today if he wanted to be on time, but he was sure by the time he got back home, she would have cooked a lovely dinner. He smiled at the thought and left his home whistling a melody, he had had stuck inside his head for a few days.

Maybe he could use it in some song someday.

*

He was late.

The photographer had taken forever and then Mick had complained about something ridiculous, forcing them to do everything once more.

Brian was just starring at the clock and hoping it would be over soon. His day had started so great and for nothing in the world did he want to have it ruined now, because Mick thought his ass didn't look right in the picture, as if anyone cared about that anyway. In the end the fans would like the album no matter what and the critics wouldn't like it no matter what. It was always the same.

It shouldn't be about them, but about the music. Though Brian still liked this idea to be a famous individual, that everyone loved, he had to admit Celeste was right. At the end of a day it didn't matter if you were famous or not if you did the things you liked. 

For the moment Brian had exactly two things he cared about more than anything else; Celeste and making music and if he had both in his life he was sure he never would be unhappy again. The Stones, though weren't what interested him any longer. John Lennon had proposed it once to him and Celeste had more than once said it to him as well.

 "Brian, if the Stones are slagging you off - start your own band. You're a big star."  

A brand new start was what he probably needed and he knew exactly where he wanted to begin. He had played with the thought for a while, but it had seemed too soon then and it still did. Though if you had something you really loved, wasn't it better to hold onto it rather than just wait for it to disappear someday?

Probably, but Celeste's reaction scared him. He knew she loved him, but would she marry him too, if he asked her to? He hoped she would, but he couldn't be sure and the worst was he could even understand some of her fears. He was a terrible person and didn't deserve somebody like her, so how could he ever blame her for having doubts? In his mind though there was no doubt about Celeste. Brian wanted her- no he needed her in his life.

"Brian can you look at the camera perhaps and stop your frowning? You're releasing a new album and should look happy, not as if you're at a funeral."

Brian sighed, totally ignorant that anyone had addressed him, too occupied with his own thoughts. He had to mean something to Celeste as well or she wouldn't just have moved in with him and slept with him, he told himself, she had to feel something for him as well.

So maybe Celeste would say yes?

He smiled at the thought and a bright flash blended him.

*

He definitely was late when he got home and hoped for David's sake that he hadn't bothered to stay up. He had school and needed every minute of sleep he could get. Brian nearly laughed at the idea, that he worried about that, when he entered his home, but his amusement soon died.

Voices.

"You know how much I like you, Cel..."

Celeste wasn't alone and it wasn't David keeping her company. The male voice sounded familiar though, even if Brian couldn't directly place it. His mind was too occupied with dreading the worst to focus on who the voice belonged to.

He had said he would be fine if she just used him to have a place to stay, when in truth the thought alone teared him apart. Brian would never survive if somebody he loved left him for another person. Not again and especially not Celeste... With Anita the situation had at least been slightly different and he could admit that he had done her some wrongs, but Celeste had only ever brought out the best in him and he had never stepped out of line... 

Hence why the idea that she might betray him, hurt so much more.

"I like you too..."

Brian bid his lip and bald his fists at her words, trying to keep his anger and jealousy at bay, but he knew it would be in vain in the end... His stomach turned and Brian wasn't sure what he'd rather do; puke, cry, run off or punch whoever was there in his kitchen with his girlfriend...

The last option sounded very tempting, but his body didn't seem to agree. It didn't move at all, nearly as if it wanted to torture him some more in his agony. He heard some shifting in the kitchen, but nobody spoke for a moment until Celeste broke the silence.

"I'm with Brian."

His heart leaped, at least she had enough morals not to betray him, but it didn't mean she loved him either... At this point he only wanted to get away, his sadness over weighing his anger, but his feet were still rooted to the spot.

"Does he threat you well?"

"Better than you ever did," Celeste scoffed. "Brian is a wonderful person and I couldn't wish for anything more-"

"You love him, don't you?" the stranger interrupted her and for the first time since Brian had heard his voice, he was thankful for him being here.

"What would it change for you if I do? Please just go, I-"

"I want you and David to be happy."

Same, thought Brian as he continued to listen in, a little calmer now. The conversation in his kitchen suddenly felt tense and not like something that he needed to be jealous over. 

"Oh, suddenly you care about David?" Celeste nearly yelled at the stranger and Brian started to have a strong suspicion who the man was. The american accent should have been clue enough, but Brian had been too caught up in his jealousy to form a single logical thought.

"You run off! And we don't even know if he's mine or not."

There again was a short silence and Brian tiptoed closer to the entry of the kitchen. He wasn't exactly sure if he should just make himself known or let them sort their discussion out. 

"You can sometimes be such an idiot..." Celeste mumbled sadly. "I run off, because it was the best for both of us at that time... And Davis's definitely yours, I loved you, Robert... I really did, but we were never meant for each other."

Brian stomach dropped, though he had suspected it since the moment he had found the picture of her and Bob Dylan in her flat, but to hear her actually voice it scared him. Celeste would always have a connection to a man that wasn't him and the worst was they were still very close and who knew what could come out of it in the future? Bob might have said their timing had always been off, but what if it stopped to be and it suddenly was right? Brian would be the one left on his own again and he couldn't do anything to change it...

He suddenly felt very helpless and Bob's next words didn't make it any better.

"And how about now? I miss you, Cel."

"Robert... I-I"

"Psst..." Brian heard Bob whisper and then silence and shifting again. Brian bit his lip harder and could swear he tasted blood, but in that moment he didn't care. He just wanted to run off, drink until he no longer knew his own name and never come back, but his feet had a different idea.

Slowly they carried him inside the kitchen and the sight shattered his heart.

Celeste's wonderful addictive lips were on Bob's. The folk musician's hands were on her soft face and the sounds she only was supposed to make for Brian, left her lips for the other man, who moved his hands from her face to her waist to pull her closer. 

Brian had seen enough.

*Lyrics by Arthur Alexander

Thanks for reading, voting and commenting. ♡♡♡

P.S. There's only one chapter left. You can't imagine how happy I am to finish this story, well any story tbh. I sadly don't have much time to write, but a million ideas and I can't write them when I'm still working on a million other things. Well anyway expect another update soon. ✌