~"I feel so humble with you tonight, just sitting in front of the fire.
See your face dancing in the flame, feel your mouth kissing me again,
What a beautiful buzz, what a beautiful buzz."~

The boy hadn't exaggerated, the food was indeed great. Brian couldn't remember the last time he had eaten that much. If he stayed longer with Celeste he probably would get fat or at least gain some weight. Apparently the longer he stayed at her flat, the more reasons he found to get away from her, even if he didn't really want to.

He didn't talk to her during dinner, but observed her interact with David. They definitely were close and she seemed so lovingly with him that Brian nearly felt jealous. He wanted somebody like Celeste as well that treated him as if he was the only thing that mattered to them. The fans loved him and they even used to do some minor household things for him to get his approval, but that had never been as pure as this was. He wanted a love like this.

"Have you finished eating, Brian?"

He didn't react at first. Celeste had never used his name before and it had caught him off guard a bit, especially when he still was thinking about her and not paying attention to his surroundings. He hadn't even seen the boy leave.

"Yes, thank you..." he mumbled nearly embarrassed. She just smiled and took his plate and started to clean the dishes. Brian just sat there watching her, unsure of what exactly to say. He had so many questions, but none seemed adequate to ask. He wanted to know why she had been in New York, how she had met Bob Dylan and what their relationship had been or why she had never done anything with her talent among other things.

"You can put some music on in the living room, if you want."

"Eh... sure," he replied still a bit dazed. This felt so strangely out of place to him that Brian just didn't know how to act and for the millionth time wondered why he bothered so much with her, when he clearly didn't feel at ease. This was going nowhere and still he had a huge longing for her or maybe it was just what she represented. On some days he just wanted to get home to a girl that cooked for him, cleaned and where he didn't have to worry about anything. Celeste was that. She might keep her distance, because of who he was, but she hadn't expected a single thing of him, unlike her sister and so many other girls.

Brian could even talk about music with her and she was attractive. Her only flaw as far as Brian was concerned was beside not caring about him, her son. Brian wanted a companion, a friend or a girlfriend and not a whole family.

"Mummy loves that record."

Brian nearly jumped at the sudden voice. He had left Celeste in the kitchen to follow her request and put a record on, but somehow he had got lost in thought while looking through her records. She owned a lot, of all different kind of things and genres, even if Brian hadn't caught much of it. Of course he had looked through them before, when he had been here with Marion, but currently his mind was everywhere else, but the records.

"She plays it every Saturday."

Brian frowned.

Somehow he had expected it to be one by Bob Dylan and that Celeste liked it for sentimental reasons and not Sunshine Superman by Donovan. He still suspected that she had had a relationship with Dylan and the more he looked at the boy the more his suspicions grew. He had no idea what eye colour Celeste had, but certainly not blue.

"The singer even wrote a song about her."

"Really?" Brian finally managed to ask. There was indeed a song on the album called Celeste, but it couldn't be about her, could it?

The boy nodded. "He's a friend of mummy too. He got me a guitar for my birthday."

Either the boy confused something or Celeste did know Donovan. It actually wouldn't be that surprising if she did considering she had inded been close to Bob Dylan, so she might have met Donovan through him. It wouldn't be that impossible, but it only raised more questions in Brian's mind.

"Can you show me how to play it? Mummy said you play."

"No," Brian replied curtly. He certainly didn't want to show the boy how to play. All he wanted from him was to disappear and that he left Celeste and himself alone.

"So you can't play?"

"I can play."

"I don't believe you," the boy pouted and Brian nearly groaned. With a few swift movements he looked through the records until he found what he was looking for.

"See that's me," he said pointing to himself on Celeste's Aftermath album. "I play guitar in a band and now get lost."

"You're mean and I'm not stupid it doesn't have to mean anything if you are on the cover. Auntie Rion was in the newspaper, but that doesn't mean she wrote them. You just don't want to play, because you can't."

"I can," Brian grumbled. "Where's your stupid guitar?"

The boy run off, smiling brightly and Brian wondered if he just had been tricked by a 4 year old.

It was a small guitar, but at least it was somewhat tuned. Brian sat down on Celeste's couch and started to play some melody he had been working on earlier. It wasn't his best, but probably enough to get the brat to shut up and he did. He sat down on the floor before Brian listening attentive to his playing.

Brian finished and heard some clapping from the door frame. Celeste was leaning on it.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I told you to put a record on, but that works as well. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure," Brian mumbled. He usually wasn't that shy, but usually he wasn't playing guitar for a 4 year old, because he wanted to get know his mother as well.

Celeste went off to the kitchen again and left him with her son who was still sitting on the floor looking up at Brian with big eyes.

"You weren't lying. You really can play."

Brian rolled his eyes. "I told you I am a guitarist, of course I can play."

"Can you teach me?"

"No. I'm sure your mother can teach you as well."

The boy pouted. "She's too strict, that's no fun and you play better than her."

"If I show you a few things, will you shut up?"

"You said a bad word!" The boy exclaimed shocked.

"What do you want to do about it? Tell your mother, have her throw me out, so that I won't show you anything?"

"..."

Brian smiled at least he had won that round against the brat.

*

Despised being the father of a few children, Brian didn't exactly have experience with kids, but David wasn't as bad as Brian first had feared. He was annoying, but at least he could play a bit of guitar. Brian supposed Celeste had indeed shown him a few things already. It wasn't much the boy could play, but considering his age it was alright. He was not completely helpless and that had been a great relief for Brian.

He wouldn't say he enjoyed showing the boy a few things, but it could have been a lot worse. Maybe it wasn't even so bad, he thought when he saw the appreciation in Celeste's eyes. She had made him a cup of tea and had sat it down on living room table, before leaving again. There was a bright smile on her lips and Brian knew for once he had done the right thing to impress her.

And David seemed happy as well to have somebody show him to play the guitar. Maybe Brian did enjoy it a bit. It was comfortable, no stress, no pressure. Just him, a guitar and a very interested crowd.

"David it's time to go to bed," Celeste suddenly interrupted them. It was indeed getting late, at least for the 4 year old, but somehow Brian had completely missed the time. It seemed like he had just sat down 10 minutes ago with the guitar and not nearly an hour ago.

"I don't want to... I'm not tired yet and I still want to play..." David replied crossing his arms before his chest and looking very unhappy.

"But Brian is getting tired, sweetie. He's very busy, you know. Maybe he'll visit us again and you can play some more with him, alright?" Celeste said in a very gentle tone and Brian was so fascinated by it that he didn't even realise what she had said at first.

"Really?" The boy asked looking at Brian, who just nodded awkwardly. He hadn't exactly planned on doing that, but telling the boy that, probably wasn't a good idea.

"Thank you!" He exclaimed and hugged Brian who awkwardly returned it before the boy went off with Celeste, leaving Brian alone in the living room.

He nearly run to the kitchen to open the bottle of wine he had bought earlier. Celeste hadn't bothered to drink it during their meal and Brian definitely needed now something stronger to drink.

"David really likes you."

"He's okay..." Brian mumbled a bit unsure. He was leaning on her kitchen counter with the now half empty bottle of wine in his hands. She was standing by the door and once more Brian just felt awkward. He didn't know why exactly.

"I would say sorry for him bothering you, but it's kind of your own fault. You should have left when Marion did."

"Maybe, but then I wouldn't have got to taste your wonderful food."

"There's still some cake left if you want any?"

"Sure," he replied and sat back down again. He wasn't hungry anymore, but her cake had been so delicious that he just couldn't turn it down, especially not when he knew in the back of his head that he soon would have to leave.

"And some more tea?" She asked as she prepared him a piece.

"I think that way I'm never going to leave..." Brian hadn't meant to say that out loud, but he didn't mind too much, when he heard her laugh.

It was beautiful.

"Well then I probably should stop. We can't have you staying here forever, you certainly have other things to do than teaching my son guitar and eating my cake."

"You have a beautiful laugh," Brian said, ignoring her completely.

Celeste stopped in her movement, clearly surprised about Brian's compliment. "I-I you shouldn't say things like that... We can't... I can't go out with you especially not when David is already getting attached to you. I have to think about him."

"And what about you?" Brian inquired. He couldn't see Celeste's face, because she had her back turned towards him, but she looked tense.

"I think you're a very nice person, but this is never going to work out between us. So it's better you leave now and look for another girl and I'll go read a good night story to my son..." she said finally turning around and put the tea and cake down on the table before Brian. He couldn't judge her face, but she still seemed tense and kind of sad, nearly as if she regretted turning him down or maybe he was only seeing things.

Brian desperately wanted to change her mind, even though he knew she was right about their relationship. It would never work out, they wanted different things and still he couldn't give up just like that.

"What are you reading to him?" He asked her with a small smile on his lips.

"Winnie the Pooh," Celeste replied returning his smile.

*Lyrics by the Rolling Stones.

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