The after party

My ears were ringing on our way to the hotel from all the absence of noise. Even Bryson was quiet, I glanced over at him. He had his forehead pressed against the window watching the city go by outside.

For a small town, it sure looked big. Everything seemed to be in bold. The streets were wider, the street lamps were bigger. It was like a weird Alice In Wonderland effect.
"You two are so quiet it's terrifying." I smiled a little.
"I'm so tired." Bryson didn't say anything, I looked over at him again. He was fast asleep. "Bryson is asleep," I whispered.
"I'm sure he's exhausted. I heard him pacing last night." For someone who always seemed so calm and collected, he had his secret moments of panic. "Let me know what you get to the hotel, okay?"
"Okay."

It was only another couple of minutes until we arrived since we had already driven across town. The streets were fairly bare and the hotel looked closed.
"Is it even open?" Bryson asked in a groggy manner.
"Yes. The reservation is until Mr. and Mrs. Patton." Joe said in our ears. I was ready to stop having someone talking in my ear and being fake married. I went to grab my bag but Bryson shooed me along.
"I got it." We trudged inside.

The inside reminded me of my grandmas' house. Wood beadboard, pastel yellow walls, and lots of frilly things all over. Weirdly it was nostalgic for me.
"Good evening, checking in?" The elderly man asked us from behind the counter.
"Yes."
"Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Patton." He started to type. Bryson stood next to me still holding the bags. He didn't need to put them down, they weren't big nor heavy but I think he's was too tired to do anything else but the minimum; so he held them.
"Are you honeymooning?" The man made small talk.
"Uh, yes. How did you know?"
"We don't get many out of town people here and if we do, it's family of someone in town. We don't have any Pattons." I nodded.

Finally, he reached back and grabbed one of the keys on the wall of what looked like a hundred keys.
"Your room 28, it's down the left hall all the way at the end."

Following his instructions, Bryson and I headed for the room. Neither of us talked, I don't think either of us has the energy. With ease, I found the room and unlocked the door, Bryson let me enter first. He plopped the bags down on the small table by the door. I took a look around and frowned.
"Just one bed, really?" I whined.
"Sorry, guys. It was the cheapest. It's only for a night, we'll pick you up in the morning."
"I expect a gourmet breakfast for this." I bartered.
"Of course. Goodnight guys, see you at 0800." I sighed, it was going to be a long next few hours, even longer than the party.

"I call the bathroom," I said before either of us could think anymore. Bryson fell on the bed.
"How long will you be?" He asked as he pulled the speaker from his ear.
"Ages. Centuries." He chuckled.
"I'll just change out here."
"I'm showering." I took out my earpiece too and handed it to him. Bryson grabbed the case from the table and put them both in. "Thank you."
"Go shower. I'm tired."
"What does me showering have to do with you sleeping?"
"When someone gets on the bed it always wakes me, I find it annoying." I simply nodded and headed to the bathroom.

After showering, I finally felt myself again. The Jessica Rabbit I had transformed into, washed away and my reflection showed the girl I knew for the past 22 almost 23 years. I towel dried my hair as much as I could, not that it mattered much because tomorrow it would go into a bun. Looking at the pajamas Joe packed me, I cringed.

Me: Really? These are the pajamas you grabbed?
Joe: What's wrong with them?
Me: They are booty shorts and a tank top!
Joe: I don't know the temperature! It's always easier to add than to take away!
Me: I'm sharing a bed with my opposite gender partner, after looking hot all night now I'm going to bed in almost nothing pajamas?! Way to give him the wrong idea!
Joe: LOL. You two know the rules, but build a pillow barrier.
Me: You are of no help! Goodnight!

Awkwardly, I opened the door and creeped out. Bryson was sitting on the bed still in his tux. He had taken off this jacket and undid the bow and top 3 buttons on his shirt. Now he was the one who was looking hot. I swallowed hard.
"I thought you were changing?" He looked up at me. His eyes did a quick scan before meeting mine.
"I was, but I decided I wanted to shower too." I dropped my clothing on the floor and crawled onto the free side of the bed.
"We'll hurry, I'm tired."
"Then go to bed."
"I'm a light sleeper, everything wakes me and it  takes forever for me to fall asleep."

Waiting for Bryson to shower was nearly killing me. My eyes burned with exhaustion and my brain just wanted to shut down. I wasn't doing anything but numbly scrolling through social media. Famous people seemed to have such glorious lives. That's something I could never do, have my life plastered for everyone to see. I'm too private of a person for that. I hardly let family close to me, let alone the whole world.

The bathroom door swung open and Bryson exited wearing a blue pajama set. I raised my brows.
"My mom sent them with me. I've never worn them before tonight."
"Joe picks out some interesting pajamas," I mumbled. Chuckling, Bryson crawled on the bed next to me.
"Ready?" I nodded and snuggled down deeper, pulling the covers to my chin. The room wasn't cold but I couldn't sleep without a blanket no matter the temperature.

Once the lights were off the room was fairly dark. The only light came from under the door and through a small crack in the drape. With all of that, I could barely make out the objects in the room.
"Do I really snore that bad?" Thinking back to our first night in the bunker, I rolled over to face Bryson.
"No. I couldn't sleep so I was wandering the halls." The moonlight slipped in through the drapes.
"Thank you for saving my life earlier."
"Of course, we're partners." This moonlight was intoxicating. The same feeling I had when we were dancing washed over me. Before something happened that shouldn't, I rolled away from him. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight Rene." He addressed me as a woman, I smiled.

======

7 am came and I was cornered on my side of the bed as Bryson laid like a starfish nearly in the middle. I don't know why I expected much else. He had a large personality, large ego, loud voice; it was no shock he took up a lot of room on a bed too.

The alarm blared, on Bryson's side of the bed but he didn't move. Annoyed, I got up and turned it off myself.
"I was getting to that." He mumbled into the pillow.
"It's been going off for almost a minute. Were you going to get to it in this century?"
"Possibly." He rolled over and stretched. I watched him flex his muscles in different directions. There was sometimes so attractive about a guy in the morning. Messy hair, groggy voice, cuddly. Shaking my head, I pushed away those thoughts.
"Get up." I grabbed the outfit Joe had packed for me and trudged to the bathroom, praying this was better than the pajama fiasco.

I will admit, the outfit was better but not by much. He didn't pack my steel-toe boots but he did pack me my other pair of boots.  Joe only gave me a low cut, black tank top and a pair of cut off jean shorts. I looked like I was going to do a photoshoot pretending I know what hard work is.

Against what was my better judgment, I walked out of the bathroom with my hair still down. Normally it was in a bun at the back of my head or on top but I felt severely underdressed and my hair was acting as a layer of cover. My hair was so long it tickled the inside of my elbows.
"Holy shit, you're hair is long," Bryson said. He was sitting up on the bed, taking his clothing out of his bag.
"Well, I haven't cut it since I was 18." It was hard to resist the urge to at least pull it back into a ponytail.
"You should wear it down more often, I like it." He ran his finger through a small section of the hair as he walked to the bathroom. It trailed behind him like a tether between us. Now I felt lost. Rarely someone complimented me and when they do it was about something I had done not how I look. I couldn't remember the last time someone complimented my looks other than yesterday but that wasn't really even me.

In a daze, I packed up the room. Bryson came out looking normal to himself. I envied that.
"You put your hair up." He frowned at the low pony I put my hair in.
"It gets caught and it's annoying me."
"Then why not cut it?" That was the question I always seemed to ask myself. Why not cut it? But every time I thought of shears being even in the same room as me, I cringe.
"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders. Bryson came and took the hair tie off of my hair.
"It's so soft too." He said more to himself. While he was entranced with my hair, my eyes were fixated on him. It was like he'd never seen hair before. "Can you wear it down today?"
"I can try." I tucked a chunk behind my ear. "I always wear my hair back. I don't know what to do with it so I just put it in a ponytail as my mom does."
"Right. Military brat." I nodded.

I was used to being called a military brat. The only difference was, I didn't move around a lot. I grew up in the same house in the same town. That was an abnormality but so was the rest of my life.

Glancing at the nightstand, I got the time. Joe said he would be here in 10 minutes.
"Joe will be here soon, let's grab everything." Bryson helped me finish packing and carried our bags out.

There was someone different at the front desk this morning. She was younger with bright blue eyes and freckles all over.
"Good morning. Checking out?"
"Yes ma'am."  I handed her our room key.
"You're all set. I hope you enjoyed your stay, have a nice day."
"Thank you." I smiled and shoved Bryson towards the door.

The sun was already in the sky and starting to warm the morning air. It was still cold and I could have done with a jacket or at least long sleeves.
"Good morning love birds!" Joe beam at us, outside of the limo.
"Where is my breakfast?"
"Straight to the point, okay. On the plane Lawrence." I ducked into the car as Bryson put the bags in the trunk. "Did something happen?" Joe whispered quickly before Bryson got in.
"No, we're both just tired and it's kind of awkward sharing a bed with someone in our position." Joe nodded understandingly.

Despite always being up early, I was not a morning person. Anything before 9 was a sin.
"So-" Joe tried to make conversation, I cut him off.
"No talking until I have my breakfast."
"Fair enough."
"Someone's hangry." Bryson kicked my foot playfully.
"I'm cold, I'm hungry, I'm tired." I ranted. Bryson took off his sweatshirt and handed it to me.
"One problem solved, the next will be solved soon." I looked at the wadded gray hoody. This was something a boyfriend would do, but he's not my boyfriend, he's my partner. The line seemed to blur a lot in certain areas.
"Thank you," I mumbled as I pulled the oversized sweatshirt on. It smelled intoxicating. It smelled like a freshly showered man and vanilla. It took everyone I had not to sink in and inhale deeply, taking the whole smell in.

The plane was in the same location as when it dropped us off. Upon entering, the smell of breakfast consumed me. I hadn't realized how little I ate in the past 24 hours until now.
"Move." I pushed past Joe to find the food. There was a table with doughnuts, bacon, sausage, hash browns, bagels, and eggs. "I'm in love." I stared at the table. I wanted it all. Every single thing on the table, I nodded on a plate.
"Holy shit, thank god you requested breakfast." Bryson grinned.

After both of us filling our plates, the table was fairly empty. Joe picked at the scraps.
"Did you hear someone died last night?" He asked.
"Who?" I shoved a bite of eggs into my mouth.
"A guy named Wembley. Had an allergic reaction too." Bryson and I exchanged a look. How strange.