Last Friday Night (Darryl and Tallis)

Darryl was pining.

He hadn't done it in many years and many people would safely assume that after one night stands and the like he was not the one who was usually left pining. Usually he was the one who put the distance between the two of them. And usually they were the ones who tried to pin him down to a relationship.

That was how it usually worked and that was how he had, honestly, expected it to work with Tallis as well.

But it had ended up being the exact opposite. Instead of wanting a relationship with him, Tallis had damned well near kicked him out of her trailer in the morning with barely a word of goodbye, let alone any words about trying to have a relationship. It was odd because he was actually liking the idea of a relationship with Tallis.

But she had been avoiding him, much like he avoided his conquests from other one night stands.

Sighing a little bit as he rested his head on the bar, the restaurant not busy with the dinner time crowd yet, Darryl rolled a single grape around on the bar-top as Heath rolled his eyes and sipped at his pint,

"You still pinin' for tha' Tallis shela?" he teased his older brother, "Suc's to be the one who's tol' tha' it was a one tim' thin' huh bro?"

He groaned a little bit,

"Fuc' you Heat'."

Heath smirked a little bit,

"Well alrigh' bu' no relationshi'."

Darryl just groaned in frustration.

Tallis honestly hadn't intentionally been avoiding Darryl, to be honest she had assignments for uni and more than that she had all her studying to do and she had been going out with some of the people she had met through her course, something that she never would have done before all of this. It was just so strange, like having that one night stand with Darryl had made her into some sort of superwoman, so empowered it was unreal.

So, she was going to go for a little drink at Angelo's with her book to make sure that Darryl knew that there were no hard feelings between them, to be honest...she couldn't stop thinking about that night they had together, he was older and so he was an amazing lover. He had made her head spin in all the right ways and she wanted to feel that again but...she wanted to give him space, she was sure Darryl wasn't a clingy sort of man and she realised that.

He probably only wanted a one night stand and so she was accepting of that and just used the positives to move forwards.

Wandering into the restaurant she smiled softly at Brax and the brother who had punched him that first night, Heath before coming to rest at the bar, taking a perch a few seats away from Heath and Brax so they could continue their talk, but also not to seem like she was completely ignoring them.

"Hey guys." she smiled brightly, luckily she had managed to wake up looking great today, it must be her new addition to melon and pineapples making her skin amazing, and those new vitamin waters "I'll just have a cranberry juice whenever you're ready, no rush."

Giving them both another bright smile, she flipped open her trashy book and started to read, her shorts were a washed out denim, with her steeled toe boots and a simple bleach pattern dyed tshirt with a skull printed on the black fabric. Her hair was loose, falling around her face in light curls as she read.

Darryl had to admit that this pining business had to stop! After all, he was a grown man, he had to act like it and stop pouting like some petulant child. He had to get up and he had to decide if he really was okay with it just being a one night deal or if he had the depth of emotions for her that it was worth putting his heart out on the line to ask her about having a relationship. Yeah that was what he'd do! He'd take stock and then...

And there she was, acting as if nothing had happened at all.

Instantly Darryl went back to pining, something that Heath found rather amusing to say the least. Seeing that his older brother was unlikely to get his arse in gear to get her the drink, and wanting to be involved with this rather humorous situation. He made her the cranberry juice and passed it over to her,

"Her' you are darlin'." he told her before smirking a little bit, "You see who happ'n'd to brea' my broth'r by any chanc'?"

Snapping out of his little funk upon hearing this, Darryl immediately sent Heath a dirty look that just made his younger brother chuckle. Trying very hard to compose himself as quickly as possible, Darryl tried to lean against the bar casually,

"Oh hi ther' Tallis." he greeted her with a small, obviously-not-casual casual grin, "I havn' seen you in a whil'... how you been keepin'?"

Heath snorted before trying to hide it by drinking some of his beer, still very interested in this very awkward, very funny, conversation that was developing.

Tallis, when Heath got up and made her the drink was a little confused she thought that he didn't work here so why was he making the drink instead of Darryl, did he really not want to speak with her that much he couldn't make her a glass of cranberry juice? Biting her lip a little she smiled and accepted the drink from Heath, a little interested in the other Braxton brother, she didn't know that much about Heath apart from he landed a mean right hook.

"Thanks Heath." she grinned happily up at him over her book "Last time I looked the last person who broke Brax was you, with your fist across his face, great shot by the way." Tallis teased with a cheeky little wink, her confidence showing through.

When Brax did actually talk to her she could tell that he was keeping things light and casual between them and so she was glad she had chosen the right tact instead of coming over and being all clingy asking for another date or another night together. Running her hand through her hair away from her face she smiled brightly at him;

"Hi Brax." Tallis grinned "Oh I've been great thanks, had lots of assignments to do but, I've been out on a few parties with my new Uni friends, been a busy week for me. What about you, I hope everything is alright, you seem a little tired."

As soon as she heard Heath snort she wondered if there was something else going on she didn't know about, but she didn't say anything, if that was the case she would find out in no time as the conversation progressed. Sipping at the cranberry juice she sighed contentedly, not too much differently to the sigh she made when she was 'satisfied'.

Heath chuckled a little bit when she mentioned that the last person to break Darryl had actually been him. He hadn't broken his brother per say... more like given the bastard a bit of a wake-up call. He shook his head a little bit when he remembered why he had had to punch his older brother like that. Well at least when he was pining after Tallis he wasn't poking his nose into Heath's business,

"I din' break him... he's havin' emotion'l worri's at the momen'." he told her with a little smirk, ignoring the death glare that his older brother was giving him. He pushed on anyway and leant across the bar to whisper to Tallis, "I thin' he's go' himsel' a lil crus' on someon'. Someon' who mov'd her' not too lon' ago."

Darryl thought that his face was going to burst into flames as he was blushing rather hard both from embarrassment and from wanting to causing his younger brother as much pain as was physically possible. Damn it Heath! He was giving away his feelings for Tallis before he had even got them clear in his head even! It was annoying to be sure,

"I'm gla' to hea' you've been doin' so well." he told her with a shaky little grin, "I guess you're rath'r busy at the momen'... too busy to... I don' kno'... go to a bar wit' someon' lik' me huh?"

Heath drank some more of his pint, finding this whole thing utterly, utterly, painful. His brother was floundering around without a clue as to what to do after all. It was funny but it was also rather painful to watch to be honest.

Tallis blinked a little bit when she heard that Brax was having some emotional problems. To be honest she had thought he seemed like quite a collected guy when it came to romance, but she supposed he had moved on rather fast after their night together, but what did she expect, a guy who was so good as him was bound to be in high demand. She was a lucky girl to have him pining over her like this, maybe she'd have to ask her for tips.

"Oh I see." she stated, poking her two fingers together "Well I am sorry to hear about that Darryl, I'm sure that in the end she'll come around, maybe you should tell her how you feel, you're a bit of an enigma, a girl might get the wrong idea of what your intentions are." Tallis advised taking another sip of her cranberry juice.

For a moment her mind flashed back to that night, it was a beautifully passionate time and she had definitely felt something but, she tried not to think on it, especially now there was this other new woman in town, hopefully it wouldn't make her upset she and Brax had a history that wouldn't make things easier for him at all. Maybe she should stay away.

"I'm in a bar with you right now aren't I?" she asked with a small laugh "But actually, I'm really sorry Brax but I have other plans tonight, I'm going on a date, me! A date! How awesome is that?" Tallis asked, she beamed happily at the thought "I haven't been on a date in god knows how long."

Smiling at Heath she stated; "Oh I know you two were talking before I came in, please don't let me interrupt you two together, I have my nice book to keep me going."

Darryl wanted so very much to just blurt out his feelings for her right then and there but it wasn't that simple! It just wasn't that simple! They had both gone into that night thinking that it was just going to be for the one night and now he couldn't stop himself from wanting more. He swallowed thickly. He wanted more so very very badly,

"I'm tryin' to tell her bu'... well it's har'." he told her honestly, sipping the cola he had been nursing for the past hour or so. It was flat and losing it's flavour but right now he honestly didn't care. He had bigger things to worry about right now, "I wan' her to kno' how I feel bu' it's har'... she seems to thin' tha' we shoul' jus' be frien's... an' she's already movin' on..."

He swallowed a little bit thickly when she told him that she actually already had a date. Even Heath, who had been finding it all amusing up until now, sucked in a breath at this news and gave his brother a sympathetic look that Darryl tried his best to ignore. After a few moments, Darryl forced a very weak smile,

"O'cours' I can believ' it. You're a beautif'l wom'n wit' a lo' to off'r any man." he told her, trying not to sound like his dreams were being crushed, "Any man woul' be lucky to tak' you ou'... any man at all..."

As Darryl seemed to sink into a bit of despair, Heath just chuckled a little bit nervously,

"Well we wer' talkin' abou' his mystery girl." he told her before wincing a little bit, "Bu' I guess she's movin' on..."

Tallis couldn't help but turn and look at Brax with a sympathetic look on her face, she felt the same about Brax when they had their one night stand but sometimes it was for the best to let the person do their own independent thing, if that was what it was in their character to do. She thought it was a good thing that she did what she did. Brax needed her help now though, as a girl, to give him advice, and she would do her best to help all she could.

"Maybe she thinks you should just be friends because...well because Brax you don't really seem like the relationship type, maybe she's trying to protect herself in case you didn't want what you did." Tallis advised "Really I think it's best to tell her how you feel, and if she's moving on and you don't want her to, always do the big romantic thing."

Wiggling her eyebrows she grinned and elaborated; "Swoop in on her before the date and take her away on your white horse, give her the time of her life and show her how you feel, girls love that." Tallis laughed softly "I know I would."

When she saw that Darryl was a lot less impressed than she had hoped he would be by the fact she had a date, Tallis frowned a little bit, she didn't understand, surely he should be happy that she was moving on and not bugging him so he was free to get on with this new lady? Sometimes men just made no sense to her at all, it was like they are a different species.

"Thanks Darryl, that's so sweet of you to say." she smiled softly "Are you trying to hint at something, does Kyle like me? He seemed pretty friendly the other day...are you trying to set us up?" Tallis asked with a little laugh.

Blinking she got the feeling the atmosphere had gone drastically down since she got here; "Oh come on, it's not the end of the world right, many more fish in the sea! But really, I'd just tell her straight up how you feel, she might be feeling the same underneath."

What Darryl chose to focus on, out of all of that conversation, was her suggestion that he ride in on his white horse and sweep her off her feet. Apparently it was something universal across all women and she was no exception. It perked Darryl up because it let him know that there was a way for him to win her back/in the first place. And he truly did want to be with her so he really did want to win her over again and have her affection and respect directed fully at him,

"Wha' kin' of thin' woul' be suitabl' for this kin'a thin'?" he asked with a little smirk, "If I wan'd to cras' her lil dat' an' giv' her a bett'r one... wha' kin' of thin' woul' you recommen'? I mea', wha' woul' you lik' someon' to do for you if they wer' tryin' to swee' you off your fee'?"

Seeing where Darryl was going with this, Heath smirked a little bit into his glass. Finishing his pint he sighed a little bit in contentment at the taste. Damn Fosters was a good beer. Turning to Tallis, he smirked a little bit and asked,

"So this dat'a yours... wher' you goin'?" he asked her with a small grin, "We can tell you if your dat' is takin' you som'plac' wort' your tim' an' mon'y or not aft'r all."

Of course it was really so that Darryl would know where to go in order to ride in on his white horse and offer her a much better date. And hopefully, when that happened, she would realise that he was crushing on her and they would have many more happy little dates together.

Tallis smiled happily when he seemed to perk up, she was sure that she was going to be able to help Brax when it came to sorting out what to do for this girl, she was just glad she was able to help even though it did hurt a little bit to think that he was going to be doing all this romantic stuff for another woman. Tapping her chin she thought about the date that she wanted to be taken on above all others, she had this one dream date but, never expected it to happen.

"What would I recommend?" she asked with a small smile, blushing softly "My ideal date is, actually really stupid I suppose, I'd love to be able to have a picnic at night on the beach, with lots of candles dotted around in the sand and things, with a little mini DVD player to watch corny old movies on, and...and we'd stay up and watch the dawn together."

Blushing even more and ducking her head away to look at her glass, she took another sip and tried to combat her embarrassment before speaking; "Of course it's a pipe dream I don't really expect anyone to do that for me, so, maybe set your sights a little lower, a walk on the beach with a meal beforehand sounds doable."

When they asked where she was going on her date she smiled lightly; "We are just going to the university bar for a few drinks to be honest, he was going to take me for a ride on his motorbike beforehand though so we were meeting up by surf shop. How come you guys are so interested in this...?" Tallis asked a little bit confused as to why they were so interested in her date "You aren't going to make fun of me, are you?"

Her eyes were wide as she looked up at Heath and Brax, hoping that wasn't the case.

Darryl could tell that Tallis was a little bit put out by the fact that he was asking her for advice like this but hopefully that would work for his advantage when he showed up, crashed her date and brought her onto the date she had always wanted. Smirking a little bit, he listened attentively to what she was saying about her perfect date idea. To be perfectly honest it sounded very easily doable for someone who had a little bit of money. So it might be out of the realm of possibility for broke students but not for a successful businessman such as himself,

"Tha' does actually soun' lik' a lov'y idea for a dat'." he agreed with her, grinning as he did so. Of course he would have to try and guess what kind of films she wanted but that wasn't too big of a deal to him... it was fairly doable on all levels to be fair. He smiled a little bit, "I'm surprised you haven't been treat'd to a dat' lik' this befor' shela. After all, you've tol' your dat's abou' it befor' righ'?"

He had absolutely no intention of aiming his sights any lower than perfection so he wasn't about to settle for the second date type she mentioned for their first date. Of course he kept a memory of it just in case he was granted the honour of a second date kind of thing. Hell, he could hope and plan ahead couldn't he? When she asked if they were going to make fun of her, Darryl's "no" came at the same time as Heath's "maybe". Heath grinned sheepishly,

"Hey I jus' wan' to do a lil frien'ly teasin'..." he paused before sighing a little bit under the withering gaze of Darryl, "Oh alrigh', I'll be a goo' boy an' not say a wor."

Tallis laughed softly when Brax told her that he was going to pinch her lovely idea for a date to get the girl that he wanted to be interested in her, she didn't mind it was a romantic date whichever way you looked at it, but she had always thought about watching those old black and white films, like Breakfast at Tiffany's and a Roman Holiday. Of course, Darryl was not going to watch any films like that unless he was forced under gunpoint, they weren't his type of thing.

"Thanks, I give you my permission to nick the idea for your own useage, just don't murder it by picking Fast and Furious as the film you watch or something, pick something nice, a comedy at least." she grinned sending him a little cheeky poke of the tongue.

The question about the date made her blush and she shook her head; "Well I never told anyone about my ideal date before, I always thought it was stupid idea and I kind of thought they would laugh at me if I told them. So I just kept it to myself." Tallis informed them with a little shy duck of the head, so that she didn't have to look either of them in the eye.

When Heath said he wanted to tease her, Tallis pouted softly and looked up at him from under her eyelashes in her super effective puppy dog look that had never failed yet; "Now why would you want to do that when I've been so helpful?" she asked in a soft voice "It would just be super mean."

Seeing Darryl smile, made Tallis glow with happiness, to think she helped him perk up made her feel amazing, she just hoped this girl could make him happy. Reaching out she squeezed his hand; "I'm so glad you've cheered up, your face without that crooked smile isn't the same." she explained, her eyes crinkling with her smile "I guess I had better get going."

Getting up off her chair she picked up her bag and book before paying for her juice; "I guess i'll see you guys later, good luck with the white horse Darryl, good luck with whatever it is you do Heath." Tallis teased, before wandering slowly out of the bar.