"Is that the only word you know? No?"

***

After the chipmunk fiasco, Brendon, Mona and Giselle all returned to his apartment. He was still mildly confused about the day they had. It was either this was all a dream or he was high on weed. What if this was all some wild hallucination? No, that would be impossible.

When Mona was tucked up in her bed, Giselle sat and comforted her whilst he stood by her door, watching them. "My goodness. We sure had a lot of excitement tonight. Were you scared earlier?"

"A little bit.  But do you think Pip will be ok?" She wondered.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about Pip." She remarked. "He is very brave.  I remember this one time when the poor wolf  was being chased by Little Red Riding Hood  around his grandmother's house and she had an axe. Oh, and if Pip hadn't been walking by to help,  I don't know what would've happened."

Mona squinted, doubtful of her story. "I don't really remember that version."

"Well, that's because Red tells it a little differently." She justified.

"Good night, Giselle and thank you for the nice story." Mona said.

Brendon smirked at them, leaning on the door frame. Giselle would make a great mother if she ever had the chance. Was her "prince" ever going to come find her? He doubted it.

"Good night, Mona." He observed as Mona sat up and kissed her on the cheek to her surprised delight.

***

Later in the evening, Giselle was making her bed on the sofa, dressed in a spare pair of Brendon's pyjamas that he had given her to wear. She could smell his cologne all around her, emitting from the clothes.

Whilst she had a busy day, she didn't really feel too tired to go to sleep yet. She licked her lips, standing up and walking over to a shelf full of CDs. Nearby was a CD player, perhaps before she slept she could play some music. It would liven her up a bit.

Giselle removed a few albums from the shelf, uninterested by the look of them. However, when taking out a third album, she noticed that Brendon was on the front cover. He was wearing a Victorian era suit and beside him was Spencer, the man she met earlier in the day. Behind them, another figure stood, masked. "This must be Brendon's band..." She muttered, eyeing the name of the album below: Vices & Virtues.

Curious to hear what his music was like, she removed the CD from its case and slipped it into the player. The first song started and Brendon's magical singing voice filled the room, catching her attention. She was shocked by how nice his voice sounded, how could he not like singing when he sounded like an angel?

Time felt like it was slipping away as Giselle became mesmirised by the music she was listening to. It was like something she had never heard before, and she loved it. After 'Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)' finished, a soft acoustic guitar began to play.

She listened in as Brendon began to sing. "When the world gets too heavy, put it on my back. I'll be your levy. You are taking me apart like bad glue on a get well card..."

Giselle was entranced, feeling drawn to his song. "It was always you, falling for me now there's always time calling for me. I'm the light blinking at the end of the road, blink back to let me know."

How could he give this up? Why would he give it up? His songs were so poetic. "I'm a fly that's trapped in a web, but I'm thinking that my spider's dead. Lonely, lonely little life. I could kid myself in thinking that I'm fine. It was always you, falling for me now there's always time calling for me. I'm the light blinking at the end of the road, blink back to let me know..."

She lied down on the sofa, thinking to herself as she fell under the song's spell. The lyrics sounded strange yet strangely romantic, and she loved it. "That I'm just skin and bone, just a king on a rusty throne. Oh, the castle's under siege but the sign outside says leave me alone. It was always you, falling for me now there's always time calling for me. I'm the light blinking at the end of the road, blink back to let me know."

"It was always you." Giselle sang, joining in.

"Blink back to let me know..."

"It was always you..."

The song ended as Giselle was left with a small smile on her face, fiddling with her hair questionably. It was peculiar. When she was singing with Edward, she felt excited for the prospect of love in her future. However, when she was singing along with Brendon, there was a different feeling that grew inside of her.

In the midst of thinking about him, Brendon wandered in, dressed in a navy robe. His black hair was slicked back, wet from having a shower. He noticed that the CD player was playing his song 'The Calendar' quietly inside the living room. "I guess you like my music then."

His voice startled her, abruptly sitting up in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to listen to it. Is is disturbing you? It's disturbing you, isn't it?" She rambled. "I'll turn it off-"

"No, no, you don't have to do that. It's fine." He told her, calming her down slightly. "Look, uh, Giselle. That was a nice story about your chipmunk friend and all."

She nodded. "Yes."

"I know what it's like when someone disappoints you." Brendon stated, making her frown a little. "It's tempting to see things the way you wish, instead of how they are."

"I don't wish that he's coming, Brendon.  He is."

He rolled his eyes, sarcastically mentioning. "Right... because the chipmunk told you."

Giselle nodded. "Yes. Pip actually said-"

"Know what? I don't know if you're kidding  or being ironic, because chipmunks don't talk." He affirmed, interrupting.

Her face dropped, her tone of voice changing. "Well, not here they don't."

"So in lieu of taking advice from a forest rodent,  I just wanted to say that, uh... if it did work out and you decided to stay in New York, I'd like to help." Brendon suggested, wanting to give his advice.

"That's very kind of you, Brendon." She thanked him. "But Edward is coming for me."

Brendon sighed, dropping down onto the edge of the sofa. "But what if he doesn't?"

"Why do you keep saying that?" snarled Giselle.

"I'm trying to tell you that I've been through this before. If a relationship has issues at the beginning, it doesn't get any better." He explained.

She protested. "He is coming!"

"Giselle, I don't think so. No."

Who did this man think he was to contradict her? If she knew he was coming then why would he disagree with her in the first place? Giselle had been given confirmation that Edward's on her way, Brendon should be happy that he'd be rid of her soon. "Yes!"

"I have to disagree. No."

She straightened up, standing from her seat. "No?"

"No."

Giselle began to raise her voice. "Is that the only word that you know? No?"

"No-"

She laughed, as he continued to say it. "No! No!"

Brendon stumbled up from his seat, being backed up by a judgemental Giselle. "No-"

"No!"

"I mean, no-"

"Over and over again!" She yelled, flapping her hands about. "Every word out of your mouth is "no"! It makes me so... Sometimes you make me so..." Giselle scrunched her fists, prepared to fight someone. "You make me so... so... ANGRY!"

Once she got the word out of her throat, Giselle couldn't stop herself from giggling. "I'm angry!" She exclaimed, almost happy about it.

Brendon raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm angry." She stopped laughing, her facial expression changing to one of fury. "I'm angry!"

She used her fist to punch his arm, hurting him slightly. The moment she had done that, Giselle regretted it immensely. "Are you ok?" He queried, concerned.

Giselle calmed down, unsure about the emotions she was feeling deep down. "I'm...  I'm wonderful."

"Are you sure?"

Her eyes shifted to his bare chest shown through the gap in his robe. "Yes, I'm fine..." She lightly caressed his chest, curiously. "I'm... fit as a fiddle..."

Slowly, they both leaned into one another, almost about to kiss. This time, it seemed Giselle wanted it to happen. However, Brendon turned away quickly. "Ok. Good night."

He walked off, leaving Giselle stunned into silence. She fell into a nearby chair, shaken. "Oh, my..." There was no denying it now, she was falling in love with Brendon and she couldn't stop it. What about Edward? She was getting married to him, and he was coming for her soon.

She didn't even realise that 'Vices & Virtues' was still playing, now beginning another song. Giselle listened in, wanting to hear more of his angelic voice.

"I was fine, just a guy living on my own, waiting for the sky to fall. Then you called and changed it all, doll." Giselle leaned back, imagining that Brendon was singing to her. "Velvet lips and the eyes to pull me in, we both know you'd already win. Mm, your original sin..."

He could never be compared to Edward, Brendon wasn't even close to being like him. "You fooled me once with your eyes now, honey. You fooled me twice with your lies, and I say..."

"Sarah smiles like Sarah doesn't care..."

Giselle broke out of her daze upon the mention of her name, frowning again as she listened to what he sung about her in the song.

"Does she know that my destiny lies with her? Sarah..."

Of course, he would never love her like he loved Sarah. That was the problem. He would never fall for someone else, especially her.

***

Brendon sat in his room, hearing the faint music from the living room. He covered up his chest, sighing to himself. His thoughts were all full of images of Giselle, she invaded his thoughts like a virus. Everything about her was beautiful, from her sapphire blue eyes to her red hair. She was unlike any girl he had ever met.

But it could never be, could it?

***

BTW I love Brendon and Sarah's relationship, especially 'Sarah Smiles' because that's one of my favourite songs. It's so cute!

Hope you liked it!

- Alice ❤

DUCK TALES! A-WOOO!