Ellis Brothers Trilogy - Wesley

They sat on the grass in Washington Square Park, Jordana with a sketchpad and Wesley with his ukulele. Wes wouldn't be able to identify exactly how many times they have done this before, though it wasn't always at that particular park. Sometimes it was in Union Square, sometimes in Central Park, other times in Riverside. She still looked the same too, as when they first started doing this, in high school. They had a big group of friends then, they'd spread out on the lawn somewhere and hang out for hours. Jordana always wore Chuck Taylors that she decorated herself with doodles all over the fabric. The current ones were pink. She wore a pair of ripped jeans with them and a loose peasant top. Her hair hung down in waves to the middle of her back, the last few inches of it a vibrant purple, the rest her natural caramel brown color. Her legs were folded to the side and her head was tilted too, as she sketched.

"Come to the wedding with me," Wes finally said out loud after watching her for a long time, his fingers idly plucking along on the strings. Jordana looked up at him.

"What?" Her eyes squinted.

"I think you should come to Garrett's wedding with me. As my date." Jordana's expression still showed confusion. They were just friends, they had never dated, never hooked up, in the nearly nine years that they've known each other. "My platonic date. Cause I think it would be more fun if I had a friend to hang with," he clarified.

"Umm..." she pressed her lips together, her brow still scrunched. "Aren't you in the wedding? Am I going to be hanging out all alone if I come?"

"Ok, yes, I'm the best man. But that's just the ceremony. Once the ceremony is over, the rest of the night, the cocktail hour, and the reception... you'd be really cool to hang out with." He didn't want to go alone. Mark currently had a girlfriend who was coming as his date and he didn't want to be a third wheel. And Jordana was really cool.

"You're not gonna play?"

"We might play a song or two, but we are not doing a whole set or anything. Garrett and Lexi really don't want that. They want to enjoy their wedding together, not with him on stage and her in the audience." He wasn't going to repeat to Jordana what Lexi had said about not being able to keep from jumping Garrett if he played any more than a couple of songs. "And you'd know other people there, my brothers and my parents. It'll be fun."

"When is it?" Jordana didn't seem completely convinced yet.

"Exactly 4 weeks from today. It's at the Sunset Terrace at Chelsea Piers at 8 pm." Jordana still looked undecided. Wesley started playing a song, jumping in on the second verse of it. "There is no other one who can take your place."

"Oh my God stop that," Jordana rolled her eyes.

"I feel happy inside when I see your face."

"Don't you dare bring Weezer into this!"

"I hope you believe me, 'cause I speak sincerely, and I mean it when I tell you that I need you!" Wes continued singing despite her protests.

"Fine, fine, just stop, for fuck's sake!" She was looking away. He knew the song would get her. Especially if he got to the chorus and sang the part 'you're my best friend and I love you.'

It was their song. He'd never used it before in a manipulative way like this, but they'd always quote it to each other at other moments in life, especially over text. Bad breakups, fights with parents, which happened a lot on Jordana's side, anytime either of them felt down. They would never just outright say the words 'I love you' to each other without the context of the song, but it was ok when it was to music.

****

"So you are finally going on a date with Wesley, after all these years?" Joey asked, sitting on her bed, watching her do her makeup.

"No, it's not a date. We are not starting anything. I'm just coming to his brother's wedding with him," Jordana explained, carefully applying mascara.

"As his date," Joey smirked at her in the mirror.

"As his friend," she glared at her little brother's reflection.

"Don't you think he's hot? I mean, I've always thought he was hot," Joey admitted. "He's got those crazy blue eyes that I don't even know how you just look into them and not melt."

Joey wasn't wrong about Wesley's eyes. They were definitely incredible and sometimes still caught her off guard. They were always so incredibly contrasting to his nearly black curls. But she's known him since they were fourteen, since they first started high school and found themselves in the same group of friends, back when he was a lot shorter, skinnier, had braces, and wasn't selling out concert venues all over the country. The second and third albums that Ellis Brothers put out were a lot more successful than the first. Their songs were definitely maturing with them, becoming a lot more about the lyrics instead of just being fun and catchy.

"We're friends," Jordana reiterated to her brother, inspecting her face in the mirror.

"And you, you're a fucking hottie too, sis. He's going to take one look at you in this dress and he's going to have all kinds of dirty thoughts," Joey looked her in the eye through the mirror. He picked out the dress for her. Joey always had a lot more fashion sense than she had. He even helped her find shoes that were elegant, had the smallest possible kitten heels and convinced her that she could totally do this. If it wasn't for his help, she would have possibly resorted to wearing her Chucks, like she did for her high school prom.

"Thanks," she was genuinely thankful to Joey for all his help and his compliments and for the fact that they've always been such good friends too, even with the four-year age difference.

The look on Wes's face when he saw her was definitely in line with what Joey had said. His eyes widened as he scanned over her, head to toe, before returning to her face. She had worn a short dress, above the knee, with spaghetti straps and a very flattering cascading ruffle skirt.

"You're... umm..." Wes stammered. "Not wearing Chucks." Jordana smiled, shaking her head. "You look fantastic." He added, pulling it together.

"Thanks," she fiddled with the clutch she borrowed from her mom. "Let's go?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Wes snapped out of his daze. He looked very handsome in his tux, of course, but that wasn't much of a surprise to Jordana. She's seen him dressed this way many times throughout high school for all the orchestra and chorus concerts. She had to admit that he filled out the tux jacket a lot better now, especially in the shoulders.

It was a beautiful wedding and Lexi was a stunning bride. She wore an illusion neckline gown that was sheer in the back nearly down to her waist. It had short lace sleeves and lace accents all through the bodice and framing the sheer back. It accentuated her narrow waist and flowed beautifully down to the floor in an A-line cut. She wore a jeweled headband in her hair, which really stood out against her dark hair. She was glowing, of course, the smile barely leaving her face all night.

Lexi and Garrett had only been together for a year when he proposed. When Garrett and his brothers had gone off on tour, promoting their second album, he decided that he just couldn't live without Lexi and asked her to marry him the very next time he saw her. They moved in together shortly after that, while planning their wedding, and now they were tying the knot just two years after they first met. They looked incredibly happy together. Garrett stayed within an arm's length of his bride most of the night, his hand frequently resting on the small of her back or on her shoulder, if their fingers weren't laced together.

"Are you having a good time?" Wesley asked her, setting a drink down in front of her at the table.

"Yeah," Jordana affirmed, smiling. She was pretty well buzzed at this point but accepted the drink that Wes had brought her. The waiters were relentless with refilling the wine glasses and of course there was champagne with the toasts from the best man and the matron of honor. Mark brought over shots for them at one point, even though he was still several months shy of his twenty-first birthday.

"I hear there's going to be an incredible dessert buffet, all kinds of custom-made pastries that are Lexi's recipes and made by her chef friends," Wes spoke close to her face, leaning in.

"God, I'm so stuffed already! All the food has been really good."

"Maybe we should go dance for a bit, work up an appetite for more," Wes suggested, giving her a look. She nodded her head and he offered her his hand.

They jumped around among the crowd of guests to the fast songs, did shots with Garrett and Lexi and their cousins, then came back to the dance floor again for more. A slow song came on, Joshua Radin's I'd Rather Be With You, and Wes pulled her in close. His arm wrapped around her waist and his other hand picked hers up. There was something electric in his touch, the way the warmth of his hand on her waist spread throughout her body, the way he held her close and guided her movements. Jordana's breath caught and her heart pounded in her chest. Could he feel it too? She looked up at his face. He was looking down at hers, smiling. She looked back out over his shoulder, a bit of fear coursing through her at all the feelings that suddenly rushed her. What the fuck was going on?!

The song seemed to last forever, but when it finally ended, Wes let her out of his arms and she felt a sudden loss. As weird and on-edge as his touch felt moments ago, she wanted it back. Being apart from Wes suddenly felt cold. He was still smiling at her as he began to move to the faster song playing now.

****

To say that he had a lot to drink was a gross understatement. They had started drinking before the wedding even began, when they took photos with the bridal party and with their family earlier in the evening. There were shots peppered throughout the night, mixed with wine at dinner, champagne for the toasts, and a variety of other drinks throughout the night. By dessert time, the pastries swam in a hazy river in front of his eyes and he vaguely remembered Jordana feeding him something. And he licked her fingers. Fuck! Was that what started it all?

He had no memory of how they got into the back of the car, but they were kissing, hungry, sloppy kisses with him leaning over her. He was supposed to take her home. To her house. The brownstone in the West Village where she lived with her parents and her brother. The place he picked her up from earlier that night. Instead, they were at his apartment in Chelsea, the one he shared with Mark. He had a hell of a time fitting the key through the lock on his door and then they stumbled in, tripping over each other. She was pushing his suit jacket off his shoulders as they made their way through the apartment towards his bedroom. She loosened his tie and pulled it up over his head, tossing it aside. And then they were in his room, shutting the door.

Wes remembered pinning her against the door and covering her mouth with his, devouring her, the intensity of his kiss indicative of how long he's been wanting to do this. She kissed him back, simultaneously undoing the buttons on his shirt. He reached behind her and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor. She stood in front of him in just a strapless bra and panties and she looked absolutely magnificent. The next thing he remembered was standing on his knees in front of her eating out her pussy while she stood leaning on his door. Her panties and bra were gone now, he couldn't remember who took them off, but he was pulling her hips towards himself and licking the folds of her pussy, circling her clit, moving down towards her entrance and thrusting his tongue in there, making Jordana moan. He definitely made her come with his mouth, while her fingers tangled in his hair and she squealed.

And in the next burst of memory, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, with his pants and boxer briefs around his ankles while Jordana was on her knees in front of him, sucking his cock. Her hand cupped his balls as she slid her tongue up and down his shaft, driving him crazy. He leaned back onto his hands, planted behind him on the bed, his eyes closed, the room swimming around him. He told her that he didn't want to come in her mouth, that she needed to get her pussy onto his cock. And she did.

She straddled his lap and slid onto his cock grinding into him, her pussy so wet and warm that he could hardly keep himself from coming immediately. Her hands wrapped around his neck, their chests touched and he guided her hips down into himself again and again. When she came, shuddering around his cock, he was right there with her, unable to hold back any longer.

After he came, his mind had gone completely blank. He couldn't remember anything else.

He woke up to pounding in his head. Intense and painful throbbing so sharp he couldn't pry his eyes open. He shielded his eyes with his hand before peeling his eyelids apart. The light was still on in the room and it felt absolutely blinding. Wesley struggled to get his head up off the pillow and walk himself over to the light switch to turn it off. It was significantly better with the light off, though his head still ached. He squinted at his bed as his eyes adjusted to the dark, and distinguished the shape of Jordana's body laying there. She was naked, with the sheet partially covering her body. He still had his undershirt on and the button down shirt open over it, though he was entirely naked from the waist down.

He stood there for a long minute thinking about what to do, deciding eventually on taking off the shirts and putting his underwear back on. He went to use the bathroom, without turning on any lights, then searched the medicine cabinet for ibuprofen and took the pills while scooping water into his hands from the sink and carrying it to his mouth.

He couldn't sleep when he got back into bed next to Jordana. He had sex with her. He had sex with his closest friend outside of his brothers. And it was amazing and perfect and he wanted more. Did she? He looked over at her, laying on her side, facing away from him, curled up tightly with the sheet draping her midsection. Her hair splayed out on the pillow around her. He didn't have to coax her or persuade last night. She was an entirely willing participant in the entire thing, receptive to all his touches, no hint of reservation. But they were so drunk! What will she think when she wakes up?

He must have drifted off eventually, waking to the feel of Jordana nestling into the crook of his shoulder and draping her arm over his stomach. Her breath was warm on his chest and her hair tickled his arm. She sighed softly, getting comfortable there. Everything about this just felt right. He leaned his face towards hers and kissed her forehead, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Good Morning," Wesley's voice was barely above a whisper, not sure how awake she actually was.

"Good Morning," she replied, still sounding drowsy.

"How are you feeling?" He wondered whether she was as hungover as he was, whether her head was pounding uncontrollably like his did when he first woke up during the night.

"Ok, a little dizzy. My mouth feels gross. I need something to drink, I think." His brain jumped right back to the things she did with her mouth last night, the way she had sucked his cock with so much enthusiasm. Of course, the thought brought said cock right back to life.

"How about I get up and make us some coffee?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." She didn't move though, still nestled snugly into him, still holding onto him. And Wesley felt reluctant to break this up.

It was pretty unbelievable. Jordana seemed to be as much on board with this development as he was. They didn't sit down to discuss what it all meant or what they should call each other now, they just rolled with it. They saw each other nearly every day over the next week, usually after Jordana got out of work. She didn't stay over during the week, not wanting to explain the whole thing to her parents yet. It was understandable after the wedding and went largely unquestioned by them, but weeknight sleepovers would definitely be suspicious.

Mark obviously noticed the fact that Jordana had slept in Wesley's bed after the wedding and the fact that she was over every night with the door closed. He didn't say anything at first but after a few days of quiet observations he decided to ask.

"So you and Jordana, you guys are sleeping together now?" He was blunt, not beating around the bush.

"Yeah," Wes confirmed, grinning. They haven't discussed keeping it a secret. Especially not from Mark who shared the apartment with him. Jordana had been discreet by always getting dressed, whenever she went outside of his bedroom. She wasn't prancing around the place in her undies and a tank top, the way that Mark's girlfriend sometimes did.

"Are you... dating? Or just doing a fuck buddy sort of thing? Or what?" Mark narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know," Wes shrugged, smiling. "We're just playing it by ear. We haven't really talked about it."

And it was fine, this whole not talking about it thing. Everything was great between them and he didn't need to define anything or talk about anything.

"We need to talk," Jordana finally spoke the words, over the phone, about a month after the wedding. Wes was on the road, playing shows around the East Coast. They hadn't seen each other the last couple of weeks, but have been talking on the phone almost daily and texting constantly. Things were definitely good.

"Ok," he was a little nervous though, at the prospect of having this conversation.

"Not right now. In person." Wes blew out a relieved breath.

"I'm not going to be back in the city for ah... two more weeks, I think." And it would be difficult, because he really missed Jordana and he definitely wanted to see her a lot sooner than that. There was silence on the other end.

"What's the closest gig you're playing? Geographically," she finally asked.

"Ummm... Philly in three days. Oh and PNC Bank Arts Center in Jersey two days after that, that might be closer." Silence followed again and he waited for Jordana to say something. God, what was going on? Did she meet someone? Was she interested in going out with someone else and needed to make sure that they weren't actually together and exclusive?

"Can I come out to Philly? Meet you there?" She finally asked, her voice soft and tentative.

"Yeah, sure, of course. If you can make it before 4 pm, I'll pick you up from the train station. Just text me the info on the train that you'll be on. I'll be there." He promised.

He looked forward to seeing her, despite the fact that she wanted to talk. He missed Jordana and thought about her constantly and he was counting down the hours until he'd be able to wrap his arms around her again and kiss her lips.

He couldn't read her expression properly when she got off the train. She seemed really tense and sad and all he could do was embrace her. They exchanged a peck on the lips and he took her hand as they walked out of the train station. Something was off, something didn't feel right.

"Do you have a hotel room? Or are you staying on a tour bus?" She asked, not looking up at him.

"We have a hotel room. I don't have a ton of time though, before I have to be at the venue." Was this a good sign or a bad one that she wanted to go back to the hotel?

"Can we take a cab?" She wasn't looking at him at all.

"Yeah, sure. What's going on, Jordana?" She just shook her head.

"Not here," she told him, finally looking up. Her eyes wide and pleading.

They were mostly quiet during the ride back, but she continued to hold his hand. As soon they were in the room and he closed the door behind him, Jordana turned, sighed, and looked him in the eye.