Chapter Thirty-Three:

Brian’s POV

“Hey, man, can I talk to you?” Matt asked me as I came down the stairs with Lydia. She looked at both of us and walked passed us to the kitchen. I nodded at my friend.

“What’s up?” I asked him.

“Dude, I’ve been a dick. I’m gonna back off your girl. It’s not cool of me to try and steal her from you. You both deserve better. You’re like my brother, man.” He told me. I pushed him backwards a step. I just laughed and pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks, man. I want things to work out. You know? Ace and I have a shot at making it in the long run.” I told him.

“I get it, man. I get that, now. I won’t be a problem anymore.”

---

Lydia’s POV

Doug didn’t say anything, but when Brian and Matt came to the dining room table, they were smiling and joking. I bet he made good on his promise and intervened. And, I’m glad that he did. That’s one problem down… only a million more to go.

---

I woke up feeling giddy and refreshed. A big part of that was probably due to Brian spending the night. I seem to sleep better when I’m with him. I’m not going to complain.

“You know that you don’t have to get up with me, Ace.” Brian told me as he dragged himself out of bed. I chuckled and followed him to the bathroom.

“I know, but I doubt I’d be able to sleep after you left, anyways.” I told him. He nodded. He turned on the hot water in the shower. He turned to face me as he pulled off his boxer-briefs. I bit my lip as drank in his body.

“You want to join me?” He asked. I nodded and pulled off the shirt I stole of his to sleep in, along with my boyshorts. I stepped into the hot spray of water and waited for him to join me. He kissed my shoulder as he stepped behind me. He closed the curtain and wrapped his arms around my middle. “Not that I’m complaining, but what brought on this and last night?” He asked me. I shrugged. “It just seems like we’re moving at different speeds sometimes. We’re taking our time sometimes, and other times you want to charge full-speed ahead with… things.” He told me. I turned around to face him.

“I like that we normally take our time with things. I can’t say that things are going to be easy with me, because they won’t be. I know that we’re going to have our hard days. There are some days that I just can’t deal with physical intimacy. It just hits too close to too many bad memories, sometimes. I don’t know. I can’t really explain it. I have hormones, just like you do. I’m a teenager. I get horny. You don’t make that any easier.” I teased. He chuckled. “And being bipolar, my mood changes… a lot.” I reminded him. He nodded. It looks like something clicked with him. “I know I’m hard to keep up with.” I apologized.

“Hard my ass,” he brushed off my apology. “You’re fine, Ace. Don’t worry so much. I understand what you’re trying to say.” He assured me. I nodded. We didn’t say much else while we cleaned each other. It’s times like these that I seem to notice more and more things about Brian. He’s so many different things wrapped into one hell of a man. He’s so gentle. That’s always been something that surprised me. He’s one way with the guys and another with me. He really cares and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to his intensity… not completely.

We got out of the shower and dried off. He brushed his teeth and I left to pick out clothes. What do I feel like wearing? And oversized pair of sweats and ridiculously fluffy slippers. Am I going to actually wear that? Sadly, no. No, I’m not.

The hardest part about healing is waiting to get back to normal. I’m not a patient person. More than anything, I don’t like to wait. Though, when it comes down to it, I’m not sure that anyone really does.

I sighed and forced myself to concentrate on the closetful of clothes in front of me. I grabbed a pair of light, skinny jeans, a black camisole, and a white sweater. I changed into my clothes and pulled on some socks before going back to the bathroom.

I finished getting ready and watched Brian apply his guyliner. He smirked at me as I watched him. He turned around and faced me. He brushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

“You look nice, Ace.” He smirked. I smiled at him.

“You’re going to be late.” I told him.

“I’ll just say that I was having mad, hot sex with my sexy, sexy girlfriend.” He teased. I scoffed and hit his arm. He laughed and held up his hands. “Kidding! I’m kidding, Ace!” He told me. I made a face at him. “I’m gonna head out, but I’ll be back after school. I wouldn’t miss the chance to meet your best friend.” He assured me. I hugged him and he pulled me in for a kiss.

“Good, because I’m holding you to that.” I warned him. He smirked.

“I’ll be here.” He promised, before bounding down the stairs. My phone started to go off. I grabbed it off of my bed and turned the screen on. I’ve got a new message from Hayden.

We’ll be there in less than an hour. Oliver has been talking about you nonstop since we left NYC. Oh, my God… If he doesn’t shut up, I’m going to super-glue his mouth closed. -.- Once we get there, I’ll talk to anyone that’s not him. I’m happy to see you, of course, but damn. The man can talk. By the way, you don’t happen to know any exceedingly attractive people? Do you? ;)
-Hayden

I snorted as I read his message. Hayden’s something else. God, do I miss them both.

Please refrain from super-gluing him while he’s driving. Okay? I don’t want a death on my hands when you FINALLY get here. I’m so excited. OMG. And by ‘attractive’ people, are you talking about males or females? ;-P Lol.
-Lydia

I texted him back. Hayden’s great. He used to be this shy, adorable, curly-haired kid, but he’s definitely come out of his shell. I didn’t have to wait long for a response.

Either or, guy, girl, it doesn’t matter. You know I’m not picky. :P From what Ollie has told me, you’ve made quite a few new guy friends. :D
-H

I read his message as I walked downstairs. Doug was sitting in his office doing some paperwork. I walked into his office and sat down in the armchair in front of his desk. He looked over at me.

“Morning Sweetheart, are you getting excited?” He asked me. I nodded.

“I’m ecstatic.” I beamed. My phone vibrated in my hands and I saw another message from Hayden

Please tell me that you’re going to feed us when we get there? Oliver wouldn’t stop for food this morning. He’s a cruel dictator and I’m starving. :(
-H

I laughed and started to text him back.

Oh, the perks of being bisexual. :P I’m sure we can find some suitable eye-candy for you, Hayds. Yes, I can totally feed you when you get here. Alright? Calm your tits. You’ll be fine, just get here!!
-L

“Expect hungry, teenage guys when they get here.” I told Doug. He just laughed.

“I didn’t expect anything less, Love. Tell me, is there anything I should know before they get here?” He asked me, setting down his papers. I shrugged.

“Hayden is a giant flirt. He’s bi and flirts with just about anything relatively attractive with legs.” I warned him. He let out a loud stream of laughter.

“That’s fine. It doesn’t bother me, Sweetheart. You should introduce him to Jimmy. They might hit it off.” He suggested. I raised my eyebrows. “From my understanding, Jimmy doesn’t have a preference with the gender of dating partners, either.” He explained. I nodded, slowly.

“Good to know.” I mused.

---

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime later, the doorbell rang. I jumped to my feet and raced to the front door. I threw the door open, with Doug hot on my heels. Oliver dropped his bags and grinned. I squealed and jumped on him. He caught me and I squeezed him as hard as good.

“God, I’ve fucking miss you.” I whispered in his neck. He chuckled.

“I missed you, too, Lyds. I’ve missed you, too.” He told me. After a few minutes of intense hugging, he put me down and stepped inside. I peered behind him and saw Hayden’s bright, smiling face. I beamed and hugged him just as hard.

“It’s so good to see your face!” He told me, clutching me tightly. I winced as I felt my bruises protest.

“My face?! What about your face?! Missed you!!” I told him. He laughed and set me down.

“I believe I was promised food.” He reminded me. I nodded.

“Hello boys, I’m Doug. It’s nice to meet the young men that Lydia has told me so much about.” Doug introduced himself.

“Hey, I’m Oliver. Thank you, so much, for letting us stay here.” Oliver shook his hand, smiling.

“Of course,” Doug waved away his gratitude and hugged Oliver. He laughed and hugged him back. Hayden followed suit after he introduced himself. “I can take you to the kitchen. We have tacos waiting.” He told Hayden. He beamed.

“Fuck yeah, tacos.” Hayden followed Doug into kitchen. Oliver hung back, with me.

“I’ll show you your rooms.” I told him. He followed me upstairs and I gestured to the guest bedrooms. He dropped off his bags.

“Where’s your room, Lyds?” He asked me. I took him down the hall and pointed to the open door. He stepped inside and dropped onto my bed. “It definitely suits you.” He mused. I smiled.

“I think so, too.” I told him.

“Alright, how bad are things? Honestly? I feel like you’ve told me enough to keep me in the loop but not everything, so I don’t freak out.” He pried. I sighed and laid down next to him. “Was Adam the one that decorate your face?” He growled. I sighed, again.

“Yeah, but Derek was the one that gave me the shiner originally.” I told him.

“If they touch you again, they’re dead.” He breathed.

“It’s handled, okay? Doug is handling it. They haven’t tried anything else since the last time.”

“I don’t handle seeing you hurt, well.” He whispered. I squeezed his hand.

“I know. Look, you just got here. I don’t want to talk about this right now. Let’s have fun.”

“Dude! Tacos!” Hayden screamed from downstairs. We looked at each other and started laughing.

“We can start with those.” I mused.

“To tacos?” He asked me. I nodded.

“To tacos,” I agreed.

Notes

Annnnnnd her fellow New Yorkers are finally in town! :) I'm trying to write the next few chapters, because I know this weekend is gonna be stupid-busy with work.

Predictions? Thoughts? Comments?

Xo,
Katie