"Your room is quite nice," Brian commented, after walking in and looking around. Brian had said that since he had never seen my room at the Hotel, today was a good day to do it.

I smiled and closed the door behind me, throwing the room card on the bedside table. “It is.”

He plopped down onto the bed, sighing. “How can you even afford this? You have an awesome view to the beach, your own bathroom, huge TV, and the room is… big.”

I spared him a glance as I moved to the chair across the room. “I’m not paying. I know the owner of the hotel, remember? He was friends with my father.”

“Oh.” His face lit up with recognition at my words as he nodded his head approvingly. “Does that mean I have free breakfast when I sleep here?”

I laughed quietly, rolling my eyes. “Who says you can stay here?”

“Like you would have a choice if I decided to stay.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him, placing a hand on my hip. “Excuse me?”

He smiled cheekily at me, throwing his tongue out like a kid. “Aw, come on, you know you wouldn’t be able to resist my charm.”

“Don’t try me, Haner.” I turned my back to him for a moment, my arms reaching for the pile of clothes on the chair. When I spun back around, I couldn’t help the chuckle that pushed past my lips. “What are you doing?” I asked with an amused smile as he jumped on the hotel bed and patted its top.

“I’m just checking if this bed is any good in case I stay here at night.”

I gave him a pointed look. “You’re not gonna sleep here,” I told him for the second time, heading for the bed so I could sit down and fold my clothes.

“Why not?”

"I think we already discussed this before."

“Did we? I’m not sure I remember,” he smiled innocently. “Stay with me, then?”

“Brian!” I chided, sending him a warning look that clearly said that I was done with this matter. But as the stubborn as he was, of course he didn’t shut up about it.

“What? My bedroom is also nice, if not better; it has a huge bed; you can have free breakfast made by me; everything is free,” he explained, frowning slightly at the end. “Okay. You may have to pay with a kiss, but we can arrange something. Having said this, what’s not to like?”

“Yeah, let’s just live together,” I replied wryly, slowly making another pile of clothes, this time without them being a mess.

“Why not?”

I sighed and looked at him, my hands falling onto my lap. “Don’t be silly.”

He pulled himself closer to me so his shoulder brushed against mine and his hand came to rest on my knee. “I’m only kidding. I just wanted to sleep with my girlfriend. Is that a crime?”

I took his hand in mine and laced our fingers, grinning a little. “No.”

“I’m just saying you have a backup house in case they kick you out of here for selling out the stock of pancakes,” he smirked, making me chuckle a little.

“If I were to move in with you, you’d have to make me pancakes and buy me donuts every day.”

His smirk just grew wider at that, our eyes meeting in a playful stare. “Oh, really? And what would I get in return?”

“My happiness?” He scoffed jokingly, which only earned him an elbow on his ribs. “Asshole.”

He cupped my face in his hands and showered me with loud kisses. I tried to push him away, chuckling at how ridiculous he was being, but the only result was us ending up tangled in each other, laughing our asses off, and my perfectly folded clothes spread on the floor.

“Get off of me,” I giggled as I tried to retrieve my leg from under his. He shook his head and managed to roll us over so he was on top. “Did you not hear what I said?” I told him.

He cocked his head to the side, looking like a puppy. “About?”

“Getting your ugly ass off of me?”

“My ass is not ugly and it’s not on you.” He wiggled his ass in the air to prove his point and I chuckled, even if unwillingly, at him. He smiled and leaned down to kiss me; a few chaste kisses that he planted on my smiley lips. “Still want me to leave?” He whispered.

As I opened my mouth to answer him, my phone started ringing. “You don’t have much of a choice right now.”

He stole one more kiss from my lips and reluctantly crawled out of me so I could grab my phone. When I read Jane’s name on the screen, I smiled. “Who’s it?”

“Jane.”

“Cool!”

“No-no, there’s no cool today!” I waved my finger in the air, holding my phone tightly with the other hand. “You have to leave while I talk to her.”

Brian’s smile fell as he looked at me skeptically. “Are you serious?”

“As I’ll ever be. You’re not spoiling my phone call today. Now hurry up,” I rushed, waiting for him to stand up and walk out of the room. He stumbled away as he mumbled something about a pool in the hotel.

I finally accepted the call and lay down on my back on the bed. “What’s up?”

“You’ve got fifteen minutes to spill your guts.”

“Jesus Christ, hi to you, too,” I said.

“I’m sorry, but I really have only fifteen minutes,” she apologized. “This shit is chaotic.”

"Really?"

“Yeah!” She breathed out, exasperated. “Be glad you’re not here. I’m sick of this place. But let’s discuss this other day. What’s going on with Mr. Brian?”

For a moment, I spaced out thinking about what she said. If the company where we worked was a mess, that meant that my job was at risk, and after my little outburst a week ago, I doubted I was any less safe.

“Lara?” I heard Jane call, giggling.

“Sorry. What?”

“You, Brian, his bed. Tell me!”

I laughed a little, not knowing exactly what to say. There were so many things, but where to begin? “Uh. We’re together,” I said, twisting my lips to the side at the poor information I gave her.

“Duh. I know. I want the details. How did that happen?”

"Oh. It was after I came back from New York,” I started. “I was really upset that day and I think I needed to see him, because I knew that he would be able to make me feel better. So we went to his house and later that night we kissed."

“Those are not details!” She complained, and I sighed, frustrated. “I want the good stuff. Who kissed who?”

I rolled my eyes at her but didn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled out of my lips. “Well, it was mutual. We were cuddling-”

“You were cuddling?!” She cut me off, incredulous.

“Yeah. Me cuddling. How rare, uh? But Brian is the only guy I’ve ever cuddled with.”

“Not even with Damon?”

I ran a hand through my hair, my eyes fixed on the interesting ceiling of my room. “Damon was not a cuddlier. We might have cuddled once or twice but it was never too intimate. But with Brian… it was always good. It still is. It’s just makes me feel safe, you know?” I told her as I felt my lips curling into a small smile.

“Aw. And then what? She prodded. That woman knew no boundaries. She was not going to give up until she knew everything there was to know.

“Then… well, he was being overly sweet. I think it was to make me more comfortable; to get me to trust him again and relax. Once I was okay, we started teasing each other and being playful, like we usually are, but there was this moment when he stopped and looked at me; like… no jokes, no teasing Brian. He was actually serious, but soft at the same time. I just- I don’t know…”

“Oh my God,” Jane squealed quietly, and I could almost picture her hugging a pillow and imagining the whole scene in her pretty head.

“Hey, stop with that,” I grumbled, though, feeling my cheeks heat up. I didn’t even know why, but putting into words what happened with Brian made it all more real.

“I’m sorry. I’m just so excited. Please, go on,” she pleaded, amusement laced with her voice.

“Okay. So… we kissed, and he said the L word.”

“He did?” Jane gasped.

“Yes. And I started crying, because-” I gulped, my emotions tricking me all over again. “I think I got a little overwhelmed with everything, and you know I don’t like to cry in front of people, but once again, it was him. And he was so good to me. I mean… God, I sound like a cheeseball,” I groaned, covering my face with one hand. I was so glad no one was there with me to see my reactions to this conversation.

“Awn. You’re adorable when you’re in love,” Jane giggled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this before.”

“I’ve never been like this before,” I sighed. “But I’m not adorable! I’m a badass!”

“You are adorable!” She insisted.

“Oh, shut it!” I waved my hand dismissively, but the huge grin on my face gave me away completely, even if Jane couldn’t see it.

Jane laughed at me some more, but eventually the questions returned and I had to answer them all. This girl was worse than the cops.

“So… Does he still kiss good?”

“Are you kidding me right now? It’s Brian we’re talking about; of course he still kisses good. He’s even better, but obviously I can’t tell him that or he won’t shut up about it,” I chuckled, and Jane roared like a wild cat. I had to laugh at that. Reallylaugh. There was no better explanation for Brian’s kisses than a roar of a wild cat.

“And did you sleep with him already?”

“You mean the sex?”

“Of course.”

“Nope,” I said, flipping onto my stomach and propping my elbows in front of me.

“Wow. How can you do it?”

“I can’t! But Brian wants to wait,” I told her truthfully.

“Wait?” Jane queried, seeming honestly confused.

“Yeah. Because I told him we shouldn’t sleep together every day. We don’t know how long I will stay here and there’s the attachment problem. He thought that if we can’t spend the nights together, then having sex is out of the question as well. And that’s why we haven’t done it yet.”

Jane stayed in silence for a moment as she mulled over my words. It was complicated. I knew it, and Jane knew it, too. “Have you thought that maybe he’s scared?” She asked me carefully. “You basically told him that you might leave him sometime soon. And… I don’t know. He’s probably just being cautious about you.”

My eyebrows knitted at the center of my forehead while I worked the theory in my head. “You really think that?”

“Yeah, I mean… How are you gonna do it now, Lara? How are you gonna leave?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I don’t know,” I murmured. “I don’t wanna think about it.”

Sighing, Jane said, “But you have to.”

“Not now, please?” I tried.

“Okay, okay. Fine. Just as long as you’re a happy kid, I’m fine.”

I laughed a little and breathed out in relief. “Oh, I’m a very happy kid,” I told her honestly. “Brian is great. Silly as fuck, but I really love him.”

“Awn.”

"Yeah, yeah. Enough about me,” I chuckled. “When is your wedding? I have two weddings to go now. Zacky’s and yours."

“Well it shouldn’t be before next summer,” she informed me. “Probably at the end of it. I’m still deciding.”

"Cool, because Zacky’s is in the Spring, so it’s fine," I beamed, excited that both my best friends were getting married. “How are you feeling? Nervous? Happy?”

“Still not nervous, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be a mess when it gets closer to the date,”Jane giggled. “But I’m definitely happy and looking forward to it. I just can’t wait.”

“That’s so awesome, girl. Do you need any help with the Wedding stuff? I know I’m miles away, but I’m sure we can sort it out.”

“I will. Not now, though. I’ve just been looking for dresses, but still haven’t found anything.”

We kept talking a little bit more about her Wedding and other things, until Brian eventually returned from his visit through the hotel.

“He’s back,” I told Jane, just as Brian shut the door close.

“He was fast,” Jane said, with a light chuckle, and I bit down on my lip.

"He’s like a kid; he can’t go two seconds without having attention," I teased, my eyes trailed on Brian as he walked toward me with a smirk on his face.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your man. We’ll talk later,” Jane said, and by the tone of her voice I knew she was smiling like a fool.

“Bye, Jane,” I chuckled, trying not to roll my eyes.

“Love you!”

“Love you, too.”

As soon as I hung up the call, Brian climbed up the bed and claimed my lips with a feverish kiss, not giving me any time to say a word. We both smile into the kiss before he pulled away and collapsed onto the bed with a content sigh.

“You are ridiculous, you know that?” I laughed, rolling to my side, as he placed his hands behind his head.

“I can live with that,” he replied, with eyes closed but still smirking.

I smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I can live with that, too,” I told him, just to see the corners of his lips curving into a grin.

“So were you talking about me? You and Jane?”

"What else would we talk about?"

“Did you discuss the size of my cock?” He asked, cracking one eye open to look at me. “Did you tell her how big it was?”

I slapped his chest but couldn’t help the laugh that came out. “I think you’re confusing the size of your cock with the size of your ego,” I corrected him, and this time he opened both of his eyes to glare at me defiantly. “What? Isn’t that true?”

“My cock is big!” He countered, taking his hands from behind his head to turn completely to me.

“It’s- Okay, you’re well packed. But it’s not like you’re huge,” I teased, fighting back a chuckle at the horrified look that took over his face. It was so much fun to drive him to the edge.

“Next time you’re sucking my dick, we’ll see if you still think I’m just well packed,” he said and my jaw went completely slack at that. He started laughing uncontrollably and I smack him hard on his arm.

“You’re so gross!”

“Ugh, you’re so gross,” Brian mocked me and I started to slap him again. However, this time, instead of letting me hit him, he fought me back. Grabbing my wrists, he hovered over me and straddled my waist so I wouldn’t kick him. “Stop,” he said, still laughing, as my legs squirmed from under him. “You know you asked for it!”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed, putting up another attempt to try to release my hands from his hold, but as always he was stronger than me and all my actions were helpless. “Asshole!”

“Aw, baby,” he cooed, leaning down to kiss my lips, but I turned my face away. “Oh, is that how you want it now?” He asked, his tone slightly darker than before.

I squinted up at him from the corner of my eye and saw that he had a raised eyebrow. “Yes.”

Without warning, he filled the rest of the space between his mouth and my skin, and dug his teeth into my neck, making me scream at the unexpected pain that shot through me. The fucking beast! “You motherfucker,” I hissed, but no sooner did those words rolled out of my tongue, he started laving and kissing my bruised area softly, occasionally nipping at it. The pain slowly faded away and Brian trailed light feather kisses up my neck and toward my lips, my wrists now freed from his grasp. He presented me with a slow, sensual kiss, before looking me in the eyes.

“That hurt,” I pouted, even though I was still glaring at him a little.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I got too far?”

I drifted my gaze from his, pulling my lower lip between my teeth to stop the smirk from appearing. “It was hot,” I admitted, “but it still hurt.”

His chuckle fanned my cheek and I looked back at him, with a tiny smile. “You’re gonna have a love bite tomorrow, or later this night, but you’ll survive,” Brian told me, his shoulders jolting into a shrug.

“Ass.”

“Next time don’t say my dick is small!”

“Your dick is not small,” I spat back. “And just to pet your beloved ego a little more, I love your dick.”

“He loves you back,” Brian laughed, planting a quick kiss on my lips.

“Oh, your dick is a he?” I joked and he made a mocking face and weird noises that made me burst out laughing.

He struggled against a smile. “Shut up.”

---

My birthday was in five days and Brian had been restless about it. So many questions had he asked me already about what I wanted to do that day; about where I wanted to go; about presents; about throwing a party or staying at home and just chilling. It was tiring, to be honest, but on the other hand, it was kind of sweet from his part.

Brian walked out of the kitchen, with a small paper in his hand and a pencil between his lips, and padded in my direction. He took the seat next to mine on the couch, with his eyes still fixed on that paper. “So how about we ask Zacky to have a small party at his house on your birthday’s Eve, and at midnight we sing you happy birthday, then we get all smashed and drunk. Then-” He made a pause to scribble something down on his paper, “Then I’ll take you home, because you’ll probably be passed out,” he added in a lower voice, although I had heard him perfectly well. “By the way, it’s my house you’re going to, to be specific, and I don’t take a no as an answer,” he told me, pointing a finger at me, as he looked up from the paper. Once I nodded, feeling completely baffled by all of this, Brian dropped his head to the paper again and kept talking to himself. “We won’t wake up until 4 pm the next day, for sure, so we just stay home for a few hours,” Brian muttered before smiling widely and locking eyes with me again, “and then I will take you out for dinner.”

“Okay, can you repeat that but slower?” I asked, and he sighed with a brittle chuckle. Handing me the paper, he leaned forward and folded his arms on his knees as he waited for me to read the paper. After I ran my eyes over it carefully, a smile spread across my lips. “You are one crazy man,” I said, folding the paper in two and giving it back to him.

“Sounds good?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect. I just didn’t get the S you had written down, in front of Party at Zacky’s,” I said, with a slight frown.

Guilt flashed through Brian’s eyes but he quickly composed himself and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, ugh- it’s nothing.”

Yeah, right.

Lifting a brow, I stared at him, confused. “Nothing?”

He shrugged. “I don’t even know.”

I shook my head, chuckling, “You’re such a bad liar, Brian,” I told him and he rose to his feet, his lips pressing close in a fine line as he raised his hands in defense. “Yeah. Now leave me here to guess what it is,” I shouted as he darted out back to the kitchen.

“You won’t find out until your birthday,” Brian announced, glancing over his shoulder.

“Brian!” I whined but he just laughed and ignored my pleas.

"Get your ass moving because we’re having dinner at little shit’s house!" Brian yelled.

I jumped from the couch and went after him as he headed for his bedroom. “Why?”

"I think we’re meeting his new friend."

I stopped at the doorway and leaned against the frame. “The girl from the store?” I queried, curiosity popping out of me again.

"That one."

"Are they dating?"

"I don’t know." Brian took off his shirt and threw it onto the floor, making me stare at his bare back for a moment. It was only after recovering from the sudden hot temperature that fell in the room that I spoke again.

"Does he love her?"

"I don’t know," Brian replied, more annoyed, his pants following after the shirt. Oh, boy. Was he doing this on purpose? I walked further into the room, attracted by Brian’s almost naked body, which was so incredibly tempting for my eager eyes, and he glanced over at me, suspicious.

"But he likes her, right?” I murmured. However, I no longer wanted to know the answer, I just wanted to get close to Brian.

He stopped moving at all and spun around to face me, my eyes inevitably dropping to the area right below his waist, where a big bulge was beginning to come to life. “Will you stop with the questions?” The words were uttered slowly and promising, making me wet my dry lips and raise my gaze back to Brian’s intense, brown eyes.

“I’m done.”

“Good. Because, right now,” he smirked, taking a few steps in my direction, “I want you in my bathtub in ten seconds, and I’m counting.”

"What?" I asked, laughing.

"One-"

"Brian?"

He quirked his perfectly shaped brow. “Two. Three-“

"Shit," I hissed, giggling and pulling away from him, but not without slapping his ass on my way past him.

"Agh!" He yelped. "You little- The count is over!" He shouted and I ran as fast as I could as I heard his loud stomps behind me. My clothes were stripped hurriedly and thrown carelessly onto the floor, and by the time I reached the bathroom, Brian was right behind me with a goofy smile on his face.

Obviously we arrived at Johnny’s really late and were the last ones to make an appearance. Johnny gave us a lecture as soon as he opened the door for us, but neither Brian nor I paid much attention to it. Brian just flipped him off and called him names before pushing past him and I petted Johnny’s head. It almost made me feel bad for little Johnny. He was bullied every time and Brian was probably the worst.

"You’re so mean to him," I whispered as we ambled into the living room where loud voices could already be heard.

"He can handle it. He survived all of these years," Brian smirked.

“I can hear you, dumbass!” Johnny spat from behind us.

Chuckling, I came to a halt and waited for him to catch up with me. “I’m sorry!” I cried dramatically, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging the life out of him. Johnny couldn’t help but laugh as he returned the hug.

“Fine, I forgive you, but not your boyfriend.”

“Yeah, he’s an ass, I know,” I said, and Brian narrowed his eyes at me.

"Always with the enemy," he commented, feigning a glare, “it’s unbelievable.”

“Oh, bite me!”

He circled his arm around my waist as I passed in front of him and pulled me flush against him. “You know I would bite you all over,” he whispered in a low tone, just before bringing his hand down to smack my ass. I slapped his back as my lips twisted into a smirk.

“Hey, you two, just get here,” Johnny called. We found Johnny with the same girl of the store by his side. “This is Luna.”

“Luna Fox,” she added, smiling shyly. She didn’t look like a shy girl, but with so many people here it was understandable that she felt slightly intimidated.

“I’m Lara,” I told her, “and this ugly man here-” I pointed at Brian, peeking up at him, “is Brian.”

“Nice to meet you, guys.”

“Ugly man,” he scoffed. “You didn’t say that when we were in the shower while ago.”

I elbowed him on his side and laughed, “Shut up!”

“What? It’s true,” he chuckled, wrapping his arm around me.

“What kind of things will she think of us?”

“Don’t worry. Healthy sex means a healthy life,” Luna stated. “Just saying.”

"Johnny, did you hear that?" Brian smiled, shoving his friend on his shoulder.

“Get a life, Haner,” he mumbled as he shooed Brian’s hand away. Luna let out a loud laugh and kissed Johnny’s cheek, making him smile a little, even in his furious state. Brian could really get under his skin.

“Oh, my God!” We heard Audrey squeal and it didn’t take long for her to reach us. “I’m so happy for you, guys!” What we weren’t expecting was for her to throw her arms around me and Brian. We looked at each other and chuckled, hugging her back. “Please, just kiss each other! Please, please, please!” She begged, jumping up and down excitedly when she stepped back.

“Really?”

"Yes!"

“Do I really have to kiss her?” Brian retorted with fake disgust.

“Ah-ah.” I pushed him playfully on his chest, but he was quicker than me and pulled me into his embrace. I rolled my eyes but gave in, drowning myself into his chest.

“Aw! Please, just a kiss?”

“Baby, come on!” Zacky whined from the couch as he saw what his girlfriend was doing.

“Shut up, Zachary!” She scolded sternly, making everyone in the room break out laughing.

Squinting up at Brian, I smiled. “Just one kiss?” I asked him.

“For now,” he teased.

Both of us chuckling, we leaned into each other and shared a sweet kiss, enough to leave Audrey all giggly and happy. “Aw, you guys,” she cooed, wiping at her eyes.

“She’s so cute,” I laughed as I reached for her and hugged her tightly to me.

“I’m really happy for you, you have no idea,” she told me, still giggling and sniffling a little.

This was only the second time I’d been at Johnny’s house, but the amount of funny moments on both times was the same. It amazed me how easy it was for them to make me laugh, to make me feel like I belonged to something very special that was their group.

“I hope you’re not scared with us,” I said to Luna, who was quietly watching Jimmy and Johnny picking on each other.

She turned to me with a full smile and shook her head vigorously. “No, no, not at all. I knew the guys were cool dudes. I’d seen them at the store and talked with some of them when I applied to Johnny’s class, but tonight has been awesome. They’re really nice people.”

“I know,” I chuckled, watching Jimmy grab Johnny upside down. Crazy animals.Returning my attention to Luna, I noticed the glint in her dark brown eyes as her gaze danced on little Johnny. She brushed a piece of her long, dark brown hair out of her face and glanced at me as she realized I was looking at her.

“What?” She chuckled.

“You like Johnny a lot, don’t you?”

A light pink blush covered her cheeks. “Yeah, I mean… He’s funny.”

“I think he likes you, too,” I said and her lips widened into a smile.

“You think?”

I nodded with my head, looking over at Johnny briefly. “I do.”

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “Jonathan and I started talking a few weeks ago-”

Jonathan.

“I knew I wasn’t supposed to like him,” she went on, “because, in theory, he was my bass teacher, but I just couldn’t help it. I found myself liking him more and more each day, because he’s so cute when he helps us with the bass,” Luna giggled. “He’s really funny, and then… I tried to start a conversation, out of the class, and I think it only made me like him all the more. If that’s even possible. But I’m not sure how he feels.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to rush things. But he likes you. I can promise you that,” I told her and she sighed, a huge grin playing on her lips again. “He wouldn’t introduce you to us if he didn’t.”

“I hope so. If he doesn’t do anything, I probably will,” she laughed and I joined her, telling her to go for it. I was sure she was going to be happy with Johnny’s reaction.

“Can I just ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why Jonathan?” I asked as a chuckle threatened to spill from my lips.

“It was to pick on him,” Luna laughed again. “I knew he hated the name, so I used it to try to get to him, then it just stuck, and now I can’t call him anything else.”

“Oh, I get it. Teasing is the best part.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively and we both began to laugh. Again.

“What are you two laughing about?” Brian asked as he approached us, a beer cradled in his hand.

“None of your business.” I threw my tongue out at him and got up from the couch. “I’m gonna grab a drink,” I announced, but Brian shook his head and caught my hand in his. Tugging onto it, he lowered his head and gave me a loving kiss.

“Stay with me tonight?” He whispered, hope dripping from his words.

I pondered for a moment, but at the puppy dog eyes I couldn’t say no. “Okay,” I told him.

He beamed at me and fused our lips together in another kiss. “I love you.” And then he was out of my sight again, making me roll my eyes. Silly.

I went to the kitchen to grab myself a drink, and I was looking into the fridge when someone’s footsteps echoed through the air. I bent up and saw Matt walking in with an empty cup. He smiled his dimpled smile at me and padded toward me. “So have you listened to the tape yet?”

The tape.

My face fell at the mention of the CD and a silent sigh escaped my lips. “I did.”

“Did you like it?”

“Uh-uh.”

Matt scrunched up his nose. “You don’t sound very convincing,” he said gently.

Setting my cup on the counter, I wrapped my arms around myself. “Who wrote the last song?” I asked, going straight to the point.

“Remind me of the name of the song.”

“Shattered By Broken Dreams.”

“Oh,” Matt murmured, his eyes widening, “that song.”

“Brian wrote it, didn’t he?” I queried, my gaze fixed on Matt. “And, please, don’t lie.”

Matt opened the door of the fridge and grabbed the bottle of Jack. “Maybe you should talk to him about that.”

“I wasn’t supposed to listen to the CD, remember?” I told him as he served himself with Jack. “I can’t just bring up the subject, Matt, you know that,” I said, frustration pouring out of my voice.

He looked up from his cup and at me. “But it’s not up to me to talk about the song. I have nothing to do with it, okay? I’m sorry, Lara.”

I let out an irritated sigh and left the kitchen, without any drink. I didn’t care about it anymore. Why couldn’t Matt talk to me about the song? What was the problem?

"Hey, hey,” Brian called, “What’s going on?" He asked, concern swirling in the brown of his eyes as sidled up to me and cupped my face in his palm.

Fuck.

“I-I’m fine,” I stuttered, forcing a smile to my lips. “Why do you ask?”

“What was that face?”

“My normal face,” I tried, but the rage clouding my eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Brian.

Matt walked past us right in that moment and realization settled on his features. “Were you talking to Matt? Did he make you upset?”

“What? No-no! No, Brian, he didn’t. He was just…” I trailed off as I thought about some plausible excuse to give Brian.

“He was just what?” He prodded impatiently.

“Problems with Katherine,” I ended up by blurting out, and I couldn’t say I was entirely satisfied with my answer. “He was asking for an advice. That’s all,” I smiled tentatively.

Brian’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he glanced over at the said couple and watched them talking and laughing at each other. Damn, maybe I should’ve come up with something else. When Brian turned back to me, I gulped and avoided any sort of eye contact.

“You’re not lying are you?”

“No,” I replied softly, the lie wrapping itself around my throat. Oh, God. I felt terrible for lying to Brian, but I just couldn’t talk to him about the CD, much less about the song. A tired sigh left his lips and the sound made me peek up at him. He looked disappointed and I could see that he was struggling with himself, as if he had something to say but couldn’t do it.

Well, that made two of us.

With no more words said, he walked around me and headed back to the living room. He knew I was hiding something. He knew and he was upset with me now.

“Brian,” I rushed, following after him. “Brian, wait.” He turned to me slowly, my fingers circling his wrist as we faced each other again. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“Do I have reasons to be mad?” He queried, his face impassive, giving nothing away. It made my stomach scrunch with nerves and it wasn’t for a good reason.

“I don’t know…” I said in a low tone, my heart beating painfully fast within my chest as I realized that I was running out of options.

“When you figure that out, come find me.” He removed my hand from his wrist and my eyes met his back once again as he walked away, the coldness in his voice having stilled me in place.

The rest of the evening sucked really bad for me. Faking smiles and having to answer to questions about me not feeling well, or about me and Brian, was not my favorite thing in the world. Adding that to the feeling of guilt for lying to Brian, I could say that I was in deep shit.

“Goodbye, sweetie. If you need anything just tell me okay?” Audrey said, a pained glint in her eyes. When I just nodded, she gazed over my shoulder and sighed. “He’s pretty torn up.”

I closed my eyes for a brief moment and ran a hand through my hair. “It’s my fault. I need to talk to him.

“Just go. You guys are gonna be fine, whatever the matter is, okay?”

I sent her a languid smile, even though my hopes weren’t exactly high. “Thank you.”

We said our goodbyes and shared a hug before I finally dared to meet with Brian in the car. He was waiting outside, holding the passenger door open for me. I wrapped my arms around myself as I reached his side and hung my head low in shame.

“You staying at the hotel?” He queried, and the way those words rolled out of his tongue made it look more like a statement. However, before I could answer him, he spoke again, “Or my house?”

I took a deep breath and decided to be brave just for once. “I told you I’d stay with you tonight.”

His eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he nodded his head nonetheless. “I’m staying on the couch then.”

“You don’t have to,” I threw at him.

He locked his angry eyes with mine, making me flinch internally. “Yes, I do.”

“Brian,” I croaked out when he rounded the car toward the driver’s side, “don’t be so cold to me.”

“Don’t be so cold? From the moment you fucking lie to me, you don’t get to choose the way I talk to you, am I clear?” He spat venomously. I stared at him with teary eyes, not moving, almost not breathing. “Now, get in.”

“You say that like I lied about cheating on you or some shit like that! You don’t even know, so stop treating me like crap, Brian!”

“A lie is a fucking lie!” He shouted, his closed fist hitting the top of his car.

“It’s not exactly a lie! I’m just not telling you everything.”

Brian laughed humorlessly and shook his head, pulling the door open. “Because that’s so much better!” He said wryly.

He got in and so did I as I took a deep breath. Dammit!

The ride to his house was one of the worst rides ever. The tension between us could be cut with a knife and the agonizing silence around us was fucking killing me. I didn’t know what to say. Should I tell him the truth? He was probably going to be even more pissed off than he already was. I didn’t like angry Brian.

Cocky? Yes.
Soft? Yes.
Angry? Definitely not. I didn’t know how to deal with this side of him. It was too damn scary.

I bit down on my lower lip as I squinted up at him. His jaw was clenched and his eyebrows were ceased together into a scowl. I leaned my head against the headrest, letting out a small sigh and turning to look out of the window. God, I hated this.

Brian finally made the last turn to his street and parked the car, shutting off the engine. As I made for the door, he touched my arm and shook his head, his face still holding that seriousness that I hated so much. “Are you gonna tell me the truth?”

I blinked a few times, lost for words, but when his eyes darkened even more I quickly nodded with my head. I wasn’t even aware of my own movements, but now there was no turning back. I had to tell him, and I just hoped he wouldn’t flip out. We looked each other in the eyes for another moment, this time not out of love.

“Okay,” he sighed.

I clambered out of the car, pushing the door close behind me. I heard the sound of the car locking as I started heading for the front door, aware that Brian was silently following me. Everything was dark on the inside as Brian opened the front door of his house, and I couldn’t help but think how ironic that was. Dark rooms for dark moods, uh?

“Let’s just sit on the couch,” he said, flipping the lights on. My stomach filled with nerves and I felt like throwing up as we quietly settled on the couch, with quite the distance between us. “So?” He asked.

“Uh. I- I-… Well, uh-“

“Lara, just fucking spill it,” Brian cut me off, annoyance dripping from every single syllable.

“Don’t get mad at me. I know you will.”

“If Matt deserves to know what it is, why can’t I? You were obviously upset about something and it was right after you talked to Matt, so it must have something to do with him.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I cut in quickly. “He has nothing to do with this.”

“This what? Just tell me! Is it that hard?”

“Yes!” I said desperately.

Brian snorted and ran both of his hands through his hair, leaning back against the couch. I eyed him for a moment and wished this wasn’t happening. Silence surrounded us yet again and I was going crazy with it.

It’s now or never. Brian was already angry at me, so it didn’t matter if I told him or not. It was better to get this over with and we could go separate ways and calm down.

With another deep breath, I told him, “I listened to your album.”

I watched carefully as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean withyour album?”

“Avenged Sevenfold. I listened to the first tape.”

When the words finally registered in his brain, he turned his gaze to me; however, he still held that distraught look on his face. “Why would you do that? I had told you-”

“You didn’t want me to listen to it. I know. But I got curious and I couldn’t see the problem. So I went for it. I’m sorry, okay? I just… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“I can’t fucking believe you right now!” He exclaimed in a higher tone. “After what I told you!”

"Brian it’s just a CD."

Okay, it’s not really just a CD.

“It’s not! You fucking know it! That’s why you’ve been strange. You listened to it. The fucking first tape!” He dropped his head into his hands, shaking it slightly. “How could you hide that from me? When did you do it?”

“I hid that from you just like you hid the fact that you wrote songs about me!” I burst out, my own anger rising as he kept accusing me of something he was also guilty for.

“Oh, don’t go there!” He warned, locking our eyes again.

“Yes, I do go there! It’s fucking true, Brian! You’ve been hiding me that, too. It’s only fair that I get upset.” He stopped after hearing that and looked away. “That song was for me, wasn’t it? Shattered By Broken Dreams?”

He winced slightly at the name and closed his eyes. The muscles on his jaw relaxed and his entire body slumped a little. “Yes,” he answered softly. Well, that was a change from the furious man that was taking over him just a few seconds ago.

“You could’ve showed me the song. I wouldn’t mind.”

“No, I couldn’t,” he countered, his voice still tender, almost exhausted. I decided not to argue with him about it anymore. We were both tired and this conversation wasn’t going anywhere if we kept being stubborn asses.

We stayed on the couch for a while longer, both of us lost in our own thoughts. It was only after a few minutes that Brian stood up. “Maybe I should go to the hotel,” I said.

“No,” he mumbled, “you can stay.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s late anyway. You can go to the bathroom and then go to sleep if you want.” He scratched the back of his neck, still not meeting my eyes. “I’m just gonna grab a pillow for me and a blanket.”

“No, no way,” I hoped off the seat. “I’ll be the one taking the couch. I won’t feel good in your bed.” Not when we’re fighting.

Shrugging his shoulders, he nodded. “It was fine, but whatever.”

Watching him go to his bedroom without a kiss goodnight or simply a hug hurt more than I thought it would. My heart was tight and tiny, and I could feel a lump rising in my throat. Oh, no. No tears, please. I swallowed several times, trying to get rid of that stupid lump, and took deep and slow breaths in order to calm down. I was not going to cry! No fucking way.

A couple of hours later and I was still as awake as ever. Rolling and turning from one side to another, I replayed the previous events of the evening in my head. I just couldn’t take Brian off of my mind and that we weren’t good. It was killing me.

Brian’s POV

I stared up at the ceiling after checking the time on my phone. 7:46. Ridiculous. How in hell did I wake up so early? You know why!

After the argument I had with Lara I started feeling like shit. The look on her face was like a punch in the gut, but my pride clouded my rational thoughts whenever I was angry, and so I let it be. But the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. Maybe I was too tough on her.

I sat up straight, sick of being in that bed, and ran a hand through my hair. What was I supposed to do now?

I decided to check on Lara to see if she was still sleeping or not. I padded silently out of my room and into the living room, where she was supposed to be. The TV was on, which was strange because when I left her everything was shut off.

Did she sleep at all, was the question that lingered in my head.

I looked over at the couch and found her sprawled out, blankets on the floor. God, she must be freezing. I walked up closer and felt a slight tug at my heart at the sight of her, completely vulnerable. I couldn’t bring myself to just leave her like that when she could be warm and safe in my room, so I bent down and picked her up bride style.

“Brian,” she murmured in her sleep, but I quickly cooed her back under and returned to my bedroom to put her in my bed. She held onto me as I tried to let her go, so I grabbed my pillow and handed it to her. She hugged it to her chest and I smiled sadly, as she finally allowed me to move away. Pulling the covers up, I watched her snuggling and searching for her perfect position, before soft snores filled the air again.

I sighed, more relieved now that I knew she was actually getting some sleep, and left the room not to disturb her. She was out cold for three more hours, and by the time I heard the door of my bedroom open, it was already time to have lunch. She stepped out with bed hair and sleepy eyes, my shirt hanging below her knees.

I fought back a small grin. “Hey,” I told her softly.

“Uh. Hey,” she replied, slightly confused.

“You hungry?”

She rubbed her stomach and nodded. “Yeah, a little.”

"Wanna grab something to eat? I don’t feel like cooking."

“Sure. Can I just-” she pointed at the bathroom’s door, “take a shower?”

“Of course.”

She sent me a brittle smile and headed for the bathroom, but before she reached the door, she stopped and turned to me, an eyebrow raised. “How did I end up in your bed?”

“Well, uh…”

You looked cold and uncomfortable, and I was worried.

“I wanted to watch TV and didn’t want to wake you up, so I carried you to my bed a few hours ago,” I said instead.

“I don’t remember.”

“You were sleeping like a baby. Rough night, uh?” She lowered her gaze to the floor, the smile dropping from her face. Shit.

“I guess you can say that.” And with that she left me. I threw my head back and sighed, once again feeling like fucking hell. I needed to stop this and talk to her; get things right between us again, because it wasn’t doing any good to us. She learned the lesson and so did I, but it was time to stop being stubborn.

Fifteen minutes later, Lara was ready to go. Her ginger hair was still wet from the shower but she didn’t seem to mind as she walked out of the bathroom. She just stared at me for a moment, a pained look on her face as she sighed, defeated.

Jesus Christ!

I rose to my feet, slowly making my way toward her, “Baby,” I called softly, and she lifted her head. It was then that I saw the turmoil dancing in her beautiful hazel eyes. “Just come here,” I sighed, pulling her into my arms and hugging her close. She quickly wrapped her arms around my torso and buried her face into my chest.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice tangled with a sob she tried to fight back. I tightened my grip on her and kissed the top of her head, my own eyes drifting close as relief washed over me.

“I’m sorry, too, Shorty. I love you so much and I hate being mad at you.”

She let out a languid giggle and sniffled. “And I hate when you’re mad at me.”

“This was so stupid.”

“I love you,” she mumbled, her eyes meeting mine as she pulled away to look at me.

I brought my hand to her cheek, seeing those unshed tears consuming her. I pressed a few soft kisses to her lips, before looking down at her. “Let’s talk this through, okay?”

She nodded with her head and wrapped her arms around my neck as my own arms fell naturally around her waist. “I’m not used to couple fights anymore,” she chuckled and I only tightened my grip on her.

“Make up sex later?” I suggested as she nuzzled my neck and kissed the sensitive skin there.

“You better.”

Notes

troubleeesss xD hopefully things got sorted out between Brian and Lara

Hope you guys liked the chapter!! and thanks for the last comments!!! :D (I'm sorry I haven't replied before but I've been kinda busy with work lately, and it takes most of my time)

Thank you all anyway :D :D :D