Blush

Brian POV

Of all the stupid things I've done in my life, making out with Amber was the stupidest. Worse idea than painting my nails, way worse. It hadn't been a bad kiss, but it wasn't a good one. It was angry and fast and a very bad idea. From the daggers she was glaring at me, I guess Amber agreed. The guys looked confused, and I realized we were probably hickey covered and a million shades of pink. Val looked smug, and I vaguely remembered a conversation with Matt when he'd told me that Val thinks Amber and I should get together.
"You guys...good?" Johnny asked hesitantly, trying to hide a smirk. I rolled my eyes.
"Absolutely peachy. We made friendship bracelets, want one, Gnome?" Amber hissed, eyes narrowed and eyebrows arched sharply.
"Hey, be nice to Short Shit, Bambi." Zack said, frowning. Amber didn't usually snap unless I was on the receiving end. She held up her hands in surrender.
"Sorry, Johnny Boy. My bad, shouldn't have snapped at you."
Johnny smiled gratefully at her and turned his heavy gaze on me, one thick eyebrow raising. I silently sneered on them and pretended to read the label of my beer. A shadow fell over my chair -- Jimmy lowered himself into the spot next to me and gave me a look. I groaned.
"What the hell happened in there, Brian?"
"We made out against a door." I said simply, making a face.
"What? Could you repeat that? I don't think I heard that right, because it sounded like you said that you made out with Amber against a door."
I shrugged and and looked back down at my beer bottle; Jimmy's eyes were too big and blue and searching.
"Brian Haner, you've got to be kidding me. You made out with her against a door? And she didn't punch you in the face?" He sounded incredulous. I wasn't going to check his face.
"I wanted to." Amber said from behind me.
I groaned inwardly and tightened my grip on the bottle. She must've mouthed something to Jimmy because he got up and she slid into his vacated spot. "What do you want? An apology? Because I'm sorry, it was a stupid thing to do." I said, still refusing to look up.
"Brian, look at me." I didn't look up, not until she pressed one finger into the corner of my jaw, where I assumed there was a red mark. I tore my eyes from the tiny print of the ingredients. Amber didn't look mad -- her brown eyes were somewhere between soft and impassive, and she was almost smiling. My gaze fell onto the line of pale red bruises on her neck, like an X-rated connect the dots.
"I don't want an apology, but yours is accepted. I just wanted to talk."
I raised an eyebrow. "About?" I prompted.
"About why the hell you had to push me against a door to kiss me, instead of, like, asking or something." The barest hints of a smile danced on the corners of her lips. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Because...shit, I don't know. I didn't go in that room with the intention to stick my tongue down your throat. It just kind of...happened."
Amber laughed, flushing pink, almost matching the marks on her neck. "Right. So, are we gonna pretend it didn't happen, or--" She trailed off, eyes skirting off to glance at the pool.
"Oh, um...I mean, I can't pretend it didn't happen until those hickies fade, so. This totally happened, I guess. Business as usual." I wasn't against making the whole kissing thing a regular occurrence, maybe minus the doors, but I didn't think saying so would help my case.
Amber nodded. "Are we back hating each other, or are we, y'know, cool?"
"Cool. We're cool." I assured her, nodding my head once. She looked relieved that I hadn't declared war again, which made me think about how much of a dick I must usually be.
"Um, cool." Amber said, glancing at me and down to her lap. It was awkward now, really awkward.
"Do you wanna go -- pool?" I stammered, gesturing towards the water. She laughed and stood up.
"I'll get in the water later. I'm gonna go help Val with the chicken."
We stood in silence for a second before she loped off, back into the house, and I turned and walked to the pool.

Amber POV

As soon as I walked into the house, Val slammed the door and shoved me into a chair. "Tell me everything." She commanded. I sighed and closed my eyes, already feeling my face starting to heat up, the blush waiting right below the skin.
"So we came in here, and he starts telling me I'm a bitch and stuff like that, and then he just pinned me against the door and kissed me."
Val squealed. "Oh my God! So are you guys, together?"
"Val, no. We're not together. We're hardly friends. He said we were cool, as of right now."
Val looked disappointed, but she pulled me up by the arm and into the kitchen. "If you're not leaving early to fuck Brian, then help me. I told Matt I'd make the chicken, but I've got no idea how!"
I snickered. "You can't make fried chicken?" Val shook her head and glared. "Fine, I'll do it. Get the chicken out." While she dug the chicken from the fridge, I looted the kitchen for flour and vegetable oil, setting them on the counter. Val set the frozen drumsticks on the counter with a clatter.
"Val, did you not sit these out to thaw?"
She froze, eyes wide. "Was I supposed to?"
I groaned. "What time is it?" She pulled her phone out of her pocket and showed me the screen. "Okay, if it's six thirty now, we can let it sit and thaw for a couple hours, and I'll have them made by eight. That good?"
Val pulled me into a hug. "Thanks for doing this. I keep telling Matt that I'll take a cooking class or something, but, well. I don't."
I laughed and shook my head. "I'll teach you everything I know. Don't bother going to some class."
The door opened and shut, and Matt ambled in. Val and I quickly dove to block the unfinished, or rather un-started, ingredients from his gaze. "How's the chicken coming? We're getting hungry out there."
"It's fine. It's going fine, babe." Val said hurriedly, at the same time I said, "good, it's good." We shared a horrified glance. Matt didn't look at us, just opened the fridge and walked back out with an armful of bottles. Val turned towards me.
"We don't have a couple hours. That chicken needs to be made right now."
--
"Dinner is served, losers." I announced, setting the warm plate of golden chicken down on the table. It was fresh out of the oven, steam still wafting from them. Everyone stampeded to the plate, picking up their own paper plates and piling them high with drumsticks.
"This is really good." Jimmy said around a mouthful. Johnny and Zack nodded.
"Didn't know you could do that, Val." Matt said appreciatively. Brian caught my eye and smirked. I smiled and put my finger over my lips. He grinned and made a zipping motion over his mouth, tossing the invisible key.
"Well, Matt, I slaved away on this damn chicken for the better part of two hours. It better be good." Val said. Across the table, she caught my eye and winked, swallowing a laugh. I got my own plate of chicken and took a bite.
"This chicken is great, Val. It's perfect and flaky and god, it practically melts in your mouth. You're gonna have to give me the recipe." I gushed, stifling a laugh. I lifted my cup up. "To Val's incredible cooking!"
"Cheers!"

Notes

@ avenged sevenfold release a new album