August 2000

Every year before school began, our family threw a sort of last hurrah party. Since it was California, and we were rather well off, it was oftentimes a pool party. The only year it wasn't was the year I turned eight when it rained nearly the entire month of August. The past few years had been irrevocably different, as it was just Matt and I left at home. But this year Zacky would be visiting home in time for the party, and he would be bringing along Brian, as well as Jimmy and Matt Sanders.

Ah, Brian. Just the thought of his name sent me into shivers. Brian and I had been dating for over a year now, but with their band getting noticed and their work on their second studio album, we hadn't been able to spend much time together since our anniversary. As of now, their band Avenged Sevenfold was in South Carolina playing Warped Tour. But Brian was coming to see me. And I was particularly anxious to see Brian because lately, I'd been uh, blessed with dreams of Brian on a frequent basis, and I was determined to decipher what they meant.

"Matt, quit splashing me!" I whined. But of course, my brother did not listen to me. He never did. He treaded water in the deep end of our pool, repeatedly hitting the surface with his hands, showering me with chlorinated water. "Matt!"

"Oh, take a fucking chill pill, Senoma," Matt scoffed, rolling his green eyes. It seemed everyone in this family had these except for me. "It's a pool party, and it's the middle of fucking summer. Don't be scared to get a little wet."

I get plenty wet thinking about Brian, I thought, but then I shook my head. I probably shouldn't be thinking those things about the boyfriend my parents didn't know I had in front of my blabber-mouth brother.

"I'm not in the mood to get wet right now," I snapped. "I'm going to go inside and get something to eat." With that, I slipped my feet out of the pool and began the walk inside. I left water-footprints behind as I walked, but they evaporated as quickly as they were made.

Inside, I began rummaging through the cabinets, but to little reward. It seemed to be one of those times when there was absolutely no food in the house whatsoever. Looks like Mother hadn't had a chance to visit the grocery store for a while. "Oh, well," I mumbled to myself with a sigh, leaning against the island. "I suppose I'll just have a burger later."

I lingered for a bit in the kitchen, tracing shapes on the countertop; I wasn't in the mood to go back outside and get splashed by Matt. I turned around quickly when I heard a wolf-whistle sound from the opposite side of the kitchen. Standing there was the man who'd been walking my er, dreams. I leaned against the island, jutting out my hip as Brian walked slowly towards me.

"Senoma," he said quietly, drawing out the 'o' syllable of my name. He touched his rough fingertips to the place where my bathing suit bottom sat on my hips and began toying with the strings. "You've certainly…grown up since the last time I saw you," he commented, referring to my recently blossomed body. It seemed all it had taken for me to develop the body of a woman was for Brian to leave. "How old are you now? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"Sixteen," I corrected with a giggle. I knew he was just joking; he'd been at my sixteenth birthday party two months ago.

"Damn," Brian cursed, and I laughed out loud. "I was hoping you were eighteen already. 'Cause let me tell you, sweets, you don't know how long I've been waiting to get my hands on you."

I moved in his arms so that I was facing him and wrapped my long, pale arms around his neck. "And I've been waiting for you to do it," I whispered in his ear. I smirked lightly when I felt him shiver. "So why don't you go ahead and do it?"

"Senoma, your brother would have my dick on a platter if I--" Brian started, but I cut him off by placing my index finger to his lips.

"What Zacky doesn't know won't hurt him," I said. Ever since I'd started having those sultry dreams about Brian, I'd been thinking hard about having sex with him. He loved me. I loved him. So why shouldn't we show our love physically?

Brian winked at me, and he smirked. Oh, that smirk. It was the one I saw in my dreams when Brian was making me scream. And now he would finally be doing it for real. I walked up the stairs to my room, swaying my hips as I knew Brian was watching. Behind me, he groaned, and I could almost picture his hands reaching out for my ass.

When I got to my bedroom, I stopped and leaned sensually against the doorframe. Locking eyes with Brian, I reached behind my back and skillfully untied the strings to the top of my bathing suit. Next, I untied the strings around my neck, and I let my top fall to the floor. Brian's milk chocolate brown eyes widened and his jaw dropped to the floor. I walked backward into my room, beckoning Brian along with my finger, and he followed eagerly.

Brian closed my door behind him, and then he advanced towards me, wasting no time in pushing me back against my mattress. His lips claimed mine, and he kissed me hungrily, lustfully, a kiss which I returned threefold. Brian's fingers wandered downwards, settling on my bathing suit bottom and slipping it down my thighs. He moved his lips from my lips to my neck, and from there down to the valley between my breasts. I moaned his name softly, and carefully slid my hand into the division between his abdomen and his swim shorts. Brian pinched my skin between his teeth when my fingers wrapped around his dick. I whined, knowing his teeth would leave a mark, but tried to concentrate on the hand I had submerged in Brian's swimtrunks.

"Senoma," Brian groaned. "Baby, move your hand a little." I did, pumping my hand slowly up and down the length of Brian's dick, and he groaned loudly. "Yea, baby. That's it."

"Can you take your trunks off?" I asked, tugging at the waistband with my free hand. "Make it a little easier?"

"Yea, sure," Brian replied with a smile. He picked himself up off of me a bit, and I quickly yanked his swimtrunks down his toned legs. I dropped them over the side of the bed without a second thought. "Better?"

I scanned my eyes over Brian's naked body, starting at his head and ending at the area his swimtrunks had previously covered. My eyes fluttered closed at the sight and I took a deep breath. "Much," I breathed, and I pulled him down for a passionate kiss.

Brian was at a maximum hard, and I could practically feel the heat radiating from him. He rested between my inner thighs, and I was just itching for him to be inside of me. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. It had been happening in my dreams for months, but now it was actually happening. "Brian," I said, pulling away from our heated kiss. "Do it now. Please."

"Do what now?" a new, frighteningly familiar voice shouted. Looking towards the doorway, I saw Zacky standing there, dripping wet from the pool, staring Brian and I like we'd suddenly sprouted seven heads. "Brian, what the fuck, man?"

God, this could not be happening. Of all the people that possibly could have interrupted us, Zacky was at the absolute bottom of the list. Brian scrambled out of the bed and I immediately pulled the comforter up to hide my body from Zacky. I did my best to avoid looking at my brother but it seemed that most of his attention was focused on Brian, anyway.

"Seriously Brian, what the hell were you doing to my sister?" I heard Zacky yell, and he sounded close. I suppose they were still in the room.

"Well Zack, what did it look like I was doing?" Brian answered. I groaned internally. God no, Brian. Do not piss Zacky off.

"You listen to me Brian, and you listen good," Zacky growled. I could almost picture his current body language. Shoulders back, chest forward, tattooed hands clenched tightly at his sides. "You keep your perverted hands off of Senoma."

"And what are you gonna do if I don't?" Brian challenged, and I could picture his body language as well. Arms crossed over his perfectly sculpted chest, that infamous Synyster Gates smirk painted on his gorgeous face. "Because it sure as hell seemed like Senoma wanted it too, considering she was practically begging me to stick it in her."

Before I had a chance to react to what Brian had said, Zacky had done exactly that, swinging his fist out to catch Brian on the jaw. He stumbled back just slightly, reaching up to touch his chin as he looked up at my brother with anger in his eyes. Zacky didn't flinch or back down, staring at Brian with his hands clenched at his sides.n"What the fuck was that for?" Brian shouted.

"You keep your hands off of my sister, Brian!" Zacky screamed back.

"I'll do what I want, Zacky," Brian said, spitting my brother's name. "I'm an adult, and besides that, you're not my mother. You can't tell me what to fucking do!"

"I can tell you to keep your hands off my sister!" Zacky shouted. "Senoma is sixteen. She's too young for you."

"Really?" Brian quipped. A smirk reappeared on his face. "Did you know we've been dating for over a year?"

"What?" Zacky asked. He turned to look at me, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Senoma, is this true?"

I didn't answer right away. I knew there was no point in hiding the truth any longer now that Zacky had walked in on us but that didn't mean I was exactly ready to announce my relationship status. Finally, I looked up at Zacky, although I couldn't meet his gaze. "Yes, Zacky," I whispered. "It is."

Brian made a loud noise of triumph, and Zacky's face went white. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he grumbled, and then he stormed from the room.

"God, what is his problem?" Brian chuckled, staring after my brother. A few seconds later, I heard Zacky's bedroom door slam closed, as did Brian, and he took this as his cue to continue with what Zacky had interrupted. He hurried back over to my bed, immediately trying to settle his hand between my legs, but I pushed him away. He pulled back and cocked his eyebrow at me. "Senoma, what's the matter?"

"I can't do this," I told him. "I'm so sorry."

"Okay," he sighed. His disappointment was more than obvious. He leaned in and gave my lips a soft kiss. "Maybe later?"

"Yes, maybe later," I answered with a laugh. "Now could you leave so I can put on some clothes?"

"Oh, you don't have to put on any clothes," Brian said nonchalantly, as if it were the simplest information in the world. "You can walk around naked. I wouldn't mind at all."

"Yes, but would you really want Matt, Jimmy, and Johnny boy to see me like this?" I asked, gesturing to my nude body.

Brian immediately shook his head and snaked his steadily more colorful arms around my waist. He mumbled something against my neck that I couldn't understand, but I swore it sounded like, "Mine."

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪

"Oh my God!" Raury guffawed. "You actually almost fucked Brian?"

"Yes Raury, I did," I answered. My face burned at the memory. "But it didn't actually happen, so you can stop freaking out."

"But you saw his dick?" Raury pressed, and I subconsciously rolled my bright blue eyes. Leave it to Raury to ask that question. I told Raury that yes, I did see Brian's dick, and I could easily picture the wide grin splitting her thin face. "Is he big?"

"I think so," I said, not really knowing what to say. "I don't really have anything to compare it to."

"Well was he bigger than your hand?"" Raury questioned. Of course, I'd told her everything, including the handjob I'd given Brian prior to our almost having sex.

"Um, yeah," I answered. "I think he was."

"Oh, well then you're in for a hell of a time when you actually do fuck him," Raury replied saucily. "Do you think you're gonna do it anytime soon?"

"Do what?" I asked, realizing too late how stupid that made me sound.

"Fuck Brian!" Raury shouted, her voice shrill. "Because you know you want to."

"I do," I confided mischievously. I remembered almost sleeping with Brian, and I closed my eyes, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. All my doubts about sleeping with Brian from the beginning of our relationship had vanished since the pool party, and I agreed with my red-headed friend. I did want to sleep with Brian.

"You two be safe," Raury warned wickedly. "Because God knows we don't need any mini-Brians running around."

"I'm a big girl," I said haughtily. "And I've had sex ed. I know to use protection."

"Good," Raury chirped. "Because if that idiot knocked you up, I'd have to kick his ass."

"Somehow I think Zacky would beat you to that punch," I joked, but unbeknownst to Raury, this sentence stole away my smile. Ever since Zacky had interrupted Brian and I about to have sex, he'd been spending a lot of time in his room, which could only mean one thing: my older brother was plotting something, and I wouldn't like it.

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪

For the third time, I pushed Brian's hands away. The incident at the pool party had left him hungry for more, and even though I was more than eager to fool around, we couldn't really do anything with Zacky brooding upstairs. I knew that if he caught us in another compromising position, Brian would receive more than a left-hook to the jaw.

"Senoma," Brian whined. His fingers dipped below the waistband of my jeans and I pushed him away. "Come on, you know you want to."

"I do, but what about Zacky?" I asked, pointing to the ceiling. There was no music playing, which meant Zacky was probably eavesdropping. "What if he catches us?"

"I guess you have a good point," Brian pouted. Suddenly he looked to me, his eyes glinting wickedly. "Okay, so we can't have sex, but we can kiss, right?"

"Right," I agreed with a smile. Brian pulled me on top of him and pressed his lips to mine. Softly, so that there barely any pressure, so that I was the one pushing back against him for more. As we kissed, I thought about Brian and the way I felt like smoke when he touched me, how I felt as if I would melt through his fingers. I latched onto his shirt collar to keep myself from floating away and kissed Brian harder.

"I'm coming downstairs now," Zacky's voice called from the top of the stairwell. Somehow, my brother and I had come up with a non-verbal agreement. Brian and I could be together, as long as Zacky saw no proof of it. I suppose that was just so he could pretend it wasn't really happening.

Brian and I were not quick to separate; rather we shared another long kiss before we pulled apart. I sat up, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, just as Zacky appeared at the bottom of the stairs. I shot him an innocent smile, and Brian waved at his friend, saying, "What's up, Zacky?"

"Don't try and feed me that bullshit," Zacky growled. "Because I'm not buying."

"Nobody said you had to," Brian replied nonchalantly. He turned back to face the television and tossed his arm casually over my shoulder. I leaned into him, snuggling into the soft fabric of his shirt, and Zacky was quick to let his disapproval be known.

"Brian," he said simply, a warning.

"What?" Brian asked. "Am I not allowed to cuddle with my girlfriend?"

"Senoma is not your girlfriend," Zacky spat. I rolled my eyes. I loved my brother, but he was beginning to get on my nerves. Who was he to say who I could and could not date?

"Yes I am, Zacky," I interjected haughtily. "And nothing you say or do is going to change that."

But as it turned out, Zacky could stop Brian and I from being affectionate, and he knew that. With a beer in hand, Zacky plopped himself down on the couch next to me. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" he asked.

"No," Brian said, his voice stiff. "Go right ahead."

After a few minutes of the three of us sitting in awkward silence, I stood up from the couch. I needed to get away from the tension. "I'm going into the kitchen," I announced.

Brian was quick to spring up from the couch. "I'll come with you," he offered with a smile. "I was getting a little hungry anyway."

"I'm watching you, Brian," Zacky warned as the two of us retreated into the kitchen.

"God, he needs to pull the stick out of his ass," Brian scoffed once we were alone. I knew he was getting just as tired of my brother as I was. "He acts like it's a crime for us to be together."

"But it's not," I mused softly as Brian moved closer to me. He settled his hands on my hips and began rubbing small circles into the bone with his thumbs. I held tight to his arms, scared I might melt.

"And nothing your brother says can split us up," Brian said. He leaned forward and his lips brushed my forehead; I giggled. "I love you, Senoma."

"I love you, too, Brian," I whispered.

"I can hear you!" Zacky yelled, and Brian laughed softly. His hot breath drifted across my cheek, and I close my eyes with a sigh. Oh, I loved this man. Words would never be enough to explain it. I knew that I was gambling by falling in love so young, but I didn't care. Brian was amazing and sweet and when he touched me I felt like I was drifting through the clouds. So Zacky could object all he wanted, but I couldn't change who I loved.

"Well, what are you gonna do about it, Zacky?" Brian hollered back.

"I'm gonna come in there and stop you!" Zacky called back.

"You can't stop me from loving Senoma!" Brian shouted. He returned his attention to me and placed a kiss on my lips that had me swelling to my tiptoes. When he pulled away he whispered, "Nothing can stop me from loving Senoma." And I knew these words were meant only for me.

Notes