Disclaimer: I do not own the characters your recognize nor am I using this material for financial gain.

Hello again lovelies! I'm going through and editing all of the work I had on the forums and re-posting it here. So here's another gem to get us through until the next books are released. This can be a one-shot but I did write a continuation of Raven hauling Kayli off that I might post as a second Chapter.

Rated M for scenes of a mildly sexual nature (not explicit)

Enjoy :)

I was bored.

There was no getting away from the staggering weight of having absolutely nothing to do for the first time in years. How do people live like this? All I can think about is the increasing need to get up and do something to make sure that Wil is taken care of.

I had all of these questions swirling in my head about getting an actual job if the Academy boys could swing it, about getting Wil into college, and about what I was going to do when I no longer had to look out for him.

I found myself sitting on the end of Brandon's bed in the Twins' apartment. It was early afternoon, sunlight was streaming in through the window and I was leaning back on my elbows watching Brandon fiddle with his phone across the room near the door. The melody of an older Linkin Park song drifted through the speakers on his desk.

Brandon was back to being what I liked to refer to as, Broody-Brandon. I'm assuming he's still mad because the kiss from the other night still had not been mentioned. To be fair, he hasn't mentioned anything either and unless he brings it up, I'm not touching that subject. I'm still too confused with what's happening with all of them. I wonder if Marc had mentioned what happened with him the other day? If I keep this pace up, I'm going to end up in tramp status with them very soon.

I tried engaging Brandon in conversation a few times today, but the shadows in his blue eyes seemed more prominent. It bothers me to see that cloud fall over his expression and know it's because he's looking at me.

He was saddled with babysitter duty while everyone else was off on super secret Academy business. This morning, I heard Marc on the phone with someone named Kota and he was asking for details about a missing bird. Seconds later, true to form, they were each assigned tasks and took off to rescue someone's bird. It seemed like an odd mission for them compared to crashing parties and stealing keys from rich playboys. But really, I don't know anything about them. They could be the type to rescue cats in trees and other lost animals.

These boys of mine are such do-gooders.

I really should not be referring to them as mine. They are not mine. And if the occasional glares I'd been receiving from Brandon are any indication, we are all better off if we realize that they aren't mine and this is all temporary. The glares started today when Raven picked me up to hug me tight before disappearing out the door.

Having guy friends again is complicated.

Still, I can't deny that I do enjoy spending time with them. Even Broody-Brandon. I haven't felt this close to anyone other than Wil in a long time and it's nice to be taken care of by them.

Coming back from my drift in thought, I found myself staring blankly into, but not really seeing those haunting blue eyes as song changed to a Breaking Benjamin song I vaguely recognized. I bit my lip as I realized I'd been caught staring at him.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a small smirk in his eyes. It wasn't as playful as Corey, but it was a huge leap from the glare I had been receiving earlier. It was all about baby steps with my Broody-Brandon.

"I'm bored." I responded, sighing loudly.

It was driving me crazy. I had all of this pent up energy and frustration my situation and everything around me. I hated not knowing what was going on and not being in charge of what was happening to me. It was tumbling around in my head, ready to burst out of me and make a mess of the semi-comfortable atmosphere I had developed with the guys.

Brandon gave me a look so I continued in a whine, "I'm sick of being cooped up and not know what is going on. I'm sick of not being able to do what I want when I want. I'm sick of not being able to talk to my brother. I'm sick of sitting here staring at that stupid surfboard and I'm sick of watching you play on your stupid phone!"

He quirked an eyebrow at my over-dramatic antics and I'm ashamed of how it affected me. Those damn wiggly sparks need to just go away before they cause even more trouble. His lips twisted to match the smirk in his gaze. "Are you done whining at me?"

Rude, even if he was right. I rolled my eyes in his direction. Hoping for another rare grin from the serious twin, I exaggerated the whine in my voice, "No. I also hate your stupid sad music. It's depressing and angst-y. Would it kill you to have just one song that was happy?"

That startled a laugh out of him and the sound was musical. I had found my new mission in life: make Brandon laugh forever because it was beautiful and it could cure any melodrama in my life.

"I happen to like this angst-y music, Kayli. And the other day, you said you did too." he rounded off the condescending statement by copying my eye roll as the song changed to another angst-driven ballad from the early 1990's. I barely recognized it but he started tapping his foot and mouthing the words his focus back on whatever it was he was working on.

I sighed loudly again and fell back on his bedspread causing him to chuckle as I bounced. I sent him a quick grin before realizing his attention was once again taken.

But, I was still bored.

The song changed again and the first chords were strummed on an acoustic guitar and caught my attention, stirring a memory and causing me to sit up quickly. From the corner of my eye I saw Brandon get up and turn towards the desk. He made it about a step and a half before I cut him off in the middle of the room, startling him into stepping back from me.

Standing toe to toe between him and the desk, I looked up at his blue eyes and grinned cheekily.

"Brandon, is that country music I hear coming from your computer?"

I swear I tried to make it sound casual. I don't think I succeeded because I saw the blush burn up from the collar of his shirt and grinned wider as I took in his appearance now that he was towering over me. His blonde hair was mussed from his hands running through it and was very distracting. I had to pull myself away from his good looks to hear him stumble over an explanation.

"It's not… It's from-," he cut off and moved to get around me but I side-stepped into his path and put my right hand on his chest, right above his heart. He looked down at me with a curious stare and put his hand over mine. He was warm and his heart was pounding beneath my hand.

"Dance with me, Brandon."

He sucked in a quick breath and stared at me. It wasn't a question; I wasn't asking him. Without a definite 'no,' my other hand rose to rest on his shoulder and I started swaying slowly while looking in his beautiful eyes.

"Our last dance was a little tense. Will you make it up to me?" I looked at him. And, I admit it, I put a little of the charm I use when pick-pocketing in the look to get my way.

He stared at me hard with a calculating look and he must have seen something he was okay with because in the next breath, his corded arms found their way around my waist and settled on my lower back. He stepped closer, barely a few inches between us, swaying slowly with me. His head came to rest on top of my head.

This was magical, I felt secure standing in his arms like this. In his embrace, I wanted him to take care of me. I wanted him to make good on all of the promises he made the other night. All of the confusion over Coaltar, where I stood with the boys, my future, Wil, Jack, and everything else going on just melted away and all I knew was how the warm, tan skin of his arms felt against my body through the thin material of my tank top. All I could see was how I'd never seen the blue in his eyes shine so clearly before. And he smelled magnificent. I was in sensory overload dancing in the middle of his bedroom.

I recognized the song and found it only too appropriate. Luke Bryan's twang flowed through the air around us. He was singing about 'crashing his party' or something like that and the reminder of my 'first date' with Brandon caused me to giggle and I felt his smile into my hair as we swayed to the rhythm.

Brandon lifted his hand to grab mine and quickly spun me under his left arm. I stumbled and laughed loudly at his antics causing a smile to form on his lips that could kill me. Playful Brandon might just be my favorite part of him. When he drew me back to his warm body, he kept hold of my hand and started softly singing the lyrics into my ear. The only one I could catch '…You don't have to worry 'bout it baby, you can wake me in the dead of night…' and I blushed deeply at the reminder of my panic attack the last time I was here. He really is incredible. How did I even get here, with them? How did I find myself in the midst of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life?

I leaned further into him and rested my head on his sculpted chest. His arms found their way to my hips and as the final chords of the song played he lifted me off the ground to be level with his face, causing me let out a small gasp. He gave me a big smile and started spinning in a circle forcing me to lock my legs around his waist to hold on as the sounds of both of our laugher filled the room.

We belatedly realized that I had thrown my bag on the floor as he stumbled into it, still spinning me around which sent us sprawling to the floor. Brandon turned quickly and I landed on top of him, straddling his waist and out of breath from laughing.

"Well, I'm not bored anymore." He pinched me high on the thigh where his hand rested causing another bout of laugher from the two of us. I sat up, with one leg on either side of his waist and looked down at this painfully beautiful person. I could feel the muscles under his shirt rippling from his barely restrained laughter.

"So, did you learn your sweet dance moves at the Academy, too?" I joked, poking him hard in the stomach because I couldn't stop thinking about his abs.

He gave me that mega-watt smile again. "Actually," he started as he sat up to his elbows, "no. That was all me, baby. But I did have to practice for a mission at a nightclub once."

I snapped my attention from his flexed tanned biceps to his face. "What?" I said plainly. I couldn't believe it. Brandon, grinding in a nightclub had to be one of the best mental images ever.

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave me a look that said he probably wasn't supposed to say anything to me. "How often do you think I frequent nightclubs? I didn't want to stand out so I had to do my research. Obviously you know that we have to do some undercover work."

I burst out laughing. Leaning forward for support and breathing deeply, I put my hand on his shoulder and tried, but ultimately failed, to stop the giggling.

The smile dropped as his face twisted and he looked affronted for a moment and then stood effortlessly with me in his arms before quickly depositing me back on my feet. He walked over to the computer and pushed some buttons before a pop/R&B song I vaguely recognized hearing at the mall blared through the speakers. He turned back towards me with a predatory gleam in his blue eyes.

My mouth dropped open just as he reached me and suddenly there was only our breath between us. I could feel the planes of his abdomen that I was so intently fantasizing about a minute ago against my chest, his strong arms around my waist and hands resting solidly on my hips.

Then he started to move by grinding against the front of me with his forehead touching mine, his blonde hair glinting in the sunlight causing my breath to hitch. I shook off my stupor and began moving in sync with his body. My hands crawled up his arms and came to rest around his shoulders. He was warm and all male in this moment and I was turning to mush.

The song started to pick up tempo and between one beat and the next, I was turned around with my back to his front without missing a step. We were pressed together deliciously. I leaned back into him as his hands came around the front of me and mine somehow ended up tangled in his hair as we undulated together. The strong feel of his thighs mixed with his arms around my body had me panting.

I felt something soft tickle at my neck and in my Brandon-induced haze; I didn't register what it was at first. I felt it again. His lips whispered along the skin at the junction of my neck to my shoulder. I clutched his hair tighter, hopefully letting him know that I liked that because I had long since lost the ability to speak.

I felt a growl vibrate from his chest as he added pressure to his lips and found his way up my neck and to the spot behind my ear. His hands on my hips clinched tighter as he pulled me into his body. Through the fog in my brain, I registered that I could feel a very intimate part of him reacting to my closeness. I heard a moan lift into the air. I'm not sure if it was him or me but it didn't matter. We were both lost to what was happening.

"You are so different than what I imagined you would be. I can't get you out of my head, Kayli. And how could I? My God, you're so beautiful…" I felt more than heard his whispers in my ear and I'm pretty sure you could see these damn wiggly sparks from outer space. "I can't let you go. I need you to stay here with me, with all of us. Save me from myself, Kayli. If anyone can, it's you. It will always be you…" he trailed off and took the lobe of my ear into his warm mouth causing me to gasp and push my backside further into him and my arms tighten. He moaned loudly and I felt one of his hands rising into the material of my tank-top and across my stomach, just below the line of my bra.

The song ended abruptly pulling me slightly out from under his spell. I pulled my arms back to my sides and turned in his arms. A song I recognized from Bad Company began as we stared at each other, mesmerized.

The first few lines of "Feel Like Makin' Love" permeated the air around us and we were ripped from the moment when Raven stumbled over my bag that was still on the floor.

We jerked apart quickly, Brandon pushing me behind him, and looked to our intruder. Raven balanced himself and adjusted his shirt quickly then fixed me with a look I couldn't quite decipher. His eyes shifted to Brandon quickly and I could tell they had some sort of Bromance-Academy Telepathy happening. I huffed. Boys.

I glanced around Brandon's impressive form to the doorway and of course I see Axel, Marc, Corey, and even Kevin standing there wide eyes with wide eyes slack jaws. I felt the blush coming from my toes. This was mortifying. Why did everyone have to witness whatever it was that just happened with Brandon? What would they think of me? What would Marc think? I was so screwed.

I looked back to my dance partner's face and saw the haunted dimness had settled back in his eyes. I offered him a small smile before looking at the raving Russian that barged in unannounced.

The song had gotten to the chorus and Raven turned his head to me, listening to the suggestive lyrics. He sent me a wicked grin, promising things I couldn't read, and purred with a heavy accent, "Okay, Little Thief. Now it's my turn."

I knew I was really in trouble because those damn wiggly sparks came back with a vengeance as Raven grabbed me and hauled me over his shoulder.