A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed recently. It's done wonders for my motivation. Keep it up, you guys are fantastic!
Understandably, Greg had a hard time falling to sleep that night. His whole body still felt like it was on fire from the kiss he had shared with Rodrick, and the more he tried to figure out why, the more confused he felt. Questions buzzed around his head while the tingling in his swollen lips disappeared. Why would Rodrick get so into it like that? Was he really just trying to help Greg practice? And most importantly, why had he let it go on for so long?
For many hours Greg lay awake in his bed, trying to understand just how he'd let himself be talked into doing something like that. Then – when he promised not to think about it anymore – strange little thoughts would plant themselves in his head and next thing he knew he was thinking about the kiss again.
The first strange, and rather unwelcome thought, was that it hadn't been just a kiss at all. Perhaps it had started out as one, but Greg could not deny the hard evidence that he'd made out with Rodrick. Yea, there was a difference between kissing and having his brother's tongue in his mouth. Greg certainly never expected to slip Holly the tongue, so why did Rodrick feel it was okay to do it to him?
The questions never seemed to end, yet next thing Greg knew he was waking up to his alarm clock. He'd set it early, just so he could avoid Rodrick, knowing his brother never stepped foot out of the attic before 11:00 on a Sunday.
Everything took longer than normal. Greg was very distracted as he dressed himself – in some jeans and a t-shirt (finally) – and even as he brushed his teeth. All he could do, it seemed, was think about that kiss. Like how he'd literally felt Rodrick dig nails into his flesh; it was making him blush at his reflection because it had felt so fucking nice.
And, above else, the dread of seeing Rodrick again was building in his stomach. What was he going to say? What was he going to do? Would it ever be normal between them? Or perhaps Greg was just over-thinking things. There was still a possibility that Rodrick didn't care about the kiss at all... right?
"Honey, you look terrible!" Greg's mother commented as he sat down in front of the breakfast table.
It was true. Greg's eyes were sunken and tired, but he knew the look would go away as the day progressed, so he wasn't too worried about it. He chose to ignore his Mom and fix himself breakfast. A quick look at his watch told him it was just after 10:00 and he groaned out loud at how slow time seemed to be going.
3:00 seemed like it was lifetimes away.
Lonely, Greg began to wait in front of the fountain in the Eastern area of the mall, facing the movie theatre and counting down the minutes until Holly's arrival. He'd walked to the mall by himself, not willing to hear the same old, "Ask Rodrick to drive you," that he'd get whenever he would ask his parents to drive him anywhere. It was really unfair, and Greg was already dreaming of the day when he'd get his license.
Deep down, a part of Greg knew he couldn't avoid Rodrick forever, but he was sure as Hell going to try for the time being, and Holly was a perfect distraction. For the first time Greg forgot all about the kiss as he saw the gleaming blonde hair and the arm now frantically beckoning him over.
He almost stumbled over his own two feet to get to her and once he approached he saw she looked amazing.
"Hi Greg! Sorry, I'm a bit early," she greeted brightly. Greg felt his heart begin some rather slow, hard thumps and he ran a hand in his hair and shrugged his shoulders in what he hoped was a really cool gesture.
"No worries, I got here two hours ago," Greg said with a tiny smile. He began to lead the way to the Box Office, Holly in toe behind him. It was just so exciting, being at the mall alone, without any adult supervision. Greg felt like he was King Shit next to a girl so pretty; a girl he was going to kiss today.
His heart gave a few rapid, hard thumps again at this thought.
"Were you here with your brother?" Holly asked as they joined the line to pay for tickets.
Greg's stomach flipped over. "N-no," he replied, choking past the very suffocating feeling of remembering the kiss with Rodrick for the millionth time. "I just wanted to do some window shopping I guess," he continued lamely. Why did she have to bring up Rodrick? Greg had only just forgotten...
Holly nodded eagerly along. "Yea, well Christmas is only a few months away," she said.
Christmas. Rodrick. By then, they'd have to talk. Would they still clown for the camera in front of the Christmas tree? Nervous butterflies were now going crazy in the pit of his stomach. If he wasn't careful, he was definitely going to be sick.
Suddenly, even in Holly's presence, Rodrick consumed all of Greg's thoughts again. As Holly chattered away happily beside him all throughout the pre-show, Greg kept thinking about him. He'd 'hmm'ed and 'haw'ed at all the right parts in her stories, but he couldn't help but begin to panic when the lights dimmed around them.
Any moment now, he'd have to kiss her.
But how? Rodrick had said to watch closely, damnit, but Greg couldn't remember half of what had happened in that bedroom. Didn't Rodrick just sort of, press his lips against his?
Greg frowned. Well, that did seem pretty easy in comparison, didn't it? As if willing himself to decide, Greg turned his head towards Holly sometime in the middle of the movie. Her lips looked much softer than Rodrick's; perhaps he really should kiss them.
Holly turned to Greg, tilting her head just a bit as if to ask what was up. Greg locked eyes with her and took deep, steadying and calm breathes. After all, he'd made out with Rodrick already. Simply kissing Holly would be easy.
So Greg went for it. He held her chin, just like Rodrick had done to him, and pressed his lips against hers. Yet it was surprisingly different altogether. Greg's heart wasn't pounding uncontrollably, it was doing the same, hard but rhythmic pumps it always did in Holly's presence. It wasn't exciting, really. Even when Greg felt her lips moving back to his. No sparks, or thrills or electricity.
Just what the hell had Rodrick done to him?
Greg didn't remember much after he'd kissed Holly. He said nothing to her as he turned back to watch the movie, deep in thought about what had just happened. Next thing he knew, he was standing outside, waving her away as she climbed into her Father's truck. It was at that moment Greg took out his own cell phone – for emergencies and family – and answered the incoming call.
"Hello?"
"Greg, honey, where are you? Supper's nearly ready and we haven't seen you all day. I tried calling but – "
The young boy sighed impatiently. "I was at a movie, Mom. With Holly remember? So I had to turn off my phone."
There was a noise of brief understanding before she gave an exasperated cry. "Are you at Middleton Mall then? Jesus, Greg, that's a half hour away!" Driving. Greg had spent the majority of the morning walking all the way there. "I'm sending Rodrick now okay?"
The name – said out loud like that – caused Greg to nearly jump out of his skin, which had strangely been covered in goose bumps at the thought of having to face him so soon. "No! Please, anyone but Rodr-"
"He'll be there soon, sweetie!"
The resounding click of the line being cut off sent Greg into a panic. What was he going to do? What kind of face was he going to give Rodrick after last night? His genius plan to avoid him forever was already falling apart!
He coughed, suddenly unable to breathe properly. A whole half hour alone with Rodrick. There was a time Greg would have given anything for that, and now all he could do was try and figure out ways to cope with it. And this made the half hour wait for Rodrick to show pass in the blink of an eye because he was being startled out of the many thoughts and worries he had by a familiar, harsh honking.
Greg's heart caught in his throat, making it very difficult to swallow or breathe as he glanced up at the spray-painted minivan. Rodrick was still honking furiously at him, looking pissed about something. That wasn't good.
Standing up, Greg placed one foot in front of him and then the next, successful in walking towards the vehicle. He had to force himself to open the door and climb into the passenger seat, and he consciously buckled his seat belt as quickly as possible and began to lean as far away from Rodrick as could be allowed. Greg was very aware of the harsh eyes on the back of his neck, but he'd made it a point not to look or talk to Rodrick at all.
"Ignoring me, now? Not a very good move as a Master you know."
The words were so angry and said in that bitter sort of way Rodrick had perfected over his teenage years. Greg didn't say anything, too stumped to acknowledge the whole Master/Slave thing at that moment.
Rodrick spun the wheel hard as he stepped on the gas and screeched out of the parking lot. The minivan barrelled down the road at a speed Greg had never seen Rodrick hit before.
"Hey, slow down," Greg said uneasily as Rodrick took a sharp turn without slowing down.
The older brother seemed to be waiting for this because he smirked evilly. "So how was it with Holly? Did you kiss her?"
Greg's face burned. Not even five minutes into the ride, Rodrick was already bringing up kissing. He chose to ignore the comment until another sharp turn was performed causing his heart to skip even more beats then necessary. "I said slow down! You're going to kill us," Greg demanded through gritted teeth.
"And I asked you a question. Did you kiss her?"
Another turn was coming but Greg stayed silent. He literally thought the minivan was going to topple over on itself just from the mind-blowing physics of Rodrick's driving. He knew that if he didn't answer Rodrick, he wouldn't have to think about either of the kisses any more- but he also knew that his brother wasn't going to slow down until he did. It was games like these, that Rodrick played all the time...
"Did. You. Kiss. Her. Greg?"
Then Greg felt himself snap. Everything he'd been through in the last week swelled to a max and burst forth. How he'd had to suffer the heat because of Rodrick just to hide the psycho bruise. How he'd had his kiss with Holly ruined because of Rodrick.
"Yes I did kiss her! And it was a hundred, thousand times better than it was with YOU! YOU'RE THE WORST BROTHER EVER, I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR MASTER ANYMORE! I DON'T WANT TO PLAY ANY OF YOUR GAMES ANYMORE!"
As the words left him, so did the last ounce of the swelling rage. All that was left was a rather dangerous silence in the minivan as Rodrick continued to speed along the road, knuckles white and tight around the steering wheel.
A/N: You guys will like the next chapter, I'm sure. ;)
SO REVIEW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SO I CAN POST IT!
