Chapter 14: Brandon's POV

I shut the trunk of my car and walked towards the front porch, luggage in hand. Stella was currently being squeezed to death by her father's bear hug.

"Uh, Dad? I can't breathe."

"Oh. Sorry," He replies sheepishly and releases her from his hold, still keeping his hands clasped on her shoulders. "You look great, sweetheart! It's been far too long."

She sighs, "Sorry about that."

Mr. Solaria shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is you're here." He smiled fondly down at her. Before Stella could reply, a tall blond woman behind Mr. Solaria cleared her throat.

The woman is only who I can assume to be Stella's "evil step-witch". I hate to admit it, but she was really pretty. With long thick blond hair and pretty tan legs to match. My God, am I checking out a 40-something year old woman?

Mrs. Solaria smiled warmly at Stella. "Stella Bear! It's so good to see you again." Surprisingly, she threw her arms around Stella and hugged her tightly.

Stella's back was to me, but I could tell by her stiff posture that she didn't like that hug at all. She pulled back as quickly as she could. "Um… nice to see you too."

Evil step-witch nodded in satisfaction and turned her sights on me. Uh-oh. I've never been good with other people's parents. Then again, I've only met one pair of parents before this. Let's not even get into that mess of a night. I set the luggage down.

"And who is this?" Mrs. Solaria asked. I'm not really seeing this evil streak in her that Stella described. Maybe as the night wears on, she'll show her true self.

Stella turns and skips to my side, her mood seemingly lifted. "Brandon, this is my father and… step-mother. Dad," she says to her father and only her father, "this is Brandon; my boyfriend." She smiled up at me brightly and I couldn't help but grin back down at her. She had one of those beautiful, infectious smiles that I can't help but lo… like.

I've been doing that little slip-up with the L word a lot lately. Do I love Stella? I don't think there is much of a doubt anymore that I do. Yeah, I know that it's only been a little while since we've been together romantically, but we knew each other long before we actually started dating. The real question I am dying to know: Does Stella love me?

"Brandon. That's a lovely name," Mrs. Solaria says with a warm grin but for some reason she looked surprised to see me.

"Thank you, ma'am."

She waved her hands around. "Oh, please don't call me that. It makes me feel old. Just call me Cassandra." I nod and smile back at her as Mr. Solaria walked up to me. We were about the same height, him being a couple of inches shorter than me. Height made no difference to him since he was giving me a look that would have lesser men cringing away.

Good thing I'm not a lesser man.

He didn't say anything, just stared at me. I'd have to admit, I was getting kind of uncomfortable under his stare, but I refused to look away. I know for a fact that this was an intimidation test. Stella broke the tension slightly by nudging me with her hip. I glanced down at her and she made a quick, jerky motion with her head towards her Dad. Apparently she wants me to break the silence first.

I held out my hand that wasn't holding Stella's. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Stella has only said good things." Well, that was definitely not true, but I could use some suck-up points right now.

He stared down at my hand for a moment before grasping it, hard. "Yes, well I can't say the same about you. I didn't even know that Stella had a… different male friend."

I arched an eyebrow. Wait… Stella hasn't even told him that she broke up with her tool of an ex-boyfriend. What the hell? He didn't even know I existed until now.

Before I even could look down at Stella, she sputtered out, "I'm sorry about that. I wanted it to be a… surprise?" It came out as more of a question that an explanation. "I mean, I told you my boyfriend was going to come along, Dad."

"Yes, but how was I to know it wasn't Steven?" Her father rebutted. Cassandra stepped up to her husband's side, looking at Stella.

"I'd have to say that I was looking forward to seeing Steven on this trip. What ever happened to you two?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Stella was currently squeezing the hell out of my hand. I looked down at her, but she was staring stonily at her step-mother.

I honestly didn't know what to think of this situation. I know that she didn't keep in good contact with her family, but seriously? If she told them that she was bringing a boyfriend, why not squeeze in there that you have a new one? Seems like pretty important information to me. It apparently wasn't to her, though.

"Like I said, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Yeah," I pulled my hand out of her death grip, "this is a great surprise." She tries to say something in response, but I cut her off by asking, "Mrs. Solaria, do you mind if I use your restroom?"

Cassandra tore her eyes away from Stella and nodded slowly. "Wait one second." She walked to the open door and shouted into the house, "Chimera! Get down here, please!"

After giving me one last glare, Mr. Solaria turned around in the direction towards his wife. Stella took that opportunity to tug my arm sharply. "Brandon, it's not what you think. Look at me."

Yeah, it was petty but I looked stubbornly in front of me instead of looking at her. The fact that she didn't tell her Dad about me kind of… hurt. God, I'm becoming such a girl.

She sighed. "Look, I'm so-"

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in after practically five years," a nasally voice squeaked out. Looking at the doorway, I see a short, petite raven-haired girl. The blue streaks in her hair weren't very appealing.

"Chimera." Stella spat her name like a bad curse word.

"Hey, sis. It's been far too long since we had the chance to talk. And it seems you've brought some new eye candy with you." Chimera's eyes raked up and down my figure. Really? She was checking me out right in front of Stella. What is up with these Solaria women?

Stella step in front of me slightly. "Not the type of candy you can handle," Stella says in an overly sweet voice.

Chimera rolled her eyes and swayed over to us, putting extra emphasis on her "hips". She was wearing some pretty short shorts with probably the tightest shirt known to man. It may have been attractive if not for the fact that we were in the dead of winter.

Apparently, I'm not the only one to notice. "Chimera, what the hell are you wearing? You'll catch a cold," Mr. Solaria pointed out.

"You don't catch a cold from cold weather, old man. It's from viruses." She looks up at me, evaluating my face. "What's your name again?"

"Brandon."

"Well, Brandon," she sticks her hand out, "I think we're going to have a great time this week."

"Uh…" I hesitate to shake her hand. I'm pretty sure Stella would blow a vessel if I did and even though I'm sort of ticked off at her, it doesn't mean I want to make her angry as well.

Luckily I didn't have to make a decision considering Stella yanked my arm so we were standing closer together.

"I can show him to the bathroom myself. I'm sure it hasn't changed from the last time I was here." I let Stella pull me past Chimera and her parents and into the house.

Once we're in the house and halfway down a secluded hallway, I pull my arm out of her grasp. "Hey, easy on the shoulder."

"Oh!" Stella immediately stops and rests her hand gently on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" I smile in my head at her concern. She may be a little crazy at times but this was the part of Stella that I lo… like a lot.

"I'm fine," I respond, gruffly. Stella blew out a frustrated breath.

"Are you seriously angry?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. How about you explain to me why your father didn't even know I existed until I popped up in his driveway."

"I really did want it to be a surprise. Wait!" she exclaims as I try to step around her. "I'm not lying."

"Yes you are, Stella. I can tell by the way you said it outside. Tell me the truth."

"Alright, alright. I was just… embarrassed-"

"You were embarrassed of me?"

Stella's eyes widened. "No! Never. I was embarrassed of Steven," she admitted sheepishly.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Stella, that makes no sense whatsoever. Why the hell would you be embarrassed of your ex-boyfriend?" Okay, now I was getting angry. Why does this douche-bag keep getting into our relationship one way or another?

"The whole reason I left this place five years ago was for him", she explains. "I made a whole speech about how good he was and how he was going to take care of me to my Dad. Instead he ends up dumping me because he was more interested in the hoe next door. That's embarrassing, Brandon."

I raised an eyebrow, incredulously. "Okay, and you thought bringing a new guy to your Dad was going to be better than telling him upfront?"

"I didn't think it all the way through," she mumbled, looking down.

"No, you didn't."

She raised her head, indignantly. "Look, I'm sorry but don't look down on me for a simple mistake."

I laughed without humor. "A simple mistake? Stella, you knew exactly what you were doing. You put me under the impression that your Dad knew about us, but instead you made me look like an idiot because you were too 'embarrassed' to mention me," I said, putting finger quotations up when I said embarrassed.

She threw her arms up quickly and let them fall back down to her sides with a thump. "I wasn't trying to make you look bad! I just-"

A throat clearing behind me stopped Stella in the middle of her sentence. "Brandon, did you find the bathroom to your liking?"

I turned around to the squeaky voice of Chimera. She was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. From the look on her face, I'm guessing she heard just about everything we were just arguing about.

Stella huffed. "That wouldn't be any of your business even if he wanted it to be, twit."

"I'm sorry but I do believe my question was for Brandon, not you," Chimera snapped.

Stella was about to retort, but I answered before she could respond. "It was fine." I didn't really have to go to the bathroom anyway. I was hoping Stella and I could get a moment alone and she could help me understand why she didn't tell her family about me. Looks like I got that, but it wasn't as productive as I would've liked it to be.

"Did you drive the whole way here?" Chimera asked. When I nodded she gasped. "You must be dead tired! Isn't that like a six or seven hour drive?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mind."

"Well, I already made the guest room up for you. Sorry, but it's separate from yours, Stella. We wouldn't want Daddy to get upset, right Stells?"

"Of course." Stella sounded like she was gritting her teeth together. Man, she really hated this girl.

"So, what do you say? You want a nap?" Chimera asked me.

I could feel Stella's eyes boring holes in my back, but I ignored it. "Actually, I could really use a little shut-eye."

Chimera seemed to brighten at that. "I'll show you to your room."

"I can-"

"No, Stells, Daddy wants you to speak with you. Now."

Stella doesn't move until I turn around. She was looking at me, obviously not wanting to leave our argument unresolved. I can only guess the thousands of thoughts going through her head now. You see, Stella is a drama queen at heart. She overreacts to the smallest things sometimes so I know she might be thinking I hate her right now. That just won't do.

I leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "We'll talk later."

She hesitated slightly but then gave me quick kiss in return before walking back down the hallway.

"Are you ready? Daddy already brought your bags inside the house." I shrugged in response and followed Chimera as she led me towards the stairs.

"So…" she began, "How long have you and my dearest sister been hookin' up?"

Hookin' up? "We've been dating for a little over a month, I think."

"And she's already introducing you to the parentals? That's moving fast don't you think?"

I'm really going to have to have a conversation later about this girl's vocabulary. "Not really. I really care about your sister."

We reached the top of the stairs when she stopped and turned to me. "How much?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," as she stepped closer I moved back until I was flat against the wall, "how much does she mean to you?"

Okay, maybe I just stepped into an alternate universe. Or maybe I'm having a nightmare. Oh, I bet I must have passed out from falling on the stairs or something. These were all plausible reasons for why Stella's maybe 16-year-old sister is coming on to me. The only thing is that this isn't fake. This is reality.

I'll try to be nice about this, for Stella's sake. I put my hands on Chimera's shoulders, intending to gently push her away. Unfortunately, she had other plans.

Chimera grabbed my face between her hands and forced her overly glossy lips onto mine. I grunted in shock and then disgust. What the hell is wrong with this girl? I kept my mouth closed in a tight line and pushed her away from me, more forcefully than I originally wanted to.

She fell back against the opposite wall but stayed upright, smiling. "Better than I thought."

"Are you freaking insane?!" I whisper-shouted at her, wiping my mouth off with my sleeve.

She shrugged. "I just wanted to see-"

"I don't give two shits what you wanted to see," I interrupted, coldly. "I'm together with your sister, not you. I like kissing your sister and sure as hell not you. I love your sister, not you. So keep your grubby hands to yourself." I brushed past her and to the door that had my luggage in front of it.

"Wait!" She tried grabbing my sleeve, but I snatched my arm away, jolting my bad shoulder. I hissed lowly so she couldn't hear, but the pain wasn't receding anytime soon. I need to take my meds and go to sleep for a while.

"What," I snapped.

Chimera placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry you felt violated or whatever but you can't honestly tell me that Bug Eyes can kiss better than me."

I just stared at her for a moment before answering. "First of all, don't call her that damn nickname anymore. Second, the fact that you think you even could compare to her is stupid. Did you really think you could?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Really? If it's not then how about you go downstairs and tell your parents about it." Her eyes widened at the thought, panicking. "That's what I thought. Just…stay away from me, got it?"

She shifted from one foot to another. "I will, I will. But you won't tell, right?" She tried to ask in a nonchalant way, but it came across as fear more than anything else.

I didn't answer her question. "Get away from here," I ordered her instead. With a huff, she rushed back down the stairs. Rubbing my forehead in exhaustion, I stepped into the guest room.

It was a quaint little room with a single bed pushed against the far wall. The closest is nowhere as big as mine at home but it will suffice. I'll sleep about anywhere right now to get my mind off of what just happened.

I know I have to tell Stella. If I don't tell her, then she will somehow find out from someone else and it would blow up in my face even more. Maybe I should wait until we get back to North Carolina. That way she can't attempt to throttle her step-sister.

As I took my pill, I wondered why Chimera kissed me anyway. Was she really just a hoe or as she trying to prove something. I mean, what would she be trying to prove? It made no sense and was beginning to give me a headache. I was thinking of taking a shower earlier, but I'll wait until I wake up.

It also didn't skip my mind that I told Chimera that I loved Stella. I wasn't really even thinking of it when I said it, but now… now I know it's true.

I'm in love with Stella Solaria.

A/N: Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for the reading and reviewing.

Did I shock you with the POV change? It was just a thought to do it. I know a lot of people don't like the whole POV changing in a story but I thought it was necessary for this chapter. Did you like it? Do you guys think I should do it more in the future?

I promise Thanksgiving dinner is next chapter. This chapter kind of just had a mind of it's own.

So…. Review!