"C'mon Chloe," he spat. "You're a smart girl. You saw what one kiss did to me. Don't you think that asking me this might hurt me even more? It's not fair," he concluded. His eyes were bright; Chloe mistook his impending tears as anger.

"You'd be getting what you want, remember?" she retorted.

"NO! Christ, Chloe, don't you see? It's NOT what I want. I don't want to be with you and then watch you go running back to Philip! It hurts too much as it is!" To emphasize his point, he flung a throw pillow at the wall. "Maybe for you, Chloe, it's just physical, but it's not for me! I don't have anyone else."

Chloe sat back, stunned. Utterly floored, in fact. "Oh, Brady", she murmured, reaching out for his hand. "I didn't mean... I thought... I didn't know you felt that way about me. I'm so sorry. I thought you just... wanted me. I didn't know..." she trailed off.

"What?" he snarled, his tears finally spilling over. "That I love you? Yes I do. I wasn't aware that this was just a good lay for you. I thought you liked me. God, Chloe, I trusted you."

Chloe burst into tears too, at the sight of Brady, his bright head bent. "Brady, I didn't mean that. Of course I like you. I adore you. I just didn't know that you felt like that too... I thought it was just... it was just..." Oh god, I'm way over my head. What have I done?

She could think of nothing more to do but hold him. She lay her head on his shoulder and sobbed with him, stroking his pale hair. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Brady adjusted himself against her so that he could hold her as she was holding him. He was getting tears in her beautiful hair. He tried to smooth them away and was startled when she raised her head to look at him. Her glasses were askew, and he removed them, careful not to pull her hair. He managed a tremulous half-smile. "You look terrible," he offered.

"You're not a pretty crier either, you know," she replied, wiping away a tear from his cheek with a smile of her own. Then her face clouded over again. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "I need you."

Brady looked like he was going to be sick. "I don't know. If what you said
about Philip is true..."

"It is," she asserted, drawing Brady close again. "And I haven't told you the half of it. D'you know, whenever I spend time with anyone else, he gets angry? Even when I'm with Belle, he's mad enough to start fights, to punch the wall or door. And then he'll call me an hour later, crying and apologizing. Brady... I'm afraid of him."

"You know I'd protect you," he murmured. "It can work."

"No it can't, and you know why. Not yet, anyways. I'm not even seventeen yet. You'll be twenty next week. Craig and Nancy barely let me out of the house to see Philip, I don't think they'd approve of us." Even as she said this, she was pressing closer to Brady, trying to deny the truth. "Belle would hate me, Shawn would hate me, I'd have no one."

"You'd have me," he whispered, trying to catch her eyes. She allowed him to guide her head until she was looking straight at him. A nearly electric jolt passed over her as she gazed at him, making her shiver. She shook her head, in denial to his statement, but was unable to break the spell. Don't kiss him, it'll make everything even worse. What was I thinking, coming here?

And then she was kissing him. Nothing could have prepared her for the feeling of his lips on hers, his tongue gently caressing hers. This was nothing like Philip's amateurish, sloppy kisses. This was... Oh god...

His kisses became more demanding, more possessive. Chloe responded just as
ardently, threading her fingers through his hair and pressing his mouth to hers even harder. She pressed her body against his, and Brady responded by tightening his arms around her. He was so big... so strong. Nothing like Philip.

Brady broke away for a second, only to press his lips to the side of her neck. Chloe nearly moaned as his tongue found a sensitive spot, causing her to tremble. She tightened her fingers in his hair as pleasure washed over her, centering on her lower belly. The feelings that always began when she kissed Philip... and stopped when he began to return her affections. But with Brady...

She moved her leg so that her foot no longer rested on the floor, and wrapped her leg around Brady's hips so that she was in his lap, rather than on the adjacent couch cushion. Her movement caused Brady to break away and gaze at her.

Her heart dropped. He's going to refuse me, he'll realize that I'm...

"I didn't know you were so passionate," he rasped. "I've never seen you like this with Philip." His cheeks were flushed and he was breathing heavily.

"You're not Philip," she said. And that was the core of it all.

Sorry this is so short... but I wanted to separate the upcoming naughtiness from everything else in case anyone's not into that kind of thing. If you are... good for you! ;)
Keely