froggy2045: Hey, no problem you didn't review much! Just so long as I know you're reading and enjoying it! Thanks!!
ChrissyD: lol! Ok, that comment seriously made me laugh!!! Oh, she's just distant after hearing what happened to Bradin... sorry if I made it seem like more, oh and about Johnny and her which there will be a tiny scene of in this ch! Hope you like it and thanks so much for reading!!!
StrawberryCheeseCak3: LOL! Thanks! Hmm... can I help with the plan...? shyly peeks over shoulder Anyhow, I'm so glad you're reading and that you like it!!! Yeah, I'm just trying to show some of the emotions that the death of Mr. Coleman and Matthew caused on the remaining family so I'm glad that they were right. I'm sorry about your grandma... May she rest in peace.
Candace Storms: Thank you!!! From the sounds of my review page the "ex" thing was a hit! Yeah! Score, baby! Lol! Never mind, somebody slipped something in my drink I'm sure... Anyway, so glad you liked it!! Hope you like this one too!!!! Saw your new ch and reviewed, hope you update soon!!!
SoMuch4MyHappyEnding: Glad you liked it!! Yes, Bradin IS so sweet... sighs dreamily anywayz, thanks for the info on Jesse/Katie, I thought he denied the rumors... Snake in the grass... LOL!! Seriously laughed for 2 mins straight! I swear, ask my brother! Lol!
XoCaliBabiox: Hey! Thanks so much!!! I'm really glad you liked those lines! You were the only one who mentioned them and I thought they were pretty good so... lol! Thanks, yah, know how you LOVE their relationship!! Lol! I get the feeling you're gonna like the chapters to come... Hope you like this one! And don't cry, I've got other fics, you know On The Edge of Sanity right? And I've got a new one called Driving Free that should be up soon so... lol! And I MIGHT write a sequel this if enough ppl want one! Ok, enough blab, read!
Krissy: Danke! I loved writing the ex thing! Lol! Yes, heard it. DO NOT believe it is true. Jesse denied the rumors. And one other thing, who the hell is Lauren Conrad!??! Lol! I keep hearing about her and don't know who she is... thanks! Oh, and SoMuchForMyHappyEnding left a review on ch 25 that I think you should read!Oh, and I know! My little brother's around that age and he likes his music and listens to it and now I have to make sure he doesn't listen to the new CD (without me around I mean) cause of Blow Your Mind, Daddy's Little Girl and sorta Right Where You Want Me... you know, it just gets annoying and it's like, "Jesse! Nobody really wants to hear those lyrics! We liked you just as much with things like Come to Me and Because You Live!" Ok, so I should shut up and just email you if we wanna keep talking 'bout this!!
Okay, peoples! This is it... the big (leading up to that is) finish! I really hope you like it!!!
Chapter XXVII
Keeping Quiet
"Johnny!" Ava called loudly, stepping into the living room of her house, Jay at her heels.
"Up here!" Came Johnny's voice from somewhere upstairs.
Jay passed Ava and hurried up the stairs to find Johnny rounding the corner on is way down.
"Whoa!" Jay halted and Johnny laughed.
"What's so urgent, you guys?"
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah..."
"Good, get down here," Jay said, turning and hurrying back down the stairs.
"What is it?" Johnny was clearly puzzled as Ava and Jay pushed him into the kitchen, and made him sit down at the table. Jay took a seat across from him and Ava poured them all coffee and sat down next to Jay, passing the cups around.
"Johnny, my man, we have a serious situation on our hands," Jay said, solemnly.
"And just what is this serious situation?" Johnny took a sip of his coffee.
Ava and Jay exchanged a look then plunged into the whole story, telling everything they knew about it. They restarted it after a minute as Susannah came in and stood at the counter.
When they were finished Johnny sat, motionless, staring behind them both, Jay looked intently at the smooth, brown surface of the table, Ava leaned on one arm, lost in thought, and Susannah quietly dried the few dishes that were in the dish drain. No one said a word.
Pulling everyone from their thoughts Susannah placed the third round of coffee in front of everyone and sat at the head of the table. "So, what do we do?"
"Johnny, you talk to Bradin... he's right, we need to catch Jerry in the act... and nobody tell him that Bradin told us anything, got it?" Jay said.
Everyone nodded.
"Alright, now scatter, I think you, Johnny, should talk to him tonight sometime... But be careful, he's um... well, he's been really hurt and he doesn't like to talk about it. And I don't blame him!" Jay spoke the last sentence quietly.
"Alright... but maybe, we should all talk again, this time with Bradin," Susannah suggested.
"Maybe, but let's get back to business for now," Ava said and rose from the table, "Bradin's here."
Everyone took their coffee and headed in different directions around the house, leaving Ava alone in the Kitchen. She walked out the back door and greeted the two teens that were standing there then passed them and went around to the front of the house. Shoot! There, getting out of his car was Jerry Brown!
"Hi, Jerry!" Ava sang out, as if she liked him.
"Uh... Hi, Ava... Johnny here?"
Ava knew that if Johnny saw him right now he would beat him to death. "No, he'll be back later though..."
"Alright, I'll drop bye later, then, see ya!"
"Bye!" Ava smiled and pretended to sweep the porch as he drove off, when he was out of sight she flew back in the house and began hunting down Johnny.
"Hey, Jerry was just here but I told him you weren't home and that you'd be back later, so cool down now, otherwise you'll kill him." Ava stated.
Johnny nodded, "Alright..."
Gathering her courage and knowing she needed to discuss this with him she changed the subject and said, softly, "Johnny... about last night... I-"
"I'm sorry, it was a mistake, it shouldn't have happened, and I'm sorry," Johnny cut her off.
"Oh..." Ava was surprised by this. It was a mistake?
"I'm sorry," Johnny said again, then turned and went into his room, shutting the door behind him.
Sighing deeply and fighting tears, Ava headed upstairs to find Susannah. If there was one thing she needed right now, it was a friend.
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Teresa moaned slightly. He was the greatest guy she had ever encountered, much less, dated! She honestly found it difficult to believe that he could love her so much... but he did and she knew it. He told her she was beautiful, more than beautiful, and he meant it. She knew he did. He was sitting behind her, his arms around her waist, kissing her neck and she knew that was as far as he was going to go because she'd asked him not to get too "close" and he respected her. She loved that about him more than anything else! He respected her. No one had ever really respected her before. Not really.
"Baby..."
Bradin's voice pulled her back to reality. She felt his breath on the side of her neck as he whispered into her ear, "You know I love you don't you?"
"Mm, hmm..." Teresa still kept her eyes closed, taking in every moment that he was with her.
"What would you say if I told you that Jerry's gonna have to be 'allowed' to do something to me again?" Bradin knew that Teresa would hate this fact. He also knew what she had whispered to him earlier. "I swear if that freak, Jerry Brown, ever so much as touches you with one finger I'll have a fit! And Brae? You're completely mine now... aren't you?" He had had to think about this for only two seconds before replying, "Yes. Completely." Teresa had smiled, kissed him deeply then whispered something else, "I don't want anyone but me to ever be 'intimate' with you again! Ever." Bradin had taken her hand and kissed it, meaning that yes, he was hers and no, no one else would ever touch him again, in any intimate way. She could have him, do what she wanted with him... He was falling... fast. Wrapped around her finger and then some. But he didn't believe that she'd ever abuse that, the power that she knew she had over him.
Teresa's eyes opened. She stared at the wall in front of her, not wanting what Bradin was telling her to be true but not wanting to upset him by making him think that she would find him "tainted" if Jerry ever touched him again. "Why?" It was the only thing she could think of to say.
"Because he..." Bradin stopped. Silence filled the room, hurting Teresa's ears with the pain behind it. "He needs to be 'caught in the act' so to speak." Bradin finally finished his sentence nearly 3 minute later.
"Oh..." again, all she could think of.
"Baby... will that... um..."
"Matter to me?" Teresa finished, at last, finding her voice.
"Yeah..." the teenage boy's voice was low.
Pulling herself from his arms she turned around and looked him straight in the eye, "Honestly, no. I just don't want to see you hurt anymore... never again! And yes, I want you to be mine and mine alone but... If, by letting Jerry touch you one more time, you can move on in peace...or more peace than you have now, I'm okay with it."
"Really? You're sure this isn't going to hurt you or put some sort of..."
"Problem in our relationship?"
"Yeah..."
"It won't. I just want you to feel better and not have to hurt because of what he did to you for the rest of your life! I want you to be happy! I wanna see you smile and I mean really smile, not fake it like you do now!" Bradin started to speak but she kept going, "No, Bradin, don't tell you me you do smile now! I know you're never truly smiling. You have nothing to truly smile about right now. You're hurting and you're broken and I know it. I know what that feels like and I know that until the very minute you told me you loved me I felt that same way and never truly smiled." Teresa smiled at this point making Bradin smile at her, rather, grin, impishly.
"Teresa Coleman! Don't tell me you don't think your saying you loved me meant nothing to me!" He became serious, "But you're right, I don't ever truly smile. I can't remember a day I did... Or not since Jerry began his little 'play dates' with me anyway..." here, Teresa opened her mouth to speak but Bradin put a finger to it making her stop, "Until you told me you loved me." He honestly meant that, she could tell.
"Oh, Bradin! I love you so much! So much!" Tears found their way to Teresa's eyes and down her cheeks as she held onto the one boy she truly cared for.
Bradin stroked his girlfriend's hair as she cried. She wasn't really upset, maybe a little bit, but... she was more happy than anything. "I love you… so much." He buried his face in her shoulder and they sat, enfolded in each other's arms, lost in the love they both shared.
Once Teresa quit crying and they spent a few more minutes holding onto each other and talking, Bradin took her home then returned home to eat dinner with his family. Only, when he arrived, he found the happy-go-lucky face of Jerry Brown seated at the table with the rest of his 'family.' He smile politely then took his place. All eyes, it seemed, were on him. Susannah tried to stop this by saying, "So, how was school, Nikki?"
"It sucks as usual." Was Nikki's quick, don't-talk-to-me-I'm-not-in-the-mood response.
"Derrick?" Susannah turned her eyes to the 9 year old boy seated between Bradin and his sister, across from Ava, Johnny and Jay. Susannah sat at one end and Jerry at the other.
"It was okay, I guess... Bobby won't stop teasing Cynthia and Mrs. Gray thinks the only thing we should study is math..." Derrick stuffed mouthful of hotdog into his mouth. "And Sue was painting the teachers desk and went to the principle for it…
"Oh..." Susannah was running out to things to say and no one else was saying anything... "Come on you guys!" she thought, hoping one of the other adults would speak!
"Guys," surprised looks filled the table as Bradin spoke up. He ignored this and continued his sentence, "I think you should know that I have finally-"
A knock sounded from the front door cutting off Bradin's sentence. Ava stood, excused herself and left the kitchen. Silence settled over the table and the clinks of metal against glass and porcelain were the only sounds. Ava came back into the room and retook her place, "That was Kiki, Susannah, she wants you to call her A.S.A.P tomorrow morning."
"Alright..." Silence followed Susannah's words and Bradin made no attempt to finish what he had been saying. He didn't look like he really cared about whatever it was anyway. Just a failed stab at breaking the ever lingering silence that hung in the air tonight.
After dinner everyone went their separate ways and Jerry left the Gregory household thanking them for the meal.
"Goodnight, Aunt Ava!" Bradin kissed his aunt on the cheek before climbing the stairs to his room and collapsing on his bed. For some reason or another he was extremely tired. Barely able to keep his eyes open. Not bothering to take off anything but his shoes he crawled under the covers and immediately drifted off to sleep.
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"Oh, Jay, maybe you should take Derrick up to his room..." Ava whispered. The 9 year old had fallen asleep on the couch.
"No, I better not... I checked on Bradin a minute ago and he's actually asleep, I wouldn't want to wake him up. Or Derrick for that matter. He'll be fine here." Jay reasoned.
Ava nodded agreement and put a blanket over her youngest nephew before climbing the stairs to her room. Followed closely by Susannah. Jay went to his room and Johnny to his as the house fell into a sleepy silence.
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Creak...
A figure pushed open the door to the teenage boy's bedroom and crept in, careful not to make a sound. This time there was no holding back... If he was going to keep him quite he was going to do it right. He was going to keep him quite... forever.
Okay, now that you've read and I've left you in suspense... REVIEW!!! (So I'll update quicker!)
P.S. Would y'all rather I just said "Thanks reviewers!" at the top or keep thanking everybody indvidually like I have been? Just wondering if it gets on y'alls nerves or if you like it! (For future refference) Thanks!
Anna Christie AKA SecondStarToTheRight15