Chapter 7

Ephram had always made sure to tell his little sister the latest news about Bright's busy life, even when she hadn't asked for any details in particular. Hardly ever brought him up, really, but always waited for someone else to mention his name first. He had always known that despite everything, she'd like to know. He had told her pretty much everything, excluding the stormy stories involving his secret affairs and alike. And so yeah, he had told her how his best friend had changed, changed so much that sometimes it was hard to believe it was the same Bright Abbott he had met when they had first arrived the small town.

None of it, not a single story Ephram had told, could've prepared her for the moment at hand. This was definitely not the Bright Abbott she had known as a kid, no way in hell. Fine, she admitted the fact he had always been kind of a jerk, even when he had been dating Hannah and really tried to be better… but after hearing the talks Hannah had shared with Amy, Delia had very early come to realize that being jerk was simply in his genes and it would never change… but violent was something Delia had never thought he could be, not ever. Now, however, having her face pushed against the door by his strong hand, she was forced to reconsider. Something told her it wasn't just his new career that made him such a horrible idiot. Maybe he had always been like this, but she had just been too young and too damn naïve… too in love with him to realize what was going on. But she wasn't anymore. The childish crush had lived its own time and died like fire without oxygen. No matter how passionate the fire was, without air it didn't last long and though she had once hoped he'd notice her and fall madly in love with her, she'd grown up.

Maybe this wasn't the Bright she had known, but this definitely wasn't the same Delia Brown he had known, either, and at least that gave her some advantage on her side of the game.

Plus, this, this weird farce definitely wasn't how she had fantasized things to go, not even when she had been a horny teenager going through some sort of rough stuff phase that included weirdly intimidating sex fantasies of an act she had never experienced. What an idiot she had been then, waiting for him to appear from New York back to Everwood just for her. She dreamt of him knocking on her door, confessing his undying love for her and then, like in every Disney story, they always got the happy ending. He took her away, back to New York with him and there she was safe. Because he loved her. because he wanted her to be the mother of his children. Shit, just thinking about that time, remembering all those ridiculous plots she had let her mind write, she could feel her face flushing in embarrassment.

Things had changed, thank God.

First and foremost, right now, she was so fucking annoyed that none of those slumbering fantasies dared to so much as open their eyes. So annoyed that she honestly wanted nothing more but to turn around in his arms and knee him where it hurt the most. Couple of times, too, preferably. Then there was the fast she was beyond tired, not to mention suffering from a killer headache… which, to think of it, explained the raging in the back of her head like a loud, echoing gun shot, killing every brain cell the alcohol hadn't managed to touch yet. If the situation hadn't been the kind it was, she imagined she could've even felt a little amused by how he was acting. She could've teased him, annoyed him, told him he was being fucking ridiculous with this jealous-boyfriend number, which had always been completely against his character – especially, she mused bitterly, when she really was no girlfriend of his!

And well, if it was about protecting his best mate's little sister… then he had taken it a few steps too far, okay?

Maybe if she'd been younger, it would've all made sense somehow. But she wasn't. She wasn't a naïve little kid anymore, she didn't need his protection – she didn't want it! She had managed just fine without it so far! It couldn't be some sort of joke, could it? Had he lost a bet again, only this time it included bedding someone easy, huh? Idiot! Or… had he fought with Ephram and he just hadn't told her about the fight yet? Was Bright trying to hurt Ephram through her? No, that wasn't even a possibility; he'd never do such thing to her. Still, she'd have to ask Ephram about that one later, just to make sure…

Holy crap. If she'd really find out this was some sort of bet he had lost, she'd kill him. And his friends. Seriously. She'd hang them by their huts before burying them into her garden. Alive.

Bright's thoughts didn't circle quite the same areas as hers, but he was equally confused. He had never thought of himself as a violent person neither, not when it came to women anyway. If anything, he had always loathed the kind of guys that felt it necessary to prove their power by hitting their girls, and so when he had grabbed Delia and slammed her forward that harshly, he had been as stunned as the girl pinned against his frame. It hadn't been about lust, about him wanting to prevent her from leaving his sight… he had no fucking clue what it was about, why he was so angry…

What was it about her that made him, a grown man, unable to control his own actions?

So no, he had never really been the violent type, but now, having her body locked between him and the door, feeling the soft curve of her bottom against his front, all he could feel was pure rage. Rage that made him want to go and strangle every male that had ever lied eyes on her, touched her, kissed her, made love to her…

Towards whom was the anger aimed at, then? He wasn't sure. Towards the fucker who had tried to have his way with her… or towards Delia for being so fucking stupid in the first place, so damn reckless?

She was like a child never to be left alone more than few seconds or she'd stick a toy car into her nose or something. But he couldn't always be there!

Or maybe that was the problem. Was he mainly angry for himself?

Angry because he could've very easily been too late… because of these things he felt?

Then, as if just realizing what he was doing, his hand quickly left her neck, releasing her body. She ceased the opportunity immediately, of course, and spun around to face him while massaging her sore neck. She was all to ready to spat all kinds of insults and objects at him now that she had been freed, but the look on his face… all the mixed up emotions his eyes reflected, anger, sadness, confusion.

Not a word came out of her mouth. If it had, it would've ruined the moment for sure and for some reason, she couldn't let that happen. Not now.

This couldn't be real. Her mind refused to believe it. Of all the crazy things she had imagined could, maybe, eventually happen in her pathetic little life, the plot bunny in front of her eyes had never even crossed her mind, not like this. This moment, it was something that happened to those heroines in harlequin books, not to city girls that had been forced to move to countryside just because their fathers had had some serious issues to deal with.

The rage had slowly beaten all the other emotions Bright might have felt a minute ago and now he was doing nothing but glaring at her, eyes throwing fire darts at every possible direction and for a moment there, she almost felt guilty. Guilty for something she knew she hadn't done. He wasn't her boyfriend, he wasn't her brother. Not a real friend, not even damn neighbor! He was nothing to him, for crying out loud!

Nothing, huh? Then why did Bright stand there looking at her like that, with arms folded and just itching to strangle her?

Bright couldn't explain it, not even to himself. The more he told himself he was just being protective towards his best friend's little sister, the less he believed it. If that had been the case, his heart wouldn't have jumped every time his eyes met hers… and the damn pressure between his legs wouldn't have been there! Thankfully the said pressure hadn't raised anything… yet. That was good. No matter how many times his mind screamed it was little Delia Brown there, it made no difference.

His body no longer fell into that lie. There was nothing little about Delia Brown anymore.

He hadn't blackmailed her just to protect her from horny assholes. Nor had he done it for Ephram, had he? No. In all honesty, he didn't give a shit about what Ephram would've said or done if he had indeed found out his friend had left his sister there, stripping.

There had been guys; other guys watching her. The operative word being 'other', he figured, not liking this discovery any more than he had liked finding her there in the first place.

Fuck.

Okay, things were more or less getting out of hand and he didn't appreciate it one bit… he had meant to scare her a little, that was all! You know, just enough to make her quit that damned job of hers… he hadn't meant any of this to happen. At first, he had really been joking about the whole thing, giving her month and all, but the way she had reacted, flared up… he had decided to play a little.

And now? The game had grown a lot bigger… and in the end, it'd be her playing him and she'd never even know.

Great. Ephram was gonna beat the living shit out of him. Fine! One less Christmas card for his assistant to write, big deal.

Lingering between dimensions, the realm of his thoughts and reality, he realized that Delia was still there. After what had happened, he had half –expected her to slap him and run away, but instead, she stood there silently and just watched him with her big bambi eyes wide open. He could almost taste the bitter flavor of her confusion… she had no idea what was going and he didn't feel like filling her in. Delia had lifted her arms and wrapped them around her upper body as if it had been cold in there, but somehow he could tell it was simply a gesture meant to comfort her. Protect her.

There it was again. Why do you want to be the one to protect her, Bright?

Because she's Ephram's little sister, that's why, he decided. That had to be why, damnit… at least in Delia's eyes – that was what she had to be believe. He couldn't let her know, couldn't tell her it was all because… he wanted her?

Trying to pull himself back together without giving everything away, his focus returned to the Brown girl.

"What, no thank yous?" Bright asked suddenly, putting such wave of aggression on her name that she only blinked, staring him with a frown. She should've thanked him? Thank him… for what?

Oh fuck, no.

They had slept together, hadn't they? Oh shit… Since the moment she had opened her eyes and woken up from his bed, Delia hadn't really taken the much needed time to think it through: it about the reason of her being there to begin with, but now it was slowly dawning on her. Gods, she had really had sex with Bright Abbott.

Well it was a logical conclusion. Plus, he was angry and he had to be angry for a reason.

Okay, so, she had slept with him and he was angry because?

…

Nuh huh, nope. Nothing came to her mind. Male logic was too damn difficult to be understood, it seemed. How… and, well, where the hell had she even ran into him? I really need to stop getting wasted, she reasoned, before turning her attention back to his bare chest… she tried to swallow, but she had forgotten how… Bare chest? Yep, that was the first time she realized Bright was actually wearing very little… white boxers and nothing more.

Nice.

You did not just think about that, Delia!

After a little inner fight, Delia was finally able to collect herself together, at least enough to plan and form a respond. "For what, Bright?" She barked, wishing there had been something heavy to throw at him, "Shoving me up against the door? Humiliating me? Using me?"

He had no idea how, but suddenly the roles had been reversed, much to his disliking – now he was confused and the corned one, whereas she, Delia looked about ready to burst into angry flames.

"Hey, wait a minute … when exactly did I use you, huh?" Bright snapped back to his defense just as angrily, although his tone was no match to hers. Fine, he understood the girl had probably no idea what had happened or how she had ended up into his bed… and he hadn't really bothered to explain either and she hadn't asked!

But that wasn't the point – the point was… the way she had said those words… it made it sound as if…

"I'm the one who's supposed to be angry here!" She continued yelling somewhat frantically – usually when a girl screamed like that, Bright had been lucky enough to witness pretty delicious scenes, but now it didn't feel as tempting as usually, "I woke up in your bed! Who knows what the hell you've done to me while I've been out in the twilight zone!"

Ouch. That sting. Really sting. Weird.

"Oh, that's great, D, really great," he spoke with insulted tone, shaking his head in disbelief… and disappointment. No fucking way was he going to let her turn the tables around like that. What, did she really think that was what had happened last night? That he could do something as disgusting as that? If that was the case, then she wasn't the girl he had thought she was… although… considering the few passed days, that was probably given already.

"So that's the kind of person you think I am?" He spoke again, but this time his voice was just slightly above a whisper. "Nice. Super."

He could've told her the truth of course… then why didn't he? Probably, because he felt she had no rights to even accuse him of such thing. She should've known him better than that!

Delia only blinked rapidly in obvious shock. Maybe she should've known better, yeah, but she didn't, not anymore… she had no clue whatsoever and it freaked her out.

Truly freaked her out.

"I don't know! I don't know anything anymore!" She shouted without pausing so much as to breathe, sounding very much like someone nearing a panic attack, which she was, actually, "You show up, tell me to quit my job – blackmail­ me, really, and then I go get drunk and lookie lookie, I wake up here, in your bed and you're angry with me and I don't know why, I should understand, I should know, but I don't, I don't understand this, any of this or why you're doing this to me and I just want to-"

Only when she felt hi arms lock around her back, a hand grabbing the soft fabric of her top into his fist… felt his mouth on hers, nipping the bottom lip… kissing her, devouring her… only then she realized he had actually moved while she had been ranting and that now she finally stopped talking. But when it should've been blessed silence upon them, instead it was something else; noises, shapes, shades. She could feel her heartbeat against her stomach, pulsating on every spot where their bodies met. Her knees buckled and if it hadn't been for him and his arms around her, she would've fallen, no doubt. What, when the hell had she moved her arms? When had they accepted the embrace and traveled to his back underneath his armpits?

It didn't seem to matter to him that he hadn't brushed his teeth yet, or that she hadn't either and after everything she vaguely remembered pouring down her throat last night, she was pretty sure she tasted like shit. It made her gather her bones in record speed, pull back slightly breaking the kiss, embarrassed. Finally she raised her hands between them to push him away.

That's it, she screamed inside her mind, I'm never drinking again! She also made a mental note to kill Jill for letting this happen. What a friend she had there, sigh.

But Bright wasn't giving up that easily and pushing through, his face met hers again. "Bright…" Delia managed to choke out, turning her to side and successfully evading his kisses that landed on everywhere but her lips, "stop that…"

He complied, although reluctantly and only because he had to breathe, too. That had not been a gentle kiss. No, there had been tongues involved before she had suddenly grasped the reality and therefore, decided to be difficult and put an end to it. What, it had been a fucking brilliant kiss, damnit!

She was panting too and right then, in his ears, it sounded like the most beautiful, arousing thing ever. It was all because of him, the panting, the red on her cheeks, the look in her eyes.

Holy mother of Jesus… that had been one kiss. She wanted to bring her fingers to her lips, touch the burning spot where his lips had ravished hers, but she couldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her do it. Having nothing else to do, she tried to push him farther away for the second time, with a little more spun this time, though, and now Bright's arms did leave her body and instructed. He took a step back before she could push him again. Only one, though, because he didn't want to let her have too much space in case she decided to do a so called hit and run. Staring right into her eyes before she cut it off by looking down, he patiently waited for her to say something. While waiting, he cocked his head to left, then slowly to right erupting a small cracking sound, which mad her wince. He had known it would.

But unlike he had thought, she still remained silent, eyes glued onto the floor. He'd really hit some spot there, huh? Good. At least when she'd eventually eave the room, angry as hell no questions about that one, she'd take something more than just a memory with her.

"What are you doing tonight?" The question coming from him surprised them both. Delia for she hadn't expected him to speak so casually and Bright, because he had decided that it would be the girl to break the silence.

"Not you," she threw immediately lifting her chin in protest and finally finding herself again. Then, for a reason she couldn't quite comprehend, she went and added the truth, with collapsed shoulders and a sigh. "I'll be working," she said.

Ah, right, she had mentioned she had some other jobs too… Bright tried to remember if Ephram had ever mentioned those and he was almost sure the guy had told his sister was waiting tables in some local bar or something… oh well, he'd find out the exact details later. It was no use asking her, never in a million year would she willingly tell him.

So, another tactic into the ring, then. "What are you doing after that?"

"Still not you," Delia bit… but couldn't help herself. "Probably stopping by at the club, ya know, to beg for Mac's forgiveness," she added with a shrug.

It that was a joke, it wasn't very funny. No, it didn't make him laugh or even smile… quite the opposite. "I don't think so," he argued coolly with such angel face that she had to retake his words in her mind to make sure she had heard right.

She had. What a cocky son of a bitch.

Then it clicked. "Even if I play your game, Abbott, you gave me a month, remember?" She pointed out, smirking with relished malice, completely oblivious to the fact she had gone back to calling him by his last name. If he thought she'd give up on her job just because he was stupid enough to threaten her, he had another thing coming! He'd have it his way only after one hell of a fight.

Damn… definitely a mistake on his part. Should've told her to resign right away. "Yeah," he agreed, "Doesn't mean I gotta like it."

Oh for the love of… what rights did he have? What rights did he have to come and say any of the things he had said, or do the things he had done?

"I don't care," she snapped, exhausted and frustrated, not wanting to fight anymore but to go home and sleep, "I need the job and that's that."

"Have dinner with me."

… Huh, what? Whatever she had been thinking before his words, was now gone and forgotten. Now there was nothing but a big, fat line of question marks.

Was he for real?

"What?"

"Have dinner with me," he repeated calmly as if to a kid, definitely enjoying the way her mouth had fallen open and eyes widened. Man, even when she had been a kid, it had always been fun to shake her up a bit. At least some things hadn't changed… good, real good.

She was still trying to understand the meaning of the sentence and what exactly the word 'dinner' represented in a sentence like that. With Bright it was always… "You mean like a date?" She questioned doubtfully, with one eyebrow raised questioningly. What the fuck was going on with him?

"You already got me into your bed," she continued sarcastically, "why bother with the dinner?"

Bright, however, coldly ignored her last comment as if it had never been said. "No, not a date", he clarified with an amused smile, "Like you and me, old friends having a dinner and talking. Exchanging news. I mean, let's face it, I am going to find out your dirty little secret sooner or later, and I'd kind of want to hear it from you, D."

Ok, so he wanted to take her out so that he could interrogate her some more? No thanks… "Not happening." What did you think, Delia, that he actually wants to spend some time with you because he likes you? Not likely. He had probably been drunk, too. She had already warmed his bed, there was no need for a thing such as date, anyway.

… unless she had really outdone herself under the covers and he simply wanted a rematch. Somewhere inside, she smiled – and hated the fact she did… she blamed the kiss – it had done the worst thing possible; proved they definitely were compatible in some areas. Very compatible indeed.

"Which one? Secret or dinner?" He asked then. There it was, Bright Abbott's trade smirk all over his face where it belonged. There had actually been a time during which she would've done anything – anything – to see it, to be this close to the guy.

"Neither. I've got to go to work."

He had decided not to ask it, but the question slipped out anyway. "Where you work?"

It cracked a smile out of her, but unlike her previous ones, this one was actually genuine smile, not a malicious smirk.

Boy, he really wasn't one to give that easily, was he?

"Another secret you'll never reveal," she declared letting out a small laugh, forced her body to move and turned around simply exiting the room without saying anything else.

We'll see about that, little D, we'll see.

This time he didn't try to stop her, but stayed there on the spot, stood there listening to the sound of her footsteps as she ran downstairs, probably hoping to avoid all of his family members… but luck seemed to had run out when it came to little Delia Brown today. He couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard her say something. Ah, she had run into… he stopped breathing to hear better, continuing only after recognizing the other source of the voice. Sounded like Amy to his precious ears.

… Damn. A minute or two and she'd run into her brother's room, demanding for an explanation… and for the first time in a very, very long time, he'd actually have non to give and no desire to lie.

Yep. That sucked.

A/N: so, so, so, so sorry it's taken forever! I've been away, haven't had net and as if that was not enough, I've had a bit of a writer's block with this one… finally figured the only way to overcome it was to forget it and just write. Erp. So if the chappie is really sucky, that's why. If it isn't, then good.

Yeah, ohkay, they don't act like Delia and Bright of today's Everwood? THEY'RE OLDER, for fuck's sake, people change. So what? Deal! HA! Just had to point that out, again, meh. You know, before someone comes and slaps me to the moon just because little Delia isn't as innocent as you'd like her to be… or Bright as whatever you'd want him to be.

… although, YAICKS, I think there might even be fluff somewhere along the ride which is just… scary.

Sorry, btw, the chapter (like the ones before) is unbetaed and I wrote it in around 6am… and then I had to retype it to mom's comp to be able to post it since my laptop doesn't have net at the moment and blah blah. So typos and such, very possible.

Anway, I hope you dun find it all too boring – I'm always so slow with progressing when it comes to relationships, meh, and this is no exception.