His hands gripped my waist as I stroked his back. Brady was currently sitting on my bed and I was standing up, his face buried in my chest. I'd ran after him into the woods and dragged him back to mine. There was no-one at home so I didn't have to answer my mom as to why I was taking him up to my room. Not that she's really that suspicious. She still thinks I'm her innocent little Zoo-Zoo. Argh, I hate that nickname. 'Zoo-Zoo'. Gag me.
I kissed the top of Brady's head and he moved his hands around, wrapping them round me before pulling me onto his lap.
"You know," he said softly, leaning his forehead against. "I used to be relatively laid back. Now I can't even go ten minutes without going completely mental."
I smiled sadly at him, kissing his nose. "I know."
He smiled and dropped his head to my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I promised literally two minutes before that I wouldn't get too angry."
"Don't worry. You wouldn't be getting angry if it wasn't for me. And if you remember correctly you were trying to get me to promise to leave if you got too angry, you didn't promise anything."
"Oh," he said and I nodded, running my hand through his hair. A content and happy little hum came from him and I smiled down at Brady.
He's so adorable.
"Is she always like that?" I asked softly after a moment and he sighed, knowing I meant his mother.
"All my life," he replied and I climbed off of him, onto my bed. He looked up at me in alarm, but he relaxed when I laid down, pulling him down too, his head lying on my stomach.
I looked down at him and took his hand, playing with it gently, our hands lying just above his face. He took this as my hint to keep talking. "They're both like that, her and my father."
I ran my spare hand through his hair as he spoke evenly.
"They only had a child because my grandma berated on about wanting a grandchild to them. They've never really cared for me, you know? Sure, I was their child but they're not the 'worrying if I don't come home on time' type. They didn't ever really want too much to do with me. Everything I asked for when I was little seemed to burden them." I brought his hand to my lips, kissing the back of it softly before putting them back on my stomach. He stared at our hands intently, never looking up at me, as if embarrassed with telling me this. "I mean, we have money and everything but, you know, I just don't really ever see them. And I'd rather have parents who gave two shits about me than having lots of money."
He looked up at me finally, looking nervous and I stroked his face. "They're stupid."
He let out a laugh, kissing my stomach.
"I mean it, Brady. I think you're probably the nicest person in the world. There are some adults out there who would sell their soul to have a kid like you."
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head at me but a small smile on his lips. "I'm being serious. If I didn't think you were so damn hot, I'd want to be your mom!"
"Ew, don't even say that!" he shuddered. "That's weird."
"Sorry. You know what I mean, though, right? It's their loss. I think they're stupid to not spend as much time with you as they possibly can. You deserve parents who fuss over you."
He moved around so he was hovering above me, his elbows either side of my head. He leant down and kissed me softly, slowly and lovingly. "Thank you," he said, his face mere centimetres away from mine.
"You know what Moose said today…?"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "She said a lot of things today," he said, moving one hand to trail up and down my neck and shoulders.
"About me not loving you…"
He looked down, nodding, looking solemn. "It's okay, Zo. I mean it's not like I haven't noticed that you haven't said it. Whenever I say 'I love you' you either reply with something else or just kiss me. But it doesn't matter," he said, looking at me again, determinedly. "I've said it before and I'll say it again; I love you enough for the both of us."
"Brady…" I said and bit my lip before looking at him fully, not looking away. "I love you." He looked shocked and I smiled. "I love you so much."
He blinked. "What?"
"I don't know why I never said it back to you. I mean, I tell you I don't have trust issues and all but… I just felt a little scared, I guess. And I didn't really know what 'love' was. And then I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to string you along anymore than I already was. But now I suppose it doesn't really matter what I say. There were just so many reasons not to before that I just got into the habit of not telling you. But I do love you. I don't think it's possible to feel anything stronger for a person than what I feel for you right now. If that makes sense…"
He smiled. "I love you more than anything. And you know I mean it," I said and he nodded.
I stared up at him as he smiled brightly, his teeth showing, back down at me.
"I fucking love you, Zo," he murmured and I smiled before his lips crashed down on mine. I responded back eagerly instantly, grabbing his face and pulling him closer as his warm hand gripped my waist.
He moaned and then pulled back, breathing heavily.
"We need to stop now, baby," he said, leaning back away from me, his eyes closed.
I took advantage of the position and kissed up his neck. He let out a guttural noise. "Because I'm about two seconds away from fucking your brains out."
I grinned and he slapped his head. "Oh shit. I can't believe I said that out loud. I'm so sorry, I –" I cut him off by pressing my lips to his.
"I'm on the pill."
"Err, what?" he asked breathlessly and I leaned forward, kissing up his neck to his ear.
"I'm. On. The. Pill."
He let out a soft moan. "Oh?"
I nodded, pushing him onto his back. "Yeah. And since we're in love with each other, it doesn't make me a slag for having sex with you."
He swallowed loudly. Very loudly.
Brady's breathing came out shakily as I trailed my hand up and down his abs. Oh, how I love his abs.
"The pill isn't a hundred percent effective," he whispered, chewing down on lower lip.
"It's more than ninety-nine percent effective. And Jared told me he gave you condoms."
I pulled the aforementioned lip out from his teeth with my own and he whimpered. "You're fucking killing me here, Zo."
"I know," I replied, kissing him hungrily.
He pulled back, arching his back to get his face as far away from me as possible. "I think we should wait till you're ready."
"I'm ready?" I repeated, confused. "Unless you've forgotten, I'm not a virgin."
"Ooh," he said, shaking his head. "I haven't forgotten. Believe me," he said, licking his lips, his eyes still closed. "I haven't forgotten at all."
"Explain," I said, still stroking his stomach.
"As much as that was… phenomenal, I haven't forgotten you running away either," he said quickly. "And I don't want it to happen again. Because even if all I can think about is fucking your brains out, I can't make you regret it again because that shit hurts and I can't deal with that. Not again. I don't want make you regret being with me. I want our time together to be special every single time. Not just some quick shag that happened because we were both really horny."
I trailed my finger underneath the waistband of his cut-off jeans. "How horny are you, exactly?"
He let out a whimpering, "Oh god!" before grabbing hold of me and pulling my firmly against him, kissing me with all his might. I moaned at the feeling of his hot skin against mine.
I think it's partly the imprint that just makes everything feel so much better than what it normally would. I know I probably sound like a slut, but you do not know what it's like to have sex with Brady. I'd talked with Jared quite a bit - we were both in the same position. We hadn't really recognised our soul mate for what they were before the imprinting. Jared told me what it's like for the wolf to imprint, not leaving out any of the stuff Brady does. Like the fact that I can't ever go away on holiday or to collage without Brady. But that's okay. I'm not bothered about not going to collage because I love Brady more. And although me and mom don't go on holiday, Kat has this holiday home in Florida that we go to every year... but that doesn't really matter. I don't mind missing out on that. I'd mentioned it earlier to Brady because Kat was talking to her parents about it and he got a horrified look on his face, but he said it was find for me to go for the week or two. So then I went to Jared and he told me it would kill him to be away from each other for so long - he can bairly go half a day without Kim.
"I won't regret it at all," I said between kisses and Brady's hands went to my top, ripping it apart.
That was sexy as hell. His hands found my breasts straightaway and we both let out a moan.
"I didn't regret it last time, I was just overwhelmed," I said as I shrugged off the ripped apart top. He nodded and kissed me hungrily, pushing me onto my back.
How do I even get in these situations?
First, there's that bitch Megan to my left, trying to get Brady's attention and get him to go off with her to talk – where she will then undoubtedly ask him out. And then there's Moose, trying to get me to go talk to her. Then there's Paul, telling me all about how Dean's coming back soon and that he needs to talk to me. Then there's Luke, who's trying to invite me and Moose to this party he's having (he just wants our group to go so that Ava will come; they're getting really close and I feel like such a third wheel on our runs now). Then there's Brady, who's totally oblivious to everything, stroking my back and talking happily to Collin about something. Collin, however, wasn't entirely oblivious to the small chaos that was happening and was smirking at me.
I decided to prioritise everything.
Paul and talking about Dean? Nope. Not important – to the end of the list.
Luke's party invite? Not important in the slightest, we can talk about it tomorrow.
Talking to Moose and talking about what she said yesterday? Important. I want her to know that I'm sticking with Brady.
Stop Megan getting her hands on my Brady? Very important. That slut wasn't going anywhere near him.
So I thought 'hey, why not kill to birds with one stone?'.
"Fuck it all," I said, turning to Brady and pulling at his top so he'd face me. He smiled down at me and I pulled his top down and he bent, raising an eyebrow at me. I practically chucked myself at him, kissing his brains out in the school corridor.
He happily obliged to the kiss, and cupped my cheek with his big hand, the other on the small of my back, pulling me against him.
I pulled back. "Wanna be my boyfriend?" I asked and he grinned, a laugh passing through his glorious lips.
"Oh, yes please!" he replied and I laughed as I wrapped my arms around his neck, his arms wrapping around my waist as our lips met each other's again.
"I thought you were 'just friends'! Megan spat when we eventually pulled apart, her chest heaving up and down with her angry breaths.
"We were," I said honestly and she fumed at me before marching off.
Brady pulled me against him, pressing his lips against the side of my head.
I looked at Moose and we did the talking with our eyes thing. And it wasn't an argument… she understood.
"I'm sorry," she said after a moment and I smiled.
"It's not me that needs the apology," I taunted and she sighed but smiled as I turned, kissed Brady and then took a hold of Collin and Paul, dragging them away.
"Dean gets out in a week," Paul hissed. "We need to talk. I've been trying to get you to talk about this for months now! You can't just leave it!"
Collin looked over my head towards where Brady and Moose were and Paul slapped him around the head.
Collin pouted, rubbing his head as he walked away, glaring at Paul.
"I have nothing to say on the matter," I said, crossing my arms.
He looked at me. "Does your mom know?"
"Sophie's discussed it with her."
"And?"
"Apparently he wants to come back, so it's been arranged for his travel here. He's going to be staying in his old room until he can find something else." Paul nodded. "Which he won't," I added. "Nobody will employ a person who's been in jail for murdering."
"Young offenders," Paul corrected automatically. "And it was in self defence. So yeah, maybe he will get a job."
"I don't care," I said, turning away from Paul, who scoffed unbelievingly.
"Fine. Just wait until you see him. I don't care about trying to help you," he said angrily and stormed of.
Brady's POV.
"We're going to the cinema on Friday," Zoë said casually as she leant back against me as I sat up on her bed.
"Don't I even get a say in the matter?" I teased, as if offended. She turned around so she was still in between my legs but facing me, sitting back on her ankles.
She smiled. "Fine, don't come," she said, shrugging and I panicked slightly.
"Oh, err, no. I don't mind, really…"
She laughed and leaned up, kissing me. "Didn't think you'd mind," she said as she turned back, sitting in between my legs, her back against my chest.
I leaned down, pressing the side of my face against the top of her head.
She smells so damn yummy.
"Moose and Collin are coming," she added and I held in a groan.
It's been a week since that day at school Zoë and I officially got together (hell yeah, baby!) and Moose and I made up; apologising for everything we'd said. So it's not that I don't like her, I just thought that it would be just the two of us. You know, like a date. A proper, actual date. But, oh no, stupid Collin has to be there.
Joy.
"Hey, Brady!" Zoë randomly said as I stroked her hair.
"Yeah?"
"I finally got to print those pictures out of you!" she said happily, pointing at the wall.
I groaned when I saw them. She really liked them for some reason and was having like a mental breakdown earlier because her printer broke. They were right in the middle of her wall.
I buried my face into her hair. "And you wonder why I have no pictures of myself?"
She laughed and slapped my leg.
"You're fucking beautiful and you know it!" she said, turning slightly and tilting her head up, capturing my lips with hers.
I rolled us over so we were on our sides facing each other, our legs entwined. I pushed her beloved hair off her face.
"I love you," she said and I breathed out contently, leaning my forehead against hers.
It still feels like heaven whenever she says that. It gets me every time. It feels like someone's punched me in the gut because I've got so many goddamn butterflies flying around in there.
"I love you, too," I said, smiling happily at her.
I ran my hand up and down the side of her waist, underneath her top. I love the curves between her hips, down to her waist and ribs. And I love how soft her skin is. And her warmth. I mean I know I'm not exactly in the position to be saying that someone else feels warm, but she does. I love it.
I put two fingers under her chin and she lifted her eyes to mine.
"I really, like really do love you. Like, I'm so in love with you," I said and she smiled before I leaned further in, kissing her.
She ran her hand down my naked shoulders and back and I pulled her closer, kissing her with more passion as her nails dragged over my skin.
But after a long moment of some very intense kissing I had to pull back. Zoë groaned and tried to kiss me again.
I laughed, pushing her fallen hair away from her eyes again. "Sorry… Paul's here."
She groaned louder this time, burying her face into my shoulder. I smiled down at her as I rubbed her back.
"Come on," I said, making a move to get up.
Zoë pouted and I whimpered. Because I'm a werewolf and I'm really hard. "Can't we stay here?" she asked and I conceded defeat, nodding, running my fingers over her jutted out bottom lip.
She laughed and I smiled, thinking I'd made her happy. But then I realised that she was just laughing at me. Which is great, really, because the rest of the guys don't take the piss out of us imprinted wolves for being pussy whipped. Now I get her laughing at me too.
"Sorry, but you're just so weak-willed," she said and I suddenly didn't care
about it all because she was smiling up at me with that adorable little smile of hers.
"For saying that, my little Zo-Zo, you are going to have to go downstairs now," I said, kissing her forehead and pulling her off the bed.
She groaned. "Why did I say that?" she muttered and I grinned down at her.
By the time we got downstairs, it wasn't just Paul, Sophie and Zoë's mom Sarah downstairs.
I'd heard him come, obviously, but I didn't really know how to tell Zoë that her brother was back, so I just let it unfold naturally.
Paul and he had a little man hug outside before they walked in.
Zoë and I walked through the doorway just as he came through the front door, but his eyes were on his mother.
"Mom," he said, striding over to her.
"Oh, honey," Sarah said softly, outstretching her hands to him. He took her hands and squeezed them before she moved them along his arms, up towards his face. "You've changed," she whispered, her fingers moving over his face.
He let out a breath before pulling her into a tight hug.
It was such a touching moment that I really felt out of place.
Zoë's arms crossed and I looked down at her to see her frowning angrily at the scene ahead of her.
After quite a few minutes the two pulled apart. "I love you, Mom," he said and Sarah smiled, wiping away a fallen tear.
"And I love you too, Dean."
He smiled and moved a step away, breathing out a breath before he turned worriedly, his eyes connecting with Zoë's.
"Zo…" he said and her glare hardened.
"Don't call me that."
Paul and I made eye contacting and he grimaced.
"I chucked all of your clothes out a couple years ago, by the way," she said, totally guiltlessly. "So you haven't got any here."
"Okay," he said, nodding, his eyes transfixed on hers. "That's okay."
She nodded once before turning to me. "Can we go back upstairs now please?" she asked and I looked nervously between them all, Dean apparently only just realising that I was there.
"Who are you?" he asked quiet bluntly and I cleared my throat quietly, wiping my hand against my jeans before sticking my hand out.
"Brady. It's, err, it's nice to meet you. I'm – I'm her boyfriend."
Why the hell am I nervous of him? Sure, he's killed a person, but I kill vampires as a day job. And it helps that I'm about a foot taller than him. He's kinda short, only a little bit taller than Zoë. He was a bit beefy though, which made him look quite menacing.
But that doesn't change the fact that I could physically take him if he wanted to fight; no matter how strong he is he's only human.
He took my hand, glaring at me. "Dean."
"I'm kind of in love with him so can you, like, try and be civil?" Zoë snapped and I cringed.
"Zo, it's okay," I said to her but she just didn't take any notice of me. Dean didn't seem to like the fact that she didn't care about me calling her 'Zo' but he wasn't allowed to use the nickname.
"Come on," she said suddenly, taking my hand and dragging me off upstairs.
"You're going upstairs together alone?" he asked, incredulously.
Uh, uh, buddy. Wrong thing to say.
She whirled round on him. "Fuck off, Dean! Just fuck off. You haven't been here, you don't know anything, you don't know what anything has been like, you don't even know what mom's been going through because you weren't here! Just fuck off with this caring bullshit, because I really couldn't care less. You've been gone five years, you asshole! You can't just waltzing in through the door pretending like we're a family because we're not!" she shouted. She took the ring off her finger, "And have your shitty fucking ring back!" she chucked it at him, marching off upstairs.
I looked at Dean, who was holding the ring now, looking at the way she'd gone with sad eyes. "Sorry," I mumbled awkwardly and ran after her.
When I got to her room she was just standing in the middle of her room, her fists clenched and her eyes closed. I walked up close to her.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me.
"It's okay," I said softly and she turned into me, her face against my chest, her arms around my waist.
"I had to deal with everything," she said, her sad, but determined voice made me upset. She didn't cry, though. "I needed him here more than I needed him being an asshole killing my father. I didn't want to see that – I didn't want that to happen. There was another way. Does he think that would somehow help my mother? No. She needed him here. She loves him and she needed her son. Nobody benefited from him killing our father. He was so selfish and he got angry and acted violent just like my father! I was the one who had to wake up to our moms screaming fits and me and Dean used to be so close… I just needed him and he wasn't there. I was so alone I just needed my big brother."
I rested my head on hers, pressing my lips against the top of her head for a long kiss. "I'm just so fed up of this all," she whispered. "I want to be normal, not some crazy girl with the fucked up home life. I hate that my whole life is so unstable and I'm dragging you through all of this."
I wrapped my arms more tightly around her and we stayed like that for about ten minutes.
There was no point me telling her that I didn't think she was dragging me through anything, and that I'd happily let her do anything to me as long as it meant I got to be with her. She knows I don't care about her home life, but I can't change how she feels. Well, not yet anyway.
"Thank you," she whispered softly and I leant down, pushing my forehead against hers.
"Don't even mention it," I said and she smiled sadly, leaning up to kiss me.
"I love you."
"I know," I said, grinning proudly and she slapped my stomach, laughing. "I love you, too."
"Take me to see Moose?" she asked and I nodded.
"Hop on!" she smiled as I picked her up, carefully flinging her onto my back before walking downstairs.
We passed the room they were in and Paul looked up at me. I nodded to him and he nodded back.
We left and I heard Dean mumble: "Who the fuck does that punk think he is with his hands on my little sister?"
I tried not to laugh. But I liked that she had someone who cared for her a lot.
"You know," I said as I walked us to Moose's house. "I probably would have liked to hurt your father, should he still be alive, for what he put you and your mother through."
She groaned and I stroked her leg. "It's purely a male protective thing, Zoë. He's your brother and Sarah's his mother. There are a lot of guys who would kill anyone who tried to hurt their family. You can't blame Dean for what he did for the rest of his life. Because he did it to protect you, as well as get justice. He was probably more angry than he'd ever been before. You can't blame him for being so irrational, because let me tell you, when you get that angry it's hard to get control.
"There may have been others ways but this is a sure-fire way of him making sure your father never hurt you or your mother again. And isn't that a little piece at mind for your mom? Now she knows he can never hurt her."
She tightened her arms around my neck. "I hate it when you're logical like this."
"Sorry, baby," I said and she slapped my arm. I groaned and apologised.
She hates it when she sees couples calling each other pet names like 'baby' and 'babe' and 'sweetie'. Apparently it's 'sickening'. It was fine when we weren't together but now she won't let me do it. I seriously will never understand how her mind works.
"So you think I was out of order and over the top to shout at him?" she asked, running her hand through my hair. I bit my tongue to stop from letting out a moan. I love it when she does that.
She thinks it's sooo hilarious and says I'm 'such a dog' every time. But she carries on with it so I'm super happy.
"Nope," I replied, playing with her ankles, which were crossed at my waist. I was sad that she had shoes on so I couldn't touch her feet and toes. Her feet are so soft. And her toes are so adorable. I don't even think it's legal for her to have adorable toes.
"It probably was, though," she said and I shook my head.
"Nope. You've got five years worth of anger and frustration to let out. Might as well get it out straight away and sort it out instead of acting all happy families and having a big blow up later on."
"Why are you so wise at such random times?" she grumbled and I laughed, taking her hand from my shoulders and kissing it before placing it back down.
"You love it."
"Yeah. You're probably a little better than the usual jerks in La Push who can't form a proper sentence."
"It sounds like you're going propose!" I said sarcastically, wiping away an imaginary tear.
"Shut up, you idiot!"
"Sorry, Zoë, but that's really not the best compliment you've ever given me."
"Sorry, Brady, but I didn't realise you needed so many compliments, you emotionally unstable jerk."
I shifted her onto my hip so I was walking with her like a small child. One hand was holding her up from her ass, which made me smile.
"Emotionally unstable jerk?" I asked in offence, pouting.
A smile formed on her face. "You can't go five minutes without pouting, Brady," she laughed and I grinned, biting on the inside of my lip. She's so beautiful. "And yeah, emotionally unstable jerk. Always needing constant reassurance. And I can't even explain why you're a jerk. There are too many reasons," she teased and I huffed.
"Yeah, well, I don't care. And by the way, babe, constant is always so you don't need to say 'always needing constant reassurance', either always or constant will do."
She laughed loudly. "Thanks. Where would I be without you to correct me when I make such horrendous mistakes?"
"I dunno. Probably on the streets or something."
"Probably." She kissed my cheek and I smiled. "Thank you so much."
"I love you, so it's okay. But I'd really like not to have to do it so much. Please get smart, yeah?"
She laughed and I grinned as she leaned in, kissing me. She flung her arms around my shoulders theatrically. "Oh, I love you! Please, please, please marry me!"
I let out a low growl at her teasing. "You say it like that but I'm going to."
She smiled brightly at me. "Oh yeah?"
I nodded, looking at her with hungry eyes.
I don't care how old we are, she's gonna be my fucking wife one day.
"What if I don't wanna get married?" she asked and I halted.
"Why wouldn't you want to get married?" I asked, confused. Hell, I was counting down the days till I could have her babies! Why wouldn't she want to become Mrs. Brady?
"One out of three marriages end in divorce," she said offhandedly as a knife sliced through my heart. "I just don't see the point in it anymore. It doesn't seem to mean anything like it used to."
I'd instinctively brought my hand to cover my heart but I realised that it was still in full piece; it just felt like someone cut it in half.
"You think… you think we wouldn't work?"
Her head tilted to the side until understanding crossed her face. "Oh! Oh, no! Brady, no! That's not what I meant. I'm sorry. Of course I think we'll work."
Her small hands cupped my face. "Really?" I mumbled and she nodded. "Promise?" she nodded again, kissing me softly. "Promise you'll never leave me?"
"Never," she promised, stroking my face. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I don't think marriage symbolises what it used to. People get married all the time, just to get divorced a year later. I don't think you need marriage to prove how you feel about another person. All you need is to know how you feel about each other – not some day where everyone has to dress uncomfortably and spend shit loads of money."
"I suppose so…" I sighed. "But you're a girl, haven't you always dreamed of a big white wedding?"
She shrugged. "Not really. I wasn't ever like that. Plus, I have you, there's nothing else I'd dream of having."
I smiled. Mmm. She sure knows how to make me happy.
"But, isn't it really romantic?"
She smiled at me. "Brady, we're probably the most unromantic people ever."
"But we love each other!" I said, insulted.
"Yeah but we're not going-out-and-buying-red-roses-for-each-other romantic."
I frowned. "Do you want that?"
"God no!" she laughed. "Awkward! I'd find it so weird."
I let out a breath of relief. "Oh thank god." I'd always found it was bit weird, and way too clichéd.
"I know, right?" she laughed and I grinned.
She's so perfect.
"How about when we're older we'll elope and hop down to Las Vegas to get married?"
I grinned. "Promise?"
She nodded and I pulled her tighter against me, kissing her long and hard.
When I realised her lips she looked at me with a dazed smile. "We've made shit-loads of promises today."
I nodded, grinning.
We spent the day at Moose's. And to be fair, now that she's accepted that I'm going to be joined to Zoë's hip, we get on. After a couple threats to my life and manhood should I ever hurt her, she hasn't said anything negative towards me. We're getting on for Zoë and she's an all right girl.
She makes Zoë laugh so I like her.
Eventually, though, Paul called and I took her back to her house. We had a sort of agreement which we made coming up towards Dean's arrival; I was going to help them get back to talking if I thought it's in Zoë's best interest and what she actually wants. And she does want to get closer to her brother. It's plain as day whenever she talks about him. And Paul's Dean's best friend so he was going to help them.
And it was about five now, so I had to go patrol in a little while so I'd had to leave her anyway, so I might as well leave her talking it out with her brother.
"It's going to be awkward, isn't it?" she asked, cringing as we walked back to her house, my arm around her shoulders.
"Yep."
She groaned and I winced. "Sorry."
"What for?" she asked. "It's not like I endorse lying."
"I suppose."
"Plus, it'd be strange if it wasn't awkward."
"But you hate awkwardness."
"I have to get used to it sometime, don't I?" she said and I pulled her closer.
"Or we can run away together and nothing will ever be awkward again?"
"Nice try, Brady, but it's not gonna happen."
I walked her to her door, and she leant against it as I leaned down, kissing her softly.
"I love you," she said and I kissed her again.
"I love you too."
"Goodb-" I cut her off by putting my finger on her lips. She looked at me in amusement, one eyebrow arched.
"Can we not say that? 'Bye'? It always feels so… long-term."
She nodded, smiling. "Okay. I'll see you later."
I grinned at her compliance to the probably stupid request. "Call me later?"
She nodded and reached up, kissing me just as the front door.
Paul and Dean looked at us with equally disgusted faces. I smiled and kissed Zoë's forehead. "See you."
Zoë smiled at me before turning to go inside.
"I don't like that kid," Dean muttered to Paul as Zoë shut the door.
Paul laughed loudly. "Tell me about."
"Ass," I muttered as I walked away and he laughed again.
Okaaay, I only have some small things left to do for this, maybe 3/4 chapters till the end? That plus an epilogue. Is there anything you guys want to happen in this story? I'm always open to requests!
I reread the begining of this and I cringed so badly - I really don't get why so many of you read this. I completely appreciate you all, you're godsends for sticking and reading this.
Thanks to everyone whos reading and reviewing and to everyone who alerted and favourited. I passed the 120 review mark! Anyone fancy helping me bump that up to 150 by the end of this fic? :) Reviews of any sort are welcome, should they be long or short, good or bad, I love them all!
And I have a poll on my profile about future stories, if you're interested in reading any of my other stories.
Thanks again everyone!