The day after Thanksgiving, the infamous Black Friday, instead of going shopping at a completely unreasonable time in the early morning like every other female in America, I stayed home with my brother and had a Star Wars movie marathon. Geeky? Maybe. But totally worth it.
Especially when the doorbell rang at 10 AM and I saw Brady's SUV in the driveway.
"I'll get it," I told Collin, passing the popcorn bowl to over to him. Grinning at the unexpectedness of Brady's arrival, I skipped towards the door.
After flinging open the front door, a little too enthusiastically, I saw Brady standing on our porch, a playful smile on his lips. "Hey." I smiled at him and gave him a hug. "How's it going, partner?"
He laughed. "It's going fine. What are you and Collin up to today?"
"Star Wars movie marathon. Care to join?" I asked, knowing full well that he'd agree.
"Hell yes," Brady said, pumping his fist into the air and walking through the door. He was such a goof ball, but that only endeared him to me even more. "Which episode are you on?"
"Episode two: Attack of the Clones," I answered, leading him to the game room in the back of our house where Collin was waiting.
"Sweet. That's my favorite one," Brady grinned again, his eyes sparkling. Brady had such a devilish smile all the time as if he was always thinking something mischievous.
"Well, let's get to it then," I teased, and we both ran to the game room.
"Hey," Collin called, giving a Brady a high five. "What're you doing here?"
Brady shrugged. "I was bored. All the girls I know are out shopping today, and it seems like all the guys are either on patrol or with family, so I figured I'd come and see my two favorite people."
"Oh, Brady, you're going to make me blush," Collin joked and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it's good that you're here. I'm starting to get sick of Catie's comments about how cute Anakin and Padme are together," he grinned.
"What? You have to admit they're such an adorable couple. They were friends when they were kids but then they were separated for awhile because of whom they were and what was going on around them. But now they've been thrown back together again and are having this secret relationship because their love is forbidden. It's just so cute," I defended and realized with a start that I sounded like Maryse, which made me want to laugh.
"I don't think you actually want to watch this movie because of their 'cute relationship,'" Brady countered, imitating the tone of my voice. "I think you just like looking at Anakin."
"Alright, fine, you got me. But a girl has to get something out of living in a guys' world, don't you think?"
As Brady was about to respond, Collin stood up and grabbed the popcorn bowl next to my leg. "While you two argue about Catie's reasons for liking Star Wars, I'm going to get some more popcorn." He rolled his eyes again and as he walked out of the room and down the hall, I could hear the unpopped kernels rattling in the empty bowl.
"So.." Brady said somewhat awkwardly, not sure if he should pick up our banter where Collin broke it off or just let it go.
"So," I responded, giving him a small smile. His hair had gotten longer in the last week or so, I noticed, as he blew it out of his eyes. He sat on the floor and leaned up against the couch. I sat next to him, and he wrinkled his nose.
"What? Do I smell bad or something?" I asked in response to his odd face.
"Well, you kinda smell like bloodsuckers."
"I do? I ran into them at the mall two days ago ,and since then I've taken two showers and I'm wearing completely different clean clothes. I didn't think it was possible for me to still smell like them."
Brady shrugged. "The smell takes forever to go away, stupid leeches. So who did you run into?"
"Edward, Bella, and Renesmee."
Brady paled suddenly. "Three of them? Were you alone?"
"No, Collin was with me," I said. He still had a weird worried look on his face. "What's the matter?"
"I just don't like the idea of you being around them. I mean, I guess I don't have to that much to worry about because you are a wolf and all. But you're still so inexperienced and you've only ever met vampires that once. It just scares me to think of how easily they could hurt you, if they wanted to."
I stared at Brady. I couldn't think of the last time I'd heard him say something so serious and thoughtful and caring. "Brady, I can take care of myself."
He laughed a short laugh. "Yeah, I know. But it still freaks me out. Can you promise me something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"If you run into them again, and you're by yourself or with Summer and Maryse, text me so I can be wherever you are, in case things go bad, okay?"
I snorted. "Brady, honestly. That seems a bit-"
"Extreme? Maybe, yeah. But vampires- even relatively good ones like the Cullens- can become evil in a matter of seconds. I've seen it happen. And I just… I couldn't- none of us could bare to have something bad happen to you, especially not if we could have prevented it."
I hadn't heard Brady trip on words or falter when he was talking to someone ever. It was starting to weird me out about. "What do you mean?"
"Catie," he said exasperatedly. "You're my best friend. I could hardly stand to lose you." My expression went from a hopeful one to a sad one. Would we only ever be best friends? That hardly seemed fair. He began to talk again after noticing my sudden sullen expression. "And you know what? Even more than you just being my best friend, I really kinda like you."
Even though that what I had wanted to hear, I wasn't at all expecting it. Suddenly, the butterflies started to flutter in my stomach, making me feel giddy and also a bit cautious. "Really? I guess that's good because I kinda like you too. A lot. "
Brady laughed nervously and tucked my loose bangs behind my ear. I had never seen him so uneasy and unconfident. "Well, now that we have those silly words out the way…" he grinned, and as his face leaned closer to mine, I saw his normal self returning, which made me relax a bit more as his lips softly brushed mine. I had been kissed by guys before, but this was different. This felt real and more exciting than anything else I'd experienced. Once he pulled his head back and grinned at me, all I could say was "Whoa."
He laughed again, and I would've done anything to keep him laughing, to keep him happy. I was about to lean in to kiss him again when I heard Collin's footsteps as he entered the game room. Brady and I straightened, giggling anxiously, as Collin plopped down on my right side, squishing me between himself and Brady.
"So what'd I miss?" he asked, picking up the remote and pointing it at the DVD player.
"Nothing," Brady and I said in unison as the movie came back on. Collin shrugged, not noticing anything as my insides turned to mush and my head started spinning, and I felt happier than I'd felt in a really long time.