Chapter 16: Coming Home

I hurried up the stairs. I could hear Brandon hustling after me, calling my name. I couldn't answer him back right now or I'd break down right then and there. I was in the room and almost had my door shut before Brandon's shoe shot out and stopped it.

"Go away," I say but even those words are cracked.

"No," he says simply and pushes the door open more, stepping into the room and shutting it firmly. I stare at him icily for a moment then turn and walk to my closet.

"What are you doing?" he asks as I pull out my suitcase.

"I'm packing, what does it look like I'm doing," I reply, throwing my suitcase on the bed and proceeding to my clothes drawer. "I don't plan on staying here any longer."

Brandon is silent for a few moments. "Okay, but you do know it's almost 10 o'clock at night, right?"

I throw my shirts into the suitcase. "Yep."

"Gorgeous, stop for a minute," he softly requests but I continue packing as if I hadn't heard him.

"Stella," he grabs my arm from behind to stop my movements, "slow down. I know your upset but-"

I whirl around to face him, not even an inch of space between us. "But what, Brandon? I'm not staying in this damn house for another minute! Were you not down there? Did you not hear what they said to me? Who in their right mind would want to stay with a family like that?!" my voice rose with every sentence. Then I shook my head and breathed in deeply. Why was I yelling at him? He's not the Bad Guy here.

Brandon waited as I got my breathing under control. "I don't want to stay here," I whisper brokenly, more to myself than to him. Brandon stares intently into my eyes before pulling me to his chest. That was it. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore.

We slid to the floor as I released the most disgusting, gut-wrenching sobs known to man. I knew I had snot and all coming from me because that's how it usually is. And I'm getting it all over Brandon's shoulder. Nice job, Stella. But I couldn't help it. Every time I tried to pull myself together I just get assaulted with the comments from my "family" and I turn into a sobbing mess again.

"S-she was r-right you know," I say, hiccupping throughout the sentence. I didn't have to clarify who I was talking about. Brandon already knew.

"Whether she was right or not, you aren't that girl anymore, Stella. And you know for a fact that you aren't weak or being used by me."

I returned to my blabbering cries. It didn't matter if I wasn't that girl anymore. The fact that I was that girl is what disgusts me. For some reason, I can't stop reliving my past. I've been trying to forget all about the stupid mistakes I made with Steven. Now Brandon even knows about it. No matter what he says, I know that he must think of me as that foolish girl, the one who was in love and blind to wrongness of a bad relationship.

I don't remember how, but in the process of my crying I somehow ended up sitting sideways in Brandon's lap with him trying to sooth me rubbing my back and murmuring reassurances. The sound of his voice was so comforting that my sobs eventually turned into quiet sniffles and running tears.

"So," Brandon says, "Do you want to hear a joke?"

"No."

"What's a bear without teeth called?"

I sniffed. "I don't know. A toothless bear?"

"What? That's not even funny."

"Okay, then what is it?"

"It's called a gummy bear! Get it?"

I stayed silent and stifled a smile against his shoulder. The fact that the joke was so not funny was funny to me for some reason. Probably because I know he was trying to distract me from pressing issues.

"Brandon, that has to be the worst joke known to man."

"Really? Fine, how about… what do you call cheese that isn't yours?" He didn't even wait for my reply this time. "Nacho cheese." He chuckled to himself. "Man, I crack myself up."

I couldn't even hide my smile this time. "Everyone knows that one."

"Not everyone," he huffed, like he was actually offended. "What about-"

I sit up straighter in his lap and turn his face to mine. "No more corny jokes."

"They weren't-"

"Brandon, yes they were," I laughed slightly.

He gave up and reluctantly shrugged. "They got you to smile."

My smile faltered slightly at the truth of his words. Not because I didn't enjoy being distracted right now, but because I realized the only person in the world who could get me to laugh at bad jokes would be Brandon. Brandon, the man who didn't judge me for who I was or what I did. Brandon, the man who saw my flaws and insecurities and still thinks I'm worth it. Brandon, the man that… I think I'm in love with. Holy crap!

My eyes started watering slightly at this new discovery. Love is a pretty strong emotion. Not only am I over-whelmed by it, but I can't even tell him about it. It's way too soon to be talking about love. I'll spook him off if I say something now and that's the last thing I want to do. Although there was that one time that we were making up and it seemed like he was about to say it but then he said "like" instead. That's just further proof that he isn't ready for the words to be said yet. Brandon sees my faltering smile and tear-filled eyes and automatically starts thinking the worst.

"Oh, please don't start crying again. The jokes weren't that bad, were they? Flora's the one who told me about them."

I laugh, swiped under my eye, and snuggled back down into his embrace. "You should stop taking joke advice from Flora, then."

"Understood." I feel his cheek lie on the top of my head. "Do you really want to go back home tomorrow?" He asks quietly.

"I can't stay here with them. Not after that. And I especially don't want you around my slutty sister," I mumble.

Brandon coughs awkwardly. "About that-"

I cover his mouth with my hand. "Believe me; I'm pretty sure I know how that went down. I trust you a hell of a lot more than her. I just don't want her around you anymore. Any objections?"

"You definitely won't hear any from me," he replies, his voice muffled by my hand.

I drop it. "Good."

"You know we don't have to go back to North Carolina, right? We could go to the beach or an amusement park or whatever you want before we go back."

I lifted my head, causing him to lift his as well, and say, "Don't act like you aren't dying to get back to Alfea Corporations."

He smiled. "Okay, maybe I'm itching to know how Sky's been running things for the last couple of days but I'm more interested in having a good vacation. With you."

My heart warmed at his thoughtfulness. How had I not known how crazy I was for this man before? He's done a lot for me so I'm going to return the favor.

"You're too sweet but I'm pretty homesick already. Can we just go back?" Brandon nods with an accepting face but I can see the happiness in his eyes. Alfea Corporations is like his baby. He doesn't like leaving it for long, but he was willing to stay away a little while longer for me. That's all I needed to know.

"Looks like we're going back then."

I laid my head back in the nook of his neck. "Good." I unsuccessfully stifled a yawn that Brandon, of course, noticed.

"How about you get some rest? We'll have to get up pretty early in the morning again." I couldn't argue him on that. I stood up and helped him up as well.

"See you in the morning. Set your phone alarm for… 5? Yeah, we better do 5 because you take like 30 minutes just to take a shower."

I lightly punch his stomach. "I do not."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not good to lie to yourself, Gorgeous." Smiling crookedly, he kissed my forehead softly and stepped back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say and bit my lip. I'm really tempted to ask him to stay; I didn't want to be alone. But before I could work up the courage to do it he was out of the door.

We left my old home a little after six. I guess Brandon was right about how long I take to get ready. I left a note taped to the guest room door for my father to find so he'll know we left. I didn't even want to leave that but Brandon said we should anyway. Just because.

It was a quiet ride so far, Brandon driving again. I was going to argue that he said I could drive back but I was still tired so I let him win this time. I fell asleep for most of the ride. I told Brandon to wake me up when were close to home. He did just that once we were on my street.

"Whoa, I slept the whole six hours back?" I questioned as we pulled up to my apartment.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you didn't get a good night's sleep last night though."

I nod my head. That was true. I got maybe four hours of sleep last night because there were so many thoughts running through my head. I turned to Brandon now.

"So, what are you going to do after you leave here?"

He shrugs. "I might stay here with you or maybe go back to my place and see how housekeeping has been since I left..."

"You know, I've still never seen your house." Brandon paused to think about.

"Whoa, you're right. We'll have to change that soon but for now, let's get you settled."

"Stella! Oh, how I've missed you," Bloom over-dramatically exclaims as she crushes me in a bear hug. I laugh (as much as I could) and pat her back lightly.

"I've only been gone for like two days."

Bloom releases me and steps back with a slight frown on her face. "Exactly. Not that I'm not excited to see you or anything, but why are you back five days early?"

"It's a long st-"

"Her family is as terrible as you told me, Bloom," Brandon interrupts as he brings in the last of my luggage. "They were beyond terrible, actually."

Bloom's eyes widened. "Seriously? What did they do?"

"I...I don't really want to talk about it now. I'll tell you later," I told her, going for a reassuring smile to show her that I was stable. She looked a little skeptical but nodded.

"I expect full details later, then."

Brandon's phone goes off. He answers, "Woods," in his business-like tone. He listens intently for a moment, glances at me, and then says, "I'll see what I can do."

He hangs up and looks at me apologetically. "It's Sky. I called him earlier in the car when you were asleep to let him know that we're coming back early. He wants me to go over there to see a few things that I miss-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up," Bloom lifted a hand. "You just got back and you're already going back to work? What's the deal?"

I shoved Bloom lightly and turned back to Brandon with a smile. "Go ahead. I know you're dying to see how you left things."

"Are you sure?" Brandon asked. I nodded my head and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be fine. But I did want to talk about something before you go." I turn to Bloom and give her a pointed look. "Bloom, can you give us a minute?"

She rolls her eyes. "You two can't talk outside?" Seeing my narrowed glare, she rolled her eyes again and went to her room. She's such a drama-queen.

Now my full attention is on Brandon. "I never properly thanked you for being the awesome boyfriend that you are."

"Hmm. I don't believe you have," he teased.

I grin and throw myself at him in a hug. "Seriously. Thank you for everything. I don't think I would've survived that visit without you," I groaned out the last sentence like it would've been the hardest task in my life.

"I'm pretty sure you would've found a way. But the gratitude is much appreciated." He pulls back and grazes my cheeks with the pad of his thumbs. "I really hate seeing you cry."

I lean into his touch and find myself wanting him to stay again. Why does this man give me so many conflicting emotions? "Hey, how about you come over tomorrow night for dinner and a movie? I'll make lasagna," I tempted him using his favorite food as bait.

He mulled it over for a moment and then gave me a cheeky smile. "You had me at 'come over'," he murmured before giving me a kiss that would leave me breathless for days.

A/N: Thanks for all the support and reviews. You guys are awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwesome!

So this wasn't my best chapter but it sets things back in motion for the future. I know I said Flora and the others were going to make an appearance but I thought it would be better to have Brandon and Stella settled back in and then take a head start into that drama.

Do you think the family drama is over? What do you think of Stella's reaction? What do you think of Brandon's support? Most importantly, what do you think will happen next? I think I should give you a fair warning that the Steven issue isn't quite gone yet ;-)

I have to know if you liked it or disliked it so I'll know what direction to take this story in but the only way I'll know that is if you review...

So...Review!