Sweetie You Had Me

A fragile sunbeam fell onto Julie’s sickly features. It came from a rogue break in the clouds on that Friday morning that was too small to be really noticed, but the light’s sudden brightness stirred her eyes and they blinked timidly as she began to wake. She sat up, not with ease, mind you. Her greasy light brown locks shown in the sunlight that burned onto her skin. She squinted in annoyance and rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust them to the sudden brightness. For a moment the past six months felt like a mere dream to her. It felt like there was nothing she had to worry about and there was nothing to be afraid of.

But then she looked around the room she sat in and realized she was exactly where she had been the past three days. The window surprised her, being that the warehouse was full of vampires. The warehouse was like the gates of hell to Julie. It wasn’t quite the worst place to be, but it sure came pretty darn close. Why? The warehouse was a constant reminder of how many people she had managed to indirectly hurt or kill by being associated with them. She thought of Jon and Marisa, but mostly Brendon and Ryan. Sure, their lives sucked before Julie, but it seem that she had managed to make them worse. She saw what they were willing to do for her, and it just wasn’t fair to them.

Julie sighed and stood. She started to walk out of the room weakly. She had recovered pretty decently over the past few days, but she was still sore in a few places. She stayed in the same position for a very long time in the Dandies’ mansion and her muscles were not willing to reposition without putting up a very convincing fight.

She guessed it had to be about ten in the morning because when she walked out of the room, Andy and Joe were sitting at the table eating stale lucky charms. They really needed to go shopping. They both looked up at her as she walked out of the room with interest. She hadn’t been seen walking around for awhile and she imagined she must have looked pretty foreign to them. She had grown a few shades more pallid even though she had dark circles under her eyes. Her face seemed to lack any form of emotion of feeling, and her eyes were empty. Scratches and bruises covered her body, and they were exceptionally more noticeable because she had grown so pale. Her hair was not styled and it was tangled, but it appeared to be shiny because of how greasy it was. She hadn’t had a chance to take a shower because this was the first time she had actually stood up after her encounter with William. She honestly didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment, but Brendon would want to know she was awake.

Andy and Joe sent closed mouth smiles her way, probably because their mouths were full. Julie returned the favor. “Morning,” she said quietly. They waved at her. Andy swallowed.

“Brendon’s talking to Pete in the weight room if you’re looking for him,” He told her with a smile. Julie thanked him and went on her way to go see Brendon. Julie walked into the room to find a surprising scene waiting for her. Brendon wasn’t with Pete at all, he was in fact alone, shirtless and throwing states at the target covered wall like he was playing a very intense game of darts. Julie suddenly became very aware of how horrible she looked and wrapped her arms around herself insecurely. Brendon seem like the type that worked out, but it was apparent that he was as she couldn’t help but noticed he was pretty toned in the arms and abs area. It wasn’t like he was a god or anything, she couldn’t even see the beginnings of any sort of pack, but it was definitely pleasing to her eye. She cleared her throat awkwardly; mostly because of the places her mind was beginnging to wander, but also because he hadn’t noticed her yet. She found this extremely odd because he could usually pick up on her pretty quickly when she entered a room. He must have been really engrossed in his stake throwing.

Brendon did turn around, however, immediately after she coughed. His face was covered in sweat, and his hair was damp. He smiled at her so broadly, she found herself feeling a happiness build in her stomach that she hadn’t felt for a long time. She couldn’t help but return the smile, even though she didn’t even want to know how ugly and disgusting her teeth looked. He came up to her immediately and leaned in to placed a kiss on her lips, but she moved her head to the side so the kiss ended up on her cheek. He leaned back and looked at her curiously. “You don’t want to get anywhere near these teeth,” she warned him, pointing to her mouth in disgust. He laughed, and her heart did a flip inside her chest. She missed him so much.

“Sleep good?” he asked her with a goofy grin on his lips. Julie nodded with a small smile. She was so in love with him right now. He didn’t care to ask her about how terrible it was in that dungeon, or how bad he wanted to kill William. He was allowing her to believe it never happened for just one conversation, and she was so grateful for it.

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear me come in,” she told him what she had been wondering. He laughed, admiring how observant she was.

“I was listening to Pete,” he admitted not even a little sheepishly. “I’m not a very good multi-tasker,” he told her, smiling wide.

“Oh,” she replied with a smile. There was nothing particularly funny about what Brendon had just said, but Julie was so happy to just be talking to him, so imagined that was why she was in such a good mood. Brendon just had that effect on her. It was like some kind of magic power he had. He could make virtually anyone happy with just one silly joke or one crack of a smile. Well, everyone except Pete. “Well, I just came to tell you I was awake,” she told him, getting to the core point of her search, even though she now realized she probably would’ve looked for him even if he didn’t care whether she was dead or alive because he just made her happy. “I’m going to take a shower,” she told him with a smile. She started to walk away, but he grabbed her hand. He spun her around and kissed her full on the lips, passionately and desperately.
Julie broke away after trying to ignore the initial shock and pleasure, remembering how horrible her breath must have been. She tried not to breathe heavy as they stood in pretty close proximity for a while. “A cold one,” she added with a slightly more pleased smile than she had worn before. Brendon laughed.

“let me know when you’re done,” They both chuckled, and Brendon let go of Julie’s hand. She walked away from the weight room and ventured back into the kitchen area. She smiled at Joe and Andy, having newfound energy (wonder where that cam from).

“Have you guys seen Ryan anywhere?” Julie asked. She was in search of shampoo and toothpaste, and she knew Ryan would have it because he was a girl in disguise. Joe pointed to the living room, where a lazy Ryan sat in front of the television set. She said a quiet thank you before walking over to Ryan. She was much happier now that she had seen Brendon, but she still felt pretty sore, everywhere. A warm shower was exactly what she needed.

Julie sat down next to Ryan on the couch in a rather exaggerated manner to announce her presence. Ryan looked at her with a curious expression, but you could see a hint of a smile on his lips. “Ry, do you have-” he stopped her in mid sentence. It was weird how she forgot how Ryan had mind reading capabilities and super ears, but when Brendon didn’t notice her she automatically went there.

“In the bathroom next to my room,” he smiled knowingly at her. Julie glared slightly because of his interruption. She decided she would mock him to pay him back.

“Thanks, girl friend,” she giggled sarcastically and winked at him playfully. He rolled his eyes, but he smiled as well. Julie was glad to be back with the people she loved.