Beautiful Deception

I eye the bottle skeptically, before looking back up at Brian. He's smirking, as if the thought of corrupting a child amuses him. I wouldn't put it past him though. He seems like the kind of guy who would get an innocent girl drunk for some not so innocent fun. That makes a quick shudder run down my spine. I've lost my innocence sure, but that doesn't mean I don't like to pretend that I still have it. And, for some reason, Brian seems like an eminent danger to it.

"I don't drink," I tell him curtly, folding my arms across my chest and angling my head away from him. I will not be a victim. Not again.

"Why not? Someone with a stick up their ass like you needs to get wasted every once in a while," he informs me.

"I'm not going to respond to that," I tell him, realizing that I'm the only one who has the ability to be somewhat mature in this situation.

"Oh, I see," Brian says with a smirk. "I don't know you[/i/], right?" The high, mocking tone in his voice makes me grimace.

I hold up my middle finger in a sign that his antics do nothing but piss me off. Brian's up and moving from the couch before I notice he's moved. He plops down right beside me and grabs my middle finger in his hand, using it to yank my body towards him. "Watch it," he hisses, bending my finger backward with just the right amount of pressure to make me squirm. A dark look comes across his face and he smiles grimly. "You don't know all the things I can make you do with this finger."

I try to to remain calm, cool, and collected on the outside. But, on the inside, I'm shaking horribly. I know exactly what he's referring to. The last time it happened, it was nothing less than agonizing. It made me feel dirty. And, the thought that Brian would do that too made me lash out in a sudden yet random act of violence.

The clenched fist of my other hand made contact with the side of Brian's face. I could tell that it didn't hurt him much, but it was enough to get him to release my finger in order to touch his cheek. He hardly looked like he was in pain. Still, I didn't take the time to really measure up his reaction. I jump up from the couch and try to make my way to the front door. Brian grabs my arms and spins me around to face him.

"What the hell was that?" He demands. He doesn't sound very angry, just confused and slightly annoyed.

"You were threatening me," I answer. Brian chuckles and rolls his eyes.

"l was playing around, don't flatter yourself," he says. My face immediately begins to heat up. The way he said it, so calmly with the subtle hint that he was laughing at me on the inside, made me incredibly embarrassed. He eyes me curiously, like I'm mentally insane. Maybe I am.

"Sorry," I mumble. I glare down at the floor, blinking furiously. I can feel the sting of tears peppering the corner of my eyes. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Hey, don't cry," Brian says. He takes hold of my chin in his hand and lifts my face up. I do everything in my power to not let my wandering eyes meet his.

Strangely enough, his voice sounds somewhat gentle. It confuses me. I really do not know what to think about Brian. One minute he's a complete jack ass, making jokes that put me in defensive yet embarrassing positions. And, the next minute he's trying to comfort me. I honestly cannot keep up.

"I'm not crying," I whisper. Brian gives me a 'Yeah, right' look and rolls his eyes.

"Why are you so damn stubborn all the time?" He asks me, letting go of my chin rather roughly. Again, I don't know what to think of him.

He just scoffs when I don't answer. "I try to be nice and all I get is a bitchy attitude. You're very stubborn."

Previously, even though Brian had let go of my face, I hadn't noticed how close we were standing. Once realizing this, I immediately step back.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," I tell him turning to walk away.

Brian grasps my wrists, and yanks hard. "So you're just going to walk away from your problems?" He asks me after I whip my head around to glare at him.

"Right now, I don't have a problem," I tell him haughtily.

"I'm your problem."

I just blink at him. Usually that phrase he just used is used in a different context. Shouldn't I be the one to tell him that? Not the other way around?

"You're the least of my problems," I inform him.

Brian frowns slightly. "Well, then I guess we'll have to fix that."

I pull my wrist out of his grip. "Is that a threat this time or are you 'just joking'?"

Brian simply smirks. "Well, what's the fun in telling you now?" With that he walks away, leaving me gaping after him.

I don't know how long I stood there watching in the general direction where Brian had disappeared to, wondering what I'm going to do about him. It must've been a while though, because the sound of the front door opening and closing startled me.

Knowing immediately who it is, I run and launch myself into his arms. I hear the clatter of something falling to the floor, whatever Nick must've dropped in an effort to catch me.

"Well, someone's excited to see me," Nick says smugly, trying to put me down.

I refuse to relinquish my hold around his neck, and instead wrap my legs tighter around his waist. "I don't like him," I complain, burying my face in his shoulder.

Nick sighs and squeezes me gently. "I know, Riley. But, we'll figure things out. And, hopefully things with Brian will get better." He kisses the side of my neck, and I giggle. "But, for know you've got to get down."

"Why? I like it here."

"I like you there too, but I have some stuff to do." Reluctantly, I untangle myself from around his body and drop to the floor. He takes my chin in his hand and kisses me, briefly slipping his tongue in my mouth. He pulls away immediately after and I pout, causing him to laugh.

"I hate you!"

"Hate is a very strong, passionate emotion," he says playfully.

"You're such a loser," I say with a grin.

"That may be so," he says leaning down to pick up the brown paper bag that he'd been previously carrying. "But, you're the one who fell in love with me, so that makes you an even bigger loser.

I stick my tongue out at him because clearly he's won this round. "So, what's in the bag?" I ask eagerly, skipping alongside him as he makes his way to our room.

"Nothing," he answers teasingly.

"Nick," I whine. "Tell me!"

"You'll find out soon enough," is all he says. He puts the bag down and grabs me by the legs, swinging me over his shoulder. He drops me down on the couch, and holds my shoulders down firmly.

"Stay here, I'll come get you when I'm done."

"Done doing what?"

Nick just lets go of me and winks before leaving. I debate following after him, but decide against it. If he wants to play sneaky, then fine, I'll humor him. But, the anticipation of what's going on is killing me. I ran over all the possibilities in my head until my brain got too exhausted to think, and I fell asleep.