SugarDaddy

"Can't I just slap the bitch? Just once, Nattie, please." Eddie begged from behind me as I paid the cashier at the Starbucks stand before turning to face him, giving him a look. "Come on! Bitch needs to be put in place," he huffed.

I shook my head. "Eddie just shut up, please." I said taking my change and walking to a table. "I don't want Michelle to have another reason to hate me. Slapping her would make her a problem for the both of us." I sighed as I sat down.

"She became my problem when she started to talk shit," he spoke with a glare.

"Just forget it, please." Eddie sighed as he stared at me. "All I want to do is enjoy today and forget about her," I gazed down at the bags I had in my hand, filled with clothes and accessories I had bought from stores in the mall we were in.

All I wanted to do was forget everything Michelle said to me at the beach. I just want to forget how inferior, insecure and disgusted I felt about myself; how repulsed I was. Of course I had the girls to back me up but hugs and sweet words could only do so much. The damage was done. She had succeeded in making me feel crappy about myself compared to Valary.

"Fine, but once we get back to the studio I'm whipping out the Bitch Fit Card, okay?" He pointed a finger at me. I laughed giving him a nod.

With the little money Matt had given me I was able to go shopping and take Eddie with me. And I emphasis little because the amount he had given me was no where near little, in fact it was quite the opposite. With much convincing from Matt I decided today was a good day to have 'me time' and take Eddie out shopping. We didn't want to drive all the way to L.A just to go shopping so we went to the next best thing. The mall in New Port Beach.

And of course, Eddie being Eddie, isn't going to leave the mall until I use the money to buy a new wardrobe. Luckily, I had enough to pay bills and stock up on food for the house.

After a few more moments of silence our orders we called up and we gathered our drinks before walking off. We went to random stores: Holister, Forever 21, Wetseal, Pacsun and many more that I would have never gone into if it were not for Eddie.

As we walked past a store as gasped as he faced a mannequin that was in the display case wearing a very cute outfit. "Oh my gosh, Nattie lets go in here!" Eddie exclaimed as he gripped my arm and dragged me into the store. "Look at all these clothes!" He cried.

I looked around quite impressed with the selection they had. Everything from dresses to lingerie, not that I would be buying any, but they had a variety of clothing. I found myself pulling tops off of racks and trying them on, loving almost every one I picked out. A big plus was that everything was for larger sized women, something you don't really see. I rarely see a store dedicated to plus sized women, so it was refreshing to find this.

"What's this place?" I asked picking up another shirt.

"A big girl's heaven, hunny. This is Torrid." He said as he looked through racks, pulling out tops hand handing them to me, forcing me to try them on. I did as he told and dress into the clothes he gave me. "Show me what'cha got, baby."

"Okay, but don't laugh."

He scoffed. "Do I ever laugh at you?"

"All the time!" I laughed from the stall. I heard him giggle from the other side as he continued to look through clothes.

"Hurry up already! By the time we're done with this store the fashions will be out!" I laughed as I unlocked the stall and stepped out in an outfit I managed to put together myself, something I don't usually do - at least not with parental supervision.

"What do you think?" Eddie turned away from a a dress he was looking at and smiled when his eyes landed on me.

"Aw, Nattie." He awed as he looked me up and down. "You look gorgeous, baby." He clapped his hands. "Get it," he said before picking the dress off the rack and stepping in front of a mirror, pressing the dress against his chest and sighing. "Why can't I be a chubby girl?"

The other women in the store chuckled at his words.

"Ugh, and so the wrong color." He made a face as he put it back.

I laughed out loud at his actions. "Eddie, I think it's the wrong sex." He turned to face me giving me one of his 'snap snaps' before picking out the same dress but in a different color, this time holding it against me.

"Ohh, this is totally your color." He grinned, placing it on a small pile of clothes I was going to buy.

"Why do I need a dress?" I looked at the dress then back at him to see that he was already picking out a pair of heels to go with it. "Do I even need a dress? Where am I gonna go, I don't even have plans." I spoke with a confused voice has he picked up a pair of slingback heels in my size, adding them to the pile.

"Hunny, somewhere inside you is a sad, lonely boy who is confused with his sexuality." He spoke seriously as he looked into my eyes. "Only a real woman would know that she should always have a dress on hand just incase she has to go out. And when the guy compliments it she can say, 'oh, what, this old thing?' and give a good impression."

"Shut up!" I smacked his arm as I laughed. He chuckled and stuck his tongue out at me as Kelly Clackson's My Life Would Really Suck Without You began to play from his back pocket. He swayed his hips from side to side doing a little jig before retrieving the phone and answering it.

Another treat I got myself and Eddie was a cellphone. He was happy to finally be able to have one and I was happy to finally able to ditch the cheap pre-paid phone I had and get myself a cool new one.

As Eddie spoke to whoever was on the other end I gathered all the clothes I wanted to buy and paid for them, my eyes almost popping out of my head when I found out how much we had spent. Thank God for Matt, I still had enough to last me for the next month until my next 'payday'.

"Okay, I'll call you later babe. Love you too, bye." He said sweetly as he hung up his phone, grinning widely. "Look," he held his phone up. "I have a phone. I finally have a phone, can you believe it? Look, it's plays songs!" He exclaimed happily.

I smiled as I picked up one bag and handed it to him, picking up to other to carry. "Okay, where to?" I asked as I began to walk out of Torrid, reminding myself to come back when I wanted to go shopping again.

"Let's sit down, my feet are killing me!" He complained as we neared a table with three chairs. I happily agreed as I sat down in a chair, letting my bags fall to the ground as an exhausting sigh left my lips.

"I am never going shopping with you again," I moaned as I looked down at my feet that felt as if they had swollen. He chuckled and shook his head.

"You haven't seen nothing yet, wait until Christmas - or your birthday."

"Dear God," I spoke fearfully making him laugh. He began to dig around his pockets, pulling out a dollar and fifty cents and handing it to me.

"Get me a water, yeah?"

"Sure." I stood up from my seat and began to make my way towards a vending machine, which happens to be on the upper level. Hallelujah for escalators and lazy people like me. I hummed a tune as I thought over my day and how much fun I was having with Eddie and not really having to worry about anything, but of course the occasional Michelle thought popped into my mind but I simply brushed it aside and continued on with my humming.

I made it up to the upper level and put the change in and pressing a button. After retrieving the water is when I realized I too was thirsty and dug up some change and bought myself one.

I sighed happily as I picked it up and spun around only to come face to face with someone I didn't expect to see.

"Brian?"

"Hey," he spoke coolly as he gave me a small wave.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I looked around once I realized he was here and Michelle could possibly be too but there was no one familiar around, just him. "Are you by yourself?"

"Yeah," he scratched the back of his head. "Michelle is still mad at me about the argument we got in and is at her mom's place, so I decided to get something for her hoping it will get her to calm down." He said looking down at the Bath&Body Works bag he had in his hand. I instantly felt bad for him once I remembered the fight they got in at the beach after her little outburst.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"For getting you in trouble with her, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- "

"No," he shook his head. "Natalie, there is no reason for you to be sorry. If anyone should it's Michelle. What she did was out of line and uncalled for and it pissed me off. No one deserves that, especially you." He spoke with a serious voice, his dark brown eyes boring into my light brown ones. "I still can't believe she did that," he said with a sigh.

"Brian, if there's anything I can do- "

"No, there's nothing you can do." He said. "There's nothing you have to do or be forced to do. You do what ever the hell you want and ignore the shit people say," he spoke honestly. "You seem like a really cool girl, Nat, don't let people like... like Michelle make you feel like you have to change the way you look to be accepted."

I nodded my head as I glanced at the ground remembering how I felt when Michelle called me out in front of everyone about my weight. How exposed and insignificant I felt.

"Let me make it up to you," he puckered up. "Let me take you out for dinner, an apology dinner." He said with a smile.

I shook my head. "I-I don't know Brian," I chuckled.

"Come on, one." He held up one finger. I smiled and shook my head again.

"I really shouldn't," I smiled. "But, I gotta go... talk to you later." I said as I stepped around him only to have him step in front of me, making me laugh. "Move Brian," I side-stepped to the left only to have him step in front of me again.

"Have dinner with me," he said as he looked down at me with a smirk, a mischievous glint in his eyes. I laughed and shook my head again. "Alright, I guess we'll be at this all day."

I attempted to side-step him again as fast as I could but he was much faster then me and was a step ahead- literally. I ended up running into his chest. "Brian!" I exclaimed as I punched his shoulder but he wasn't phased by it. "Move, now!" I demanded.

"Ohh, I love it when a woman takes control." He snickered. I laughed out loud again as I continued with my feeble attempts, each time I ended up pumping into him. "I won't move until you agree to have lunch with me." He shook his head as he crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders in a I don't even know why you're trying manner.

"Brian, seriously, I have to go." I tried to speak with a serious voice as I gave him an angry look but my laughter gave me away only making his smirk widen. "But seriously, I gotta go."

"Nope," he stepped in front and closer to me. "Not until you agree to have dinner with me." He chuckled. "Dinner, breakfast, lunch, brunch, dessert - anything."

"I don't- "

"You're not going anywhere and I'm not leaving until you say yes. So it's either give in now, or we continue with this game - that I'll win of course and you'll end up agreeing to the dinner in the end." He gave me a look that said he knew he was right. Hell, even I knew he was right.

"Fine!"

"Yes!" He threw he arms up in the air as if he made a goal, a large smile on his face. "I'll call Matt and find out where you live from him. I'll pick you up at 7:30, 'aight? Wear what ever you want," he dropped his arms and smiled softly at me. "-you look beautiful in anything." I smiled and blushed as he stepped away from me and began to walk away.

"Wait, today?" I called out but he just kept walking. "Brian!"

"That's my name!" He waved me away as he disappeared around a corner.

"You gotta be kidding me," I shook my head as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out to see Eddie was calling me. I answered it only to have him yell to me about how he was dying of dehydration because nobody loved him and was on the brink of death in the middle of no where.

I made my way back down the escalator and to the table to find Eddie laying on the floor, wheezing. I laughed as I stepped over him and sat in my seat. "Eddie, get up."

"Can't... no more water...," he said softly.

"Fine, I won't tell you what happened with Brian then." I shrugged my shoulders and in a flash Eddie was off the floor and in his seat throwing question at me. I explained what happened as I went to get the waters and the apology dinner Brian was taking me to.

"7:30?" Eddie looked down at his phone, his eyes widening. "Holy shit, time to go!" He exclaimed as he jumped up, picking up his bags. "Come on, we gotta go if we want to get you ready!"

"Already? Why?"

"It's almost six, get your ass up and lets go!" I did as he said and soon we were running through the mall and out into the parking lot, hopping into a car Matt had let me borrow for the day to go out and take Eddie shopping.

We talked, joked, sang and gossiped as we made our way home. Eddie excited that I was going to go on a date with Brian, but I told him it was just a friendly dinner, but of course he refuses to believe it.

We got home at 6:15 and I was pushed into the bathroom by Eddie who began to put together an outfit for me and gather make up. I quickly shampooed, conditioned my hair and shaved my legs before stepping out and drying my hair with blow-dryer. Once it was dry Eddie came in and straightened my hair and curling the ends, framing my face with my bags and then moving onto my make up, giving my what he called a natural look.

Once out of the bathroom and done with my hair and make up I looked at the clock to see it was 7:15 and hurriedly put on the outfit Eddie put together for me. I smiled once I realized it was the same outfit the mannequin in Torrid was wearing.

It was a gold-white-black top with dark skinny jeans, a dark blue jacket, a black and white scarf, gold slip-ons and a new purse I bought. To put it simple the outfit was gorgeous and something I would never be able to put together without Eddie's help.

After dressing into the new clothes Eddie sprayed me with my new Victoria Secret body spray, spaying all over me. "Eddie, I think I'm good!" I laughed as I took the bottle from him. Before he could do anything the doorbell began to ring. "That's be him."

"Oh I so wanna meet him!" He exclaimed quickly walked to the door. "So who is this one again?"

"Michelle's husband," I frowned.

"Bunny?!"

"Bunny?"

"That cutie chef with the crazy hair?" His eyes widened. I laughed and nodded my head as I opened the door to be greeted by a pretty good looking Brian. Eddie let out a 'wooh!' from behind me.

He was a navy blue button up shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows revealing his colorful tattoos and the top buttons undone. He wore dark blue almost gray jeans and his Nike's. His hair was done in it's usual crazy way and he had a hint of Old-Spice on him.

"Hey," he smiled and he looked me up and down. "You look good," he nodded his head. I thanked him as I looked back at Eddie and re-introduced him to Brian since they never really properly met. They shook hands and Eddie held on for a few extra seconds refusing to let go of Brian's hand, who only laughed as he took his hand back. Eddie looked like he wanted to pounce on Brian but was controlling himself.

"Let's go," I said as I picked up my bag and said goodbye to Eddie who was fanning himself as he stared at Brian like a new toy. I laughed as I followed Brian out and to his car. Once we were on we made our way onto the road, the radio playing music in the background, an Iron Maiden song.

"Olive Garden cool with you?" He asked politely.

"Yeah, Olive Garden's awesome."

"Cool," he nodded his head with a smile. "Eddie's pretty... cool?" He chuckled as he searched for the right words. "Eccentric?" I laughed and agreed with him. We spent the ride to Olive Garden talking about music, movies, animals and Michelle's outburst which he apologized for again.

We reached Olive Garden in a matter of moments and were seated upon entering, ordering our food and drinks.

"So, what else happened when you and Matt met?" Brian asked. I added more to the lie Matt and I had spun and reminded myself to call him and fill him in on the tiny details about our 'relationship' so that we wouldn't be caught up in a conversation.

"He can be a pain in the ass, though." He agreed and soon we began to talk about random things until our food and drinks were brought out. We began to eat with Brian eating spoons fulls of pasta that seemed to be too big for his mouth and noodles falling out, like Zacky and his donut. What is it with these guys and eating more then they could chew?

"Eddie is obsessed with Matt," I said as I took a bite of my pasta. Brian snorted as he swallowed a noodle and began to choke, placing his napkin over his mouth and coughing harshly into it. I laughed out loud as I watched him in amusement as he fought to clear his throat, lifting a finger as he he were trying to say something.

He took a sip of his beer and managed to clear his throat. "That reminds me of what Matt said about Eddie," he chuckled as wiped his mouth. Matt talked about Eddie?

"What'd he say?"

He began to chuckle again.

"He said that Eddie scares him," he laughed again. "That, uh, that Eddie makes him feel like a molested girl." I instantly burst into laughter once I got the mental image of Matt cowering in a corner with Eddie hovering over him. The fact that Matt was this huge monster and Eddie probably weighed as much as his arms made it even funnier.

"Matt feels like a little girl around Eddie!" I couldn't help but laugh harder and harder, Brian in tow, the both of us laughing like idiots. "Oh God," I placed my hand on my side from laughing to hard. "Eddie is gonna love this." I was breathless.

Brian's laughter died down into a chuckle. After a few moments of silence his smile dropped to a frown.

"The reason we're here," he started, "is because I want to apologize for what Michelle said." He looked into my eyes with his deep brown ones that were filled with warmth and compassion. He shook his head, "She was out of line."

"She's scared I'm replacing Valary," I spoke softly.

"That doesn't justify what she did. She could have talked to you about it." His tone of voice harden as he spoke. "Beauty is not something you're born with," he sighed. I looked at him as if he were crazy. "Anyone can look good, but it's their personality that matters."

"How?"

"You can find the most beautiful woman in the world who tops all models and fall in love with her looks, but once you see for who she is inside the beauty just seems to whither away. A woman could have everything, but be a total bitch, boring and talk everyone down. Nobody wants to be with someone like that," he shook his head. "Beauty is only skin deep. Sure, you'll get kicks from saying you laid her, but that's all you'll want from her. You wouldn't want to spend more then a day with her let alone your whole life."

"Beauty is earned. Beauty is learned," he placed a hand over my hand and gently squeezed it. "You are beautiful, Natalie, both inside and out. You personality and confidence shines when you're comfortable and you top everyone else. That's why Matt likes you so much. He loves it when a girl has confidence and feels comfortable in her own skin. You have insecurities, who doesn't? But being yourself and feeling good with yourself and not being afraid to be who you are is what makes you beautiful." He smiled softly at me.

I felt the tears well in my eyes. No one else except my parents, Eddie and Matt spoke to me like this. I rarely received many compliments in high school and never felt as beautiful because I was never as pretty, smart or skinny as the other girls. I couldn't fit into the same clothes that they wore, I couldn't shop at the same stores as them. I hated taking pictures because they showed me how different and ugly I was from them, the photos were just comparing and confirming my thoughts.

I never thought I was beautiful.

"Never ever think anything less of yourself. Don't listen to peoples crap, ignore them. Don't listen to Michelle either because she's acting out on fear. Be proud, be happy, feel beautiful... because you are. You're gorgeous," he spoke with a soft voice. "If Michelle ever tries to start shit with you again just tell me, okay? Soon this will all blow over and she'll be back to normal and you'll be able to meet the real her. But until then, ignore what she say's, alright?" He squeezed my hand again.

Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as many emotions began to flow through me. So many thoughts were going through my mind I didn't know what to think. I felt my heart tighten at his words and nodded my head as I held in a cry.

He smiled as me as he released my hand and going back to eating his food. After another thirty minutes of eating Brian paid for the meal with much protest from me but allowed me to pay for the tip, so I was okay I at least got to do that.

We exited the restaurant and climbed back into his car and heading back onto the road, but instead of continuing to head down PCH he made a turn into a parking lot and parked, removing his seat belt and opening the door. I took off my seat belt and looked out the window to see a neon open sign on the door.

"Where are we?" I asked as I climbed out and closed to door. I followed Brian as he opened the door and held it open, stepping in front of me and leading me to the bar where he sat down. He began to drum his knuckles against the bar catching the bartenders attention and held up two fingers.

"Johnny's?" I sat down, placing my purse in the seat next to me. He gave me a 'mhmm' as he continued to drum his fingers against the bar but stopped once the bartender placed two beers in front of us and walked away.

"Plan on getting me drunk and taking advantage of me, Brian?" I giggled as I took a sip of my beer, ignoring the taste.

"You know it," he winked as he took a drink from his beer. I placed my beer down and began to talk to him again. We spoke about random things, he told me stories of his fallen friend, Jimmy. With each story his smile widened and chuckled at each memory. He spoke highly of him, choking up from time to time but managed.

"Alright, round two!" He held up four fingers and the bartender stood in front of us pulling out four shot glasses placing two in front of each of us and filling them with Jack Daniels. "To... Matt and his girlyness!" He cheered as he clinked his glass against my own. I chuckled before taking the shot, the bitter liquid hitting the back of my throat and burning it.

"Oh God."

Five shot, two beers and a White Russian and a half later I was trashed. I was mumbling and saying anything that came to mind, everything that left my lips made Brian laugh.

"And - And I say... uh-huh, noooo way, like... nah." I shook my head.

"Really?" Brian grinned.

"Very - really." I nodded my head. "Brihen, y'know what?" I drunkenly asked, a goofy grin on my lips. He laughed and covered his mouth, a smile still on his face.

"What?"

"You're s'Cole," I smiled.

His smiled widened. "I'm cool?" I gave him a 'mhmm' and nodded my head feverishly, making him laugh more. "Really? I didn't know that," he began to play along with my drunken mind. "How cool am I?"

"Lots," I stopped and thought about it for moment before nodding my head again. "Yeah, yeah - you're way wayyyy awesome... cool." My phone began to go off and I looked around for my purse before I realized it was in the seat next to me. I picked it up from the stool and everything began to fall out and onto the floor since I picked it up upside down.

I placed it on my lap and began to dig through it in search of my cellphone that was ringing. I became annoyed and flipped my purse upside down, dumping it's contents onto the bar; Brian was laughing so hard he was leaning over.

I finally found my phone and answered it.

"Ello?"

"Natalie! Where the hell are you?!" He cried out into the receiver frantically. I smiled once I heard is voice.

"Eddieeeee, heyyyy! What'cha doin'?" I giggled.

"Are you drunk?" He asked amused.

"I - I confirm. That you are correcto," I smiled. "Very." He began to chuckle, his voice ringing in my ears. "Eddie! Do you know, do you know, do you know, do you know, do you know that - uh...," I looked at Brian to see that he was still laughing hard, his eyes tearing. "What?" By now Eddie was laughing hard on the other end. "Oh yeah, Brin's cool."

"Brin? Who's Brin?"

I thought about it. "I don't know, I'll ask Brihen who Brin is." I shrugged my shoulders. "But yeah, Bran's cooool," I smiled. "Brihen!" I turned my head to face him. "Who's Brin?" He leached as he shrugged his shoulders. "Who's Brin?"

"Wow, I love you, Natie, really."

"I do too, Eddie, oh so very very much." I grinned happily.

"Can you put Brian on the phone?" I stayed quiet and shoved the phone in Brian's face. He controlled his laughter as he took the phone and began to talk to Eddie.

"Hello? Yeah, I'll have her home in a bit. Haha, yeah - I'm cool. She's fine. Okay, I'll be there in a bit." He stayed quiet before he began to laugh out loud. "Alright, love you too." He hung up and shook his head.

I looked at my purse on the bar. "Hey, what happened to my bag?" I asked with a confused expression. Brian hung up my phone and began to pick my things off of the floor as I continued to question him wondering why my belonging were on the floor. After we had everything together he helped me off the stool. "Brihen?" He smiled as he looked down at me.

"What?"

"You're'zo cool," I laughed. His shoulders shook slightly as he shook his head at me. We continued to walk slowly to the car Brian helping me step by step with my occasional comments making him laugh and constant reminders of how cool he was. The passenger door was finally open and he helped me in, putting my seat belt on me. "Brihen?"

"Hmm?" He asked as he placed my bag down by my feet.

"I-I have to tell ya' somethin'," I whispered. "It's... important." He crouched down to me level and smiled.

"I'm cool?" I gasped in amazement as I stared at him in shock and awe.

"How d'you know that?" I asked with wide eyes. He stared into my eyes for a moment before speaking with a serious voice.

"I can read minds," he said before closing the door and hopping into the drivers seat. Unlike me, Brian can hold his liquor well while I become a mess. Of course since he was buzzed he began to sing along to Katy Perry's Hot N' Cold, doing hand motions and bobbing his head. I began to sing with him and soon we were two drunken idiots singing to Katy Perry.

The ride back to my place was fun as we sang like morons belting the words. I thought about how much fun I had with Brian and if I should do the same with Zacky and Johnny and have a friendly dinner with them to get to know them better. I contemplated the thought.

After ten more minutes of singing to songs that were playing on the radio we finally reached my home. Brian parked the car and helped me out and to the door having it answered by Eddie who led him to the bedroom. I felt myself being helped into bed and being layed down as my jacket, scarf and shoes were taken off.

I snuggled into my pillows as a blanket was being draped over me. A warm hand ran through my hair and a soft voice whispering in my ear.

"You're one cool chick."