Breathless

“Aria, can you stay back a minute?” Brian asked as school ended. I sighed and walked over to his desk. I dropped my bag on the floor and sat on the edge of his desk. When all the rest of the class was gone, he closed the door and then looked at me. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Sure,” I muttered chewing on my nails. But he could see right through my lie.

“Aria,” he said seriously. He walked over to me and stood between my legs and rested his forehead against mine. “What’s going on? You’ve been acting strange all day. Did something happen between you and Johnny last night?” I nodded. “Tell me.” he begged.

I sighed and looked up to meet his eyes.

“He told me he loves me.” I muttered. His eyes widened and he back away from me a little.

“What did you say back?” he asked.

“I fell asleep. I wasn’t supposed to hear it.” I muttered again. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Brian…. I don’t love Johnny like he loves me. Sure, I love him as a friend because he’s done so much for me and I haven’t even known him that long. But… I’m not in love with him.”

He stared at me for a few seconds before he stepped back between my legs and hand grabbed my hand with one of his.

“He needs to know that.” he said softly. “The way you two act, it’s like you’re a couple. It may just be leading him on. And he’ll get hurt twice as bad if you don’t do something about it now.”

I sighed. I knew he was right, but what the hell was I supposed to do?

‘Oh hey Johnny, yeah I heard you say that you were in love with me but I’m dating your best friend!’

No. Of course I wouldn’t have said it so snobby…. But you still get the point.

I let myself fall forward into Brian’s arms and rested my head on his chest. He rubbed my arms and kissed the top of my head.

“Come on, why don’t we go back to my place before you go home.”

“Johnny’s picking me up today. He’s probably already outside.” I said with a sigh. My phone buzzed in my pocket, making me jump slightly. I let go of Brian’s hand and pulled it out of my pocket. The text was from Johnny. He said that he was still at the store and wouldn’t be able to come get me for a while. So Brian could take me home. “Well that was strange.” I said putting my phone back in my pocket.

“What?” Brian asked.

“Johnny just texted me saying he can’t make it so you can take me home.” I said. A smile spread across Brian’s face.

“Well let’s go!” he said, pulling away from me and picking my bag off the floor. I jumped off of his desk and followed him out to his car. He picked me up and set me on the passenger seat off the car. He slammed the door shut after handing me my back pack before running to the other side.

“You know you seem so excited just to bring me to your house. Are you sure this isn’t just a set up? Are you going to bring me to an abandon warehouse and rape me?” I asked him as we pulled out of the school parking lot. He laughed and shook his head. He grabbed my hand and intertwined my fingers between mine and squeezed it lightly.

“No Aria,” he said, still laughing.

“Okay, good.” I said. I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder. I looked up and saw a smile tugging at Brian’s lips which led to me smiling. The rest of the ride to Brian’s was silent. But it wasn’t one of those awkward silences, it was comfortable. He was happy; I was happy.

“And here we are.” He said pulling into the driveway of a house. It was noticeably bigger than Johnny’s and in a much nicer looking neighborhood. It was still just a one story house, but it seemed to be larger. I was a little worried to see the inside because Brian didn’t seem like the type to clean.

Brian had already gotten out of the car and was at my door now. He lifted me out and I wrapped my legs around his waist so he couldn’t put me down. He chuckled and grabbed my back pack before shutting the door. He carried me up to the front door and reached into his pocket for the key. I was surprised he could hold me up with just one hand.

“It’s not as clean as Johnny’s but it’s not too bad.” He said as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He stepped inside and I had to make sure my mouth didn’t drop. From what I could see, it wasn’t dirty at all.

The house was much more open than Johnny’s was. Windows everywhere, hardwood floors, and such nice furniture. I let myself fall out of Brian’s arms and landed on the floor lightly.

I walked over to the couch and laid down. He chuckled and dropped my back pack by the door. A small bark came from down the hall and then I could hear tiny paws running on the hardwood floor to the living room. A little white dog ran straight to Brian and pawed at his legs.

“This is Pinkly,” He said, picking the small dog up. He walked over and sat on the couch next to my hip. He laid the dog down on my stomach and she curled up into a ball. I giggled and patted the top of her head.

“She’s adorable,” I told him. He nodded, smiling. “I really like your house.” I told him, looking around. He had a nice TV, a ton of movies, and some pictures hanging up on the walls. There was a sliding glass door that led to a pool in the back yard. “It’s so open.”

“It’s nice, during the day. To be honest, it’s kind of creepy at night.” He said.

“Must suck living all alone.” I said, looking up at him. He nodded.

“It does.”

“I’ll come stay with you one night,” I said, letting my lips turn into a smile. He smiled down at me.

“I’d like that.” he said. I reached up and placed my hand on his neck and brought his head down to mine. I lightly pressed my lips to his at first but he put more pressure on my lips. He rested his hands on the couch on each side of my head and hovered over me the best he could without hurting Pinkly.

The kiss didn’t last too long but when he pulled away, I was still breathless. He rested his forehead against mind and smiled down at me. Pinkly got up and walked over to the kitchen. We both let our eyes follow her before she was out of sight.

Brian then looked back down at me and smiled. He kissed me lightly before picking me up and then laying down on the couch and letting me lay on top of him.

I rested my head on his shoulder and faced his neck. I traced the tattoos that were barely peeking out from his shirt as we lay in a comfortable silence.

“Hey Aria,” Brian said after a while.

“Yeah?” I answered, still tracing the tattoos.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked. I looked up at him to find him staring down at me. I searched his eyes to see if he was joking. But I realized he was being serious.

“Yes,” I answered and pressed my lips to his again for another kiss.