Easier To Lie

Garrett woke up and blinked the sleep out of his deep blue eyes. He tried to figure out where he was, and he realized that he was in his room, on his bed, with his arms wrapped around a beautiful girl named Mallory Trotter.

Her eyes were still shut tight, and her stomach went up and down as she breathed deeply, in and out. Mallory's mouth was slightly open, something Garrett chuckled at. She was adorable when she slept.

But then he felt he was being creepy. How would Mallory feel if she found out that Garrett was watching her sleep? Would she think it was weird? Or stalker-ish? Would she think of him differently? Stop it, Garrett thought to himself, relax! Stop overthinking everything!

As he debated with himself as to whether he was a creep or not, a yawn came from the girl's mouth and her eyelids lifted to reveal baby blue eyes.

"Good morning, sweetheart," he murmured and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Good morning, Gare," she replied with a tired smile. "What time is it?"

He turned and reached for his iPhone, pressing the Home button. "It's 9:34," Garrett answered.

"What time did we even go to bed last night?"

"Beats me," he told her with a shrug. "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded and smiled. "Thank you for letting me sleep here, and for letting me get all cleaned up and stuff. I really appreciate it."

Once again, he pressed his lips to her forehead and proceeded to roll out of bed, with Mallory doing the same. She lifted her arms, stretching them up above her head, exposing a small part of her stomach.

Garrett spotted the belly ring that he felt last night. Just the small strip of exposed skin was enough to make him go crazy, but he pushed his thoughts away. He knew that he needed to slow things down with Mallory. They had certainly been going much too fast. Not that he minded, really, but he wasn't used to it. And Mallory seemed like she wasn't either, especially after last night.

"Wanna go grab some breakfast, darling?" he asked.

Before Mallory could answer, her stomach let out a loud grumble. "Um...hopefully that answers your question."

He chuckled and took her hand, leading her to the kitchen.

"Well, well, well," Mallory heard an unfamiliar voice say. "Looks like Garrett had a bit of fun last night."

"Now, Trey, there's no need to tease your brother about having girls spend the night."

She held back a giggle as she saw Garrett's face turn pink, much like when he had realized last night that she didn't have any clothes to change into.

"Hello, dear. I'm Garrett's mother. Pleased to meet you!" a woman with blonde hair said to Mallory.

Mallory gladly took Garrett's mom's hand and shook it. "I'm Mallory, um, Kennedy's sister. You have a very nice house, Mrs. Nickelsen."

Garrett's mother smiled widely. "Oh, thank you!" Then she directed towards her youngest son, "I like her!"

Garrett's face got even redder and he cleared his throat.

"Ooh, does Kennedy know that you're dating his little sister?" Trey commented.

"Um, no, dorkwad. First of all, we're not dating," Garrett responded.

"Yet," Trey added.

"Will you shut up?"

"Nope," he answered, popping the p.

"Okay boys, that's enough. Mallory, would you like some pancakes?"

"I would love some!"

"Sit down and I'll get you two a plate. Trey, please be nice."

As they both sat down, Trey opened his mouth to say something, but Garrett took a grape from a bowl on the table and threw it at him.

"Don't even start, Trey. It's not funny," warned Garrett.

"I think it's funny..." he mumbled.

"Well that's because you're odd and no one likes you, so you have to laugh at your own jokes because you know no one else will," Gare retorted.

"Why would you go out with this guy?" Trey asked Mallory, "He's so mean."

"We're not going out," Garrett reminded Trey in a gruff voice.

Mrs. Nickelsen came back to the kitchen table with two plates stacked with three pancakes each. She set them down and turned around to grab two forks, a butter knife, syrup, and a tub of margarine.

"Enjoy!"

"Thank you so much," Mallory told her gratefully, "These smell absolutely delicious."

Trey resumed reading his comic book and Garrett and Mallory dug in. After a few minutes of silence, Garrett's phone rang. He scrambled to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Garrett, don't talk with your mouth full," his mom instructed.

"Sorry mom..." he swallowed the bit of pancake in his mouth and repeated, "Hello? Kennedy?"

Her brother was calling? Mallory could hear yelling coming from the other end of the line. She leaned over to hear what her older brother was upset about.

"Mallory never came home last night and I am freaking out! I've been calling her but she's not picking up and no one knows where she is and I--"

"Kennedy! Kenny, shut up! Shut..shut up!"

Silence.

"She's sitting right here next to me. Chill out, man. Jeez."

Mallory realized that her phone had been off since last night. It was still in the pocket of the shorts that she had been wearing, which were still on the floor in Garrett's room. Shit, Mallory thought, Kennedy's probably pissed.

"Yeah, I took her home with me because she tripped and got a little scraped up, and...no, nothing happened, I promise. She's fine. They were tiny scrapes, calm down. You...you want me to bring her home? Right now?"

Mallory turned away from the conversation and resumed eating her pancakes. She had to apologize to her brother right when she got home. He knew he had just been trying to protect her, and he had been genuinely worried when she didn't come home.

"Looks like I gotta bring you home, Mallory."

"But I haven't even finished my pancakes!"

"Kennedy will kick my..." Garrett's mom eyed him, warning him not to say what he was going to. "Kennedy will kick my buttocks if we don't get going."

A pout formed on her lips and she set her fork down. "Thank you so much for these wonderful pancakes, Mrs. Nickelsen!"

"Anytime, Mallory," she replied with a warm smile.

Garrett took Mallory by the hand and led her out the door towards his bright yellow car.

"I'm sorry that Kennedy yelled at you. I really should have told him where I was."

"Relax, kiddo," Garrett told her, "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not a kid," she replied with a grumble.

"Whatever you say," he teased.

After a few minutes of nothing but Garrett's Wilco CD playing, he pulled up to Kennedy's house.

Mallory unbuckled her seatbelt as fast as she could and gave Garrett a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, dear, for everything. I'll call you!" And with that, she ran to the front door, shoving her key into the knob and twisting it, almost tripping on her way into the house.

"Kennedy!"

His feet came pounding down the stairs. "Mallory?!"

"I'm home!"

He ran towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Don't you ever do that again. You scared the hell out of me!"

She shrugged her shoulders out of his grip. "Relax, bro. I was with Garrett the whole time. I promise next time I'll let you know where I am. But I thought it was okay since, I don't know, I'm over 18?"

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah. You're right. Just..."

"Yeah, Kennedy. I know."

And she realized that she should've let him know. Kennedy had always been protective. Especially with her.

"I'm sorry, Kenny."

He wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Mallory. It's okay."

When he let go, she went upstairs to change out of Garrett's clothes and took the opportunity to take a quick shower. Once she got dressed and came downstairs, she found her brother to be nowhere in sight. Instead, she found John playing Black Ops in the living room.

"Hey Mallory," he greeted her.

"Hello, John. Where's Kennedy?"

"Gabi called for something. He said he wouldn't be out for long."

She nodded and took a seat on the couch, a few inches away from John. "Wanna play?" he offered.

Her eyes brightened. She hadn't played Call of Duty in so long. "Fuck yeah!"

He exited the current round he was playing and asked, "Zombies?"

"You know it."

While waiting for the game to load, they made small talk.

"So, how are you and Garrett doing?"

"Really good. He's a sweet kid."

"Are you like...his girlfriend?" John asked innocently.

"No," she answered as her cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Well then..."

"Then what?"

"It wouldn't really matter if I..."

Before she could ask what he meant, John's lips were on hers. At first, she didn't respond. How could John do such a thing? He knew that she and Garrett had a thing. Kennedy was right. John was a player.

She was about to break away, but his lips felt so...good against hers. He was a wonderful kisser. So she kissed back. Kissing John was nothing like kissing Garrett. With Garrett, there was some hesitation, and they were careful. But with John, it was rough and hurried. She liked it.

She dropped her controller next to her and John did the same. She scooted closer to him, if that was even possible, and deepened the kiss. Her hands went to his hair and his went to her waist.

Then suddenly, she heard, "What the fuck is going on in here?"

Kennedy? Kennedy was home?

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

John and Mallory broke apart as quickly as possible and they stood. "Kennedy, I--"

"John, I told you to stay away from her. I specifically told you."

"I know, I just--"

"And Mallory, I told you that--"

"I know, I remember. I just didn't--"

"John, get out."

"Kennedy, man, I'm sorry."

"Just get the fuck out of my house."

John scrambled out through the door without another word.

"Kennedy," Mallory tried to explain herself.

But Kennedy just walked up the stairs and into his room.

She should have listened to Kennedy. And she would have to tell Garrett.

Didn't she?