Vengeance Is a Syn

“Hey, Matt?”, I called my brother, sitting on my surfboard and waiting for him to approach me.

“Yeah?”, he asked as he paddled to the place I was.

“The guys are already here.”, I said pointing at the place where they were settled. “Let’s go meet them?”

“Sure.”, he smiled. “I don’t know how you were able to survive one night without being with Brian!”, he joked.

I threw some water and poked my tongue at him.

“I’m kidding, Hay!”, he chuckled. “I’m glad you found someone you really like.”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I know…”, I said, running a hand through my hair. “I think I’ve never been so happy with someone like I am with him…”

Matt smiled and we got out of the ocean. We walked through the hot sand until we reached the place where everyone was and put down our surfboards.

I couldn’t help but agree with Matt. I was really glad to have found someone like Brian. We’ve only been together for almost two weeks but I’ve never felt this good in any of my previous relationships. Not that they were many.

Unlike what happened with Zacky, whenever I wasn’t with Brian I just wanted him to be there with me. He would surprise me every day with the littlest things that made me wonder how I didn’t realize he was such a sweet guy before we started dating. Hell, I couldn’t be happier with him!

I put my board down and ran to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing his lips. He shivered because my body was cold and dripping water, but instead of pushing me away he put his arms on my waist.

“You’re cold.”, Brian said against my lips, making me laugh.

“I just came out of the water.”, I said, moving away from him.

“I wasn’t complaining…”, he smirked, pushing me back to his embrace.

“So much love!”, Matt sang, making everybody chuckle.

Brian showed him his middle finger and I laughed.

“Go have fun with your girlfriend and leave us alone!”, Brian chuckled.

“Ha ha, you wish!”, Matt said, earning a slap on his arm by Val.

“Leave them alone!”, Val said, making me grin.

“See? Even your girlfriend agrees with Bri!”, I laughed, sitting down on my towel with him.

I sat between his legs so that my back was facing his chest, and he put his arms around me, hugging me.

I rested my head on his shoulder and kissed his neck.

“You want to stay over my house tonight?”, I asked Brian, looking up and meeting his eyes.

“Will there be any problem with me staying there?”, he mumbled, kissing the tip of my nose.

“Of course not!”, I smiled. “And besides, Matt is bringing Val over too, and I wouldn’t feel so bad with you there. At least I wouldn’t be thinking about what they could be doing in his room.”

Brian laughed and tightened his grip on me, nodding.

“Of course I want to stay with you.”, he smiled.

I grinned and moved my hands to his neck, cupping his cheek and kissing him softly.

“Get a room!”, Jimmy yelled, making us pull away.

I glared at him and Brian groaned.

“Don’t stress too much, Leana should be arriving in no time!”, I smiled innocently at him.

“We’re so funny today, aren’t we?”, Jimmy said. “I was going to tell you something cute and you treat me like that!”, he pouted.

“You were?”, I asked in disbelief. “You were going to taunt us!”

“I was going to say it was about time you two got together… But I get it, if you don’t want to believe me…”, he pouted once again.

“Aww, he really said something cute, Bri!”, I said looking up.

Brian chuckled and kissed the top of my head.

“It’s true… We were thinking you two would never admit you were falling for each other.”, Jimmy said and Val nodded.

“We weren’t that obvious!”, Brian said doubtfully.

Matt laughed and I gazed at him. “What? He’s telling the truth!”, I said, referring to Brian.

“Anyone could see you were head over heels with him. The same thing for Syn.”, Matt said.

“It’s not my fault that she’s so gorgeous…”, Brian smiled at me and I blushed. He was seriously the cutest guy ever. No one I ever dated told me such sweet things.

“Aww!”, Val said. “Why don’t you say these things to me, Matt?”

“I do!”, Matt excused himself, rubbing the back of his neck.

“No you don’t! You’re not half as romantic as Brian is!”

“But, baby…”

“You’re so done, dude!”, Brian laughed, making Matt sigh. I smiled and tilted my head, kissing his cheek.

Val and Matt kept arguing and then Leana and Emma showed up.

“Hey, guys!”, they smiled.

“Hey!”, we said.

They sat down next to Val and Brian stood up, pushing me with him.

“I wanna go to the water… You feel good about that?”, he asked, smiling.

“Anything I do with you feels alright.”, I said, biting on my bottom lip.

What the fuck? Why are you so cheesy, Hailey!?

He chuckled and kissed me briefly. We walked to the sea hand in hand, and once inside I draped my arms around his shoulders.

His hands traveled down my sides to my butt, and he gently picked me up, so that my legs would wrap around his waist.

“Have I told you how much I think you’re beautiful today?”, he asked, pecking my lips.

I smirked and shook my head.

“You haven’t, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it…”

“You’re beautiful.”, he whispered.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you…”, I smirked.

“You don’t?”, he glared playfully at me and I shook my head, laughing. “You don’t?”

His lips caught mines on a fiery kiss and I tugged my fingers on his hair, not wanting him to pull away soon.

I loved how he attacked my lips ferociously, but was gentle at the same time, and I let myself explore his mouth one more time even though I was sure I already knew every inch of it by heart. He gripped his hands on my hips and squeezed them a bit, and when I pulled back so I could get some air, he kissed down my jaw to my neck, biting and nibbling a couple of times, in search for that spot he’d been looking for quite some time. When he found it, my breath hitched on my throat and I felt him smirk against my skin. He spent some extra time there and I let my head tilt to the right slightly.

“You are beautiful.”, he hissed, moving his mouth to nibble my earlobe.

“And you’re amazing.”, I whispered, burying my face on his neck and kissing him once more.

“You’re doing things to me, baby…”, he said and I smiled at the fact that he called me baby.

“I hope they’re not bad things.”, I mumbled, loosening my grip on his shoulders and waist, making him groan in response. He put his arms under my butt again, preventing me from touching the ground. When I understood the reason why he picked me up again was when I felt there was something starting to grow on his trunks and I instantly blushed.

“I… I’m sorry, Bri.”, I honestly didn’t know what to say. This had never happened to me before and I was embarrassed as hell.

“Don’t be.”, he assured, kissing the tip of my nose. “I’m the one who should be apologizing.”, he chuckled.

“I… I… I need you to know something …”, I said, biting on my bottom lip.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“If there’s something I don’t want to do is rush things up…”

“Don’t worry about that.”, he smiled. “I don’t want to rush things either.”

“You know what I’m talking about…”, I said, looking down. “I… I’m not ready for that kind of stuff.”

“I know, baby.”, he cupped my cheek and kissed my forehead. “I won’t push you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Every guy ends up wanting to have sex…”, I mumbled.

“Hailey, do you really think I’d push you to do something you’re not comfortable with?”, he asked, caressing my cheek. I looked at him. “I’d never do that… Because I wouldn’t like to have to fight with Matt and mostly because if there’s something I want is for you to be happy with me. I’d hate myself if I forced you to do something!”

“But you’re a guy… I know how things work out for you…”

“Then you should know that not every guy is the same.”, he said. “It just means that my hand will be a lot more busy from now on, if you keep acting like you were before.”, he chuckled and I laughed.

“Promise you’ll keep those words?”, I said, looking him deadly in the eye.

“I promise.”, he nodded, kissing me.

----

When people started to leave the beach we did the same. It was 6 in the afternoon and Matt, Val, Brian and I were walking towards my house. Matt was bringing Val over and I took that as an opportunity to spend extra time with Brian – which was the only think I thanked about Matt bringing his girlfriend.

We made small talk on the way home and when we arrived I heard my grandmother’s voice coming from the living room.

“Isn’t that our grandma’s voice, Matt?”, I asked.

“I think it is.”, Matt answered, walking towards where the sound was coming from.

Val and Brian followed us until we entered the living room and I wasn’t wrong. It was really my grandma’s voice. She was talking with my mom and they had some kind of concerned look on their faces.

“Grandma, is that you?”, I asked curiously as I waited for her to turn to our direction.

“Hailey! Matt!”, she smiled, walking towards us and giving us a hug.

“What are you doing here?”, Matt asked.

“I came here to talk with your mom…”, she answered with a sad smile. “But tell me more about you? How have you been doing lately?”

“We’ve been doing great!”, I smiled, holding Brian’s hand.

“Are those your friends?”, she asked with a smile.

“This is Val.”, Matt smiled at her. “She’s my girlfriend.”, he said, kissing her cheek.

“She’s beautiful!”, she smiled. She then looked at us and smiled at Brian. “I remember you! You’re Johnny, aren’t you?”

“No!”, he chuckled. “I’m Brian!”

“Oh right!”, she said, laughing a bit. “Johnny’s the shortest, now I remember.”

I laughed and Brian smiled.

“And how’s the rest doing?”, she asked curiously. “How’re Zacky and Jimmy?”

“They’re good too.”, Matt said. “They found their girls as well.”

“You grow up so fast!”, she said with a content sigh.

“Let’s prepare the dinner, mom?”, my mom asked her.

She smiled and caressed each of our cheeks. “Go. I don’t want to bother you anymore!”
“You don’t bother!”, I said. “We’ll see you at dinner!”

We went upstairs and each took a shower to erase the sand and the salty water from our skin. After that we sat on Matt’s bedroom couch and watched a movie until our mom called us to go downstairs.

I greeted my dad that had arrived while we were upstairs and sat on my chair. We had dinner and talked. After the dessert we decided to stay a little more talking with my grandmother. She talked a lot with Brian and seemed to grow some kind of admiration for his guitar skills. That was something I loved about my grandmother, she wouldn’t judge someone by his looks. Any person would look at my friends and think they were some misfits because of their tattoos and appearances. But my grandma wasn’t like that. She’d see through the cover and get to know them before she decided whether she liked them or not.

“You still haven’t told me what made you come here!”, I said. “I thought I’d only see you when we went to Colorado!”

She sighed and my mom looked at her.

“It’s because of your grandfather…”, she answered.

Suddenly everything stopped around me and I felt scared of what could have possibly happened to him. He was like my father. He was there all the time when I and Matt were young, and raised us while our parents were out or working. He was the one who taught me and Jimmy how to ride our bikes, he was the one who would take us all to the beach on every Sunday morning, and he was the one who would read bedtime stories to me when I couldn’t sleep… He was there every day for 15 years. Then he and my grandma decided to move to another state and get a house in the mountains. We visited them on the holidays and the guys would often come too and spend a week or two there.

Last year he was diagnosed with cancer, but the treatment was working well and he hadn’t had much trouble with it.

“What happened to grandpa?”, Matt asked, gulping.

“He’s… He’s not getting better…”, she sighed.

“But… But the doctors said he was doing great!”, I said, my eyes starting to get watery. “They said he was doing great!”

“Yeah…”, Matt said. “We’re so excited about seeing him again on holidays.”

“They said that maybe he won’t last that long…”

“What!?”, I chocked. Brian grabbed my hand and I looked at her with wide eyes.

“What do you mean he won’t last that long?”

“The treatment he was doing… It stopped causing the effects he did before… And he’s getting worse each day.”, she sighed deeply, looking down.

“Oh my god…”, I said. I wanted to cry, but my eyes would just blink and no tears would fall.

“He’s going to get better…”, Matt said with clenched fists. “I know he will.”

My grandma tried to shoot him a smile and caressed his hand.

“Maybe it’s better if you go upstairs…”, my mom smiled at us, clearing her eyes.

We nodded and stood up. Brian kept holding my hand and I hugged him. He was like my calming pill. He would tranquilize me with just a simple smile.

“You okay?”, he asked once we were in my room.

I shook my head and rested it on his shoulder. “I just ruined our night by asking that stupid question…”

“Hey, hey, hey!”, he said, raising my chin. “It was not a stupid question. You’d have to find that out sooner or later. And I’m sure he’ll get better.”

“You think so?”, I asked, almost pleading.

“If my memory isn’t tricking me, I remember him being that person full of energy that would brighten anyone’s day. Just like Jimmy!”

“They’re both really alike. That why he loved Jimmy so much.”

“Then he’ll be better soon.”, Brian tried to cheer me.

“Do you mind if I call him?”

“Of course not. You want me to leave you alone?”, I shook my head.

“You can stay here.”

“Maybe it’s better if I give you some privacy…”, he said, kissing my forehead. “I’ll be in Matt’s room.”

I nodded and he left.

---- * Brian’s POV * ----

“How are you doing?”, I asked Matt after he told me to come in.

“Huh?”, he asked.

“About your granpa…”, Val explained.

“Oh!”, Matt chuckled. “He’ll be fine. I know he will.”, he smiled. “He’s a strong guy, he’ll get through this.”

I smiled back and sat on his bed, grabbing the guitar as soon as I realized he wasn’t reacting like Hailey. I wanted to be with her right now and hold her in my arms. Tell her she had nothing to worry about and that he’d fight that. But I knew what’s like to have someone fighting cancer in your family. After all, what’s happening to her right now happened to me before. That was why my aunt died, and I know how it is to know that you can’t do anything to help them, that’s why I wanted to be with her right now.

I was strumming the guitar absently minded while I thought about her and her perfect smile until Val snapped her fingers in front of my eyes.

“What was that for!?”, I asked, slapping her hand away.

“You looked like a lost puppy, thinking about Hailey!”, she said, making Matt laugh.

“How do you know I was thinking about her?”, I cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Come on, anyone can see you’re thinking about that when you get that look on your eyes!”

“What look?”

“The one you had right now!”

“You’d be drooling in some moments.”, Matt said. “And I’d kick your ass if you messed my bed sheets with it!”

“Shut up, Matt!”, Val scolded. “He’s so in love with her!”

“I’m not in love with her!”, I said.

“Yes, you are!”, Matt said.

“If you’re not, you will be soon.”, Val added.

“You guys are such a pain in the ass!”, I said. “If you weren’t together I don’t know who would want to spend their life with you annoying fuckers!”

“You didn’t say that!”, Val said with a shocked expression on her face.

“Oh yes, I did.”

Matt laughed and sat back down on his couch. “But now seriously, you really like her, don’t you?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah… She’s… different… I’ve never met anyone who made me feel like she does.”

“Don’t fuck things up with her.”, Matt warned. “I won’t have any problem in kicking your ass if you ever hurt her. I may not have done anything to Zack but that was because she asked me not to do it… She really likes you…”

“And I really like her too… I won’t hurt her, I promise.”

“God, stop being so fucking cute!”, Val whined. “Where’s the asshole Brian I know!?”

“He was replaced when I started dating Hailey!”, I teased her by being lame again.

“Ugh… Just. Stop!”, she said. “You’re making me want to date you as well!”

“Sorry, my heart is already taken.”, I smirked at her.

She threw me a pillow and I laughed, standing up.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget to use protection.”, I winked my eye and Val opened her mouth in disbelief.

“We will!”, Matt replied. “And we’ll make so much noise you won’t be able to sleep!”

I let out a loud noise and closed the door. I walked to Hailey’s room and opened the door slowly. I noticed she was still on the phone and stopped by the doorframe. She was almost reaching the point of breaking into tears, and that made me feel so pissed off. I couldn’t bear seeing her sad!

“I love you too.”, she said with a sad smile before she placed her phone on the bedside table.

After she did that, she took a long breath, but that was what made the first tear roll down her eyes. She started crying and I closed the door behind me, rushing next to her and pulling her into a tight hug.

“What happened, baby?”, I asked softly as I rocked her body back and forth.