Fragile Hearts

Kasey smoothes over the non-existent wrinkles in the simple dress, checking her appearance numerous times over until she finally hears the buzzer for the door go off.

"Tess, can you get that for me?" She calls out, turning back to her reflection in the mirror as she bites down on her glossy bottom lip. She really has no idea if she is over-doing it or not. Then again, why should she care? It's only one stupid date. She's never going to see the guy, or any of the people she's going to meet tonight again.

Kasey can hear her friend reply, but doesn't really pay attention to what Tess is actually saying. Kasey hopes it was a yes. Or some form of agreement.

She runs her shaky fingers through her long brown hair, messing it up so much she decides she needs to comb it out again. She picks up the brush with a frown. Why the hell is she so nervous? She's done it all a million times before, nothing was going to be different.

Suddenly, Tess's head is peeking through the door, opening it enough for a certain kitten to squeeze his way through triumphantly. When Kasey turns to see her, she notices Tess looking a bit thrown off.

"What?" Kasey asks, concerned.

"You didn't tell me how hot he was," Tess hisses. "I nearly wet myself when I opened that damn door."

Kasey chuckles. "Sorry."

"Is he a schmuck or is he just trying to get rid of old baggage?" Tess inquires.

"Sadly, I'm pretty sure it's option one," Kasey grins, causing Tess to frown thoughtfully.

"Damn, I'd totally tap that." She finalizes before looking back up at Kasey again. "Okay, Princess. You look stunning. Let's go. He's waiting."

Kasey looks one last time in her mirror. "You don't think it's too much?"

Tess rolls her eyes, grabbing Kasey's arm and dragging her to the front door.

She can see the man's dark eyes instantly widen when she steps into view, causing her to smile confidently. He's done his hair differently today. It's out of the beanie and gelled upwards. She definitely approves of this look more.

"Hey, I hope this isn't too much," Kasey motions to her outfit.

Brian just can't seem to stop staring.

"Uhm, it might be just a bit for a barbecue, but the girls like to get dressed up anyway."

Kasey frowns. Why couldn't the Brian guy have just told her it was a barbecue?

Brian gulps. He knows the look on this girl's face. It's the 'do I have time to make a quick change?' look.

"Uhm, we should get going," he interrupts her thoughts, cursing himself for saying uhm so much. He must sound like a retard.

Kasey's eyes snap back to reality. "Okay, that's fine. I'll see you later, Tess," she gives a small wave.

"Don't bring her back too late," Tess jokes before shutting the front door of the apartment on the two.

The awkward silence wraps around them not a second later as they walk down the stairs to the main entrance to the building.

"So, I can't thank you enough for this," Brian finally speaks, holding the door open for Kasey.

Kasey shakes her head. "It's fine, really. I guess once you're known for something it's kind of hard to get away from it."

"Yeah, I guess."

Kasey looks around the street, wondering which car is his. But Brian has her answer soon enough.

"I hope you like motorcycles."

Kasey can feel herself go into shock. "What?"

Brian chuckles. "Don't worry. It's totally safe. I even brought you a helmet."

Oh, like that helps, Kasey thinks to herself. Her eyes spot the bike parked closely to the curb. She doesn't know much about motorcycles, only that this one seems like an older style.

Brian's hand rests gently between her shoulder blades, guiding her to the motorcycle where he pulls one helmet and puts it on her head, doing up the strap under her chin. Kasey forces herself to look anywhere but up at him.

"You don't wear one?"

"Don't need it." Brian straddles the seat, turning the key to produce a deafening roar from the engine that soon dies into a steady purr.

"That's what everyone says."

"Here, it'll be easier if you sat in front of me." Brian explains, moving back on the seat to make room.

Kasey gulps nervously, throwing one leg over the seat, unsure. Brian's hands rest on her hips, helping her steady herself so she can sit.

"You've never been on one of these, have you?" Kasey can hear the undertones of amusement in Brian's voice.

"No."

"It'll be fun, trust me. Now, you can hold onto the handlebars if you want, just make sure to let me steer okay?"

Kasey nods, gripping the handles unit her knuckles turn white. Brian chuckles to himself, placing his hands around the bars as well.

Kasey's heart pounds almost as loud as the motorcycle's engine as Brian pulls out of the parking space and onto the street. His thumbs are on her hands, his head peeking over her shoulders, his body close to hers. It should make Kasey uneasy with excitement, but she feels strangely comforted with the almost-stranger's close proximity.

Thankfully, with the noise of the engine and the wind whipping past both their ears once they merge onto the highway, there's not much room for talking, or hearing.

She can feel herself relaxing on the bike as Brian pulls off the highway, stopping for a red light at an intersection.

"The barbecue is going to be at a good friend's house," Brian nearly has to yell.

Kasey nods, the light shifting to green. And they're off again.

It seems like forever until they reach a nicer, richer looking community, one Kasey would never be able to afford in her wildest dreams. Looking around at all of the small mansions, because house doesn't quite cover it, she suddenly wonders what Brian does, or what his friend does anyway.

The motorcycle comes to a stop right beside a sleek black Avenger. And as much as Kasey was starting to enjoy the ride, she's thankful when her heels come in contact with solid ground.

"So I kind of forgot to ask about what the boundaries are," Brian says sheepishly once he cuts the engine and throws the keys into his pocket.

"Oh," Kasey tries not to blush. "Basically, nothing sexual. I mean, we can play it up around your friends but nothing behind the scenes, you know?" Brian nods. "I don't sleep with my clients. And I don't get attached."

"Got it," Brian continues to nod. Then he grabs Kasey's hand and leads her up to the door of one of the small mansions, just opening it to let themselves in.

As soon as Kasey steps through the threshold, she comes face to face with a green eyed man taking off a blond woman's jacket. He looks at her for a long second before blinking in confusion.

"Who are-?"

Brian cuts the man off.

"Zack, this is Kasey. Kasey, this is Zack. But you can call him Zacky. And this lovely lady is Gena, Zack's fiancée."

Gena gives Kasey a wary once-over before smiling. "Hi."

Kasey nods, smiling as well. "Hi."

"Is everyone here already?" Brian asks Zack as they make their way out of the front hallway.

"Pretty much. We're a bit late ourselves. Gena needed five more minutes. Which turned out to be fifteen."

Gena swats her man's arm playfully. "Perfection takes time, babe."

Everything seems to slow down when Kasey enters the kitchen, where the party seems to have gathered. One by one, they all turn to see why everyone is staring. And end up staring themselves.

Kasey takes in a shaky breath, biting down on her bottom lip before she can stop herself.

"Hey man, we didn't know you were bringing company," A man roughly Brian's height and build says. "Who is she?"

"Everyone, this is Kasey," Brian clears his throat. "Kasey, everyone."

Silence.

Until a taller man with bright blue eyes and a huge smile comes up to her, taking the hand that isn't suffocating Brian's.

"It's awesome to finally meet you, Kasey," He says animatedly. "I'm Jimmy."

"Hi," Kasey smiles nervously.

The man who called her out comes over, dragging another blond, petite woman behind him. "I'm Matt, this is my wife, Val."

"Johnny's somewhere with Lacey and this is my girl, Leana," Jimmy motions towards a brunette suddenly at his side. She smiles wide, friendly.

"It's nice to meet you."

Kasey breathes out, thankful for the warm introductions.

"Who's this?" Kasey looks over to a shorter man.

"Johnny, this is Kasey," Brian says.

Johnny frowns. "You're dating?"

"Casually," Brian retorts, not sounding happy with his friend's snooping.

The subject ends abruptly, and soon the alcohol starts flowing, along with the appetizers. Kasey notices that the alcohol is much more popular though.

Through it all, Brian never leaves her side. Which is courteous in her opinion. She can't count how many times she's been left hanging to mingle alone. At one point, his tattooed arm is around her waist and she finds herself enjoying every second of it. It's been so long since one of her 'dates' has gone right. It almost feels real.

She forces herself to snap out of that train of thought. She had just given Brian the run-down- albeit short run-down- of her rules. She wasn't about to go back on them herself.

"Oh, hey 'Chelle. We didn't know you were coming."

Kasey's head snaps up, taking in the unfamiliar face and the highlighted brown hair. She resembles Val, Matt's girl tremendously. Judging by the way Brian tenses up at her side, Kasey takes a pretty good guess that she's the ex.

Matt looks back to Brian warily, Michelle's eyes follow, and immediately zero in on Kasey with a frown. She can tell this is where it all goes downhill.

"Hey, Brian," Michelle smiles politely. "And you are?"

"Kasey."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Michelle." The fake smile she's wearing doesn't extend to her eyes. Neither does she extend her hand to shake.

"Where's the mechanic?" Brian asks curtly.

Kasey needs to get out, now.

"I'm gonna get a refill," Kasey waves her empty beer bottle and slips out of Brian's grasp, walking over to the group of females.

Brian thankfully lets her go. There have been times where she's thrown right into the thick of battle.

"So," The woman Kasey remembers as Val starts to say, "I didn't know Brian found someone else. He was pretty broken up about everything. It's good he found someone."

"Yeah," Kasey agrees for the sake of agreeing. "He's a sweet guy." No lying there.

She looks back over at him, and she can tell the argument is getting heated. She frowns, being able to hear some of the battle.

"What is she, like twenty? Nineteen?"

"No, she's around my age. Why the fuck do you care so much? You're already happy, to hell with me."

"That's not what I'm saying, Bri. I want you to be happy. Does she make you happy?"

Brian stays silent and Kasey gages Michelle's reaction. She really does care. This situation is almost too weird for her. It's too good to be true. It's the only date that's ever gone right. Or as right as it can. She turns back to the other girls before anyone can notice her staring.

"So what do the guys do?" She asks curiously, looking around the home.

The girls all look at her and laugh. "You don't know Avenged Sevenfold?" Leana asks.

Kasey shakes her head. She likes Leana. Maybe they could even become close if this wasn't the first and only time she was working for Brian. "Never heard of them."

"She wouldn't," Jimmy butts into the conversation, a slight slur to his lisp already forming. "Damn bastards won't play us around here."

Leana giggles, shooing Jimmy away. "That's about right though."

Suddenly, a pair of calloused fingers lace into hers and Brian's lips meet her temple. Kasey can feel her face heat up by a thousand degrees as his lips linger longer than they should. Brian breathes out a frustrated sigh from his nose right into her hair.

"You wanna go, baby?" He asks softly, looking straight into Kasey's eyes.

"Uhm, if- if you want."

"I think we should."

"But you haven't even stayed for an hour," Val frowns. "Is the service bad?" She jokes, even though she shoots Kasey a worried glance.

"It's horrible," Brian jokes back with a small smile. "Tell your husband to be a better host."

"Alright, well, we'll see you guys around. It was nice meeting you, Kasey."

"You too," Kasey smiles before Brian drags her out of the house.

Brian doesn't say another word as he starts up the motorcycle again, letting Kasey settle against him.

The minutes pass until they're finally back at her apartment.

Brian cuts the engine, taking out his wallet. He seems to have shut down after the spat with his ex.

"How much?"

Kasey chews on her bottom lip. "You know what? It's fine, don't worry about it."

Brian looks up in surprise. "What? No, how much?"

"Trust me, it's perfectly alright," Kasey smiles. "I don't really need the money anyway. I actually had a really good time tonight. That's payment enough considering all the shit I've had to deal with before."

Brian frowns. "Are you sure?"

Kasey nods. "I'm positive."

The handsome stranger seems torn with himself as he looks from his wallet to Kasey.

"It was only this once, so it's really no big deal," Kasey continues.

Brian pockets the wallet, none too pleased with himself. "Yeah, well. I guess. Again, thanks for doing this. I won't bother you again."

Kasey smiles. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you around." She waves goodbye and heads into the apartment where Tess is waiting in the kitchen.

"That was fast," she comments, eyebrow raised.

"He wanted to leave."

"Problems?"

"Still hung up on the ex, big time. But on my side, it was perfect. I had a good time."

"Okay, spill."

Kasey shakes her head, smiling. But she sits down with Tess anyway, feeling like a little fifteen year old girl who just got back from her first date.