Bluff

Two days. That's all it took for Marrissa to efficiently organize a trip up to Matt's cabin for everyone to cool down a little. Kory was astonished by the way she had gotten everyone's schedule cleared for an entire weekend in only forty-eight hours.

"Are you excited?" Marrissa asked, plopping herself down on Kory's bed, next to the still half-empty book bag. "Wait, this isn't all your taking is it?" Knowing Kory, she'd end up to have the most luggage out of everyone.

She shook her head. "No, it's just my...ugh, what's the word? Add-on things; perfume, toothbrush. I forget what they're actually called. Anyways, I'm excited. Just a little nervous is all." She grabbed a duffel bag from the floor, and threw in a pair of jeans.

"Nervous?" Marrissa asked, "Why?" She didn't see any reason to be nervous about spending some time with the guys.

Kory sighed, and stopped packing for a moment to look at the confused girl perched on her bed. "Yeah, nervous. Because Brian's gonna be there. And I don't want things to be awkward, because I'm afraid that if they are then it'll ruin things. Does that make sense?" She shrugged, and pulled an antiqued purple hoodie from her closet, throwing it on the bed.

"Oh, you'll be fine. Trust me." Marrissa bit her lip to repress a giggle, and stood up. "I've gotta go. Matt and I have plans."

"Ooh! Tell me, tell me!" Kory averted her attention from packing, to just Marrissa. She loved hearing about their relationship. It seemed like something out of a fairy tale; they hardly ever fought and even when they did, they made up moments later.

Marrissa shrugged, her mind coming up with some plan to cover her tracks. "He made reservations at The Hobbit," she replied, as though it was nothing. But her face looked like Kory felt.

"Fancy schmancy. What're you wearing?" Kory grinned, in hopes of helping pick out Marrissa's outfit, and giggled softly.

The two spent roughly half an hour in Marrissa's room, deciding what she'd wear. They finally settled on a grey high low dress, with white pumps. She accessorized with a pearl necklace, and matching ear rings. Her makeup took about ten minutes, though it was just eyeliner, mascara, and a little bit of black shadow.

Once she had felt she looked like the image she'd had had in her head, Marrissa departed. But, it wasn't exactly to The Hobbit, as she had told Kory. She ended up driving to Matt's house, as she had planned.

"You're quite late. What happened?" Matt asked, pecking her on the lips.

Marrissa only laughed. "I needed an excuse to get out of the dorm, the quickest one I could come up with was reservations. She wouldn't have let me go in what I was wearing even if it was just to Burger King."

Matt shook his head, and laced his hand with hers. "So, how is this gonna work?"

"Well, you and I will take them there, head back here and then do whatever for the weekend. Jimmy wants us to come over Saturday at five, though."

Nodding, Matt tugged Marrissa over to the sofa and pressed play on the film, cuddling her close.



To Kory, it felt like she had been in this stupid car for hours, despite the fact that it had actually only been forty-five minutes. It was silent, though she couldn't have heard much with her headphones in her ears. She studied Marrissa and Matt's laced fingers lying on the center console. She couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips.

They weren't doing it on purpose, Kory knew this. She loved them together so much. But she couldn't help herself but to be jealous. She wanted what Matt and Marrissa had. But she didn't at the same time. She wanted to settle down, to love someone; but she also wanted to be reckless and completely forget about anything to do with love - she didn't want to get hurt.

Brian noticed her sudden shift in mood. It was as if the entire atmosphere had changed; it went from contentment to sadness in less than a second. He wondered if Matt or Marrissa had noticed, though they hadn't seem to be affected by it. He didn't say anything, though. What was he to say?

Kory decided that, until they arried, she'd just silently listen to Three Days Grace and take in the scenery as it passed her. It's not like she could do anything else, but she would rather focus on the trees passing her, as opposed to being close to Brian for an entire weekend without getting a break.

The last fifteen minutes of the trip went a lot faster when she pushed the thoughts of Brian from her head.

"Where's everyone else?" Kory asked, as she began lugging her things into the cabin. She also wondered why both Matt and Marrissa were just standing there, not even attempting to get their things from the car.

Matt didn't answer her question, even though it was aimed directly at him. He patted his pockets frantically, and said "I forgot my phone charger. You'll be fine alone for a while? Until everyone else gets here, I mean."

Kory wanted to ask why he couldn't just use Marrissa's charger - they had the exact same phone. But she didn't. Instead, she just nodded. She didn't want to invade their privacy, so she just accepted how odd the entire situation was. "Yeah, I'll keep him in check," she teased, laughing softly.

She heard Brian scoff as he lugged the rest of his stuff inside, which caused her to laugh as she hugged both Marrissa and Matt. She watched as they departed before walking into the cabin completely for the first time. She took in all of the beautiful sights at once; the oak accents, the grand piano in the corner, all of the matching neutral-colored furniture that was calming in some way. "Woah," her words were hardly a whisper, but Brian heard her anyways.

He plopped himself down onto the sofa and sighed. "Unless you know how to cook, we're kinda screwed until someone else gets here."

"Nothing but mac n' cheese," Kory replied, sitting in one of the lounge chairs. She couldn't help herself, she let her eyes wander over Brian, giving extra attention to the visible skin where his shirt pulled up slightly. Thank god his eyes are closed, she thought, her cheeks turning pink despite the fact that he seemed oblivious to her examination.

She had began to attempt conversation, but her cell phone vibrated in her hoodie pocket, notifying a new text message from Marrissa.

From: Rissa
To: Kory
Txt: You're gonna hate me.

The text made Kory nervous, especially knowing that there were times Marrissa would get sidetracked and completely forget a conversation. What would Kory have to be upset about?

To: Rissa
From: Kory
Re: Why??

The short time it took for Marrissa to reply was agonizing. But, thankfully, it didn't take very long. That much wasn't exactly surprising, though her response was.

From: Rissa
To: Kory
Re: We're not coming back. And the guys are still here...we decided that you and Brian should work things out, so we all came together and made up a plan. Don't worry about dad or Mel - she's in on it and helping cover for you both. See you Sunday at ten. xo

"Well there's a plot twist," Kory muttered, attracting Brian's attention. Their gaze connected and her heart flipped, right before her stomach churned. "Your stupid friends and my stupid best friend decided that it would be a fabulous idea to leave us stranded out here." She groaned loudly, and threw her head back in agony.

Still confused, Brian grabbed Kory's cell phone from her lap and read the text message. He sighed, but shrugged. He didn't mind it, really. He didn't have a problem at all with Kory. He wanted to be around her. But, when she distanced herself, he felt the need to do so as well.

"Might as well fulfill their wishes. What are we supposed to work out exactly?" Kory questioned, accepting the fact that, no matter what happened, she'd be alone with Brian until Sunday morning.

Brian had no reply to that question. He wasn't sure himself. "Well," he began, "Maybe it's about...us."

Kory stared at him for a second. "They don't know though, do they? I only told Marrissa, and asked her not to say anything. She's never broken a promise before. I highly doubt she would now. Bu--"

"It was probably Matt," Brian interrupted, "I told him, he probably told Marrissa and then it blew up from there I guess." That seemed to be the only logical explanation. Then again, you could never tell when it came to the guys. Marrissa was just fuel to their unpredictable fire.

"How much did you tell him?" The fear in Kory's eyes was surreal. She wasn't ashamed of Brian, but she was afraid of being embarrassed, of having everyone know how weak she really was.

Brian shook his head, and took her hand in his in attempt of comfort. "No, Matt wouldn't do anything to hurt you. And Ris was part of it, too. Everything's fine, you're alright," he cooed.

She composed herself rather quickly, and sighed once she finally had. "Fine then, let's talk about...us."

He knew that Kory would never explain how she felt to Brian first, so he spoke surely. "I love you. But I hate that you're always busy, and never have a second to breath. You never get a second to yourself and you're constantly trying to please everyone around you. It's quite annoying. Plus, it doesn't give me a slot to antagonize you. You're cute when you're angry, by the way. I think it's adorable."

Kory ignored the heat rising in her cheeks, and sighed, not phased by the compliment. Though she wasn't entirely sure if it was a compliment in the first place. "I'm scared, okay? I'm scared you're going to walk into my life, make me care about you more than I care about anything or anyone else, and then just walk the fuck out like you have better things to do. No one's ever loved me as much as I loved them. And I hate you, so much. For making me confused. For making me cry over spilt milk and I hate you for making me like you so much. You're a dick."

Brian laughed, but nodded. "Fair enough. Why would you be afraid of that? I haven't left yet, and I don't plan on it either. So, why does that scare you?"

At this point in time, Kory had moved over to the sofa and crossed her legs under one another, facing Brian. She only shrugged. "Because," she replied, avoiding his eyes.

"Because...?" Brian nodded, and motioned her to continue.

Kory groaned. "Because I've only ever had one relationship before. Like, an actual relationship. There was this guy I met four years ago, named Wyatt. I loved him. I legit didn't care about myself anymore. I didn't even care about music or finishing school or writing. All I cared about was him. I missed my grandfather's funeral because he had the flu. We were together for two years and I couldn't envision myself with anyone else, not then not ever. I didn't so much as look at any other guys. I didn't talk to Marrissa unless it was unavoidable, I didn't talk to Melody or my dad. I was just, nonexistent pretty much. Turns out, he had been seeing this girl named Noa for nine months. I didn't even know until he had to leave for the hospital to see his bouncing baby boy born. Though all of the signs were there, I guess I was blinded by love so to speak. He didn't so much as look back at me once his son was born. I guess he married her.

"After that, I got back in contact with Marrissa. Amazingly, she forgave me and we started talking to Mel and Mason again. Things were good. Better than before, at least. I got back into the studio and eventually got over him. And for an entire six months, I hated every guy that tried to get with me. That's why I was so hostile at first. And, now, I think you're funny and cute and sweet and I really like you."

It was silent for a second, before Kory chirped up quickly. "I'm sorry. I got way to detailed."

Brian shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'm sorry that happened to you. If it makes you feel any better, I know what's it's like. I mean, not to that extreme or anything but Michelle cheated on me because she thought I was cheating on her and left. I know what it's like to be betrayed." Brian only shrugged.

"Come on, you can't just," Kory imitated his action and shook her head, "You still care, admit it. I do." Her voice was gentle, but still factual. It was like she was admitting a dark secret that was no longer true.

"Of coarse I do. I still care about my first guitar but that doesn't mean I devote every second of my time to wishing it was still here."

Kory nodded. She understood exactly what he was saying. "So...we're good then?"

"What does that mean exactly? We were fine before this talk; just distant." He wasn't aware that Kory thought they weren't okay in the first place. Then again, he could never be sure; she spent so much time avoiding him that he didn't have time to pick up on anything.

"I mean, that if I were to kiss you, right now, you'd be okay with it. And, you'd kiss me in front of people. And you'd take me on dates, and you'd let me stay at your house and you'd let me wear your shirts and you'd get to know what I'm like when I'm upset." Her cheeks were flushed, and she stared at her thin fingers, awaiting his response.

He grabbed her hand, and smirked when she finally looked up at him. His lips were only inches from hers when he spoke. "Kiss me, then."

Kory giggled, but did as told. The kiss was short, but sweet. She wanted more but, unfortunately, her stomach said otherwise. "I think their main goal was to try and kill us," she said, groaning.

Brian laughed, but stood up. He walked into the kitchen, making sure that Kory's soft footsteps followed his. "I can attempt to make anything you want, just name it."

"Unless you can make me a steak, I'm not interested," she replied teasingly, pushing herself up onto the counter and sticking her nose in the air.

He only shrugged. "I can make that, it's easy."

"I was kidding, but definitely not objecting. Cook away, master chef." She giggled softly, and watched as he grabbed things from the fridge, and a few things from the freezer.

They ended up both eating steak, though it took way longer than it should have. They spent more time laughing and throwing spices at each other than actually cooking, and once or twice Kory even had to calm herself down a bit, because he frequently left kisses on her neck and collar bone while they were waiting. They both completely forgot about everything at home. Kory forgot about being afraid to get hurt, and Brian forgot about hurting her. They were just existing in each other, nothing more. And that was the best either of them had felt in ages.