Blood

When the guys had come back from the bar, Brian was a little clingier than usual. It was getting on every last one of Kory's nerves. Generally, she didn't have a problem with this. But she still hadn't spoken to him about earlier today, and she remained quiet as she let her mind wander. She didn't dare ask him now, for the simple fact that they were all hung around in the hotel room, and she didn't want the conversation to be a public event.

He had pulled her into his lap, his strong arms wrapped around her protectively, as he kissed her shoulder lightly. He didn't speak up as the guys had a friendly but heated conversation about which brand of beer was better. Kory wasn't concerned with any of it. She just let her mind wander to the darkest of possibilities.

After roughly half an hour of complete silence between the two of them, Brian finally spoke up. "Do you wanna get dressed? I have to show you something," he muttered against her adorned skin, nuzzling her shoulder.

She didn't answer, but only stood up and grabbed her duffel bag and headed into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her. She quickly pulled out a change of clothes, letting her natural ringlets fall loosely around her shoulders.

She gave herself a once over before walking back into the main room, dropping her bag back where it was as she did so. The second she emmersed from the bathroom, everyone got quiet. They all turned away from Brian, and stared at her.

"Now every single fucking one of you are keeping secrets from me. Great," she said sarcastically, pulling her boots on and grabbing her cell phone before storming out into the hallway. She skipped the elevator again, and heard Brian stumbling down the stairs after her. She hated that she would have known his heavy footsteps even in a huge crowd.

"Kory! Kory, wait," he said, finally catching up to her. He wrapped his slenger fingers around her wrist so she couldn't run off again.

She turned to glare at him, but when she saw the genuine hurt in his eyes, she couldn't help but soften her gaze. "What?" She didn't dare question him about anything, she only turned her hand in his grip so she could gently graze the inside of his wrist, staring at the familiar ink on his skin instead of looking at him any longer.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but could you just keep an open mind for a second?" He questioned, glancing down at her pink lips. Using his free hand, he held her chin gently, pulling her eyes to his. He traced her lips with his thumb, noticing how her breath became uneven at his touch.

Kory sighed, but nodded. She leaned into him as his hand left her lips and caressed her cheek.

He kissed her, lingering a little longer than necessary, before the both of them walked outside into the brisk air, hand in hand. The sun was just getting ready to set, and the sky was a pinkish orange color. It reminded Kory of a creamscicle. The thought made her giggle to herself.

They crossed the semi-bust street, and walked for just under five minutes before they arrived at the pavillion Brian had sought out just hours previous. It was painted white, the paint chipping off in various places. It was obvious that it was unattended to, but it had a vintage, horror look to it.

Kory couldn't help the small smile that spread across her lips. She let her hand wander up to one of the six pillars, picking off a small piece of the paint. "What're we doing here?" She asked, looking back at Brian.

He only shrugged. "I just thought you'd like it," he answered.

She nodded. "I do." She sat down on the pavement, and Brian followed. She laid her head in his lap, and pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and searched her music before finally finding Orion by Metallica. She placed her cell phone on her stomach, and let the music play. She probably could have fallen asleep here, but her mind refused.

Brian's mind, too, was a mess. He was more nervous than he had been in his entire life. He hated knowing that he had upset her, and he hated not knowing whether his actions in the very, very near future would change that or not. He hoped so. But then again, it was Kory, and he couldn't ever be positive of anything when it came to her.

A third of the way though the song, Kory decided that it was now or never to speak up. "Where were you today? While Rissa and I were at BAM? And, don't lie. I know you weren't at a music shop or a wine cellar or any place else in that mall."

Brian twirled her hair with his index finger to calm his nerves. "We were," he said, "I mean, we were at the mall. We went to a jewler."

Kory was thrown off at first. She wasn't one for jewlery. Not the flashy kind, anyways. Marrissa liked that kind of thing, but it was only certain things that caught her eye. Besides, if they had gone for Marrissa, surely it wouldn't have been as big of a deal to hide everything from Kory. And neither Brian nor Matt wore flashy things like that, either. She sat up then, leaning on her elbow. "Why were you there? And why was it such a problem that I knew about it?"

Brian stood up, holding his hand out to her. He helped her up, but could see that she was becoming impatient. "Remember what I told you about keeping an open mind, okay?"

She nodded, taking her bottom lip in between her teeth.

His stomach twisted and turned and he wanted to pause time so he could have a few more minutes to prepare himself. He still wanted to go through with things, but he was so, so nervous. He was pretty certain that he hadn't been this uneasy about anything ever before. He placed both hands on either side of her face, and kissed her sweetly.

Kory watched him suspiciously as he fished something out of his pocket. The second his hand was visible, she looked for any sign as to what it was. She realized when he knelt down on one knee.

Kory wanted to cry. She wanted to yell at him, she wanted to yell at herself, she wanted to tell him to get up and hug her, but she did nothing. Her eyes stayed locked with his, and her hand went up to cover her mouth instincitvely. An open mind, she reminded herself.

"I've been thinking, since the other night when we talked about our future, and I tried to imagine things in any other way. I know that you said you wanted to wait, and I get that. But I can't stand the thought of any one else looking at you the way I do. And I know that we aren't exactly the traditional type, but we haven't ever been. The decision was really...fast, and kind of sudden, even for me, but I needed to do this. I needed to because you make me feel like I'm fourteen and in love for the first time. Korrissa Lukay, will you marry me?"

Everything Kory had ever known changed just then. She suddenly didn't know anything about the universe. She just knew that this moment was going to change everything. "Brian, I," she stopped, on the verge of tears.

He interupted her then. "It doesn't have to happen until you're ready for it. We don't have to rush anything. We can be engaged for three years before actually finalizing it if that's what you want. I want you to do what you're most comfortable with," he said, his stomch still turning. So much for the confident, womanizing Synyster Gates, he thought to himself.

Kory thought everything over for a second. She could back out of an engagement if she needed to. Marriage was another story. Not that she ever wanted to leave him, but she needed the reassurance that she had a quick getaway if things turned toxic. But when she looked at him, it was all over. He was the grey in her black and white life, and he was her fast paced song in a slow playlist. But, most important of all, he was hers. And she couldn't lie, she loved the thought of that. "You're a fucking dumbass," she said, shaking her head and laughing.

Brian's heart dropped. It was one thing for her to say no, but he didn't expect her to believe it to be a joke. It pained him, really.

"Stand up and put the ring on me then, seeing as you've already gotten the other parts down," she said, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Is that a yes, then?" He asked, sounding a little too hopeful.

She nodded, her smile turning into a full blown grin, matching his.

He stood up then, taking the ring from the box and sliding it easily onto her finger. He liked the way it looked on her.

The band was black, and it curved up at the middle. There were two diamonds on either curve that were just a bit larger than the size of a pin. In the center, was a violet gem that looked royal blue in a certain light, and even silver from a specific angle. It seemed to glitter in the faint sunlight. It was simplicit, unextravegent, yet beautiful and elegent at the same time.

Brian wrapped his arms around her waist, grinning when she wrapped her arms around his neck in return. He took in her familiar scent, satisifed with himself for even having the guts to do this in such a short time. He could feel her uneven breathing on his neck, but he knew something was odd about it. He pulled away reluctantly, and frowned when he saw the tears on her cheeks. "Why are you crying?" He wiped her tears away with his thumbs, kissing her forehead as he did so.

She shook her head. "Just, just because I love you so fucking much," she muttered, pulling him back to her, missing everything about his embrace. "Do I really make you feel like a fourteen year old again?" Kory question, laughing softly and pulling away just enough to look at him.

"Yeah, even the sex crazed part," he said, making her laugh.

She shook her head. "I still can't believe that this is why you were so annoyingly secretive," she scoffed dissaprovingly.

"It wasn't supposed to upset you, but we really didn't have a lot of time. Like I said, it was really sudden. And we probably should have discussed our cover ups better," he said, laughing.

"Yeah...just a bit," she teased, grabbing his hand in hers and lacing their fingers together. "I have a bit of apologizing to do, I was an asshole to everyone earlier," she said, pecking his lips affectionately.

"Should we head back, then?"

Kory nodded. It only took a total of five minutes to get back to the hotel, and they sure as hell weren't in any kind of rush. It wasn't a surprise that everyone was still sat in their hotel room, eating take out and watching bad television.

When they walked inside, everyone stared at the two of them, not a word spoken. Kory decided to break the tension, knowing damn well what it was about in the first place. "I, uh, I said yes," she said, biting her lip again.

She laughed when Jimmy ran over to her, tackling her to the floor. "I better be in your wedding!" He said, perhaps a little too loudly for being in a hotel room.

Zacky took it upon himself to join in on the Torture Kory fest, and laid across the both of them. "Eventually we'll be related to you and Marrissa and I really need a moment to prepare myself for that," he teased, laughing when Kory hit his shoulder.

"Zack, I think you're crushing my internal organs," she groaned, trying her best to push him off of her with no prevail. She groaned loudly when even more weight piled on top of her.

"Kory and Brian, sitting in a tree," Johnny began singing, making Kory laugh.

"Okay, seriously guys, get off the poor girl," Matt started in, handing out a hand to help Kory up. Once she had taken it, he pulled her up and threw her over his shoulder, holding onto her legs tightly so she didn't fall.

"Seriously?! Matt!" She tried her hardest to get loose of his grip, but resorted to reaching out her hands to Brian, who was laughing at the entire thing. "I need a little bit of saving," she muttered.

It didn't take much convincing for Matt to hand the now engaged Kory over to Brian. Once she was free, Kory took a second to talk to Marrissa about everything that had happened. They gushed over the ring, but neither of them mentioned the future, not yet, anyways. After fifteen minutes of everyone sharing a moment of adoration for one another, Kory and Brian were both growing impatient.

"Seriously though, Kor, I'm really happy for you two. How awesome will it be to tell everyone that you're my legitimate sister now?" Jimmy asked, his arms draped lazilly across Kory's shoulders.

She grinned from ear to ear. She fell in love with the thought. "You're gonna make me all happy and emotional and I'll cry, quit your shit," she teased, laughing.

He chuckled heartily. "Alright, fine, fine. No more sappy shit."

It was quiet for a few seconds, before Kory piped up again. "Would it be selfish of me to ask everyone to leave?"

Jimmy shook his head. "Nah, you guys obviously want time to yourselves." He stood up, grabbing Matt and Johnny by the back of their shirts, pulling them away from Brian. "Kory and Syn want to fuck, all guests are banished from the lair until further notice!" He yelled, making everyone laugh.

It didn't take very long for the room to be cleard out, and Kory was thankful for that. Jimmy was the last one to leave. "Thanks, JimJam," she spoke, trying to hide the red of her cheeks.

He nodded. "It was my pleasure, Mrs. Future-Haner," he replied, grinning.

The two shared a tight embrace, before he finally departed form the room as well. And then, just like before, the rest of the word didn't matter outside of these walls.

Kory put a hand on Brian's chest, and pushed him down onto the bed, stradling his hips. When she kissed him, it was complete lust. His hands rested on her backside, and she giggled when he pulled at her jeans eagerly.

She let his hands work at the button, and she couldn't stop the squeal that escaped when he pushed her so their positions were reversed. She began to pull her top off, but accidentally elbowed him. They both laughed for a good few seconds, before Brian finally composed himself enough to pull her top off the rest of the way.

"I love you," Kory muttered, her hands tangled in the end of his hair.

He stared at her tawny colored eyes, and the corners of his lips turned up into a subtle smile. "I love you, too."