What Have You Done

I obnoxiously entered the front door of Brian’s home. “Honey, I’m here!” I was only teasing but I knew he probably cringed. I loudly bounced down the stairs and into the den room. “Did you miss me?” I plopped down next to him on the couch.

He continued to strum his guitar and hum some new lyrics he’d been working on. I poked his shoulder and mimicked his voice the best that I could. “Hey, Emory. It’s really good to see you. Do you need help with your bags? How was your day?” I giggled adding my response. “I’m doing great Brian thanks for asking. I talked to Jimmy today…seems like we are all square as long as we stop fucking lying to each other, oh and I stopped by Matt and Val’s house…got to hang out with your ex-wife for a while. That was fun.” I was definitely pushing my limits by mentioning Michelle.

His brown eyes darted to mine. He slowly set his guitar down at the side of the couch. “Shut up, Em.”

“Make me.” I taunted. “Sucker!”

Without warning he jumped towards me and tackled me on to the couch. He pinned my arms above my head and sat on my waist to keep her from squirming.

His face was inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my lips but in that moment I was unsure if I should make a move or not… I didn’t want to ruin anything we had already and I wanted to set a good example for our child. I needed to know for sure that this would be a real deal, that this time it would be love.

"You were saying?" He deviously smiled at me. "That's what I thought!" Brian let go of my arms and sat in his original spot.

I pushed Brian’s chest away from me and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table. I stretched out and laid my head in Brian’s lap.

"Sure Em, make yourself comfortable it's not like I was trying to play music or anything like that."

I turned the TV on completely ignoring what he said. "Where’s our child? Usually he runs to me and I am concerned I haven’t heard him at all…"

“He’s with my parents…I’m pretty sure we are going to have to go through a custody battle to get Owen back from them.” He teased. “I FaceTimed with him earlier. I think he forgot about us already.”

I moved my head from his lap to look up at him. He hovered over me only inches away…I should do it right? No…but those lips are making it difficult to think straight.

Brian smirked at me. “You won’t do it you, chicken.” He kissed the top of my nose. “It’s not like we’ve never done that before. We do have a kid together.”

I rolled my eyes and turned on my side letting Brian think what every he wanted. I once again started flipping through channels and attempted to ignore him.

"God Damnit, Em, you're lucky I like love the shit out of you. Scoot over. I wanna lay down" He smoothly laid down and lightly pulled me to his chest. We continued facing the TV as if this was a normal occurrence. It felt right, just like it used to.

Brian POV:

I wish Emory would lighten up. I wish she would let me in again. I knew this was going to be fucking difficult but I didn’t expect it to be like this. In a way I thought everything would fall into place now that she is home, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. She was distrusting to everyone and since she had Owen, she put up these walls that not even I could break down and that shit was annoying to me. I just wanted her to be open and calm.

Sometimes I caught myself wondering what things would have been like if she had never left for Europe. Would I have married Emory instead of Michelle? Would we have a bigger family by now? Would we have made it this many years? Would Jimmy have ever approved of his best friend falling in love with his little sister?

I inwardly laughed at the memories of me and Emory going behind Jimmy's back to have her first kiss or the time we had sex in the back of my car.

I snapped out of my thoughts when the TV screen lit up. "Really?" She is not playing this movie again… “Em, seriously….Nightmare Before Christmas, you child.”

"It's a good movie!" She objected. “It’s mine and Owen’s favorite…maybe daddy should join our awesomeness.” She was completely kidding but it always made me feel weird when she said Daddy or Papa or anything along those lines unless Owen was around.

"We've watched this movie so many fucking times, dude. I can't. I watched it last time you were here." I grabbed the remote from her hand.

She turned on her other side to face me she tilted her head and stared into my eyes. I raised my eyebrow wondering what was going through her mind. Emory was crazy, she could either be attempting to snuggle or flirt... but she could also be plotting my death. She finally laid her head on my chest and closed her eyes.

"Syn...you do realize this is my first time home since you know. Everything that happened." She muttered against my chest. "I literally haven't been home in five years."

I took in a deep breath and pulled Emory's black beanie off of her head and began running my fingers through her hair in a relaxing manner. It felt like we were starting off right where we left it just five years ago.

"I know." I kissed the top of her head. "I really miss this but now that you are back I feel like I’m going to eventually hate this." I joked.

She nodded her head, "Me too. I already hate it." She teased.

"Why did we stop this? I mean I know the long distance thing sucked but I never understood. I visited all the time and hung out with you and Owen." I could feel her body stiffen against his. "Hey." I ran my fingers down her neck. "Relax, it’s just me. I just can't fully understand it all."

Emory sighed. "We've been through this before, Bri." She remained calm as she spoke. "We were young…I needed help and I didn’t want to ruin your dreams Brian. I wouldn’t come home and you wouldn't stay with me. I wanted to tell Jimmy and you didn't. We didn't work very hard to resolve the issues or attempt at having a healthy relationship after I left. I mean fuck, you visited for the last two years of Owen’s life…we weren’t much of a family in the beginning. Then you met Michelle and married her then I met Andrew. Life continued." I could feel her grip tighten around me. I knew she was doing her best to not push me away but at the same time she tried to protect herself.

"I know, I was kind of a dick head, but look at us now. We are both single living in the same house. Maybe it's fate." He lightly chuckled. "And I will call Jimmy right now. I’ll tell him that I still love you, if you want me too."

"Brian you know how much I hate this place. I don’t know if I will even stay here forever."

My stomach turned at the idea of Emory leaving again. If she did leave it would become a legal battle. I couldn’t lose my son again even if it made Emory hate me. I turned the Tv off and tilted Emory's chin forcing her to look at me. "This will be different Em. We are older and more mature." He smirked. "Let me prove to you that it will be different this time. I'm not gonna bail on you. Ever again."

She stared into my eyes instantly melting at my words. She shut her eyes as she closed the gap between us. Her kiss was soft against my lips. I lustfully continued to run my hands down her body.

"Brian." She mumbled, she slowly pulled away from the heated moment. "I can't do this, Bri. Not now…"

I sat up next to her and rested my hand on her bouncing leg. "You’re still scared." I laughed.

It was her turn to giggle. "I need to go to bed. It's been a long day." She lightly kisses me again, "Night Syn." She started up the stairs.

Mixed fucking signals. "Hey Em!"

She stopped at the top stair and looked over the banister to see me. "If you get cold tonight you're welcome in my bed."

Her cheeks turned red. "Shut it." She continued up the second set of stairs where I watched her fit body bounce.

A devious smile plastered my lips. I knew how to push all of her buttons. "Goodnight EMORY ELIZABETH SULLIVAN..I LOVE YOU!" I laughed when I heard her bedroom door slam shut. "Fuckin Emory..." My mind is now set on winning her back. I wasn't sure how but I knew somehow and some way I would prove to her that I wasn't the same boy that I used to be. I was better now, more mature, and an all around better person. I knew how to treat a woman now and I was going to do whatever it took to make sure Emory and Owen knew that they were the only things in the world that mattered to me.

When Emory was out of site I decided I would call Jimmy. I know I’m in for a shit storm…but things between him and I needed to change.