Love on the Brain

The cool air roamed her bare back, as Jade gathered her hair into a messy bun on top of her hair, not wanting to deal with her soaked locks at the moment. Jade stood in front of her body mirror and threw a glance at her reflection. She was dressed in a white faille dress with green floral pattern.

“Could you zip me?” Jade asked to her mother, who had just paid a visit to her room, carrying clean clothes that she dumped on top of her daughter’s bed.

“That dress looks so gorgeous on you, honey,” her mother said, as Jade felt how the dress became tighter as her mother brought the zipper all the way up. “You are such a beautiful girl,”

“Good genes,” Jade said jokingly, as her mother rolled her eyes.

“You are one of a kind, my darling,” the older woman said. “What are you doing this evening? I haven’t seen you in that dress for the longest time,” she confessed.

“That’s because we’ve been living in Scranton, a place where you can’t leave home without a scarf tugged around your neck,” her daughter said.

“Fair point, but what now?”

“I’m just gonna hang out with a friend,” Jade told her mother.

“A friend I’ve met? What are you guys doing?”

“No, you haven’t met him,” the brunette said. “And I don’t know, to be honest,”

“A boy?” her mother seemed shocked. “What’s his name? What’s he like?”

“Mom,” Jade sighed. “He’s just a friend. I promise,” she insured her mother, knowing how she got.

“For now,” her mother pursed her lips, acting like pubertal teenager, as her daughter rolled her eyes.

“More like forever,” her daughter said. “Have you seen my headband? I’ve been looking for it all day,”
she confessed.

“I believe I saw it downstairs? Also, have you told your father that you’re going on a date?” her mother asked, crossing her arms over her slim chest.

“Mom! It’s not a date!” Jade protested. “He has a girlfriend,” she added.

“Oh,” her mother dropped.

The clever smile on her mother’s lips soon faded, as Jade grabbed a black leather purse and rushed downstairs to the sound of the doorbell that echoed through the entire mansion.

“I’ll take it!” her father said, just as Jade picked up her speed in order to reach the door before her father.

“It’s fine!” the brunette insured, as she unlocked the door and faced Brian on the other side.

“Well, hello,” Brian saluted, a slick smirk already on his lips, meanwhile he looked at Jade’s summer dress. Her hair had been tied into a bun and he was instantly caught off guard as her sweet scent made its way into his nostrils.

“Hi,” she smiled back at him, just as footsteps emerged.

“Darling, is that your friend?” her mother called out, as she was now glancing over at the boy who was gonna hang out with her beloved daughter.

Brian looked up at her mother, instantly seeing the resemblance between the two of them. Jade’s mother was somewhat taller than her daughter, with hazel brown curly hair that reached her shoulders and tanned skin. She had a more rounded face with carved cheekbones and thin eyebrows. Brian could easily tell that Jade hadn’t earned her dark brown eyes from her mother, but the figure was quite similar, as Jade’s mom was also slim with long legs.

“Honey, let him inside,” her mother called, as Jade stepped aside and allowed Brian to take his first step into the already impressive mansion.

“Good evening,” the lady said to him, meanwhile she threw a look at teenage-boy.

His hair was dark and reached his shoulders, and he had a thick line of eyeliner that framed his brown eyes. His cheekbones were well-defined and he had a strong jaw-line and small lips. The boy was dressed in torn jeans and a Metallica t-shirt, and her mother had to instantly hold back the urge to slam the door in his face, as the guy introduced himself to her.

“Hi, Mrs Perez. I’m Brian Haner,” he introduced himself, as he stuck his hand into her direction, making her notice the black nail polish.

“Call me Esther, please,” the woman said, forcing her lips into a smile, while she accepted his hand.

“And I’m her father,” a strong voice said from behind Esther, as her father made an appearance.

Jade’s father was also a slim man, with a rather broad chest and dark brown hair. He didn’t have much of a beard, and Brian could tell he was the kind who shaved it every morning. He had sun-kissed skin, much like his daughter, and was dressed in a white shirt and a navy blue tie.

“Brian Haner,” the boy said, feeling the man’s strong handshake.

“I’m Javier,” the Hispanic man said. “Where are you taking my daughter today, Brian?” her father’s gaze could almost pierce through the boy, as his eyes looked utterly dangerous from Brian’s point of view.

“We’re just gonna go for a little walk, nothing biggie,” Brian told the older man, who nodded shortly.

“Come on, dear. Let’s not keep the kids occupied,” Esther said to her husband, as she linked their arms.

“Be home by nine, sweetheart!” her mother said rather sternly to her daughter, who nodded in response.

“Have fun!” Javier said to the two teenagers, not letting Brian out of his sight, as he watched the two of them step outside the mansion.

Silence remained between the two of them as they made their way down the patio. Jade could feel the tension from earlier linger between them, as it felt like the FBI had just investigated Brian.

“Fuck, that’s the most intimidating shit I’ve ever been through,” Brian sighed when they had crossed the patio and reached the pavement.

“God, I’m so sorry about that,” Jade rushed. “They’re very protective,” she told him.

“Man, if you told me they would fucking investigate me, I’d never invite you out to hang,” Brian sniggered, as Jade rolled her eyes at him.

“Don’t make me regret this,” she told him.

“Oh, you won’t,” he insured her, as the two of them stopped in front of a motorcycle. “I thought it would be wise to not mention to your parents that we’re riding this today,” Brian chuckled.

The motorcycle was decorated with flaming skulls, and Jade watched as Brian climbed on top of it and grabbed his helmet.

“That’s perhaps the smartest decision you’ve ever taken in your life,” Jade complimented him, as he handed her a helmet as well.

“And that’s perhaps the greatest compliment you’ve ever given me,” he fired back.

“That’s true,” Jade admitted.

“Come on,” Brian said, waiting for the brunette to climb up and circle her arms around his torso.

Jade felt a little taken aback as the sound of the engineer caught her attention. She instantly linked her arms around Brian’s torso, clinging unto his body, meanwhile the landscape started to drift away from her eyes. The wind was running through her clothes, making her regret putting on a dress, as Brian sped up a little.

“You’re surviving back there?” Brian asked, his gaze fixed upon the road in front of him.

“Just barely, considering who the driver is!” Jade exclaimed back, as Brian couldn’t help but laugh at how she was mocking him again.

The two of them drove for nearly fifteen minutes before Brian stopped at a small parking lot in front of a beach. The whole time Jade had been too caught up in the landscape that surrounded her to engage in any conversation with him.

“Wow,” Jade said after she had pulled off her helmet. “That really was something,” she admitted.

“I believe that’s your first time?” Brian asked, looking at the brunette who was sitting still on his motorcycle.

“Yup,” she confirmed, before handing him the helmet and bringing her fingers around the strap of her purse.

“It’s really nice here,” she commented. Jade looked at the glistering ocean in front of her and the sunlight that drooled over the navy blue colour.

“It is,” Brian agreed. “And things are about to get better,” he continued, as he opened the trunk at the back of his motorcycle, bringing out a basket that he had kept hidden the whole time.

“Wow,” Jade dropped, meanwhile Brian smirked at the expression on her face.

“Are you gonna sit on my motorcycle and drool all day, or do you wanna get moving?” he asked teasingly, as the brunette nudged his shoulder.

“Jerk,” she muffled under her breath, as the two of them made their way towards the sand, both of them kicking off their shoes as they went.

“Huntington is the prettiest place on Earth,” Brian commented while he felt his bare feet sink into the warm sand.

“Do you plan on living here after high school?” Jade asked, meanwhile she fixed upon her velvet headband.

“Yeah, definitely,” the guy stated, running a hand through his messy hair.

“Have you seen much outside Cali?” Jade mocked, as Brian responded by giving her a lovely view of his middle finger.

“Do I have to?” he cocked his eyebrows at her.

“I mean, there’s a lot of great places,” she said. “If I’m lucky enough to get into Yale, I’m moving to Connecticut,” she went on.

“You’ll get in,” Brian nodded. “You getting into Yale is just as likely as me becoming the best guitarist in the world,” he said, sounding pleased with himself.

“Now you’ve made me really nervous,” the brunette called, as he shot her a nasty glare.

“Ey!” Brian snapped. “You don’t get to speak poorly of my guitar skills,” he warned her.

“I’m just kidding,” she giggled.

“I know that,” he responded in a low voice. “You play instruments as well, don’t you?”

“Well, apparently you know that, considering you’ve been stalking me so much at school,” she said jokingly.

“I was just fishing,” Brian said with his hands raised up in surrender.

Jade giggled at his comment. “Yeah, I play piano and a little guitar,” she said.

“Guitar too? Shit, maybe we can jam sometime,” he suggested, glancing over at her.

“If by jamming you mean kicking your ass in Guitar Hero, I’m all up for it,” Jade announced. “You’re going down,”

“Wow, hang on!” Brian chuckled. “Do you really think you can beat me in fucking guitar hero?” he cocked his eyebrow at her, admiring her confidence.

“Uh, yeah! Of course I can. I’m a goddess when it comes to that game,” the brunette insured him. “You won’t know what hit you,”

“Is that a threat?” Brian curved his lips into the shit-eating grin she was so familiar with.

“Depends,” she shrugged back.

“Game on,” he sniggered. “May the best win,” he said.

“That’ll be me,” Jade insured him, a smirk curling along her rich lips.

Brian rolled his eyes at her, as the two of them had made their way down to the beach. He soon dumped the basket into the sand, along with his shoes as he plumped down on top of a towel he had grabbed on his way out, making himself comfortable. Jade soon dropped her flats next to his shoes, sitting down on the edge of the towel with her legs stretched out in front of her.

“I bet you didn’t get this view in Scranton,” Brian said, glancing at the brunette, who was currently leaning back on her elbows.

“It’s good to be back,” Jade confessed. “You know, I was born in Huntington,” she told him.

“But you moved away when you were little?” he asked, just as he was about to open the basket and reveal the sandwiches his mother had forced him to bring along with him.

“Yeah. We moved to Florida, stayed there for a couple of months, and then we took off to Washington,” Jade said, as her mind could only recall blurry memories from that time of her life.

“Is it hard to move away all the time?” Brian questioned, meanwhile he offered her a can of soda, which she gladly accepted, thanking him.

“It depends. I’ve attended schools I hated, and in those cases I felt beyond blessed when my parents announced that we would move,” Jade explained. “But I’ve also had great friends, and then it was awful,” she added.

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Brian nodded.

“Now,” Jade started. “Are you gonna offer me some of that food or do you wanna eat it all by yourself?” the brunette asked, glancing over at the sandwiches Brian had just taken out.

“I was actually thinking about eating all of this food by myself. You can watch though,” he responded, meanwhile Jade all but rolled his eyes.

“Idiot,” she muffled under her breath, helping herself to a chicken sandwich, while Brian watched her as she took a bite from the food he had brought.

“Did you make these?” Jade asked, taken by surprise as the delicious taste filled her mouth.

“No, totally not! My mom told me I had to bring them,” he confessed.

“Your mom?” her eyebrows climbed high on her forehead.

“Ey! If you wanna taste my chicken sandwiches, I’ll make sure it happens! But I will not be held responsible for food poisoning,” Brian warned, making her laugh at his comment.

“That sounds like a solid plan,” Jade commented, while she enjoyed her sandwich.

“You know when you said that you weren’t sure if you wanted to attend college right away?” he asked, as to which she nodded. “What have you thought about doing instead?”

Jade allowed the question to sink in, just as she could feel the scarlet colour that graced her cheeks as she blushed. Brian noticed it too, as he became even more curious about it.

“Well?” he said, not willing to let this go.

“Don’t laugh!” Jade warned. “But I’ve thought about seeing the world or something,” she revealed, knowing how cliché it all sounded.

As her answer reached his ears, Brian couldn’t resist the laughter that tickled his throat. “Seriously?” he cocked his eyebrows.

“Brian!” she sneered, slapping his shoulder with her hand, not making him move an inch.

“I’m sorry! It’s just not what I expected,” Brian said in defense.

“And what did you think I’d wanna do?” this time it was her turn to cock her eyebrows at him, as the brunette was curious about what he had had in mind.

“I don’t know,” he started, his index finger resting under his goatee. “Teach kids some chemistry? Work at a library?” Brian suggested, meanwhile Jade rolled her eyes at his thoughts.

“Am I really that boring to you?” the brunette asked, her eyebrows high on her forehead.

“Who says I think that’s boring?” he retorted, his dark orbs holding her gaze for a moment.

“Brian, come on,” she sighed. “I know you don’t think that teaching chemistry is a rad thing to do,”

“There’s a lot of things about me you don’t know,” Brian tried to argue, meanwhile Jade rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head at how he was acting.

“Like what then?” Jade said. “I’ve told you things about me, now it’s your turn,” she said, a slick smile covering her glossy lips. “And you don’t get to tell me about your guitar skills, because I’ve already seen that,” she added.

Brian chuckled, before he placed his hands at the back of his neck and laid down on the towel.

“I don’t wanna get married,” he announced, meanwhile he shut his eyes and allowed the sound of the waves fill up his mind.

“You’ve already thought about that?” Jade asked, taken aback that the thought had occurred his mind already.

“Of course,” he shrugged rather nonchalantly. “I have a girlfriend, those things come up,”

“We’re seventeen and you guys have already talked about marriage?” now the brunette sounded even more surprise than earlier.

“It’s not like we’ve talked about getting married now, but I know that Maddie wants to get married one day,” Brian explained.

“And you don’t? Why?”

“I just don’t see the point. I don’t need to waste cash on a wedding in order to show someone that I wanna spend the rest of my life with them,” he shrugged.

“Have you talked about kids as well?” she asked, meanwhile she twirled one of her locks around her fingers.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started,” he groaned, his fingertips rubbing into his temple. “She keeps bitching about that all the time,”

“Did the two of you meet in high school?”

Brian glanced over at Jade, who had her dark eyes resting upon his face. He looked at how she had started playing with the fabric of her floral dress, meanwhile she practically balanced her body on side, with her feet buried inside the sand.

“Yeah. We’ve been together for almost a year,” he muffled silently, meanwhile his mind collected the memories from the night the two of them started talking.

Maddie and him had a really special connection, as well as relationship. It had just started off as a hook-up, and had turned into a genuine attraction over a couple of weeks. Back then everything seemed so easy for the two of them. Back then they had wanted each other mutually, and would even be able to find time for each other.

“Brian?” Jade asked, her clear voice snapping him out of his flashback, as he looked at her, admitting that he hadn’t paid attention to what she had just said.

“Sorry,” he chuckled. “What were you saying?”

“What is she doing after high school?” the question that emerged from her lips had bugged him as well.

Maddie had held back a lot of information around this topic, and despite the fact that they were all gonna apply for colleges this year, he was still not sure what his girlfriend had in mind yet.

“She hasn’t decided yet,” Brian stated. “I mean, her parents went to NYU, but I’m not sure if that’s where she wants to go,” he confessed.

“We have a lot of time before we have to apply though,” Jade said, trying to sound comforting.

“How would your parents react if you ditched Yale?” he asked, resting his eyes as well as attention on the brunette next to him.

Brian watched as Jade’s jaw tightened, and she looked almost uncomfortable there she was. The brunette went to loosen her hair, before she dragged her hand through her messy locks.

“They’d be furious,” she admitted.

“But what if you decided to go for another good school? Like Stanford or Brown?”

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Jade stated. “Yale has been their dream ever since my mom went into labour. They would never approve of anything else,” a sigh left her lips as she said it, and for the first time, Brian could see that she looked disappointed.

“You don’t have to do as they say, Jade,” he reminded her. “They can’t seriously be mad at their daughter forever because she went for something else,” Brian insisted.

“Oh, you clearly don’t know my parents,” Jade chuckled. “I come from a family of traditions, and that’s why they want me to attend Yale. My grandmother even taught at the university,”

“Perhaps you’ll be the first Perez to break the habit,” Brian sniggered.

“Yeah, right,” Jade chuckled, rolling her eyes at the idea.

Jade soon glanced up at the watch on her wrist, realizing that the time had slipped out of their fingers, as the hours had disappeared without the two of them even noticing. Jade then looked up at Brian, who was busy stuffing a strawberry into his mouth, his jaw moving as he chewed on it.

“We have about one hour until you have to return me to my FBI-parents,” she told him, causing him to laugh, before he offered her a strawberry.

“If you met my parents, you’d realize how creepy yours are,” Brian insured her, watching as Jade’s rich glossy lips embraced the strawberry.

There was something drop dead gorgeous in the way the brunette wrapped her lips around the berry and chewed it gently. Jade was the kinda girl who could make even the most boring thing look extraordinary. Brian’s eyes followed her closely as she shifted her position and picked up another strawberry that she soon guided into her mouth.

“Please remember to thank your mother for the sandwiches. They were amazing,” she complimented, her lips pulled into a sincere smile.

“She’ll never stop talking about you if I do,” Brian warned, meanwhile Jade laughed at the thought of it.

“When are you guys gonna play your next gig, by the way?” Jade asked, twirling a stray of hair around her finger and looking over at Brian.

“We actually talked about it today. Did Michelle mention that to you?” he questioned, as he was unsure if she just asked out of curiosity.

“She hasn’t told me anything,” the brunette said.

“We’re gonna play in a month in another bar, so it’ll be great,” Brian retorted. “You should come,”

“Maybe,” Jade muffled.

“Come on. Don’t make me plead,” Brian insisted. “You had fun last time,” he added.

“Did I? I can’t really recall,” Jade mocked, just as he showed her the view of his middle finger.

“I’m quite positive. Must have been that very handsome guitarist you saw on stage,” he bragged, his lips curling into the smirk she’d seen so many times.

Jade all but rolled her eyes, her fingertips playing with the golden earring in her ear. “Do you mean Zacky? He’s adorable,” she said, ignoring how he stuck his tongue at her.

“You disgust me,” Brian said in the most dramatic voice, forcing a laugh out of her lips.

“I disgust you so much that you invite me out to hang? Wow, I must be really great then,” she responded teasingly.

“You’re not that bad, Perez,” he admitted, his dark eyes glancing up at her, as the brunette could feel the heat that stroke her cheeks.

There was something dangerously odd that happened every time he looked at her like that. Jade could feel her heart pound hard against her chest, and the soft heat that crept towards her cheeks as she felt his dark eyes look at her for quite some time.

“We should probably get going,” Brian said after a while, as he realized what time it was.

“Yeah,” Jade muffled, before she started to gather their trash.

“Don’t want to deliver you late to your parents,” he said, a silly smile cupping his lips, meanwhile he watched as she got up and brushed the sand off her dress.

“They would probably sue you if you did that,” she retorted, making him unsure if she was serious or not.

“I’m not sure if you’re kidding or not?” Brian admitted, listening to the sound of her clear laughter, as he grabbed his sneakers from the sand and followed the brunette towards the parking lot.

“Who knows?” Jade shrugged in return, before she picked up a helmet and shoved it over her head.

The brunette waited for Brian to climb on top, as she soon placed her hands Brian’s waist, noticing how he leaned forward and started the engineer.

Jade could once again feel the wind that brushed passed her bare thighs, meanwhile she tightened her grip around Brian’s waist. The streets seemed almost empty as they rushed passed the neighbourhood, the brunette enjoying how the landscape disappeared behind her.

“Here we are,” Brian muttered, as he took off his helmet, ruffling his half-long hair and looked over his shoulder.

The guy soon climbed down from his motorcycle, offering his hand to Jade, who soon accepted it. It almost felt like lava rushed through his entire body as his long fingers embraced her small hand. He watched as she jumped off the motorcycle, the helmet resting under her arm, as she looked at him.

“Brian?” she said, snapping her fingers in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, digging his hand through his hair. “What were you saying?”

Jade chuckled, as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I had fun today,” she confessed.

“What’s up with all the compliments? Are you turning soft?” Brian mocked, just as she slapped his shoulder.

“Don’t ruin this,” she warned.

Brian sniggered. “I had fun as well,” he admitted. “We should do it again some time,” he suggested.

Jade nodded, before her fingers stated playing with the strap of her purse. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she said, holding in her breath, meanwhile she earned a quick nod from him.