Love on the Brain

“Michy, he said he wanted to talk,” Jade sighed, running her hand through her wet hair, meanwhile she brought her knees under her chin.

“J, chill out, okay!” the blonde said to her. “You guys are the hottest couple in Huntington, aside from Matt and Val, that is,” she went on.

“But you should’ve seen his face! He was completely astonished,” she muffled back.

“Oh, honey! I bet there was something else. I can’t think of anything you could do in order to upset him. You’re sugar and spice and everything nice, Jade!”

The redheaded girl sighed. She had notes from her chemistry book all over her bed, as she waited for Brian to arrive. Her parents were at Olivia’s house, eating dinner with her parents, meanwhile her daughter had convinced them to let her stay at home and read for her chemistry test.

“Jade, are you still alive? Look, I’m sure it was just a little misunderstanding,” Michelle mumbled, twirling a stray of her strawberry blonde hair around her index finger.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just stressed about this,” she confessed, chewing on her bottom lip and throwing herself unto the bed.

“I know you are, sugar, but it’ll be just fine. And if it doesn’t, Val and I will damage his pretty little face,” Michelle snickered.

“You really are the most precious person,” Jade chuckled, playing her soaked locks.

“I know, right?” Michelle giggled. “But look, I gotta go, because unlike you, I haven’t started studying for this test and I’m screwed if I don’t get my shit together now,”

“Okay, good luck. I can e-mail you my notes?” she offered, bringing her free hand around her cup of Pukka tea.

“You’re a lifesaver!” Michelle squealed in her seat. “I love you, sweetie!” she exclaimed.

“Already done,” Jade smiled brightly, her finger pushing down the ‘send’ button, before she was interrupted by the knocking sound from her window. “Now I gotta go. Brian’s here,” she said, holding her breath.

“Break a leg, babe!” Michelle cheered, before the blonde hung up.

Jade sat in her bed, watching as Brian climbed through her window, closing the window as he stepped into her room. She soon noticed the bag of food he had brought with him, as the smell of Chinese food lingered under her nose.

“I thought I should bring some food, considering you’ve been studying for a whole eternity,” he snickered, looking almost shyly at Jade, who twisted her lips into a smile.

“That’s really nice of you,” she said, getting up from the bed and paddling towards him.

She soon walked into his arms, feeling his heavy arms that slipped around her slim figure. Jade was dressed in a grey jersey crop that hung dangerously low on her chest, showing some of her lace bralette, and a pair of pink waist velvet shorts.

Brian brushed his lips over her temple, enjoying the sensation of his mouth against her skin far too much to let go of him quite yet. She soon noticed how he let go of his bag in order to place his palms at the lower part of her back, dragging her further into his embrace.

After a little while he tilted his head back and looked at her, smiling at the sight of her. He allowed his fingers to run through her wet hair, smelling her shampoo as well as body lotion as he did so.

“Are we alone?” he mumbled, as the two of them settled in her bed, both of them holding unto a takeaway box with noodles and fried vegetables.

“Yeah, my parents are eating dinner with Olivia’s parents,” she told him, grabbing a mouthful of food with her chopsticks.

“And you decided to stay home?” he cocked his eyebrows, glancing over all of her neat notes.

“Oli and I aren’t exactly on good terms,” she confessed, pursing her lips together. “I guess I’m still a little bitter about how she’s been,” Jade muffled.

“You have the right to be mad at her after all that’s happened,” Brian told her, bringing her hand in his and gracing the top of her hand with the back of his thumb. “And you also have the right to be furious with me after how I acted today,” his confession was followed by a sigh, and this time she met his gaze and held it for a brief minute.

“Bri, what’s the matter?” she asked.

Brian looked into her darker than chocolate brown eyes. He could see the hurt that held unto her orbs, and he knew it was partly because of how he had stormed off today, leaving her with every horrible scenarios she could think of. Brian kept holding unto her hand, as his gaze looked at their fingers. Her petite hand in his fitted perfectly, and he soon bent down and brushed lips over her skin, tickling her with his goatee.

“There’s something I gotta ask you about,” he began. “I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable and if you wanna slap me, please do,” he added.

“What’s the matter?” she mused, her gaze moving down to their hands.

Brian held his breath. He was already waiting for her hand to smack the side of his face, bracing himself for what was to come, before it all but rambled out of his lips.

“Why won’t you sleep with me?”

Ouch.

Brian had never been the kinda person to get embarrassed, and Maddie had even claimed that it was impossible to make him blush. Now, however, he could feel his face turning scarlet, his cheeks heating up as though he was standing in the middle of a fire.

“What?” Jade stuttered, her eyes widening as she looked up at him.

“That was not supposed to come out like that…” Brian said under his breath. “I’m sorry, Jade, I’m just so fucking –” he was cut off by her voice.

“Are you acting this way because you don’t think I wanna sleep with you?” she asked, her expression completely puzzled.

“I…. well…. Maybe,” he blurted out, pulling his hair in pure frustration.

Shit.

“Brian…” a sigh left her lips, and when Brian eventually dared to look up at her, she seemed a little upset.

He tried to clear his throat, as he noticed the lump that was left in it. He felt bad. Really bad. Jade looked genuinely hurt, and he could feel the guilt that kept pinching the pit of his stomach.

“I didn’t mean to say it like that. Sex is not the most important thing, and I would never push you to do something you’re not comfortable doing,” he sighed.

“Bri, I’m sorry,” Jade started. “I just thought you wanted to take things slow, I mean, we kind agreed to do so,” she muffled.

It felt as though the lump in his throat tightened, and he soon gripped her hand again, this time giving it a soft squeeze.

“Babe, please don’t apologize. I guess I’ve been so used to Maddie over the last years that I haven’t really thought about the fact that people have different views on sex and when they wanna have it,” Brian admitted. “I know it doesn’t excuse me being a fucking ass, but I do appreciate you so fucking much, Jade. I would never trade what we have in order to get laid. That would never be worth it,”

Jade could almost feel tears that prickled her eyes after he was done speaking. Brian brushed his finger down the side of her face, sending shivers down her spine, before he pressed his thin lips against her forehead.

“Thanks,” she said, scooting closer to him and soon feeling his arms that slipped around her body. “I do like you a lot, Brian. It’s just that I’ve never been around for a long period of time, and I haven’t gotten the chance to experience something as great as what we have,” she mumbled to him.

“Sweet, I know and I’m so thankful that you’re willing to put up this mess,” he chuckled, kissing the crown of her head.

“You really are a sentimental mess,” she agreed, meanwhile he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Ey! I’m not,” he argued.

“Haner, you are! You should’ve seen your face earlier!” she chuckled, laughter slipping out from her rich lips. “Jimmy would’ve died if he saw it!”

Brian shook his head, even though he couldn’t resist the smirk that tickled the corners of his lips. “I think you’ve spent too much time with him. You’re kinda reminding me of him,”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jade snickered, pecking his lips gently.

“There’s something else I’d like to talk to you about,” Brian announced, this time feeling his heart hammering against his broad chest.

“And that is?” she sat up in the bed, glancing up at Brian, who had his eyes fixed upon her face.

He started chewing on his bottom lip, not quite sure how to move forward, as he realized that he could never fail as miserably as he had done earlier this evening.

Here we go.

“Do you wanna go to prom with me?”