Hero {Brendan Gallagher}

12 - Kind Of Like You

Chucky💩
Hey, Chanel asked me to move in. So now u & Stella can have the place to ur selves.. enjoy ;)

Gally👿
Are you sure, bro?

Chucky💩
Yes. I can't stand to live with you for one more second.

Gally👿
Oh shut up.

I set my phone back down and returned to the task at hand; breakfast. After about half the batter had been made into pancakes, I felt a pair of warm arms wrap around my waist.

"Are you trying to feed just us two or a small army?" Stella commented, resting her chin on my shoulder. There were currently about 15 pancakes stacked on a plate. I frowned.

"I was just trying to make sure there were enough," I mumbled.

"I'm just messing around, babe," she assured me, pressing her lips against my bare shoulder. "I appreciate it."

A smile made its way back onto my face. I turned my head and kissed her, and I couldn't help but laugh as I felt her smile against my lips.

"What are we going to do with the rest of the batter?" I questioned, pulling my eyebrows together. Stella smirked and replied,

"Make more pancakes, duh."

"But you just insulted me for making too much."

"It was a joke, dear," she informed in that sarcastic tone that I loved. "You've obviously never seen how many pancakes this girl can put away when she's hungry."

"Is that a challenge?" I suggested, looking down at her. She narrowed her eyes and nodded.

"You're on, Gallagher."

"Loser has to tweet congratulations to the winner," I told her. She just laughed and watched me make the rest of the pancakes, her arms still hanging around me.

"I told you!" she exclaimed, pointing at me from across the table. My girlfriend had just beaten me in a pancake eating contest. She put away 10 pancakes, and I had only managed to eat 7 of them.

"I had a late dinner last night!" I argued.

"Excuses, excuses," she sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "Get out your phone."

"What?" I asked, my eyebrows pulling together.

"Loser has to tweet congratulations to the winner," she mocked my earlier statement. I rolled my eyes at her before pushing myself up and getting the phone.

bgally11: you know you've picked the right girl when she can eat more pancakes than you #congrats #iwillwinnexttime @stellamariee

I hit send on my tweet and put my phone down on the table.

"There. You happy?" I asked. She gave a smile.

"Very happy," she replied, looking at me across the table with those sparkly eyes. We maintained eye contact for a few moments before she whipped out her phone to retweet my tweet.

"Oh my god, there's already hundreds of likes," she told me, looking at her screen in disbelief.

"What can I say? I'm a popular dude," I joked with a shrug. She looked up at me and gave a laugh. Something about it felt unnatural, almost forced in a way.

I watched as she scrolled in concentration.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

Her head shot up and her eyes met mine.

"Nothing."

I shot her a look that told her I didn't believe her. She shook her head and looked back at her phone.

"I mean, I know you're a popular player. I just didn't realize the extent of the dedication to," she paused, looking for the right word I assumed, "you."

"Dedication to me?" I asked. She nodded.

"Whole profiles dedicated to you, people who say they want to marry you, people who've been leaving comments on my Instagram ever since you tagged me," she explained. I could tell she was upset by the way she was moving her hands. She always used her hands to talk whenever she was upset.

"Are people being mean to you?" I questioned, feeling my heart break a little. How could anyone be mean to her?

"No, not that many. Besides, I can handle that. I have a tough skin," she said, locking eyes with me. "I don't know. I'm just being ridiculous."

"Hey, no you're not," I assured her, pushing myself out of my chair. I walked over to her and put her phone on the table before taking her hands and lifting her out of the chair. "I'm yours, Stella Marie. Not any of theirs. One hundred percent yours."

She smiled a big smile and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"You want to know something, Bren?"

My heart fluttered at her using a nickname for me.

"Yes I do, Stel," I replied, placing my hands on her hips.

"I kind of like you a lot."

"Oh, do you now?"

She giggled and whacked the back of my head. "Yes, I do. And you're lucky I do because I don't know anyone else who would put up with your shit."

I laughed and leaned my forehead on hers.

"You want to know something, Stel?"

She giggled again. "Yes I do, Bren."

"I kind of like you a lot, too."