“As cute as the two of you look, I’m afraid that it’s time for you to wake up.”
My eyes popped open and I looked up. I was still enveloped in Dannon’s arms on the living room floor. I winced internally as I recollected what happened last night. Dannon’s tear-stained face was imprinted in my mind, forever haunting my memory. I glanced at Dannon, who was still asleep, looking as peaceful as ever. You would never have guessed that he’d fallen apart last night, never would have guessed that he wasn’t as happy as he seemed.
I let my gaze slide over to Garrett next, who was sitting on the couch with an amused, lop-sided smile plastered on his face. “What time is it?” I asked softly, barely noticing that my voice had returned, not to mention that the only remainder of my illness at all was a stuffy nose.
“Almost eleven o’clock. I wanted to wake you up earlier, but Mom thought you two looked too cute and peaceful to disturb.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Is there a reason why you ended up across the room instead of on the couch?”
I bit my lip, shaking my head. “Must have woken up in the middle of the night. I dunno. You know I never remember anything that goes on during the night when I’m barely conscious.”
Garrett stared at me for a long time before nodding. I almost sighed with relief. I didn’t want to tell Garrett—or anyone for that matter—what happened last night. Even without asking Dannon, I knew that he wanted it kept private.
Before Garrett could question me further, I shook Dannon’s shoulder gently. I knew that it wouldn’t wake him up, but I didn’t want to shake him roughly. He’d had a long night. I wondered if he’d even slept at all before what happened. How many hours of sleep had he gotten? Five? Six? Three? It was impossible to tell.
“Dannon, hon, you gotta get up.”
It took a while, but Dannon’s eyes finally opened. For a jolt of a second I could see the fear in his eyes. But it quickly disappeared and was replaced with his usual expression: a smile. “Hey,” he said softly, unwrapping his arms from my waist and stretching them into the air.
“So you’ve moved on to the ‘hon’ and ‘honey’ stage, have you?” Garrett guffawed as I scowled at him. He could be so immature.
“Shut up, Garrett,” I muttered, standing up and fixing my tank top. I’d barely moved and I’d managed to get it all twisted up. That was some major skill right there.
Garrett, seeming totally unfazed by my comment, shrugged and sauntered toward the kitchen. “I would offer you two breakfast, but it’s kind of lunch time now,” he mused, his voice distant.
Dannon shot me a questioning glance before standing up and fixing his shirt. “What time is it?” he murmured softly, wiping his hands down his T-shirt, attempting to get the wrinkles out. After a moment he gave up, his hands falling to his sides.
“Apparently eleven,” I replied with a shrug, moving closer to him as Garrett disappeared into the kitchen—probably to stuff himself with junk food. “What time did we fall asleep?” I asked, gesturing to the spot where we’d just been sleeping.
Dannon returned my shrug. “It was around three in the morning, I think, when you woke up.”
So we probably fell asleep around four—three-thirty the earliest. No wonder we’d slept in so late. Especially Dannon with his weakening body. “Did you sleep before I woke up?” I inquired, my eyebrows rising.
Dannon shook his head slightly. I felt an ache deep in my stomach as he moved his head back and forth. Had he been up all that time listening to me cry as I slept? No wonder he broke down. Listening to someone cry over a long period of time would depress anyone.
Dannon, seeming to catch a look in my face, smiled comfortingly. “The TV show was funny,” he told me. Whether it was the truth or just to make me feel better, I wasn’t sure. But I was taking it.
“I didn’t understand it,” I said, my eyebrows rising again.
“Your loss.”
“If you say so.”
Dannon chuckled shortly before forcing himself to look serious for a moment. My eyebrows rose. His lips kept jerking upwards comically, making it so obvious that he wasn’t in the mood to be serious but felt the need to get the words out. I had to dig my teeth into my lower lip to keep from laughing at him. “You didn’t . . .” he began, “tell anyone about . . . you know, did you?”
I shook my head and patted his shoulder. “Your secret is safe with me, bub.”
“Did you just call me ‘bub’?” Dannon asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Should I be insulted?”
“Yes, of course you should,” I drawled sarcastically, twisting on my heel and trotting toward the kitchen. Even without looking back I knew that Dannon was following me, his feet padding lightly on the hardwood floor.
Dannon gasped in mock hurt. “Brianne, my must you hurt me so?”
“There is no reason.” I turned and flashed an innocent smile at him. “It’s just fun.”
Dannon chuckled as he and I plopped at the kitchen table. Our conversation seemed to fall as we turned, watching Garrett as he stuffed himself like the pig he was. He was eating ice cream this time. He had no shame, he really didn’t.
“Where’re Mom and Dad?” I asked curiously, deciding to break the ever-growing silence.
Garrett barely took the time to take the spoon out of his mouth before replying, “Baby shopping.”
I snorted and shook my head. He looked absolutely ridiculous right now. Chocolate ice cream was all over his face, covering his lips and the area around it. I even caught specks of it on his cheeks. With a closer look I thought I could see some on his forehead, too, but I wasn’t quite sure. I wouldn’t put it past him. He’d gotten toothpaste on his forehead before.
“Oh yeah,” Garrett added, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, “I forgot to tell you. We’re going to Aunt Jill’s this weekend.”
I watched, fairly amused as Garrett grimaced at his now-chocolate covered hand and used his sleeve to rid his face of the remaining ice cream. If he’ ever heard of the term “napkin” he sure didn’t show it. Deciding not to comment on my brother’s actions, I smiled and turned to Dannon instead. “You wanna come?” I asked, remembering what happened the last time we visited my aunt’s house. The thought made me smile grow.
Dannon, who’d been staring in the refrigerator’s direction blankly, turned his attention to me. “Yeah, sure.” He smiled brightly. “Maybe Britain and I can kick your butt at water balloons again.”
I scowled. “That is not a memory I prefer to dwell on.”
Dannon opened his mouth to answer, but the voice that came out was not his. Well, if it was, I would have been very concerned. It was much too high-pitched to be a man’s voice. Which made sense seeing how it was my mother’s voice.
“Garrett, did you wake them up?” my mom shrieked as she plowed into the kitchen, heaps of bags under her arms. My dad waddled in after her, struggling to carry his load. My eyes widened at the sight. Damn, did they buy the whole store?
“Yeah, Mom, he did,” I whined childishly, pretending to look more tired than I actually felt. “You should punish him. Severely.”
My mom shot a glower at Garrett before smiling at Dannon and me. “You two looked so adorable cuddling together like that! And to think that I feared Brianne would never bestow upon me grandchildren.”
Dannon and I glanced at each other side-ways. Uh, awkward much? We were only in high school.
“Oh!” my mom called out, letting the bags fall carelessly to the floor as she regarded us with a light expression. “You two know that we’re going to Jill’s this weekend, correct?”
I loved how my mom didn’t ask Dannon if he wanted to go. It was like she already knew that if we were going, Dannon was planning on going. It was kind of funny.
Dannon and I nodded, and my mom sighed contently. She gestured for my dad to just set his bags onto the floor before plopping onto one of the kitchen chairs beside us. She stared at Dannon and I for a long time. So long, in fact, that it made me squirm with discomfort. I mean, wouldn’t you squirm if someone was looking between you and your boyfriend with adoring eyes?
Did you just deny it?
Liar.
“Mom,” I muttered slowly, tired of her crushing gaze, “would you please quit staring at us like that?”
My mom clapped her hands together before hopping up from her seat. Damn, she was hyper this morning. I blamed the sea monkey. Yeah, I went there. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t get that adorable image out of my head! I took a picture of it, by the way. That way we can cherish it for the rest of our lives.”
“Ma!” I shrieked, slapping a hand to my mouth. “Delete the picture. Now.”
When my mom shook her head, I hopped up and stomped up to her menacingly—well, that is, attempting to be menacing anyway. It obviously didn’t work because Dannon, Garrett, and my dad all laughed at me. I completely ignored them, though. “Mom,” I drawled, “let me see the device that holds the picture.”
Garrett began laughing hysterically, almost choking on the ice cream he’d just stuffed into his mouth. The guy had serious problems. “You should see how funny you two look right now!” he gasped between his guffaws. “Ah, gosh, you guys are hilarious.”
My mom’s eyebrows rose as her eyes landed on what Garrett was holding in his hand. “Are you eating my ice cream from the container?”
I smiled triumphantly as Garrett choked on the ice cream before slapping the lid back onto the tub and threw it on the counter whilst shaking his head vigorously. “No,” he said quickly, wiping his mouth clean of evidence.
Idiot.
“Do what’s best for you and put the ice cream away, Garrett,” my dad muttered, gesturing to the freezer. “She’ll kill you for it.”
I snorted under my breath before turning my attention back to my dilemma. “Mom, what electronic device did you use for this horrible task? Cell phone? Camera?”
Garrett tossed me my cell phone before my mom could stop him, smiling evilly at her. Did she really expect anything else? She’d forced him to put the food away. She was going to get betrayed.
“Garrett!” my mom hissed. “Come on.”
I flipped my phone open and glowered. She’d changed the background to Dannon and me sleeping on the living room floor. Though, I had to admit, the picture wasn’t half-bad. Dannon looked as amazing as ever, peaceful with his head resting on my shoulder. Thank the Lord you couldn’t see my face because it was hidden within the crook of Dannon’s neck. My face probably wasn’t very pretty when I slept.
“Ooh can I see?” Dannon called out, hopping up from his chair and skipping—yes, actually skipping—over to me. He looked over my shoulder, at the picture. “Is that what I look like when I’m sleeping?” Dannon asked, sounding shocked.
“Yes” I said simply. Deciding that I didn’t mind the picture as much as I thought I would, I left it as it was, snapping my phone shut and slipping it into my pocket.
“You didn’t delete it, did you?” my mom gasped as I pocketed my phone.
I shook my head, and she sighed in relief. “Calm yourself, mother, before you have a heart attack.”
My mom shot me a mock-death glare before deciding to let it go. “Whatever,” she quipped. “Now, do you want to see all the things I got for the baby?”
I glanced at Dannon and Garrett before gulping. We were doomed, so very doomed.
“Sure,” we all said.
| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |
“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I leaned on Dannon’s car, peering inside through the opened window as Dannon buckled his seat belt. He smiled up at me. “Yeah, maybe,” he said softly.
I pursed my lips, confused and concerned by that answer, but deciding to let it slide. Dannon leaned forward, giving me a quick kiss before starting his car. I stepped back slightly and crossed my arms over my chest. “Find your phone charger, will you?” I demanded as Dannon got ready to pull out.
Dannon chuckled, nodding. “Sure thing.” He paused, staring at me for a long while. “Hey, Brianne?” he murmured finally.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
The word held so much intensity that for a moment all I could do was stare. After a moment however, I regained my composure and smiled. “No problem,” I said, knowing exactly what he was referring to. There was no need to ask. “Now go, Tom is probably worried sick.”
Dannon grinned, facing forward and pulling out of the driveway. I watched as he disappeared down the road, mentally sighing. It was hard to grasp that soon he wouldn’t be here to laugh with me anymore, that he wouldn’t be here to hold me, to kiss me.
I shook my head before the depression could kick in. No, I wouldn’t allow myself to think thoughts like that. I was going to be strong like Dannon and cherish the time we had left together. I had to be even stronger now that Dannon showed how painful this really was for him. Who was I to make it worse?
I made my way back into the house, steering straight into the living room and plopping onto the couch. My mom’s gifts to the sea monkey were scattered all over the floor. She’d felt no need to pick up after herself. “I’ll get it in the morning,” she said briskly before pulling her husband upstairs to discuss something “private.” Usually I would take interest in the secrecy, but today I didn’t really care. I had enough information these days. Actually, scratch that. I knew way too much.
Garrett flopped next to me. I glanced at him, uncomfortable in the way he was staring at me. Garrett didn’t seem to care how uncomfortable I was because he continued to stare that way for a long time. “So” he said slowly, only adding to the awkwardness.
I tilted my head to the side. “What?”
“I heard crying last night.”
I froze, my eyes widening. Oh shit. Seriously? Dannon wasn’t crying that loud. It was almost silent. There was no possible way that Garrett could have heard unless he was standing there. “Oh, really?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could after clearing my throat.
Garrett nodded. I watched as a grimace tugged at his lips. “It was Dannon, wasn’t it?”
I tried my best to laugh, but failed miserably. I sounded more like a dying orca than anything else. “I think you were dreaming, Garrett. Dannon and I both slept fine.”
Garrett crossed his arms over his chest, the irritation clear in his eyes. “Don’t pull that with me, Bri. You know I can tell when you’re lying.”
I leaned back on the couch, shaking my head. Why did Garrett feel the need to know everything? What happened between Dannon and I was private, was it not? Well, according to Garrett, it seemed not.
“I saw the whole thing you know,” Garrett muttered suddenly, leaning forward and resting a hand on my shoulder. He shot me a fleeting smile. “You were good to help Dannon like that. I’ve never seen you so sympathetic before.”
My head snapped to face Garrett, eyes wide. “You—you saw—?”
Garrett nodded. “I was on my way downstairs to get some food. I was just trying to see if it was something that was supposed to be kept quiet or not. Which, obviously, it is. Don’t worry,” he added as he caught my expression, “I won’t tell anyone either.” He smiled a small smile. “Dannon really knows how to give a depressing speech.”
I couldn’t even explain why, but tears were burning in my eyes. Dammit. Every time I swore I was going to be strong, these stupid tears betrayed me. I was so tired of crying. Why wouldn’t my body just work with me? Why must it constantly be an enemy?
Garrett, seeing the tears in my eyes, wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered.
I nodded slightly, not hugging him back. “Okay.”
“Dannon’s lucky to have you,” Garrett murmured, pulling away. He smiled brightly.
I blushed despite myself, turning away from him. “Yeah, okay,” I muttered lowly, my eyes shooting to the ceiling. I didn’t understand how Dannon was lucky to have me. I wasn’t anything special. If anything, I was lucky to have him.
“Well, if you would excuse me,” I began loudly, standing up and patting my pants lightly with my hands, “I’m going to go into the kitchen and eat some of Mom’s ice cream. Would you like to join me?”
Garrett’s eyes brightened as he hopped up. “Hell yes!” he exclaimed.
My brother was something else.
| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |
I wasn’t really surprised when Dannon didn’t show up for school the next day. It wasn’t like I wasn’t nervous or anything, gosh no. I was worried about him—more worried than I’d ever really worried about anything. But this time I contained the worry and went through the entire school day without him. I hung out with Kyla and the others, trying my hardest to ignore the fact that there was an empty seat where Dannon should have been sitting at lunch.
“Dannon hasn’t been here all week,” Shelley whined, pounding on the lunch table with her fist. She snuck a sly glance in my direction. “Neither were you. Were you two together?”
I smiled slightly. “Yeah, we were both sick.”
Kyla nodded as Shelley narrowed her eyes at me skeptically. “I can vouch for that. Dannon looked like crap, and Brianne was puking like crazy.”
That cracked a few laughs. I scowled at Kyla, shaking my head. She had to include that I was puking? She couldn’t just say that I looked as crappy as Dannon did? That would have sufficed. But no, she had to say that I was regurgitating my food to the toilet bowl. Brat.
“Is he still sick?” Shelley asked, her eyebrows rising.
I nodded, finding that twisting the truth was the best way to go. He was sick after all. Just not with what everyone thought he was sick with.
After the conversation about Dannon’s whereabouts, lunch passed by pretty quickly, along with the rest of the day. Before I knew it, I was in Kyla’s car and on the way home from school. It was so weird to be in Kyla’s car again. I’d grown used to Dannon’s Saturn.
“So, how’s Dannon?” Kyla asked as we pulled out of the school’s parking lot.
I shrugged. “He lost his phone charger. I have no idea.”
Kyla grimaced. “That sucks.”
I knew it did. “Yeah, it does.” I sighed. “But let’s talk about something else, yeah? I don’t feel like getting depress when I still have a crap load of homework to do.”
Kyla nodded, immediately switching the topic to her last gymnastics practice and how Ean begged their mom for a pet turtle yesterday so that he could feed it to Mr. SnackleCracklePopple. Ean just kept getting odder and odder. Why would he want to feed a turtle to a hamster? I just didn’t understand.
She was about to continue on to what happened after their mom refused to go through with Ean’s request, but my phone suddenly went off, cutting through our conversation.
My eyes widened as I’m A Barbie Girl rang out. Did Dannon finally find his phone charger? I dished my phone out from my bag, smiling when I saw Dannon’s name on the caller I.D. “Hey, Barone,” I said casually, despite how happy I felt. “You finally found your phone charger, huh?”
“Brianne, it’s Tom.”
My stomach fell. Tom sounded concerned . . . scared even. I bit my lip, glancing at Kyla worriedly before looking forward again. There was no need to worry the poor girl before I even knew what was going on. “Hey, Tom,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant and failing. “Where’s Dannon?”
Tom cleared his throat and I instantly knew that something terrible had happened. “I don’t want you to panic,” he said slowly, “but Dannon collapsed and is in the hospital.”
My mouth dropped open as dread injected itself into my veins, spreading throughout my bloodstream. “What?”