"Hey, wake up sleep head" Brody said.
"Noooooo, it's too early." I whined.
"It's 11 o'clock." He chuckled. I rolled over on my back and rubbed my eyes. I looked at a smiling Brody, who was looking down at me. "We have to get back to Shady Creeks, Autumn. It's a long drive and you have to get back to school tomorrow."
"Can't we stay here another day?"
"I wish we could, but I have a job to get back to and you have school. Now get. Lucy's making lunch for us."
I got up and went over to my bag...the only other clothed Brody packed me was a white sun dress that cam just above my knees. I hated that dress...actually, I hate wearing dresses. Skirts are ok...dress aren't. But anyways, I slipped the dress on and looked in the mirror. I gasped and turned around.
"WHAT THE HELL?!?" I screamed.
"What? You never told me to leave." Brody said innocently.
"So you just sat there and watched me change clothes?!"
"Yep."
Then the door swung open revealing an out of breath Lucy and Mason. "What happened?" Mason asked worriedly.
"We heard you scream" Lucy added.
"Your brother, here, just sat there and watched me change into my dress!"
Lucy walked over to Brody and hit him. "Brody!" She scolded. "You know better than that!"
"She never told me to get out." He defended himself.
"I forgot you were in here!" I retaliated.
"Forgot? How could you forget this?" He said pointing to his abs.
I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room. Lucy followed. "So how'd she look?" I heard Mason ask Brody.
"MASON ALEXANDER JEFFERSON!!! GET OUT HERE NOW!" Lucy yelled.
Mason came running out and wrapped his arms around Lucy. "I'm sorry babe. You know I love you." He said sweetly.
"Mhm." Lucy said angrily and started walking away, but Mason pulled her back into a kiss. "I love you too." Lucy said, implying that she forgave him. "So lunch! I made chicken marsala over pasta, if that's alright Autumn?"
"It's perfect. It's one of my favorite foods."
"Mine too!" Mason said excitedly. "Brody hurry up! I wanna eat!" He called to Brody.
"Alright I'm almost ready. And she has an amazingly hot body!"
"Brody!" We all screamed.
"You do Autumn! don't deny it." He called back. My face turned red.
"Come on Autumn. Brody's not going any lunch now." Lucy said loud enough for Brody to hear.
Brody walked out in a white button down shirt and black jeans...amazingly sexy I might add. "I'm only kidding, sis" Lucy rolled her eyes. "No I'm not." Brody whispered in my ear. I punch him hard, but apparently that didn't hurt him because he just laughed.
We all sat down at the kitchen table and ate the chicken marsala that Lucy made. It was the best dish I had ever had.
"So Autumn" Lucy started. "I heard about what happened. Losing your family and now...you know...what happened on Halloween. If all that happened to me, I would've been a wreck. You seem to be handling it well."
"Yeah well, if it wasn't for Brody, I would be. He keeps my mind off things." I said with a little sdness in my voice
"I'm sorry Autumn. I shouldn't have brought it up." Lucy apologized.
"No, it's fine, really."
Lucy gave me an apologetic look. "So, onto a different topic. How about we get to know eachother? We're practically family after all. I think it was such a noble thing for my big brother to take you in. Every time talk on the phone, he tells me how much you mean to him...yet he hasn't really told me much about you, except that he's madly in love with you and that he has been since the first time he laid eyes on you. It's really romantic, well...I guess it depends on how you look at it. Haha look at me rambling on. Tell me about yourself Autumn."
"Ummm...well, My full name is Autumn Susanna Reynolds."
"That's a pretty name." Lucy commented.
"Thank you."
"How old are you Autumn?" Mason asked.
"16" I answered. Mason and Lucy both choked on their food. I looked to Brody for an answer to why, but he got up and started patting Lucy and Mason's back. They then both drank some water and calmed down.
"Should I take that as a coinsidence or a disapproval?" Brody asked.
"Uh both?" Lucy answered still trying to catch her breath.
"Yeah man, she's 16 and your 27...That's a HUGE age difference." Mason added, still shocked.
"Your 28 and my sister's 20. I don't see how a couple more years difference is a big deal."
"The big deal is that she's 16, Brody! That's illegal! Brody YOUR A COP! You're supposed to be enforcing the law, not breaking it!" Lucy yelled.
"It's only illegal if we do "stuff", which I wouldn't do with her until it was legal and if she wanted to! I would never hurt her in any way! I would never hurt her by being taken away from her and I would never hut her physically. Sure, our relationship could jepordize her having a home with me, but I'm willing to take that chance to make her happy. The social worker won't find out about us because she has nothing to worry about! I love Autumn so much. Lucy, Mason, Why can't you understand that?"
"Wait a minute...she's in your custody, as in, her foster home is with you?" Lucy asked.
"Yes." Brody replied.
"Brody! Do you know how wrong that is?! You could be put in jail! Don't you ever think?!" Lucy yelled.
"YES I DO THINK LUCY! I think...no...I KNOW I love Autumn. And I won't be put in jail because nothing I'm doing is illegal!" Brody rebelled.
Lucy put her elbows on the table and buried her head in her hands, looking aggravated. "Brody, what will Mom and Dad think when they find out?"!
"They'll love Autumn so much that age won't matter. And I'm sure Miles will support me in this."
" Ha! Miles will support you in anything! You saved his son's life Brody! And your his baby brother! He'd back you up on anything!" Lucy said.
"God! When will you let that go! Nick almost drowned in a lake because YOU weren't watching him like you were supposed to. What was I supposed to do?! Let him drown? My own nephew? I gave him CPR to save my nephew. I couldn't let him die...not when he was only 5, Lucy!"
Lucy slammed her fist down on the table and stood up. "I wasn't watching him because I was dealing with a problem with my agent! He booked me a photoshoot on that weekend when I told him not to! I lost thousands of dollars to be at that family reunion!"
"EXACTLY! You were too busy worrying about your job instead of worrying about your 5 year old nephew who had no idea how to swim!"
Veins were poping out of Brody's neck...he was extremly angry. Lucy was had rsge in her eyes. They kept arguing while Mason and I just sat there and watched. Finally Mason got up in walked over to me. "Let's leave these two to their fight. We can go to the gameroom until they're done."
I nodded, got up and followed him. Lucy and Brody probably didn't even notice we left. Mason led me upstairs and down a hallway. The last door on the left was the gameroom. There were pinball machines, arcade games, a bowling ally, virtual mini golf, a 50 inch tv, and a ton of video games.
"Wanna play Just Dance 2?" Mason asked.
"Sure"
He gave me a wii remote and we decided on the song SoS by Rihanna. It was so funny watching Mason dance. Of course he had a hard time keeping up with the steps, but I had no problem. I've played this game a hundred times before. I won. Right after we finsihed, Brody stomped in and plopped down on the couch with Lucy a a few feet behind, scloding him.
"Don't walk away from me! You know I'm right! Just admit it! Autumn is too young for you and you should wait until she's 18 to pursue a relationship with her. She's a young, naive girl who's just suffered a tragic loss and was traumatized by that man who raped her not even 3 days ago! Did you ever think that she loves you because you are the only one there for her? Because you're the only one who loves her?!"
"LUCY ENOUGH! I get it! You don't like the fact that she's 16! What if she were 18 right now? Would you still be acting like this?!"
"No!"
"And do you like Autumn?"
"Of course she's a sweet girl."
"Then, I don't see the problem. Yes, she's 16, but age is just a number, is it not? Age doesn't determine how mature someone is. Their maturity determines there age on the inside." Brody said confidently. "And what about Miles and Nancy? They're 10 years apart! Miles is 32 and Nacy is 22! They've been together since Nancy was 15! They had Nick when she was 16! You didn't say anything about them!"
"Because I was too young to understand! I was 15 when they had Nick! I think differently now and if I were older I would've done the right thing and called the police...which you're apart of!"
"But Miles and Nacy are happily married right? They love eachother and their son!"
"Brody just think about it! It's wrong and they should've waited a few years. If you really love Autumn, you will wait." Lucy argued.
Brody sighed. "Ummmm...guys? You do know we're right here right?" Mason said finally gaining their attention.
Lucy's eyes widened when she saw me. "I-i uhhh....I didn't know you were in here."
Tear were streaming don my face. I ran out of the room and down the stairs, out of the house. I ran to the cliff where Brody had taken me last night and fell to my knees. Why were all these things happening? I don't want to come between Brody and his family, but I love him. I really do love him. Even before I knew my family died, I loved him. The first time I looked into his eyes, I fell in love with him. But maybe Lucy's right. If we can wait until I'm 18 to pursue our feelings, then we can prove we love eachother. If we remain faithful until then, then we really love eachother.
Footsteps running towards me brought me out of my thoughts. I dodn't bother to look to see who it was. I already knew.
"Autumn." He said falling to his knees beside me and pulling me into a hug. "Don't listen to Lucy. She's just a stuck up spoiled brat who thinks everyone is below her. My parents spoiled her because she was the only girl and her looks went to her head. I thought she outgrew it when she met Mason, but I was wrong. Lucy can be sweet at times, but her true personality always comes back. Autumn, our relationship is only wrong in the eyes of people who don't understand true love."
"But Brody, what will other people think?"
"They can think what they want. All that matters is what we think"