Almost a whole week has passed and it's now Sunday night. I'm currently standing in my room with Braiden browsing through my new clothes trying to find something to wear. It's going pretty unsuccessfully so far. Everything Michael picked out looks so skanky and revealing.
"What about this?" Braiden suggests, holding up a pair of very little black shorts and a pink tank top.
"Did you really just say that?" I take the outfit out of his hands and throw it in disgust.
How do girls actually wear this stuff?!
"Jeez, sorry." He runs the back of his neck, which he always does when he's nervous. "This?"
My eyes land on the red skirt and gray tank. It's getting better but I need to ease into all this girl stuff. I shake my head no and he sighs.
"Okay, this is the last thing I'm suggesting." He states flatly, looking at the clothes as if they're an intricate puzzle he can't figure out.
Finally, his hands move to a pair of skinny jeans ripped all the way up to where the pockets end and a black crop top. Still pretty revealing, but at least the colors aren't all bright and annoying.
"I mean, it's better than anything else here." I huff, then grab the clothes from him and examine them closely. "I'm still not sure, what do you think?"
His face turns to one of confusion as he studies the outfit. As he's doing so my mind wanders off. Braiden's been really good lately. We've had the chance to talk more than usual which is awesome and I'm pretty sure I like him more than I should. I mean when he's standing here right now I can't help but stare at him.
When he's deep in thought his hand goes up to his chin and his eyebrows furrow. It looks incredibly-
"Ryan," he waves his hand in front of my face, "I said I like it, but you should try it on to be sure."
"But I don't wanna." I whine pouting my lip out.
"C'mon Ryan, it's not that bad. I just don't know if it's good girl enough, ya know? Now try it on." He demands pushing the clothes against me.
"Ugh, fine." I huff, but he still sits on the bed. "Um, I can't change with you in here." I deadpan and I see his cheeks turn slightly pink.
Did Braiden just blush because of me? No, I must be seeing things.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Tell me when you're done." He awkwardly replies then rushes out of my room.
Well that was weird. I sigh then slip out of my grey sweats and t-shirt, throwing them on the chair full of clothes. My eyes catch a glimpse of my body in the mirror and I immediately look away. The jagged scar on my stomach only brings back horrible memories I'll never forget.
Why do I have to look like this? Nobody wants a girl with scars or a past and I'm a fool to think Braiden ever will. We're just friends, sadly.
Choking back tears I pull the new bras out of the bag we bought. Even if no-ones going to see them I still want to look good for myself. I put on the black one with leaves then slip the crop top on. It just covers the scar and I sigh in relief. The jeans are a bit of a struggle to get on because they're skinny jeans and my feet get stuck in all of the holes when I put them on.
Finally the outfit is on and I look in the mirror. Surprisingly it doesn't look horrible. I'm not saying it looks good by any means, but definitely better than usual. I drag my feet over to the door and swing it open only to find Braiden just about to knock.
"Well look who's finally done. It took you-" he pauses mid sentence and just stares at me.
I fidget feeling uncomfortable after he doesn't say anything for what feels like forever.
"Uh, Braiden?" I murmur and he finally speaks.
"Ryan you look beautiful. I mean, you always do. I'm not saying you were ugly before because you weren't I'm just saying-" he looks at me sheepishly with nervousness in his eyes.
"Braiden," I say putting my finger over his lips, "I know what you meant."
A look of relief washes over his face. "Even though it's not true." I mumble quietly so he can't here me.
"What?" He asks, eyeing me suspiciously.
"What?" I counter, making him even more confused. "Well I'm gonna change back. Just wait outside."
He nods his head and walks out as I shut the door. I blush thinking back to what he said. I wish his words were true.
Braiden's POV~ Age Eighteen
When she opened the door my heart practically stopped. The girl in front of me was absolutely stunning, just like always. Her jeans fit her perfectly and the crop top she was wearing showed her nicely toned stomach.
I can definitely tell she's insecure in the outfit so I do my best to convince her it looks amazing. Nothing comes out of my mouth right because I'm so nervous, but luckily Ryan understands.
All I want to do right now is walk up and kiss her soft lips, but I know that we're just friends. I'm pretty sure she has no idea how beautiful she really is. Her hazel eyes turn almost green when she's excited and her auburn hair falls in perfect waves down her back. I could look at her all day, but what I really love is her personality.
The thing about Ryan is that she's different than most girls. She isn't the type who constantly worries about how their makeup looks or talks about themselves twenty-four seven. Ryan is her own person. She's feisty, warm-hearted, quiet at times, intelligent, and so many more things.
My dream girl is standing right in front of me but I can't have her. Like I said before we're just friends, but I'm not sure how much longer I can be. When I see her I want to tell her how nice she looks, or kiss her when she's smiling, or just be with her and do nothing. Friends can't do that, but I'm willing to stay that way for her.
Ryan's POV~ Age 17
After changing back into my original clothes I open the door back up and let Braiden inside my room.
"Alright, I'm going to go to bed now. It's 10:00 and we have to wake up at 6:00." I say bluntly, but Braiden doesn't leave.
Instead he runs and stretches out on my bed.
"What are you doing?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Trying to go to sleep. Duh." He retorts, closing his eyes.
"You realize you have a room for that, right?" I sarcastically reply even though I want him to stay.
He sits up in my bed and grins. "Slumber party!" He screeches in a high voice making me burst out laughing.
I point towards the door with my finger motioning for him to leave, but he just throws me a pouty face. It looks more like a smolder which causes an answer to fly out of my mouth.
"Fine," I huff, "you can sleep here, but stay on your side of the bed."
I chuck a pillow at his face then flick off the lights. It's hard to see in the darkness, but I somehow make it to my bed without looking like a complete idiot. Braiden is laying right in the middle so I have hardly any room.
"Scoot over." I whine trying to push him but he doesn't budge. "What do you eat, fatty?"
"Hey, that's pure muscle and you know it." He shoots back and I roll my eyes. "Wow, I felt that eye roll from over here and I can't even see you."
"Haha very funny, now give me some blankets." My hand finds the edge of the blanket and I pull on it hard.
Of course he's laying on it so I have to really yank on the thing.
"Ouch!" I yelp, clutching my nose.
"What the-" he pauses and I know what's coming next, "did you just punch yourself in the face?"
"Maybe." I mutter back.
Thank goodness it's dark because right now my face feels like it's on fire.
He bursts out in laughter causing a smile to creep onto my lips. If I thought he was cute before... His laughing fit doesn't stop for probably five minutes and I start to get frustrated.
"Shut-up." I punch his arm making him go quiet.
"Okay, okay, sorry." He puts his hands up in surrender.
"Goodnight." I tell him laying on my back.
"Goodnight." He responds, then shifts over to his side.
Finally I start to relax and my eyelids grow heavy, slowly closing. Around twenty minutes later something drapes over my shoulders. It takes me a minute to realize Braiden covered me up, but the I hear him whisper and I freeze.
"Goodnight Ryan." He leans down and places a soft kiss on my forehead causing my body to light on fire.
Why can't I just get up the guts to actually kiss him?! Oh yeah, we're just friends. This sucks.
He lays down closer to me this time and I hold back my smile. I act as if I'm sleeping and mumble a few incoherent words before flipping over and draping my arm across his chest. His heart starts to beat faster and I let a small grin play on my lips. Braiden's arms goes around my waist and he pulls me close to him.
"Ryan, I know you're not sleeping. I felt you smile." He whispers against my ear sending shivers down my spine.
"Whatever." I mumble back, burying my head in the crook of his neck.
He lets out a small chuckle before covering us both up then rests his head on mine. Both of our hearts are beating furiously and for a second I feel like maybe Braiden wants to be more than just friends too.