Chapter 28: Sleeping Beauty
Sterling’s Point of View
I was upstairs in my room watching Bones on my TV when I heard the door slam from downstairs. It was shortly followed by clomping footsteps, and I stood up to see what the hell was going on.
Grey strode by just as I opened the door. His mouth was turned down in a scowl, his eyes dark.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He stopped and slowly turned around. When he spoke, his voice was dangerously low. “Want to know what’s wrong with me? I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You. You ruin everything.”
“Don’t blame your problems on me, Grey. Whatever is wrong with you has nothing to do with me.”
“But that’s the thing. It has everything to do with you.” He paused, his eyes were downcast to the wooden floor, and his voice was quieter when he spoke again. “She chose you over me, Sterling.”
I stared at him for a minute, utterly boggled. “What are you talking about? You don’t like Bren that way. And you’re dating Grace anyway.”
“No. She chose your relationship over our friendship. Apparently, since I’m not supportive of what makes her happy, I’m obviously not her friend.” His voice was bitter, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“Wait, you guys had a fight? But you guys never fight…”
“I think I of all people know that.” He turned back around and went off to his room without another word.
I pulled a hand through my blonde hair. Grey and Bren were fighting? This was not good at all. My brother seriously pissed me off sometimes, but I knew how important their friendship was. I of all people knew that Bren could remain upset about something for a while. I definitely deserved it, though.
There was no way Grey was going to talk to me; he blamed me for this. I still can’t believe she felt she had to choose, and she chose me. That was definitely not how I thought things would work out. I pulled a hand through my hair again, and then an idea came to me. Walking back into my bedroom, I picked up my phone and dialed Grace’s number.
“Hey, Sterling.” She sounded distracted.
“Hey. So apparently Bren and Grey had a fight.”
“Really? What about?”
“Me and her dating. Apparently, she thinks Grey isn’t supportive enough of her being happy. I was hoping you could talk to him? He’s kind of mad at me by default. I’m gonna go talk to her now.”
There was a pause of silence. “Do you really think we should get involved in their fight, Ster?”
“They never fight, Grace. They have squabbles over silly stuff, but they never last more than five minutes. I’m going to try and fix this with Bren. I just don’t want Grey to do something stupid in the meantime.”
There was another long pause.
“What are you doing, Grace?”
“I was sketching out a picture, sorry. I kinda tune everything else out. But I’ll put it away and come over to your house right now. It would be pretty bad if they weren’t friends anymore.”
“It would. Thanks again. Bye.”
I could hear stuff shuffling around in the background. “Bye.”
I threw on my only clean hoodie—Bren kept acquiring them—grabbed my wallet and looked around for my keys. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, I realized that Grey had borrowed my truck, and I banged on his bedroom door.
“What?” he snarled.
“I need my keys back, bro.”
A moment later, the door opened, he tossed the keys, and shut it once more. I rolled my eyes. He was almost as bad as a teenage girl.
The drive to Bren’s only took ten minutes. I didn’t see her dad’s car, but I did see her stepmom’s, so I knew it was okay for me to be there. It never used to worry me that much, but now that Mr. Shaw had cameras installed, it was a totally different story.
I rang the doorbell, and Carson was the one to answer it. He was dressed in a wrinkled grey t-shirt and jeans. He looked at me for a moment, his brown eyes expressionless. “She’s upstairs in her room.”
“Thanks.”
He nodded and sat back down to watch TV. I took the steps two at a time and rapped my knuckles on Bren’s door.
“Come in.”
I opened the door, and she looked a bit surprised at my presence. What she didn’t look was distraught or upset. She didn’t look at all like she just had a fight with her best friend.
“Hey. I didn’t know you were coming over today.” Her voice was cheery.
I shut the door behind me and walked over to her, taking a seat on the bed beside her. “I didn’t know I was either. Did you and Grey have a fight?”
She played with her blonde braid that rested on her left shoulder. “Yeah, kind of. He doesn’t want to support us, and until he can, I can’t remain his friend. He’s not being one to me.”
“Bren…you’ve been best friends forever. It’s just an adjustment for him. He’ll get over it soon enough. Do you really think you should stop being friends over it?”
Her blue eyes met with mine. “When he does get over it, then we’ll be good. But until then, I can’t deal with him being this way. I feel like I can’t talk to him about anything. That’s not the way I should feel about my best friend.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. I understood what she was saying, but this was sixteen years of a friendship about to go down the drain over Bren and me dating. Even though I knew it wasn’t really my fault, that this was all caused from other people overreacting, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat guilty. But I couldn’t change the past. I had to deal with what was happening right now. It was all I could do.
“Can we talk about something else?” Bren asked.
I studied her for a moment. She wasn’t wearing makeup—I only knew because her eyelashes were blonde and not black. Honestly, she didn’t need it anyway. She was dressed simply; jeans and one of my hoodies—I seriously needed to get some of those back from her. I could always bring up the topic of the fight later…and maybe if I let her simmer for a while, she’d bring it up on her own.
“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
Bren eyed me, her head slightly tilted. “I don’t really want to talk at all, Sterling…”
The way she said my name was throaty, causing a buzzing sound to fill my ears and my throat to go dry. “But won’t someone be in to check on us soon? They always are.”
She scooted closer, her jean-clad thigh brushing against mine. “The only other person here is Carson. The rest of them went gro—“
I pressed my lips to hers. I didn’t care where they went as long as they weren’t here. Then she pulled back.
“This is going to get in the way,” she muttered as she pulled off the sweatshirt and threw it to the floor, revealing the pink V-neck that was underneath. I pulled off mine as well.
She turned so her body was parallel with mine. I captured her soft lips once more. She wrapped her hands around my neck and mine went to her lower back. Our tongues warred, the room got hotter, and the only thing I was focused on was her. There was nothing in the world to me that was as great, as comforting, as amazing as kissing Bren. To me, this was paradise. Everything else—my problems, my worries, the world in general—melted away, and it was just me and her. It was pure bliss.
Her fingers slipped underneath my black t-shirt, skimming over my abdomen like a gentle breeze. My muscles tightened as she started to pull it off, and I broke away from her mouth to help her. I laid her gently onto her back. Her eyes were dark, her lips swollen.
I brushed my lips to her neck and slowly worked my way down. Her hands ran over my bare shoulders as mine slipped under the soft fabric of her shirt. I leaned back slightly, giving her a chance to say no, but she simply nodded. My heart raced as I pulled it off, revealing what I had only ever been able to imagine. I hesitated a second, taking it all in.
I brought my lips to hers and reached behind her for the strap. I grinned against her mouth as I felt the satisfying release of the clasp. As I started to pull it off, the door swung open.
“Brennan, we’re—”
I twisted my head to look at Mr. Shaw, the palms of his hands covering his eyes. Bren had grabbed a pillow to hide her bare chest; her blue eyes like saucers, her face beet-red. Her mouth was gaping, but no sound was coming out.
“Kitchen. Two minutes. Fully dressed. Both of you.” Mr. Shaw growled, his eyes still covered, and I felt a chill down my spine as he shut the door.
I retrieved Bren’s discarded clothes from the floor and handed them to her before pulling on my own shirt and hoodie.
“I’m sorry, Bren.” I turned to look at her, but her face was expressionless.
“It’s fine,” she managed as she headed towards the door. “We were both a part of it.”
I grabbed her hand and wound my fingers with hers as we walked to our presumable death downstairs. We were both quiet on the way there—there wasn’t really anything to say. When we walked through the kitchen doorway, Mr. Shaw was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, and continuously running a hand through his blond hair. He turned to face us as we sat down and took a deep breath, probably hoping to calm himself. I’m pretty sure it didn’t work, though.
He took a seat as well, his hands clenched to the point his knuckles were white. “Remember those rules we talked about?”
Neither Bren nor I had the guts to answer. But Mr. Shaw didn’t mind, he continued speaking anyway.
“I thought they were pretty clear. I said I’d be okay with you two dating if you followed them. And today alone, you broke two of them…This situation is difficult enough for me without having to worry if I can trust you or not.”
“Why is this so damn difficult for everyone else?” Bren snapped. “I’m happy. I’m happier than I’ve been in God knows how long, and everyone else seems to have trouble accepting that.”
“Do you know what’s it’s like to walk in on your daughter…my little girl…half-naked and in bed with some guy that’s probably going to break her heart? I don’t know how that’s supposed to be easy.” Mr. Shaw’s voice was raised.
“Sterling is not a bad guy. I could be dating someone that does drugs. Or someone in a gang. Or some high school dropout that will probably live in his mother’s basement for the rest of his life. But no. I’m dating a guy who is going to college for engineering, who has plans and goals. Someone who is human and has made mistakes. I don’t see the problem with that!” Her grip on my hand tightened, and she was now yelling as well.
“The problem is that there are rules, Brennan. Rules you agreed to follow. Rules you need to follow!” I’m surprised smoke wasn’t coming out of his ears.
“And what if I don’t want to follow these rules? Why can’t you just trust me, and this kind of stuff wouldn’t happen! But no! You have all these stupid rules that limit everything I do.”
“I don’t care if you think my rules are stupid. You live in my house, under my roof, and I pay for everything you need. You need to follow them! And since I can’t even trust you to follow four simple ones, you’re not going to date Sterling anymore.”
My heart raced as those words sunk in. I looked over at Bren, and her whole body was stiff.
“You can’t do that! You can’t stop us from dating!” She was standing now, her hands gripping the edge of the table.
“As long as you live in my house, you’ll do as I say. If you don’t like it, then leave.”
Bren and her dad eyed each other in an eerie silence. Then Francine stepped through the doorway, her face contorted with concern. “What’s going on in here?”
No one answered. She walked slowly to Mr. Shaw, clutched his tense shoulder tenderly. “Brian?”
“My daughter doesn’t like to follow rules,” he said, anger still evident in his voice.
Her eyes landed on me, and she nodded as if she realized what this is all about. “Well, how about instead of all this yelling, we all sit down and talk about this?”
“My dad isn’t capable of talking,” Bren spat. “It’s either his way or the highway, and frankly, I’m sick of it.”
Francine grimaced.
“If you were capable of listening and following a few rules, I wouldn’t have to yell at you like a small child.”
“You’re the one who treats me like a child in the first place when I’m definitely not.” She glanced at me before bringing her eyes back to her father. “You know what, I am going to leave. Let’s go, Sterling.”
She grabbed my hand and began dragging me out.
“Where do you think you’re going to go? Your mother’s? Good luck with that,” Mr. Shaw called after her.
Bren flipped him off without bothering to look back, and it was silent the whole way out to my truck. We both climbed in, and I didn’t start the truck right away. I looked over at her. She was staring out the window, her arms crossed.
“Bren…are you sure you want to do this?”
Her eyes remained on the window. “I really have no other choice. I’m not going to quit dating you because my dad’s an idiot.”
“Alright.” I pulled a hand through my blond hair before starting the truck. “Where am I taking you?”
She brought her eyes to mine; they looked lifeless. “Can I just stay with you tonight? I’ll figure out everything else later.”
“Yeah, sure,” I replied as I pulled away from the curb.
***
Three hours later, Bren was sitting on my bed simply staring at the blank wall. She hadn’t spoken since we set foot in my house. It was like she had built invisible walls around her, because no matter what I said, what I did, what I tried, she wouldn’t talk. I even resorted to waving my hand in front of her face, and she just pushed it away, still without a word.
It scared the hell out of me. And that fear grew as her silence turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. How long was this going to last? What was I supposed to do? She didn’t eat anything, drink anything; she barely moved the whole time.
Finally—after four hours and twenty-seven minutes of silence—she fell asleep. At that point, I had made up my mind. There was only one person I could ask for help, even if they were pissed at me and her. I knew he still cared, though. Now that she was asleep, I could finally do something about it.
I carefully stood up from the bed, not wanting to wake her—a sleeping Bren was way less creepy than a silent one—and made my way to his bedroom door. I knocked, and after a bit of scuffling around, he cracked it open.
“Yes?”
“I know you’re mad at me, but can I talk to you?”
He glanced behind him. “Does it have to be right now?”
“Yeah, it really does.”
He sighed, and opened the door wider, letting me into the room. I spotted Grace on the bed; her blue and purple plaid shirt was buttoned up wrong. I held back a chuckle.
“Hey, Sterling. How’d things with Bren go?” she asked me.
Grey leaned back against his dresser, his hands stuffed into his pockets.
“Uh, not at all like I planned. But I see you distracted Grey pretty well.” I smirked.
My brother eyed me suspiciously. Her cheeks were slightly pink. “Yup. So what do you mean it didn’t go how you planned?”
“Well, I thought she’d be all upset and stuff, but she wasn’t really. Then I found out no one was home besides her and Carson, and things got kind of…intense. Then Mr. Shaw walked in. Basically, they got into a huge fight about the rules he had given us and how as long as she lived in his house, she’d have to follow them. He said we couldn’t date anymore since he couldn’t trust her, and Bren chose to leave. Now she hasn’t talked since we got here, and I don’t know what the hell to do.”
“She’s doing that again?” Grey asked with a shake of his head.
“Yeah. She’s done that before? It’s downright creepy.”
He grimaced. “When you guys broke up, she did. But that’s the only other time I know of. She must be pretty upset about this…”
“What’d you do last time?”
“I sat there with her until she did. It took two days. I didn’t know what else to do.” He went and sat down next to Grace, rubbing his hands over her face. “This is probably all just a build up over her mom, and our fight, and now this…”
“Two days?” I asked. “That’s insane. I knew that was hard on her, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”
No one said anything. Grey’s arm was around Grace, her head resting on his shoulder. I felt a pang of panic as I thought about Bren. What if I lost that? She couldn’t stay away from home, and Mr. Shaw seemed pretty adamant about us not dating. It probably was a bit shocking for him to walk in on that. Maybe he’d change his mind once he calmed down a bit…maybe.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with all this last time, Grey,” I said. “It wasn’t fair for you to have to deal with my mess. And I know I’m freaking out now. I couldn’t imagine doing that all alone…I’m just an idiot sometimes, I guess.”
He was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. “It’s alright, bro. I’m over it. I know that you really do care about her; I can see that now. I couldn’t for a long time.” He cleared his throat. “But, Mr. Shaw and Bren are both extremely stubborn when they want to be and neither one will admit they’re wrong. He’s probably—hopefully—cooled down by now, so why don’t we bring Bren over there and all sit down and figure this out?”
“Do you really think that’ll work? He was absolutely livid when he found us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that upset, and I’ve seen him pretty damn mad.”
“What exactly were you guys doing?” Grey asked, and then shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know. Anyway, you know how he is with Bren. He tries to be really strict, but he always gives in at the end. He knows he can’t really keep you guys apart. He was just pissed at the situation.”
“Well, it’s worth a shot. Worst case scenario he murders me. What’s there to lose?”
Grace chuckled, and Grey clapped me on the back. “It’ll be fine, man.”
“Well, I’ll go wake Bren up, and then we can squeeze in my truck to go over there.”
They nodded in agreement, and I strode back over to my room. Brennan was curled into a ball on my bed. She had kicked all the covers off that I had tucked around her, but her arms cuddled a portion of it to her chest. Her hair was coming loose from the braid, and I could see her chest rising with every breath. She reminded me of Sleeping Beauty. And I remembered that Sleeping Beauty was awakened with a kiss.
I took quiet steps to her side, bent over her, and placed my lips gently to hers. She didn’t wake up right away, but she immediately responded, moving her lips against mine. I bit back a groan as her tongue slipped in between my lips. Then her eyes snapped open, and she pulled back, a confused expression on her face.
“Sorry about that…It was supposed to be a simply kiss, but then you reacted and it just—”
“Shut up, Sterling.” Bren smiled as she clamped a hand to my mouth. I nipped her palm, and she giggled as she yanked her hand back.
“Can you come somewhere with me?”
“Of course.” Then her smile faded as she looked around. “Wait, if I’m in your room then that wasn’t just a dream, was it?”
I shook my head. “The fight with your dad and everything happened.”
She sighed, and I grabbed her hand, rubbing my thumb soothingly over the top of it.
“Just please don’t stop talking again. That was creepy as hell.”
Bren smiled slightly. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why I do that…I guess it’s just my way of trying to pretend it didn’t happen. Where are we going anyway?”
“That’s a surprise for now, but Grace and Grey are coming with us.” I stood up and pulled her off the bed.
Her eyes were brighter now, more alive, and I couldn’t help but to smile at that. She put her tan boots back on, and then went out in the hallway where Grey and Grace were waiting expectantly for us. Bren and Grey eyed each other for a moment before she wrapped her arms around, and he did the same.
“I’m sorry, Bren. I know he cares about you, and I really do want you to be happy.”
“It’s fine. I’m just glad this fight didn’t last long. I can’t imagine not having you as a friend, Grey.” She stepped back and looked at us all. “You guys ready to go?”
Bren and Grace talked about all kinds of girl stuff—I tuned them out after a moment—and my brother and I remained silent as we made our way out to my truck. Bren already seemed a bit happier, but we still had to work this stuff out with her dad. If it could be worked out, that is. Grey seemed to have high expectations, but I wasn’t so sure. He had never seen Mr. Shaw as angry as I had…
We piled into the truck. Bren was squished in between me and Grace, and Grey was on the end. The girls sang along to the radio, and the mood was light and cheery. I almost forgot what we were actually on our way to do. Almost.
And then when we were about two minutes away, Bren got suspicious. “Sterling, are we going to my house?”
“Yeah,” I replied nonchalantly, my eyes focused on the road ahead of me.
“Why?” Her voice was sharp.
“We’re going to talk to your dad. All four of us.”
“I think he made himself pretty clear before.”
“You know how stubborn the two of you get. The angrier you get, the more stubborn you are. But, you’ve both had time to cool down now. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is lose you, but you can’t just run from your problems. You have to face them head on.”
“I agree,” piped up Grace, earning her a glare from Bren.
We pulled up to the house and the four of us piled out. The only sound heard on the walk to her door was the slight scrape of shoes against pavement. For some reason, that only heightened my already growing dread of this next conversation. What could we do if this didn’t work?
Bren opened up the door, and we all followed in a line after her like we did back in elementary school.
“Brenny!” Carly saw her and immediately ran up to hug her legs. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying.
“Hey, Carly.” She ruffled the top of her head.
Francine ran into the room first, Mr. Shaw only a step behind her. The concern in his eyes was evident as they fell on his daughter. But it quickly changed to contempt as he noticed I was there as well.
This ought to be fun…