A couple days later, Justin arrived back at the house after dropping Trace off at the airport. He was in a bad mood from having to say goodbye to his friend again even though Trace really only had about five more weeks until the semester was over and he would be back then. Having Trace back for the weekend made things seem like they used to be and now that he was once again gone, Justin was reminded that things weren’t just how they used to be. He had adjusted over the past two months but not to the point where having his best friend leaving for San Francisco was easy. He was glad he didn’t have to do anything that day because all he wanted to do was sit at home. He couldn’t even go golfing and relax because it was rainy and windy outside.

Brenna’s car was in the driveway when he pulled up which made him feel a bit better. If she was home, they could get a movie or go out for dinner or something. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he was already missing Trace.

Brenna had ended up getting pretty trashed on Halloween and by time they had gotten back to the house, she had been tired, but giggly. His heard had sped up when she had asked him to sleep in her room, saying it could be just like a sleepover. He had told her no, though, knowing he might do something he’d regret if he slept in the same bed as the girl he had a crush on, who happened to be drunk.

Both Trace and Kate had been pretty unrelenting since Halloween about him and Brenna. Neither seemed to understand how messy it could get if they went out. He really couldn’t understand why he was the only one who saw that.

The house was silent when he walked in and he slid off his shoes.

“Brenna?” he called.

“Kitchen!”

He walked towards the back of the house where the kitchen was. He found her sitting at the kitchen table, the newspaper spread out in front of her. She looked up at him.

“Did you stop somewhere on the way here?” she asked.

“No. The flight was just delayed.” He sat at the other end of the table. “Are you here all day?”

“Yep.”

“Me too.”

“What fascinating lives we lead, huh?”

He smiled. “Yeah. If only people knew how I really spent my time.’

“I think people underestimate how lazy you really are.”

He laughed. “I’m not lazy.”

“You and Trace spent all day yesterday playing video games. You wouldn’t even stop to go for a run with me even though you said you would.”

“Oh yeah…Those are addicting though. And that still doesn’t make me lazy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Uh huh.”

He turned his head to stare out the window for a minute and then looked back to Brenna. “What are you doing?” he asked, noticing she was circling things in the newspaper.

“Looking through the classified.”

“Already looking for a new job?” he teased.

She smiled. “Not quite yet. No, I’m looking for apartments.”

His smile faded. “Why?”

“Because me and Drew were going to go apartment shopping tomorrow and I wanted to have an idea of what’s out there.”

His mouth went dry. “You and Drew?”

“No, not together like that,” she laughed.

“Oh. So…he’s getting a new apartment?”

“No, for me.”

“For you?” His eyebrows drew together. “Why do you need an apartment?”

“To live in?”

“What’s wrong with here?”

“I figured you probably wanted your house back to yourself at some point and I have enough money now to get an apartment.”

Not believing what he was hearing, Justin stood up, shoving his chair back in the process. She looked up at him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Oh yeah, fine,” he said flatly. “Do whatever you want, Bren. I don’t care.” He left the kitchen before she could say anything and went upstairs, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

He couldn’t believe that she was moving out. He had given her no reason to think that she had to move out. First Trace and now her?”

Laying down on his back on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t want her to leave. Everything was going so well and now she was going to move to some apartment and he was never going to see her unless they were working.

He had been laying there, listening to the rain hit the window, for about five minutes when he heard a knock on his door.

“Justin?”

“What.”

His door cracked open. He didn’t look away from the ceiling as she came into the room.

“Justin, what’s wrong?” she asked.

He didn’t say anything and she sat down cross legged on the other side of the bed.

“Why are you mad at me?” she finally asked, her voice soft and filled with hurt.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Why are you moving out?”

“Because I’ve been living here for four months and there’s no reason for me to stay and take up room when you want the place to yourself.”

“When have I ever given you the impression that I think you’re taking up space or that I want the house to myself”

“I…I don’t know. But it’s your house, not mine. I was living here because I had no money to live anywhere else. And now I have money.”

“Do you really think I suggested you live here only because you had no money? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I WANTED you to live here? That maybe I wanted the company?”

She didn’t say anything for a minute before uttering a soft no.

“And now you’re moving out just like that. You never said anything to me about it. Not even that you were even thinking about it.” He swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. “First Trace moves out and I’m still trying to get used to that. And now you’re gonna move out and leave me here all alone?” The lump grew a bit bigger. “I don’t wanna live here all by myself.”

“Justin,” Brenna said and he looked over at her. She moved to a laying position on the bed, facing him. “I didn’t know you felt like that. I thought you wanted me to move out when I was able to.”

“I don’t want you to. Don’t move out and make me live here all by myself.”

“I won’t,” she said softly. “I didn’t know that’s how you felt. I won’t move out.”

“But you want to, right? You don’t want to live here with me anymore, do you?”

“Of course I do. I love living here. It’s amazing. I was only planning on moving out because I thought that’s what you wanted me to do eventually.”

He shook his head. “I want you to stay.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do.”

He nodded and turned his head back to stare up at the ceiling. The thought of not seeing Brenna everyday had made him depressed and even now that he knew she wasn’t moving out, the feeling stayed. He figured Trace leaving was a big part of that.

“Are you still upset?” Brenna asked, pulling him from his thoughts, her voice soft.

“No. Not really.”

She moved towards him and he smiled a bit as she hugged him. He rolled onto his side to face him and put his arms around her waist.

Damn, she feels so good.

He leaned his head down, burying it in her neck, and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to move from this position. He just wanted to hold her against him and not have to talk. He was able to do that for at least a few minutes before she was squirming a bit. He pulled his head back and she looked up at him and smiled.

“Thought you had maybe fallen asleep on me.”

He silently shook his head and stared at her face. She was so beautiful and so perfect. He realized that the longer he stayed there the more trouble he was going to get into but he couldn’t force himself to move.

His stomach flipped as he examined her face, his emotions beginning to take over his brain to the point where it seemed almost natural as he moved his face to hers and connected his lips to hers. He kissed her gently and only for a moment before bringing his face back an inch and opening his eyes. Brenna’s eyes were open and she seemed surprised but that didn’t stop him from moving forward and kissing her again.

The second kiss wasn’t as gentle as the first and he made no move to pull away this time. One hand came up to the side of her face and the other stayed around her, pulling her a bit closer to him. In his head, he silently prayed she would start responding. He didn’t want this to end.

His prayers were answered when he felt her body relax a bit and her lips begin to kiss him back. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest when her lips parted slightly and he was able to slip his tongue into her mouth.

As soon as he had deepened the kiss, he needed to move from the position he was in and he rolled towards Brenna, gently easing her onto her back and settling on top of her, careful to not put all his weight on top of her. Their lips broke apart as her head his the pillow and she started to say his name but he quickly silenced her by capturing her lips again, immediately deepening the kiss. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to show her what he was feeling and this was the only way he knew how at this point.

When he head the small moan come from Brenna, he knew everything was going to be okay and he brought up his hand to her head. Her hair was pulled back with some sort of clip and he fumbled with it for a minute before releasing her hair and threading his fingers through it. He pulled his lips away from hers just long enough for each of them to suck in a breath and then he returned them.

A chill went through him as he felt her hands run up his sides before grasping onto his arms. It wasn’t just him in the kiss anymore. She was kissing him back hungrily and gripping his arms tight.

Needing more, he pulled his mouth from hers and dragged it down the skin of her neck, finding a spot of skin to suck on. She let out a small gasp and her hands went to his short hair.

“Justin,” she murmured after a minute.

He ignored her, content on tasting her sweet skin. She said his name once more before he felt her pulling his head up. She surprised him by immediately kissing him when he raised his head, but he wasn’t about to complain. He settled himself a bit more on her and felt her place her hands on his back, keeping him there. He let his hands latch into her hair again and got lost in the kiss.

Eventually, he began to feel a little light headed from the oxygen he was sacrificing by continuing to kiss her. He made himself pull his lips from hers and rested his head against her neck. He was breathing heavy and he could hear her doing the same. That was the only sound for a while.

“Damn,” he finally breathed out.

“Justin…” Brenna said in a soft voice.

“Damn,” he repeated. He didn’t move for another minute before slowly lifting his head to see her face. She was laying still, her eyes closed. He smiled at how swollen her lips were and how flushed her cheeks were. He raised one hand to brush over her cheek and her eyes fluttered open. She stared at him, her hands falling from his back and down to her sides.

“Wow,” he said quietly, not being able to form any other words.

She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them. “That was…damn.”

He smiled at her words. “I got you swearing? That never happens.”

She wet her lips. “What was that, Justin?”

“That’s what I’ve been wanting to do for a while.”

“You have?”

“Yeah.”

“But why?”

“Because I like you more than a friend, Bren. And it’s been killing me to pretend that I don’t.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I didn’t know how you’d react. And I didn’t want to screw up us working together.”

“You think it would?”

“I don’t know anymore. Do you?”

She silently shook her head.

“I really do want to start something,” he said softly. “I want to see what could come from this. If you don’t want to then that’s fine. I just couldn’t not try though.” He paused for a moment. “So basically it’s up to you. What do you want?”

She stared at him for a minute. “I think I might want to try,” she finally said softly.

He smiled. “Good.” Not being able to stop himself, he leaned down and kissed her again. It just felt so natural and right. He pulled back after a moment. “Trace and Kate are gonna flip out. They’ve been bugging me about doing this.”

“They knew?”

“I told Trace when he was here last week and Kate kind of found out by accident.”

Brenna’s eyes narrowed a bit. “Is that why Kate’s been acting weird all week?”

“Probably. I told her to not say anything but I knew she’d act obvious about it.”

“She asked me last Saturday if we had ever kissed and then told me what a good kisser you are.”

His eyebrows drew together. “How would she know?”

“She said you and her kissed last year because of a dare.”

The memory came back to him “Oh yeah.” He began to smirk. “She said I’m a good kisser, huh?”

Brenna smiled and rolled her eyes. “Don’t get a big head.”

He couldn’t let it go that easily. “So how do I measure up to what she said?”

She bit her lip to hold back a smile. “You’re alright.”

“Just alright? Damn, I must be losing it,” he mumbled, lowering his face down to hers again. “I’m gonna need some heavy duty practicing.”

She laughed and he felt her arms go around him again. “I guess so.”