. . . Wow!

Alright so... wow.

I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted anything at all. I can't even give you a valid excuse as to why it's been forever... so I won't even bother trying to justify it.

I just want to say that I am SO sorry to everyone who follows this story (or any of my others) and that I feel horrible for leaving everyone hanging for so long.

I do have a few more updates for this story and a bunch I've finished for other ones, but I think it'll still be a little bit before I put them up. I have a lot of things I want to do with HM and I'd rather leave it a bit longer and get some more posts done... that why when I start putting them up again, the story will be almost finished and you won't have to wait 3 months for something else lol

Again, I'm so sorry and thank you all for hanging in with me... I promise that I'm gonna try to make it up to you by making the rest of this story as awesome as I can...

<3

33. The Complications of Johnny Walker

Brooks was more than surprised when Mike had nothing to say to him on the bus to Pennsylvania. He had been quiet and broody and down-right irritated since they loaded up, and had only gotten worse now that they were cruising down the I-70.
He wanted to talk about it, he wanted to come out and tell Mike what he had been up to that morning and what he’d found out, but he didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.
Brooks had been hoping for Mike to ask him what was wrong so that he could finally get it off his chest, maybe even figure out what he should do about it.

Apparently what Brooks wanted wasn’t on the top of Mike’s priority list though; for a first.
Mike had his head resting against the window of the bus, not caring that his hair was becoming flattened thanks to the way he was resting. Every now and then a sigh would emit from somewhere between his down turned lips, but Brooks wasn’t sure what was going through his head - and he didn’t have the consideration to find out.
Instead they both spent the five hour drive in silence, ignoring everyone around them and brooding quietly.



Brooks had unpacked everything for the first time ever. His clothing was spread between the drawers of the dresser and the closet; his shoes and sneakers were even lined up by the door.
He’d never actually taken the time to do any of this before, but he couldn’t bring himself to sit still.

Even Mike was on edge, sitting on the very bottom of the bed, his feet fidgeting as he tried to focus on the TV. He was clutching his cell phone in a ’this is my life-saver’ kind of way, but again, Brooks didn’t comment on Mike’s behaviour.
He flopped down on the unoccupied bed and huffed loudly. Mike flopped back too, also huffing.
They went back and forth for almost five minutes; one would sigh, then the other would sigh louder, and so on. Finally Brooks couldn’t take it anymore. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Mike rolled his eyes but pushed himself into a sitting position. “I thought that breaking up with Denise would make me happy, and it hasn’t.” He said quickly, exhaling once he was done.

Brooks snapped his head to the left, glaring at Mike. “Well it’s not like you’ve actually tried to be happy. Hell, you haven’t really done anything…” Brooks stated, his voice getting less harsh as he spoke. “In fact, you’ve been doing everything the same way you would be if you were still with Denise. Have you gone out at all?”

“Umm… not in the technical sense.” Mike muttered, folding his arms over his chest and flopping back down onto his back. “I just don’t really know what I’m suppose to do.”

“What? You’re scared of girls now?” Brooks snorted, finding amusement in the question.

“No! Yes… Maybe. Look, I’ve just always been in a relationship ok? I never did the single thing before.
Sure, I’ve had girls flirt with me… but I’ve never had to do anything, I run walk away from them. I don’t know how to go from that to… hooking up.” He looked over at Brooks expectantly.

“Well Mike, it’s not really like I’ve hooked up with a lot of girls either… I mean… there were a couple in high school, Cosmo’s mom and then Emily… I’m not exactly an expert.”

Mike grunted. “Yah but you know more than me.”

“You’ve had way more sex than I have…” Brooks retorted, knowing full well that it was true.

“With the same girl! That doesn’t count at all!” He complained back, to which Brooks had no answer.

They fell back into the silence that had managed to dominate their trip so far, before Brooks decided to throw an idea out. “How about we go out tonight after the game?”

“Go looking for girls?” Mike asked sceptically, wondering what Brooks could possibly be trying to prove.
He felt like bringing up Emily, saying something about how Brooks was head over heels in love with her; but he was too intrigued by the idea of going out for a night with Brooks.

Brooks shrugged, not noticing Mike’s apprehension. “Why not? I mean, it’s not like I can just go out any night I want now that I have Cosmo… we might as well take advantage of it, right?”
Mike just nodded along with him, hoping whatever had come over Brooks wouldn’t change between now and after the game.



It was only with liquid confidence that Mike had convinced Brooks to call Emily; not just to check on Cosmo, but to move things on with their relationship as well. He was still mildly depressed over his current relationship situation, and the last thing he wanted was for Brooks to be put through the same thing. “So… I was just doing some thinking and I thought that we should get together. As a permanent thing… you know?” Brooks murmured into the receiver as Mike danced around the room behind him, the remainder of the Johnny Walker bottle still clutched in his hand.

Brooks reached for a pillow and chucked it over his shoulder, not aiming, but still hitting Mike square in the face. “Are you asking me out?” Emily asked into the phone as she squinted and tried to hear Brooks over the background noise around him.

“Yah.”

“Are you drunk?”

Brooks pondered the question as he glanced down into his other hand - the one that was holding the empty bold of scotch. “Maybe.”

Emily sighed loudly and clutched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Brooks.”

“But-”

“-the answer is no!” Emily snapped again. At the beginning of the conversation she had been more than pleased when Brooks had started to shamelessly flirt with her; at least until she realized that it was due to his intoxication level and not because he had decided that he actually liked her.

Brooks grunted a goodbye before he hung up the phone, feeling the sting of rejection amplified by the burn of the alcohol. “What did she say?” Mike asked, jumping onto the bed beside Brooks. “Is she your girlfriend now?”

“No. She said the answer was no.” He grumbled, tossing his phone across the room and pushed himself off the bed. “Fuck!”

“Maybe she didn’t understand what you were trying to say…” Mike suggested, taking another swig from the bottle.

Brooks shook his head, running his hands through his short, freshly washed, hair. “No she knew what I was asking.” He couldn’t think clearly, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to think anymore, he wanted to do something; he needed to move. “Let’s go out.”

“We’re still going out? But I thought-”

“-you thought what? That I was gonna get upset because she said no? I don’t care… I don’t even like her! I said let’s go, so let’s go!” He hissed through clenched teeth .

Mike, even in his drunken haze, could feel the change in Brooks demeanour. He shrugged his shoulders and got up to follow after him. “What are we gonna do?” He asked, afraid of the answer.

He came up short when Brooks turned around suddenly and gave him a frightening smile. “Whatever the fuck we want.”

32. Spy

I’ve allowed myself to get out of the loop. My writing is sloppy and I’m having a hard time pulling all my thoughts into one direction. Short. Apologies =(

Also to all the people who write stories on here that I follow… I’m so far behind and I’m very sorry for that. My lack of comments doesn’t mean that I don’t like what you’re doing with your writing, it’s honestly the fact that I haven’t read a thing in so long!
I guess that just means I’ll have lots of fantastic updates to look forward to =)


Was he really doing this?

Obviously he was, but he still felt the need to question himself. It felt idiotic and juvenile - horribly so - as he sat in his parked car, outside of the doctor’s office.
Brooks didn’t even have the guts to tell Mike where he was really going.

It wasn’t that he thought his over-exuberant friend would have an issue with it, he just assumed that he would feel better about the whole thing if he kept it private. Completely private.
He shuddered to think what anyone else would say if they knew what he was doing right now, especially Emily.
The thought of the name had him glancing up through the tinted windows of his SUV as he glanced around the parking lot. He was a still a bit early, but he knew she’d be there soon; Emily was nothing if not punctual.

He allowed himself to think about his revelation again as he fiddled with the dial on the stereo. Brooks wasn’t exactly sure what had driven him to this point. Of course he was interested in anything that had to do with Emily, but at the same time, he could have just asked her.
But what if this was his greatest fear? What if she was sick… really sick? Wasn’t it her right to tell him when she was comfortable telling him?

Or maybe she though he’d never be interested in her if she told him she was sick. Oh god, did she think that she wasn’t good enough for him because there was something medically wrong with her? Did he take advantage of a sick girl?

He sighed, loudly, the noise making him shift uncomfortably as it filled the quiet vehicle around him. He was starting to get hot, as the sun filtered through the windows to where he was sitting in his heavy black suit.
Brooks had to leave for a game soon, and he still wasn’t exactly sure what his plan for this morning was going to be; so he continued to wait until Emily’s car pulled into the parking lot a few spots over from where he sat.
Emily was suppose to be watching Cosmo for the three days Brooks would be gone, and he knew she’d be heading to his place as soon as she was finished here. Of course, with interviews and another meeting with the Capital management, Brooks wouldn’t be there.
He had left Cosmo with Mike and was suddenly immensely satisfied with his decision to not tell Mike where he was going.

She didn’t give his SUV a second glance as she moved past him, her long hair pulled back into a ponytail that bounced with each step she took, swishing her long hair from side to side.
She was dressed in such a way that Brooks was sure this was her only planned outing. Although she still looked good to him, she had replaced her usually too-dressy daytime clothing with a pair of yoga pants and a long green Underarmor shirt.

Even though he had been expecting to see her, he still felt that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel like he was going to be sick. On the bright side, none of the people who had been entering or leaving the building appeared to be really sick. He found hope in that.
Maybe this was just some random check up.
Maybe Emily just had a really expensive doctor that she paid really well. Someone that would have the time to check-up with someone every month.

That was possible. Right?

Brooks, having factored in the average waiting room time during a visit to a private doctor, gave Emily a twenty minute head-start.
When he finally exited the car and headed towards the building, he did so with his head ducked and his sunglasses on.
He wasn’t very far from the door, and he pushed the glass surface timidly, worried that maybe he hadn’t given Emily enough time. However, with a quick glance around the waiting room he realized that he had missed her. Whichever one of the small corridors she had disappeared down, she was no longer in the lobby and that put Brooks in the clear.

He took this fortunate moment of obsoleteness to look around the room, for anything that might give him a hint as to what he was doing here.
It was brightly light with non-confrontational beige walls and a sterile looking marble floor. It looked more like the inside of a fancy hotel then a doctor’s office; even the furniture and coffee tables were out of place here with their rich fabrics and deep coloured mahogany surfaces.

Brooks cleared his throat and turned his attention straight ahead of him to where a pretty red-head was smiling at him from behind a large reception desk. “Can I help you?” She asked sweetly, imploring his feet to carry his body deeper into the building.

“Yah…” He started slowly, reaching the desk and pulling off his sunglasses. He set them down on the top of the desk and peered down at the girl. “I’d like to make an appointment with Dr. Kustin.” He explained lamely, hoping she wouldn’t hear the guilt and uncertainty in his voice.

“Of course. Who’s it for?”

Brooks was caught off guard by her question, but he licked his lips and continued. “Me?”

“You and, who, though?” She pressed, her fingers beginning to drum across the keyboards as she brought up a registration sheet.

“Just me?” Brooks said, the statement coming out as a question.

The girl clicked her tongue thoughtfully before she continued. “Well then you’d probably be more interested in seeing one of the other doctor’s here, Dr. Kustin only takes female clients.”

“Isn’t that a little sexiest?” Brooks couldn’t help but snort out. It wasn’t like he actually cared, or that he had actually planned on coming in and seeing the doctor, he was more hoping to get the registration sheet to see what she specialized in.

The receptionist began to eye him with amusement, contemplating her words before she spoke. “Dr. Kustin is a fertility doctor… so unless you’re trying to get artificially inseminated, I don’t think he’d the right doctor for you.”

Brooks felt his mouth pop open, but he worked quickly to try and recover. “Oh… of course yah, I knew that… I just… heard he was a good doctor so… and I thought maybe he did more than just fertility stuff…”

“Nope. Just pregnancy.”

Brooks nodded, thanking the girl before he turned around to make a quick exit. He was half way to the door when he turned around and came back towards her. “And by fertility… you mean like… pregnancy right?” She nodded. “… the type of pregnancy that ends up in the girl having a baby?” She nodded again. “Like, a human baby?”

“That would be the type, yes.” She answered, trying to suppress the laughter that was turning up the corners of her mouth.

“Ok.” Brooks said quickly, turning back around and heading out into the parking lot, his mind reeling as he climbed into his SUV and stepped on the gas.

31. Dr. Kustin

“Something’s up with Emily.” Brooks said to Mike, when he couldn’t take it anymore.

Cosmo had fallen asleep almost two hours before and was now safely tucked away in her crib; but Mike was still hidden amongst the multitude of blankets and chairs that he’d used to build their fort. “What do you mean?” Came the muffled reply from somewhere below a layer of cotton.

Brooks sighed and glanced into the living room, towards the tent-like structure. He tried to ignore the fact that his grown-ass roommate was sitting in a blanket hide-away, and continue with his very serious conversation. “Were you not paying attention at dinner? She was dropping hints left and right… but I don’t know what she wants.
What was all that shit about relationships and cheating and break-ups?” He wasn’t even really talking to Mike directly, but he needed to say the words out loud in order to try and figure out their meaning. He thought that by bouncing them off Mike, he might be able to discover some hidden piece of information that he was missing, but he was wrong.

“I dunno.” Was the only thing Mike could think to say.

“Mike, can you come out of there for a minute! Please?” Brooks sighed, exasperated.
Mike crawled out of an opening a minute later, careful not to disturb the any of the chairs that were holding up the blankets and throws.
When he surfaced and was far enough from the structure that he could stand, he turned to look at Brooks, expectantly.
Brooks just rolled his eyes and continued on. “I don’t know what I’m suppose to do right now.”

Mike thought it over for a couple seconds before he spoke. “Go… have sex with her?” He didn’t actually think that was a good idea, but he felt the need to have an answer, and he figured he might as well tell Brooks what he wanted to hear.

“Did you forget about the whole ’giving her proof that I don’t just want to sleep with her’ thing?”

“Go… ask her out?” Mike shrugged, turning back around to readjust a sheet that was beginning to fall off the top of the fort.

Brooks sighed deeply, feeling like this was getting him no where. “But everything she said Mike! All that stuff about cheating and all that… fuck! Were you even listening to me at all?”

“What?” Mike asked absently, peeling his eyes away from his fort long enough to glance at Brooks.

“Never mind…” Brooks grunted, setting his third empty beer bottle down on the table and pushing his chair away from it. “I’m gonna go for a walk.” He added, but Mike was already disappearing back into the makeshift tent.

As soon as Brooks was in the hall, he subconsciously headed towards Emily’s house and knocked without planning on it. He didn’t have anything to say to her and had no idea what his intentions even were; but he knew he wanted to see her.
When she opened the door she was wearing an old tank-top and a pair of PJ pants. Her hair was wet and loose around her shoulders, her face was freshly scrubbed of make-up.
“Hey.” She said, her voice airy and surprised.

“Hey. Can I come in for a second?” He said quickly, hoping that if he could just get inside her apartment and sit with her for a minute, the words would come to him.
Emily didn’t answer him, she only nodded, stepping back and motioning for him to enter.

He walked into the immaculately clean kitchen and took a seat at the table. She joined him, pulling out the chair across from him. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She teased, a small smile playing around the corners of her soft pink lips.

Brooks cleared his throat, opening his mouth to speak words that he was still undecided about. “Umm…” Was the only thing that he managed to choke out before Emily jumped up.

“Oh god! Ok wait I was in the middle of straightening my hair and I totally left my flat iron on my bed.” She squealed, taking off down the hall towards her room.
Brooks watched her go and tried not to think about all the other things that were also in her bedroom, things beside a flat iron - whatever that was.

“No worries, take your time.” He yelled after her, glancing away from the hallway towards the living room.

“Are you sure? I don’t mean to be a bitch… it’s just that… if I don’t straighten it now, it’ll get all frizzy.” She giggled from her room and Brooks yelled back his affirmation.

He settled back in the chair, allowing himself a few minutes of luxury in order to figure out how he was going to go about things. Should he just straight up ask her what her issue was with the guys on his team? Should he reiterate the fact that he would never do that to anyone - never do that to her? Or should he just ask her out and see what happens?
That would also open him up for her to say no, though. He wasn’t afraid of rejection, at all, even though he was sure it was a possibility. He was afraid of ruining any chance he had with her.

He’d pushed her too far before and ended up having her avoid him for weeks, he didn’t want to risk that again.
Before he could get any further in his attempted epiphany, the phone rang loudly beside him, causing him to jump slightly. “Can you get that Brooks? Do you mind?” Emily called from behind her bedroom door, but Brooks was already reaching out for the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I’m looking for Emily Campbell?” Came the perky reply from the girl on the other end of the line.

“Umm… she’s busy now, can I take a message?”

“Sure. My name is Michelle, and I know it’s really late, but we’re a bit behind.” She giggled before continuing. “I was just calling to remind Emily of her monthly check-in tomorrow with Dr. Kustin at 10:30.”

“Umm… ok sure.” Brooks answered, hanging up the phone and taking his seat back at the table. For some reason that whole situation didn’t sit well with him. Monthly check-in?
What kind of person had a monthly check-in with a doctor?

A sick one.

That was the only thing that came into his mind as he began to think about what the implications of that phone call could be. He became so lost in his wandering mind, that he didn’t even notice when Emily plunked herself across from him at the table. “So who was on the phone, anyone important?” She asked absently, drawing him out of his contemplation.

“What? … oh… no, just someone from your Doctor’s office calling to remind you that you have a check-in.” He answered slowly, studying her face for some kind of reaction.

“Oh! Well, thanks… I almost forgot.” She giggled, before biting her lip and looking away, colour creeping into her cheeks.

“I should head back before Cosmo wakes up…” Brooks sighed, pushing himself away from the table and standing up. He headed to the door, without a backward glance, until Emily called after him.

“Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk about?”

“I forget what it was… I’ll see you tomorrow.” He added before he headed down the hallway.

30. Break-Up

Wow, has it really been that long? Ok so... I could apologise and explain to you guys all the things that came up and all the reasons why I haven't had time to be online and work on anything... but that doesn't really matter lol.
All that you really need to know is that this update is kind of crappy and I didn't stop to proof it, there are more on the way... and I'm going to frantically try to crank them out so that I don't leave you waiting so long again.
Cheers.

Emily adjusted the weight of the nine-month-old, sleeping toddler, on her hip as she waited for Brooks to finish with his interview.
It hadn't been her idea to attend the team meeting and dinner, but she didn't really have a choice. Brooks was adamant about wanting Cosmo there, and she knew it was unrealistic to assume he could watch her and deal with everything else at the same time.

She sighed, not noticing as a woman approached her from the side. "So you must be Brooks' girlfriend." She said warmly, smiling at Cosmo before turning her attention back to Emily.

"Oh... no, I'm just... I'm the babysitter." Emily finally managed to choke out before clearing her throat.
The woman opened her mouth, clearly looking for the words to apologise, but Emily waved her unspoken words away with her free hand. "Don't worry about it... honest mistake." She muttered, hoping the woman couldn't hear her disappointment as she spoke.

They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes as they both watched Brooks, Mike, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, field questions from the press. "I'm Melissa, by the way. I'm engaged to Jose." Emily looked over at her and smiled in a silent congratulations.

They continued their idol chit-chat for a while, Emily, happy for the excuse to keep her eyes away from Brooks, as Melissa talked away about hockey, boys and shopping. "It's so nice to have someone to talk to at these things again..." She sighed as the boys began to stand up and leave the podium, descending the short staircase until they were mingling among the crowd of people.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked absently as she searched for Mike and Brooks through the crowd, hoping that they knew where she had been waiting.

Melissa shrugged, her blonde hair jumping around her shoulders as she did so. "I dunno, it just feels like any of the girls I get along with always get kicked to the curb after a while.
You know, Walker and his wife just split." She continued on, unaware that she had gained Emily's undivided attention. "And the saddest part is, she has nothing now. I mean she signed a pre-nup... and he's fighting her for the kids... he'll probably win.
Like, he has a good job and the money to afford to raise them... she's got nothing but what she had when they started."

"That's horrible..." Emily whispered, as Melissa continued on.

"And the saddest part is, they started dating in high school and she moved with him when he was drafted... she's never had a job in her life and doesn't have anything past her grade 12. That's a pretty shitty situation to be in." She finished, raising her hand as Jose worked his way towards her.

He gave Emily a small smile and nodded as he wrapped a long, thin, arm around Melissa's waist. "I'm starved, let's go get something to eat." He said, tugging on her as he began to head back towards the door.
Melissa nodded and turned around, waving goodbye to Emily as she disappeared through the throng of people.

Emily waved back, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched them leave.
She was so consumed with her thoughts, that she jumped when she felt someone's hand wrap around her arm. "Jesus, you scared me." She complained, when she turned around to see the culprit smiling down at her.

"Sorry," Brooks grinned sheepishly, as he bent down to kiss the top of Cosmo's head, "I didn't think I'd surprise you... I said your name a few times."

"Oh... yah I was just... I just met Jose's fiancé." She explained, trying to steer the conversation away from anything that related to messy divorces and custody battles. "She seems really nice."

Brooks shrugged, reaching around to grab onto a lost looking Mike. "I guess so, never really talked to her before... where do you guys want to eat?"

"Anyway!" Mike said loudly, his arms wrapped around his stomach. "I'm so hungry I could die..." He complained, in a volume that caused Cosmo to wake with a start.
Her large green eyes peered up at Emily, before she glanced over her shoulder to where the two boys were standing. She yawned, and without a word, plunked her head back down on Emily's shoulder and let out a soft snore.

Brooks chuckled as he reached out, taking her out of Emily's arms and adjusting her in his own. "You guys just wanna go grab something?"
Emily and Mike both nodded - the latter with much more enthusiasm then the first.


The restaurant was packed, but the staff whisked Brooks, Mike, Emily and Cosmo away to an empty set of tables on the upstairs level. Of course Mike and Brooks had never even heard the term ‘reservation’, not since their arrival into the notoriety of the NHL, but it was something Emily still wasn’t use to.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have the money to eat anywhere she wanted; but she didn’t have the fame - and from the stares of people as they passed, she wasn’t sure she wanted it.
They sat down and she tried to ignore the looks as the boys began to look over their menus.
Emily had a nagging need in the pit of her stomach, to talk about what she had learnt earlier, with Brooks, but she also wanted to sound nonchalant about it.

She waited until the drinks were in front of them, their meals had been ordered, and Cosmo was ‘drawing’ on the placemat with some crayons, before she started to talk. “So… I heard today that Walker and his wife just broke up, he must be going through a hard time… has he been talking about it a lot in the dressing room?”

Brooks snorted into his drink. “Not likely. Walkers been fucking around for as long as I’ve known him… I honestly don’t think he gives a shit one way or the other.”

“Yah, Theodore doesn’t look like he’s gonna last either.” Mike added, nodding towards Emily; like she needed the reminder that she had just met José’s fiancé earlier.

“You don’t think they’ll last?” Emily asked quickly, feeling bile rise in her throat at the thought of the overly friendly girl on a road to heartbreak.

Brooks shrugged. “Most guys in the NHL who get married don’t make it.” Emily gawked at him as he continued, surprised by the casual tone of his remark. “I mean, most of them have more money then they know what to do with… women throwing themselves at them… and they spend more nights away then home.”

Emily leaned back, pulling her arms off the table as the waitress came towards them, her arms laden with steaming food.
She placed everything down on the table and the boys immediately dug in, while Emily started to cut up some chicken for Cosmo. “So you think those are good enough reasons for someone to cheat? For someone to leave their family?”

Brooks chewed on a piece of rib before he answered. “No. I don’t think there’s ever a reason to cheat. If you don’t want to be with someone now… dump them. If you don’t want to be with someone forever… don’t marry them. It’s pretty simple.”

“… and the girls?” Emily pressed, trying to still appear as if she was just making dinner conversation.

“What about them?” Mike grunted, pulling his face out of his food long enough to comment.

Brooks glanced at him and rolled his eyes. “Again, it’s simple. If you care about someone, it doesn’t matter how many girls throw themselves at you, you aren’t gonna see them. Guys that cheat, do it because they’re idiots… it’s got nothing to do with how many girls hit on them or not.
A guy could have a million girls hit on him, and stay faithful… another guy could have one girl look at him, and he cheats. Some people do it… some people don’t. It just seems that a lot of the guys that do, end up here. It’s a superiority complex, they think because they’re the breadwinner in the family, it gives them the right to do whatever they want.”

“But you wouldn’t do that…” Emily said quietly. Brooks wasn’t sure if she was asking or stating a fact, but the conversation turning towards him, caught his attention.
He set down a bone on his plate and glanced up at her.

“Is something up?” He cleared his throat and watched her reaction. She bit her lip and shook her head, directing her attention back to Cosmo; but not before colour rose up in her cheeks. He wanted to press on, figure out what she was trying to get at; but he thought it might be better to let it go.
Beyond the blush that was creeping through her face, pain was visible in her eyes.
The conversation moved onto other things, but Brooks kept his focus on Emily for the rest of the meal.


They went home right afterwards, and Emily retreated quickly back to her own apartment, claiming that she was exhausted and need to get some early shut eye. Mike, not realizing anything was off, started to build a fort with Cosmo in the living room.

Brooks sat back and watched them play; sipping on a beer as he thought over everything that had happened that day.
Of course he had heard about Walker, but he didn’t think anything of it… as he had already said to Emily, Walker wasn’t a one-woman kind of guy. As for Theodore, it wasn’t that he was like that, he was just fickle and could never seem to make up his mind.
The rest of the guys on the team… well… they couldn’t all be painted with the same brush, but he liked to think that when it came to relationships, he’d be somewhere near the top as far as honesty and fidelity went.

So, maybe, that was due to the fact that he was one of the few who hadn’t really been in a relationship, per say, but he was positive he’d be a good boyfriend.
He could easily prove that too, if Emily would give him the chance.

29. Camping

I didn't have time to proof it, but I wanted to give yas something to read anyway... lol hope you still like it =)

“You’re going where?!” Emily gawked as Brooks walked around his room, throwing different things into his over night bag. He moved past her, making sure he left lots of room between them, so as not to ignite any inappropriate feelings.
Although, as soon as he thought about trying to stay away from her to avoid those thoughts, he started thinking about it. This was just fucked.

“Camping. You know… into the great outdoors… the wild unknown… man vs. nature and all that shit?”

Emily huffed and followed after him as he left the room, heading down the hall. “Ok but… you can’t just… you don’t know how to camp!”

Brooks stopped in his tracks and turned around to stare at her incredulity. “Of course I know how to camp… you sleep outside. Sleeping outside is camping, it’s not rocket science.” Brooks chuckled as Cosmo stared at him from Emily’s arms, with the same look on her face that Emily was currently giving him. “Look we’re not even going that far. We’ll be fine… and we’ll be back soon.”

He slung his bag over his shoulder and leaned forward to give Cosmo a quick kiss. He pulled back and looked up at Emily, close enough to smell the intoxicating scent of vanilla and jasmine.
Clearing his throat, Brooks pulled back, and awkwardly looked away. “Alright well… see ya tomorrow!”

Emily sighed, but didn’t argue as he disappeared through the door, leaving her standing in his living room, exchanging a worried glance with his daughter.


Brooks didn’t exactly tell Emily where he was going, other then the fact that it was camping. And it was camping, they were sleeping outside, even if it was in the backyard of their apartment complex.

He laughed when he came around the corner and saw the tent, deflated on the ground. It was laid out smoothly, and Brooks could tell by the way the poles and directions were spilled around the green fabric, that Mike had attempted to set it up himself.
Rolling his eyes, Brooks dropped his bag and went to work, assembling to tent easily, within five minutes. Brooks climbed inside and laid on the plastic floor, his hands behind his head and his eyes focused on the highest point in the roof, where the poles met.

The tent was hot and stuff. Brooks could feel the weight of the air as it passed through his nose, down into his chest. He figured he’d enjoy it while it lasted, the night was bound to be colder and knew there was no way they could go back inside, not after he’d already told Emily he’d be gone all night. She’d think he was an idiot; or a bigger idiot then she already thought he was.
“Wow!” Mike chirped as he unzipped the door and poked his head in. “This is awesome! I was out here all morning trying to get it up… I thought we’d be sleeping under the open sky.”

Brooks snorted and propped himself up on his elbows. “I told you, I’m experienced… tonight’s gonna be awesome.”

“Alright well, it’s my first time so… don’t expect too much.”

“Umm… excuse me?” Mike halted his movement into the tent to turn around and stare at a guy that was looking back at him. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to, ah, interrupt… but I was looking for Emily Campbell, I was suppose to be meeting her to go over some last minute plans for my brother‘s birthday party. I rang her buzzer but no one answered… I was wondering if you guys might know where I could find her.”

“Oh. She’s in my place. Under the name Laich.” Brooks called out at the guy, feeling hugely relieved when he glanced past Mike and saw how unattractive the guy was.
The guy gave him an awkward glance, before saying thank you and disappearing again. “Anyway, like I was saying… camping is awesome!”

Mike grinned and climbed into the tent, tossing a sleeping bag at Brooks and unrolling his own before sliding on top of it. He laid still for a minute, before glancing over at Brooks. “So what do we do now?”


“Brooks!” Emily yelled loudly, causing Brooks to grimace as he crawled to the tent’s zippered door, still trying to hide his handful of cards from Mike. He unzipped it and looked up, disappointed to find her standing on the balcony, staring down at him. “I thought you were going camping!” She laughed loudly, leaving Brooks to assume that the guy had come and gone, probably telling her how he’d known where she was.

“We are camping!”

“You guys are like ten feet from the apartment complex!”

“IT’S STILL CAMPING!” Brooks shouted, annoyed when she laughed harder.

Emily rolled her eyes and turned around, heading back through the sliding, patio door. “Whatever the fuck you have to do to have fun…”

When Brooks moved back in he glanced over at Mike. “Fuckin women!”

“Yah!”

“Who needs them?”

“Not me!” Mike answered enthusiastically, adjusting the cards he’d won from their ‘Go Fish’ game.

“Me either!”

“Fuck em!” Mike reiterated, as Brooks took his seat across from him.

“Yah!”

The boys resumed their game, playing another three - all of which Brooks lost - before Mike‘s stomach rumbled so loudly, it interrupted his train of thought. Mike glanced up at him and shot him an apologetic glance before asking, “so… what did Emily pack for supper?”


“… And then, out from behind the house… came…”

“WAIT!” Mike screamed, holding his hands out in front of him as Brooks opened his mouth to speak, the light of the flash light casting dark shadows across his face as he held it under his chin.

“What now? I thought you wanted to hear a ghost story.” Brooks groaned, trying to keep his grin concealed as Mike began to squirm uncomfortably, pulling the sleeping bag tight around his shoulders.

He shrugged, causing the blue, water-proof surface to crinkle around him. “I did, I just didn’t- let’s do something else.”

“Cause you’re-”

“-I’m not scared!” He snapped back, to which Brooks rolled his eyes. He flicked off the flashlight and tossed it aside, not pressing the matter.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before a noise outside caused them both to pause, eyes wide as they stared at each other through the darkness.
"What do you think that was!?"

Brooks shrugged, trying to sound like he wasn’t nervous. "Ummm…. a cat?"

"It sounded too big to be a cat... a dog?"

"What kind of dog would be running around Washington at night? In this neighbourhood?”

"A stray dog?"

“Maybe.”

“A FERAL stray dog?” Mike whispered, his head snapping all around him.

Brooks cleared his throat and began to crawl towards the door. “I don’t really think that there are feral-” He was cut off by the sound of something large slamming across the side of the tent.

"A PACK OF WILD, FERAL, STRAY DOGS! RUN!" Mike screamed, pushing Brooks out of his way and slamming himself through the thin fabric of the tent, ripping the zipper off. He ran as fast as he could and managed to pull open the first door before he became trapped in the buzzer room of the apartment.
When Brooks came in a few seconds later, he was laughing loudly. “Shut up Brooks! Let’s just go in.”

Nodding, Brooks pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, opening it and directing Mike to go through.
They climbed the stairs slowly, Mike complaining about their night with every step. But Brooks also noticed that he didn’t once mention Denise’s name, something that he assumed meant his plan had worked.
Mike opened the apartment door and walked in quietly, heading to the kitchen and pulling open the fridge.

At the thought of food, Brooks felt his stomach grumble and he followed after Mike, leaning over his shoulder to see into the fridge.

When Brooks heard a chuckle behind him, he turned around to find Emily standing in nothing but one of his old workout shirts, leaning against the wall. “Well, well, if it isn’t Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.”

27. Part Two

Again, another really short one but... I PROMISE THE NEXT ONE WILL BE REGULAR LENGTH!! =D

“I could do it on… Monday, in the morning.” Mike suggested lamely, knowing full well that there was no way Denise would ever be able to get the time off work.

As if on cue, she sighed and brought her elbows up onto the table, dropping her face down into her hands and trying to calm her nerves. When she brought her face back up, Mike was making a disgusted face at the coffee he held in his hands.
She rolled her eyes and reached out for it, taking it from him and handing him the hot chocolate she had ordered. She hated hot chocolate, but she always ordered it; because Mike always ordered coffee. It didn’t seem to bother him that he hated the stuff, and she was pretty sure that he only did it because he wanted to seem more grown-up whenever he was at Starbucks.

He accepted it gratefully, and she tried to ignore the feeling of satisfaction she got when he took a sip and smiled at her. She loved knowing more about him then anyone else - well, almost anyone else - but she needed to stay focused on the task at hand. “Mike… you know I can’t do it through the week. It has to be the weekend-”

“-I have games… and stuff.” Mike snapped, feeling annoyed as he leaned forward in his chair, reaching across the table and grabbing for Denise’s hand, squeezing it in his own.
“Babe, do we really have to do this? We hardly have any time together as it is… I don’t want to spend it-”

“You don’t want to spend it, what? Talking about our future? Acting like an adult? Acting like you actually give a shit?!”

“Fighting.” Mike said quietly, removing his hands and leaning back across the table, away from Denise. “I don’t want to spend it fighting… I’m so fucking tired of fighting with you. About everything.”

“Well we wouldn’t have to fight if you would just give me an honest answer-” Denise reached down and pulled out a binder full of house listings, real estate clips and business cards.
She flipped it open and started pulling out pictures and sheets of information. She set them in front of him, and he glanced up at her, unable to keep the sadness off his face.

“I’m not moving out Denise.” He let out a sad chuckle, putting his hands over his face and rubbing his eyes. “I don’t know how many more times we can have this fucking conversation… but it’s not happening.”

“Excuse me…” Someone was clearing their throat beside Mike, and he looked up to see a thin, blond girl smiling down at him. “I know this is probably so annoying but… could you, maybe, sign this for me?”
She held out the front of her shirt, turning slightly so he could see his number on the back of the bright red ’Scarlet Fan Club’ shirt.

“Yah, sure.” He said quickly, trying to pretend that she hadn’t just walked in on an awkward conversation.
She held out a black marker to him, and he scribbled his name and number across the bright cotton. “Have a good one.” He added, before handing the marker back to her and watching her walk across the room.
When he looked back, Denise was glaring at him.
“What?” He hissed, folding his arms over his chest. “Am I just suppose to ignore everyone around me?”

“No. You’d never ignore a fan… just your girlfriend… I’m shit compared to those little bitches. Of course they’re more important then this conversation-”

“-everything is more important than this conversation! It shouldn’t even be happening, Denise. I live with Brooks. Deal with it!”

“And if I don’t want to?”

Mike glanced over at her, staring hard as she stared back. “Then I can’t deal with you.”

“Mike-” Denise squealed, but he didn’t stop. Jumping up from the table Mike headed for the door, not looking back as he stepped out onto the sidewalk and disappeared around the corner; praying Brooks was home.



“IS BOOTS!” Cosmo screamed as soon as Mike opened the door and walked into the living room.
The toddler was doing her trademark ’drunk stumble’ down the hallway, as quickly as she could to reach him. He bent over and scooped her up when she finally reached him.
She wrapped her chubby little arms around his neck and gave him a drool filled kiss on the cheek. “Thank Princess, I needed that.” He sighed, glancing over to see Brooks staring at him.

“Everything ok?”

Mike shrugged, not sure that anything could make him feel better at that moment. He knew talking about it would probably help, but he didn’t really want to talk about it. “It’s nothing.”

“… Mike?” Brooks drawled, tossing down the dishtowel he’d just been using and heading towards his daughter and best friend. “Mike?”

“I broke up with Denise.” He said quickly, trying to get it over with; like ripping off a band-aid.

Brooks raised an eyebrow, but otherwise hid any emotion or judgement off his face. “You wanna go camping?”

“What?”

“Camping. You wanna go?”

“Ok…”

26. Oil Spills Are Bad: Part One

As Jay so eloquently put it… ‘it’s not about the length, it’s about what you want to do with it’.
And yes, that is what she said.

Hopefully part two will be up tomorrow. Sorry about this, just needed to get it up and over with so I could keep going… and I didn’t want to leave you hanging any longer.


Mike couldn‘t help but laugh, and feel offended at the same time. “You’re lying to me!” He finally yelled, holding his hands out to the sides and daring Brooks to disagree with him.

Rolling his eyes, Brooks did just that. “I am not Mike, nothing happened last night…” It was an honest statement. Brooks had eventually managed to fall asleep, ignoring every single nerve ending in his body that was screaming at him to jump on her. Sick or no sick his body was incapable of ignoring the effect she had on him.

Mike continued to stare at Brooks with disbelief and feigned hurt on his face. “I can’t believe that you’re lying… to me. Me, of all people!”

He groaned and leaned forward to where Mike was standing, trying to swat at him with his hand. Mike jumped back and laughed, before dropping down onto the chair, out his reach. Brooks flopping back to, laying back out on his back, where he had been before Mike so rudely interrupted him. “Is there a point to this Mike? You lie to me all the time!”

“Oh, I know I lie to you… but this is different! You never lie to me, ne-e-e-e-ver. A dark, serious gaze or at worst, a sarcastic remark… but you never lie.”

Brooks opened his mouth to answer but shut it as Emily came around the corner. She smiled at Brooks and Mike as she adjusted Cosmo on her hip. “Guess who’s feeling better?” She cooed as Cosmo let out a squeal. “It must have been some twenty-four hour flu or something that you guys had.”

“Yah… must have been…” Brooks agreed, shooting daggers at Mike with his eyes; a warning to keep any kind of sexual comments to a minimum. “So, thanks for coming over last night.” He said lamely, not sure what else he should say to her. She nodded and moved around him, sitting down at the bottom of the couch by Brooks’ feet.

“So… good sleep?” Mike asked, trying not to smile as Brooks cleared his throat loudly.

Emily looked over at him sceptically. “Yah, thanks…”

“Mike… wasn’t there, that thing that you had to do?” Brooks hissed, glancing around Emily to where Mike was still sitting. “You know… the thing you needed to do so that that big, angry guy didn’t get any more angry at you?”

“Oh riiiight… him. Yah, I should go and do that thing… now.”

Emily cleared her throat, obviously suspicious of the exchange between the two boys, but she didn’t say anything as she watched Mike get up and vacate the apartment.
After the sound of his footsteps had disappeared off the stairs and Cosmo had fought her way out of Emily’s hold, she glanced over at Brooks who was pointedly staring at the TV.

She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, as Cosmo began to bang away on the floor with her blocks, every now and then letting out a squeal of delight that would catch Brooks’ attention; attention that was never directed at Emily.
He had been that way the whole night too, and she could only assume that his lack of sexual tension was because he was following her wishes; but that didn’t make it easier.

Part of her wished it was hard for him to keep his hands away from her, especially last night, when she was beside him in his bed. But he had kept his distance and treated her like she was nothing more than a friend.
It should have made her happy to know he was showing self-control, but it didn’t.

Sex with Brooks had been… well… nothing short of amazing, as far as she was concerned. It was not only better than anything she had experienced before, but better than anything she would have imagined was possible.
At least she thought so.

Looking over at him now, she couldn’t even be sure he enjoyed himself. No man had that much restraint… no, this didn’t make her happy.
Maybe what she really, really needed, was for Brooks to just be with her, period; give her the emotional, physical and sexual contact all at the same time.

She sighed and shifted as Mythbusters started back up on the TV, and she ran her hand over her face. There was no way she could change the game now, right? She couldn’t expect him to keep his hands off her, and then just jump on him one of the first times they were together, could she?
Clearing her throat, she slid over towards Brooks on the couch. “So are you feeling back to your old self then? No fever…?” She turned her body, squeezing on arm against her chest, causing her right breast to pop halfway out of her shirt. “Let me check…” She placed a cool hand against his forehead, before she slid it down onto his cheek.

Brooks swallowed hard and did everything he could to keep his eyes away from the swell of breast in front of his face. “Umm…” It took all his willpower not to gawk, and he was happy when she finally moved her hand away from him; for a minute.

“Hmm… you do feel a little warm.” She sighed, coming back at him with two hands, dragging them down the rough stubble of his jaw and chin. “Do you need to have another lie down?” She whispered, leaning so close to him he could feel the heat of her breath against his face.
He started trying to think of everything, anything, that would take his mind away from the shape of her body as she curled it up on the couch beside him.

Oil spills, those were sad.

Emily let out a small moan of contentment as she removed her hands and turned her body until her shoulders and back were against Brooks’ side. He glanced over as she stretch out, seeing the way her breast popped out the top of her shirt when she folded her arms under them like that…

All the poor little animals that got covered in grease and had to be washed off in all the soapy water like the Dawn commercials… soapy water… He licked his lips, almost able to taste her skin on them.
But oil spills were sad.
“This is comfy… do you mind if I get some shut eye, too?”

He cleared his throat before answering, “sure.” She yawned, whether real or fake, he wasn’t sure; but soon she was stretched out over his lap, leaving him to gawk at the swell of her ass beside him, and the feel of her head on his legs.

Oil spills are sad.

Tonight's Update

So... I was half way through tonight's post when my laptop crashed!! >.<

Luckily with the help of a computer savy friend, it's back up and running... of course I lost everything I had done and right now I'm in the "Ugh! Do I really have to re-write all that?" mode, but I'm gonna try to have it up sometime tonight anyway.

Let's just see what happens hahaha

OH, and anyone following my DTH story... I updated it the other day, if you want something to read tonight lol. (Not sure if it shows up in the dashboard or not because it's private).

25. Prove what?

This update sucks balls but I can't do anything else with it. Sorry =( lol


“Prove what?”

“I don’t know!”

“Prove what?!”

“I don’t know!”

“What are you suppose to be proving?!”

“I. Don’t. Know!”

Denise’s head moved back and forth as she watched the exchange between Brooks and Mike. Cosmo was beside her, laughing as the two boys stormed around the living room, looking more like two of the Stooges then two grown men trying to figure something out.
“What exactly did she say?” She said loudly, trying to intervene before Brooks ended up burning a line in the ground where he paced.

Sighing, Brooks stopped walking and tilted his head back. He closed his eyes and tried to replay the situation over in his head again. “I don’t know.” He said finally, opening his eyes and dropping down onto the couch behind him. “I dunno.” He murmured for what felt like the millionth time that morning.

“Well let’s think… last night before… well, you know-”

“I think what she’s trying to say is… was anything important said before you too started fucking like monkeys on steroids?” Mike interjected, taking a seat beside Brooks.

Brooks chewed on his lip for a minute as he tried to remember everything that he had said to her. Even though it was only last night, he was exhausted and a tad hung over, making the whole situation seemed like it had really happened weeks ago. “I told her that we knew about what she did, then I told her I liked her, then we… well… fucked.”

“Wait!” Denise said loudly, standing up and walking towards the couch. “You mean to tell me, that you told her she was a prostitute?”

“So she’s not then?” Mike added, confusion clouding his face.

Brooks looked back and forth between them before he answered. “No she’s not a prostitute and yes I… told her she was.”

“What does she do then?” Mike asked, and Brooks couldn’t help but notice that he sounded disappointed.

“You know that club we were in? Well she owns it, and apparently a lot more. She runs some party company… I don’t remember the name.” Densie clicked her tongue and Brooks turned back around to look at her.

“She wants you to prove that she’s not some tail.” She said sharply, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at him. “You accuse her of being a whore and then you have sex with her… and you honestly can’t figure out what’s wrong with that scenario? Really?”
Brooks looked over at Mike, who looked back at him and shrugged. “You guys are hopeless.” She groaned, moving forward to get Brooks’ attention again. “Look, spend time with her… talk to her, be with her. Do that for a while without doing or mentioning anything that has to do with sex. Show her that she actually matters in all aspects of your life and not just in bed.”

Brooks mused her words over, running his tongue along the roof of his mouth, like he was tasting them. "So... not sex her?"
He glanced over his shoulder to find Denise nodding at him, a bemused look on her face as her eyes wandered back over to Mike. "You mean... go from what we did last night, to nothing?"

Denise huffed and the noise caused Mike to cringe as she moved her hands down to her hips. "Listen Brooks, you either want to be with her cause you like her... or you did just use her for sex. I'm not judging you... honestly, I don't care why you did it. All I'm saying is that if you do like her, really like her, then yes... go from that to nothing. Take things slowly... see what happens."

It made sense, Brooks wasn't going to argue with her about it, he also knew that if that's what it was going to take, then that's what he was going to do. He couldn't help but groan though, when the thought of not being able to touch her crossed his mind. She was more to him than just some lay, he knew that, and was mildly offended that she didn't pay attention to him when he told her that he did like her.

Brooks tilted his head back against the couch and listened to the sound of Cosmo’s tiny plastic spoon rattling around on the tray of her high chair as she demolished her breakfast.
He couldn’t sit here and think about this all day, that much was for sure. If Emily needed time to cool off, he’d give that to her. He’d let her come to him, and then he’d show her just how un-sexual he could be… at least he hoped he could.



“I’m gonna get Emily.” Mike said finally, decidedly. He had watched Brooks miss two practices and still battle with a stomach bug to look after Cosmo. That would have been enough for him to get Emily, but Brooks had made him promise not to. Now however, Mike knew that they needed her. With Cosmo coming down sick and Mike already beginning to feel the gross shakes of a fever spreading through his own body, he knew there was nothing else that could be done.

“No…” Brooks groaned from the couch, before he rolled onto his back and started to heave into the blue bucket that was placed on the floor below him.

Mike didn’t bother waiting around to argue with him, instead he turned tail and headed for the door, padding softly down the hallway towards her apartment. He knocked a few bars of Bad Romance on the door, before he heard Emily come towards the door. She pulled it open and gave him a weak smile.

It was weird, seeing her again. They’d gone from never talking at all, to her being at his place every day after the arrival of Cosmo. After the fiasco with Brooks, she had disappeared again. It had been almost a whole week since she’d been around and even though he wouldn’t admit it, Brooks was missing her… so was Cosmo. “I know that I’m probably the second last person you wanna see right now… but we need you.” He said simply, staring at her and waiting for a reaction.

Emily bit her lip and looked behind her at the mess that had taken over her apartment.
She glanced back at Mike and just nodded, unable to hide her disappointment. She’d been hoping that Brooks would make some kind of effort where she was concerned, show up and sweep her off her feet in some over the top, fairy-tale way. Instead she got Mike. That was like planning for the Prince and getting the limo driver. All she could do was nod though, and follow him down the hall.

When she went into the living room and found Cosmo passed out in her play-pen, and Brooks curled up, shirtless, on the couch. He was pale and clammy, shivering slightly as small beads of sweat danced across his smooth, taut skin. His eyes slowly opened as she came to a stop in front of him. They were darker then normal, hooded from the effect of sickness, but he still managed to give her a weak smile before his eyes closed again and he let out a soft snore. “We should get him to his room so he can sleep better.” She said to Mike, who nodded and moved around to where she was standing.

He grabbed Brooks, waking him, and hooked his arm over his shoulder. They walked together towards his room; Mike clearly feeling the weight of his room-mate as they rounded the corner. Emily sighed lightly and looked behind her where Cosmo was snoring lightly. Smiling, Emily bent down to scoop her up, and headed around the corner Mike and Brooks had just disappeared around

Brooks woke up shortly after eleven. He felt like he’d been sleeping for days, but the clock showed otherwise. He looked around and saw Emily exiting through his bedroom door, and it was then the he realized what had woken her up. He sat up, fighting off a wave of nausea as he tip-toed after her. “Emily…” He whispered, trying not to scare her as he grabbed onto the wall for support.

She turned around, inhaling slighting with surprise as she clutched one of Brooks’ pillows against her chest. “I couldn’t sleep on the couch and the bed covers from the spare room are still in the wash.” She explained as he nodded along, remembering all to clearly when he had escaped to the coldest room in the apartment, in an attempt to bring his fever down, only to puke all over the bed.

“Sorry about that…” He began to say but she waved his apology away.

“Don’t. It’s no biggie.” She smiled, awkwardly looking away from him as she realized that these were the first words they had exchanged since they were rolling around in his bed.

“Sleep in my room.” He said suddenly, surprising even himself when the words left his lips. “I don’t mean like that.” He added quickly as she opened her mouth to protest. “Just… it makes more sense then you sleeping on the bed I puked in earlier.
My bed has sheets and doesn’t smell like throw-up.”

She nodded slowly, hugging the pillow closer to her chest as she began to move back towards him.
Brooks gave her a promising smile and watched as she walked towards his bed. He knew he had to keep to his original plan and not lay a finger on her, but it was going to be hard; doubly so when he saw what she was wearing.

Brooks didn‘t realize how long he was staring at her, until she smiled at him and called him over. “Come on Brooks… get into bed, you look like you’re about to fall over.”

She was pulling back the sheets on the other side of his bed, and the swell of her breast through her tank top, and the curves of her hips and her long, long legs, aroused a fire in him that had never been there before. Not even the last time she was in his bed.
He wondered if it was because this time he knew he couldn’t have her. He licked his lips and continued to stare at her, trying to shake the thoughts that were beginning to creep through his mind. He refused to think like that; he couldn’t.
This was the first time he’d seen her since he told himself he was going to take things slowly, he couldn’t lose focus already.

If she meant as much to him as he believed she did, he owed it to her to do things the right way….

But her skin glowed in the shine of the street lights through the window, and his eyes focused on the point of one, hardened nipple as she laid down on her back.
Brooks was already in nothing but his boxers, and he wanted her. He wanted her so fiercely it shook him.
He moved towards her and laid down, but he didn’t touch her.

24. Prove It

I am so, so, so, sorry that this update took so long, and is still pretty short! BUT… Rowan is back to school tomorrow so, hopefully you’ll be having lots of updates coming your way! =)
Thanks for putting up with me… or… with a lack of me lol


When Emily woke up, her body was soar and stiff, but she felt warm and snug in a bed that was not her own. She felt the weight of someone’s arm around her waist and body heat radiating from behind her.
Her eyes flew open and she glanced over her shoulder to see Brooks; his face, half snuggled into her back and his deep, rhythmic breath blowing across her back.

She exhaled quietly and closed her eyes, feeling her face heat as she began to remember every detail of the night before. It wasn’t like she could forget. She tilted forward and looked down at her body. Even in the dull light that was beginning to shine through his window, she could see the purple and blue outline of his hands all over her skin and the tender pink lines around her wrists, where the handcuffs had held her in place.

She bit her lip and fought back tears as embarrassment began to creep through her cheeks.
With a quick, slight movement, she unwound herself from Brooks’ hands and grabbed her clothing off the floor.
She instantly remembered leaving the club and remembered coming back here with him; she also remembered the second and third times they had had sex.

With her clothes donned, she moved towards the door, and paused with her hand on the doorknob. Emily glanced back at Brooks and felt a small, sad smile spread across her face.
She slipped out of the door and into the hallway, carefully unlocking her door and walking inside before she bolted the lock into place and fled to her bedroom.

Emily flopped onto the bed and pressed her face into one of the silk pillows, her muffled sobs filling the room as she curled into a small ball.
She couldn’t even allow herself a minute on cloud nine, to enjoy the fact that she had just experienced such an incredible night with Brooks; she was too busy drowning in the fact that she’d just ruined every chance she had ever had with him.

Did she want to have sex with him? Of course, that much was obvious. The one thing that hadn’t crossed her mind in the heat of the moment, was the concept that now she’d never have Brooks the way she wanted him; as a boyfriend, a confidant, a friend, and a lover.

Fucking and then dating, was not the natural progression of a relationship. The progression of a relationship was getting to know someone, going on dates, doing the awkward first kiss, and then working your way to sex.
What kind of guy was gonna buy the cow after he’d already had the milk for free?

So, they clearly had the same tendencies and whims when it came to sex, but that didn’t mean anything in the long run. It wasn’t that Emily didn’t think the physical part was an important part of a relationship, but she knew it wasn’t the only part of the relationship.
And she couldn’t even imagine Brooks thinking that there could be anymore with her now, especially not after last night. He’d never be able to look at her the same way again.

The one thing that bothered her the most, was why it had happened. She knew now that Brooks had been in her room, had seen everything she had in there, and apparently he liked that. Was that the only reason he had even approached her?
Because if he had seen all those things, and was genuinely interested in her, wouldn’t he have taken her out on a date?

He had also called her a prostitute. After everything that they had gone through, all the times she had been there for him since he had Cosmo, he still apparently knew nothing about her.
She knew that she had purposely tried to dodge questions about her job, but a prostitute? Really? What part of her personality when she was around them had led them to believe such a horrible thing about her?
Was he suggesting that she carried herself like a whore? Or she just looked like one?

And the fact that he had had the nerve to come right up to her and yell at her about it. So what if she was? If she actually did sleep with people for money, why should it even matter to him?
Unless of course he meant what he said, about liking her. Was that even possible? And after finding out that he thought she was capable of being a prostitute, did she even want a relationship with him?

Yes.

Alright so that was a stupid question and no matter what Brooks did or said it was going to take a lot for Emily to change her mind about him. All she could really do was hope it wouldn’t take a lot to make him change his mind about her.

The unfortunate thing was that this also was under the assumption that he was even interested in her at all, after last night.
It was much more impressive for a guy to make a girl orgasm, then it was for a girl to make a guy orgasm. As far as Emily’s knowledge with, guys could get off to anything, so just because she was able to do that for Brooks, didn’t mean that she was special in some way… it just meant she had boobs and a functioning vagina.

The only option Emily could see in her way, was to sit down and talk to Brooks; friend to friend.
Friends. Emily groaned at the idea of it. She wasn’t even sure someone would classify them as friends. Maybe they were, or maybe their relationship was really nothing more than a neighbour/nanny one.

She rolled over onto her back and grabbed the pillow that was resting on the bed beside her, throwing it up over her face as she closed her eyes. She just needed to sleep some more… she was positive that if she just slept on it, everything would make more sense in the morning.


“Hey Mike, did you see Emily pass through here?” Brooks asked as he wandered out into the kitchen to find that everyone was already awake.
Cosmo was sitting in her highchair, a bowl of dried Cheerios turned upside down on her head, while Mike and Denise were sitting on either side of her at the table.

“Nope, I thought she was in there with you…” Mike said giving Brooks a large, obnoxious wink.

“I’ve been up since seven, and she hasn’t left any time after that. At least, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if she did.” Denise added, trying no to think about all the noises she’d heard through the wall shortly after Brooks and the neighbour had turned up home.

Brooks thought about sitting down at the table, but decided against it. He headed for the door and opened it, heading down the hallway towards Emily’s place.

He knocked three times before he even heard anyone moving inside. He knocked another while he waited for her to answer the door.

When she finally pulled it open, it was with the chain still firmly in place, her face peering out the small opening that it allowed between the door and the frame. “Yah?”

Brooks opened his mouth, then closed it; suffice to say he was expecting a much more warm, excited welcome. “Any reason you left so early? You could have woken me… or better yet… you could have just stayed. I mean, I can think of a few things I'd rather be doing with you then talking through your door.” He said, leaning in closer to her as a suggestive smirk crossed his face.

“And why would I want to do that?” She snapped, feeling fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

“Why wouldn’t you?” Brooks asked slowly, not really sure what could have possibly caused Emily to go from awesome to crazy in a few hours. “Em… what is this about?” He coaxed, stepping closer to the door and sliding his foot into the opening, to insure that Emily couldn’t slam it shut in his face. “You can talk to me, you know?”

“Can I really?” She glared, as she stepped back and folded her arms over her chest. She was wearing the same clothing she had been last night, and Brooks could see the perfect imprints of his hands all over her. He licked his lips and pulled his eyes away from her body, back up to her face. “That’s what I thought, I’m just an easy lay to you.”

“Easy lay? That’s not- I don’t even know what you’re talking about… I don’t feel that way about you!
If I just wanted to go out of screw some girl I would! I wouldn’t waste my time trying to-”

“Oh so now I’m just a waste of time?”

“Emily, that’s not what I meant… you’re fucking around my words!”

“Fine! If you do actually like me… and I mean as more then some slut you can get on whenever the urge takes you… then prove it!“ She huffed and turned around, leaving Brooks peering through the hole between the door and its frame. “Emily!” He yelled after her, but she didn’t stop. She rounded the corner and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Brooks to shut the door and head back to his apartment. Defeated.

I hate to do this...

Hey guys! As many of you know, I do the majority of my writing during the daytime, after I drop my son off at day care and before I head to class.
Unfortunitly, he's been pretty sick as of late so he hasn't been going to school... I therefore, haven't been doing too much writing.

I was planning on having the next update up by tonight, but it won't happen.
Anyone who knows me in real life, knows how I feel about the Hawks and so for obvious reasons I'll be a little pre-occupied tonight.
That being said, I'm really, really gonna try and have the next post up tomorrow... hopefully it will be in celebration of Jonathan Toews hoisting the cup, but I guess we'll wait and see.

Anyway, I hate to do this to you guys... it just seems like I'm not meant to be consistant with this story lol.

Love yas lots and hopefully you're not annoyed with me =)

23. Brooks Totally Forgets About Mike...

... sometimes I feel like I write things I probably shouldn't... but hopefully no one gets creeped out by this.
Also, in order to try and make this update realistic, I spent 45 minutes on the phone with one of my old room-mates, having a very awkward conversation about him and his sexual tendencies so... if that doesn't show you how much I love you guys, I don't know what will!
Also, like I said, I'm trying to avoid the cliffhangers... I probably won't have another update till Monday so I tried to end this in a good place and I hope you agree with me! ... enjoy =)

S.E.X. - Nickleback

Brooks glanced around, dropping his hold on her arms and grabbing for her hand, trying to tug her after him as he headed for the stairs. He was looking for a quick exit, one that wouldn’t draw too much attention.
He wasn’t thinking with a clear head though, and he knew if he couldn’t find one, he’d probably throw her over his shoulder and carry her out the front doors.

Emily tugged back on him before he got to the stairs, trying to resist the strength of his pull. He turned around and glanced at her, she was pointing in the opposite direction that he was going; at a small door in the corner. “Storage room.” She explained as his eyes lingered on it.

Nodding, he turned around and headed for it at full speed. Emily laughed as he dragged her along behind him. It came out slightly airy though, and she took a deep breath, trying to remind herself that if she stopped breathing she’d pass out.
It wasn’t that she was nervous or worried; she wasn’t some virgin Mary. It wasn’t like this was her first time and she had no idea what to do, it was more than that. This moment, although not how she had planned it, was something she’d pictured a million times. She wanted Brooks. No, she needed him, so desperately it shook through her.
Her heart was hammering so loudly, she could feel it against her ribs and hear it in her ears. She was positive Brooks could hear it, but he couldn’t, and even if he could, it wasn’t going to stop him.

He pulled her through the dark storage room, trying to navigate his way through the unfamiliar rows of cluttered boxes. They were labelled, but he didn’t stop to read them, he just continued to pull Emily behind him, aiming for the deepest most secluded part of the room.
Brooks finally found it, as they came out an isle and into a small office like space.

The desk was situated in the center of the clearing, and it was almost empty minus a telephone and a few papers. In behind it were several large filing cabinets and a computer chair. “Inventory.” Emily whispered behind him, her voice breaking the silence around them.

It was almost eerie, how quite it was now, in comparison to the room they had just exited. Brooks nodded, realizing how out of breath his was; more from excitement than physical exertion… for now. He turned around to look at her, taking he free hand in his and tugging her towards him until he could wrap her arms around his waist.
She obliged him and locked her hands behind his back, tilting her head back so that he could grab her tender neck with his big, warm hands; securing her in place so that he could bring his lips down to hers.

He kissed her hard, until they were both out of breath and her lips felt raw. She pulled her head back with a gasp, her panting only amplified by the incessant need that took over as Brooks began to drag his teeth down her neck.
He continued to slid his lips, tongue and teeth lower, until he was at the tip of her cleavage, where it created a ’Y’ in the deep v-neck of her shirt. Emily bit her lip, impatient to feel his lips on her breast.

Brooks looked up at her to find that her eyes were closed and her teeth were digging into the soft skin of her sweet lips. He grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it upwards, then tossed it aside.
The only thing left between him and her breasts now was a sheer, black lace bra, that he inadvertently demolished in his enthusiasm to get it off.

Emily didn’t seem to mind though, as the flimsy fabric came apart in his capable hands. She watched for his reaction as his eyes wandered over her dark, pert nipples and the silver rings that went through each one.
Brooks wanted to say something, something that had to do with how completely amazed and excited he was right now, but he just shook his head. He bent low and pulled one of them into his mouth, swirling his tongue over the erect nub, closing his eyes against the sounds of pleasure that were began to rumble from within her chest.

He switched to the other side, and began to apply more pressure with his mouth, as his hands came down to remove the tight shorts and g-string she was wearing. He dropped down onto his knees in front of her as them came off and she stepped out of them. Laughing slightly Brooks grabbed onto the back of her thighs with his hands and pulled her against him. “Excited babe?” He asked, enjoyment evident in his voice as he slid one hand around to her front and pushed a finger into the moisture between her legs.

She was dripping wet, and he loved it. On a normal night, he’d lay her down and pull her legs open, working her pussy over with everything he had until she couldn’t come anymore. But that would have to wait, he didn’t have the patience for it now.

He withdrew his hand from her warmth and stood up, pulling his shirt over his head and undoing his belt quickly. He wasted no time dropping his pants and kicking them off.
Soon he was as naked as she was.

He pulled her against him again exhaled lightly as his hard cock slid across her stomach, leaving a small trail of pre-cum where it went. “Emily.” He said hoarsely, his voice pulling her eyes away from his dick. He knew how mad she was about him going into her room, but he still needed to ask her. “The handcuffs in your room… do you like being in them?”

She nodded earnestly and he smiled, his eyes growing wide as he began to imagine all the possibilities this could lead to. “Everything I had in my room, I got from this room.”
Emily said the words casually, but Brooks could hear the suggestion in her voice. He smiled and nodded, turning away from her and walked towards the row beside them and pulled out a box.

“Holy fuck…” He sighed as he stared at it’s contents. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face as he looked back at her. She was leaning against the desk, facing him, with a body that was made to be spanked.
The thought caused Brooks’ thick cock to twitch and he knew that when it came to the actual fucking he wasn’t going to last long; he was gonna have to stretch out the foreplay as much as possible.

Formulating a plan in his head, Brooks set off to work tying, pulling and rearranging objects in the box until he was satisfied. When he stood up he had four separate pairs of handcuffs, and two long pieces of rope. Each rope had a handcuff tied to each end and he threw them under the desk.

Emily cocked her head to the side and watched him, not one hundred percent sure what he was doing. When he turned around though, he was smiling at her, a smile that caused her cunt tingle with anticipation as she wondered what he had in store. “You own this building?” He asked her, making sure he had understood her before.

“Yah.”

“Kay…” He said, before he stretched his arms out and swiped them across the top of the desk, pushing everything onto the floor and leaving the space cleared. He pat the top of the desk and motioned for Emily to come forward, which she did. He helped her climb up onto it and pushed her shoulders gently, till she was lying on her back against the cold, polished wood.
He bent down and picked up one of the hand cuffs, and snapped the hard metal against her wrist, before moving down and connecting her ankle to a handcuff that was connected to the other rope.

When he was satisfied that they were secure he moved to the other side and pulled the rope out from under the desk. He connected her other wrist and ankle to the cuffs on the other side of the ropes and stood back to admire his handy work.
She was still wearing the pair of high-heel red shoes that she had dressed in that night, but Brooks decided to leave them on, remembering the way they had made her legs look so long and perfect.
Now though, her wrists were bound and pulled tightly out to the side, stretching her body taut; uncomfortably so.
With the pressure of the rope pulling her across the table, her legs were now widely spread.

Emily hadn’t been expecting just how tight she’d be pulled. The ropes had looked long when Brooks first took them towards her, but they were pulled to the limit as they stretched under the desk, connecting to each one of her four limbs.
She was exposed now, and completely under his control; stretched out and vulnerable.

She knew there was always a worry that went with allowing a man to tie you up, because of the fact that you became a victim to his whims, but she didn’t feel nervous or scared at all.
She could only feel excitement and need as he walked around the table, watching her struggle against the restraints.

He came to a stop beside her, placing his hands on the table and leaning over her. He clicked his tongue a few times, like he was trying to remember something he had forgotten.
With a sharp inhale of air, he turned around and went back to the box, picking it up and carrying it back to her. He dropped it onto the floor and rummaged through it, pulling his hand back out with two tiny blue things, sticking out through his fingers.

He took one in each hand and held them out over her as he tried to position them correctly. Emily felt her eyes go wide when she saw what they were, but the untameable sex kitten inside of her forced her to stick her chest out further, helping Brooks place each nipple clamp carefully onto her sensitive skin, trying to avoid any unwanted contact with her nipple rings.
She let out a small yelp, causing Brooks to reach back out for them, ready to take them off. “Leave them...” She purred, firmly, staying his hands and causing him to smile.

Their eyes met and Emily sighed with ecstasy. She wanted him so badly that she was ready to jump him, but she loved the fact that she couldn’t; loved the fact that he was in complete control of her and the situation.
She also loved that when she stared into his dark blue eyes, she knew she could trust him, that he would never ever give her more than she could handle. She could tell by how confident he looked, that he was more than capable of taking her to the edge and beyond, but if she told him to stop, he would. Not that she planned on doing that…

When he was sure that she was ok, Brooks cupped a hand around her breast and pushed up, causing it to jiggle slightly. Emily closed her eyes and moaned against the feel of the tight clamp as it moved with her body. He lightly slapped one of her breasts and she started to sigh, wordlessly begging him for more.

He slapped her breasts again, only much harder. They bounced and jiggled deliciously under his assault and watched them move with rapt attention. Implored on by her murmurs of approval, he took each one in his hand and squeezed until he could see the pink imprint of his hands on her.

Moving his hands away from her chest, Brooks slid them down towards her tight, wet, pussy, pushing them inside forcefully.
Emily groaned and arched her back off the table, as much as her restraints would allow.

As he worked, sliding his fingers in and out of her, she watch him intently; hot lust etched across her pretty face. She licked her lips and started to cry out as the brutal force of Brooks’ thick fingers brought her to a deep orgasm.

“Oh god!“ She cried as the juices of her climax poured out of her with forced. “Fuck me… please…“ She begged as she attempted to pull herself away from his fingers. “I want you in me Brooks.“

“You want this hard cock in you babe?“ He asked a sheepish grin on his face as he pushed his fingers back inside of her.

“Fuck yes!“ She cried, not caring that she was begging desperately, she didn’t care about self control at the moment, all she knew was that she wanted to feel him pumping inside of her.

Nodding, he moved towards her face, toying with her. He knew exactly what she wanted but he wasn’t ready to give it to her yet.
Instead he grabbed onto the back of her neck and pushed her face towards him. Understanding, Emily slipped her soft lips over his length, taking it into the confines of her deliciously warm mouth. Her tongue was working the head of his dick as he tilted his head back, moaning his approval.

He began to feel his dick twitch impatiently and he withdrew himself from her mouth, sucking in as the cool air replaced the heat of her mouth.
There were things he wanted to say, other things he wanted to do but he couldn’t remember what they were.
All he knew was that she was beautiful and sexy, stretched out on the table, staring up at her. Her perfectly lush lips were turned into a small pout as she watched him, waiting.

Brooks grabbed his slick dick and began to run his hand over it’s thick mass, pumping harder and faster as he climbed up onto the desk, in between her legs.
Emily whimpered excitedly and bucked her hips up, tilting her clit towards him, waiting for him to enter her.

He took one last look at her through hooded eyes before he came forward and slid himself in her extremely tight, hot opening.
They both released a satisfied sigh of relief as he filled her. Brooks enjoyed the feel of her cunt a minute longer before he pulled back and pushed himself in again, hard.

Emily moaned and fought against her restraints, trying to wrap her legs around him and push him onwards.
He thought about untying her, but didn’t feel like wasting the time looking for the keys right now, instead he pinned her hips back down onto the desk top and began to pump into her as fast as he could.

He filled her over and over, his balls slapping against her ass as he hooked his hands underneath her and lifted her half off the table. She screamed as her body clenched around him, squirting her orgasm out around his shaft as he pulled out.

Feeling her begin to climax again quickly, Brooks pulled out and grabbed onto her swollen clit with his hand. He wasn’t sure how many times he’d be able to make her come, but he wanted to ensure that she’d climax at the same time as he finished.
In order to prevent her from going over the edge, he began to squeeze and twist. Emily cried out, her voice a mix of pain and pleasure. He continued to pick at her until he was sure she was calmed down enough for him to continue.

He moved back in between her legs and pushed himself back in side of her, knowing full-well that she was still wet and ready. He started to fuck her as hard as he could, keeping his head down and trying to ignore the sight of her climax as her body soon began to convulse around his. He lost the battle though, coming with force a few minutes later, the same time that she screamed his name.

He paused as his cock started to throb, forcing the foaming, white liquid into her waiting pussy. She sighed as he stopped, pulling out and splashing a mingled mess of their orgasms onto the table between her legs.

With a sigh of effort, Brooks moved away from her and leaned by the box, rummaging through it until he found the key he was looking for. He moved back and unlocked her, pulling her off the table and against his chest, kissing the top of her head.
Emily’s legs were shaking as she tried to stand, but Brooks kept her on her feet with his powerful, secure arms.

22. You Thought I Was A WHAT?!

London Bridge - Fergie

Brooks walked back and forth between the railing and the bar for the next hour and a half. Mike watched him, mildly entertained as he went about his circular path.
He'd walk to the bar and order a drink, down it, and then walk back to the railing. He'd stand there, watching Emily as she talked to a large man in a black shirt with the words 'security' on his back.

"What is she- she's not- but then she's... fuck!" He finally yelled as he spun around to face Mike. "Why is she here?"

"I don't know! Why are you yelling at me?" He shot back. Mike wasn't angry like Brooks, and he was more curious then confused. He didn't understand why they just couldn't go over to her and ask her why she was here.

"She knew we'd be here... that's why she's hiding in the corner like that Mike... she knew. She fucking knew and she didn't tell me!" Brooks yelled again, grabbing onto Mike’s shoulders and pulling him off the bar stool. “Why wouldn’t she tell me? Why would she play me like this?”

“Brooks! She’s not playing you! First off, she doesn’t know you like her because you didn’t talk to her about it. Second, she doesn’t know that you know what she does for a living… because you didn’t talk to her about it! Do you get the pattern here?”

“You just don’t get it…”

“Don’t give me that!” Mike yelled back, more forceful than anything he’d said to Brooks before. The change in tone and demeanor worked though and Brooks realized that Mike was being serious, so he listened. “You want to do something? Then go do something… otherwise we’re leaving. You’re being ridiculous and I think you know that. Come on man, just go talk to her.”

Brooks stared at Mike, hard. He didn’t want to admit that his room-mate was right, just like he didn’t want to admit that this situation was possibly out of his hands.
He was so fucking mad at her he couldn’t even get his feelings into words, but he also knew that that wasn’t her fault. It was his.
This whole situation could have been avoided from the beginning if he had of just talked to her about it. Hell, if he had have just talked to her from the minute they moved in, then he wouldn’t be sitting here like this… he’d be at home, and maybe she’d be there with them.
No, Mike was right. He either needed to do something or he needed to call it a night in head home. The latter seemed the easiest course of action, but he didn’t want to think about the lack of sleep he’d get over this… he was going to deal with this, and it was going to be tonight.

Without a second glance at Mike, Brooks headed out into the crowd of his rowdy team-mates. He could see Emily’s eyes scan the boys every few seconds, and he knew that she was looking for him from her vantage point up on the upper level.

The only thing that he could even think about as he got closer, was how fantastic she looked. She was wearing a tight, low-cut red shirt and a pair of tight, black shorts; the same as the girls in the club; but there was a different air about her. Unlike the rest of the women in the club, she was untouchable.
Her hair was down and curled into unnaturally perfect ringlets that framed her face. Her dark eyes were alight with excitement and worry, outlined by dark liner that extended her lids and gave her a cat-like look.
Brooks had always enjoyed the look of her legs, but he had never actually appreciated how long they were until tonight.
Nor did he realize just how curvy she was. The realization caused him to stop walking as he took a deep breath, feel just a tad insecure.

He could probably have any girl in here if he wanted to. He wasn’t even trying to be cocky with the thought; he was just stating a fact. It wasn’t even because this was a strip club either… he knew he had that power at almost any place he went.
But it wasn’t because they were interested in him; it was because they wanted his name, his money, and his fame.

The issue was, Emily already knew all that. She already knew who he was and what he did; and assuming she knew how to work ‘Google’ she could probably ballpark what he made a year.
She just didn’t care.

He still wanted answers and he still wanted to hear… something… from her, but he decided in that moment that he wouldn’t tell her that he wanted her or that he liked her. He’d get the truth from her about what she did and that would be it. He’d turn around, grab Mike, and leave.

The bouncer saw him before Emily did. He gave Brooks a rough stare, like he was trying to stare him off; but between his determinacy and the effects of the alcohol, it didn’t faze him. What did make him gulp, was when the bouncer nudged Emily and she looked over, catching his eye for the first time that night.
She looked up at the large man and nodded, telling him it was ok to leave.

Brooks climbed the stairs and then waited at the top as the guy moved past him. Emily gave him a sheepish grin and reached up, folding her arms across her chest self-consciously.
For a lack of better things to do, he shrugged at her, begging her to just answer his questions, without him having to ask them.
“So… enjoying your night?” She asked casually as Brooks stood on the edge of the deep end.

“Am I enjoying my night? That’s all you have to say? No… by the way this is where I work?” Brooks snapped, not caring that he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding his anger.

“I don’t work here, this is-“

“Oh yah! This is a strip club, prostitutes work outside, right?”

Emily took a step back as he advanced towards her, his eyes flashing. “What are you talking about?”

“Stop trying to hide it! I’m right here, Emily!” Brooks yelled, holding his hands out to his side.

Emily shook her head and took another step back. “Ok, why are you yelling at me and what do you think I’m hiding? I’m not hiding anything!”

“Except for the fact that you’re a whore!” He sneered, finding some kind of solace as she winced against the name. “Yah, I know all about it… and you just… forgot to mention it? What was your plan, I actually tell you that I care about you and then come clean?”

Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I don’t- I’m not a whore. I don’t work here! I own this place… I own the whole fucking company! So don’t you call me a whore just because I’m standing here.”

“You own it?”

“Yes. I’m the CEO and Founder of Lost Pleasure Incorporated… we’re the second biggest party planning company in North America.”

Brooks opened his mouth to speak but he closed it again, taking a step back as he felt himself deflate. “So then why do you have all that stuff in your room? Why are you…? I don’t understand.”

“Some of the things in my room are for work, and some are mine. Part of what we do is pleasure parties for women during stag-ettes. You know, sex toys and things like-.” Emily stopped and cocked her head to the side. “Why do you know what’s in my room?”

“Oh my god!” Brooks laughed, loudly. He closed the gap between them and reached out for her. “That’s so funny! I thought you were a prostitute!”

“…” The noise that came out of Emily next, didn’t seem like it should have come from a person; at least not a living one.
Her eyes glowed with anger as she stared into him. “You thought I was a WHAT?!”

Brooks felt his pop open and his eyes go wide, but all he could do was hold his hands out in front of himself defensively. “I just… it was like… you were… and Mike started singing Roxanne-“

“You thought I had sex for money?! And you went through my room and looked at all my shit?! Are you kidding me??” She screamed, loud enough that she drew the attention of a few of the nearest people; even over the thumping music of the club.
Brooks started to back away but Emily was on a roll now, coming towards him like a cougar cornering her prey. “After everything that I have done for you… helping you with Cosmo, taking care of you and Mike when you couldn’t open the god-damned-dishwasher! And this is how you repay me? You come into my club and accuse me of being a prostitute?!”

He was confused. Brooks didn’t know what he should do, or shouldn’t do. Part of him was so terrified of Emily he wanted to jump over the railing and take his chances with the fall… the other half of him was so happy that she wasn’t a prostitute he could hardly deal with anything else.
She kept coming until she was so close to him he could smell the spearmint on her breath. “Any last words before I kick your ass out of here?” She hissed, her perfectly straight, white teeth clenched together as she spoke.

“I’m so happy right now.”

Emily’s eyes lost their intensity as she took a step back. “What?”

“I like you so fuckin’ much, Emily. I should have said something but… we got this idea in our head that you were… well, you know. I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know if I could deal with that. It's selfish I know but I didn't say anything cause I needed you for myself.”

She should have stayed angry at him. She should have slapped him and called Brody to come toss him out, but she couldn’t, not when she heard those words.
Years. Years she had lived across the hall from him, dreaming about the day that he would show up and tell her that he wanted to be with her; she couldn’t just ignore that, even if she was furious.
So, it wasn’t exactly the way she had planned for it to happen, and she definitely wasn’t feeling flattered or particularly pretty in that moment, but she couldn’t make herself care.

He put his hands on her and she was done for... those words, paired with the feel of his powerful hands on her arms was too much. She looked up at him and he licked his lips, bending down to kiss the nape of her neck, before he worked his way up towards her ear; his hot breathing causing her to shiver involuntarily. "I've been waiting for you so long Emily, please don’t be mad." He moaned, his voice gruff and deep with want that she purred in response.
She nodded wordlessly, unable to say anything else; all she could think was that if they didn't leave soon, her panties were gonna melt off.