Sidney's POV-

I drove Devon and I to school that next morning with all of her bags in my backseat and trunk. She had written her Dad a letter to let him know that she was never coming back, that she would never forgive her for what he had done to her and that she never wanted to see him again for as long as he lived. She also made a point to show me the letter and asked me for my opinion.

“I'd make a point to let him know that if he ever lays a hand on you or makes any attempt to contact you in any way, that you'd call the cops on his ass.” I tell her and so, she also added that little tidbit in for kicks.

My heart bled for my best friend. I felt the need to be strong for her despite my body telling me to just give into the sobs that were threatening to overtake my body. I honestly didn't know how she was getting by but all I knew was how strong the admiration for my dearest and oldest friend was becoming. By lunch time, Devon and I had decided to skip the rest of the day. There was no way I was going to sit in class, wasting my time with boring review when it was English class. Seriously! How hard could the final be?

We were hanging out in my room, reviewing some Biology when I saw Shane walk past my room for the second time. Before it became a third and then a fourth, I settled on getting us girls a few drinks and left for the kitchen. As I rummaged through the fridge, Shane came around to speak to me.

“Did you talk to her?” He asked me. I nodded and when we made eye contact, I put my two soda cans down on the counter and rushed over to him for comfort. All my pent-up emotions were pouring out into giant sobs.

“I. Can’t. B-believe.” I stammered through my tears. “I’ve. Been. S-so. Selfish. Of my. Feelings.” I fess up. It was true. All this time, it was all about me and Tony, how I looked, what I wanted to do and despite the fact that I knew something wasn’t right with Devon and hasn’t been for some time now, I still didn’t ask until I had a moment of jealousy. All because, while ditching my best friend, she and my brother bonded and had a moment that I hadn’t had with her in over a month’s time. Again, here I go with the selfishness. Argh! Shane just stood there, holding me and rubbing my back soothingly. He wasn’t asking questions, he wasn’t saying anything. It so wasn’t like him. I pulled back and looked up at him.

“Are you better now?” He asked me as he took my face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs under my eyes to dry my tears. I nodded.

“You knew something was wrong, didn’t you? That’s why you told me to ask her.” I cornered him. He nodded sheepishly. “Why do you know? Why did she tell you before me?” I asked. Old habits die hard, you see, and little old self-centred me took over again.

“Because I heard her cry, in the middle of the night, last weekend; because I forced her to say something.” He explained. I looked at him puzzled.

“You forced her?” I ask.

“You didn’t see the bruises like I did. She looked like she should have had a few broken bones and luckily, she didn't.” He told me.

“When did you see those? Hell, I never did and we’ve been sleeping in the same bed for two days.” I wondered aloud.

“I accidentally walked in on her in the bathroom as she was changing.” And he blushed. I couldn’t help but smirk at his reaction to his memory.

“Are you two done talking about me?” We hear. I turned to find Devon walking toward us. “I was wondering what was taking you so long and then I decided that I needed a break.” She explains.

Shane’s POV-

I’m glad that Devon spoke to Sidney and told her about what was going on. There are only so many secrets I can keep and the one about my ever growing feelings for Devon was a fairly large one. Mom and Dad had called last night while Sidney was over at Devon’s and announced that they were staying a few days longer. Something about relaxation being hard to come by at their age.

“I have an idea!” Sidney exclaimed. Devon and I looked at each other. “Why don’t I help you out with your photography for a bit?”

“Don’t you rather be spending your spare time with Tony?” I asked her. I didn’t want to be rude but I was craving for some alone time with Devon and this was one way I could get it.

“Tell you what…” I began. “When I get to a point where I need help with the photography, I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, why don’t you borrow one of my spare cameras and fool around and we’ll sit and talk about it.” It seemed to satisfy Sidney’s urge to be part of my project. I had no clue as to why she wanted to be part of this whole thing but I knew she was never one to sit back on the sidelines and be left out of anything.

“And you…” I pointed to Devon. “We need to talk some more and get started. I thought about things last night and I have a few ideas to run by you.” Devon nodded and smiled sweetly at me.

After dinner, Sidney left Devon and I to our own devices as she went up to her room to study. It felt odd having my sister in close proximity while I was trying to sort through my ideas. I wasn’t quite sure Devon would be up for it seeing as some shots were a little risqué. I planned on making her fall for me in a whole new fashion by using my beauty of a woman project in my favour.

“So what did you come up with last night?” She asked me as she sat on my bed.

“Well, I was thinking about what the beauty of a woman meant to me but then I wanted my montage of photos to be felt by everyone so I thought of what beauty meant in a more general sense.” I told her from my perch, at my desk. She nodded quickly in a way that she urged me to go on. “So I was thinking of a naturalistic kind of photography, kind of like the type of shot of you by the pool that I took the other day.” I tell her. She nodded for me to go on again. “People perceive ‘beauty’ in different ways. For some, it’s the look in someone’s eye, the emotion a person projects, a smile, a pose, an outfit or lack thereof.” I explained with a blush.

“So what are you saying?” She asked me with a suspicious look in her eye. I let out a nervous laugh.

“That I want to capture all of those and mix it into the same photo montage. I want everyone to look at it and feel the vast expanse of emotions that a woman has to offer. That is what beauty should be” I explained to her.

“I see.” She says and crosses her legs and leans her elbow on her knee while tapping at her chin. “So what side of me are we starting with today?”

“Vulnerability.” I answered.

Devon’s POV-

I instantly found myself with ideas to show him my vulnerability. I just wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it off. I wanted nothing more than to give him the subject he so wanted.

“I have an idea.” I tell him. He perked up at the thought that I was game. I knew that he had his own mind and set of ideas but I figured since it was me in the pictures and he was looking for a ‘bang’ effect on those viewing his work, I wanted to make sure that my feelings were thrown into the mix because, after all, feelings show through images. “Get me a crisp white sheet.” I tell him. He looked at me confused and then blushed. I knew he knew where I was heading. He left the room and came back with a satin sheet.

“You don’t have to do this.” He tells me.

“I know but what’s striking a pose for vulnerability’s sake if you can’t make yourself vulnerable?” I stated so matter-of-factly. At that point, I made him turn around as I stripped down into nothing but my panties. I quickly wrapped the satin sheet around my breasts and tucked one edge into the other, much like you would with a towel, and then took my elastic band out of my hair, letting my hair hang loosely around my shoulders and back, in a hot mess. I clutch at the bunched sheet at my breast, terrified that it would untuck itself and leave me nude in all my glory. Now that would be humiliating, forget vulnerable! I couldn’t bring myself to speak, my throat had gone completely dry from my nerves so I walked over to Shane and touched his arm lightly. He jumped.

Shane’s POV-

My jaw hit the floor as I ogled her once I turned around. She truly was at her most vulnerable. I noticed her entire body seemed to blush with my looking on.

“Look at you, Mr. Professional!” She laughed nervously. “No wonder I ended up being your model for this project. No one else would work with you because you would have crept them out with your staring.” At that moment, I snapped out of my daze and grabbed my camera.

“I want you to do whatever feels natural to you. I don’t want any of this to look staged.” And I depress the shutter button a few times. “Hold on.” I put my camera down and make her turn around so I’m facing her back. I loosened the hold she had on the sheet so that it cascaded down to the small of her back. I failed to remember that this would liberate her healing bruises. I ran my fingers ever so lightly to trace the circumference of each of them. I felt Devon shiver under my fingertips. I backed away to grab my Canon and ‘click’. I caught her looking off to the side so innocently; her cheeks flushed slightly with a look of sadness mixed with lust in her eyes. She walked over to the full-length mirror and its stand that was on the floor by my bedside table as the much too long sheet flowed behind her. She was looking at herself in the mirror. As she turned around, she paused and took a look at her back. ‘Click’ another few more shots with her eyes tearing up at the mere memory of her hellish ordeal. I looked up from my viewing window and was about to put my camera down and go to her but I found myself fighting against the urge. This was vulnerability at its best. I found myself fixated on her face predominantly at this point, my shutter set to continuous. All I had to do was point, focus and shoot.

We went about like this for another hour. She had laid there, on my bed wearing nothing but that satin sheet that caressed her body, her hair sprawled everywhere around her head. At that point, everything felt somewhat natural, no… easy between us that we began joking around and I knew that this project wasn’t going to be like any other project. This first shoot might have started being about vulnerability but I think we managed to get a bit of extra work done.

Don't forget to fan, comment, VOTE!!!