.Chapter 17.

This chapter is dedicated to @BlueKivi. Please ignore small mistakes :) xx

"Brady?"

No answer.

"Brady?"

"Hmm?"

"Brady!"

"WHAT?!"

"Are you mad at me?" I pouted.

"Yes."

"Why?" I whined, as I bit into the delicious, scrumptious, tasty, moan-worthy chocolate éclair.

"Because."

"Stop giving me childish, one-word answers."

He just ignored me.

"Brady?"

He just raised his eyebrows, and continued tapping on the phone.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Then why did you say yes before?"

"Shut up, Hawkins."

"Oh, so we're back to calling each other by our last names, are we, Evans?" I said, amused, as I licked my fingers noisily.

"You do remember on which condition I gave you one éclair, don't you?" Brad said, turning to face me.

'Please do the honours of reminding me," I replied sassily.

"You said you'll stop annoying me if I traded one éclair with silence and peace, you annoying little piece of-"

I raised an eyebrow, daring him to continue that sentence.

"-lollipop," he finished with a fake smile.

"Lollipop? Really?" I snorted with an eye roll, and then said, "I'm not annoying."

"You are," he retorted, turning his attention back to his phone.

"What are you doing, by the way?" I huffed, removed my legs off his lap and moved forward, bringing my face close to his phone.

"Ever heard of privacy?" he scoffed, and took it away, out of my reach. "I'm texting that bitch."

"Ex-girlfriend bitch?"

"Who else?" Brad scowled.

"You never told me what happened," I mused, watching his reaction.

He just smiled wryly, and said, "I was going to; that day, when Bel had come over for that project, and she told you about Julian and Courtney and all that friendship and popularity drama, remember?"

"Oh yes, you eavesdropped on our conversation," I smirked, and he turned pink, scratching the nape of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, um, sorry 'bout that. It was accidental."

Accidental my ass.

"No worries. C'mon! Tell me what your ex-girlfriend did," I said eagerly, crossing my legs and giving him my full attention.

"What makes you think she did anything?" Brad said quizzically.

"Didn't she?" I asked. "It seemed a bit obvious; the way you reacted and all."

"I overreacted, didn't I?" he said sheepishly, but I shook my head.

"No, not until I know what happened."

He just stared at me, an admiring look on his face. "Wow . . . I-I, uh, you're not judgmental at all. Well, that's something new."

I just smiled, fighting to keep my real feelings at bay.

People tended to judge me based on my popularity status in school, or Dad's status in the outside world. No one gave a flying fuck that guilt, confusion and frustration was eating this girl alive.

When I, myself, hated being looked at by hawk-like eyes; I couldn't do it to other people.

"So, about your girlfriend . . ." I trailed off, trying to take the attention off me.

"She cheated on me twice, and with two different guys," Brad said through gritted teeth.

Well, that's not uncommon nowadays, is it? I thought sarcastically.

"She cheated on me once, and we broke up. Then a few months later, she begged me for forgiveness, and of course I gave in. I thought I loved her back then. We got together again; and I found out about the second time from butt-dial," he scoffed. "I broke up with her, of course. And today, she texted me, requesting me to let bygones be bygones; and that she knew that the both of us belonged together. And she's so damn childish: putting so many X's and O's at the end. As if I would agree in the first place!"

"Some nerve, huh?" I commented, raising my eyebrows.

Brad just shook is head.

"So when did you guys go out?" I asked conversationally.

"Well, we went to the same college, and I asked her out in freshman year-"

"Wait," I cut him off, raising my hand. "Give her name and description first."

"Her name's Kyla. Kyla Winters. Description? Blond, tall, skinny; a scheming, plotting, narcissistic hoe."

"Wow," was all I could manage to say. "Sounds like a piece of work."

"Yep," Brad sighed, popping the 'p'. "That's Kyla Winters for you."

"Julian Sommers; Kyla Winters, what's with all the seasons?" I joked. "Even ours make Adam and Eve. Bradon Evans and Christine A-" I caught myself just in time, covering up my mistake with a coughing fit.

What. The. Fuck did I just say?!

It just rolled off my tongue; Cormac would wring my neck if he knew! Fucking hell . . .

I looked up slightly, seeing Brad's eyes sparkling with interest.

Fuck my tongue.

I didn't care how dirty it sounded in my head; that wasn't even an issue. The biggest ever issue was that I almost gave away my secret. Or rather one of my secrets.

"Adam and Eve?" Brad asked, something flashing through his eyes. "Are you drunk?"

In other cases, I would have laughed at his joke, but laughing was the last thing that I could think about doing right then.

"I-I-I should go," I stuttered, feeling suddenly lightheaded.

"No wait, what happened?" Brad asked, looking at me with curiousity.

"N-Nothing," I said, feeling a layer sweat forming on my forehead. I got up quickly, grabbed my bag, and said, "Bye."

I'm sorry . . .

"Chris, what the hell is the matter with you!" Brad exclaimed suddenly, and stood up angrily, running his fingers through his hair, frustration etched on his face. "You act very weird sometimes."

"W-What do you mean?" I asked, my voice shaking, still not able to digest the fact that I almost told him about me; it was a close call; and thank God that he was dense enough not to figure out two plus two.

"Sometimes you're shaking with anger at things which I don't even know of. Sometimes you look so lost, and so-so confused. Sometimes your eyes seem dead; as though they have no emotions in them, and I've seen this look so many times - it scares me.

"One minute you are this happy, bubbly girl, and the next minute, I feel like sitting beside a ghost! What the hell is happening to you?"

It isn't a recent thing, Brad . . . It has been going on since I was born.

"What d-do you mean?" I defended. "I don't remember being emotionless or anything."

Lie.

"Oh yeah?" Brad said sardonically. "How about . . . that time, when you had come over to return one of my things; that time you should have seen the look on your face."

Ah, yes . . . You see, that day I had reread one of Mom's letters; so you can't exactly expect me to be peachy keen and dandy.

"I even asked you to stay, because I was worried. But you just kept on sipping your coffee and zoning out, while I kept on talking. In the end, I got tired of asking you, Chris; so I put on a funny movie just to get a reaction out of you; but no! You just stared at the TV, thinking about something in that mind of yours."

He was seething with anger, and I really had no idea that I did all of that. His observant nature was gonna make my already messed up life more chaotic.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping my voice steady and as emotionless as possible, I said, "Thank you for having me over."

The disbelieving look on his face formed a deep pit in my stomach. "And try not to smoke; it's injurious to health," I whispered, adding fuel to the fire.

Saying thus, I turned around, and started walking towards the door of the apartment. As I turned the knob, he said something which made me stop dead in my tracks.

"Bottling things up inside yourself and keeping secrets is just as injurious. But you won't know anything about that now, would you?"

I glanced behind, gave him a big, watery smile and said, "You're right. I won't."

His eyes hardened, and I couldn't help but let a dry sob escape my mouth as I turned away: I faced the door so that he wouldn't see the silent and painful tears streaming hard and fast down my face.

Without a word, I left his apartment, clutching onto my bag to prevent myself from having a breakdown.

Bottling things up inside yourself and keeping secrets is just as injurious . . .

I was already injured.

****

Bradon (played by Josh Henderson) to the side)>>>

Small chapter . . . I know :) But it wasn't satisfactory, was it? It's all right if you think it wasn't. You can complain about it, and I won't say one negative word ^_^

Vomment, beautiful people, and make my day! Who knows, if I get more than 13 votes on the chapter, I may get pleased enough to give an early update containing Brad's POV ;) Just dropping a hint!

Feel free to point out any mistakes =)

[Teaser: Brad watches Chris have a breakdown.]

-Crazy