FIRST.  Wattpad finally doesn't hate me (knock on wood LOL) so yeah I can finally post some goddamn pictures.

So, this is what Layne looks like during these past few chapters.  Yeah he kinda looks like shit, but he makes shit look good.  If that makes sense lmao:::

Aaaaand this is what Briana looks like.  She's a sexy betch lol:::

ANYWAYS, onto the chapter.

*******

He didn't know what to feel.  It seemed like all he could do anymore was analyze & take in his surroundings.  In just the past week of staying with Briana, his entire way of living did a full 180.

Briana smoked, but she didn't allow it in her house.  Of course Layne followed this rule, but he constantly caught himself almost lighting a cigarette in her house like clockwork.  Lucky for him, Briana knew not to yell or freak out on him when he did this.  She knew he was withdrawing, slowly, from opiates & that he easily got skittish.

There wasn't any alcohol in her house.  Heck, or any mind-altering substance, for that matter.  Layne knew this because he searched her house one night when she was at work at the hospital.  She didn't drink or take or smoke ANY drugs.  It fascinated him.  He had never seen anyone like that before in his life.

What was the biggest change to him, though, was the respect & kindness he was receiving from her.  He still was waiting for Briana to show her 'true colors'.  To pop open a bottle of wine or maybe a bottle of norcos.  To flip her lid on him & prove to him how snide / judgmental / envious / materialistic she was.  Every time he assumed Briana JUST might pull out her 'surprise color wheel', he was stunned.  She was still the same person she had presented to him in the beginning.  Only difference was that he knew more about her.

He didn't know whether to like this or find discomfort in it.  All he knew was that he was attracted to her.  And that gave him more than enough reason to not pursue her.

"Layne?" Briana called out from the door to the patio. She grinned when she saw his pale angular face turn to her, cigarette in hand.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Dinner's on the table."

Layne wetted his lips & nodded. He tried to veer his eyes away from her, blushing when he ultimately failed. "O--okay," he stammered, eyes glued to her emerald ones. "...I'll be in once I finish my smoke."

She winked at him before disappearing back into the house.

Her backyard was beautiful. She lived right outside of Seattle, out in the country. Layne loved how the air smelled of pine instead of smoke & chemicals like in town. The landscape was gorgeous. Trees surrounded the home & out in the distance you could see the mountains.

He took one last drag & stubbed out his cigarette. Bone-thin legs tapped back into the home from the roofed patio. His ocean blue eyes scanned Briana's body. She was perfect, at least according to Layne. She wasn't skinny & she wasn't fat, she was right in the middle. She had that Marilyn Monroe-type figure, very hour-glass shaped.

"Why are you staring at me?" Briana asked, braking his trance.

Layne gulped down his nerves & forced himself to glance down at the dining room table. "What's this?" He asked awkwardly. He felt his face burn as he kept his gaze on the bowls of soup.

"Home made chicken noodle soup," she said. She sat down at the table, grinning up at Layne who continued to just stand there. "...you wanna take a seat?"

He shook his head and laughed nervously at himself as he plopped down in the chair. His skeletal hand fumbled with the spoon next to his bowl. Every time he tried to pick the silverware up, his trembling hand failed him, causing it to fall back down on the table. Briana took notice & got up from her seat.

She came back into the dining room in a matter of seconds, handing Layne another pill. "This should help with the tremors," she informed, those eyes meeting his tired, sunken ones.

"Thanks," he mumbled. He gulped down the withdrawal med. His eyes darted around the table, them inevitably resting back on Briana.  She was minding her own business, sipping on her soup spoon as she tentatively had her nose in a book. Her hair was slightly tussled, yet it still looked great, framing her vibrant face & falling playfully just above her chest. Her cheeks were warm & rosy, her lips pink & delicately parted.

"You're so beautiful," he blurted out.

Briana glared back at him, brow curled in amusement. "What, Layne?"

His body stiffened. "Fuck, did I say that out loud...?"

She nodded, laughing.

An uncomfortable groan escaped his throat. His head fell in his hand, his face beat-red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that..."

"Layne, you're fine. You don't need to apologize to me." Her eyes fell to his untouched food. "Why aren't you eating?"

He bit his lip, eyes watering. He scanned the worry on that flawless face. For some reason, it made him feel all the more guilty. He attempted to get up, jumping slightly when he felt Briana's hand ontop of his.

"Please eat," she begged. "You're underweight..."

"I'll eat later," he grumbled, standing up.

Briana stood up, her arms crossing stubbornly. "You never eat," she commented. Her eyes swept his body. It scared her, how his clothes hung off of him loosely as though they were on a clothes hanger. His eyes were huge & sunken & seemed to bulge out through his slightly overgrown curly blonde hair. "Why aren't you taking care of yourself?"

Layne's gaze slid away from her's. He played with his hands.

"Please tell me..." Briana continued. She grabbed ahold of Layne's hand and squeezed. Those vibrant eyes bore into his. "You can tell me. I'm not going to judge you. I care."

A warm tear rolled down his face. "I'm a disappointment," he squeaked, sniffling back more tears. "I hurt everyone around me. I'm human waste, just a piece of shit."

Briana wrapped her arms around him. She rubbed his back when she heard him sob. "Layne, it's okay," she soothed. "You're going to make it up to those people. And you're NOT human waste, you have a disease."

"No one forced me to use dope," he argued. As much as he wanted to continue to hold her, he let go, falling back into his seat at the table. "I did this all to myself..."

"But you want to stop, right?"

Layne quickly scanned her over. He rubbed the tears from his eyes. "More than anything," he whimpered. "I just don't know how..." He covered his face with his hands, sobbing again. "I'm so stupid..."

She knelt down to his level, making him glare into her eyes. "If you were stupid, you wouldn't want to get better. You wouldn't be here, with me, fighting to get sober." Her soft hand reached up to his face, brushing his hair off of it. Her lips pressed against his forehead, causing his heart to flutter. "You're strong, Layne," she continued, her eyes sparkling with passion. "And I admire that about you."

He opened his mouth to speak, but instead he moaned, comfort overcoming him as he felt Briana massage his scalp. A grin creased his face when he heard her giggling at his reaction. She then stopped & went back to her seat, her brow raised as she pointedly looked at his bowl of soup. He glared down at it & shrugged & took a bite. Relief coursed through his body, his eyes falling shut as he continued to eat.

"Feeling better?" Briana asked when he finished.

He eyed her as she took his dishes for him. A smirk wrinkled his tired face. "Yeah..." He said. She smiled warmly at him. His chest burned with such a strong surge of passion, he felt like he might explode. "I haven't felt this good in years."