If You Met Me First

Please Say You Won't

The car ride was quiet. No music playing to drown out the thoughts running rampid through Aniston's head. The tears had threatened to fall a few times, but she kept them at bay, brushing her eyes every few minutes. Brantley leaned against the door with one hand on the wheel. The truck winding the streets like a glove, he pulled up to her little bungalow on Main Street. Jake's truck noticeably absent from it's usual spot across the front lawn. 

Brantley turned the key, cutting the engine. He sat in his seat, looking down at the dashboard before he turned to face Aniston. She put her head in her hands, rubbing at her temples to keep the headache that was creeping up away. 

"Annie..."

"Brantley, don't. I can't deal with it right now. Thanks for the ride home." She opened her door, shutting it quietly behind her. A second door shutting right after. Brantley stalked around the front of his black Ford Raptor, reaching for Aniston's arm. 

"No, you are not walking away from this one. You can run away from Jake when he hurts you. But you are not running away from me. Either you tell me what is going on here or I am going to throw you over my shoulder and give your bottom the pop it needs." Brantley growled, pulling her back to him. 

"Let go of me." Aniston demanded, yanking her arm out of his reach. 

The tears she worked so hard to avoid began rolling down her flushed cheeks. Brantley's expression softened, realizing he shouldn't have grabbed at her like that. He placed himself in front of her, both of his hands now on her shoulders. His thumbs rubbing the fabric of her sweater. 

"Annie girl. Please. What is wrong?" 

"You can't marry, Amber. You just can't." She blurted out, the words stinging his ears as they left her lips. 

Brantley was taken back. "Why can't I marry her?" He asked, lifting Aniston's chin with his pointer finger. 

Aniston shook her head, her brown hair falling all around her. Brantley coaxed her to speak up. He knew Jake never cared what she had to say, but he certainly did. Especially when it came to Amber. 

"Annie girl, you can tell me anything you know." His green eyes glittering in the moonlight, matching the stars that dotted the night sky. 

Aniston looked up at him intently. She didn't know if she could tell him this. Not after seeing that sonogram herself. Her life was a mess and she couldn't bear to think that she could possibly lose Brantley too if he heard what she was going to say. But she had to. She had to speak up and tell him exactly why he couldn't marry Amber. 

"I love you, Brantley." 

"I love you too, Annie. So you can tell me why I can't marry Amber. You know it won't change anything between the two of us." His voice hoarse, almost a growl. 

Aniston paused for a long second, "No. I love you. Like love you in the way that you love her. Love you in the way that I wish Jake had loved me. Love you to the point of passion and craziness. Intimacy and fighting for one another. I fucking love you, Brantley. So please, say you won't marry her. Please say you won't." 

Brantley stood stoic, listening to Aniston pour her heart out on the front lawn in front of his truck. He stopped rubbing her arms and pulled away. The fear on Aniston's face making him wish he didn't. Aniston grew frantic, hoping he wouldn't hop back in the truck and leave. Just like Jake had done many times before, including tonight. 

The tension between them palpable, you could cut it with the dullest butter knife in the drawer. Aniston bit her bottom lip, causing Brantley to react in a way neither of them had anticipated. He leapt for her, his lips crashing against hers. His rough hands tangling in her hair, pulling Aniston impossibly close to him. Her heart racing a mile a minute, she almost didn't realize what was going on. She prayed to the Lord above that the truck that usually inhabits the front lawn didn't pull up any time soon.