This Could Get Ugly / Conrad Fisher

Quizzical Questioning

A breathless Conrad stood before me. He looked me up and down. I pulled my hair back behind my shoulders, self conscious. It was most definitely greasy.

I stood speechless. My eyes were wide. I took another look at him and then took another two steps forward onto the porch and then leaned over the railing and then puked in the bush.

I had a weak stomach these days what can I say. My cheeks immediately reddened as I felt hands holding back my hair. I jerked away and stepped back only for my dumb ass to collide with the man behind me. I heard an audible 'oof' and immediately apologized, infinitely more embarrassed than what I was before.

"Sorry, sorry." He was silent for a few moments as I put my hair up in a ratty pony tail. I turned back to face him. I tried and failed to bring my eyes up to his own.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine. Just had a rough night, that's all."

"Yeah, Jere did too," he breathed out.

"So why aren't you with him," I raised an eyebrow.

"I just was. But I wanted to talk to you." He reaches out and grabs my arm. I have no clue why, I'm disgusting. I wouldn't want to be this close to me. These sparks shooting up my arm make me shiver.

"Me?" I crossed my arms over my chest and took a step back. He was too close for comfort.

"Yeah. Do you want to do this right here or inside your house," he gestured indoors. He stiffens. "Wait, do you want to clean up? Gosh, I'm sorry I'm such a jerk."

"No, no, you're fine." I lightly laugh at his worry. "Let's just go to the backyard." I didn't want my mother barging in on us, especially in the mood she was.

"Great."

"Give me a second to grab something from my room," I give a poor excuse and I walk upstairs, hoping he didn't follow.

"I'll wait down here."

"Thanks," I shoot him a grateful smile. 

I make my way back downstairs. "Do you want water or anything?" I ask as we walked through the interior to get to the back quicker.

"You just threw up and your asking me if I want a water? You are quite a surprising person, Lina." Lina. The way my nickname fell of his lips made it sound more enticing, interesting. I wanted to hear it again.

"I'm just trying to be nice," I deflected. "We apparently have a hard time doing that when we're together." He laughs uncomfortably as we head outside.

Seriously, I had met the man three times and nearly every time, we ended up fighting.

"Look, I'm sorry," he starts.

"Don't be," I cut in quickly. "Let's move on, okay?"

He added a curt "right." He holds the door open for me.

I walk out onto the patio and wait for him to walk through the door before I shut it. "Let's head to the gazebo, okay?" I wasn't really asking, I really did want to be away from my mother who had thankfully cleared the kitchen while I grabbed some waters.

We walked around the pool. And down the path to the gazebo. I wish I could make my backyard make more sense. It was on a lot of land. Prefect for spreading out and spending some quiet solitude in nature. Whenever I wanted my drama moment I had the perfect backyard to just walk around and simmer in my feels. It was every teenagers dream.

The sudden oddity of this meeting hits me. What was I doing with my ex-boyfriends brother? Talking with him felt like a betrayal of my own. Come to think of it, Jere betrayed me so I deserve to do the same to him.