"Yea yea don't get too cocky. I only came back because you really look like you could use some help." I pulled back and looked at him. His lip was still bleeding, and he still had a firm hold on his side.
"No honestly I'm fine."
"Okay then well I guess I'll just go." I turned around, knowing that he would try and stop me.
"No no wait!" he quickly reached out but soon let out a loud moan from the pain. He reached back and grabbed his stomach again.
"See I told you!" I said, slightly chuckling. "Come on lets go get some ice for that."
He moved out of the way and I stepped inside. He shut the door behind us, and pointed towards the kitchen. "There's an ice pack in the freezer."
I nodded my head and went towards the kitchen. I grabbed the ice pack and then went over and wet a paper towel. I then walked back into the living room and saw him sitting on the couch. "Here, put this on your stomach." I handed him the ice pack and sat down beside him.
He did, but as soon as it touched his shirt he grunted in pain.
"Can I see?" I asked as I slowly crept my hands up towards his abdomen. He dropped his hand and let me continue. As soon as I peeled his shirt up, my jaw dropped. Partly because his whole side was covered in a yellowish/purplish bruise, and partly because of his body. He had to be the most toned guy I had ever seen.
Apparently I was staring a little too hard because he immediately snapped his head down to see himself. "Oh shit. Brian can really pack a punch." He laid his head back down and closed his eyes. "He seriously pisses me off. If those guys wouldna been holding me back I would've beat his ass."
"Does it hurt?" I pretended to press on it but I really just wanted an excuse to touch his toned abs.
"Nah not really. It actually feels kinda good." With his eyes still closed, he smirked just a little bit.
"Oh shut up." I rolled my eyes playfully and pulled my hand away before it could escalate into something else. I then pulled his t-shirt down and placed the ice pack on his side.
"Ahh that's cold." He said as he twitched and sat up some.
I laughed slightly and continued to apply some pressure to his side. Eventually, I just let the ice pack sit there on its own. I then grabbed the paper towel to wipe his lip. I started reaching up to do it but immediately stopped when I got distracted by his face. It looked so pure and almost perfect. His jawline was tight and his skin looked flawless.
All of a sudden his eyes shot open and he looked at me. "What?"
"Oh nothing." I played it off and flashed a small smile. I then reached up and patted his lip with the paper towel. "Sooo. Ive been wondering." I started off, trying to change the topic to come thing else.
"What?"
"Well...um who is Emily? You know, the girl that Brian brought up earlier."
He closed his eyes again and sighed. "Just an ex girlfriend."
"Oh, because you seemed to like...get really upset." I put my hands back in my lap, feeling really awkward from the conversation.
"It's a long story...."
"Oh." I mumbled.
"..but I can tell you if you really want to know. I mean it was sort of a long time ago so it really doesn't matter anyways."
"Nah it's up to you."
"Well.." he began. "Its not really much of a story to tell. I was dating her and stuff, and it got pretty serious until she...cheated on me."
"Oh my god that's terrible."
"Yea well what really sucked was that it was with my brother."
"What?! You mean to tell me that Justin stole your girlfriend?"
"Basically. Well I mean she was a slut and all and was all over him, but still."
"Wow." I now knew why Brian had said that everyone liked Justin better and brought up Emily's name. I felt so bad for Derek. It wasn't true at all that no one liked him because.....because I think I did.
"Yuuuup." He said as he sat up again and opened his eyes.
I decieded that the best thing to do was change the subject, so I went onto the next topic. "So we have like four days left to get this money. I think we can do it." I was trying to be positive.
"Even if you were involved, there's no way we could get it all."
I rolled my eyes and gave him a serious look. "Derek I am involved. I'm tired of you trying to keep me out of this."
"I just wanna protect you Kelsey. I care about you. I honestly do."
"I'm a big girl. I can handle it. How much money are we even talking."
"$5,000"
I laughed and punched his arm playfully. "No really what's the amount."
"$5,000" he repeated.
"Holy shit how was he expecting you get all of that money paid back in such a short time?"
"He wasn't. He knows that we can't get all of that money paid off. He just likes torturing people."
"Damn..." I said as I hung my head while thinking of something we could do. "Wait! I've got a little something saved up. I'm sure with that, plus maybe we could-"
He raised a finger to stop me. "There's no way in hell that I'm gonna let you do that. You know that."
"Yea well I mean you can pay me back and it won't have a deadline so you can have more time."
"No." he flatly said.
"But if you don't get the money paid back, he said he would come after us."
"He isn't gonna hurt us okay? I promise you that." He pulled my chin up and looked into my eyes. "Okay?"
"Okay." I nodded my head and tried to keep from getting upset.
"Like I said.." he let go of my face and sat back. "He likes to torture people. I've seen him do the same thing before. He's all bark and no bite. Trust me."
"Yea but something about him just seemed so sure. It felt like he really meant it and I really care about you Derek. Just please let me help yall." My voice cracked and I was starting to get upset.
He leaned up and put his arm around me as he pulled me in closer to him. "Don't worry girl it's all good."
I leaned in and nuzzled my head into the side of his neck. I deeply inhaled some of his cologne and it just made me feel safe. I just wanted to stay there forever.
Before I got too comfortable, I pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For just being there for me. When Rebecca was being a total bitch, and when Avery left, you just sorta became my friend and stuck by me."
He looked down at the ground and laughed a little. "After all this shit we have been through with Brian, I should be thanking you. Most girls would have ran off as soon as things started getting tough."
"Well I'm not most girls. As you can tell I'm pretty special." I made a cute face and did a cocky little hair flip.
We both looked away and laughed and then turned to face each other again. When we did, our faces were only inches apart. My eyes slowly wandered down to his lips, as his did the same. Before I knew it, we both leaned in and our lips connected....
