The Label Maker

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: BROTHERLY ADVICE

The aftermath of Christmas was messy. Gwen couldn't think of any other word to describe it. After the big dinner blowout, Gwen's parents didn't want her alone. If she went to the supermarket, someone would need to go with her. If she went to get gas, someone needed to ride with her. Wherever she went, no matter where it was, she was never alone. Usually Farrell and RJ both accompanied Gwen when she went out. Even though they both knew about the incident for over a month, they were more worried now than they were a month ago.

At first, Gwen didn't mind. She thought it was sweet that RJ wanted to protect her. Ever since their Christmas kiss, he's been more distant. She's wanted to make sense of the event, but every time she tried bringing up, something always got in the way. She thought about talking to Farrell, but she didn't know what she would say. She ran over the scenario over and over in her head. What she would say, where she would say it, and how. But every time she attempted it, the conversation would go the opposite direction.

She didn't know how to fix it. She was confused. She always took her frustration out on her blog. But lately, it wasn't enough. She needed answers. She needed to make sense of the situation. She didn't want to get too attached if her and RJ were going nowhere. She didn't want to give her hopes up too early. She needed to talk to RJ. The only problem was that she didn't know how.

Three days after Christmas, Gwen found her brother alone in his room. After getting the approval to come in, she sat down at the desk. Already, her hands were sweating.

"What's up?" Farrell asks, turning his speaker off.

"I need some advice," she begins.

"Let me guess? RJ advice?" Her brother infers. Her silence was an answer enough. She continually looked down into her lap and back at her brother, waiting for the right words to come to mind. It was Farrell who found the words first.

"He told me that you kissed him," he says, looking Gwen straight in the eyes.

"That's not how it happened! He kissed me. Since I felt bad for not getting him a gift he told me he knew a place to start. Then he kissed me and used that as my gift to him," she defends, heat rising to her cheeks.

"So you kissed him again. What's the big deal?" Farrell questions, leaning back in his bed.

"The big deal is that it has me confused and I don't know how I should bring it up around him," she admits.

"He's confused too," her brother informs.

"I highly doubt that," Gwen snorts.

"Why? Can guys not have emotions? Do they always have to know and understand what is going on?" He defends.

"I didn't mean to tick you off. All I'm saying is that RJ seems like such a tough guy that I just can't imagine him getting hung up on a girl," she justifies in a calm voice.

"Well you, my dear sister, are terribly wrong. Think about it. You share one kiss and he pulls away leaving you confused. And now you kiss again and you are both confused and he is scared-"

"But what could he be scared of?"

"-Scared because there is not a lot of good in his life. No offense, but his homelife sucks ass. Now he has you in his life, someone who is kind, funny, adorable, smart, and caring. You are giving him attention and stability. He doesn't want to lose that. If there was a chance of losing something like that, wouldn't you be scared too?"

Gwen had to sit and think about her brother's words. Was she scared of losing RJ? She didn't want to lose him. She didn't know if she had him yet. The last thing she wanted was to end another friendship. After all, Gwen was almost positive that her friendship with Leo was over. Even if they were to remain friends, things would never go back to normal. Not after Christmas dinner. Not after what both families knew: the truth.

She let the words repeat in her mind until it began to hurt. "What should I do?" She finally asks.

"Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. Quick side question, how do you feel?" Farrell asks.

"I feel like he isn't the only one who is scared," she informs. It wasn't only her feelings for RJ that made her fear what she couldn't know. It was the fear of him finding out who she really was. The fear of him ruining everything, ruining her.

Farrell's loud voice scattered her thoughts. "You need to talk to him Gwen. Figure things out now before they get weird. Do it before school starts again. Do it while you have the time. Do it while you are sure of your feelings. Nobody likes being stuck in the middle," he reminds. She nodded her head in agreement.

She was going to find RJ and she was going to talk to him. She was going to get answers. She was going to clear the air. She was going to take the next step.

After giving her brother a quick squeeze, she left his room in search of RJ. She found him downstairs rummaging through the fridge. He pulled out an apple. He moved to the sink to wash his apple, but stopped when he saw Gwen in the doorway.

"Do you want to take a drive?" Gwen asks, twirling her car keys in her hand. She was determined to talk to him. There was no backing down now.

"Drive to where?" RJ asks, putting the red apple under the water.

"Anywhere."

"Why?"

"I want to talk."

"About?"

"Us."

"I'll go grab my jacket."

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Alright, so obviously this is a filler chapter. It's been a whole month since I have last updated The Label Maker and I feel terrible! I wrote this to possibly inspire me to write what I need to. I have a plan for this book. I know how it is going to end. It's just getting there that seems to be hard. I'm not making any guarantees of when the next update will be because I don't know. 

If you haven't saw, I'm going to try and be taking up The Black Box again, so that might be updated more than this. But still, I will try. I'm sure the few that actually read this will appreciate it ;)

Until the next update (whenever that may be),

~Alyssa