Life At Its Finest (Brother's Bestfriend)

The Sweetest Dreams

I stepped towards him and he stepped back on instinct. I didn't know what to think. I was almost shaking with confusion. It was late and I was tired and I was wondering if I was hallucinating. 

"Um," Conrad looked at everything but me. 

"Why are you here?" I asked, stepped toward him again. He stepped away once more. 

"I just was- Um.." He stared down at the floor uncomfortably. 

"Just...?" I waited for him to finish but he only babbled on more. 

"Just bringing you back your painting." He finally said. 

I just looked at him, "Okay, where'd you put it?" I asked. 

"In... uh- your room." Conrad was shy now. He didn't know what to say or do and I could tell he was very nervous. I stared at his lips, those lips I had kissed, he hadn't responded to it, and it didn't matter then. He had gone into my room too, how strange.

"Oh thanks," And one more step and his head snapped up at me because he couldn't step back any further. 

He gave me a warning look and said cautiously, "Macy..." 

So I released the bat and hugged him and waited with my arms around his neck until I heard his breathing relax in my ear- and it took a while. 

"Macy." He repeated, this time more sternly. 

I brought my gaze to his and the intensity of mine made him look back down. "What?" I asked him. 

But he still stared away from me, and my hands slipped down to his wrist and I played with the blue leather that wound around him.  

I saw his face flush pink, realizing the obvious mistake. "Conrad?" I said sweetly. He gulped, staring at my hands. It was funny, the Conrad who was mean and angry could be so vulnerable in so many ways. I've seen him as a needy drunk, I've watched him have a nightmare, and I saw him when he thought of his mother. 

"Do you love me?" I asked and his eyes finally bounced to mine. They were wide and they were clear. The dark clouds in them had faded and he was here with me. Unknowingly allowing me to see through him. 

"No," He said after seconds of silence. Conrad's arm pulled away from me dramatically and his voice more bold this time, and seemed more sure of himself. 

I knew the truth. And that's what made me laugh. 

"Stop laughing," He demanded angrily, and I shook my head in amusement, grabbing his wrist once again. His eyes turned to thin slits as a glare in embarrassment.

"Then explain this to me." I looped my fingers around the band and loosened it, then took it off. I dangled it in front of him and he did something that- to this day- will always make my heart swell. Conrad snatched it from me in a protective and possessive way and held it behind his back. "Give it back," I said. 

"No, you gave it to me."  

"I don't want you to have it if it means nothing to you." I said and his bright eyes darkened the slightest, but soon were back. 

He didn't say anything, and I knew I had won, even since he didn't give me back the bracelet. Actually, that was the reason I won in the first place, because he kept it. He reached in his pocket and took out his keys. "I need to leave," He said rushingly, then shouldered me to the side so he could get through. 

I was quicker. Sliding between him and the door he glared at me. "Move Macy!" His yelling boomed throughout my empty house and he listened to it echo.