Two Can Play At That Game

16.

When the doorbell rang, Brooklyn--despite her weak state--rushed to the door and flung it open. She was ready to pull Michael inside when she realized that the person standing in front of her wasn't Michael.

"Chris?" Brooklyn asked, in disbelief. She looked behind Chris to see if perhaps Michael was right behind him. When she saw that he wasn't, she let out a relieved sigh. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you," Brooklyn casually commented, swinging the door closed enough so that he would hopefully take a hint.

But Chris simply raised a brow. "I heard you were sick and I wanted to see if you were okay," he replied, as if he was talking to a third-grader.

A car door slammed shut, causing Brooklyn to jump. The cold wind slapped her face and her chest started feeling heavier by the second. "Um, well, I'm okay!" she half-smiled, trying to sound cheery.

"Brooke?" a new voice asked. Chris turned around and stiffened. Brooklyn was able to look over his shoulder and see Michael. He was slowly making his way towards the door, looking less than happy. When Chris turned around to look at Brooklyn, he had the same rigid expression Michael had.

"What's going on?" Chris asked, his voice only low enough so that just he and Brooklyn could hear.

Biting her lower lip, Brooklyn's mind raced with plausible excuses. It was difficult to think, though, while the wind was picking up and dark clouds started to roll in. "Michael's here to help me with, er, a project," she blurted out.

Michael made his way to the duo and smirked at Chris. "Hey, Warren. Weird seeing you here."

Brooklyn wanted to slam the door on Michael's head. Despite their serious situation, he still couldn't help being an asshole to everybody.

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Whatever," he practically spat, turning around to walk through the cold weather.

As much as she wanted to, Brooklyn knew that this was for the best. Chris couldn't know about Diana. They had such a good thing going on, she didn't want to ruin it. Perhaps in the future she would tell him, but right then, she first had to survive and throw everybody off her trail.

Michael gave Brooklyn a bright smile as she held the door open for him. She gave one last glance at Chris, who had his shoulders hunched up and was walking away from her and towards Saint Julius.

"You're an ass," Brooklyn growled, as Michael calmly took off his Timberlands and the Saint Julius windbreaker.

"I still can't believe you sunk that low," Michael said, clearly ignoring Brooklyn's jibe. After he hung up all his stuff, he made his way to the living room, right where Brooklyn had spilled the soup Liv made her.

Sitting across from him, Brooklyn tried to ignore how cold she was. She was still shaking in spot as Michael kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and stared back at her. All Brooklyn could think about was why she ever thought he was so perfect.

"Talk," she commanded, her voice thick.

Michael heaved a heavy sigh and sat up, balancing his elbows on his knees. "Before the day you guys, um..." he let his sentence trail off before continuing. Clearing his throat, he started again. "She told me that she was worried about you guys. She felt like she was being watched all the time, and when Diana was around you, she was really anxious. I guess someone told her that you were planning something."

Brooklyn tried to keep a straight face while she digested Michael's words. She was trying to figure out who told Diana. Was it Serena? Serena was always trying to do the right thing, acting like a saint. Was it Lacie? Who was the one who genuinely liked Diana?