Not Everything Is What It Seems (Book I)

Saved by the coincidence

I stayed in Brian’s house the rest of the day and we had a lot of fun. Matt was barely on my mind thanks to Brian. Now I realized that he really was a good friend and I couldn’t ask for more. Meanwhile it was late and I needed to go back home so, since I didn’t have my car with me, he took me there. I had to wear his clothes again because those were the only ones I had in that moment.

“Well, thank you very much for the ride.” I said, smiling as I stepped out of his car. He opened his side’s door and slid out too, walking around his car in my direction. The sun was already setting and the sky was in tones of orange and red, clearly showing Brian’s brown eyes. I would lost myself in them.

“Thank you very much for giving me some company.” He replied with one of his beautiful smiles that make me melt inside. Everything about him was affecting me and that was disturbing.

“I’ll give you your clothes next time I see you, okay?” I asked as I looked at myself with a large shirt and black shorts.

“Don’t worry about that. They actually look cool on you.” He said, chuckling.

“Yeah sure.. like I believe in you.” I said sarcastically, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You never believe in me so your argument is not valid.”

“Bu-“

“Shut up.. I’m the boss and I say those clothes look cool on you, so it’s true.” He cut me, placing a hand on my mouth. I smirked to myself and bit it making him pull it away. I laughed at him and he gave me a malicious glare. I automatically started to run towards my house but he caught me before I could reach it.

“You’re a really mean girl!” He said with his arms around my upper half.

“No, I’m not.. you totally deserved it.” I said still chuckling.

“I’ll get my revenge later, don’t worry.” He smirked as he let go of me and slapped my ass with as much force as he had. Or at least it was what it looked like. My ass was burning.

“You fucking asshole!” I yelled as I rubbed my ass with my hand to ease the pain, making him burst out into laughing.

“No, I’m a fucking ass slapper!” He laughed even harder with his own joke. I couldn’t help but chuckle too, despite the fact that I was pissed.

“You’re lost cause, Haner.” I said, walking to my front door while I grabbed my keys. I felt a chuckling Brian slowly following me. “I’ll see you somewhere.. maybe on the weekend or something.” I said as I opened the door and turned to him. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms to his chest.

“Weekend or something? No way.. I’ll see you sooner than that.” He said confident.

“Oh really?” I asked, mimicking his pose.

“Yeah. I won’t let you be alone all the fucking week.”

“I’ve got more friends, I won’t be alone. You don’t need to worry, Brian.” I said serious.

“Whatever. I want to be with you to make sure you’re fine.” He insisted.

“We’ll see that later. Now I have to go and took out these.. kind of clothes off me.” I said, chuckling.

“If you don’t like them just say it.” He put his bottom lip out.

“I like them, but not on me. Stop pouting!” I punched him in the arm playfully and laughed. He stuck his tongue out at me, making me roll my eyes. “Bye!” I shouted, turning around.

“Won’t you hug me?” I looked over my shoulder and he was making puppy dog eyes.

“You received lots of hugs these last couple of days..” I chuckled.

“Okay.” He turned around sounding really sad and I sighed. I ran after him and jumped on his shoulders, making us both almost fall. I wrapped my arms around his neck very tightly and he grabbed my legs to hold me there but then he let go and turned his face to me. “That’s how I like it.” He said, pulling me in a hug as I snaked my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest.

“I think I never hugged someone so many times in only a couple of days.” I said chuckling, still in his embrace.

“That’s not so bad, is it?”

“No. I kinda like your hugs.” I looked up at him and he smiled a little.

“Ok, now get your ass in home!” He slapped my ass again and ran towards his car, waving at me once inside. I showed him my middle finger and saw him laugh as he started the car. I walked inside and closed the door behind me. I decided to take a good, long shower and wear my own clothes. Well.. at least for the most part. Brian’s hoodie was on my bed, where I left it before I got into the bathroom and I don’t know why but I felt a huge desire to put it on. So after I wore my jammies, I grabbed it and slid it on me, somehow feeling safer with the hoodie; it seemed that Brian was still there with me. I never had this feeling before, not even with Matt. Okay, he made me feel safe but Brian.. I don’t know.. with him everything was much easier and I felt like nothing bad could happen.

I was sat on the bed thinking about all of this when my phone started ringing, waking me up.

“Hey!” I greeted happily.

”I girl! How’re you doing? Sorry for not having called yesterday but I had a lot of work.” Eilis said with regret in her voice.

“Forget it, it’s okay. I’m fine.” I assured.

”Really? You’ve been all alone last night and today, I didn’t say anything to you.. I’m worried.”

“I had a pretty busy day today.” I said chuckling, remembering all the funny moments with Brian.

”Lot of work?”

“Not exactly.” I couldn’t help the smile that was crossing my lips.

”I’m not getting.. spill!”

“Well.. let’s say that today I didn’t go to work.”

”Where have you been then? You’re leaving me curious!” She said, making me laugh. She was really clueless.

“I spent the day at Brian’s.. but that’s not the worst.” I said trying to suppress the chuckle.

”Oh.. really? That’s awesome.. but what do you mean with that worst thing?”

“I slept in his house.”

”OH MY GOD ANNIE! YOU SLEPT WHIT BRIAN?! THAT’S WHAT YOU MEANT WITH BEING BUSY TODAY?? YOU NAUGHTY GIRL!! I started to laugh hysterically at her reaction and took me several minutes before I could talk again. She was laughing too.

“No waaaay! Of course not, you silly!” I laughed again.

”Ohhh.. so if you didn’t sleep with him why did you stay there?” She asked confused.

“Because he didn’t want me to be alone that night..”

”And why’s that? Come on Annie, explain everything once for all!” She was starting to be frustrated so I decided to just spill.

“I’m going to give the short version. I almost drowned in the beach, and then a guy saved me and Brian appeared after that. Since we were closer to his house, he took me there. I showered and he lent me some of his clothes for me to wear, but that’s not important. When we were in the couch watching TV and stuff he started to talk about Matt but I didn’t want to, but he insisted pushing me to the edge and I just burst out into tears. I cried for several minutes and he held me in his arms god knows for how long. But it felt good, I felt safe, you know? I can’t explain..”

”Wow.. finally you cried. You really needed to release yourself. But I’m glad you weren’t alone. You always cry when you are at home where nobody can see you and then you hold all the pain by yourself.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah.. I know. He kinda knew that I needed to cry.”

”He’s so fucking cute.. you’re a very lucky girl for having his support and for being in his arms.. I could see myself in there.” She said, giggling.

“Oh right.. I know you like him a lot.” I chuckled. “But he’s being very nice with me. He let me stay in his house and I spent this whole day there. We had a lot of fun, I forgot all the sadness and I ended up in the pool again.” I told her, making her laugh.

“You always end up in the pool, lucky bitch. I bet his body is fucking hot.” She said jealousy.

“Sure it is. You stop drooling, okay?”

”You’re so mean, can’t you share him with me?” She begged.

“No! He’s mine!” I gave her an evil laugh.

“He’s yours.. well, I know he will be.. and it won’t take too long for that to happen.”

“Oh shut up.. I was just kidding.”

”Yup, of course.. She said sarcastically.

“Let’s not start with that story! Hey I’m kind of hungry, I think I’m going to eat something.”

”Nice way of changing subject, lady.. but okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She said with a small chuckle.

“Okay, bye!”

”Goodbye, Miss Gates. She hung up the call but I could hear her laughing before she did that. I shook my head and headed downstairs to eat.

The next couple of weeks were pretty calm, I had my bad moments which was normal but nothing too serious. Brian appeared sometimes to lunch with me or just for company and I appreciated that. It was cool to forget sad things. We always had fun together, always messing with each other. I was really starting to like him and that was scaring me a little bit. I didn’t know if I was ready for a new love. I was still hurt. Matt and I were talking again but we didn’t say anything about what had happened.

We were already in May and the guys were about to release the first single of their new album. It was called Nightmare, the single and the album. I listened to the song and it was so fucking amazing. I really liked it and the guys were happy to hear my opinion. But that was the only song I was able to listen to because the guys wanted to impress me when the album was totally done.

Friday was almost there but I was going to a boring conference. I didn’t know where but I had to wake up early. I was a bit sad because the guys had planned camping that weekend and now I couldn’t go.

“Are you sure you can’t come with us?” Brian asked on the phone.

“Yes, unfortunately I really can’t. I’m sorry.”

”Fine.. it would be funnier with you but okay, I understand.” He said upset.

“I’ll go next time, don’t worry. I have to go to sleep now, Brian.” It was already late and I was yawning a lot.

”Okay. Sleep well and have sweet dreams! I’ll call you during the weekend.”

“Behave and be good to Lacey.. poor girl.” I said, chuckling.

”We’re not that bad!” He protested.

“Just a little bit.. goodnight Brian.”

”Bye Annie! I’ll miss you.” I smiled to myself.

“Sure you will..”

”I’m serious.” He said with no sign of joke.

“It’s only two days, it’s not that much.” I don’t know if I was convincing him of that or if I was convincing myself.

”It’s a lot for me..” I didn’t say anything for some moment, so he spoke again. “Goodnight..” He hung up and I placed my phone on the bedside table.

He really looked serious when he said that he would miss me but I wasn't sure. Sometimes he liked to joke about those kinds of things, so it was hard to know if he was just messing around or if he really meant what he was saying. Well, I didn’t know about him but I was really going to miss him. I knew it was just for a couple of days but it was still tough. I didn’t tell him but that’s how I felt. We were always together now and being two days without his presence it would boring. I fell asleep not long after he hung up the call.

Next morning it was 7 am and I was already leaving for my destination. I had a map with me and some weird directions. I was never really good with orientation so I hoped I could make it through. The place was somewhere in the middle of mountains. What a fucking strange place for having work meetings. I drove through the road with my radio on, singing, glancing at the map every once in a while. It was a calm trip, at least until the mountain part. All I could see was trees, thin paths, the ground was very bumpy and nothing more. I was completely alone on the mountain which was a bit scary. Besides that, everything was going fine.

Hours were passing and I was still in the mountain with no signs of improvement. It looked like I was always in the same spot. I looked at the map once more but I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. I started to stress out. I was riding in circles and that was driving me insane. I stopped the car and gave a better look at the map.

“Maybe I should try this other way..” I said to myself as I went back on the road. After more minutes I was still in the mountain lost as fuck. I freaked out and started to panic. I grabbed my phone and dialed my boss’ number. Useless. I had no signal. Obvious, in the middle of the mountain what did I expect?

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” I screamed inside the car, hitting the wheel string with both of my hands. A wave of emotions ran through my body making me shiver. I was so scared but at the same time I was pissed. I didn’t know what to do. I decided to ride a little more, maybe I could find a way out. I drove for about an hour but then my car started to slow down and no matter how hard I tried to turn on the car it didn’t work. There was no fuel. I cursed again and then I really panicked. I stepped out of the car with my phone on my hand and walked a little trying to catch some signal but no success. I returned to where my car was and sat on the floor with my back against the driver’s door.

“Oh god.. I won’t be able to go to the conference and probably home too. I’ll be here forever and someone will find my bones.” I said desperately with my face buried in my hands. It was almost 2 pm and I was starving and thirsty. The sun was hot and I was melting, so I stood up from the floor and walked until I found some kind of shadow. When I discovered one, I sat again and closed my eyes, praying that someone would appear. I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes it was a little darker. I looked at my watch and it was 4 pm. I headed towards my car which was after the curve and heard some voices.

”I’m telling you, man, this is Annie’s car."

Actually too familiar voices. My heart exploded with anxiety and I ran towards the car, seeing familiar figures there. They all looked at me with confusion and I jumped on Brian’s arms when I reached them.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you’re here!” I yelled, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, almost knocking him down. I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my face. It looked like a dream. I heard some chuckles but I didn’t turn my face to them. I hugged Brian like he was my life and he held me there for quite some time. When I calmed down I let go of him and wiped the tears from my face, before starting to laugh.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were in a conference.” Brian stated, chuckling.

“Don’t we deserve hugs too?” Johnny asked, pouting. I smiled at him and started to distribute hugs while I explained what happened.

“I was supposed to be there but I got lost, my car doesn’t have fuel, I’m fucking starving and thirsty and I’m stuck in the middle of the mountain for almost 5 hours!” I said, finishing my session of hugs.

“Wow, that’s crazy.” Zacky rubbed the back of his head.

“I know.. I was so scared. I thought I was going to be here until I died.” They all laughed. “Don’t make fun of me, I was really in panic.” Brian pulled an arm around my shoulders and I leaned against him.

“What are you going to do now?” Zacky spoke again.

“I don’t know, I don’t have mobile service so I can’t call anyone.. I guess I have to return home somehow.”

“Why don’t you come with us?” Matt suggested.

“I don’t want to bother you guys and I have no clothes for this kind of thing. I’ll find a solution, don’t worry.”

“Oh come on.. you only refused our invitation because you had this conference but if you are going to miss it just come.” Brian had a point.

“And I can lend you some of my clothes and bikinis.” Lacey said, smiling.

“You sure?” I asked looking at them.

“Yes.” They all said.

“Ok. I still don’t know how you found me here.”

“We are going to camp somewhere here and I recognized your car, so we just.. I don’t know.. we found you..” Brian explained.

“When I heard your voices my heart almost ripped out of my chest. It was such a relief, you have no idea.” They chuckled and then we headed to their car after I picked up my things. We left my car under a tree and we decided to collect it when we went back home.

“Hey guys, we may have a problem.” Matt said as we approached the car.

“What?” Johnny asked, looking at the inside to see if there was something wrong.

“We only have 5 sits and we are 6 now.” Matt said.

“That’s not a problem. We squeeze each other a little or she goes in someone’s lap.” Zacky said, looking at Brian in the last part gaining a punch from him.

“Can I go in your lap then?” I asked Zacky, smirking to mess with him.

“Of course you can. I’ll enjoy it.” He chuckled, earning another punch from Brian.

“What now?” Zacky asked confused as he rubbed his arm.

“Watch your words.” Brian warned.

“Wow.. we are very protective, aren’t we?” Zacky joked almost earning another punch, but Brian held his fist in the air, controlling himself.

“Leave him..” I told Brian with a small smile as I grabbed his fist, putting it down.

“Fine..” He mumbled, stepping inside the car. I shook my head laughing a little. I entered next and then Lacey and then Zacky. Matt was driving and Johnny was in the passenger seat.

“Squeezeeeeeeeeee!” Zacky shouted, pushing everyone in the back seat against Brian.

“Fuck you, bitch!!” Brian growled, making Zacky laugh.

“I thought Annie was going to sit on my lap.” He said upset.

“You wish!” Brian yelled. “She prefers Syn Gates over here.” He said, smiling proudly.

“Wait a minute.. I’m sorry to disappoint you guys but I like Lacey more!” I chuckled and hugged her making her laugh. She wrapped her arms around me and we watched the guys’ faces. It was priceless.

“She’s mine.” Lacey said, winking an eye to me.

“Oh really? Fine.” Brian crossed his arms to his chest and turned his head to the window pretending he was really sad.

“Yeah, fine.” Zacky did the same as Brian, and Matt, me and Lacey burst out into laughing.

“I don’t like the idea either.. Are you cheating on me, Lacey?” Johnny asked as he turned around to look at us. She tossed her tongue out at him and he returned his gaze to the road pouting. We laughed again and high fived each other.

“You girls are mean.” Matt said, looking at us through the rearview mirror.

“We can’t help it.” I chuckled. The guys were still pouting.

Lacey gave me a bottle of water and an apple since I was almost dying of sub-nutrition and dryness. Ok not dying, but it felt like it. After some minutes we arrived. At least it was what I thought but we still had a lot to walk.

“Let’s go, guys.” Matt announced. Everyone stepped out and we grabbed our stuff. They had two kayaks linked at the back of the jeep.

“How do you manage to take those down there?” I asked pointing to the kayaks.

“By our hands and you’ll help us.” Brian said and I sighed in frustration.

“Really?” I asked with hope that they were just joking.

“Yup.” Zacky confirmed.

“Damn, you.. okay..” I helped them and we walked for several minutes. My arms were hurting and my feet were tired. Lacey was also upset with this.

“When will this finish?” I asked desperately.

“Soon.” Brian answered, smiling.

“Stop with that smile. You’re strong, I’m not.”

“That’s your problem.” He said, chuckling.

“I hate you.” I hissed.

“That feeling will disappear. Don’t worry.” He smiled again.

Soon we arrived at the place. They started to set the tents up while me and Lacey organized the food and the other stuff. When everything was finished it was 5 pm or something. I sat on the floor and sighed deeply. I was so tired.

“We are exhausted, aren’t we?” Brian asked, chuckling as he sat next to me.

“Shut up.. I’m too tired to argue with you.”

“So, don’t argue with me.” He smile. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips.

“Do you have any idea of what we’re going to do tonight?” I looked at him and he shrugged his shoulders clueless. “Well, I’ll see what I can do to help.” I stood up from the floor and walked towards Lacey. She was preparing the dinner. We were going to eat some meat but for that we needed to start a bonfire. I told the guys to do that and they did it quite easily. Since it was too soon to dinner we all sat around the fire. The guys had already bears in their hands. They brought lots of them in a cooler to keep them cold.

“You want?” Brian asked, handing me a beer.

“No, thank you. I’m fine.” I smiled at him.

“Oh ok. I’ll take yours.” I chuckled and shook my head.

“Don’t get too drunk.” I said more serious.

“Why?” He asked, looking at me confused.

“I don’t know. You’re funny when you’re drunk, I have to say, but.. I don’t know. I wanted a sober Brian today.” I said as I looked at my lap.

“I won’t drink too much.” I met his eyes and smiled at him.

“Thank you.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I leaned my head against him. Everyone was talking and laughing. Meanwhile, Matt cooked the food and we all ate it satisfied. Zacky and Johnny were a little drunk but Brian kept his promise. He only drank two beers the whole night. Like always, everyone was messing with little Johnny. It was so funny. We kept there for a long time but some of us started to get sleepy, so we decided to go to the tents but that’s when the problem came.

“Hey guys?” I called.

“Yes?” Matt said.

“You only have two tents?” I asked, looking at them.

“Yes, why?”

“Johnny and Lacey are going to sleep in one of them, right?” I kind of asked and affirmed at the same time.

“Yes..” Matt wasn’t getting my point.

“Am I supposed to sleep with you, Brian and Zacky in the same tent?” I asked, chuckling.

“Yes.” Now it was Brian who spoke.

“Are you kidding, right?” I asked in disbelief.

“Nope.. why? Don’t you like the idea?” He asked disappointed.

“Of course not! I won’t sleep with three guys in the same tent!” I protested.

“You have no other choice, girl.” Zacky said smiling as he stepped inside the tent.

“Yes, I have. I’ll sleep outside.” I crossed my arms to my chest not amused.

“No way, are you insane? It’s fucking cold.” Brian said.

“I don’t care. I’ll sleep outside and that’s it.”

“No, I won’t let you.” Brian shook his head no.

“You can sleep with me and the guys stay together.” Lacey suggested.

“Oh no.. you sleep with Johnny. I don’t want to bother you. I’ll be fine here.” I told her.

“Really?” She asked unsure.

“Yup.”

“You’re crazy. You’ll catch a cold.” Matt spoke.

“I don’t care, I’m not going to sleep with you guys. That tent is fucking small.”

“Are you afraid of sleeping with us?” Zacky asked laughing.

“Kind of.. I’ll be outside. It can’t be that bad.” I tried to convince myself.

“You’ll regret it but okay. Your choice.” Brian shrugged and went inside too but returned seconds later with a sleeping bag in his hands.

“At least take this.” He handed me what he was holding. I hesitated a little but then accepted.

“Thanks.” I said with a small smile.

“I don’t like this, just so you know.” He looked upset.

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna die just because I’ll sleep here.” I kissed his cheek and started to search for a good spot to sleep.

“Stay near the tent. I don’t want you too far away.” He shouted, making me chuckle.

“Okay daddy.” I said playfully but he didn’t react. “Oh come on Brian.. are you going to be mad?” I asked as I approached him. At that time everyone was already in their tents so we were alone and the only light available was the given by the bonfire. But it was almost disappearing.

“I’m just worried, Annie.” He said.

“I know but you don’t need to. If anything happens I jump into the tent okay?” I asked smiling.

“Fine. Do you need anything else?”

“Nope.” He nodded his head approving my answer.

“Are you guys having sex out there or what?” Zacky yelled, sneaking his head out of the tent.

“Shut up, V!” Brian shouted.

“They definitely are!” Johnny said laughing and we could hear Lacey arguing with him. Both Brian and I chuckled.

“Sleep well.. or at least try.” He said, kissing my cheek and then leaving me alone.

“Night everyone!” I yelled and some of them replied. I took off my shoes and slide into de bag. It was a little cold outside and the sleeping bag wasn’t enough to warm me but I had to deal with my choice. In that moment I just wished that Brian was there with me and I could snuggle in his warming body but that was impossible. Minutes later I heard some noise coming from Brian’s tent. The fire was already gone so I couldn’t see anything. I grabbed the lamp the guys gave me and turn it on, hitting Brian right in the eyes.

“Shit..” He mumbled.

“Oh sorry!” I said a little embarrassed. “What are you doing here? You should be sleeping!”