Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter Forty-Six

-Brooklyn's POV-

I could admit, I'd never really had a crush on Stacey before – And, under any other circumstances, I probably wouldn't be here, sitting across the table from her, finishing off the last bites of chocolate cake from our dessert.

But there was no real use in dwelling on what could've happened, because here's what did happen: She'd gotten my number from one of the boys. Naturally, I was a little annoyed with them for doing that at first, and I had wondered if the entire thing was some elaborate prank. But as we started to text, I found that we had a natural way of going back and forth that came easily to me and took my mind off of things.

We ended up planning a dinner date for the next day before my mum snatched my phone out of my hands and said that I needed to spend more times with them, seeing as I get so little time at home and the break was almost over. Even she could see a slight change in me, though – For the first time in a while, I had something to look forward to, and it showed. She pounced on the opportunity to help me get ready, even though I insisted that it was no big deal.

Yes, maybe none of this would've happened a month ago. But now? Life was short, and it felt good to be sitting with her here, her face illuminated by a flickering candle. When the cake was finished, only a scattered array of crumbs left, I almost didn't want the night to end. I'd forgotten how nice it was to talk to her, and she was beautiful...But I knew I couldn't let this turn into anything too serious.

In two days, I'd be heading back to the flat, and the band would become my life again. I could almost convince myself that this night was merely a means of distraction from my own swirling thoughts, that it never had to be anything more, and that I would be okay with that.

But at the end of the day, the sweet reprieve of how it felt to have her sight set on me was too good to let go, and I couldn't say no when she suggested that we hang out at her house for a little while afterwards.

"It's not too far from here," she explained, grabbing her purse and standing up. I pictured her kissing me again and nodded.

"It'll be nice to meet your parents," I added quickly, not wanting her to think that I was only there for that.

"Oh, my parents aren't home," she said, in a cool and casual tone. She searched my eyes to see if that was still okay, and my heat set off in a different type of nervousness than it had lately – This time, it was laced with a cautious sort of excitement.

I nodded, afraid that any attempt at speech would betray me.

Walking up the steps to her house, I was suddenly hit with the feeling that the entire thing was wrong, that I should kiss her at the door and then leave. You didn't just hang out in an empty house, right? Bu maybe I was overthinking it, taking my mind into an inappropriate place when the whole thing was really innocent.

I was too afraid to say anything and come off as a perv, so instead I silently watched her search for her keys and then unlock the door. I watched her hands – Small and slender, her nails decorated with some sort of design. Her skirt swished as she walked inside and then turned back around, expectantly.

Taking the steps inside felt a lot less like entering a house for the first time, and a lot more like entering a whole 'nother world – Like taking the first steps on the moon. I gradually became calmer as we sat next to each other on the living room couch, engaging in extended small talk. She got us small glasses of wine stolen from her parent's liquor cabinet.

She leaned close to me, her breath hot on the side of my ear, and whispered, almost as if confiding a secret with me – "They'll never notice. I think they've forgotten about the bottles in the back, since I've been stealing from this one for ages and they haven't a clue."

She leaned back again with a smug smile and let out a bubbly laugh. It was suddenly clear to me that she was no longer the little girl that I had known – She had grown, blossomed in both body and personality, since the last time I had seen her.

I blushed and took another sip of wine, trying not to get distracted by how red and full her lips were. For a moment, we got caught up in conversation, until I was fully at ease and thought that that would be it. We'd speak until we both got tired and it was time for me to leave.

I wasn't prepared for when Stacey set down her now empty glass on the low table in front of us with a resounding clink.

"I used to have the biggest crush on you, you know," she said, biting the corner of her lips. I couldn't think of a thing to say in response, stunned into silence as she came closer to me, resting her lips on mine for a second time. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and the scent of her filled my scenes – Strawberry shampoo with a hint of citrus. She tasted like wine and chocolate cake, and I almost lost myself in her before I came back to my sense.

"I'll be leaving again in two days," I gasped, trying to get our everything that I wanted to say in that simple sentences – It would be too hard to have a proper relationship, I didn't know what Blair would think, we were running out of time, I didn't think that I was in love with her, and that we should do it on our first date.

But she simply smiled down at me and said, "Well, I guess we better do it today, then." And before I knew it, she had her hand around mine and we were in her bedroom.

My second head took over from there, telling me that I didn't know when I would next get an opportunity like this, that I didn't want to be a virgin forever. My phone buzzed in my pocket as she was kissing me, leading me into her bed, and I left it on her side table. When it continued to light up, I leaned over and turned it off, not even bothering to check and see what it was.

Stacey guided our movements, pulling my clothes off and then her own, and whenever I was unsure, she pushed me along. This wasn't how I imagined my first time, but she clenched a bit of my skin within her teeth and I let out a moan, unable to think once again.

And so it went, until it was over, almost so quickly that I couldn't keep up. I found myself panting, laying naked on what was a near stranger's bed, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had just made a terrible mistake.