Nothing Left To Fear (Book 1 of 2)

Let's Get Started

Brianna’s POV:

*This part is a partial recap of what happened before everybody came back and saw Marcus.

After making popcorn, I went back to the living room with Marcus. We watched the rest of Despicable Me and then started watching Immortals. I’m a big Greek Mythology and action movie lover. I wasn’t sure if Marcus liked it but he seemed into it because he wouldn’t take his eyes off the screen. I was actually enjoying myself and I couldn’t wait for the guys to meet Marcus. He was great and such a down to earth guy.

Wait a minute, where the hell is everybody? Why is it taking so long to get food and drinks? I was mid-thought when everybody ran into the house. I was so happy to see them again; I missed them so much. But that moment became really awkward when everybody just stopped in the doorway and stared at Marcus. We were in silence for like five minutes until Marcus cleared his thought. Thank God somebody did something or else we would’ve been in silence the whole night. I then ran over to everybody and snapped them back to reality. They all stood there with questioning faces so I brought Marcus over and began to explain. “Everybody, this is Marcus. Marcus, this is Becca, Jill, Chelsea, Tianna, Chloe, Siva, Jay, Max, Tom, and Nathan.” Everybody still looked confused so I continued. “Marcus is a friend of mine that I met at that café near the studio. I invited him over so that you could all get to know each other.”

“Barista guy?” Jill asked unsure. “Yeah, that’s me.” Marcus said. “Barista guy?” Everybody else asked. “Yeah, the day we officially met you guys was the day that we met Marcus. Bri, Becca, and I stopped for breakfast and that’s when we met him.” I was so happy that Jill cleared the air because then came all the questions like: “What do you make?” “Can you make us something?” and the list goes on. After finally clearing everything up, we all headed for the living room. Not a shocker, Max and Tianna look the swivel chair while Becca and Tom took the love seat. The rest of us piled onto the two sofas.

If you haven’t already noticed, our living room is huge. Actually, the whole house is huge because well, it’s a mansion. I know what you’re thinking, why do the dancers have a mansion? See what happened was that we were supposed to get a house like the guys but the girls and I wanted and needed more space, so we added our money to the money for the house and ended up with enough for a mansion.

Anyway, I awkwardly ended up on the couch with Nathan, Marcus, and Chloe; while Jay, Siva, Chelsea, and Jill piled onto the other couch. The atmosphere wasn’t as awkward as it was when everybody first saw Marcus, but I wanted everybody to relax more. Luckily, my stomach growled pretty loud so everybody laughed. “Hey, what did you guys pick up? I’m starving if you didn’t hear.” I asked with sarcasm. “Oh, we pick up mac n’ cheese, candy and some beers for later.” Jay said with a smirk.

I had a feeling that nobody was gonna volunteer to cook so I got up and went to the kitchen. I was deep in thought until I heard someone enter the kitchen. “Hey, you want some help?” Nathan asked. I didn’t wanna say no and seem mean; and I didn’t wanna say yes and seem too eager, so I just nodded. He came over and helped me open all twelve boxes, which took quite a while. After pouring all the pasta into the boiling water, we sat down at the counter. We didn’t talk for a little bit but then he went to hold my hand. I didn’t know if I wanted to so instead I got up from the counter to check up on the pasta.

I looked back at him for a quick second and he was looking down at his hands probably thinking about why I didn’t wanna hold hands with him. It’s not that I didn’t wanna hold his hand, it’s just that I don’t wanna walk into something that I wasn’t really sure about. I felt really bad because then he just sat there looking at his hands until I told him that the food was ready. He quickly got up, grabbed his food, and left the kitchen without a word. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, but I pushed it away once everybody else came to get something to eat. After getting our food, we all headed into the living room to watch some more movies. It was only five, so I didn’t know what else we were gonna do.

9:00 That Night:

We ended up watching two more movies before we all got bored. “Let’s play truth or dare again.” Jay suggested. I didn’t expect to play again because of what happened the last time we played. Unfortunately, everybody agreed so Tom ran, got the beers and then we started drinking. After we all had about five beers, we started playing. I was definitely ok with playing drunk because then I wouldn’t feel as guilty the next day. Marcus didn’t understand how we played, so Max explained since he introduced us to the game. Once Marcus understood, we started playing. I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Nathan’s POV:

“Marcus is a friend.” That was the best thing I’ve heard all day. I was petrified that she ran off and got a boyfriend while I was away. But once she said that, I got all my hope back. I was happy that she made a friend, but I would’ve been happier if it was a girl. But I got to know him better and after we all asked our questions, we headed to the living room. Bri, Marcus, Chloe, and I all ended up on the same couch even though I just wanted to sit with Brianna. It was dead silent, besides the movie, and then Bri’s stomach growled. She blushed and I thought it was cute how embarrassed she was. We all burst into laughter at how loud it was. “Hey, what did you guys pick up? I’m starving if you didn’t hear.” Her sarcasm was another thing I liked about her.

“Oh, we picked up mac n’ cheese, candy and some beers for later.” I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen later but I guess it was gonna be fun since he was smirking. Bri seemed to be in a rush to get something to eat, so she ran to the kitchen to get started. I felt that would be the perfect time to talk to her, so I went to see if she needed any help. When I walked into the kitchen, she looked so focused but I wanted to help. “Hey, you want some help?” I asked. She hesitated before nodding. We had to open about twelve boxes of mac n’ cheese, which took longer than expected. Once we had finished opening all the boxes and pouring the pasta into the boiling water, we sat down at the counter. We didn’t talk for a bit but then I went to hold her hand. I felt a pain in my heart when she got up and went to check on the pasta instead. I guess she didn’t feel the same way that I felt about her. This was the second time I was disappointed and I wasn’t sure how much disappointment I could handle.

After that, I just sat there and didn’t move until she said the food was done. I quickly grabbed some mac n’ cheese and headed for the living room. Once I walked in and everybody saw the food, they all ran to the kitchen. I sat down on the couch while the others slowly started coming back. The couch I was on filled up with Siva, Chelsea, and Jill. That meant that Brianna would be on the couch with Marcus.

Since it was still early, we decided to watch two more movies, to pass the time.  Honestly, I didn’t care about the movies, so I stopped paying attention and started daydreaming. Once the first movie ended, we all stretched or went to the bathroom and then started the second movie. During this movie, I kept looking over to Brianna. She always got really into movies and I found that really cute. After the second movie, we all looked pretty bored until Jay said, “Let’s play truth or dare again.” We all agreed to play again but Marcus didn’t know how to play, so Max explained. While he explained, we all started drinking and once we were done, we each drank five. I wasn’t sure if playing drunk was the best idea but I was definitely gonna be fun. Round of truth or dare should be better than round one.