Consequences

⟡four⟡

     Brinley woke up to the blinding sunlight in a strange bed. The soft white pillows and cozy blankets made it hard to leave. But Holden's warm embrace was even harder to abandon. His arms were now more loosely around her waist, not as tightly wrapped around her as the night before. She turned over very gently as not to awaken the sleeping boy. Holden's eyebrows were furrowed, which made him look angry. The sheets covered everything but his tattooed arms.

    Brinley shifted her weight farther away from Holden in an embarrassed attempt to get out of bed. How could she have just slept in the same bed as some stranger at a party? As soon as she moved a bit she could feel the effects of the few too many drinks she had downed the night before with Alfie. Her head pounded at the slightest chirp of the birds outside of the open window. She wanted so much to stay in bed, but refused to be here when Holden woke up.

    Quietly, she got out of bed and the cool morning air kissed her bare thighs. Brinley put on her jean shorts and tucked Holden's white shirt in to them so that she would look a bit more presentable. Brinley figured that she would give the shirt back the next time she saw him, or at least have someone else give it back. Finally, she slipped her shoes on and left the boy alone.

    A boy in the kitchen stunned her as she made her way down the stairs.

    "Didn't expect anyone to see you make your walk of shame?" The blonde haired boy laughed.

    "Matthew?" Brinley assumed. The boy did resemble the younger version of Matthew Wilson that she remembered.

    "Yeah. It's Matt though now. Only my mom calls me Matthew," He smiled a toothy grin that gave Brinley an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I didn't get to see you last night."

    "Sorry, Matt," Brinley emphasized his new nickname. "It was a big party, I only really talked to Lia and Gina, and I saw Brad playing beer pong."

    "What about Alfie huh?" Matt winked. "I heard you were with him for awhile. Also heard Holden Bell took you to bed. Is that who you're sneaking away from?"

    "I'm not sneaking away, I'm just, uh, letting him sleep in." Brinley tried to save herself, but quickly changed the subject. "It's a pretty big mess down here, need help cleaning it up?"

    "You know, Brinley, I throw big parties like this every year and you're literally the only person who has ever offered to help clean it."

    Matt went around with a large white trash bag while Brinley wiped down the disgusting counters full of spilled food and drinks. Matt would make jokes about Brinley and she would pretend that the jokes weren't funny. They continued in this fun and slightly flirty behavior for about another half hour, but it was interrupted by the sound of the ceiling above them creaking with the weight of someone's footsteps.

    Brinley quickly darted to get her things, shouting a quick goodbye to Matt. She didn't want Holden to see her like this, no makeup and feeling very sickly.
-
    Holden woke up to the cold air on his bare stomach. He checked the clock; it was 8:45 in the morning. Brinley had left him in bed. He checked around the room, and before checking downstairs, he put his pants and shirt back on. She obviously left his undershirt on, but he was fine with it, he probably had twenty of the same shirt. He thought she looked absolutely breathtaking in it anyways. It fit her like a dress and he would kill to see it on her again. But he had no way to contact her. He knew that she talked to that Aurelia girl, but he's never talked to Lia in his life so he can't get Brinley's number from a random girl like her.

    "Fuck!" He yelled to himself, not meaning to actually say it out loud.

    He wandered downstairs, doubtful that she was even still in the house. He saw Matt watching television amongst a clean living room, which was a striking difference from how it looked last night. Matt, one of Holden's best friends, also hated cleaning up after his parties and would drag the work out all day until his parents were nearly back home.

     "There's no way in hell you cleaned everything up from last night. That was just about the biggest party we've ever had." Holden remarked, astounded by the job his slob of a friend had done.

     "You're right. Your girlfriend did most of it." Matt taunted the curly haired boy.

     "Brinley?" Holden scoffed and Matt nodded his head smirking. "She's not my girlfriend."

     "You've crushed so hard on her since you were like eight. And she got hot. I could hardly resist her."

     "You fucking pig."

     Holden wasn't shocked by his best friend's words. It was rather typical of Matt to act like this. He was more of a one night stand kind of guy ever since his girlfriend cheated on him with Holden's older brother. That was nearly a year ago and Matt still held a slight grudge against Holden at times, although it wasn't even Holden's fault whatsoever.
-
     Walking home, Holden reflected on his short lived time with his third grade crush. She was cute back then, but now she was stunning. She grew into her big doe eyes and now they just seemed to be an average size but the icy blue color made them stand out.

     He was so jealous of his brother. How did that dickhead get to talk to her for hours whereas Holden got to take care of her in her drunken state.

     As Holden strode through the front door of his large brick house the devil himself greeted him from the worn leather couch.

     "Hey Hold, you're home early. Thought you'd be with that girl all morning." Alfie assumed, winking.

     "It's only nine in the morning, dumbass, and I'm not as shallow and heartless as you." Holden knew exactly what Alfie thought he had Brinley would be doing during the early hours of the morning.

     "You want a smoke?" Alfie smirked and rolled his eyes, offering his favorite form of relaxation to his little brother.

     "Aren't mum and dad home?" Holden didn't notice his parent's presence, but he was wary of accepting the offer, even if they were sleeping.

     "They are moving Theo into his dorms, or something. I didn't really listen when they told me." Alfie said, tossing a red lighter and a pack of cigarettes at Holden.

     Holden grabbed one thin cigarette out of the pack and lit it. He threw the pack back to Alfie and walked up to his room, placing the stick between his teeth, and wishing to be away from everyone for awhile. His only wish was relaxation, but with Brinley on his mind, he got none.