your body is a weapon → brad simpson | ✓

thirty three

"I think I'm gonna pass out."

"You'll be fine."

"I'm so nervous, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Over my car? I think the fuck not," Brad says, glancing over at me as I sit in the passenger seat. I was growing anxious realising that I'm meeting his family for the first time and I had to set a good impression for myself.

"What if they hate me?" I say, biting my bottom lip nervously and he places his hand over my shaking leg.

"They won't," he says. "I've already told them that you're amazing, all you have to do is act normal." He makes it sound easy. "We're almost there, we can take a couple minutes for you to calm down before we go in if you want."

I nod quickly, looking at myself through the mirror at the side of the car. I look like a nervous mess and I feel like one, too.

When we arrive at his mum's house, I look over it. It's a standard house, probably had three bedrooms. I don't know, I'm think in to everything since I'm shitting bricks.

I climb out of the car and Brad softly takes my hand, pulling me closer to him. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, holding me close and I hug his torso tightly. I bet he could feel my heart beating against his own chest.

"Are you feeling better?" He asks after a few moments and I nod. Surprisingly, he managed to make me feel slightly less nervous. "They'll love you almost as much as I do, don't worry."

I slowly move away from him and send him a soft and small smile. "I think I'm ready to meet your parents."

He takes me up to his front door and knocks. It takes a few seconds before I hear the lock clicking and a small woman about my height opens the door with a grin.

"You're late!" She scolds Brad as she takes him in for a hug.

"Nice to see you, too," Brad rolls his eyes, stepping out of her grasp. She smiles and tugs me into a welcoming hug.

"You must be Jamie," she says, holding me at arms length and I nod with a smile. She was very smiley. "Brad spoke a lot about you, he also told me not to show you his baby photos."

Brad rolls his eyes as I turn around with my eyebrows raised. He didn't want me to see him as a baby? I bet he was a cute baby.

"Well, that's a shame," I say with disappointment laced in my voice. "I was hoping to invade all his childhood photos."

"That's why I have the photo album ready!" She grins and I hear Brad groan from behind me. She guides me inside and takes my jacket off of me before I take my shoes off. "Nat and Derek are in the lounge, I'm gonna check up on the food and then we can start watching some Christmas films!"

"Alright," Brad says, his hand on my back as he shows me to his lounge. He had a corner sofa and on one end, sat a man with tanned skin and white hair, while on the other sat a girl with brown hair.

The man smiles, standing up and shaking my hand. "I'm Derek, Brad's father."

"Nice to meet you," I smile back. "I'm Jamie, his friend."

"Brad actually has friends?" The girl says, gasping. She stands up, too, wrapping me in a hug. I don't know why I was so worried to meet everyone since they're so welcoming already. "I'm Nat, lovely to finally put a face to the name. Brad wouldn't shut up about how we better not embarrass him."

I laugh halfheartedly before Brad takes me to the sofa and we all sit down. His mum joins us soon and after and I quickly learn that her name is Anne. We watch a couple of Christmas movies and chat amongst ourselves. I got to learn about Brad's family and what he was like growing up.

"He was alright growing up," Anne said. "He was a bit mischievous—always playing pranks on poor Nat."

"Pranks? You call them pranks?" Nat exclaimed, horrified. "He tried killing me, mum!" She turned to me. "This one time, we were out playing football because he wanted to try out for the team at his school and he was trying to score a goal with me in the net and shot straight for my face! I had a red mark on my face for the rest of the day."

Brad snickered from beside me, his arm sling behind me as it rested on the sofa. "It wouldn't have killed you, Nat. It just hurt you really, really badly."

I also got told that he loved playing the guitar but, despite his parents joint effort to convince him, he didn't end up playing anything for us. I didn't mind—I'm sure I'll get him to do it another time.

Now, we all sat around the table, feasting on a roast dinner. Brad and I sat on one side while Nat and Anne sat on the other. Derek was at the end of the table.

"So, how come you're not spending Christmas with your family?" Anne asks politely and Brad throws her a glare.

"Mum," he scolds her. I don't mind that she asked, I wasn't offended.

"It's fine," I say, more for his assurance. I turn to Anne with a small smile. "I'm not really close with my mum anymore and my dad is really busy at work over the holidays. Brad offered to have me over."

"That's my boy," Anne coos at Brad, "such a nice and kind boy." She isn't wrong, Brad is definitely a nice and kind boy. Sometimes I forget that he has ADHD.

Brad rolls his eyes as his cheeks flush red, clearly embarrassed and I hum in amusement. Brad isn't one to get embarrassed that easily.

"Are you staying tonight?" Anne asks Brad. He shakes his head at her.

"I'm taking Jamie back, then I'm gonna go and see the boys," he explains and Anne nods. Does she get to see Brad often, or only on occasions like this? He probably never has time, he's always at school or at the tracks. I hope he makes time for her and the rest of his family.

Once we finish our food, I help Anne our everything in the dishwasher and even wash some of the pans for her—much to her protests. We end up watching a couple more films until it grows late and Brad announces we should go soon.

"It was lovely meeting you," Anne takes my hands in hers as Brad says bye to her dad and sister. Nat was sarcastic and we definitely had a lot in common, I liked her a lot. "It's good to know that Brad has a friend as lovely as you. He's definitely been happier since he met you."

I smile, my cheeks going red. "Thanks, Anne. He makes me happy, too. It's nice having a best friend like Brad."

"I'm so glad he has a friend outside of the gang," she says. I had noticed a few jokes thrown Brad's way about the gang and I'm not surprised that they knew about it. "If he's ever mean to you, you let me know, alright? I'll have a stern word with him."

"I will," I say, before we embrace in a hug. I bid goodbyes to the others before Brad and I walk down to his car.

"I told you not to worry," he says to me, his arm over my shoulder. He opens the passenger door for me and I thank him. He gets in moments later.

"I was just nervous," I say to him. "But they're really nice, I think I like them more than you."

He throws me a playful glare and a small giggle escapes my lips. "I'm glad you like them. You'll see a lot of them now we're best friends."

The ride to my house is pretty much a carpool karaoke since Brad put on some festive music because it's Christmas. We can't listen to it for another year after today.

As we arrive, Brad and I both get out and I engulf him in a hug. I'm thankful I didn't spend Christmas alone in my room, basking in my loneliness and sadness.

"Thanks for having me today," I say as I shift my head off of his chest. He smiles down at me, his hands rubbing against my cold arms to help warm me up.

"It's okay," he assures me. "I'm glad I could have you 'round—it would've been boring otherwise." I smile at him before we move out of each other's embrace.

"I'll talk to you later?" I ask and he nods, a small smile on his face. "See you soon, Brad."

"In a bit, ranger."

edited.