Chapter 24- The Bad Boy Has A Romantic Side 

Two things were circulating through my mind as soon as I opened my eyes. One, when did a tornado come through and wreak my room? And two, why was the bad boy standing next to me with a bottle of Advil and a bottle of water?

I tried to ignore the thumping in my head and the nauseous feeling in my stomach to ask him what he was doing there but every time I opened my mouth I felt like I was going to hurl. Mental Note, never drink again. I honestly don’t know how people handle this on a daily basis.

“Here take these and give it ten minutes.” He says a bit too loudly.

Without saying a word I hold out my hand to take the pills from him and do my absolute best to sit up in my bed. At least I think it’s my bed. After tossing the pills into my mouth and washing them down with the water he gave me I hand the bottle back to him and lay back down taking the cover over my head in the process.

“Or maybe twenty minutes.” He jokes after hearing my moaning from underneath the blankets.

It’s like a never ending migraine inside my head. What did I do last night, run into a brick wall? All I did was have three margaritas and apparently that comes with nursing a hangover the following morning. How can something that tastes so good make you feel so bad?

As the pain starts to ease away I feel it is finally safe to talk. But what do I know? I’ve never done this before.

“Where is everyone?”

“You mean your back up dancers?” He chuckles. “They are fine. Thomas took Olivia and Grace home and Sarah left last night with Lucas, after you passed out.”

Well that’s good. At least they all made it home- Wait back up dancers? Oh God what happened last night? Well whatever it was I have a feeling the embarrassment hasn’t even started yet.

“When did you get here?” I yawn with my head still buried under the heavy blankets.

I can’t bear to make him suffer my morning breath after I’ve been drinking all night. Speaking of, does that make me a light weight? I’m pretty sure no one has ever gotten as out of as I did over three margaritas.

“I’ve been here since three A.M. babysitting you.” He says.

“Do I want to know?” I cringe just think over the scenarios.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.” He admits.  

Oh lord. It must have been bad.

“How about as soon as you got here.” I say after resurfacing from the cover.

He gives me a sideways grin and crosses in toned muscled arms over his chest. Even though I still trying to come out of this hang over I still check him out as he does this. Wow my boyfriend is hot.  

“Well…” He starts settling himself in on the bottom of my bed. “It all started after I received a very weird voicemail from you asking if you were adventurous enough for me.”

“Oh no. Please tell me I didn’t.” I say while burring my face into the palm of my hands.

“And that’s not all.”

Of course it isn’t.

“Then you proceeded to tell me all the crazy things you’ve done in your life until the phone cut you off. After which you called me back again and rambled on about how rude it was for the phone to cut you off, for another three minutes.”

Suddenly the memory of us reading the article ‘What Men Really Want in a Woman’ from Heather’s Cosmo magazine came rushing back to me. What did I admit to him?

“What did I admit to?” I force myself to ask.

“Don’t worry. Your thoughts are just as innocent as your actions.” He answers with a chuckle.

Well I guess that question of am I adventurous for him was answered. He thinks I’m to innocent. Well I kind of am but I don’t want him to think that.

“I am so sorry.” I apologize. “You probably think I’m some sort of lunatic now don’t you?”

“A little.” He states.

Well this is it. He will probably dump me for a far less crazy person. Great job Farrah, you’ve done it now. Why did I have to drink that lime goodness last night? All blame is on that drink!

“I’m only kidding, relax.” He laughs. “Believe me I’ve seen and heard way worse than what you did last night.”

“Did?” I panic. “What did I do?”

I have a feeling I’m gonna regret asking that question.

“After I called you back and you didn’t answer I became a little worried and decided to come over and see if you were ok. And Thomas knowing Olivia was with you insisted on coming with me.”

“Well that makes sense.” I state.

“I think it was the table top dancing that had me concerned. Although I was quite disappointed I missed the pool show.”

Pool show? Oh no. My parents are going to kill me! I bet the rest of the house is as wreaked as my room.

“How bad is it? The house I mean.”

“Not too bad considering your sister and Callum spent most of the morning cleaning it up. You’re lucky your parents decided to stay at a hotel last night.”

Oh thank goodness. They didn’t know. I’m pretty sure that would have gotten me grounded until graduation. Talk about a bad rest of the school year.

“Well thanks for taking care of me last night. And believe me I’ve learned my lesson about drinking. I’ll never be doing that again.”

“Well I wouldn’t go as far as to say never. Just not without me.” He smirks.

Yep that old Brody is back. That sounds just like something he would say. Now that the spinning has stopped in my head I think it’s time for a much needed shower. Oh how I’ve missed my tub!

“Oh and just so you know. I’ll never be able to listen to Kesha again without thinking about that dance you provided for us.” He adds. “Great job by the way.”

If that didn’t send the blood rushing to my cheeks then nothing would. That was just the icing on the cake. I just pray that no one caught my show on camera or else I’m pretty sure I would never be able to show my face in public again.

“I uh…should go get…cleaned up.” I say awkwardly getting up and moving past him.

Don’t make eyes contact, don’t make eye contact, I chant inside my head until I’m almost out the door.

“When you’re done I’ll be down stairs. Nothing is better for a hangover than Starbucks. My treat.”

Well that’s going to be one awkward cup of coffee.

“Sure.” I mumble before exiting my room and heading to towards my large blue bathroom.

After my long warm shower I feel much more comfortable and very refreshed. All thoughts of last night are almost completely forgotten. Almost that is. That memory of me and jumping head first into our very cold outdoor swimming pool in just my undergarments still hasn’t escaped my mind and, I doubt it ever would.

My pink casual dress with the black mid waste belt hung beautifully in the front of my closet. I hadn’t worn it since before Blake and I started dating. Why did I stop again?

I take a glance outside at the sun shining down covering everything below in its bright rays and get the sense it may be a warm day. It would be the perfect day to wear the dress. I might as well, right? I easily pull the pink garment from the wired metal hanger and slip it on overtop of me. The fabric clings to my body comfortably and I am relieved it still fits. It is one of my favorite dresses.

I find a pair of black flats that very much resembles ballerina slippers and put them on to match my dress. I don’t know why but I felt the need to mix it up today. I suppose that article I read last night may have something to do with it.

Instead of my usual flat ironed look I decide to go for a more natural wavy hairstyle instead. After drying my hair within a few minutes it was already curling up in the ends going to it original state. I should wear it like this more often. It’s much easier to deal with.

I do a quick once over in the mirror than grab my phone sticking it in my white shoulder bag and I’m out the door. Once I get to the bottom of the stairs I immediately catch the attention of Brody who was texting someone on his phone. He doesn’t take his eyes off of me until I reach him.

“What? Is something wrong?”I ask.

I check myself in the mirror before I left my room did I miss something? Oh no. What if I have lipstick on my teeth or something? 

You’re not wearing lipstick.

Oh yeah.

Well what is it then?

“It’s nothing. You look…amazing.” He answers.

My heart swells at his compliment and I feel myself start to blush. It’s funny that that’s all it takes for me to feel all bashful inside. He said amazing. I don’t think I had ever heard him say that to me before.

“Thanks.” I smile.

And you look pretty good yourself. Of course I couldn’t say that to him. Well I mean I could, but I’m still blushing from his earlier comment.

But gosh he looks so good in that black t-shirt and leather jacket. Not to mention the fact that is muscles are showing through it. It makes me just want to run my hands up his toned chest and-

“After you.” He smirks motioning towards the front door.

Great now he knows I was checking him out. Please don’t let me have drool on my face.  I need to quit gawking at my boyfriend before he thinks I’m some kind of weirdo. I mean sure he’s hot but, I need to find a way to handle it better.

I chuckle in my attempt to shake off the embarrassment of my actions and proceed out the door. I make my way over to Rhonda and open up the door to get it. I’m surprised he’s letting me sit in her after all the vandalism Sarah and I did. Maybe this means I’m forgiven. I hope.

Once Brody takes his seat next to me the vehicle roars to life and he pulls out of my driveway. Well I was right about today. It was warm. I’m no meteorologist but if I had to guess I’d say it was at least seventy degrees.

With the windows down and the air blowing through my hair it was the start of a perfect day. No more thoughts of Kristen or Blake or any of the other problems that might come our way. I have decided that from now on I’m not going to worry about what ifs. I’m just gonna take it day by day and trust Brody when it comes to them. Besides, even though Brody said that Kristen had changed she may still be a perfectly nice girl, who knows.   

“You’re thinking about something.” He states looking out at the road with an amused look on his face.

“Aren’t I always?” I grin.

“Always.” He agrees.

Thirty minutes later we pull up outside the busy shop as the aroma of coffee hits me inside the car. Ah he knows my weakness. A white Chocolate Mocha with a blueberry muffin was never a bad way to go. It was my favorite thing to order here.

I didn’t notice Brody had already gotten out of the car until my door was suddenly opened by him opened. I gave him a courteous smile and stepped out into the warm fall air with him at my side ready to get my Mocha.

We fall into the small café and order our beverages and fresh pastries before taking our seats. Luckily we were able to get a window seat because the elderly couple that was previously occupying these seats had just left only moments before we were in need of a place to sit.

It was so sweet watching older couples that had been together for years. They still looked so much in love that it makes you feel special just to get to see them, which reminded me. I hadn’t seen my grandparents in probably two years or more. I should probably go see them soon. I feel like the worst granddaughter ever.

“Thinking again?” Brody chuckles watching me tap on my coffee cup.

“Sorry. I tend to zone out sometimes.” I admit.

“What are you thinking about this time?” He inquires.

“My grandparents and how I haven’t been to see them in a few years.”

He nods at me in understanding and takes another sip of his beverage.

“Don’t feel bad. I’ve only met mine once and that’s when I was eight years old.”

“That’s a long time. You must miss them terribly.”

He shrugs his shoulders and peers outside the window not offering much to say.

“I barely knew them.”

You know that annoying moment that you’re having a moment with someone and your phone rings disrupting everything? Well that’s what happened. I thought he was gonna open up to me and let me know a little about his past but I guess that’s not gonna happen now.

I unzip my white bag and pull the phone out from inside it to see who was interrupting us. I internally groan when I see a text from Heather on the screen. I guess this is the part when I get lectured for last night events.

Heather: We need to talk about last night.

Did I call it or what? I sigh text back a reply.

Me: Can it wait until I get home? I’m with Brody.

Heather: Fine but don’t make it too late. Callum and I have dinner with his parents at seven.

I roll my eyes and put my phone away only to realize Brody eye me curiously.

“What’s with the sour face?”

“Heather.” I state.

“Ah. You had to know that was coming.” He grins.

“Unfortunately.” I nod.

He finishes off the rest of his food and stands up holding out his hand to me.

“Come on, I want to show you something.”

“Is this one of those, I’ll show you mine if I you show me yours kind of things?” I joke.

“Not unless you want it to be.” He smirks.

I shake my head at him before stuffing the rest of my muffin inside my mouth in a very unladylike manor and take his hand. So sue me, I didn’t want to waste perfectly good food. I think I’ve been hanging around Sarah to long.

Brody pulls me out of the café to his car and opens up the door for me. I think I could get used to this kind of treatment. After I’m inside the car he closes the door after me and gets in on the driver’s side.

“Where are we going exactly?” I curiously ask.

“Now that would be spoiling the surprise, wouldn’t it?” 

Leave it to the bad boy to try surprising me. Why won’t he tell me? Are we going to Narnia or something? Oh man, that would be so cool. Maybe I could make friends with a bunch of mythical creatures and live happily ever after in a magical land to. Ah…if only.

Some odd miles down the road we are in unfamiliar territory and I was still puzzled as to where we were going. Brody still wasn’t giving up any information and I was still just as curious. It was obvious now that he wasn’t going to cave.

“Can you at least give me a hint?”

“We’re almost there.”

“That’s not a hint.” I complain.

“That’s all you’re getting.”  He says still concentrating on the road ahead.

I sigh leaning back into the black interior of the car while glancing over at the dash board clock that read three o’clock. I can’t believe how fast the day has passed. It feels like I just woke up three hours ago. Well technically I did wake up three hours ago so I guess that’s where most of my day has gone.

As an old small town comes into view it looks as if we’ve just crossed over into the past. Everything seemed so vintage… and I loved it. We passed by several gas stations and diners along the way but didn’t stop at any of them. Instead we kept on traveling to what looked to be the edge of town.

“What a minute.” I say squinting my eyes the scene in the distance. “Lou’s Drive in?”

“This is where I like to come to get away.” He answers with a half smile in his face.

“An old drive in?”

He grins as he pulls up to pay and finds a secluded spot to park. There weren’t many people there which wasn’t surprising considering this town was so small. But something about that gave it a quaint romantic feel that you couldn’t get in most places.

“It’s the only place that plays the classics.” He says turning off the car.

He reaches into the back seat of the car and pulls out a long red blanket the closely resembles a picnic blanket. I watch him as he gets out of the car and drapes the blanket over the hood and motions for me to get out.  

“Are you going to sit in the car the whole time or join me and the better view?”

A slow grin begins to creep up on my face as I realize the romantic scene he has set up for us. I can’t believe he did all of this for me. I quickly exit the vehicle and do as he requested joining him on the hood much to his delight.

I can’t help but notice something very familiar about the opening credits of the movie and as it rolls on and then it hit me. Of course I know this movie. It’s only one of my favorites.

“How did you know?”

“I saw the way your eyes lit up when the teacher announced to the class we would be watching it so I thought why not now?”

I throw my arms around this amazing guy that I somehow got lucky enough to get as a thank you for being so great. I can’t think of one other time in my life that I have had someone do something so wonderful for me. Not even Blake. It makes me wish I had met Brody first. I probably could have saved myself a lot of heartache.

The darkness of the night sky falls upon us as the movie comes to its end.  The four other cars that were there with us began pulling away while Brody and I made no move to leave. I was actually kind of sad it was over because that also meant my time with Brody was over. I had to be home in an hour to talk to Heather so that only gave us about ten minutes to get back on the road in order for me to make it on time.

“Did you enjoy the movie?” He asks as I continue watching the credits.

“Immensely.”

My mind wonders back to what my mom said at the cabin and I can’t help but wonder how someone so sweet could be capable of the things on his record. Not that I had read it but mom seemed pretty upset by it. What was it he wasn’t telling me? Was it even any of my business? In some ways I think not but in others I feel like it is. I am dating and after last night I’m sure I’m not keeping any secrets from him.

Oh great I just had to think of that again, didn’t I? And I had just forgotten to.  

“To bad we can’t just stay here forever.”I sigh looking over the empty lot.

“We can stay as long as you want.”

“Actually we can’t. I have to go home and get lectured by Heather. And I’d rather have to hear that than deal with my parents.”

I’m pretty sure that’s what this all came down to. She’ll agree not to tell mom and dad about my little party last night if I listen to her and agree not to ever do it again. It’s not like I’m lecturing her every time I see her and Callum are together. I can keep my thoughts to myself…sometimes.

“Gotcha.” He says taking my hand and pulling me off the car.

After everything is gathered up we are back on the road again. Along the way Brody and I decided to see who could do the best Harry Potter impersonations however mine kept coming out Irish for some reason so I think her won.

The ride back seemed a lot shorter than before but it still took the same amount of time to get back. Once we arrived in my drive way I felt sad that I had to leave Brody. If it were up to me I’d have him come in and say the rest of the night but I knew I could. Truth was I wasn’t exactly ready to let him go yet.

I feel bad that I didn’t mention Kristen to him but I didn’t want to ruin our perfectly wonderful day by bringing her up. Beside she won’t be here till Tuesday anyway so I can tell him tomorrow. That is if he doesn’t already know.

After biding Brody goodbye and forcing myself to let him leave I enter the house when Heather was waiting on me. She was sitting at the kitchen bar with her arms crossed over her chest giving me her serious look. This is the same look I got when she relieved the picture message of me at the party that Blake had sent her.

“You’re cutting it close. I have to leave in ten minutes.” She states.

Well that’s good. At least she can’t lecture me too long.

“What was so important that you needed to talk to me about?” I ask even though I already know.

“Look, if you and your friends are going to drink I’d appreciate it if you would clean up after yourselves. And next time you want to borrow my Cosmo magazine, ask first.”

Wait that was it? This is what she was so upset about? There’s no, “I’m gonna tell mom and dad what you did” speech? Or “Brody and your new friends are a bad influence on you, stop seeing them” warning? This was so not like Heather.

Wait am I still dreaming? I’m gonna be so bummed to wake up and find out this day never happened. Not after how perfect it was.

“You’re not going to tell on me?”

She shakes her head and a small smile starts to form on her face.

“After you have been so understanding about me and Callum and agreeing to helping with the wedding? What kind of sister would I be?” She says. “But seriously, next time be a little more careful.”

“Got it.” I smiled with relief.

That didn’t go at all how I thought it would. I guess my sister is not as bad as I’ve always thought. And I hope this is a sign that tomorrow isn’t going to be as bad either.

Once Heather left I decided to go up to my room and watch some funny Youtube clips to pass the time until bed. Nothing can help take your mind of things better than watching Awesome People clips and some of the year’s best pranks. You know just in case I need any ideas for the future.

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A/N

Sorry I ended it so abruptly but I was getting writers block towards the end of this chapter and did the best I could. But at least I gave you a lot of Brody and Farrah in this chapter.

I know some things are still unexplained but I promise I will get to them soon. In fact the story will be coming to an end in about 4 to 5 chapters but that’s just a guess. It could be a little longer or a little shorter. I might write couple of bonus chapters to about Olivia and Thomas. I know some of you were wanting to know about their story so that will be my gift to you.

The next chapter will have more of your other favorite characters I missed in this chapter. I know I said that before but this time I promise. And maybe a prank to, not sure yet. Lol.

Anyway tell me what you liked best about this chapter and don’t forget to vote. I’m setting a goal this time just for the heck of it. 300 comments and 3,000 votes. Please help me get there!

And as always this chapter is unedited so feel free to politely point out my mistakes if you want. Now I’m off to watch Perks of Being a Wall Flower. Hope it’s good.

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