Christian's p.o.v.

I follow Beau half-reluctantly upstairs to his room, while he continues to snicker ahead of me, and I feel the heat continue to creep over my cheeks. But then Beau's mother calls out to him, and insists that he leave his bedroom door open, and I immediately know even without having to see his face that his cheeks have turned a deep scarlet. I laugh at the irony, as Beau huffs and roughly shoves me inside his room.

I watch him with a suppressed grin as he goes to his closet, and grabs the hem of his hoodie to take it off, but the shirt he's wearing underneath stinks to the hoodie through static electricity and both of them pull away from Beau's skin to expose a thin strip of milky white skin. My eyes linger on his smooth and cutely flat stomach before, just as quickly, Beau is yanking his hoodie down. I'm sad to see the beautiful sight disappear, as I can't help but imagine how it'd feel to ran my hands over Beau's naked skin.

It'd be soft, warm and smooth, and my body would melt into his sweetness. He would be shy at first, but after whispered words into his ear, his insecurities would drift away and he'd became a magnificent beauty too dangerous to tame. He would become confident enough to take charge, and I wouldn't resist him even a little bit, for he'd be too irresistible to deny. I'd become putty in his hands for him to mold to his desires, and I'd love every minute of his dominance.

I would happily give myself over to him and relinquish all my control to better build Beau's confidence in himself —- I wouldn't mind being his puppet.

As I had been lost in my thoughts, Beau has gone to take a seat on his bed and has pulled out his homework from the day. I watch quietly, just admiring the sight of him frowning in focus over his math homework. And smiling to myself, I grab my backpack from beside the door and pull out my literature book before going to join him on his bed. As I sink into the comfortable foamy mattress, I feel Beau's eyes flicker up to me before he glances away, and then I peek up at him shyily too. My breath catches in my throat when my eyes land on him, and I feel my mouth go dry and my cheeks flush as I tear my gaze away.

But even though I've looked away, the crimson color of his cheeks and the sight of his bottom lip between his teeth remains burned into my retinas —- as well as his obvious struggle against his own arousal. With my gaze still trained on my homework, I hear the bed squeak as Beau stands up and stammers, "I'll-I'll be r-right back." He says before rushing to the bathroom and firmly closing the door behind him.

I can still feel the heat in my cheeks as I wonder what Beau was thinking about, although not to sound vain, I have a pretty good idea that he was thinking of me. But whatever his thoughts or fantasies had been, remain a mystery to me. I know Beau well enough by now, and I know how he feels about intimacy so I can't possibly say for sure that I know what made him go pink in the cheeks. And just imagining him thinking of anything remotely related to sex has my cheeks turning just as red.

I'm lost in my thoughts when the bed suddenly vibrates, and because my mind is already drifting through the realm of sex, I'm not surprised my brain immediately thinks there's a hidden stash of vibrators hidden under Beau's bed. But I quickly banish the ridiculous idea because he'd never have something like that shoved underneath his bed. So mentally shaking my head, I push aside the homework papers and find Beau's phone laying on the bed lighting up with messages from Jordan. I don't mean to snoop, but my eyes snag on something and I can't bring myself to look away, and then I'm doing the one thing I never imagined myself doing.

I reach forward and grab Beau's phone, and I don't care enough in the moment to feel guilty for betraying his truth by peeking into his private messages because I saw something that shouldn't be there. I tap on Beau's messages to Jordan, and as I read through them I'm struck speechless —- and then I see the pictures, and I suddenly don't know what to think.

How could Beau —- sweet, kind, magnificent Beau —- be planning to do something so horrible he'd go against everything that makes him who he is? Why didn't he come to me for help if things were getting so bad he felt like he had to seek out Jordan to ask for help? Beau . . . you're better than this, don't stoop to Garrett's level, you'll regret it . . .

Beau's phone is still in my hand when I hear the bathroom door lock click a moment before Beau steps back into the room. I quickly shut his phone off and toss it back onto the bed as he walks into the room, and I do my best to mask my face before he can read my thoughts. But I'm not quick enough as Beau glances up at me, and a crease forms between his perfect brows, as he asks, "Christian, are you okay?"

I say the first thing that pops into my mind, and guilt quickly follows. "Um, y-yeah I . . . I forgot I had to work today. My mom just called me, wondering where I am," I lie.

I watch as a wave of conflicting emotions war inside me as disappointment swipes across Beau's face, and he dejectedly asks, "O-Oh, do you have to leave?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I say, as I gather together my things. I don't want to have to look into Beau's sad face for any longer than I need too, and I also don't want to get caught in my lie.

I shoulder on my backpack as Beau watches me, and he says, "I'll walk with you to your bike, just let me put on—-"

"No, it's fine," I say, cutting him off. Beau frowns up at me as I force a smile, and swiftly kiss his lips before leaving his room. I move quickly so he doesn't get the chance to catch up to me and ask questions, because after seeing those pictures and lying to Beau, I don't know how long I can keep it together before I break.

Beau knows he can depend on me for anything, and I'll always be there for him. So knowing that, why didn't he come to me and ask for help? Why did he seek out Jordan's help and conspire with him to do something so horrible? Why couldn't he come to me and ask for help? We could have figured out a way to solve this together, but now I have to pretend everything is okay and go behind Beau's back to fix whatever holes he's about to dig himself into.

But then again, a part of me understands Beau's need to even the score. I just wish he could have gone about the whole thing differently, although the last time Beau got into it with Garrett he hadn't been plotting to go after him. So from then to now, what happened to change everything? Did Garrett go after Beau again and push him too far, because something must have happened to make Beau stray so far away from rationality. I just need to know what happened . . .

+  +  +

The next morning I wake up the sky is still gray with the looming threat of rain, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's some sort of omen. I go through the motions of getting ready for school, and while I'm in the kitchen preparing my lunch, my mind drifts as I think about what I'm going to say to Garrett. And once I've talked to him, I have to talk to Beau and I'm not particularly ready to have that conversation. I sigh to myself as I zip my lunch into my backpack, and grab my keys off the hook beside the door.

When I step out into the garage and flick on the lights, I see a dark shadow move in my peripheral vision and I jump. The shadow jumps too, and breathlessly laughs before crying, "Damn Christian, you startled me!"

My jaw drops and I gasp, "I startled you? Hah! I thought you weren't coming home until Friday?"

Michael shrugs and grabs my helmet from the handle bar, and tosses it to me as he replies, "Yeah, my plans changed and I got in last night. Where were you? Mom made an amazing dinner that could have blown your balls off."

I laugh and take the helmet as I reply, "I happen to like my balls, so it's better I missed that."

Michael laughs too and throws his arm over my shoulders, as he asks, "Would you like a ride to school today? It looks like it's going to rain . . ."

"I don't mind the rain," I reply, as I shrug out from beneath his shoulder and playfully shove him as I head towards his car.

Michael chuckles, and follows after me as he asks, "So what's new with you?"

I pull the door open and purse my lips as I climb in, and reply, "Ahh, I met someone . . ."

Michael glances over at me and frowns as he says, "Why did you say that so weirdly?"

The furrow between my brows deepens as I say, "It's . . . a bit complicated at the moment."

Michael frowns. "Why?"

I rub the side of my face, and mumble, "He did something, or at least he plans too and I need to stop him."

"Ahh, okay . . ." Michael trails off. "I'm guessing you don't want to elaborate any further?"

I purse my lips and shake my head, and mumble, "Not really."

Michael nods, and we drive in silence for a while before he asks, "What's his name?"

I feel a smile curl along my lips, as I softly reply, "Beau."

Michael glances over at me, and the same nostalgic grin of mischief curves along his lips, just like when we were kids. And I just know he's going to make one of his dumbass comments even before he opens his mouth. "Have you slept together yet?" Michael teases, while wiggling his eyebrows.

I scowl at him, and punch his arm as I yell, "You're such a pervert! And no, we have not slept together."

Michael chuckles. "Ooh, someone's touchy."

I huff and turn my attention to the window as I say, "What about you? Anything new?"

"Not really. School is school."

I glance over at him and arch an eyebrow as I ask, "What about you, any new girlfriends?"

Michael laughs and replies, "There's been too many to count, little brother."

I laugh as I teasingly reply, "What would mom and dad think of your behavior? Maybe I should ask them . . .?"

Michael shoots me a look, and says in a serious tone, "Say anything and you're dead, little brother."

I grin, and turn my attention back outside, as I say, "But in all seriousness, do you ever plan on settling down with one girl?"

"When I find the right one, sure," Michael replies.

I roll my eyes and mutter, "How grown-up of you."

Michael chuckles, and replies, "Oh, like you've never played around before . . ."

"So what, at least I'm responsible now," I say, with an edge to my voice.

Michael scoffs, and mutters, "I'm plenty responsible."

"Uh-huh," I mutter, doubtfully.

Michael purses his lips and parks the car, and says, "Okay you ungrateful brat, get out of my car and go to class. I can pick you up later if you want me to, just message me."

"Alright, I will. See you later!" I call, as I open the door. Michael smiles and waves, and I wave too before heading into the school.

Damn Michael, why did you have to go and bring up the past . . . I think as I head inside.

Word count: 2,054

~ 🌸 ~

A/N: Hello, lovelies! Christian's brother has finally made an appearance, although brief, do you guys have an opinion of him yet? What do you think will happen when Christian confronts Garrett and Beau? Will things finally get resolved, or just bring about more trouble?

Join me on the next update to find out! Thank you for reading, and please, don't forget to vote and comment. Have a lovely day/night!

Love from,
BunnyBaekkiee ❤️