“Do you have any idea how scared I was? I thought you died!”

I burst into laughter, and laughed even harder when she narrowed her eyes at me. “Really Bree? You thought I died?”

“Well okay, I thought you were in the hospital but you always answer your phone, and no one could get a hold of you. What was I supposed to think?”

“Uh...I didn't feel good, you didn't ever consider that maybe I just fell asleep and had my phone on vibrate?”

“I thought you said it was in the other room.” She deadpanned.

“It was, and it was on vibrate.”

“Oh, well then...No.”

I rolled my eyes at my friend, “I'm sorry I worried you both, and I'm really sorry that you all had to come back a day early.” I shot my eyes over to Brandon, “Well maybe not you.” I teased.

“You should be, and I'm going to kill Chase.” I tensed at his name, “This could have all been avoided if he wasn't off screwing some chick last night.”

Dear Lord my cheeks better not be bright red right now. “Bree, it's not his job to babysit me. You can't be mad at him.”

“Just don't scare me like that again, I love you.”

“Love you too friend.” I reached out to hug her, “And as much as I love you, I really need time with my man.”

She snorted and smacked my arm, “Be good. We brought Chinese home if you guys are hungry.”

Brandon sank to the bed and I crawled onto his lap. “So what would you say to grabbing some food, bringing it back here and just be alone the rest of the night?”

“I'd say it's exactly what we need.” He hooked an arm under my knees and carried me out to the kitchen.

“Brandon!” I hissed, “I'm not wearing pants put me down!”

He dropped my legs quickly and tugged on the shirt I was wearing so it was longer than most the skirts I wear. When your boyfriend is over a foot taller than you, his shirts practically become a dress. We looked through the takeout boxes and picked two of them when Chase walked through the living room. He slowed and looked at us, his eyes went wide and pain flashed through them before he could compose his face and gave us a hard nod. My jaw had dropped when I saw him and I forced it shut right before Brandon looked at me. I turned to grab silverware and chastised myself for standing here laughing with my boyfriend wearing nothing but his shirt. It was normal and needed for me and Brandon, but the exact opposite of what I wanted to do to Chase. Taking a calming breath, I walked back over and gave Brandon a playful nudge so he would follow me back to his room.

“How was the rest of your vacation?” I asked Brandon who was sitting with his back against the headboard, while I leaned against the side wall with my legs crossed onto his lap.

“Good, I really wish you would have stayed, but it was good to catch up with friends.”

“I'm glad you got to. Thanks for taking me, I loved meeting your mom.” I smiled to myself, remembering her bubbly personality, “She's great.”

He nodded and swallowed some food, “She loves you already.” He took the bite of chicken off my fork and pointed at my hand. “Where'd you get that?”

I looked at the ring and itched to hide it, not that it would do much good now. I shrugged as nonchalantly as possible and answered around a bite of food. “Chase.”

His face fell and it took a few seconds before he continued chewing. “Chase gave you a ring?”

“It's not a big deal.”

“A ring.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Everyone in the family gave me a few things Brandon.”

“A few? What else did he give you?”

Crap. I took my time chewing and swallowing that next bite, but forced my eyes to stay glued to his. “My tattoo.”

“Chase did your tattoo? You didn't think that was something I'd want to know?”

No, I just knew you'd be mad. “I didn't know it mattered that much to you. Would you have rather me gone to someone you didn't know?”

“At least that guy wouldn't have a history of trying to take you from me.”

“Babe, that never happened, and even if it had, he didn’t succeed. You need to get over it.”

“Not li–”

“Can we not do this please? I just got you back and I want to enjoy my night with you.”

“Fine. But next time, I would really appreciate if you didn't let him touch you for four hours.”

My cheeks flushed thinking about Chase's touch. Think about something else, think about something else, think about something else. “Brandon you're not – are you jealous?”

“Extremely.”

“Well take it down a notch Hulk.” I giggled and rubbed his arm, “Whose bed am I in?”

He continued to glower at the ring, “Mine.”

I crawled off the bed and gathered up the empty Chinese boxes, hating the fact that I had just turned that around to his jealousy issues with Chase. Leaning over to press my forehead to his, I held his gaze and spoke slowly before heading to the kitchen, “Then you have nothing to worry about.” I lightly brushed my lips against his, “I love you Brandon.” I vowed right then to spend forever making up for the biggest mistake of my life. But how do you make up for something, when the other person doesn't know about the mistake in the first place?

***

Life went back to normal as school started again and Brandon and I continued our relationship. It had been almost two weeks since he had come home from Arizona, and we were doing better than we ever had. Chase had begun avoiding me at all costs, and though it made me sad, I was extremely happy I didn't have to see him all the time. I don't know how I would have dealt with seeing his miserable face when Brandon and I were together, which was most the time.