Oh Brother - S01 E22

2 years ago

Oh Brother - S01 E22

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 22

“Do I look like a s--t?” Dee asked, raising her eyebrows as she twirled around for me.

Her dress was black and skin tight, so I didn’t understand the purpose of twirling around. There was no space for it to soar, especially when it barely reached half her thigh. But despite that, I had to admit she looked great. And even though she was going to the New Years dance alone, it didn’t seem she would be leaving alone.

“Yeah, you do,” I said, smiling as her jaw dropped.

Before I could admit I was joking, she then closed her jaw. She straightened up and smirked, looking suddenly pleased with the response.

“Where’s Christian’s room?” she suddenly asked, sounding as innocent as ever.

This time my jaw dropped. My eyes even widened as her words echoed through my mind. Before I knew it I was scowling at her, feeling disgusted.

“Dee.” My scowl grew. “That’s… Sick.”

She laughed. “Saying your best friend looks slutty is sick.”

I couldn’t stop my smile from appearing at that. Shaking my head, I forgot about what she said. Thankfully .

“I was joking,” I admitted, smiling. “You look great. Straight hair suits you.”

“Thank you.” She grinned, flipping her hair away from her shoulders. “Think I can find myself someone hot?”

I shook my head at that, wondering how I was friends with someone so boy crazed. “Maybe.”

Dee smirked. “Someone as hot as Christian?”

I groaned and turned around, ignoring her words. At this point I knew she’d be obsessed with Christian forever, and there was nothing I could do but ignore her. So shrugging, I got ready.

*****

“Autumn,” Dee said, sounding amazing. “Wow.”

I found myself blushing as I wondered what I should do with my loosely curled hair. Leaving it out completely looked great, wow like Dee said. But, it wasn’t a look I was accustomed to. Curling my hair was something I wasn’t accustomed to either. This was all new to me, and I felt awkward.

“Thanks,” I replied awkwardly. “What should I do with my hair?”

“Leave it out.” She smiled from where she sat on my bed. “It looks great.”

“But-”

I suddenly heard a knock on the door, causing me to frown. No one had been at home, yet now someone was knocking on my door. I wondered who it was.

Quickly, I opened the door and Christian stood before me. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but when his eyes met my face, no words came out of his mouth. Instead, he just stared at me with his blue eyes glistening with thoughtfulness.

My heart suddenly began to accelerate as he brought his eyes down my body slowly, analyzing every part of me. In the maroon dress I wore that hugged my body, I suddenly felt insecure. In front of this young adult, I wondered if he was judging my child-like body that lacked any sort of curves. With Dee now standing in front of my bed, he had her – who had wonderful curves – to compare me to as well. My cheeked heated up.

But then, Christian slowly brought his eyes back up to my face. When his eyes locked with mine again, I became surprised when I noticed that his eyes lost their thoughtfulness. Instead they now looked gentle, affectionate almost as they just stayed staring at my own brown eyes. Not knowing what to do as my heart thumped, I just stared back at him.

In about a minute, Dee cleared her throat from behind us. That seemed to waken Christian up because he quickly moved his eyes away from mine to look at Dee. Finding my heartbeat slowing down, I also looked at Dee who stood where she was watching us. With her head titled slightly, she almost seemed to be studying us.

“Do you think Autumn should leave her hair as it is?” Dee asked, looking at Christian as her eyes glistened with awe at the boy she found gorgeous.

Christian quickly brought his eyes back to mine, and looked at my hair. With his eyes still looking gentle, he nodded as he suddenly walked past me and into my room.

“Yeah, she should,” he replied as I turned around.

For some reason I was lost for words as Christian leaned against my mirror table. He looked comfortable. Too comfortable in my room when my heart was still beating faster than I would like it to. Knowing it needed to calm down, I took a few deep breaths in and out. This was Christian, I tried to remind myself. Just some guy you lived with.

Once my heart calmed down, I looked back at Christian. He was still in the same spot as before, but now he seemed to be analyzing my room. To my horror and surprise, I realized this was his first time in my room. I found myself scowling, also noticing that Dee had moved closer to Christian.

Wanting him gone, I asked flatly, “What do you want?”

To my annoyance, he asked, “Where are you going?”

I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly. “I asked you first.”

“I wanted to hang out.” His face remained expressionless at that. “So, where are you going?”

Adrenaline pumped through me – even with those words – as we stared at each other for a second. I still didn’t know why, but Christian could easily do that to me. Just his presence sometimes put me on this sort of edge. Even though I liked him, it seemed like he could easily get on my bad side.

“I’m going to a dance,” I said, trying to sound firm because I knew I would anger him with this information. “With Nate.”

He didn’t react to my words. Instead, he just stared at me for another second. I stared back, waiting for his response.

“Why?” he simply asked, remaining expressionless.

“Because I want to.” I took a step towards him. “I want to go on a date with him because I find him cute.”

“Isn’t that a bit shallow?”

I rolled my eyes. “And because he’s a nice guy. Don’t worry Christian, nothing will happen if I date a guy like Nate.”

This time Christian rolled his eyes. “You don’t even know him.”

“I would if you let me get to know him,” I snapped.

Christian sighed at that and he ran his fingers through his hair tiredly. When he looked back at me, his eyes looked at me as if I was that little kid he had given up on. That kid he knew lecturing would never help. Instead of getting angrier, I suddenly felt hurt by that. Hurt that he thought the same as my mom.

“Guys,” Dee suddenly said. “Please don’t tell me you guys are going to fight. It’s not a pretty sight and I would rather leave.”

Christian sighed at that, his body sagging as he leaned back against my table. “No, I’ll leave. Take care of Autumn, okay?”

“I don’t need to be taken care of!” I exclaimed, exasperated.

Ignoring me, Christian stood up. Without looking at either of us, he then walked towards the door I stood beside. Unlike him, my eyes stuck to him.

“Wait, Christian,” Dee suddenly said. “Why don’t you come to the dance. As my date.”

Both Christian and I froze at those words. He turned around and my eyes flew to Dee, shocked. As she stood there, smiling boldly, I suddenly have the urge to slap her. After seeing what had gone down between the two of us, after all of the times I told her to back off from him, she didn’t seem to listen me. Anger boiled in my veins.

To my horror, Christian replied, “Sure.”

“Really?” Dee asked, sounding just as shocked as I felt.

“Yeah, it sounds fun.” He shrugged. “What should I wear?”

“Um.” Dee broke out into a smile. “Just a dress shirt and pants. Even if you come dressed like a hobo, you’d still look better than the others.”

Internally, I gagged at that. I then watched as Christian’s lip tugged up as he suppressed a smile. To my confusion, I suddenly felt sick. As if someone had punched me in the gut.

“Okay, I’ll get ready,” he then simply said.

He quickly left after that without even sparing me a glance. My eyes widened as I just looked down, wondering what the hell had happened. We had almost fought and then my best friend had asked him to be her date. To a dance where my date – who he hated – would attend. Anger was pumping through me at this point.

Before I knew it, I slammed the door shut. My eyes then flew to Dee, who’s eyes were now widened. I scowled at her.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, throwing my hands up into the air in frustration.

“What?” Dee asked, trying to look innocent despite that fact that her eyes looked bright with happiness.

If this had been another case, I would’ve been happy for her. Hell, I’d be celebrating with her. But in the situation we were in, I felt betrayed.

“How many times did I tell you that you can’t date him?” I hissed. “And really, after our near fight you ask him on a date. Do you even care abut me?”

To my shock, Dee suddenly looked tired. She sighed and just like Christian, I knew she felt like she was dealing with a child. Both hurt and fury rose up to my throat.

“Relax Autumn,” Dee said. “You guys didn’t even fight, and Christian is just looking out for you. That’s such a stupid reason to fight.”

I felt like someone slapped me with those words. Fighting back any sort of expression, I decided to go back to my original reason of why I was so mad.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t listen to me,” I said, noticing my anger sinking as hurt filled my chest in an almost physically painful way. “I told you a million times not to go after him.”

To my surprise, Dee’s eyes teared up. She looked at me with her eyes looking sad, and suddenly my own feelings of anger and hurt vanished. Dee was always so happy. Seeing her like this was rare.

“When was the last time I went on a date?” she suddenly asked. “When was the last time I had someone to call mine?”

I looked down as the pain in her eyes were evident. My last boyfriend had been two years ago, and hers was before that. It had been a long time.

“You have a date,” Dee continued, and I looked back up at her. “You can’t just expect me to be the third wheel.”

I was speechless as she walked towards me. My throat felt constricted, and I knew that she had a point. Everyone hated being the third wheel. What she had asked for was beneficial to herself. I should be happy for her. I should.

When Dee reached me, she gently grabbed my arms. I stared at her, still speechless as she looked at me with her tear filled eyes.

“Why is it such a bad thing for me to go on a date with Christian?” she asked. “What is your problem with it?”

I had no response. Deep inside, I kept telling myself that I should be happy for her. That this was okay. But the other parts of me still felt hurt. For some crazy feeing, I felt betrayed by not only her, but by Christian.

Shaking my head, I decided to push all this drama away. This pointless, heartbreaking drama. I had a date with Nate soon and I needed to make it a good one. Every time we tried to get closer there was always an issue, so I couldn’t let this be one of them. Knowing his patience would eventually tire, I just had to s--k up everything.

Looking Dee in the eyes, I said seriously, “Fine. It’s okay.”

Her eyes brightened up and I wondered if she was actually sad in the first place. But before I could question it longer, Dee embraced me. She squealed and hugged me tightly, and I groaned. Deep inside I wasn’t satisfied, but I knew this was the best option. I couldn’t keep fighting with everyone.