#midnight visit

It wasn’t often that Brody had to work so hard to actually hang out with a girl the way he wanted to hang out with Rachel. She felt the need to keep their relationship a secret, and on one hand, it was kind of fun and exciting. On the other hand, when he was alone and bored on Thursday night because his sister decided to steal Rachel away, the thrill of it was mostly gone. And now it was Saturday, he hadn’t really seen her in about a week, and he was across town while she sat at home alone.

He’d been so sure she would go to the dance. Her best friend was Quinn, and that came with certain expectations to be social. He’d expected that Quinn would have dragged Rachel kicking and screaming to the dance and that was the only reason he told Madison he was free to watch the screening of her new movie. She’d waited for him to tell her when he was free before she invited anyone else. He couldn’t bail on Madison like that...

But the whole night - which should have been a damn good time between the popcorn, pizza, and beer - he couldn’t shake the creeping guilt that whispered in his ear that he’d bailed on Rachel instead. It didn’t sit right with him at all; he could barely focus on the movie, didn’t drink more than half a beer, and of course Madison had to be the one to notice.

“You can leave if you want,” she said, but he could see the anger tugging down the corner of her lips.

“No,” he said, resting his head against her shoulder in apology. “I’m distracted, I know, but-”

“You’d rather be somewhere else.”

“It’s not that,” he sighed, glad they were in the corner so no one could hear him. “It’s just... I feel bad for kind of bailing on Rachel.”

“I thought she had a dance you couldn’t go to,” Madison replied, her disappointment fading quickly as she turned to him.

“I thought so too,” he said and it only took a few moments to tell Madison the mix-up, but her mood changed instantly as she dug his phone out of his pocket, handing it to him with strict instructions to invite her.

Ten minutes passed with no answer and he was suddenly sure she was mad at him; the fact that it bothered him so much should have been concerning, since they were just fooling around, but he knew better than most how wel Rachel could hold a grudge. Up until now, they’d been having fun. It’d be over if she was angry with him.

Madison all but pushed him out the door, promising they could watch the movie another time, and he kissed her cheek. Less than half an hour later, he was parking in the street around the corner from Rachel’s house. Who still hadn’t texted him back. Walking up her street, he could see a light on in her window, but he could also see her parents’ cars in the driveway and more lights in the dining room.

It was a risk, but there was a big tree outside her window and if there was one thing he was good at - at least, ten years ago - was climbing trees. As long as he didn’t fall and as long as she let him in, it’d be fine.

She didn’t see him right away, but he could see her sitting at her desk writing in what looked like a journal. She cradled a stuffed monkey under one arm as she wrote in her pajamas... were those cupcakes? Was she wearing cupcake pajamas?

It was stupid how cute she looked.

She jumped out of her chair when he knocked on the window pane, her eyes frantic until she realized it was him. And even then, she looked too startled to really do anything until he tapped lightly on the window again until she shook herself out of her shock.

“What are you doing?’ she gasped quietly as he crawled through her open window. “Why are you- I didn’t invite you over!”

“What am I, a vampire?” he quipped and he could see that she wanted to laugh, but there was something holding her back. Something sad in her eyes, and all he could think about was her insistence that she was used to spending time on her own.

“I missed you tonight,” he said, holding his hand out until she took it and let them sit on the edge of the bed. “Even Madison wanted you to come over.”

“I saw the text.”

“So you were ignoring me,” he said and she shrugged, but still held onto his hand. “I mean, it’s fine, I just don’t want you to stay mad at me.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Maybe not mad but you’re something,” he insisted, slipping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “Did you at least miss me?”

“Yes,” she said, sighing softly. “I’m sorry. I know you had plans-”

“I spent the whole night thinking about you,” he said before she could get too far into her apology. Maybe the timing had just been off for them, but it wasn’t her fault anymore than it was his. And he probably could have tried harder to find time for her, knowing that she was alone. “Even Madison could tell I wanted to be with you. Even if you are wearing cupcakes for clothes.”

“Shut up,” she laughed, pushing him away and as she tried to stand up, he fell backwards onto her bed, pulling her on top of him. “Brody, my dads are downstairs.”

“And we’re upstairs,” he reminded her, kissing her neck softly as she giggled again. “You just have to be quiet.”

“You shouldn’t even be here,” she said, looking cautiously at her door.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked and she bit her lip, worried; he thought for a moment she really would send him away, but she whispered a soft ‘no’ and let him kiss her. Soft and slow, his hands at her waist as she kept her on his shoulders. Simple and tame, but it still felt good. Good enough that he might have stayed like that all night if she hadn’t been the one to move first, sliding her hand under his shirt.

“I did miss you,” she muttered, and he found himself nodding as he flipped them over, tugging his shirt over his head and tossing it aside. Her hands found his shoulders again, nails scraping his skin and raising a shiver in his spine. God, she was better than she knew and he knew he had to control himself, but it was hard not to want to touch her when she was so good at it herself.

But slow didn’t mean nothing, and she didn’t shy away when he slid his hand up her shirt, her skin warm under his fingers. Warm and bare. She wasn’t wearing a bra - which shouldn’t have been surprising since she was dressed for bed - but it still made him curse under his breath. Made his mouth leave hers and trail down her throat as he picked at the little buttons on her shirt. One at a time, kissing her skin until they were all open. Still hiding her, save the thin line of skin that led all the way down past her navel.

“Are you still okay?’ he asked, tripping his fingers slowly back up the line and she nodded, a deep breath in her lungs as he pressed his mouth to her hip. And slowly, carefully, he pulled the side of her shirt open, until there was nothing over her at all. And she still said nothing, just ran her fingers through his hair, letting him kiss her skin until he was just under he breast. And it was so simple, so easy to shift just another inch forward, to take her nipple between her teeth and listen to her stuttering breath.

His hips seemed to take over, grinding into her until she moaned, her nails deep in his skin as her hips rose to meet his. And now her hands were wandering, traveling over his back and his waist, tripping lower to his thighs, circling around his cock but never touching. Just there, almost right there-

A knock startled them both, a voice on the other side of the door setting off alarms in his head as Rachel pushed him off of her, pulling her shirt closed. She smoothed her hair frantically, but nothing would be able to hide the red in her face or the black of her eyes or how swollen her lips looked just then.

They were fucked if her dad came in.

“I’m just getting in bed!” she said in a panic as he stood up. She pushed him towards the window, shoving him nearly off the roof as he tried to crawl through. “Just a second.”

“I just wanted to say good night,” her dad said.

“Oh! Good night,” she called and miraculously, they heard retreating footsteps. Brody held his breath until he was sure they were gone, then laughed quietly.

“It’s not funny!” she insisted. “I would have been in so much trouble.”

But she was laughing too and he knew it was time to go, half hanging out her window, but that didn’t stop him from kissing her one more time. One for the road, and then another just because he needed to.

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised. “Tell me when.”