69Sliding down went a lot faster than Melissa had originally thought. Almost immediately after she let go she landed in CJ's arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her feet firmly she stopped herself from knocking him over. The instant his arms were around her waist she knew that he would have caught her. Smiling she hugged Conner for a while, enjoying the way they just seemed to fit perfectly together. He held her tightly, as if he never wanted to let her go, but gently, like she was as fragile as a glass butterfly. Burying her face in his shirt collar, she let the way he was holding her relax her muscles. Soon it crossed her mind they would have to go back to the dance sometime. With a sigh of dread she started to pull away, but CJ wouldn't let her.
Keeping her close, he stared into her eyes. She stared back, captivated by the vibrant blue gray color. The urge to kiss overwhelmed them both but CJ was the first to act. Being so close, it wasn't hard to begin to lean forward.
"Oh shit, sorry!" A voice tore them apart and made them jump, "Fuck, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt anything." The red headed junior apologized, starting to walk away.
"No, Blane, it's okay." Melissa said, noticing he wasn't acting his usual absent minded self, "Are you okay?" Stepping away from Connor, she put her hand on Blane's back to make him turn around.
"Yeah, I guess," He pulled a lighter out of his pocket as he sat down on the concrete stairs. Melissa raised an eyebrow when he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket. With the cigarette in his mouth he suddenly remembered Melissa and her date where there, "Do you guys mind if I smoke?"
"Eh, it's your lungs your killing." Melissa remarked as Blane took a long drag, "I didn't know you smoke."
"I used to but I stopped after Leah said she would go to the dance with me." He took another drag and smirked after he blew out the smoke. It didn't reach his eyes, "That was 3 months of being cold turkey and now… I don't think I even give a fuck anymore." He ran a hand threw his bright red hair.
Melissa sighed quietly and tried not to roll her eyes. If she had a nickel for how many times Blane said he 'didn't give a fuck anymore' she would be one rich 17-year-old. "What made you start up again?" She asked, even though she was pretty sure it had to do with Leah.
Blane looked down, "It's a long story…" When he was upset, Blane could be as dramatic as Ashley. Everyone saw him as the happy-go-lucky kid with ADHD but just like his brothers he could be very over dramatic. The biggest difference between him and his twin Brody was that Blane kept it in check 90% of the time.
Sitting down next to him, Melissa figured if he talked about it, CJ and herself wouldn't have to go back to the dance anytime soon, "We got time." CJ smirked, surprised he liked that she roped him into it. He figured she knew Blane, maybe having more than one person would make the poor guy feel better.
"It's really stupid, like, Ashley and Brody kind of fight stupid," Blane sadly joked, taking another drag. Mel gave him a look and he laughed a little, "Oh yeah, you have to deal with Ashley's side of the story."
Noticing the confusion on CJ's face, Melissa explained what Blane was talking about, "Although Brody, Blane's brother and Ashley's boyfriend, can be kind of stupid sometimes, no offense Blane."
"None taken." Blane smirked, squishing the cigarette under his shoe.
Melissa continued, "Most of the time that Ashley and Brody get in a fight it's because Ashley blows what he says or does out of proportion." CJ still looked confused and she smiled at how cute he looked, "An example would be that one time we were at the mall and Brody asked if Ash wanted a larger shirt because he couldn't find the size she wanted. And she went on this giant rampage about how he was calling her fat and all this crap. We were in the middle of Macy's by the way. In the end we ended up getting kicked out and on the bus they kept fighting about whose fault it was that they got kicked out." Melissa finished, already bored with having to tell the stupid story again, "Anyway, Blane what's wrong, I'm sorry I got caught up."
"It's cool but it's almost as stupid as that."
Melissa nudged Blane with her shoulder, "I'm sure I can think of something to top it."
CJ smiled and sat down next her, proud that she used humor to make people feel better.
"Okay," Blane ran his hand through his hair, "So we were sitting around waiting for Ashley to get in the mood to dance," Melissa rolled her eyes but didn't let Blane see, "Anyway, I got bored and wanted to dance with Leah. So I asked and she said she wanted to wait for Ash and Brody so she wouldn't be embarrassed, which I'm totally cool with, I don't want her to be uncomfortable you know? Well, this asshole Chris walks up not 5 minutes later and asks and she fucking says yes!" Blane stood up, needing to get his aggression out by moving, "I know I shouldn't have but I lost my temper a little bit and asked why she would dance with him but not me. You know what she said?" Melissa shook her head, trying not to laugh at the little vein popping out of Blane's neck, "She said she didn't see anything wrong with dancing him and that I should be less controlling!"
"Wait…" Connor interrupted, "You two are supposed to be here as a date right?" Blane nodded, "That's fucked up dude. If you two are there as a date she should dance with you first at least."
"That's what I told her! Then the Chris dude got in my face and I…" Blane trailed off, looking guilty.
"What did you do Blane?" Melissa prompted.
"I kind of…punched him in the face. I only hit him once but he ran off like a little bitch and Leah started to cry and ran off too and then Brody started to yell at Ashley about yelling at me and I just told them to fuck off."
"Good." Mel spat then covered her mouth with her hands, "I'm sorry, that slipped out."
"No, you're right." CJ gently took her hands from his mouth, "I would have punched the dude too if he had asked you."
Blane cocked an eyebrow, so they are here together, he thought before saying a loud, "You know I should hate you because you're trying to steal my brother's girl, but you really are pretty cool. I mean, you get it dude." He squished his third cigarette under his shoe.
"Thanks, I think." Connor laughed, still holding Mel's hand.
"I am not Marcus' girl Blane. I haven't been for a long time." Melissa said annoyed, "Why does everyone keep thinking that?"
Blane started laugh, "Because he thinks he can win you back somehow."
"What?" Melissa stood just as her phone started to ring. Reaching down into the bust of her dress she found her cell phone, "Crap…it's Ashley," She answered and walked a little bit away.
When Melissa was out of ear shot, Connor turned to Blane, "So, why does Marcus think he can win Mel back? I mean, you'd think he'd get the message."
"Eh," Blane shrugged, "He's hard headed, always has been." He laughed, "He's like obsessed with trying to find a way to get her back that he can't see that Mel hates his guts. If I was her, I wouldn't take him back for nothing, not even chocolate." Suddenly, Blane turned serious when Melissa had her back to them, "Look dude, I consider Mel like my sister if you break her heart, I'll break your face."
"Did you steal that from MySpace or something?" Connor snapped, standing to get ready for a fight.
Blane's mood turned again as his eyes darted around and smiled, "No… I got it off of FaceBook. I'm sorry dude; I didn't mean to freak you out. Mel's a really sweet girl; she didn't deserve what Marcus put her through. Just, be nice, okay?" Blane started to walk off, "Can you tell her I went back to the dance if she asks? You two need some alone time to get rid of the banana in your pants." Blane humped the air for a second before laughing and walking off into the night.
Looking down Connor swore, "I thought I had that covered up."
"Had what covered up?" Melissa asked, sitting back down and rubbing her eyes. Quickly she pulled her fists away from her eyes and stared at the black flakes on her fingers, "Crap I just fucked up my make-up."
"Nothing," Connor sat down and grabbed her hand, "and your make-up is fine," He caressed her cheek, making her look at him, "So what's going on?"
"Oh, basically what Blane said," She rested her forehead on his shoulder, "Ashley wanted me to come and talk to Leah but I said I wasn't even at the dance anymore. I don't know what the hell she was expecting me to do, it's not like Leah was going to magically open up to me anyway." She shifted and rested her temple against his shoulder instead of her forehead, the pressure felt nice. It alleviated the headache she felt starting. Sighing she closed her eyes, "Drama, drama, drama, that's all dances turn out to be." Just as CJ was going to wrap an arm around her she sat up, "Where did Blane go?"
"Back to the dance," He needed to stretch, to move, anything to stop the vanilla sent coming off her from driving him any crazier, "Do you want to go back?"
She frowned and sounded guilty, "Not, really. I'm really tired and don't really want to deal with Leah begging for attention."
"I can walk you back to your room?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned his head on hers.
He knew the instant she pulled away because she started to straighten out, "Um, I don't think," She moved out of the way of the arm around her shoulder, "I'm ready to do…that."
It took CJ a second to catch on but when he did he laughed nervously, "That actually hadn't come to mind, you just look ready to pass out on the stairs."
"Oh…" Embarrassment made her cheeks turn hot and pink, "I'm sorry, I thought you wanted to walk me back because…"
"No, not at all," he laughed then corrected himself when she looked hurt, "What I mean is that I figured you wouldn't want to invite me in, so it didn't cross my mind."
"Oh, well, thank you," she sat up and CJ fallowed her lead, "Sorry to end the night early." She scratched the back of her arm, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole. The way he was looking at her brought back so many old feelings, she knew they were good, but that didn't mean she wanted to have them, "I think I can walk myself back though."
Giving her space, he started walking toward the dorms, "I know, but I want to make sure you get there safely, your ex looked pretty drunk already."
She shrugged her shoulders and laughed, "Marcus is completely harmless, he'll probably stumble his way back to his room and pass out. It's what he normally does when he's drunk."
"He didn't do that to you during a dance did he?" CJ had to clench his fist to keep from getting angry but it resonated in his voice.
"No, we didn't go to dances, I refused to because of… something that happened when I was freshmen." Her gaze stayed glued to the floor as they climbed the stairs to the girls dormitory.
Hearing what he thought was sadness, Connor reached for her hand and stopped, "What happened during Freshmen year?" His tone was gentle, if she didn't want to tell him she didn't have too.
"Well… Do you know Valerie Bradshaw?" Melissa tugged on CJ's hand to get him to keep walking, it would be easier if she didn't have to look at him.
CJ schoffed, "Unfortunetly, why?"
"Well, when we were freshmen, her and Marcus were dating but he caught her flirting with some dude," Tears stung her eyes, the memory had once been very sweet, "and he broke up with her on the spot and started dating me about a few weeks later. I know, I should have waited longer, but I really liked him then," CJ's hand tightened around hers for a second, "Anyway, the homecoming game was our first official date, but Valerie was so pissed off that she…" Melissa took a deep breath, butterflies in her stomach started to make her shake, "She decided that she was going to ruin our date. Apperently, Marcus was hers still and she had this giant freak out and it was…kind of directed at me." She let out a sob, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make this all depressing."
"Hey," CJ wrapped his arms around her when she started breaking down, right in front of her door, "It's alright, beautiful, you don't ever have to apologize for crying. Let's go inside your room."
She nodded, needing company to make her stop crying, "Fuck, I'm just like Leah, crying for no reason." She whipped her eyes and tried to laugh as they sat down on her bed. The laugh was to loud and out of place as CJ searched her bathroom, "What are you looking for?"
"Toliet…" He grabbed a roll of toleit paper off the back of the toilet, "Nothing, I found it." Wrapping his arm around her, he made her lean against him, "Would talking about what happened help?"
"Not really," She used the tissue he brought to wipe her nose, "I've already talked about to Tessa. I just want it behind me, to forget about it, you know?"
"Yeah, I do." He kissed her shoulder, "There's a lot of stuff that I've been involved in that I want to forget." He stood, he had to leave now, before she laid back on her pillow and made him stiff.
When she realized he was getting up, Melissa grabbed CJ's shirt, "You can stay a while if you want." She needed him to stay, she didn't want to be alone after mentioning what she reffered to as 'homecoming'.
He sat back down, "Okay I can stay a little while."
Omg I'm just gonna say it, writing this chapter SUCKED! And that is why it took forever lol I have a lot planned for future chapters so I'm kind of going "I wanna get done with this story arc already! D:" but I have to go one chapter at a time. I'm really sorry this chapter is bad the next one will be better I SWEAR it will be better (mainly cuz there might be smut YUMMY!) Lol I figure I should give warnings before M rated chapters and I'm very sorry there aren't more of them. The original plan I had got away from me thus why I have so many plot holes lol Please forgive me! Anyway, thank you SO MUCH for reading! I Love you all -myfingeristired- MUCH! :D (and please forgive any really stupid grammer mistakes. It's like 4:30 where I'm at so I'm like SLEEP! ZZzzzZZ Lol)