Chorus (Eight)

"I fell..."

"Into someone's fist? Come on, Holly I'm not that stupid so don't treat me like I am."

We were at a stand still.

My breathing was labored, my heart racing out of control, my palms were sweaty, I sounded like an eminem song.

"I-" I cut myself off, unable to finish what I was going to say.

He grabbed up both of my hands in his and pulled them to his chest, the gesture so meaningful that it sent a shockwave of electricity running down my body and to a pit in my stomach.

It was then that I realized the entire time we had been looking at each other, the hole was gone. The painful ache that resonated deep within my chest hadn't throbbed in so long that I'd forgotten it even existed.

I contemplated telling Sebastian everything, the whole truth about Dylan and my family. But then I remembered his famous actress girlfriend and promptly shut that idea down.

But if he was the only one who could make me forget the pain that I had been feeling non stop, then I had to come up with something plausible...

"I got into a girl fight..." I started, hoping that it would sound reasonable enough that he wouldn't question it, but I also said it was a girl so that he wouldn't try to go enact revenge on the person who'd really done it to me.

"Mhmmm. And what about that Dylan asshole that destroyed your phone. Are you sure he wasn't the one who did it to you?"

His eyes probed my soul that I could have sworn he saw straight through my lies.

I gulped.

"It was his girlfriend. S-she was mad that he was paying attention to me after we broke up and she blamed me for it and she punched me. I hit her back and that made D-dylan mad so that's when he broke my phone. That's it."

He looked at me like he didn't really believe me but our food came at that exact moment so he was forced to drop the subject.

I noticed that I'd only taken a few bites of my fries by the time he was completely finished eating.

I snorted in hilarity at him.

"What are you, a pig? You just inhaled your food!" I exclaimed to him, feeling a smile grace my face for the first time all day.

"Well what are you a rabbit? You've barely eaten anything on your plate this whole time! A man's gotta eat!"

"Yeah, man. Right. More like a boy."

He looked at me with an incredulous look on his face like he couldn't believe I'd just said that to him.

"I can show you just how much of a man I can be if you wanna head back to my place?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows with a cocky smirk plastered on his face.

I blushed and shook my head, popping another fry in my mouth.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm good here with the transients and delinquents skipping school."

He laughed, it perforated the stale air between us and I felt completely relaxed with him.

"What's your favorite color?" he suddenly asked me.

I looked at him curiously before I answered him, brushing a lock of auburn hair behind my ears.

"Blue. You?"

"Purple."

I laughed.

"But isn't that a girl color?"

"Hey, it can be manly! Now my turn. What's your favorite musical artist?"

I really laughed then.

"How badly do you want me to say your name for that question?" I pointed the question at him.

He squinted his eyes in fake concentration, putting a finger to his chin in contemplation.

"On a sale from one to ten? A million."

"Hah. Oh, then I'm sorry, Mr. Jennings, my favorite musical artist is either Florence and the Machine or-"

I paused for dramatic effect.

"Justin Bieber."

He looked at me like I was serious.

"Oh my god you should have seen your face!"

I laughed so hard I started clutching my stomach in pain.

"I'm serious red! Who's your favorite?"

I don't know, I like too many to choose. I listen to pop, rock, alternative, punk rock, country, rap, all of the friggin above. I do love Florence and the Machine though."

"Okay, so you picked your favorite, now your turn. Ask me a question."

I closed my eyes trying to think of something to ask him.

"Favorite song?"

"That's easy. It's not very well known, its called 'I Found' by Amber Run. I love the words, and the song is really haunting. What about you?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"I love that song! I wouldn't say its my favorite but its definitely up there! Who would've guessed we had somewhat similar music interests," I joked with him, playfully shoving his arm.

"Yeah. Who would've?" he parroted, his eyes seeming distant and far away for some reason.

"Any brothers or sisters?" he asked me.

"No. It was just my mom and dad and me, it got kind of lonely when they were fighting and I had to retreat to my bedroom to hide from them. What about you?"

He looked at me with sympathy, but I didn't want it. A lot of kids parents fought, it wasn't just me.

"I have two siblings. An older sister and a younger brother. He's about fifteen and she's twenty-one now. We're really close. Marissa and Elijah, but I call them Mar and Eli."

"That sounds awesome, I wish I had siblings. Okay your turn."

"Hmmmm. How many boyfriends have you had?" he asked me and I almost spit out the water that I'd been sipping when he'd started talking.

"Umm, I'm not sure. Maybe two or three? Only one of them was really serious though."

"Interesting..." he trailed off and that made me laugh.

"What's interesting?" I asked him while laughing.

"I don't understand how a girl like you has only had one serious boyfriend."

"A girl like me?" I asked him with my eyebrows raised, wanting to know just what he was insinuating.

"Beautiful. And you're kind and not at all like the other girls who loves drama and wants to be popular and famous. Its like you don't even care about who I am. I really like that about you."

I blushed hardcore from his praise, not sure exactly how to take it.

"T-thank you," I said, smiling while averting my eyes from his. I took a sip from my drink to give me something to do while I think of the next question to ask him.

"How many girlfriends have you had?" I asked him, repeating the same question he'd asked me.

"Two," he answered immediately.

My eyes widened at that revelation.

"Only two? Both serious?"

He sighed, a slight smile on his lips so I knew that it wasn't a touchy situation for him.

"Well. One was in kindergarten. And the second was in high school. She broke up with me when I told her I was moving to pursue my music career. It was what made me write the song that got me noticed on YouTube and once that went viral, well...the rest is history."

His mouth turned down once he stopped talking about his cute kindergarten girlfriend and his face turned into a tornado of torment and pain once he started talking about the more serious girlfriend.

"Her loss."

He looked at me sharply, and I just gave him an innocent shrug and smiled at him.

He smiled back.

"Wait.  What about Ali?" I asked him, unsure of why he didn't add her in his list of girlfriends.

He froze, his demeanor completely changed and almost...hostile.

There was a random flash of light that caught my attention, but not Sebastian's.  I didn't have time to be distracted by it before he started speaking again.

"What did you just say?" he asked me, venom dripping from his words with a vengeance.  I pried my eyes away from him and looked down at my lap in submission, it was a force of habit, I couldn't look at someone if they were mad at me.

"Aren't you dating her now?  Ali Hyl-"

"Don't say her name.  I know who she is." he cut me off viciously and I jumped in my seat.  He seemed a little remorseful at what he'd said and how he'd said it but when I flinched away from his hands that were reaching for me in apology, he clenched his fists and turned his head towards the window.

"Holly, I-"

"Don't.  Just don't."

*****

Author's Note:

Double Update!  Hope you guys liked it!  Please don't forget to like and comment!

BOMH is at #89 in Teen Fiction let's keep it up!  Thank you for all of your support!

-Kristen :)