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Brody & Michelle Ch. 01

By: dancepet20



Author's Note: Hey, guys! This is my first submission on the website (or any, really). It's going to be a long, multi-chaptered story about two kids falling in love. I know. Original, right? Anyhoo, just letting you know now, that it is one of those annoying stories where the sexy stuff doesn't happen until later on, so... just warning you now. Thanks for reading! 

*****

"I don't really want to go to your party, Stephanie." Brody groaned into the phone.

"Why not?" asked the voice on the other line.

"I don't like your friends. I don't know how you like your friends. You're way too cool to hang out with half of them."

"Michelle will be there. You know, the one with the hair you like?"

He paused. "The blonde?"

"Yeah." 

"Has she ever mentioned me? Like brought me up in casual conversation? You know, over coffee or something?"

"We don't drink coffee, and no. Sorry, Brody, but I'm pretty sure she has no idea who you are."

"But at that picnic thing we talked for at least five minutes straight."

"Well... I'm sure she'd recognize you, but if I said 'Brody' to her she would literally have no idea what I was saying."

"What do you mean she would 'literally' have no idea what you were saying?"

"Brody doesn't sound like a name. It sounds like a car part." 

"No, it doesn't. It sounds like a name."

"Well, that's debatable." 

"Technically, anything is debatable."

"Oh my God, Brody. I don't have the time to debate with you over the word debatable being debatable. Do you want to come? I'm starting to regret asking you." 

"There will be food, right?"

"Snacks. Munchables."

"I'll come."

"Great. Hey, best case scenario you get to know, maybe hook up with, Michelle, right?"

"Right," he smiled. "And worst case, I choke on a Bugle and die in front of her."

"That's the spirit. I'll see you later."

_____________________________ 

Two weeks ago at the picnic thing...

"Ow!" He got hit in the face with a soccer ball. 

"Sorry, man," a well-built friend of Stephanie's said while he peered down at Brody. "I meant to kick it to Joe." He pointed behind him to Joe, and Joe waved.

"It's fine. It's not like you did it on purpose. Balls go in all sorts of directions, so... Am I bleeding? I feel like I'm bleeding."

"No. You're not bleeding," the guy said with a "rolling your eyes" voice. Brody could just hear the well-built guy calling him a pussy in his mind. 

Brody, who didn't take kindly to mind insults, said irritably, "Okay. Have fun."

The well-built guy's eyes narrowed. "Do you want to join in...?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Okay. Well, if you change your mind..."

"Yeah. I'll let you know." 

"Okay." He kicked the ball to Joe.

"So... you're just going to sit on the grass on this beautiful summer day?" a voice from behind him asked.

Brody turned around and saw a very pretty blonde girl giving him a quizzical look. 

"I like grass. It feels nice," he responded while fondling the grass with his fingers.

Noticing him intimately touching the grass she said, "You don't go outside much, do you?"

"I guess not."

"I can tell by the pasty skin."

"Thanks."

"Sorry," she smiled. "I just insulted you without introducing myself. I'm Michelle."

"I know. You're Stephanie's friend. I am, too."

Michelle gave him a surprised look. "You are friends with Stephanie?" 

"Yeah. She lived across the street from me from fifth grade and up."

"And you guys stayed friends through high school and stuff?"

"Yeah. Why are you surprised?"

"I don't know. Stephanie hangs out with, like, those well-built soccer ball guys, and she's 

gorgeous-"

"And I'm some pasty skinned loser who sits inside all day?"

Michelle looked slightly surprised then grinned. "Exactly." 

Brody laughed and gave her an almost impressed look. "I wasn't expecting that."

"What were you expecting?"

"A contrite apology." 

"Ooh... I don't apologize. Or act contrite unless it's actually necessary. And isn't a contrite apology a little redundant? I mean, almost all apologies are contrite by definition." 

"Oh. You like words. That's cool." After, there was a semi-awkward pause. Michelle looked down at Brody and then the other guys playing soccer, then, giving a look that said "What the hell?" sat down next to Brody. 

Michelle then pointed at the sky and said, "That cloud looks like The Enterprise."

Brody squinted as he looked up. "It does. I wish the sun wasn't so bright. I'd be able to see it better."

"Are you complaining about the sun?"

"It's too bright out here. I prefer the dark."

"Do you spend a lot of time in your parents' basement or something?" she teased.

He glanced at her, giving her a look of mock offense. "No. Besides, you're the one who made me look at a cloud that was shaped like The Enterprise."

Michelle laughed. "I guess I did."

"So... do you like the original, The Next Generation, or..." his face grew disgusted "...Deep Space 9?"

"Uhh... I liked the J.J. Abrams movie..." she said sheepishly. 

"Aww... Come on."

"What? You didn't like it?"

"I liked it. It was pretty good, just... That's how you recognized The Enterprise?" He looked disappointed at the thought, and, for some reason, Michelle didn't want to disappoint him.

"No. I've seen Star Trek before. What I saw of the original I liked, but... I just haven't seen that much of it."

"It's my favorite, too. You can almost never beat an original. I have it on DVD-" As Brody put his hand down on the ground to lean on, he pressed it down on something hard. "Ouch!" he yelled. He looked down and saw an acorn. He picked it up, threw it, and then mumbled, "Damn nature" under his breath. 

Michelle watched the incident and narrowed her eyes. 'Damn nature?' she thought to herself. 'Who doesn't like nature?' She then turned to him and said, "If you hate being outside, how did Stephanie get you to come to a picnic?"

"Have you had her chicken salad?"

"No. I'm a vegetarian." 

"Everyone's a vegetarian," Brody said while rolling his eyes. 

"No. That's not true."

"Well, obviously. I mean... if you tried her chicken salad, you might change your mind. It's amazing."

"What?" she asked skeptically. "It has converting powers or something?"

"Yeah. It's like the Angelina Jolie of..." he trailed off "food, I guess," not being able to come up with the right word.

"What do you mean by Angelina Jolie?"

"Like... How I would go gay for Robert Downey Jr. Most girls say they would go gay for Angelina Jolie. That's what I meant."

"Oh. Okay. I would never go gay for Angelina Jolie, though. She freaks me out. And I don't find her lips appealing at all."

"Oh, yeah?" he smiled. "Then who would you go gay for?" he asked almost challengingly. 

"Umm... I don't know. Tina Fey, I guess," she said, slightly embarrassed. 

"Tina Fey? Why?"

"Umm... She's funny. And cool... I like her glasses."

"I wear glasses," he said, obviously without thinking first. 

Michelle looked at him, smiled slightly, narrowed her eyes, and looked down at the grass. "That's right... You do." A few seconds passed, and Michelle looked up at Brody and said, "Well, it was nice to meet you, but I came out here to have fun. You don't mind if I go play soccer with those guys, do you?" 

"No. Of course not. It's a beautiful summer day. You should enjoy it." 

"Okay." Michelle got up and looked down at him. "Do you want to come play? Exercise is good for you."

"No. I was just about to go get some more of that chicken salad."

"Ah. I see. Well, be careful. It's hot out today," she said. Then her face grew almost concerned,"Mayonnaise." 

"Oh, I'll be careful. I've had bad macaroni salad before. It was the worst twenty-four hours of my life. I had stuff shooting out of both ends." 

"Okay..." Michelle said. "Well, maybe I'll see you sometime."

"Yeah. Definitely." 

"Bye."

"Bye," Brody said as he watched her jog down to the guys playing soccer. He liked her. 

'I don't know why she wouldn't remember me,' he thought. 'Things went pretty well.' 

_____________________________ 

"Brody?" Michelle asked Stephanie. She was at Stephanie's house helping her set up the party. "I don't know that- who that is." 

"That's what I thought. It doesn't sound like a name, does it?"

"No, it-"

"It sounds like a rotor or Rotary Club-"

"I've heard the name Brody before. I just meant I don't know who he is." 

"You met him at the picnic."

"Who? The tall one who kept complimenting my tits?" she asked sardonically. 

"No," Stephanie said, wincing. "That was Steve, and he's a douche bag. Sorry about him. 

Brody... he's short, he has the dark shaggy hair and glasses..."

"Oh! Just a tad chubby? Cute in a hobbit-like way?"

"Yes. That would be him."

"Oh. He was interesting. Fun to talk to. I just didn't know his name."

"Is he interesting in a good way?"

"Yeah. I think so. Maybe he was nervous or something, because he said a couple things that were..."

"Really odd?" Stephanie supplied.

"Yeah."

"Well, he does that. But, to be fair, so do you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. So... he really agreed to come after you mentioned I was going to be there?"

"Yes."

"But we only talked for maybe five minutes."

"Well, you made quite an impression in those five minutes. What did you guys talk about?"

"Umm... Star Trek, your chicken salad, and who we would go gay for, I think..." 

"As a first conversation?" Stephanie's eyes got huge.

"Yeah."

"Who did you say?"

"Tina Fey."

"Oh. So you like the sexy librarian type?"

"Just because a woman wears glasses doesn't mean she's a librarian."

"Okay. So... you'll talk to Brody if he comes?"

"Of course." Michelle turned and looked at Stephanie. "I'm not going to be rude. Besides, he was kind of funny."

"Good," she replied looking very relieved. "Brody doesn't like very many of my friends."

"He likes me, apparently."

Stephanie laughed. "I know. Out of all the people he could like..." she said teasingly.

"You're a bitch." 

_____________________________ 

Brody wanted to kill himself. He had no idea why he decided to come to Stephanie's lame party, anyway. All these pretty, shallow, and on their way to Drunksville people were making him incredibly suicidal. Skinny girls refusing Chex Mix, because they were "fat" but drinking an insane amount of Smirnoff Ice's were, amazingly, not his crowd. Coming here in the hope of potentially speaking to a girl he didn't know, who probably thought he was weird, was not something that he would typically do. Plus, to make it worse, he hadn't even seen her. 'I'm in hell. My own, personal, hell,' he thought to himself. Then, as if the Devil himself had heard Brody's mind tirade, someone turned on music. 

"Is this Katy Perry?" he said to himself disdainfully. 

"Yeah," said Michelle as she sat down next to him.

"Oh," Brody said, quite surprised she was sitting on the couch by him. "Hi."

"Do you not like Katy Perry?"

"No. What's to like?"

"You don't find her lyrics insightful?" Michelle asked teasingly.

Brody laughed. "Well, I guess the line about kissing a girl and liking it is pretty astute."

"Yeah. And I always thought her line about her boyfriend not minding it was kind of tongue-in-cheek, because what boyfriend would mind it?" 

"That sounded like a serious opinion."

"So you agree with me?"

"No. I didn't say that. To be honest, I think you're giving her too much credit. I bet it wasn't supposed to be tongue-in-cheek." 

"Hmm..." she said, giving him an assessing glance. "That's kind of cynical."

"It is," he smiled. "Sorry. There's just something about being around these people that turn me into a total dick."

Then a girl shouted out, "Celebrity! Celebrity! We're playing Celebrity!" 

Michelle turned to him. "Do you want to play Celebrity?"

"Sorry. What was the name of the game, again? The girl didn't say it enough times, and she definitely didn't say it loud enough." 

Michelle laughed. "Let's play." 

"Okay."

They both got up and moved to the other side of the room where some of the partygoers were playing Celebrity. After everyone was divided in to two teams and they all put a celebrity into the hat the same shouty girl explained the rules of the game. "Okay. So, you basically pick a celebrity from the hat and describe the person on your paper. But, you cannot use the names of bands, movies, or television shows when you are trying to get us to guess. Okay. My team will go first." 

The shouty girl, who was not on Brody and Michelle's team, picked a celebrity. "Okay. I'm really pretty, and I have long, blonde hair. I'm on a TV show with a lot of gals on it. And on it, we talk about other gals behind their backs..."

"Oh! Umm... Blake Lively!" a girl exclaimed.

"Right!" then the shouty girl picked another celebrity from the hat, and continued on with her turn.

Brody looked at Michelle and asked, "Who is Blake Lively?"

"She is on 'Gossip Girl.'"

"I've never seen that."

"Me, neither, but she was in the 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' movie, so..."

"And, of course, you've seen that?"

"Come on. I read the book when I was younger. Besides, it was a pretty good movie. It got Two Thumbs Up." 

"So did a lot of things." Brody then smiled at her. "I'm kidding. I saw it, too. On TV. It was cute."

"Why did you watch it?"

"I don't know. The teenage girl inside me made me."

"You have a teenage girl inside you? You should get that taken care of..." Michelle then started laughing. "Sorry. That was weird."

Brody shrugged. "I thought it was funny. I should get it taken care of. Maybe then I'll stop crying at the end of 'E.T.'"

"Oh. You should never stop crying at the end of that. It's cute that you do."

"Really?"

"Mhmm." 

Then that shouty girl got loud again. "Okay, my team got four points this round." She then smiled at the other team, "Let's see if you losers can beat it."

Michelle and Brody looked at the other members of their team that held a drunk girl named Julie, three horribly uninteresting girls, a douche named Corey, another guy, who Brody decided was okay because he quoted "Shaun of the Dead" earlier, and the kid who brought his guitar to the party. (A guitar that he and his friends had nicknamed "Snatch Magnet"). 

"Who wants to go up first?" asked the guitar kid.

"Oh. Brody does," Michelle said, smiling at him. "Don't you?"

"Sure..."

"Fine, but don't fuck this up, okay?" said the douche, Corey. "I want to kick their ass." Corey refused to lose. It was something his father had taught him from a very young age, and it was also the only way he knew how to win his father's affections. God as his witness, he will get that hug one day. And, when he does, it will be beautiful. 

"It's just a game, but I will do my best." 

Brody went up and grabbed a slip of paper from the hat, which was huge, pink, and rimmed with feathers. 'It's the kind of hat Elton John would have worn in his heyday,' Brody mused. 

"Okay, go!" the shouty girl shouted while starting the timer. 

Brody looked at the slip of paper and said, "Okay, I'm handsome and really good friends with Brad Pitt-"

"George Clooney!" one of the horribly uninteresting girls yelled.

"Yeah. That was fast." He then grabbed another piece of paper from the Elton John Heyday Hat. He looked at it and smiled. "Okay. Cool. I am a great actor, and I've won tons of awards. I'm Italian-"

"Sylvester Stallone?" guessed Corey.

"No. Oh! But I played a Cuban. There was a mountain of coke- 'Say hello to my-'"

"Al Pacino!" "Shaun of the Dead" Guy yelled out.

"Yes!" Brody said, getting into the spirit of the game. He got another piece of paper. "Oh. I have a big ass."

"Jennifer Lopez," Michelle said.

"Correct. Good job."

"Well, who else, right?" 

Brody smiled. "Right."

"Jesus Christ!" douche bag Corey interrupted. "Stop flirting and pick a new one!"

"I wasn't flirting..." Brody said sourly, while he picked another celebrity. "Oh, wow. I don't think you guys will get this one."

"Just go!" yelled Corey. 

"Okay. Umm... I'm an author."

"A what?" asked Drunk Julie, clearly confused.

"An author. You know, someone who writes books."

"Oh! Like Dr. Seuss." 

"Yeah, but, umm, not him. Oh, gosh. He was on drugs... a magic bus..."

"Oh, I know!" an uninteresting girl said excitedly. "Bono! 'Across the Universe.'" 

"Bono doesn't write books!" Corey bellowed. 

"Ken Kesey," Michelle said confidently. 

"Yeah," Brody said, impressed.

"Time's up!" the shouty girl declared. "It looks like you guys got four, too."

Brody resumed his spot next to Michelle on the couch, and Michelle leaned in, "That was my card."

"Why Ken Kesey?"

"I don't know. It was just in my head."

"Well, if any group of people should be familiar with lobotomies..." 

Michelle laughed. "You're being cynical again." 

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. That might keep happening." 

_____________________________ 

And it did. Michelle and Brody spent most of the night talking... Well, actually mocking people. Drunk Julie ended up trying to make out with a girl to be "fun and spontaneous." Seriously. When the girl yelled at her to get off of her she said, "What's your problem? I'm only trying to be fun and spontaneous!" Michelle then shared her theory that most girls under the age of forty were horribly insecure and did whatever they could to try to make themselves more appealing to the opposite sex. Brody said that most guys do it, too, but it's not because they're insecure... it's only because they want to get laid. Both then bragged that they did not fall under the majority. This, of course, gave them a false sense of superiority. 

While talking about why Brody could never be a vegetarian, Guitar Guy strummed Snatch Magnet and started to sing what he called "an original piece."

"Look at that guy," Brody said. "He's so full of himself."

"Hey," said Michelle. "I bet he's a real musician. I'm sure he has at least three pieces in his playbook, and that one is 'Good Riddance.'"

"For all of the graduation parties he attended," Brody smiled.

Michelle raised her eyebrows. "I bet it got him a lot of girls."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Young, drunk, and emotional? Add a little insincere serenading and you've got them in the palm of your hand."

"And I'm the cynical one?"

"I'm just speaking the truth."

"Oh, are you?"

"Yep."

Brody looked back over at Guitar Guy and sneered. "Who brings their guitar to a party like this, anyway? Who wants to be that guy?"

"I don't know."

"It's just everything about him. The hair, for one. Do you know how long it probably takes him to make it look like he doesn't do anything to it?"

"His hair looks just like yours."

"Yeah, but this is real. I don't do anything to it."

"Oh. So you're a natural bedhead?"

He smiled. "Yeah." 

Michelle then burst out into laughter.

"What?" asked Brody.

"Nothing... just... I was about to ask if the carpets match the drapes, but... that's just gross and inappropriate."

Brody's face grew serious. "It doesn't. I take care of myself down... there."

Michelle's eyes then widened. "Wow. I... Okay. On that note, it's getting a little late. I think I'm going to head home."

"Oh, no. I just didn't ruin everything, did I?"

"No. You didn't ruin anything. Don't worry about it, Brody."

"Oh... Do you need a ride home?" he asked a little eagerly. 

"No."

"Oh. So you have a car?"

"Yeah."

"And... you're not too tired to drive?"

"No, Brody, I'm not too tired to drive," she smiled.

"Oh." He looked disappointed. Michelle decided to throw him a bone.

"But... if I did need a ride home, I'd let you drive me. If that makes you feel better." 


Brody & Michelle Ch. 01



"I guess."

"So..." Michelle looked at him expectantly.

Brody's eyes narrowed in confusion.

Michelle smiled. "So..."

"What?"

Michelle sighed and rolled her eyes in defeat. "So when am I going to see you again?" 

Brody looked surprised. "You want to see me again?"

"Yes."

"Umm... Any time is good for me, really. What about you? What's the next day you have free?"

"Wednesday, but I was going to go shopping at the mall for clothes."

"Well, I can go with you."

Michelle gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. "Umm... that wasn't an invitation."

"You just said you wanted to do something with me..."

"And I do. I just don't know if I want to go clothes shopping with you."

"Why not?"

"I..."

"I can give you the male perspective on things." 

"The male perspective?" she asked skeptically. 

"Yeah?" 

"Fine," she gave in. "Umm... I'll call you. What's your number?" 

He told her his, and she told him hers. 

"Well, I have to go," she said. "I'll see you Wednesday."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

She left. He thanked the God he didn't believe in.



Brody & Michelle Ch. 02



Author's Note: Thanks for those who read and favorited! Hope you keep on enjoying it! Happy reading! Also... this a slow burn story. No sex for a few chapters.

___________________________

The next Wednesday Brody picked Michelle up at her house for their trip to the mall. She got into the car and said, "Thanks for picking me up. It wasn't necessary, though."

"You were on my way," Brody replied. "Besides aren't we all supposed to be reducing our carbon footprint or whatever?"

"I guess so. Do you still live with your parents?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Michelle smiled to herself. She had been to Stephanie's parent's house before she moved out, and since Brody lived across the street, she knew where he lived. He definitely had to go out of his way to pick her up. 

"I made you something," Brody said as he handed her a jewel case.

"A mixed CD?"

"Yeah. We were talking about music, so... I wanted to make you a tape, but I figured you didn't have a player."

"Why did you want to make me a tape?"

"When you make a mix tape you actually have to be there to man the player, and you actually have to listen to the songs in order to make it. With a CD you can just make the playlist and walk away. But, when you get a mixed tape, you know they spent at least an hour making it for you. They listened to all the songs right before they gave it to you. It's just more personal, I guess." 

Michelle looked at him for a moment and smiled. "Oh. That's sweet. Can we listen to it now?" she asked, reaching over to put the CD in.

"No!" Brody yelled. "No. Not while I'm here." 

"Whoa," Michelle said. She smiled at him and put her hands up. "It's okay. We don't have to listen to it."

"Well... you can't get an honest reaction to the music if I'm sitting here with you. If you hate a song, you can't say you do, because I'm here. I'll be talking about the song. And... I don't know. It might be a little embarrassing."

"Why would it be embarrassing?" 

"No reason."

"No reason? That doesn't make any sense." 

"It makes sense."

"No," Michelle shook her head. "It doesn't." 

"Yes, it does."

"No. I hate it when people say that. If there was no reason, then you wouldn't find it embarrassing."

"Okay, so maybe I would find it slightly embarrassing, and I guess there is a reason... I just..." Brody trailed off, then frowned. 

Michelle could tell that Brody was feeling uncomfortable. She didn't know why, exactly. He was oddly sensitive, this one. "It's fine, Brody. I'll listen to it when I get home. Thank you. I'm excited to listen to it." 

"You are?"

"Of course. A guy's never made me a mixed CD before. You'll be my first." 

"So you're like a mixed CD virgin?"

"If that makes you happy, then yes." 

"It does make me happy."

Michelle smiled. "Okay, then." 

_____________________________

Although Michelle originally wanted to go to the mall to buy some clothes, she decided that she would rather not buy clothes with a guy she barely knew. Besides, they were having more fun at the novelty stores, and judging candle and lotion scents on a scale of one to ten. "Warm Apple Pie" got the highest rating, while "Meadow at Sunset" got the lowest. To be honest, neither of them really understood what scent "Meadow at Sunset" was even meant to evoke. Most candles had a title where you had a set scent in mind. "Pine Forest," "Lavender," "Cinnamon"... they all made sense. "Meadow at Sunset" threw them for a loop. Then Brody said, "It smells the way I think Sarah Palin's breath would smell." Michelle immediately concurred. 

Brody then suggested that they get a snack. He got in line at Auntie Anne's. "I never go to the mall without getting a giant pretzel. Do you want one?"

"No, thanks. I feel bloated. I ate before I came, and I'm trying to stay away from salt."

"Why do you think you're bloated?"

"Well, my mom saw me this morning and said, 'Honey, you look a little bloated. You should cut back on salt.'"

Brody narrowed his eyes. Michelle didn't seem like the type of person who would let her mother get to her that way. "Hmm... your mother sounds lovely..."

Michelle chuckled. "She's not that bad."

"Are you sure you don't want a pretzel?"

"Yes. I guess I wouldn't mind a soda, though."

"So no salt, but copious amounts of sugar is fine?" he asked teasingly. 

Michelle's face dropped, and she looked contemplative. "I guess you're right. I'll have some water." 

"No, Michelle. I was kidding. I'm buying you a soda. And you're having a bite of my pretzel."

Michelle smiled, "Okay."

Brody shook his head. "You... bloated... ridiculous." 

Brody ordered, and they both got their respective treats, then sat down at a table. Michelle took a 

sip of her soda.

"How's your pop?"

"Pretty good. It's the first time I've had soda in... six months?"

"Really?" Brody couldn't remember a time in his life when Mountain Dew wasn't a dietary staple.

"Yeah. This stuff is horrible for you. You are a bad influence, sir." 

"Wow. You take this nutrition stuff seriously, don't you?"

"Well, yeah. I'm studying to be a nutritionist." 

"Oh, my gosh. How boring."

Michelle laughed. "Thanks. What are you doing?"

"I'm majoring in film."

Michelle chuckled. He trumped her. "Oh. That is exciting." 

"I love Horror movies. I want to be the next Sam Raimi."

"I never really understood the Horror movie's appeal."

"I have so much to teach you, Michelle." 

"And I you." She pointed at his pretzel and large soda. "Do you have any idea what you are doing to your body?" 

Brody waved his hand. "I don't care."

"You don't care? You should."

"No... It doesn't matter right now. What are you doing Saturday night?"

"Umm..." Michelle had to think for a second. "I work until eight. Why?"

"Do you want to do something with me Saturday night?"

"What?" 

"Gore Fest. It's an annual thing my school does. They get a screen, put it out in the common area outside. It's like a picnic. It can be the beginning of your Horror Movie education." 

"Gore Fest?" 

"Yeah."

"Can I bring the food?" 

"Yeah."

"Okay, then, Brody. I'll go."

_____________________________

The next day Michelle listened to the mixed CD that Brody made for her. Afterwards, keeping the promise that she would call him immediately when she was finished, she dialed Brody's phone number.

"Hey," Brody said. Michelle could tell he was smiling at the other end of the line. 

"Hey, yourself."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine. I liked that CD you made for me a whole lot."

"Really?" Brody asked bashfully. 

"Yeah. We have very similar taste in music. I was surprised."

"Why?"

"You don't really give off the singer-songwriter vibe. I pegged you for more of a hard rock guy."

"And that reason would be...?"

"I don't know. The fascination with horror movies... the 'Linda Blair barfing up green slime' t-shirt you own."

"Actually, it was pea soup."

"Oh."

"Did you have a favorite song?" Brody asked changing the subject back to the CD.

"I knew a lot of them already, but I really liked 'Sweet Pea.' It was cute."

Brody chuckled and said, "I was listening to that song on my mP3 player before I made you that 

CD, and, while listening to it, you popped into my head."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! You're like a cute, little pea or something. I think you would look adorable eating an ice cream cone while that song played in the background. Then, maybe some would get on your nose, and I would have to reach over to wipe it off or something..." he trailed off.

'Okay,' thought Michelle. 'He's easily given to bouts sentimentality and tends to over share.' She smiled to herself. 'But I already knew that last part.' Worried that if she didn't say something soon Brody would become self-conscious, she replied, "That was a very strange, yet sweet, compliment. I have a feeling that I will be receiving a lot of those from you." 

"Do I get a strange, yet sweet, compliment from you?"

Michelle thought for a second. "You remind me of a Hobbit."

Brody didn't respond right away. "How is that a compliment?"  

"Hobbits are adorable! They are, by far, the best race in Middle Earth."

"Wow. You're a 'Lord of the Rings' nerd. Interesting." 

"Well," Michelle said teasingly, "it is the greatest story ever told." 

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

Brody chuckled. "I like this."

"Like what?"

"Umm... talking to you, I guess. That you like 'Lord of the Rings.' I don't know... all of it..."

"I like it, too, Brody." 

There was a short silence before Michelle asked, "What are you up to tonight?"

"Well, actually, you interrupted my 'Nightmare on Elm Street' marathon."

"Oh. I can go so you can get back to that," Michelle teased.

"No. It's okay. What about you?"

"Nothing. I'm about to head for bed."

"It's only 9:30."

"Well, I'm going to read for awhile once I crawl in."

Brody smiled on the other end of the line, thinking about Michelle cuddled underneath her covers, reading a book by one of his favorite authors. It was a pleasantly domestic picture. "Oh, yeah? Do you have a good book?"

"Well... It's just a romance novel."

That statement put a dent in Brody's earlier vision. "A romance novel?" Brody didn't hide the disdain in his voice.

"Yeah."

"You read that smut?"

"Smut?" Michelle asked, amused. 

"Yeah. Aren't romance novels just porn for women?"

"No. Porn is porn for women."

"You watch porn?"

"Well... Not usually. It can be too graphic, and... the people just... When I do watch it, it's usually just me staring at it with morbid fascination. Like it's a bad car crash or something."

"A mangled corpse?" Brody suggested. 

"Yeah! Just... it's... I don't know how people can get so turned on by that stuff."

"So... do you read porn, then?"

"Yeah. I like that a lot more."

"Why?"

"Because..." Michelle then trailed off. 'What am I doing?' she thought to herself. 'This is just a tad bit inappropriate.' "You know, maybe we should save this discussion for later. This is only our fourth conversation." 

"Some people have sex before their first."

Michelle didn't exactly know what he meant by that. Was it an odd way to complain or an odd 

way to compliment her? "Umm... I'm not some people, Brody." 

"I know. That's why I like you."

Michelle smiled. "So... I'm still seeing you on Saturday, right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Did you want to meet there, or...?"

"No. I'm picking you up," he said, decidedly. 

"Oh," Michelle then chuckled. "Do I have any say in this?"

"Nope."

"Okay. I'll be home around 8:30. Is that enough time to get there and everything?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then. I'll see you on Saturday."

"Okay."

"See you later, Brody."

"Bye, Michelle." 

________________________________

Saturday rolled around, and Brody pulled up to Michelle's house at 8:35. He was anxious to see her again. He got out of his car, walked up to her front door, and rang the doorbell. She answered the door only seconds after he rang it. He hoped that maybe she was just as excited to see him, as he was to see to see her. When she stepped out onto the porch she was wearing a smile and holding a picnic basket. 

Brody looked at the picnic basket, then looked at Michelle. "Is that a picnic basket?"

"Yeah. I found it in one of our closets. Isn't it cute? People don't use picnic baskets enough, in my opinion." 

"You're cute."

Her smile got wider. "You're pretty cute yourself." 

Brody blushed and looked down at the ground. "Thanks..." he mumbled. 

Michelle tilted her head to the side and looked at his red cheeks. A boy who blushed. Odd. "Ready to get going?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah.

They got into Brody's car, and Michelle took a CD out of the picnic basket. 

"Can I put this in?" she asked.

"Yeah. Go ahead," he replied. 

Michelle put the disc in the player. "I made it for you. But I don't mind if you listen to it when I'm here."

"Thank you. I have had a girl make me a mixed CD, though, so... I'm not virgin. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine. This isn't high school. I can't expect you to be some wide-eyed innocent." 

Brody laughed. "But if I was in high school, you'd be upset?"

"I guess not. Only if it was Freshman year."

"Yeah. That's little too soon," Brody agreed.

"Have you ever heard of Brett Dennen?"

"No."

"Really? That's weird. I just assumed you had, because of the CD you made me."

"Well, I haven't. Why? Do you think I would like him?"

"Yeah. I put a couple of his songs on here."

"Oh, yeah? Which ones?"

"Uhh... I don't remember the numbers."

Brody glanced over at her and gave her contemplative look. "You don't remember? Didn't you 

just make it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what about the playlist? Didn't you print it out for me?"

Michelle looked over at him and smiled. "Was I supposed to?"

Brody's eyes then widened, and Michelle saw an emotion on his face that she could only describe as shock. "Of course!" 

Michelle chuckled. "Sorry. I didn't think to do it. I'm a virgin at making mixed CDs, remember? Let me ease into it. Next time it will be better. I swear." 

"Next time?"

"Yeah. You just have to give me some practice. I'll make it better for you. You'll see."

Brody caught her eyes and smiled. "Are you trying to make this conversation sound dirty?"

"Yeah," she replied a little sheepishly.

"Well, next time I'll give you some directions. Tell you how I like it. I'm sure it will help."

______________________________

Brody and Michelle pulled into the parking lot of Brody's college, parked the car, and then got out. Brody walked over to Michelle and, deciding to be gallant, offered to carry the picnic basket for the short walk over to where the makeshift outdoor movie theatre was located. Michelle let him, even though she wanted to carry the picnic basket herself. Holding it made her feel whimsical, like she was in some book she used to read when she was a child. It was also just an adorable basket, and she wanted to carry it, because who doesn't love carrying around something adorable? If you think about it, baskets were just the older version of handbags. 

While scanning the area for a good seat, they heard someone calling Brody's name. They turned around to see three guys sitting on a huge blanket waving at Brody and motioning for him to come over and join them.

"Hey, man!" called one of the guys. "Come over here!"

Brody and Michelle heeded the command and walked over. 

"Hey, guys," Brody greeted. 

"Hey," they all responded back.

Then the one who was the tallest, and the most attractive, asked, "Who's this?" while pointing over at Michelle.

"This is Michelle," Brody replied. Starting with the tall, attractive one, then moving on the red-headed kid, and the kind of chubby one, Brody introduced them all. "Michelle, this is Dylan, Scott, and Drew."

"Andrew or 'And Drew'?" asked Michelle.

"I go by Drew, but you can call me Andrew, if you want to," Drew replied. "I'm not picky."

"Does that mean I could call you Tiffany if I wanted?" she asked.

The guys all chuckled lightly, and Drew said, "Like I said, you can call me whatever you want." 

Michelle laughed. "Okay. I'll just call you Drew."

"But I'm going to start calling you Tiffany," retorted Scott.

"Anyway," interrupted Brody, "we were just looking for a place to sit, so..."

"Dude, just sit with us," said Drew.

"No. It's cool. We were just-" Brody started.

"Seriously. Just sit down."

Dylan then chimed in, "Did you even bring a blanket or chairs so Michelle doesn't have to sit on the grass?"

Brody shot a death glare at Dylan's feet before reluctantly admitting, "No."

Michelle lightly touched Brody's arm before saying, "It's not a big deal. I can sit on the grass. I mean, I'm not some dainty... you know, lass or something."

"Still. The ground gets colder at night and sometimes can get dewy. The blanket is huge. We can all fit on it," Dylan explained.

"Besides, all four of us watched Gore Fest together last year. We can make it a tradition!" Drew said, sounding a little too excited at the prospect. 

"Well, I guess I wouldn't want to break a nonexistent tradition..."

Drew laughed, "That's the spirit!"

Michelle sat down next to Scott, and Brody sat down next to her. Scott then shot an apologetic look towards Brody, knowing he really had no desire to be sitting with three other guys while on a psuedo-date. Especially when one of those guys was Dylan, who tended to get pretty much any girl he wanted. Brody smiled back at Scott, and just shrugged his shoulders. "It's not a big deal," he quietly assured Scott.

"Is everything okay?" whispered Michelle, seeing the little look between the two friends.

"Of course. I'm starting your Horror movie education tonight. It's going to be great."

"Horror movie education?" repeated Scott.

"This one told me the other day, and I quote, 'I never really understood the Horror movie's appeal.'"

"What is wrong with you?" Scott asked. "Horror movies are the best!"

Michelle gave Brody a glare, and he grinned back at her. "Really? You're saying that out loud in this crowd? You're not even giving me a fighting chance!"

"Maybe you should just try to explain yourself and your erroneous opinions," Brody shot back.

"Yes, lady. Explain yourself!" exclaimed Drew.

"I just never got into them. But I'm here, aren't I? I'm willing to learn. Or give it a chance, so... you know. Back off," Michelle laughed.

"It's cool. Not everything is for everyone," Dylan said.

"Exactly."

"But tonight they are showing the first 'Evil Dead,' which is the kick-off to the best Horror movie trilogy ever. You picked a good time to try it out."

Michelle smiled. "Okay." She then looked over at Brody. "How many movies are they showing?"

"Three," he replied. 

"Oh..."

"What?"

"I need to get up kind of early tomorrow. Is it at all possible to leave after the second one?"

"Oh," Brody said, a little disappointed. "Yeah. It sucks, but it's fine."

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't have come if I had realized I couldn't stay for the whole thing."

"No. I'm glad you're here. It's fine. I've seen all of the movies they're showing tonight, anyways. And I've seen them multiple times."

"Okay," Michelle smiled. 

"Although, it's called Gore Fest, you think you'd assume it'd be more than one movie..." Brody teased. 

"I'm sorry to interrupt this cute, little scene, but what's in that picnic basket?" asked Drew.

Michelle perked up. "I brought snacks! Healthy snacks." She then started taking out the goodies from inside her basket. "Chips and salsa, ants on a log, which actually aren't the healthiest, unsalted nuts, hummus, assorted fruits..."

"Wow. How much stuff did you bring?" asked Brody.

"I wanted to show you all the options you had. You're teaching me about movies with ghosts in them or whatever, and I'm teaching you how to not die at forty."

Scott then looked at the buffet all laid out in front of them, and asked, "But what about portion control?"

"Oh. Right. I guess I just subconsciously knew I was going to have to feed three more people."

"Is that your picnic basket, Brody?" asked Dylan.

"It's mine," said Michelle.

"It's cute."

"Thanks. I thought so, too. Brody and I were talking about how no one uses them anymore."

"It's kind of a shame."

"It is!" Michelle agreed.

________________________________

Gore Fest started out with "The Evil Dead." Brody spent most of the time watching Michelle watch the movie. She laughed and gasped at the appropriate parts. She even murmured a few "Oh, my goshes" under her breath during the more... well, gory scenes. Unfortunately for Brody, Michelle never seemed overly scared or even startled. For some reason, he was hoping to comfort her when she got scared. A chance to hold her hand or put his arm around her. In retrospect, it was a kind of dumb assumption, considering Michelle didn't seem like the type of person who became easily scared or ever acted without reason. As she said earlier, she was no "dainty lass." Although, he was a little disappointed about it, he was still having a good time being with her, and occasionally whispering little facts about the behind-the-scenes to her while the movie played. 




Brody & Michelle Ch. 02



When the first movie ended, Michelle looked over at Brody and smiled. "I actually liked that one more than I thought I would."

"Good. I don't know if I could ever speak to you again if you didn't."

"That's awfully fickle of you."

Brody shrugged. "What can I say?"

"What movie is playing next?"

"' The People Under the Stairs,'" answered Scott. "It's an interesting one."

"Good interesting?" asked Michelle

"I think so."

"Hmm... Well, let's hope so."

The second movie started, and, sadly, Michelle seemed a fair deal less interested in it. Mostly, she just looked annoyed or confused. Halfway through she whispered to Brody, "I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"You're going to go in the middle of the movie?" he asked.

"Yeah. I know it's probably some sort of blasphemous act, but I really have to go."

Brody sighed. "Okay. There are Porta-Potties over there."

"Oh, joy..." Michelle mumbled as she got up to go over to where the portable bathrooms were 

located.

Brody then looked over at Scott and quietly said, "Why they are playing this movie after 'The Evil 

Dead' is beyond me."

Scott scooted a little closer to Brody before saying, "I know. I think you might be losing her with this one a bit."

"And I was doing so well."

"She's nice, though. I didn't even know you met anyone recently."

"She is nice, isn't she? I don't know. I really like her."

"How long...?"

"I've only known her a couple weeks, and this is only the fourth time we've even hung out, so..."

"Hmm. Just... don't put all your eggs in one basket. You tend to do that."

Brody rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the advice, mom, but this is different."

Then Brody heard something behind him, and he saw Michelle walking up to the blanket. She looked over in Brody's direction, her eyebrows narrowing, and then looked down at the empty spot next to Dylan. With a hesitant look on her face she sat down next to Dylan. 

"Ohh..." said Scott, looking over at Brody cautiously.

Brody remained silent and inwardly fumed. Why was she sitting next to Dylan? He couldn't believe it was happening. She seemed genuinely interested in him. He looked over at Dylan, who was whispering something to Michelle. She smiled, nodded, then whispered something back. She looked over at Brody, to see him staring at her. She smiled and waved at him. He just shot her a look of confusion, then turned straight ahead to watch the rest of the movie. 

When the second movie ended, Michelle started packing up her picnic basket. "It was nice meeting all of you," she said to the three guys. "I had a pretty good time."

"It was nice meeting you, too," they replied.

She looked over at Brody, who was just standing there staring at her almost distantly. "I'm sorry again about asking to leave early. I hope it's okay."

"It's fine. I mean, it kind of sucks, but it's not a big deal."

Feeling guilty, she said, "I mean... I can call my dad or brother to come pick me up if you want to stay. I don't want to pull you away from your friends or anything."

"I could take you home," Dylan volunteered.

"No," Brody said, a little too quickly. "I said that it wasn't a big deal. I'll take her home." He promptly turned around and started walking towards the parking lot.

"Okay. I guess we're leaving now," Michelle giggled awkwardly. "See you guys around." She had to almost jog to catch up to Brody, and when she did, he didn't even slow down. In fact, he remained a good few feet in front of her the whole walk to the car.

They both got into Brody's car, and Michelle was feeling awkward, but she didn't know why. Brody was acting strange. "Are you really sure you don't want to stay? Because it's fine if you do. I can call my dad-"

"It's fine, okay? Why do you keep bringing it up?"

"I don't know. You seem upset or something. I thought maybe it was because you wanted to 

stay..."

Brody kept his eyes on the steering wheel. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." He turned on the car and pulled out of the parking space.

"Okay. I won't. But, hey, I really like 'The Evil Dead.' I didn't exactly like the second movie we watched."

"Yeah."

"But I saw the director of 'The Evil Dead' was Sam Raimi. Isn't that who you said was your biggest influence?"

Brody nodded.

Annoyed by his lack of response when she was the one trying to engage him in talk of one his interests, Michelle narrowed her eyes and said, "So... it's good that I liked that one, considering it's what you would want to do as a director yourself..." 

"I guess so."

"You guess so?" 

There was a slight, awkward pause before Brody asked, "Do you want to listen to some music?"

"Sure." Michelle reached over to play her CD. "We can listen to the rest of the CD I made for you."

"Oh. I was thinking we could just listen to the radio."

Michelle then sat back, crossed her arms, and looked over at him. "You want to listen to music, but you don't want to listen to the CD I made for you? I lost my mixed CD virginity to you, and you don't even want to listen to it?" she teased, even though she was about seventy-eight percent serious. 

Brody glanced over at her, and saw just a slight twinge of hurt in her eyes. His gaze quickly softened, and he said, "Or we can listen to the CD. It's cool."

"No. If you want to listen to the radio, then we can."

"No. I'm sorry. I want to listen to your CD. Can we listen to it? Please?"

"Okay." They listened to the CD the rest of the way to Michelle's house, neither of them saying a word.

While in Michelle's driveway, Brody put the car into park and said goodnight.

Michelle grabbed her picnic basket, she opened the door and said goodnight as well. She looked over at Brody, then, with resolve, closed the car door. He was startled and gave her an incredulous look. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been acting weird the whole car ride home. I mean, the night started off great, right? You called me cute, then we talked and listened to music. We had fun watching 'The Evil Dead' together... Then the moment we left, you were ignoring me. You were ignoring me while I was trying to talk to you about Sam Raimi, who is your personal hero. Your words, not mine. Is something wrong?"

Brody just sat there uncomfortably.

"Brody, what's going on?"

His answer was a shrug.

"Did you not have fun tonight with me? Is that it? You can tell me..."

"No," he said adamantly. "It's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?"

"Oh, my god. I'm going to sound like such an idiot..."

"You can tell me."

"You sat next to Dylan."

Michelle paused. "What?"

"When you came back from the bathroom, you sat next to Dylan instead of sitting next to me."

"Well, yeah. Scott and Drew kind of scooted into my seat, and I didn't want to be rude and ask them to move. It was just easier to sit next to Dylan. Which I didn't want to, by the way, because he was hitting on me all night."

"Yeah. I noticed."

"So... you really were treating me like a dick because I sat down next to a different guy?"

"Yeah. But... he's good with girls. I'm not. I've... he's taken girls I like before, and... I really didn't want it to happen with you."

"Brody, I've told you that I like you. I don't know what else..." Michelle trailed off.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just... that can never happen again. You can't treat me like that. I can tell you're a little insecure, for whatever reason, but... you just can't. If something's bothering you, you have to promise to just tell me about it. Okay?"

Brody nodded, again staring at his steering wheel.

Michelle reached over and grabbed one of his hands that was sitting in his lap. He looked up at her, and she gave him a sweet smile. "I really did have a good time tonight."

"Me, too."

"Call me after five on Monday. I want to see you again soon."

"You do?"

"I just got done saying I like you."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." His thumb started stroking her hand. "I like you, too."

"I know."

"Cocky much?"

Michelle just smiled back at him.

"So Monday after five, huh? You like mini-golf?"

"Who doesn't?"

"No one important."

"Exactly."

"Okay. We'll mini-golf, then."

"Sounds like a plan," she said, pulling up Brody's hand and kissing it quickly before letting go.

"Hey!" he exclaimed while grabbing her hand back in his. "Aren't I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know. I think if anyone's the dainty lass in this, it's you."

He rolled his eyes, gave her hand a kiss, and said, "Until Monday, my lady?"

"Until Monday, kind sir."



Brody & Michelle Ch. 03



Author's Note: Hey, guys! Sorry about the big gap between chapters. Hopefully this one's okay? Anyhoo, same disclaimer as before, no sex for a few chapters. Thanks for reading!

*****

"I totally kicked your ass!" Brody exclaimed, leading the way back to his car after absolutely annihilating Michelle in a rousing game of mini-golf. 

"Congratulations..." Michelle responded, rolling her eyes. 

"Don't be such a sore loser."

"I'm not being a sore loser. You're being a douchey winner." 

Brody stopped before getting into the car, and he looked Michelle right in the eyes. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so sensitive when it came to losing. Or that you were that bad at mini-golf. I would've suggested something else, if I had known."

"Okay," she said looking actually annoyed. "I am not being sensitive. And I'm not that bad. You're just... oddly good at mini-golf. To the point where it's strange. No one should be that good at it unless they're a professional."

"I just have a killer short game. What can I say?" he said while having the gall to smirk at her. 

Michelle's eyes widened in irritation. "Oh, wow. Just get in the car."

They both got into the car, and Brody looked over at her and asked, "So... what's the plan now?" Michelle just gave him a quizzical look. "Because I was thinking you could treat me to some frozen yogurt or something. Because I paid for the mini-golf, and I beat you, so... you know. You kind of owe me double."

Michelle shot him yet another look of annoyance and said, "Sorry. I can't."

Brody's stomach immediately dropped, and he became worried that maybe his teasing had gone a little too far. "Michelle, I'm sorry for being annoying. I just-"

"No, no," she interrupted, smiling a little. "It's not that. I mean, you are being annoying, but it's nothing like that. I just... Ugh." She shook her head looking mildly embarrassed. 

"What?"

"Every Monday night I have a standing movie date with my dad. We've been doing it since I was twelve. He calls them 'Movie Mondays with My Michelle.'"

"How very alliterative of him."

Michelle chuckled. "Right? Anyway, he's going to be home around 9:00."

"Oh. Well, that's cute."

"It's my turn to pick the movie. Any suggestions?"

Brody turned the music down even lower to seriously consider it before saying, "I don't know, actually. What kind of movie are you in the mood for?"

"Hmm. Something light. And not too long. I'm kind of tired."

"An ass-kicking does do that to a person."

Michelle gasped slightly and turned to glare at him. "I swear to God. I am never doing any competitive-type activity with you again. You become even more obnoxious." 

"Even more? Are you implying that I already am?"

"Obviously."

Brody grinned. "Do you like 'School of Rock'?" 

"Yeah. It's cute."

"Watch that. It's short and light. And funny. And little iCarly is in it."

Michelle full-on laughed. "Oh my God. Little iCarly is in it! I forgot about that."

"And you seem to have a thing for sweet, yet obnoxious, guys, so... Jack Black can take care of that for you," he said, pulling into Michelle's driveway.

She smiled at him softly and crinkled her nose at him. "Yeah. I guess I do."

Brody put the car into park and smiled back at her. "Yeah." He then paused awkwardly. "Well, I had fun today..."

"Do you want to walk me to my door?" Michelle asked, interrupting him.

"Yes," he replied quickly, jumping out of the car and running over to her side.

Michelle giggled while she opened her car door, only to have Brody take over halfway and grab her hand to help her out. She squeezed his hand as they walked to her front door. 

Once on the porch, Brody gave her a tentative smile and let go of her hand. "Well..." he started.

"You know, my dad won't be home for fifteen minutes. Did you just want to, like... sit here with me? Like on the patio furniture? The sun's setting. It could be nice."

Brody smiled a little nervously. "Yeah. Of course. It would be very nice."

Michelle gave him an amused look and said, "Okay, then. Let's do it." She then plopped down on the patio loveseat and patted the empty spot next to her. He sat down in the empty seat, and then just kind of, well, stared at the sunset. Michelle glanced over at him, wondering if she had read the situation wrong. I mean, he wanted to kiss her, right? He basically jumped at the chance to walk her to the door. That's lead up to a kiss in most date-type scenarios. 

"Wow. That sunset sure is something. You can't seem to take your eyes off of it," Michelle teased. 

Brody turned to her, his eyes wide with almost surprise. Taking in a breath, he said, "Yeah," then chuckled. And then he suddenly frowned. "So... can I kiss you?" he asked abruptly. 

Michelle smiled. "Of course you fucking can."

Brody's whole face immediately changed. It lit up; he was beaming. He leaned his face into hers, and their lips touched lightly and for just a few seconds before he pulled away. 

After he pulled away, he just looked in her eyes as if searching for something. Michelle narrowed hers back at him and gave him small smile. She then moved her hand up to his face to smooth away his wrinkled brow. "Will you kiss me again, please?" she asked softly.

His face broke out into a grin. "Of course I fucking will." 

Michelle was mid-laugh when he grabbed the back of her head and lightly grabbed a fistful of her hair to pull her face over to his, before firmly planting his lips on hers. Slightly taken aback by the assertive nature Brody was taking, Michelle's eyes widened and she tensed in surprise. Brody then immediately softened his kiss just a little bit, and moved his free hand to one of hers and started stroking his thumb over it. Michelle then sighed and fell deeply into the kiss. 

Brody continued to move his lips over hers, occasionally teasing her with little nips to her bottom lip. Then the hand that was behind her head started moving lower and started stroking the back of her neck, which caused her to chest to tighten and get goosebumps. 

This time is was Michelle that pulled away, giving Brody's hand a squeeze. "Wow," she said in utter disbelievement.

"What?" he asked.

Michelle then leaned her forehead against his. "Umm..." she then chuckled.

"Seriously. What?"

She made eye contact with him, and shook her head in amazement. "You are a really good kisser. Like... really good." 

"And that surprises you apparently?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's good to know that I kicked your ass twice today."

"Oh, wow-" Michelle said exasperated.

"Once at mini-golf, and, now, when I blew your mind with that kick-ass kiss."

"Oh, my god. Just shut up," she said, pulling him in for a kiss this time.

That kiss, however, was interrupted by a pair of headlights shining on them as a car pulled up Michelle's driveway. "Oh, man," she said. "My dad's home."

_____________________________________________________________

"Oh, shit. Your dad?" Brody asked looking almost panicked. 

"Yeah. Remember? Movie Mondays with My Michelle. You commented on his alliteration skills." 

"Of course I remember!"

Michelle chuckled. "Are you... okay?"

"I just... I don't- Do you think I could just go to my car and leave? Or would that be weird? Of course that would be weird. He totally just saw us making out."

"Yeah. He probably did."

Brody's answer was a groan.

"Why are you so afraid to meet my dad? You're how old?"

"Twenty-three."

"Okay, so... "

"I just... Get nervous easily."

"Oh," she said, nodding her head in understanding. "You don't have anything to be nervous about, Brody. My dad likes to tease, but he's harmless. Just ignore everything he says. He's like one giant, walking Dad Joke."

By then, Michelle's dad had already parked the car and was walking up to the front porch where Brody and Michelle were both sitting on the loveseat. He stopped in front of them and said, "Michelle, my belle!"

Michelle then gave her dad an indulgent smile, "Those are words that go together well."

Her dad then gave her a proud smile, "My Michelle!" He then gave an expectant look at Brody. "And who is this?"

"This is my friend Brody, Dad." Brody immediately stood up and awkwardly bowed his head in Michelle's dad's direction.

"Oh, my God," Michelle chuckled underneath her breath.

"Hmm. How formal," her father said at the same time.

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome," her dad responded. "So... Brody, huh? Like the Jenner?"

"Umm, I thought her name was Bruce. Well, used to be Bruce. It's Caitlyn now, right? I don't really know..."

"You're right. Her name used to be Bruce, but I was talking about one of her sons. His name is Brody."

"Oh. Okay...?" Brody said looking confused.

Michelle then stood up, and nudged her dad with her shoulder. "Dad's secretly a huge Kardashian fan."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I am. My name is James, by the way." He stuck out his hand at Brody. "But my friends call me Jim, so-"

"So I should call you James?" Brody tentatively smiled, as he took Jim's hand and shook it..

Jim laughed. "Yeah. So you should call me James."

"Okay, Dad," Michelle interrupted. "Maybe you could go get the snacks ready for the movie, so I can say goodnight to Brody?"

"Am I preventing you from doing that?"

"Bye, Dad." Michelle smiled sweetly, but her eyes were shooting daggers. 

"Okay, fine," he replied. "What movie am I downloading?"

"'School of Rock.'"

"Are you tired or something?"

"Yes. I got my ass kicked during a really intense game of mini-golf tonight, and I'm going to need to go to bed early to recover."

"You kicked my daughter's ass?" Jim asked, glaring at Brody.

Brody's eyes widened, and he said the only thing he could think of. "Not literally, sir."

"Dad. Leave."

"Fine. I'll go download the movie and make the popcorn," Jim said, while walking into the house.

"No butter on mine!" Michelle yelled after him.

Brody shook his head. "How do you live like that?"

Michelle gave him a look of offense. "He's not that bad!"

"What? No. You don't put butter on your popcorn? What's the point of even eating it?"

"My dad didn't freak you out then?"

"Oh. He totally did. But... he's kind of funny. I'm just easily intimidated by dads. I always assume that they'd hate me."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I'm what most men want their daughter to bring home. I'm not super conventional looking or acting. You know I'm not Paul Newman-esque."

"Who is?"

"Not very many guys, I guess, but if my daughter brought home Paul Newman, I'd be like, 'Good catch, honey.' You know? I don't think most dads would see me and think that, I guess. It's more like you found-"

"Sean Astin's stand-in for Lord of the Rings, and brought him home?"

"Yes, but having you say that instead of me isn't helping my confidence."

Michelle smiled and grabbed his hand. "But I have a weird thing for Hobbits. I like that you have that going for you."

"Yeah. Your Hobbit fetish is really strange."

"I have a Frodo standee in my room. Play your cards right, and you might be able to meet him one day."

Brody smiled and raised his eyebrows, "Oh, yeah?"

Michelle bit her lip. "Oh, yeah. My Hobbit fetish could work out really well for you."

"This conversation has taken an unexpectedly kind of sexy turn," Brody said, and Michelle laughed, "...and I would totally be kissing your brains out right now, but your dad is watching us through the window."

"Is he really?"

Brody nodded. "Yeah. Too intimidated to make a move."

"I get it. It's cool. Sorry about him. I'm his favorite child, so..."

"You have siblings?"

"Yeah. I have an older brother named Jude, and a little sister named Penny."

"Ahh. Your parents like The Beatles, huh?"

"No. Not really."

"Then... why...?"

"Of course they do. I was messing with you. Jude's middle name is Harrison. It's ridiculous." 

"I like the name Harrison. That would work out perfect, actually, if we ever had kids, because we could name him after your brother, George Harrison, Harrison Ford, and my old dog Harrison that was named after Harrison Ford." 

Michelle's eyes widened incredulously. 'Our kids?' she thought to herself. 'He's oversharing again. And getting super far ahead of himself.'' 

"What?" Brody asked, noticing the look on Michelle's face.

"Umm. Nothing," she said shaking her head. "I know my dad's looking at us through the window, but will you at least hug me goodbye?"

Brody smiled and jokingly said, "Of course I fucking will."

Michelle giggled and went in for her hug. They wrapped their arms around each other, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "You're so comfy."

"Are you calling me fat?" Brody asked in mock offense. 

"No! And I mean, like... I feel comfortable around you, too. Like I've known you before or something. It's... easy. I don't know. I really like being around you," she said burying her face in his neck, a little embarrassed she just spouted all of this out on her front porch after seeing this guy a total of five times in her entire life.

Brody then pulled away just enough so he could get Michelle to make eye contact with him. "Hey. I feel the same way, you know."

Michelle then smiled cockily. "I know."

"And you say I'm obnoxious?"

Michelle laughed, yet again, that night. She liked how much she laughed around him. She reluctantly pulled away. "Well, I should probably go inside and watch 'School of Rock' with my dad."

"And eat your flavorless popcorn."

"You know, it's not that bad. I'll make you some sometime."

"I'm good. Thanks."

"I'll let you pick the movie."

"Okay. How about when I pick out the movie, we'll eat your gross, healthy snack food, and when you pick out the movie, we'll eat popcorn with actual butter and taste."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "My food isn't gross. You ate literally half of the stuff I brought to Gore Fest."

"Okay. I liked most of it. But not as much as I like butter. There's nothing I like more on this Earth than butter."

"Not even me?" Michelle asked.

"Sorry. I've known butter longer."

Michelle sighed, and gave in. "Okay. Deal. Anyhoo, call me. I wanna see you soon."

"I'll call you tomorrow."

"I can't do anything tomorrow."

"So? I can still call you, right?"

Michelle nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Okay. I will, then."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

_______________________________________________________________

Michelle walked in the front door with a dreamy look on her face, walked up to her dad, and sighed contently. "Popcorn ready?"

"Almost. So... you have a new BAE?"

Michelle laughed. "Did you just say BAE?"

"I'm hip."

"I see. I don't know if I'm his new BAE or not. Maybe just his new BAEBB."

"Babe?"

"Before Anyone Else Besides Butter."

"Ahh," her dad said, raising his eyebrows in realization. "So he doesn't understand how you can eat this butter-free stuff, either?"

"No. His diet's absolutely horrible. I don't know if he eats vegetables that aren't on a pizza."

"Hmm. He seems nice, though."

"He is. And he's funny. And sweet. I'm starting to really like him."

"Well, that's good, sweetie. He seems a lot better than that last idiot you dated."

"Chris? Yeah. He was an idiot, wasn't he?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"Oh! And I'm mad at you. Brody wouldn't kiss me goodbye, because he saw you watching us through the window. Like... what the hell, man?"

Her dad then had the absolute gall to laugh in her face. "I'm sorry. It's fun intimidating the boys you kids bring home. And I could tell he was overly nervous, so I had to."

"It's not funny. He's sensitive." Her dad just continued to chuckle. "Stop laughing!" 

"I'm sorry, Michelle. I won't... I'll try not to mess with him so much in the future. Assuming he's around."

"Okay. Let's watch this movie. I'm tired."

"Sounds good," her dad said grabbing the popcorn, and heading to the TV room.

____________________________________________________________

The next day, at promptly 9:30, Brody called Michelle. "Hey!" she said answering the phone.

"Hey. How was your day?"

Michelle sighed and laid down in her bed, snuggling into the pillows. "Long."

Brody chuckled. "How long?"

"I'm taking a summer class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 until noon."

"Gross. What time do you have to get up?"

"Not that early. Like around 7:00. Sometimes I even get up earlier."

"Why?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Why? I don't know. If I want to make a real breakfast, or just relax and watch the news before the day starts. I even occasionally take a short run or walk."

"That sounds horrible."

Michelle chuckled. "You probably don't even remember the last time you had to get up at 7:00."

"I think I actually go to sleep at 7:00 more often than I wake up at 7:00."

"How is that even possible?"

"I take mostly late classes. The earliest class I ever take starts at noon."

"But... don't you have a job or something?" 

"Umm... no?" Brody admitted sheepishly. 

Michelle paused. "You don't have job?"

"I mean..." Brody started to sound a little self-conscious, "I don't really need one."

"Oh."

"It's just... my parents had me when they were older, and I was kind of a surprise. I'm an only child," Brody felt the need to explain.

"Okay."

"So... when your mom's a pediatrician, and your dad owns a small business... I don't know. I had a job. I worked at Video Palace, you know, one of the last video rental places in town, before it had to close. When it did, my parents told me I could just concentrate on school, so... that's what I did."

"That sounds nice," Michelle said a little sardonically.

Worried that Michelle would see him as spoiled, even though, he realized he was a little spoiled, he awkwardly mentioned, "I mean, I help my dad sometimes when he needs it. And I live at home, so they don't also have to pay for housing or anything..." He then paused slightly. "I know I'm lucky."

Michelle paused for a second before she let out a little groan. "I'm sorry, Brody. I didn't mean to sound so judgmental. It's great that you can just concentrate on school. I'm just being an envious poop."

"It's fine," he told her a little quietly. 

"Besides, now that I know that your family's loaded, I won't feel bad about letting you pay for stuff."

Brody laughed. "What? So now this is just some sort of Sugar Daddy situation?"

"It's what I've always wanted. The best of relationships are always founded on mutual respect... of money."

"Well, it's good to see we're finally on the same page."

Michelle yawned. "Now that I'm a Sugar Baby, maybe I should just drop out of school."

"And let that excellent mind go to waste? I don't think so."

"Geez. Excellent mind? You're sweet."

"Well, I am kind of a fan of it. Among other parts of you."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Oh my God. What other parts are you a fan of?" she asked, challengingly. 

"Your other internal organs, mostly," Brody shrugged on the other line. Michelle laughed. "I really like your gallbladder. And your kidney is the most fucking adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. Don't even get me started on it." 

"Okay. I won't." Michelle then yawned again. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay. You said your day was long. Did you work after class?"

"Yeah. After I got out of class, I came home, ate lunch, then changed for work. I started at 2:00 and got off a little after 8:00, came home, took a shower, and now I'm talking to you."

"8:00 to 8:00, huh? That sucks."

"Oh. It could be worse. I used to work at the movie theatre, and I wouldn't get off until eleven or twelve then. The salon closes at eight, thankfully."

"Oh, that's right. You work with Stephanie over there."

"Yeah. She's one of the few coworkers I like."




Brody & Michelle Ch. 03



"I haven't talked to her in a while.I still need to call her and thank her for getting you to hang out with me at that party she had."

"Well, then I need to thank her for inviting you to that picnic thing she had in the park, even though I'm sure you were very uninterested in going."

"Thanks."

"Thanks back."

Michelle sighed. 

"You really are tired, huh?" Brody asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to let you go, so you can go to sleep?"

"No."

Brody smiled, then sighed himself. "This might be weird, but when you sound tired, you sound really cute. It makes me want to give you a hug."

"Oh my God. I hug would be great right now."

"Oh, yeah?"

"It would be so good. What are you wearing? Is it something soft?"

"Sweatpants and an old hoodie from high school."

"That sounds so comfy."

"It is. It's super fucking comfy."

Michelle then chuckled. "I just realized that instead of phone sex, we're having a phone snuggling session."

Brody laughed. "We are!"

"It's ridiculous."

"The only ridiculous thing is that you haven't told me what you're wearing yet."

Michelle smiled. "I'm wearing pajama pants with polar bears on them, and a Beatles' t-shirt my dad bought for me."

"Dang, girl. That sounds like perfect snuggling attire."

"Does it?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Tell me what you would do to me, if you were here."

"I'd lay down next to you, wrap my arms around you..."

"That actually sounds really nice," Michelle said snuggling into her pillow. "Would you rub my 

back?"

"Of course I would. I'd nuzzle your cheek. Whisper sweet nothings in your ear about your stellar internal organs."

"Even my small intestine?" 

"All of it. Every last organ."

"Thanks."

"What about you? What would you do to me if I were there?"

"Umm... I'd probably use you as a giant body pillow. I'd snuggle into your chest, and probably bury my feet under yours, because I'm one of those annoying people whose feet are always cold. And... I like your hair. I'd probably run my fingers through it..." Michelle tapered off. 

"What sweet nothings would you whisper in my ear?"

Michelle yawned yet again. All the talk of snuggling was making her sleepy, and she was very close to drifting off. She just started rambling, "I don't know. Probably just stuff about how you're nice and sweet, and that I genuinely like you. I think you need to be told that. You seem to have a bit of a self-confidence issue."

Brody hadn't responded yet when Michelle then said, "Sorry again, Brody. I didn't mean to.. say all that. I'm tired. And I ramble when I'm tired."

Brody then chuckled lightly. "Yeah. You kind of do. This is the first time I think you've talked more than I have."

"Sometimes the impossible happens."

"And..." Brody started to say.

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to apologize. For what you said. Besides, I like hearing that you like me."

"I like you."

"I like you, too, but I'm going to let you go. I can tell you're about to fall asleep, despite it being only 10:00 at night."

"Okay. Thanks for calling me. You should do it more."

"You only want me to call you for round two of the hot phone snuggling session we just had."

"Oh, you got me."

"You're just so transparent," he teased. "Anyway, good night, Sugar Baby."

"Oh, no," Michelle groaned. 

"See you soon, hopefully."

"I'll text you tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night.

"Good night, Brody."



Brody & Michelle Ch. 04



Author's Note:

Hey, ya'll! Sorry for the gap between chapters, yet again. I guess I could've made this into two shorter chapters, but I ended up just doing one long one. Also! There's a little sexy time in this one, so yay.

Thanks for reading!

*****

Two days after the hot phone snuggling session Brody and Michelle had, Brody was at home watching "Firefly" (again), when his phone went off. He looked at the screen to see it was his new favorite person. "Hey, Sugar Baby," he said after answering the phone. "Did you have another long day and need me to phone snuggle you to sleep? I'm just realizing I never brought up how cute your lovely, little liver is."

"Wow. Did you pick up some alliteration skills from my dad or what?" she asked.

"Hey, let's not bring up your dad when I'm trying to phone snuggle you."

"Then let's not call me Sugar Baby."

"I kind of like it."

Michelle chuckled. "Well... I kind of hate it."

"Fine," Brody sighed in defeat. "I'll think of a different pet name for you."

"Thank you."

"Of course. So... what's up? Everything okay?"

"Umm, yeah. Kind of."

"Do you need something?" Brody asked, immediately sounding concerned.

Michelle smiled softly. "Yeah. I do." Brody then heard someone saying hi to Michelle through his phone, followed by a whoop and some music. Michelle quickly said hi back, then made an irritated noise. A few seconds later, it got quiet again.

Brody paused for a second. "Are you at a bar?"

"Yeah." Michelle did not sound happy about it.

"After a twelve hour day?"

"I'm not exactly here by choice," she explained.

"How?"

"My car broke down yesterday."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have let you use mine."

"Brody, that's very sweet, but I wouldn't just take your car."

"Why not?" 

"I mean, we just met. I wouldn't call you up and tell you my car broke down, and then ask you if I could use yours. That's weird. Things have been going great, but... still. We've only known each other a few weeks."

"I know you never would have asked to use it, but, if I had known your car broke down, I would have offered it to you."

Michelle shut her eyes in exasperation. It was pointless to continue on this conversation. "Anyway, my brother drove me to work, and my coworker was going to give me a lift home, but I guess everyone at my work decided to go out, so... now I'm out."

"And she wouldn't drop you off at home beforehand?"

"He. And, no, he insisted it would only be for one drink, but... I know him. It won't be for just one drink."

"He?" Brody asked quietly.

"Ugh. Brody, no."

"Sorry. So... what I'm hearing is that you need me to come rescue you."

"Really? Is that what you're hearing?"

"Yep. You need your knight in shining armor, AKA me, to come rescue you from the evil clutches of your coworkers."

Michelle could see that annoying smirk on his face in her mind. "If that's what you need to tell yourself so you'll come get me and take me home, then yes."

"Cool. Now call me your knight in shining armor."

"What? No."

"Please." 

"Why?"

"Is it really that hard for you to call me your knight in shining armor?" Brody asked, actually sounding slightly wounded.

Michelle then took a deep breath before saying, "Brody, my noble knight in shining armor, will you please come rescue me from the evil clutches of my coworkers? I would be forever in your debt."

Brody chuckled, and smiled a great big, beaming smile. "Michelle, my fair lass, nothing else in the world would give me more pleasure in this moment."

"Perfect. I'm at the Lakeside Tavern."

"I can be there in fifteen."

"Thank you so much."

"Any time... Sugar Baby."

"I hate you."

Brody snickered and then hung up the phone.

______________________________________________________

Precisely thirteen minutes and forty-nine seconds later, Brody pulled into the parking lot of the bar where Michelle was being held hostage. He walked into the the bar with a slight spring in his step, excited to see Michelle again. He opened up the door, looked around, and saw Michelle nursing a drink alone at the bar looking very unhappy with her present circumstances. Brody snuck up behind her, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Lady Michelle," she turned around immediately, and her face broke out into a wide grin, "it is I, your knight in shining armor, who has come to whisk you away from this dungy tavern, and return you safely home. Your chariot awaits."

Michelle set down her drink, and hopped off the bar stool. "My hero," she said jokingly, giggling. She then wrapped her arms around Brody's waist and pulled him in for a hug. "Thanks."

He squeezed her back and smiled bashfully. "Aww. It's nice to see you, too."

She pulled away from him and bit her lip. "You got here awfully fast. Eager to see me, huh?" she asked with a cocky grin. 

"Oh, come on. If anyone was eager to see anyone, it was you."

"How?"

"You could have called your dad, or brother, or sister-"

"My sister can't drive yet."

"Or mother. Whatever. Called a cab... But you didn't. You called me to come get you."

Michelle shrugged her shoulders in concession. "Okay. You're right."

"I..." Brody then stopped. He wasn't expecting to win that easily. "What?"

She shrugged again. "You're right. I could have done any of those things, but I didn't. I called you. I wanted to see you."

Brody raised his eyebrows and smiled wide. "Oh. Okay."

"Don't look so pleased with yourself. You wanted to see me, too."

"Of course I fucking did."

"Damn right."

While Brody laughed at Michelle's response, one of Michelle's co-workers walked up to them. "Hey, Michelle..."

"Hey, Cole."

"We all," Cole started, waving his hand over at a table of people, "saw you hugging some guy we've never seen and became curious."

"Oh," Michelle said looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, this is Brody. He came to pick me up, because I was feeling a little tired and didn't want to ask you to take me home."

"Hi," Brody said, waving at Cole.

"Hey," Cole smiled back. He then turned back to Michelle. "I've never seen you with a guy before. So... are you guys...?"

Brody and Michelle answered at the same time.

"Yeah. I'm her boyfriend."

"We just started seeing..."

They then turned to each other wearing matching confused looks. "Boyfriend?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah," Brody said, as if it was obvious. "Am I not your boyfriend?"

Michelle's eyes widened in shock, and all she could say was, "Umm..."

"Yikes," Cole said under his breath before walking away, his plan for merely some minor gossip turning against him.

Not knowing what to do or say, Michelle watched Cole scuffle away and said, "Oh. We scared away Cole."

When Brody didn't respond, she looked up at his face, and he was frowning at her. "So?" he asked, looking like he honestly didn't give shit. 

"Do you want to go outside and talk for a minute?" Michelle asked.

"I guess," Brody responded, still frowning at her.

"Okay." Michelle then lead them out to the back entrance of the bar. They stepped outside, and Michelle took a deep breath, "So..." she started, not knowing where to really go from there.

"So...?" Brody, raised his eyebrows urging Michelle to continue. She shot him an annoyed glance to which he responded, "You're the one who wanted to come out here to talk, so... talk."

Michelle folded her arms in front of her chest and asked, "Is this really how you're acting right now?"

"You don't consider me your boyfriend?" he asked.

"Honestly, Brody, I don't even know how you came to that conclusion."

"What do you mean?"

"We've never had a conversation about it. Why would you just assume-?"

"What kind of conversation?" Brody interrupted.

"Well, for one, we never had any type of exclusivity conversation. You know, where we agreed to be exclusive."

"Agreed to be...? Wait. Are you seeing other people?" Brody looked aghast at the very thought.

"No," Michelle said, shaking her head.

"Do you... do you want to see other people?" Brody then asked quietly, looking concerned.

"No. That's not what I'm saying."

"Okay. So... you don't want to see other people; I don't want to see other people. We like each other. Doesn't that make us a couple?"

"You can't just decide that I'm your girlfriend, Brody. That's not okay," Michelle admonished. 

"Fine. Will you be my girlfriend?" Brody asked, not understanding why Michelle was being so freaking difficult.

"Oh, my God..." Michelle said, burying her face in her hands.

Right then, Stephanie popped out of the back entrance and saw Michelle standing by the wall. "Michelle!" Stephanie exclaimed. "I came to have some drinks with you guys, and I was told that you actually came! And that you were out here with a boy? It's been so long!"

Brody then turned around and caught Stephanie's eyes. "Hey, Steph."

"Brody? The guy is Brody?" Stephanie said smiling over at Michelle.

"Yep," she answered.

"Guilty," Brody said.

"So... are you guys-" Michelle knew what question Stephanie was about to ask, and tried to get her attention by widening her eyes and shaking her head at her, hoping it would stop the destructive line of questioning. However, it didn't work, "- together now, or what?"

Michelle sighed, knowing what was about to come. "Oh? Are we together? No. I mean, we both really like each other, and we have no desire to see other people, and we've kissed, and I've, like, met her dad, but... no. We're not together. That's a dumb assumption. Why would anyone ever just assume something like that, you know?" Brody said in the most passive-aggressive tirade he'd made in recent memory. 

Michelle clenched her jaw and glared in Brody's direction. Stephanie's eyes looked like saucers, as her mouth dropped open in shock. Trying to save everyone from an even more awkward situation, Michelle said, "It was good seeing you, Steph, but Brody and I were about to go get some frozen yogurt-"

"We were?"

"Yep," she turned to him giving him a tight smile. She then looked back at Stephanie, "I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"Umm. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Brody, call me. It's been a while since we hung out."

"Sure. See ya, Steph."

"Bye," she said, making her way back to the bar.

Michelle then started walking to the parking lot, Brody following behind her. They were silent until they got into the car, when Brody asked, "Are we actually going to go get frozen yogurt?" Michelle nodded. "Okay. Which frozen yogurt place do you want to go to?"

Michelle shrugged. "I don't really care. You pick."

Brody started the car, pulled out of the parking spot, and frowned. "Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm mad at you, too," Brody said back.

"Okay."

"I don't..." Brody shook his head. "And you still want to get frozen yogurt with me?" he asked, puzzled. 

"We need to talk. And I'm annoyed and want sugar."

Brody became nervous and his stomach dropped at the mention of the phrase, "We need to talk." Judging on all of the movies and television shows he's watched in his lifetime, that phrase never meant anything good.

Noticing the shift in Brody' demeanor from irritated to anxious, Michelle said, "It's nothing like that. Everything will be fine." She shook her head. "You always expect the worst."

"Well, I have been called cynical." Brody was referencing the time Michelle called him cynical twice at Stephanie's party.

"That's right. You have been."

There was a short silence when Michelle abruptly asked, "Can you drive with one hand?"

Brody took his right hand off the wheel and waved it around. "I guess. Why?"

"Do you mind if I hold it?" Michelle asked, looking out the passenger's side window.

"You want to hold my hand?"

She looked over at him and answered, "Yeah. When I'm not feeling exactly mentally connected to someone, it makes me feel better to physically touch them. So you're still connected in some way. I don't know. It makes me feel better."

"You can hold my hand." She grabbed his hand and interlaced their fingers. She was right. The tension in the car immediately lessened. 

"So... I annoyed you so much you're actually going to eat refined sugar with me?"

"Looks that way."

"Wow. I am talented," Brody teased.

"Oh my God," Michelle shook her head and smiled.

______________________________________________________

They pulled up to Brody's favorite frozen yogurt spot. "Little Bunny #1 Frozen Yogurt?" Michelle said incredulously, as she read the sign. 

"Yeah. I don't really get the name. Regardless, it's my favorite fro-yo place. They have cotton candy flavored yogurt."

"That sounds disgusting."

"It's amazing," Brody corrected.

"Cotton candy is just fluffy sugar. It's essentially sugar flavored sugar." 

"Well, that explains why it's so good."

"If you say so."

They walked into Little Bunny #1 Frozen Yogurt, and got themselves some self serve. When Michelle went to pays for hers, she said, "I've got this, Brody." Then gestured towards the scale, indicating that he could put his on with hers. 

"No," he said. "You're my Sugar Baby."

"Well, today you're my Sugar Baby," Michelle quickly retorted.

Brody frowned slightly and quietly said, "Really. It's fine. Your car broke down, and..."

"Brody, I can afford some frozen yogurt. Besides, you got the mini-golf, and you came and picked me up... Seriously. I've got it."

"Okay, then," Brody shrugged and plopped his dish of yogurt on the scale more than doubling the weight that showed up on the screen. Michelle paid, and they sat down at a table to enjoy their sugary delights.

They started eating in silence for a minute when Brody then looked at Michelle's cup and shook his head in disappointment. "I was so excited to see you eat some junk food, and you messed it up. Is that vanilla with only actual fruit on it? You made this indulgent treat healthy."

"Healthy? I mean, it's better for you than ice cream, maybe, but if you think what I'm eating right now is somehow super healthy, then... you've got some problems."

"But, Michelle, you didn't even put one type of candy or chocolate on there at all!" 

"Fruit is like nature's candy. You would know if you actually ever ate any."

"I've eaten fruit before."

"I bet you can't even name all the fruit I have on here. Like this," she said challengingly holding up a slice of a green fruit with little black seeds.

"That's a kiwi." Brody was quite proud of himself.

"Okay. What about this one?" she asked, holding up a fruit that was white and shaped like a ball. 

Brody blinked a few times and shrugged. "Does it really matter if I-?"

"It's lechee."

"Well, I'm sure it's disgusting."

"Really? You have gummy bears and marshmallow fluff on your cotton candy flavored frozen yogurt! You eat like a six-year-old."

Brody then laughed. "I do eat like a six-year-old. I had Spaghetti-O's and cheese puffs for dinner."

Michelle chuckled and closed her eyes in bemusement. She opened them and looked at Brody. "How are you alive?"

"That's a good question."

Michelle face then turned a little more serious and she crinkled her nose. "So..."

Brody then nodded. "So... this is where we need to talk."

"Yeah," she said while giving a contrite smile.

"Okay. I'm ready."

"What you did back at the bar was not okay with me. Not necessarily that we were arguing. I want you to tell me what you're feeling. I don't want to you to feel like you can't tell me what you're feeling. Honesty is important to me."

"Okay."

"But... when Stephanie came out, and you gave her that passive-aggressive speech that was clearly directed at me... I mean, that was childish. And inappropriate. And none of Stephanie's business. And I'm sure you had to make her feel so awkward. I get that you were upset, but... I don't know. I really didn't like that."

"Yeah. I... shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry," Brody said.

"Also, I didn't think you were really listening to me."

"Well, I kind of felt the same way. You didn't seem to care that I was upset."

"I cared, but you were trying to make decisions for me. Like... you wanted me to be your girlfriend, so... I was now your girlfriend. Which is a little, well, crazy, Brody. We haven't known each other that long."

"The way I feel is crazy?" Brody asked, looking like he didn't appreciate the comparison.

"Okay," Michelle conceded. "Maybe that wasn't the right word. But... we've known each other for about three weeks. This is the sixth time I've ever seen you in my life. We've been on one date. And you expected that I had fully committed to the idea of being with you and being your significant other with absolutely no conversation about it. Like... you don't go on one date with someone and expect them to think you're in a relationship usually, do you?" she asked, trying to get Brody see where she was coming from.

He sat there, staring at her for a few seconds before taking a deep breath in. Then he exhaled, "We've only been on one date?"

"Technically, yeah. I would only really consider mini-golf a date. Maybe Gore Fest was like half of a date?"

Brody's eyes grew wide. "We've only been on one date," he said in realization. 

"Yeah," she nodded in response.

"I am crazy," Brody said sounding horrified.

"No. You're not crazy," Michelle reassured, grabbing Brody's hand and rubbing circles in his palm. "You're just..." she shrugged, "you."

Brody looked down at his hand and watched Michelle sweetly offering comfort to him, when he was the one who started this whole thing. She was too nice. "I think it hurt," Brody said, trying to explain what had happened. "I felt hurt that you didn't seem to like me as much as I like you, and that you maybe weren't into this as much as I am. So I got mad. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. And... I don't like hurting you, Brody. Hurting you hurts me, you know?"

Brody nodded, and they continued to sit at the table in a slightly uneasy silence, Michelle still tracing little designs in his palm. Brody then closed his fingers around Michelle's hand, and he asked, "Are you done?" motioning to her yogurt.

"Yeah. I'm good. Are you done? You still have almost half of your gummy bears and marshmallow fluff left."

Brody smiled. "I think it's probably better for me if I don't finish it, anyway."

They threw away their trash and headed for the exit to leave. Michelle was a little ahead of Brody while the walked to his car. When they were almost to it, Brody grabbed one of her hands and spun her around to face him. Brody was just staring at her face with a small frown on his own. Michelle raised her eyebrows questioningly, "What's up?" 

Brody's answer was to press his body up against hers, push them into his car, and press his lips onto hers in a hard kiss. Michelle was shocked and it took her a minute to ease into the kiss, because Brody was relentless and would not ease up. He put his hand behind her head to adjust her to the perfect angle, so he could dip his tongue into her mouth, teasing her lips with little licks. Michelle parted her lips a little wider to give him easier access, and he obliged with a groan, pushing his tongue against hers. 

Michelle let out a whimper as she started feeling warmth spread through her body. She was pushed right up against the car, and every part of their bodies were touching. Her chest was pressed against his, and even one of his legs was between hers. He swept his tongue in her mouth again while thrusting his hips into hers, and she could feel that he was enjoying himself. Brody then knotted his hand in her hair somehow pulling her even closer to him and deepening the kiss more. She felt totally consumed by him. And she loved it.

Michelle was loving it so much, she actually couldn't stop this little mewling sound that was coming from the back of her throat. She was starting to sound like a kitten. Brody started to soften the kiss, and the hand that was caught up in her hair moved over to cup her face. He then pulled away from her lips and chuckled. He kissed her nose. "Aww. My little kitten."




Brody & Michelle Ch. 04



She groaned, and, unfortunately, it wasn't from arousal. "Sugar Baby? My little kitten? These names you like calling me..."

"That noise you were making was so cute, though."

"I was making that noise, because you were turning me on."

Brody's eyes darkened. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said a little self-consciously. "You were being all rough and take-charge. I liked it. And you are a really good kisser."

Brody grinned at her with a mischievous look on his face. His face swooped down, and he captured her bottom lip in between his and bit it before sucking it into his mouth; while simultaneously grinding what was his definitely hard dick up against her. He then moved his mouth over to her neck and quickly sucked where her pulse point was. Michelle's neck and ears had always been really sensitive, so the moment he did that she let out a loud gasp that turned into a moan. "Oh my God..." she said under her breath.

Brody then whispered in her ear, "So... you liked that, huh?" then gave her earlobe a little love bite.

"Yeah," she whimpered. 

He backed up to look at her face, and he smiled. "Well, that's good to know." His eyes softened, and he pulled her in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. She started to do the same. He then buried his face in her neck and said, "I'm sorry for being such a dick today. I'm lucky you put up with me."

"I'm lucky, too."

"Okay," he said, not really buying her declaration. "And... I'm just letting you know that when you're ready to be in a relationship with me, I'm ready to be in one with you. I promise not to say anything about it until you're ready."

"Thanks, Brody."

"But please don't date anyone else."

"I won't. Even if I wanted to, you take up all my spare time."

"And I intend to." He pulled away just enough so they could see each other. "What's on your schedule for Saturday?"

"I think I'm going on my second date with this guy I'm seeing."

"Oh. Is he handsome?"

"Handsome isn't the right word. He's more cute, I guess."

"Cute is workable. What are you guys going to do?"

"You know, I was thinking about maybe just doing the typical dinner thing with him, but I'm afraid he'll take me to Chuck E. Cheese or something, because he eats like a six-year-old."

"Maybe he likes the idea of dinner, but is also kind of afraid you'll drag him to some gross vegetarian, organic restaurant where he'll end up having to eat tofu or some fruit he's never heard of," Brody said in mock concern. 

Michelle laughed. "Okay. If he promises not to take me to Chuck E. Cheese, and I promise to make him not eat anything too healthy, I think we can make this work."

Brody smiled. "Okay. Are you ready to go? It's almost 11:00. Past your bedtime." 

"I am getting tired."

"Yeah. Your eyes are getting droopy."

"Oh, no! Like the dog from those Hanna-Barbera cartoons?"

"Yeah. A little bit. Although, you're really more like my little kitten than like a dog."

"No. Different pet name."

"Come on. That one's cute!"

"We'll talk about this later. I need to go home."

"Okay. Let's get you home and in bed, kitten."

And, like the knight in shining armor he insisted he was, he did.

_________________________________________________________

When Saturday came around, Michelle and Brody managed to compromise and go to a nice Thai restaurant. Michelle was happy with the many vegetarian options, and Brody was happy to not have to split the order of Crab Rangoons he got for the table. "You know," he said munching on one of rangoons, "I thought your whole healthy-eating, vegetarian thing would be super annoying, but I get all of these to myself now. This kind of works out perfectly."

"Well, I'm happy as I can be for you while you take in twice as much deep-fried cream cheese as you normally do," she replied sardonically.

"Thanks."

"Any time," Michelle smiled, digging into her Pad Thai. 

Brody looked at her with clearly a question on his mind. "What?" she asked.

"Do you ever have a cheat day or anything? Or do you always eat like this? Like... if we went to the movies, would you have any popcorn or candy? Nachos? A Slushie? Candied nuts?"

"If you're trying to list the whole menu at the movie theatre, you forgot soft pretzels and hot dogs."

"I already know you don't eat those."

"I sometimes get popcorn, but, as you know, I wouldn't put any butter on it."

"So we'd have to get our own popcorn?" Brody looked scandalized.

"Or I could just take some of it out before the butter goes on."

"True," Brody smiled sheepishly. 

She looked up from her meal and bit her lip and crinkled her nose. "I love breakfast food," she confessed.

"Okay?" Brody chuckled.

"Like... Leslie Knope/Ron Swanson level of love for breakfast food."

"Ahh," Brody made a noise of understanding. "'Why would people eat anything besides breakfast food?'" he said, quoting the show "Parks and Recreation."

"'Because people are idiots, Leslie,'" Michelle smiled wide, quoting it back.

"It's a good show."

"It's probably my favorite show," Michelle said, looking up to the ceiling to think about it.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's a pretty good choice. It's super cute, as are you, so... it makes sense," Brody said, shrugging and popping another Crab Rangoon into his mouth.

Michelle smiled when he so nonchalantly mentioned she was super cute. Being with him was really going to give her an inflated ego if she didn't watch herself. "What's your favorite show?" she asked. Honestly, now that she thought about it, it was really odd that a guy like Brody hadn't mentioned it yet. 

She thought she saw Brody's features form into a frown for just a second before he looked up at her and asked, "What were you saying about breakfast food earlier? I asked if you ever had a cheat day, then you randomly mentioned how much you like breakfast food."

"Oh. Right," Michelle waved her hand noncommittally. "I mean, I just love it so much, I never take care to order anything healthy when I eat it."

"So, like... you actually eat bacon and sausage?" he whispered, his eyes widened in an almost child-like awe.

"No," she giggled. "There's this one place I go where they have a California Benedict. It's basically a benedict where the bacon is swapped out with avocado and tomatoes. But it comes with hash browns, and I..." she hesitated. "I ask for extra Hollandaise sauce on it."

Brody gasped. "No!" 

"I know you're mocking me, but that stuff is horrible for you. And I also order french toast, which is carbs, dredged in fat, then fried in butter, then I put more butter on it-"

"Wait. You actually put more butter on it?" he interrupted. 

"Yeah."

"Is it weird that the thought of watching you eat butter is seriously kind of turning me on?" Brody asked, hoping he didn't sound too strange.

"Maybe if it was coming from someone else, but... not from you. It seems oddly normal for you to be turned on by that." 

Brody's eyes lit up as he realized something else. "And then you pour syrup all over it, don't you?"

"Of course I fucking do," Michelle rolled her eyes as if it obvious, then gave him a grin. 

"You're such a naughty little girl. Fuck."

"Well, it's too bad you're never going to be able to see me be such a naughty little girl, because you're never up early enough to take me to breakfast," Michelle said, wryly.

"I might have to change my policy on waking up early if it means I can watch my two favorite things get intimate with each other."

Michelle gave him a shocked smile and said, "I hope you're talking about me and butter, because..."

Brody, who was mid-sip, laughed spitting some of his water back into his cup. He shook his head. "I was," he promised. "Sorry. I just got what that could have potentially sounded like. I meant you and butter. Not you and..." he hesitated on the right word to use.

"Your dick?" Michelle offered. 

"Yeah. My dick."

"Although, I'm sure me and your dick will get acquainted eventually," Michelle said, jokingly.

Brody gave her a look that was a little too serious for the banter they'd be sharing. "Well, I would hope so."

They then stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, when Michelle broke it by saying, "This got a little weird. Hey! You never told me what your favorite TV show was."

"I didn't?" Brody feigned ignorance. 

"No. I asked you about it, then you changed the subject back to breakfast food."

"Oh," he said, taking a bite of his peanut curry chicken. 

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

Brody looked incredulous. "Why would I do a thing like that?"

"Oh, my God. You don't want me to know what your favorite TV show is. Why? What is it? Now I have to know!" Michelle demanded

"You're reading into it too much," Brody said trying to stuff his mouth with yet another Crab Rangoon to avoid having to talk about it. Michelle, onto his ploy, snatched the rangoon out of his hand. "Hey!" he yelled, trying to grab at it. 

"Tell me what your favorite show is, and I'll give it back to you."

"That's blackmail, Michelle. And it's not cool."

"Call it what you want. I don't care," she shrugged.

"You're supposed to be my sweet, Sugar Baby. My little kitten. What happened to you? You've changed so much. The Michelle I knew a week ago would never stoop to this level," Brody admonished. 

"What is it? Is it really bad? Is it, like, 'Two-and-a-Half Men' or something?" she asked with a grimace on her face.

"'Two-and-a-Half Men?' I have never been more insulted in my whole life," Brody looked like he was about to be physically ill.

Michelle laughed. She had so much fun talking to this weird guy. "Why won't you tell me?" she pouted. "I told you mine."

"I know you did, and I appreciate that. But... my favorite TV show is my fourth favorite thing. After butter, you, and my dick. When I tell people it, they sometimes judge me, and I'm strangely protective of it. Like it's my kid or something," he tried to explain. 

"I like that I'm second to butter." Brody response was to just give her an arrogant grin and a shrug. "I promise not to judge you, Brody," she said in all earnestness. She wasn't kidding when she said honesty was important to her the other night. She never wanted him to feel uncomfortable about telling her something. 

"How about when we're officially a couple, I tell you what my favorite show is?"

Michelle couldn't believe he was actually using that as an excuse not to tell her. "Really? That's blackmail, Brody. And you said you wouldn't bring it up until I did. Until I was ready."

"I'm not trying to use this as some... ruse to get you to be my girlfriend or anything. I just really don't want to say it right now. I mean, you wouldn't introduce your child to someone you were just seeing, right?"

Michelle shook her head, disparagingly. "I can't believe you're really comparing your favorite TV show to your child twice in one night."

"Okay. One: You're judging me. And Two: I told you I was weird about it! Why can't you just respect that I don't want to talk about it right now?"

Michelle narrowed her eyes and sighed begrudgingly. In that moment, he knew he won. "Fine," she conceded. "But you'll tell me the moment we become official?"

"If it means that much to you, then yes. Of course."

"Okay."

"Can I have that back now?" Brody asked pointing at the last of his Crab Rangoons.

Michelle laughed. "I forgot I even had this thing. Here you go," she said as she passed it over to him.

"Hello, my fifth favorite thing," he said, giving the rangoon a kiss before he put it in his mouth. 

_______________________________________________________ 

Brody drove Michelle home from the restaurant. Since her car was in the shop, there really was no excuse as to why he wouldn't pick her up, anyway. Which he liked. He liked picking her up. It was probably because it was an easy way to spend some extra time with her. They pulled up her driveway, and Brody put the car in park and turned off the ignition. He reached over and grabbed on of her hands with his. "I had fun tonight," he said.

"Who said tonight was over?" Michelle asked. 

The sides of Brody's mouth turned upwards, and he raised his eyebrows. "Is it not?"

"Well, my mom and dad are at some friend's dinner party and won't be home until at least midnight, and Penny is spending the night at a beach volleyball team thing. I think they're doing some sort of lock-in, so..." she let the last word dangle suggestively. Honestly, she had been thinking about the kiss Brody had given her outside of his car the other night. He was surprisingly really great at kissing, and he seemed to be a little dominant, which was, yet another, pleasant surprise. She was eager to have a hot make-out session with him tonight. 

"So let's go inside," Brody said getting out of the car, before Michelle even had the chance to say anything back. Apparently, he was ready for a make-out session as well. 

"Let's," Michelle sardonically said to the empty car.

Once they were both inside the house, Michelle lead them into the TV room, turning on the TV, but no lights, and sat down on the comfy couch, patting the cushion next to her so Brody would sit down. He sat down right next to her, their thighs already touching. She smiled, looking at their thighs and bumped hers against his playfully. "Sitting awfully close, huh?"

"Yep," he said, putting his hand on the inside of her thigh, then pulling it up against his and holding it there. Her skirt had ridden up slightly when she sat down, and he starting stroking the skin that was exposed right above her knee.

Michelle leaned back into the couch and sighed. "That feels nice."

"Why don't you put something on?" Brody suggested while his hand started moving up a little higher. 

She grabbed the remote that was sitting on the coffee table, and she pulled up Netflix on the Blu-Ray player. "Parks and Rec? We both like that."

"I don't know. We both really like it," Brody said. "We don't want anything that will distract us too much."

"Why?" Michelle asked with fake innocence. 

"Well... I mean..." his eyebrows raised in question, and he asked quietly, "We're going to make out, right?"

"Yeah. We are. I was just messing with you, Brody."

He smacked the inside of her thigh. She gasped. "Don't play coy with me, kitten."

She closed her eyes and groaned. "You're really going to call me kitten, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I really like it for whatever reason."

"I guess it's better than Sugar Baby..." she said, giving in to the ridiculous pet name.

"Yay!'" he exclaimed, squeezing the inside of her thigh. 

"How about '30 Rock'?" Michelle asked. "I like it, but I think I could ignore it."

"Hmm. How about the British version of 'The Office'"? 

"Perfect," Michelle agreed.

She put on the first episode of the show, while Brody just continued to stroke her thigh. He was now drawing circles with his index finger that were getting bigger and closer to a certain part of her. His finger hit a particularly sensitive place on her inner thigh, which caused her to shiver slightly. "Are you cold?" Brody asked.

Michelle bit her lip and looked up at him. "No. It's kind of the opposite, actually." 

"Oh. I will keep at it, then."

Michelle continued to look up at Brody, while he stared straight ahead at the TV. When was he going to kiss her? They just talked about making out. Why weren't his lips on her lips? "What?" Brody asked, turning to look at her.

"Why aren't you kissing me?"

He smiled. "You know, Michelle, it's the twenty-first century. You could kiss me."

"I mean, I could, but I like it..." she trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"I like it when you kiss me," she admitted. 

"Oh, that's right. You said you liked when I took charge." Michelle nodded, crinkling her nose. "Well, in that case, I want you to kiss me."

"What?"

"That's an order," Brody said, lowering his voice and trying to look stern. Michelle's eyes widened, while Brody's looked a little unsure. She then grabbed the back of his head and pulled his face down to hers. "Yes, sir," she chuckled, right before pressing her lips against his. As soon as their lips touched Brody let out a groan and took over the kiss. Michelle smiled as Brody took his free hand to grabbed the back of her neck to pull her closer. She moaned. Brody answered her moan with one of his own, and opened his mouth letting his tongue peek through, trying to get Michelle to do the same. He licked her lips gently, then pulled away, giving her nose a kiss as he pulled back to meet her eyes.

He bit her bottom lip lightly. "Let me in, honey. Open your mouth."

She gave him a sweet, closed mouth kiss. "But I thought you wanted me to kiss you," she teased. 

He then pulled the thigh he'd been fondling across his lap, leaving her legs spread wide and the one on his lap almost bare, and pinched it. "What did I just say about being coy?" he teased, rubbing over the spot he pinched. 

"I was just doing what you told me."

"You're being so cheeky."

"Well, what do you want to do?" she raised her brows in challenge.

"I kind of want to fuck your mouth my tongue."

The, well, cheeky smile and the eyebrows on Michelle's face dropped, while her eyes grew wide. She was not expecting that. Brody then became worried that what he had said was too aggressive. He had said it playfully, but... he still wanted to do exactly what he said. 

Honestly, what Brody had just said turned her on, like, a lot. The moment he said it she felt an electric charge to her clit. She also felt exposed with her legs being spread the way they were, and that had caused a pool of warmth to start collecting in pussy. "Well, since you asked so nicely..." she looked at Brody with a smile. 

He grinned back and leaned down towards her. He barely had their lips touch, just slightly rubbing his bottom one against hers, and said, "Then you better open up that cute mouth of yours for me, kitten." She immediately did, and he did just what he said he wanted to do.

He twisted his hand in her hair, which she loved, and pushed his tongue into her mouth. While doing that he continued to caress her inner thigh getting closer and closer to her center. He pulled his mouth away from hers and kissed his way down to her neck. He nibbled and licked until he found one spot where her neck met her shoulder that made her whimper. He made a triumphant noise and sucked there. "Oh, my God," she moaned softly, closing her eyes. His lips and tongue continued to tease her there, and he steadily started moving his hand further up her thigh. He was inches away from the destination that she so desperately wanted him to reach, when he started moving his hand back the way it came.

She made a sound of protest, and tried to squeeze her thighs together to relieve some of the ache in between them herself. Noticing what she was trying to do, Brody held the one thigh away from the other to prevent it. "Do you ache there, honey?"

She glared at him. "Okay, now you don't be coy with me. You know I do."

He then pushed himself up against her hip, "I ache there, too."

"Fuck," she groaned. "I need to get closer to you."

"Closer? How?" Brody chuckled.

She then maneuvered herself out of Brody's grasp and straddled him, pushing her pussy against his dick. "Shit," they both said at the same time. She ground against him a couple times, before she pushed her breasts against his chest. "I ache here, too," she told him, hoping he would take the hint and do something about it. 

"Yeah," he agreed. He cupped her breasts and thumbed her nipples. "Your nipples are really hard. I can feel them through your bra and shirt." He then pinched them lightly, and she moaned rubbing herself against him again. "Take off your bra." Michelle then did that thing that girls can do where they take off their bra without removing their shirt. Every guy in existence was always amazed by that, and Brody was no exception. "It's like a magic trick," he said watching Michelle toss her bra on the couch next to them. 




Brody & Michelle Ch. 04



"It's really not," Michelle argued, with a slight giggle in her voice.

Brody then pushed Michelle's shirt over her breasts, exposing them. "Michelle," he said, running his fingers over the soft skin he bared, "you're so beautiful." She moaned softly as he continued to play with her breasts, and she began to slowly grind herself against his cock. He circled her areolas with his fingertips until he got to the middle pinching her nipples. She let out another moan. It felt so good, but it wasn't enough.

"Put your mouth on me," she said. Brody leaned forward and kissed the valley between her breasts. "No," she said. "That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then? I'm just doing what you told me," Brody said, mimicking what she had said earlier.

"Ugh, you're such a tease," she whined. 

"I guess you'll just have to be more specific," he said pinching one nipple hard, turning it an angry red. 

"Fuck. Will you put your mouth on my nipples, please? Bite them, suck them, lick them. I don't care. Just do it."

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." Michelle's chuckle quickly turned into a moan when his mouth latched onto her right nipple, sucking it hard into his mouth. He then bit one, pulling it away from her breast while simultaneously rubbing the tip of his tongue against it. She then started grinding her now wet and aching pussy against his dick in earnest, and changed the angle of her hips so her clit was getting as much stimulation as possible. 

Brody moved his mouth and hands away from Michelle's breasts, to pull her face down to kiss him. His tongue snaked into her mouth, and she pushed hers against his in what felt like almost desperation. She was grinding herself against him even faster, and he was starting to push himself up against her, too. She pulled her face away and buried it in his neck, occasionally licking or sucking the pulse point here. And he was content running his hands up and down her thighs, listening to the little mewls that were coming from the back of her throat again. "Mmm. My little kitten is sure purring today," he teased, whispering in her ear.

"Mmhmm," was her whimpered response. Brody then noticed that the mewls were sounding increasingly desperate and more high-pitched. Shit. Was she going to make herself come while dry-humping him during this make-out session?

He tried to make eye contact with her, but she would not move her face from his neck. "Hey. Are you about to come, kitten?" She whimpered in the affirmative. "Fuck," he replied. He grabbed some of her hair to pull her face from his neck. She opened her eyes and looked at him. They were watery and glazed over. "I want to watch your face when you come. Is that okay?" Her eyes rolled back in her head for a second. She didn't know why, but it was such a turn on for him to want to watch her come. 

"Of course it's okay, Brody."

He leaned in to give her a hard kiss as he rocked his cock up against her. She let out a high-pitched moan. God, she was so close. "Let me help you," he said. He took one of his hands that was on her thighs and moved it around to her cunt. He moved her underwear over and stroked her clit once. "Holy shit. You are so wet, Michelle." He knew if he stroked her clit two or three more times, she would go over the edge. He looked up at her face, her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip, almost as if she was trying to control herself. It felt so good, and she just wanted it to last a little longer. Brody couldn't wait to see her mouth fall open and her face twist in pleasure as she came.

He then stroked her clit once, twice, then on the third time she stiffened against him and let out a huge groan, followed by a series of whimpers as she continued to grind against Brody, while he lightly continued to rub her clit until her little tremors stopped and her breathing evened. His other hand stroked her back soothingly, and he whispered, "God, Michelle, you're so pretty when you come."

"Fuck," she said. "I needed that."

"Any time."

She crawled off Brody's lap, and leaned over to give him a sweet kiss. "Thank you," she said, snuggling into him. "I hadn't had an orgasm in almost three weeks. I was going crazy."

"Is that a long time for you?" he asked.

"Is that a long time for you?" she countered.

"Okay, okay. I just thought maybe it'd be different for girls."

"I usually masturbate two or three times a week. I just haven't had any time lately for some reason."

"I've been masturbating more since I met you."

Michelle laughed. "I like that you'll tell me that, but not what your favorite show is. But... that's strangely sweet. Thank you." 

Brody shook his head. "I can't believe you would have come by merely grinding up against me. I'm still not over that."

She smiled sheepishly. "I'm pretty sensitive down there. Coming is almost never an issue with me. Also... you're so good at that stuff. You know how to turn me on, man."

Brody blushed. "I try."

Michelle then looked down at the bulge in Brody's jeans. "Oh. It looks like you need to be taken care of now," she said grabbing his cock through his pants. 

Just then the lights in the TV room were switched on, and Brody and Michelle tore away from each other. They both looked over, and standing by the doorway was a really good-looking guy in his mid-twenties with the same color hair as Michelle and big, pretty blue eyes. 

"Hey, sis," he guy said. "Did I interrupt something?"

________________________________________________________________

Hearing the term "sis," Brody knew immediately that the guy in the doorway must have been Michelle's older brother. Remembering that he was still hard, he grabbed a throw pillow from the other side of the couch and put it on his lap.

Michelle's brother obviously saw the whole thing and said, "Subtle, dude."

"Jude!" Michelle groaned. "What are you even doing here? You're never at your own apartment."

"Well, I thought it'd be nice to see my sister. Didn't know that was a crime."

Michelle looked behind him, seeing a bag filled to the brim with clothes. "Is that your laundry bag?"

"Yeah. I can do my laundry and spend some quality time with you, Michelle Station."

"Hmm. That one's a stretch," Michelle said, shaking her head. 

"Michelle Station?" Brody asked, confused.

"It's this thing he likes to do. Nicknames based on my name. It's supposed to be a play on a Shell Station," she explained. She then turned a disgusted look towards her brother. "But that one's horrible." 

"Michelle-y Long," Brody whispered. 

"What?" Jude asked.

"Michelle-y Long. Diane from Cheers."

Jude chuckled. "I like that one. My favorite I ever did was 'Turtles in a half Michelle.'"

Brody laughed at that one. "That's really good. How about, 'Hey, do you mind helping me put up my new Michelle-f from IKEA?'"

Jude let out a short guffaw. "I've definitely used Michelle-f before, but I loved the new spin you did with the IKEA thing." He looked over at Michelle, "This kid is a natural."

"Great. So not only will you be calling me things like Sugar Baby and kitten, but you'll also start doing this shit, too?" she asked Bordy, looking annoyed.

Brody shrugged. "It's fun," Jude and Brody said simultaneously. Jude turned to Brody and gave a big, genuine smile. "So is this your new boo, Michelle? I like him. You need to hold onto this one. And he's cute, too. In a puppy-dog kind of way."

"Thanks?" Brody said, blushing slightly. 'Is Michelle's brother gay?' he wondered to himself.

"Jude, stop flirting with Brody." 'There's my answer.' "Oh! And Jude, Brody. Brody, Jude. I don't think I introduced you two." 

"You didn't," they said, again at the same time. Jude chuckled and offered his hand to Brody in a handshake. They gripped each other's hands, and Jude grinned at him. "Nice handshake, Brody. Firm, yet soft. Nice size hands," he said with a wink. "I think I might have found my soulmate." 

Brody giggled. Michelle smiled at Brody. Most guys would have been grossed out or annoyed with Jude's antics, but Brody fucking giggled. "Seriously, Jude, stop flirting with him. He's mine," she said, jokingly.

"For now." 

Michelle laughed. "You're insufferable." 

"You love me anyway."

"I do," she agreed. "But, seriously, why are you here tonight? You never come over on Saturdays."

His face turned a little sad for a second, and he shrugged. "Casey dumped me. Well, maybe he didn't dump me, exactly, because we never official. But... he doesn't want to see me anymore, and I just didn't feel like doing anything."

"Somebody dumped you?" Brody asked in shock. He couldn't believe it. He was so good-looking, and his eyes were so freaking blue. 

"Aww, thanks," Jude said, blushing a little himself. He shrugged slightly, and gained back some of his cocky demeanor. "I know, right? What was he thinking? I'm a catch."

"You are, Jude," Michelle confirmed. 

Jude responded with a small, almost fragile smile. "Thanks. Well, I'm going to start this laundry," he said grabbing his laundry bag and heading over to the laundry room.

"I know why he's here," Michelle whispered to Brody after Jude left the room.

"Why?"

"He needs Mimi Time."

"Mimi Time?"

"It's another one of those weird play on words things he likes to do. When most people are sad, they say they want Me Time. He says Mimi Time, because he needs time with me," she explained pointing to herself. "He used to call me Mimi when we were younger."

"That's really fucking cute. Do you want me to go, if he needs you?"

"No. I don't want you to go. Stay for a little longer. He just wants to be around me. It's a comfort thing, I think. He comes over during the week all the time. Besides, I need my Bro Time."

He laughed. "Bro Time?"

"Yeah. We can watch 'Parks and Rec.'"

"The third season?"

"Of course!"

"Okay."

Michelle went to clean herself up and change into some pajamas, and Brody went to the kitchen to find something to drink. There was no soda, although, he really shouldn't be surprised. He should've guessed Michelle cut that out of the diet of her entire family. He did find some ice tea, and poured himself a glass. He took at sip and choked on it. "Unsweetened?" he griped out loud. "Gross."

He heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Jude standing in yet another doorway. He walked over to a cupboard and got out some sugar. "Here," he said passing the sugar over to Brody.

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver." He then proceeded to dump four heaping spoonfuls of sugar into the tea. 

"Whoa," Jude made a sound of disbelief. "Did you put enough in there?"

"Oh. Are you really into that health stuff, too?"

"I'm into not getting diabetes," Jude shrugged one shoulder. 

"I don't think that's how it works," Brody took a sip of the now super sweetened ice tea. "Much better. Thanks again."

"So... how long have you and Michelle been seeing each other?" Jude asked in fake nonchalance.

Brody took in a semi-nervous breath. "Is this the intimidating older brother talk that I get to have with you now?"

Jude looked a little contrite, but his face remained fairly serious. "She's my sister. She means a lot to me."

Brody smiled. "That's sweet, but Michelle is... fine. If anyone's going to get hurt in this, it's going to be me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm already way more into her, than she is into me. And I'm all... soft inside. I don't know. I'm easily hurt. I freaked out on her the other day because I thought... Whatever. I overreacted."

There was a short silence. "I'm like that, too. Soft. I get it."

"Yeah. Well, Michelle and I were going to watch 'Parks and Rec,' if you wanted to join us. You can have some Mimi Time."

"She told you about that?" he asked, not sounding comfortable with the idea.

"It's cute."

"You like cute things, don't you?"

"Well, that's why I'm dating your sister. She's goddamn adorable."

Jude laughed again. "But... did you want to watch it with us? If you don't mind me intruding on your Mimi Time?" Brody asked. 

"Sure. I'll watch 'Parks' with you guys. That's show's a mother-fucking delight."

"It really is."

"I'll meet you guys down there in a few," Jude said, walking back to the laundry room.

Michelle then came down the stairs wearing pajama pants with pugs on them and a Jurassic Park t-shirt (that actually used to be her dad's. He had a thing for dinosaurs), and she looked goddamned adorable. "Oh, shit. Someone came dressed for some major snuggling action," Brody teased.

"Hell yeah! Do I look sexy? Do these pugs do it for you?" 

"You do it for me," he said, pulling her into a hug. She snuggled back into him. "Are you ready to go get our 'Parks' on?" she asked. 

"Yeah. I did invite Jude to watch it with us, if that's okay."

"Aww. You asked him to watch it with us? That's nice. And of course it's okay. Although..."

"What?" he asked.

"You two seem to really be hitting it off. Do you just want me give you guys some alone time, or...?" she teased.

"Yeah, actually. If you wouldn't mind; that would be great," he responded. 

They went to the TV room, and Michelle played the first episode of the third season. She cuddled into Brody's side, and he put an arm around her shoulder. She sighed in contentment. "This is nice." Brody kissed the top of her head and said, "It is."

Jude came into the room, and saw them looking really comfortable, and he felt a little guilty for imposing on their date. "Are you guys sure you don't mind if I join you?"

"Just sit down, Jude," Michelle left no room for argument, so he did as he was told. 

They watched the first episode, occasionally laughing at certain parts. Any time the character Andy came on screen, Michelle seemed to laugh a little more. "Is Andy your favorite or something?" Brody asked.

"Yeah. I love him."

"You always did have a thing for dumb losers," Jude teased. 

"Hey!" she said, kicking his leg lightly. 

"Eww!" Jude yelped. "God, Michelle. Get your gross feet away from me!"

Michelle chuckled darkly. "I forgot about your foot phobia." She looked over at Brody, conspiringly. "Watch this." She then raised her bare foot up into Jude's face, and he slapped it away.

"Seriously! It's disgusting. Stop being a fucking child."

Michelle just laughed. "You're ridiculous. It's a foot." 

Brody chuckled lightly, watching the two of them bicker. His face then grew wistful. "What is it?" Michelle asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've always wanted a sibling. It's fun watching you guys. Being an only child was kind of lonely."

She gave her brother a soft look. "Yeah. I guess I am kind of lucky."

"Damn right you are."

Michelle and Brody laughed. "Seriously, though, Jude. I am lucky. You're great, and I love you," she said nudging her foot against his leg.

This time, though, Jude let her foot touch him, and he even gave it small pat (that lasted about a half second). "Yeah, yeah. I love you, too, Michelle Silverstein." 

Brody smiled. "Amazing."

"That was a good one. Much improved," Michelle concurred.

"Thanks."

About three episodes in, Michelle had already dozed off, and was snuggling into him like a kitten. The pet name was just so appropriate in his eyes. "She's asleep," Brody told Jude.

"Well, it is almost midnight. I'm surprised she made it this long."

"She looks so cute. I don't want to wake her up."

"Well, I'm going to go finish up my laundry and head home. Thanks for letting me get my Mimi Time, Brody."

"Of course, Jude. It was nice to meet you."

"You, too. Don't be a stranger. I've decided you and I are going to be good friends."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

Jude then walked over to the other side of the couch, and leaned over to place a kiss on top of Michelle's head. "Bye, Mimi. Love you," he whispered. He then waved at Brody, and left the room.

The kiss to her head, and Jude's softly spoken words must have roused Michelle just enough, because her eyes slowly opened, and she gave Brody an embarrassed smile. "Did I fall asleep?" she crinkled her nose.

"You did."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm sure you had a long day."

"Yeah. It was a little long," she said sitting up and stretching. 

"Well, I'm going to get going, so you can go to bed, kitten."

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that name."

"You secretly love it." Michelle gave him a face that assured him no, she most certainly did not secretly love it. He brought his hand up to her face to smooth out the frown she gave him and asked, "When's the next day you have free?"

Her face turned contrite. "Umm. Probably not until Friday?"

"That's a week from now. Absolutely not." The thought of not seeing her for a week had literally almost panicked him.

"Brody," she admonished. "It's not that I don't want to see you, but I have a paper due Thursday, and I work forty hours this week. Then Wednesday I'm supposed to go to this Paint and Wine class with Stephanie, and I don't really even have time for that..." 

"What about Monday?"

"That's the only night I have free. I work nine to five."

"Perfect."

"That's the night I need to work on my paper."

"What if it's just for a couple hours? Literally go see a movie, and I bring you right home afterwards?"

"I... I guess," Michelle shrugged not looking totally convinced that it was a good idea.

"Awesome," he said. He gave her a kiss. "Thank you. I didn't want to have to wait that long to see you."

"A week's not that long, Brody."

"It is in terms of not seeing your face."

"I mean, it's not even technically a week..."

"You already yes. You're mine Monday night. And Friday. I call Friday, too."

"Okay, okay. I'm all yours."

"Fuck yeah, you are."

She gave an exasperated laugh, and stood up, pulling Brody with her. "Good night, Brody." She gave him a kiss. "I'll see you Monday."

"Okay. Good night, Conch Michelle."

"Why?!"

Brody gave her a quick parting kiss on the cheek, and walked out the front door, snickering.