Silent Love [Part 2]_Forbidden Series

by Kenadee Bryant

  The moment their building was in view I picked up my pace, my breath coming out in pants. I really needed to get into shape. Now is not the time to be thinking of that!

  I booked it up the stairs, briefly remembering what room they were in. When I saw apartment number seventeen, I grasped the door handle and barged in. I should have thought more about their door being unlocked, but in that moment, I forgot about that detail quickly.

  “Dylan! Gage!” I yelled, looking around the living room. Where the hell were they?

  “In here!” Dylan yelled from what I think was the bathroom. My feet quickly took me in the direction I heard his voice. My heart was pounding in my chest and clenched painfully. What if he was really hurt? How could I stitch him up if it was terrible?

  When I reached the outside of the bathroom, I could hear noises. I took a deep breath, schooling my features. If I was freaked out, then he would be too. I had to stay calm and collected. Nodding at my thoughts, I entered the bathroom. I almost closed my eyes hoping that there wasn’t a crapload of blood because I would pass out.

  “Hey! I brought the first aid—” I started to say only to stop dead in my tracks. I stared at both boys. Dylan was leaning against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest, and Gage was sitting on the toilet seat. My eyes took in the entire the bathroom only to come up empty. There was not an ounce of blood anywhere.

  “Wha—” I stared at Gage, who looked up at me in surprise. He looked basically fine besides a small-looking cut above his eyebrow. I could see his cheek was slightly swollen, but that was it. There was not a lot of blood or anything to freak out over.

  “I…” I trailed off, not finding any words.

  “What are you doing here?” Gage asked, looking up at me. He looked down my body and I couldn’t help but blush. I bet my hair was in a bird’s nest from running all the way here, and my face was probably all red from running up the stairs and being frantic.

  “I…I…uh, Dylan called me,” I stuttered out. I looked at Gage again to make sure nothing else was wrong with him. Nothing else seemed wrong aside from the one scratch and swollen cheek. I looked over at Dylan, who was standing there with a Cheshire grin spread across his face. Slowly, it started to sink in. Dylan faked that Gage was seriously hurt to get me here.

  “You!” I growled out, pointing at him. From the corner of my eye I saw Gage staring between us, completely confused. “You little!” Dylan seemed to realize how pissed as I was and even had to decency to look guilty.

  “I didn’t think you’d rush right over.” He held his hands up.

  “What is going on?” Gage asked, standing up.

  “I am going to kill your best friend; that is what is going on.” Narrowing my eyes at Dylan, I lunged for him. He easily dodged my move and ran out of the bathroom. “Dylan, get back here!” I yelled, turning to chase after him.

  For the next few minutes I chased Dylan around their apartment, all the while screaming profanities at him. I wanted to strangle him for making me worry for Gage.

  “You little shit! He is completely fine!” I yelled at him, running around the couch.

  “I didn’t know you would take it seriously!” he yelled over his shoulder at me.

  “Why would I not when you call me screaming about blood and that he is severely hurt!”

  I continued chasing him for another few minutes before Gage suddenly stepped in front of me, making me come to a stop. He stared down at me completely confused. Dylan stood on his other side like he was using Gage as a shield to keep me away from him.

  “What is going on you two?” Gage asked.

  “Your little friend called me screaming that you were hurt and bleeding badly. So I ran all the way here worried sick only to find out you are fine!” I pointed over Gage’s shoulder at Dylan, who was looking kind of scared at the moment. Good.

  “Wait, why did you call her?” Gage turned around to look at his best friend.

  “It was a joke. I thought it would be funnier.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking guilty.

  “So Carter was who you were screaming to on the phone a little bit ago?”

  “Yes. I was really convincing, wasn’t I?” He grinned at the both of us. I couldn’t see Gage’s expression, but I knew he was rolling his eyes while I was scowling.

  “You are a dick,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “I’m sorry, Carter. I shouldn’t have played that prank on you, but come on, you have to admit that was pretty good.” I shook my head at him, more than pissed. Turning around, I went to sit down on the couch. I was out of breath and my feet were hurting from running so much in heels. I didn’t even know I could run in heels, but apparently when your adrenaline was up, you could do anything.

  I couldn’t believe I fell for that. I should have known something was fishy with Dylan, but being the nice person I was, I had to be all caring and worried. The couch dipped beside me, making me look at the person who sat next to me. Gage.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine. How are you? How did you get that cut?” I gestured to his face.

  “Just a fight. Guy got lucky.” He waved me off like it was no big deal.

  “Did you clean it and everything?”

  “It’s not my first cut, Princess.” Gage smiled at me. I smiled back, glad he was okay.

  “So you had a fight today?” I sat the first aid kit on the ground beneath my feet. He sent me a look almost asking if I was stupid. In my defense, it was word vomit.

  “Why are you all dressed up?” Dylan asked, walking over to sit beside me. I ignored him and kept looking at Gage. I was still angry at him for playing me like that. “Carter! You can’t still be mad at me!” he whined.

  “Yes, I can.”

  “Carty, I was playing! Please don’t be mad at me.” He grabbed my shoulder. Turning, I faced him, only to grab his shoulders and push him to the ground. He fell butt first. “Oww!”

  “Sorry, man, but that is what you get,” Gage said shaking his head at his friend.

  “My own best friend didn’t even stick up for me,” Dylan muttered. I stuck my tongue out at him. As he continued sitting on the floor pouting, I started to feel bad. Curse me and my kindness. Sighing, I reached a hand down to him.

  “Come on, get on the couch.”

  “Are you going to push me again?” he asked, looking at my hand as if it were a snake.

  “No. I won’t as long as you don’t do it again.” I gave him a pointed look.

  “I won’t. Well, at least not to you,” he muttered under his breath. Smiling, I wiggled my hand at him again, waiting for him to grab it.

  Once he grabbed my hand, I helped him back onto the couch next to me. I felt slightly bad for pushing him off so rudely, so I gave him a wide smile and patted his leg to let him know I wasn’t angry at him.

  A few minutes passed in silence as all three of us just sat there staring at one another.

  “So why are you dressed up? Had a hot date?” Gage asked, breaking the silence. There was a hint of something in his tone I couldn’t place.

  “No,” I lied, shaking my head. “I was with Macey earlier.” I had no idea why I decided to lie. For some reason I couldn’t bring myself to say I was out with Ethan. Gage stared at me for a minute as if waiting to see if I was lying, but I kept my face blank. Something inside of me was telling me not to say anything about Ethan to both Gage and Dylan.

  “Oh.”

  I rolled my eyes at him, although I was curious as to why he wanted to know.

  “Smooth,” I heard Dylan mutter over to Gage. I glanced over at Dylan to see him shaking his head, which made me smile. Although what he what he did wasn’t nice at all, I couldn’t stay mad at him for too long.

  “Well, since Gage is not lying on the bathroom floor bleeding, I think I’ll head back home,” I said, standing up. It was a little after five, and I bet Macey was wondering where I was.

  “Wait, you are leaving already, Car? I thought we could ma
ke cookies, watch movies, and play with each other’s hair!” Dylan whined, looking at me pleadingly.

  “Aw, don’t worry, young one, we can set up a day where we can do all of that.” I patted the top of his head. “We can even talk about boys.” I sent him a cheeky smile, playing along.

  “Boys?! Oh goody!” Dylan made his voice all high and girly while clapping. Gage just sat there staring at his best friend like he lost his mind. I couldn’t help but giggle at Dylan. He definitely knew how to make me feel better.

  “But seriously, I better go. Macey is probably wondering where I ran off to.” I grabbed the first aid kit from the floor.

  “Fine, go ahead and leave me by my lonesome self.”

  “I’m here too, you dumbass.” Gage grunted.

  “Oh yeah, there you are,” Dylan said in a bored tone.

  “Boys,” I muttered under my breath. “I’ll see you guys later?”

  “Definitely.” Dylan stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. With his head near mine it was the perfect opportunity to get back at him, even just a little bit. Reaching up with one hand, I smacked the back of his head. He jerked away from me, cursing while rubbing the back of his head.

  “What was that for?”

  “For being stupid,” I said simply, grinning. I moved away from him to look at Gage, who was now standing up. “I’m glad you are okay.”

  “Maybe I need to get hit more often and have you come running to my rescue.” He grinned at me. I blushed seeing how weird it probably was that I came running like a bat out of hell.

  “Yeah, well, that is all you are going to get.” I smirked at him hoping my cheeks weren’t as red as I thought they were. Feeling Dylan’s gaze on us the entire time, I took a step around Gage. “Put ice on your eye in a little bit. It’ll make it feel better.” Sending both boys a small smile, I made my way to the door.

  “Bye, you guys.” I quickly left, not trusting myself. If I stayed there any longer I’d be there for hours, and I’d probably do something I’d regret. With the door shut behind me, I sighed. What was I doing? I was literally just with Ethan, a guy that I really liked, and then I came running immediately to Gage when I heard he’d been hurt.

  Walking back to my dorm room, realization came in. I literally just kind of flirted with Gage when I just barely went on a date with Ethan! Did that classify me as a slut? I mean, it wasn’t like it was a date-date with Ethan, but it felt like it, especially after him kissing me on the cheek.

  While I should have been home pining after Ethan, I was instead making sure a guy I had barely known for a month was okay. What was wrong with me?

  ***

  “Why can’t I do this?” I muttered, pulling my hair as I stared down at the piece of paper in front of me. We were now in our second month of school, and apparently both my art and photography teachers thought it would be nice to make each student turn in a portfolio at least once a month. The first month they wanted us to get comfortable, and the minute we entered the first week of October, they pounced on us telling us about a portfolio that was due in two weeks.

  It’d also been about two weeks since my date with Ethan and Dylan’s stupid prank regarding Gage. Time had passed somewhat slowly, and not much was going on. Things were normal between Ethan and me. Neither of us really brought up our so-called date. Thankfully, things weren’t awkward and I was more than happy about that. It would have made my brother suspicious as well. Everything seemed to be like it was before school started.

  Things between my brother and Macey seemed fine; they were both acting like they used to. Amy wasn’t around as much as usual, which Macey and I couldn’t seem to understand. When I did see her, she would make up some excuse to leave, leaving me baffled. I thought I did something wrong, but with her not talking to me, I couldn’t do anything about it just yet.

  During the week I had seen both Gage and Dylan, and even talked to both over text a few times. During our English class, Gage decided to sit next to me instead of a few seats down, which surprised me, but I didn’t say anything, secretly glad. At times he was his normal rude self, but he had stopped being totally mean to me which was nice. Of course, around others he was more or less back to his old self. If someone so much as looked at him longer than necessary, he would snap at them. I wouldn’t classify us as friends just yet, but we were getting there. My mission of getting him to like me was succeeding.

  School had kept us all busy along with Ethan and Luke’s football games and even Gage’s fights. I hadn’t been to another one of Gage’s fights since I went with Macey. Ever since I went over to his place thinking he was hurt, I hadn’t hung out with either him or Dylan. I felt bad, but with school, going to football games, and now two big projects I had just been staying home working.

  I was currently sitting on my bed with my notebook in my hand, staring down at it. For the past hour I had stared at the blank sheet, nothing coming to mind. For my art portfolio I had to draw, sketch, paint whatever I thought was beautiful. According to my professor, it would be anything from a sketch of a book to a portrait of a family member.

  Usually I had no problem drawing, but these last few weeks I had been really uninspired. My mind wouldn’t think, and my hand wouldn’t draw. Every time I did think of something I’d either shoot it down, or when I start drawing it I’d end up throwing it away, not liking it.

  The topic of something being beautiful to me was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I thought so many things were beautiful, and it was hard picking one thing. If I did do a portrait of someone, it would probably end up terrible.

  Along with that topic for art, my photography class was somewhat the same. I had to take five photos of something that brought me happiness. With those photos I had to put them on a poster or in something like a binder with small descriptions of each picture explaining why it brought me happiness. I swear both professors got together and thought of the idea. Professors are sometimes out to kill you.

  Both topics didn’t sound hard at all; in fact, they were probably the easiest thing to create something for, but it made me sit and wonder what really brought me happiness and what I think was beautiful. Every person had different answers, but it hit home for me a lot harder than I would have thought. I didn’t think they meant for me to think this hard about it, but I couldn’t help myself.

  I had been procrastinating on these projects and they were due in a week and I still had no idea what to do. That was why I had shut myself in my bedroom hoping for some inspiration. Once I got an idea, I could finish all of them in a matter of hours but no luck so far.

  Of course, when I was supposed to be focusing on my schoolwork, my mind decided to wander. The first thing I thought of was Gage, which surprised me. Normally Ethan’s face came to mind when I was bored, or just on a regular basis honestly. The past four years, all I had ever thought of was Ethan, but now that Gage was in the picture, it seemed my thoughts wandered to him more often.

  I could see his face right now in my mind as I smiled softly down at my notebook. His soft brown hair that curled slightly at the tips; he had that perfect messy hair down to a tee. The strong jawline that I swear could cut a finger on. I could even see the small smile on his face. The dimples on his cheeks I didn’t even know were there until the other day. Gage rarely smiled, but when he did, man, it could light up the world.

  I didn’t know why I was thinking about him, which I had been doing a lot lately. Just randomly the image of him would pop into my mind, making me smile. I had only known him for a month, but he had already left a big impression on me. I wasn’t sure what that impression was, but I didn’t care.

  A soft knock on my door jerked me out of my thoughts. I yelled “Come in!” and glanced over as the door opened. Macey’s dirty blonde head popped in.

  “Hey, I found something at our door for you.” A smile appeared on her face as she opened the door wider and stepped inside. Following right behind her was the exact same person I was just thinking of.

&n
bsp; “Gage.” I breathed out. His tall figure entered my room, and it felt suddenly really small. He had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, which made his shoulders look wider than they were. I was shocked to see him here.

  “I found him standing at the door all awkward,” Macey said grinning over at Gage, who looked uncomfortable under her gaze. I stifled a laugh knowing Mace probably already said something weird to him before coming to my room.

  “Uh…” I looked over at Macey, giving her the “get out” look. She held her hands up and nodded, understanding me.

  “Well, I’ll just leave you two to talk.” She moved around Gage and went for the door. Just as she was about to close it, she stopped. “Don’t be too loud, okay? At least turn the music up.” She winked at the both of us before slamming the door behind her. I didn’t throw my pillow fast enough and it ended up hitting the closed door and falling onto the floor. My cheeks were flaming, and I knew I looked like a tomato.

  “What are you doing here?” I finally asked after a few seconds of silence. Gage made his way over to my desk chair and plopped into it. It felt weird having him here in my room…again. I couldn’t believe he remembered what room we were in from that night over a month ago. It was so weird to think it had been over a month since I ran into Gage late at night and ended up patching him up.

  I watched as he looked around my room taking everything in: everything from the few drawings I had put on my walls, the pictures along my desk with my family and friends, and two stuffed animals I had on my bed I had had since I was a little girl. His brown eyes took everything in, almost like he was trying to memorize it all.

  “I just, uh, I haven’t seen you in a while,” he finally replied after a long time. I hid my smile seeing how nervous he was, and hearing that he wanted to see me. This was a totally different Gage than the one I met a month ago. And I had to say I liked this one better. “What are you doing?” he asked, changing the subject. I let the change happen.