Love Obsessed (2 page)

“Erin,” Aiden steps into my view, “we did it,” he hugs me and hands me a drink. Aiden is more my height. I don’t have to stand on his toes, or on my toes, to get a decent hug from him.

“We sure did. I still can’t believe it.”

“I know. It just doesn’t feel real yet.”

“I think that in a few days it will sink in, and then the freaking out will start.” He laughs, holding up his drink, “To the real world.”

I hold up mine, touching the head to his, “The real world.” I raise the bottle to my lips just as it is taken out of my hands.

“Don’t drink that.” Brandon says, tipping the drink out. He came out of nowhere, which is surprising. I usually see him approaching. Over the past three years, he’s gotten more fit, more built.

“Brandon!” I exclaimed. “What the...!”

“Don’t worry, Erin. I’ll get you another one,” Aiden offers.

“No, you won’t,” Brandon declares, standing in front of me.

“Brandon!” I yell at him, stepping to the side. I want to get in eye sight and try to defuse the situation before it gets out of hand.

“You don’t know what he might have put in it.” His eyes are still on Aiden.

“I would never!” Aiden yells, getting defensive.

“I know, Aiden. I’m so sorry about this,” I apologise, feeling bad that he has to deal with a drunk and over protective Brandon.

“Its fine, Erin.” His eyes are focused on Brandon; both of their jaws tense and their stances rigid.

“I owe you a drink.” I stepped over to Aiden and pull at his hand. He grabs mine and we turn to walk to the bar. A crowd has formed to see the drama unfold. Before I know what’s happening, Aiden is on the ground. Blood is coming from somewhere on his face, and Brandon is standing over him, fist clenched.

“What the hell is wrong with you!” I yell at Brandon. Aiden gets up from the ground and runs at Brandon, who falls down to the ground and throws another punch. Brandon throws him off and counters with another punch. “Stop!” I yell. The crowd has gotten bigger to watch the fight. I see Ryan and Cole, and then Cole is at my side.

“Go and wait for me at the park down the road. I’ll be there shortly.” He turns me around toward the exit.

“But...” I start to protest

“Go, honey. I’ll meet you there.” Cole insists, so I nod and walk through the crowd, out the door and down the road to the park that Cole told me to go to. There is a swing set, so I go and sit down on one of them and wait. It isn’t too much longer before I see a figure running toward me. I stand up, not recognizing who it is until he’s close enough that the light from the lamps hit his face. Cole runs up and engulfs me in a hug, holding me tight, his breathing rapid.

After an extensive amount of time, I speak, “Are you alright?” My question comes out only as a whisper.

He pulls back, looking at me, “Am I alright? Honey, don’t worry about me. Are you alright?” A tear escapes, running down my cheek, Coles fingers wiping it away. “I am so angry at Brandon right now. He had no right.” Cole wraps his body around mine and just hugs me for the longest time.

Cole

I’ve had my eyes on her the whole night. Brandon is keeping her close; he always does when we go out, especially if alcohol is involved.  “Cole! Oh my god! You came to my graduation. I knew you would. They kept telling me that you wouldn’t, but I knew that you would!”

It takes me a moment to place her. She obviously knows me, and she does seem familiar; size 8, blond hair, legs that go on for miles, definitely my type. I offer her a smile. She’s talking to me, but my attention is on Erin, who is talking to a few other people. Brandon is off with God knows who. A guy approaches Erin, offers her a drink, and hugs her. They’re talking, and it is clear that he has a thing for her. Who doesn’t really? Erin goes to take a mouthful of her beer when Brandon snatches it out of her hands and tips it out.

“Shit.” I leave the girl rambling and head toward them.

Someone yells, “Fight!” and a crowd starts to form.

I catch sight of Ryan approaching the scene, too, and then I’m beside Erin. I tell her to meet me at the park down the road; it isn’t too far away and is well lit. Watching her leave, she looks so scared, watching the fight unfold. How could Brandon do this to her? Once her figure is out of sight, I turn back toward the scene. The boy is on the ground, and Brandon is standing over him.

“You’re a fucking tosser, Brandon!” Ryan says, kneeling beside the unconscious boy.

Brandon just stands there staring at him, and then looks around. “Where’s Erin?”

We ignore him. I kneel on the other side of the boy. “I’m calling for an ambulance.”

I get my phone out of my pocket, and start to dial, when he speaks again, “Where’s Erin!?”

“Go home, Brandon!” Ryan yells just as loud. Brandon is very protective of Erin, sometimes too protective. We’re use to it. We all look out for her, but sometimes, like tonight, he gets too protective.

“Where...”

“Home!” Ryan yells, getting to his feet. If Brandon wants to start anything with Ryan, he will fail. Ryan is the one who taught Brandon everything he knows, and he doesn’t stand a chance.

“An ambulance is on its way,” a girl standing in the outer crowd announces. I pocket my phone back up, and look to see where Brandon is. I don’t want him near Erin right now. He may protect her from the assholes, but I protect her from Brandon when he stuffs up.

I see him walking through the crowd. “Give it a few minutes, and then go get her.”

It is the longest few minutes of my life. The ambulance arrives and I take off running after Erin. I see her in the park, on the swings. I continue to run until I have her in my arms, and when I do, I hold onto her with everything I have. She’s shaking slightly, and tears are spilling down her cheeks. I just hold her, not wanting to let her go. After her shaking stops, I speak, “I got you something.”

“What?” I still have a hold on her, so she speaks into my chest.

“For your graduation, I bought you something.”

She pulls back, her hands sliding from my back to rest on my waist. “You didn’t have to get me anything. All you guys being there today was enough.” I bring my hand up to Erin’s neck, picking up the necklace that Brandon got her. I know everything that she owns, and this is new. She could have only gotten it from him.

“Brandon was allowed to get you something. Why not me?”

“You didn’t have to get my anything.”

“I wanted to.” Erin is staring at me, and I want nothing more than to kiss her in this moment. Instead, I reach into my pocket and pull out a small jeweler’s bag. “Hold out your hand.” She does, and I place the bag in her hand, folding my hands over hers, and then put them back on Erin. She looks at it, making me smile. “Open it.”

She looks up at me and then back down to her hand. Slowly, she opens the bag and pulls out the bracelet I bought for her. When I saw it, I knew that it only belonged on her wrist.  She gasps when she sees it, her hand on her mouth. “Cole, you shouldn’t have.”

She’s shaking her head and looking up at me, “It’s too much, I can’t accept this.”

I take the silver bracelet, with its seven threaded diamonds, and place it around her wrist, do the clasp up, and then bring her hand up to my lips and kiss it. “Perfect.”

“You’re too good to me.”

“You deserve it and so much more.”

She wraps her arms around me, kissing my jaw, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, honey.” I hang onto her before I ask the next question. The answer is going to break my heart, but it’s not her fault. “Do you want me to take you home?”

Lifting her head to see me, “Yeah, I need to make sure that Brandon is alright,” she says.

I close my eyes and nod. I hate that she lives with him. He doesn’t like her out of his sight. “Ok, then, let’s go.”

I cling to Erin on the ride back to her apartment. She has her head down on my chest, and I kiss it every now and then, wishing that we could be like this more often. We arrive at the apartment all too fast. “Do you want me to come up with you?”

“No. Go home. It’s been a big day.”

I take a deep breath, “Call me when you’re in bed. I need to know that you’re alright before I go to sleep.”

“Promise.” Kissing her cheek, I reluctantly let her go. “I love you, Cole.”

“I love you, too,” I say, and she gets out of the car. “Can we wait until she walks inside?”

“Sure thing,” the driver says as I watch her walk inside the apartment, and then the car pulls away.

Erin

When I reach the apartment, Brandon is in the kitchen on the phone, his back to me. “She’s not here! Where did she go?! What do you mean, Cole...” He turns and sees me, “Never mind. I see her,” and he hangs up. “Erin.” He moves around the kitchen bench, toward me. I take a step back and put my hand up, and he stops.

“What the hell was that tonight?” I spit out, my anger from his actions earlier coming to the surface.

“He could have put something in your drink, and you were going to drink it.” He makes it sound like that is enough of an explanation.

“It was Aiden. He’s harmless.”

“You don’t know him well enough to make that judgment.”

“I’ve known him for as long as I’ve known you.”

“You’ve known me longer.”

“By weeks!”

“Where did Cole take you? What did he do? What did he say to you?”

“Don’t change the subject! That was unacceptable, Brandon! I like Aiden. Why did you have to do that? He didn’t deserve it. He’s a nice guy.”

“I did it because I love you, Erin, and he’s not good enough for you.”

“Bran...”

He grabs my wrist, lifting it up, and his expression turns cold. “Who gave this to you?” He sounds pissed, and his body is tense.

“Cole. It’s a graduation present.” He stares at it for what feels like a long time. I yank my arm free from his hold, and he drops his arms to his side, staring at the floor.

“Are you and Cole dating?” he asks, barely audible.

“No. We are not. It’s just a gift, same as the one you gave me this morning.”

He raises his hand and lifts the necklace that hangs around my neck. “Don’t ever take this off.” He looks directly into my eyes, “Ever.” He leans down and kisses the top of my nose. “You’ve had a huge day. Head to bed. We’re going to Mum and Dad’s tomorrow for lunch. You need your rest.”

“I thought we were doing something with them during the week.”

“I called them earlier, looking for you. You left your phone home today. I thought that you may have gone there. They figured since we weren’t nursing hangovers tomorrow, that we’ll spend it with them.”

I place my head on his chest, “I love you, but you drive me completely up the wall sometimes.” I feel his smile on my head.

“The feeling’s mutual. Now off to bed.” Getting out of his grasp, we walk down the hallway. I go into my bedroom, and Brandon walks to his. “Night, baby.”

“Night, Brandon.”

Closing the door, I rest my head against the cold wood. I know that I got nowhere with him tonight. Despite our mini argument, he will turn around and do it again; he has so many times before. As I’m getting ready for bed, my phone begins to ring. Walking over to the bedside table, I answer it, “Colby Cheese, how’s it melting?”

“Are you alright? What happened? Do you need me to come and get you?” he shoots out excessively fast.

“Whoa! Slow down. What’s wrong?”

His deep breaths come through the phone line. “You’re ok?” he whispers.

“Yes. We had a minor argument; nothing new.”

“What did he say about your bracelet?” another whisper.

“He was.” I sigh, “I don’t know what he was. He changed when he saw it. Asked who gave it to me. I told him you did, and that it was a graduation present, and then he asked if we were dating. That boy changes moods more than anyone I know.”

“Are you still wearing it?”

“I’m getting ready for bed. I don’t want to risk it getting caught and breaking while I’m asleep, so I’ve taken it off for the night.”

I can feel his nodding through the phone. “He asked if we were dating?”

“Yeah, he doesn’t let me date now. I mean, every time I think that I’m into someone, or that someone’s into me, he scares them off. At the rate he’s going, you’re going to be the only one left that I can date,” I laugh out. Brandon is horrible when we go out. He always knows when someone is talking to me, and then he comes up and scares them away.

“You make it sound like you’d only date me if we were the last two people left on Earth.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I feel bad for letting him think that way.

“Dating me wouldn’t be that bad, Erin. I would treat you good.”

“You treat me good, now. There’s no disputing that, but you don’t date.”

“I would date you.” It only comes out as a whisper, but I hear it loud and clear, “I would cherish the ground you walk on.”

“I...” I start, but am interrupted by a knocking at the door and Brandon walking in, eyeing me on the phone, with my legs crossed on my bed. “Who are you talking to?” he asks.