Brody & Michelle Ch. 05

Brody shrugged thinking she looked inexplicably sexy while frowning and eating popcorn slathered in butter. "I've actually been told that before," he said.

"Not surprising."

When the movie ended they were both on a post-amazing-movie-screening high. That feeling you get when you watch something you love. The excitement, the need to recount every little thing about the movie that you liked. They walked to the car chatting about how amazing the set in "Rear Window" is. Brody opened up the passenger door for Michelle, and she climbed in. Brody started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot of the theatre.

Michelle was talking about Grace Kelly's wardrobe in the film, when a song she liked came on the station they were listening to. She stopped talking and turned up the music, asking if it was okay is they listened to it. Brody nodded saying, "Of course." By the time the song ended, Michelle had fallen asleep in the seat next to him.

He then said, "Of course" again, but, this time, it was to himself in exasperation. He looked at the time. It wasn't even 9:00 yet. 'How can she just fall asleep anywhere?' he asked himself. 'If she's ever out alone after 8:30, I'm going to be worried about her. She could just be asleep in a Wal*Mart bathroom somewhere. Or on a park bench. It's not safe.'

Assuming she was tired, because she did say she had a busy week ahead of her, he let her sleep until they got back to her house. Besides, she did look comfortable curled up in the seat. 'Just like a fucking kitten,' Brody grumbled to himself, still a little bitter she didn't take to his nickname for her as wholeheartedly as he did.

Brody pulled into her driveway and put the car in park. He looked over at her and really didn't want to wake her up. He unbuckled his seatbelt and reached over, gently rubbing her arm and shoulder. "Michelle," he started softly. "It's time to get up, kitten."

She slowly opened her eyes, and looked over at Brody, giving him a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry. It looks like I fell asleep on you."

"It's more like you fell asleep on the car's window, but that's okay. I would prefer you actually do fall asleep literally on me next time. That way I can get some car cuddles in."

"Car cuddles?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. That's what they're called."

"How very alliterative of you," she teased.

He chuckled, remembering when he used those same words to describe her dad's name for their Movie Mondays. "Thanks."

"Any time," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Sorry about falling asleep on you again, but I only got four hours of sleep last night. And I still have twelve pages of this paper to write by Thursday, so..."

"Twelve pages?"

"Yeah."

"How long does it have to be?"

"Eighteen to twenty."

"Oh," he said, feeling guilty for basically, well, guilting her into going out with him tonight.

"I know," she smiled. "It's going to be a fun couple days."

"Well, let's get you inside, then," Brody said jumping out of the car.

Michelle followed suit, and Brody walked around to her and grabbed her hand as they walked to the front door.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight," she said. "I had a good time."

"Thanks for coming out with me. I appreciate that you made time for me. I know you're busy," he said, looking down at their connected hands.

"Why are you so sweet?" she asked.

His face contorted, and he looked super grumpy. "I'm not that sweet."

"Yes, you are. I think it's all that sugar you eat."

"Well, that explains it," he said back.

She moved her head to the side, trying to make contact with his eyes. When she did, she said, "Kiss me goodbye. I have to write my paper."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, unwrapping his hand from hers and moving it up to her chin. He tilted her face up just an inch, and softly pressed his lips up against hers. Just when she was sure he was about to deepen the kiss, he pulled away.

"Aww. Is that all I get?" she pouted.

"Don't tempt me. You have a paper to write, and I don't want to distract you."

She looked at him in surprise. Was he actually putting her needs before his? "Such a gentleman," she teased him.

Brody raised a shoulder noncommittally, knowing he really wasn't a gentleman. She really didn't have time to see him tonight, and now she was going to be stressed out all week. Just because he wanted to see a movie with her, and she was too nice to say no to him.

"Can I at least get one of your super awesome hugs before you go then?"

"Of course you fucking can," he said wrapping her up in his arms. She laughed, and he sighed in contentment while he buried his face in her neck. "I can't believe I'm not seeing you until Friday."

"I know, right? How are you going to survive it?" she asked, remembering how he responded earlier after only not seeing her for a day.

"I don't know. I'll build a shrine in your likeness out of your used gum and store it in my closet. Write some really angsty poetry about how I love you, but hate you at the same time."

Michelle's eyes narrowed. "Like Helga Pataki from 'Hey Arnold!'?"

"Exactly like Helga Pataki," he confirmed.

She turned her face towards his, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well, you do what you need to do, Brody. Just don't punch Brainy too hard when he overhears you talking about me."

Brody laughed and squeezed Michelle tighter. "I'm going to miss you."

She gave an exasperated, yet amused sigh. "It's going to be just a few days. You'll be fine."

"I guess," he said, pulling away from her.

"I'll see you Friday, Brody."

"Okay," he replied. "Kick that paper's ass."

She smiled. "I'm intending to."

He giggled. "Go get 'im, tiger."

_____________________________________________________________

Tuesday night (or technically Wednesday morning, if you're one of those people), Brody's phone rang at 2:00am. Wondering who would be calling him at such an hour, he grabbed his phone in annoyance. The only person he could guess was calling him was his friend, Drew, who was most likely drunk or high, and calling him to see if he wanted to come over and play Risk or Stratego. Which had surprisingly happened several times in the course of their friendship. It probably didn't help that about sixty percent of the time, Brody accepted the odd request, now making him an easy target for Drew's bizarre drunken rituals.

When Brody looked at his phone, though, he was surprised to see that it wasn't in fact Drew calling, but his very own darling Michelle. Instantly concerned that she was calling him so late, thinking the only reason could be some sort of emergency, he picked up the phone saying in one panicked breath, "Michelle! What's wrong? Are you okay? It's two in the morning! What's going on? Are you in trouble?"

Michelle let out a breathy, "Oh, wow," before assuaging Brody's fears saying, "Yeah, Brody. I'm fine. You freak out a little too easily."

"It's two in the morning, Michelle. Yesterday you feel asleep in my car at 8:30. You couldn't even make it a twenty minute car ride home last night without falling asleep. What am I supposed to think when you call me at this hour?"

"That I can't fall asleep, and I need you to... I don't know." Michelle paused, becoming self-conscious. "Maybe this was a mistake. Just that one time..." she trailed off, thinking about the one time they phone-snuggled, and she drifted off. "Ugh. I'm being weird."

Brody started to pick up on what Michelle was putting down. "You can't fall asleep, and you want me to phone snuggle with you until you do? Is that what's going on?"

"Yeah," Michelle groaned. "It's weird, though, right? It's, like, weird. I just... I was writing my paper, and I only have four pages left, but I just couldn't finish it. I couldn't write any more, you know? And I'm so tired. I've had about four hours of sleep each night, which isn't normal for me. I need my six to eight hours, otherwise I become... weird. And I've been trying to fall asleep for the past hour-and-a-half, and it's not happening. It's like my body is too tired to even sleep. I don't know what to do."

Brody let out a light chuckle. Michelle was offended. "This is funny to you?" she asked.

"No. It's not funny, kitten. When you're tired, you talk about twice as much as you normally do. And just then, when you asked if I thought this was funny, you sounded like Joe Pesci in 'Goodfellas.' So... I don't know. Maybe it's a little funny?"

Michelle didn't respond right away, and Brody became worried that maybe the Joe Pesci reference wasn't the right call to make when she was clearly stressed out and very tired. She finally spoke up. "Do I amuse you?" her voice had a self-deprecating smile behind it. "Am I funny like a clown?"

Brody chuckled again. "Just so you know, you don't have to be worried about thinking that I'll think you're weird. There's never a time I don't want to hear from you, so..."

"You're like the sweetest boy in the galaxy. You're just like your frozen yogurt. All cotton candy and marshmallow fluff and gummy bears..." she was rambling again.

Brody grinned on the other line. Michelle was always such a self-composed person, but when she was tired, she would just say stuff without thinking, and it was really cute. "So you've been trying to sleep for an hour-and-a-half, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Maybe you're trying too hard? I know when I think too much about how I need to fall asleep, I can't. I usually do something to make my mind blank out."

"What do you do?" she asked.

Brody paused, getting slightly uncomfortable. "Well, I... masturbate," he said, whispering the last word.

"Oh," Michelle said back, also sounding a little uncomfortable. "I've... umm. I've already done that," she admitted quietly.

"Oh," Brody said, wondering what she was thinking about while she did it; selfishly hoping it was him. "And it didn't work?"

"That question's rhetorical, right? Because I'm awake. Talking to you," Michelle said, sounding vaguely annoyed. Okay. She also gets a little sarcastic and sassy when tired. Brody remembered to file that away.

"Okay, grumpy-pants. Let's get you to sleep," he said. "First, I want you to lay down, if you aren't already. Turn your phone onto speaker."

"Brody, I'm not going to touch myself."

"Michelle, it's so you don't have to hold your phone while you're trying to fall asleep. You are being touchy."

"No. That's actually the opposite of what I just said."

"Okay. Do you want my help or not?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm tired. And being a total grumpy-pants. Please continue, Brody."

"It's okay. I get that you're stressed out."

"I am. Thanks."

"You're welcome, kitten. Is your phone on speaker?"

"Yes."

"Okay. So..." Brody tried to think of where to start, when he remembered the question that kind of started the first round of phone-snuggling they had. "What are you wearing?"

Michelle giggled. "Umm. Work out shorts and a blue tank top. You?"

"Boxers and a black t-shirt."

"We're both dressed perfectly, then."

"I guess so, huh?" Brody then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. Are you ready to do this?"

"Bring it on," she said with a yawn.

"Okay. You're lying on your side, and I crawl in behind you."

"You're going to be my big spoon?"

"Of course I'm going to be your big spoon. I snuggle up against you, pushing my chest into your back. I move your hair aside, so I can place a kiss on your shoulder, then continue a trail down to your neck. I then nuzzle your neck with my nose, and run my fingers down your arm." Michelle let out a contented sigh, warmth spreading through her body. She was feeling more and more relaxed by the second. "You liked that?" he asked.

"My neck is sensitive," she replied sounding sleepier already.

"I've noticed," he chuckled. "I just have to say that I kissed it, and you like it."

"Hmm," she hummed. "Yeah. Then you were moving your fingertips down my arm..."

"Right. Sorry. I trace my fingers all the way down to your hand, and your fingers, before grabbing it and bringing it up to my lips. I open up your palm and place a kiss there. I move your hand onto my cheek. You stroke it once, before moving your fingers through my hair. You then turn slightly onto your back, and I kiss you on the forehead."

"So sweet," she murmured sleepily. "How are you so good at this?"

"I'm just saying what I would do if I were actually there."

"And what would you do next?" she asked quietly.

"I'd move onto my back, and roll you over so you're lying on your stomach. You'd put your head on my chest, because you'd probably like using me as a giant pillow. Your ear would be right over my heart-"

"Because it only beats for me?" she teased.

Brody chuckled. "Exactly. It only beats for you," he said only half joking. "Anyway, I would rub my hand back and forth down your back, and slowly the rhythm of my heartbeat would match the rhythm of your breathing, lulling you to sleep..."

He paused for a minute before softly saying, "Michelle? Are you still awake?" After getting no response, he said, "Goodnight, kitten," then hung up his phone, wishing he was there holding her while she slept.

_______________________________________________

The next morning, Michelle woke up at 7:30 with her alarm. She felt fairly refreshed, despite only getting five hours of sleep the night before. She then remembered Brody and how he helped her fall asleep the night before by pretending to cuddle with her over the phone. Her face turned red for a second and she smiled, thinking about how sweet he had been. The kid would probably do anything for her. Which was a new development for Michelle in the romance department. It was amazing and slightly unsettling all at once. She was really starting to become attached to him. She'd never really felt the way she was starting to feel. But it was nice, and nice was good.

She quickly texted Brody a message saying, "I'm sure you're asleep, and, for all I know, fell asleep an hour ago, but I wanted to thank you so much for last night. I don't think you like hearing this, but you're really sweet. And I really like that. Anyway, we're seeing each other Friday, so you should pick me up at six, because that's the earliest possible time I can be ready, and I want to see you as early as possible."

Michelle thought about the rest of the day she had in front of her. Work from nine to five, then a Paint & Wine class with Stephanie, then home to finish up the last four pages of her paper. Ugh. It was going to be a long Wednesday.

_______________________________________________________________________

Michelle looked at the half-finished landscape of a mountain and waterfall that she'd been working on during the Paint & Wine class Stephanie had convinced her to attend and grimaced. It was not looking good, and it probably wasn't helping that she had drank two glasses of wine while trying to paint the damn thing. "I don't know how you got me to come to this," Michelle grumbled to Stephanie.

"Umm. I got you to come, because you love me, and I'm fun to spend time with," Stephanie stated with such quickness and confidence, it made Michelle chuckle.

"Well, when you're right, you're right."

Even though Michelle was having a super busy week, it was really nice to drink and chat with a friend. She honestly needed it, and she hadn't hung out with Stephanie outside of work since the day of that party she had. They had chatted about work; Michelle about school. Stephanie still had some crazy friends from high school she mostly hung out with, because they were a constant source of drama-filled entertainment. Michelle loved hearing stories about them, because her high school days, and life in general, had always been drama-free.

Stephanie had just gotten done finishing up a story about her friend whose boyfriend cheated on her with his ex-girlfriend, when she gave Michelle a sideways look and asked, "So... you haven't really told me anything about this, but... how are things going with Brody?"

Michelle smiled. "They're good."

"Good?" Stephanie asked in exasperation. "Is that all I get?"

Michelle shrugged, dabbing the canvas with her paintbrush making what was supposed to be a shrub. She shook her head in defeat. Not even Bob Ross could save this monstrosity she was creating.

"Come on, Michelle. You're always so tight-lipped about the guys you're seeing, which are usually few and far between. Now you're dating a guy that I kind of introduced you to, who I have been friends with for years, and I still get nothing from you. Even when you had an almost fight in front of me, you never explained what it was about."

"Well, what exactly do you want to know?"

"Anything you're willing to tell me at this point," Stephanie said.

Michelle was usually pretty private about her romantic life, but maybe it was because things were going so well, or maybe it was the wine, but Michelle decided to share. "Honestly, things are going great. It's kind of weird how easily and quickly everything is happening. It's like I've known him for a lot longer than I have. I'm really excited about it," she finished. She then gave Stephanie a big smile and shrugged. "Yeah."

"That's nice, Michelle," Stephanie said returning her smile.

"Thanks."

"But how is the sex?"

"Oh, my God," Michelle laughed. "You're ridiculous," she said, shaking her head and taking another sip of wine.

"You won't tell me? That's usually the only thing I can get out of you."

Michelle shook her head. "We haven't... we haven't had sex yet."

"What?" Stephanie asked, aghast.

"Keep your voice down, and we've only been on three dates technically, so... it's not that crazy."

"Whatever you say..." Stephanie said sardonically.

"I mean, we have, you know... well, I have... you know..." Michelle trailed off. The wine was making her really inarticulate, but that didn't stop her from taking another mouthful and gulping it down.

"Just because you're a little tipsy, and I'm a little tipsy, doesn't mean I automatically understand your drunk speak. You... what?"

"Saturday night we were making out. Hardcore making out, you know? And... I... he made me come. You might be surprised by this, but Brody is really good at kissing. The best kisser ever. And he was saying and doing these things that were... so hot. It was kind of weird. He was making me melt all over him."

"That doesn't surprise me, actually," Stephanie raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

"Really? Why?"

"Brody and I kissed once during a game of Truth or Dare in high school. Even back then the kid knew his way around a mouth."

Michelle frowned. "You guys kissed?"

"Yeah," she smiled, giving Michelle an incredulous look. "During a game of Truth or Dare during high school, Michelle. You don't need to look at me like that."

"I'm not looking at you any certain way." But her frown still remained.

"You're frowning at me."

"I am?" Stephanie nodded. "Oh."

Stephanie's face then broke out into a wide, knowing grin.

"Okay," Michelle started, "now why are you looking at me like that?"

"You must really like Brody." Michelle didn't respond. She just waited for Stephanie to continue. "I mean, I've known you for a year-and-a-half, and if I told you I was sleeping with one of the guys you were seeing, you probably would have just shrugged it off and dumped the guy."

Michelle grinned. "And been silently thanking you for finding me a way to get out of it."

Stephanie chuckled. "Exactly. But with Brody I mentioned that we kissed once during a game over six years ago, and you frowned at me. Were you jealous, Michelle?"

"Of course not. I don't have anything to be jealous of. It's irrational."

"But, sometimes, my sensible friend, people become irrational when they start to develop real feelings for someone."