The Storm Ch. 02

There was a knock at Julian's front door. He ignored it at first, but it came a second time, harder, louder. He paused his game and listened.

"I know you're in there," came a voice. "No matter how hard you practice you'll never beat me at Halo."

Julian put his controller down but stayed silent.

"Let me in, Jules."

Nothing.

"You know I have a key somewhere. I'll go back to my house and get it if I have to."

Julian was shaking slightly. This was it, he was going to be killed. Breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself he approached the door slowly, as if it might attack.

"Dude." The voice on the other side was getting impatient.

"Tom," Julian said. "What is it?"

"Open up, come on."

Julian obliged. In the hallway of his building stood Tom Cooper, his oldest friend and Kate's older brother.

"You look like shit," he said.

Julian nodded, stepping aside. "Come in."

"Get some stuff together, you're coming over to my house for the weekend."

"What?"

"There's a blizzard coming tonight, and you haven't spoken to anyone in months, and Jen's stuck at her parents'. You're coming over and we're going to eat a ton of shitty food and drink a ton of beers and I won't take no for an answer."

Julian shook his head. "No, thanks. I'll be fine here."

Tom eyed him. "How have you been," he asked softly.

"Fine."

"Come on."

"I'm fine."

"Any word from Camilla lately?"

"Not since we finalized."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really." How do you tell your best friend that you're not depressed that your wife left you, but that you force fucked his little sister one too many times?

"Have you seen Katie at all?"

The word "no" got caught in Julian's throat.

"I just thought, you two..."

"It didn't work out," he interrupted. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fair." Tom looked around. "I'm really not leaving without you, so get your stuff and let's go."

Back at Tom's, the two ordedred take out and settled in to ride out the storm. A loud crack came from outside, and they rushed to the front window to find a huge tree branch had given out under the weight of the snow and had landed in the street.

"Shit," Tom said. "My car'll be next."

His phone rang, and he jumped up to get it. Moments later he returned, looking uneasy. "Katie and Will are coming," he said sheepishly. "They were in the Poconos but they had to get out of there before the storm. The roads are getting bad, they're worried about making it back to her place. I'm sorry -- I hope that's okay."

Julian shrugged, briefly unable to speak. Then, "does she know I'm here?"

"No. I'm really sorry."

They heard the sound of a car door slamming.

"That's them," Tom said, opening the front door.

Julian stood by the window, watching as Kate made her way up the sidewalk with her bag. She didn't see him.

"Hey Katie," Tom said, helping her inside.

"Thank you so much," she gasped, teeth chattering. "We almost died, like, fifty times."

"Here, stand there, keep your boots on." Tom took her coat and hung it over the closet door to dry. "I'm going to get a towel. Give me your bag, I'll put it in the guest room."

When Tom disappeared up the stairs, Julian stepped out. "Hi."

Kate stopped fussing with her hair and looked up, dumbfounded.

"Hey," came Will's voice from the front step. "Do you know where the brush thing is? The ice thing, the, whatever, the car cleaner offer? I can't find it." He stepped in and looked up at Julian, his eyes narrowing into little slits. "What are you doing here."

Julian shrugged. "Riding out the storm."

"Get your coat, Kate, we're leaving."

She looked relieved as she grabbed her coat and started putting it back on again.

Tom thundered down the stairs, towel in hand. "What's going on?"

"We're leaving," Will snapped. "I'm not staying here with him."

Tom laughed. "I mean, I know it's uncomfortable but--"

"We aren't staying."

"I'm sorry," Kate murmured to her brother, turning to follow Will.

"Wait." Tom grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "You're not going out in this." He looked at Will. "She's not going out in this and I don't suggest you do either."

"Yes we are."

"Go if you want, but she's staying."

"Kate, come on."

She opened her mouth and closed it. Tom still had her arm in his grasp.

"Come on, Kate."

"You're not leaving," Tom told her again. "No."

"Will, please, let's just stay."

Flushed, furious, Will shook his head. "I can't believe you."

"Please!"

"I'm refuse to stay here with him," he said, nodding at Julian. "But if that's what you want--"

"Watch it," Tom warned him. "There's no reason for this to turn into a fight."

"Kate." Will glared at her. "Let's go!"

She shook her head slowly, helplessly.

Will couldn't hide his surprise. "Really? You're choosing him over me?"

"He's -- he's my brother!"

"Not him," Will growled. "Him." He pointed at Julian, red in the face. "You're choosing Julian."

"You know what," Tom said, growing impatient. "I'll make this easy for you. Katie's staying, you get out. Go on, get out of my house."

Lips stretched in a grimace, Will turned to point his already outstretched finger at Kate who was blinking back tears. "We are done," he hissed. "You made a promise to me and you broke it. I'm fucking done." He turned and marched out the door, slamming it behind him.

Katie, with her lower lip trembling, pulled her arm from her brother's grip and ran upstairs.

Six hours and a case of beer later, Kate, Tom, and Julian sat around Tom's kitchen table laughing loudly.

"So the dog takes off down the yard with his leash wrapped around Katie's ankle," Tom pauses, catching his breath, "and Mom sees this, so she practically leaps over the table to try to grab the leash because Katie was, at this point, maybe forty pounds, and you remember Oscar, Julian, he was huge -- so my mom leaps across the table but doesn't clear it completely, the thing topples over, she goes flying, Katie goes flying, Oscar's running through bushes now and Katie's being dragged along after him--"

"Twigs, leaves all in my hair," Kate added.

"And the strap to her overalls caught one of the bushes, poor Oscar nearly strangled himself, the scene was total devastation." Tom laughed wildly. "That dog."

"He was a good dog," she sighed.

"Oh, the best."Tom glanced up at the clock. It was nearly 4am. "This...this is it for me, guys. I can't last any longer." He turned to Kate. "Get to bed at some point, okay?"

Silence followed, with only the sound of Tom's footsteps up the stairs making its way into the kitchen. Kate sat perfectly still in her seat, unsure of what to do or say. She felt Julian's eyes on her.

"I, um," she said softly, her voice cracking. "I'm tired too. I should get to bed."

She pushed the chair back and got to her feet.

"Katie, wait."

She froze, not looking at him. She'd never seen him this drunk before, and with Tom upstairs she was suddenly very uncomfortable.

"I need to tell you something."

She was quiet.

"Please sit down."

Kate shook her head, still not facing him.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Hands shaking, she quickly wiped them away.

"I just wanted to tell you that. And I'm sorry. I can't...I can't claim to have changed because I haven't. But that goes for my feelings, too -- they're the same. All that I did to you, all that I said to you, I loved you just the same. And that's what I'm sorry for -- for letting you think otherwise, not for...I'm not sorry for putting...putting my hands on you like that. I'm just sorry I didn't tell you how important you are to me. I'm sorry." He nervously peeled the label from his beer bottle. "And I'm sorry that my presence here tonight fucked...fucked things up with Will." He was growing hoarse. "And I know that you grew tired of me, and you grew tired of the things I did and said, but I'm here. If you ever change your mind, if you ever want to come back. I'm still here."

She took a deep breath and turned to face him, chin trembling. She tried to speak but nothing came out. Finally she just shook her head, waiting to regain control over her emotions. When she did, she said flatly, "you broke my heart."

Julian nodded. He'd expected as much. And then, as she was watching him, his face changed. His expression darkened.

"Go to bed," he murmured. "It's time for you to go to bed."

Kate had been in bed about thirty minutes, unable to sleep through her tears, when she heard a sound. She wiped her eyes and popped her head out from under the covers. She heard it again. Somebody was on the stairs. Julian.

The doorknob turned slowly, quietly. Kate pulled the covers up, tucking them beneath her chin, and squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to sleep. For a while he stood in the doorway and she could feel his eyes on her. She tried desperately to make her breathing regular.

He stepped in and closed the door behind him. Carefully he locked it, then crept over to her bed. She could hear him undressing: pulling his belt from his pants, unbuttoning his shirt, stepping out of his jeans.

Kneeling on the bed, he tugged on the blanket, pulling it down. Heart pounding, Kate pretended to awake, her eyes fluttering open. "Julian?" She whispered sleepily. "What are you doing in here?"

He said nothing. A sob caught in her throat.

The blankets now were at her feet. She felt exposed in the nighty she had on -- the nighty that had been a surprise for Will a few nights earlier, and as Julian looked her up and down she knew he was thinking that exact thing.

"Julian," she whispered, urgently now. "What are you doing?"

He grabbed at her panties and yanked them down, pressing his knees between her legs to open them.

"Don't," she whispered, pushing him away. "Don't."

He grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head with one hand; with the other he pushed down his briefs.

"Please," she begged.

"You're already wet," he hissed, and then covered her mouth as he slammed into her. She let out a muffled cry, writhing under him. "That feels good," he grunted, yanking at her hair.

"Please," she begged tearfully into his palm. "Please."

"Please what? You want to come?" He untangled his hand from her hair and traced it down her body until he reached her clit. "You want to come, Katie?" He asked, pinching it roughly. "Does that feel good?"

She shook her head, still struggling.

"Don't lie to me," he growled. "This feels good." He pinned the little ball of nerves beneath his thumb and rubbed it in a circular motion, still fucking her. "You're getting wetter," he whispered, and bit her earlobe.

She took a deep breath and held it, refusing to look at him, willing her body not to react.

"You want to make this tough on me?" He asked her. "Now it's a pride thing. Now I have to make you come."

"Fuck yourself," she hissed through gritted teeth.

He pulled out, flipping her onto her belly and entered her from behind. With one hand on her pelvis he pulled her towards him and with the other he continued the assault on her clit. "You getting close, Katie?" He whispered hotly into her ear. "You like that? Look at the wet spot you made."

She felt an orgasm rising in her stomach but she forced it back. Involuntarily her hips bucked and Julian let out a quiet laugh. Still rubbing her clit in a circular motion he pressed his index finger inside her, continuing to fuck her. She let out a whimper and tried, with renewed intensity, to get away.

"Tell me I'm hurting you."

She ignored him. He slid his middle finger in and she let out a quiet sob.

"Tell me I'm hurting you, Katie."

Nothing.

"All right." He flipped her over, to her back once more, and sat between her legs. He grabbed his belt from the floor beside the bed and, pressing her hands together, he wrapped it around her wrists and tied it as best he could.

No longer fucking her, he pressed three fingers up inside her, working her g-spot. She refused to meet his gaze but he could tell by the way she was breathing that he was bringing her close again. Suddenly he once again pressed his thumb to her clit and very softly rubbed it in a circular motion, gradually applying more pressure.

She struggled to keep her orgasm at bay but she couldn't, and she gasped, biting her lip as it coursed through her. Smirking, he continued to rub, still harder and harder, and as she came down it started to hurt. Bucking her hips she tried to free her hands, tried to kick her legs but his weight was too much.

"Please," she sobbed urgently. "Please, no more, I came, I came, you're hurting me."

Julian grinned broadly and slowed his cruel massage but didn't stop it completely. "Say it again, Katie."

"Please." She didn't even hear him. "Please stop."

"Tell me I'm hurting you." Again, he applied more pressure.

"PLEASE! You're -- you're hurting me, I'm sorry, you're hurting me. You're hurting me, Julian."

He stopped and she let out a breath that she didn't even know she'd been holding.

"Don't try to pull a power play with me," he told her. "Bad move."

"I'm sorry."

Her body was still quaking from the orgasm.

Julian lowered his face between her legs, his strong arms holding them in place, and nibbled at her clit.

"Please!" She gasped, arching her back. "Please no more."

He ignored her, working his tongue over the scandalized bead, enjoying himself as she bucked against his face. Finally, the sadist in him took over and he roughly pressed her clit against his teeth with his tongue, back and forth, back and forth. Her legs spasmed beneath his weight.

Ready to come, he raised his head and positioned himself at her entrance again, pulling both of her legs up so her knees touched her shoulders. He slammed into her over and over and she whimpered as his pelvic bone hit her clit with each thrust.

"You gonna come again?" He gasped, getting close himself.

"Fuck you."

He increased the force with which he fucked her, bringing himself to orgasm. He bit into her shoulder to stifle his moan and raked his hands across her body as they found their way to her pussy once more. He pressed his thumb and forefinger against her clit, stroking quickly until she let out a soft cry and he felt her insides gripping him.

He got to his feet and redressed, looking down at Kate's crumpled figure in the bed. She reached around for her panties, trying to locate them in the bed and pull them on, to at least retain some shred of dignity, but Julian pushed her back. "I have them," he said, dangling them in front of her face. "If I can't fall sleep on your brother's couch I'm coming back, and I'd like to streamline the process a bit next time."

She said nothing, just yanked the covers up around her and rolled over.

"I think you're still in love with me," Julian said to the back of her head. "I love you, too. We'll figure this out someday."