Brody & Michelle Ch. 05

Author's Note:

Holy cow. It's been a long time since I updated, and for that I apologize greatly. I honestly can't say when the next chapter will be up, but I will sure try for there not to be such a big gap again. I want to thank all you who have voted, commented, and/or favorited! (Also this chapter is the longest yet, by about ten Microsoft word pages, if that is any consolation).

Happy reading!

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Sunday evening Brody was on the internet just dicking around as young people like to do, when he saw the perfect thing to do with Michelle the next night. Excited about it, and wanting to share it with her immediately, he decided to call her instead of just texting her the details. He got out his phone and pressed "Sugar Baby" on his contacts. He had changed it to Sugar Baby after that one phone conversation where they phone snuggled each other's brains out, and hadn't decided if he should change it again. He was still debating on whether to put Kitten, Mimi, or one of those things Jude liked to do. Looking Michevlle-d (like disheveled) was his newest one, but he didn't know if that one was quite up to par. The phone rang twice before Michelle picked it up. "Hey," she said.

"Hello. How are you?" he asked.

"Oh, so polite. I'm fine. And how are you, dear sir?"

"Better now that I'm talking to you, kitten."

"Oh, no," she replied back, hearing the offensive nickname.

"Who is it?" Brody heard a male voice ask in the background of the other line.

"It's Brody," she told the voice.

"Brody! Tell him I said hi, and I want to know when we're going to hang out just the two of us," the voice said. Well, it wasn't just a voice anymore. Brody could tell it was Jude.

Instead of having poor Michelle repeat the question for Jude, Brody answered, "Tell Jude I say hi, too. And we can hang out any time besides Monday and Friday night, because that's my Mimi Time." Michelle chuckled and repeated the information back to Jude.

Brody then heard Michelle make an annoyed noise. "Everything okay?" Brody asked.

"Everything's great. I'm talking to you," the decidedly now male voice answered back.

"Oh. Hey, Jude," Brody said amused.

"Hey, Broseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Brody could hear Michelle's loud laugh through her phone, and he laughed along with her. "So... does this mean I get to look forward to a whole bunch of random nicknames?" he asked.

"Yep. Brody is a crazy easy name to do that with," Jude said.

"Yeah. The only Jude thing I think of is Judy Jetson, which isn't very good."

"Yeah. My name doesn't lend itself to it so much," he agreed. "Anyway, Mich-e-ville Longbottom is eyeing me down like she's about plunge the Sword of Gryffindor through my heart, so I should probably give her back her phone."

Brody chortled. "I like that one. You're good at this."

"Well, what can I say? It's not my first rodeo, Brodeo."

"Such talent!" Brody teased.

Jude giggled softly. "Thanks. Here's Michelle," he said, giving his sister back her phone.

"Sorry about that," Michelle said, sounding exasperated. "I'm going to my room, and locking my door so no more annoying losers can bother me," she said saying the second part of her sentence especially loud for a certain someone to hear.

"Love you, Meems!" Jude yelled back right before Michelle closed her door.

"It's okay. I like Jude," Brody said nonchalantly.

"Yeah. You both seem to like each other," Michelle said a little sardonically.

"Oh. Are you jealous? Don't worry, kitten, I only have eyes for you," Brody smirked on the other line.

Hearing the irritating grin on his face through the phone, Michelle asked, "So what's up?" in a clipped tone she had whenever she was annoyed by something.

"Nothing. Just calling about plans tomorrow."

"Yeah. About that, Brody. I really don't think I have time-"

"No. Wait. Hear me out. How do you feel about Hitchcock?"

"I love Hitchcock. Doesn't everyone?"

"You do?" Brody asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"You said yourself you're not a big fan of Horror movies, so I didn't know if-"

"Hitchcock doesn't necessarily do Horror movies, though. It's more like, I don't know... like everything's normal and fine, but then one weird thing happens, and it changes everything. His movies are more strange or suspenseful, you know? Not... scary."

Brody smiled. "I totally agree with you, but a lot of people think he does Horror movies, so..."

"That doesn't make any sense. He's called The Master of Suspense."

"Trust me. I've had this argument with a lot of people. I don't know. I mean, have any of these people seen 'The Trouble With Harry'? How is that a Horror movie?"

"It's not even a Suspense either, really. That's a black comedy," Michelle said.

Brody's smile got even wider. She really was a Hitchcock fan. Sure, maybe she wasn't the biggest fan of Sam Raimi or Wes Craven, but at least they had Hitchcock. "Well, the indie theatre down in Holland is playing 'Rear Window' tomorrow at 6:15. I was going to use this as an opportunity to educate you on the macabre, but it seems like you don't need me to."

"'Educate me on the macabre'? Holy douche bag, Brody," Michelle said, disgusted.

Brody laughed. "Sorry. That was douchey."

"You just sounded so pretentious right then," Michelle chuckled. "I almost had to call this whole thing off."

"Hey, don't joke about that," he said softly. He didn't like hearing her even joke about not seeing him anymore. "I promise not to be such a douche in the future."

"I'll hold you to that."

"So do you want to go? I can pick you up, we'll see the movie, then I'll bring you back home. You'll be home around 9:00, so it won't be too late. You can still do that Movie Monday thing with your dad."

"Oh. We're not doing it this week. Penny has some beach volleyball thing in St. Joseph. They won't be home until after 10:00."

"So... I can have you even later than 9:00?" Brody asked, hopefully.

"No. Like I said, I don't even know if I should do anything tomorrow, Brody. I need to work on that paper. We're not taking a final. It's the last thing for the class."

"So you'll have a few weeks with no classes before the fall semester starts up?" Brody got excited. That means she'd have more time to spend with him.

Michelle smiled softly, "Yes. I will, Brody."

"Cool. You're spending it all with me."

"I don't even know if I'm spending tomorrow with you."

"Yesterday you said you would do something with me on Monday," Brody argued.

"Yeah. And yesterday I came all over your lap, and we were snuggling, and you were sweet to Jude, and I was all buttered up from watching 'Parks and Rec.' Today I see the cold hard truth of reality, and I don't know if I have the time to see you. It's not that I don't want to or anything; it's just that I don't think I have the time. There are other things I have to do." Michelle said a little more harshly than she intended. She liked Brody a lot, but he could be a little too pushy at times. And he was also really selfish with her free time. He seemed to think he laid claim to all of it.

"I'm sorry. I just want to spend time with you," Brody replied quietly, sounding a little hurt.

"I want to spend time with you, too, but-"

"Look, I promise it will just be for a few hours. And I'll drop you back off right away. And it's 'Rear Window.' It's one of my favorites. I don't want to miss it."

"If I don't go, it doesn't mean you have to miss it," Michelle pointed out.

Latching onto the fact that Michelle started her sentence with "if" Brody said, "Please. It'll be fun. And I bet 'Rear Window' is your favorite. You seem like the type who'd really like it."

"It's my second favorite. My favorite is 'Shadow of a Doubt,'" Michelle begrudgingly admitted.

"That was Hitchcock's favorite, too," Brody informed.

"My dad's, too. He made me watch it when I was eleven. And my mom's brother is named Charlie. I was afraid of him for, like, three years."

Brody laughed. "So... does this mean you'll go with me?" he asked, willing her answer to be yes.

"I guess so, Brody, but you have to promise it'll just be for the movie, and that's it," she said giving in.

"I double promise!" he said, smiling triumphantly to himself.

"I don't know what a double promise is, but okay. Sounds like a plan."

"Hey. Why was Jude over again? Is he still upset about that guy?" Brody asked, curious.

"Aww. Are you worried about him?" Michelle asked, genuinely thinking it was sweet that he was interested in her brother's welfare.

"Maybe. I don't know. I was just wondering," he answered with a shrug.

"I don't know, actually. I asked him about it earlier, and he just kind of brushed it off and said he was fine. So... he could be fine, or he could be hurting. He'll talk to me when he's ready to. He's all mushy on the inside like you, but he's a lot harder on the outside."

"Yeah. I guess I'm just a big pile of mush," he agreed.

"You kind of are," she giggled. "He's here, though, because my mom likes us to have Family Dinners on Sundays. I mean, they don't happen every Sunday, but... we're having one tonight," she explained.

"That sounds nice. Me and my parents maybe have dinner together two or three times a month total, so... it's amazing your whole family gets together almost once a week for dinner."

Michelle fell silent for second. "You only eat with your parents a few times a month?"

"Umm, yeah," Brody said a little self-consciously. "They're just never at home. I mean, they never really were all that much. Especially once I became a teenager. They just had me when they were so old, I don't think they knew exactly what to do with me when I got here, you know? They already had a life they were used to," Brody said, trying to justify his parents.

"Hmm. Well, I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. I'm used to it."

"Okay, then. Anyway, dinner should be ready soon, and Penny, Jude, and I were supposed to play Just Dance for a bit before we ate, so... I should probably be going."

Brody grinned at the thought of watching Jude and Michelle playing it in the TV room, bickering at each other over one of them messing the other one up, while Penny (who he hadn't met yet) stood there looking exasperated as fuck that her two older siblings were acting younger than her. He then let out a sigh. He really did wish he had a sibling.

"Well, I don't want to keep you from that," Brody said. "I'll see you tomorrow. Okay, Michelle?"

"Okay, Bro Montana."

Brody chuckled. "Oh, Mimi. I like you."

"I like you, too. Have a good night."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

They hung up their phones, and Brody wished tomorrow would hurry its ass up and get here already.

______________________________________________________

Monday came around, and Brody spent most of the day waiting for the clock to get to 5:30 so he could go over to Michelle's and pick her up. He hadn't felt this way about someone in such a long time, and it was absolutely exhilarating. What can you say? The boy was completely smitten.

When at last 5:30 came, he jumped into his car and drove over to her house going five to seven miles per hour over the speed limit (even in a School Zone) the whole way over. He pulled up her driveway and saw her sitting on the loveseat where they had their first kiss. When Michelle saw him pull up, she stood up and waved, then made her way over to his car. She was wearing a blue sundress and her hair was up in some sort of braid, tendrils falling out framing her face. And, best of all, she was smiling. A full, sweet smile that was all for him. 'Fuck, she looks cute,' Brody thought to himself, while putting the car in park and stepping out of it.

Michelle opened her mouth, starting to say hello, when Brody grabbed her hand, pulled her towards him and planted a kiss on her lips. He then kissed her cheek, then moved down to that spot on her neck that drove her crazy and gave her a small kiss there. Brody snuggled his face into that spot and wrapped his arms around her. Michelle hugged him back and said, "Well, hello to you, too."

"I missed you," he said giving her a squeeze.

"It's been two days. And we talked on the phone yesterday," she pointed out.

Brody shrugged. "Still missed you."

"Okay," she chuckled, giving him a pat on the back.

He pulled away from her with a frown. "You didn't miss me?"

"Oh, Brody. Why do you do that?" she said, shaking her head.

"You didn't?" he said, looking a little sad.

"I wasn't given enough time to miss you. Like I just said, it's been two days. And you need to stop putting me on the spot like that. I am not sure what you want me to say. I'm not going to lie to you, you know?" she explained.

"Sorry. I don't mean to do that. I just need constant validation, apparently," he replied, self-deprecatingly.

Michelle smiled at him. "It's okay. I am happy to see you, though. I always am. Just so you know. You can put that in your Constant Need for Validation folder."

"Thanks. And I am always beyond ecstatic to see you. Just so you know."

"You don't need to say things like that, though. I don't need a Constant Validation Folder."

He shrugged. "I'm still going to say things like that. Speaking of which, you look so fucking pretty today. Give me a twirl."

Michelle might as well have had the word "NO!" literally stamped on her face, because it sure as hell was figuratively there. "Umm. I will, if you will."

Brody smiled, then gave her a twirl. Michelle laughed in response and said, "Wow. A black t-shirt and blue jeans? What a perfect Louis C.K. costume!"

Brody let out a surprised laugh. "It is. I did wear a plaid shirt over my t-shirt, but I got hot and took it off."

"And here I dressed all cute for you. Penny even french-braided my hair."

"Yeah, and I never received my twirl."

"Yeah. That's not going to happen. Let's go," Michelle said.

They both got into the car and headed to the movie theatre. They were content to listen to music for a few minutes without talking to each other. Also the song that was playing was "Rivers and Roads" by The Head in the Heart, which is great and they didn't want to interrupt it. After the song ended, Brody said, "I sometimes wish that this song was out when I was a Senior, so I wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that my class song was 'Don't Stop Believin'.'"

"My class song was 'Free Bird.' But I liked it," Michelle shared.

"See? Why are our class songs songs that came out before we were even born?"

"I don't know. It probably doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of life, so get over it, loser."

"Ugh. You're so mean."

Michelle giggled. "But you like me, anyway."

"Of course I fucking do," was Brody's immediate reply.

"I do have a more serious question to ask you, though."

"Why? What is it? Are you okay?" it all came out in one breath.

'Brody grows concerned so quickly,' Michelle mused. She decided to play with him a little bit. "There's just a really kind of huge thing we don't know about each other, and, before this goes any farther, I think we need to talk about it."

"Okay? What's up?" he looked and sounded so nervous.

"Brody," Michelle said completely straight-faced, "what's your last name?"

Brody's head whipped around to look at her and give her a glare. "You jerk! I thought something serious was happening."

"It is serious. We don't know each other's last name, and last week you insisted I was your girlfriend."

"Okay, can we not bring that up? I apologized for it, and I realize now that I was being stupid that night, and it's really embarrassing for me, so..." he then got quiet. "Can we not talk about it?"

"Oh. I'm sorry, Brody," she said in a soothing tone, reaching over to rub his arm. "I won't bring it up again."

"Thanks. And my last name is Cohen."

"Cohen? Are you, um, Jewish?"

"Umm... no. Not really. My parents are both Atheists. Especially my dad. He takes not believing in anything really seriously. There's Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins' books everywhere in my house. But I guess he was kind of raised Jewish. My grandma died when I was six, and the most Jewish-y memories I have are of her making those Jewish potato pancakes-"

"Latkes?" Michelle supplied.

"Yeah! Those. And her telling me it was such a 'mitzvah' to have us over for Chanukah. And since my mom was raised Catholic, we celebrate Christmas. Secularly, anyway. There were some d-bags in high school who would call me Jew Boy occasionally."

"What?"

"I know. Men are scum."

Michelle nodded. "Most men can be douchebags, yes."

"So... what's your last name, Michelle?"

Michelle's answer was to just grin really, really wide at him.

"What is it? Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"You are going to love my last name. I'm really excited to tell you what it is."

"Well, what is it, then?" Brody asked impatiently.

"Darling."

The moment of Michelle's reveal just happened to perfectly coincide with Brody having to stop for a red light. He pressed on his brakes and looked over at Michelle his face in shock. "Your last name is Darling?"

Michelle smiled and nodded.

"Your name is Michelle Darling?"

"Michelle Rose Darling."

"That is so fucking adorable. You're literally my Darling."

"I knew you'd like it."

"I do. Thanks for telling me." Brody then paused for a minute. "Oh my God! We're not friends on Facebook."

Michelle chuckled. "Nope. We're not."

"Well, I know what I'm doing tonight."

"Stalking the shit out of my Facebook?" Michelle asked sardonically.

"You know it," Brody grinned. "I apologize in advance for liking all the super cute pictures you have of yourself on there. Know that it's because I can't help myself, and you're irresistible."

She rolled her eyes in response, while trying to contain her smile. "Thanks, but you're too good to me."

"No, I'm not."

"Okay," she gave in. "You're right. I'm the best thing that happened on God's green Earth."

Brody smiled. "You're goddamn right," he said matter-of-factly. Brody then sheepishly glanced over at Michelle and asked, "Do you think I could friend request Jude, too? Do you think he'd be okay with that?"

"Of course he would. Why? Do you want to look at pictures of him, too?" she teased.

Brody blushed slightly and said, "Well, I mean, his eyes are just so blue. It's like I could fall into them. Take a swim in the most perfect of water..." he trailed off. Realizing what he said was a little strange he looked over at Michelle with concern edged on his face. He hoped he didn't freak her out or anything. But when their eyes met, she was just looking at him with a slight smile and softness in her eyes.

"I don't know why, but you talking about how cute my brother is is just making me like you more," she confessed.

"So if I talk about how soft his hair looks and how much I want to run my fingers through it, your affection for me will just continue to grow?" he asked jokingly.

Michelle stuck her hand out towards him while she laughed. "Can you drive with one hand again? I want to hold it."

"Sure," Brody chuckled grabbing her hand in his. Michelle gave it a squeeze then ran her thumb over his knuckles. "Being with you is nice," she told him.

"Nice?" he said a little disdainfully. Nice is boring, right?

"Yeah. Nice. I like it. I like you," Michelle said sweetly.

Brody's heart melted a little bit and he forgot about the problems he had with the word nice. Clearly she liked nice. "I like you, too. A lot."

She smiled over at him and gave his hand another squeeze. Nice was good.

___________________________________________________________________

They got to the movie theatre with just enough time to buy some treats. Brody ordered a large popcorn and a soda. Michelle got a bottle of water. Brody was not happy about it. Through the whole movie he kept offering Michelle some popcorn and she kept refusing it muttering something about butter. Finally, after him pushing the popcorn in her face for the five-hundredth time, Michelle took a small handful. "You're the most annoying person I've ever met," she grumbled munching on the popcorn.