Flaws || A.I

Chapter twelve

~Brielle~

I hung out with Luke at his house for a few hours before deciding to go back and clean my room. Luke came with me, of course, since he just got me and didn't want to be away from me anytime soon. When we got there, Iva attacked me.

"Food!" she practically shouted in my face. I pushed her off and said, "Alright alright. Relax." I pulled a frozen pizza out of the freezer and put it in the oven. "You can eat that in forty minutes."

"Ugh," she groaned, sitting down at the table. She finally noticed Luke and said, "Who's that?"

"Iva, this is my boyfriend Luke." I loved the way his eyes lit up when I called him my boyfriend. "Luke, this is my always hungry roommate Iva."

"You're useless unless you bring food. That's the only reason we let Brielle stay," Iva said seriously. I laughed while Luke looked uncomfortable and confused.

"She's joking," I told him, taking a garbage bag and a dust pan before heading off to my room. Luke followed, one hand clasped tightly around mine.

My room was a disaster zone. The broken glass and wood pieces from Claire's rampage were still on the floor and some of them had blood on them. Sean's pictures were also all over the place and there were some beer cans and lots of cup a soups everywhere. I started sweeping the broken glass and frames into the dust pan while Luke went around picking up the empty cup a soups and the occasional beer can.

"You don't have to help," I told him when I managed to get almost all of the glass out of my carpet.

"I don't mind," he said, picking up two more cup a soups and throwing them away. Now his job was done. I dumped the glass into the bag and started slowly gathering the pictures of Sean from all over my room.

"I can leave, if you want?" I grabbed Luke's arm and shook my head. I needed him for this. I pulled a photo album out from under my bed and sat on Luke's lap as I went through it, putting back whatever pictures of Sean I had taken out to frame. When I had finished, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. Like I could finally move on without fear of forgetting what happened and who I loved and lost. Luke held me in a comforting way and we just sat there in the comfortable silence. It was nice. Then someone knocked on my door.

"Brielle?" Brooklyn asked softly. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

I got off of Luke's lap and said, "Sure."

"In private," she whispered, noticing Luke behind me. So I followed her to her room.

"What's up Brooke?" I asked, sitting on her bed. She sat next to me and said, "I don't know what to do."

"About what?" I questioned.

"Just, let me try this please and don't interrupt." I shrugged and just sat there, staring off into space while Brooklyn 'tried her thing', whatever it was. Suddenly her lips were on mine and I didn't know what to do or how to react. When she pulled back, I stared at her with wide, confused eyes.

"Excuse me Miss Religious, what the fuck was that?" I asked. Brooklyn gave me a hard look and said, "Don't curse."

"Don't kiss me!" I hissed back. "Isn't that what your religion is about!? Not kissing the same sex and someone you'd hopefully consider a friend!"

"I know! I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just... You know what it's like to be me and I guess I just felt lonely and every time I saw you with someone you'd slept with I just couldn't help but cry and I don't know what to do!" By now Brooklyn was getting hysterical. I took her hands and told her to breathe, breathing in time with her. I did it until she calmed down.

"Okay, just relax," I said soothingly. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Did you enjoy the kiss?" I asked her. She shrugged. "That's what scares me."

"Okay, just chill," I told her. "You're just confused. That's all. You want someone who knows how it feels to be depressed and self harm and won't leave you because they think you're crazy. I get it. Since I'm the only person around here who knows how it feels and would probably kiss you if you were bisexual or lesbian, you came after me. It's totally understandable."

"Really?" she asked in a small voice. I nodded before hugging her.

"It's fine. I won't tell anyone," I promised.

"Thanks," she sighed.

"No problem." I released her and walked back into my room to see Luke just laying on my bed. I jumped on him, scaring him and making myself laugh.

"Jesus," he gasped while I straddled him, pinning his wrists down. I leaned in and kissed him while laughing. I don't know why I was so giddy. I haven't been like this in a while and I couldn't tell if I liked it or was scared by it.

"Hemmings," I said in a stern tone.

"Alvarez," he replied in an equally stern tone.

"Play video games with me?" I asked, resting my head against his chest.

"Hmm," he said, thinking. "I don't know. Lemme think about it."

"Why?" I teased. "Is it 'cause you know I'll win?"

"In your dreams," Luke snorted, pushing me off of him and running towards the living room.

"No fair!" I protested, racing after him and jumping on his back. Luke stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance and carrying me on his back into the living room where my Xbox was plugged in before we started an all out war on Call of Duty.

~Leia~

I walked into the house with groceries when I heard laughing and shouting coming from the living room. Curious, I set the bags down on the kitchen table and peeked into the living room.

"Ha! I win!" Brielle shouted, jumping off of the couch and dancing around Luke. He just laughed.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." He rolled his eyes at her and picked another landscape to play in. She giggled and kissed him before sitting on his lap and snuggling into his chest before they continued playing.

"What's going on?" Riley hissed, coming out of her room and watching the same freak show I was watching. I shrugged and when they finished another round, I made them aware of our presence.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked them. They both turned and I saw a genuine smile on Brielle's face, causing Riley and I to exchange confused faces. She hasn't smiled like that in years.

"Hey guys," she said while Luke kissed her cheek, making her blush.

"What the fuck is happening?" Riley asked.

"Just playing video games with my girlfriend." Brielle's eyes lit up when Luke said that and bit her lip. She buried her face in his neck. He whispered something to her and she giggled.

"This is fucking weird," I said.

"Stop being happy!" Riley yelled at Brielle. She rolled her eyes at Riley before kissing Luke.

"So, you're together?" I questioned. Brielle nodded happily. "No more fucking around. This is one hundred percent serious."

"Damn," Riley said. "This is nuts." I nodded and left to unpack the groceries I'd bought. That's kind of how our food system worked. I bought the groceries, Brielle cooked and Iva and Riley ate the majority of the food.

When I finished unpacking I went to my room and started reading "The Great Gatsby" for the fifth time. Halfway through the book I got a text.

Unknown: I know your secret.

Underneath was a picture of Leo and I kissing. I almost dropped my phone as all of the colour drained from my face. Who knew? Then another text came though.

Unknown: I'll keep this secret if you do exactly as I say...