Cabin Fever Part 2

I woke up to yelling.  I rolled over and saw Brody wasn't in bed anymore.  I pulled on a pair of pants and a sweatshirt and walked out of the room to see what was going on.

"You guys are such hypocritical fucking assholes!" I heard Savannah shriek as I got closer to the living room.  I heard Kendra's voice but couldn't make out what she said.  "Shut up, Kendra!  You're the worst of them all!"

I walked into the living room and saw Savannah standing in the middle of the room, looking rather disheveled.  Brody was standing a few feet away with Kevin, and Kendra was there too. 

"Oh look, if it isn't little miss fucking sunshine herself!" Savannah yelled, as I walked into the room.  "Sorry, princess, did I wake you up?"  Brody gave me a hard look, clearly intended to get me to keep my mouth shut.  I leaned against the wall and stared over Savannah's shoulder.

"I don't even know why you think she's so fucking great," Savannah said loudly, now talking to Brody.  "I got you sent to Miami to help you.  And what do you do?  Come back and ruin all my hard work!  She didn't even care that you were gone!  She barely waited until your plane took off before she was dating someone else.  She's a whore."

I was getting angry now, and I fidgeted as I tried to keep my mouth shut.

"Stop," Brody said calmly.  "You need to go.  You can't be here.  If you need it, Kevin will drive you down to town in your car."

Savannah continued her tirade, ignoring Brody.  She turned towards me again.  "You don't actually think he's faithful to you, do you?"  I clenched my fists, trying to ignore her words.  I couldn't bring myself to leave the room, though looking back, I wished I would have.  "All those phone calls...the long hours at the office.  He could be doing anything.  Lord knows he can't stick with one person for long.  There have probably been at least a dozen other women.  I hope you guys are using condoms.  You should probably go get--"

"Enough!" Brody snapped.  "Savannah, let's go."

"Though," she continued, "I guess that probably doesn't bother you, what with how fast you moved right on to James.  Are you still fucking him?"  I ground my teeth together, willing myself to keep my mouth shut and not make it worse.  "You know, if you wanted to fuck two guys at the same time, you should have chosen James.  Then you could have had him and Jordan."

At that, I lost any illusion of control that I had and lunged at Savannah.  I got close enough to hit her and cocked my fist back, but Brody was faster and wrapped his arm around my waist, yanking me back right as my fist flew towards Savannah's face.  I felt the heat from her skin on my knuckles but didn't actually connect with anything but the air in front of her face.  I tried to push forward again but Brody was dragging me backwards, and Kevin had Savannah by the arms.  I struggled against Brody's grip, bound and determined to punch Savannah in the face, like I should have done a long time ago.

"Come on, Liv, it's not worth it," Brody tried to reason with me.  I had held my anger at her in for too long though, and I was determined to get my hands on her.  I twisted violently and actually slipped out of his grip, only to be grabbed by Alex, who had just come into the room--summoned, I'm sure, by the sounds of chaos.  I was almost out of his hands too when Brody wrapped his arms around me, pinning me against his chest with my arms at my side.  "Jesus, Olivia, knock it off and walk out of this room with me."  I continued to struggle weakly but could barely move.  "She's not even in here anymore," he snapped.  I stopped wiggling and squirming and tried to take a deep breath.  It ended up as more of a series of short, ragged inhalations, and I blew it out hard.  "If I let go of you, are you going to walk out of here with me?" he asked, and the calm was back in his voice. 

"Yes," I muttered bitterly.  He let go of me slowly then gently took my arm and steered me back in the direction of the bedroom.  When he got me inside it, he shut the door and leaned against it, regarding me carefully.  I stomped over to the bathroom door and slammed my heel against the doorframe hard enough to make the door tremble on its hinges.  I did it again.  And again.  And one more time, before I slumped onto the floor and put my head on my knees.

Brody approached me tentatively, then slid down next to me.  He pulled me against him and I laid my head on his chest and tried to match my quick, shallow breaths to his to slow them down.  "I fucking hate her," I growled.  "How does she even know about any of that?"

"I don't know," Brody said softly.  "But it was a really shitty thing for her to say.  Especially if she actually knows what happened."  He stroked my hair and I started to calm down.

"I hate her," I said again.  "I hope she drives her car off the side of the goddamned mountain."

Brody chuckled, and I sat up quickly, glaring at him.  "I'm sorry," he said quickly.  "I didn't mean to laugh.  It's just...you're so little, but it was like trying to contain a hungry Tasmanian devil with my bare hands.  The cartoon one, not a real one."    I smiled a little at that.

Suddenly, his face changed and he looked anxious.  "Liv," he started hesitantly.  "What she said?  About other women?  You know-"

I cut him off.  "She's full of shit," I said.  "I mean, yeah, you've had about a million chances if you wanted to do something, but I don't have any reason to think that you have."  His eyes searched my face, as if he didn't quite believe that I believed that.  "Brody," I said, taking his hand.  "You've never done anything to make me not trust you."

He nodded and hugged me.  "Okay, good.  Because I'd never do that to you.  Or to anyone.  I'd run some illegal business ventures before I'd cheat."

"I know," I said, entwining my fingers in his hair.  We were still sitting like that when someone knocked on the door.  We untangled ourselves as Brody called for whoever it was to come in.  It was Kevin.

"She's gone," he said, looking slightly uneasy.  "I don't think she's planning on coming back.  She had a few choice words for me, then she said she hopes you all burn in hell and took off.  So..."

I couldn't help it, I started laughing.  How dramatic of her.  (Says the girl who required two grown men to stop her from pulverizing someone just minutes ago...)  Kevin and Brody just stared at me in surprise, which made me laugh harder.

"You good?" Kevin asked Brody.

"We're good, thanks," Brody replied.  Kevin backed quickly out of the room and shut the door, and I was now laying on the floor, gasping between laughter.  "What the hell am I supposed to do with you?" Brody asked me, looking down at me.  He was smiling, and chuckled as I rolled onto my side, trying to stop my laughter, wiping furiously at the tears rolling down my cheeks.  "You go from seriously pissed to laughing hysterically in 15 minutes.  I don't get you."

I sat up, sucking in a deep breath.  I made the mistake of making eye contact with Brody, and then I was cracking up again.  This time, he started laughing too.  When we finally calmed down, he stood, pulled me to my feet, and asked if I was hungry.

I shook my head, and he gasped in mock surprise.  "I think I promised you something that we didn't get to last night," I said, smiling deviously.  The adrenaline wasn't quite gone and I needed an outlet.  I backed him up until the bed hit the backs of his legs.

"I really don't understand you today," he said, shaking his head.  I arched one eyebrow at him.  "But I'm not complaining," he continued hurriedly.  I pushed him backwards and he sat down on the bed, then laid back as I straddled him.

"I guess we'd better make this quick," I muttered, leaning down to kiss him.

30 minutes later we emerged to find everyone up and in the kitchen.  Kevin eyed me skeptically as we walked in, as if he wasn't sure if I was sane or not.  I smiled back, fighting the urge to start laughing just to freak him out. Lauren stood from her spot at the kitchen table when we walked into the kitchen.  "Are you okay?" she asked me immediately.  Kinsley turned from the stove, where she seemed to be making some breakfast.

I blushed, finally feeling ashamed of myeslf.  "I'm fine, I just let my anger get the best of me for a second."  Brody snorted.  "Okay, more than a second," I amended.  Lauren didn't even look close to convinced.  The look on her face almost got me laughing again, and I had to bite my lip to keep it in.

Kinsley turned and said, "Most everyone has eaten, but I thought you guys might want something when you joined us."  I surveyed the stove and saw eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon.

"You're the best, Kins," I said, grabbing a plate.  I wished they would all stop staring at me like I was crazy. Brody and I both got food and sat down to eat.

"You're overdoing your cheer," Lauren observed.  I glared at her.  "That's better!"

"Can we talk about something else?" I asked.  Lauren relented and let me change the subject, and she sat and chatted with us while we ate.

But as the day went on, I couldn't stop wondering about how Savannah knew all the things she knew.  It started to really drag my mood down, and by late morning I decided I needed to get away from everyone for a little while.  I faked a yawn and announced that I was going to take a nap.  Once I got to our bedroom, I climbed under the blankets and laid there, racking my brain to try to figure out what was going on.  First Cassie, now Savannah.  I yawned for real, and thought I'd maybe close my eyes just for a couple minutes.

I was half asleep when I heard the door open.  A few seconds later, Brody climbed into bed next to me and slid up behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist.  I rolled over to face him and wrapped my arms around him as I pressed my face into his chest.

"What's on your mind?" he asked me, one hand lazily traveling up and down the length of my spine.

"Nothing," I replied, my voice muffled.  "Just sleepy."

"Liar," he declared.  "You only do this when you're upset."

"Do what?" I asked, confused.

"Lay like this."

I pulled back slightly so I could look at him.  "Really?" I asked.  He nodded.  "Huh. You're observant."

"So what's bothering you?" he pressed gently. 

"I'm just trying to figure out how Savannah knows so much.  She hasn't been around, and she definitely wasn't around when everything happened with James, and Jordan."  I shuddered as I said his name, and Brody's arms tightened around me immediately.  "It's really bugging me that she seems to know so much.  She's always known more than she should."  I thought back to how she had "seen" me leaving the restaurant with John, way back when Brody and I first started dating, even though she was at happy hour that night.

"It's really weird," Brody agreed, one hand slipping beneath the hem of my shirt and absently massaging my lower back.  "It's been on my mind too."

"Maybe Lauren mentioned something to Kendra, and she told her?  I don't know if Kendra is even still talking to Savannah," I considered out loud.

"You could ask her.  Lauren, I mean," Brody suggested.

I nodded, my face still against Brody's chest.  "I will...but maybe when we get back.  I don't want to ruin the rest of today by obsessing over this the whole time.  Between Savannah and Cassie I'm really tired of worrying about what other people are doing." 

"Are you actually tired?" he asked.  I nodded again.  "Sleep for a little while," he suggested.  "Everyone is just kind of hanging out on the deck for now.  I thought we could take a short hike after lunch and then head back."  Brody rolled onto his back, pulling me with him.  I shifted so I was laying against him with my head on his chest.  I sighed and relaxed against him as his hand went to the side of my face and fingers trailed around my ear and down my jaw.

I must have dozed off because when I woke up, the light in the room had changed.  Brody's hand was still and resting on the crook of my neck.  I shifted slightly and Brody stirred.  "Sorry," I said softly.  "I have to move."  My neck was stiff from being in the same awkward position for however long I'd been napping.  I lifted Brody's arm that was around me and rolled under it onto my back.  "What time is it?" I asked.  I was groggy and felt disoriented.

Brody groaned.  A few seconds later he said, "12:15."

I laughed.  I felt like I had been sleeping all day, not just an hour.  When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we discovered that someone had already made lunch.  "That's two meals you've slept through the preparation of," Lauren grumbled.

"I'll clean up," I promised.  And I did, after we ate.  I shooed away everyone that tried to help.  After I was finished, Brody, Alex, Kinsley, Damien, and I went for a short hike.  Lauren, Kendra, and Christian stayed behind.  We only hiked for about an hour and a half, since we needed to head back soon, but it was nice to get out.

When we got back, we all got our stuff together, straightened everything up, and filtered out of the cabin towards our vehicles in the drive.  I was tossing my bag into the back seat when Brody walked up.  "Do you want to drive, or do you want me to?" he asked.

I gave him a weird look.  "Well, won't we both be driving?"

"Alex is driving mine.  I want to ride with you.  Are you good driving, or do you want me to?"

"What if I don't want you to ride with me?" I teased, but I was already tossing my keys to him, relieved to not have to drive back.

"Not a very fun or relaxing weekend for you," Brody observed as we drove away from the cabin.  "I'm sorry."

I shrugged.  "At least we have our trip coming up."

He grinned and glanced at me.  "One week.  Well, one week and some hours.  I'm excited."

"Me too," I agreed. "After the last few weeks, I think it's well deserved."

We rode in silence for several minutes.  Eventually Brody said, "I'm almost regretting not letting you hit Savannah today."

His statement was so random that I laughed.  "She deserved it," I said.

"She did.  You would have hurt your hand though.  You need some work on your form."  He smirked at me, taking his eyes off the road for a brief second before turning his attention back fully to driving.

"Maybe you can teach me, since you solve all your problems by beating the shit out of your poor punching bag," I retorted.

"I could if you wanted," he replied seriously.  "Then next time you have a shot at Savannah, I promise I'll let you hit her."


Monday and Tuesday passed uneventfully, and I was more and more relieved with every day that brought us closer to our trip.  I was seriously looking forward to having a week on the beach with Brody.  In order to have in everything ready for him to be gone for a week, he was working crazy long hours this week, and on Wednesday, I stopped by his office after work with dinner for him.  I had stayed late at work as well, and it was nearly 8 by the time I texted him to let him know I was on my way up.

"Are you going to stay and eat with me?" he asked after he greeted me at the door to their office suite.

"I can if you have time," I replied.  "But if it means you won't be home until midnight, I'd rather just let you get your stuff done."

He grinned, then kissed my cheek.  "I'll be home by 10 either way, I think," he replied.  "I'm pretty tired tonight."  I decided to stay and we settled in his office with our dinner.

As we talked about our days, my phone rang.  I grabbed it and looked at the display.  It was James.  I pushed "decline" and tossed it aside.  I had barely picked my food back up when it rang again.  I sighed and hit the volume button to silence it.  Then it rang one more time.  "Maybe you should just answer it," Brody suggested.

I rolled my eyes as I answered.  I barely got my "hello?" out when James interrupted and said, "Liv, you and Cassie need to talk."

"Why?" I replied irritably.

"You just do.  She has some things she needs to tell you.  I need you to trust me--you're going to want to hear it.  Please just talk to her.  She's at my house, will you come over?  Or we can come to you.  Whatever you're  comfortable with."

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I swear I didn't plan all these cliffhangers.  But the next post is going to be from Cassie's perspective, so it makes sense to cut off here!  I will very likely post the next one before Sunday, but it's not written yet, so I'm not entirely sure when.  I'll post it when it's finished though, because I don't want to torture anyone too long.