Desiree's Star

Thanks for the comments and feedback, it definitely keeps me motivated to write. Keep it up :D

~Hotsprings

*

"Take me home," Desiree said before Gabriel's massive frame reached her. She was amazed at how much he grew when he was angry with her.

"I paid for this movie and we are going to watch it." Gabriel was fuming now. He had spent the better part of 25 minutes worrying where Desiree had disappeared to. He could think of a million places she could be and things she could be doing, or having done to her; especially in that skirt. When he marched out of the theater, he hadn't expected her to be standing in the lobby with her arms folded in front of her. He guessed she didn't want to sit down.

"Get back in the theater, now." Desiree didn't move. "Did you hear what I said?" Desiree took a step back. "You are really starting to get on my last fucking nerve Desiree."

"If you don't take me home, I'll walk." Gabriel laughed.

"If you think for one second that I'm going to keep playing this game with you. You are wrong." Gabriel was in her face now, his hot breath tickling her skin.

"Take me home," Desiree said sounding a little more confident than she felt. For the second time that day she began to feel his warmth start to envelope her. His heaving chest so close to her was starting have its affect on her.

Gabriel stood his ground and Desiree turned from him and walked out the door toward Gabriel's truck. She could hear Gabriel's labored breathing behind her as he struggled to keep his cool.

"I don't even know why you're mad." Desiree stopped cold in her tracks, her fists balling up. "You started it, and now you're just mad because I'm better at this game than you are."

"A game? A fucking game? You are such an asshole. Everything is not about you," Desiree spat as she spun around to face him. Now she could feel her anger building inside her and it was so intense, it was making her nauseous, and she wasn't even sure why she was so mad.

"Now how could you say this isn't about me? I'm pretty sure you don't let your ass hang out for anyone else. You've practically turned into a common slut for me, haven't you Desiree?" Gabriel said as he stepped closer to her, closing the already small gap between them. Desiree wasn't thinking when her hand flew from her side and collided with his face. She instantly regretted it, but she wasn't backing down now.

"Don't ever do that to me again, or you will regret it."

"Take me home." Gabriel said nothing as he hit the unlock button on his keys and walked around to the driver side of the truck.

They rode in complete silence the entire ride home; the radio wasn't even playing.

Before Gabriel could completely stop the truck in the driveway, Desiree jumped from the truck as soon as it was safe. Gabriel let out a little sigh of relief to finally get away from her. Of course he was annoyed, but it was much harder sitting so close to her with her skirt so short and not being able to touch her. Desiree didn't realize that her skirt was a little higher on her thighs than it would have been if she were paying attention. She spent the entire ride with her head pressed against the window and didn't notice the show she was giving Gabriel.

Gabriel was happy to see Scott's car in the driveway; at least now there would be some kind of buffer between him and Desiree. He parked the truck and hopped out. Taking a deep breath, and rubbing his hands across his face, he walked into the house.

He set his keys on the hallway table just as Scott was coming down the stairs.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" Scott barked as he walked up to Gabriel.

"I didn't do anything to her, she's acting like a baby."

"Aren't you a little too old for this shit, Gabe?" Gabriel raised his hands in surrender and shook his head.

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"I don't give a shit what happened. Fix it. She's not gonna be walking around here pissed all weekend because of something you did. And I'm not even gonna ask what she was doing in that skirt. At least my parents weren't home to see that. Did you put her up to it?"

"No," Gabriel snapped a little too quickly. "I didn't even know she owned a skirt."

"It was for a Halloween costume," Scott said before grabbing his keys off the hallway table.

"Where are you going? You're not leaving me here with her. I'm leaving too, and where the hell are your mom and dad?"

"They are at my Aunt's for the weekend. Don't change the subject; you are not leaving this house until whatever the hell is wrong is fixed. And I don't care if you didn't do anything wrong. I'll be right back. I have to go return the movies I rented before it's too late." Scott didn't bother to wait for a response from Gabriel.

Scott thought he knew what had happened between them even though neither of them would tell him what happened. 'It doesn't matter' Scott thought. 'It's a good thing I love Gabriel as a brother because if I didn't I'd fuckin kill him for messin' with Desiree the way he does.'

But he knew that sooner or later they would figure things out, they just needed a push in the right direction.

~*~*~

Gabriel stood at the bottom of the steps contemplating whether or not to ascend the stairs. If he left and Scott found out, Scott would kill him. If he stayed, he wasn't sure how much longer he could control himself around Desiree. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea why she was so pissed.

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders and turned toward the kitchen. He swung open the fridge and got three beers. He popped the first one and drained it, opened the second and drank it a little more slowly. He left the third on the counter knowing that he would need it later.

Going back to the stairs, he looked up at his impending doom. He wasn't exactly sure what he was worried about, but he knew Desiree was very upset and it was because of him. The only difference between this and all the other times she got mad at him was something he couldn't put his finger on, and that's exactly what was troubling him.

"I'm coming up," he yelled before he got to the top stair. The last thing he needed to do was surprise her.

"Don't bother," she said as she opened her bedroom door and rushed past him with her head down. She rushed toward the stairs and took them two at a time. Gabriel wasn't even sure that was possible without falling on your face.

"Wait, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Desiree said quietly as she reached for the doorknob. As she twisted it and pulled it open, Gabriel's hand slammed it shut. "Get off the door." She wasn't in the mood for this right now. The last thing Desiree wanted was to be in such a small space with Gabriel pressed up against her.

"Talk to me." Gabriel was now standing directly behind her, so close that he could smell the strawberry scent that came from her shampoo. She'd changed out of her skirt and put on a pair of sweat pants. 'She looks even hotter in sweat pants,' he thought, 'as if that's possible.'

"You can't keep trying to lock me in my own house." Desiree didn't bother to turn around because the last thing she wanted to see were Gabriel's eyes laughing at her. She wasn't sure she could take too much more of it.

"I'm not trying to, I just want you to tell me what's wrong."

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" she yelled finally loosing her composure and her voice rising to a hysterical pitch. She spun around so he could see how serious she was. "What's wrong is I'm nothing but a joke to you. What's wrong is you're a freakin asshole. What's wrong is I'm sick of you standing so close to me and pretending it doesn't matter," Desiree stopped short realizing that she just said the wrong thing. The shocked look on Gabriel's face said he thought so too.

Desiree turned back toward to door and turned the doorknob. "Let go."

Gabriel grabbed her lightly by the elbow and spun her back around.

"Desiree, you're not a joke to me, but you are just a kid."

"You just don't know when to quit do you?" she yelled before he could finish. Gone were all the things that she was feeling for him that morning. Well not all the feelings; having him stand so close to her body was causing her to heat from more than just anger. And what was it she was feeling for him this morning? Her own thoughts caught her off guard and suddenly the residual anger from childhood was back tenfold. And it seemed like he was doing it all on purpose.

Gabriel winced when he said the last thing, but there was nothing else to be said. She was his best friend's kid sister. He practically felt like she was his little sister. It shouldn't have made such a big deal to him, but it did and for some reason he just couldn't get past it.

Gabriel was distracted when Desiree swatted his hand away from the door and rushed through it. "Desiree! Desiree," he shouted, but she had already started her truck and was backing out of the driveway.

Gabriel sat down on the front steps and ran over the day's events in his mind. 'When had things gone from playful to serious, and why was Scott always trying to leave them alone?' Gabriel couldn't think but now all he could worry about was where Desiree went. He knew she would be fine, but that did nothing to make him feel any better. She could more or less take care of herself, but still, he wasn't feeling any more at ease.

For the first time in a long time was he was really feeling bad about how he was making Desiree feel. He thought about her little outburst just before and played it over and over in his head. Jumping as if being shocked, Gabriel ran for his truck, he had to find Desiree. He wasn't sure why he was so compelled, but he just knew that he had to.

~*~*~

Desiree didn't care where she was going as long as she was getting away from Gabriel. He was the last person that she wanted, or needed to be around. She drove around for about a half an hour, watching as the sky started to darken.

She drove far enough with the windows down to smell the salt water drifting off the ocean, and she decided that was exactly where she needed to be.

~*~*~

Gabriel had been driving in circles for nearly an hour and was growing tired of being stopped at every red light he came across. It seemed like no matter which lane he got in, or how quickly he accelerated, he was stuck behind some schmuck driving 12 miles an hour.

'Whenever you really wanna go somewhere, it always seems like the universe is working against you,' Gabriel thought cynically. And then his heart dropped. So is that what this was all about? Why was he rushing about trying to find his best friends little sister? Was it because he really wanted to be with her? Hadn't he seen this coming? Didn't he want this to happen? Gabriel turned on the radio, and turned it up loud as if to drown out his thoughts.

He rolled down the windows of his truck as he sat at another red light and let the sea breeze drift from the ocean and fill the car, and he got an idea. At this point, he had been driving for about an hour and a half, longer than he'd ever looked for anyone, and was content with not knowing where Desiree was for the moment.

The light turned green and Gabriel took off as if on autopilot weaving and maneuvering through streets. He hadn't noticed where he was until he was sitting in the parking lot on the ocean's front. 'This is the most beautiful place,' he thought to himself as he climbed from his car. He walked until he reached the sand, took off his shoes and socks and began walking barefoot to the water.

He glanced around him absently as the moon lit up the night sky and illuminated the silky surface of the ocean. There were a few people laying about randomly, talking, or walking along the water.

Gabriel hadn't felt like sitting down, so he began to wander along the water's edge, savoring the feel of the icy cold water against his hot skin not caring that the water was wetting the bottoms of his pants. 'What's the point if you never get wet,' he thought to himself. His mind shifted and he moaned. 'Desiree was wet this afternoon in the movie theater,' and he felt a stirring in his groin as he began to remember how free she had been with him. How open. He could read her thoughts in her eyes, and she wanted it as much as he did. He began to wonder if he had been just as open.

His heart skipped a beat. He finally realized why she was so angry; she had been embarrassed that she had been so openly brazen with him, and he regarded it as a game. Gabriel sighed heavily as he came to the conclusion that he would never be able to understand girls. He roughly ran his fingers through his hair as he continued his walk down the beach.

He walked for a while watching his feet as they sunk into the sand and thought of Desiree. 'I guess she has every right to be pissed,' he couldn't help but feel like a schoolboy who had a crush on a girl that didn't like him anymore. He kept trying to tell himself he was too old for her, but even he didn't believe it anymore.

He lifted his face into the breeze, letting it blow his hair from his face. He turned back toward the beach to see how far he had walked, and he could have sworn he saw Desiree lying on her back looking up at the stars. He laughed out loud completely aware that he had just lost his mind. His laughter caused the stranger to sit up.

"Holy shit," Gabriel said out loud.

~*~*~

Desiree was just about to drift off to sleep when she heard some guy laughing. She sat up and didn't know how to react. Gabriel really doesn't know how to give up.

She sat there for a moment contemplating whether or not to get up and run back to her truck. It was a silly idea, but she was absolutely sure that she didn't need to be alone with him.

Her breath caught in her throat when she realized he wasn't going to keep walking along the shore as he came walking toward her. Desiree watched as Gabriel cautiously approached as if asking her permission. When she didn't protest, he sat down next to her. They didn't say anything at first because it seemed like they didn't have to. The fact that Gabriel was there meant enough to Desiree.

Desiree tried to hold Gabriel's gaze, but it was too intense. So she placed her hands behind her head and lay back in the sand and watched as the stars twinkled overhead.

Not wanting to ruin the peaceful moment they had going, Gabriel set his shoes in the sand beside him, and did the same. They lay there for some time, not talking, just watching the stars twinkle in the night sky.

Gabriel wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he knew that he had to say something. He had to. "Dessie," he rushed before she could cut him off. "I'm not sure what happened today, and I don't act like this all the time," he wasn't sure what 'all the time' meant, but it sounded like the right thing to say so he continued. "Whenever I'm around you, things change. I don't know how but they do." Gabriel sighed loudly in frustration. He knew the words weren't coming out right.

He tore his eyes away from the stars to try and gauge her reaction. Desiree was still fixed on the sky above.

"What do you mean things change?" she whispered so softly it was almost as if she didn't want to be heard.

"Its not like it was when we were little. That's what I mean. I look at you and I don't see Scott's little sister...well not anymore, but it was kinda strange for me to reach that point."

Desiree turned her head to look him in the eye. She had nearly convinced herself that he was serious, because he never apologized for anything and although he hadn't said I'm sorry, he was pretty damn close.

Warmth and happiness was starting to spread in Desiree's chest when she looked into Gabriel's eyes and could see his sincerity. She sat up slowly as a smile spread across her face. "Let's go for a walk," she said as she stood and brushed the sand off her backside. She watched as the corners of Gabriel's mouth began to turn upwards. He gathered his shoes in one hand and rose to his full height beside her.

Desiree had waited until Gabriel stood before she began to turn to walk away, but Gabriel grabbed her arm before she could take a step.

"Where do you think you are goin'?" he asked as he pulled her into him. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt his entire body pressed tightly to her for the first time.

Desiree just smiled and tried to squirm away, but Gabriel just grabbed her tighter. With one hand still wrapped firmly around her waist, he brushed the loose tendrils of hair from her forehead that the wind had blown loose. Desiree could feel her cheeks redden, and at that moment she knew he was going to kiss her.

Gabriel dropped his shoes in the sand behind her and used both hands to cradle Desiree's head. As Desiree's arms snaked around Gabriel's taught back, she couldn't help but think that this was the last place she thought she'd be when she woke up this morning.

Gabriel was breathing hard now, trying to control himself. He knew Desiree could feel his growing erection against her stomach, but he had to stay focused. Desiree's mouth parted slightly and Gabriel leaned forward looking into Desiree's eyes. He could feel her heart hammering in her chest, and he knew just how badly she wanted it. She closed her eyes as she leaned in slightly, encouraging him to come the rest of the way.

Gabriel was lost in the moment, ready to devour Desiree with everything he had. He was determined to prove to her how he really felt.

"Gabriel!" a shrill voice rang out. Desiree and Gabriel jumped apart as if they were just caught by their parents kissing in the basement. "Where have you been honey? I've been calling and calling, why haven't you returned my calls? After the other night, I was sure you'd be back."

Desiree recognized the voice and the fake tits immediately. It was Amanda. Amanda rushed to Gabriel and shoved Desiree aside throwing herself into Gabriel's arms. She mashed her face into his as if to prove her ownership.

Gabriel pulled Amanda from him and tried to approach Desiree, but she wouldn't have it. Again, Desiree turned to walk away.

"Desiree, where are you going?"

Desiree stopped walking and turned back to glare Gabriel. "It seems like you and Amanda have a lot to catch up on, I don't want to intrude. Please, have fun. I'm sure it will be just as good as 'the other night'," she spat.

Desiree could see the hurt in Gabriel's face, but she didn't care, she was exhausted. He could have told Amanda that it was over between them, but instead he said nothing. Instead he just looked guilty that he had been caught holding Desiree in his arms.

'Well," Desiree thought as she stalked back to her truck, 'he wont have to worry about it again, because it will never happen again.'