I did say I wanted to continue this story. It might have been a few months since my last update but I do it eventually.This chapter is all Brandon and Stella, I'll try to have the next one include more fluff with Flora and Helia but as of right now, I wanted to focus on these two.And, like I've said before, I'll try to hurry on their relationship because I don't want it to drag on for too long with no chemistry between the two. And there's nothing I love more than good chemistry between two characters. So enjoy!

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Stella POV

I sank lower into the leather seat, feeling miserable as Brandon drove ahead into the late afternoon sun. The interior was warm and the sun low so I kept wanting to doze off, but then Cardi B would hit a high note and I'd wake up instantly and inwardly cringe.

I hated her music. In fact whatever the radio played nowadays, there's a reason I never listen to it.

"Ten minutes."

Huh, I forgot Brandon was there. I took a sideways glance at him but his expression was unreadable. "You're really doing this?"

"I don't wanna lose my perfectly good car."

"So, this isn't in your best interests?"

"No."

"Mhm...Ok." And that was the end of that conversation.

We pulled up at his house and he drove the car into the garage which magically opened the moment we pulled in.

He switched off the ignition and pulled out the key. As he turned to un-buckle his seat belt, he stopped and stared me right in the eyes. "If you even think of giving this away-"

"Oh, I know!" I huffed, returning his stare, mockingly. "I'll be sorry, I'm sure."

After a couple seconds more of glaring me down he turned his attention back to his seat belt and got out of the car.

"Asshole." I muttered and hauled myself out the car shortly after.

He threw me my bag from the boot, which I carelessly caught because it wasn't like I was paying much attention to him at the back. I slung it over my shoulder and sauntered towards the front door, not bothering to wait since it's not like he'd do the same for me.

"Oi, you wanna let yourself in?"

"I wish but I don't have the ke- JESUS!" I jumped as I turned to see a set of cold metal keys fly from his hand and hit me right on my forehead before falling to the floor. The prick just stood there laughing. "Har. Har. You wouldn't be laughing if they'd stabbed me in the eye and you had to drag my ass off to AE, all while I moaned in pain and held my bleeding eye!"

"What was that, Sunshine? All I heard was something about your ass?"

"Ugh! Don't call me that!" Irritated, I stabbed the keys into the lock and shoved the door open, storming into the house.

How the hell does he find it perfectly acceptable to insult me during lessons, call me names and then kidnap me for his own bidding? Ok, well, maybe not quite that dramatically but it certainly seems that way!

He's probably done this to every unsuspecting girl, all whilst wooing them in the process because who could not love the way his brown eyes seem to darken the longer he stares into your own and the way he chuckles when calling you his pet names, which are quite cute truthfully and- OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

I punched the wall out of frustration, something I often did when I was frustrated, punch an inanimate object which in no way intended to offend me. It made me feel better though, even a tiny bit.

After calming down I pulled my phone out of my bag; the time was four thirty.

Then Brandon strolled in carrying his own bags before shutting the door behind him. "No one's home by the way and they won't be back till late."

"Mhm." I nodded, my eyes glued to my phone as I tried connecting to his WiFi.

There was a thump as he dumped his bags onto the floor. A few seconds later I felt warm breathe by me ear and a pair of hands gently touched and caressed my arms which sent goosebumps running down my spine. "Which means...we have the house all to ourselves."

As much as I detested him, at that moment, I felt weak and wanting. Curse my female hormones. But I had some tricks in toying.

"Oh...really?" I smiled and leaned back against his frame. His grip on my arms tightened and he trailed further down my neck, pushing his luck just a little now. "I know what you're thinking...and...as much as I'd love to do the same..."

I felt him smirk as his breathing started to quicken over my pulse, "Oh yeah?"

"Uhm...we..."

"Go on..."

"Have..." I took a deeper breathe, trying to hide the slight shakiness in it. Whether I hated the boy or not, this sort of thing made me weak - understandable but annoying - and I tried not to let that tarnish my plan that was working so beautifully.

I felt a strong warmth where my pulse hammered at my neck and goosebumps radiated over my body causing every hair on my skin to rise. "We have Shakespear to read."

And that's how to kill a moment. His breathing stopped against my neck. "...What?"

"You heard me." I stepped out of his grip and started up the stairs. "We have English work to tutor you on and I can tell you're itching to get it started!"

I smirked as I climbed, hopeful his room was even up here. Oh he was itching all right but not for any English, that was for sure. Had to put a nail in that coffin quick.

When I got to the top, to my left, three doors rang along the wall and one stood alone at the far end. I headed towards it, opened it, and found inside a room fit for a hormonal 18 year old male.

Yep. Bingo.

"You better hurry up before I start invading your space and throw my feminine touch around!" I yelled down to him; and soon enough, the thunder of feet followed behind me.

Brandon POV

One thing I didnt take her as. A player. And I'd just been played like a fool.

I was so close to breaking her, I could tell she was struggling to resist, it was tantalizing. The goosebumps that ran along her arms the closer I got to her, her pulse beating rapidly at her neck, her breathe coming quicker the closer I pushed in. And then she interjects the moment for...Shakespeare. If that wasn't enough to turn me off, then I don't know what would.

After a few seconds just standing at the base of the stairs, gobsmacked, I quickly followed her as she found my room. And after that heated moment ended I knew I couldn't sneak another one in this evening, she was perfectly willing but too stubborn.

Upon entering my room I found her perched on the foot of my bed, hunched over her phone, her bag by her feet. "Hey, what's your WiFi password?"

I plucked the post it note from my desk and handed it to her. She glanced at it before taking it from me and continued to type it in. "Thanks. Oh and can you turn the light on in here? It's really dark."

"Not really." I mumbled but I flicked the switch, the room lit up with a golden aura. My bed, my desk, my sofa and everything in between. Nothing touched or moved out of place.

"Cool." She spoke as she locked her phone with a click and tossed it to one side of the bed. I sat down heavily as she turned fully to face me, crossing her legs in the process.

"So." She started and grabbed her bag from the floor. She placed it between her legs and started digging through it, looking for something. "Shakespeare."

"Uh...yeah?"

"The task is to read through a couple of acts...the one where...Macbeth meets the witches and the one where he...kills...no. Not Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth kills...wait, what?"

"Where Lady Macbeth persuades him to stab the king?"

She clapped happily and looked up to me, "Yes! Yes! That's...what I meant!" She smiled, a little embarrassed, but then she looked down and kept rummaging through her bag. Whatever she was looking for, she couldn't find it.

"You alright there?"

She huffed and looked up again, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I can't find the papers."

"You mean the questions or-"

"No. No I have those here," she held up a sheet with five questions written on the front and handed them to me. I took them and tried to understand them. I knew they weren't going to be simple, one sentence answers, unfortunately.

"No it's, um, the script itself. I must have thrown it out...stupidly." She mumbled that last part.

I smirked, "Try the top drawer of my desk."

She frowned, the thought occurring suddenly in her mind as she tried to decide if I was telling the truth or not. "No...you wouldn't, would you?"

"See for yourself." I shrugged. She got up and headed towards the desk, crouching down on the balls of her feet to reach its height as she dug through.

Her hair fell in loose golden waves over her back. Her style was natural by the looks of it, the type that other girls would envy because she could do nothing to it and it'd still look like she'd at least teased a curl through the ends, leaving it looking effortless. It was thick, bouncy and more of a warm shade to the platinum you see every day. It was like she soaked in the rays of the sun and her hair had kept some of its beautiful glow.

And then it would just radiate from her, her smile was pure fun and happiness and joy, innocent and so beautiful. Her eyes reflected that too, that childlike happiness and glow. I'd noticed that earlier on, in the light of the afternoon sun, her eyes looked more golden than the auburn that they naturally were, for a second it mesmerized me.

What am I doing? Carry on like this, Brandon, you might as well become a poet!

"I thought you didn't really care for English!" Stella exclaimed suddenly. She sprung up from her crouched position and turned around to me with the full script of *Macbeth* held proudly in her grasp.

"I don't. I just try to get it done because I have no choice otherwise."

"So why are you failing? That's obviously why your parents wanted you to get a tutor?"

She was right, that was true. "I may look like I put the effort in but...I..."

"Don't get it?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Brandon. Come on."

"Fine! Yes! I don't get it!"

She sighed, looking sorry for me? I couldn't read her expression but she walked over anyway and sat in front of me, her right leg bent under her as her left tangled off the end. "You're not telling me the truth. And if you can't tell me the truth then I can't help you."

I scoffed. "You seriously want to help me?"

"As much as I hate you, yes. Now, Brandon..." She cocked her head to one side seeming a little exasperated. I looked her in the eyes as much as I tried to avoid it. "What's really wrong?"

I closed my eyes and looked away, sighing. I hated telling this to people but she seemed genuinely attentive with concern over me. And for someone else, other than my parents, to do that, to notice even, made me feel noticed for and appreciated better...but in a different way to it being only family.

"Ok." I replied and looked back to her. She frowned, again, in anticipation, waiting for a response. "I'm...dyslexic."

"You're - you're what?" She exclaimed in disbelief. I don't blame her, I wouldn't have suspected it either.

"Mildly dyslexic but dyslexic none the less."

"Really?!"

"Ok! No need to make a big scene about it!"

She laughed a little and shook her head. "Is that why you act so - so high and mighty? Because you're embarrassed about it?"

"No, now you're just assuming-"

"No I'm not. I can read people, Brandon. Because I'm not a social-lite, because I'd much rather stay home and read, it means I observe people more and I notice the little things. You are uncomfortable talking about this and you're never uncomfortable talking about anything!"

"Yeah, that's kinda creepy."

"True, I didn't actually realise until now how creepy...that sounds. But it's true. And there's no need to be embarrassed about it."

"How would you know? It's not like you have a reputation to keep. I can't go talking about this to the guys, it's not something you do."

"But you're talking to me about it."

I frowned as I realised she was right. I was talking to her about it. Honestly too.

"Look," she said. So I did. "I won't tell anyone about this-"

"Smart thinking."

"-and I'll help you. But I'll help you...differently." She picked up the script and flicked through the pages until she found the right scene. "How about if I read you the script and then you write down the answers. Or bullet point them rather and then I'll help you construct it into a paragraph."

"Jeez, I feel like I'm five! You know it's only mild dyslexia?"

"But dyslexia none the the less." I frowned at her as she sat, looking smug. She'd one me over, I knew it. As much as I tried in lessons to make it look like I was doing actual work, most of it was garbage. I didn't really have much of a clue as to what was going on and the old-english didn't make it easier. I needed her for this otherwise I'd lose my bargain, my car.

"So, is that a deal?"

"Alright." I sighed and looked her in the eyes. "You have yourself a deal."

Stella smiled at me, warmly though. "Great!" She shuffled a bit further back onto the bed and crossed her legs in a more comfortable position, her hair flowing over her left shoulder. "Alright. Let's get started."

-

Bet ya didn't expect dyslexia? I just thought, why not give him a worthy cause to actually be bad at something and feel embarrassed enough to have to put on such a persona to hide his insecurity? It seems better to me than the usual, "I just don't like it." bad boy attitude.

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And I haven't read any fanfics on here that have the male actually be hiding their mental insecurities rather than the female. Unless I'm wrong and there is one, I mean I'm not trying to take full credit here. Hehe.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll get the next one done and on here soon. I will get one done but I have no schedule so I don't know when. Sorry.