Clinging to Hope

Elaine Elizabeth Lockley had never in her eighteen years felt quite as stupid, as foolish, as she had over the last week.

And the last hour had not helped that feeling one bit.

'Wait outside James's house', she had told herself.

'Surprise him with flowers', she had fantasized.

And she had. Flowers in hand - yellow roses for forgiveness and red roses for... for how she felt, she had waited for an hour. And in that hour excitement turned to worry, and worry into edgy boredom. And into doubt.

Major doubt. James hadn't even been answering her calls, and she had tried enough times that she'd started feeling like a stalker. Even moreso since he had already blocked her on facebook. Showing up at his house on top of that...

Then the rain came. And as the first drops fell, with her little clutch purse held protectively over her hair, like an idiot all over again, Elly's spirits had picked up.

He... he would come. And he would be happy to see her - he loved her. He wouldn't be so mad if he didn't. And when he did come home, a little rain would make it extra romantic. Would make her extra ****, extra sexy. He'd have to at least take her inside, probably worrying, chiding her for her foolishness. She'd warm up with him, get close to him, and...

In minutes the rain had turned out to be a downpour, Elly's hair had turned into a mess, James was nowhere in sight, and one look down at her white-turned-transparent dress told Elly that with her lacy white bra and her white bikini panties both standing starkly against her dark skin, 'extra sexy' was a severe understatement.

And... what if it was his parents that came home instead?

At that thought, Elly had almost tripped over herself running to her car. She needed a safe place, a place to recuperate.

Luckily, she had a safe place. Elly ran home.

Drove home, and parked her car. Calling her mother along the way had just ended up with more silence - silence that the teenager couldn't help but feel irrationally peevish about after so many ignored calls to her boyfriend. Thunder rumbling overhead, a bedraggled Elaine grabbed her purse and her now-drooping bouquet of flowers from the passenger seat. With her housekey in hand and a quick moment to set her legs, Elly opened her car door and raced as fast as her short-heeled shoes would allow, to the front door.

Opened... and shut. And with her eyes closed Elly leaned her head, her back and rear against the white wood - soaking wet all over again.

Elaine took a breath.

The place smelled a little different than she remembered. Elly opened her eyes. It felt a little different, too. But, it had been a few months since she had been home, and - her mother had been seeing someone.

Things could be a little different. Elaine was still home.

"Um, hello! Surprise!" Elly announced.

Announced rather softly. And only did that in case someone was nearby.

No answer was good. What Elly really needed was get into her room and into a change of clothes without being seen.

Hesitating just a moment, Elly walked towards the stairs, and up. Towards her room. To her things, and clean, dry clothes.

Thunder rumbled outside. Through the bannister, her door was cracked, and some... some movement caused the teenager to hug her purse close to her chest.

"... Mom?" Elly tried, voice a little louder than her entrance.

Something banged from inside Elly's room. Something hit hard, and loud, and followed it up with a female yelp.

"E-Elaine?"

"Mom!" Elly took the stairs two at a time.

Even after her disappointing afternoon, the teenager couldn't help but have her heart jump happily upon seeing her -

A shadow and two wide, white-around eyes poked out of Elly's room.

"Mom!" Elly slowed, smiling wide. "Um, I'm home."

Elaine's door slammed shut.

"Mom??"

Elly's door crept back open. Just a crack, enough for one eye to peep out. "E-Elaine! You're..."

That crack into her room was enough to stop Elly still, water dripping from her legs to her dress to the carpet beneath her feet.

A bare shoulder showed that Elaine's mom was naked, or at the very least topless, behind her door.

Suddenly embarrassed, and with a sudden sympathetic insight that her mother was being **** to look at her in her own damply underdressed state, Elaine crossed her flower-carrying hand over her high chest and pokey-cold nipples, and her little purse over her underwear.

"You're... home?"

"I'm home, Mom." Elly **** a smile back on her face. "Ah, you didn't answer your phone so - surprise."

How awkward.

"Elly - school..." Elaine's mother cleared her throat. "What - what are you doing here?"

This was hardly turning into the homecoming Elly had expected. And hardly the place she wanted to have a conversation about... about school, and everything with it.

"I decided you were right, Mom. About that Spring Break study abroad thing? I need this so much more - to come home. To reconnect." Elly closed her eyes. She had needed just that, so badly - to come home. To see the people she cared about, and that cared about her... but what she needed more immediately was to get in her room.

Elaine gently cleared her throat.

"I really need a change, Mom. Could we maybe talk after you... finish?"

"Vanessa!" A happy, strong male voice startled Elly, making her whirl, "Is this - ? It is! Vanessa, you didn't tell me your daughter... Elly? That she was coming."

"Oh..." For a moment, Mom was completely forgotten.

"You're..." Elly composed herself as best she could in her state, while being unable to move her hands. Her mom's boyfriend was... cute! Well, 'cute' wasn't precisely right. Handsome. Elaine knew her mother was a pretty woman, but...

"I'm Brand, we talked a little over the phone," The older man... not as old as Elly had thought, though - as she had imagined over the phone, started to extend his hand before he seemed to realize Elly's predicament.

He settled for a polite smile, and looked over Elaine's shoulder.

"Vanessa..." For a second, Elly almost thought she caught some shadow of sad tension flicker across her mother's boyfriend's - across Brand's face. "Are you okay?"

"I... Brand..."

The door to Elly's room slowly closed behind her. "E-Elaine? I'm coming. Just - I just need a minute." A muffled voice called out from Elly's room.

"Ah..." Brand smiled, and spoke softly, "I'm sure she's fine. She's excited to see you. Or - must be, I mean. Talks about you quite a bit."

For the first time since meeting Brand's eyes flickered, just the tiniest bit, over Elly's body. Strong eyes lightly brushed her taut tummy and toned brown thighs, before swiftly returned to her face.

It was nothing Elaine wasn't used to. She had gotten far worse looks from even the most well-intentioned men, while being in far more appropriate states of dress. And to his credit, Brand had both the presence of mind and the decency to look a trifle embarrassed.

"But, you!" To her comfort, Brand kept the moment from lingering, "Did you walk all the way here? You're soaked to ****! Come on, let's at least get something to help keep you dry." Gesturing for Elly to follow, Brand disappeared for a moment into the bathroom, and returned with a long bath towel.

"Ah, thanks," Ellie smiled, genuinely grateful. She started, hesitating slighty because of her panties, to tuck her clutch bag under her arm, to reach for the warm, dry covering...

"Here. Let me." Looking casually and naturally away from the young woman, in a smooth movement Brand whirled the towel over Elly's head and settled it on her shoulders.

Finally Elaine was covered. Or would be, if she just had a hand to -

"Brand?" A silly idea slipped into Elly's head, and out of her mouth before she could think to stop it, "Would you like to have these flowers?"

The teen girl immediately wished her heart to pieces that she could take her words back. But her hand was already extended, and she was offering up her roses just like in her earlier fantasies - in one hand, lightly tipped towards the man across from her.

"I - well, of course."

Unfortunately... unfortunately it was the wrong man, and one she had just met.

"Thank y-" Brand started.

"I'm sorr-" Elly began.

Brand gestured with the bouquet for Elly to continue.

"I-I'm sorry. That was weird." Elaine laughed sheepishly, her face hot under the raindrops on her cheeks. "The flowers, I mean."

"Not at all. Like I was saying - thank you. They're very nice." Brand smiled. Not weirdly, not like Elly felt. He sniffed them politely. "Why don't we get these in a vase?"

Elly nodded in relief. As awkward as she had been, it didn't seem to be a big deal. And it shouldn't... wasn't a big deal.

"Show me the way?"

Oh. Elly looked down the hallway to her room door, but with no sign of opening, no sign of her mother, she nodded and found herself blushing all over again without really knowing why. Tugging her towel around her shoulders and front, the teen led the way through her house, and let Brand trail, flowers in hand.

All the way down the stairs, Elly self-consciously felt the cheeks of her firm... what was admittedly a bit of a bubble butt peeking out below her towel, while her dress clung wetly to her thighs. Brand had thus far been a gentleman, probably wasn't looking... wasn't looking much... but...

"Ah, in the kitchen." Elly announced her destination - mostly just to hear herself talk, to stop quietly thinking as she walked.

"I think, under the sink?" Elaine speculated as they entered, as if it was some kind of a question, when she knew for a fact where the vases would be.

"Must be. That makes sense. I hadn't seen them in the cupboards," Brand noted - trailing behind, looking around absently, thoughtfully... respectfully.

Getting onto her knees, and bending low in front of the sink - the vases were all the way in the back, cluttered together and Elly felt her towel slip right off her -

"Nnh!"

Elaine's little world halted and jerked back a good foot as a thudding sound emanated from the edge of the under sink cabinet.

"F-fuuh..."

"Elly?"

Elly felt her mother's boyfriend looking down in concern, while the black girl, legs curled up under her, rubbed her throbbing, stupid head... her ruined, frizzy-damp hair. And without support from her hand, her towel just got worse, revealed more of her through her see-through dress. Her stomach, her bouncy boobs and...

"I'm fine." Elaine suppressed another pained groan, trying to gather herself and cover herself and seem casually in control and... couldn't. "...Fine."

"Um, Brand?"

"I don't mean to be rude. Would you mind - it's just that I'm a mess. Would you mind turning away a bit while I search?"

"Oh... oh! Yes, of course. I apologize." Backing away a step, Brand quickly turned his back and cleared his throat. "Please don't be too embarrassed. It's really no worse than typical beachwear, and..." Back still turned, Brand shook his head ruefully. "I wasn't thinking properly about how you'd feel. A girl your age has got to be sensitive about that -"

'A girl your age'. Ah, jeez, insult to injury. Elly felt even more foolish. The poor guy was turned completely around, patiently and politely holding her droopy flowers...

Bending back to the space under the sink, dropping her towel completely and trying to ignore the feeling of her clingy dress on her thighs and butt, as Elly shifted glassware to get a properly sized container out she promised herself she'd stop - that she'd stop butchering her first impression, stop acting like a bashful, clutzy kid rather than the adult she was.

Brand still had his back turned and was thumbing through his phone when Elly returned to her feet, vase in hand, exiting carefully to avoid another bump to her head.

Setting the narrow, glass vase in the sink, Elly turned the water on and opened up her towel to tie it properly around her torso.

... And at the sound of water running, still looking at his phone, Brand turned and glanced up just in time to get an eyefull of the black girl's sheer, underdressed front.

Oh! Elly -

Brand's eyes returned calmly to his phone, and Elly... this time she **** herself to not overreact. No big deal. Like a bikini, and she tied up her front and... butterflies in her tummy, she...

Uggh. Stop. Stop, Elly.

Elly shut off the water.

"Thanks." Putting his phone away, Brand carried the flowers and moved next to her to place them...

"Wait," Elly stopped Brand's warm hand with... with her hand, and removed the little plant food packet. Quickly... kind if nervously tearing it open, she dumped the contents in the water.

"Thanks again. They're beautiful," Brand smiled, and slid the stems into place.

"They... they were just going to go to waste, anyway." Elly murmured. James...

Oh! "Sorry - that wasn't..." Elly grimaced. After just promising herself not to be awkward - "That wasn't polite. You're welcome. I do hope you like them, really. I'm glad I had them for you, to give to you. I -"

God! Shut up, Elly! Dingus.

"I... wonder where my mom is?" Elaine changed subjects. And she did wonder, could use her room, and... "She looked mad at me for being home or... something." Elly frowned, and idly put her finger under a soft red flower, smelling the inside.

"Oh..." Brand's easy smile fled. He brought the vase over to the island, and centered it. "Yes, I don't think that was you at all. Or rather - it wasn't anything you did, or because she isn't happy to..."

Elly moved closer, feeling some unnamed twinge of concern. Her mom... her eye peeking out... Brand leaned toward the vase and took a sniff of his own, seemingly stalling,

Brand sighed and turned square to Elaine, suppressed conflict playing across his face. "I don't know that it's my place to say, but I... I do think it might make it easier for your mother if you know first, if it doesn't come as a surprise..."

"Your mother got into a fight with a... a young woman at work. A physical fight - a real knock-down deal."

"No...!" Sudden anger - "What did they do to her?"

"Elly," Brand held up a palm, and something... something in his solemn demeanor made her stop back from her white-hot anger, to calm. And Brand waited until the teenager swallowed, showed him her attention... and felt more anxiety than rage.

"Elaine, your mother is embarrassed about it because she's the one that started it. She was having an off... a bit more than that, perhaps, but anyway..."

An image of her mother peeping out of Elly's room floated through her head. Those wide eyes...

She... she couldn't have.

"I don't think they'll be pressing charges - I don't know if they could, to be honest. Your mom unfortunately got..." Brand laughed, a quick soulfully bitter thing that almost scared Elly with its depth, "Unfortunately," Turning his head so Elly couldn't see his face, the big man repeated the word. He didn't speak again until he turned back, face composed for Elly. "Anyway - your mom got the worst of it by far. And, in a way, perhaps that's not all bad because there's no way she's going to be taken for damages."

Elly was speechless.

"Don't worry about it," Brand reassured her - though he didn't sound like he had stopped worrying himself. "She's much better now. She is. It's her pride that's hurt more than anything we see on the surface, and she's probably worried about your reaction when you see her."

"Worried, and surprised, but you being here for her now has got to be the best thing for her." **** levity reinvigorated Brand's tone, "As for me - Lord knows I was surprised seeing you walk in. I had a nine-one already dialed on my phone!"

Elly was just happy to let Brand cover for her mother, to try to explain while inside she absorbed the information. The college student had come home mostly to get her love life, her feelings and sense of self, and what she had so carelessly abandoned back, but things were looking more complicated than she had dreamed.

Brand's fingers drummed the kitchen island, twice, in the silence following his one-sided conversation - before he put on a roguish half-smile.

"Well, shoot - Miss Elly Lockley, at home. I can hardly believe it." Brand stood up, "I'm going to grab a little drink while your mother freshens up." Brand paused after opening the refrigerator, straightening and looking Elly's way with one eyebrow cocked. "... And how about you?"

Brown bottles clinked - two of them, held in one large hand, pointing in Elly's direction.

That little smile of his was damn infectious. The worried frown that had plagued Elaine over the last few minutes couldn't help but reluctantly turn into a small smile back.