after the charity auction, michael and lindsay head home – or, what would have happened if the michael hadn't been arrested for the forced abduction of helen maria delgado.
michael closes his sister's door and walks around to the driver's side, glancing over to see his mother hitting buster with her purse while lucille 2 stumbles around (quite literally) in an effort to find her knight in shining armor.
he makes the pointed decision to ignore all of it and just gets into his father's car.
for a few minutes michael and lindsay don't speak as they pull out of the event parking lot, and the two siblings simply sit in a surprisingly comfortable silence.
michael rests a hand loosely over the gear shift and allows himself another moment of sheer glee, because no matter how judgmental he is of his father's mistakes, there's just something about a son being a man the way he saw his father be one (there's some deep truth here, about wanting to fill one's fathers shoes and live up to the expectations and some deep-rooted control issues from michael's childhood, or something).
lindsay reaches her own hand over to michael's and wraps hers under his, feels his calloused fingers squeeze hers and smiles back when she sees him look over at her with an expression that is so tender it almost hurts. she's reminded of all the times they both felt equally lost and equally alone in their family and all they had was each other, and it was the two of them against the world, but those days are long gone.
even so, there's random, insignificant (perhaps entirely significant) moments like these that make her feel like she's 11 years old again and maybe it is still the two of them against anything.
there's another beat of quiet as a streetlight turns green, and then –
"you deserve the car, michael," lindsay says. she stares determinedly out the window but her hand in his feels real.
she can practically feel his quiet pride when he half-scoffs and she rolls her eyes slightly (lindsay never quite understood exactly why all her brothers – except for buster, maybe – always wanted to be so like their father; then again, as his daughter she wanted him to adore her, so maybe his sons wanted some of their own).
"thanks," michael responds, a little sarcastically, but when lindsay looks over he seems happy. "i, uh, i went for ice cream today and ate the whole cone in here, actually."
lindsay laughs, a little surprised. michael joins her, and she finds she quite likes hearing it, and they're both laughing at that inside joke that is just being a bluth.
"sticking it to the old man," she grins. the movement stretches the skin around a cut on her face from the wetlands, but she doesn't wince. "i'm glad. no more staircar, at least."
"oh, no," michael says, in that infuriating matter-of-fact way that he does. "you guys get the staircar. i'll keep this one for, you know, work. "
lindsay reaches out and cuffs him upside the head.
"ow!" michael glares, playfully shoving her hand away. the car swerves slightly and a hummer limo honks behind them. "jesus, linds."
"you'd force me to drive that thing, still? me? your twin, your adoring, loving sister?" she demands, undeterred.
michael's smug grin is sharp and so him and she loves it, she finds.
"alright, alright," he says, conceding. "i don't know about adoring, loving sister, but we'll switch off for the car. just add me to that schedule."
"i am adoring. and loving. shut up, michael."
"see, that right there is just the kind of behavior –"
"and if you want to be on the schedule, i hope you'll be able to man up enough to look at the ladies of literacy calendar."
michael shakes his head, half-grins. "i don't think i'll be man enough for that one, ever."
they look at each other and their twin smiles are genuine. the light turns green a moment too soon – a cacophony of honking erupts behind them.