Disclaimer: Not mine
Notes: Pre series. Sequel to 'No Big Deal at All'. I should probably just make a master list of fics I've written for this verse.
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"And then the whole thing just blew up in poor Trip's face! I swear, if I hadn't caught him and pulled him down in time he might've gotten really hurt..." Katie trailed off when she realized that her brother was being quiet. Well, quieter than usual at least. "Something wrong?"Her vid phone had been on the fritz lately (Trip was coming by to fix it later), but she could still make out Kyle waving a hand at her. "Nothing. Just counting the times you've mentioned your boyfriend in our conversation." He glanced down at his desk. "You're up to five, just in case you're interested."
If she were back home, she would have thwapped Kyle for that little remark. But she wasn't, so she had to settle for rolling her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend. And of course I'm going to talk about him; we hang out together."
Kyle frowned. "How can I argue with logic like that?" He sighed (or at least Katie was pretty sure he sighed; it might've just been static) as he rested his chin in his hand. "Katie, I'm going to ask you something personal about your friend."
"Shoot."
"When you talk about him, it's usually about how you helped him do this, how you got of him out of that. Would you agree?"
Katie frowned this time. "Yeah. So?"
"Aren't you worried that you're smothering him?"
Okay, she was seriously thinking about buying a ticket home just so she could knock some sense in her baby brother. "I'm not--"
"You're not, I know." Kyle's voice was irritatingly level as he continued. "But Katie, you do have a tendency to come on a little strong. And Trip's just met you. He might see it not as you just wanting to be his friend, but as you thinking he can't take care of himself."
"... That's not true."
The static got a little worse as Kyle smiled slightly. "I hope you're right. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Um, yeah. Love you." Katie leaned over to switch off the vid phone, which left her with nothing but her thoughts for company.
--
Trip switched on the vid phone so he could give it one last time. "Yep, good as new." He switched off again, glancing at Katie. "Got anyone you want to call?"
Her last conversation with Kyle came back to Katie. "Nah. I think I'll just enjoy the company I have with me."
Trip sat down next to her. "So what do you wanna do? Get some pizza or maybe see what--"
"Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you something personal."
She felt her gut twist when Trip looked away... but then his gaze fell back on her as he smiled. "What is it that you want to know?"
There was no point in trying to get out of it now. "Have you ever... thought that I'm smo-- that I come on too strong?"
Trip blinked at her. "What do you mean?"
Katie played with the sleeve of her jacket. This was turning out to be a lot harder than she'd thought. "Well, I was... thinking earlier about how I treat you and it just occurred to me that maybe I'm trying to help when it's not needed-- or wanted-- and I just want you to know that that I never--"
"Are you crazy?"
Out of all the ways Trip could have reacted, that was the one that Katie had not been expecting. "Come again?"
He leaned towards her, his hand resting on her arm. "When I first came here, I was alone. Truly alone. I..." He paused for a moment, eyes downcast. Katie wanted to ask him what was wrong, but decided to be patient for once. And it must have worked, he because he looked at her again, eyes dark. "But then you started talking to me and spending time with me and showed me what pizza is and you never thought that the mind reading was weird... Katie, you're my life preserver."
For awhile, all Katie could do was process what he had just said. Then, finally, she was able to speak again.
"I... think you mean I'm your lifeline, Trip."
"Oh." Trip gave her a sheepish grin. "I'm still getting used to Earth slang."
"Don't worry about it," she said as she grabbed him in a hug (and made a mental note to rub all of this in Kyle's face). "I understand what you're trying to say."