Chapter Two: Little Siblings and Boyfriends… Again
"So, after this morning, I think I deserve a real introduction to your sister," Emily stated over the roar of the air conditioning in McGee's car. Even though it was eight at night, it was still one of the hottest days of the year.
"Really?" He raised his eyebrow in her direction. "You want to meet the little beast?"
"Tim, she's your sister!" the brunette squealed. "Don't talk about her like that."
"You call your brother a jerk all the time. When you're on the phone with him."
"Well… that's because he is. He gave away a very crucial part of Harry Potter to me, and he hadn't even read it. He just heard it from his friend." She made a face. "Stupid lazy…" Her grumbling trailed off.
"Okay. I'll introduce you to her, okay? She's not at my apartment anymore, though. She just spent the night there when Mom and Dad had to go out of town. Because she was scared to be alone." He rolled his eyes.
"You're a terrible brother," Emily declared.
"I let her stay, didn't I?"
Emily tried to think of a response, but none came. "Touchè…"
"You don't have to take a shower, do you?" Tim asked wearily, rubbing his eyes. "Because I'd like to eat before ten tonight… you take so long." Wow… arguing like a married couple, and we're not even dating exclusively yet. Well… I am. I'll bet she's gone on about fifty dates… maybe I should talk to her about-
"You missed the turn."
"What?"
"The missed the light," she stated. "Are you okay? You're like, really out of it today. Need me to drive?"
"No thanks, Miss Daisy."
"Geez, you're just Mr. Sunshine today, aren't you?" she asked, mildly annoyed. "First your sister, now me… no one's safe from your sharp wit and harsh criticisms, are they?"
"Am I being that much of an ass?" he asked tenderly.
"Honestly? Um, yeah."
"Okay, okay, sorry…" He shook his head. "I'm kind of stressed out. I keep getting pressure to finish my book."
"Mm." Emily could sympathize. "Which, of course, means you can't think of anything to write next."
"Exactly. I've spent all of my free time away from work trying to write."
Emily frowned and felt slightly guilty. "What about when you go out with me?"
"Well… obviously I'm not working on it then…"
"Let's just order in then tonight, okay?" she asked, as a mixture of guilt and sympathy washed over her. Writing was more than Tim's hobby, it was his passion, and he felt a strong connection with his fanbase. She didn't want to get in the way of doing something he loved. "And maybe… you could bounce ideas off of me."
Tim bit his lip. "I don't know… that's not very fair to you. You really wanted to go out tonight, didn't you? Going out with you is more important to me than my book."
"Really?" It was clear Emily was flattered. "See, but I want to help you. So, really, we're going to end up at your apartment brainstorming and eating Chinese food."
And that was exactly what they did.
"So… I don't think you should kill anyone else," she stated, eating directly out of a carton. "Because I was kind of devastated when your last character died. You can't do that to me anymore."
"What should I do then?"
"Well… give me a brief synopsis of what you have so far," she replied, curling into his lap at the desk and stroking the back of his head.
"Um… well, it starts off with someone dying."
"Really?" She frowned.
"It wasn't a main character."
"Oh. Okay."
"Well, there have been all of these killings and they're pretty sure there's a serial killer doing it. The team gets a new member, and has to work with the CIA."
"Hm." She pursed her lips. "That sounds vaguely familiar…"
"See, that's the thing. I don't want it to sound exactly like what happened – I got in trouble for doing that before. So I want to make it different, and that's where I'm running into some trouble."
"Well, your trouble's coming from the fact that you already have an entire plot line and it works perfectly," she replied. "I mean, as a writer, once you have one idea that works really well, it's hard to get any other idea into your head."
"Right. I already knew that."
"I'm sorry, I just need to talk everything out." She took a sip of wine. "Do you have any other ideas?"
"A few but… none of them sound realistic or believable at all." He rolled his eyes. "I don't know. It's a bad idea to force everything like this… maybe we should just go out."
"Nope." Emily shook her head. "It's too late now. I'm already in a staying-in kind of mood."
"Yeah… me too."
"Well, then… what else could we do?" she asked, biting her bottom lip thoughtfully.
"Well, um… how about a movie?"
"And cuddling?" she asked excitedly. "I'm always up for that!" She jumped out of his lap and waited for him to stand, bouncing on her toes like a child. "You know what we should watch?" she asked excitedly.
"What?"
"Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates of the Caribbean!" she chanted, waving her arms as if she were a rapper but making the gesture very white just by virtue of the fact that she was Emily.
Even though they did end up watching Pirates of the Caribbean, they had both seen it so many times that they spent most of the movie making fun of it. Then the movie ended, and instead of Emily leaving, they just continued to watch random things on TV, the kind of shows that are on very late at night. McGee began to feel very comfortable, and like the night hadn't been a total bust, even though they'd done just about nothing.
"Emily? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Tim," she replied, rolling over to face him, a smile playing at her face.
"Well, um… I was kind of going to make this a surprise for another night, you know, do something special and everything? But…" He took a deep breath, "tonight seems good for it too. Ems, will you be my girlfriend?"
Her smile broke out, full-blown. "Yeah, Tim. I'd love to." She kissed him softly. "Tony's been asking me about it for weeks."
"You too?" He rolled his eyes. "If its not that, he's asking me how many other girls I've got on the side." He felt her go rigid beside him. "Not that there have been any; Tony just assumes every guy dates like him." She relaxed.
"I'm glad you asked me."
"I'm glad I asked." He leaned in and kissed her again. She shifted her legs, and felt something hard brush against her thigh.
"Omigod!" she gasped, breaking the kiss and pushing herself away from him.
"What?" he asked, alarmed.
"Nothing… nothing." Emily jumped off the bed. "I just realized… I have a thing tomorrow that I have to wake up early tomorrow."
"What thing? We don't have work tomorrow."
"I know, it's… it's another thing. I… I have to write and stuff." She hurried into the living room, slipping her shoes on. McGee followed her out.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, no, I'm fine." She pulled on her coat. "Late nights don't agree with me, though. You know I'm an early morning person."
"Well… why don't you stick around and prove it?" he asked, slipping his arms around her.
"No… no… no…" She broke free. "I have to go. It's a good reason, I swear." He barely started to open his mouth before she silenced him with a quick kiss. "I'll call. Bye."
