Warning: This chapters contains references to sex... or a lack thereof. Either way, this is a heads up.
Chapter Three: How to Avoid Having Sex with Tim McGee
Tony and Emily didn't usually spend much time together outside of work, so, when she asked to meet up with him for coffee the next day, he knew something was up. He just never, in a million years, expected it to be that.
"So… you know how you keep bugging me about Tim not asking me to be his girlfriend?" she asked, sipping her frappachino a little too quickly. Tony nodded. "Well, he asked me last night. So… we are."
"You're what? Exclusive?"
"Boyfriend and girlfriend." She sighed dejectedly.
"Why are you so upset?" Tony chuckled. "I thought that's what you wanted him to do."
"It is, but then…" She sighed again, burying her face in her hands. "I don't know why I'm talking to you about this; you're like the worst person to give me advice!"
Now he was getting a little confused. "What happened after that, Emmy?"
"We started kissing, which would probably have led to making out, except we started moving around and…"
"And what?"
"Let's just say he was horny, okay?" she asked, loud enough so that people around them stared.
"Yeah, um…" He leaned forward, lowering his voice, "that's how guys get when they know they're going to have sex."
"I know, but… I don't want to sleep with him."
"Why not? He's your boyfriend now; you know he's not seeing other women. And I don't think you should be dating him if you guys aren't sexually attracted to each other…"
"It's not that." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I can't believe I'm going to tell you this. You'll totally laugh at me."
"What?" he asked eagerly.
"I'm… a virgin."
Tony laughed loudly. "Very funny, Emily. Not really your normal humor, but I appreciate it anyway." He noticed the odd stare she was giving him. "Oh, God… you seriously are, aren't you?"
"Yeah…" She smiled weakly. "And I'm kind of planning on staying that way 'till I get married."
"Um… yeah." He shrugged. "I think you're right; I'm the wrong person to be talking to about this…"
"No, see, that's the thing; you're a guy who I'm sure has been denied sex at one time or another-" He made a face, "-possibly. Anyway, how would you feel in Tim's shoes?"
"I'd dump you," he stated, his face totally straight.
"I'm being serious, Tony!" Emily whined. "You've never had a girlfriend who didn't want to have sex?"
"Um… no."
"But what if you did? Like, you liked this girl a lot, and you guys were exclusive, except she, for some reason, didn't want to do it. Would that be a deal breaker for you?"
Tony sighed, massaging his temples. "Listen, Emmy, I'm not McGee. We expect very different things out of our relationships, okay?"
"Okay."
"If it makes you feel any better, he's crazy about you."
She smiled to herself. "Really?"
"Oh, my God, yes," Tony replied exasperatedly. "Every time you're out of earshot he starts talking about every single little thing you did the night before, like how you do that weird mustache thing with your hair – which, for the record, creeps me out – or when you read him Harry Potter and do the voices…"
"I only did that once, and it was as a joke!"
"Anyway, I think you've got him wrapped around your finger." He shrugged. "So don't worry. I don't think it was the sex he was after when he asked you to be his girlfriend."
"Do you think I should've talked to him about it last night?"
"Yeah, I think leaving him hanging was pretty heartless."
"Okay." She smiled and rose from her seat. "I'm going to go apologize to him. Thanks for talking it out with me." She kissed him on the cheek and rushed out of the café.
-x-x-
"Tim?" Emily shouted, banging on his door. "Tim, please, please, please open the door, I just want to talk to-"
The door creaked open; Emily perked up. The door opened a little farther; her face fell. Sara had answered the door once more. She wondered why they didn't just live together. But then she realized how much she would hate having to live with her little brother again.
"Hey, Sara. Is Tim home?"
The younger brunette frowned. "He's not here."
"Is he going to be back soon?"
"Um… I honestly have no idea."
"Oh."
Sara could clearly see that Emily was upset, and had come to the apartment for a specific purpose. "You know, he's probably going to be back soon. Do you want to come in and wait?"
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not." She stepped aside to let Emily in. "Especially since now that you're my brother's girlfriend, I think we should get to know each other better."
Emily turned to her with a pleasantly surprised expression on her face. "I know, right? I feel the exact same way." She sat down on a stool in the kitchen. "Of course, I've been begging him to introduce us for forever…"
"You too?" Sara rolled her eyes and plopped into the computer chair. "Oh, my God, the minute he told me about you, I told him I wanted to meet you."
"Maybe that's why he didn't introduce us," Emily pointed out, a smile on her face. "He's afraid we'll get along too well."
"Well… that's just because Tim's boring." There was a settling silence between the two as they eased into each other's company. "So Tim said you're a writer too."
"Oh… yeah, a little." She shrugged. "It's really a hobby."
"A hobby? You got published when you were nineteen!"
"Twenty-one," Emily chuckled. "But I'm sure you'll beat me to it."
Sara's shoulders slumped. "I don't know… I've had serious writer's block for like a month now."
"Well… it happens." Emily shrugged nonchalantly.
"How do you get out of it?"
"Out of what?"
"Writer's block."
"Oh." She paused to think. "I do new things and I talk to new people… and I don't try to write anything seriously. Experiencing nature always gives me a huge inspirational shock, like going to the beach or going camping or something."
-x-x-
Tim entered his apartment fearfully. It sounded like there were thieves in his apartment; giggling, girly-sounding thieves. They were probably stealing all of his scented candles – not that he had any.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, upon seeing his very opinionated sister and his very opinionated girlfriend sitting in his "living room" together, chatting animatedly like they were the best of friends. It was something he had hoped he could have avoided until the wedding, or never, in the event of a breakup.
"Emily was waiting for you to get home," Sara stated, in a slightly more peppy voice than usual. It seemed Emily's mannerisms were already rubbing off on her.
"Yeah…" Emily agreed slowly, rising to her feet. "I want to talk to you."
"Is this about last night?"
"Yeah…"
"Alright; come on, then." He motioned towards the bedroom door, and Emily obliged with a hesitant look back at Sara, who smiled encouragingly.
"So," he began, closing the door, "are you going to tell me why you ran out last night like that?"
"Yes, but… its not what you think. It's actually really not about you, at all." The brunette plopped down on his bed. "Okay, it sort of is, obviously, since… well, you'll know. Um…" She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the fallout. "I'm not going to have sex until I'm married."
Tim chuckled. "Very funny. What's it really about?"
Her hazel eyes widened. "No, seriously! I'm a virgin! And, no matter who I date or eventually marry, I will not have sex until my wedding night."
"But… you're not very religious."
"It's not just about religion, though! It's more… I feel like it's something really special and I'm not going to just…" She sighed. "I can't even talk about this without making it sound like a sex-ed abstinence video." She covered her face and flopped back on the bed.
Tim sat down next to her. "So that's why you left yesterday?"
"Yeah. I was pretty sure you wanted to do it and I didn't know how to say anything."
"It was because you don't actually want to be my girlfriend?"
"No." She propped herself up on one elbow, smiling. "I've basically wanted to be your girlfriend since the first day I met you."
"Really? The first day?"
"Okay, maybe it was the second." She grinned teasingly.
"You know… I can't believe I'm say this, but I can live without sex…"
Her face brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean… it's going to be hard, but I care way more about you than I could ever care about sex."
"You're like the sweetest guy ever." She wrapped her arms around him and they fell back onto the bed. Emily was just starting to snuggle into his embrace when he realized something.
"Sara's still here."
"So? She's a big girl. Besides, we won't be doing anything, according to the conversation we just had."
"I'm not making out with you while your sister's in the next room."
