Author's note: Okay. This chapter's getting long and is way overdue, so I'm putting it up now. I debated about skipping ahead to Monday and the Cleo thing, but I decided to write out at least some of the weekend. Plus, cute bed scene - always a bonus! :D
Sofia rolled over, checking on Amber to make sure she was asleep, then slid out of the bed as silently as she could, tiptoeing out of her bedroom and into Cedric's, where she carefully stepped over James to get to his bed. She was starting to climb up when Cedric surprised her, taking her hand and pulling her up.
The crooked grin he wore made her heart flutter, especially because she had expected him to protest this visit, given the circumstances.
"It's okay, right?" She whispered, tilting her head in the direction of their sleeping cousins for emphasis.
"Fuck 'em." Cedric replied quietly. "After everything we've been through today, we earned this." Sofia settled in beside him, closing her eyes and making a small squeak of happiness, wondering at how fiercely he pulled her to his chest. His very bare chest. Her eyes flew open as her cheeks heated at the sight of him.
Sure, she'd seen him with his shirt off, when they went swimming, he was just leaving the bath, or they were changing clothes... times like that. But he always slept with a shirt on, every single time she was in bed with him, and she assumed even when she wasn't.
Stealing a quick glance at his face to be sure he didn't mind, she pressed her palms flat against his skin. Thanks to the length of his dark lashes, she couldn't be sure if he was watching her or even still awake, but it certainly felt like his eyes were on her.
When he made no move to stop her, she trailed her fingers along the contours of his lean body, stopping only when he raised a fist to his mouth, biting his knuckles to keep from laughing when she brushed against a ticklish area.
"Go to sleep, Sofia." He insisted when he recovered, though he dragged her against him again, making the very idea of sleep sound ludicrous as she pressed an ear to him, listening to the pounding of his heart.
"I can't do it." She hissed after a few seconds, jerking her head back to look him in the face. "How am I supposed to sleep like this?" His mouth settled into a deep frown, and he extended an arm behind her head, his hand returning to her view with an old, grey tshirt.
"I didn't mean anything by it. It was just hot in here is all." He lifted himself off the bed, tugging the shirt over the top of his head, but Sofia yanked it back off before he could get his arms in. "What're you-"
"Forget what I said." She mumbled shyly, tossing the shirt behind her. "I don't mind at all."
"Just for tonight, then." He agreed, rolling onto his back. Sofia nodded softly, laying her cheek on his warm skin.
Despite what she said, and how badly she wanted to stay awake to enjoy this rare opportunity, Sofia's eyes fluttered closed almost right away, lulled to sleep by the sound of Cedric's pulse and his deep, even breathing that caused his chest to rise and fall beneath her head.
...
She woke to a sudden flurry of motion that her sleep-addled brain couldn't begin to comprehend. When she opened her eyes, it still looked like they were closed because everything was pitch black. She started to sit up, but something pressed against her head quickly, a silent demand that she stay put.
"Nope, haven't seen her." It was Cedric's voice, and suddenly everything made sense. Biting her lip to suppress a mischievous giggle, she trailed a feathersoft touch along his side, earning a nudge from his leg as he discreetly squirmed away from her fingertip. Amber's response, muffled by Cedric's heavy duvet and likely her distance from the bed, was too quiet for Sofia to make out properly.
"Maybe she went for a walk." He supplied while the fingers of his hand twisted into her curls beneath the blanket. Not ready to be done with her game, Sofia tickled him again, this time behind his bare knee. He gave her hair a slight tug to get her to stop, but she shook her head.
"Look, I don't know, but I have to piss wicked bad, so unless you want to see me naked..." He peeled back the blanket, exposing some of his chest to give the illusion of nudity and forcing Sofia to quit tormenting him long enough to duck in order to stay out of sight. "I suggest you go look for her somewhere else."
The threat must have worked, because soon she heard the door slam shut, and Cedric dove under the blanket with her, removing his hand from her hair to cover her mouth firmly while his other hand dug under her armpit, returning the favor of her earlier pranks on him. She thrashed against his hold as he tickled her relentlessly until she was desperately sucking in air through her nose.
"You almost got us caught." He complained, letting go of her to throw the blanket off. "Don't you worry about it at all? Have you even thought about what dad would do if he knew you slept in here?"
Sofia chewed her lip, trying to imagine Goody's reaction, but she honestly didn't think it was such a big deal. Cedric stared at her in disbelief as she mulled it over.
"I don't really see the problem. We shared a room until Cordy left." She pointed out. She was about to add that they'd only been separated because he begged their parents to move him across the hall, but the sound of feet stomping up the stairs alerted them to Amber's approach, and this time Sofia threw the covers over herself.
"Her phone's on the charger, and her shoes are by the door." Amber called, loudly enough for even Sofia to hear.
"What do you want from me? It's not like I'm in charge of her!" His weight shifted on the mattress and Amber let out a shriek, but Sofia didn't dare to peek out until she heard her cousin run back downstairs.
"What was that?" She questioned, poking her head out curiously. Cedric chuckled, leaning back against his headboard.
"I whipped my pillow at her." He explained, shooting a glare at his bedroom door that gave Sofia the impression that he was more angry with the blonde than he was letting on.
"Okay, Mr I-think-of-everything. How am I supposed to get out if Amber is patrolling the hallway?" Sofia quizzed, wiggling herself upright to sit beside him.
"Good question." He mumbled, looking around them for ideas. "You could climb out the window."
The concept made Sofia incredibly uncomfortable, but luckily she had a very good reason not to do it.
"The whole neighborhood would see my underpants." She argued, lifting the blanket the rest of the way up to demonstrate that she was only wearing one of his old band tshirts. Cedric frowned down at her, and she briefly believed she had won without giving away her real reason.
"Borrow a pair of my jeans, then." He nudged her toward the edge of the bed for emphasis, but she shook her head.
"They'll be too big." Cedric rolled his eyes, gesturing to his dresser persistently.
"Then wear a belt, Sofia." He argued, leaving her without anymore excuses.
"I'm not climbing out! I'd-" She trailed off as details of a memory she hadn't thought about in a very long time resurfaced. Her brother studied her with concern as she shuddered hard, reaching out to comfort her. He drew back when she flinched away from his touch, making her regret the completely involuntary response.
"I'll find some way to distract her. Just... Get dressed and go out the back." He conceded, kicking the blankets off of him and jumping down to get dressed.
Sofia watched him, wishing she could find a good way to explain the way she'd reacted so he wouldn't be so upset by it, but anything she came up with would sound crazy, so she stayed quiet as he yanked his clothes on without so much as a glance in her direction.
After he left, she stood and waited by the door, straining to listen to the conversation downstairs. When she was sure Cedric had succeeded in leading Amber to the den, she tiptoed across the hallway to her own room and quickly traded her twin's shirt for a simple sundress. With her shoes waiting by the front door, where she couldn't possibly reach them, she was stuck wearing an old pair of flip-flops she'd been meaning to throw away but luckily hadn't yet. She paused to check the mirror on top of he dresser, then threw her unbrushed hair into a ponytail.
Checking the hallway to make sure the coast was still clear, she made a mad dash for the seldom used back staircase, the one that led to the creepy cellar if you continued past the landing to the back door. There's always a backdoor. She almost giggled to herself, quoting a character from one of the shows she and Cedric liked to watch together. Minutes later she waltzed through her front door as if she were just coming back from a late morning walk around the neighborhood.
"Where have you been?" Amber demanded, racing to the door the minute it opened. Sofia did her best to shrug casually, breezing past the blonde to kick off her foam sandals beside her shoes on the mat.
"I went to the playground." She hated lying, but Cedric was standing in the doorway, his intense stare sending a new wave of shivers down her spine. If he was so certain that their sleeping arrangements would cause some sort of trouble, then she would do her best to keep the secret, if only for his peace of mind.
"The playground? You've been out for hours!" Amber examined her in disbelief, but Sofia had the benefit of being the 'good girl', the type who didn't possess a dishonest bone in her entire body, so eventually the blonde sighed, shaking her head in defeat.
"Come on, James wants to treat everyone to breakfast." Amber stopped, looking over her shoulder to the doorway behind her, her long hair flipping behind her as she did. "That means you, Cedric. Let's go."
Cedric groaned, hoisting himself away from the door frame with exaggerated effort before joining them to retrieve his own shoes. Sofia looked him over in astonishment, scarcely able to believe he wasn't making more of a fuss.
"Where are we going?" She asked as they headed out the door, the girls going ahead down the steps while Cedric locked up.
"Vinny's. James is already there." Amber informed her, checking to make sure Cedric had caught up.
"Pizza for breakfast?" Sofia giggled at the prospect, practically skipping down the sidewalk now in her excitement. Usually breakfast just meant pop-tarts or cereal, things that kept well in a cupboard and required little effort to make. On school mornings the meal was almost always skipped completely because Cedric was impossible to get up on time.
...
Vinny's was a vintage style pizzeria, with widows into the kitchen so you could watch your meal be handmade from scratch, and small, round metal tables with colourful formica tops. Sofia had fond memories of eating here occasionally as a family before Cordelia had struck out on her own.
The smell of delicious Italian food and the small chime of a bell greeted them as they passed through the door, and Sofia made a beeline for the windows, trusting Cedric to order for her. It was fascinating, the way the dark-haired men in the kitchen spun and flipped the large sheets of dough until they somehow formed the perfect shape, and she felt like she could stand there and watch it all day.
"It's neat, right?" James voiced her thoughts, standing beside her. She nodded distractedly.
"I wish I could do that." Sofia mused without looking away. "It looks like so much fun." She had the odd sensation that James was watching her instead of the kitchen, but when she glanced over, he turned his head.
"Hey, Sofia... Over the summer, Cedric said something kind of strange to me." James practically whispered, loud enough for only her to hear.
"What's that?" He had her full concentration now, and she spun to face him as she pressed for details.
"It's, uh, not important. I don't even remember exactly what it was, but it made me wonder," He paused, taking a deep breath as he looked her over. "Are you still in love with your brother?"
Sofia let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know what to expect with that nervous lead up, but this was an easy question to answer.
"Of course I am." She answered with a grin. "Oh, but don't say anything, please. I don't want him to push me away again." She was quick to add, hoping she could trust him with her secret.
"I won't, but I don't think he-" He stopped short, turning his attention to a spot above her shoulder, and a hand on the crook of Sofia's elbow explained this abrupt pause.
"Come on, your weird pizza's ready." Cedric tugged her towards one of the larger tables, his crooked smile demonstrating that he was only teasing about her favourite toppings.