"Daisy. Daisy!"
I felt my body being shaken into consciousness. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Joey staring down at me from behind his rarely-worn thick rimmed glasses. I glared at him as I rolled over. I burrowed my head into the pillow; he kept shaking my shoulders. I mumbled into the pillow about mom waking me up but that didn't stop Joey from shaking my groggy form. I smacked his hand as he jiggled my bicep fat.
"Joey cut it out!"
"Get up Daisy. We need to talk."
Shit.
I sat at the kitchen counter, nervously tapping my foot on the floor as Joey poured two cups of tea. I had my flannel pyjamas on, with my hair in a messy bun, a robe and bunny slippers as I sat on the stool staring him down with a glare. He woke me up early to talk. Talk about what? He wouldn't say he just went on humming merrily, trying to distract me.
Joey was humming when he sat in the stool next to me. He'd been humming through the coffee-making process. He'd been humming when he'd led me from my bedroom to the kitchen.
He slid a pink coffee mug over to me as I watched him he cleared his throat.
"Daisy do I look like an idiot?" Joey asked me.
I had to coffee mug to my lips as I sipped the hot. bitter liquid. I pulled it away and placed it back on the counter and mirrored his throat-clearing. I had a very bad feeling about where this whole conversation was going.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" I asked, slowly.
"Daisy..I know what happened...between you and Brendan!" his voice was loud, but calm and playful.
I swallowed hard as I heard him say those words. My ears were screaming as the blood rushed to my cheeks. I blinked a couple times trying to take it all in. I stared at my brother in awe.
"You weren't even there!" I finally blurted out.
"I was there for long enough!" he snorted, incredulously. "Do you realise you were there for well over an hour?"
"Joey it was a on-."
He interrupted me, suddenly quite mad. He knew I was lying.
"It's been going on since Mexico."
Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Joey.."
"I've known all along."
Are you fucking kidding me? This whole mess could have been avoided completely if Joey had just said he knew that we were...together, in that sense. I felt the shock sink in. I stared down at my coffee as Joey sipped his.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.
"I didn't care. You two are grown adults. As much as I choose to deny that you are. You are Daisy, you both can choose who you want to be with. I found it funny too how sneaky you guys were trying to be."
"We stopped recently...that night."
"I'm aware. Joey said with a slight smile.
"So you purposely put me through this agony of going out with Brendan and Cash?" I asked, as the realisation suddenly hit me.
"No I would nev-, Yeah I did."
"I'm sorry Joey." I said while looking down at my coffee.
"It's fine, he made you happy. Even if it was in the most disgusting way possible for a brother to know."
"Joey!" I yelled.
"Hey it's true. But I'm okay with you two being together. I just wish Cash didn't find out then."
"What?"
"Yeah she heard. She and Brendan were up late talking about it."
"Shit."
"Oh yeah." Joey replied. "But I have a feeling it's time for you to get your guy."
"I just woke up. I look like death in flannel pajamas."
"Daisy you look beautiful and I think Brendan would agree." Joey said while putting a finger to my lips to shut up my ugly rant. "He's probably still at Cash's!"
I hopped off my stool to hug my brother. I pecked his cheek and ran out the door of the house onto the lush green lawn. It was a half acre of dark land to cross before I got to the highway. It was dark. I forgot the sprinkler system was on throughout the Summer nights. About halfway, breathless and rapidly losing interest, the hoses screeched into life.
"ARGH!" I yelled, into the night.
Looking to my left, I spotted a white '97 chevy blazer, sat with the engine on and the passenger door open. Inside sat my brothers and my sister, all looking equally bemused. Minty in particular.
"We were going to give you a ride," called Joey. "I didn't expect you to run all the way across town!"
They laughed at me as I scrambled into the car, soaking and dressed for bed. The butterflies in my stomach were nothing compared to the way I felt for Brendan...