Author's Note: Ok I couldn't resist. I'm on an angst/romance/ never going to happen in real life kick today. So I had to write another chapter lol. This one's much happier, promise :)
Chapter 10
Two hard weeks went by. There were days when none of us would speak, we would simply walk around the house, empty, moving robots. There were other days when we hid our pain, drinking beer and telling jokes. The longer time went by, the easier it was to deal with our feelings of loss. At the end of the two weeks, we were better than when we started. We could at least function, try to accept it instead of push it away.
"Hey Bri," Connor said, sitting across from me at the table one Saturday, late in the afternoon, "You want to go shopping with me today?"
"Just you?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What?" he asked, feigning hurt, "Can I not hang out with you alone?"
"No, I mean," I laughed, taking a drink of my soda, "I just didn't…I don't know. Yeah sure, I'll go shopping with you."
"Awesome!" he said with a grin, getting up from the table and going to the bedroom.
After a goodbye to a smiling Murphy (I felt like those two were up to something…) I was in the car with Connor. I kept asking him where we were going and he would just laugh, telling me I'd just have to wait and see. Once I gave up on that we started fighting over the radio, playfully switching it back and forth.
"You're like the big brother I never had," I confided, giving him a genuine smile, "Always wanted one. I'm the oldest though, so kind of impossible. I've got 5 younger siblings instead."
"Really, five?" he asked, his eyebrows raised, looking at the road.
"Yeah," I sighed, "I practically raised the youngest two."
"Well," Connor said, glancing at me with a smile, "You're like the little sister I never had. Murphy's like a little brother to me even though we're the same age, but I always wanted a little sister. Never got one."
We pulled into a parking lot, and I smiled when I saw the sign.
"You brought me to an aquarium?" I exclaimed, jumping out of the car as soon as it was parked, "I've never been to one of these!"
He laughed at my reaction, locking the car before leading me in.
We walked around for a while, talking and looking at all the sea creatures. I loved the underwater, so I had a lot of fun. Next he was dragging me to some coffee shop, not letting me pay for a thing. We sat outside at a table with an umbrella, sipping on our coffee and talking.
"You know," Connor began, taking a drink of his coffee, "Murphy really likes you. I've never seen him like this with another girl before."
I grew skeptical, hearing the implications in his voice. He sounded sad, almost regretful, like…it wasn't going to last long or something. I pushed the thought quickly from my head, not letting my over-analytical brain ruin my nice evening out.
"I like him too," I replied, feeling myself blush, "I'm crazy about him. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"Most girls he dated would get frustrated," Connor went on, "He's got a raging temper, as you know, and shuts down when anything even slightly emotional happens to him."
"Just like me," I added, "I'm not going to get mad at him for that. I do the same thing."
We sat in comfortable silence, watching a woman struggle with her screaming toddler, trying to get him to sit still in his stroller. Meanwhile, her four year old was tugging on her sleeve, asking over and over again if she could get some ice cream.
"So," I began, messing with my cup nervously, "I was just wondering….can Hailey come visit?"
I felt like a child asking permission for something from their parent, and it seemed silly. I knew that it would need to be planned though, and that Connor and Murphy would both have to be ok with it.
"Well…" he said thoughtfully, "I think we can work something out."
I smiled at him, immediately starting to make plans while he listened with an amused smile on his face.
~BDS~
"I'll be back later," Connor said, pulling up in front of the motel, "Go on in."
I gave him a questioning look, but said nothing more as I got out of the car. I told him thanks and he smiled at me before driving off, a mischievous look in his eye. I unlocked the door, immediately hit by a wonderful smell.
I closed the door and I heard bustling in the kitchen. Murphy came out, looking disheveled with a red substance on his shirt and face.
"What's up?" I asked when he came up to me, wiping the red substance off his forehead.
"Connor dropped you off early!" he exclaimed.
"Early for what?" I asked, putting my finger in my mouth, tasting tomato sauce "are you cooking?"
"Well…I…" he shuffled nervously, his darting eyes around before looking back at me, "I wanted to give you a proper date. We never really established we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and I just wanted to take you out on a proper date. It's not like the real thing I know, wish I coulda' brought you some place nice and-"
I cut him off, pulling him in for a kiss. I put feeling into it, and soon he responded back and we picked up a rhythm. My heart was beating fast; I couldn't believe how sweet he was. It made me melt just thinking he had planned this whole thing just for me.
There was a sudden sizzling coming from the kitchen and he jumped away from me.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, and I followed him back to the kitchen.
It was such a mess. There were empty cans, tomato stains, empty boxes of noodles, water spills, and dirty dishes scattered across the counters and sink. The water from the noodles had over-flowed, causing the sizzle as it hit the hot stove.
I took pity on him, and ignoring his protests, began to help him cook and clean. The meal was ready pretty quick and he brought two plates to the table. I smiled, giving him a long kiss again when I saw the table. It had a table cloth on it, and he had taken two tea-light candles and put them in pretty glasses. He had them lit and turned the lights off, a warm glow now enveloping the room.
"You're too good to me," I said as he sat across from me.
He blushed, looking down at his plate, beginning to eat. We ate in comfortable silence for a moment, just enjoying the food and peace.
"So guess what?" I declared, putting my fork down, a huge grin on my face, "Hailey's coming to visit!"
"Really?" he asked, his face lighting up, "Cool! I've been wanting to meet her."
"I've been wanting you to meet her," I replied with a laugh.
"You know I was just thinking," Murphy said after a moment, "I'm quite a bit older than you."
"Only like…7 years," I argued, counting the years out on my fingers, "That's not so bad."
"That doesn't," Murphy hesitated, "bother you at all?"
"No," I answered, looking at him with confusion, "does it bother you?"
"Not one bit," he replied with a smile.
I smiled back at him and we continued to eat, talking about anything and everything. We ended up playing the favorites game, and I found out a lot about him that I didn't know. Like how he wanted kids more than anything, his favorite color was blue, and he'd never dated a girl for longer than 2 months.
After we cleaned up he told me to sit in the living room for a movie. He came in from the kitchen, VHS tape clutched in his hand and an apologetic look on his face.
"It's not the most romantic of movies," he confessed, glancing at the movie before looking back at me, "but it was either this or the Notebook. Didn't think you wanted to cry."
"What is it?" I asked, watching him move to the TV which had a built in VCR.
"Lord of the Rings," he answered, turning back to look at me, "that ok?"
"I love Lord of the Rings!" I exclaimed, grinning widely.
"Really?" he asked, his face lighting up, "So do I!"
We watched the movie, every once in a while quoting what they were saying. We discussed our first time watching it, and how many times we had gone through the whole series. It was obvious we had both seen it too many times.
We held hands, soon falling silent as the movie began to get more intense. I felt his thumb moving slowly back and forth on the back of my hand and I smiled, leaning in to kiss him spontaneously on the cheek. He turned quickly, grinning at me and kissing me on the lips. We were just starting to get into it- fast rhythm, hands in each other's hair, adjusting our bodies to be closer- when the front door opened.
"I'm covering my eyes!" Connor yelled, walking into the kitchen with his hands over his eyes, "If you're indecent cover up now!"
"Oh shut up!" Murphy yelled, throwing a pillow at Connor with a smile.
I rolled my eyes and began laughing, exchanging a secret look with Murphy before going back into the kitchen.
Author's Note: Hope this made up for some of the depressing chapters :). I had so much fun writing this lol, I hope you had fun reading it. Review and I might just write another one tonight :D!
