Finding the Way
Part 10: Panacea/Glory Girl Interlude
"Hey Vicky, wait up!"
Victoria Dallon looked over her shoulder to see her younger sister hurrying to catch up before she reached the stairs. Reluctantly, she slowed her fast walk.
"What?" she asked. "I'm busy. I've got to get ready to meet Dean, later."
"You've been busy these last two days, Vicky," said Amy as she caught up. "Have you been avoiding me?"
"No, of course not," protested Victoria.
Amy looked at her steadily.
"Not really," temporised Vicky.
The soft brown eyes seemed to bore into her.
"Only a little bit?" she said at last, in a small voice.
Panacea sighed. "Vicky, I'm the same person that I was three days ago. I've felt the way I do about you for a long time. I'm not going to start acting differently around you, just because you know how I feel about you."
"But I do know how you feel," protested Victoria. "It changes the way I see you."
"Does it change the way you feel about me?" challenged Panacea softly.
"Yes! No! Fuck, I don't know!". Victoria put her hands up, as if she were about to start pulling at her hair. "I just wish you'd never told me, that's all."
"You'd rather I just kept lying to you and to myself?" pressed Amy.
Victoria looked at her sister, the girl with whom she had shared a thousand triumphs, a thousand tears. She had thought she knew Amy, knew how she felt, knew how she ticked. A realisation struck her.
I do know her. I just didn't know her before. Everyone changes.
She looked into those soft brown eyes, and saw the echo of the pain that her sister had kept hidden for so long. Knew that she was only seeing it now because Amy was letting her see it.
It's called growing up. Everyone has to grow up. Even me.
Slowly, she shook her head. "No, Ames," she said softly. "I wouldn't rather you kept lying."
Stepping forward, she opened her arms and embraced her sister. Unselfconscious, unafraid, uncaring. Or rather, caring very much. You are my sister, and I love you, and I don't care if you're attracted to me. I'll hug you if I want.
Amy felt her sister's arms go around her, and she reciprocated, clinging to the person she loved and cared for most in all the world. She felt tears come to her eyes and she sniffled.
"What's the matter with you now?"
Amy could have laughed with glee. This was the abrasive, sarcastic Vicky she knew and loved. "Nothing," she lied, smiling wanly. "I must be coming down with a cold or something."
"Bullshit," said Victoria flatly. "You don't get colds.". She eyed Amy in mild disbelief. "You're crying. Why are you crying?"
"Because my sister, who I love more than anyone in the world, just let me hug her for the first time in three days," explained Amy. "I'm happy."
Victoria shook her head. "You're weird, is what you are.". Her gaze softened. "But I'll try not to avoid you in future, okay?"
Amy smiled widely. "Thanks, Vicky," she said, then paused. "Do you really mean that?"
"Of course I do," replied Vicky, before she saw the playful gleam in her sister's eye. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," Amy assured her innocently. "I was just thinking, it's been ages since we went out and had fun together. Go down to the Boardwalk, have dinner together, maybe catch a movie ...?"
Victoria looked at her suspiciously. "Are you trying to guilt me into a date?"
"No!" protested Amy. Then she grinned. "Well, maybe. But it doesn't have to be a date. It could be just a chance for two sisters to catch up, talk about things, have fun together. Like we used to do. Those were fun, weren't they?"
Reluctantly, Victoria nodded. "They were.". She eyed her sister. "Would you be okay with it not being a date?". She paused. "I'm guessing that it being a date would mean you'd want a kiss at some point."
Amy nodded. "If you don't want it to be a date, then it can be a perfectly normal day out," she assured Victoria. "The last thing I want to do is freak you out."
Vicky regarded her with a bemused air, as though she were not quite sure how she had gotten to this point in the conversation.
"Okay, I'll tell you what," she said at last. "If you're really good all the way through, and you don't grab my ass, or try to get romantic in the movies, and don't freak me out in any way, then maybe I'll let you have a kiss at the end of the night. But only if you're good, mind."
A fun day out, where I don't have to watch out for her making moves on me, and reward her with a kiss at the end, she thought. I can do that.
She concentrated on feeling noble, and resolutely ignored the part of her that was very interested in knowing if another kiss from Amy would feel as good as the first one. That had nothing to do with her decision; she was just being nice to her poor love-struck lesbian sister, that was all.
Amy squealed and hugged her. Vicky grinned and hugged her back. She knew these hugs of old; this was pure Amy, for as long as she'd known her.
Amy looked up at her. "Is holding hands okay?" she asked ingenuously. "Because we used to do that all the time, too."
This was true; they had. Vicky sighed. "Yes, we can hold hands," she said with a fond smile. "I won't freak out."
Amy hugged her again, then let her go. "You might want to get ready to see Dean," she said with a grin.
Vicky gave her an answering grin, ruffled her hair, and went upstairs.
Yes! exulted Amy. Yes! Yes! Yes! We're going on a date! She paused. Maybe a date, she corrected herself. But even that 'maybe' was cause for celebration.
Ice cream time.
End of Part 10
