"Give Me Something" by Seafret

Murphy and I took our time at the liquor store as well as the pizzeria. When we returned, Romeo and Connor hadn't accomplished very much. They were bickering with each other in Spanish when we opened the door.

I glanced at Murphy, who just looked amused, before realizing what they were arguing about. They had managed to put the main part of the table on upside down so that the finished part of the wood was underneath. I didn't know whether I was more confused or impressed that they had managed that. I put the pizza boxes I was carrying on the table as dramatically as I could, causing them to stop.

"Well this is just no good. Now it's ruined and we'll have to go get a new one," I sighed, doing my best to keep my voice humorless. "We'll just have to carry it home, too, because there's no way they'll let us get delivery if they think we've managed by ourselves already." Then, just for dramatics, I pretended to cry.

"Now look what ye made her do, ye twats," Murphy snapped, rubbing my back comfortingly.

"We can fix it, Cecilia, I swear!" Romeo insisted.

"We?! Ye're the one who did it," Connor snapped. "And ye made Cec cry."

"I just," I sniffed, rubbing my eyes, before I couldn't pretend any more and started laughing. "How in the fuck did you guys manage this?"

Connor and Romeo looked dumbstruck while Murphy began cackling in delight. He was always delighted by someone else taking the piss out of Connor since he got to enjoy watching it rather than having to do it himself.

I picked up the pizzas, handing them to Romeo. "Put these on the counter. Murphy, give me a hand. And Connor, try not to touch anything else, yeah?"

Romeo and Connor watched as Murphy and I managed to fix the table in a few minutes.

"Well, we did the hard part," Romeo crossed his arms as Murphy and I flipped it right side up again. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, we did, didn' we?" Connor agreed. "We even put the holes in!"

"It didn't need extra holes, ye eejit," Murphy rolled his eyes.

"Pizza and whiskey," I interrupted, cutting their argument short, and walking over to the counter. "The holes are fixable, but it doesn't matt-"

Before I was able to fully open the box, I heard the familiar sound of duct tape being pulled off of a roll and slapped very vigorously onto a flat surface. Romeo stood there proudly, pointing at his handy work. I stared for a few seconds before nodding my approval.

"I'll accept that as a solution."

It was late into the night before we all went to bed. Murphy and I managed to get Connor and Romeo to stay on task and complete putting together one thing before another (and prevented things from being put together backwards as a result). And we were all dead tired.

Connor threw a sheet onto his mattress, which was next to the one I shared with Murphy, and decided that was good enough before immediately falling asleep. Romeo was asleep on another mattress on the other side of Connor without any kind of blankets. I made sure to put some folded up ones for him next to him just in case he got cold in the middle of the night. Murphy, meanwhile, actually made our bed. Even if I hadn't been here, he probably would have put sheets on his mattress anyway. He's always been a bit more put together than Connor on things like that. But Connor would deny that vehemently and insist that he's put together while getting himself into trouble.

I changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top before joining Murphy on our mattress. It isn't the best mattress but it is miles better than the cot bed I've been using at the dig site (and loads better than the cot that was on the ship). I cuddled up to Murphy's side as he put an arm around me, smoking a cigarette with his free hand. It was wonderfully silent. There weren't the unavoidable atmospheric sounds of the boat, grown men arguing over something or other, or the sound of wildlife at night. It's been a long time since I've been able to just sit in silence like this.

"Yer quiet," Murphy noted, playing with my hair. I moved slightly so that I could look at him. He was studying me thoughtfully. He's always been able to see right through me.

"I don't remember the last time I was anywhere this quiet," I admitted before laying my head back down on his chest. He snuffed out his cigarette and pulled me closer, kissing the top of my head before placing his cheek against my forehead.

"So ye dated a boxer, aye?"

I sighed, pulling away and fixing him with a stern look. He held up a hand defensively.

"It's only a question, love."

After a moment of hesitation, I laid back down on him, trying to choose my words carefully. He was genuinely curious now but there's a fine line between curiosity and anger with Murphy sometimes. "His name is Klaus, we've been friends for longer than we dated. It just didn't really work out."

He was silent, stroking my back. "Why didn't it?"

"He wasn't you," I answered honestly.

He snorted in disbelief.

"I'm serious. He wanted more out of us than I did. All I've wanted since I left America is you."

More silence. Then he moved, propping himself up to look at me. "I am sorry, Cecilia." He reached out, stroking my cheek. "I didn't think I would ever see ye again." Murphy swallowed, looking away as he tried not to cry. I reached out to cradle his face, kissing him as tenderly as I could. I didn't want him to hurt like that any more. He pulled me closer, his hands wandering all over me as if to check that I was actually here and that I wasn't going to just disappear. I didn't want to disappear again either.