"I told you to lift with your knees, not your back." Tin-Tin said as she guided a hunched Alan into the living room of the villa. He had a hand pressed into the small of his back, a look of pain crossing his face.
"Shut up Tin-Tin." Alan groaned pitifully as he tried to breathe through the pain. It was really difficult to do when you felt like just merely breathing would make the pain worse.
"I wish you'd let me help you…father always asks for my help when it comes to moving the planting boxes." Tin-Tin gently put her hand on Alan's lower back and jerked away at Alan's sharp inhale.
"Please don't touch…oh God that hurts." Alan's grimace transformed as tears peeked out of the corners of Alan's eyes.
"Sorry." Tin-Tin moved her hand to wrap around Alan's waist, gingerly avoiding the spot which was causing the youngest Tracy such pain. "Let's get you lying down."
Tin-Tin walked the both of them over to the couch, slowly easing Alan down to lie on his stomach. She fluffed a couple of throw pillows and put them beneath Alan's head and chest and Alan dropped his head into one of the pillows before groaning aloud. His back was killing him. He knew he should have listened to Tin-Tin when she instructed him to lift with his knees, not his back…but he obviously hadn't listened and now he was suffering the consequences.
"I'm going to go get you a hot water bottle. I'll be right back Alan." Tin-Tin stood before going to the kitchen to get Alan a hot water bottle for his back. Sure she felt bad for her friend, but she wasn't about to completely baby him. He caused his injuries whether intentional or not. As she entered the kitchen, she passed Gordon who appeared to be just getting ready to go out for a swim.
"Hey Tin-Tin." Gordon said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
"Hi Gordon." Tin-Tin said with slight distraction. She was more focused on other things at present and felt that she needed to get Alan taken care of so that he could relax. Crouching beside the counter, Tin-Tin began rooting around in search of the hot water bottle that she knew usually resided in there.
"What're you looking for Tin?" Gordon asked as he leaned on the counter, peering over Tin-Tin's shoulder to try to see into which cupboard she was riffling through
"A hot water bottle…no it's not for me." Tin-Tin cut Gordon off from saying anything in regards to her and hot water bottles. Somehow Gordon had found out about the time she and Alan had spent together when she'd been laid up due to her time of the month and he'd teased Alan about his being lovey dovey with Tin-Tin. "It's for Alan."
"Oh, he's finally come into his own and admitted to his PMS problem?" Gordon asked with a smirk but clutched at his calf when Tin-Tin punched him hard enough to make his leg Charlie horse. "OW! Tin-Tin!"
"You said it, not me…and in answer to your question. No, Alan's not PMSing. Boys aren't capable of such things." Tin-Tin said as she dug further before discovering the item she'd been searching for. "Here it is!"
"So what's up with Alan then?" Gordon asked as he rubbed his calf.
"He threw his back out helping my father move those potted house plants from the sun to the shade." Tin-Tin said as she prepared some hot water in the electric kettle. "I'm getting him a hot water bottle for his back."
"I can help with his back pain…I know kind of what he's going through." Gordon offered, frowning when Tin-Tin shook her head.
"No, I don't think Alan wants his back popped. It seems more like he strained a muscle that popping something out of joint." Tin-Tin filled the hot water bottle and sealed it before wrapping it with a towel so Alan wouldn't get burned. "We'll be fine. But thanks Gordon."
Gordon frowned with an eye roll. He wasn't about to suggest popping Alan's back, but he didn't say anything as he turned and left the kitchen heading up to his bedroom. He had a remedy for Alan's back pain which should get rid of it just as fast as ibuprofen if not faster. Meanwhile Tin-Tin had returned to the living room and she lifted Alan's t-shirt before nestling the hot water bottle onto Alan's back before covering the bottle with his t-shirt.
"Aah, Tin-Tin…that feels marvelous." Alan moaned as he lay on the couch, head buried into amongst the pillows. "Thank you."
"No problem Alan." Tin-Tin sat on the floor, her back pressed against the couch, just below Alan's shoulder. "No problem at all."
Tin-Tin turned on the television and she and Alan began watching a rerun episode of Are You Afraid of The Dark? Tin-Tin reached up and held Alan's hand and she and Alan were enthralled in what they were watching. So enthralled in fact that they were both unaware of a pair of eyes lurking around the corner of the living room.
"What're you guys doing?" Gordon popped into the living room and literally made both Alan and Tin-Tin leap out of their spots. Tin-Tin was fine, if not a little startled, but Alan was another story altogether. He released a pained gasp and one of his hands traveled to his back while the other squeezed the life from one of the pillows as lightning bolts shot through his back. Alan buried his face into one of the pillows to hide the tears springing to his eyes from both Tin-Tin and Gordon.
"Alan!" Tin-Tin spun at Alan's pained gasp, her eyebrows traveling almost up to her hairline. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"
"Back." Alan groaned from his pillow, not willing to lift his head to speak to his friend or brother for fear that the tears might be visible.
"Shoot! I'm so sorry Allie!" Gordon had a look of shame on his face as he hadn't thought Alan and Tin-Tin would have that kind of reaction to him popping into the living room where they were at. "Is there anything I can do?"
"No…please don't touch me." Alan said, his voice small as the pain in his back made his back throb and it'd stolen his breathe away. Alan held a shaking hand up to ward off Gordon or Tin-Tin's advances towards him. "Just let me be for now…please."
Tin-Tin knelt beside Alan wanting to do something for him, but not wanting to make him snap at her. She grabbed the hot water bottle which had fallen from Alan's back and ran to the kitchen to reheat it. It seemed to work before for Alan and she hoped it could work some magic on him again. After reheating the bottle, she was back by Alan, preparing to put it on Alan's back when Gordon stopped her. She gave him an incredulous look until he handed her a tube of muscle rub.
Of course! Gordon had a temperamental back so why wouldn't he have something that could ease back pain from overuse or abuse? In Alan's case he'd abused his back by not lifting with his knees like she'd told him to do. Why didn't Tin-Tin think of asking Gordon sooner than him running off these last twenty minutes or so? Alan could be receiving relief by now had she'd thought of asking Gordon for something to use on Alan's back.
"Thanks Gordon." Tin-Tin said as she accepted the muscle rub from the aquanaut. Kneeling by Alan again Tin-Tin spoke softly, seeing from Alan's posture that his back was still causing him grief in the five minutes that she'd been gone to reheat his hot water bottle. "Alan, do you mind if I lift your shirt so I can put some muscle rub on your back?"
"Give me a moment please?" Alan asked miserably from his pillow.
"Alan, the pain won't get any better any sooner unless you let Tin-Tin apply it so you can relax. I should know." Gordon sat on the arm of the couch and leaned over his little brother, not liking that the kid was in such pain at present. "I'll lift your shirt for Tin-Tin if you want and she'll apply the medicine, replace your hot water bottle and away you go…okay Sprout?"
At Alan's small nod, Gordon reached over and plucked the hem of Alan's t-shirt from his back while the older brother instructed Tin-Tin how much medicine to apply to Alan's back and how best to rub it in for maximum relief. Tin-Tin squirted a quarter sized amount on her finger tips and looked from her hands to Alan's back to Gordon and back to Alan again. Reaching out tentatively, Tin-Tin began to rub in a small circular motion, Alan stiffening at the cool medicine touching his back before relaxing at Tin-Tin's gentle touch.
"There now, that's better huh kiddo?" Gordon said as he wordlessly instructed Tin-Tin to increase pressure only slightly to knead the muscles in Alan's back. Alan's sigh was clue enough to how much better his back was beginning to feel with the massage. "I'll leave you to it Tin-Tin…I'll be in the pool. Holler if you need my help with anything or have any questions. Okay?"
"Okay Gordon. Thanks." Tin-Tin smiled up at Gordon before continuing to massage Alan's back
"No problem…and I'm sorry for having scared you both earlier." Gordon apologized before leaving the living room and Alan and Tin-Tin to it.
Alan struggled to stay awake what with Tin-Tin's continued massage to his lower back and he turned his head to talk to Tin-Tin.
"You know you don't have to continue doing that Tin. My back feels better." Alan said as Tin-Tin shifted from one spot on his back to another. Burying his face in the pillow Alan muffled a pleased moan. "Don't stop Tin-Tin."
"I knew you'd like a back rub." Tin-Tin said as she increased the elbow grease and she smiled again when Alan moaned once more. "This is why I haven't stopped rubbing your back yet, you deserve a little pampering every now and again. Everyone deserves a little pampering from time to time."
"Yeah, but I…" Alan trailed off when Tin-Tin moved to another spot on Alan's back before picking up where he left off. "…Don't want you to spend your afternoon rubbing my back. I'd like to spend time watching a movie with you like we'd planned."
"So put on a movie, I'll sit up here and rub your back…or I can create a pallet on the floor and we can sit down there whilst I continue to rub your back." Tin-Tin suggested as she continued to rub Alan's back. "It's your choice Al."
"I know it's corny, but how about watching Beethoven's 2nd? I feel like I need to watch something funny." Alan suggested as Tin-Tin had handed him the remote while he scrolled through the list of movies that he and Tin-Tin could watch.
"You and your love of animals…really, if you like dogs so much, why don't you ask your dad if you can adopt one. I wouldn't mind keeping an eye on it while you're away at school." Tin-Tin said as she nodded in agreement to the movie Alan wanted to watch. She liked watching Beethoven's 2nd as it was a movie favorite of both teenagers. One reason was that they had a mutual love of animals and Alan had confided in Tin-Tin on more than one occasion that when - not if he moves away for college – he'd like to get a dog one day; preferably an older dog that needed love and attention just as much as a puppy. Tin-Tin and Alan agreed that if they both went to college in the same area that they'd be each other's roommate and they'd adopt a dog together since they both wanted a pet one day.
As the movie played, Tin-Tin and Alan both watched enraptured as the lovable lummox of a St. Bernard Beethoven put his humans through the ringer by breeding and producing offspring with another St. Bernard – Missy. Tin-Tin eventually quit rubbing Alan's back and settled on the floor by Alan's head. Alan shifted his head to rest on Tin-Tin's head and he'd nuzzled his cheek against her silky soft hair after Ryce was kissed by her crush. James Ingram and Dolly Parton's duet The Day I Fall in Love played and Alan who'd listened to the song on occasions knew the song by heart and hummed along.
"I'll never promise to be true to anyone…unless it's you." Alan whispered into Tin-Tin's ear, making her shiver. She turned and Alan lifted his head before looking at Tin-Tin dead in the eye. As their eyes met, it was like a magnetic attraction. Tin-Tin leaned in slowly; her eyelashes fluttered closed mimicking Alan as he too closed his eyes.
He could feel the heat and moisture from Tin-Tin's breath as she leaned in closer to him and he leaned as far as he could comfortably go to kiss Tin-Tin. He could faintly hear the song continuing to play in the background, but none of that mattered to him anymore.
Neither teen noticed as the company of Scott and Virgil snuck from the room – amazed that Alan and Tin-Tin finally accepted the mutual attraction and took the plunge together. Alan's brothers had walked in just as Alan and Tin-Tin were leaning into each other and had wisely remained quiet, not bothering to tell either teen that it was dinner time. They could get dinner when they got hungry, for now though they should probably be left alone.
A/N: So I hope you don't mind the schmoozy Alan and Tin-Tin first kiss thing...I was actually listening to the actual Day I Fall in Love when I was writing this chapter and felt it was appropriate. I also speak from experience with the back pain, I myself have a temperamental back and know the feeling which I make Alan suffer from...(aren't I cruel)
I also wanted to apologize, it looks like the next installment of Rising From the Ashes will be a little longer as I am struggling with my algebra class and I have a boatload of papers for my English class to write as finals are within the next month. I seriously have had no time to write on Rising From the Ashes, I was only able to write on this one because this chapter idea I had just came to me like a lightening bolt and I was at a point to write while I was at the laundromat today. I know it's no excuse for not updating the story and hopefully I'll get a chance to update here very soon.
I hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully it will cheer the lot of you up that read my last two oneshots No Way Out and The Boy Death Left Behind...I'll admit, I was in a weird mood when I wrote those two as normally I can't stand deathfics. I love Alan and his family and I like them all being together. Sorry for the deathfics, hope this chapter makes up for their depressing aspects.
(Not so Angelic) Angel