****
Once we had packed everything up, I told Connor to put his stuff into the car and to meet me at Sarah's desk.
"Ahm, Abby? What do we do with these two?" he pointed at the carrier Cage with our Diictodons.
When I looked at them, Sid and Nancy were both gazing up at me and it made me smile.
"Right ... ahm ... how do we explain them to Jack? ... Connor?"
He was thinking about it, his face screwed up a bit and after a while he shrugged and shook his head.
"Well, he is away for the weekend so we have some time to think about it. Right now we have a party to plan for tomorrow!"
Connor looked confused. "What? ... What did I forget now?"
I giggled. "Nothing Conn! Sarah and me thought we should do something together tomorrow evening. You know, like a goodbye for Jenny and a welcome for Danny. Pizza and some horror movie ... "
With that, I thought back to what Sarah had told me about Connor in the lab and I had to look at him more closely.
He looked a bit flushed; the way you do after coming back into a to warm house after being out in the snow for hours, and he had put on Jeans and two sweaters, that was weird, even for Connor.
He was waiting for me to finish what I just was telling him but my thoughts where elsewhere right now.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Am I ... ? What? ... Sure, why wouldn't I?" Okay, I know Connor and I could read him pretty well after all these years of living together. He was trying to hide it.
"I know ... what happened in the lab today. Why didn't you tell me? Sarah told me! And I asked you if everything was okay here while we where out!"
He looked down and just muttered. "Of course, Sarah, thanks so much!"
Then he looked up at me, and said "I got him out, okay? Nothing happened to Sid, he was only in there for a minute!"
"Connor! I wasn't talking about Sid you idiot! You almost died! What where you thinking going in there? I thought you where supposed to be a genius!"
"I ... I ... We thought the fungus was dead!"
"Well it wasn't! And after you got out of the lab what happened? Did you see a doctor?"
I was getting angry at him now. He was just acting as if nothing had happened to him.
"Well ... No. We had to get everything ready for you guys!"
I shook my head and sighed. "Connor, you have to see a doc after something like that!"
"Alright, alright, I'll go tomorrow okay? I feel fine!"
He certainly didn't look fine to me.
His eyes where glassy, he was pale and he still had a red nose from the cold.
I stepped closer and hugged him. He sighed and said "See, I'm alright! Don't worry about me Abs, okay?"
I smiled and let him go.
"But you're going to see a doctor tomorrow, promise?"
"Okay!" he laughed and turned to get his bag and the pet carrier containing Sid and Nancy.
We had written up a list of the things we needed for the party within five minutes and agreed that Sarah would get them and bring them over to the flat later that evening.
After a short discussion with Connor about who would drive, we where on our way home.
Rex must have really missed Connor because he was chirping like mad when we arrived back at the flat and sat down on Connors shoulder to receive a scratch. We let the two little troubles out of the pet carrier and Rex got on the floor to greet his mates.
"Now that is cute" I heard from Connor and looked up, to see him smile. "Yeah, we missed them, didn't we Rex?"
I saw his face change when he heard that, and I hurried to add; "I missed having you around Conn!"
His face turned beet red and he swallowed. Before he could say anything I told him that he could sleep in his room and that I would be up in a few minutes to get Jacks stuff out of there.I had my mind made up, Jack would sleep on the couch since he doesn't pay any kind of rent.
I turned and made my way into the kitchen. I put the kettle on and got out a couple of mugs.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" I yelled up. He looked over the banister and nodded.
While I waited for the kettle to boil, I went up to Connors room to gather up Jacks stuff. What I didn't expect was that my little brother had messed up the whole room! His clothes where everywhere. It was a mystery for me, how he had done it in just two days.
Connor had cleared off the bed and was sitting on the corner of it. "It's good to be back home." he smiled.
"Yeah, sorry that I didn't ask where you would be going. Sorry for throwing you out in the first place." I looked down while I was picking up the mess my brother had left.
"Its okay Abby. I could have said something but I just realized when I was out of here that I had no idea where I would go."
He looked down now, while I was staring at him.
Crouching down in front of him, I looked up into his eyes. "I didn't think about it either, but Sarah helped me realize that we've both lost contact with all the friends we had. You know what is weird about that?"
He looked me right in the eyes, swallowed and shook his head.
I smiled warmly at him. "I don't care, as long as I don't loose my best friend."
His look slipped lower to my lips and he licked his lips. Then he looked into my eyes again, stood up and cleared his throat. His sudden movement surprised me and I almost fell backwards. I thought he was going to kiss me, hell, I wanted him to kiss me.
Connor was standing in front of the little round window now, he coughed and cleared his throat again. "I'm sure Sandra would be happy to hear that."
He sounded husky and I was sure that I would have missed it if I hadn't listened closely. I wondered what my childhood friend Sandra had to do with him, since he'd only met her once over a year ago and even I hadn't heard anything from her for months now. But then I got it, he'd misunderstood me again.
I stepped closer and took a few more shirts of Jack's into my arms. When I was standing right beside Connor, I nudged him. "You are my best friend you idiot!" I said.
With that, I turned and took all of Jacks clothes with me to put them away.
The kettle had boiled when I came down to the kitchen, so I made the tea and took both mugs to the coffee table in the living area. With a sigh, I sat down on the couch and yawned. Sarah would be here in a few minutes and I thought about tomorrow. We'd have to call the others to tell them to come over and I had to clean up a bit. Jack had left rings on the table from his coffee cups and I was sure that the bathroom was a mess too. Connor just forgot to put his boxer shorts away sometimes but Jack always left the clothes, wet towels and styling products all over the place.
The sudden movement of the couch made me jump a little. Connor sat down beside me and took his mug.
"You're my best friend too Abby!"
I smiled at him. "I don't need the rest of them. I know that you're here for me and that I can talk to you, but I need you to promise me something."
He gave me a questioning look and took a sip of his tea.
"Promise me that you'll tell me the truth in the future. I'll do the same. No more hiding okay?"
"What do you mean? I always tell you the truth Abby!"
My smile grew wider. "I know, but you're hiding things for my good. You didn't tell me that you had nowhere to go two days ago! AND you didn't tell me about today! I want to know everything you know."
"You promise the same? When I ask you something you'll answer truthfully?" Where was he going with this? I grew a little hesitant. There were things I didn't want him to know, he wouldn't understand ... or he would and that would be even worse. I agreed anyway.
"Yes. I will. Now promise!" He held out his hand and I laughed and shook it.
Connor sat back and looked at me. I hoped he wouldn't start asking questions right now, well, not the hard ones anyway.
"Do you want to watch a movie?" Thank god, I could handle that question.
With a little giggle I nodded.
"Great, which one? You know you can pick, I'll ring Mr. Wong and get us some food okay?"
"Thanks! I think I know what I'd like to see. Oh, tell them to bring the food in an hour, Sarah will be gone by then."
Connor opened the door for Sarah ten minutes later. I had cleaned away the mug rings on the table and Connor was nice enough to clean up the bathroom since I was right about the mess there.
Together we put away the drinks, crisps, chocolates and ice-cream for tomorrow.
Sarah took the phone to call our other three team mates. Jenny seemed to be happy to see us all again in a non-work environment. Danny grumbled a bit, but as soon as he heard that Jenny would be there too, he was in.
Becker was the last one Sarah phoned and while she was talking to him I sat down with Connor. "Which movie do you want to see?" he asked me. "Would 'From Hell' be okay?"
"'From Hell'? The Jack the Ripper movie? Why?"
"Hey, Johnny Depp's in it!"
Connor laughed and when it turned into coughing I bought him a glass of water. "Thanks!" He gulped down the water and sat back. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, my throat's just a bit dry."
Before I could say anything else to him, Sarah came back and smiled. "Becker will be here tomorrow. He just said to tell you that he doesn't want to see any zombie movies tomorrow."
"Okay. I'll go and get some movies tomorrow after work. We can ask what the others want to see." I told her.
Sarah nodded. "Good idea. I'll go now and leave you two alone."
When the food arrived we settled down in front of the TV. Connor put on the movie and we ate. Half an hour after we finished the last box of chicken, he was snoring with his head on my shoulder.
I stopped the DVD. "Conn? Connor? Come on, wake up, you have to go to bed! It's been a long day."
"I'm awake! I'm watching the movie!" he mumbled while he tried to open his eyes.
"Sure, you are. Come on now, go to bed! We can finish the movie on Sunday, I'm tired too."
"Okay. ... alright. I'll go."
When I got up the next morning, I was greeted with more coughing.
Connor was up already, which was a wonder in itself and he was making tea.
He saw that I was up. "Tea?"
God, he sounded hoarse!
"Yes, please. How're you feeling?" I got nearer and put my hand on his forehead to feel if he had a fever. No.
"Okay, it's just the coughing and my voice, but otherwise I'm okay. I'll go and see the doctor anyway. I'll just get something for it."
"Good, but you tell me if it's getting worse."
"I will! Don't worry." He coughed again, and took a sip of the tea.
I took a shower and dressed for work while Connor did the same. It was good to have him back home again, and to go through our morning routine again. I got to go to the bathroom first and then dress, while Connor showered, then I would make us some tea and pour them into two mugs.
Connor always drove us to work because in the mornings I like to doze in the car. He's the only one I trust enough to do that!
The work day was over soon enough. I'd asked Becker and Danny what movie they'd like to watch and I promised to get both movies for the evening.
I found Connor at the ADD and he looked a bit bored, so I asked him if we could go.
He nodded and got up. "We have to stop at the chemist's. The doctor wasn't in today, so I have to get something for my throat."
"And the Video shop. Becker wants to watch 'The Ring' and Danny "Nightmare on Elmstreet."
"All right, lets go. I can't wait to get out of here for the weekend!"
We left the ARC behind us to prepare for the evening.
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