A shirt hangs halfway off the bed. Two pairs of jeans lie on opposite sides of the room. A shoe here, a sock there. A half dressed Sara tips practically upside down into a large moving box. Another shirt is thrown into the mess.
Aiden watches amused from their new bed, dressed in only his freshly ironed khaki shorts. Sara grunts, digging deeper and kicking a leg angrily into the air. Her long oversized light purple t-shirt rides up and reveals her silky, lace green underwear. Aiden smirks. He could watch this all day, if they had all day. He checks his watch, they have to be at his sister's house in 30 minutes. Sara better get moving. He stands and makes his way behind her, placing his hands on her hips, and pulling her out of and away from the box into his chest. Sara can feel every dip and curve of his muscular torso and she has to focus on staying frustrated on the task at hand.
"Having an issue?" He teases, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Sara turns around and stomps her foot. Her hair is a mess and her face is beat red. She isn't pleased.
"This is not funny! You are terrible at packing! It's called organization! Pants go with other pants, shirts go with shirts, shorts go with shorts. Do you see the pattern?" She throws her arms in the air and finds another box to look through, yet again. Aiden pulls her away, stopping her frantic search.
"I do see, I'm sorry. Why don't you go fix your hair and finish getting ready and i'll find whatever it is you're looking for?" He offers.
"Fine. I'm looking for my denim overall shorts, but i've looked everywhere. You won't find them. They're probably gone forever somewhere in Montreal." She says stubbornly, walking into the bathroom.
The state of the room proves that she indeed looked everywhere, but Aiden knows he'll find what she's looking for.
Minutes later, he cracks the bathroom door open just a bit and tosses the exact shorts Sara was trying to find at her. She stares him down in the mirror and he flashes her a smug grin.
"Where were they?" She asks skeptically. She is just positive he had to have been messing with her and hiding them.
He opens the door all the way, giving her a full view of all the boxes. He points to the one sitting on the bed labeled 'summer clothes'.
"Go away, I don't like you right now." She can't help but smile as she shakes her head and ushers him out of the bathroom, not giving him the satisfaction that she was wrong. She steps into the overalls, tucks her shirt in, clips each strap over her shoulder, and smooths the wrinkles out. She turns to the side and checks herself out, making sure nothing is out of place. She wouldn't admit it, but she knows she looks adorable.
"You look great!" Aiden calls from his place on the bed, knowing without looking that she's scrutinizing her appearance. He finished getting dressed, having put on a blue short sleeve button up and is now playing on his phone. "Now hop to or we'll be late!"
They hurriedly march down the stairs, into the underground parking garage. Aiden opens the passenger door of their shiny, new car and gestures for Sara to get in. She politely thanks him and slides in. Aiden gets in behind the wheel and they pull out of the garage onto the busy Vancouver streets.
Sara watches out the window as the people and buildings pass by. They flew in three days ago, and she has yet to go out and explore any of the city. The moments tick by and she assumes they're getting closer to their destination. Aiden said it was only a few miles away. She tucks her bangs behind her ear and absentmindedly plays with a loose string on her shorts.
"You're nervous." Aiden says. It's not a question, he already knows she is. He places his right hand on her knee, rubbing it reassuringly.
"A little." She sighs, looking down. Her shyness and awkwardness were the two things she wished she could over come. Sometimes she truly did feel as if she had no mouth, no vocal chords to express herself with.
"Don't be. Everyone will love you, my parents already do love you. And I can guarantee my sister will love you."
"Why do you say that?" She asks, confused by the comment.
"Because you're a girl." He pulls into the driveway of his sister's pricey ranch style home, putting the car in park, and cutting the ignition. "A very cute girl."
"Oh." Aiden had never mentioned that his sister was gay, not that it made any difference to Sara if she was. But if he was implying she would be attracted to Sara, and would possibly vocalize that attraction, well that made her a little uncomfortable.
Aiden exits the car and again holds Sara's door open for her. He takes her hand in his own and leads her to the backyard, where the family get together is taking place. His parents immediately rush over to them, giving them hugs and kisses, rambling on and on about how they missed them and are so glad they live much closer. Sara positions herself slightly behind Aiden, a little overwhelmed by all the attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she watches a girl exit the house, arms full of beer bottles. Even though she's wearing big black and white checkered sunglasses that cover half her face, it is obvious to Sara it is Aiden's sister. She's much shorter than him, about the same height as Sara, but they have the same jaw and mouth.
Aiden puts his arm around Sara, forcing her to step forward. His sister sets most of the beer down on the table on the deck, and saunters over with two bottles in one hand.
"Hey, bro! What's up?" She asks joyfully, punching Aiden in the bicep and handing him a beer. She hands the other beer to Sara, lifting her sunglasses up, checking her out. "And you must be Sara. I'm Tegan, the much hotter Quin." She sticks her hand out, offering it to Sara.
"Hi." Sara replies quietly, giving her a nervous smile, lightly shaking Tegan's hand.
"She's easy on the eyes, too. I applaud you, brother. She makes all the other ones you brought home look like dogs." Tegan nudges Aiden in the side, wiggling her eyebrows. Aiden can't help his lip from pulling into a small smile at Tegan's accuracy. Sara was undeniably the most attractive girl he'd ever been with.
"Tegan!" Aiden and his parents scold her in unison.
"What? It's not like I called her a hot piece of ass!" Tegan tries to defend herself. "But she totally is."
Sara feels as if she could crawl into a hole and never come out, she's so embarrassed. Sure, there had been a number of times where she has been hit on, but never so bluntly, or in this kind of situation. She is trying to figure out if Aiden really ever said that she and Tegan would bond over something or if she had imagined that.
She looks over at Tegan who is still attempting to justify her bluntness. She is talking animatedly with her hands that are connected to arms littered with tattoos which peek out of cut off sleeves on a black shirt decorated with neon illustrations of naked women. There was no possible way they would get along! This girl probably rips through this quiet suburban neighborhood on a Harley every night out to the bars, doing God knows what.
"Look at the poor girl. You're going to scare her off." Aiden's mom points out how tomato-red Sara's face is getting.
"I'm sure it's whatever is in Aiden's pants that'll scare her off, not me." Tegan laughs loudly.
Sara can feel her ears burning hot while everyone else rolls their eyes and passes of Tegan's remark as something normal. She grabs onto Aiden's hand in hopes that it will calm her nerves. It doesn't work because he goes off to help set the table and get the food with his father. She politely excuses herself from Tegan and their mom to go find the bathroom and take a breather.
It isn't until they're all gathered around the picnic table eating that Sara starts to feel at ease, sitting on the end next to Aiden. Tegan sits on the other side of him, blocked from Sara's view. She thinks she is safe from any more encounters.
"So, Sara, Aiden was telling me how he'd love it for you and Tegan to become friends since you don't know anyone in the city. If I recall correctly, you're an artist? Tegan's a very successful tattoo artist. You two can get together, show each other your work, maybe go to an art gallery or something? We'd love it if you all became so close." Aiden's mom suggests.
"Oh.. I just like to draw for fun. I'm not really an artist." Sara mutters, pushing her potato salad around on her plate.
"Don't be silly, honey, you're amazing. I can drop you off at her shop on my way to work tomorrow and you can show her what you got." Aiden says, oblivious to anything that Sara has been feeling since they arrived.
"Yeah Sara, show me what you got. It'll be fun. I don't bite." Tegan leans forward, looking over at Sara with a wicked grin. "Unless you say please."
"I don't know. There's still a lot to be unpacked, and the apartment needs to be cleaned.." Sara shoots what she hopes is a subtle, pleading look at Aiden. She doesn't want to be around Tegan alone.
"It can wait, can't it? Making friends and getting to know the city is a little more important, don't you think?" Aiden completely overlooks the help Sara was looking for.
Sara feels each pair of eyes burn into her as they wait for an answer. If she says no, she'll look rude and upset Aiden but if she says yes, she'll be put into a situation she won't be able to handle herself in. But always one to put others before herself, she reluctantly gives in and says yes, she will hang out with Tegan.
The rest of the afternoon seems to drag on endlessly. All Sara can think about is how Tegan will be ogling her the next day and making crude remarks. It isn't until they're in the car, driving away, that she can breath a sigh of relief and feel herself begin to relax.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Aiden asks.
"I guess. You know I like your parents, but your sister is a bit..." Sara starts, searching for polite words to describe Tegan.
"Obnoxious? Blunt? Rude? Loud? Perverted?" Aiden finishes for her.
"Well... yes. You really think we could become friends?"
"I wouldn't be pushing you to if I didn't think so. I know she can a be a bit much at first but she's sweet and really fun once you get past those other things. Maybe she'll even get you to break out of your shell a little. Just give her a chance? For me? I don't want you holed up in our place all the time. Not to mention I need someone to convince her to wear a dress if she has any desire to stand up in our wedding."
"Fine. You're lucky I love you, you know."
Sara actually never minded spending most of her time alone. She found that the stories she could create in her mind were much more entertaining than going out and getting drunk at a party like most people her age were doing. But if it would make Aiden happy for her to be social, then she would do it.
They ride in comfortable silence the rest of the way home. Once inside, Sara immediately goes to the extra bedroom they've deemed half an office for Aiden, and half a studio for her. She sits at her drafting table and pulls out her sketchbook reserved for her comic doodles. She grabs a pen and opens to a new blank page.
Tonight, Voix's not just looking for anyone.