16 - Opposites Distract
"Could you get the phone?" Andy grumbled, pulling the sheets from Marty in the process.
"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, then threw a half-asleep greeting to the early caller. "Hello?"
"Hey, little brother," a familiar voice greeted cheerily over the line. "Guess who?"
"What did you do now, Daniel?" Marty asked, instantly awake at the sound of his older brother's voice.
"Nothing," the elder Harrison brother assured, then repeated at Marty's silence. "Really, I didn't do anything!"
"Danny..."
"Well, nothing illegal, anyway," Daniel chuckled, quickly adding. "Just calling to tell you that I'll be landing in Chi-town around two o'clock this afternoon and thought I'd check up on my baby bro before then."
"Okay," Marty said cautiously, still suspicious of his brother's intentions.
"Anyway, I have to hang up now since we're just about to take off, so see you then," his brother replied, hanging up before Marty could say anything else.
Marty hung up the phone and let out a deep breath, glaring up at the ceiling in annoyance. "Crap."
"Please tell me your ass of a brother isn't coming here," Andy groaned, rolling over to throw an arm across his chest.
"Afraid so," he apologized, remembering Daniel's last visit to Chicago.
"That guy'd hit on a hole in the wall if given a chance," the blonde said, making her boyfriend laugh.
"Yeah, he would, wouldn't he?" Marty agreed.
"I'll warn Lexie," she muttered, burying her face into his chest. "What time is it?"
He glaced over at the alarm clock, then answered. "Seven o'clock."
"I have to get up for that radio interview at nine," she whimpered, kissing his shoulder before rising from the bed.
"I could kill Lexie for setting that up, not even a full day after you just got back," he complained, watching her walk towards the washroom.
"Me, too, Babe," she agreed, shutting the door halfway.
"Hey, how about we don't warn her that Dan is coming to town?" Marty joked a moment later, speaking loud enough for Andy to hear.
"That would be mean," the blonde laughed, then stuck her head out. "I like it!"
"Well, I'm going to make breakfast," he informed her, rising from the bed and exitting the bedroom.
"Make me some pancakes, please!" Andy called out.
"Yes, dear," he called back.
The couple shared a quick meal before Andy rushed out the door for her radio interview, leaving Marty to his own devices for the next few hours. He had been tempted to join his girlfriend on her interview, but Marty decided against it. Those booths always made him a little bit claustopobic for some reason. He shrugged it off and set about to do something to kill time until he had to leave and meet Rory for lunch.
It was then Marty suddenly remembered a rather important detail, cursing himself for forgetting about it until just now. He rushed to the bedroom to grab his wallet and then quickly dashed out the door, hoping that there was enough time to head over to the mall before going to meet Rory. Even though Marty had hurried there and back again, he was still late by ten minutes when he entered the restaurant that had become his and Rory's usual meeting point.
"You're late," she chided him with mock anger, making an obvious display of being annoyed.
"Sorry about that," he apologized, taking the seat across from her. "But I have a good reason."
"Oh, really?" Rory quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, really," he said, then deposited a blue shopping bag on the table in front of them. "Here, this is for you."
She glanced at the bag situated between them, then back up at him. "What's this?"
"Your birthday present," he told her, removing his coat. "Oh, happy birthday, by the way."
"I can't believe you remembered," she whispered in surprise, sounding like she'd forgotten about it herself. She reached forward to snatch the bag, pulling out a small wrapped box. "I wonder what it is?"
"It's a block of cheese," he deadpanned.
"Cool, I like cheese," Rory smiled, playing along with the bit before letting out a surprised gasp. "Oh!"
"You like?" Marty asked, hoping she liked the strange little gift he'd bought her.
"Thank you," she nodded, her bright blue eyes shining in appreciation at the box's contents. "It's wonderful, Marty."
"I don't know about that, but if you like it, then who am I to argue?" Marty smiled, happy at the positive reaction.
"It's wonderful," Rory insisted, gazing at him intently.
"I hate to interrupt," a waitress cut in, breaking up their unexpected staring contest. "But I was wondering if you were ready to order?"
"Uh, yes, I'll have the chicken caesar wrap with fries on the side, please," Rory replied, turning her attention away like nothing had happened.
Marty frowned in slight confusion, then chose to brush the moment aside like the brunette had just done. After Marty had made his order, the pair continued on with their usual routine of talking about random subjects, which led to Marty losing track of the time.
"I still say that the reason behind Drama's continuous interference of Turtle's love life is because he's secretly in love with him," Marty stated, completely and utterly serious.
"And like I said before, I don't watch 'Entourage'," Rory insisted. "I just know the name of the characters because my step-sister keeps going on and on about it whenever we talk on the phone."
"Oh, damn, I've gotta go," he suddenly said, glancing at his watch.
"What's up?"
"My brother's coming into town," he groaned, pulling his coat back on. "I'm supposed to meet him at the airport in about twenty minutes."
"The infamous older brother, huh?" Rory grinned up at him, then continued at Marty's questioning expression. "You mentioned him when we first met."
"Huh?"
"In the hallway," she reminded.
"Still not following," he shook his head, trying not to laugh at her frustration.
"When-" Rory began, then rolled her eyes. "You're just screwing with me now, aren't you?"
"You make it a little too hard to resist sometimes," Marty laughed, then hiked a thumb towards the till. "I've got this, but call me later, okay? We'll all head out for drinks and you can meet Danny. I'm warning you now though, he's a bit of a...flirt."
"Sounds like a plan, and your warning is noted and appreciated," she nodded, then quickly added. "Oh, and thanks again for the fantastic birthday present."
"It's just a watch, Rory," he modestly stated with a little chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"It's not just a watch, Marty," she grinned, holding up the item in question. "It's a 'Hello Kitty' watch!"
"Okay, it's official, you're nuts," Marty grinned back at her, then turned to leave. "Happy birthday and see you later tonight."
"See you later," he heard Rory reply.
A few minutes later found Marty in the back seat of a cab, cursing his brother for cutting his time with Rory short, when his cellphone began ringing.
"Hey, Baby," Andy's voice chirped in greeting, making Marty hesitate for some reason. "Hello? Marty?"
"Hey, Babe," he returned finally, shaking his head at himself in wonder. "How'd the interview go?"
Marty had a brain fart there. LOL