Chapter Fifteen: Porches & A Waiting Room, Pt. 1

FLASHBACK - JANUARY 2019
INOVA FAIRFAX HOSPITAL

The drive home from the UVA campus took about two hours, give or take, but that evening AJ had made the drive in an even ninety minutes - a time especially impressive given it was rush hour. He hadn't even made it home yet, the backpack he'd hastily stuffed with clothes laying abandoned in the passenger seat of the car. He'd driven straight to the hospital and might've parked illegally in the level of the parking deck that was for staff only, but he didn't care. He'd gladly take whatever parking ticket or citation that would come his way.

He'd known it would probably be a problem when he'd left for his senior year. He'd been busy most of the summer with an internship, but he wasn't blind and he wasn't an idiot. He'd picked up on the little signs here and there, odd behavior and newly kept secrets from someone - two people, actually - who used to tell him everything. AJ had forgotten that he wasn't one of them anymore, that going away to college had shuffled him into the "adult" category, even though he felt like anything but that.

When he'd left again after winter break, he'd known it was a problem - a bad one, but he still hadn't said anything, and it was for this that he felt the most guilt. Selfishly, he'd deemed it someone else's problem. For his entire childhood, the responsibility of his younger siblings and cousins had fallen largely on his shoulders. He had been the one in charge when there wasn't an adult around, the one who had to keep a watchful eye and - even if it was a complete accident - the one left to feel responsible if something went wrong or if someone got hurt. None of the adults ever made him feel guilty, but AJ found the feeling was often still there even without someone gifting it.

For the first eighteen years of his life, that had been his role as the oldest brother and oldest cousin. Was it really all that terrible that when he first moved into the freshman dorms at UVA that he decided it wasn't his problem anymore, that he wanted a little less responsibility?

Apparently it was, and now he had two years of that carefree attitude coming back to bite him in the ass.

He was sitting on the other side of the waiting room from James, the two brothers sitting as far away from each other as the seating arrangement would allow. Ironically the last time AJ had been in a hospital waiting room was because of James - two years ago when James had broken his collarbone in gym class. They'd called AJ down to the front office before they even called their parents.

AJ watched James, who was avoiding eye contact with everyone but AJ especially. The younger boy had his eyes trained on the pristine tile floor.

By all intents and purposes, it had been an accident, and AJ didn't even necessarily blame James for what happened, even though he had expected he would watch out for Clara, and Clara would do the same. AJ wasn't sure if he would be as mad at Clara if the roles were reversed, because he had no way of knowing that because that wasn't how things had gone.

AJ was staring at James, and then he noticed something. James' eyes were red and bloodshot, and it wasn't from crying, because he'd been the only one too withdrawn from the situation to be crying.

"Are you high, right now?" AJ's voice came out in a deathly whisper, his disbelief vaguely masking his anger. Everyone except the person AJ was asking stilled.

Finally sensing the shift in the atmosphere, James looked up and met his older brother's eyes.

"What?"

AJ stood up. "I said, are you fucking high right now?"

Before James could answer, AJ lunged at his little brother.

PRESENT DAY

ROBERTS RESIDENCE

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

AJ awoke the morning before he turned twenty-three with Ellie by his side, actually asleep and not up and jet lagged. The previous mornings AJ would hear her get up at around four every morning, finally sick and tired of laying beside him trying to stay as still as possible to avoid waking him up. He always woke up, but he pretended like he didn't.

He was nervous about bringing her home. Maybe nervous wasn't the exact right way to put it, but he'd had some things he'd been apprehensive about. He'd never introduced a girlfriend this soon to the family and was fully aware that three months was still rather early, especially considering Ellie had to travel halfway across the world to even meet his family. He also knew how jarring suddenly sharing a house with six other people when you were used to sharing it with two people could be. But, despite the jet lag and everything in their relationship still being new, he thought Ellie was handling everything perfectly, and he couldn't be happier that things were off to such a good start.

AJ felt the mattress dip as Ellie rolled over and stood up. He opened his eyes, watching as she stretched. She was also being a very good sport about sleeping in his childhood bedroom, not mentioning any of the relics from high school still scattered throughout the bedroom unless AJ mentioned them first as a way of trying to make light of the fact that it was kind of awkward.

It wasn't early as she had been getting up, but it was still early.

"Where are you going?" AJ murmured.

Ellie startled, not realizing he was also awake.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She turned around to face him. "No, you're fine," she said with a smile. "I'm just going to get some fresh air, that's all."

To put it plainly, Ellie was losing her mind. She was trying to put on a brave front for the sake of AJ, but the morning before his birthday she was truly beginning to unravel.

Ellie had issues with her childhood home, like most people did, but one of the things she loved the most was how quiet it was. Even in the years when she resented being an only child and how boring sharing a house with only her parents could be, but even at the height of that resentment, she enjoyed it. After every childhood sleepover, every weekend of partying, every vacation, or every long semester of college, the Brumby household was always a quiet place of respite for her. It was the perfect, spacious, pristine, cushy and comfortable place for her to relax - and she had it completely to herself most weekdays.

The Roberts' home was spacious, but due to the amount of people living there, it didn't feel like it. She knew AJ's family, she knew what she was getting into, but the idea of living with them was much different than the reality.

They were lovely people and a wonderful family but Ellie just wanted some peace and quiet.

The first couple of nights, Ellie was actually getting up because of jet lag, but this morning she got up at five in the morning because she'd discovered that it was the only time the Roberts house was truly quiet. Bud and Harriet usually got up a little before seven or a little after depending on the day, so if Ellie got up a little after five or a little after (depending on the day), she had between ninety minutes and two hours completely uninterrupted, all to herself.

The view from the screened-in back porch was nice, and the morning air was cool. Ellie grabbed a throw blanket from the living room sofa and kept it draped over her legs as she sat on the outdoor sofa. Unlike most people, Ellie did not hesitate to make herself at home when hosts suggested she do so, and that was the third thing Bud and Harriet said to her, after saying how nice it was to finally meet her and asking her how the flight was.

Ellie drew her legs up to her chest, tucking her arms under the blanket and wrapping them around her shins. It was rare that she reached the stage of meeting a boyfriend's parents, not so much due to any fault of her own unless you could fault her for dating shitty guys, and this was the first time she'd ever stayed under the same roof as them. She would consider herself to be a fairly charming person, at least as charming if not more charming than the average person, but how to act around your boyfriend's parents was a dynamic that had always mystified her.

Bud and Harriet had been very nice, extremely nice, and their home seemed the picture perfect ideal of American suburbia that Ellie thought only existed in movies - it was no wonder why AJ was the way that he was. But Ellie would be lying if she wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop - and the complete and utter lack of personal space wasn't helping quell those anxieties.

The night before, yet another person was added to the home, and Ellie finally got to meet the final Roberts' sibling - the second oldest, James. Or would he technically be the third oldest? Ellie wasn't sure how to refer to Roberts' birth order in regards to Sarah, so it was a topic she avoided altogether - not that she would even be inclined to bring it up, but still.

She'd pictured James as a slightly younger version of AJ - another clean cut, all American, blonde-haired, blue eyed boy. While James had the same blonde hair (albeit a darker shade) and the same blue eyes, he couldn't have been more different than his older brother. It was hard to believe that a guy from northern Virginia who'd exclusively gone by the nickname "Jimmy" until high school would have the attitude and aesthetic of some wannabe surfer, stoner, burnout - Ellie had no valid proof that he was any of those things, but her gut feeling was strong enough that she was willing to make the judgemental leap.

Maybe it was the fact that he'd recently dropped out of college, but there was something there, something about him. He'd been polite when they'd met, but he hadn't shared the rest of the family's enthusiasm about her being there - not that Ellie really cared, but it was something she'd noticed nonetheless.

He did just drop out of college and probably has no direction in life right now, Ellie had to remind herself, I'd be fucking miserable, too.

Suddenly, the sliding door leading out to the front door swished open and clicked shut, and Ellie turned to see herself face to face with the man in question - well, guy in question. Ellie didn't think of guys younger than her as 'men' - AJ was lucky and had made the cut off by four months.

The two of them stared at each other, Ellie in her throw blanket cocoon and James in his pajamas, both looking significantly more rumpled than they had the night before, and both slightly alarmed to see someone else was up in the house.

"Morning," Ellie said.

She wanted to bang her head against the vinyl siding of the house that looked like it'd been recently power-washed. Of course James had to be another early riser. Of course she would have absolutely no time to herself because who needed that? The universe had apparently decided that Ellie was one of those people that didn't need that.

James nodded at her. "Hey."

Ellie watched as he slipped a joint and a lighter out of his pocket. Ah, so he is a stoner.

"Is that breakfast?" she asked.

He looked at her, apparently surprised she'd say something - at least he thought she was cool enough to not care, Ellie supposed that had to count for something. "Do you mind?" he asked.

Ellie shook her head. "No."

She absolutely did mind, but still said nothing as she watched him light up. Much to her increased surprise, after taking the first drag, he held the joint out for her.

Maybe if she was still in college herself, or maybe if it wasn't six in the morning, she would've accepted the offer. Instead she smiled apologetically, shrugging underneath the blanket. "I'm good, thanks."

James said nothing, and only shrugged as he walked past Ellie and jogged down the back porch steps. In flip flops he walked across the dewy lawn to the worn swing set, sitting down on one of the swings.

Ellie watched him, now more intrigued than ever. If she wasn't so desperate to be alone, she would've followed him out there and seen what she could figure out.

Nikki was in love with Ellie Brumby - well, not in love in love - but she thought Ellie was probably the coolest person she'd ever met. It was rare that AJ introduced someone he was seeing to the family, and this was the first time one of his girlfriends was staying with them. To say this was a big deal was a massive understatement.

This was the closest Nikki had come to date to actually having an older sister, and she was praying AJ wouldn't mess this up for her.

From the living room, Nikki watched Ellie out on the back porch. She was laying on the couch, her nose in one of the random coffee table books Harriet had that no one was actually really supposed to read. AJ had been sitting out there with her earlier after everyone at breakfast, but ten minutes ago he'd left for the gym, and now was the perfect time to ask Ellie what Nikki had been dying to ask her since her arrival.

"Just go out there and talk to her," James said, suddenly appearing behind her. "Stop being weird."

Nikki turned around to glare at him. "I'm not being weird, I'm literally going out to talk to her right now," she wrinkled her nose. "You smell like shit."

"Language."

"Shut up."

With that, Nikki was finally motivated to stop being weird and opened the sliding door, stepping out onto the back porch. From over the book, Ellie glanced up at Nikki, and Nikki detected a small look of irritation glimmer across her face before it disappeared - she suddenly found herself becoming more nervous. But there was no turning back now.

"Hey."

Ellie smiled. "Hi."

Nikki paused. She knew what she wanted to ask, but she hadn't thought through the execution of her plan past getting out on the porch. Her and Ellie stared at each other for a few moments.

"Did you need something?" Ellie finally asked, and Nikki perked up; that was her in.

"Actually, yeah," Nikki sat down at the other end of the couch. "I know we just met and you can totally say no, but I was wondering if you'd do me a huge favor?"

Ellie shrugged. "Sure?"

"Will you help me get ready for prom next weekend?"

"Oh! Umm…" Ellie blinked. "Yeah? I mean - yeah! Of course I'll help you."

Ellie had spent four years of her life as a psuedo-New Yorker; she was well versed in the major bits of American culture. She'd heard from plenty of friends and watched enough movies and TV to know that prom was a big deal. Even though spending her whole Saturday helping a sixteen-year-old she just met to get ready for an overblown school dance wasn't her ideal Saturday, she couldn't help but feel obligated to help Nikki out.

For one, she was her boyfriend's little sister. For another, Ellie couldn't imagine what it was like sharing a house with three siblings, let alone three brothers.

1545 EST

LILY'S DANCE ACADEMY

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

Both of her parents were in meetings, Clara was busy for some reason even though she'd called out that day, Adam couldn't drive (plus he was in school), she wasn't even sure if James should drive, the twins were also in school, her aunt and uncle were also working, and AJ was busy showing Ellie and her parents around DC.

That left one person to pick Lily up from school and take her to after school dance practice that day had been the Admiral. He didn't have anything to do; he was retired.

"Do you need me to pick you up, too?" the Admiral asked Lily as she scooted out of the passenger seat, dance bag slung over one shoulder, school backpack over the other. This was one of her last rehearsals before her recital; she had places to be.

"Probably," Lily replied. "Knowing them."

The Admiral raised an eyebrow. "Who's them?"

Lily shrugged. "Everyone else."

He chuckled. "Alright. Well, I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours then."

As she was about to shut the passenger door, AJ stopped her.

"Hey, what's your sister up to? I thought she usually picks you up."

Lily shrugged. "She's just out somewhere, I don't know."

THAT SAME TIME

When she'd ignored Zach's texts for too long, Clara decided to make it up to him by hanging out with him, with the ultimate hope that he would leave her alone after that. While she was optimistic; she was also being realistic; she knew he probably wouldn't leave her alone, but she was hoping she'd at least work up the courage to ignore him by the time he decided to text her again.

Zach's small Springfield apartment was nice, and Clara decided to not ask why he wasn't living with his family upon his return to the state.

They were sitting on his sofa, because that was the farthest Clara was willing to go into his apartment.

"Do you want to see the bedroom?"

Clara looked up from her phone to see Zach's wry expression. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and watched him carefully, turning off her phone and making the conversation she was having with Finn disappear.

She wasn't seeing two guys at once, because she wasn't seeing anyone at the moment. She still hadn't had her first…date with Finn, and she definitely wasn't trying to get any closer to Zach than she had to be.

His bedroom was definitely not something she'd been seeing.

"You're funny."

"I'm funny?"

"Yeah, you are."

Clara watched Zach with that stupid grin on his face, and she felt a tug of conflict in the center of her chest. She wished she could let her guard down around him, try and actually be friends with him, but she couldn't bring herself to, at least not fully. Maybe if they were meeting now for the first time ever she would be able to, but she couldn't ignore their history. She couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

It would be easier to ignore everything, but it was hard not to.

In her lap, her phone vibrated, another text from Finn lit up her screen. They had been texting on and off for the past several days, and Clara was trying her best not to overthink it.

Zach noticed, glancing down at her screen.

"Who are you texting?"

Clara shrugged, feeling herself blush slightly. "A guy."

Zach's eyebrows rose in surprise. "A guy?"

"Uh-huh," Clara gave him a look. "Don't even try getting jealous."

"I'm not jealous," he replied, but his arm draped across the back of sofa that kept nudging closer and closer to her shoulders suggested otherwise. "I'm fine with us just being friends."

Clara had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

"Who is he?"

"Just a guy - you're asking a lot of questions."

"That's what friends do; ask questions."

Zach reached out to tug at a piece of Clara's hair, but she pulled her head away at the last minute. She quickly looked back down at her phone, feigning checking the time. AJ's party didn't start until seven, but she had a feeling it was time for her to go.

She looked up at Zach. "I actually think I should probably head out. My cousin's party is tonight and I need to help set up for it."

It was a lie; she knew it, and Zach probably knew it, too. But that didn't stop him from following after her as she stood up and reached for her bag perched on the coffee table.

"Well hey, do you want to grab dinner sometime?" he asked hastily.

After fishing her car keys out of her bag, Clara looked up at him wearily. She was a little taken aback by how much of a grown man he looked like now. Once again, the word 'no,' was on the tip of her tongue, but Clara couldn't completely bring herself to say no. It had been three years since they'd seen each other, and they were both sober now. Maybe things would be different, maybe they could actually be friends.

Out of Zach's apartment and in the comfort of her car, Clara finally read the most recent texts from Finn.

The 29th it is then :)

Clara's eyes zoned in on date. The 29th; the date she'd agreed they'd meet up with for dinner. She realized, with a rapid sinking feeling, that something else was going on that day. With both of their schedules, Clara's being summer classes and the diner, and Finn's being…Navy, it had taken them several different tries to find an evening that worked for both of them, and it would no doubt take even more effort to find a raincheck date.

Before she could overthink it, Clara quickly typed out a response.

Do you want to do something else instead of dinner?

She quickly followed it up with another message.

Sorry, I had something else come up, but I was thinking you might be down.

Clara saw her from across the room as soon as she walked through the Admiral's front door. Eleanor Brumby, in the flesh. Her curly hair was tied back in a low ponytail and she was wearing a short white sundress patterned with small flowers. She was standing with AJ by the table of refreshments, her arm looped through his. They looked like the perfect couple.

As Clara made her way from the front door and across the living room, stopping to say hi to family members she'd only gone a few days without seeing, she kept her eyes trained on AJ and Ellie. At the final moment, AJ got called away by the Admiral, and Ellie was left alone at the refreshment table right as Clara approached.

She faltered for a moment, but decided to push ahead. Ellie had her back turned to her, facing the table, and Clara tried to make appearing next to her look as natural as possible.

"Hey," Clara gave a small wave. Ellie looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. "I'm Clara, I know we haven't met yet, but-"

"Ohhh my god! It's you!"

Clara froze as she was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug by Ellie.

"I had…work…" Clara finished weakly, her voice muffled by Ellie's shoulder.

Ellie pulled away. "So you've the girl who's been stalking my Instagram. I'm so glad we could finally meet in real life."

Clara felt a blush warming her face. "I'm sorry, that was-"

"I stalked yours too. Don't worry, we're even," Ellie replied.

"Oh…" Clara paused. It had been awhile since she'd tried making a new friend; she was a little rusty. "Well, if you wanted to hang out at all, just let me know."

"I'd love to!"

"Really-Oh really? That's…great!...Awesome…"

"Of course!" Ellie gave Clara a warm smile. "I'm dating your childhood friend/cousin, my dad almost married your mum and, if I recall correctly, if a paternity test result would've been a little different we would've been half sisters," she reached out to give Clara's shoulder a gentle shake. "We have a lot to discuss, actually."

Clara gave a strained smile. "Does coffee work?"

"I'd like to propose a toast to a very special someone," the Admiral raised his flute of champagne, nodding towards AJ. "This young man has proven to be a shining example of intelligence, courage, and overall good character.."

"Not to mention he's very handsome," Ellie added, receiving laughter from around the room.

The Admiral smiled. "He is also very handsome, and I'm very proud to have him as my namesake. Happy birthday, AJ."

Everyone raised their classes and cups in celebration, and Mac made eye contact from Mic from across the room. She knew what she had to do.

As much as she would've liked to avoid the conversation, Mac knew she would have to face Mic eventually. Her nephew's twenty-fourth birthday wasn't the best place to have the conversation, but it was the best opportunity. The past few days he'd been adjusting to the time difference and spending most of his time with Gillian and Eillie, and Mac knew neither of them would probably enjoy listening in to this conversation.

After singing happy birthday (something AJ insisted they didn't have to do) and the cake was cut, the party goers dispersed into smaller groups scattered throughout the Admiral's living room and kitchen. Ellie and Gillian were having a conversation with the Admiral, and Mac found Mic sitting out on the front porch on one of the benches.

"Hey stranger," Mac said, knocking gently on the porch railing to announce herself. "Not in the party mood?"

Mic smirked. "It's not exactly the Mic Brumby Fan Club in there."

"Oh come on," Mac sat down next to him. "It's not that bad."

Mic gave her a look. "Sarah, I'm not stupid."

"Well…The only person who really hates you being here is Harm. Everyone else is just kind of confused, I think."

"You don't hate me being here?"

Mac smiled. "I think I fall into the confused group," she answered. "But no, I don't hate you being here, Mic."

"You sure?"

"I have a full time job, a husband and three kids," Mac laughed. "I don't have time to hold twenty-year-old grudges."

"And Harm does?" Mic raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "That's just Harm. You know he…has trouble letting things go sometimes."

Mic chuckled. "Oh, I know that."

Mac decided for the sake of keeping the party a party, she'd change the subject to someone else. "I got to talk to Ellie earlier, she's pretty great. You and Gillian should be proud."

She watched as a warm smile spread across Mic's face. She knew the best way to get a man to soften up was to bring up his kids - well, in Mic's case, kid.

"It was all Gillian," Mic said. "She gets all the good stuff from her, I promise."

"You were only not there for her first two years," Mac insisted. "You had to have done something right in the past…twenty, twenty-one years?"

Mic shrugged. "What about you? Three kids?"
Mac shrugged in return. "I don't know, I blinked and it just happened," she looked up at the twinkle lights lining the porch. Even after all these years, the Admiral still put them up for special occasions. "Doesn't feel like all that long ago we were here for our engagement party."

After sitting in a few moments, contemplating that, Mic and Mac both cringed. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Can you imagine if we'd actually made it down the aisle?" Mic asked once their laughter died down.

"No," Mac shook her head. "Thank god we didn't."

The two of them continued to talk, reminiscing about various things and catching each other up on what had happened since they'd last seen each other in November of 2001, the conversation catching Mac off guard as being somewhat pleasant. About halfway through their conversation, Mic mentioned a name Mac hadn't heard in a very long time.

"I'm surprised Webb isn't here," he said, the name making Mac's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Webb?" Mac laughed. The idea of Webb being there was nothing short of absurd. "I haven't seen Webb since Clara was a baby."

"What happened?"

Mac shrugged. "He went on this mission in Paraguay and no one ever heard of him since. He just…disappeared. He asked me to go with him, but I had Clara and obviously I wasn't crazy, so I turned him down."

Mic's brow furrowed. "I saw Webb."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Mic shrugged. "Granted it was about ten years ago, but I saw him."

"Hm," Mac frowned slightly. "Interesting."

Her gaze traveled from the twinkle lights out into the darkness of the front lawn. Clayton Webb was someone she thought had completely disappeared, but maybe things were never that straightforward.

I feel like it's been a few updates since I've written an author's note. I hope everyone is enjoying the transition from spring to fall - other than the seasonal allergies, I think it's been treating me well.

Hmmm...I wonder what Webb could be up to? We'll see :)

As always, thank you for reading - not just this story, but all my others.

-Harper