For on_thecouch - 18.2 Do you keep secrets?
[Related to THIS RP]
She liked to think she never kept secrets, but the truth is she did. She liked to play some cards close to her chest, and somewhere along the line it had turned into secret keeping. Or maybe it was just because she was scared of losing the things-people-she really cared about. She’d done it once already, what was going to stop her making that same mistake again?
Eight years gone in the blink of an eye. Eight years and the man she thought was her everything just gone.
And now there was Luke. And Luke was this unknown entity who had done nothing to make her doubt him, but she was now the one plagued with doubts. Was it moving too fast? Did she trust herself enough to fall again? Would she be able to handle it if something went wrong? Would she be the reason something went wrong? Was this a guy she could make the distance with?
Just over a week of knowing him, and she was already trying to look into the future. What happened to being able to take things as they came, and just go moment to moment? Tab might have been pretty confident feeding Riley advice about his love life and how he shouldn’t let boobs pass him by, but she was as scared as hell when it came to her own love life.
Tab’s protected heart tattoo was there for a reason, and now she had to decide if she could trust someone else to protect her heart. Really trust someone else. Not just say that she trusted them and then still keep them at arm’s length. She had to decide now or never, because her heart hurt and she didn’t know how to make it stop. Riley was HIV positive, and watching him go through the side effects of the medication physically hurt her.
She couldn’t sleep unless he did. She couldn’t eat unless he did. She couldn’t stop worrying unless she knew he was okay. She was ready to shoulder the burden of looking after him, but she assumed that in order to do that she had to give up her own well-being. How could she look after her brother if she was spending time looking after herself?
It was stupid, and she knew it. That’s why she called Luke. She took the plunge, and asked someone for help. This wasn’t the same as asking Lachlan for help. She knew without at doubt that she could trust the Scotsman with her brother, but she still didn’t trust him to look after her. Not really.
Luke was someone she thought she could trust. Or at least see if her sudden belief in him was vindicated. And so far it was. He’d dropped everything the moment she said she’d needed him. He didn’t once question Tab’s need to be with Riley before that. He didn’t make her explain, because he was already becoming familiar enough with her and her voice to just know what had happened. He let her ramble when she had to, and he offered to let her cry. He was bringing her food, and more importantly he was bringing her himself.
He was willing to be the one to take care of her when she couldn’t. She wondered if he understood just how huge that was. She suspected Riley knew, but she didn’t say a word. She just let her brother know that Luke was coming.
The secrets she kept were ones about herself, but right now they were secrets she was willing to trust to someone else. If Luke could protect her heart, and make it safe… she might just let him keep it.
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 617
notskywalker, pullmysteth, and drcampbell referred to with permission.
She liked to think she never kept secrets, but the truth is she did. She liked to play some cards close to her chest, and somewhere along the line it had turned into secret keeping. Or maybe it was just because she was scared of losing the things-people-she really cared about. She’d done it once already, what was going to stop her making that same mistake again?
Eight years gone in the blink of an eye. Eight years and the man she thought was her everything just gone.
And now there was Luke. And Luke was this unknown entity who had done nothing to make her doubt him, but she was now the one plagued with doubts. Was it moving too fast? Did she trust herself enough to fall again? Would she be able to handle it if something went wrong? Would she be the reason something went wrong? Was this a guy she could make the distance with?
Just over a week of knowing him, and she was already trying to look into the future. What happened to being able to take things as they came, and just go moment to moment? Tab might have been pretty confident feeding Riley advice about his love life and how he shouldn’t let boobs pass him by, but she was as scared as hell when it came to her own love life.
Tab’s protected heart tattoo was there for a reason, and now she had to decide if she could trust someone else to protect her heart. Really trust someone else. Not just say that she trusted them and then still keep them at arm’s length. She had to decide now or never, because her heart hurt and she didn’t know how to make it stop. Riley was HIV positive, and watching him go through the side effects of the medication physically hurt her.
She couldn’t sleep unless he did. She couldn’t eat unless he did. She couldn’t stop worrying unless she knew he was okay. She was ready to shoulder the burden of looking after him, but she assumed that in order to do that she had to give up her own well-being. How could she look after her brother if she was spending time looking after herself?
It was stupid, and she knew it. That’s why she called Luke. She took the plunge, and asked someone for help. This wasn’t the same as asking Lachlan for help. She knew without at doubt that she could trust the Scotsman with her brother, but she still didn’t trust him to look after her. Not really.
Luke was someone she thought she could trust. Or at least see if her sudden belief in him was vindicated. And so far it was. He’d dropped everything the moment she said she’d needed him. He didn’t once question Tab’s need to be with Riley before that. He didn’t make her explain, because he was already becoming familiar enough with her and her voice to just know what had happened. He let her ramble when she had to, and he offered to let her cry. He was bringing her food, and more importantly he was bringing her himself.
He was willing to be the one to take care of her when she couldn’t. She wondered if he understood just how huge that was. She suspected Riley knew, but she didn’t say a word. She just let her brother know that Luke was coming.
The secrets she kept were ones about herself, but right now they were secrets she was willing to trust to someone else. If Luke could protect her heart, and make it safe… she might just let him keep it.
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 617
notskywalker, pullmysteth, and drcampbell referred to with permission.