the quiet things nobody tells us
three
"Wooooah! Mate, what the fuck is that?!"
"...It's a cat, Jason."
"But it's all, like, yellow and shit."
"Yes, cats are sometimes yellow." Sara looked at him, amused. "Just how much have you had to -"
but her sentence was lost in his cooing.
"There you are, ickle wickle baby. You so cute! Who's so cute? You are!"
"I can't believe this is happening," Sara's brother, Dan, muttered under his breath, jumping up to his feet and leaving his wasted manboy best friend alone on the settee. "I forgot how annoying Jason is when he's wasted".
Dan slouched out to get another drink, leaving the other two alone. Sara pretended her heart hadn't just sped up a little as she glanced at Jason out of the corner of her eye. Now his lips were all puckered up and he was miming kissing the cat. Sara tried to force her face into a grimace of disgust, but an unchecked giggle gave the game away. Annoying, yes, but utterly adorable? You bet. In fact, every time she saw her big brother's best-friend-since-forever she found more ticks to add to the list. Beautiful messy hair? Check. A good taste in band t-shirts? Check. An infectious laugh; fantastic squash player; creator of The Best Cocktail Known To Man? Check, check, check.
Now it seemed she could add 'closet love of felines' to the list.
In fact, there was only one thing that made Jason less than perfect - one thing which had kept their relationship platonic from year seven through to uni, and that was this: he didn't love her back.
Small snag, that.
It was with a wry smile, therefore, that she left the room to go and fetch Jason a glass of water. Dan was in the kitchen, slumped snoring on the breakfast table. After checking he wasn't going to throw up in his sleep, Sara returned back to the sitting room to find Jason had also dozed off. She rolled her eyes and crossed to him, intending to free Fluffsy from his arms. It was then that she realised he was muttering something in his sleep.
"I love you..."
Oh come, on, she thought. That was really one step too far. There was cute cat-love and then there was obsessive, freaky old lady cat love... And then she heard him murmur it again, only this time with something else.
"I love you, Sara"
"Wooooah! Mate, what the fuck is that?!"
"...It's a cat, Jason."
"But it's all, like, yellow and shit."
"Yes, cats are sometimes yellow." Sara looked at him, amused. "Just how much have you had to -"
but her sentence was lost in his cooing.
"There you are, ickle wickle baby. You so cute! Who's so cute? You are!"
"I can't believe this is happening," Sara's brother, Dan, muttered under his breath, jumping up to his feet and leaving his wasted manboy best friend alone on the settee. "I forgot how annoying Jason is when he's wasted".
Dan slouched out to get another drink, leaving the other two alone. Sara pretended her heart hadn't just sped up a little as she glanced at Jason out of the corner of her eye. Now his lips were all puckered up and he was miming kissing the cat. Sara tried to force her face into a grimace of disgust, but an unchecked giggle gave the game away. Annoying, yes, but utterly adorable? You bet. In fact, every time she saw her big brother's best-friend-since-forever she found more ticks to add to the list. Beautiful messy hair? Check. A good taste in band t-shirts? Check. An infectious laugh; fantastic squash player; creator of The Best Cocktail Known To Man? Check, check, check.
Now it seemed she could add 'closet love of felines' to the list.
In fact, there was only one thing that made Jason less than perfect - one thing which had kept their relationship platonic from year seven through to uni, and that was this: he didn't love her back.
Small snag, that.
It was with a wry smile, therefore, that she left the room to go and fetch Jason a glass of water. Dan was in the kitchen, slumped snoring on the breakfast table. After checking he wasn't going to throw up in his sleep, Sara returned back to the sitting room to find Jason had also dozed off. She rolled her eyes and crossed to him, intending to free Fluffsy from his arms. It was then that she realised he was muttering something in his sleep.
"I love you..."
Oh come, on, she thought. That was really one step too far. There was cute cat-love and then there was obsessive, freaky old lady cat love... And then she heard him murmur it again, only this time with something else.
"I love you, Sara"