just_muse_me | 6.2.4.
6.2.4. What's something you are afraid of right now?
Co-written with asinthecity | Follows THIS
Luke finally exited the bathroom and sought refuge on the sofa while he waited for Tab to come back from the shops. He threw his phone onto the table, not even caring when it clattered against the glass tabletop. It wasn't like he couldn't replace a cell phone. He curled up into a ball with a moan. This sucked. How was he supposed to explain a very spontaneous and very sudden visit from his big sister in just a few days time? Tab was already freaking out about meeting his family, and now it was going to be thrust upon her out of the blue. He grabbed a cushion and hugged it around his middle. Was there even a good way to just blurt it out to her? Surely he could draw on some tact, despite feeling like a big ball of misery?
Tab was still shaking her bottle of lemonade when she walked into their apartment, a bag of groceries tucked under her arm. Yes, he'd asked for Gatorade, but there was no way she could leave without grabbing a couple of other things. "Did you know there's this thing called 'Vitamin Water' and it has all these vitamins in the water. Whatever happened to just eating vitamins? And I thought the point of water was for it to be, you know, water?" she babbled by way of greeting. She dropped the paper bag onto the coffee table and pulled out a bottle of Gatorade to leave in easy reach. With her other hand she continued to shake the lemonade.
"How long do you think it'll take for it to get flat?" she asked Luke. Then she felt his forehead and knelt down on the floor beside him so he didn't have to move.
Luke eyed the bottle of lemonade warily. "You can open that in Queens," he decided. "I like the apartment not exploded in a sticky mess." He puffed out his cheeks with a breath and then let it out slowly. "I have literally hurled non-stop since you left. Even right through the phone call with my sister. It's lovely that you like to share, Lucky Charm, but next time, please don't be so generous," he mumbled and tried to half hang off the sofa and get a more comfortable position.
Tab frowned as she eyed the bottle before she reached up and emptied the groceries onto the table so she could take the paper bag and hold the bottle inside it as she ever so slowly started to turn the lid. "Queens schmeens, I got control over it. Have a little faith, smexy." She looked up at him and smiled. "It's been a little while since you called me that, you know. I'm glad I haven't lost my title. And I'm sorry for getting you sick. Next time I'll just sleep in the bathroom, or get you one of those masks. We could paint a mustache on it." She looked back down at the lemonade and ducked her head as she worked out if any of it had escaped. "How's your sister?"
"I don't think vomiting in a mask would be anything fun," Luke decided. He curled back up into a ball with a pained noise. "How much do you love me right now?" he asked, testing the waters.
She tossed the bag aside and licked the side of the bottle to catch a couple of drips of lemonade before she took a small sip to find out if it was flat. "How am I supposed to measure love? Does it come in pounds? Um, ten million pounds of love?"
Luke couldn't decide if that was enough or not. "Um," he began. Wait, maybe he needed to throw up again first? No, that could probably wait. At least, he should try to make a start on it and just get it out there. Hopefully she wouldn't yell too loudly. "My, um... Kara, my eldest sister, she's coming to New York this weekend. She wants to meet you."
Tab looked at him with the bottle poised against her lips as she readied herself for another sip. Then the petite redhead had a second thought and set the bottle down on the coffee table so there was no chance of spillage. "She what?" Eloquent as always.
"She's coming here," Luke repeated. "She misses me. Needs to do the big sister thing and make sure I'm okay for her own peace of mind and my Mum's. It's been a few months since I saw her and..." He stopped and cleared his throat. "I met your brother," he had to add lamely.
Her eyebrows drew together and it took all her effort not to leap up and run out of the room. Mostly because she knew any kind of leaping up might ruin the current non-vomiting streak she was on. Instead she fell back onto her arse and stared up at him. "She's worried that I'm hurting you? But I'm not! Maybe just a little, but we worked it out. I don't even own a skirt that goes past my knees. Is that what she expects? Do I have to get a blazer?"
Luke looked at her uncertainly. "We're talking about Kara here. She calls a spade a spade and used to fart on me like there was no tomorrow. You can't forget she's Australian and very Aussie at that. You don't have to put on airs for her at all and if you do, she'll see right through them. She's just worried about me in general. Probably even more so now she had to sit and listen to me puking. She needs to know you're not hurting me or not going to hurt me... just like Riley did of me. That's all."
Tab licked at her lips and pushed her hand through her hair as she let out a small whimper. "I've never met family before. I don't want to fuck it up. I don't want her to not like me."
"So, you're just going to hide and never let her meet you?" Luke asked with a frown.
She shook her head. "No, no. I'll meet her. She's you sister, and your family. I want to meet her. Fuck, this weekend? Is she coming to the party? When exactly is she coming. I've only just stopped being a sweaty and disgusting pig! Are you sure there's nothing I need to know? Does she drink? Do we need to get something? Does she know I don't cook? I can't even offer to make dinner!" Tab started to breathe shallowly like she'd just been running a marathon and she clutched her hand to her chest. "Oh fuck, I think I'm hyperventilating."
Luke rubbed his hand over his face. "I want you to be yourself," he pleaded. "I want this to not be an issue when we've just gotten over the last one. She won't be staying here, she'll stay in a hotel. She's here for a conference and she never expects me to entertain her. She just wants to see me and she wants to meet you. How is she supposed to know she can trust you with me until she meets you? It's exactly the same situation as you and Riley. Even with Evie, you warned her about the hurting thing. It's just the same for Kara." He rolled onto his back, closing his eyes. "I'll be lucky to see her for a day," he added with a sigh.
Tab nodded, and reached up to rub his chest. "Okay, I can be myself. Just please don't blame me if I freak out just before I meet her okay? This is huge for me, and not because it's an issue." She rest her chin on the sofa as she watched him. "Do you want her to be able to stay longer?"
"It's huge for me, too," Luke told her quietly. "Meeting Riley was huge for me. I don't want you to freak out. I want you to be able to see what a big thing this is for me, for you, and for us. But not because you're meeting my sister. Because it's important to me. Because I know how hard it is for my family to be in Australia and me to be here and because I want it to work out how it should. Because I want them to see you for howt I see you." This would've been so much easier and feel less like he wanted to burst into tears if he wasn't feeling so crap. He met her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I miss her. I miss them all."
She moved back onto her knees and kissed his forehead. "See, I should really get this more since it's all I ever wanted when you met Riley. I wanted my brother to see you as I saw you and I guess I still do. I know what it's like to not be physically close to your family. I didn't have Riley for three years. It nearly killed me." She brushed her fingers across his brow and smiled softly. "She could stay here. If it meant you could have more time with her, I wouldn't mind."
He took her hand and offered her a slight smile. "She'll probably stay in the hotel the conference is at. If she's here for it, it's likely she's a speaker at it. I didn't get much chance to drill her on it. I'm making it sound like she has no time for me. She does. Hell, she'd be with me the whole time if I asked her, but when she's on a timeframe, she usually has shit loads to do in preparation for a conference. I think she's coming early especially to meet you. They worry because the last girl fucked me over so badly. I know it sucks for them to have me away. They'd prefer me to be close to home but I feel more alive and free here. I always had to do my own thing. I just really want her to see that I am happy and that there really is nothing needing to be worried about."
Tab kissed his forehead again, and while she smiled it was clear that she was still nervous about meeting one of his sisters. "I guess at least this way if she likes me then I'll have an ally when we meet your family after Christmas."
Luke smirked a little. "Why are you so convinced my family will be ogres?"
She shook her head emphatically before she had to stop when it made her dizzy. Tab tucked some of her hair behind her ears and looked at him. "I'm not. I just really want them to like me. I've never wanted a family's approval so badly."
"They won't ruin anything for me. The only thing you would have to worry about was if you really did have intentions to hurt me. It's just worse if we leave it longer. They'll worry more, they'll think I'm hiding stuff from them. I want this to happen as soon as it can and it's just a bonus I get to see my sister. Even if I just feel homesick now," Luke added wryly. "It's cool, though. We have lots to look forward to."
Tab pulled her mouth to the side. "I don't really know how to help with the homesickness other than to put on some AC/DC and try to cook a barbecue. Knowing my track record in the kitchen though it could end in tears."
Luke started to gag at the mere thought of a barbeque or anything kitchen related. He put his hand over his mouth to try and stop and unwanted escapes. "I think I'm okay on that front for now," he decided hastily. "Right now, I just want to get through the weekend, hopefully feeling way better than I do right now."
All characters referenced with permission
Word Count | 2,015
Co-written with asinthecity | Follows THIS
Luke finally exited the bathroom and sought refuge on the sofa while he waited for Tab to come back from the shops. He threw his phone onto the table, not even caring when it clattered against the glass tabletop. It wasn't like he couldn't replace a cell phone. He curled up into a ball with a moan. This sucked. How was he supposed to explain a very spontaneous and very sudden visit from his big sister in just a few days time? Tab was already freaking out about meeting his family, and now it was going to be thrust upon her out of the blue. He grabbed a cushion and hugged it around his middle. Was there even a good way to just blurt it out to her? Surely he could draw on some tact, despite feeling like a big ball of misery?
Tab was still shaking her bottle of lemonade when she walked into their apartment, a bag of groceries tucked under her arm. Yes, he'd asked for Gatorade, but there was no way she could leave without grabbing a couple of other things. "Did you know there's this thing called 'Vitamin Water' and it has all these vitamins in the water. Whatever happened to just eating vitamins? And I thought the point of water was for it to be, you know, water?" she babbled by way of greeting. She dropped the paper bag onto the coffee table and pulled out a bottle of Gatorade to leave in easy reach. With her other hand she continued to shake the lemonade.
"How long do you think it'll take for it to get flat?" she asked Luke. Then she felt his forehead and knelt down on the floor beside him so he didn't have to move.
Luke eyed the bottle of lemonade warily. "You can open that in Queens," he decided. "I like the apartment not exploded in a sticky mess." He puffed out his cheeks with a breath and then let it out slowly. "I have literally hurled non-stop since you left. Even right through the phone call with my sister. It's lovely that you like to share, Lucky Charm, but next time, please don't be so generous," he mumbled and tried to half hang off the sofa and get a more comfortable position.
Tab frowned as she eyed the bottle before she reached up and emptied the groceries onto the table so she could take the paper bag and hold the bottle inside it as she ever so slowly started to turn the lid. "Queens schmeens, I got control over it. Have a little faith, smexy." She looked up at him and smiled. "It's been a little while since you called me that, you know. I'm glad I haven't lost my title. And I'm sorry for getting you sick. Next time I'll just sleep in the bathroom, or get you one of those masks. We could paint a mustache on it." She looked back down at the lemonade and ducked her head as she worked out if any of it had escaped. "How's your sister?"
"I don't think vomiting in a mask would be anything fun," Luke decided. He curled back up into a ball with a pained noise. "How much do you love me right now?" he asked, testing the waters.
She tossed the bag aside and licked the side of the bottle to catch a couple of drips of lemonade before she took a small sip to find out if it was flat. "How am I supposed to measure love? Does it come in pounds? Um, ten million pounds of love?"
Luke couldn't decide if that was enough or not. "Um," he began. Wait, maybe he needed to throw up again first? No, that could probably wait. At least, he should try to make a start on it and just get it out there. Hopefully she wouldn't yell too loudly. "My, um... Kara, my eldest sister, she's coming to New York this weekend. She wants to meet you."
Tab looked at him with the bottle poised against her lips as she readied herself for another sip. Then the petite redhead had a second thought and set the bottle down on the coffee table so there was no chance of spillage. "She what?" Eloquent as always.
"She's coming here," Luke repeated. "She misses me. Needs to do the big sister thing and make sure I'm okay for her own peace of mind and my Mum's. It's been a few months since I saw her and..." He stopped and cleared his throat. "I met your brother," he had to add lamely.
Her eyebrows drew together and it took all her effort not to leap up and run out of the room. Mostly because she knew any kind of leaping up might ruin the current non-vomiting streak she was on. Instead she fell back onto her arse and stared up at him. "She's worried that I'm hurting you? But I'm not! Maybe just a little, but we worked it out. I don't even own a skirt that goes past my knees. Is that what she expects? Do I have to get a blazer?"
Luke looked at her uncertainly. "We're talking about Kara here. She calls a spade a spade and used to fart on me like there was no tomorrow. You can't forget she's Australian and very Aussie at that. You don't have to put on airs for her at all and if you do, she'll see right through them. She's just worried about me in general. Probably even more so now she had to sit and listen to me puking. She needs to know you're not hurting me or not going to hurt me... just like Riley did of me. That's all."
Tab licked at her lips and pushed her hand through her hair as she let out a small whimper. "I've never met family before. I don't want to fuck it up. I don't want her to not like me."
"So, you're just going to hide and never let her meet you?" Luke asked with a frown.
She shook her head. "No, no. I'll meet her. She's you sister, and your family. I want to meet her. Fuck, this weekend? Is she coming to the party? When exactly is she coming. I've only just stopped being a sweaty and disgusting pig! Are you sure there's nothing I need to know? Does she drink? Do we need to get something? Does she know I don't cook? I can't even offer to make dinner!" Tab started to breathe shallowly like she'd just been running a marathon and she clutched her hand to her chest. "Oh fuck, I think I'm hyperventilating."
Luke rubbed his hand over his face. "I want you to be yourself," he pleaded. "I want this to not be an issue when we've just gotten over the last one. She won't be staying here, she'll stay in a hotel. She's here for a conference and she never expects me to entertain her. She just wants to see me and she wants to meet you. How is she supposed to know she can trust you with me until she meets you? It's exactly the same situation as you and Riley. Even with Evie, you warned her about the hurting thing. It's just the same for Kara." He rolled onto his back, closing his eyes. "I'll be lucky to see her for a day," he added with a sigh.
Tab nodded, and reached up to rub his chest. "Okay, I can be myself. Just please don't blame me if I freak out just before I meet her okay? This is huge for me, and not because it's an issue." She rest her chin on the sofa as she watched him. "Do you want her to be able to stay longer?"
"It's huge for me, too," Luke told her quietly. "Meeting Riley was huge for me. I don't want you to freak out. I want you to be able to see what a big thing this is for me, for you, and for us. But not because you're meeting my sister. Because it's important to me. Because I know how hard it is for my family to be in Australia and me to be here and because I want it to work out how it should. Because I want them to see you for howt I see you." This would've been so much easier and feel less like he wanted to burst into tears if he wasn't feeling so crap. He met her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I miss her. I miss them all."
She moved back onto her knees and kissed his forehead. "See, I should really get this more since it's all I ever wanted when you met Riley. I wanted my brother to see you as I saw you and I guess I still do. I know what it's like to not be physically close to your family. I didn't have Riley for three years. It nearly killed me." She brushed her fingers across his brow and smiled softly. "She could stay here. If it meant you could have more time with her, I wouldn't mind."
He took her hand and offered her a slight smile. "She'll probably stay in the hotel the conference is at. If she's here for it, it's likely she's a speaker at it. I didn't get much chance to drill her on it. I'm making it sound like she has no time for me. She does. Hell, she'd be with me the whole time if I asked her, but when she's on a timeframe, she usually has shit loads to do in preparation for a conference. I think she's coming early especially to meet you. They worry because the last girl fucked me over so badly. I know it sucks for them to have me away. They'd prefer me to be close to home but I feel more alive and free here. I always had to do my own thing. I just really want her to see that I am happy and that there really is nothing needing to be worried about."
Tab kissed his forehead again, and while she smiled it was clear that she was still nervous about meeting one of his sisters. "I guess at least this way if she likes me then I'll have an ally when we meet your family after Christmas."
Luke smirked a little. "Why are you so convinced my family will be ogres?"
She shook her head emphatically before she had to stop when it made her dizzy. Tab tucked some of her hair behind her ears and looked at him. "I'm not. I just really want them to like me. I've never wanted a family's approval so badly."
"They won't ruin anything for me. The only thing you would have to worry about was if you really did have intentions to hurt me. It's just worse if we leave it longer. They'll worry more, they'll think I'm hiding stuff from them. I want this to happen as soon as it can and it's just a bonus I get to see my sister. Even if I just feel homesick now," Luke added wryly. "It's cool, though. We have lots to look forward to."
Tab pulled her mouth to the side. "I don't really know how to help with the homesickness other than to put on some AC/DC and try to cook a barbecue. Knowing my track record in the kitchen though it could end in tears."
Luke started to gag at the mere thought of a barbeque or anything kitchen related. He put his hand over his mouth to try and stop and unwanted escapes. "I think I'm okay on that front for now," he decided hastily. "Right now, I just want to get through the weekend, hopefully feeling way better than I do right now."
All characters referenced with permission
Word Count | 2,015