muse_shuffle | November Disc One
Track 12. So rather than trying to protect you, I'm going to cover my bases first
(George - ‘Special Ones’)
[Backdated to Thursday before Halloween | Follows THIS, THIS and THIS]
It took all of Luke’s bodily strength not to fall over backwards from the force of his eldest sister’s embrace. Her expensive Louis Vuitton luggage got dumped in favour of a loud squeal as she caught her baby - and only - brother in a massive hug that was coupled with countless kisses all over his face. Luke laughed at first but it soon gave way to tears. No matter how hard he tried, he could never not cry when he saw his family again. Despite being happy living in New York and thriving on the freedom it brought, he always missed his family and that was something that came rushing back in an avalanche of emotions when he saw them. Inevitably, too, at hearing him cry, Kara started to cry too and they were soon a sobbing clingy mess in the arrivals lounge of JFK Airport. They weren’t the only ones though, which made Luke feel like less of a dork in giving in to the urge.
Kara pulled back abruptly and started fussing over him, cupping his cheek to analyse his face and smoothing his hair in something that felt like it resembled nerd chique. “I want to know everything right now. How’s the gut? Are you feeling better? Are you okay to drive? I can drive if you can’t. Can you? We might get stuck in traffic and you should be resting. Do want a drink of water? Mum wants you to take some multivitamins. Actually, she gave me some to give to you. Remind me to give them to you, poss, or she’ll have my arse slung off the Harbour Bridge quicker than I can I say ‘baby brother’. You look peaky. Have you been resting? How’s the bar? Is it going well? You’re alone. Where’s this girl of yours? Should I be worried she’s not with you? Has she been taking care of you? Have you been taking care of her? You better be taking care of her, mister. I don’t need to teach you how to treat a girl, do I? Dad will give you The Talk again. You remember how amusing that was the first time.” Then she pulled out a small pack of tissues from her bag and shoved four of them into his hand so she could wipe her own eyes.
Luke set his tongue between his lips and tilted his head as he waited for her to stop talking. When she did, he pressed his lips together with a small snort of laughter, putting a hand up to cover his mouth so he didn’t start laughing to the point he couldn’t stop.
Kara shot him a Look and smacked him softly in the head. “Stop being a shit. I had to get it all out before I forgot,” she explained and then gave him another warm hug. “It’s good to see you, poss. I can’t believe how much I missed you. Just tell me how you’re feeling and why you’re alone. I sort of expected you to have company.”
Luke picked up her luggage for her and slung it over his shoulder. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze as they started to make their way to the exit of the airport. “I’m feeling okay. Just bloody worn out. It’s nothing to worry about, though. The bug went through our whole group. Tab caught it off her brother and I caught it off her plus four others in our bunch had it too. We were all together the weekend before. I’m just at the tail end of it but still don’t feel like eating anything. I’m fine to drive you, stop fussing. I’ll let you know if I’m not, I promise.” He glanced at her and shrugged. “Tab’s got something on with her band, but I don’t think the airport is the best location for meeting her anyway. I don’t want it to be rushed or awkward.”
Kara put her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “I’m not going to put the heavies on her, poss. I just want to meet the girl who’s got you head over heels. You know I wouldn’t do or say anything to fuck that up for you. But it’s hard for us, you know, being all the way over there when you’re here and making all these life changes.”
Luke sighed with a wry smile. “I know that. Convincing her otherwise has been another story. We’ve had some kinks in the road this week. She thought you were going to hate her, I was scared she’d hate you. It hasn’t exactly been sunshine and happiness and it was harder to deal with feeling crap. I just want it to all go well. It’s important to me that it does. I just wanted her to try and give it the benefit of the doubt. I met her brother right in the middle of all the bad times and I didn’t really think twice about it. He didn’t hate me. I don’t know what made her automatically think you would hate her. I was just frustrated.”
“Is she not here because you’ve been arguing about this?” Kara asked gently.
Luke shook his head and met her eyes. “No, no. Nothing like that. She really is tied up with her band. They’ve just hired a new publicist, so they’re working with him for promotion of the album. She offered to come, but like I said, I didn’t want to do the whole meet the family thing at the airport,” he explained.
“Just tell me if I have a reason to get the big sister claws out and warn her not to hurt you. If you assure me I have nothing to worry about, I’ll take your word, poss. I don’t want you burned again. In fact, I’ll do everything I damn well can to make sure you don’t. I know what a big thing it is for you to try in another relationship,” Kara told him, her dark eyes on him intently.
They stepped onto one of those travelators, so they halted and he could turn to see her face properly. “I don’t want to get burned again either. And I’m maybe not always fair to Tab when I’m trying to edge my way around things. I haven’t spoken to her much about what my ex did. We’ve touched on a lot about her ex and it makes me feel pretty shit, so I don’t want her feeling the same way. I just think its all better left unsaid. I told her the basis and might elaborate one day when we’re not still teetering on this new relationship ground. But that’s exactly the reason I want this to work out. She’s nothing like my ex. Things are completely different. I love her and she’s become everything to me. You have nothing to worry about. I promise you. I just want you to see for yourself why I love her.”
Kara smiled and ruffled her little brother’s hair again. “Then I’ll love her too, poss. Don’t doubt it, okay? I just want you happy.”
“I am happy,” Luke assured her with a smile. “Probably more than I ever have been.”
Tabitha Browne [asinthecity] and Riley Browne [pullmysteth] referenced with permission
Word Count | 1,204
(George - ‘Special Ones’)
[Backdated to Thursday before Halloween | Follows THIS, THIS and THIS]
It took all of Luke’s bodily strength not to fall over backwards from the force of his eldest sister’s embrace. Her expensive Louis Vuitton luggage got dumped in favour of a loud squeal as she caught her baby - and only - brother in a massive hug that was coupled with countless kisses all over his face. Luke laughed at first but it soon gave way to tears. No matter how hard he tried, he could never not cry when he saw his family again. Despite being happy living in New York and thriving on the freedom it brought, he always missed his family and that was something that came rushing back in an avalanche of emotions when he saw them. Inevitably, too, at hearing him cry, Kara started to cry too and they were soon a sobbing clingy mess in the arrivals lounge of JFK Airport. They weren’t the only ones though, which made Luke feel like less of a dork in giving in to the urge.
Kara pulled back abruptly and started fussing over him, cupping his cheek to analyse his face and smoothing his hair in something that felt like it resembled nerd chique. “I want to know everything right now. How’s the gut? Are you feeling better? Are you okay to drive? I can drive if you can’t. Can you? We might get stuck in traffic and you should be resting. Do want a drink of water? Mum wants you to take some multivitamins. Actually, she gave me some to give to you. Remind me to give them to you, poss, or she’ll have my arse slung off the Harbour Bridge quicker than I can I say ‘baby brother’. You look peaky. Have you been resting? How’s the bar? Is it going well? You’re alone. Where’s this girl of yours? Should I be worried she’s not with you? Has she been taking care of you? Have you been taking care of her? You better be taking care of her, mister. I don’t need to teach you how to treat a girl, do I? Dad will give you The Talk again. You remember how amusing that was the first time.” Then she pulled out a small pack of tissues from her bag and shoved four of them into his hand so she could wipe her own eyes.
Luke set his tongue between his lips and tilted his head as he waited for her to stop talking. When she did, he pressed his lips together with a small snort of laughter, putting a hand up to cover his mouth so he didn’t start laughing to the point he couldn’t stop.
Kara shot him a Look and smacked him softly in the head. “Stop being a shit. I had to get it all out before I forgot,” she explained and then gave him another warm hug. “It’s good to see you, poss. I can’t believe how much I missed you. Just tell me how you’re feeling and why you’re alone. I sort of expected you to have company.”
Luke picked up her luggage for her and slung it over his shoulder. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze as they started to make their way to the exit of the airport. “I’m feeling okay. Just bloody worn out. It’s nothing to worry about, though. The bug went through our whole group. Tab caught it off her brother and I caught it off her plus four others in our bunch had it too. We were all together the weekend before. I’m just at the tail end of it but still don’t feel like eating anything. I’m fine to drive you, stop fussing. I’ll let you know if I’m not, I promise.” He glanced at her and shrugged. “Tab’s got something on with her band, but I don’t think the airport is the best location for meeting her anyway. I don’t want it to be rushed or awkward.”
Kara put her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “I’m not going to put the heavies on her, poss. I just want to meet the girl who’s got you head over heels. You know I wouldn’t do or say anything to fuck that up for you. But it’s hard for us, you know, being all the way over there when you’re here and making all these life changes.”
Luke sighed with a wry smile. “I know that. Convincing her otherwise has been another story. We’ve had some kinks in the road this week. She thought you were going to hate her, I was scared she’d hate you. It hasn’t exactly been sunshine and happiness and it was harder to deal with feeling crap. I just want it to all go well. It’s important to me that it does. I just wanted her to try and give it the benefit of the doubt. I met her brother right in the middle of all the bad times and I didn’t really think twice about it. He didn’t hate me. I don’t know what made her automatically think you would hate her. I was just frustrated.”
“Is she not here because you’ve been arguing about this?” Kara asked gently.
Luke shook his head and met her eyes. “No, no. Nothing like that. She really is tied up with her band. They’ve just hired a new publicist, so they’re working with him for promotion of the album. She offered to come, but like I said, I didn’t want to do the whole meet the family thing at the airport,” he explained.
“Just tell me if I have a reason to get the big sister claws out and warn her not to hurt you. If you assure me I have nothing to worry about, I’ll take your word, poss. I don’t want you burned again. In fact, I’ll do everything I damn well can to make sure you don’t. I know what a big thing it is for you to try in another relationship,” Kara told him, her dark eyes on him intently.
They stepped onto one of those travelators, so they halted and he could turn to see her face properly. “I don’t want to get burned again either. And I’m maybe not always fair to Tab when I’m trying to edge my way around things. I haven’t spoken to her much about what my ex did. We’ve touched on a lot about her ex and it makes me feel pretty shit, so I don’t want her feeling the same way. I just think its all better left unsaid. I told her the basis and might elaborate one day when we’re not still teetering on this new relationship ground. But that’s exactly the reason I want this to work out. She’s nothing like my ex. Things are completely different. I love her and she’s become everything to me. You have nothing to worry about. I promise you. I just want you to see for yourself why I love her.”
Kara smiled and ruffled her little brother’s hair again. “Then I’ll love her too, poss. Don’t doubt it, okay? I just want you happy.”
“I am happy,” Luke assured her with a smile. “Probably more than I ever have been.”
Tabitha Browne [asinthecity] and Riley Browne [pullmysteth] referenced with permission
Word Count | 1,204