on_thecouch | 8.2
8.2. Thoughts without words
They were about four hours into their impromptu road trip to Disneyland, meaning they were about two hours out of New York. Four hours was enough time to have already had three pee stops, four arguments over the radio station, one half of a Bohemian Rhapsody rendition before Riley broke into a sneezing fit and lost momentum, and two trips through McDonald’s drive-thrus for sundaes. They also had two farting contests, one ‘My singing is better than yours’ debate, and a fight over the last M&M. All in all, it was so far a successful trip and a typical day in the life of the Browne Twins.
Riley glanced over at Tab, who was silently and enthusiastically mouthing the words to a song on her iPod. She’d resorted to that when he’d accidentally pulled the knob off the radio and it got stuck on a disco channel. He refused to pull over to find it until they found a diner to stop at for lunch. Spending time with his twin had been cathartic, even if the whole ‘Let’s go to Disneyland. Tomorrow.’ was a little too spontaneous and radical for him. Neither had questioned it, though, and so far they were having fun. He’d called Lachlan to tell him and got some Yodalan advice on how to approach the situation with Beth (“Take the time with Tab, buddy, then come back and make a decision either way with Beth. She’ll wait but you cannae make her wait forever”) before he spoke to Beth herself. He couldn’t find a rational explanation why he was suddenly taking a two day road trip across country to Disneyland with his twin when he was barely out of hospital, but he promised they could talk about what was happening between them when he cleared his head and returned to Princeton. He knew it wasn’t going to look good skipping out right after he’d freaked out with their whole nearly sex thing, but he tried to assure her it had nothing to do with it. And it didn’t. He just needed a time out from, well, everything. To switch off, restart and hope the engine was still purring when he got himself back into gear.
The drive alone seemed to be clearing his head. He’d always enjoyed driving; another contrast between him and Tab. People often wondered how the fuck they could be twins when they were basically polar opposites. As far as Riley was concerned, it made perfect sense. Whatever skills, talents, likes, dislikes he got, Tab basically had the opposite. He was tall, she was short. She had dark eyes, he had light. She had straight hair, he had curly. She was wild, loud, carefree and a free spirit. He was studious, quiet, shy and mostly introverted. But beyond all that, they were as close as any siblings could be and always had been. Sure, they argued, they fought, they had smack down fights when they were little, but they always made up and never held grudges. In the extreme, if one was seriously sick or injured, the other could sense it. The night of Riley’s car accident when he was sixteen, Tab freaked out before any news of the accident had come. Of course, their idiot parents ignored her and told her she was being stupid. Three hours later they were standing at Riley’s ICU bedside being told he might not make it through the night.
Riley’s eyes flicked over to his sister again. He hadn’t asked if she’d felt anything the day he got attacked. Even if she had she might’ve just mistaken it for something else. It wasn’t like her first reaction would be to think something was wrong with him. When it happened, it had barely been two hours since he spoke to her on the phone and even then had only talked about some shit like what colour mugs he wanted for his kitchen and if he minded cow print. It was strange, really, how everything could literally change in the blink of an eye. He remembered Lachlan mentioning something similar and the odd tone Lachlan’s voice unknowingly takes when he says it. Everything familiar and comfortable can literally come crashing down around you in a heartbeat. It’s something you’re aware might happen, but you never quite think its going to happen to you.
Tab caught his eye and he smirked at her. She pulled the headphones from her ear and looked at him. “What? Did you fart?” She made a move to wind the window down.
”No,” Riley snorted. “I couldn’t possibly beat your last attempt.”
“Then what’s with the weird look, beanpole?” She started to make another attempt to find the radio knob under her seat.
“Just thinking.” Riley pulled up at some lights and was able to turn and smile at her.
Tab sat back up, the only thing in her hand being an empty Hershey wrapper. “About what?”
He shrugged. “Stuff.”
Tab turned in her seat to study him with a small concerned frown. “You alright?”
“I will be,” Riley promised.
Tab didn’t look convinced at first, reaching over to squeeze his leg as if the gesture would emphasise his answer. “I guess there is only one thing left to say then,” she said lightly and Riley’s eyebrows shot up in question. He earned a wide smirk from his Part Two before she broke into an enthusiastic rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody complete with expert air guitar.
- Tabitha Browne [asinthecity] used with permission. Beth Anderson [phtgrphcscot] and Lachlan Campbell [drcampbell] referenced with permission.
Words | 911
They were about four hours into their impromptu road trip to Disneyland, meaning they were about two hours out of New York. Four hours was enough time to have already had three pee stops, four arguments over the radio station, one half of a Bohemian Rhapsody rendition before Riley broke into a sneezing fit and lost momentum, and two trips through McDonald’s drive-thrus for sundaes. They also had two farting contests, one ‘My singing is better than yours’ debate, and a fight over the last M&M. All in all, it was so far a successful trip and a typical day in the life of the Browne Twins.
Riley glanced over at Tab, who was silently and enthusiastically mouthing the words to a song on her iPod. She’d resorted to that when he’d accidentally pulled the knob off the radio and it got stuck on a disco channel. He refused to pull over to find it until they found a diner to stop at for lunch. Spending time with his twin had been cathartic, even if the whole ‘Let’s go to Disneyland. Tomorrow.’ was a little too spontaneous and radical for him. Neither had questioned it, though, and so far they were having fun. He’d called Lachlan to tell him and got some Yodalan advice on how to approach the situation with Beth (“Take the time with Tab, buddy, then come back and make a decision either way with Beth. She’ll wait but you cannae make her wait forever”) before he spoke to Beth herself. He couldn’t find a rational explanation why he was suddenly taking a two day road trip across country to Disneyland with his twin when he was barely out of hospital, but he promised they could talk about what was happening between them when he cleared his head and returned to Princeton. He knew it wasn’t going to look good skipping out right after he’d freaked out with their whole nearly sex thing, but he tried to assure her it had nothing to do with it. And it didn’t. He just needed a time out from, well, everything. To switch off, restart and hope the engine was still purring when he got himself back into gear.
The drive alone seemed to be clearing his head. He’d always enjoyed driving; another contrast between him and Tab. People often wondered how the fuck they could be twins when they were basically polar opposites. As far as Riley was concerned, it made perfect sense. Whatever skills, talents, likes, dislikes he got, Tab basically had the opposite. He was tall, she was short. She had dark eyes, he had light. She had straight hair, he had curly. She was wild, loud, carefree and a free spirit. He was studious, quiet, shy and mostly introverted. But beyond all that, they were as close as any siblings could be and always had been. Sure, they argued, they fought, they had smack down fights when they were little, but they always made up and never held grudges. In the extreme, if one was seriously sick or injured, the other could sense it. The night of Riley’s car accident when he was sixteen, Tab freaked out before any news of the accident had come. Of course, their idiot parents ignored her and told her she was being stupid. Three hours later they were standing at Riley’s ICU bedside being told he might not make it through the night.
Riley’s eyes flicked over to his sister again. He hadn’t asked if she’d felt anything the day he got attacked. Even if she had she might’ve just mistaken it for something else. It wasn’t like her first reaction would be to think something was wrong with him. When it happened, it had barely been two hours since he spoke to her on the phone and even then had only talked about some shit like what colour mugs he wanted for his kitchen and if he minded cow print. It was strange, really, how everything could literally change in the blink of an eye. He remembered Lachlan mentioning something similar and the odd tone Lachlan’s voice unknowingly takes when he says it. Everything familiar and comfortable can literally come crashing down around you in a heartbeat. It’s something you’re aware might happen, but you never quite think its going to happen to you.
Tab caught his eye and he smirked at her. She pulled the headphones from her ear and looked at him. “What? Did you fart?” She made a move to wind the window down.
”No,” Riley snorted. “I couldn’t possibly beat your last attempt.”
“Then what’s with the weird look, beanpole?” She started to make another attempt to find the radio knob under her seat.
“Just thinking.” Riley pulled up at some lights and was able to turn and smile at her.
Tab sat back up, the only thing in her hand being an empty Hershey wrapper. “About what?”
He shrugged. “Stuff.”
Tab turned in her seat to study him with a small concerned frown. “You alright?”
“I will be,” Riley promised.
Tab didn’t look convinced at first, reaching over to squeeze his leg as if the gesture would emphasise his answer. “I guess there is only one thing left to say then,” she said lightly and Riley’s eyebrows shot up in question. He earned a wide smirk from his Part Two before she broke into an enthusiastic rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody complete with expert air guitar.
- Tabitha Browne [asinthecity] used with permission. Beth Anderson [phtgrphcscot] and Lachlan Campbell [drcampbell] referenced with permission.
Words | 911