For badcompany_muse - [031] Silence
[Follows directly after THIS by pullmysteth]
Tab found her brother out on the front step. She’d been trying not to push him for news, or details ever since he’d come back home. Then he’d gone into brooding!Riley mode and Tab was going to give him three hours before she stopped being the considerate sister and started to be a pain in his arse.
Only her plan to be a pain in his arse faltered when she saw the scrunched up paper in his hand, and the way he was slumped against the stair railing. Tab took a seat next to him on the concrete step, and put her arms around his waist as she rest her head against him.
She didn’t say anything; there was nothing to say. Any attempt to apologise would probably piss him off because it meant she’d assumed that his tests had been positive without him telling her. That, and she didn’t want to get into an argument about who was more apologetic. Riley always had a knack for taking the blame for anything that happened to him, even if it was Tab that had given him a black eye, or something.
This was her brother and now it looked as if his worst nightmare, and by extension Tab’s, had come true. Now she wondered if that conversation with Luke would also come true. If everything was about to change just from one bit of paper, and what was contained in Riley’s blood.
She choked on a lump in her throat, and buried her face against her brother’s back as she started to cry. She wasn’t meant to be the one to break first. Assuming she had broken first. Riley was just as quiet as she was, not giving anything away. Then his hand gripped hers and squeezed it tight as she continued to sob.
Tab had no idea how long they stayed that way, but eventually they moved enough for Tab to be cradled against Riley’s chest, and his cheek resting against the top of her head. She wasn’t about to extricate herself. They needed each other to heal, and the fact that they were both clinging to each other for dear life was nothing new. They did it during any crisis.
She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Tab couldn’t lie to herself. She had no idea how to deal with this. She didn’t know what was going to change, or if it would change. She didn’t know what it was that Riley needed other than her right now. What she did know was that she wouldn’t be able to bear it if Riley stopped living his life, and he just gave in without a fight. Tab would do anything for her brother, but this wasn’t a battle she could fight for him.
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 466
Riley Browne [pullmysteth] and Luke Jackson [notskywalker] used with mun permission.
Tab found her brother out on the front step. She’d been trying not to push him for news, or details ever since he’d come back home. Then he’d gone into brooding!Riley mode and Tab was going to give him three hours before she stopped being the considerate sister and started to be a pain in his arse.
Only her plan to be a pain in his arse faltered when she saw the scrunched up paper in his hand, and the way he was slumped against the stair railing. Tab took a seat next to him on the concrete step, and put her arms around his waist as she rest her head against him.
She didn’t say anything; there was nothing to say. Any attempt to apologise would probably piss him off because it meant she’d assumed that his tests had been positive without him telling her. That, and she didn’t want to get into an argument about who was more apologetic. Riley always had a knack for taking the blame for anything that happened to him, even if it was Tab that had given him a black eye, or something.
This was her brother and now it looked as if his worst nightmare, and by extension Tab’s, had come true. Now she wondered if that conversation with Luke would also come true. If everything was about to change just from one bit of paper, and what was contained in Riley’s blood.
She choked on a lump in her throat, and buried her face against her brother’s back as she started to cry. She wasn’t meant to be the one to break first. Assuming she had broken first. Riley was just as quiet as she was, not giving anything away. Then his hand gripped hers and squeezed it tight as she continued to sob.
Tab had no idea how long they stayed that way, but eventually they moved enough for Tab to be cradled against Riley’s chest, and his cheek resting against the top of her head. She wasn’t about to extricate herself. They needed each other to heal, and the fact that they were both clinging to each other for dear life was nothing new. They did it during any crisis.
She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Tab couldn’t lie to herself. She had no idea how to deal with this. She didn’t know what was going to change, or if it would change. She didn’t know what it was that Riley needed other than her right now. What she did know was that she wouldn’t be able to bear it if Riley stopped living his life, and he just gave in without a fight. Tab would do anything for her brother, but this wasn’t a battle she could fight for him.
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 466
Riley Browne [pullmysteth] and Luke Jackson [notskywalker] used with mun permission.