652Author's Note:
Hey guys, I'm sorry this took a little while. Actually, I've had this completed for like two weeks or so and I thought I put it up but apparently I hadn't. I've been super busy, as I always seem to be - like, seriously, being an adult sucks. I want to go back like three years where I wasn't quite an adult yet. Also, there was a bit of drama that distracted me for a bit. Someone, who will remain anonymous because they read this story and this wasn't their fault as other people use their account, had a copy of Alex posted on their account with different character names.
Needless to say, I was a little pissed. But as I said, it's been taken care of, thanks to anonymous.
Special thanks to Fiery Dancer, JMac322, Aaron Ledgers, Aria657, and Alpaca Overlord for your reviews. Thanks to anyone who reads but doesn't have the time or inclination to review.
Roderick laughed, danced in the middle of the hotel room, snow falling out of his hair. "Have I said that I love this school trip?" he asked loudly while he tipped his head back, winked at Alex as she struggled to get her suitcase in the door. "Because I really really love this school trip. I mean, really, we get two rooms, our own little kitchenette and a balcony. All that's missing is the Jacuzzi. I love this trip."
Since he was stuck behind her, Darren reached down and lifted the bottom of Alex's bag, helped her get it inside. He ignored the narrow eyed look she gave him. She was still uncomfortable around him, still keeping a few feet between them all the time. It was getting a little better, since she'd sat next to him on the bus to Chicago – the school didn't trust them to drive themselves, which was probably smart.
Alex propped her stuff against the wall, held the door open so that Darren and Ethan could get in. "You've said it like four times in the last twenty minutes," she said. The second that the other two were inside, she wandered over to the rooms and frowned. "Okay, one has two fulls and the other has a queen. Who's sharing?"
For a moment, Darren almost said that they should just keep the roommates together. That way everyone already knew how to share a room. Then he realized that meant that either Roderick and Ethan would be tucked into the same bed – which might make them both feel weird – or that he and Alex would be that close. As much as he liked that idea, he knew if he mentioned it, she'd kick him.
Still. It might've been nice.
Roderick stared at him, smiled like he knew exactly what Darren was talking about. Then he sighed. "I guess Alex and I can share. Want the big bed?" he asked her, eyebrow lifted.
She nodded. "Yeah. As long as you aren't a cuddler."
"Do I look like I cuddle?"
The rest of them all nodded, and said at the same time, "Yes."
Roderick blinked. "Wow, seriously?"
"You're like a teddy bear." Ethan gave Darren a long look and then he ran a hand through his hair, fiddled with the bottom of his shirt. "You okay with them in the same bed? I mean, I'd hate for you and Alex to give each other another black eye since you're so afraid they're sleeping together."
There was a long moment of silence while Alex and Roderick both went pale and guilt settled low in Darren's middle. They'd forgotten. They'd forgotten to tell Ethan. "Dude, I know," he said stupidly before he thought about it.
"You know what?" But Ethan knew. Darren could see it in his face. He probably wanted the confirmation.
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, glanced at Alex to make sure it was okay. She nodded. "I know that Alex is a girl." When he said it like that, just that simply, it almost made him want to smile. Alex was a girl, and he was waiting for his yes.
Ethan sighed, sank down to sit on the edge of the little couch. "Oh. Okay. I..I thought maybe, but I wasn't sure. It wasn't like I could ask you." He glanced up and smiled, but something was wrong with it. "Could you imagine that? 'Hey, Darren, do you know that Alex is a girl?'"
Laughing, Roderick fell back on the couch and put his hand on Ethan's knee. "That'd be a quick way for him to find out if he didn't know."
"And then I'd have to kill you," Alex added as she walked over, wrapped her arms around Ethan and rested against his back. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you he knew. Things have just been so weird that it slipped my mind. I'm a horrible friend. I owe you one freebie with anything ever."
Darren nodded. "Same here." How could they have forgotten to let Ethan know? He owed Ethan more than a freebie, unless that was a free punch to the face. That he deserved since he was the worst friend.
That made Ethan look at him and their eyes met and Darren suddenly felt like Ethan was about to ask him something that he wasn't sure he could do. While he tried to hide the panic, he barely heard Alex say something jokingly and kiss Ethan's cheek.
And Ethan was turning towards her to laugh and smile at her and the moment was gone.
Still, it took a few moments for Darren to catch his breath since he knew that if Ethan ever took him up on that freebie, it wouldn't be in a good way.
By the time Darren realized that he had to imagining things, Roderick was up and throwing his duffle bag onto the huge bed he'd be sharing with Alex. "I call this side."
Alex turned, her head tilted slightly as she followed the redhead into the room, dragging her bag behind her. "Why?"
"Because it's closer to the door. That way, on the off chance someone manages to get in here, they see me first. I'm protecting you."
Darren didn't have to see her face to know that it had softened. "Roddy. That's sweet."
Shaking his head, Ethan snorted. "It's not like he provides a huge amount of protection."
"It's the thought that counts," Roderick retorted, and plopped onto the bed, sprawled out and staring at the ceiling. "This is going to be the best week ever, even if we have to do stupid education things."
"Oh, no, going to a play. Whatever will we do?" Alex kicked her bag under the bed. "And we'll get to go to nice places to eat. Not to mention that museum. We'll be so bored our eyes will pop out of our skulls."
Darren chuckled. "It's not as fun as it sounds, trust me. We do this every year."
The look she gave him was so close to the way she used to act around him that he grinned. "I love museums. They are always as fun as they sound."
He almost rolled his eyes at her as he left to go to the other room to claim his own bed.
Their chaperone for the week was Miss Onslow, who was also looking after twelve other guys that thankfully contained Thomas and Tobias. Of course, whenever they had to partner up for anything for their assignments – this was a school trip, after all. They had to learn – Roderick and Tobias were together.
Usually, the words 'get a partner' weren't even out of Miss Onslow's mouth before their heads were together.
Alex was glad for them, but she wished that maybe once Roderick would look up and offer to be her partner instead. Ethan was obviously upset with her and Darren, so he always claimed Thomas, who looked confused by the entire thing.
This meant that unless she wanted to deal with people she didn't know, she had to partner with Darren. Somehow, she managed to get through it, mainly because they had work sheets to do and as long as they were just filling in blanks, they couldn't exactly talk about other things. Things like how he shouldn't look at her like that when there were other students around.
Or how when she couldn't hear him breathing in the same room with her, her nightmares got worse.
Thankfully, though, Roderick slept like the dead, and never moved after he was out. He never woke up whenever it got so bad that she had to go to the bathroom to splash water on her face. So there were no weird explanations.
Still, it made her feel really weird to know that Darren made her dreams better simply by being in the same space.
There was no way that she was going to tell him that, though.
Beyond that, the hotel had a twenty four hour access gym, so she could still do her morning runs. He wasn't there yet this morning, so she dawdled for a moment. She fiddled with what she was starting to call her treadmill, heard the door open behind her. "Hey, bet I can outrun you today." Not really, since his legs were so much longer.
"I bet you can, too."
She jumped, whirled around, surprised to see Darren opening one of the water bottles from their fridge. It wasn't right that he looked that good in a ratty tee shirt and sweatpants. "Okay, this is my time. You can come back in forty five minutes."
"Sorry," he grinned, got on a treadmill that was two away from her. "Terra called me to wake me up because apparently she and the other girls ate too many tacos yesterday and she wanted someone to work out with."
"And Catherine couldn't do it?"
"Apparently Catherine told her she sleeps off her calories." He pressed a few buttons and started off on a easy walk. "She should be down here in five minutes or so."
"Adam comes too."
"Good, then it won't be awkward. Since you're avoiding me so much."
"It's not you." The words escaped before she could stop them. When he gave her a long look, she stalled for time by turning on her own exercise. "It's not you. It's me."
"You can't break up with me if we've never dated."
Like he intended, that got a laugh out of her. For the first time in a few weeks, she felt easier around him. "I've only ever had this," she waved between them, thought of the best way to explain. It was easier now that she was moving. "This…thing between us…with one other guy and it didn't end well." The blood, god the blood.
He kept staring at her, eyes kind and understanding. "I'm sorry. But I'm not him."
"I know that. But I keep thinking that this'll end up the same way and I'm not sure I can handle that." She paused, sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes. "I'm not saying it yet, but I want to say yes."
At the thumps, she looked up to see him catch his balance since he'd almost fallen. "What?"
"I want to say yes. I'm not sure I should, and I know that it's a stupid decision considering you could get hurt, physically if…if it went bad." The speed got a bit faster, and her legs sighed as they relaxed into the rhythm of it. "And I know I'm doing the right thing by trying to protect you."
"You can only really protect someone if they want you to. Otherwise they just go out of their way to be stupid." When she gave him a look, he shrugged. "I'm okay with being stupid. I like you, Alex."
She almost clapped her hands over her ears so she could pretend that he hadn't said it. When he said it like that, simply, it was harder for her to ignore it, to pretend that the thing between them was nothing. "Don't say that."
"I'm not going to lie. I like you, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"I could smother you when we get back. I know where you sleep."
He laughed. "True. Are you going to say it back?"
This time, she almost tripped. But she caught herself, eased into a jog. "Say what?"
"That you like me. I know it's true. It'd be nice to hear it." He smiled. "You don't have to say yes. I won't take it as a yes. And it'll stay here between us. If you want, we can agree to never talk about this ever again."
She pointed at him. "It never leaves the room."
"That's fair." His smile got wider.
It took a moment for her to work up the courage, and even then she couldn't look at him. Instead, she stared at the wall like she intended to run right through it. "I like you."
"That wasn't too hard."
"Shut up."
While he laughed, the door opened and Alex glanced over her shoulder to see Terra walk in, dressed in dark yoga pants and a blue tank. Her hair was yanked back into a high ponytail. "Hey, Alex."
"Hey."
"You said five minutes, Terra," Darren said. "Not ten."
"I couldn't find my other tennis shoe." She picked the treadmill between them and started it. Then she glanced at Alex. "He's complaining but he still got out of bed at the ass crack of dawn to come work out with me when I didn't want to go by myself."
Sometimes, Alex forgot that Darren was fairly good guy. "Yeah. Just so you know, I'm down here every morning."
"Good for future reference. I might just show up."
Adam chuckled as he walked in. "Alex, why'd you invite all your friends?"
"I didn't, they just showed up."
He asked her how far she was going to run today, she told him at least five miles while Darren and Terra started their own conversation.
Still, the only thing Alex could think about, echoing through her head, was I like you.
What Alex hadn't been expecting about the museum visit was the fact that the Marguerite girls would be going along with them. So of course when the chaperones said that they should group up, Georgia showed up out of nowhere and latched herself onto Alex's arm and would not let go.
Darren even had the nerve to actually smile when she looked up at him for help.
She could have stayed at the hotel. If she'd done that and made some excuse to Miss Onslow, she could have gone back to sleep, or spent a day by herself. She could have taken a bath. A nice long bath with bubbles. Instead, she was here with all of her classmates and instructions to meet back at the entrance by lunch time.
"Any place you want to go first?" Terra asked her while she tried to not laugh as Georgia's grip got tighter.
Away from here. Any place but here. Across the way, she saw Roderick and Tobias heading towards them and she somehow slipped her arm free from Georgia's talons. Rushing over, she grabbed the bottom of Roderick's shirt and ignored the way that Tobias's eyes narrowed at her. "Hey, do me a solid."
"Always," Roderick said immediately. He looked over her head and blinked. "Shield from Georgia."
"If you don't mind." It came out on a low hiss because she could actually hear Georgia coming up behind her. As much as she wished the girl would go away, she didn't want to hurt her feelings.
Roderick's arm went around her shoulders, tugging her back against his body so that there was no way for Georgia to grab Alex without it being awkward to walk. Stopping, Georgia stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "Hi, Roderick."
"Hi, Georgia. Anything cool happen to you today?"
Those eyes slid towards Alex. "Almost." Then she turned around and walked to Terra, probably to complain about the idiot boys.
"Why can't she go away?" Alex practically groaned as she leaned against Roderick's side. He was a lot better, not in as much pain. "I mean, I've done everything but tattooing 'no' across my forehead."
Tobias chuckled and patted her back as he blocked her other side. "That might be the only thing you can do at this point."
"Either that or change your name and go to another school and pretend to be someone else." Roderick gave her a long look and she had to fight back the laugh. So she pinched his side, laughing when he jumped.
After that, all of the guys tried to block her off from Georgia. When Tobias and Roderick wandered off to another section of the museum for ten minutes – Alex wondered if it was so they could make out since they came back all smiling – Thomas came up and leaned against her back with his arms propped on her shoulders.
Catherine was the funniest though. The moment Georgia got too close, she'd wrap both her arms around Alex's middle and lift her leg so that it was curled around Alex's hips. And her eyes would narrow at Georgia until Alex was muffling her laughter in Catherine's shoulder.
There was a moment when Ethan even hugged her from behind, resting his chin on top of her head. It was difficult to walk like that, since he had to waddle around her feet, but they got a couple good laughs out of it. At least he was talking to her.
The moment that Darren walked over, though, Ethan left, leaving her and Darren alone for the first time since the gym. "You've got about three seconds until Georgia zeros in on you," he said, tucking his hands in his pockets. The grin he gave her did not make her trust him. "I could give you a piggy back ride."
"Yeah, no." That didn't stop her from smiling because it was funny to picture. "Thanks for the offer though."
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. When he looked at something behind her, she turned so that maybe she could stop Georgia, but then Georgia's arms were wrapped around her like vines. "Hey, Georgia, personal space," Darren warned coolly. "He's a bit claustrophobic."
Just like that, Georgia let go, took a step back. "Sorry." And she was gone, going back to Terra, who frowned while Catherine laughed. Georgia crossed her arms, turned to look at Alex. Then she blew a kiss at her that had Alex wanting to cry.
Everyone else found it funny.
They were about halfway through the exhibits when Tobias appeared next to her as she read one of the plaques. Roderick wasn't with him, which was weird. "That girl's leaving you alone."
"I think she's just circling me like a bird of prey. Waiting until I'm vulnerable."
He chuckled, removed his glasses to start cleaning them on the bottom of his shirt. "You're in a room with Roderick, right?"
She almost told him that they were in the same bed before she realized that was not a good idea. "Yeah."
"He's doing alright, right?" When she gave him a look, he shrugged. "He doesn't tell me everything. I think he doesn't want to worry me, or maybe it's that he doesn't like to worry anyone, but he won't tell me if he's not…well." He looked miserable as he put his glasses back on.
"You guys aren't having issues." She didn't know how'd she be able to handle that. Mainly because she would break Tobias's legs if Roderick got hurt and Tobias was a friend too. They'd only been dating for about a month and a half, but she had difficulty seeing them not together.
"Not that. It's…."
Suddenly she understood and her fingers curled into fists. "This is about the asshole using him as a punching bag."
He nodded slowly. "I'm worried that he wouldn't tell me if it happened again."
"You wouldn't have to be if you told me who it is," she said simply. "Because it wouldn't happen again."
He sighed. "I can't. I—"
Shaking her head, she walked away. "I know. You promised." A hand on her shoulder stopped her and Tobias slowly turned her around, stepped close so that she had to tilt her head back to keep eye contact.
"Alex, I really need you understand. I always keep secrets." He looked down her body, back up to her face and forced a smile. "All of them."
It wasn't until he walked back to Roderick who was a bit behind them, and tucked a finger into one of Roderick's belt loops, that Alex relaxed against the wall. Her breath came out, shaking slightly. There was no way that Tobias knew…but the way he'd looked at her, as if he was trying to say that he knew…
No, he'd have brought it up if he knew that she was a girl. Surely that would have come up in conversation. She turned around, trying to calm her face down and take a few deep breaths, but she stopped when Georgia was standing there. Georgia stared at her, frowning. "You don't like me, do you?" she asked quietly.
Alex wished the floor would open up and swallow her. She wasn't good at this stuff. "Georgia—"
"You don't. I thought maybe you could eventually, once you realized that I really liked you, but you have all our friends keeping you away from me."
"It's not like—"
"Yes it is. I'm not stupid. I mean, Darren never gets snappy with me. Not like that." Her head tilted slightly.
"I thought he got snappy with everyone."
Georgia shook her head, curls flying. "Not with me. So I just want to check that you don't like me before…before I leave you alone."
That was good. That was very very good. Alex paused a moment, making sure that she could go through with telling Georgia that no, she did not like her, when Georgia stepped close. Too close. Right as Alex realized that maybe she should step back, Georgia had her face cupped in her hands and their lips were touching and Alex could only think run.
Then she was pushing Georgia away and stumbling back. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded. "If you know that I don't like you, why would do that?"
The entire exhibit went silent except for Thomas's giggles that he was trying to hide behind his hand.
Georgia shrugged and hugged herself. It didn't matter if she looked upset, Alex thought, kissing her was not okay. "I wanted to do that at least once."
Since her only other option was screaming in frustration, Alex whirled around, found the nearest men's room and slammed inside. There was only two guys in there, both from her class, both washing their hands. She pointed at them, jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "You saw the video with me and Terry?"
They nodded.
"You have three seconds to leave."
They left. .
There was a moment as she stood there, breathing heavy from being angry and upset and just a little grossed out before she spun around, slammed her fist into the wall. The sound calmed her more than the pain. Sighing, she pressed her hands to her eyes.
She didn't hear the bathroom door open behind her. Then Darren was asking quietly, "You okay?" Since he was leaning against the door, no one else could walk in.
"No. No I'm not. Who does that? Who just kisses people like that?" Why didn't she have a toothbrush? She could still taste Georgia.
"I do, apparently, since that's what I did in England" he answered as he grabbed her hand, looked at the marks on her knuckles. "Was it really that bad of a kiss?"
"Yes. She slipped me tongue."
He winced. "I'm sorry." His thumb brushed over the back of her hand. "It was kind of hot."
The laugh came out before she could stop it. "Quit being gross."
Her hand was still in his, so he tugged her forward, kissed her mouth before she could stop him. She didn't want to stop him. He pulled back after only a second. "That was for saying the thing this morning."
"What? That I like you?"
He kissed her again, a bit longer. "Yeah." Then he smiled and stepped away from the door to hold it open so she could leave before him. They didn't see Terra giving them a look from where she stood with everyone else.
If Darren was gay, she'd know, right? Terra was his twin, there was no reason for her to think that she wouldn't. But there was something in the way that he acted with Alex that made her think that there was something going on there.
Darren and Alex didn't act like roommates. They didn't act like friends. They acted like a couple.
It was the little things. The way that Darren had told Georgia to back off, the way that he'd immediately followed Alex into the bathroom after the kiss – as funny as it had been – the way that it had been a few minutes for them to leave, the way that they'd come out smiling and holding hands.
Sure, the hands had only been touching for maybe three seconds, but she'd caught it.
Alex occasionally bit his lip whenever he looked at Darren, which was weird.
There had to be something going on though, she knew it deep down and not only because she'd gotten down to the gym that morning and heard Alex say, clear as a bell, "I like you," and Darren had looked so happy that Terra had stopped with one hand on the door.
Still, if there was something going on, surely he'd talk to her about it. That's what siblings did.
"What're you thinking about?" Thomas asked, close to her ear.
"Nothing."
He tugged her hair, slid his hand down her back and smiled into her neck. "Yeah right. You're always thinking something"
Then again, maybe siblings didn't tell each other about their relationships.
"Hey, Darren."
He might've been able to sleep through Roderick's voice, if a finger hadn't jabbed into his side hard enough to bruise. Jerking up from the pain, he stared at Roderick from where he stood at the side of his bed. "What?" he hissed, rubbing his side.
Roderick glanced at Ethan, leaned in closer. "I think Alex had a bad dream."
The words were barely out of his mouth before Darren was getting out of the bed. "How bad?" he asked, rubbing a hand over his face to wake up.
Roderick sat down on the edge. "She was crying. She's out on the balcony. I…I don't know what to do." He looked down at his lap. "How often does she cry in her sleep?"
"More than she should." He had one foot out the door, and he paused. "You can go back to sleep here. I'll sleep on the couch. I don't know how long she'll be up."
A nod. Then. "Do you know of an Ellis?"
That made Darren freeze and he cursed under his breath. He was beginning to wonder if maybe Alex dreamed of Ellis whenever she and Darren got a bit closer. It made so much sense it hurt. "Yeah. She'll be up a while." He shut the door as quietly as he could behind him.
. She was on the balcony, sitting on the railing with her legs dangling in empty space and her shoulders hunched. Since she had only sweat pants and a sweatshirt on, she had to be freezing, especially considering it was snowing lightly. He slipped into his tennis shoes that were under the little coffee table and stepped out, making sure to make a bit of noise so she'd know he was there.
. "Aren't you cold?" he asked quietly.
Her fingers dug into the molded metal under her. "What do you want?" she asked, but there wasn't any bite to it.
Shrugging, he leaned against the railing, ready to catch her on the off chance she just slid off. They were eleven stories up. "Roderick got me. Another nightmare?" he asked, seeing the way that her legs were trembling. He hated the way that her legs were trembling.
So quickly that he could barely see it, she twisted away from him, swinging her legs over the railing. "It's nothing," she told him as she pushed herself towards the sliding doors. "I'll tell him I didn't mean to wake him up."
It was instinct that had him reaching out to and grabbing her wrist. "Alex…"
She whirled around, free arm lifting. Then she froze and the fist that was about two inches from his face lowered until it was against her chest. Her face went white. "Don't do that," she whispered, "Don't just grab me like that."
Slowly, he pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist so that he could hold her. She needed it. And, as he felt her forehead press against his shoulder, he realized that he needed it too. "Okay," he whispered. "Okay, no more grabbing. I can do that, Alex. Can you tell me?"
It didn't matter that he already knew. She'd feel better.
She stiffened and he felt her fist press against his chest. "No," she muttered, a small catch in her voice. "No. I can't, Darren. I can't." It sounded suspiciously like she was trying to keep from crying. "I won't."
"Please?" he asked
"I'm so fucked up, Darren," she mumbled, muffled against the tee he was wearing. "Just so absolutely fucked up."
Slowly he shook his head as he put his hands on her shoulders to push her back a little so he could look. "No, you aren't," he said. Everything that she was, everything that made her Alex, had come from the fight for survival. He knew that. He knew her.
Forcing a smile, she nodded. "You can't say that and actually mean it. You can't. Because then you'd have to tell me that the ears and tail don't bother you."
"They don't," he answered. How could she think that?
She glared at him, her eyes turning into ice. "Don't lie to me, Darren. I saw your face. Don't lie to me," her voice was low, quiet. Slowly, she shook her head. "Don't lie to me."
"I'm not," he said quietly. "Did they bother me at first, yeah. That's a lot to heap on a guy. I needed a bit of time."
"Well, you got your time," she bit off.
His hands came up, cupping her ears through the beanie. She blinked. "Yeah," he muttered, leaning closer. He didn't give her the chance to do anything before he pressed their mouths together. Then he froze, just standing there and waiting for her to try to push him off the balcony. When she didn't, he pulled back. "I got my time."
Scowling, she looked away. "I wasn't kidding, Darren. I'm such a mess."
"You're my mess," he teased and watched the corner of her mouth lifted.
"Do you know what happened to the last boy I liked?" she asked quietly. "We were walking home with Catherine and he said I was cute. I tripped because he said I was cute and he went to catch me and then he was dead. They were aiming for me because a boy thought I was cute and tried to help when I tripped. He was fourteen. I'm older than he was. I was supposed to die and he was only fourteen."
He wanted to say something. Anything. But nothing came while she started to cry. So he tucked her head under his chin, and rubbed her back. "It's alright. I'm sorry. So sorry. I've got you."
"What if it's you next?"
"It won't be."
Slowly, her arms went around him and he pressed his cheek to the top of her beanie, feeling her ear move under the knitted wool. Her sobs were quiet, almost silent. Slowly, he rocked her, until he realized that she had to be freezing. He couldn't tell if she was shaking or shivering.
"We should go back inside," he muttered, looking down at her. "Before you get hypothermia."
Her eyes were empty as she nodded. "Yeah," she mumbled. Then she frowned when he picked her up. "I can walk."
He grinned, knowing that they looked like idiots. "Alright," he said as he dropped her over the side of couch. She squealed, hit the couch, and scrambled to her knees.
"You're an idiot."
"All I want to be is your idiot." Flicking on a lamp, he walked over to the kitchenette, opening cabinets until he found a mug. He filled it water, stuck it in the microwave and got out a tea bag and some sugar. Then he carried it all to her. "There. So you can warm up."
She started to fix up her tea. "You're not my idiot. Sorry for breaking down like that."
"You look unbroken to me," he replied, so quickly that she gave one bark of laughter. "And I'm okay with lending a shoulder every now and then. I have two."
She chuckled and leaned against his side, her head on his shoulder. "You know, you're the first boy I ever kissed," she mumbled, taking a sip of tea.
"You're mine, too," he muttered back dryly.
"I'm not a boy," she said.
He scoffed. "I didn't know that at the time." He tugged the tip of a chunk of her hair by the back of her neck.
She smiled, looking like she really meant it. "True." She paused and leaned her head over to his shoulder. "I don't want to be alone," she mumbled. "If that's okay."
"That's fine." Tucking an arm around her, he found the remote, turned on the television.