Yours Ch. 06

"I guess so, actually, yeah." said Becky thoughtfully, "But she's so quiet anyway, it's sort of hard to tell... Wait, what are you talking about?"

She seemed to at last pick up on the hinting tone in Rose's voice.

"You know something!" she accused excitedly.

"No!" interrupted Frank, "No gossip, no girly bullshit. OK, new match-up, place your bets..."

He smacked the arm of the sofa with his open hand.

"Rose versus Steven; who would be the alpha twin?" he asked.

We all cracked up laughing.

"Well, me obviously." said Rose, "My little brother's never been in a fight in his life!"

"Oh and you have?" I asked, smiling, "And getting your hair pulled by Tina Carmichael in third grade doesn't count."

"Hey, that was in fourth grade. It was practically a street fight!" she laughed.

We kept the conversation going, all of us weighing up the physical advantages and disadvantages of me and my sister for about ten minutes, until we ended up with the two of us flexing at each other to compare the size of our arms.

Lissie grabbed one of our biceps in each hand, squeezing them.

"Oh, that's actually really close." she said, "Which is kind of sad for Steven, when you think about it."

I pulled away from her, acting like I was outraged by her analysis, then laughed along with the others.

I don't know what I'd been afraid of the whole time. It turned out to be such a cool night. Like me, Frank was usually quiet, but his relaxed attitude was infectious. My head was buzzing after a few more beers, and I decided to slow down my drinking.

Last time I'd gotten this drunk, I'd ended up ordering dozens of BDSM toys online. No telling what I would end up doing tonight.

Later in the night, I was in a short line for one of the many bathrooms this seemed to have when Lissie strode up to me.

"Hey cool kid." she said smiling, "So we never got a chance to talk."

I sighed, smiling, and leaned back against the wall.

"So let's talk." I said, "What's with Frank and Becky? Am I crazy or is there some chemistry there?"

She laughed loudly, surprised.

"Oh man, you're way off." she said, "They're best friends, basically brother and sister. They were like, raised together, almost."

I frowned, thinking about how Frank looked at her while they talked. Becky was hot, but it felt like there was more there. Maybe it was just the best friends thing I was picking up on.

"Why, are you curious about Becky?" she asked, leaning against the wall beside me, "Rose hinted you might have kind of a thing for her."

I smirked, thinking about how she'd half-assedly tried to set us up a while ago. Before she knew about Jessica, obviously.

"Like Rose would know." I said, neatly avoiding the question.

The bathroom door opened ahead of us, and the line shifted forward.

"Ah, but that's the point, isn't it?" she said, "Why wouldn't she know? What's the whole story with you two?"

I sighed. This again.

"There's no... story, really." I said, "We just stopped hanging out. And then we started again."

I shrugged.

"No, I think there's more to it." she said, "Rose doesn't talk about it, and when a gossipy bitch like your sister doesn't want to talk about something, it usually means its serious."

I sighed again.

"Well, we were kids, you know? We argued." I said, "All hormones and anger and puberty... we just stopped getting along. Now we're a bit older, more mature... I guess we're just over it."

"Hm." she said, "That's sort of boring."

I laughed.

"Sorry about that." I said, "Next time I tell a story from my tortured past, I'll make it more interesting."

"Yeah, maybe put like a kung-fu fight in it or something." she laughed.

Again the line moved forward, and I was next.

"Still, it feels like there's more there." she said, "She basically doesn't even say your name to us for years, hell I didn't even know what you looked like. I mean, I'd seen you around so I knew what you looked like, just not that... you know... you were what..."

She paused, seeming to have confused herself. She took another swig of beer, which I can't imagine helped.

"And now you just show up, all cool and mysterious." she continued.

I laughed.

"I've never been cool in my life." I sighed, smiling.

I really wished she would stop talking about this. It seemed than no one really knew about Jessica and I, our long, violent history, which had actually surprised me at first. But then, why would they? The worst of it was always just between the two of us. Our little secret.

"So, do you have your eye on anyone?" she asked. "I could be your wing man."

"No thanks." I laughed, "I'm good. For tonight, anyway."

"Yeah, tonight's sort of a bust." she said, "There's just no one worth my time here."

I laughed.

"I imagine that's a common problem for you." I said.

She smiled at me.

"Well... I'll leave you to it." she said, then suddenly turned and walked away.

I looked behind me, realizing the bathroom was free.

==

A few hours, and a good few drinks later, we called a cab to bring us home, and to drop Lissie off too. Frank and Becky decided to split a cab together.

'Just Friends' my ass.

Once we got into the back, Rose leaned heavily on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry Jessie didn't come." she slurred quietly, "She had to study."

"Probably getting a jump on next month's homework." I muttered.

"She really wanted to come out." she continued, "She said she-"

"Why didn't Derek come?" I asked, interrupting her.

Couldn't risk her spilling anything in this state, not with Lissie still in the car.

"Oh... Derek... Derek did something..." she said uncertainly.

"He just didn't feel like it." Lissie said from the other side of Rose, "He only comes out half the time anyway. On a side note; how drunk is your sister right now?"

I laughed, and Rose giggled. She'd had more to drink than I thought she would, and I was glad it apparently was something worth commenting on, so probably not normal.

I wanted to say something to Lissie, maybe to thank her for being cool with me, but I caught myself. What, was I thanking her for not hating me? Compared to Jessica it was a relief, but hardly worth thanking her for.

I sighed and shook my head, wishing I'd drank more so my restless and anxiety filled thoughts would simmer down. I really wasn't used to all this. But it was getting easier.

Before long we were home, and I paid our fair before getting out to help Rose out of the car.

"Good seeing you tonight, man." shouted Lissie as we left.

"You too." I shouted back, shutting the door.

It was around 3 AM, later than Rose normally came back. I hoped so, anyway. She didn't need that much help walking, but she still leaned heavily on my shoulder as we got to the house.

She started rambling again as soon as we got in, but was sober enough to stay quiet.

"I'm soooo glad you came out t'night." she half-whispered, "I was so nervous 'bout it. I prob'ly drank too much."

She giggled lightly, and I laughed with her.

"Yeah, I'd say you did." I said.

"You had fun, right?" she asked, "We should do this again, we so should do this again!"

"Yeah, why not?" I said.

I turned around to lock the door, and she walked off towards the stairs. I locked the door and followed her up, making sure everything looked presentable.

She was sitting in the hallway between our two rooms, resting against the wall.

"Jessica really wanted to come." she sighed, looking up at me. "She wanted to drink with you and stuff... she just has all this stuff she has to do. That girl works too hard."

"No argument here." I said, offering her my hand.

She took it, and I pulled her back on to her feet and pointed her towards her room.

"She needs more fun." she continued, "More fun with you."

"Come on, we can talk about it tomorrow." I said.

"Yeah, yeah..." she agreed, "Tomorrow, tomorrow..."

She staggered into her dark room and flung herself on to her bed. She just lay there for a second, then started to awkwardly kick her shoes off, while trying to get her t-shirt off at the same time.

I laughed at her drunken, uncoordinated struggle.

"Night Rose." I said, turning away.

"Byyee little brother." she sighed, still wriggling out of her clothes.

I closed the door to her room and wandered back to mine.

In bed, my thoughts were stirring again, but it felt like there was nothing to worry about for once. For the first time in years, there was no dark cloud looming over me. I was pleasantly drunk, my sister was my friend, Jessica was my secret lover, people at school seemed to actually like me...

At that moment, everything was good.

==

The next morning I was surprised to find Rose and my parents all in the kitchen. We usually didn't have much of a plan on Sunday, we would just get up whenever we wanted. It was rare for all four of us to be just waking at the same time.

Rose was obviously having a tough time. I found her standing at the kitchen sink with her head in her hands, our parents eating breakfast at the table.

"How's she doing?" I asked them, assuming they knew where we'd been last night.

My mom smiled at me.

"Well, she-"

"I'm dying." Rose croaked, interrupting her.

Mom laughed.

"She's dying." she repeated with a smile.

I laughed and sat down, pouring myself out a bowl of cereal.

"You don't seem too worse for wear son." Dad said over his newspaper.

"Yeah, I'm not too bad. Slight headache." I said.

"Good." he said.

It might have seemed strange to some people that our parents were so comfortable with our drinking so much at 18, but as far as I knew it had been months since Rose had had a hangover this bad, and she'd known even at the time she was drinking too much.

"It's good you learn your limits with alcohol now." Dad went on.

"I know." I said, "Better now that when we're hundreds of miles away in college, right?"

"Exactly." he said, "When I first got to college, I had a friend who'd never had a drink before in his life. First time he went to a party, he went crazy, actually had to go to hospital for alcohol poisoning! Had no idea how to pace himself, ended up slamming down glasses of spirits like they were water!"

He'd told this story at least a dozen times, around the time Rose first got curious about drinking.

"Yeah... there's no chance that friend was actually you, right Dad?" I asked.

He spluttered taking a sip of coffee, and looked up at me surprised.

"Well... uh..." he said guiltily, then after a few seconds seemed to accept he'd been found out.

He smiled.

"A similar thing might have happened to me." he said, winking.

Mom and I laughed, and Rose groaned from the sink, disturbed by the noise.

"Oh, go on up and shower." Mom said, "It'll refresh you a bit, make you feel better."

"Yeah..." Rose said blankly, walking past the table and out to the hall.

"She'll probably be fine." Dad said, turning back to his newspaper.

Now that I was older and could look at it more objectively, the way our parents raised us was actually kind of genius. We had a safe environment to make all the mistakes we wanted, and they'd only help us if we really needed it. And thanks to them teaching us how to do everything from re-wire a plug, to clean and bandage an open wound, we usually didn't need it.

It was a weird mix of careful, planned education and preparation on the one hand, and then a total "hands off" style that seemed almost neglectful on the other. But it worked.

"Oh, I got our reservation booked yesterday." Dad said to Mom.

"Good." she said.

She sighed wistfully.

"Remember when our dates used to be so full of surprise and romance?"

"You hated half of my surprises, why risk it?" Dad said with a smile.

Mom laughed with him, before turning to me.

"So..." she said.

She stopped and awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Have... you got any plans for next Thursday?" Mom asked, failing to seem casual.

They both stared at me, expectantly.

"Other than school?" I asked.

"Uh... yeah." she said.

"I might have something planned." I said casually, shrugging.

"Really?" she said, then caught herself. "Oh... that's good."

Dad just winked at me.

One area they'd never really approached with me was romance, seeming to prefer the hands off approach all the way.

But I didn't really have a plan for Valentine's Day yet.

I was sure I could think of something fun.

==

Valentine's Day.

Well, for another few hours it was, anyway.

I was sitting alone on a park bench, resisting the urge to check my phone. My car was parked in front of me and I was staring out at the otherwise empty parking lot of the small local park. Really just a clump of nature just outside the suburbs with a few paths and streetlights jammed into it. Ever since I'd bought Jessica's jacket on Saturday, I'd been searching for a place like this. It only took me Tuesday to find it, and I'd been researching it since then.

I was waiting for Jessica.

I'd texted her to meet me here, and to dress nice. Wear something short.

But she was late.

I finally gave in and checked my phone, in case she'd texted to say something had happened. It had only been four minutes since I'd last checked it, which made her almost exactly five minutes late.

I couldn't stop fidgeting, tapping my foot or rifling through my pockets. The night was strangely warm for February, something I appreciated as I was only wearing a light jacket.

Where the hell was she?

Six minutes late.

Finally, I saw headlights at the other end of the lot. The rumble of her engine broke up the otherwise still silence of the park, and I had to close my eyes as the light beamed into them.

She parked her car beside mine and got out. She looked amazing, and the view got better as she got closer. She was wearing heels, and a very short skirt that only came a few inches down her thigh. She also had on a pink t-shirt, which peaked out behind a bright red hoody she had zipped half-way up.

"Hi." she said happily, walking up to me and sitting down.

"Six minutes late." I said, probably because my mind went blank when I saw how good she looked, and it had been the last thing I was thinking about.

"Right... sorry. Were you waiting long?" she asked nervously.

Only about two hours.

"No, not really." I lied.

She smiled at me, then turned away, looking out over the now slightly less empty lot.

"You look good." I said.

She spun her head back to look at me, grinning.

"Really?" she asked, "Thanks, I didn't really know what you meant by 'dress nice', so I just put together this outfit."

"Well... good job." I said, returning her smile.

She turned away again, and though I couldn't tell in the harsh glare of the streetlight, I would have bet that she was blushing.

"So... is this... like a date?" she asked quietly, not meeting my eye, "Like... a Valentine's-"

"Stand up." I interrupted.

She looked at me again, and quickly stood up off the bench.

"I got you something." I said, reaching under the bench to pull out a backpack, "As thanks for the watch. To show you I appreciate it."

"You didn't have to do that." she laughed, the excitement in her voice clear.

"I know." I said, standing up.

I unzipped the bag and pulled out her present, folded neatly.

"Turn around." I said.

She stared at the cloth in my hand, eager to see what it was, but after a few seconds quickly turned.

I dropped the bag and jacket on the bench and stepped behind her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me, kissing her on the back of her neck. I then reached up to take off her hoody, slowly sliding the zip down until it came free. I slid it off her shoulders, and felt her shiver lightly despite the warm night air.

I dropped her hoody on the bench and picked up the jacket, gently unfolding it. I draped it over one arm, and she instinctively reached up to slide her arm into the sleeve. I dressed her, and took a step back.

She turned around, looking down at herself. She examined herself in it, excitedly taking in every detail.

"I love it!" she gushed, holding it out to look at it, "Oh my God, thank you so, so much."

She bounced forward and wrapped her arms around my waist, leaning in to kiss me. I returned her passion, holding her against me.

"Thank you." she said again when the kiss ended.

She pressed her head against my neck, kissing me softly.

It was just a jacket, but she seemed thrilled that I'd actually gotten her something.

"Thank you." she said again, still kissing me.

"Alright, alright." I said laughing, gently pushing her away, "I'm glad you like it."

"I do, I love it." she said.

"Let me see you." I said, grabbing the front of the jacket and pulling her closer.

I slowly dressed her, just as carefully as I'd undressed her moments before. I took my time to fit each silver button in to place, and finally tied the sash tightly around her waist.

She took a step back and posed a little, a huge smile still on her face.

"It looks good on you." I said, "I knew I liked you in black."

She giggled, and again stared down at her present.

"And with your skirt so short, it really shows off your legs." I said.

"Is that why you wanted me to wear this?" she asked.

"That's right." I said, laughing, "It's funny though..."

I fell silent, not finishing my thought.

"What is?" she asked.

"It's just... With the jacket all buttoned up like that... and with your skirt so short..." I said thoughtfully, "You could almost be... I mean, it looks like you could really be... completely naked under that thing."

She laughed, looked down at her bare legs that disappeared into the hem of the jacket.

"Yeah." she laughed, "Yeah, it does kind of look-"

She stopped, suddenly staring up at me. The fear, the sudden look of understanding on her face was obvious.

She suddenly looked around, taking in the complete stillness and silence of our surroundings.

I grinned at her. She'd figured it out.

I stepped forward and wrapped my arm around her waist.

"Come on sweetheart, let's go for a walk."

==

We walked for a few minutes to a public bathroom that I knew wasn't usually locked overnight. I knew that because I'd checked it last night, and the night before.

With Jessica silently keeping pace with me, I strode into the men's room.

She hesitated at the doorway, but a quick tug convinced her to follow.

The bathroom was small, just a few stalls and two urinals against the back wall. Surprisingly clean, as public bathrooms go. The place was dimly lit and completely empty, as usual.

I turned to her, and reached behind her to lock the door from the inside, then pushed her against it. I kissed her roughly, wrapping my arms tight around her. She seemed too stunned to properly respond, and only stared at me when I pulled away, the terror clear on her face.

"Sir..." she almost whispered, "What are we doing here?"

I smiled, and turned away from her. I walked towards the sinks, still talking.

"Tonight, sweetheart, we're going for a walk. I want you to wear that lovely new jacket of yours that I bought... and I want you to wear those sexy little heels you've got on."

I paused, turning to look at her and leaning against the sinks.