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A Different Turn to Make (Alvis and Malice)

Harrison bowed his head in a respectful greeting before he spoke.
"Lovely to be here Ms. Martin, thanks for having me." he answered. When she zeroed in ont he wine, he pulled it free of his amr, and offered the bottle out to her. "I did hear that it was considered good manners to bring the hostess a gift, so I thought I might bring something...suitable for dinner." She was beign incredibly pleasant, likely to put him at ease, adn he coudl understand that, play tythat game nicely. They were likely to both be almost unbearably polite to one another. A proper little battleground for them to fight over, all while smiling.

It was going to be fun.
 
“Mm.” She grinned, though beneath her mask, she was thinking it was a whole lot of ass kissery. Still, Imelda could enjoy it because she was going to enjoy the time she had to watch someone like Harrison Trenton ass kiss his way through dinner. “So thoughtful.” Her gaze dropped to the bottle’s brand and her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “And generous.” He was one of those. “Come in. Esther’s just stuffing her face right now to appease her nerves.”

“MOM!” So much for her plan to keep a mouth full of cherry tomatoes. Her mom was enjoying this way too much.

Grinning, she stepped away from the door so he could come in. “Please come in. Oh and shoes off by the door please, thank you.”

The place wasn’t big, the distance from the kitchen and front door about a few steps and a wall. Esther could hear it all. And she was dying a slow death on the inside. This was going to be painful. She stopped with the tomatoes and looked at the cobbler. It was peach, had a lot of crumbles, drowning in caramel and sauce, and smelled divine.
 
Harrison didn't verbally answer ehr words, but he did follow instructions. SHoes off was a good thought in general. He did specifically not act too famliar with the house. He'd been here before after all. The quick glance around was easily taking int he location, adn where thigns were. He did see the couch he'd bent Esther over when he'd seen her here. Good memories.

"Good to see you're here Esther!" Harriosn called over Esther's objection. It was good to know where Esther and her mother stood with one another. Good humoured mockery. He had to have his bearings in place when he joined in on something like that. He didn't want to overstep, but he wasn't one ot turn away from a good moment of being able to have a little fun.
 
Just as she was about to finally dig a big spoon into the crumble, footsteps brought her attention away, and she quickly hid the spoon behind her back, looking much like a cat who ate the canary, or who was about to anyways. “Well I do live here, kind of hard not to be here.” Believe me, I tried.

Imelda walked into the kitchen and set the bottle of wine down, her suspicious gaze landing on her daughter standing right in front of the peach cobbler. “Do you have a spoon behind your back?” She asked. “A big spoon?”

“Me? With a big spoon?” She laughed nervously. “Of course not! I was just smelling the cobbler until I got full.” She grinned.

“Let me see your hand, young lady.”

Esther waved her free hand, keeping the spoon behind her back. “See? No spoon.”
“Uh huh, other hand?” Imelda grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.

Quickly, Esther dropped the spoon and raised both of her hands in the air, like the spoon didn’t make that clatter on the tile floor. “Innocent until proven guilty.” She laughed.

“Why don’t you two set the table. I’ll carve the roast.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead and set off.

Picking up the spoon, Esther put it in the sink and then grabbed the plates and utensils, moving toward Harrison. “Come on, big guy.” Yet she blushed anyways, guiding him out of the kitchen and into the small dining room, which was separated by another wall and giving them some privacy for a second. “I’m sorry about my mom. If she’s said or done anything. She’s...concerned.” She bit her lower lip, setting plates and utensils down, daring to meet his gaze here and there.
 
Esther was only slightly obvious in her intent on the dessert. Frankly Harrison found it fairly adorable how she and her mother interacted, to the point he actually witheld a smartass comment. After all, he wasn't looking to embarrass her completely. The invitation to set the table was taken ewasily, and Harrison let Esther gather the dishes, while he moved to help set them out. Still, he had a moment to speak to her quietly.

"Never quite saw you as a big sppon, figured you'd prefer to be the little spoon in all cases." He murmured to her faintly, planting a quick kiss on the side of her head as a way of almost sneaking in a sign of affection for her. A good opportunity was hard to pass up.

* * * * *

"So we're good now?" Alex asked Jaime. They'd taken the time to be completely dunk at least four times since the first, adn they'd managed to hit some kind of equilibrium.
"I think so? Though obviously we have to talk to Abby about it, since she's kind of central to the whole situation." Jaime clarified.
"How do we do that?"
"We talk to her. I think her parents are out of town, so if we go to talk to her at home, we should be able to get this settled between us."
"Should we call first?"
"No, I think we should just drop by adn get this taken care of."
"Let's do it then." The two young men nodded, and set off to head over to Abby.

When they got to her house, Jaime rang the bell, taking a deep breath. Tiem to see how this would all shake out.
 
Her cheeks bloomed an intense red and as she looked up at him with surprise, she almost dropped a fork but caught herself quickly. “I-I mean that’s true, but when it comes to food--” She cut off as he placed a soft kiss to her head, relaxing incredibly. Glancing around him toward the kitchen entrance, she could hear her mom working around in there and took that opportunity for herself as well. Setting down the rest of the cutlery and plates, Esther moved to him and placed her hands on his chest, stepping up on the ball of her feet to plant a soft kiss to his lips. It made her feel so much better, like his lips were a healing balm.

---

With her mom gone for the weekend because of a rush business opportunity, Abby was left by herself but she didn’t feel upset about it. Honestly, her mom had been smothering her. Even Abby wasn’t bent out of shape after what happened. In the moment, yeah, but maybe more so about the beating she took than anything else. She’d never been beaten up. Threats were one thing, carrying out with the actual beating was a whole other beast. She’d been given a psychological evaluation before she was discharged from the hospital and other than some slight trauma, which she had to see a therapist for, she was fine. But the one thing that would really help was if she could sleep at night. She barely did. Every time she fell asleep, she’d last an hour until the memory replayed of her attack.

Shuddering, she pushed the thought away and focused her attention on her laptop. It was messed up to say but what she found on that DVD kept her haunting thoughts at bay. Because now she could focus on the footage; Mallory being gang banged by the entire varsity football team. Unable to watch it for the umpteenth time, Abby pushed her laptop aside and got up. She was craving a grilled cheese sandwich and hobbled her way into the kitchen. But just as she arrived, she heard the doorbell and sighed softly. Grilled cheese or the door? Stupid journalistic curiosity.

Making her way to the door, she looked through the peep hole and her entire demeanor brightened when she saw Jaime. Throwing the door wide open, her smile froze on her face when she noticed Alex with him as well. “This is…” Her smile faded. “An interesting turn of events. Do you both realize you’re here together?” Because that couldn’t be possible, right?
 
Harrison did wrap an arm around Esther, taking the moment to lean into the kiss with her, wanting her to be absolutely certain that he wasn't here for dinner per se, but he was here for her. He'd face down her mother without pause because Esther was worth it to him. He did let her go and gave her a wink, going back to setting the table. He didn't particularly care if her mother caught them like that, but he knew Esther probably would. Maybe not at the time, but she would eventually. She had to live ehre after all. Harrison wondered what he might have been willing to do if he'd ahd his own apartment, a place that was just his. He caught himself in that thought process. The fact that he ahd even considered the idea of having his own place to be able to have Esther with him wqas something that bore examining later.

* * * * *

Jaime and Alex exchanged glances, then looked back at Abby, and Jaime, being who he was, couldn't resist a smartass comment.
"We are? Did you know that?" he asked this last to Alex, who shrugged.
"Kinda? Maybe? I dunno, Haven't been paying attention the last little while." Alex answered.
"Yeah, figures. Anyway!" Jaime turned back to Abby. "We should talk. The three of us. The two of us..." He jabbed a thumb at Alex "...have figured out where we plan to stand, but really can't be decided unti we talk to you. So...can we come in? Have ourselves that conversation?"
 
He smelled good. She felt a renewed sense of comfort just from his closeness that also helped ensure maybe dinner wouldn’t be such a nightmare. But knowing her mom...Then again her parents had always been like this. Her dad was a cop and had been killed in the line of duty a couple years back. But because he was a cop, he saw things always with cop lenses. Although her mom wasn’t a cop, she had gotten used to seeing things the way her husband had. So of course when her daughter started going around with a notorious ‘criminal’ named Harrison Trenton, it wasn’t going to be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. Esther didn’t see him as a criminal. Maybe it was because she didn’t know the full extent of his deeds, or because she saw a part of him that she was willing to guess no one else saw.

After the table was set, her mom started to bring platters of food from the kitchen. A beautiful, succulent roast that already had a few slices cut, and surrounding it were the broiled vegetables. “Baby, can you grab the rice and gravy?”

“Sure, Mom.” Esther returned a minute later with the bowl of cilantro rice and a boat of gravy that she set near the roast. After a few more minutes, getting everyone’s drinks, she finally sat down across from Harrison with her mom at the head. It was a four chair table but still plenty of room for their dishes, utensils, drinks, and food. Her mom instigated a quick grace that was led by her as well and soon they were serving each other. Esther was able to get a few bites in before her mom cut right to the chase.

“So Harrison, what are your intentions with my daughter?”

Esther coughed, reaching for her sugar-free juice and took a sip. “Herbs.” She said a little hoarsely, taking another sip of her drink before setting it down. She busied herself with food, deciding to play ‘This is Me’ in her head.

“Maybe that is too brazen. What about your plans after high school? Let’s start there.” Because maybe then she could get her daughter to see how worth it’d be when Harrison didn’t stick around.

---

Sarcastic assholes. Abby rolled her eyes and looked away. She skipped on her delicious grilled cheese for this? But her attention came back to them because they sounded all too confident about their newfound bromance. Which was odd since she doubted Jaime would go and make friends with Alex all willy nilly after telling her boyfriend she willingly had sex with the guy and also liked him now too. Yet here they were and it was the strangest moment next to finding Mallory on that DVD having a footballin’ gangbang.

“Where you two plan to stand?” She asked. That sounded a little ominous but she was always too curious for her own good. “Okay, well you can come in but I am making myself a grilled cheese sandwich. Hungry!” Turning away from them both and leaving the door open, she made her way toward the kitchen where she started pulling out the fixings for said sandwich, as well as a pan.
 
Harrison was waiting for the question, andwhen it came, he saw Esther half freak out. Her mother was a bit old fashioned. She likely couldn't resist asking the question. he also knew that she didn't want an honest answer there. He doubted she'd like the response of 'continue to bang her sneseless whenever I can get ahold of her' very much.

She shifted tack, and that was a fair move to make. It made her seem more reasonable, and less aiming a spotlight on him. Still, he had some answers to give.

"I've been keeping some money saved up. I plan to get myself a small place to live while I get through school. I want to stay fairly close to make sure that my sister is okay." He answered her honestly. Probably not the answer she'd expected, since staying close meant not going out of reach to see Esther, which meant his graduation wasn't the ending point that it might have been.

He liked this game. He could play it well enough.

* * * * *

"Is she always like this?" Alex asked Jaime as they both stepped inside the house, removing their shoes.
"Yeah pretty much, you get used to it after awhile. It's part of her...'charm'." Jaime made very deliberate air quotes around the word. Alex suppressed a snort. They both moved to follow Abby into the kitchen as she started to get out everything she needed for a sandwich.

Cheese. Bread. Pan.

"Really? No bacon? No slab of bologna? Only two cheeses? Jaime, you didn't tell me she was a scrub at grilled cheese." Alex observed. Jaime point at him.
"Careful man, she's killed better men for less since I've known her." He countered. Alex raised his hands in surrender.
"I withdraw the statement!"

Knowing that Abby would be a bit fired up over Alex taking that shot at her, Jaime took the chance to move close to Abby, putting his arms around ehr a moment. He kissed her cheek before letting her go.
"Well, so you know Abs, Me and Alex here have been talking about how...complicated thigns are between us all now. And we think we've come up with a solution to it."
 
For a very brief moment, Imelda looked stunned. She hadn’t expected him to have a sister. But as quickly as it came, she was even quicker to mask her features once more, instead smiling warmly. “You have a sister?” She asked. “She’s a lucky gal--” Maybe? “To have her big brother looking out for her.” She said softly. “But if you don’t mind my asking, if you’re seeking a place to move into for you and her, what does that mean for your education?” She asked.

“Mom…” Esther looked up from her barely half eaten dinner, since she stopped eating the moment Harisson spoke, and didn’t touch her food again when her mom went into this unnecessary monologue.

“Baby, I deserve to know who you’re spending so much time with outside of Abby and Mallory.” She gave her a pointed look. “How much do you even know about him?” She asked in a whisper.

“MOM!” She set her utensils down with a clatter. “Mom, I love you, but can you just take off your cop-wife-lenses for like a second and realize you’re talking about Harrison,” Gesturing toward him. “Like he isn’t even here. Weren’t you the one to teach me and Dad that it’s rude to talk about someone if they’re right in front of you, especially someone who is a guest?”

Either she looked impressed or like she had forgotten her own sage words. Smiling, she nodded her head. “You’re right.” She held her hands up. “You’re right.” Her attention swiveled back to Harrison. “Please accept my apologies. But just as you clearly love your sister and would do anything to protect her, maybe even suffer some embarrassment or put someone through embarrassment--”
“The understatement of the dinner.” Esther snorted rather unlady-like.

Imelda’s lips twitched. “I am just looking out for Esther.” She looked back at her and reached her hand out to her. “We’re all each other’s got, yeah?”

Her features softened and she took her mom’s hand. “Of course, Mom.” It’d been two years, but it still felt like yesterday when they got the call about her dad being killed. Not nearly enough time, but the Martin women were strong. They had to be.

Squeezing her hand, Imelda let it go and picked up her utensils. “Enough interrogation. Let’s eat. And Harrison, be sure to eat your vegetables.”

Biting back a laugh, Esther peeked up through her lashes at Harrison. Her mom just mommed him.

---

“She can hear you both plenty!” Abby called out, even as she stood from the kitchen. It wasn’t a long walk. Mallory was the one who lived like an heiress. The rest of them lived comfortably with humility.

Shaking her head, she started gathering what she needed, but when her hand hovered over the cheeses, cheddar and pepper jack, she opted for them both. Why not add some very slight spice to her life? Taking out two slices of bread, she was generous in slathering them up in butter and once the pan was hot enough, she started layering, placing one bread slice butter side down, two slices of cheddar and two slices of pepper jack, followed by the other bread slice. She lowered the heat, and turned to face her suitors, raising an eyebrow at Alex. “I know every inch of that knife block.” She grumbled, looking about ready to make a grab for the biggest knife. Jaime to the rescue, causing a small smile to appear on her face. “Yeah, you better return to sender.”

Feeling arms slide around her, Abby relaxed back into Jaime and smiled warmly. But her smile faltered and she looked back at him, searching his face for any sign of a joke or deep rooted irony. “Oh, you’re serious.” She whispered. Clearing her throat, she stepped back from him and out of the comfort of his very distracting arms, placing her hands on her hips. “And what solution would that be?” She looked from him to Alex, and then back at Jaime.
 
Harrison was on the edge of making a decidedly unkind statement to Esther's mother. He ahd certain topics he didn't like being cast aside or treated lightly, adn Jane was one of htem. And Imelda was most certainly treating his sister like she was a minor issue. She knew nothing, not about jane, about him, about what they'd had to do just to survive after everything had happened. He had a few shots he could fire across the bow, and was gearing up for it, knowing he'd have to offer some apologies to Esther for what he was about to do, since it wasn't really considered good form to verbally tear a strip of your hostess.

Fortunately Esther got involved adn called her mother on the carpet for how she was acting, and it was a good call to make. Safer than him unking hte site from orbit anyway. Still, if she wanted to know some thigns about him, he had no trouble letting a few details slipp through. As she made the insistance of him eating his vegetables. Opening located. He took careful aim for his statement.
"Oh of course, I always eat what's offered. In my house you clean the plate every meal since you don't know the next time you might see a full one again." He said calmly. He did still keep a loose eye on both Esther adn her mother, checking to see how they processed that.

* * * * *

Jaime gave a glance at Alex, and the other man nodded.
"Well, it's simple really. We both talked out how we felt. I've been with you for a long time." Jaime started.
"But I also pointed out that I've been stuck on you for a long time. Almost as long as Jaime has. So...there was that to consider." Alex offered.
"And the whole shitstorm that happened, he was there for you when I wasn't in his own way."
"But I should have tried a different way of gettign you out of there sooner."
"And I could have told you what I knew a lot sooner, adn never put you in that position. ANd at that point we agreed that we'd both screwed up, and that forcing you to choose one of us and forsake the other was..."
"...a bit unfair to both of us, and especially you." Alex finished the statement. Jaime nodded to him.

"So we came up with the only fair choice that we could think of." Alex explaiend.
"And that was you shouldn't ahve to make a chocie about it." Jaime supplied.
 
Silence. Esther looked at Harrison with an unreadable expression, but her lips parted with shock. She hated that her mom’s words were kind of ringing true; did she even know Harrison? Because she certainly didn’t know that about him. Then again, it’s not like they really took time to talk to each other. She didn’t know his home life, just like he didn’t know hers. Well now he might know, but she doubted he’d really give much insight to his life now, or if they’d even be much of anything than banging partners.

Thankfully her mom seemed well versed in these kinds of topics, when she put her mom lenses on in place of her cop-wife-lenses. “Well...anytime you or your sister wish to come by for a meal, you’re always welcome.” She offered genuinely. “That is of course if my running mouth hasn’t led me astray, yet.”

And when the cop’s wife lenses came off, an amazing woman lay underneath. Esther was proud to call that woman her mom. “Wait until you try the cobbler. She won’t be able to get rid of you after that.”

“Please, it’s not that great.” Imelda waved off. “Harrison, I realize you’re not yet old enough to legally drink--” Yet he got that bottle of wine. “but I won’t tell if you don’t. If I crack open that bottle, might I tempt you with a small glass?”

“Can’t be worse than bringing you Dirty Jungle Juice.” Esther smiled sheepishly.

“Oh! Speaking of which! Did you try it? What’d you think of it?” Imelda grinned.

--

Abby must have stepped into the twilight zone at some point because these two were finishing each other’s sentences like they bromanced, and bromanced hard. She could get whiplash with how many times she looked back and forth from Jaime and Alex, catching them both as they spoke so in sync with what the other was saying. She finally had to stop whipping her head back and forth and decided to focus her gaze on her grilled cheese, flipping it when it was ready, without spilling out too much gooey cheese.

When they finally finished, she looked up to Jaime and raised an eyebrow. “In order so I don’t have to make a choice, you’ve taken the option for a choice away?” That hurt her brain a little just saying it out loud. “Are you breaking up with me?” She asked in a small, horrified-sounding whisper. Glancing to Alex, shock wrote itself on her face. “Alex, you can’t break up with me, because we’re not--that’s not--” Her hands came to the sides of her head. “Just out with it, the both of you--one of you! Brain. Hurts. Need. Brain. Food.” She whimpered, rubbing her temples.
 
"I'm flattered at the offer, though I'm nto sure if I could get my sister to accept. She's got some...anxiety problems when it comes to people she doesn't know." He admit, putting it mildly to say the least. When the wine came up, he nodded.

"I'd love a glass. The guy I got it from swears it's great stuff, but I couldn't actually try it since he could only get the one bottle out of India. Didn't think it was right to offer an opened bottle as a gift." He said with a shrug. WHen the topic of her Jungle Juice, which had been essentially some kind of rather wicked fruit based moonshine, he smiled at that memory.

"The Juice went down smooth. A lot more than I expected. Left my sister with a hangover she still hasn't forgiven me for, but it was nice to see her actually relax for a little while." He admit. And it was true, that had wound up being a pretty fun night overall, and Jane had sorely needed the chance to let off a little steam.

* * * * *

"She's cute when she's confused." Alx observed.
"I know. She's positively adorable when you get her completely flustered." Jaime poited out.
"We'll work on that later."
"Yup."

Jaime took hold of Abby's shoulders. turning her to face him, and leaned in, kissing her firmly, drawng the moment out, putting hte kind of effort into it he usually reserved for when he ad decided intentions towards her that were decidedly not PG rated.
"No Abby, I'm not breaking up with you. Far from it." He told her. He stepped back from her as ALex stepped in to kiss her, his hands going to her waist and pulling her a little closer to him as he frew teh momen of the kiss out a little too.
"And I'm not trying to get out of anything with you Abby. If you'll have me, I'd like to be a part of this." Alex told her, letting go of her, adn stepping back beside Jaime. Abby could see both of them then, wearing a fairly similar smile on their faces. The looks promised...more, if she wanted it.
 
“I understand. Should that ever change, the Martin household is open to you both.” She wasn’t going to push, but she at least wanted him to know the offer was always on the table. With the mood at dinner salvaged, she felt it was high time to open that bottle of wine, too eager for her own good to try it, extending that to Harrison as well. “Of course, although I wouldn’t hold it against you after now if you did. Maybe a little bit before.” She teased.

But as Esther brought up the dirty jungle juice, a family secret from Imelda’s side, she was curious to know what he thought of it. To hear such rave reviews had her beaming, and it was clear that Esther easily took after her mom with her smile, save for her eyes which belonged to her father. “I won’t ask about ages, I am just glad you both enjoyed.” She grinned.

Standing from the table, Imelda excused herself to the kitchen to get the wine, and Esther let out a puff of air. “Harrison, I’m so sorry.” She whispered. “About before. I really hoped that’s not how the dinner would go, and I’m glad she’s taken her cop’s wife lenses off, but--” She cut off and sighed. She really wanted to ask about his home life but fought with all her might and willpower not to. “I’m sorry.”

---

Abby looked up as she was turned and before she could say anything, especially about them talking about her like she wasn’t here, Jaime’s lips were on hers and every fiber of her being melted into his body, her hands coming up to his sides and gripping his shirt. He had magical kisses and when he pulled back, she was in such a daze she almost missed his words. “That’s always nice to know.” She mused, leaning up to go in for another kiss when she just felt air, and more hands on her, turning her around.

Alex’s lips were different from Jaime’s but still brought out the same response. Her arms slid up around his neck and she sighed through her nose as she kissed him, her fingers threading up into the back of his hair. He left her dazed as well, making her move back to him to grab another kiss but both boys were leaving her hanging. Assholes! Blinking the fog from her eyes, she turned to look at them both standing side by side, almost expecting them to kiss next based off the mood. But instead, she saw the promise held in their looks and her breath left her, realization sinking in deep. “Oh.” She bit her lower lip, but the scent of something almost burning caught her away. “Shit.” She turned away from them and moved tot he stove, turning the gas off.

Once her sandwich was plated and cut in half, she leaned into the counter facing them both, obviously using the counter as a distance between them both. So she could eat without wanting to jump over and engage in sexy things. “So…” She said around a bite of cheesy gooeyness. “You two...and me?” She gestured with half of her sandwich toward them. “Like a threesome? But not just a one time thing? Or do I get to keep you both until you’re sick of me?” Because she had to face it; she was pretty sure she’d never be sick of them. She and Jaime often were off and on for the make up sex. And now throw Alex into the fold…

Abby decidedly began eating her sandwich in bigger bites, clearly eager to kick things into gear.
 
Harrison let out a slow breath, finding his calm center, that part of him that let him get through meals with people that were confirmed murders and worse. He felt a twinge at that last, realizing he'd painted himself into that category recently. All he could do was try adn move past it, try and be better thatn that. Once Imelda was getting the wine, he heard out Esther's words. He reached across the table, taking her hand gently, kissing hte top of it.
"Not your fault Esther. But...thanks for getting involved when you did. I don't...think it would have ended well otherwise. And I don't want to make things harder on you." He told her honestly. Sometimes, honesty was all he could fall back on. It was the truth, and it was something that needed to be said sometimes.

* * * * *

"I suppose it'd be some kind of poly-triangle bullshit thing, right?" Alex asked the room in general.
"I'm just going to go with the idea that she's dating both of us and we both plan to do unspeakable thigns to her until she can't remember her own name. And then maybe a few more for fun." Jaime filled in.
"Yeah, that's about right. Figure she's woman enough for two of us."
"Guess we'll find out, won't we? Assuming she ever finishes that fucking sandwich so we can get started. Maybe we should just come back tomorrow, eh?"
"Yeah, maybe we should. I mean, I know better than to get between ehr and ehr grilled cheese."
 
His hand was warm and the very touch of his lips was a relaxing balm. Mollified by his words and appreciating them, she did feel guilty about how close it had come to. Her mom was just being a mom but while she was used to it, it didn’t mean Harrison was used to it. God, that sounded awful in her head. What kid wouldn’t be used to a parent being a parent to them? Then again, was he really a kid? She actually called him Mr. Trenton because it just seemed to fit. Calling him by his first name just seemed like something so unusual. But at this point...he’d been inside of her so could she really call him Mr. Trenton still? But as she let that worry pass, her brow furrowed because something he said stuck with her. “I appreciate the honesty, but why do you think you’d make things harder on me?”

----

While she’d been eager, they started talking. Boys would be boys, but perhaps now was not the time to talk? Her bites slowed, her chewing slowed, and she soon paused eating altogether when she had half a sandwich left, looking from Alex to Jaime and back again because of the way they were going back and forth. Did she suddenly turn invisible that they had to talk about her like she wasn’t in the room? “She is standing right here. And she will kick you both out and not speak to either of you for a month if you continue talking about me like I’m not in the same damn room with you.” She mumbled, taking a small bite of her sandwich just because she could.
 
Harrison gave a smile to her.
"Well, I figure if you were still going to date me and I ripped a strip off of your mother, she might have something to say about your seeing me. And I figure you might disagree with her." He gave a shrug. "And I figure having that kind of disagreement can make things harder for you. See, you actually like your parent and don't want to be at odds with them. I wouldn't know what that's like."

It was a simple answer, honest, but really, he kind of hated making it. It was showing more cards of his life than he was used to doing...ever. But Esther had been extremely open about herself with him, and she deserved at least a little bit of the same from him.

* * * * * * * * *​

The two boys exchanged looks. There was a kind of calculation in play there, measuring something between them, a kind of silent communication.
"You know, she's probably right. Abby, you're right, we shouldn't talk like your not in the room. Really, there's only one thing to do from here, right?" Jaime asked, looking to Alex. The other boy nodded.
"Seems like a high/low situation. Right?" Alex asked Jaime.
"Yup." They both moved closer to Abby. They stepped up to her. Jaime waited for that small bite to be dealt with before he stepped up to her, and kissed her again. His ran his hands along her arms, taking int he feel of her skin before he stepped back. As Alex came up to repeat the gesture, something to help keep her interested in what was coming, Jaime moved behind her. When Alex stepped back, Jaime came in to embrace her from behind. He kissed the side of her neck.

He had his arms around her, and simply lifted her up. Alex stepped in and grabbed her legs. High and low indeed.
"Where to?" Alex asked.
"This way." Jaime answered, leading him away from the kitchen, towards Abby's room, the two boys grinning as they simple carted her away.
 
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