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 Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 4:59 pm
After the Egg Hunt, Arias had rejoined Carlee and Nick and spent the rest of the day with them. They’d only just parted from Nick a short while ago and Arias and Carlee had just made it back to his place. He pushed open the door to his room and put down the bags he’d brought up from his car. He wasn’t in the mood to put everything away just yet, but he couldn’t help but try to make his life a little easier by keeping things at least somewhat cleaned.
He began going through the bags, trying to consolidate everything into as few bags as possible and paused when his hand graced the egg he’d brought home with them from the event.
“Oh,” he said after a second. “Hey, Carlee.”
He stood up straight and held the egg out with a smile. “I don’t think this really matches the décor of my house. Do you want to take it home with you?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 4:59 pm
Carlee looked up from the box of candy she was eating and grinned. “You wanna give it to me, Arias? Really?” She was kind of excited by that...and while their strategy had worked...one of them had won...she hadn’t been the one to win, and that kind of stunk.
The brunette took the egg from her brother and held it for a long minute, staring at how pretty it was, and for a moment she really, really did want to keep it, but then, with a sigh she held it back out to him. “You know, Arias...I think you should give it to Nick. Make it a peace offering...you two still don’t seem like you’re doing so well...he seemed kind of off today...maybe you should just totally take him on a date and give this to him and tell him how much you love him and want to marry him and how you want to kiss him and stuff like that.”
Carlee grinned at the thought, and almost made a face of disgust. It was so silly to think about...but she really did like Nick! And he made Arias so happy when they weren’t fighting!
“I think he would really like to have the egg more...plus it would show him you were thinking of him!”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:01 pm
Arias blinked twice before the red reached his cheek and he had to look away from his sister. “Carlee,” he said; it wasn’t quite a warning but it was easy to tell when she’d said something that embarrassed him. “—Are you sure you don’t want it? I mean,” he drew the egg closer and examined it. “I can give it to him, but…”
But what? Would Nick think it was silly? Arias was in perpetual fear that he was going to do or say something stupid in front of Nick. It was a pretty egg, and he’d really enjoyed the day they’d all spent together. He chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment while he examined the egg before he managed to look at Carlee again.
“Do you think he was acting off today?” he asked, seeming a bit exasperated. He took a seat on the couch, curling up just slightly. He rested his elbow on the armrest and kept his chin propped up in his hand, still looking at Carlee. He always felt like he was being paranoid or looking too much into something when he thought Nick was acting oddly; he wasn’t sure if he was reassured or worried when Carlee said something. If she’d noticed it, at least he didn’t have to feel crazy—but then, it also meant something was wrong.
Though, Carlee did seem to have a habit of overexaggerating, so he added, trying to sound serious, “Do you really think I should do those things? I don’t want to sound clingy. I’m worried he’s going to ask for space soon or something. Or maybe I’m giving him too much space?”
He rolled the questions over in his head and almost immediately felt bad about vocalizing them; he didn’t want Carlee to worry or think poorly of Nick but he did want to know what she had thought of today. Plus, he trusted Carlee and her thoughts on all of it, even if sometimes she seemed to enjoy embarrassing him a little too much.
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:01 pm
“I’m sure I don’t want it, Arias...I really think you should give it to him!” Carlee watched her brother, frowning slightly at his reaction to all of this. “Are you and Nick having problems…? Is he being mean to you or something? Do I need to beat him up?”
She raised her fists and did a couple of punches to the air, grinning slightly. “Because I will, you know. I’ll beat him up. Even if he is a foot taller than I am.”
Crossing the distance between herself and Arias, Carlee wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight squeeze. “I really think you should at least let him know you love him and all of that...because you do love him, right? Everyone needs to know that they’re loved...it’s basic human need, isn’t it? That’s why you tell me you love me so often, and why mom and dad tell us that too, people need to hear it...that’s how they stay happy, Arias. Call him up and tell him that you’re going on a date for lunch tomorrow and give him the egg and tell him how much you love him...that’ll fix everything. Maybe he’s just forgotten for a little while…? Maybe he’s just...I don’t know. Not feeling good.”
She looked up at Arias and gave a little smile. “You have to be there for him. You’re not clingy at all.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:01 pm
Arias promptly forced what he hoped was a smile good enough to convince her everything was fine. “No, no—we’re good,” he insisted. “I just worry. You know me.”
He flopped against her when she sat next to him. “You and I both know that I’ve always been a little clingy.” He kissed her cheek and added, “But thank you. I tell him I love him all the time, it’s just sometimes I worry that it’s too much pressure. We’ve talked about the future though—moving in and all that. Even marriage a few times. I mean, I don’t know if he was joking or not—he has this way of bringing up important conversations and then teasing, so I can’t really tell.”
He chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. “But he knows I love him.”
Right?
Just in case, he carefully set the egg down on the table next to the couch and then returned to rest against Carlee. He withdrew his phone and pulled up Nick’s information. He shot a quick text message saying ‘I love you, lunch at our place at one tomorrow?’ before flashing the screen to Carlee as if to prove that the deed was done. “I hope he hasn’t forgotten that I care about him. He’s the first person I’ve ever felt like this before.”
Arias sighed wistfully. “I think he’s just great, Carlee. I just want him to be happy. Sometimes I worry I’m not a very good boyfriend but he’s been patient with me, and every time I see him my heart just pounds in my chest. Just goes crazy. I feel so silly about all of it,” he said, laughing softly.
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:02 pm
Carlee looked rather triumphant thank you very much. “Good. Now tomorrow you’ll go and make everything better and you and Nick will live happily ever after and adopt lots of kids for mom to squeal over and then she won’t be sad because you haven’t given her any grandkids before she dies. Because you know she keeps saying that all the time.”
Of course she wasn’t really saying such things...but teasing Arias was something that was just in Carlee’s blood so she had to do it...like all the time she had to do it. It was just fun.
“No but seriously though...he can’t forget that you care about him, and I doubt that he has, but Arias...love is like a flower, isn’t it? You have to keep watering it and tending it so it keeps growing...if you leave it to its own devices, one day it’s gonna wilt and then where will you be?” Leave it to her to figure out some flowery way to explain things...gosh, sometimes she had to admit that she was a heck of a lot smarter than her brother...and sometimes that was super cool.
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:02 pm
Arias just shook his head and laughed. “Oh my God, Carlee. Mom’s not even fifty. She’ll have grandkids, one way or the other. Or you can go find a boyfriend,” he teased, but very quickly amended, “Actually, no, you take it easy. I’m not ready for some guy to come and sweep you away. I don’t know what I’d do without you. But, rest assured, I water my flowers daily.”
His smile never left his face and he closed his eyes, moving so that he could snuggle into her lap. “I love Nick, I’m not going to just abandon him. You just worried me a little, when you said he was acting off.”
He cracked one eye open. “He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”
Not that he suspected Nick was the sort to do that; he laid his phone down on his chest and turned up the sound to make sure he didn’t miss any text Nick might send.
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:03 pm
“He didn’t say anything to me, no...but I don’t know. He just seemed...different. Like he wasn’t his normal happy go lucky self, you know?” Carlee took another piece of her candy out and chewed, trying to think of how best to describe it.
“He seemed like he was doing a lot of thinking, which is something I’m not used to seeing coming from him...normally you’re the one who’s always thinking about things before you do them. And while you do them. And after you do them...not Nick. And, I don’t know. It kind of seemed...to me at least...like he had something he wanted to say to you, but maybe he didn’t want to say it since I was there?”
For a moment the teen frowned. What if Nick was going to break up with Arias? What if she was throwing her brother to the wolves by making the two of them talk?
That would make her the absolute worst sister in the whole world...she couldn’t be the worst sister in the whole world…
“But...I’m sure it wasn’t anything bad, Arias. I’m sure. Maybe...maybe he wants to propose to you?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:03 pm
Arias thought for a long moment; it was clear that his mind had immediately gone to the worst case scenario but he forced a quick smile to try and reassure Carlee that everything was fine. “I’m sure you’re right. But I guess we’ll know tomorrow, won’t we? No point in worrying about things tonight. You should get ready for bed, I don’t think I’ll last much longer. I don’t know where all my energy’s gone recently.”
He knew, though. Worrying was a full time job, and next to keeping the bakery going and performing his Knightly duties he had a full plate. Not that he was complaining, he was just taking things one step at a time.
Instinctively he checked his phone despite it not having gone off and promptly stifled a yawn.
He was trying very hard not to analyze Nick, or go over every little conversation or gesture or expression that he’d seen today. He didn’t want to look too much into something that might have been nothing, but already his heart was pounding and his stomach had seized up. It was fine, it was probably fine. No reason to worry.
If they needed to talk, they’d talk tomorrow.
He eyed the candy she was chewing on and poked her in the cheek. “Make sure you brush your teeth extra tonight. Mom’ll kill me if you’ve got a cavity after spending so much time over here.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:03 pm
With a snort, Carlee got up. “Arias, who cares if I get a cavity. You’re a baker, you seriously worry about teeth way too much. It’s kind of creepy.” She reached over and patted his head before heading off towards the bedroom that she had claimed as hers when he first got this place.
Pausing in the doorway she glanced at him once again. “Besides. I can always get dentures. Good luck with Nick. Maybe you should call him or something if he doesn’t text you back fast enough.” She paused, hearing the tell-tale sound of Arias’s phone going off from a text message.
“If that’s him tell him I say hi! Night, Arias! Love you!”
She really hoped everything was going to work out to be okay with her brother and Nick…but if it didn’t turn out okay…she didn’t know what she could to do make Arias feel better afterwards…and that bothered her a lot.
But, surely the egg would solve everything!
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:04 pm
Arias shook his head; a smile remained on his face. “Night, Carlee, love you,” he said before turning his attention to his phone.
He’d had a good a good day and he wasn’t going to let his worrying ruin that. He’d make plans with Nick for tomorrow, give him the egg, figure out what was going on, and make everything okay. Of course, that meant that he should probably start getting ready to go now; he didn’t want to show up for a date looking anything but his best—especially when Nick was involved.
He’d unpack the rest of his things later; for now, only a shower and a good night’s rest was in his future.
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