All the words, pt. 1
At the mention of their Dad’s speeches, Zach laughed. “The man sure does love his speeches,” he remarked with a grin. Their father had always made a habit of giving talks to each of them, and being the eldest Zach had always felt like he received twice the amount of anyone else. “Oh god, Dad’s version of the birds and the bees was a little bizarre, but oddly effective.” That talk had definitely not been boring, that was for sure. Tilting his head to the side, Zach wondered if it was out of line or might be too pushy to ask Zach if he wanted April to be more than just ‘his something’, but he didn’t have a chance to ask, not when Dillon followed it up with a declaration of being hopeless. “Nah, you’re not hopeless,” Zach countered with a reassuring smile. “This is just new to you, and you know that’s not a bad thing, right?” Sure, he knew what the general opinion was about stuff like this, but sometimes the general opinion sucked. “And her brother isn’t a fan of you,” he paused. “The question is do you want to talk about it, though?”
It was hard not to chuckle right along with Dillon as he nodded in agreement. “True, very true,” Zach loved their sisters, but if Johnson women were good at one thing it was being confusing, and kind of dramatic. He listened though when his brother began talking about April, nodding his head as he spoke. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that April didn’t function the same way as other girls, she didn’t put on acts and sometimes Zach was fairly certain the girl didn’t know what a filter as at all when it came to what she should or shouldn’t say.
“She does kind of take the cake on confusing, but like you said, not in the same way other girls do,” he agreed. “And at the risk of sounding sappy as hell, maybe that’s a sign, you know? She doesn’t treat you like other girls did, but I’ve also noticed in some ways she treats you exactly like a girl who’s got feelings for you.” Zach had eyes and during the few times he’d been in and out of her room while Dillon had been there, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to pick up on the fact that April focused her attention on his brother in a way most girls did when they liked someone.
Nodding his head, Zach realized that while the whole dating and girls thing was just common place for him, Dillon wasn’t him, and didn’t have the same experience to back him up. “So okay, why don’t we simplify this, what’s confusing you or what do you feel confused about?” It might surprise some people, but he didn’t actually suck in the advice department, as long as he knew what he needed to give advice on. Chuckling, he couldn’t help thinking he must be really tired if this is the direction the conversation took. “Let’s just chalk that last part up to lack of sleep, okay?” He figured Dillon wouldn’t argue against that. “Is there any chance you can get a moment alone with her? Maybe take her for a walk or do your whole stargazing thing?” Both those options could maybe get them out from under the watchful eyes of her brother.