Mateo Rodriguez (ineffable_cat) wrote in bumpinthenigt, @ 2013-07-15 23:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | 11.13.12, jason, mateo, sophie |
Who: Teo, Sophie, and Jason
What: Asking for help
When: 11.13.12 - Tuesday evening
Where: Lion's Den
Warning: um. Incredible awkwardness?
Teo had been putting this off for weeks. He knew that Sophie was back home, had heard all about it from Ana - as well as Jason’s new girlfriend who was going to be Gracie’s new mommy, how she was a big scary owl...really he could’ve done with hearing a lot less about the Richards’. It had been weird still driving Ana over there when he wasn’t welcome inside any more - or at least, not without tears and growling from at least one Richards girl. Awkward and weird, and something he’d far rather avoid. Now he tended to just drop his sister off at the kerb, give the house phone three rings when he was outside to pick her up. He hadn’t seen Jason or Sophie at all - it was usually Gracie saying goodbye to Ana at the door, and she always came down to say hi to him, too.
Okay, now he was stalling. Sitting in his car just down the block, thinking about all the other times he’d been here. Instead of just getting out of the damn car and walking up to the front door. He blew out a breath, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. He was praying Jason was home; hadn’t phoned ahead because it might be Sophie that picked up and...yeah, he wasn’t quite ready to deal with that just yet. Cursing his own cowardice, he forced himself out of the car before he could change his mind. He jogged up the path, ringing the doorbell and taking a couple of steps back. Whether he was coming there for help or not, whether Ana was still welcome...he didn’t want his head bitten off by a still-angry papa lion.
Sophie was home. She had her music turned up and was dancing around the kitchen a little as she waited for the butter to come to room temperature. Part of her knew that she was sort of stalling when it came to looking for a job because she was still just loving being home and doing things. Plus now there was the wedding to fuss over and test recipes for. Assuming that Rachel would agree to let her cook for the reception. Even if she didn't food would always be eaten in the Richards household so she wasn't worried about it too much.
When things were a little calmer, she'd pop down to a bakery or a cafe and see if they needed some help. It would be early hours, but Sophie didn't mind. She was just testing the butter with a finger and singing along with a Phillip Phillips song she was sure Charlie would have rolled her eyes at when she heard the doorbell.
Frowning at the butter, she sighed and then jogged toward the door. It was probably just some sort of religious group with pamphlets. She could just smile and nod and wait them out. Hopefully it wasn't some reported hanger on who wanted to bug her dad. Sophie didn't even bother to look through the peephole before opening the door, smiling automatically. "Hello. How can I," she trailed off, expression immediately growing sour when she caught the scent of and saw Mateo on the step.
If she had been another kind of girl, she would have slammed the door in his face. As it was, she crossed her arms over her chest, eyebrows raised. "I don't think your sister is here." That was the only business he had at their house anymore.
Teo’s heart had already started sinking when he’d heard the pad of feet towards the door; too heavy to be Gracie’s, too light to be Jason’s, and too controlled to be Charlie’s; the middle girl tended to stomp everywhere she possibly could, despite her natural feline grace. So that left only one possibility, and the scent of perfume and shampoo that hit him as the door started opening only confirmed that. Sophie. Teo tried to smile, his gaze dropping to the floor.
“Uhm, I was actually looking for your dad,” he explained, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked back up at Sophie, taking in the changes in her appearance, the smudge of flour high on one cheek - some things definitely didn’t change. “I kind of need his help. Is he-” he gestured inside. “Is he around? I can come back later, it’s cool, I just...yeah.” He shrugged. Wow. This could not possibly be any more awkward. And that was saying something.
There was still a little bitty part of her that thrilled to see him, but it was quickly crushed with a wave of something that wasn't quite anger. Annoyance maybe. Mostly annoyance and sometimes anger. With a little bit of dread. And now a bit of satisfaction that he looked so awkward standing there, shoving his hands in his pockets, switching between looking at her and at the ground.
Sophie shifted her weight a bit and frowned. "Why are you looking for my dad?" She hadn't spoken to her dad about Mateo for months so she had no idea whether he was still mad at her ex-boyfriend or not. And Mateo knew how her dad could be so he wouldn't have risked a visit unless it really was important or he knew everything was okay. "If that trashy best friend of yours got her ass thrown in jail there's no way my dad is helping out either of you." It seemed like a plausible sort of important thing that could totally happen in his world. And Darcy was trash no matter how much money her family had.
Mateo huffed irritably, fighting the urge to growl at Sophie. Yeah, she didn’t like Darcy. That had been one of the main reasons they’d split up. It didn’t mean it was okay for her to badmouth his best friend. “Darcy’s fine,” he replied, falsely sweet. “Thanks for asking.” He smiled tightly. “It’s nothing to do with her, okay? I just...” He shook his head. He’d known this was a bad idea. There was no way in hell he was going to risk going to see Jason at work, just in case it got back to his uncle. Catching Jason at home was pretty much his only shot of talking to someone who might be able to help.
“Forget it,” he muttered. “Like he’d want to help anyway.” He stepped off the porch, turning away from Sophie and starting down the front walk. He could find another way, right? Some way of turning his uncle down that didn’t involve his family getting hurt? He let out a soft, bitter bark of laughter. Yeah, and maybe he’d win the lottery while he was at it. That was about as fucking likely.
The remark had been below her and, yeah, catty, but she couldn't help it. His whole friendship with Darcy had made her jealous. Still made her jealous even when there wasn't anything for her to be jealous about. Now. He was free to do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted.
But it still wouldn't have surprised her if Darcy had gotten into trouble. One kind or another.
When he started down the steps, obviously angry, Sophie felt a pang of guilt. Mateo was obviously upset, and she hadn't done anything to help. Not that she owed him. She wasn't indebted or forced to help, but it was in her nature. Sophie bit her lip, quickly counted to ten and then took a few steps after him. "Hey. Wait. No. That was mean uncalled for. I'm sorry." Sorry for upsetting him. Sorry for slandering Darcy? Not likely.
She knew her dad had liked him. She knew he'd want to help. No matter what had happened between them. If it actually were important. "I'm sure he'd want to. He's not home yet. I bet you could catch him at work if you hurry." And then she sighed. "Or you could wait here. Not on the porch obviously." Although she had been tempted to suggest it.
Teo was exhausted. He’d barely slept since he’d run into his uncle, and getting into an argument with Sophie about Darcy - an argument they’d had over and over again when they’d been together - wasn’t going to help. But he stopped when she called out, waiting for her to catch up before turning around to face her, his arms folded. He couldn’t help but be defensive, considering pretty much her whole conversation so far had been hostile, if not downright rude.
“Think you can let me in the house without starting an argument?” He muttered, quirking an eyebrow at her.
She had totally earned that comment, but that didn't stop it from stinging a bit. And she wasn't able to keep herself from frowning a bit as a result. Rather than snapping back with a cutting response, though, she steeled herself. Part of being a grown-up was learning how to deal with exes without turning everything into an argument, wasn't it? Although to judge by some of her friends from school, it seemed like some people never learned the lesson. Well. She wasn't going to be one of those sort of people. That was her new goal for herself.
Then she also wasn't going to promise anything. "Let's just see what happens, huh?" she offered. If he needed something more than that, he was out of luck. "I have baking to get back to anyway." Sophie turned to head back into the house. He could follow if he wanted.
There was a moment of hesitation before she continued, "You're welcome to wait in the kitchen while I bake, but I'm not turning the music off if you hate it."
Yeah, she’d earned it. Didn’t mean he had to take advantage of the opportunity. It’d been mean. Sighing, he followed her back into the house. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “That was kind of dickish of me. I didn’t mean it.” He was tired, and snappish, and it wasn’t really the best mood to be running into his ex for the first time since their break-up. He followed Sophie into the kitchen, sitting down at the kitchen table, the same chair he always used to sit in when she was baking; out of the way of her going back and forth, but close enough that he could steal kisses when she passed. Not that he’d be doing that now...but by the time he realised, he’d already pulled the chair out and started sitting down.
“You settled back in, then?” He said, smiling a little. She certainly looked at home; you’d never know she’d been away.
She waved it off. "We're both guilty. Don't fuss about it." And she would try not to, either. Focusing on baking would help. The kitchen was her zen place not matter if she was baking, chopping or just washing up afterwards. There was something calming about keeping your hands busy with something or another.
When she caught sight of the chair he'd settled in, her breath caught in her throat for a moment. It was what had been his chair. How many times had she kissed him quickly while hurrying to get something out of the oven? How many times had she almost burned something because she was curled into his lap and talking to him instead of paying attention? Shaking herself a bit, she hoped the momentary panic hadn't shown too much.
Moving to the butter, she pressed it with her finger and let out a relieved sigh. It hadn't gotten too soft. That was a common mistake people made. They either let butter sit out too long or not long enough. "Yeah. Fine and dandy. All cozy back home." The whole decision suddenly left an unexpectedly bad taste in her mouth. "How's college going?"
Mateo was too busy trying not to think about the past himself; there were way too many memories in this kitchen, this chair. Hell, he could still see a scratchmark on the edge of the table from when they’d got a little carried away during a makeout session when the house was empty. His fingers twitched against his thigh and he folded his hands together, resting them on the table to keep them still. He watched as she started busying herself with bowls and ingredients, the sight familiar enough to make his heart ache, just a little. He wished it had worked out between them, but highschool sweethearts rarely lasted through the first semester of college. And from the way she’d talked about Darcy, she clearly still held a grudge against her.
“Good,” he said, smiling. College he could talk about. It was easy, it was a nice safe topic. “Hard work, but y’know, I expected that. It’s a little easier considering I can’t get drunk. Or hungover.” Which sucked in some ways, but he never missed it when he was in his 9am lectures on a Monday morning, surrounded by the living dead. Seriously, he was genuinely worried some of them had died days previously, judging by the way they smelled.
Maybe inviting him inside had been a bad idea. Or, well, she probably would have been safe if she’d picked a more neutral place, a place that was saturated with memories of the time they had spent together. It was rough, and she was trying not to dwell on it, which was helped by the fact that she was currently fixated on A) staying away from making more no doubt well deserved comments about Darcy and B) baking. The first one required a lot more effort than the second. Sophie could make banana bread in her sleep by this point.
“So I take it that you’re going to a lot of parties then?” There might have been a hint of jealousy there, but she tried her best to smooth it over. “It sounds like fun. Hopefully it’s not distracting you too much from your studying.” And that had been girlfriend voice. All she could do was cringe and hope it hadn’t sounded to him the way it sounded to her.
He hadn’t been going out much, but he was aware that living at home meant he missed out on a lot of the dorm-based socialising, so he made an effort to go to as many things as he could between school, work, and babysitting Ana. He was relieved that Ana’s friendship with Grace had survived his and Sophie’s breakup; if not, he’d be spending a lot more time looking after her.
“A few,” he answered, one eyebrow quirking a little at her faintly scolding tone. It was familiar, but he didn’t quite know how to react to it. Would’ve known how to react when they were together, teased and distracted Sophie until she softened, until she forgot why she was mad. He couldn’t do that now though. “Think I’m the only one in my class that hasn’t missed any lectures so far, though.” A reassurance and a bit of a boast all in one. Mateo was all too aware of how much his family had sacrificed to help him go to college, of how dependant on his grades his scholarship was. He couldn’t afford to lose it, and attendance was part of that. Since he didn’t get sick, the only time he was likely to miss lectures was after a full moon if he was too tired to get up for class.
She was relieved when he didn’t call her on the tone or even the question itself because she wouldn’t have known how to react. The banana bread batter had come together entirely too quickly. Pretty soon she would no longer have it in front of her to keep her hands busy and her back turned away from him. Everything was going to be harder when she didn’t have anything to do but face him and try to talk without saying or doing something wrong. Times like these, Sophie wished she had made a list of safe topics to discuss with exes. Maybe she could surreptitiously Google something on her phone.
Pouring the batter into the prepared loaf pan, she nodded, trying to stay on the light side of the conversation as she focused on her tone. “Okay. That’s definitely laudable.” This was where she would have said she was proud of him, climbed onto his lap and kissed him, teased him. This was where he would have caught her around the waist to keep her from moving.
Instead she put the loaf pan in the oven, set the timer and washed her hands. “Do you want something to drink?”
He watched as she poured the batter into the tin. Back when they were together, he would’ve been delighted to see that happening; it meant the cake was going in the oven, which meant he could try and steal kisses from Sophie without her trying to keep her hands out of the way to keep them clean, without her growling at him for getting in her way or distracting her. Once it was in the oven she set a timer, and she was all his for at least 30 minutes. Now, though...things weren’t nearly so simple.
He shrugged, looking down at his hands, fingernails bitten to the quick, no mean feat considering his healing. He couldn’t leave them alone though, constantly biting at the edges, worrying at them. “Well, y’know, scholarship,” he said simply. “I’d rather save the lie-in for when I really need it.” And at least it meant he actually got up and did something with his day in between classes and his job. “Nah, I’m good.” He couldn’t get drunk, though he was kind of wishing he could at least reap the benefits of a shot of liquid courage right about now. “How about you?” He asked, trying to move the conversation on a little. “Are you transferring, or taking some time out?”
Sophie leaned against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest, decided that looked too defensive and then placed them behind her. “Good to save those up for potential emergencies, yeah.” And she could think of one emergency in particular that would probably require most of them because even though Sophie couldn’t think of any times that Darcy had not been in class during high school that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. His best friend was the type who would probably manage to drag him into something one way or another. But she was very, very careful not to say anything else about it. At least not to Mateo. Maybe she could track down Charlie later to rant at her about it. If her sister wasn’t sick of hearing about the whole thing by now.
When he asked her about college, she blushed and dropped her head. It was all a bit embarrassing. “Um. Just taking time. I didn’t stay long enough to really earn any credits so there was no sense in transferring. I’m hoping to get a job to pick up some money and then start back locally in the spring.” She’d probably have to end up taking classes over the summers in order to graduate on a normal time table. The whole thing was no one’s fault but her own, though. She was the one who had over extended her reach as far as distance and comfort went.
Teo caught the fidgeting, the aborted armcross, and he had to hide a faint smile behind his hand, rubbing two fingers across his mouth, leaning his elbow on the table, his chin on his palm. Yeah, it made him feel better that Sophie - ever-in-control, perfectly poised Sophie - was just as unsure about this as he was. Just as lost. He nodded, though he was hoping he didn’t have any emergencies this year, Darcy related or otherwise. Not that he usually had Darcy-related emergencies, but he could tell that was kind of what Sophie was referring to, by the slightly bitter twist of her mouth that she likely wasn’t even aware. And what did it say about him, that he could still recognise that?
Mateo just nodded, not judging Sophie for moving back, for changing her mind about college. He’d worried about her, when she’d said she was applying to colleges so far away. Lions were pack animals, far more than jaguars. He’d worried about how she’d cope so far away from her family. But he wasn’t feeling at all happy that he’d been proven right. “Bet Gracie’s pleased to have you back,” he said, tilting his head a little. “Less time spent with your grandma.” Terrifying, scary woman. Mateo was honestly more scared of her than he was of Jason.
That slight wave of amusement from him didn't go unnoticed, but she also wasn't sure what to do about it. Had it happened months ago, she might have acted a little miffed before dissolving into giggles and enjoying just watching him look at her. Now it was strange and slightly discomforting to have him studying her. It made her miss it. Sophie hadn't spent a lot of time missing what they'd had; she'd spent a lot of time being upset about what had happened. And part of her still was, but it was almost being edged out by the missing.
She obviously needed to not be dwelling on that. Or on watching him looking at her.
Turning, she started fiddling with things again, washing up the dishes from the banana bread. "Gracie's thrilled. About a lot of things at the moment. Me being back, Rachel, the wedding, all of it. Lots of stuff going on, you know. But I'm sure you've had to listen to Anna chatter on about some of it." Then she mock frowned at him over a shoulder. "Now don't you say anything bad about my grandmother. She might be a little," Sophie waved a hand in the air, looking for the right word, "short at times, but she's awesome."
"How's your family?" The only one she heard anything about on a regular basis was Anna.
There were so many familiar things about this, it was easy to forget everything that had happened between them. It was a weird disconnect; the comfort and familiarity of the kitchen, the awkwardness of the situation, the air between them laden with things unsaid, with arguments they’d had. He wasn’t sure which was winning out at this point; the longing and nostalgia, or the discomfort and hurt feelings. He looked down at the table as Sophie turned away, fiddling with a spoon that someone had left abandoned there; probably Charlie.
“Yeah, all Ana talks about is Gracie squeeing over Rachel,” he admitted. “It’s good that she likes her.” Sophie was nearly out of the nest, had been briefly, and Charlie was the kind of kid who’d cope with anything. Gracie was really the one who’d be most affected by a new woman in Jason’s life, for better or worse. Thankfully it seemed like everything was going pretty smoothly so far.
“Hey, I love Mama Lou,” he pointed out, raising his hands in a gesture of innocence. “You know I’d never say a bad thing about her...not where she can hear me, anyhow.” Yeah, Mateo wasn’t that dumb. Teo’s returning good humour faltered when she brought up his family, a practiced - if slightly brittle - smile on his face. “Yeah, they’re okay,” he murmured. “Same old same old.” He didn’t really want to get into it, not with Sophie. Not when he’d have to repeat it all over again when Jason got home.