niko_polov (niko_polov) wrote in fallschurchic, @ 2014-01-03 00:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | june flannery, niko polov |
Who: Niko Polov and June Flannery
What: Niko needs some comforting
When: BACKDATED: Tuesday, December 24, evening
Where: Niko's dorm room
Rating: Medium
Warnings: Some mention of sex
Niko sent one last plea to his sister to get in touch with their mother before throwing his phone on the bed, watching as it bounced off the bed and onto the floor. He couldn’t believe it. Sam just disappeared to go on a romantic get away with her Economics professor with nothing more than an email to their parents, what was she thinking? That wasn’t the Sam he knew. She was sleeping with her professor...and in the most romantic city in the world.
His thoughts were swimming. He thought she had still been a virgin when she came to Falls Church, but he couldn’t be sure: they were really close and shared a lot but there are somethings you just don’t share with your older brother. He wondered if this professor was her first. If he took advantage of her and was just using her. He hated even more his thoughts about Sam. Did she start this? Did she need to bring up her grade and now it was more? He knew deep down that she would never do that, but he wasn’t really thinking anything in detail, just little bits of each thought in and out. He laid down on the bed and just curled up into a ball.
June had no idea what was going on. She has been in the shower and admittedly had indulged in a nice long steamy one. She was just so glad to be spending her first Christmas with Niko. They were going to have privacy here and just enjoy each other before spending it with family.
Wrapping her robe around her, June stepped out and was surprised to see Niko in a ball on the bed. She hurried over to him. "Niko, what's wrong?" June asked laying next to him on the bed.
Niko rolled over to look at his girlfriend not even realizing that there were tears staining his cheek. “Sam ran off to Paris...with her Econ Professor. Mom called asking if I knew anything, if she sent me an email too...she just disappeared with nothing more than an email to them. She slept with him June.”
"What?" June asked dumbfounded. "Sam? Ran off to Paris with Dr Gates? Why?". She reached out and brushed the tears off his face. "She slept with her econ professor? You sister? Are you sure?"
Niko just shrugged. He didn’t know how to answer any of her questions, he was just as dumbfounded as she was. “Hold on,” he said, though it was barely audible. He rolled over her carefully and got his phone off the floor. He handed it to her as he settled down next to her again, it was still opened to the texts with his sisters.
June sat on the bed and scrolled through the texts on his phone. It was almost as if she were reading them from another person. This didn't sound like Sam but it did at the same time. She instantly felt guilty. She had done something similar when she was just a little younger than Sam. "Maybe she just needed to get away for a while," she said softly. "And you know she is coming back, right. She'll be home for Christmas."
“I know she was bored at home, but I just...” Niko didn’t really know what to say. “I don’t understand what she was thinking. She is smarter than this. He is her professor.”
"He was her professor. He isn't anymore," June pointed out gently. "She might really like him, Niko. She may have missed him."
“It’s just not right, June....he is old enough to be our father. I know this school has a really fucked up system and all, but does that really mean that all morals have to be tossed out the window?!? She’s only 18!” Niko was clearly upset, not only did his tone show that, but he very rarely cussed, they just weren’t words that came to his mouth.
June had never seen Niko this upset. And she could never remember hearing him curse and especially at high volume. She reached out for him. "Niko, she's 18. Girls do crazy things for boys when they are young. And your sister is amazing so I could see what he sees in her". June hugged Niko. She knew this was hard for him.
“But he’s not a boy!” Niko said before all but collapsing in June’s arms. He still just couldn’t believe that this was happening, that Sam had just left home like that. He let June hold him for a bit before pulling away and wiping his eyes. “I have to call my mom back. She’s freaking out.”
June hugged Niko tight. She felt bad for him. It didn't feel like much but she hoped it helped. "You are going to have to calm her down. Keep her from going crazy but Sam is going to have to have to face her." She looked at Niko. "If she is going to be an adult and run off to a foreign country because she can, then she doesn't need you to take the heat for her.
“I know,” Niko said with a slight nod. “I’ll call her back while you get dressed and then we can go out and grab a bite to eat, nothing fancy, like Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday’s.” He kissed her forehead as he grabbed his phone. “I love you, June.”
"We don't have to go out," June said. "Unless you want to get out. I don't mind cooking. It is Christmas Eve.” She smiled and closed her eyes with a smile. "Ok. I'll get dressed." June had hoped that Niko would help her get dressed which is why she came out in nothing but a robe. She knew he was preoccupied though so she just got up and got dressed.
If he wasn’t so upset, he would have joked about wanting to show her off, but he wasn’t in the mood for that. He went out to the living room and called his mom back, lying for her sake and then texted Sam back to tell her what to say. He went into the kitchen and pulled down his one bottle of rum from the top of the fridge, drinking wasn’t really his thing either. He poured himself a shot and tossed it back before rinsing the glass and putting everything away. The burn down his chest helped to calm him. He sat on the couch to wait for June.
June didn't want to keep Niko waiting. Mostly she was worried about him stewing too much. June dressed quickly and came into the living room. She settled into his lap and hugged him. "How's your mom?"
Niko put his arms around her. “She’ll be fine. I told her Sam was invited to be his assistant for something and that Sam didn’t give me specifics, she can come up with her own lies from there. I hate lying to Mom. But I couldn’t tell her the truth, she’d only worry more....”
"I'm glad she's calmed down" June said. "You did the right thing." She hugged him. "Can I do anything to make you feel any better?". June hated that her love was so upset.
“I just want to forget about it all for now. This was supposed to be our Christmas, I don’t want to let her ruin it.” Niko rubbed her back as he tried to get his mind to focus on something other than this drama with his sister. He leaned in and gave her a kiss.
"It's still our Christmas," June assured him before returning his kiss. She was surprised to taste rum. Breaking the kiss, June broke the kiss. "So dinner out?" She asked, holding her hand out. "Keys?" She asked sweetly.
Niko pulled the keys out of his pocket and handed them over. He wasn’t going to deny that he had drank and he wasn’t going to drive with alcohol in his system, especially not with June in the passenger seat. “Your choice, my treat.”
"Thank you my love," June said giving him another kiss. "What about that little family Italian place? Might be a good place to spend Christmas Eve".
Niko nodded. “It should be pretty quiet tonight,” he said, standing up and picking her up with him. He gave her another kiss before setting her down on her feet. It wasn’t long before they were in his car on the way to the restaurant.
June made a cute little sound when he picked her up. "Which will be really nice," June added. She'd never driven Niko's car before. It was really nice. "Ok, favorite Christmas memory.” The ride has been pretty quiet and she didn't want that.
Niko was trying not to dwell on the mess Sam had kicked up, but it was hard so he was grateful when June distracted him. “Umm...probably just when I was younger and we were in Russia..we would stay with Babushka and go to church. It was always kind of funny to watch Mom and Babushka argue over who was cooking what. It was nice then because we weren’t such a minority celebrating Christmas in January. I know that’s not really specific....what about you?”
“When I was really young dad would let me camp out in the living room on Christmas Eve. I would make myself a little nest in front of the Christmas tree with pillows and blankets and wait for Santa to visit.” June chuckled. “I always fell asleep though.”
Niko chuckled a little. “I think Zasha tried setting up cameras when he was younger, Mom and Dad always outsmarted him though.”
“I think I just wanted to meet Santa,” June answered. “Did your parents know they had set the up? I can just see them doing that though.”
“I’m sure they did. Zasha was constantly bragging about his new plans.” Niko looked out the window as they were pulling into the parking lot. There were only 4 or 5 cars there so he was pretty confident they were the only ones there which would be nice.
“Do you guys leave cookies for Santa too?” June asked. “I used to make gingerbread cookies with my mom. I used to love the day when we would bake them. She just stopped when I learned there was no Santa. I used to try to get her to bake with me but she refused. Always said she was too busy.” She tried not to think about that too much. It just made her sad. June parked the car. “We’re here.”
“We did, mom made sugar cookies and we decorated them.” Niko could hear the hurt in June’s voice and wished he could do something. “We are.” He got out of the car and rushed around to open the door for her.
“I bet that was fun,” June said. Part of her wished she had a more normal family. She smiled when Niko opened her door. “Thank you,” she said as she stepped out making sure she had the keys in her hands. She kissed his cheek as she locked the car up.
Niko held her hand as they walked in, trying not to think about Sam. “It was fun. Maybe mom will still have some cookies to make when we get there for New Years.”
“That might be fun,” June said with a little smile. She was glad that Niko had her hand. She liked the way it felt with him. The restaurant was warm and inviting. They were pretty quickly shown to a table in the mostly empty place.
“I’m pretty sure if I made a call she would make gingerbread cookies for you too if you wanted. She would love having someone to cook with, none of us are any good.” Niko pulled out her chair before taking his own seat. “This is nice. It’s so quiet.”
“You think so?” June asked, softly with a little blush. “I haven’t made them since I was five or six.” June had a seat and nodded. “It is. I think this is a great way to spend Christmas eve here.”
“She would love it. Remind me on the way home and I will call her.” He picked up the menu and quickly settled on chicken parmesan. “Do we want to get an appetizer? Maybe some Calamari?”
“Thank you,” June said. She picked up the menus and easily decided on the fettuccini alfredo with shrimp. “If you want, sure.”
The waiter came and they ordered everything. He took her hand in his. “This really is perfect, June...and it gives you the night off from cooking.” He offered her a smile. “One day maybe I’ll learn how to cook more than like a can of soup or Kraft mac and cheese.”
"Thank you for that," June said sliding her hand into his. She laughed a little. "It's ok. I really like cooking. If you want to learn how to make something though I could teach you."
“Maybe I’ll have mom teach me to make something and cook for you for once,” he said with a smile. He rubbed her hand. “We just may have to order in food if I epically fail.”
"That would be fine. I'm sure it will be good though...this fictional meal," June teased him as she ran her thumb over his hand. "I'm glad I'm spending Christmas with you."
“Just because of that, I’m going to prove you wrong,” Niko said with a smile, “and it’s going to be the best thing you’ve ever eaten.” Of course his confidence was fake. He knew it was most likely going to be a big failure.
"You do that, my love," June laughed. "You really don't have to do that though. I really like cooking."
Niko leaned down and kissed her hand. He loved when she called him ‘my love.’ They talked happily over their meal and Niko paid, leaving a substantial tip for their server simply because he was working on Christmas Eve. He opened the driver’s door for June, even though he was sure the alcohol would be out of his system by now.
June enjoyed dinner. It was delicious and a lovely night. Niko seemed to relax as they had supper. She got into the driver's seat of the car. June turned on Christmas carols on the way home.
Niko sang along with the radio, poorly, but he didn’t care, he didn’t think June would stop loving him just because he couldn’t sing well. “What’s your favorite Christmas song,” he asked in between songs.
"Promise you won't laugh?" June asked after she too sang badly. "All I want for Christmas is you. I heard it during Love Actually and I've loved it ever since."
Niko smiled at June, “There’s nothing to laugh about...though, you can’t be mad that you’re getting more than just me for Christmas this year.” It didn’t take long for them to get back to campus and he helped her out of the car again, always the perfect gentleman. “I’ve always liked The First Noel”
It had taken June a little to get used to Niko's manners but she did like that he was who he was. It made her feel special. She chuckled at that. "Well you know I want to say that you didn't have to and I also know that it wouldn't have made any difference." She nodded. "That one is a nice one," June said putting the keys back in his hand since they were home. "You know Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas always chokes me up a little too."
Niko put the keys in his pocket and took her hand. “Do you want to see what kind of Christmas Specials are on tonight, and just curl up in the living room and watch them?” he asked as he led her back to their dorm.
"That sounds perfect," June said sliding her hand into his. "I think we need a quiet night."
Niko opened the door to their dorm and hung his keys on the hook inside the door. As soon as the door was shut, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her back to his room. “We should get ready for bed, it will be more comfortable.”
June squeaked as he picked her up. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed along his neck. "We should. I like to undress you."
Niko sat her down on the bed. “I like when you undress me, too” He smiled at her before leaning down to kiss her again.
June kissed him and began to unbutton his shirt. This felt better. More familiar. She just loved Niko so much and she adored being with him. Even when she wasn't pulling his clothes off though she had to admit that was fun too.
Niko loved June more than he even thought possible, but he wasn’t really in the mood for sexy times, not with everything that was going on. He pulled back from her. “I love you, June.”
“I love you too, Niko” June said, pulling back when he did. She smiled at him. “A movie then?” she asked.
Niko nodded, glad she didn’t seem upset that he had pulled away. “Let’s just get changed.” He finished getting himself undressed in silence and pulled on a pair of flannel pajama pants.
June sighed softly but she went to get changed too. She pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. June had a seat on the bed.
Niko turned back and leaned in to kiss her again. “You’re so beautiful, June,” he complimented as he brushed some hair back from her face.
“Thank you,” June blushed. “You are so wonderful.” She looked into his eyes and leaned in to give him a kiss. “I’ll be right back. Let me just wash the makeup off and such, ok?” She kissed him again and headed into the bathroom.
“Okay,” Niko said with a smile, “Just meet me in the living room?” As he watched her move into the bathroom, he got a brilliant idea and scooped all the blankets and pillows from the bed and carried them out to the living room, dropping them on the couch as he moved the coffee table to make a big open space in the middle of the room. He went back to the room and pulled out all his extra blankets and pillows and took them out too. By the time June came out to the living room, he had constructed a nice nest for the two of them and was in the process of popping some popcorn.
“Alright, honey.” June was gone in the bathroom for a bit. She was cleaning her face and getting ready for bed. She went to the living room and her eyes were wide. “Niko….you…” she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. It hit her hard then; how much she loved him not for anything else but because he wanted to make things special for her.
Niko wiped the tears from her eyes carefully before wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. “I guess that means you like it? I figured we could curl up and keep an eye out for Santa.”
“Nope,” June said, looking up at Niko. “I love it, Niko. Thank you.” She kissed him. “I think we might catch him this year,” she smiled.