Who: Mara and EJ When: Sunday, September 8th, 2012 - Shortly after Midnight Where: The Quinn House What: Conversation and Cuddling
Mara wiped at her eyes and ran her hand over R2 who wasn't all that thrilled about her using him as her pillow. The redhead sat up and grabbed pajama pants, pulling them on just in case one of their fathers saw them together. Mara picked up her phone and reread EJ's text again and then set it down, waiting impatiently for him to show up.
She knew that he had to wait for their dads to pass out but still it didn't matter she wanted EJ in here room now. she hugged her legs to her chest and watched her cat as he rolled over, cleaned himself of her tears and then rolled onto his back, falling asleep snoring softly. When there was a knock on her door she jumped up and ran to open it.
~~~
EJ was honestly dreading going to Mara's room. It wasn't because he didn't love her and want to make her feel better, but because she was a girl and she was upset and there was probably going to be some crying and he just wasn't all that good with that sort of thing. But when he was certain that Rez and Riley had finally fallen to sleep and even Trevor had retired to bed with his wife, he made his way down the hallway to Mara's room and knocked softly on the door.
EJ was nearly knocked down when the door opened and Mara wrapped herself around him. He hooked his arm around her waist, burying his face in her hair in the process, which always smelled just as beautiful as she looked. He scooted them both inside the door and then closed it, clicking the lock in place just in case. He didn't want to get caught again, even though nothing was going to happen here in the house, he'd decided.
~~~
Mara did throw herself around him and had no intentions of moving. She felt EJ move her back into the room and she heard the door shut and lock. "I'm such an idiot." She mumbled against his shoulder and then cried for a minute before sniffing and wiping at her eyes. "I know you told me that no one would get it but...I just...I thought my best friend would understand." She said softly and then pulled EJ towards the bed and sat down, bringing him with.
Mara cuddled into him and twisted her fingers in his shirt. "But he doesn't know you like me or anything...he just thinks im a freak that needs mental help." She said with a small cry before she got a hold of herself. Mara was still upset but having EJ there made her feel a lot better, he was her anchor and she had needed him desperately.
~~~
EJ held her as she cried, rubbing his hands up and down her back in an attempt to soothe her. "Of course you did," he said, though he really did think she should have known better. People outside of the fold, which was pretty much everyone, wouldn't get it. People inside the fold wouldn't really get it either but... Seriously, if they actually looked at the facts, if they thought about it... He allowed her to pull him to the bed and took a seat with her, allowing himself to be cuddled in whatever way she needed.
And now she was crying again. He tried to pet her some more, but fuck, he just wasn't good at this sort of thing. Still, maybe just being here would be enough. "I could talk to him," he suggested. "I mean.. maybe... explain it?" He wasn't sure if that would help or just make things worse, honestly. But people seemed to forget that they weren't really siblings, that they hadn't even lived together as such until they were both a bit older and, before that, they'd just been in each others lives. He supposed that was easy to forget.
~~~
Mara hated being like this, she wasn't a crier, she was emotional but she did not cry. It was true, Mara was almost eight years old before EJ became her step brother, and it was too late by then. She had already decided he was the boy she wanted to marry when she grew up. Most people did forget when they looked at them or just didn't know that they had only been step siblings for about 7/8 years. And that was what she wanted to explain to Eli but he had reacted so badly and never gave her a chance to tell him.
"Its really sweet that you are offering to but it would probably make it worse and right now he doesn't think you're a perverted freak so maybe it should stay that way." Mara said with a small shake in her voice but then lowered her lashes. "I still love you though...it doesn't change that."
~~~
"And he shouldn't think that about you either." EJ said, a note of warning in his voice. The fact that Eli had made Mara cry did not escape his notice. And even if she didn't want him to talk to him, there was a good chance that he would end up doing so at some point, even if it was by accident. The full moon was coming, after all. He could feel it crawling under his skin already and he knew that this week was not the week for anyone to test his temper. But of coursehe would try to control it for Mara's sake.
"Of course it doesn't," he said, and then added, "It shouldn't." Usually he was pretty reluctant to admit that what they were doing, what they felt, wasn't really wrong, or that he didn't think it was wrong, but right now she needed someone to be on her side, on their side, and since there was no one else who knew, it had to be him. "It's gonna be okay," he assured her, leaning down to nuzzle his face into her hair. "And if Eli can't accept you, accept us, then you should find better friends."
~~~
Mara smiled at him and shrugged. "Well he does, he thinks I need help." She said with a sigh, Mara wasn't stupid she knew damn well that EJ was going to corner Eli one day and talk to him...you didn't make her cry, you just didn't. It tended to bring down EJ's temper on people.
When he said it shouldn't Mara smiled a bit wider at him, her arms flung around his neck. "I know...I...we are going to be okay right?" She said before kissing his cheek and then cuddling in tight. "I hate it when I cry, it's all gross and then I get a headache and ...yeah sucks." She mumbled and then slid her fingers through EJ's hair. You are my white knight you know that." The redhead grinned at him.
~~~
"Maybe he's the one that needs help." In not being a judgmental asshole, apparently. Yes, he was pissed. He was getting more and more pissed the more that he thought about it. And he was fairly sure that their confrontation would not be an accident, but he would corner him somewhere this week to "discuss" things. He wouldn't make Mara cry again after that. He'd make sure of it.
"Of course. We're always alright." EJ smirked. He smiled as she kissed him and nuzzled her hair again. "You could never look gross." A laugh rang out when she called him a knight and he pulled back to look at her, quirking his brow a bit when he said, "A white knight riding on a donkey, perhaps." Hands slid down her back and then he gave her butt, or what he could reach of it, a bit of a swat before suggesting, "Go wash your face so we can get in bed. I'll stay with you for a while."
~~~
The redhead smirked slightly at EJ, starting to feel more comfortable in their bubble again. "He just doesn't understand EJ and we probably couldn't make him understand if we tried. He can't get past that we are legally siblings." She said with a sigh.
She laughed softly and then grinned when he nuzzled her. "i can too! Remember when I had the flu last year...that was awful." She pouted and then rolled her eyes. "One day it will be a golden lioness." She smiled and kissed him again, letting out a squeak when he swatted her. "Okay." She said at his suggestion and started to get up, heading into her own bathroom to wash her face. It took only moments before she came back to the bed and snuggled in with him. "You promise to stay for a while?" She asked as she hugged him.
~~~
"Step siblings. Which there is nothing gross, amoral or illegal about." EJ knew. He's looked into it. They could get married in all 50 states and have as many kids as they wanted to have, if that time ever came, of course. The last thing he was thinking about right now were kids, though. He was still a kid himself, after all.
"Still beautiful," he smiled at her. "Rudolph nose and all." He nipped at the end of her nose. He quirkeed his brow slightly at what her words implied but then he just let it go and laughed a little, watching her as she walked away. He was already in his pajamas, so he just moved to pull the covers down and climb into bed to wait for her, after flipping off the main light and turning on her lamp on the nightstand.
Smiling when she returned, he scooted so she could join him and then wrapped his arms around her. "Until you are sound asleep," he assured her. They wouldn't do anything so there was no reason why anyone should have a problem with this. If they got caught, maybe the dads would believe that they had gone back to just being brotherly and sisterly with one another. Of course he doubted they'd be awake for a long while anyway. So it was probably fine.
~~~
She nodded and licked her lips. "Yeah I...I know there's nothing illegal or anything...we just lived in the same house for like 8 years." She smiled softly at him when he called her beautiful and then giggled when he nipped her nose. Mara wasn't sure how EJ felt about her planning to be a were lion like her family as soon as she was legal, but she hated being different from all of them and wished she could do it now.
Mara didn't take long and was more than happy to be curled up with EJ. If their dad's caught them tonight all they would find was them cuddling which had never got them in trouble before. But now she always saw one of her dads watching them to make sure they were not being inappropriate. Mara pulled the blankets around them and kissed EJ before she tangled their legs together and smiled as she started to drift off.