All In The Family

Sitting on the outside deck of my moms house reflecting on all of this weekends events, I was seriously considering taking up smoking as I toed the butts of my brother's used cigarettes with the tip of my Converse sneaker. I could hear the glass door sliding open behind me but I didn't bother to turn and look to see who was coming out of the house.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise when I heard the sound of her voice from behind, followed by the pattering of her feet along the floor boards as she approached me.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to toe the dirt and discarded cigarettes in front of me. "It's a free Country." I replied somewhat dismissively, noticing the sound of her footsteps coming to a standstill as she lowered herself beside me on the deck.

"Is there a particular reason you've been avoiding me the entire day?" She questioned, politely nudging my leg with her own. Oh come on Carrie, you can't be that clueless.

I allowed a moment of silence to linger between the two of us before I finally decided to respond to her question. "You really have no idea?" I asked, sounding somewhat baffled as I shifted my neck to the side to study her face.

She seemed to be thinking about it for a moment. "Okay, I may have somewhat of an idea as to why," She answered slowly, brushing a few strands of her from her face as she shifted her head as well until she was looking at me.

"You scare the hell out of me," I admitted, and watched her eyebrows scrunch together curiously. I took a breath before continuing, "I don't know what to make of all this. What to make out of you. I've been flirting with you since the moment I first met you, and continued to do so even after I found out who you were. And you," I paused and stared at her more intently, watching her expression soften, "you've been flirting back, and I can't for the life of me figure out why you would do that, if you're with my brother...and engaged to him now? This feeling, whatever the hell it is, is so new to me and frustrating because I can't figure you out and I know that I can't do anything about any of this because I could never do that to my brother." I finally finished and watched Carrie nod her head.

"I'm sorry," she began in a whisper, "I honestly never meant for any of this happen."

"And what exactly is happening?" I wondered.

"I honestly have no clue. I mean, I showed up at the bar that night before I came here because I needed to get my head straight and relax before I showed up here to meet his family, and then you happened. When I left the bar after I finished my drink, I thought I'd never see you again, so I didn't see any harm in flirting back since you were clearly flirting with me. I never considered the possibility of you knowing Jason let alone being related to him. All I can say is that I'm sorry."

I sat silently and allowed her words to process before I spoke again, "Do you...do you love my brother?"

"I do, I care about him a lot, Kelly, and I know how close the two of you are."

I nodded, "We'll just pretend none of this ever happened then, he won't have to know. We haven't done anything wrong and it'll stay that way. I know my brother better than I know myself, and for him to take this much interest in a woman, especially after Tracey, you must be pretty damn special. So, you and I will forget all about this flirtation thing and chalk it up to friendly banter." I told her, slapping my hands against my thighs before pushing up to my feet.

She gazed up at me, squinting as the setting sun slightly blinded her vision. "Friendly banter?" She asked curiously, accepting my hand that I had extended out to her.

I pulled her to her feet and neither of us bothered to release the others hand right away. "Yep, everyone knows how I am, I'm a big flirt." I explained, still holding onto her hand with my own, my thumb absentmindedly caressing the top of her hand.

"Oh, that makes me feel special," she said sarcastically, accompanied by a quick eye roll.

"Did I mention I was also incredibly charming?" I asked, grinning from ear to ear.

She offered a warm smile in return, "Incredibly," she drew out, peering deeply into my eyes.

The patio door sliding open behind us was finally enough to cause us both to release the others hand at the same time, turning then to find my brother standing in the doorway.

He made a face, "Female bonding?" He asked.

I smiled a took a few steps towards the door, "Something like that." I said in response while slipping past him and sliding inside of the house, quickly patting his back.

He and Carrie stepped in behind me a couple seconds later, holding a conversation.

"Well, Mrs. Taylor, thank you so much for having me over this weekend." Carrie said politely as my mother pulled her future daughter in-law into her arms, slowly releasing her, "It was no problem at all dear, you're of course welcome here anytime. You be good to my boy though alright?" Carrie nodded her head and turned to Jason.

"I should really get going, it's back to work tomorrow. You should probably get Hailey home too. I'll see you after school tomorrow, right?" She asked.

My brother smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. Drive safe babe, call me when you get home." he leaned in then and pressed a soft kiss to her lips before pulling back, "I will," She promised him.

Ashley popped up beside me, "We can walk you out Care, I have to take Kell here to pick up her car anyways." Ashley, have I ever told you how much I want to kill you sometimes?

"Oh okay." She turned to the remainder of my family in the kitchen that hadn't left hours earlier, "It was really nice meeting ya'll." Loud goodbyes were tossed around the kitchen as Carrie made her way towards Ashley and I.

"Kelly." My mom called out, stopping me before I could turn to leave.

Slowly I turned to face her, "Yes,ma'am?"

"Don't be such a stranger, you can come home anytime you want." Why on earth would I wanna do that?

"Yes ma'am." I muttered quickly, saying goodbye to my family before finally exiting the kitchen and house, joining Ashley and Carrie in the driveway.

"It was nice meeting you, Carrie." Ashley said with a smile and a nod while slowly backing down the driveway.

"Yeah, you too." Carrie called out to Ashley as Ashley ducked inside of her car and pulled the door shut.

"So, you survived a crazy weekend with the Clarkson's, you ready to experience that for the rest of your life sister-to-be?" Even saying that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Nothing I can't handle. I enjoyed myself. It made me miss my own family though." she must have read my mind, "I'll elaborate on that another time." I nodded, "Okay,well drive safely and have a good night. It was nice meeting you." That probably sounded so generic.

"You too." She smiled and froze, studying me carefully before inching closer and holding her arms open.

I studied her gesture cautiously before finally stepping forward and closing the space between us. I locked my arms around her securely and didn't move for a couple of seconds, enjoying the warmth of her body against my own and the smell of my body wash against her skin.

Finally we pulled apart, offering nervous smiles as I distanced myself slightly and began a backwards descent down the driveway towards Ashley's car, waving like a god damn idiot.

"Goodnight." I beamed, watching her hoist herself up into her truck, "Goodnight." She said back, pulling the door shut with a light slam.

Once I reached Ashley's car I slipped into the passenger seat without a word, watching as Carrie backed of the driveway, her headlights disappearing as she reversed and straightened her car, driving off in the opposite direction that Ashley and I would soon be heading.

"Dude, you got it bad. You might as well have pushed the girl up against her truck and had your way with her." Believe me, it had crossed my mind.

I remained silent, "You wanna talk about it?" Ashley questioned as she started her car, no doubt hoping I would want to.

"Not really." I replied collectively.

"Okay, I can respect that." she paused as she concentrated on backing out of the driveway, "For now." she finished, changing her gear from reverse to drive and speeding off down the street away from my mothers house, away from Carrie, away from the long list of complications and away from the long list of complications that went along with that.

*~*~*~*~*


I fished through my mail while making my way down the long hallway that led to my aparment. With one hand I unlocked the door and pushed my way inside and immediately froze in the doorway. I knew for a fact that I had turned all my lights and front television off when I left for the weekend, both of which were on right now. Which meant someone was in my apartment. Carefully I pushed the door shut behind me, quietly releasing the doorknob and letting it click firmly closed. I lowered my bag down against the floor as I cautiously set my keys and mail down onto the table near the door.

I could hear the television in my room blasting loudly from the semi opened door as the light from my room also poured out down the hall. I turned my back for a moment to pull the coat closet door open to retrieve my metal bat. If I was in any serious danger, I'd surely be able to protect myself.

I knew I probably shouldn't have gone into the apartment once I noticed someone was inside, but I didn't feel like bothering anyone to come and help. Besides, I was highly capable of protecting myself. As I neared my bedroom door I reached out with the tip of the bat and pushed the door open completely. No one was there. Maybe whoever had been here was gone now and had just left everything on. I let myself relax momentarily as I let that thought settle me, but the sound of my bathroom door opening abruptly quickly made me alert again.

"Don't move!" I shouted out the warning hysterically while gripping the bat tightly in my hand and drawing it back, ready to swing if necessary.

I was met with wild, frantic eyes, "Whoa, calm down tiger, it's just me."

I lowered the bat and breathed out a quick sigh of relief, "Damn it, Tiff, what the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

She smiled and crossed the room, stopping directly in front of me, "You never change. I knew I'd find your key under the mat, always the predictable one." Even if she hadn't necessarily intended for it to be, I took that as a clear insult. Oh Tiff if you only knew how much I've changed since we've been together, but damn have I been meaning to remove that freaking key.

I crossed my bedroom, casually slipping passed Tiffany; inadvertently making it known that I had no intention of really acknowledging her. Tiredly I collapsed down onto my mattress and rested my back comfortably against my headboard while kicking my Chucks off of my feet. I eyed Tiffany carefully from where she was standing in the center of my room at the foot of my bed.

"You didn't call me last night." She said clearly irritated by the fact that my world didn't revolve around her anymore.

I continued to listen to her half-heartedly as she rambled on about how she waited for me to call her after she left obviously upset over how Ashley had "treated" her.

"Honesty, what did you expect Tiff." I said suddenly cutting her off, pushing the play button on my answering machine on my nightstand, straining to listen to both my messages and my babbling ex at the same time.

"I expected," She began slowly, letting herself onto the foot of my bed on her knees and crawling towards me, "you to check and see if I was alright after your friend treated me like she did. I expected you to at least come after me, or something." she finished with a pout as she straddled my thighs.

I sighed and kept my head turned, eyeing the red digital numbers on my answering machine. I only had a couple more messages to go. I skipped through a couple of them, some were from co workers, and the vast majority that followed were from women I had recently hooked up with.

I stiffened as Tiffany leaned forward and pressed herself into me, lowering her mouth to my ear she whispered a husky, "Seems like you've been pretty busy while I was away." I attempted to gently push her back so that she'd get the hint and get off of me.

"Tiff, please get off of me. We had our little romp or whatever at the bar, but that's it. I -" I was cut off as she forced her lips down onto mine, and naturally my body ignored all commands to push her away by doing just the opposite and responding to her.

Quickly she slid further up my thighs and straddled my lap, all but sucking my face off as she deepened the kiss. The phone rang suddenly and Tiffany placed a hand behind my neck to keep my lips pressed against hers when she felt me start to pull away to answer it.

"Let the machine get it," She mumbled against my lips.

After a couple more rings my outgoing message began to echo throughout my room above the sounds of our heated kissing and Tiffanys quiet moans.

"Um hey Kelly, its Carrie," Instantly my lips froze against Tiffany's and I sat still as I turned my face away from hers to look blankly at my answering machine, "Ashley gave me your number before I left your moms, I hope that's alright." She paused and took a breath as I sat there frozen debating whether or not to pick up the phone.

She continued, "I um, I was calling to....actually I'm not really sure why I called....I...I'm talking to a machine." She laughed and I felt myself smile at her rambling, "Um I'll just leave my number and you can call back whenever, if you want." She added quickly.

Without thinking twice I moved from under Tiffany in a matter of seconds, moving so quickly I sent her flying off the other end of the bed as I frantically picked up my house phone.

"Hello." I said somewhat breathlessly into the phone, there was no way I was going to risk letting Tiffany hear Carrie's number, that girl was capable of a lot of things and I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her - which I kind of just did.

I ignored the evil glare Tiffany was shooting in my direction from the floor on the other side of my bed.

"Hey" Carrie said in response, I could practically hear her smile through the phone, "I was just about to leave my number." She told me.

I pushed up from my bed and started walking towards the living room. "Yeah, I heard. I don't mind that Ashley gave you my number by the way...did she give you my cell too? I'm usually more likely to answer that." I told her.

"Yeah, she gave me that too. I um, I honestly don't know why I called...maybe to make sure you got home..." She trailed off.

I smiled as I entered my kitchen, flicking the light on as I did so, "Well, I'm home. I only live about thirty minutes from my moms and I'm right down the street from the bar. Is it safe to say you made it home too?" I paused in the kitchen and leaned against one of the counters while waiting for her to respond.

"Yeah, I made it."

"Good."

Silence.

"So...um, why don't you text your number to my cell and I'll save it." I suggested, finally breaking the silence.

"Okay, sounds good. Oh, Ashley mentioned something about maybe getting together next weekend...apparently I was a big hit with your family and friends."

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me, "Right, they were just being nice. But that sounds-"

"Kel, are you coming back to bed?"

I froze. Stupid Tiffany, I could just kill you right now.

Before she could even ask I was speaking, "It's just a friend. But I should get going and get her out of here. Don't forget to text me your number." I added quickly.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later then, goodnight."

"Goodnight." I disconnected the call and clicked the kitchen light off on my way back to my room.

"That wasn't cool, Tiffany." I said angrily, quickly surveying the room for her belongings.

One by one I gathered her shoes, purse and hoodie and shoved them into her arms, "You need to go." I told her firmly.

She looked at me stunned. "You're joking right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I spat out, folding my arms over my chest.

Sucking her teeth, her face quickly changed from stunned to angry. "Ugh whatever." She turned quickly and began stomping her way out of my room.

I was behind her following her out, "My key, Tiffany." I held my hand out and waited for her to hand it over.

She glared at me before digging into her pocket to retrieve it and pressed it into my palm, "You can lose my number."

I smiled, "Already done." I reached out and pulled the door open, holding it out for her.

"Goodbye." I said, pushing the door shut behind her on her way out and turning the lock as well.

Releasing a deep breath I made my way back into my room, practically flying across the room when I heard my cell phone alerting me of a new text messaging. I flopped down onto my mattress and flipped the phone open. Staring at me was Carrie's number followed by a brief "I'll talk to you soon." It was fine for us to be talking, right? I mean, she's my sister in-law, my brother would want for us to be friends right?

Yeah, soon. Thanks. I text back before flipping my phone shut and placing it back onto my night stand.

There's absolutely no harm in me being friends with my brother's future wife - that I totally have the hots for. No harm at all. I just need to keep those feelings in check, which I'm totally capable of doing. I mean, I just stood up and kicked Tiff out of my apartment, that was a major step for me. I could definitely do this.