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“I need advice,” Tamara announces as she walks into the bathroom.
The shower running masking the sound of the door opening, making Lucy jump.
“And you need to ask for it now?” Lucy Questions.
She’s not sure when it had all changed and became normal for Tamara and herself to have conversations in this sort of situation. Well Tamara had become more and more like her younger sister recently. And there was a white curtain separating them.
“Yeah. It’s important” Tamara says, moving to lean against the sink. She pauses for a second, this was usual for them, she’d just come in to brush his teeth. Why was Casey questioning this now? Tamara shrugs to himself before continuing to speak.
“Hypothetically if a boy you're dating keeps using phrases like ‘come if you want’ or ‘it’s up to you’ is that a red flag?” she explained. Instantly Lucy knew exactly what he was talking about.
Lucy had suspected Tamara was seeing a boy, but it wasn’t serious enough for ehr to mention it, and Lucy didn't want to push it. She tried to give the girl as much space as she could, with her past she knew Tamara appreciated that Lucy never pushed or nagged her.
“Is it in situations that this hypothetical boy wouldn’t know if you would like them or not and he's trying to be respectful and not push you?” Lucy questions
Tamara huffs as she thinks for a second. “I guess some of it might be that. I mean he doesnt know me that well to know if i'd like sushi or not… But shouldn't he say something like ‘I want you to come. But it’s ok if you don't like sushi and don't want to’?”
“I mean yes that would be the ideal way for a man to say something but you're old enough to know it's never that simple with men-'' Lucy begins to explain but Tamara is cutting ehr off.
“Oh god he's messaging me already.” She panics “Are you coming or not?” Tamara Reads the text out loud. “What’s that supposed to mean? Is he demanding my presence? Annoyed, I haven't made a choice in the past 5 minutes. How does he even know if I've read them or not? That's pushy right? Messaging already?” Tamara rambles off, clearly panicking.
“Hey ok take a breath. Maybe he's just excited that he might get to see you and wants you to confirm so he’s not disappointed himself.” Lucy tries to help.
“Look I don't know who this guy is Tam, but let's take a step back and reassess the situation. Is he happy to see you when you're with him?”
“Yeah” Tamara replies with a nod Lucy can't see.
“Ok that’s good. Does he invite you to things before you even knew about them?” Lucy is trying to assess the situation.
“He invited me to a sushi restaurant with his friends tonight but ‘only if i want to’” Tamara mimics a guy's voice.
“Ok yes but did you know about him going out before he invited you? Do you think he only invited you because you found out, or because he wants you there?”
Tamara seems to pause and think for a second. “I didn’t know about it. He asked me”
“Ok that's good. So it means he wants you there else he wouldn't have mentioned it at all right? Why tell you about something if he doesn't want you to know” Lucy says more of a statement.
Tamara seems to think again for another moment. “Tim, what do you think? Is he genuine? Would you tell Lucy you want ehr there or only if she wants to?”
Lucy spins to face the man behind her in the shower, shock on her face.
“I- I would ask her if she wanted to go. I would never want to put her into a situation she isn't completely comfortable with just because I want ehr there. I'd be worried she would say yes just to please me. So I would give her the choice… Am I in trouble?” Tim adds to the end but directs the last words to Lucy.
“No youtube not. That's actually really sweet” Lucy says with a soft smile.
Lucy pokes her head around the curtain, looking at Tamara with nothing but shock. “You knew he was in here the whole time?”
“Yeah” She says back like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Thanks Tim, that perspective actually really helped. I think i'm going to go.” Tamara says happily, then turns on her heels as she is typing on her phone.
It is till the door clicks closed behind ehr that Lucy turns to look at Tim, mouth agape. He’s biting back a smile. It doesn't take long for the chuckles to escape. Lcuy can’t help but laugh too. “I can’t believe that just happened,” She says, as he pulls her back into his arms. “How did he even know I was in here?” She smirks. “Maybe we haven't been as subtle as we thought we were being”.
She gently kisses him “I guess we haven't” She chuckles again, the whole situation was funny to her. “I wonder how many people already know about us,” She says thinking. “Most of them have a suspicion I think. But the fact you live with tamara and try to sneak me in and out probably gave it away to her a lot sooner.”
“ I wonder why she didn't say anything, '' Lucy wonders.
“You respect her privacy and not ask about the boy she is messaging. So she respects yours”
“How do you know I knew about the boy?” Lucy is shocked.
“Your basic little sister tells you about a boy and you don't jump into a million questions? You know about him. I bet you even know his anime?”
“Jacob” Lucy mumbles.
“See i know you” Tim smirks and pinches her hip lightly as he slides his hands over her wet skin.
“Too well” She smiles, wrapping her arms around him. Leaning in for a gentle kiss.
“I need to talk to her about just barging in like that now you're here” Lcuy says.
“It’s ok, it is her house after all. We will just have to learn to check if the door is locked. Don’t want her walking in on something she really doesn't want to see” He smiles, as he reaches to squeeze her ass.
Lucy yelps and giggles as his hands start to move further. But then she pulls back from him “go lock the door first”.