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“Thanks for picking me up,” Emily said as she slid into the backseat of the tiny Renault Clio, carefully balancing a large rectangular dish covered in tinfoil. “There was no way I was going to make it to dinner even remotely on time otherwise.”
“No problem,” Gordy replied, flicking on his turn light and checking his side mirror while Dhawan flipped the front passenger seat back into place and sat back down. “Rough shift?”
“You don’t want to know,” Emily said, and sighed. “I am so done with this rotation.”
The clunk of the car door closing punctuated her statement. Gordy made a sympathetic noise and pulled the car out into the street.
Dhawan stayed silent, unsure what he could contribute to the conversation, stunted as it was. Gordy had been positively vibrating with energy all afternoon, and while they were getting ready to go, it had been impossible to shut him up. But from the moment they’d received Emily’s text asking if they could swing by the hospital to pick her up on their way to Kate’s, the blonde had been unusually quiet.
A rustle of tinfoil finally provided Dhawan with an opening. “Is that the tiramisu for dessert then?” he asked amiably, turning his head a little to glance back at Emily.
“Yep,” she answered with a small smile. “Honestly, it’s a miracle it survived being in the staff fridge all afternoon,” she added, rolling her eyes. “I had to threaten several people with serious bodily harm.”
“I’m glad you managed to fend them off,” Dhawan said, trying for a semi-serious tone. He could believe her threats would have been effective. He liked Gordy’s sister, but she’d definitely inherited their mother’s scary glare. “I’m looking forward to trying it,” he added, grasping for something else to say. “Gordy said you’re really good with desserts.”
“It’s not my usual recipe, so no promises,” Emily said with a slight grimace, looking absently out the window. “We’ll see how the coconut cream holds up.”
Dhawan bit his lip, unsure what to say to that. The coconut cream was meant to accommodate Osgood’s dairy sensitivity, he knew; Emily didn’t seem thrilled.
Silence fell again, and stretched as Gordy threaded his way through the early evening traffic.
“Gordy?” Emily asked suddenly, her casual tone sounding forced to Dhawan’s ear.
“Yeah?” Gordy’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, tension evident in the set of his jaw.
There was a tiny pause, then— “What’s the deal with Mum and Osgood?” Emily asked.
And there it was.
“Deal? What do you mean?” Gordy deflected, shooting a side glance at Dhawan as if in a silent plea for help. Dhawan winced; there was no way Gordy’s clumsy attempt at sounding innocent was going to fly.
Predictably, a huff came from the backseat. “Oh come on, I’m not an idiot,” Emily snapped, her tone rising in offense. “I can tell there’s something going on between them, considering what went down last time. The Total Eclipse thing? Hello?”
Dhawan held his breath. Gordy had only told him about what had happened that evening on Wednesday, after breaking the news from the brunch. He’d been impressed that Gordy had kept that to himself for over two weeks; the way he had told it, it sounded like that evening had been quite something. Dhawan kind of wished he had been a fly on the wall for that one.
“Em—” Gordy started in a placating tone, but his sister was clearly not in the mood.
“No, don’t you ‘Em’ me,” Emily replied hotly. “I didn’t buy your story about them having work drama at the time, and I’d appreciate it if you could just tell me what you know for once. I just want to know what I’m walking into,” she added, her tone quieting. “I don’t feel like that’s so unreasonable.”
“Yeah, well,” Gordy shot back, “I can’t just—”
He broke off and slammed the brakes, swearing under his breath as he narrowly avoided colliding with another vehicle that had suddenly pulled in front of them.
“Jesus, Gord,” Emily huffed.
Dhawan saw his boyfriend’s expression darken an instant before Gordy opened his mouth to respond. “Babe, pull over,” he said quietly, putting a hand on Gordy’s shoulder.
Frowning, Gordy shot him an offended look, but Dhawan cut him off before he could protest. “I’m going to drive so you can talk to your sister,” he said firmly, silently offering a prayer of thanks to Emily for not piling on. Gordy was a safe enough driver when he was focusing all of his attention on the road, but this was clearly not one of those times.
Gordy looked like he was going to snap back, then blinked. “Fine,” he relented, pulling over to the curb a few hundred metres further, yanking the gear shift a bit angrily as he put the vehicle in park. Wordlessly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car, radiating tension as he slammed the door shut.
Dhawan grimaced and stepped out too, closing his own door more gently. As Gordy was about to pass him on his way to the passenger side, Dhawan put out an arm to stop him. “You should sit in the back with her,” he said quietly to his agitated boyfriend. “Have a proper conversation.”
“But what am I supposed to tell her?” Gordy asked urgently, sneaking a glance toward the car. “Mum wanted to tell her in person—”
“With all due respect to your mum, I don’t think she realised how much Emily’s already cottoned on to what’s been happening,” Dhawan pointed out. “I don’t see how trying to keep her in the dark is going to do any good. If she walks in there like this, you know they’re both just going to end up exploding at each other.”
Gordy grimaced. “Yeah,” he said, and let out a heavy sigh. “I just don’t want Mum to think I couldn’t keep my mouth shut,” he added a bit despondently.
Dhawan gave his boyfriend a sympathetic look and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I shall bear witness to your valiant attempt at keeping her secrets,” he said with comedic formality, then pushed up on his toes to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Come on, you know it’s the right thing to do,” he added, staying close and seeking out the blonde’s gaze.
“Yeah, I know,” Gordy conceded, leaning in to rest his forehead against Dhawan’s. He let out a breath. “Okay,” he said, straightening. “I can do this.”
“Yes you can,” Dhawan said, giving Gordy’s arm an encouraging squeeze, then stepped away to let the blonde continue to the passenger side. “And hey, at least you’ve only got the one sister,” he added, chancing a teasing tone as he made his way to the driver's side.
Gordy rolled his eyes and broke into a rueful smile. “Yeah, I don’t know how you survived to adulthood with four,” he said in a low voice.
“My winning smile and charming personality?” Dhawan quipped, pausing with his hand on the door handle.
To his surprise, a tender look passed over Gordy’s face. “Sounds about right,” he said softly, and he was smiling as he opened the car door, flipping the front seat forward to squeeze his lanky frame into the backseat next to Emily.
As Dhawan adjusted the driver’s seat and rearview mirror to suit his shorter stature, moments later, he snuck a peek at Gordy and Emily, who had started talking in hushed tones. Gordy seemed more relaxed now, his expression open and earnest; Emily listening intently, mixed emotions on her face, but calm.
Dhawan blew out a quiet breath as he pulled into the street. Crisis averted, for now?