Chapter Text
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man raising his teenaged sister must be in want of some peace and quiet.
Gigi understands this, and when she is feeling generous, she keeps her volume levels reasonable at home. She knows that her brother works hard and is doing everything he can to keep the fragile pieces of their broken family unit together, and so she tries not to chafe under his sometimes-tyrannical rule.
But there is only so much a nineteen-going-on-twenty-year-old can take. When he tells her that she isn’t allowed to pursue swimming and tennis at the same time because she has to keep her grades up, she snaps.
“I’m an adult, William, let me make my own stupid decisions!”
“If you know it’s a stupid decision, then why do you want to make it?”
He is infuriatingly calm. His facial expression barely changes; there’s just a slight tick in his left eyebrow. It’s that calm, that complete lack of emotion, the look in his eyes like Georgiana, if you’re going to act like a toddler, then I am going to treat you like one, that makes her lose her mind.
“This isn’t working. It’s completely ridiculous that I’m still living at home with my brother like a child. I can’t take it anymore! You’re always there, lurking, watching me, waiting for me to do something stupid so you can say you told me so!”
She doesn’t know what it is about these pseudo-conflicts that makes her talk in run-on sentences and exclamatory phrases, but she can’t seem to help herself. Maybe it is because when she’s yelling, when she’s making herself as big and tough and unreasonable as she possibly can, he deigns to give her some kind of a reaction. It is never enough, though. So she keeps pushing.
“What would you like me to do, Gigi?” She’s getting to him, working her way under his skin like an irritant. He’s talking down to her, and the tiniest hint of a sneer colors his voice.
“Leave me alone for starters!” She could easily end this. She could stomp away and slam her door and blast Florence and the Machine so loudly that her windows rattle, but she doesn’t move from her spot.
“I live here, too,” he retorts. “I leave you alone while I am at work. You eat most of your meals on campus or in your room. I don’t ever come into your room, even though you feel no compunction about invading my space.”
She’s pushed the right button, and she gets a savage joy out of watching him build up steam. His eyebrows furrow together and she drives the knife home.
“I’m moving out. It’s already decided. I submitted my student housing application for next semester yesterday.”
Boom. He explodes.
“That’s out of the question. I know what college dormitories are like, and I know you, and that’s out of the question!”
She wants to slap that superior look off his face. Oh, he’s irate now, and she loves it, and so she just shouts the first thing that comes to mind.
“You’re out of the question!”
They stare at each other for a long moment, and then the corners of his lips twitch with the barest hint of a smile.
She fights to hold onto her rage, but that tiny crack kills her, and she lets out a squeak that morphs into a giggle. His eyes crinkle up and then they’re both laughing, her high titter mixing with the bass chuckle that is the closest William gets to a belly laugh.
“Stop laughing!” she commands, even as her body shakes. He laughs harder.
“You started it.”
“Did not!”
“Did too.”
“William, I was trying to have an actual conversation about something important!”
That pulls him up short. While the good humor still lingers in his eyes, he is once again calm. Serene. The placid, ever-so-slightly judgmental surface of a deep, still lake.
“Really? Because it appeared to me that you were trying to pick a fight.”
Touché.
She sighs and drops bodily into an armchair. “Well, that too.”
“What is this really about?”
He sits as well, much more carefully than she does, and now he’s all business. Chief Executive Big Brother. She hates that he thinks he can just waltz in and save her or fix whatever problem she has. She especially hates that he usually succeeds.
“This is about me being an adult and you letting go of the apron strings. I really do want to move out. I want my own place. If you won’t let me go to the dorms, then maybe we could find an acceptable alternative? I just…”
He frowns. It’s his problem-solving face, but there is hurt there, too. They have been living in a life raft together for so long that the idea that she may want to swim to shore stings.
“Come on, William, you don’t want me to live here forever.” She looks around, noting the one thousand tiny messes she has made within their perfectly arranged and organized living space. Their mother used to call her Hurricane Gigi, and it was an apt nickname. He follows her gaze, and as if he senses what she’s thinking, he shakes his head vigorously.
“I wouldn’t mind.”
She levels a disbelieving stare at him. “Really? When was the last time you brought a girl home? Because I’m pretty sure it was never. Having your little sister around all the time has got to cramp your style.”
He cracks another almost-smile at that.
“What?” She sniffs defensively. “I know that you’ve kept the girls away for a reason, but it’s stupid. We’re both adults. And for God’s sake, if you don’t want to get laid, think of me!”
He winces, and she almost admits that she is still a virgin and he shouldn’t worry since she doesn’t have friends anyway but she doesn’t because it is none of his business. Finally, he shrugs and glances out the window, obviously deciding it is safer to avoid the subject at hand. He deflects instead.
“I’m trying to imagine the parade of casual lovers that you think I’m hiding from you.”
“Whatever, dork. The Nile is not just a river in Egypt.” She shoots him a pointed look. “Can we talk about me moving out? I know things are busy at work, but I want a place near campus for the spring. Please?”
There are very few weapons in her arsenal that hold any sway with her older brother, but she does have The Pout. It has never failed her, and so she uses it sparingly, in times of great need. William has been falling for it for her entire life, and it doesn’t disappoint her this time.
“This is important to you, isn’t it?”
She nods, smiling hopefully.
“Okay. We will discuss it. Just discuss, Georgiana, I am not promising anything.”
But there is a note of resignation in his voice, and she knows that she’s won. She hugs him, hanging on longer than she has in a while, and he holds her tightly, rocking her the way their father used to when she was small.
She tries to savor the victory, but a tiny part of her feels like she’s lost something precious.