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“Just pick something, it can’t be that hard.”
Natalie rolled her eyes, chucking another sweater at her bed. (It wasn’t the right shade of blue, okay?) She ignored the huff of indignation that came from her good-for-nothing brother, who was lounging on her bed and scrolling on his phone when he promised he would help her choose an outfit for her first date.
Date.
She was going on a date. A date with a guy named Henry, who was perfectly sweet and lovely and everything she could want in a guy.
Just thinking about it made her feel panicky again, and Gabe had already talked her through one panic attack. She couldn’t afford another one, especially not right after he had helped her do her eyeliner in the way that she was always jealous of because of course her stupid brother could effortlessly do winged eyeliner when she could never get them even. Sure, universe, why not?
Something in the air must have shifted, or maybe her brother was actually psychic like their mom claimed, because he suddenly dropped his phone and walked over to where she was standing at her mirror, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“Breathe, Sunshine.”
She did, obviously, and once Gabe was satisfied that she wasn’t going to faint or, even worse, throw up, he spun on his heel and disappeared into her closet.
“What’re you doing?” She asked suspiciously, thanking whatever being out there that her voice didn’t crack embarrassingly. Not that Gabe would care, but still.
“Saving your ass.” He didn’t even glance up as he threw clothes at her in rapid fire, and she scrambled to catch them, which he took as an opportunity to toss another blur of cloth that hit her square on the face.
“Hey!”
“Payback. Now get changed, he’s gonna be here in 15 minutes.” Natalie sometimes really wished her best friend wasn’t her brother, who was smirking at her as he closed the door behind him.
~~~
Gabe may be an idiot-- cocky, too much of a jokester-- but at least he knew Natalie. He shook his head and blew out a breath as he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He could hear their parents watching some film on the television. He picked up the banana he had left behind when Natalie walked in, tentatively, and asked him in a small voice if he could help her.
Now, he munched on his banana and waited for Natalie to come downstairs for one last once over before she left, and if he also happened to be talking to a cute guy then that was absolutely no one’s business.
~~~
“Gabe. Gabe. Gabe. Gabriel. Wake up!”
Gabe groaned, burrowing his head into his pillow. Why does the sun have to be so bright? “Go away, it’s too early.” Natalie, of course, ignored his polite request and continued to bang on his door.
“It’s after 12, you twat. Get up.”
“You can’t call me a twat.” He mumbled, rolling his eyes. His sister had been spending to much time with their mom. He opened the door to a Natalie that had clearly already had at least two cans of energy drinks. She was practically buzzing with energy as she shoved her way into his room. He sighed, exasperated and leaned against the wall as Natalie made herself comfortable on his bed, which was directly opposite the doorway. “Good morning, Sunshine.”
“Henry kissed me yesterday.” She said in a rush, as if she had been holding the words in and they just spilled out of her. Gabe’s nose wrinkled.
“Ew.”
She rolled her eyes. “Shut up. What do I do?”
“Why are you asking me that question? Shouldn’t you be going to Mom about this or something?” He knew the answer to that, obviously. (Hint: No way!) He had also forgotten how scary Natalie could look.
“Be serious!”
“You have your annoying younger sibling bust into your room and talk about her dating life! See how serious you can be.”
“Why do I even try,” Natalie muttered, throwing a pillow at Gabe.
“Fine. Did you like it?” He said, making a gagging noise at the end. She threw another pillow at him. Thank goodness she was running out.
“Maybe.”
“Do you like him?”
“...I think so?”
“Think?” He raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged, avoiding eye contact.
“Fine! Yes.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“How do you know if you’re ready? What if it just crashes and burns?”
Oh.
Gabe scanned his sister’s face. All traces of humour were gone, leaving nothing but anxiety as she continued to avoid looking at him, picking at nonexistent lint on his bedsheets. (He had washed them yesterday, thank you very much.) His eyes softened.
“You don’t.” He said simply. Natalie’s head snapped up. “You can’t predict how life will go. You also can’t waste the time that you have now. So don’t worry so much about how your future will look. You like Henry, right? Live with that feeling for a little bit. See where it takes you.” He paused, weighing his options. “And don’t think you can tell me everything, because I will just run out of the room screaming and then you’ll have to tell Mom because she’ll be asking for an explanation.”
Her eyes narrowed “You wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t,” He agreed easily. “But I am serious. Don’t stress so much. Henry seems like a great guy.”
“He is,” Natalie said, smiling slightly.
“Gross, you get all happy when you think of him. This has been fun and all, but I need to use the toilet. Everything good now?”
“You’re gross.” She said primly, ducking under his arm and out the door before he could get a word out. He shook his head, amused.
“Love you too, Sunshine.”