Stay The Night (Chaelisa)

Chapter 28

The shock of seeing her brother after so long, standing in her own apartment, stupefies Roseanne for a moment. He just grins at her, with that insufferable and boyish looking smile he has, until she finally shakes out of it.

“V, what the hell?” Roseanne exclaims as she detaches from Lisa to pace toward him. “How did you get in here?”

V laughs, opens his arms up to hug her. “Stan likes me,” he says.

It feels good to step into V’s embrace. He stands just taller than her and his arms feel warm and solid as he pulls her in. When they finally let go of each other, Roseanne leans back to really look at him.

“And what is this?” Roseanne tugs playfully at his beard, laughing as he does. It’s scruffy, wiry, and far away from the occasional Sunday evening stubble she’s seen him with on occasion.

“Don’t you like it?” He puffs his chest up a bit, chin lifting as he asks it. “I think it looks distinguished.”

“It looks unkempt,” Roseanne corrects, giving him a look that makes him laugh.

He shrugs, unaffected as always by her disapproval, and his eyes dart over her shoulder, grin only widening at what he sees.

When Roseanne registers what – or who – that is, she goes a little cold again, unable to fight the wave of anxiety. But she backs up a bit, and Lisa must step forward, because they bump into each other lightly, Lisa’s palm steadying Roseanne by the small of her back.

“Lisa Mackenzie,” V greets, voice full of delight and jest.

“Mr. Patterson,” Lisa returns, sounding some mixture of overly official and amused. When she turns to look at Lisa there’s a hint of a smile on her lips.

“So formal,” V teases, eyes wagging up and down when he looks at Roseanne. She feels her heartrate start to kick off against her will as V continues to just look at the two of them. Lisa’s hand on her back is feeling all too hot as the seconds tick by.

“Good to see you back in town,” Lisa says politely, as though V hasn’t just caught them climbing each other in Roseanne’s entryway. V’s eyes narrow just the slightest, a critical look taking hold for a moment, though his smile never falters.

“So, this is really a thing,” V says, gesturing between the two of them with the hand still holding his tumbler of whiskey. It’s not a question really, more like a statement, and though Roseanne knows it to be true, her cheeks flush. “A thing thing.”

On instinct, she deflects with a casual, “What are you talking about?”

V laughs and though Roseanne doesn’t look up at her, she can hear Lisa laugh softly as well. Traitor.

She knows it’s ridiculous. They’d been steps away from tearing each other’s clothes off just seconds ago, but still.

“You and the Superstar,” he clarifies kindly, a look of pure delight in his eyes as he looks between them. “I’d heard all the fun rumors, but seeing it in the flesh is certainly illuminating.”

“V,” Roseanne says quietly, suddenly full of insecurity. The very real prospect of being outed – even if just to her brother – is twisting in her gut in a way she’d not felt when they’d just been out in the hallway.

But her brother waves off her wariness in that easy way he has, his expression open and casual. “I think it’s great,” he says, smiling at them both. “I mean, I’d suspected as much before with all the pictures.”

“The pictures?” Roseanne asks, arching a brow.

V laughs. “You’re not as sneaky as you think, Sis. The Internet’s sharks have been circling you two for a few months now,” he tells them, wagging his finger as if to scold a small child. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to bill you for what it cost to keep some of those shots out of the public eye.”