Not Quite Like the Movies (Otis Milburn x OC)

Tell Me More, Tell Me More

Chapter VII

In lieu of staying home alone to protect Adam's Saturday alibi, Abby decided to invite Otis over again. They held hands, ate snacks, and Abby even showed him some of the mashups she'd posted. Needless to say, as of Monday, none of their friends or family are willing to let the "lost weekend" slide.

On Sunday morning, Abby comes downstairs to have breakfast with Nan. "You know, Abby," Nan says. "I really like this young man you've been seeing."

"We're just hanging out," Abby says, grabbing a pan to start making some scrambled eggs and bacon for the both of them.

"Ah," Nan says. "Friends with benefits?"

"I guess," Abby says, starting the stove and heading for the fridge.

"And you're on birth control?"

"We're not having sex. Just hanging out. We like each other. And we're not dating, or seeing each other, or going steady, or whatever."

"Abby," Nan says, amused. "'Going steady' was outdated when I was a teenager."

"Well, we're not doing that," she states firmly.

"Why not? He's clearly quite smitten for you," Nan asks, as Abby begins frying up the bacon.

"Because I don't want drama," Abby says.

"Have you not seen that Justin Timberlake movie," Nan asks. "'Friends with benefits' is textbook drama."

"Not in high school," Abby says. "I mean, it's not like we're going to marry anyone we meet in high school. If anything, everyone should be friends with benefits in high school."

"You know, my parents were high school sweethearts," Nan says with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"No offense, Nan, but wasn't that back when only rich people went to college and before we had a vaccine for polio," Abby asks. "I mean, I imagine it's pretty easy to get married at seventeen when you might keel over at, like, fifty-five."

"Look, people still got divorced in those days," Nan says. "And yet your great-grandparents didn't. Some people have their person, and when you find your person, you find them. There's usually no regards to timing in that department."

"Yeah, considering my parents just remarried for the third time, I'm calling 'bullshit,'" Abby replies, passing Nan a plate of food.

"Well, they're each other's person, in a way," Nan says. "In that as horrible as they are together, it's truly unfair to unleash either of them into the dating pool with decent human beings."

Abby sits down at the dining table across from her grandmother. "Well, I wouldn't get too excited, Nan. We're not going to the prom, much less walking down the aisle."

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"So," Jean asks Otis over breakfast around the same time. "Does this Abby girl have a last name?"

"Hammond," Otis says. "May I be excused?"

"Come on, dear, you can't blame me for being curious," Jean says. "You've been seeing a lot of her."

"She's a new friend," he says.

"I've gathered that. So where is she from in America," Jean asks.

"Los Angeles," Otis says.

"Being here must be so different for her," Jean asks. "How's she getting along?"

"Fine. May I be excused?"

"I just noticed you seemed very...excited lately," Jean says. "Has Abby brought this about?"

"If this is about my sheets," Otis says. "I'm leaving the table."