I'll Be There

11 | all i want is you

When Saturday came around, Olivia rose with the sun. Today was one of the few days of the year where she let her regular 6am wake up time slide.

Rolling over to grab her phone, she knew what awaited her. At 7:30am, there were already four missed FaceTimes from Jordan on her lock screen. Even at 26, he still didn't seem to understand how time zones worked.

Before he had a chance to try again, she called him back. It was tradition for them to be the first ones to wish each other happy birthday. The only person who beat her to it these days was Simone.

"Good morning sunshine," Jordan's voice boomed through the speaker. Coming into view, his smile took up most of her screen as he held the phone a little too close to his face.

"Good morning," she replied groggily. Even though she wasn't quite at his level, she couldn't help but smile back at her brother. Regardless of how annoying he could be at times, this was their day. Always would be.

"Happy birthday, Liv," he said, his volume returning to a normal level, "how's your morning going?"

"Happy birthday, dummy," she laughed, "it's 7:35am, all I've done is roll over."

"Well, that's a good start."

"And how about yours?" she asked, figuring she'd return the interest.

"Simone made Jordan cakes," he smirked.

"Happy Birthday, babe!" Simone called from her spot on the couch. "I'll call you later," she said when Jordan turned the camera on her, "at a more reasonable time."

"Thank you, love!"

"So any big plans for the special day? Besides lunch with our parents." Jordan flipped the camera back to himself.

"Not really." She kept her tone casual, but her eyes darted around the room as if there was something she was looking for.

"Hm, you sure?" he pressed.

"Yea, I'm sure," she countered, widening her eyes at him as she held her ground.

"I feel like," he paused to sigh dramatically, "you're leaving something out."

"Well if you already know, then why are you grilling me," she rolled her eyes.

"Because I want to hear it from you," he smiled at her.

Not so quick to humor him, she engaged in the staring match until she finally gave in. "Fine, I may be having dinner with Spencer."

"And why did I have to find out from him first? Over my own twin sister."

"Enough with the theatrics, Baker," she feigned annoyance. But secretly, she loved how invested her brother was in her life. After years of being neglected, it felt good to be a priority. "You asked if I had any big plans. It's just dinner. You eat it every night. No biggie."

"Well I'm proud of you for working things out with him," Jordan said, the sincerity coming through in his voice.

"Yea, yea," she replied, but she couldn't hold back her smile.

"And Justin. Poor dude. He did seem nice though."

"Yeaaaa," she dragged out.

"Alright, I'm going to let you go and get your day started," he grinned, "love you, Liv."

"Love you, Jordan."

____________

"How are you doing, sweetie?" Laura asked as she dipped her bread into to the olive oil at the center of the table.