Firefly

Four

We walked out the door, down the driveway and across the street. Sure enough Lukas was still outside my house. He got out but before he could say anything Joel stepped in front of me. "Can I help you?" He asked. Lukas smiled and shut the car door, walking over to Joel with his hand held out. "Hey, I'm Lukas, friend of yn." Joel just looked at his hand then back at him. Lukas nodded and dropped his hand. "I just wanted to make sure we were still on tomorrow night."

"She can't go. She's babysitting for me until late," Joel told him. "No problem. We can wait until after you get home. We made plans for her to come over for the weekend anyway. " What a lying piece of shit. "I've seen you sitting out since I got home. And I know she didn't make plans with you." Joel looked at me and nodded towards the house. "Go get your stuff. I'll wait out here." I looked between the two men then headed inside to get my stuff. When I came back out Lukas was gone.

"I see you scared him off," I said. Joel nodded his head. "Something like that. You ready?" He asked. I locked the door behind me and we walked back over to his house. "Guest room is all yours," Joel said, locking the door behind us as we took our shoes off. We headed upstairs to our respectable rooms and went to bed. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

Friday 7:10 AM
September 26, 2003

I was up early so I decided to get in the shower real quick. Just as I was getting out I heard Sarah pounding on Joel's bedroom door out in the hall. "Alarm. Alarm!" I chuckled and heard her pass by the bathroom door. "Fuck." I scolded myself when I realized I forgot to grab clothes. When I opened the bathroom door I ran into a hard body. "Shit! Shit, I'm sorry!"

Great, yn, you're in a towel in front of Joel

I clutched the towel to my chest and looked up at him. He was looking up at the ceiling. "I forgot my clothes. I'm so sorry!" He shook his head, "nope. It's fine, sweetheart." That just shot straight to my core. Keep it together! I squeezed by him and ran across the hall to the guest room.  Both doors closed at the same time. When I was done getting dressed I headed downstairs.

Sarah was at the stove cooking eggs when I walked into the kitchen. She turned and looked at me confused. "Did you stay the night?" She asked. I nodded my head. "Yup. You're dad said I could stay with you guys until Nonna gets back." She smiled, "awesome!" We heard footsteps and Sarah turned around. "Where’s the pancake mix?" She asked.

Joel stopped and looked at me while I filled a mug with coffee. "Oh, was I…Yeah, I was. Sorry. Hey, yn," he said. "I was gonna make you birthday pancakes," Sarah said. Joel walked into the kitchen and I handed him the mug before going back over to help Sarah plate the food. "You know I don’t really like pancakes," Joel told her, leaning back against the counter. "I know you don’t like them. It was for my benefit." She went over to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice, pouring it in a cup and mixing a powder in with it.

I walked over and set the players on the table. "Vitamin C," Sarah said, handing the glass. He looked at me and shrugged. He sighed and took a sip of it scrunched up his face. "You get your, uh, homework done? Fractions?" Joel asked Sarah, picking up his coffee. We sat at the table, Sarah chuckling. "How old are you again?" She asked. "Thirty-six." Yeah, and still looked fucking good as fuck.

Oh, my god! Focus!

"Gonna have to wear diapers soon," Sarah said. I laughed along with her. Joel smirked, looking at her, "Who says I don’t already?" He asked. I picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite. "God, I dread getting old." Joel playfully glared at me. "I am not old." He picked something out of his mouth and looked at Sarah. "Shell," he said. She smiled, "Calcium," she said. "Need all you can get old man," I said, making Sarah giggle. "Lovely."

Tommy came in through the garage and went straight to the stove. "I thought we were having pancakes," he said. Me and Sarah looked at Joel and he rolled his eyes playfully. "The old man forgot to buy the pancake mix," I said. Tommy turned and shook his head then got into the fridge to look for something. Him and Joel bickering for a little then Joel said, "I work a double today."

"Seriously? Today of all days?" Sarah said. "I know. But I'll be done by nine. Right?" He said, looking at Tommy. Tommy nodded, "done by nine." Joel got up and sat his plate and mug in the sink. "That's okay with you, yn? You don't have any plans with friends?" I shook my head and got up. "That's fine. I only have two classes today. I can pick Sarah up and we can order in, maybe actually watch Harry Potter all the way through without falling asleep."

Sarah pointed to herself and I nodded. "I'll pick up a cake too." Joel shook his head, "no. I'll get the cake, don't worry about that." I looked at the clock on the microwave, "shit. I've got to go or I'm going to be late for my class. I'll see you later," I said pointing at Sarah. "Happy Birthday, Mt. Miller!" I called out as I rushed out the door. "Joel! Call me Joel!"

Joel

"Go get your stuff we gotta leave too," I told Sarah and she ran upstairs. Tommy and I went outside to the truck. I started grabbing my tools to throw in the bed of the truck. "She spent the night?" I looked up at Tommy. "What?" I asked. "Yn. She spent the night?" He asked. "Yeah. Clara is gone for the weekend and there is some guy who won't leave her alone." I took some of the tools to the truck. "He sat outside her house from the time she got home with Sarah until about ten."

I walked back into the garage and yelled for Sarah. "Sarah, come on!" I looked over at Tommy to see him giving me a look. "What? Jesus, I offered her to stay until Clara gets back. Not the first time she's stayed here," I told him. "Call me Joel," he mocked. "Yeah, so?" He smirked. "She's pretty." I gave him a look, "don't fucking start. She's nineteen." He held up his hands, "Hey, Clara would approve," he said and walked to the truck.