Your Beauty Never, Ever Scared Me - Wintumn Stories

Dinner and A Show

Everything Autumn knew about the last 20 years had been a lie. She could have spent those years with her brother, her best friend, by her side. She couldn't get those years back but tonight was going to be a new start. Dinner and a show with Reece. She would never admit to anyone other than Winter how excited he was.

She was finishing up her makeup when Winter came in and sat on the bed watching her through the mirror.

"Every time I think you can't get more ravishing you prove me wrong."

He moved from the bed to wrap his arms around her shoulders, kissing her on the top of the head.

"I'm so glad you are doing this, my love. It's wonderful to see you and your brother getting along like this."

Autumn turned to face Winter having finished her face, giving him a quick peck on the lips to avoid ruining her lipstick.

"I'm glad too, my sweet. I might be out pretty late after the show, I'll do my best not to wake you when I get home."

"No, please wake me. I want to hear all about it while it's fresh in your mind. I know how important this is to you."

"Thank you Winter. I love you."

"I love you too, darling."

She got a text from Reece that he was leaving his house and he would meet her at the restaurant. Autumn headed out to her car and set off on her drive.

Reece used to take her to dinner and a show all the time. She had always had a great appreciation for the theater. From a young age she was mystified by how they could create such great effects without the need for technology. She loved movies as well but there was something special about seeing things come to life before your eyes.

When she was very young she used to participate in school plays to keep herself out of the house and, much like with dressing up on Halloween, used that time to completely disappear into a character. Into someone else's life.

Reece was the only other person who ever truly understood what she was going through. He lived through it all with her. When she lost him, she started to lose herself. She didn't have anyone to vent her feelings to because they just wouldn't get it. She might overreact at a loud noise or flinch away from a touch and her friends would laugh at her. She would freeze or panic in big crowds and they would leave her standing there. She had to learn to push these feelings down so she could get through the days without feeling worse about herself.

She quit acting because she could no longer healthily get in touch with any strong emotion for fear of going too deep and not being able to find her way back out. She channeled all her feelings into wrestling instead, but that didn't heal her the way theater used to, it just made her more angry.

She parked at the restaurant and walked up to the front door to see Reece waiting for her.

"Hey Aut."

"Big brother."

"Well, shall we."

They made their way inside and were shown to a table. They sat in silence for a long time, at first only speaking to order their food and drinks. Neither one wanted to be the first to say anything. It had been so long and apologies had already been exchanged. They didn't know where to go from there.

"So Aut. Wanna tell me more about this boyfriend of yours? Or should I trust the words of a seventeen year old to tell me all I need to know?"

"Well," Autumn responded, "that depends on what Carly told you."

"She said he's a good guy, he's absolutely besotted with you, and that he was a drunken Halloween hookup. Now, Aut, I thought you had a rule about getting too attached to those?"

He didn't find his joke nearly as funny after Autumn delivered him a sharp kick to the shin under the table.

"Jesus, Aut it was just a joke. Come on? I'm just...I'm worried about you okay. I know nothing about this guy. I just want to know you are okay."

Autumn knew why he was asking these questions. Reece had always been her protector. He'd watched her get her heart broken more times than she could count, always showing up to help put the pieces back together. He had always put her feelings before his own, but he didn't need to do that anymore. She had Winter now and Autumn knew her heart was safe with him.

"Reece. I'm fine, alright. He's a great man." She looked him straight in the eyes as she continued. "We are both taking this relationship incredibly seriously. I trust him more than anyone else in the world. What more do you need to know?"

And just like that all the awkwardness was gone. The siblings sat at the restaurant for the next hour talking. It felt like they were kids again. He would crack a poorly timed joke, she would kick him under the table. Reece asked questions about Winter, and Autumn kept finding ways to bring Marjorie into the conversation. She saw the way her brother looked at her and knew it was only a matter of time before they were together. The siblings obviously had a lot more healing to do, but it was a good start.

That night they saw The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh. She was impressed that Reece took the time to find a show that had combined her dark sense of humor and love for effects. As they went to leave Reece asked her one more thing.

"So are you ever going to let me meet this guy? If you're so serious, I feel like I need to give my approval."

She kicked him again.

"REALLY AUT. That's like the tenth time in the last hour."

"Stop being an arse and I'll stop kicking you."

"Fine. But really I want to know who is making you this happy. It's been so long since I've seen you like this."

"I'm sure we can figure something out. I know you'll love him as much as I do."

"Love, huh?" Reece was surprised to hear his sister use such strong language about anyone. He tried to hide his happiness for her as he knew she wouldn't want that strong of a reaction out of him. "Well, better make it soon than. I'll tell Marjorie he's going to cover my nursery next week. Night sis."

He was gone before Autumn could respond.