A Burning Thing {Avi Kaplan fanfic}

-2-

It wasn't a complicated video shoot but the unpredictability of working with fire and smoke – and the awkwardness of filming us standing in a circle without accidentally getting crew members in the shot – meant that it took several hours before everyone was finally satisfied.

The end of a shoot always seems to entail hooting, hollering and high-fives – and, when you're performing with Home Free, a few beers. I had just cracked mine open when I heard Austin ask about his sister. It seemed nobody had seen her in a little while, but her truck hadn't moved. Austin was trying to be cool but looked slightly panicked, so we spread out to look, calling her name.

I was walking circles around the vehicles when I noticed a pale blob on the open tailgate of Ellie's truck. I lifted a blanket to find that the blob was actually a wave of reddish blonde hair, and under the blanket she was sleeping peacefully. I stood frozen for a moment, taking in her pale skin and sprinkling of freckles, rosy pink cheeks and pout, and thick eyelashes. Austin wasn't exaggerating … she was one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen. I figured she was 20 or so, but it was hard to tell since she definitely didn't share her brother's height.

"Ellie?" I said softly, laying my hand on her shoulder and jostling her lightly. "Ellie, it's time to wake up."

It took a bit more persuasion until she sat up groggily, confused by the strange location and the unexpected face looking down at her from under a cowboy hat.

"Avi?"

Whump. At hearing my name on her tongue, a lump formed in my chest, as though a balloon had suddenly inflated. "Yes," I croaked, then cleared my throat. "Everyone is looking for you; you kind of disappeared on us."

I shouted to the others and they were soon clustered around the back of her truck. Ellie was fully awake now, her short but shapely legs swinging over the edge in cut-off jeans and cowboy boots.

"Sorry for giving you a scare, guys, but that was a perfect lullaby," she said with a smile. She caught Austin’s glower and looked down, abashed. "I promise I'm not quite foolish enough to wander into the woods in the middle of the night."

Austin hugged her hard. "You'd better not be. Mom's going to be mad enough that we kept you out here this late, I don't think she'd ever forgive me if I lost you."

Since we were all staying with the Brown family we had ridden in Austin's SUV over to the set – which was actually the farm of a family friend – but Austin was worried about Ellie driving home alone.

"Matt, seriously, it's, like, five minutes down the road," she protested.

"Not a chance, Bits, you're not driving alone when you're still half asleep."

"How about Avi rides with her," Chris piped up with a mischievous look in my direction. "We're pretty squashed in your truck anyways."

"You don't mind?" Ellie asked, looking up at me in a way that made me feel like I'd just added three inches to both my height and my biceps.

"Sure, if it's okay with everyone."

"Thanks man, I really appreciate it," Austin said, thumping me on the shoulder. He clearly didn't see me as a threat the way he did Tim. Maybe her soft spot doesn't extend to ALL basses, I thought.

We hopped into her truck, and she reversed out of the clearing into the darkness, swinging around with a speed that made my stomach lurch. She laughed as I gripped the handle above the window. "Don’t worry, cowboy, I know my way around this road."

I smiled, hoping I looked convinced. I found myself distracted by her tiny shorts and bare legs as I searched for something to talk about. "Austin didn't tell us you were coming, do you live near here?"

"No – I'm going to UCLA but I had a break before exams so I thought I'd come home and surprise him. He's been on tour so much that I've hardly seen him in the past six months."

"I guess you guys are pretty close?"

"Yeah we are. He's five years older than me but we've always been pretty tight. It was great when he was in LA for the show but now we have to grab opportunities to see each other whenever we can," she said with a sad smile. "He's talking about moving to Nashville, which is great for him, but I was really hoping he'd choose LA instead."

"Did you drive all the way out here this week?" I asked, admiring the interior of her old truck. It looked fairly well restored (right down to a pristine coat of dark purple paint) but must have been at least 40 years old.

"You mean in old Lucy here?" she grinned, giving the dashboard a loving pat. "No, I'm not sure she'd make it from Georgia to Los Angeles. She lives on the farm so I have to fly out to visit."

It was a short drive back to her family's farm, and even though our conversation had been completely innocent, I found myself blushing when Austin asked how the drive went.

"I had to drive like a bat out of hell to catch up after we pulled over at make-out point," Ellie said.

My jaw dropped and everyone bust a gut laughing. Everyone but Austin, that is, who looked as though he was seeing me clearly for the first time.

"You making moves on my sister, bass man?" he snapped, half kidding (I hoped).

"Oh leave him alone Mattie, he was a perfect gentleman," Ellie said. "I just like to rile you up when you get all Big Brother on me, big brother."

She hugged him and he smiled at her, but he gave me a look that had ‘warning’ written all over it.

It was almost 4 a.m. as we all crept into our respective beds, trying not to wake Austin's parents. I was bunking with Tim and Chris in the basement rec room, me on a camp cot and the two of them on a pull-out sofa.

"Welcome to my world," Tim grinned at me as Chris laughed again at my and Austin's reactions to Ellie's joke.

I chuckled and shrugged it off, but as I lay in the darkness I wondered if Austin had noticed me looking at his sister during the filming. It's possible I may not have been as subtle as I thought. And if he'd noticed, had she?

~~~~~