Tam

The Brother Found Out

"Are we sure this is such a good idea?" Tam asked, crossing his arms and glancing nervously into the living room.

"Trust me, you want to do this in a supervised area," I told him. "And this is the only way to break it to him without you ending up murdered on our floor."

"Yeah, that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks Biana."

I stared at him. "It's times like these when I can't tell if you're joking."

"Oh, I am most certainly joking," he grumbled.

"Are you afraid of my brother?" I teased, knowing he'd deny it.

Tam snorted. "Of Fitz? What could he do to me? Spill all my secrets?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," I agreed. This didn't seem to help.

"Look, you'll be fine," I told him, giving his hand a squeeze. I smiled as his cheeks turned pink.

"Is he even still there?" he asked, peeking into the living room. "He's gone awful quiet. I don't like it."

It was true. Fitz's aggravated pacing seemed to have stopped, and when I looked inside, the room was empty.

"Uh oh," I said.

Tam stared at me. "Uh oh, what?"

I walked into my living room, spotting a piece of paper set on the coffee table. Even from the doorway, Fitz's handwriting jumped out at me.

"Are we sure your brother's not going to pop out from behind the curtains and tackle me?" Tam asked as he edged cautiously into the room behind me, glancing around as he went.

"There are no curtains," I reminded him as I picked up the note, scanning the words.

Tam huffed. "You know what I mean."

I finished the note and stared at it, before turning around and groaning into Tam's chest "Fiiiiiitz."

"That doesn't sound good," Tam noted, looking down at me. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Possibly." I looked up and handed him the slip of paper, his silver eyes sliding over the words, growing more annoyed and anxious by the second.

"You know," he said after a pause. "I'm really considering my faith in your brother, and the level I'm at is currently zero."

"Tam," I said, fidgeting with the corner of the paper. "You don't have to go through with this, you know. If you don't want to, then--"

"Hey." His voice had softened, smiling in that way that reminded me why I had fallen in love with him. "Biana, it's fine. If this is what it takes for you to be with me, I'll do it. Besides," he added, his grin becoming more mischievous. "If he doesn't like it, we could burn our registry pendants and run away."

I laughed. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Just try to stay alive."

"Oh trust me," he said, turning his leaping crystal to the coordinates Fitz had left. "Dying is not on my to-do list today."

***

Leaves crunched under my feet as I stepped out of the beam. The trees around rose up around me, shafts of afternoon sun breaking through the canopy and coloring the ground with golden spots. I looked around, searching for a pair of teal eyes. He was staring at me from across the clearing, his arms crossed and glaring daggers from the tree he was leaning against.

"Hi to you, too," I said, trying not to flinch at how loud my voice sounded. "Is this where you usually interrogate people, or did you just turn to a random facet and hope you didn't end up on the wrong side of a cliff?"

Fitz didn't answer.

I sighed and glanced around again, looking for possible escape routes. I was highly considering taking Biana's offer to back out. "Well? Why am I here?"

"Just what exactly are your intentions with my little sister?" he asked, ignoring my question and still glaring at me like I had committed some crime he had never quite forgotten about.

I threw my hands into the air. "I don't know. Make her happy? I'm not going to murder her in her sleep, if that's what you're referring to--"

"And why would you have access to her while she's sleeping?"

I groaned and tilted my head back. This was not going as well as I'd hoped.

"Look," I said, putting my hands out. "Whatever you brought me here to yell at me about, can you just get it over with?"

"Fine," he said, pushing off the tree and coming towards me. I fought the urge to back away. "I'll get it over with." He got close enough to poke me in the chest, and anger flared through me. "I hope you know what you're doing. You hurt her in any way, and you'll be the one on the wrong side of a cliff."

"Like you could do anything to me," I growled, restrained anger coloring my voice. I glared up at him, his eyes only a couple inches higher than mine.

"I hope I don't have to," Fitz told me, backing up a step. "Look. I honestly believe Biana loves you, and you seem to feel the same way. But after Keefe, she felt kind of hopeless. She doesn't need that again."

"I wouldn't do that," I promised him, tamping down my indignation. "But I'm also not going to stand you threatening me."

Fitz's grin was conspiratorial as he held his leaping crystal to the light, like we shared a joke no one else knew about. "That's the kind of person she needs." His smile softened for a second. "Thank you for making my sister happy, Tam."

I nodded, and he shimmered away.

I let out a breath I shouldn't have been holding and shook my head, taking out my pathfinder.

Too bad he's Biana's brother, I thought as the crystal caught the sunlight. I would've murdered him for touching me.

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BAM SOCKER FOR THE WIN!!!!!!

*rocking back and forth in a corner* Fitz was so out of character. So....out of.....character.....*continues muttering about Fitz* Why.........

AGH!!!! And it was super rushed too........AAGGHH!!!!!