Dove and Grenade

Matt pulled up to Olive Garden. I sighed, not really in the mood for false-Italian in the first place. But Aron said he let Charlette pick where she wanted to go, and apparently she was a huge fan of the breadsticks here. I wasn't completely opposed, but it wasn't my favorite place to eat.

Matt took my hand and squeezed it gently. I smiled at him and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"I suppose I have to be civil towards my brother, don't I?" I asked.

"It'd probably be best," Matt said. "This is his date."

"I know," I sighed.

Matt shut the car off, and we got out. I saw Aron standing outside with a young woman, holding what looked like a buzzer. A wait- awesome; I hoped it wasn't too long. The young woman stood a couple inches shorter than Aron, and she had flaming red hair. Aron waved to us, and she turned and looked back. She had freckles covering the bridge of her nose, and her eyes were a crystal blue. She smiled, remembering me.

"Kill me, Matthew," I said under my breath.

"Why? Don't you like Charlette?" Matt replied.

"Yes, but I can already tell Aron's going to be an arrogant dickface," I mumbled.

"You'll be fine," laughed Matt.

"I better be getting something out of this," I sighed.

I put a smile on my face and looped my arm through Matt's. He shook his head, grinning to himself. We stopped next to them, and my brother nodded to us.

"Kara, Matt, this is Charlette," he said. "Char, this is my sister Kara and our friend and her boyfriend Matt. They were at Meredith and Dill's wedding, I'm sure you remember."

"Of course," said Charlette. "Nice to see you guys again, for sure."

"It's nice to see you again, too," I replied. "Aron hasn't been too much of a jerk, I hope."

"No, nothing like that," she said. "Quite the opposite, actually. A real gentleman, you could say."

"Oh, could I?" I said.

I lifted an eyebrow at Aron, and he smirked. I rolled my eyes, but I turned back to Charlette with a polite smile on my face. I squeezed Matt's arm, hoping he'd get the message that I was resisting the urge to punch my brother in the face. Cocky fucking bastard, he was.

Matt got the message and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. I relaxed a little, but I hoped Aron wouldn't be this smug over dinner or he'd end up with one of Charlette's favorite breadsticks shoved down his throat. I decided right then that if he should say shit about me or Matt, his ass was going down right here in Olive Garden.

The buzzer went off, bringing me from my violent daze. I followed them inside where a host led us to a table near the bar. Oh, God. Easy access to the monster... I sat down beside Matt and began looking over the menu, attempting to block out whatever comment Aron would make next.

"Oh, Matt, before I forget," Aron said. "Jay and I are going down to the studio to listen to this new band. Jay says they're right up your alley, so he wanted you to come if you could."

"He was just at our house," Matt said. "Why didn't he ask me there?"

"Who knows?" Aron sighed. "It's Jorel we're talking about. Anyway, you in?"

"Yeah," Matt said. He turned to me and said, "You didn't want to come did you? You can if you-"

"You kidding?" I snorted. "This'll give me a chance to have my own day- all to myself. Cootie free from boys. I'm probably not even gonna brush my hair."

"Okay then," Matt laughed. "I'm in."

"So, Charlette," I said, changing the subject, "what do you do for a living? Mer hasn't said much about her relatives lately."

"I work at a cafe on Rodeo Drive," Charlette replied.

"Rodeo?" I said.

"Yep," she confirmed. "Been there for a few years."

"Jesus," I said. "Make good money then, I suppose."

"You could say," Charlette replied.

There was a silence that fell between all of us, but our waiter soon came and took our drink orders. I needed some fucking liquor if I was gonna make it through this. Matt put an arm around my shoulders and put his lips against my ear.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I'm sure your night will be better once we get home."

I looked up at him and smiled devilishly. He winked at me, and I resisted laughing. God, I loved him.