Welcome to the Family

“Did you have fun?” Danii asked, once she and Zacky were situated inside his car. They had a couple of hours to kill before they were going to meet up with Emily and Brian for a double date. So, they had decided to drive up the coast a little to one of their favorite beaches.

Zacky nodded, “Yeah, I did.” Danii could tell he was hiding something though; the way he was biting on his lip ring gave it away.

“But?”

“But,” he sighed, easily giving in. “Matt still scares the shit outta me.”

Danii couldn’t help but giggle. “He’s really not that scary. I mean, sure, he’s tall and muscular and occasionally violent… But, he’s a good guy. I would’ve found somewhere else to live years ago if he weren’t. There’s really nothing to fear.”

“Says the girl who still has fingertip bruises on her neck form him,” Zacky reminded. “I hope you know you’ve just made me feel worse, not better.”

“Don’t be such a wuss. Besides, they want you to go to the bar with them. It’s like you’ve made it through their twisted right of passage. Some of the guys they’ve had try out didn’t even make it through practice,” she snickered, watching him squirm. “Plus, I think Uncle Jimmy likes you. So even if Matt has his panties in a bunch, you’ll stay.”

Zacky just sighed. He felt like a teenager again. Not just any teenager, mind you, oh no. He felt like the fat girl left out of the popular clique.

“Oh buck up,” Danii said, sticking her tongue out at him. “Oh, nd don’t think Emie and I didn’t notice—you and Brian equals total bromance. Tonight is gunna be like Twinnie and I chaperoning you two.”

He grinned, his jade green eyes lighting up a bit. “It’s not like that,” he retorted, trying to defend his manliness. “We just happened to have good chemistry.”

Danii snorted, “You sound like a Match.com ad, my dear. And having ‘chemistry’ only helps my bromance theory.”

Meanwhile, Emily and Brian were sitting at their favorite pizza place, debating on whether deep dish or thin crust was better.

“Deep dish is just so much better; each bite has the optimal amount of flavor,” Brian said, loyally defending the obvious better choice.

“No fucking way. Thin curst is soooo the better option. It’s got a delicate texture with a fabulous taste,” Emily retaliated.
“Psht, no.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Ha! So you admit it! Thin crust is better!” she yelled, victorious.

“That’s not fair, you tricked me!” he whined and then pulled his bandana over his eyes and pouted, for dramatic effect.

Emily leaned over and placed a kiss on his pouting lips, before giggling again. “It’s not like you’ve never pulled one over on me before!”

He pulled the bandana off of his eyes and put it back on his head. He didn’t deny or argue against what she said, simply cocked an eyebrow.

“It’s true! Like the time you told – no, convinced – me that Johnny and Jimmy had a thing! Or the time you tried to get me to believe that you were related to the Mr. Clean guy!”

Brian smirked, devious laughter escaping from his slightly parted lips. “All of that happened years ago; prior to us even going out! Hell, you were still just Matt’s younger sister! I can’t believe you even remember any of that shit.”

“Yeah, well, I do,” she said begrudgingly. Now that she thought about it, he had been quite the asshole before they first started dating.

It was Brian’s turn to lean over and place a kiss on his lover’s lips.

“I’ve shaped up well over the years, haven’t I?” he asked, innocently batting his eyes at her.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Yes, Brian, I know you have pretty eyes. Now, on to other matters; what do you think of Zacky? I can’t decide if he’s right for Danii or not, which is part of the reason we’re going out with them later. I kinda told Matt I’d do a little snooping…”

Brian shook his head and finished chewing before he answered. “I think he’s a good guy. He knows what he’s doing when it comes to playing guitar, and he seems to not take himself too seriously, which is always good. Plus, he hasn’t run away screaming yet, which is usually a good thing, considering all of the other people we’ve had try and fill Al’s place…” He took a sip of his soda while pausing to think. “As for being good for Danii, it’s hard to say. I mean, he doesn’t give off that creepster vibe like the last one did. If anything, I thinkshe might be a little too rough around the edges for him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emie asked. No what the situation was, the twins would defend each other to the death, and sometimes they got a little over protective of each other.

“Nothing! He just seems like a nice guy, and we’ve all seen how she likes to tear apart nice guys, is all,” he said, attempting to choose his words carefully. He wasn’t an idiot, and knew if it ever came to it, he would never win in a fight like this. Not that he was ever in the mood to argue with her—all he wanted was to make her happy.

“You do have a point there…” she admitted. It never ceased to amaze her when it came to how different she and her twin were.

After that, the two of them ate quietly, just enjoying each other’s company. They truly were that couple that beat all odds, overcoming just about everything that was thrown at them. You would think they were in their 70s by the way that they acted sometimes, not 18 and 23.

“So where are we meeting them later?” Brian asked, breaking the silence comfortable silence once they were walking back in the directions of the Sanders’ household, where he left his car.

“I think down at that new club… What’s it called…”

“Primeval?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. That okay?”

“Whatever you want, babe.” He flashed her a million dollar smile, before taking her hand and spinning her. Despite his rough exterior, he was one of the most laid back, easy going people you could ever meet.

“Hey, Bri?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

The silence took over again, just as easily as before and they continued down the road hand in hand.