Just to Live

Another party raged downstairs. If everything was quiet and you didn’t move a muscle for a few minutes, you could faintly hear the vibrations hugging off the walls and kisses from the music that accompanied it.

In most circumstances, Tabitha would’ve been downstairs with a drink Johnny offered her. She wasn’t addicted to alcohol. She was a social drinker. However, her mother was out on another date with her father. Tabitha still wasn’t fond of her mother but Erika needed someone to look after her for a night, and Tabitha shot up for the chance right away. She hadn’t really spent enough time with her younger sister in what felt like years. For all Tabitha knew, Erika’s obsession with marine life could’ve swapped with butterflies.

Nostalgia. The simple plot of a father going through foreign lands and turmoil to seek for his kidnapped son kept Erika happy. It made Tabitha reminisce. She could barely remember the last time she was able to sit down with her little sister to watch the young girl’s favorite movie. It had been a long time.

“The End” flashed across the screen with a backdrop of the gorgeous blue ocean water. Matthew decided to show up at that time.

“That’s where you are!” he proclaimed, shaking his head.

“Mm-hm,” Tabitha replied. “Sorry, my mom asked me to look after Erika for tonight.”

“That’s okay. Can I join?”

Erika rose her head from the DVD rack she searched through. “Sure! But don’t kiss in front of me.”

Matthew and Tabitha looked at each other with wide eyes. “Uhm…what?” he uttered.

“I know you two are boyfriend and girlfriend!”

“Who told you that?” Tabitha asked trying to keep her voice light and curious. To herself, she was cursing and panicking. She didn’t want everyone to know she was dating one of her bosses. She was already disliked by a lot of people in the mansion. She didn’t want the count to increase significantly, if at all.

“Zacky,” Erika shrugged.

Matthew sighed. “Blabbermouth.”

“Anyways! What do you wanna watch?” Tabitha kept with the questions, hoping to stray away from the topic.

“Ratatouille!” Erika screamed, finding the disc.

The movie barely reached a playtime of 10 minutes and already Erika fell asleep. Erika sat in between Tabitha and Matthew, creating a barrier between the two. Tabitha and Matthew continued watching the movie for a bit until he walked out the room muttering he had to go do something.

The couch was much too comfortable to move from so Tabitha used her fingers to brush through Erika’s hair while her attention was directed to the television screen.

Matthew came back with a bowl of popcorn and one of his hoodies for Tabitha. He figured she’d want something of his that was comfortable. A lot of girls seemed to like those types of gifts from their boyfriends. He assumed it was something thoughtful and something to remind her of him.

He placed the bowl on the table only to find that now Tabitha was asleep too. He smiled to himself, finding it adorable the two sisters couldn’t stay up past 11 to watch movies all night.

Knowing that their rooms were too far away, Matthew walked over to the futon over by the corner of the room. No one ever used it for some strange reason. Therefore, he pulled the hidden part out and set it up like a bed for the two girls. When he got back to the couch, he carried Erika to the makeshift bed and then Tabitha. Using a blanket he found in the closet, he covered it over the two of them. He then proceeded to fold his hoodie and put it next to Tabitha’s head so she would have something to smile about when she woke up in the morning.

Matthew climbed up the staircase and into his room to find his father and sister, Amy sitting there waiting for him. He knew he did nothing wrong, but his heartbeats accelerated due to old habits.

“So,” Gary smiled, “why didn’t you tell me Tabitha’s your girlfriend?”

“Huh?” was Matthew’s idiotic reply.

Amy walked up to her brother and punched him swiftly on the arm. He groaned, rubbing the spot while pouting like a little kid.

“I didn’t even know you were dating someone! What the hell Matt!”

“I’m sorry!” he cried. “I kind of…forgot…”

“How the hell do you forget to tell your family that you were dating someone?”

“Actually, he told me so ha!” Gary chimed in, sticking his tongue at his daughter. “But anyways, how has she been?”

“She’s so much better. She trusts me,” Matthew grinned, feeling quite proud of himself for being the person to break his girlfriend out of her shell.

“Good. You should have her come over to dinner or something. Your mom wouldn’t mind meeting her.”

“I’m stealing her tomorrow!” Amy squealed before pulling her father out the room with her.

“Great,” Matthew muttered. He knew Tabitha was going to be a jittery and nervous mess.