This Ain't a Love Song

The room was almost completely dark, except for a stray candle on a desk or an end table. There were only two people in the room, both of them deeply engrossed in each other’s mouths. They clung to each other tightly, one of the person’s hands moving from the other’s waist to the almost bare shoulder on their body. The male laughed into the girl’s mouth slightly, pushing the thin strap of her bra down her shoulder, his lips detached from hers. She let out a small whimper which made him laugh slightly before he began kissing down her neck, stopping where her shoulder met her neck. A small gasp left her lips, making him laughing again, against her skin this time.

When there was a knock on the door, the both of them froze, holding their breath. Then, there was another knock but this time it was accompanied by a voice. The girl got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach and her eyes got wide. She knew that voice and this so wasn’t good.

“Fuck,” she mumbled under her breath. The guy pulled away from her, letting his hands fall to his bed, grabbing her shirt and pushing it at her.

“Wardrobe,” he whispered, and she nodded quickly, attempting to pull on her shirt but failing, opening his closet, and hiding in it. The boy blew out the candles, flipping the light on going to open the door.

“Hey, I was starting to think you were like dead or something,” the person on the other side of the door chuckled. “God Tom, you’re just being weird lately,” Danny mumbled. Tom, the guy who this room belonged to shrugged, stepping aside to let his friend in.

“I’ve just had a lot on my mind,” Tom said and it wasn’t a total lie. What the hell he was going to do had been on his mind since the whole thing with Stella, the girl in the closet, started. She was Danny’s freaking sister and what he had with Danny was complicated. Danny let out a small noise, sitting down on the bed and looking back at Tom.

“I think we need to talk,” Danny said. Tom raised his eyebrows, glancing at the closet for a moment before looking back at Danny.

“What about?” he asked. A second or two passed before the closet door swung open, and Stella fell out, her shirt falling next to her as she fell to her knees. It took Danny a half of a second to realize who it was, and the other half a second to realize his sister didn’t have a shirt on. Danny moved away, shielding his eyes.

“Stella, what the...” he trailed off, glancing over at her, before turning around as she stood up and pulled her shirt on. “Bloody hell.” Danny shook his head, looking at his sister to his best friend and back. “Something you two want to tell me?” Stella looked at Tom, biting her lip ring. Oh shit.

***

Stella was sitting on her bed, humming to herself as the phone held up to her ear. She groaned when she same voice mail message for the sixth time. He couldn’t seriously be that mad at her. She hadn’t done anything! The dibs she had called that had made him so angry fell through, which was why she was just trying to tell him.

The knock on her door shook her from her thoughts. She sat up, going over to the door, thinking who could be there. When she opened her door, she saw her brother with the brightest smile she had ever seen on his face and his arm wrapped around another guy’s shoulders.

“Stella! This is my best mate, Tom,” he introduced happily. Tom, who shrugged Danny off of him so he could stand up to his full height, held his hand out to Stella. Stella shook his hand, smiling at him.

“Nice to finally meet you,” she said, laughing slightly. They had talked on the phone more than a million times. Why, Stella had no idea, but they did. Danny looked from his friend to his sister and back.

“You two okay with each other?” he asked curiously, like he sensed some sort of tension between them and to some extent, there was. It just wasn’t the kind of tension Danny was thinking of. Stella and Tom were more than okay with each other.

“Yeah,” Tom said slowly, looking from Stella to Danny. “We’re fine.” Stella nodded in agreement, running her hand through her hair. Tom looked back at Stella.

“How’s your wrist since you got the cast off?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in interest. She looked down at her right wrist, shrugging.

“Alright. Physical therapy isn’t as bad as it was last right. I’m recovering faster this time around,” she informed, nodding. Tom knew about her breaking her wrist from an unfortunate accident which included her over-stuffed closet and from the incident before in which she had broken the same wrist.

“Good thing you write with the other hand,” Tom sighed, and she nodded in agreement. Danny gave a confused look at the both of them before he shook his head, sending some of his brown curls into his eyes.

“Right, well. I’ve got places to show Tom,” he said, throwing his arm around the other’s shoulders again. “You two can talk later, right?” he asked. Stella nodded, and Danny gave her another bright as anything smile. As he got dragged away, Tom looked back at Stella, who mouthed at him to call her. He smiled slightly, nodding. Stella laughed a little, closing the door to her room and shaking her head.

***

A month later, the weather was a bit cooler, but still manageable at night with a sweatshirt. Stella spent most nights on the beach, watching the sunset. That night was different though. She wasn’t alone. Tom had come to join her. The two of them spent almost as much time together as Danny and Tom did.

The two of them sat next to eat other, her head on his shoulder, and his head on top of hers. They sat in silence for a while. Stella stared out at the horizon, digging her feet into the chilly sand and flexing her hand to make it ache less from the day’s intense work out. Tom was biting down on the corner of his mouth, having the same inner debate he had been having with himself for weeks now.

“Stella, can we talk for a minute?” he asked suddenly, lifting his head off of hers. Stella hummed, lifting her head off of him and nodding, obviously being shaking from a nap of sorts.

“Yeah,” she mumbled quietly, looking at him. “What’s up?” Tom fought to find words for a minute; he hadn’t thought it through this far. He hadn’t thought he was even going to do it. Out of nowhere, Tom leaned over, giving Stella a gentle kiss. Stella’s eyes got wide and she looked at him when he pulled away in complete shock. Tom got that feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized quickly. “Really sorry.” Stella shook herself slightly, running her hand through her hair.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” she informed. “I ju-I just thought that...” she trailed off, biting her lip. “You and my brother?” It came out as more of a question than a statement. He sighed, shaking his head.

“It’s complicated,” he said shortly. “But this isn’t.” He let his eyes close, and Stella took that opportunity to do something she considered to be totally reckless. She leaned over, giving him a gentle kiss, mimicking the one he gave her. The second it was over, she looked back out to the horizon, and Tom, who was just confused as anything, looked out too. She put her head back down on his shoulder slowly, making him tense up. Just as she was going to move, he put his head back down on top of hers, putting his arm around her shoulders. She smiled slightly, shifting closer to him.

***

Two months after that, Stella, Tom and Danny were making their usual trip to town for random stuff. Whenever Danny wasn’t looking, Stella would slip her hand into Tom’s or Tom would snake his arm around her waist. They hadn’t told Danny what was going on between them, mostly because they feared he’d get mad or something. Surely, they had to be overstepping some kind of boundaries.

“I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo,” Danny stated causally as they walked past the tattoo place, looking from the front window over to Stella and Tom, who jumped quickly apart. “What do you think?”

“It’s gonna hurt like a bitch,” Stella informed. Danny shrugged.

“Yeah, but it’d be worth it,” he said. He looked back at the tattoo place, stopping in his tracks. “I think I’m going to go look at something. You two stay here,” he said seriously, heading back for the shop. The second he was out of sight, Tom pulled Stella close to him, giving her a kiss.

“We’re going to have to tell him sooner or later,” she informed, giving him a small peck on the lips. He sighed, glancing back to make sure Danny wasn’t coming before he kissed her again and then stepped back, taking her hands in his.

“I know. But let’s not worry about that today,” he said, squeezing her hands. “I just want you to come over tonight,” he told her. “Please?” She bit her lip, thinking about it.

“Alright, deal.” She squeezed his hands back before letting them fall out of hers as she saw her brother emerge from the shop. Tom smiled at her, giving her a wink before he turned to face the direction Danny was coming in, crossing his arms. That was going to be interesting, telling Danny he had been dating his sister for three months. Tom shuddered at the thought.

***

“Is there something you two want to tell me?” Danny asked. Stella looked at Tom, biting her lip ring. Tom sighed, rubbing his face. He looked back at Danny and then at Stella.

“Well,” Stella sighed, running her hand through her hair. Danny made a noise, shutting his eyes tightly.

“Can you please put your shirt on?” he asked in a pained voice. Stella nodded, grabbing her shirt and pulling it on over her head and pulling her hair out from the inside of her shirt.

“There,” she sighed, standing up off of the ground. Danny looked back over at the two of them, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Now. What is going on?” he asked, pointing at Stella to Tom, then back. Stella looked at Tom, making a face. Tom sighed, looking from one Jones to the other.

“Well...I’ve been kind of dating your sister for...” he trailed off, looking down at his feet for a moment. “Three months now?” he said, although it came out as more of a question. Danny stared at the two of them for a while, his face slowly red. Stella squeezed Tom’s arm gently, making a serious face.

“Danny...” Stella started quietly, but he took that second to start shouting.

“No! Don’t you dare!” he shouted, getting up off the bed. “You two have been lying to me! And sneaking around behind my back!” He shook his head, moving his hair out of his eyes. “You,” he hissed, pointing at Tom. “You’re my best mate. And she’s my sister,” he pointed out. “And you! You knew,” he hissed. “I told you. It’s nice to see my feelings mean nothing to either of you,” he finished. Without another word, Danny pushed passed the two of them, out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

“Oh dear,” Stella said quietly, biting down on her lip ring. Tom sighed, looking around at the room at the still smoking candles.

“Maybe you should go.” His voice was hard, and it was obvious his mind was far from there. Stella sighed, and then nodded. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek before she followed the path of her brother, not slamming the door. Tom sighed heavily, sitting down on his bed. What was he going to do?

***

Stella was sitting on the beach, her hands sitting on top of her head. She spent most days on the beach now, sitting like that. It was pretty much the only place a person would find Stella. A person like her brother.

“Stella?” She turned around to see Danny behind her. He sat down next to her, sighing. Stella looked at him, biting her lip.

“Still hate me?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at her younger brother. He shook his head.

“No...Not anymore. Just....you and Tom? Seriously?” he asked, raising his eyebrows back at her. Stella nodded slightly before looking out at the horizon.

“I haven’t actually seen him since that night,” she mumbled. “So.” She shrugged, biting her lip. “I don’t really think he wants anything to do with me anymore. Every time I try talking to him, he just completely blows me off.” She made a face, looking over at Danny. “It doesn’t even matter anymore,” she mumbled dejectedly. Danny made a face, patting his sister’s shoulder for a moment before he stood up.

“I’ll be right back,” he informed, and headed back in the direction in which he came. Stella watched him walk away, before shaking her head and looking in front of her once again. After a while, Danny came back, dragging Tom along with him. When Tom was pushed down next to her, she gave Tom a confused look and then gave the same look to Danny.

“You two need to talk,” Danny informed. Tom rolled over and sat up, his legs still stretched out in front of him.

“Do we?” he asked, looking over at Stella.

“Yeah, with Danny,” she said, looking up at her brother. “You have to understand, neither of us were trying to hurt you,” she added. Tom just nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Just happened,” he threw in. Danny shook his head.

“Figured as much. And I’m sorry for everything,” he said. “But if you have to be with anyone, I’m glad you guys chose each other. And if I can move on, you should be able to too, even if it’s my sister.”

“So, you’re cool with this now?” Stella asked hopefully, motioning at Tom and her.

“Yeah, I guess,” he sighed. “If you stop ignoring her.” Danny looked at Tom. Tom’s jaw fell open a little.

“And if you don’t feel the need to be with him at all times,” he added, looking at Stella. “And in the case of a break up, I will be forced to chose her, she is family,” he informed. “Now if you excuse me, I’ve got a girl waiting for me.” He nodded once at both them before he headed back towards the dorms. Stella and Tom stared at each other for a moment before he scooted over to sit shoulder to shoulder with her. His arm snaked around her waist as it usually did, pulling her closer to him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. Stella shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled at her slightly, giving her a small kiss. She smiled back at him before she put her head down on his shoulder and his head instinctively went down to rest on top of hers.

“You know who we need to tell next?” she sighed. Tom let out a questioning hum.

“Dougie,” she stated. He groaned at the thought.

“Why don’t we hold out on that for a month...or a year,” he suggested. Stella laughed, nodding the best she could.

“Deal.”