Like a Brother
“Wake up, lazy ass!” Daniel bellowed through my bedroom door. “Your boyfriend is downstairs!”
I groaned. Of course, Daniel had been calling Zac my boyfriend for years, just to tease the two of us. Only now, it was actually an accurate term for him. That thought was enough to propel me to finally get out of bed, though it didn’t stop me from hurling a few choice curse words back at my brother as I did so.
I hurried to get dressed and make myself presentable; god forbid I leave Zac downstairs long enough for my parents to start interrogating him. It didn’t matter that they had known him since pee-wee soccer league. My dad could still find a way to seriously embarrass both of us now that everyone seemed to know we were officially a couple.
Since it was something of a special occasion, I even managed to put on a little makeup—just lip gloss and mascara. Didn’t want to scare Zac, after all. Just a few short minutes later, with my teeth and hair brushed and a new, bright green sweater pulled over my head, I was ready to rescue Zac from my parents.
He was already standing at the bottom of the stairs when I rounded the corner, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans. It didn’t look like he had bothered to brush his hair that morning, but I really didn’t care. The way he smiled up at me was enough to make me forgive him for a multitude of sins.
“Hey, Georgie,” he said.
“Georgina? Are you up?” My mom called out.
I scurried down the stairs, giving Zac a quick kiss before following Mom’s voice into the kitchen. “Yeah, Mom. Are you done bugging Zac?”
“No one’s bugging anyone,” she replied, but the amused smile on her face said otherwise. “I was just going to ask if the two of you would mind carrying—carefully—the pecan pies I made over to the Hansons’ for me.”
“Gee, I don’t know, you trust us not to drop them?”
“I trust Zac,” she shot back. “Go on, before I think of something else I need you two to do.”
“Say no more,” I replied. I picked up one of the pies and motioned for Zac to grab the other. If I hadn’t been so worried about actually dropping the pies, I would have grabbed his arm and physically drug him out of the room. As it was, I think he was as ready to leave as I was.
Once we were finally outside, I heaved a sigh. “Sorry about that.”
“Hey, no problem. I just had to keep reminding myself how much worse they would have been if I were Taylor.”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, I don’t think I would show my face around here again if Taylor was my boyfriend. I mean, Daniel would kick his ass just for that, but if he knew—well, anyway.”
Zac stifled a chuckle of his own and cleared his throat. “Right. Anyway. It is still kind of weird, isn’t it? I mean, now that he’s dating Molly. You know they are actually dating, right? Last night I heard him tell Mom his girlfriend was coming over for Thanksgiving. She was so surprised, she almost dropped the plate she was washing.”
“And did he mention who this girlfriend was?” I asked as we rounded the corner and headed toward his street.
“No,” Zac replied, carefully hooking his arm in mine. “If we’re lucky, we’ll get back before she gets there, and we’ll get to see the big reveal.”
As luck would have it, well, we had none. The Hanson house was in full swing when we arrived, the living room full of younger kids building a book fort and the smell of food wafting out of the kitchen. We finally made our way in there, after I had said hello to all of Zac’s younger siblings, and discovered that Molly was in fact already there and had been drafted to help chop vegetables for various dishes.
“Hey,” she said, giving me a big, if weary, grin. “Wanna help? Sorry, I didn’t mean to phrase that as a question. You’re going to help, because it’s a million wonders I haven’t chopped a finger off yet.”
I laughed. “And you think I won’t do the same thing? But alright, alright. Let me wash my hands.”
A few moments later, we had switched places, Molly collapsing onto a stool like she had been slaving away for hours. I suspected it wasn’t the kitchen work so much as dealing with all of Zac and Taylor’s family that had worn her out.
“So how’s it going? I think my dad tried to give Zac the third degree like he hadn’t known him since he was missing his two front teeth.”
“Well, we weren’t really going to tell anyone—I mean, we didn’t want to make a big announcement out of it. But then Taylor had to go and kiss me on the cheek when he thought no one was looking, and of course, Zoe was looking. So it turned into this big thing, and now I’m hiding in here.”
“Maybe we’ll both just stay in here all day,” I suggested.
“If that means we get to eat all of the pumpkin pie, then I am all for it,” Molly replied, giggling.
We worked quietly for a few minutes, one chopping and the other sorting the scooped veggies into a variety of bowls. Once we had finished everything Diana had laid out for us, we washed our hands and swiped cookies from the cookie jar, deciding that we had definitely earned them.
“So,” Molly said between bites of her chocolate chip. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you, and I guess this is as good a time as any.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“No, it’s just—well, isn’t this kind of awkward? I mean, me and Taylor… dating. It still feels kinda weird to say. But given everything that happened, you and him doing your thing, isn’t this weird? You’re not upset or anything, are you?”
“Why would I be?” I laughed out loud, but immediately regretted it. Molly looked genuinely concerned. “I mean, yeah, it’s really weird. Really, really weird. But once I made the choice to sleep with him the first time, I think I kinda made my bed, you know? Things could only get stranger from there. But what Taylor and I did… it was a means to an end. He’s a great guy, he really is, better than I ever realized before. But I don’t love him like I do Zac. I would say I love him like a brother, but maybe now that isn’t quite right either.”
“What do you mean a means to an end?”
“I mean I was so fucking tired of being a virgin. It’s stupid, but people made such a big deal out of it. But Taylor was easy—I mean, well, that too. But sleeping with him was an easy way to solve that problem. That’s all. That’s all it ever was, just sex.”
Molly nodded. “To be honest, I think I wanted to convince myself that’s all it was, too. But you’re right—he is a great guy, even if it still feels weird to say that. But he was really nice that night; we spent more time talking than anything else, and the sex was just an afterthought. Not that the sex was bad or anything, I mean—”
“You don’t have to tell me the sex wasn’t bad,” I replied, then burst out in laughter. “Okay, okay. I see what you mean. This is super fucking strange. But what I feel for Taylor is obviously very different from what you feel for him, so I don’t see why it has to be awkward or problematic or anything.”
“I’m not saying I’m in love with him or anything,” Molly said. “I don’t know; it’s way, way too early to say anything like that. But I think this could actually be a good thing, so I’m willing to give it a chance.”
“Willing to give what a chance?” Taylor asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame. “Dad’s eggnog? Because I would not recommend that; I think he made it double strength this year.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I replied. “Would you even believe me if I said we weren’t talking about you?”
“Not at all,” Taylor shot back. He stepped into the room, grabbed a cookie and gave Molly a wink. His mouth full of chocolate chip, he asked, “So what were you saying about me? Good things, I hope? Comparing notes?”
Molly rolled her eyes. “Not exactly. Just making sure everything was cool between all of us.”
“We’re cool,” Taylor said. “Why wouldn’t we be cool?”
I opened my mouth to answer that, then just as quickly slammed it shut when Diana bustled back into the room. Her eyes narrowed at Taylor, and he shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth around a sheepish smile.
“At least these two have earned their keep,” Diana said, nodding toward Molly and me. “And I suppose they’ve earned a break, too. There’s a game of Risk starting in the living room if you two want to take a break.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Hanson,” Molly replied.
“I think you can call me Diana now,” she said.
Molly blushed a bit. “It feels kind of weird now, to be honest.”
“Oh, honestly,” Diana replied, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m just sad that Taylor finally kept a girl long enough to bring her home, and I don’t even get to show off the baby pictures. I don’t need to show you; you were around back then.”
“Well, not exactly, but I do remember the braces and lisp.” Molly giggled.
Taylor threw up his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright. I get the hint. I’m out of here.”
“Oh, no you’re not,” Diana said, grabbing the back of his shirt before he could make it out of the room. “The girls are free to go, but you sir, are on dish duty.”
“See you girls later,” Taylor said, shooting us a wink. He gave his mom a quick glance, then added, “If I survive.”
“Poor baby,” I forced out between giggles. I grabbed Molly by the arm and scurried out of the room before Diana could think of any other use for us.
We walked into the living room to find, just as Diana had said, what appeared to be a very intense game of Risk in one corner. In the other corner, the younger kids were crowded around the television, which was tuned to the traditional Macy’s parade. Molly squeezed in beside Zoe and some younger cousin I didn’t know, and I plopped down next to Zac and surveyed the game.
“You’ll never hold Russia, you know,” I remarked to Mac, but he just shrugged.
“That’s what I told him,” Zac said. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek, then resumed his turn, unsurprisingly making a big dent in Mac’s Russian front.
“Ugh,” he groaned, then eyed the two of us. “Wait, are you two, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“Duh, they have been for years,” Avery replied. “My turn now.”
“We have been?” Zac asked, tilting his head to the side. “’Cause I thought we just started dating this semester.”
“Sure you have been,” Avery said, shrugging. “You just didn’t know it yet.”
“She may be onto something there,” I replied.
Zac chuckled, taking my hand and intertwining our fingers. “Maybe you’re both right then. I ought to know by now that all the women in my life are smarter than I am.”
“See, it’s that kind of talk that makes me love you.” I giggled.
Mac groaned again. “Can we just play the game and stop being all lovey dovey?”
“If you’re in that much of a hurry to lose, sure,” Zac replied, grinning.
I settled in next to Zac as he and his siblings resumed their game and the required shit talking that went along with it. I had always felt at home with his family, like they were just an extension of my own. It was funny how none of them seemed surprised at all that Zac and I were finally dating. A part of me wondered how much sooner it might have happened if we hadn’t both been so stubborn and self-conscious, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good to think about that. We were right where we were supposed to be now and nothing else mattered.