The Obvious Choice

"I said, no!" Rosie growls. The rest of the day has gone relatively easily, no word from Trish yet, better to hear nothing than to hear bad news, I guess. I met up with Rosie as we made our way home, my priority being clear. "Why on Earth would I let you watch? Are you into voyeurism or something?"

"If it involves two hot girls, sure!" I argue. I mean, honestly, could I pass up that opportunity? Could anyone? I don't claim to be a saint, I'll freely admit I want to see that. "Besides, you never know when you'll need some help."

My sister rolls her eyes at the implication. "See, there it is, you just want to sabotage my chances, you know you can't win fair and square." She sneers. I can't say that was at the top of the list, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't value the advantage. "No chance, we can have a threesome at a later date, besides, you need to distract Poppy."

She raises a solid point, Poppy wandering in during the act would kind of throw a spanner in the works... Plus, I haven't seen her all day, it'll be nice to spend some time together. We enter the house and Rosie makes her way straight upstairs, presumably to prepare for her date with Marie.

I opt to continue through to the kitchen, may as well see if anyone else is about. Serendipitously, Poppy is already in there, tackling her homework, at least one of us has their mind on normal things. I take a moment to just observe my sister scribbling away, her face occasionally grimacing slightly as her mind works, her lips twitching as she writes. I almost don't want to interrupt her. Almost.

"What're you working on?" I ask suddenly, causing Poppy to jump. It's like startling a deer, you feel bad, but it's so cute.

Poppy sighs as she realises the origin of the sound. "You scared me! It's just a schedule for band practice, Echo asked me to put it together." My sister explains, offering me a kind smile. That's a thought, I've barely heard from Echo today, or yesterday... Weird.

"Fair enough, is she busy or something?" I ask genuinely, trying to figure out if Poppy knows any more than me, but she just shrugs in response.

"Ty seems pretty convinced she's seeing someone, maybe she just wants to be around him all the time?" She considers, giving me a side eye. I know that look, I've done something wrong, pretty obvious what it is.

I walk behind her and wrap my arms around her for a hug. "Aww, are you feeling neglected?" I ask, secretly smiling at how attached she's become to me.

"Maybe..." Poppy admits, putting her pen down. "Do you think we could... Talk upstairs?"

My mind flashes to Rosie and Marie, shit, well, as long as we avoid their rooms, it should be fine, I'm sure she's not gonna be listening too intently to the rest of the house anyway. I release my hold and take her hand, leading her through the house, making sure to rush us to my room.

I barely have time to drop my bag on the floor before I'm pushed back against the closed door by Poppy's assault. Her lips meet mine with a passion I haven't felt before, I guess she really did miss me. I return the kiss and place my hand on her hips, causing her to squeak in surprise. She's not even used to that much touching, bless her, makes me feel kinda evil, like I'm trespassing on sacred ground... But then I suppose that's what she was so upset about before, people treating her like she's made of glass.

We finally break our embrace, and she rests her forehead on my chest. "I thought I'd scared you off." She admits, not looking up to meet my gaze.

"Never, it's just been a crazy day." I reassure her, stroking her hair. "For what it's worth, I missed you too, Pops."

My sister gathers the courage to look up into my eyes. "I wish we could tell people about us... Then I could at least talk to other people about it." She thinks aloud. I hadn't even considered that, I can talk to Rosie and Marie... But she doesn't know about all that yet... She thinks she's all alone... Oh shit. She thinks she's the only one, does she think we're a couple?

"I- I mean, what would you tell them we are?" I ask, tentatively. It hadn't occurred to me that I'd been leading her on, who knows what kind of image of the future she's thought up?

Poppy just looks at me, confused. "Well, we're brother and sister, aren't we? Just, with making out on top of that." She points out, relieving me. I hadn't expected her to be so literal. "It's not like you're my boyfriend... Even if..." She continues before trailing off.

My chest aches at the sadness in her incomplete sentence, she's being pragmatic, but she still wishes it was different. I can't help but agree, it'd be so much simpler with just me and her... I'm getting emotional, I just mean it'd be easier to sort out, but there's even more layers than I thought.

"I wish I could be, I really do... But things are complicated, there's other people's feelings to consider." I try to explain, not wanting to let on too much all at once. Poppy's stare lingers on me, deep in thought about my statement.

"I think... I understand." She states with little confidence in her tone. "Well, if we can't be together... Can we still be... You know, intimate?" I know she's not trying to say fuck buddies, I doubt that's what's on her mind, I guess, kissing buddies? Somehow that doesn't sound right either.

"You mean... Like we're a couple in private, but officially we're not together?" I try to confirm. I don't know if she even knows what she wants at this point. It wouldn't be like with Rosie or Marie, that's for sure, Poppy's way more attached.

Poppy looks away again, obviously aware she's offering something she doesn't completely want. "It's better than nothing... I just... I can't lose you, not when I'm finally feeling so happy." She whimpers.

I can't do this. Not to her, I can't leave her in the dark like this. "I slept with Marie and Rosie." I blurt out.

The moment of silence that follows is agonising as my words appear to ring in Poppy's ears. She doesn't look up at me, or move away, she just stays in place. We let the clock tick until she makes her response.

"I know."