Body Contact

She wanted to sleep. Really, she did. But it was just...beyond her, right now.
She sighed, and reached up to play with a strand of Lance's hair, lying against her cheek. He didn't stir. He always had slept like a log. When they were younger, it had made pranking him that much easier.
She smiled as she began to reminisce, calling back fond memories of growing up together.
She had met him through her best friend, Megg... and she even remembered exactly when she realized that he was more than a childhood friend.... She also remembered exactly when she had met him. Which was strange. She had such a terrible memory.

“This is Lance! He's my new brother. Mommy got him from the store.”
Brother. He was her brother.
“I didn't come from a store! God! You're such a stupid girl!”
The brothers of your friends had cooties, didn't they?
“Don't make me hit you again!”

Oh, but god, she wanted his cooties.
She hadn't then, of course. Back then he had just been Lance. Lance, the adopted brother, who was very fun to follow around and bother. Lance, who as he grew up, found that he had an affinity for music. Lance that became very popular with the girls when they hit even just the sixth grade.

Her best friend's brother. And wasn't there a rule against that?

Kali sighed and looked down at her bowl of fruit loops. Probably. There was probably some big rule of etiquette that said you weren't supposed to have any kind of a crush on your friend's brothers. And yet, here she was, checking out his strangely perky butt as he made himself coffee.

She hadn't noticed until recently.
She had noticed Lance, of course. How could she not? She practically lived at their house. But it wasn't until the graduation dance, when she watched him cycle through all of the other girls in their class, that she really noticed Lance as anything more than 'Tin Grin', Megg's sarcastic brother. She noticed things that she hadn't before; that he had a cowlick that he hid by spiking up the rest of his hair. That his bright green eyes sometimes looked blue green, in certain lighting. That his grin was crooked, and his piercings glinted when he laughed.
That he was more than just her best friend's brother.
That he was a boy. And a cute one to boot.

She jumped as something landed in her cereal, looking up to see Lance grinning at her from across the room. Looking down again, she shrieked, pushing her bowl away from her. The plastic spider sloshed out onto the table with what was left of her cereal.
“That's not funny tin grin!” She snapped, hands shaking.
“Oh. But it was.” He laughed, and sat down across for her, offering a napkin to help her clean up. She took it, mopping up the milk with a scowl.

Cute. But still, a brother.

Megg came thundering down the stairs, still in her nightie and searching for pop tarts as Kali stalked away to toss the sopping napkin in the garbage.
“What happened to you?”
“Plastic spider.” She muttered. Lance laughed, and Megg glowered.
“Lance, I told you, leave my friends alone!”

He had frowned at them both and leaned back in his chair, hooking his hands behind his head and propping his feet up on the table. Kali shivered under his gaze, and wondered what he was thinking.

They had met years ago, in grade one. Kali had been five, Megg had been six, and they had both been ecstatic to have a new classroom and a new teacher. With the enthusiasm that only small children could have for school they talked about nothing but it for weeks leading up to September. Then, in August, Megg had all but disappeared off of the face of the earth.
Kali hadn't paid it much mind. She just assumed that her friend had gone on a trip, or something. She was a little upset that nobody had told her, but like all kids do, she got over it. She busied herself with preparing for her first day of big kid class, with pencils and erasers and paper and crayons. She was looking forward to their desks, and had made herself a name tag for her desk. Decorated in sparkly pink glitter, it proudly proclaimed 'Kali' in large, green letters. She had made one for Megg, too. After all, they were best friends, and would be sitting next to one another. Their desks, she thought, should match. Except, Megg hated pink, so hers was blue.

When the day finally came, she had gathered her things and rushed onto the bus, waiting impatiently for it to get to the school. She was up before it stopped, got herself in trouble, and rushed out of the bus anyways. She had a new cubby, new shoes, oh, it was all very exciting. Her little bubble of ecstatic happiness had all but floated her to the classroom...
Where it had promptly popped.
Someone was in her seat. Her seat, beside her best friend, and he didn't even look like he appreciated being there!
She scowled and gripped her book bag, storming over. Megg brightened considerably as she did, jumping up from her chair.

The little boy only snorted, crossed his arms, and hunched down further. Kali glared at him, specifically, and turned to Megg to pout. She didn't get much of a chance as her best friend bowled her over in a violent jumping hug.

“I missed you! Mommy brought us up to Grammy an' Pa's, an' I didn't get to call you cause the phone got broke!” At least, that's what her mother had told her.
This softened the little red head's stony heart considerably, and she cuddled her friend back. She did, however, continue glaring at the dark haired boy who was still in her spot.
Megg noticed, and turned, beaming at him.

“This is Lance! He's my new brother. Mommy got him from the store.”
Brother. He was her brother.
“I didn't come from a store! God! You're such a stupid girl!”
Since when did Megg have a brother?
“Don't make me hit you again!”

Kali wasn't really watching as Megg swung at the boy, apparently named Lance, who ducked and covered his already bruised eye. Clearly they had already had an...introduction, to one another.

“There's a brother store?” She asked, blinking and dropping her bag on her desk. Lance scowled at her and tried to push it off, but she slapped his hands away and began to fill it with her things.
“Hey!” He objected, jumping out of her chair. “This's my desk.”
“Why do you wanna sit 'side a stupid girl 'nyways?” Megg muttered. Lance stopped, and realized this made a lot of sense. He beamed, and stepped away.
“Gee. You're right! I don't wanna. I'm gonna go find another desk. Away from a stupid girl!” He glowered at Megg and spun on one heel, stomping away from them both.

“...So, where's the brother store?” Kali asked, turning back to storing her things inside her desk.

Looking back on it, she didn't know how they had become friends. She and Megg had certainly tormented Lance enough. Bothered him to play barbies and action figures, tied him to a chair and dressed him in girl clothes, forced him to pick them for teams in gym and at recess. Eventually it stopped being forced, and he did many things with them willingly.
Except the dress up thing. When he did dress up, it was Halloween, and he was firmly Batman. Kali's guardian thought he was clever and dressed her up as the Joker. Megg got to be Robin.
Kali didn't appreciate the joke at all. She had plans to be a princess. Unfortunately, her plans didn't much matter. She was five, after all.

Eventually, Lance had grown into part of the family as if he had always been there; and Kali, spending as much time with the Wittigs as she did, seemed almost a sister to him and Megg. They prowled around together when they grew old enough to leave the yard, tormented the same teachers, and stood up for one another at school. Sure, they eventually drifted into different social circles, but they were always nearby.

And now, Lance thought, watching Kali turn and reach for more paper towel, he wanted to be closer. His eyes followed the hem of her nightgown up her thigh, catching sight of a small flutter of white lace. His heart leaped into his throat, but he was shown no more. He looked at Megg, to see if she had noticed, but she was busy getting herself cereal.
Leave her friends alone, she'd said. Well, he damn well didn't want to. He closed his eyes and smirked to himself, tapping his foot against the tabletop. He didn't want to, and no way in hell was he going to.
Besides. She was cute when she got mad.

He cracked one eye open and looked over at her. She was muttering as she mopped up what was left of her cereal, hair pushed back from her white face, nose scrunched up as always when she was angry. He could, he also noticed, see down her nighty.
The grin probably gave him away.

“What?” She snapped, straightening. He shook his head, offered her an innocent smile, and stood.
“Nothing. I'm going to practice. Stay quiet, would you?”

Oh, he was infuriating. She pitched the wet napkins at him as he walked by, picking up her bowl and heading to refill it.
“He's a wiener.” Megg had said, looking at her over her shoulder. “Just ignore him.”

But that was the problem, Kali thought, holding back a sigh as she watched the colourful fruit loops clatter into her bowl. She couldn't ignore him.

Lance had moved out in the middle of their grade eleven year, into an apartment with his band mate and best friend, Charlie. Bonnie hadn't been happy about it, but she had gotten over it. Especially when their whole 'band' venture started to succeed.
Lance had been surprised to find that one of his neighbours was actually a classmate of his. Mia Bernardi. From his music class; he was teaching her a few songs on guitar.
And, he knew, she was hopelessly in love with him. It wasn't like she hid it well.

She was cute. She hid her face behind her hair a lot, and wore oversized glasses just to be with the 'style', but she was sweet, and adorable. Funny, too.
And it wasn't like he had a girlfriend. He wanted one; and he knew who he wanted, but...
He sighed, Megg's proclamation still ringing through his head after a year.
'Leave my friends alone.'

So he gave it a shot. He began to hang out with Mia more, trying to see if they would...fit.

“So, what do you do for fun?” She asked him one day in the practice rooms, clumsily hacking her way through the song he was teaching her.
“Fun?” He asked, looking up from his notepad. “Music, I guess. Parties.”
“There's...um...” She was blushing again. He grinned at her, raising an eyebrow and waving his hand to speed her along her way. “Um. An. An article. In BEAT magazine about you guys. Body Contact?” She flushed again. “They, um...were talking about your hobbies. I was just wondering how right it was...”
“Oh yeah?” he chuckled, tucking the pen behind his ear. He remembered the article, and the interview. But what would she be questioning? “What did they say that's got your face so red, Mia?”
“Um...well...w-we all know how Charlie is.”
The whole world probably knew how Charlie was. He was a full blown nymphomaniac. Humped anything that moved, and flirted with anything that stood upright. Sometimes not even that. Lance really wasn't sure what his friend's standards were...
“Yeah. I know. I live with him.” He shook his head, and prompted her to continue again. She turned red, stumbled mid chord, and stopped playing all together.
“Um...and...they said that...um...”

“That we enjoy the same activities?”
“Y-yeah. Th-that.” She stammered. He smiled, though not at her. She really was very...innocent. Like she didn't believe what the magazine said.
“Yeah. We do. Why do you ask?” He leaned back in his chair, raising the front legs from the floor and balancing on the back two legs.
“J-just...wondering.” She squeaked out. They were both silent for a few moments, when Mia suddenly blurted out,
“I've always been saving it for...one person. Marriage, you know?”
“Respectable.” Innocent. He smiled again, almost sadly. Too innocent. He couldn't ruin that. And...it really wasn't what he wanted.

What he wanted was a sharp tongued, fiery red head. Someone who would tease back. She teased him enough already, damn it. He wanted someone who would sweat with him, tangled in a bed.
Ugh. He felt like hitting his head against the wall.

“...I guess you could say I'm...doing the same, right now.” He said after a moment, frowning and leaning back further. He didn't want Mia to get the wrong idea. He knew he wasn't the type of boy she should be with. Maybe he could...gently hint, at what he meant.

“What? But...” She didn't understand.

“Oh, not the marriage part.” Lance laughed, shaking his head. “Just the 'one person' bit. Taking a break from promiscuity.”
“Oh, r-really? Who for?” She looked so hopeful. Really, he hated to do this... But he wasn't going to lead the poor girl on.
“You probably don't know her...” He scratched the back of his head. “But I don't know that you can miss her. She's in the Visual Arts program. The red head?” He was sure Mia didn't know her by name.
“...Kali?” She asked in a soft voice. He was surprised.
“You know her?”
“Of her.” It was a short answer, and she returned to her guitar, playing at the strings again. Something about the way she said it... Lance almost sighed, and dropped back down onto four legs. What had he expected? For her to be all gung ho about the idea? She obviously wouldn't be.
He picked up his notebook again and continued working on his song, only vaguely listening to Mia work through the chords. They were silent, until...

“You think she's nice?”
“She is.” His response was immediate. “She's kind, and loyal, and helpful when she's not being sarcastic. But she's not just nice. She's...hell. Damn sexy. And she knows it. Confident...” He struggled to find the right word to describe it. “I guess...just...she's fiery?” He ended lamely.
Mia smiled at him. He couldn't read her expression, but he smiled sheepishly back. As if he was actually telling her all of this...
“Do you...know how she feels?” There was hope in that question. Hope for what, he didn't know.
“...No.” He muttered darkly. “No, I don't.” It was hard to tell. She seemed to tease him, sometimes, but turned around and proclaimed that she wanted nothing to do with him. He tried, hard, to impress her. He felt like he needed to, for some reason.
But it really didn't seem as if it was working.

Mia hid her smile behind her hair as she looked down at her guitar again. Not that she was hoping for Lance's heartbreak. Really, she wasn't. She was just hoping that he would realize that the redhead was not the girl for him. She was cruel, always laughing at the misfortune of others. When they got hurt, or when they dropped something. She taunted and teased, and dressed like a whore. Therefore, she had to be one. And she played these damn...mind games, with everyone. She acted dumb, but Mia knew she wasn't. She had to keep her average up to stay in the program, and besides that, Mia had math with her. She was a bloody wizard at trig. So she was a fake.
And, she was more popular than Mia. The brunette couldn't help but harbour the inexplicable disdain for the 'popular' crowd that all of her fellow outcasts did. Even if she hadn't done something to her directly, she was sure that she had done something horrible to someone, somewhere.
And it would only be a matter of time until Lance realized this too.

So, she smiled, and continued working on her music.

They stayed until the janitor came and told them they had to leave. Mia thanked Lance, expecting for him to follow her back to the apartment complex, but he waved and said he had to go.

“I'm spending the weekend at Mom's. She doesn't think I eat enough.” He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Mia giggled.
“You do look a bit like Skeletor.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Skeletor was ripped.” Lance laughed, waving a dismissive hand at her. “I'll see you Monday, Mia.”
“Yeah...Monday.” She smiled, watching him go. Perhaps he'd be back to his senses by then.

Lance left Mia in a hurry, hoping to get to his Mom's before dinner. She would probably throw a fit if he missed it. Not that she really threw fits. She rarely did. But he hadn't visited in three months, and he was quite sure that she would if he was late. He got into the house just as the plates hit the table, grinning as he ducked into the kitchen.
“Hey, cool. Right on time.”
The look Bonnie tossed him told him he was lucky. He smiled, and sat down like a good little boy. He was surprised to see Kali slide in across from him. He hid it, though, and smirked at her.
“Who invited you?”
“I don't need an invitation. I live here more than you do.” She replied sweetly, settling her chin into her hands.
“Touche, Red.”
“Shut up and pass the carrots, Tin Grin.”

Lance grinned and passed her the bowl. Ah. Home. It was always so cheerful.

He was sort of glad to be back in his room. Even though he'd moved out and taken his things with him, his mom had kept his room his. He smiled as he walked in, dropping down on the futon that had replaced his bed when he'd moved it out. He could hear Megg and Kali out in the hall, giggling and laughing about...something. He wasn't sure what. Sighing, he closed his eyes, and stretched out.

Kali peeked in through the open door, watching Lance as Megg unlocked her bedroom door. He turned his head and cracked an eye open, shooting her an inviting smile. It hadn't even been intentional. Heat rushed to her face and he couldn't help but grin as she rushed into Megg's room.

“What's your problem?” Megg asked. Kali shook her head, and begin to change into her pyjamas.
“Nothing.” The red head smiled, slipping her nightgown over her head. “Nothing at all.”
They stayed up for a while, until Megg passed out, but Kali found that she just couldn't sleep. She tossed, she turned, she shoved the damn cat off of her legs, and still she couldn't manage to get comfortable. Sighing, she decided she was thirsty, and carefully tip toed out of the room. Down the stairs and into the kitchen, she was reaching for a glass when she heard a noise behind her. Gripping the nearest object, she whirled, ready to use it as a weapon-

“Woah, Red. Put down the pot scrubber.” Lance said, holding up his hands. She carefully lowered it, glowering at him. He couldn't help but grin, bare feet silent against the floor as he walked closer.
“What are you doing up?” She hissed, setting it down on the counter. “You-”
“Scared you? Noticed.” The boxer clad boy reached past her for a glass, handing her one and taking one for himself. She didn't deny it, and opened the fridge for the water jug.
“Make some noise when you walk.” She told him, filling both of their glasses. He chuckled.
“Don't be so jumpy. What've you got to be afraid of here?” He gestured at the kitchen. She shrugged, sipping her water and leaning against the sink.

Behind her, the moon glimmered through the window, lighting her pale skin and almost making it glow. Lance chugged his water, hoping its chill would cool him. It didn't.
“The dark, I guess.”
He blinked, looking over at her as he set his cup down.
“What?”
“What I have to be afraid of.” She replied, draining her glass. “The dark.”
“There's nothing in this house that can hurt you.” Lance reminded her.
“Not that you can see.” She shook her head, smiling sheepishly. “The dark doesn't show much. I know it's irrational. But whatever.” She drained her glass, turning to set it on the counter. A strand of hair had fallen from the braid she had it in, and was just tickling her neck. Without realizing it, he reached out to brush it away. She turned, goosebumps rising on her skin.
He didn't know how she felt. But there was one way to find out.

He stepped closer, gently slipping his hand behind her head. She didn't stop him as he pulled her to him, leaning down to press his lips against hers. Her arms wrapped up around his neck, and he couldn't help but lift her and set her on the counter. He stood between her legs, running his fingers over her skin, holding himself back as much as he could.
Finally, they broke away. He didn't step away from her, his fingers still tangled in her hair. Most of it had come out of her braid. She didn't open her eyes, leaning her forehead against his.
He smiled, and took it as encouragement to kiss her again.