* * *
“Arewe really going to do this?” the little paranoid pain in the ass asked as she slowly narrowed her eyes on him.
“Yes,” Sebastian said, even as he wondered if he was really going to be able to do this.
“Then, let’s do this the right way, shall we?” Mikey said with a firm nod as she released his hand and quickly got to her feet, released a heartfelt sigh, and made her way to her tent.
That was followed by coming to a stop right outside the tent opening, clearing her throat, and, after a slight hesitation and a lot of grumbling, her backpack was quickly shoved out of the tent. With a murmured, “Thank you,” Mikey grabbed her bag and made her way back to him, where she sat down on her sleeping bag as she pulled a Coke out of her bag and took a sip before gesturing for him to get on with it.
“What are the rules?” Sebastian asked as he reached over and plucked the Coke out of her hand.
“No lying,” Mikey said as she shifted her attention to her backpack.
“And if you don’t want to answer a question?” Sebastian asked, taking a sip as he watched Mikey pull a bag of mini peanut butter cups out of her backpack.
“Then, you can skip,” Mikey said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal.
“Fine,” Sebastian said, taking another sip as he sat up. “What have I done recently to piss you off?”
“Besides suggesting that we place ourselves at the mercy of the wildlife by sleeping out here tonight?” Mikey asked, blinking at him.
“Besides that,” he said, waving it off as a given.
“You’re not telling me something,” Mikey said, watching him closely as she reached over and plucked the soda from him.
“I could say the same about you,” Sebastian said, watching as she seemed to think that over for a moment.
“Fine. Why have you been working so much?” Mikey finally asked.
“I’m saving up for something,” Sebastian said, reaching for the bag of peanut butter cups.
“And that something would be…” Mikey said, letting her words trail off.
“Skip,” he said, watching as her eyes narrowed while she considered him.
“Interesting,” she mumbled, taking a sip of Coke. “Very interesting.”
“My turn,” Sebastian said, grabbing a handful of mini peanut butter cups and tossed them in his mouth. “Did you miss me?”
“Skip,” Mikey said, making his lips twitch.
“Fair enough,” Sebastian said, reaching for the Coke again, only to end up watching the little bully finish it off as he found himself wondering about something.
“Why don’t you want to be a Bradford?” he asked, watching as she went still.
Clearing her throat, Mikey asked, “Who says that I don’t want to be a Bradford?”
“You haven’t signed the papers yet,” Sebastian pointed out, even though that was the last thing that he wanted to happen. He-
“Skip.”
-should have known that she would be difficult.
“And the doctor’s appointments that your mother makes multiple times a year?” Sebastian asked, not really surprised when she immediately followed that up with, “Skip,” before the last syllable had a chance to leave his mouth.
“Well,” Sebastian said, sighing as he tossed the bag of mini peanut butter cups on top of her bag, “this conversation has been productive.”
“That’s because you’re not asking the right questions,” Mikey said, placing the empty Coke back in her bag as he laid back down.