On my own

It was finally The Day. With capital letters. The Day. Sally was moving out of her parent’s house and into an appartment of her own. She was about to stand on her own two feet. Not just act like an adult, but actually be one.

Sally grunted, her entire face red with effort as she tried to pull the heavy couch up the last two steps of the stairs.
“Holy shit,” she wheezed. “Are you even lifting on your end, Cailan?!”

Well, she’d be an adult as soon as she had all her furniture up on the sixth floor and into her apartment.

“You did not just make a ‘Do you even lift’ joke,” came the disgruntled answer from somewhere at the other side of the couch, “because if you did, I’m dropping this couch right now!”

“A what? NO! I’m genuinely asking if you’re actually using those quarterback muscles you like to boast about!”

Asking Cailan had been a mistake. She knew it. But Cailan was her best friend. They had been friends since the day she had thrown sand in his eye when she was in second grade. He was a few years older, but he thought this little plucky girl was funny so they had stuck together ever since.  
And friends help friends, right? Which had been reason enough for her to ask him to come over and help her move. And the fact that he was really buff and strong seemed like something that would come in handy when lugging heavy stuff upstairs.

Cailan sighed. A click that sounded suspiciously like someone turning off their phone was followed by the couch actually moving upwards.
“Who decides to go live in a flat without an elevator anyway?” he growled, lifting the couch up with ease.

Using her backside, Sally nudged the door open.
“Almost there, almost there, a bit to the left. No. My left,” she directed Cailan, ignoring the burning muscles in her arms. Finally she decided that this was the perfect spot for the couch.
“Here! Set it down, gent-“ she winced when Cailan’s side of the couch landed on the floor with a loud BANG, “-ly.”

Not wasting a moment, Cailan took his phone from the backpocket of his jeans and jumped on the couch.
“Time for a break,” he announced, nose practically glued to the screen.

Sally glared at him, hands on her hips, foot impatiently tapping on the floor.
“You have to be kidding me,” she motioned at the rest of the room, which was completely empty apart from the couch, “we’ve only just begun.”

“Come on Sal,” Cailan sighed, glancing up at his friend, “It’s only 9 AM. We’ve still got the rest of the day to get your junk upstairs.”

“Junk?” Her eyebrows flew up in indignation.

A notification sound on his telephone drew his attention away from her, which was slowly getting on Sally’s nerves.
“Who are you texting?” she asked, exasperated.

“Just a girl. I don’t think you know her.” Well then. That answer couldn’t have been more vague. This girl must be really something, judging from the smile on his face whenever he got a new message.

“And anyway,” he went on, ignoring Sally’s inquisitive stare, “I already called in some help.”

This was a surprise to Sally, “What do you mean, called in some help?” she asked suspiciously.

Cailan tucked some of his long, blonde hair behind his ear and shrugged, “I asked my brother to come over and assist in some of the heavy lifting.”

“You what?” Sally’s eyes widened, “You invited Alistair?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Alistair was Cailan’s younger brother. And she had a crush on him for years now. Everytime she saw Alistair her mouth went dry and she couldn’t think straight. Just the mere sight of him turned her into a puddle of incoherent goo. Cailan knew this and always teased her about it. He had never told his brother about it, something for which she was eternally grateful to him.

“Well, yes, obviously Alistair,” Cailan looked at Sally, one eyebrow raised, “he’s the only brother I know of.”

“But I look like a mess!” Her hands flew up to her hair. She thought about how her makeup was probably streaked everywhere but on the place where it was supposed to be. A quick glance downwards confirmed that she was indeed wearing her most shaggy outfit. Well suited for moving houses, but not for meeting- Her train of thought stopped, collided with another, more urgent, thought.

“When will he get here?” she asked urgently, resisting the impulse to grab Cailan’s phone and throw it out of the window.

 “Cailan!”she cried out when he didn’t answer her, “Could you, for one minute, please pay attention to me?! When is Alistair arriving?” Honestly, she could throttle him when he was like this!

“Hello? Cailan? Sally?” Alistair’s voice drifted up the stairwell.

“No! I’m not ready yet!” Sally whispered in horror, “Tell him we’re not here! No, wait, that’s stupid. Tell him I’m not here! Tell him-“

“Come on up, bro!”Cailan shouted back, flashing a wicked grin at his best friend.

“I’m going to kill you,” Sally snarled at Cailan, before dashing into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

Trying to stay calm, Sally looked at her reflection in the mirror and stifled a groan. She honestly looked like shit. Her eyeliner, that she had so carefully applied earlier this morning, had somehow ended up somewhere on her cheeks. Speaking of cheeks, those were burning a bright red. She wasn’t sure if that was because of the heavy lifting earlier or some other outside influence. A quick glance at her hair didn’t do much to calm her down. The brown curls were jumping happily around her face. Nope, this was not the time to stay calm. This was a great time to go into a panick.

“Hey Alistair, come on in!” she heard Cailan jovially invite Alistair. This was a disaster. He wasn’t even supposed to be here! He couldn’t see her like this. She’d die of shame and mortification.

She looked around the bathroom in search for something, anything, that could help her feel a little bit better about her appearance. A comb, hairspray, a tissue to wipe the makeup off her face. ANYTHING. But seeing how the couch was literally the first thing they hauled upstairs, the bathroom was decidedly empty.

“Where’s Sally?”

Oh no.

“She locked herself up in the bathroom. I don’t know what women do there man, they always take ages.”

Sally groaned and leaned her forehead against the door.  This was it. The day she was going to die of pure humiliation. There was nothing for it.

She put on her biggest, brightest smile and stepped outside, “Alistair, hi! What a surprise-“ she shot a murderous glare at Cailan, “-to have you here.”

Alistair smiled back, “Yeah, Cailan said you could use the help. So here I am. Helping.” He looked her up and down, eyes lingering on her torn jeans, “You look great today!”

“Heh. Thank you,” Oh sure, this wasn’t awkward at all. She rubbed her neck and bit her lip, desperately thinking of something to say.

Cailan suddenly got up, a big goofy grin on his face, “Alright, got to go. Anora is waiting for me.”

“What?!” Sally’s mouth fell open in shock, “You said you were going to help!”

 “Sorry Sal, I’ll make it up to you. But Alistair’s here, so he can help you out. See ya!” And without another word Cailan had disappeared, leaving a fuming Sally behind.

“That... insufferable... ugh!” She kicked the couch, instantly regretting it when her big toe painfully came in contact with the wooden leg. “I know he’s your brother,” she growled, “but how would you feel about being an only child? Because I’m going to kill him next time I can lay my hands on him!”

“Oh sweet, that means I get to have all his comicbooks!” A lopsided smirk appeared on his lips, “You don’t mind if I don’t help killing him? He easily kicks my ass and I prefer my ass the way it is.”

Sally couldn’t help her eyes wandering down and agreeing in her mind that, yes, she preferred his ass the way it was as well.

“I’m sorry about Cailan,” Alistair apologized, “he’s been a bit distracted lately.” He grinned at her, “But hey, this is the perfect moment for us to get to know each other better, right?”

“I... I’m sorry, what?” Sally’s brain was still contemplating ass preferences and had some problems catching up with the conversation.

 “Well, you’re always running off with Cailan. And we never get a chance to talk, so I thought...” his words trailed off, “never mind, it was a stupid thing to say.”

“Oh, no! It isn’t stupid. At all. In fact, it’s a very good... thing. A good thing. Yes,” oh God, she was rambling, “I mean, yes,” she swallowed with some difficulty, “we should totally get to know each other better. Heh.”

They grinned awkwardly at each other, neither of them sure what to say or how to proceed.

“Ehm, let’s get your stuff inside and upstairs first. Before someone steals it,” Alistair said, motioning with his thumb over his shoulder.

Relieved to have something to do, Sally nodded and led him to the movingtruck downstairs.

~~

Several hours later, they had carried everything upstairs. The entire living room was littered with boxes, there was paper everywhere and Sally had no clue where everything was, but she was officially moved in!

With a deep sigh she let herself fall in the soft cushions of her couch, “Please, kill me,” she muttered, closing her eyes, “all my muscles are sore.”

Somewhere to her right she could hear Alistair chuckle, “No need to kill you,” he answered, “you’ll be so stiff tomorrow that you won’t even be able to move. Nobody will be able to tell the difference.”
He was rummaging in a plastic bag he had brought along upstairs during their last haul. Sally cracked an eye open when she heard glass clink.

Alistair proudly held up a sixpack of beer. He smiled sheepishly, “They’re cold. I brought them along in the cooler,” he scrunched up his nose, “although a whole sixpack for just the two of us might be a bit too much.”

Sally eagerly reached up, “Nu-uh. Gimme! I can use a beer! And pizza. You give me the beer, I’ll order pizza.”

He handed her a bottle of beer and dropped down on the couch beside her.
“Make sure to order one with extra cheese.”

~~

Sally was feeling wonderfully tipsy, having a great time chatting and laughing. She never dreamt to feel this relaxed and comfortable around Alistair.

“Did you know,” he said, cheeks flushed from the alcohol, “that I used to have the biggest crush on you when we were younger?”

Badum thump. For the second time that day her heart skipped a beat.

“You... did?” she managed to squeak.

“Yeah, it was terrible. I would skulk around Cailan’s bedroom whenever you were around, horribly jealous of him and always fearing he would... I don’t know, kiss you, or something,” he laughed, shaking his head, “isn’t that silly?”

“Oh. I don’t know,” she answered, not sure how to handle this, “I think it’s kinda cute actually. I, eh... used to have a crush on you as well.” The moment she said it, she wished she could take the words back.

Alistair stared at her, eyes wide, cheeks even redder than before.
“You did?” he whispered.

“I do,” oh shit, she was making it worse, “I mean, I did. I- ehm. Oh, look at the time!” she faked a yawn, stretching a little, “I think it’s time to go to bed.”

Alistair quickly recomposed himself, “Oh, yeah! Good plan. I’ll join you.”
They both froze when they heard what he had said. Sally could feel her whole face burn.
“NO! No, no, no! I meant, what I meant to say was, that I’ll join you in your plan of going to bed. I’ll get in my own bed. Ha. Haha.”

Holding up his hands and laughing awkwardly he walked backwards out of her apartment, closing the door behind him.  Sally was still staring at the door, wishing the eart would swallow her whole, when Alistair opened the door again, “I, uh, forgot to thank you for the wonderful day,” he said, flashing her an embarassed smile.

“Oh! Yes! Thank you for helping out. I owe you one.”

Alistair nodded, smiled one last time and closed the door again. This time he didn’t return.

Sally sank back down on the couch, cradling her face in her hands. This was horrible. She had just admitted to her crush that he was, in fact, her crush. She was not sure whether to laugh or to cry.