Let It Be Your Shirt (Story 3 of Sev & M)

Chapter 5

Zandra was sitting on the floor, back against the couch, her shoulder barely touching Nora's leg. After Nora had interrupted the boy's make out session on the roof, they had been invited to stay and hang out. She hadn't wanted to, preferring to spend her night off with Nora alone since they had spent all day with Severine, but Nora's face had lit up with the thought of all of them getting to hang out together and she hadn't been able to refuse. She looked across the coffee table to her brother, laughing silently to herself. Severine was sitting in the chair, Marcus leaning against his legs in almost the same position as her. She felt a flare of jealousy at their relationship but pushed it down. Her relationship with Marcus had been repairing itself well and she didn't want to risk breaking it again.

She grabbed her bottle of red wine from the coffee table, taking a slow swig. They were playing a game called Questions. It was basically 20 Questions, but instead of trying to guess what the other person was thinking of, the purpose was to ask each other questions to get to know each other better. There were only two rules: first, you could ask any question you wanted and second, even though the other people wouldn't know if you were lying, don't lie. She had thought it was dumb when they had first started but as they continued drinking and playing it got more fun. It was her turn to ask a question.

"Severine," she started, "What's your favorite book?"

"Like my favorite of the three I am currently reading?"

"No your top favorite," she said.

"Oh! Okay, well my top five are..." he started.

Marcus laughed, cutting him off, "No babe one book."

Severine was starting to look flustered, ".....but"

Nora laughed this time, "One Sev, one."

"Okay! But..." he started again, his face red from being flustered and embarrassed that he couldn't pick just one.

"NO!" they all said together.

He crossed his arms over his chest, pouting, "I want a new question."

Marcus reached behind him, placing his hand on his knee, rubbing it gently to calm him down. Zandra watched the encounter for a moment, then laughed. She honestly felt bad about getting him worked up and decided to take pity on him.

"Okay fine, you're off the hook with that one. Who is your favorite person in this room?"

He rolled his eyes. "Marcus obviously," he huffed.

The three of them laughed and after a minute Severine did too. Marcus held his hand out to Nora who tossed him the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels they were sharing. Severine gave a little gasp but Marcus caught it easily. Zandra laughed and praised Nora on the toss. They continued to play the game, losing track of time and number of bottles they had consumed. Nora stood to go to the bathroom, practically falling into her lap in the process. She steadied her easily, hand lingering on Nora's hip longer than necessary.

"Whoopsie!" Nora giggled, stumbling around the coffee table.

She felt her face redden. She caught Severine giving her a knowing look and looked away quickly, then back again, but he was saying something to Marcus now. She shook her head, she had been extremely careful with her feelings for Nora there was no way any of them knew about it. They heard a crashing sound from the hall and Nora laughing. She was on her feet before she realized she had even reacted, she started for the hallway but Severine said he would go check on her, he had to go to the bathroom anyway. Nodding reluctantly she sat back down.

When Severine stood up he did fall into Marcus's lap. Marcus caught him easily, cradling him expertly in his arms. His hand had gone behind Severine's head, protecting it from hitting the edge of the coffee table. They both laughed. Marcus helped ease him up. Holding the sides of his hips gently until he got his feet under him as if he were a toddler just learning to walk.