Coffee Beans

Pizza Too?

By eight o'clock, Jason had drunk four beers, ordered a pizza claiming he was still hungry after the steak and then insisted that he was completely and unquestionably "fine". Ellie sighed and put her head in her hands.

"On a scale of one to ten," she said, speaking slowly until Jason was properly looking at her. "How much do you like being with Kate?"

Jason shrugged and took another bite of his pizza. "I suppose a nine or a ten," he mumbled, mouth still full.

"And on the same scale, how much does she make you happy?"

The movement of pizza slowed to a halt, the slice being held in-between the cardboard box and Jason's mouth. He sighed and half shrugged. "Always a ten. Everything about her is perfect."

Ellie sat back in her chair, her arms waving madly in the air. "Then why don't you tell her that? Her steak preference is something you can work on together as a couple!"

The slice of pizza made its way into Jason's open mouth as he remained silent.

"Before you tried cooking steak, we always had it well-done, didn't we? That's the way Mum did it. It was only when you didn't cook it enough that we tried a rare steak. Maybe Kate just hasn't tried it yet!"

Jason put the half-eaten slice back in the box and finished his mouthful. "How come you're so wise?"

Ellie laughed, almost hysterically. "Me? Wise? You know that's not true."

"It doesn't matter what you think, sis, but I look up to you. You're definitely wiser than me," Jason stumbled over his words, taking a sip of his beer.

"I think you've had enough to drink," Ellie took the beer from his hands. "You only compliment me when you're drunk."

Jason protested as Ellie guided him into the living room. It didn't take too much of an argument before he was asleep on the sofa, snoring loud enough that Ellie began to worry about the neighbours hearing.

She lay a blanket over him, putting one of her spare pillows under his head. His feet were handing off the end but he looked semi-comfortable at least. "You silly thing," Ellie muttered, moving the hair that had fallen over his eyes. "You have too much love in your heart, don't you?" She smiled, watching her brother sleep. The angst in his eyes had gone with the peaceful stillness of his eyelids.

Leaving him to sleep, Ellie tidied up the dinner plates and left them to soak; she could always wash them in the morning. Then she got changed into her pyjamas and clambered into bed, sighing with relief as her head hit the pile of pillows. It had been a very long day.

A/N: After the mega update the other day, here's just a smidgen for now. Let me know what you think as always, and I hope you enjoy XD