Between the Lies

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She paused, glancing over at them and then back at me. "Are they your family?"

I didn't answer her, just held her gaze.

"Oh, they are. That's your dad, huh? And your brother? I didn't know you had a brother."

"I consider them both dead. Okay?" I snapped a bit, keeping my voice down but my tone clipped.

She blinked, still trying to read me. "Okay," she nodded, dropping the subject.

"I'm getting coffee." I stood back up.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me back down.

"Vanessa—"

She locked her fingers with mine, holding our hands in her lap, and took out her phone and airpods. When she realized she needed both hands, she dropped mine and resorted to stepping on my foot.

I glanced at her shoe, which was tiny in comparison to mine, and then at her. "I can still get up."

"Don't," she warned. She plugged one airpod in her ear and the other in mine and lifted her foot off mine. "Just breathe," she said. "And drop the anger, it's not going to make things any better. Just ignore them."

"Yeah... no." I moved to stand up again but she grabbed my hand.

"You're like a dog," she scolded, resting our hands on the armrest between us. "I should keep you on a leash so you don't run away." She hit play and the volume wasn't too loud because I only had one airpod in, but it was loud enough, trust me. I stared at her as Toxic by Britney Spears started playing. She turned to me. "No? You don't like Britney?"

I sighed, looking away from her.

"Wrong playlist. Wait."

I looked back at her while she looked for different songs to play and I almost snorted as a laugh crawled up my throat. I watched her in amusement, looking away from her while my shoulders shook lightly as I laughed silently, scratching my brow with my thumb using my free hand while the other remained in hers.

"Are you laughing?"

I turned to her, shaking my head, wiping the smile off my lips, and stopping the laughter.

She held my gaze. "You were definitely laughing," she mumbled in confusion and played Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield.

I lifted a brow at her. I was surprised she listened to this song, considering it came out in 1981. It's not really a song from our time but I know it because my mom would play it around the house when I was little.

She nodded on beat with the music. "My Dad likes this song," she said, shaking her foot with the song.

"My Mom does," I replied, my foot moving with hers.

She chuckled softly, glancing at me and then resorting to looking around the airport.

We only had a few minutes left until boarding after that and Vanessa and I weren't particularly talking. We were just sitting beside each other in silence, not bothering each other or getting bothered by anything. It felt nice to be able to sit with her without it turning into an argument. I had my head tipped back and I was struggling to stay awake when I felt her patting my arm. I turned to her. "Hmm?"