Serendipity

I don't deserve you

I'm not just tired, I'm utterly exhausted. Between Tim's active pestering and his thrashing nightmares, I'd be lucky to have gotten two hours of sleep.

But still, I force myself to hide the sheer extent of my exhaustion and pull on my clothes, listening to Tim's constant muttering from just outside the door. He got all his stuff packed and went to change in the bathroom so I could get ready in my room, but that means he also now gets to wait (he doesn't have to, I kept telling him he should just go without me) for me to get ready.

"Would you mind not grambling while I'm trying to get ready?" I call. There's a pause.

"'Grambling'?" He repeats.

"Grumble-rambling," I say, tugging on a light sweater over my dark t-shirt. "Not a word yet but I'm making it one."

"Fair enough," I can imagine the shrug that comes with the words. "And yeah, sorry."

"What're you so worried about, anyways?" I pull on a sock, realize it's inside-out, and pull it back off so I can try again. "Even if my brush isn't amazing, I'm sure your hair will look amazing either way."

"I'm not really worried about my hair," He argues while I shove my other foot into a sock, this time the right side out. "I'm worried about...something else."

"Helpful," I comment. "Very specific."

"I know, I know," He sighs. "But I can't really put it into words."

I cough a laugh. "What was that for the past five minutes again? Remind me, please."

"I mean—" He sighs again. "I can't put the actual idea into words."

"Hm," I hum, holding my phone in my mouth while I stuff the charger into my backpack. I drop the phone into my palm, then heft my backpack over my shoulders and make for the door.

"Morning, Lina," Tim says politely, stepping back so I can exit my room. I follow his gaze and meet Lina's.

"Morning," She cocks a teasing eyebrow at me. "How'd you guys sleep?"

"We slept great, thanks for asking," I roll my eyes. I see Tim blush slightly out of the corner of my eye. I grab his arm and pull him towards the stairs. "Now, let's go before it gets any later."

"It's not that late," Tim points out. I trip on the last step, but thankfully he uses the hand I was holding on to him with to grab me before I can fall. He snorts, pulling me up. "Though if you have go to the hospital because you cracked your head open, it probably will be that late."

"Well, thankfully we won't have to worry about any trips the hospital," I dust myself off, slightly shaken by my close call with the ground. "Just one to school."

"And I'm sure there won't be any questions about why we arrived together," Tim nudges me, teasing. But his words cause a wave of negative emotions to cascade over me, making my knees wobble. "Woah, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say, wincing. Get it together, Sydney. "Just a little light headed."

Tim's brow furrows. "Maybe you should get some breakfast."

"I'll be fine," I say again, waving him off, but he stays near me as I make my way over to the kitchen table, as though I could fall apart at any second.

I grab an apple from the basket in the middle of the table, then pad over to the fridge so I can take a couple bottles of water.

"Thanks," Tim says, nodding gratefully and slipping the bottle I hand him into the sleeve on the side of his bag.

"Sure," I turn to face the door, then pause. I raise my voice slightly. "Dad, you up?"

There's silence for a moment, then I hear rustling and a drowsy "Yep!" coming from his office.