Dance In The Rain

~29~ Dinner and a Show

Julianne's POV

The next morning our alarm goes off and when I look over, Tate is already awake and staring at the ceiling.

"Morning," I say as Kenna stretches out and tries to wake up.

"Morning," he says

"What are you doing?" I ask as I get up and go over to Tate's bed, sitting on the side.

"I've been up for the last hour...I just keep waiting for Holden to come in. It's weird he hasn't."

"Are you wanting spanked?" Kenna asks as she sits up and her hair is a complete mess.

He shoots her a lethal look as he mutters. "This is why people come up with dumb-blonde jokes."

"Maybe he's going to wait until after school," I say.

Tate shakes his head. "He's working at the bar....I don't get it."

"Maybe you're not getting punished at all," I say as I stand up and head for the bathroom to get ready.

~*~

Holden pours cereal for us quietly and when Tate comes into the kitchen, he watches Holden carefully.

"Morning," Holden says with a forced smile, and Tate looks at me with raised eyebrows as he takes the cereal from him.

"Morning...."

Quinn watches the whole exchange with frustrated eyes as she eats a bowl of fruit silently.

"He's gonna freak out about it all day, so I'll just ask. Is Tate in trouble?" Kenna asks, and Tate turns to her with so much hatred, it actually freaks me out a little.

Quinn turns to Holden expectantly, and Holden looks like he's in a daze as he says, "what?"

"Spanked. He keeps waiting for you to spank him," Kenna says, and Tate literally kicks her under the table.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"Why do you always have to talk?" Tate asks in horror.

"What? Isn't it better to just know so you're not stressing about it all day?"

Holden shakes his head as if to clear away the fog, and then clears his throat. "Consider this a free pass. Get your shit together and quit pulling dumbass moves that could get you killed. Hurry up and eat so we can leave."

He heads to his room and Quinn turns angry eyes on Tate. "I asked you not to take advantage of his grief."

"Grief? That's being a little dramatic, don't you think? It's Chippy!"

Her eyes go from anger, to shock, then back to anger in a second. "So because you didn't like her, it makes her less of a person? Your brother is hurting. Where are you? Not here, obviously...You're too busy enjoying his weakness by sneaking out and doing whatever you want to do!"

"You're being dramatic as hell!"

"Nah," she says in a weird tone as she stands up and throws away the extra fruit she didn't eat. "Dramatic will be when I completely overstep and spank you myself. Have. His. Back. We all know he'd do it for you."

Tate scoffs as he puts his spoon in his empty bowl. "Okayyy......"

Holden comes back out and looks between the two of them. "What's wrong?" He asks Quinn.

"I told your brother that I was about to spank him myself."

Holden's eyes bug out and he shakes his head. "Uh, no Sylvie. I'm not comfortable with that at all."