Circles ━ Evan Buckley

009: TOO SWEET (FOR ME)

Indiana sets the wine glasses down on the coffee table and opens the screw top wine (what did you expect? she's on a teachers salary), pouring it into her own glass until it's full enough that it might spill over. She pours Athena a respectful amount, then throws her own back in three gulps and pours another glass- a normal amount, this time.

Athena reaches across to clasp her own glass, sipping lightly as she eyes Indiana over the rim, "Long day?" She questions.

"No," Indiana answers, tapping her fingernails against her glass lightly. She reaches for her phone on the coffee table, tapping through her playlists for a moment before she settles on one of the playlists Jasmine made for her when she was 'getting her groove back'. "Went out for lunch at Yoko's, today. I enjoyed it."

"I'm glad," Athena replies, and Indiana can't escape the conspiratorial look in her eyes, though she might try her hardest. She can only sink so far back into the couch. "How's Buck?"

Indiana knew it was coming. She has known from the moment that she and Buck had agreed on a night for their first date that she had this conversation to look forward to- but it wasn't supposed to go down like this. It was supposed to be on her terms.

"He's uh- he's good," Indiana manages, tripping over her words only slightly. She's got a white knuckle grip on her wine, and if that wasn't a dead giveaway that she is hiding something, the incessant smacking of her lips definitely is. "You could've asked him yourself, though. Didn't you see him yesterday?"

Athena hums noncommittally, "I see a lot of people every day, I don't have time to ask them all how they are," she informs, typing something on her phone before placing it down on her thigh. "I heard through the grapevine that you've been seeing an awful lot of each other, lately."

"Through the grapevine," Indiana repeats, a small laugh following her words. "By grapevine, you mean Jasmine? I know you two text about me all the time."

Athena fixes her with a stern look, "Only because we care about you," she promises, the softness of her tone a stark contrast to the expression on her face. "But, no, I didn't hear it from Jasmine."

Logically, Indiana knows that the only other person that Athena could get her information from would be Buck himself. She wouldn't put it past her cousin to corner the man and demand answers about his intentions with Indiana, to make sure that Buck is being nothing but the perfect gentleman.

Athena is contradicting, that way. She has a set of rules that she follows until her loved ones are involved, and then they are thrown out of the window. Indiana admires it, even if it is annoying sometimes.

"Athena," Indiana warns, "You know Buck. You don't need to act how you would if he was some random guy that I was dating."

"I'm not worried about you," Athena tells her, bluntly. The mood in the room changes in a flash, Athena's false curiosity now replaced with the strict motherly attitude that she only has to pull out on Indiana on special occasions. "You need to tell Buck that you aren't ready to move on."

This, Indiana should have seen coming. Athena has always been able to see through her facade, to dissect her lies without having to put any effort into it. She's Indiana's better half, in a way, and she knows that the argument they're about to get into can only end one way.

"You're the one that set us up," Indiana defends, though it might not mean much right now. "This could all have been prevented if you hadn't stuck your nose in it."