How To Be The Best Third Wheel

Original Edition - Tip 38: Don't be Jackie Chan in your Sleep

"Why do you have to be so...so not good at not almost killing people every few seconds?" James whines. I place an ice pack on his forehead, and he winces a bit.

So I wasn't good at safely greeting people...a lot of people aren't! It isn't uncommon. It's not like he died or anything.

"I don't know. If I knew, I'd probably fix it so that I don't hurt myself too often." I reply, finishing up with the ice pack and placing it on the counter.

He sighs, "That drone was pretty heavy, y'know." He raises his eyebrows at me and I return an awkward smile.

"Yeah...sorry about that." I apologize again. Okay, maybe one feels the slightest guilt when accidentally hurting one's boy-fry with a drone. But what can a girl do if she's naturally clumsy!

"Sometimes I don't know why I like you so much." he states, and I take a step backward, holding my hands on my hips.

I roll my eyes."Ah please. As Logan usually says, 'You're whipped as fu-'"

"Oh so she swears now?" he interrupts, sporting an amused grin.

"FYI, I was gonna say 'fudge'." I retort, then proceed to stick out my tongue.

"Sure you were." he smiles and nods his head.

"Anyways, I was going to tell you the reason why you like me so much."

"And what might that be?" he asks, crossing his arms and standing up so that he towers over my short self.

"Seriously? Look at all this." I say, gesturing to myself. "Only a select few have beauty this stunning." I finish, giving him a playful wink.

"I thought I was the cocky one in this relationship." he laughs, shaking his head at me.

"You are. And I'm the honest one."

James pushes back a loose strand of hair from my face, behind my ear. He opens his mouth to say something and continue our little banter, when we hear a call from the living room.

"Ate Lara!" Seb calls and James lets out a deep breath.

I head straight to the living room, where Seb is sprawled on the couch, fidgeting with the T.V. remote. He jumps from his spot and grabs my hand. "Ate Lara, wanna watch a movie with me?"

"Sure, why not." I follow him to the couch, where he presses play on the movie.

James walks over and takes a seat on the couch beside me. He lifts Seb up to his lap, then places an arm around my shoulder. The warmth radiating off his body gives me such comfort. As I lean in closer, resting my head on his chest and hugging Seb with my other arm, I realize that maybe this is what I really want to have in my life.

Someone to be there for me, not because they have to, but because I'm the person they want to have in their arms.

The movie starts and I try to keep my eyes open and pay attention to what is happening. However, my eyelids let gravity get the best of them. Before I can even notice, I am sound asleep in the same position that I started with...

***

"Lara?" the faint sound of my name being called pulls me out of the hypnotic sleep that overpowered my body earlier. Slowly, I open my eyes to the blinding fluorescent lighting of the room.

"What do you want?" I groan in a groggy voice, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. "I just wanna sleep." With that, I turn away, shrinking back into a little ball.

James' hand reaches for my arm, but I slap it away, not ready to welcome the reality of waking up. I just really like sleep. If nobody woke me up, I could probably end up like Sleeping Beauty amd sleep for a hundred years...well, I'd end of dying of course.