Tatum decided to not tell Kinsley who she was getting lunch with later today.
Genuinely, Tatum thought it would do more harm than good. Kinsley knew that Tatum was doing Brady's plan. This was all part of it, really. It was just an extra step to make him do the plan. She wasn't even hiding anything from Kinsley, if you thought about it. Tatum never bored her friend with the details of her work. Why would she start now?
She also hadn't asked her about Jamie yet. There had to be a reason that Kinsley didn't tell her about her youngest brother. Tatum knew when to pry and when to let things go. This was hardly something she could even pry with, considering she wasn't even supposed to know about it. So, really, Tatum wasn't even doing anything wrong. In fact, she was indisputably sure that she was going about everything in the best way possible.
Maybe getting lunch wasn't the worst thing that Brady could've picked for them. If she was being honest, she couldn't remember the last time she had a proper meal. With her schedule, Tatum had a bad tendency to forget to eat. It wasn't purposeful, but she just was too busy most of the time. She would grab a granola bar or something bigger if she could hold it as she ran out the door. But since she was always running from one place to the next, she tended to just forget.
They scheduled for it to be after Tatum got off her shift from the clinic. They had another session this morning that had actually gone well. He referred to it as "her turn", and his turn was lunch. She thought it was rather rudimentary, but it was his call. And as long as he was going along with the PT plan, she didn't plan on complaining anytime soon.
But that was later. Right now, Tatum was sat on Kinsley's bed as the two watched a movie on her television. Her friend had decided that Tatum was severely lacking when it came to watching movies that she deemed as critical "must-sees". They had an ongoing list of films to get through for the semester. It may have been early in the day to be watching a movie, but they spent time together when they could considering their busy schedules. To both their surprise, Tatum was a surprisingly emotional movie viewer. Kinsley had even started making note on the list of which movies she cried at.
Their hands both picked at the bowl of popcorn between them. Their eyes remained trained on the screen, entranced by the coming-of-age movie. Tatum did her best to bite back her emotions as she watched all the storylines wrap up in that bittersweet, far-away nostalgic feeling that these films always gave her. They always just struck a cord inside of her. Eventually, she had to acknowledge the tears streaming down her face.
"God, these always get me," Tatum sniffled, wiping her eyes hastily as the credits began to roll.
"When you cry at nothing in real life, it has to be released somewhere," Kinsley insisted, shoving more popcorn into her mouth.
"Hey, I cry sometimes."
Kinsley scoffed. "Yeah like when you get a ninety-four instead of a hundred on an exam."
"That was one time," Tatum said with a groan, shoving her friend gently.
"And it was insane!" Kinsley exclaimed with a laugh.
Tatum chuckled, allowing her to have that one. It was absurd, if she was being honest. She could admit that she probably cared a bit too much about her academics. But she thrived off the validation she got from it. She would work herself into the ground but come out of it with the top grades in her class. It was worth it to her. Most of the time, that is. To be fair, she was getting a bit exhausted lately.
She opened her mouth to say something back to her friend, but paused when she caught the look of indecisiveness on Kinsley's face. It was obvious that her friend wanted to say something, but was contemplating it. Tatum didn't want to push her or divert her thoughts, so she stayed quiet, allowing her roommate to gather her thoughts.
"So... what are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Kinsley asked feebly, picking at her shirt.
That was what this was about? Tatum gave her a blank look, raising her eyebrows. "You know you don't need to even ask, right? My family already has you in for the head count."
"Tatum—" Kinsley started, head dipping down.
"Don't even try," she cut her friend off.
Kinsley groaned, still looking unsure. "Seriously! I feel bad... infringing."
"You're not," Tatum said firmly, shifting her body so she was facing her roommate. "Kins, you're my family. Through and through. My Mom wouldn't have it if someone from our family missed Thanksgiving."
Her eyes knitted together, jaw clenching. She started to nod slightly, offering a gentle smile. "Thank you, Tatum."
Tatum wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her in. "Always."
The two sat like that for a moment, arms stiffly around each other. But after some beats of silence went by, Kinsley spoke up, "We've never really been good at this, have we?"
Tatum laughed, pulling back in relief. "Thank god, I couldn't keep doing that."
Kinsley shook her head, amused. "We're just not really the hugging type."
"I actually can't remember the last time we've hugged," Tatum mused, eyebrows furrowing together as she thought about it.
"When we moved out freshmen year," Kinsley reminded her helpfully with a firm nod. "We did it cause your Mom was watching and it felt weird not to."
"That's right!" Tatum recalled gleefully with a laugh. "Remember you patted my head when we pulled apart?"
"We had never hugged before that!" she insisted in defense of herself, shoulders scrunching up. "I didn't know what to do."
Tatum let out another chuckle, eyeing her friend. She wanted to know how Kinsley was feeling about spending another holiday for her. Normally, Kinsley would spend all the breaks at her house except for summer. And even then, she was frequently at Tatum's. It was still only September and her roommate was planning this far in advance. It felt like something prompted her to bring this up so early. Tatum knew not to pry, but she wanted to make sure Kinsley was okay.
"Uh..." Tatum started unsurely, clearing her throat. "You... is everything all right?"
"Why do you ask?" Kinsley asked instantly.
"Just... it's barely October," Tatum said gently, unsure if she had to elaborate. When Kinsley simply raised an eyebrow at her, she knew that her friend wouldn't make it easy for her. "You're asking about Thanksgiving. You haven't even picked our Halloween costumes yet. Which, might I add, is really out of character for you."
"I already ordered both our costumes," Kinsley told her pointedly. "We're obviously matching for all the nights."
"All the nights?" Tatum repeated incredulously before remembering the point of the conversation. She shook her head, holding her hand out. "Not the point. Is everything okay?"
Kinsley finally looked her in the eye. She seemed to consider her, her face unsure. "Everything's fine. I just couldn't miss out on your Mom's hushweh."
"Can't blame you there," Tatum mused, contemplating if she should drop it or not. However, taking in Kinsley's face told her everything she needed to know. She tilted her head, pretending to think about the Lebanese dish that her mother made for almost every holiday. "Do you think she knows that just cause it translates to 'stuffing' doesn't mean it's supposed to replace actual stuffing? I mean, it's rice and beef."
"I don't think she cares."
"Best not to tell her, right?"
"Oh, absolutely not."
●・○・♥︎・○・●
Much to Tatum's dismay, she couldn't stay in bed with Kinsley all day.
No, she had to get lunch with her best friend's brother.
Tatum's shift at the clinic was short today, much to her relief. She could hardly believe that it was only a bit after noon. She was exhausted, to tell the truth. Balancing out all of her class work along with shifts at the clinic and hospital were exhausting. Adding in a social life on top of that felt like it was going to nearly break her. Her head was killing today. Sometimes, when she didn't get enough sleep, this happened. She usually could just pop a few aspirin and be fine. But this one wasn't going away.
They settled on meeting up at one of the dining halls on campus. They were sat across from each other in the corner of the dining hall by a large window, displaying students making their way around. There weren't too many students in the dining hall right now, much to Tatum's relief. She knew the schedules for when the dining halls were more empty than usual. Almost everyone would be in class right now.
She kept shifting her gaze up to Brady as if he would make a sudden move that could cause her to flee. But instead, he was just shoveling his sandwich down his throat. It almost felt like he wasn't paying her any attention. Not that she really minded, but it was strange considering he asked her here.
"So," Tatum drawled, stabbing her pasta with a fork. "Why lunch?"
Brady gave her a sideways look, mouth full of his sandwich. "I was hungry."
"Okay," she said carefully, "why lunch with me?"
"Figured I'd ease you into the whole 'fun' thing," he said with a shrug. "Baby steps."
"Let's not get carried away, yeah?" Tatum requested with a tight voice. "Lunch is... plenty fun."
He snorted, eyebrows flicking up. "That isn't the word I'd use for this. You look like you're about to stab me with your fork."
"Then what's your idea of fun?" Tatum shot back, hoping he would just pipe down so they could get through this.
"Come out with me tonight," he suggested, taking another bite of his sandwich.
Tatum raised her eyebrows. "Funny."
"I'm serious," Brady insisted with earnest, wiping his mouth with his hand. "You need to go out more. Have a drink."
"Sounds to me like you just want two turns," Tatum quipped with a tilt of her head. She rubbed the side of her head slightly in an attempt to ease the pain growing throughout her skull. God, she was tired.
"You okay? You seem... off," Brady noted, eyes watching her carefully.
She snorted. "Aren't you a charmer?"
"Most seem to think so," he shot back before turning serious again. "But seriously, you good?"
"I'm fine," Tatum said automatically. "Why?"
"You just seen tired, I don't know," he grumbled as he took another bite. "You're probably doing too much."
Well, she couldn't deny that. "And you care?"
"Don't need you passing out on top of me when you're doing my plan," he grumbled after a beat, eyes flickering out the window.
"You're the one insisting I go out with you tonight," Tatum retorted, leaning forward in her seat.
"There's a difference between tired from going out and tired from studying," Brady told her in a matter-of-fact voice. She waited for him to finish his thought, but it was clear he wanted her to ask.
She sighed, putting her fork down and crossing her arms. "Yeah? What's that?"
"One's worth it."
She gave a faux smile. "The words of someone who got into this school on an athletic scholarship and not an academic one."
"If you come out, I'll do that extra rep on the leg pressed you've been hounding me on," he negotiated, raising an eyebrow like he just offered her a million dollars.
"You should do it because you need to get better," Tatum shot back instantly.
"Not compelling enough."
Tatum narrowed her eyes in consideration. "Can you even drink during the season?"
"I don't get drunk, but I can have a beer or two." Brady shrugged. "I'm not that much of a lightweight, Hartley."
She wanted to say there was no chance in hell that she was going before she remembered why she was doing this to begin with. Tatum groaned, asking him, "You're really gonna make me do this?"
"It's a Friday," he reminded her. "What else do you have going on?"
"A volunteer shift at the hospital at ten in the morning tomorrow."
"You'll be fine," Brady insisted, wiping his hands with a napkin before tossing it onto his empty plate. "Come on, I'll tell some of the guys to come."
"I tolerate one of you and it's Isaac," Tatum deadpanned.
"Do you really wanna look back at college and only remember studying?" Brady asked her pointedly.
Tatum bit the inside of her lip. She felt a surge of anger flash through her. Because no, she didn't. But she didn't know how to do it all. And there was almost nothing more important to her than her career. But Tatum didn't want to have nothing to show for her four years here besides a degree. She wanted memories to look back on that didn't include late nights hunched over her textbooks. And here the offer for that was, basically on a silver platter.
And besides, this was a step in the direction of helping her career.
Really, it was as good as studying.
"Don't make me regret this."
"Oh, you probably will."
●・○・♥︎・○・●
The part with the movies is from my best friend! She has a running list of movies for me to watch that we started in college. Still making our way through. I had no idea that "Good Will Hunting" wasn't a movie about goodwill amongst men and hunting— like ethical hunting. Great movie once I realized it wasn't about hunting!!