Characters:Sam and Marina Ruiz
Setting: Marina's room, Friday after classes
Rating: SFW
Content: Twin time



Sam had to admit he had not been completely honest with his twin lately and that was something that he was not okay with, in fact, he had not been honest with anyone. It was making it hard to concentrate on his herbology essay, which never happened! Defeated and frustrated he dropped his pencil onto his desk and took off for Rienzi.

He had spent enough time in Rienzi to know practically everyone there so it took him some time to get through the common room but once he made his way through it was a straight shot to Marina's room. He could only hope her room mate wasn't home. "House keeping!" he called from the other side of the door.

"We don't want any!" Marina called back and then giggled into her pillow. She opened the door to her brother and smirked at him. "Since when are you polite enough to knock?" And since when doesn't he stop at Abernathy's first?

Sam wrinkled his nose at Marina. "Didn't want to walk in if you were dancing around in your undies," she teased. "I know how you girls roll," he said stepping into her room without further invitation. "What's up?" he asked flopping onto the foot of her bed and leaning his back against the wall.

She flopped back down onto her pillows and pushed the romance novel she'd been reading as far under them as she could manage. "Absolutely nothing." She poked him with her foot squarely in his hip. "What is up with you?"

Sam shrugged. "Noooothin," he lied. "I couldn't focus on my homework and we haven't had quality bonding time since cleaning up after that insane party," he laughed. "I miiiisss my twin!" he teased.

She leaned just enough to pinch him with her toes. "Bullshit on your face." Then she rolled over so that she was laying on her belly next to him and kicking her feet in the air. "You have something on your mind, Sam the man."

"Damn monkey toes!" he laughed. He closed his eyes then and smacked his head against the wall. "Damn twin mind reading powers," he grinned. "Can't lie to you, can I?"

"Nope," she replied pluckily. "So come on, Sammy. What's weighing your brains down?"

"I tried so hard Ina," he sighed, the smile slipping from his face. "I think I fucked up with Abernathy," he admitted. "I love that girl, I don't know what I would do without her but I'm losing her. I tried so hard to pretend that I didn't want to be with her like that but I can't make it go away," he looked over at Marina with his big puppy eyes. "It hurts," he said putting his hand over his heart.

Marina watched her brother idly. She knew this whole drama was coming; she was wondering when it would rear up and demand attention. "She's not ready for that," she replied knowingly. She had several conversations with Abernathy skirting around the issue. Never directly, never enough to know for sure how she felt about Sam. But it was clear from her reaction that she wasn't prepared for Sam's advances. "And clearly, that sucks mucho. But Sammy, pumpkin, you've got to give her space. Give her time to figure it out for herself."

He pouted a little. "I don't know what to do," he said. "I just... I want to go fishing with her and go out for ice cream, I want to play catch and lay under the stars just bullshitting the way we used to," he sighed heavily. "I want to give her what we used to have, but I want to move into something... deeper," he lolled his head over to look at Marina. "I want her to feel safe with me, the way I feel safe with her."

He grumbled incoherently and slouched down further. "Please tell me there is something more interesting going on in your life," he looked to his mischievous twin for a distraction, for anything.

"I don't know what to tell you, Samsonite. I think it's going to be hard, but maybe she'll realize that you're her number one. Maybe she just needs to get beaten up by Adelaide a few more times before the sense comes back into her head." Marina shrugged and offered him a little giggle to console him. "Let her come to you. Don't force it. You have this tendency to wear your heart on your sleeve." Which is why it's always getting crushed. "Maybe try wearing it under your shirt for awhile?"

Then she shook her head. "Oh no, no. There is nothing to tell." Such a lie, but the less Sam knew about her secret sex life the better. "It's been so boring around here lately."

"I don't know how to do that," he couldn't help but pout again. She was right though, he was always leaving his heart in plain sight, right out in the wide open. "I don't know how to cover it up and keep it safe," he covered his face with his hands.

Marina's response was too quick to be the truth. "Oh, yeah right, you want me to believe that there is nothing going on in your life?" he grinned. "You're a terrible liar space cadet."

"You know Abernathy will always be your best friend. She's just going through a weird time, trying to figure out who she is and what she wants. You just had to run in front of her and cross the finish before she even got off the starting line." Marina tucked her hair behind her ears and plunked her hands in her lap. "It's not so easy to keep your emotions back, but you've got to try if you want to save your relationship with her. At least in the short term." She didn't want to tell him he might have to face the possibility that she didn't feel the same way; she didn't want to break Sam's heart and then put him back together.

She saluted him with a sharp gesture of her hand from her forehead. "As you say space commander." She stuck her tongue out at him and shrugged. "So what? I'm a shit liar. It's nothing I need to talk about." She gestured vaguely to her backpack like it was something to do with school, or maybe it was their home situation which was stressing her out (and that was probably a worse lie; she thought their parents made the correct decision to separate). "You kids and your drama." Then she laughed and batted at his arm. "Come on Sammy, let's go get some ice cream or something."

Sam listened carefully and took it all to heart. She was right, Abernathy would always be a part of his life, maybe he just needed to back off a step, even if he didn't really want to. He nodded. "You know me, dive in head first," he shrugged. It was the way he had always been and probably why he fell so hard in the first place. "I don't want to ruin anything with her, I don't want to take that away from her because I jumped the gun." It would be hard but he would have to try.

He grinned and shook his head. "You kids? I'm pretty sure I'm older." This was of course speculation because Anna Ruiz would never tell her kids who was born first. His thoughts were completely derailed though when she mentioned the magic words. "Ice cream?!" he asked excitedly like a kid on Christmas. "I could go for some ice cream! My treat!" he offered.