Don't get me started

 

"She didn't even make that pie," Bishop told his sister Emily. 

"What?" Emily was in her third bite of the Cranberry Apple Crumb Pie. She didn't know what he was going on about. He was a drama king as of late while Emily had busted her butt during the holidays. She was still at the preschool. She'd baked a turkey and a ham and even delivered a whole meal to her parents who promised to stay home where they were living. 

Sure her back still hurt, including her neck. But she went on. She hadn't collapsed yet. 

"Her brother's boyfriend made the pie," Bishop said about Dimi and the pie. He hugged himself hard as if she was not worthy.

"Oh, give me a break," Emily snapped. "Weren't you the one who went running when you found out Dimi might have a date?"

"Well, she didn't." He puffed a frown as if this had to be the worst Christmas ever.

"And you should be happy," Emily's eyes lit as she looked at her brother. "You need to be happy. Because if..if you're happy she'll be happy."

Emily had done as much coaching as she could. She'd told him to look deeply into Dimi's eyes. "Just keep searching," she'd said. "It's bound to happen." After all, he'd kissed her. At least once. She didn't think he'd missed her mouth. But some things were better left unknowing.

"Just don't give her a..bad time." Emily went back to her pie. She loved this pie.

"Oh," Mick nodded when Dimi finally mentioned her adventures with Bishop. "So..just..just what kind of kiss was it?"

She winced and made a face as if she didn't like it, but Mick only laughed at her.

"I think you better kiss him, again," Mick smirked.

"No. I can't." Dimi was acting like a little girl, he told her. She only sighed.

"I think you did like it. You were just surprised." Mick gave her another nod before he cracked another walnut and gave her half of it. She took a bite as if she would not talk about Bishop's weirdness, but she couldn't ignore it. After all, she finally had Mick all by his lonesome. 

"It's just, you know..he..he..kept staring into my eyes." She looked at Mick blankly. "No one..not anyone had ever done that before."

"They might have, you probably had your eyes closed." He bit into the walnut and then finished it off to crack another hard shell.

"Well," She pushed her hair from the back forward as if she was thinking of putting up her hair but let it drop back down. "I just don't know what to do." She would be working with him again on Monday.

Mick only smiled.

"You'll figure it out. You know you care about him. And you know, he likes you too." He gave his sister another walnut.

 

Keir thought he might make himself sick over Lizzy. He didn't want to worry about her, but maybe he'd gotten it all wrong. He needed someone to talk to and there was only Liam.

"I..didn't ever want to lie to you, but she still has pictures of you," Keir told him when he came over for supper. Liam made pasta noodles the day before and was now baking lasagna on a cold winter's night. "And then..then the things she let slip." Keir shook his head. "Maybe she never loved me. Maybe she only wanted to see me because..because you're my best friend."

He paced about while Liam was busy. "She hates that you and Emily are getting married. She...she said she wanted me to be in the wedding." Keir hugged himself hard and was still distraught. "I-I wanted to talk about being with her from the get-go, but she always made me feel it was none of your business..and yet, I think she wanted you to know."

"You don't need to give her any more of your time." Liam sounded as if he was cured of any ailments Lizzy might have given him. "Just stop thinking it's your fault. She probably doesn't like herself and I don't know if I can tell you what you'd want to hear. She always thought I was boring. And I probably am," Liam sighed. "I think you made the right decision." He nodded. "I'm glad you broke up with her. It'll just take some time, but don't give up on meeting someone."

That's when Liam told him about the old woman he knew from the grocery store. She was in a walker everywhere she went and the last time he saw her she was with her new boyfriend. "She looked so happy. I've never seen her look that good. It could happen to you." He smiled. 

Keir looked at him as if he had no idea how something like that could happen for him. Would he have to wait until he was sixty-five or so for something like that?

"Stop playing video games," Liam told him. "You may have already met someone and you just don't know."

Keir rolled his eyes at that. 

"Or get on an app," Liam shrugged. "Everybody's doing it these days."