Orphan Black 1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So this is my first Orphan Black fic and I hope that you give it a try :) The idea was just swirling around in my head so I went with it. I know that I still have other fics ongoing but they will definitely be continued. **

**Here goes nothing!**

Chapter 1: Unexpected Arrival

I tap my foot impatiently as I wait for my parents to catch up. You'd think that they would move a little faster since it's been a year since we've seen him. He was supposed to come home for Christmas but about a week before he was due to fly he informed us, _via email, _that he wasn't coming back for the holidays and that he wanted to use his free time to travel around Europe instead of going home.

I can't really begrudge him the experience though, I know that I would have done the exact same thing but that doesn't change the fact that it really had been the loneliest Christmas ever. I had turned down all the offers that my friends had made me to spend part of the holidays with them because I had so much catching up to do with him. But I guess it doesn't really matter now because any minute he is going to walk through arrivals and then shall begin the best summer ever.

Mom and Dad eventually catch up to me and I practically have to drag them over to arrivals.

"Cosima, really, what's the rush?" Mom asks airily.

"I don't want to miss him coming through!" I exclaim.

"We won't, we won't just calm down," Dad begs me.

"I will calm down after he gets here and I have choked the life out of him with my hugs."

I notice a large crowd gathered in front of the arrival doors and I sigh. I survey the crowd, looking for a way in which I can position myself at the front. I have to find one because my tiny stature won't allow me to see from the back. I decide to give up on my parents and I go ahead and start squeezing through bodies in the crowd. Most of them don't notice me and when some people send me disgruntled looks I gesture forward at random people, pretending to know them and that I need to join them.

Eventually I get a decent position at the front and I grip the barrier firmly in excitement. I can see the automatic doors that are going to let him through any minute. I wait with bated breath as the doors open. I sigh heavily when it's not him. I should have known better than to think that the first person I see come through would be him.

Not only is he not the first person to come through, he's also not the tenth, thirtieth or fiftieth. After the crowd has somewhat dispersed I feel Mom and Dad sidle up beside me.

"What time did he say he would be arriving?" I can't help but ask a little grumpily.

"He should have landed about forty minutes ago, but you know how these things are, anything could have delayed him," Dad explains.

"I know," I mumble as I scuff my shoe along the ground. "I just really can't wait to see him."

"Cosima!"

I snap my head up to see him striding through the doors without a care in the world.

"Cyrus!" I shout as I duck under the barrier and run towards him. He stops wheeling his bags in preparation for the hug I am about to give him.

I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. He's taller than me but that's not really saying much, I'm smaller than most people. I notice that he smells different, not a bad different, he actually smells like perfume and a nice one at that. He puts me down and we smile at each other, the skype chats we had every once in a while really weren't enough. It didn't show how much he had changed. He definitely looks older, more mature even, and he seems to be letting his hair grow out a little bit. It suits him.

I smell the perfume again but much stronger this time.

"Hey, Cos, I have someone I want you to meet," he states excitedly.

I look up at him in confusion, still a bit dazed from the smell. I blearily watch as Cyrus steps to the side and a tall blonde girl steps up beside him with cases in tow. She smiles at me like we've met before. Cyrus snakes his arm around her waist and pulls her closer to his side.

"This is Delphine, my girlfriend!" he informs me.

"Enchanteé," she says as she extends her hand out for me to shake.

"Enchanteé," I mumble feebly in response as I shake her hand.

Before I can say anything else Mom and Dad join us.

"Cyrus! Who is this beautiful young woman you have with you?" Mom gushes and I can't help but roll my eyes.

Cyrus delves into introducing Delphine to them which gives me a moment to step back and collect my thoughts.

I don't want to like her but she seems charming. Her smile when Cyrus introduces her is genuine and she only has lovely things to say about him which rings out in a fabulously French accent. But why has Cyrus never mentioned her? Surely if he is bringing her back here for a holiday then they have been going out for some time? It seems like the kind of thing that a brother should tell his only sister.

"Let's make our way to the car, shall we?" Dad announces.

Dad takes one of Cyrus' cases and gestures for me to grab one of Delphine's. I hastily jerk forward and reach a hand out to take the bigger case.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Delphine says quickly.

I stop reaching for the case and look up at her.

"Oh no really, please let me, my Dad will think I'm being super rude if I don't."

"Well, in that case, you can take this one instead, it's not as heavy." Delphine drags the smaller bag over to my side.

"You calling me weak?" I joke.

Delphine's eyebrows raise in surprise.

"Non, no, not at all, I just didn't want to burden you!"

"Chill, it's ok, I was joking," I say waving away her apology.

Shit, I'm really making a great first impression.

"Oh...," Delphine sighs as she pushes her hair back from her face. "Sorry, it has been a long day, my ability to process humour in English is not quite as good as it normally is."

"The fact that you understand me at all is really impressive. I tend to use way too much slang," I explain, waving my hands about in a flustered attempt to apologise for confusing her.

"It's alright, I'll ask you if you say anything I don't understand," she says while smiling reassuringly. "We better catch up with Cyrus and your parents."

I turn around and notice that they have gone on without us, thinking that we were probably right behind them.

"Yeah, cool, let's go," I agree.

As we walk out together I'm feeling relieved that Delphine gave me the lighter case because this one is still pretty damn heavy and I probably wouldn't have been able to move the other one, and that would have been embarrassing.

"You seem to have brought the whole of France with you," I remark. "How long are you staying for?"

"The whole summer," she responds.

My stomach plummets. She is here for the whole summer? At most I was expecting a month and then I would still get two months with Cyrus. Now, we aren't going to be able to do anything that I had planned. I smile at her anyway and try not to show my disappointment. Now I understand why Cyrus didn't tell me she was coming. He can be such a chicken shit sometimes.

"Cyrus has told me a lot about you," Delphine says to fill the silence. "I kind of thought he was kidding about the dreadlocks."

I toy with the ends of them nervously which was odd because I had never felt self conscious about them before.

"Hahaha," I laugh. "You know it's funny because Cyrus has never even mentioned you."

Delphine laughs as well and nods in agreement.

"I know, we thought it would be a nice surprise."

"No offence but I'd say Cy was just afraid that they would say no if he asked," I inform her.

"That is probably very true," Delphine admits with a concerned look.

"But hey, don't worry about it, they would never send you back or anything! I'm sure they're going to love having you and teasing Cyrus is really just a bonus for me."

I want to be annoyed at this girl and to give her the cold shoulder because she had effectively ruined my plans for the whole summer but I just can't help it. It must be scary for her to come such a long way to meet her boyfriend's family and while I want to, I don't know if I have it in me to give her a hard time. I'll just be sure to take my frustration out on Cyrus when I get a chance to speak to him alone later.

"Why would you tease him?" Delphine asks confused, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, well, I mean, that's what sisters are for right? He brings home a pretty French girl and I get to tease him about being in love, you know how it is," I explain.

"We, uh, aren't quite at the love stage of our relationship, I don't think," Delphine says awkwardly.

"Oh shit, sorry. I am always putting my foot in it! Please just pretend I never said that, I just thought that since he brought you here that things were already pretty serious between you two. I really shouldn't have assumed anything," I ramble endlessly.

"Cosima, it's alright," Delphine assures me while resting a calming hand on my shoulder. "The truth is that we are serious but we have still only been dating for two months."

Her touch mellows me out instantly and I don't trust myself not to say anything else stupid so I just nod along in understanding.

I praise the powers that be that we are nearly at the car. Cyrus jogs back over to help since he has already put his luggage in the car. He pecks Delphine on the cheek before taking the case from her. I roll my eyes and try not to visibly gag. I have never seen him act like this around any girl before.

"So what are you two talking about back here?" he asks curiously.

"Nothing!" I say hastily. "I was just telling Delphine about some of the things she will have to go and see while she is in San Francisco."

Delphine looks at me, clearly grateful for the quick save.

"Oh cool, yeah we have so much to do this summer!" he says eagerly.

I can't help but feel a little sting at that, he is basically rubbing it in my face that he will have no time for me this summer and that he is going to do everything we had planned with Delphine. I scoff under my breath and narrow my eyes at him. His eyes flick from Delphine to me and I see a glimpse of guilt in his eyes.

I plonk Delphine's case down at the back of the car, leaving it for someone else to put in.

I get into the back of the car and stare gloomily out the window as I wait for everyone else to get in. Cyrus comes up and opens my door.

"Dude, what are you doing, get in on the other side," I grumble.

"Eh, Cos, there are five of us and I can't really sit in the middle and Delphine is like, way taller than you so could you…?" he gestures to the middle seat and I roll my eyes before shuffling over.

"It might be a tight squeeze but I think we'll manage," Mom calls over her shoulder to us from the driver's seat.

It's then that I feel Delphine's body pressed up beside me as she gracefully gets into the car. Being sandwiched between my brother and his girlfriend isn't exactly ideal but at least it keeps them from being all coupley.

"You kids must be hungry after such a long flight," Dad states as we pull out of the airport car park.

"I could eat a horse," Cyrus exclaims.

"Well we'll have dinner when we get back and then you'll have to tell us all about your time in France!" Mom says excitedly.

I can practically see Cyrus roll his eyes and I'm not even looking at him.

"Mom, I've pretty much told you everything there is to know, I spoke to you guys like once a week."

"I know but you failed to mention Delphine here and I want to hear all about how the two of you met and what you did together."

Cyrus gapes and I snigger.

"Yeah, Cy, you better tell us _everything_," I tease.

….

Dad places all the food on the centre of the table. We had decided to forego a proper meal and had ordered pizza instead and I sure as hell wasn't complaining. We had ordered ahead so it arrived at the house just after we did. We had dumped all the luggage in the hallway, food was much more important than bringing the cases upstairs.

We open up the pizzas and pass the food around. It was clear that everyone was famished because not a word was spoken until everyone had eaten at least two slices.

"So, Delphine, Cyrus tells us that you are staying for the whole summer?" Mom asks with a smile.

"Well, yes, that was the plan, if it's alright with you?" Delphine responds hesitantly.

"Of course it's alright!" Dad booms and Mom nods eagerly in agreement.

Cyrus smiles and takes Delphine's hand giving it a squeeze.

"So aren't you going to tell us how you two met?" I ask with a bit of bite that no one detects.

Delphine looks over at me and slips her hand from Cyrus' to continue eating her pizza.

"Delphine was teaching a class in my language school," Cyrus tells us.

My eyes widen in response. Maybe Delphine isn't as young as I thought she was. I figured that she was the same age as Cyrus.

"A student teacher," Delphine corrects him. "I finished high school a year ago and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do in university so I thought I would work for the year and get some experience. So I did a short teaching course and I got a job teaching French in the same language school that Cyrus attended."

"Were you her student Cy? Is that even allowed?" I tease.

Cyrus laughs loudly and my parents share a concerned look.

"Of course I wasn't her student! Delphine was teaching beginner's French and I was in the advanced class. That's why I didn't even meet her until a few months ago, our paths just never crossed. I promise everything was above board."

"So how did your paths cross then?" Mom asks.

"My professor was ill one day and cancelled the class but I never got the message and went anyway. After about twenty minutes with no other students and no teacher I just left. It meant that I was walking through the campus at a time that I wouldn't usually have been."

Cyrus looks over at Delphine to see if she would like to continue the story. Delphine smiles and wipes her mouth with her napkin.

"I was having an awful day. Most of my students didn't show up because the weather was so terrible and my car had broken down and just nothing was going my way. So I was delayed in leaving because my car wouldn't start. So I was going to have to walk home in the rain and I was trying to decide what I was going to have to bring back with me. I stepped out of the car with all the papers I thought I needed and the wind whipped up and breaking my umbrella and tearing the papers out of my hands," Delphine laughs as she remembers every moment vividly. "I was about to just call it quits and not even bother picking everything up when someone rushes up to me out of nowhere and starts helping me to get them."

I tried not to roll my eyes I really did but this just sounded like some cheesy scene out of a film and it was killing me. I slouched down in my seat and flicked pieces of corn off my pizza.

"After he had helped me pick them all up he introduced himself and offered me a ride home on his bicycle," Delphine says which gets laughs from my parents.

"Ever the gentleman our son," Dad says proudly.

"Of course she turned me down," Cyrus adds in. "But it was ok, I meant it as a joke."

"But he did ask me if I wanted to go get a coffee with him while we waited for the rain to stop."

"Now that time she didn't turn me down," Cyrus says puffing his chest out.

"So we went and got coffee and we just spent, I don't know, hours talking and laughing together."

Cyrus leans over and kisses Delphine softly.

Aaaaaaaaaand that's about as much as I can take. I stretch my arms above my head and yawn dramatically. Four sets of eyes follow me as I get up from the table.

"Well, I'm beat," I declare. "I think I'll head up to bed."

"Actually, you know what? Delphine and I are pretty exhausted too. We're going to head up to bed too," Cyrus says getting up from the table.

"About that," Dad says, stopping Cyrus in his tracks. "Your mother and I aren't comfortable with letting you and Delphine stay in the same room."

"Dad, come on, I'm nineteen. I'm practically an adult," Cyrus says trying not to sound irked.

"Practically, but not quite," Mom points out. "As long as you live here, we are in charge."

I sit back down at the table and smirk to myself. I suddenly feel much more awake, this is a show I do not want to miss.

"Mom, please this is ridiculous," Cyrus says failing to hide his annoyance.

Delphine quickly jumps up and puts her hand on Cyrus' chest.

"Cyrus, please this is your parents' house and I'm a guest. What they say is best."

Cyrus looks at Delphine in defeat and I watch him visibly deflate.

I laugh again and Cyrus shoots me daggers.

"I thought you said you were going to bed?" he glowers.

"And miss this? I don't think so," I laugh.

"Cosima, I really don't see why you're laughing," Mom admonishes, "Delphine will be staying in with you."

"Wait, what?"

…

**I know that this was pretty short but it's just the first chapter and I wanted to just give a flavour of what the story will be like. Let me know if you're interested or think think that I should continue :) I'm also on tumblr at freakingcharming-limaheights .tumblr .com**

**Aisling x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed and followed this story! I know that Cyrus seems like a bit of a douche right now but I don't intend on him being a character that is there just to hate. I would also like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend and her dog, Gus. He is a very sick doggie right now and my friend is going through a rough time. All my love to you, Gus, you're the best.**

**Sorry for the personal rant, it just had to be done. Anyway, here's the next chapter. **

Chapter 2: Space Invader

"Mom, Dad, do you think I could have a word with you both in private, please?" I ask with a stiff smile.

I can feel her eyes on my face. I don't want to make her feel awkward but I also really don't want to share my room with her.

"Of course we can Cosima. Cyrus why don't you show Delphine around the house and we can clean up in here?"

"Sounds good," Cyrus agrees. He takes Delphine by the hand and leads her out of the room. As he closes the door he looks at me pleadingly, clearly asking me to fight his case.

"So what's the problem Cosima?" Dad asks coolly.

"Em, I dunno, maybe that you want me to share my room, _my _space with a complete stranger?" I complain indignantly.

"Cosima, where else are we supposed to put her?" Mom asks exasperated.

"In with Cyrus, her boyfriend?!" I suggest incredulously.

"Cosima that's not going to happen," Dad states firmly.

"Why not? They probably stayed together in his dorm room all the time in Paris!" I exclaim.

"Cosima," Mom begins warningly, "your Father and I are under no illusions about what happened when Cyrus was abroad but he is home now and he needs to realise that he is not living alone anymore and needs to respect our decisions."

"Ok, chill, fair enough," I admit. "How about you make up a bed in one of your offices?"

"An office is no place to host a guest, Cosima."

I press my palms to my forehead in frustration. I really don't see anyway out of this now.

"I guess we better show her to her room then," I concede.

"Thank you for not making this more difficult, Cosima," Dad says gratefully as he pats me on the shoulder.

"Go on up and help Delphine put her things in your room. We'll be up in a minute," Mom orders.

"Don't think I don't see what you're doing," I grumble.

"What am I doing, dear?" Mom asks coyly.

"Sending me up first to break the news to Cyrus," I say shaking my head.

Dad laughs and then coughs into his fist when he sees the withering glare I'm sending him.

"That's pretty sneaky, Olivia dear," he admonishes, "and also downright brilliant."

I roll my eyes and make my way out of the dining room. I notice that all of the suitcases are gone and realise that Cyrus and Delphine must have brought them upstairs.

I climb the stairs and cross the landing to enter my room. I smirk when I see that Cyrus hasn't put Delphine's bags in my room. He's really being bull headed about all of this. I suppose he's just testing the boundaries to see what he can and can't get away with. It's ridiculous though, if he wants Mom and Dad to think he has matured on his trip away then he actually has to act mature, not regress about five years.

I wander back down the hall towards Cyrus' room. I don't want to walk in on anything but the door is open so I reckon I'm pretty safe. I poke my head in and see Cyrus sitting on his bed while Delphine is ambling around, checking out the posters on his walls. I clear my throat to get their attention and Cyrus sits up and turns towards me. I lean casually on the frame and watch as Delphine continues surveying the room.

"How did it go?" Cyrus asks.

"It's a no go bro," I say shaking my head. Delphine turns, finally having heard me.

Cyrus grimaces and sighs.

"I guess I should let it go?" Cyrus asks looking for my opinion.

"I think that would be best," I admit. "I totally get that you are used to having all the freedom you want and that coming back home must be a big adjustment but you really gotta pick your battles better than that, dude."

Cyrus chuckles and nods his head.

"You're right, as per usual. I don't know what made me think that they would be ok with it."

"I guess we better move my bags then?" Delphine questions not giving her opinion on the matter.

"I guess we should, sorry about all this babe," Cyrus apologises.

"It's Cosima you should be apologising to, not me," Delphine rejects shaking her head, "she is the one who's room I will be invading."

"Yeah, that's true, sorry Cos," he says pulling me into a one armed hug.

"It's ok," I say not completely honestly, "I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me."

"You'll find a way to torture me about it more like," he jokes.

"Well obvs," I retort.

"Let's get you settled then," Cyrus says to Delphine.

I head back to my room ahead of them, letting them gather up the bags. I sigh as I realise that my room is going to need some reorganising in order to make this a comfortable living arrangement. I start putting away the stacks of books on my floor. I always have plenty of room on my bookshelves but they always seem to end up back on the floor.

Delphine and Cyrus stagger into the room with her cases.

"Where should I leave these?" Delphine asks glancing around the room.

"I guess, leave them on the bed for now until we know where your bed is going," I tell her over my shoulder as I try to maintain my balance on my tippi-toes as I continue to put books away.

"Cyrus!" Dad calls from downstairs.

"I better go down there and see what he wants," Cyrus says, "I'll leave you two to it then." Cyrus leaves the room which leaves Delphine standing awkwardly beside my bed.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, could you just hand me any books you see on the floor?"

"Of course."

I continue sorting away my books as Delphine gathers more up from the floor. After a minute I feel her at my elbow. I take the books from her arms one by one and slot them into place on the shelves.

"Thanks," I murmur.

"You read a lot," Delphine states in an attempt to make conversation.

"I suppose I do," I admit, "though I haven't read all of these. I just keep buying every book that catches my eye even though I'll never get around to reading them all."

"I am a bit like that myself," Delphine laughs.

I take the last book from Delphine's hands. It's my hardback copy of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows._ I don't really have a special way of organising my books but my collection of Harry Potter books are kept together on the top shelf, out of respect. I reach up as far as I can to put it on the shelf, I know I can reach it but it's a stretch and sometimes I do use a chair on the occasions where I do admit to myself that I am just too small for these things. As I get the corner of the book over the lip of the shelf my fingers slip down the spine and I flinch knowing what's about to come next; a nice heavy book to the face. I peak my eyes open when I don't feel it connect with my face.

"I've got it," Delphine practically whispers. I open my eyes fully and see that she has a firm grip on the book, keeping it from falling down. "Is this where you want it?" Delphine asks pushing the book forward slightly.

"Yeah, that's perfect," I say still not having retracted my hand from the shelf. Delphine pushes the book into place and moves her hand back down, accidently touching the back of my hand with her lithe fingers. I shudder and jerk my hand back down to my side.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Her words shake me back into action and I look around the room.

"I usually keep my desk over there by the window because it gets good light," I point out gesturing at the desk, "but I guess since it's summer I won't be needing it so much so if you could help me move it into the corner that would be great."

We move across the room and each grab an end of the desk. We shuffle it away from the window and into the far corner out of the way. My double bed takes up a lot of space in the room but I relent that not much can be done about it. It isn't the easiest to move and I don't think there is any position in the room I could put it in that would create a better space for Delphine's bed to occupy.

"I guess if we also move the futon and put it in front of the desk then that would give you most of that side of the room. It clears up that wall and you aren't directly in front of the window."

"Ok," Delphine agrees.

Together we drag it over in front of the desk. It isn't the ideal place for it since it isn't directly under a light but I can just set a lamp up on the desk or something that can shine over the back of it.

"So we can put your bed along that wall and I can clear out some space from the wardrobe beside it for your stuff. Then when you've unpacked there is plenty of space for your empty cases to fit under my bed."

"That is very kind of you, Cosima. I was half expecting to be living out of my suitcases really."

"That's alright for like a week," I say waving away that idea with my hands. "It just gets annoying if you have to do it for longer than that."

"I really like your room by the way. The earthy tones make it feel comfortable or something, I can't quite describe it, I know there is a better word," Delphine struggles to explain.

"I think I get what you mean, this place is like my sanctuary. I need it to reflect me or I won't feel right in it."

"I've always wanted one of these," Delphine sighs, sitting down on the window seat.

"It was an absolute deal breaker for me when we were choosing our rooms," I tell her excitedly. "I know that Cyrus' room is a bit bigger but I just couldn't pass it up."

"You two have very different tastes," Delphine observes.

"Well we may seem similar at times but we are very different people," I point out.

"Yes, you are," Delphine agrees.

"Well," I say clearing my throat, "I'm gonna get Cyrus to get your bed down from the attic. Then I'll clear out some space in the wardrobe and give you some space to unpack and everything."

"Cosima, it's your room, don't feel like you ever have to leave to give me space," Delphine pleads.

"Ok," I nod, "but just for tonight I'm gonna give you some time to get settled."

"Thank you," Delphine says gratefully with a lopsided grin.

…

I've been in the living room for the last hour and a half giving Delphine some room like I promised I would. It took me longer than I thought it would to clear out some space in my wardrobe. It seems I have been hoarding a lot of crap over the years without realising it. The whole time I spent clearing it Delphine just sat patiently in the window seat gazing out the window.

My room is at the front of the house and is kind of on a hill so my window has a great view down onto the street. I couldn't help but wonder how different the view from my room was to the view that Delphine has from her window at home. What does she usually see? Does she like this view better?

Cyrus had come in when I was about half way through and sat down with Delphine. He had put his arm around her and she had nestled back into his chest. The sunset had cast a warm glow in on them and I couldn't help but be a little irritated about it. That was my window seat and Cyrus was having a romantic moment in it. I hadn't even had a romantic moment in it yet. Sure I've gone on a couple dates with a few people but not with anyone serious enough that I brought them home and showed them my room or let them snuggle with me in my window seat. I knew that I was being a little over dramatic but I couldn't quite pinpoint why which bothered me even further.

I kept trying to think of something to say to get Cyrus to leave but I couldn't think of anything. Eventually I finished clearing enough space and then managed to make a hasty getaway to the living room and I've been here ever since, trying to get into a book. I was unsuccessful though; all I could think about was how everything that I thought this summer was going to be was wrong and that I needed to think of how I was going to spend it now that Cyrus had Delphine.

I throw my book down on the table and sigh. I figure that I've given Delphine enough time to sort out her things and that I can head back up to my room to go to bed.

I groan in frustration when I see that my door is shut and that I can't just walk in. I knock on my door and wait for an answer.

Delphine opens the door and looks at me with a confused expression.

"Why did you knock?" Delphine asks. "It's your room."

"You could have been changing or something," I explain.

"Oh right," Delphine says in understanding, "well I'm going to use the bathroom every time I need to change so please don't feel like you need to knock on your own door."

"Alright," I say with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Speaking of which, I'm going to get ready for bed," Delphine says grabbing up her wash bag and pyjamas and carrying them out of the room.

I analyse my room with the addition of Delphine's things. She has only left a small number of things outside of the wardrobe. I examine a few pieces of jewellery that she has left on my dresser. I like her taste, the pieces are simple yet elegant and I can easily picture her wearing them. I wander back over to my bed and pull out my pyjamas from under my pillow. I reckon I have time before she comes back so I quickly change into them. I don't throw my clothes on the floor like I usually do. Instead, I fold them up and put them back in my dresser. I feel a little weird standing in my room waiting for a near stranger. I even begin to question my choice of pyjamas. Should I be wearing more than just a tank top and pyjama shorts?

I don't really have time to do anything about it though as I hear the door to the bathroom open. I settle for hastily throwing a hoody on over my tank top. I manage to fit in a quick glance at my legs before she comes back in and I sigh with relief that I had only just shaved yesterday.

Delphine smiles at me briefly as she walks in and goes over to her makeshift bed. Cyrus had managed to set up a pretty decent camp bed for her. He even went as far as putting the sheets and duvet cover on and everything which is something I've hardly ever even seen him do for himself.

I quickly wash up in the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When I return Delphine is sitting up in her bed running a brush through her hair. I can't help but watch as she does it while I walk over and get into my own bed. Her hair had been tied back since she got off the plane but now that it was down I could admire each blonde curl.

I had just settled down into my bed when there is a knock on the door.

"Come in," I mumble into my pillow just loud enough to be heard.

"Just wanted to say goodnight," Cyrus says as he opens the door. He doesn't walk in though he just stays at the threshold.

"Aw goodnight to you too, bro," I tease knowing full well that he isn't here to say goodnight to me.

He rolls his eyes and gestures for Delphine to go over to him.

She gets up and goes over to him. She hugs him in the doorway and pecks him on the lips. I avert my eyes quickly and turn over. I really do not need to watch them kissing.

I hear the door close and look back over my shoulder. Clearly they didn't feel like kissing in front of me either. I didn't know if I felt better or worse about them leaving. It meant that they were at least out of my sight but it also meant that they were kissing so much that they didn't think it would be decent to do it in my presence. I shudder at the thought and try to shake the image of my brother kissing his girlfriend out of my mind. I feel a knot form in my stomach and I tell myself that it's just from not being used to seeing him be like this. There is no other reason for me to feel weird, right?

After a few long minutes I hear the door open and close again. I watch from my bed as Delphine crosses the room and gets back into her bed. I notice that her cheeks are a deep red as she leans out of her bed to pick up her hair brush to fix her distinctively mussed up hair.

I don't know if I should say goodnight to her or if that would make it really obvious that I was waiting for her to come back in. I can't stand all of this awkwardness especially in my room where I'm supposed to be able to be whatever version of myself that I want. Just say something, anything even because this silence is smothering!

"Soooo, you said that Cyrus told you a lot about me," I state.

Delphine stills her movements for a moment before continuing to brush her hair.

"Yes," she responds, "he is very fond of you. He didn't have a single bad thing to say."

I chuckle loudly. Of course he would wait to say nice things about me when I'm not there.

"So what do you know then? Just so that I don't go repeating things," I explain.

"Well, for starters he said that you're smart," Delphine says catching my attention. "He says that he thinks you're smarter than him but not to tell you that."

I sit up in my bed so that I can see Delphine as she speaks. I gape at her in surprise.

"He did not admit that," I say in shock.

"He really did," Delphine says truthfully.

"So what else did he say?" I ask with a sly grin.

"He told me that you have one year left in high school and that you love science, biology in particular," Delphine elaborates.

"Ah, so he was trying to make me look like a bigger nerd than him," I realise.

"I don't think that's what he was trying to do," Delphine says denying my theory.

"Hmmm," I murmur disbelievingly, "what else?"

Delphine puts down her brush and shifts to sitting Indian style in her bed, resting her elbows on her knees.

"He said that you like video games but that you're not a massive gamer." She says each thing like it's a question, like she is trying to see if what Cyrus told her was the truth.

"That is also true," I admit.

"He also said that he doesn't think you are currently seeing anyone but that you have dated in the past," Delphine reveals hesitantly.

"What else has he told you about who I've dated," I ask intrigued.

Delphine purses her lips clearly unsure as to whether she should continue but she seems reluctant to avoid such a direct question.

"He said that you dated a few guys a couple of years ago but only very briefly," she says slowly, glancing up at me to see my reaction but I remain stoic, "and since then you have only dated girls. None of them seem to have been serious either but you seemed happier with them than with the guys which makes him think that you're gay rather than bisexual even though you have never actually said to him that you were either."

I lean back against my pillows and analyse her carefully. Actually, I'm surprised at her honesty. I figured that those would be his assumptions. I've never exactly hidden the fact that I was dating girls, I had just never felt the need to confirm it to anyone, and it was none of their business how I identified anyway.

"You seem to have remembered a lot of what Cyrus told you about me," I point out.

"Well you're an interesting person," she informs me. "He had me at dreadlocks."

"You do seem to be a bit obsessed with them," I joke.

"It's just such a bold fashion choice and when he said you could pull them off, I was definitely intrigued."

"Do you agree?" I ask coyly.

"Do I agree with what?" she responds in confusion.

"Do you think that I can pull them off?"

"I don't think anyone could wear them better," she says genuinely.

I blush slightly and hope that the dim lighting in the room hides it from her gaze.

"Well thank you, it's good to know that I'm not just embarrassing myself," I say shyly.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep now, I'm exhausted," Delphine says with a yawn. "Thank you so much for everything, Cosima."

"What do you have to thank me for?" I ask.

"You have just been so accommodating and honestly I was a little scared to meet you," Delphine admits.

"Scared? Why?!" I ask in shock.

"I was just a little intimidated is all. Cyrus wouldn't stop going on about how amazing you were and I just really wanted to make a good first impression which didn't really happen with me having to move into your room and everything."

I don't want to reveal to her that I'm not entirely thrilled with her presence but I am finding that I get along with the girl even though she effectively ruined my summer plans.

I choose not to say anything at first and lie down snuggling into my pillows. I can hear Delphine do the same thing in her bed.

"Just give it time," I eventually tell her, "after a while I'm sure we'll be great friends."

I roll my eyes at my own cheesiness. It was a cop out and I knew it. I already found myself liking this girl even when every inch of me was sending out warning signals that I should keep my distance.

I calm myself down by rationalising that I probably won't have to spend a lot of time with her. Cyrus would be taking her out most days and I have my own friends and my own life. I just have to get through this summer and then she'll be gone. All I have to do is get through these small conversations at night time and maybe some in the mornings too. I can handle that, right?

"Goodnight, Cosima," she whispers into the darkness.

My heart flutters lightly when she says my name and I furrow my brow in confusion.

"Goodnight, Delphine," I whisper back.

Ok, maybe it won't be as easy as I thought.

….

**Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts, they're great motivation for me to just keep writing and writing and writing. **

**Aisling x**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I've gotten a good response to this story so far so I'm definitely gonna stick with it! Sorry for the delay in updating, I was working on a sort of a chapter by chapter plan for the story. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 3: Inside My Mind

It's safe to say that the two weeks that Delphine has been here have been pretty uneventful. I spend my days at the skate park with my long board but the atmosphere is pretty dull and it's too hot for me to get really into it. So I usually end of chilling in the shade for a while then going home to just lounge around. I checked with a few of my friends to see if they were around but they were all either out of the city or working.

Working is what I really should be doing now that Cyrus and I aren't spending the summer together. I had saved up all my money from my waitressing job and then begged and I mean _begged_ for them to let me go for the summer. My boss, Mrs. S was really understanding and told me to go and have fun. I checked in with my friend Sarah who works there too but she told me that they had taken on a whole load of new staff so I couldn't go back until September.

So that leaves me with a whole load of money and no one to spend it with. Oh well, I'm sure my friends will get some free time soon and we can do some stuff together.

While my days are boring my nights have turned out to be quite interesting. Delphine and Cyrus are never around during the day, Cyrus is always taking her out to meet someone or do something in the city. Each night Delphine regales me with what they got up to that day. Sometimes I find myself waiting up for them to come in just so I can talk to her. Actually, I wait up every night, I don't even know why because on nights where they get in particularly late I pretend that I'm asleep so that Delphine doesn't think I'm waiting for her.

The first few days were when Delphine came in the most excited. She told me about how Cyrus had introduced her to all of his friends and that they got along really well. Cyrus had also walked her around the best parts of the city. However, with each day Delphine seemed less and less enthusiastic. Her days were getting repetitive and she didn't want to say it but I knew she was a little bored. She insisted that Cyrus' friends were lovely and that she really liked them but that every day they just seemed to hang out at a different friend's house. Cyrus never ignored her or left her alone to be with his friends but he also seemed to have run out of ideas for what they could do together.

Delphine had definitely come in tipsy a few times as well. I could tell from her staggered footsteps and quiet mumbling to herself that wouldn't normally occur. Cyrus was clearly giving her a taste of the American house party experience. From what I could tell she was enjoying them. She always told me that the drinks were flowing and the atmosphere was good and that she never let herself get too messy but that was usually the extent of it which led me to believe that her and Cyrus probably just spent most of the night in each other's laps, if not in somebody's bedroom. She was always careful not to get too graphic about that aspect of their relationship which I greatly appreciated because ew gross, he's my brother but there was definitely another reason why she held back about it that I haven't quite figured out yet.

They had even asked me to accompany them a couple of times but I really didn't want to be the third wheel even though they promised there would be other people. I like Cyrus' friends too but for some reason watching Cyrus with Delphine irked me and I don't think his friends would even be enough of a distraction.

I check the time on my phone and see that's just before midnight. If Cyrus and Delphine aren't back already then it's probably going to be another late night. I frown because that means there won't be a late night chat with Delphine. I yawn and stretch, it seems I'm actually pretty tired after my long day of doing next to nothing. I reach over and grab my laptop from my nightstand. I may as well put a movie on and attempt to go asleep to it, I'm too tired to wait up for Delphine tonight.

I flick through my netflix account hoping that something will catch my eye. I'm in one of those moods where I can't decide on anything. Do I want to watch a fairly new movie? Do I want action? Sci fy? Romance? I exhale heavily as I move to the next category. The animated movies roll up and I know that this is the route I wanna go. I move my laptop to the side and settle down into my pillows as I press play. I sigh contentedly, Despicable Me never gets old.

About fifteen minutes in I already feel myself drifting off so I take off my glasses and put them on my locker. I close my eyes and just listen to the voices of the movie as I get ready to sleep.

I feel like I've only been out like two minutes when I hear my bedroom door creak open. I blearily open my eyes but everything is a blur. I blindly search for my glasses in the dark and put them on. When I can finally see I find that Delphine is grimacing at me apologetically, clearly sorry for waking me up. I hear sounds from my laptop and notice that the movie is still playing. It's actually only about half an hour in. Huh, I guess I was only asleep for a few minutes. I pause it to stop the noise.

Delphine rests her hand on the end of my bed.

"I'm sorry for waking you."

I look up at her and wave my hand, hoping she can see my gesture in the little light that my laptop gives off.

"It's totally cool," I assure her. "I literally just nodded off."

"That's even worse," Delphine points out.

"Maybe," I laugh comfortably. "You're back early if you were at a party," I notice.

"I wasn't feeling well so I asked Cyrus if we could leave early," Delphine explains.

Delphine's voice is steady and her words are clear so I conclude that she wasn't feeling unwell from drinking too much. I don't think she has anything at all to drink actually.

"Are you ok? Is there anything I can get you?" I ask.

"No, thank you, it's just period cramps but I get them quite badly. Cyrus already gave me some painkillers," Delphine says as she rubs on her lower stomach, clearly still in pain.

"I have this killer herbal tea that I drink when I get like that. It always makes me feel better if you'd like some?" I offer sitting up properly in my bed.

"That sounds great actually," she admits. "Is it in the kitchen? Where can I find it?"

Delphine begins to walk back over to the door waiting for my response but I jump up out of the bed ahead of her.

"Let me get it, you go lay down," I practically order her. She looks at me and she knows from my tone that either way I'm going to get that tea for her. In any other condition she may have fought me on it but she winces again and nods her head gratefully. I sit her down on my bed carefully.

"Just wait here ok? I'll be five minutes tops," I promise with a smile.

I leave my room and dash downstairs as quietly as I can. Once in the kitchen I flick the kettle on and move to the cupboard to get a mug. I'm feeling like she is going to need a lot so I automatically take out the biggest mug I can find. I put it down beside the kettle and get the tea from the press. I put some honey into the bottom of the mug and when the kettle is boiled I fill it up. I leave the tea bag in the hot water for a few moments as I go to my secret stash of chocolate in the back of the press. I don't know what Delphine likes so I just grab some plain milk chocolate.

I take out the tea bag and put a drop of cold water in to cool it down. I carefully make my way back upstairs in the dark. I push my door open with my hip and back into the room. I watch as Delphine sits up from lying curled up at the end of my bed. The painkillers musn't be doing very much. I notice that she has also changed into her pyjamas.

She reaches out and I gently place the mug into her hands and she hums instantly at the warmth.

"I didn't know how you'd like it so I just made it how I take mine," I inform her.

Delphine puts her nose over the rim and inhales deeply.

"It smells great," she says sleepily.

I sit down at the top of the bed and watch expectantly to see if she likes it. She looks up at me after she takes a sip and smiles.

"This is amazing," she says with more energy than before.

"I'm glad you like it," I say while nodding. "Really, help yourself to it anytime you want."

She nods to let me know that she heard me as she drinks deeply.

"I also brought you some chocolate," I say shyly as I place the bar down on the bed and nudge it towards her.

"You really didn't have to do that but I really appreciate it," she tells me.

I tuck my feet under my duvet and sit there feeling a little bit awkward. I really should have made myself a mug. I turn on my bedside lamp so that we aren't just sitting there in the dark hardly able to see each other. Delphine smiles at me and I look down at my hands.

"This mug is so cute," she says and my eyes snap up to look at it.

"Oh, yeah, I collect Disney mugs," I say in embarrassment as I scratch the back of my head.

"I like it, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favourites," she informs me.

"Really?" I ask in earnest. "Not everyone appreciates it's genius."

"I know!" she replies excitedly. "What's not to love though? It's perfect for both Halloween AND Christmas."

"Exactly!" I agree laughing.

We laugh together for a moment until a natural silence falls between us.

"I feel much better now," Delphine says looking at me directly. "Thank you, Cosima."

I feel a fluttering in my stomach when she says my name and I smile brightly at her. She then picks up the chocolate to open it. She realises that she can't hold her tea and open it at the same time so she looks to me for help. I reach over and take the chocolate from her hand. I snap off a few pieces and hand them to her.

"What were you watching?" she asks as she nibbles on the chocolate.

"Despicable Me," I tell her unashamedly. She already knows I collect Disney mugs, what's the point in being embarrassed about this?

"I have never seen it."

"You're missing out," I say with a smirk. "It's cinematic genius."

"I'll have to watch it so."

"Well I'm only like half an hour in, you can watch it with me if you want but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to stay awake."

"Ok," she says with a nod, "I can never sleep when I have cramps like this anyway."

"Are you still in a lot of pain?" I ask concerned.

"Not as much as before but enough to keep me awake," she explains. I slouch against my pillows and move the laptop into the middle of the bed as she gets up and moves around to get into the other side. She props the pillows up against the headboard and leans back against them.

"Well hopefully the movie will keep you distracted," I say as I move the cursor across the screen to press play.

"I'm sure it will," Delphine says in a soft tone as she shuffles closer to me to get a better view of the screen.

"Can you see ok?" I ask as the movie plays again. She shuffles down a bit more until we are at the same level.

"Yes, perfectly," she confirms.

As soon as I settle back down into my pillows I feel sleep pulling at my consciousness and my eyes grow heavy. As much as I want to stay awake to see if Delphine enjoys the movie I know that it is unlikely to happen. I feel my elbow come in contact with Delphine's. Even the fluttering that erupts in my chest doesn't energise me and I don't bother pulling my elbow away. My last thoughts before I succumb to sleep are that Delphine didn't pull her elbow away either.

...

I awake with a stir and a groan at the pain in my head. Confused, I reach my hand up to rub at my eyes but they glance off my glasses and I groan even more when I realise the cause of the pain. I had fallen asleep with my glasses on and now my right temple is definitely feeling it. I slip my glasses off and fold them up in my hands. I turn over to lie on my other side because it's not as sore.

I jolt back when I'm met with a lumpy blur. I quickly slip my glasses back on and my eyebrows raise in surprise. I'm confronted with a thick mess of blonde curls on the pillow across from me. My laptop lies on the bed between us, still open. She must have fallen asleep during the movie too otherwise I figure she would have closed the laptop and moved back to her own bed.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm quickly noticing how nice it is to wake up next to somebody, even when that somebody is your brother's girlfriend. It's comforting to wake up in a warmth that isn't entirely your own. As Delphine turns over, the air beneath the duvet shifts and spreads towards me, wrapping me up in her warmth. Her smell washes over me and I close my eyes. I open my eyes again and look at her sleeping face. She looks cosy with her arm holding the duvet close to her but her sleep doesn't look entirely peaceful. I furrow my brow and wonder if she is still in pain, even as she sleeps. She fitfully pulls the duvet closer to her and she curls up a bit. There is a distinctive crease in her brow that is visible to me until one of her curls falls across her face, obstructing my view.

I absentmindedly reach out and sweep it back, the tips of my fingers lightly grazing her forehead as they move the lock of hair. Delphine exhales heavily and I freeze, realisation washing over me. What would she think if she woke up right now and saw me touching her hair?! As I gently let go of her hair the crease in her brow clears and she looks much more peaceful than before.

I know that I could lay there and just watch her sleep for hours but if she wakes up and sees me then that would be the most awkward thing ever. Instead, I carefully extricate myself from the covers and get up. I pick my phone up from the dresser and look at the time. It's not even 9am yet but there is no way that I can go back to sleep. Not with her there.

I grab some shorts and a t-shirt from my wardrobe and quickly change. I don't bother leaving the room, Delphine is fast asleep. I slip on some runners and head downstairs. All is quiet so Mom and Dad must have gone to work already and I imagine that Cyrus is still in bed.

I step outside into the morning sunshine and smile. I do some basic stretches on the front porch. An early morning run is just what I need to clear my head and feel rejuvenated. Once I finish my stretches I head off on my regular route. I'm by no means a fitness fanatic but I like to run, it keeps me feeling fresh.

With each block it gets harder to keep Delphine from entering my mind. I stop to catch my breath and lean over to rest my hands on my knees. I'm a smart girl, I know what I'm feeling but if I admit it, if I string those words together then it becomes real and everything will become fifty times harder. If I formulate these thoughts and put them together, if I label them then it officially becomes an issue. It becomes a thing that I have to hide from my brother. It will make sharing a room with her next to impossible. It means that I'll have to distance myself from someone that I've felt more akin to than anyone.

And I just don't know if I can bring myself to do that.

When I get back to my house I feel more tired from my run than I usually do. I trudge up the stairs to my room. I see Cyrus standing at my door.

"What are you doing?"

He turns on the spot and looks at me confused.

"Oh you're up," he says stating the obvious. "I was just about to check on Delphine, she wasn't feeling too well last night."

"Yeah she told me, hopefully she's feeling better this morning."

I go into my room ahead of him and go straight to my dresser to route out some clothes for the day. I hear Cyrus walk over to my bed and sit down. I look over my shoulder and see Delphine waking up blearily. Cyrus is sitting on my side of the bed and has his arm draped across Delphine's pillow. I know that he is about to lean down to kiss her so I turn back to my dresser.

"You feeling better this morning?" I hear him ask and I judge it safe enough to turn back around. Delphine is tucked into his side and I try not to glower. I really need them to stop acting coupley when they're in my room.

"Much better," Delphine says with a yawn. "Although I don't think that I have the energy for much today."

"That's cool, we can just hang around here today," Cyrus agrees. "We can watch some movies, order a pizza, whatever you want ok?"

Delphine nods with a small smile.

"Cosima, you in?" Cyrus asks. Oh god, the last thing I want is to spend all day cooped up in the house with them. That means I need to think of an excuse to leave and fast.

"Eh…actually, I was gonna shower and then head out to see…Sarah, yeah Sarah," I lie.

"Really? I thought she was working this week?" Cyrus asks in confusion.

Of course that's the one piece of information he actually decides to remember.

"Well she texted me saying she got the day off so I'm gonna spend it with her," I make up.

"So…you and Sarah are…?" Cyrus asks suggestively.

I narrow my eyes at him not quite catching his drift. My eyes nearly bug out of my head when I get it.

"Me and Sarah?! Cyrus, we are just friends. Please stop thinking that every girl's name that I mention is something more," I beg exasperated.

"What? I'm just being curious. You didn't really tell me much while I was away about who you dated," he defends himself.

Delphine looks at me curiously.

"There was no one worth mentioning," I say honestly. "If there were I would tell you, I promise."

Cyrus nods, happy with my answer.

"Well, I'm gonna go shower," I say in order to avoid anymore questions.

….

When I'm finished my shower and go back to my room Delphine is nowhere to be seen but Cyrus is sitting on my bed waiting for me.

"Where's Delphine?" I ask as I dry my hair with a towel.

"She's downstairs picking some DVDs," he says.

"Then what are you doing up here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he starts off awkwardly. He had never been good at talking about things seriously.

"Shoot," I tell him.

"It's about Delphine," he says.

"What about her?" I ask turning away to find my hairdryer.

"You like her, right?"

I freeze in my movements and try to appear neutral as I slowly turn to face him.

"What do you mean?" I ask nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders.

"You get along right? You two are friends?"

I try not to sigh in relief too obviously.

"Of course we're friends, we talk nearly every night," I assure him.

Cyrus scratches the back of his neck and shrugs his shoulders.

"That's what I thought," he says. "It's just that Delphine thinks that you don't like her that much."

My stomach twists with a mixture of emotions. I feel regret at making her question whether I like her or not but I'm also thrilled that she likes me enough to care about what I think.

"What makes her think that?" I ask as I take out my hairdryer.

"It's just that we've asked you to come along with us to parties a few times and you always turn us down. Delphine thinks it's because you don't want to hang out with her," Cyrus explains.

"Cy, please tell her not to worry," I beg. "I would totally tag along with you if she was just your friend but you're a couple and I really don't feel like third wheeling it with my brother and his girlfriend."

"That makes sense," he agrees. "But maybe next time you could come along with us? Just one time? I promise you'll have fun and it would really make Delphine feel better."

"Umm…" I pause trying to think of an excuse.

"Please, Cosima? It would mean so much to me," Cyrus begs.

"Ok, yeah sure fine," I relent. "But it better be a damn good party."

Cyrus smiles brightly and jogs across the room giving me a bear hug.

"Thank you so much!" he says happily and I smile. When he lets me go he runs off downstairs, presumably to explain everything to Delphine.

I feel a little bad. I didn't know that Delphine thought I didn't like her. I thought we were getting along really well. I sincerely thought that if she was having a problem that she would just ask me about it.

After I dry my hair I head downstairs. I walk into the living room and find them curled up together on the couch about to start a movie. Delphine smiles shyly at me.

"I'm glad you're going to go with us to the party tomorrow, Cosima," she says genuinely.

I turn and look at Cyrus incredulously.

"You never said it was tomorrow," I say with a tight smile.

"Sorry, it slipped my mind, I was just psyched when you said yes," he apologises.

"Tomorrow isn't a problem for you is it? You didn't already have plans or anything?" Delphine asks worriedly.

Seeing how much she seems to care about whether I go really gets to me.

"No, no, it's cool. Tomorrow totally works for me," I assure her.

"Great," they say in unison.

"Well I better go," I say as I head towards the door, "Sarah is probably waiting for me."

"Bye!" they call after me as I close the door behind me.

I groan in frustration as I think about going to this party with them tomorrow. I can't think about for too long though because I have other matters at hand. I pull out my phone and quickly put in her number.

"Hello?" she answers with her distinctly British accent.

"Hey Sarah," I sigh. "Please tell me you're free today."

…

**I know that the plot progression is a little slow for now but I want to build their relationship bit by bit! I plan on there being a change of pace in the next chapter though. Also, for those of you who were wondering, yes, Cophine is most definitely endgame! Let me know what you thought :)**

**-Aisling x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the looooong wait but here it is. I've been feeling a little uninspired lately but I'm working through it. Hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter 4**

Sarah told me she wasn't free until the afternoon but that I should go hangout with her at work anyway because it was turning out to be a pretty slow day. When I'm nearly there I can see Sarah cleaning some tables up outside. She looks up when she hears the wheels of my board and she nods her head at me in acknowledgement. I wave at her in return, maybe a little too vigorously because I lose my balance and tumble off my board. I stagger for a few steps and don't hit the ground too hard, just a couple scrapes on the palms of my hands.

I turn to look for my board and see it rolling down the path. Sarah stops it with her foot when it reaches her and she just shakes her head at me. I can almost bet that she waved because she knows my co-ordination isn't the best and that I would most definitely fall off if I waved back.

"You do realise that this board will be the end of you one day, right?" she remarks. "And when I say 'one day' I mean 'one day soon'."

I roll my eyes and nod my head. Sarah frequently reminds me of my imminent death due to my awful board skills. I blame her though, she's the one who got me into it in the first place, she just happened to be infinitely better at it than me.

"I know, I know," I respond in exasperation. "I promise you write 'Sarah told me this would happen' on my gravestone."

"As long as we're clear on that," she jokes.

Sarah picks up her cloth and hands me my board before we head inside.

"So why were you so desperate for me to be free today?" she asks as she walks behind the counter.

"Ugh, I didn't want to hang around the house today with Cyrus and Delphine."

"She's the girlfriend you mentioned before, right?" Sarah asks to clarify.

"She is," I confirm. I hadn't told Sarah too much about Delphine even though she's my best friend. It was a complicated situation and I knew that Sarah would quickly see right through me and know that I liked her if I told her too much. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing.

"Why don't you wanna hang out with them?" Do you two not get along or something?" Sarah asks absently.

"No, we get along really well actually, it's just weird hanging out with them because they're a couple," I lie.

"That's not much of an excuse, you hang out with me and Cal all the time, even when it's just the three of us," Sarah points out.

"That's totally different, Cal was my friend before you two started dating. I only know Delphine as Cy's girlfriend. It just feels like a weird place to start is all."

"Whatever, I know you're not telling me the whole story but I'm not gonna pry. I know you won't be able to keep it bottled up for long," she says with a shrug before going to deal with a customer.

I sit down at an empty table near the counter so that I'll still be able to talk to Sarah when she's not busy. When she's done with the customer she comes over with a white chocolate muffin.

"Here," she says gruffly as she slides the plate towards me. "Just don't tell Mrs S."

"What's this for?" I ask with genuine interest. It's not like Sarah to hand out free food, even to me.

"I know they're your favourite," she says as she drops herself into the seat across from me and glances around the café to make sure that none of the patrons need anything.

"I know you know they're my favourite," I say with a laugh as I eye her curiously. "Now what's it really for?"

"I just think that whatever is eating away at you calls for a free chocolate muffin, alright?" she mutters without looking me in the eye.

"It's sweet that you care about what's eating away at me," I tease before taking a bite.

"Oh shove off," she grumbles, punching me in the shoulder.

"Hey! Technically I don't work here right now which means I'm a customer so you can't go around hitting me like that," I say mockingly.

"Technically, you didn't pay for that muffin so I would shut up if I were you," she retorts as she reaches over to tug at my hair. I swing my hair back over my shoulder before she can grab hold of it and I pull a face at her.

"Back to more serious matters," I say lightly, "would you be up for a party tomorrow night?"

"That depends," Sarah states.

"On what?" I sigh, I really just needed her to go with me to this stupid thing, I didn't want to have to drag her there.

"I want some of your weed."

"Sarah," I say dramatically, "I told you I was out like last week!"

"And I know that that's bullshit," she fires back.

I hate that she knows me so well sometimes.

"Fine," I concede. "Now will you come?"

"Can I bring Cal?"

"S, the whole reason I want you to come with me is so that I don't get stuck third-wheeling Cyrus and Delphine, if you bring Cal then I'm just fifth-wheeling and I look twice as bad."

"Ok, fine, no Cal," Sarah relents seeing how distressed I am. "Where is it?"

"I'll text you the details once I get them from Cy but I think it's just a party in his mate's house."

"Great, well I better get back to work, feel free to hang around," she says as she wanders back towards the counter.

"Thanks Sarah," I say happily as I sit back and nibble away at my muffin. Maybe the party won't be so bad after all.

…..

I walk alongside Delphine and Cyrus as we head over to the party. I managed to hang around the café for most of yesterday so when I came home I had dinner and when straight to bed. Delphine slept in her own bed again like the other night didn't even happen. I say that like what happened was some major deal but I just did what any good friend would do but it's all the feelings that are coming along with it, on my side anyway which make what's going on feel wrong.

I glance over at Delphine who is holding onto Cyrus' hand. I roll my eyes and focus on her, trying to see her without the image of my brother right beside her. I need to make sure that this isn't some stupid jealousy crush. I want to make sure that what I'm feeling for Delphine isn't just some juvenile 'I want what I can't have' scenario. Or is it that I see Cy in a relationship which makes me want that for myself and I'm warping it into wanting the girl he is with?

Taking Cyrus out of the equation is difficult but I try to remain objective. I look over at Delphine again and try to notice all of the things about her that would have made me be attracted to her anyway, like I just passed her randomly on the street. For one thing she's taller than me, which I generally like. Another thing is her hair, most girls I've dated have all had gorgeously soft hair. A couple of them even noticed how much I end up finding ways to touch or play with it. I guess I'm just a tactile person.

As we pass under a street lamp I can't help but let my gaze linger on how each lock of her hair seems to be highlighted in a different way. She runs her hand back through her hair, which is something I've noticed she does quite a lot which makes me wonder if she is self conscious about it, maybe it's because she keeps catching me staring at it and is wondering if there is something wrong with it.

"Relax," I tell her, "your hair looks great."

Her hand freezes and she drops it automatically from her head.

"Thanks," she says before smiling softly at me.

I guess I better add that to the list too. I struggle to tear my eyes away from hers but I manage to do it. I could look at her forever when she's smiling at me like that.

"Thank you for letting me borrow your boots," she says tentatively as if I might suddenly change my mind and ask for them back.

I look to her feet, having completely forgotten that I had lent them to her and simply nod.

"No problem, they're a little bit big on me anyway, you can keep them if you'd like," I offer.

"Did you have fun getting all dolled up to go out with a gal pal, Cos?" Cyrus interjects, having been engrossed in his phone and only now paying attention to the conversation.

"What do you mean?" I ask confused.

"You know what I mean, you two, getting ready to go out together, swapping clothes, you've never had that before," he chuckles.

"I have other friends, Cy," I point out.

"Yeah, but you never get ready to go out together, you always meet them there," he explains.

"I don't even know what you mean by 'getting ready to go out', I am literally wearing my normal clothes," I say gesturing down to my aztec print tank top and loose, high-waisted pants. "Did you have fun 'getting ready to go out'?"

Cyrus looks down at his shirt and pants before looking back at me.

"You got me there, Cos, I'm soooooo dressed up," he laughs, looking at Delphine to join in with him but she turns her gaze to the ground as if walking in a straight line suddenly became very difficult.

Normally I would just take Cy's stupid jokes for what they are: stupid jokes. But for some reason I dislike the way he is making me feel for maybe putting a little more effort into my appearance than I usually would. It's the same effort I would put in for any party, maybe it's that he is making me feel childish in front of Delphine. Or maybe it's that he is making it sound like Delphine is my sister, dolling each other up to go out when we literally didn't even get dressed in the same room. I just leant her a pair of boots for christ's sake!

"Actually, I think I did get you there, Cy, mister epitome of 'I spent an hour making my hair look just the right amount of dishevelled for you to think that it's always like this'," I say scathingly.

Delphine tries to suppress a giggle as Cyrus reaches his hand up to his head as if to personally defend his locks.

"And while we're at it, I know for a fact that you ironed that shirt, since when do you even know how to work an iron, Cy? And those pants? I know they look like the ones you had on earlier but they're different because I found the ones from earlier in the laundry basket before we left. And are you seriously trying to tell me that that cologne wafting off of you is just your natural scent? I didn't know that our showers rained David Beckham's _Homme Eau de Toilette." _

I stop my rant and try to control my breathing, purposefully looking anywhere but at Cy and Delphine. I know from the fact that he hasn't launched into a retaliation that he is genuinely shocked at my verbal beat down.

Cyrus starts to gape and I can hear him breathlessly try to muster any kind of comeback or defence.

"You don't have to say anything," Delphine tells him, "that was a little harsh Cosima, don't you think?"

I jerk back in surprise and hurt. I had been expecting Cyrus to say any number of things back to me and I know that I would have been able to take it but having Delphine use that reproachful tone with me was devastating and I genuinely felt ashamed.

Cyrus' phone buzzes, saving us all from the awkward moment. He stops walking in order to check out whatever the notification is and Delphine and I go ahead of him.

I don't know what to say to her but I want to fix whatever it is I just broke to make her snap at me like that.

"Look Delphine, I know I came across really terribly back there and I can't explain why I got so mad but he's my brother, we rib each other about stuff like this all the time. I guess I just took it to heart this time."

"Cosima, it's ok," she replies shaking her head. "I mean, yes you were both being childish but that's what brothers and sisters do. I just felt like I had to defend him, that's what I'm supposed to do right?"

Delphine looks over at me, eyes full of questions. Is she seriously asking me if I think she should defend her own boyfriend?

"I guess."

Delphine drops her head in defeat and sighs.

"I don't know why I find it so difficult to be a girlfriend," she admits. "I have been in relationships before but something about this one is tiring me out. I don't know the right things to say, I don't…ugh it doesn't matter."

"I know that every relationship has its ups and downs but when it comes to the loving part, if that's what you're talking about, and I'm not saying it is, that bit shouldn't be what's difficult."

I can hear the beat of the music from the party as we approach the house. We stop at the end of the drive and Delphine looks at me and I can tell by her furrowed brow and the way she hesitantly parts her lips that she is going to say something that she can't take back.

"My friend Sarah is waiting for me inside," I quickly declare, "I better go in and meet her, you should wait for Cyrus and then head inside."

Delphine purses her lips and nods as I scramble my way up to the front door.

….

It's been an hour or so, maybe longer, since I left Delphine outside. I had quickly managed to integrate myself into a group of people I knew from school. We were tucked away in a corner of a spacious living room, hidden by the mass of bodies that were using the space in front of us as the dance floor. I felt confident that Delphine wouldn't just stumble across my path.

What was bothering me though was the radio silence I was receiving from Sarah. She promised she'd be here by midnight at the latest and there is still no sign of her. I let out a long sigh as I shoot off another text to her.

"What's up, Cosima?" a girl from my biology class that I had been chatting to asks.

"Nothing," I reply hastily, pocketing my phone. "I just need a refill is all," I say as way of an explanation and an excuse to finally leave my hiding place.

I dodge my way through the crowd on the makeshift dance floor. My mind can't help but wonder if Delphine is enjoying herself as I make my way to the kitchen. Is Cyrus paying enough attention to her? Is she dancing? Is she a good dancer? What would it be like to dance with her?

I shake those thoughts away as I skirt around the kitchen table where there seems to be some drinking/card game in full swing. Just as I get to the fridge I look over my shoulder and see Delphine in the doorway, her eyes are scanning the faces in the room. I open the fridge door to conceal me and wait, hoping that she will move on.

She knows that she's been discovered when she can feel her presence by her elbow.

"Cosima."

I close the door over and pretend to be surprised to see her standing there.

"Delphine! Where've you been? I bumped into some friends and got chatting, I was just about to come looking for you."

"You are a terrible liar," Delphine states as she crosses her arms.

I look at her guiltily hoping that she won't ask for any sort of explanation because I honestly don't know what I would tell her.

"Cosima, I…" she attempts to shout over the increasingly loud music. I cut her off with a shake of the head. I grab two beers from the fridge and indicate for her to follow me. I hold open the back door for Delphine and she walks out ahead of me. I was expecting her to stay and sit on the porch but she wanders off down the garden and I guess I have no choice but to follow her.

"Here," I call out, holding the beer towards her once I judge that we've walked far away enough from the house.

"Thanks," Delphine says with a sigh before taking a large gulp.

"So…what's up?" I ask, sitting down on the slightly spiky grass.

"I can't find Cyrus," she says as she slumps to the ground.

"And finding me and heading _away_ from the house helps you to find him how?" I ask incredulously.

"Maybe I got tired of looking for him," she says before taking another long sip.

I give into my curiosity and mimic her in taking a long sip to steel myself.

"So why exactly would you not want to find him?" I ask, tilting my head and leaning back on my palms.

Delphine looks at me and bites her bottom lip. She worries it between her teeth as she debates what to say.

"When Cyrus came back after checking his phone he looked concerned about whatever it was so I asked him about it. He told me not to worry so I let it go."

"So, what's the big deal then?"

"Shortly after coming inside he said he needed to sort something out and he just took off. He didn't tell me where he was going or what he was doing! I don't know if he just stepped out to make a call or if he's actually left!"

I can see Delphine is working herself up more and more with every word so I put my hand on her forearm and give her a gentle squeeze.

"Hey, look at me," I order her with a tug on her sleeve.

She takes a deep breath and looks down at where my fingers are toying with the cuff of her blouse.

"I'm here," I assure her, "now why don't you tell me why you don't want to look for him anymore?"

"Even if he were here," Delphine starts slowly, "he would probably just be hanging out with his friends like he usually does. I'm realising more and more that we have less and less in common. So, why should I waste my time during the first decent party he's brought me to searching for him, when I'm pretty sure that I would have more fun with you?"

And there it was the statement that I did and didn't want to hear. Why? Because it confirms everything that I've been thinking myself, that she and I get along better than she does with Cyrus. But on the downside it was also completely vague and could mean next to anything. Yes, Delphine thinks that we have chemistry, but what kind? I can only assume that she is referring to our amazing friendship chemistry which it seems surpasses the level of romantic chemistry that she has with Cyrus.

"What do you think I should do, Cosima?" Delphine asks pleadingly.

"I think that you've spent enough time looking for my brother tonight. He's an idiot for bailing on you but he can look after himself. You and I should make the most of what is left of the night and you can have it out with my pin-head brother tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect," she agrees, pulling me in for a hug.

I stumble over as she wraps me up in her arms. I lift my chin to rest my head on her shoulder so I don't get smothered.

"So, what now?" Delphine asks as she draws back.

"Dancing!" I suggest excitedly.

"Maybe after a couple more drinks," she says shyly.

"You afraid to show me your moves?!" I tease.

"Definitely," Delphine says through laughter.

"Well then let's go grab another drink." I link my arm through hers and march her up to the house.

…

New drinks in hand, we amble about the house together looking for somewhere to chill out.

Suddenly, Delphine tugs at my elbow stopping me in my tracks. I look up at her and she gestures to the end of the hall where I can see people milling around a ping-pong table.

"Beer-pong?" I question and Delphine nods giddily. "Let's do it!"

Delphine pulls me down the hall and into the room.

"Are they almost done this round?" I ask hopping on my tip-toes, too short to see over the ring of people crowding the table. Delphine lifts her head to inspect it.

"They should be nearly done, that guy is down to one cup."

Sure enough it's only a matter of seconds until they hear people cheering and the guy at our end of the table concedes defeat and drinks his last cup. He then stumbles away looking a little worse for wear.

"Who is next?" the winner calls out. The ring of people step back, all unwilling to go up against them after seeing that they didn't lose a single cup. Delphine however, immediately drags me to the end of the table.

"I thought we were going to play each other, not some random?" I protest.

"We can be a team," Delphine informs me.

"I don't think that's how it works," I point out.

"No, it is ok, I will take on the both of you," says the reigning champion in a confident tone. "I've been playing for two hours straight it's time to make things interesting!"

She shakes out her curly blonde hair that had been hidden beneath a fluffy hood and gets into what appears to be a fighting stance.

"Ok, she looks insane," I whisper to Delphine.

"Don't worry, together we can do this," Delphine says confidently.

I shrug my shoulders and step up to the table. New cups are filled and placed in front of us.

"You two may start."

I pick up the ball and Delphine looks at me in surprise.

"I'm the guest, surely I go first?" she jokes.

I smirk and go to place the ball in her awaiting palm. At the last second I turn and bounce the ball across the table, landing it in a cup in the second row.

"You are so cheeky!" Delphine exclaims as I look over at her smugly and wink.

We watch as our opponent slugs back her drink and bounces the ball back without even looking, landing it in the very first cup.

"Drink up," she says and Delphine and I look at each other. I relent and knock back the contents of the cup.

"My turn," Delphine states, snatching the ball up before I can get my hands on it and trick her again.

I cross my arms and wait expectantly. Delphine too gets the ball into a cup.

"Looks like I have competition," our opponent chuffs.

She lands the ball into one of our cups yet again making it 2-2 and this time Delphine drinks up.

I throw the ball again and miss. I pout a little but I don't know why I expected anything better, I've had a lot to drink and I've never been any good at beer-pong to begin with. I know that I'm not likely to score another point. The first point I got had been a genuine fluke.

We are scored on yet again and I scoff, "Ok, what the hell, who are you?"

"I am Helena," she enunciates clearly with a bow. "Now, drink."

Delphine goes to lift the drink to her mouth but I stop her.

"Let me," I urge.

"Why?" she asks confused.

"Because I have a feeling I'm going to be less than useless in the throwing department so you should make the throws and I'll take the hits."

"Nice strategy, but are you sure?" Delphine asks concerned.

"Positive, I'll tell you if it gets to be too much and you can take a couple."

"Ok," Delphine says with a nod and relinquishes the cup to me.

With our new arrangement in place we are an even match to Helena, who was starting to finally show signs of weakness. Delphine could hardly believe she was still standing if she had been playing for as long as she claimed she was.

We were down to one cup a piece and I'm pretty sure that Helena and I both looked like we could pass out at any moment.

Delphine places her hand on my shoulder, presumably to keep me upright.

"Look if I get this next throw it will all be over."

I push my glasses back up my nose and try to focus my bleary vision on Delphine's pretty face.

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, then can we go home?" I beg.

"Of course," Delphine says as she turns back to the table and aims her throw.

"Thank you!" I squeal drunkenly before haggardly leaping forward to place a kiss on her cheek.

Delphine staggers sideways and sends the ball right into the net.

"Oh, whoops, was that my fault?" I mumble.

Delphine struggles to hold me up, I think it's because I'm currently crushing her left arm to her body. She manoeuvres her arm out and under my shoulder to hold me up.

Delphine watches as Helena triumphantly lands the ball into our last cup.

"Did we win?" I murmur into what I think is Delphine's neck, it's hard to tell because of all the wavy hair.

"Sure," Delphine lies as she lifts our last cup and downs it.

"Yaaaay," I half whisper half yawn.

"Ok, time to go home," Delphine tells me as we stagger out of the room, but not before Helena drops to the floor, happy with her win.

…

I wake the next morning to muffled voices coming from outside my bedroom door. I open my eyes and wince at the bright light streaming through the curtains. I'm surprised to find myself tucked into my bed, fresh pyjamas on. I flop over and bury my head in the pillow, nowhere near ready to face the day.

"Aren't you at least going to say sorry?" I hear Cyrus whisper yell from beyond the door.

"Sorry?! Why should I apologise? You're the one who left me in the middle of the party!" Delphine utters indignantly.

"I told you I was going to come back and I couldn't find you anywhere!" Cyrus argues.

"You were gone for _hours_, I had no idea where you were and Cosima was in no condition to stay any longer."

"All I'm saying is that I was worried," Cyrus grumbles.

"Not worried enough to actually stay," Delphine points out. "Which reminds me, why did you take off last night?"

"Can we not talk about that now?" Cyrus begs.

"You're right we can talk about it later because I need a few more hours sleep since you so rudely woke me up at 7am!"

Before Cyrus has a chance to respond I hear my door open and I turn my face that had been smushed into a pillow just slightly so that I can look up at Delphine.

Her face is hard from anger but softens when she sees that I'm awake.

"I'm so sorry, Cosima, go back to sleep," Delphine says gently as she sits down on the bed beside me and strokes my head.

I roll back over so that I can face her properly.

"I don't think I can, not after that performance."

"At least let me get you some aspirin," Delphine suggests as she goes to get up.

"No need, I've got some here," I dismiss her offer as I reach over to my nightstand and take the pills out of my top drawer.

"You're well prepared," Delphine jokes.

"Always," I say with a wink and wince at the pain that throbs in the front of my head. "Do you need some?"

"No, I think I'm alright, someone kept me from drinking myself to death last night," Delphine says with a coy smile.

"You'll have to introduce me to this amazing person," I joke along. "What was their name?"

"Let's just call her my lady knight in shining armour," Delphine says shyly.

I try to hide my blush by adjusting my position to be more comfortable and settling down under the covers.

"So you don't know what's going on with Cyrus?" I ask to change the subject.

Delphine gets under the covers and lies down beside me, propping her head up with her elbow on the pillow.

"No, I don't have a clue what is wrong with him."

"I don't mind if you want to go and talk to him now, I don't think I can fall back asleep."

"Yeah, I don't think I can either."

"Hey, thanks for taking care of me last night," I say gratefully. "I hope I wasn't too much of a mess."

"You weren't, once we got back here I just helped you find pyjamas and get into bed," Delphine assures me.

"Oh good, thank god I wasn't getting sick or anything," I joke relieved.

"No nothing like that," Delphine says quietly and I notice her blush slightly.

"What is that look for?" I push. "Something happened, please tell me so that we can laugh it off and share in the embarrassment."

Delphine bites her lip as if she is debating whether or not to tell me. She looks up at me and smiles dangerously.

"You're…very flirty when you're drunk," she says in a low voice.

My eyes widen in shock and I imagine all of the ridiculous things I could have said or done to embarrass myself.

"Oh god," I deadpan. "That is cause enough to crawl under these covers and not be able to look at you for a few hours."

And I do exactly that, lifting the covers over my head and shimmying down the mattress. I scrunch my eyes shut and will the embarrassing moment to just be over.

"Cosima. Cosima?" Delphine says trying to coax me out of hiding but I have my fingers clenched around the cover there is no way she is getting it off me.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," she tells me. "It wasn't like you were using sleazy pick up lines or anything."

"Yeah?" I ask voice muffled through the duvet. "Then what did I say?"

"You were mostly just giving me dozens of compliments, it was very flattering really," she says lightly and I can feel a finger poke aimlessly at the duvet above my head.

"That's it?" I mumble.

"For the most part."

"What else?" I ask cringing.

"I'm only telling you if you come out from under the duvet," she bargains.

"Not a chance," I say bluntly.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to join you."

I feel Delphine moving around beside me until she is under the covers facing in my direction. She lifts one of her hands to hold the duvet up like a tent until it's high enough that she can see me.

I turn towards her and use my hands to cover my face since she has taken away my only other defence.

"Ok, hit me," I tell her.

"You said," she pauses and my heartbeat hangs in the moment waiting to hear what she says next before it can beat again. "You said that Cyrus is the luckiest guy in the world for getting to be with me. You said that he's normally a great guy but that he isn't treating me right and that I deserve to be with someone better."

My heart thuds loudly in my chest. Putting it into perspective I could have said something a thousand times worse. What I said still sounds like something any close friend would say. I relax a little and let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding.

"I clearly think very highly of you," I say with a smirk and she beams back at me. "That's everything right?"

Delphine's eyes shift down to the mattress and I know that she isn't going to say anything else on the matter.

"That's everything," she says with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

I know she's holding something back but it's probably better that I don't know so I don't push her to tell me.

"Well either way I had a great time with you last night," I say warmly.

Delphine's smile turns back to being genuine and she nods in agreement.

"Now that you know you can have fun with me you'll have to stop avoiding me," she says slyly with a poke to my ribs.

I laugh and squirm away from her holding my hands up so that she can't poke me again.

"You know I wasn't avoiding you, it's just weird hanging out with you when you're with my brother," I explain honestly.

"I know," she says with a frown as her thoughts go back to Cyrus and what is bothering him.

"You should really talk to him Delphine and sort all of this out," I suggest.

"You're right," she sighs. "I don't think I can relax until I know what's going on. I'm going to go and see if he will talk to me now that we've both had a chance to calm down."

She goes to get out the bed and I reach over and grab her hand. She looks up and me and squeezes my hand.

"No matter what he says, I'm here ok?" I assure her. "You're not just his girlfriend anymore. You're my…friend."

It kills me to label myself as that to her but I know it's all I really can be and that I just have to live with it.

Delphine shuffles forward and hugs me tightly.

"Thank you, Cosima," she whispers into my ear.

Then she turns away and slips out of the bed leaving me alone under the covers trying to figure out what it is Cyrus wants to talk to her about.

…

**Next chapter will clear things up with Cyrus and a few people have reviewed saying that they're not ok with Cosima eventually getting with Delphine if she has been with her brother. I can see why that might bother some people, especially since i don't want to make Cyrus a character that you can just outright hate but if you really cannot reconcile with it then I guess this just isn't the fic for you, you don't have to read it :) I also want to thank the anon on tumblr who did ask if I would be continuing the story, knowing that someone was still interested did prompt me to get myself together and get writing again :) I'm always happy to talk so I'm on tumblr at freakingcharming-limaheights .tumblr .com if anyone wants to get me there :) **

**-Aisling x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok**,** so here is chapter 5. I'd like to say thank you for the positive response to the previous chapter. I would also like to apologise to the anon on tumblr who asked me when this chapter would be up and I said at the weekend. I realise that it is a couple days late but there was a lot of very serious rugby that had to be watched but it's all good, Ireland won**!

Chapter 5: An Unexpected Proposition

It seems like it's been hours since Delphine went to speak to Cyrus when really it's only been about one. When I started to hear raised voices I took it that things weren't going well and I took it upon myself to go chill in the garden so that I wouldn't be able to hear. Believe me, I wanted to eavesdrop so badly but my respect for Cyrus as my brother and for Delphine as my friend won out.

Even though it's a beautiful sunny day I stick to the shade beneath the oak tree at the end of the garden. I've long since given up on trying to tan, I've accepted that I'm just meant to be pasty forever.

I texted Sarah a while ago but she hasn't replied. I wish she would just get back to me, I'm dying to know why she didn't show last night. I'd be more annoyed if I didn't end up having such a good time with Delphine. But still, I'm a little worried, maybe something went down between her and Cal.

I had dozed off for I don't know how long when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Sarah finally replied to my message.

Sarah: I did show up, genius.

Me: I think I would have seen you..

Sarah: I'm not so sure, you looked fairly…occupied ;)

Me: What is that supposed to mean?

Sarah: I'll admit, I was a little later than I said I would be but I don't think you would have noticed me even if I had done a jig right in front of you.

Me: That still doesn't answer my question.

Sarah: Delphine of course! You and her were having a pretty intense game of beer pong when I showed up and I didn't want to interrupt your fun. She's hot by the way, I can see why you're so fixated.

Me: I am not fixated.

Sarah: Infatuated then.

Me: ok yeah, you've got me there…

Sarah: Thought so.

Me: Ugh you're so annoying.

Sarah: Anyway, tell me what went down. I thought Cyrus was gonna be there and I didn't see him.

Me: He fucked off to who knows where shortly after we arrived. He's been acting super weird recently. Delphine went to talk to him earlier to find out what the hell is going on.

Sarah: And…?

Me: She isn't back yet and the suspense is killing me.

Sarah: Patience was never your virtue :P

Me: This isn't funny. I'm really worried, I heard them arguing so I left the house.

Sarah: Where are you?

Me: Just in the garden.

I hear the back door open and look up to see my Mom walking towards me.

"Cosima, tell me you have some idea what's going on!" She calls down to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, propping myself up on my elbows.

"Your father and I both got texts at work from Cyrus asking us to come home. He said he has something he wants to talk to us about," she explains.

"Have you seen him yet?"

"No, he's still up in his room with Delphine. Did something happen between the two of them?" She wonders, thoroughly intrigued.

"I don't know. Cyrus was being weird last night and Delphine went to talk to him this morning," I recount.

"What do you think happened?"

I shrug my shoulders to make it clear I don't know. I've been trying not to let my mind wander to that question. I can speculate all I want but what's the point? I know that I'll get an answer eventually.

"Do you think he cheated on her?" Mom asks, being the typical gossip she is.

"Mom! No, I don't think he cheated on her! Really mom, for one thing you should have more faith in your own son and two, when the hell would he have had the time to cheat on her?" I rationalise.

"Well maybe it was with someone back in France?"

"I doubt it, the school was small and Delphine knew everyone there, it would have gotten back to her," I say dismissing her theory.

"Maybe he dated someone in France before Delphine?"

"Mom, that is a very long stretch," I sigh.

"Maybe he got some poor girl pregnant and she just told him about it now!" She says in shock and lifts her hand to cover her mouth.

"We don't live in a soap opera, mom. Please stop being so ridiculous," I beg.

I'm desperate for her to stop suggesting things like that because are they really such ridiculous things to wonder? Like anyone his age I'm sure Cyrus had a few one nights stands while he was on his year abroad which makes it completely plausible that he slept with someone before Delphine. What if he did get someone pregnant? What if he decides to go live in Paris to try and support her and the baby?

"I shouldn't listen to a thing you say, Mom," I say reproachfully. "You always jump to the worst case scenario."

"I'm just trying to figure all this out," she replies defensively.

"Could you two please come inside?" Dad calls from the back door. "Cyrus has something he wants to tell us."

A lump rises in my throat and bite my lip nervously. Mom and I exchange worried glances as she holds out her hand to pull me up.

When I walk into the dining room Cyrus is standing at the top of the table with Delphine sitting adjacent to him. Mom takes the seat beside Delphine and Dad sits across from Mom. That leaves me with the seat across from Delphine or the one opposite Cyrus at the other end of the table. I opt for the latter. It becomes clear to me ask I walk to the end of the room to sit down that Delphine has been crying. Her eyes are puffy and she has a tissue gripped in her hand, wiping her nose every now and then. She refuses to look up from the table which I take to be a bad sign. If everything was alright I'm sure she would have managed to smile at me through her tears.

"I have to be back in the office in an hour, Cy, so not to rush you or anything but would you what this is all about?" Dad asks kindly.

"Right yeah ok, so last night I got an email," he starts.

"Oh my god, Cosima I told you!" Mom exclaims. "Who is she? Where is she? When is it due?!" She cries.

Cyrus looks at Mom and then at me, completely befuddled. I give him a look as if to say I've got this.

"Mom, he hasn't said anything yet, find your chill!" I order. She looks at me stunned and I look right back at her pointedly. "Just let him say what he has to say."

Cyrus shakes off Mom's weird outburst and continues. "So anyway, I got an email last night. You see before I left for France I applied to a load of companies to do an internship this summer. They all rejected me saying that while my GPA was impressive, I'm a bit young and to try again next year. But one of them had an intern drop out and they want me to fill the place. When I got the email I left to call them straight away. They told me that the placement starts on Monday and that if I was still interested that I needed to tell them immediately or they would give the place away," he finishes.

"So have they given you a day or so to decide or something?" Mom asks.

"Uh well that's the thing, I kind of got over excited and said yes right away," he murmurs.

Delphine scoffs and rolls her eyes, clearly hearing this information for the second time.

"Well this is an amazing opportunity for you, son, congratulations," Dad cheers. "And I know it will keep you busy but Delphine I'm sure Cyrus will find time to spend with you."

A tear rolls down Delphine's cheek and she shakes her head. She looks at Cyrus belligerently, forcing him to continue.

"That's the thing, it's pretty much a full time gig and it's in L.A."

"What?!" The three of us shout in unison.

"So what are you going to do?" I ask flatly.

"I have to move down there, it starts on Monday," he says as if it's obvious.

"But what about Delphine?!" I ask incredulously.

"Well that's the issue. I have room and board provided by the company but Delphine can't stay with me because it's a dorm with the other interns and if you're not in the program you can't stay there. And Delphine can't afford to live in L.A on her own so we've been trying to decide what's the best thing to do," Cyrus explains, feeling awkward about the position he's gotten himself into.

"What have you come up with so far?" Mom questions.

"We're not happy about it but since I'm not going to be here and won't be able to spend time with her, it makes sense that Delphine goes home," he says guiltily.

"What?!' I shout as I look to Delphine and see another tear roll down her cheek.

"Look, we're just trying to be realistic here. We were supposed to have this amazing summer together but we both knew the relationship was going to have to end when she left," he retorts.

"Could you be more insensitive?!" I exclaim. "Is this what you want, Delphine?"

She looks up at me in surprise.

"I don't see what other option there is, Cosima. Once Cyrus leaves I couldn't possibly stay here and I didn't factor accommodation into my budget. I would have to ask my parents to send me money and even if they did, I don't know anyone else here and I wasn't exactly planning on seeing San Francisco alone," Delphine explains despondently.

"Of course you can stay here!" I automatically reply and watch as four sets of eyes widen in shock. "Look, you're my friend now too and I know it's not the summer you were expecting but you could spend it with me! I had all of this stuff planned that I was gonna do with Cyrus but we can do it all! And I completely understand if this isn't something you want to do or you're too upset and would rather go home but please think about it? I was even planning on doing a road trip so we could even stop in and see Cyrus on our way and on the way back. If you'll still want to see him that is," I mutter. "Ok, I'm totally rambling but think about it."

Delphine looks at Cyrus and he takes her hand.

"I know it's not a lot but this way we could probably see each other a few more times before the end of the Summer so we wouldn't have to break up right away," he says hopefully, clearly liking the idea.

I grimace, that was not what I was suggesting at all. I still thought that they would break up and that if they could still be friends we would go to see him while we were on the road. The glint in Delphine's eyes fades a bit as well. Maybe she had liked my idea and had interpreted it the way I meant to convey it but now she knows what Cyrus wants.

"Only if it's ok with your parents, I don't want to impose," she relents.

"Of course you aren't, darling," Mom assures her. "But while Cosima's idea is lovely, we know this isn't the trip you expected so maybe think about it before you decide, in case you want to go home?"

"No, it has been a dream of mine to properly experience San Francisco and from what Cosima is saying we would see even more than that. So Cosima, if you are serious, I would love to spend the summer with you," Delphine says finally brightening up again.

I smile brightly at her and get up from the table. I walk around to her and pull her into a big hug.

"We're gonna have such a great time, I promise," I say into her hair. I let go of her and look at Cyrus who has a mixed expression.

"While I hate the idea of missing out on all the fun and I hate that I messed this all up, I hope you can have an amazing time with Cos," he says genuinely as he too pulls Delphine into a hug. "Plus," he says pulling back but keeping his arms wrapped around her waist, "we don't have to break up just yet, we have some more time together, however brief it is."

"Well we better head back to work," Mom says getting up from the table. "I'm glad we won't be losing you so soon, Delphine." Mom pulls her into a short hug and Dad pats her on the shoulder.

"Congratulations again son," he says proudly throwing his arm around Cyrus' shoulders. "When I get home later we'll have to sit down and you can tell me all the details about your internship."

"Will do, Dad."

I watch Mom and Dad leave and breathe a sigh of relief. It hadn't been what I was expecting but I think I managed to get the best arrangement possible. Well, close to the best arrangement possible. If only Cyrus and Delphine would choose to break up now then I wouldn't feel so guilty for all the feelings I've been having. I am pretty stoked that I'm going to get to spend so much time with Delphine though.

When I focus on the room again I see that Cyrus has pulled Delphine back in for another long hug. He's probably trying to let her know how sorry he is that he effectively ruined her trip. I slip out of the room quietly, starting to feel a little awkward just standing there watching them hug.

I head up to my room and drop myself onto the bed. From my bed side table I pull out my travel journal. I had spent a lot of time over the year planning mine and Cyrus' trip which I guess is mine and Delphine's now. I bite my lip, trying to suppress the smile that is spreading across my face. I shouldn't be this happy that Delphine is replacing Cyrus. But really she isn't replacing him because he baled on it so the place was there for the taking.

It bothers me a little that both my parents and Cy think that Delphine is settling for second best by spending the summer with me but really I know that this is the kind of summer that she expected from Cyrus. They all didn't know that she was getting fed up of just hanging out with Cyrus and his friends. He hadn't even given her a proper tour of the city. I'll prove to her that this unexpected turn of events if going to give her the trip of a life time.

I flick through my journal reminding myself of what I had even put into it. I had been excessively organised. I had cut out and stuck in reviews on hostels we should stay in, what the different routes have to offer, where the cheapest but the best food is, literally everything you could think of I had considered it. I may have to revise some of the tourist things that I had picked though. I had made my selection with Cyrus in mind, knowing what kind of things he would go for and what he wouldn't. I'm sure after some time though I'll be able to substitute in places that will suit Delphine better. If I'm being honest though I already feel like I know her so well that within a heartbeat of reading a place I would know if Delphine would be interested in it or not.

There's a knock on my door and I shove my journal under my pillow.

"Come in," I call.

Cyrus pokes his head around the door and smiles at me before properly entering. He walks over and sits on my desk that I have shoved against the far wall.

"What's up?" I ask curiously. "Where's Delphine?"

"She's just freshening up. She said she wanted to get the feeling of crying of her face," he explains wistfully. "Anyway, I came in here to thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, Cy," I scoff, waving a hand at him.

"No, I really do," he urges. "I know you had your reservations about Delphine from the start. I cancelled our plans, she had to move into your room and now you're willing to spend your summer with her. You're really saving me, you have no idea how upset she was," he says, gripping the edge of the desk tightly. I can see how disappointed he is in himself that he upset her.

"Well I can see why she would be this way. She flew half way around the world to spend the summer with you, her boyfriend and then she finds out not even two weeks in that she has to break up with you and fly home? Saying she has the right to be upset is an understatement," state.

"I know," Cyrus agrees pensively, "but I don't think breaking up with me was the reason she was upset."

"What do you mean?" I ask intrigued.

"It's just that, we both knew the relationship was temporary, you know? And we have fun together and everything but ever since we got here it hasn't been like it was in France. Delphine couldn't wait to get here but I feel like it isn't what she expected. It's like we've dulled or something so I guess I'm saying I don't think it was me she was sad about," he concludes.

I purse my lips and wonder what he's getting at. Absolutely nothing has happened between me and Delphine so he couldn't possibly be suggesting that she would be upset about leaving because of me. Even though if that were the case that would give me a bit of an ego boost, not gonna lie.

"Cy, are you suggesting that Delphine was more upset at the thought of leaving San Francisco without really experiencing it than she was at the thought of leaving you?"

He looks up at me and gapes wordlessly.

"All I'm saying is that I could see how she would think that coming here was a waste of time and money since she didn't really get to do anything. So yeah, I do think it was more about leaving San Francisco, it just makes sense," he sighs.

"Even if that is the case, Cyrus, you can't judge her for it. Anyone in her position would do the same thing. Like, I dunno, let's say I got with an exchange student from Australia and she offered for me to spend the summer with her in Melbourne, even if I wasn't absolutely 100% I love with her I would still say yes!"

He bows his head and smiles a little.

"You're right, I know you're right," he concedes. "But I just can't help but feel like there was more to it than that."

I'm about to ask him to try and elaborate on that when we here the bathroom door open.

"Anyway, none of that matters now. You and Delphine are going to have an amazing summer and I can't thank you enough for that," he says warmly. He then walks over and gives me a hug.

I return the hug hesitantly. I feel so guilty receiving all this appreciation she I know that I made the offer entirely for my own selfish reasons. I rest my head on Cyrus' shoulder and I spot Delphine standing quietly in the doorway. We haven't even spoken since she accepted my offer and yet she looks at me in a way that suggests she has an inkling as to why I offered my help. Her wide eyes bore into mine for long seconds before she bites her lip and looks down at the ground. She slightly tilts her head back up to see if I'm still looking at her which I definitely am.

I wonder how she reads the expression on my face because I don't know if I'm masking anything. Small creases appear on her forehead as she looks at me worriedly and I know she can see the fear in my eyes at the path that I have opened up for us. I gulp and pull out of Cyrus' hug, effectively ending my eye contact with Delphine. I force a smile up at him which he returns before turning around. He smiles softly at Delphine before exiting the room.

"Let me guess, you're here to thank me too?" I joke nervously.

Delphine takes a few steps towards me.

"Yes, actually," she says surprising me. "We both know that you didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," I reply honestly, not being able to filter my thoughts.

"Why?" She asks, stepping even closer.

"Ehh…" I stutter. I need to think of something quickly. "It was a selfish decision really. I was still annoyed that I wasn't going to get to go on the trip I had planned for me and Cy and this way I still get to do it."

"Oh…" Delphine mumbles, sounding disappointed. "For a moment I thought…nothing never mind."

"What? You thought what?" I ask urgently stepping towards her and putting my hand on her forearm. I know it's dangerous but I crave to know what she's thinking and I never seem to be able to maintain an appropriate distance from her.

I look up at Delphine and I already know she is going to lie to me. I can see her calculating her words in her mind, debating what to say.

"I just thought you might actually be excited to go on the trip with me," she says, exhaling softly and I can feel her breath on my face.

It's only a half a lie and I know it. We both seem to be able to read each other extremely well and we are both skirting around the real issue. It makes me think that if we are both avoiding it then it definitely isn't the time to address it. We'll have plenty of time together soon to be open and honest with each other.

"I am excited to go on the trip with you," I murmur quietly, almost afraid that she'll hear me and doubly afraid that she won't.

"Good," she says breathlessly, leaning in close to me and ghosting a barely there kiss on my cheek, mere millimetres from the corner or my mouth. "Because I'm excited too."

We have a fraction of a second of eye contact as she straightens and turns away from me, exiting the room briskly.

I stand up straight and put my hands on my hips before exhaling shakily.

"Holy shit," I say to the empty room.

This is going to be some road trip.

…

**I know this chapter is a little shorter than the last couple but as you can probably tell the story is going to be taking a very different turn from next chapter onwards so I thought this was a necessary place to break it up. I hope you enjoyed it :)**

**aisling xx freakingcharming-limaheights tumblr .com**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6, time to get things moving! I'm surprised at how quickly I managed to churn this chapter out but I'm not going to question it, I cannot describe how good it feels to finally have my motivation back :) Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 6: The Departure

Over the last few days I've spent a lot of time out of the house, mostly at the café or at Sarah's. It's Saturday evening and Cyrus is leaving tomorrow afternoon and once again I find myself on the porch swing at the back of Sarah's house. My house had been filled with mixed emotions and I didn't really want to get mixed up in it.

For one thing, both Cyrus and my parents were extremely proud of and excited about the internship, but Cyrus was trying his best not to show it for Delphine's sake. Everyone thought she was putting on a brave face and was forcing herself to be happy for Cyrus. But from where I was standing she seemed to be genuinely happy for him.

However, what had changed was their relationship. They were both trying to pretend that nothing had changed. They were trying to make the most of the rest of the week but since Cyrus had so much packing and organising to do it mostly consisted of Delphine helping where she could. Neither of them could convince themselves that they were still in a proper relationship but for the sake of keeping things easy, neither of them said anything. They had agreed that they would see the relationship through to the end but their hearts just didn't see the point. In my opinion they were only making things harder on themselves.

A couple of times I know that Delphine had been about to engage me in conversation about our plan for the road trip but she stopped herself each time. She clearly saw her excitement as a betrayal to Cyrus. So, to make things easier, I made myself scarce. If I wasn't around, she couldn't be tempted to speak to me.

I didn't exactly want to avoid her but I couldn't bear having her look at me with that pained expression. I knew it wouldn't hurt me too much to wait the extra few days for things to go back to normal between us, if we had something that you could even consider 'normal'.

The nights had been tough though. I kept coming home late and would just crawl into bed, pretending to be exhausted even when I wasn't. We shared brief, meaningless conversations that were bothering her on the surface because she was feeling like we had lost all the ground we had made on our friendship but deep down I think she was grateful. Even Cyrus didn't say anything to me about not being around which spoke volumes to me.

Sarah kicks me and jolts me out of my thoughts. I push her leg back onto her side of the swing and make a face at her.

"Would you stop daydreaming about her?" She begs. "You're going to be spending the rest of the summer with her. I, however, only get you for a couple more days so please be present."

"Is somebody jealous?" I tease.

"Ew, gross," she says in disgust. "Things really seem to have fallen into place for you, haven't they?"

"How do you figure that?" I gawk.

"Cyrus brings home a hot French girlfriend, effectively cancelling your plans with him but then can't spend any time with said hot girlfriend, leaving you to fill his place and getting your travel plans back," she explains.

"None of that is anything that I wanted to have happen though," I reason.

"Doesn't change the face that you managed to make it all work for you," Sarah says tauntingly.

"Yeah but nothing can happen between us which means this trip is going to be torturous," I say dramatically.

"But you said that they're basically broken up," Sarah points out as she drops her foot to the ground to begin rocking us gently.

"Basically," I agree, "but not quite. They're trying to make it last until the end of the summer," I reveal sadly.

"That's just stupid," Sarah grumbles. "And it's only going to make things super awkward if something does happen with the two of you while they still consider themselves an item."

"That's exactly why I'm not letting anything happen," I promise more to myself than to Sarah. "I'm only telling her how I feel if or when she breaks up with Cyrus."

"But that is probably going to be the end of the summer when she is leaving," Sarah splutters in disbelief.

"Look, if that's how it plays out, so be it but I will not betray Cyrus like that or put Delphine in an awkward position," I say honourably.

"That's all well and good but what it she puts _you_ in an awkward position?" Sarah asks, quirking a brow at me.

"What do you mean?"

"It could totally happen that she reveals feelings for you or even comes onto you before she breaks up with Cyrus," Sarah says, seemingly highlighting what she sees to be obvious.

"She wouldn't do that," I say confidently. "Besides, this is all just speculation. I don't even know that she likes me."

"Well, you'll soon find out I guess."

I shrug my shoulders in discomfort, getting my hopes up is a really bad idea. I drop my head against the back of the seat and close my eyes as I sigh. Sarah pats my knee gently, sensing my mood. It's not like me to get invested in a girl so quickly, especially one so unavailable. I did the whole 'falling for straight girls' thing when I first came out. It didn't take me long to swear off girls that would inevitably cause me pain.

But Delphine didn't compare to any of those other girls. She stepped right into my life and nestled herself firmly in my chest and I was completely helpless to it all. And it's not even like she knows what she's done to me.

I hear Sarah flicking on a lighter and see her light up a blunt. She holds it out to me as she exhales and the smoke blows out over the grass. I look at it burning between her finders, her eyes narrowing at my hesitation.

"Don't tempt me," I object.

She immediately brings it back to her side.

"That's a first," she says, referring to my rejection.

"It's getting late, I'll have to go home soon and I want to keep a clear head around Delphine."

She nods her head in understanding and takes another drag, exhaling slowly.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you a favour," I say poking her leg to get her attention. She rolls her head over to look at me and I take that as my cue to speak. "Would you mind lending me your car for the trip?"

"Did you wait until I was stoned before you asked me that?" She asks with a laugh.

"No, but I guess it doesn't hurt," I joke. "It's just that Cyrus is taking his car to L.A and that was going to be our means of transport."

"When would you need it?" She asks blankly.

"Not for another week or so. I was going to spend a week showing Delphine the city and we can use the bus or whatever to get to most things," I explain.

"Nah, you can have it in three days," she says, holding up three fingers as if to back up her response. "I know some of those tourist-y things are a bitch to get to unless you're driving."

"Aw, thanks man, that makes things a hell of a lot easier," I say appreciatively. "I promise to take good care of it."

"I know you will," she says calmly.

"I better get going," I mutter, getting up from the swing carefully. "Talk soon, ok?"

"Yup," she drawls, opening her arms for me to lean down and hug her. Sarah acts all tough but as soon as she's even the slightest bit high she becomes a complete snuggle monster. It's completely hilarious and adorable because she flat out denies it when she comes back down.

I wave back at her one last time before I walk around the side of her house and leave.

….

It's pretty quiet in the house when I walk in. I wander into the kitchen and check the microwave to see if dinner was left for me. Thankfully I find a plate of stir-fry left for me in the microwave. I set the timer for two minutes and set about pouring myself a glass of water. Once I have a knife and fork retrieved I lean against the counter as the timer ticks down. The smell of the stir-fry wafts over to me and my stomach grumbles. When the timer dings I throw a tea towel over my hand.

I balance the hot plate on my hand, grab my water and exit the room. I carefully carry my food upstairs. I turn in the opposite direction to my room at the top of the stairs. I stop at the open doorway of my parents' room and see them sitting up in bed. Mom is looking over some files from work and Dad is reading a book.

They don't notice me until I jab the door frame with toe of my shoe.

"Oh hey, Cosima, didn't see you there," Dad says, taking off his reading glasses.

"How was your day, honey?" Mom asks.

"Good, just hung out with Sarah, nothing exciting," I inform them. "Dinner smells good."

"Let me know what you think of it, I tried a new recipe," Dad says eagerly.

"He means he looked up a new recipe then didn't follow it," Mom teases him.

"I'm telling you, it needed the saffron," he says with a pout.

"Don't worry, Dad, I trust your judgement and I'll let you know what I think," I assure him. "Anyway, I was just popping my head in to let you know I'm home."

"Thanks, love," Mom says, turning her eyes back to her documents.

"Night," I say before heading back to my room.

Delphine isn't there and I didn't really think she would be. She's probably in Cyrus' room or maybe they're out. Cyrus may have wanted to go out to say goodbye to other friends.

I put my plate and glass down on the bed-side table. I grab my laptop and start it up. I open netflix and pick a random episode of Modern Family to start playing.

I munch away on my dinner peacefully noticing that Dad was right, it did need the saffron. I send him a quick text telling him as such. Moments later I hear my Dad yell "I told you so!"

I shake my head and laugh around the food in my mouth. I press the back of my hand to my mouth not wanting to spit my food all over the place. I've always loved how competitive Dad gets with Mom even when it isn't a competition. He acts like a big child and it always brings out Mom's lighter side.

"What's so funny?" Delphine asks as she enters the room, looking around to see what could be the cause of my laughter.

I shake my head and swallow my food before saying, "Nothing, just something my Dad did."

She smiles and me softly and accepts my answer before crossing the room to sit on her makeshift bed.

I pause Modern Family and look around the room, trying to think of a safe topic we could talk about.

"Can we not go back to this?" Delphine asks pleadingly. My eyes snap to hers and I look at her in confusion. She gets up, coming over to sit on the end of my bed. "We were in such a good place. I thought we had finally gotten close but you've hardly spoken to me all week."

I sigh heavily and toy with the threads of the blanket on the bed.

"We were, we _are_ in a good place," I correct myself. "I just wanted to give you and Cyrus your space. I know that these few days must have been tense and I didn't want to make it worse."

"Worse?" She asks incredulously. "It would have been a welcome relief to have had you around, Cosima." She pushes her hair back in frustration and sits up on the bed cross legged. "Cyrus and I have no idea what to say to each other anymore. I know he's excited about the internship but he won't talk about it and I know he thinks he's doing me a favour but seriously, talking about the internship would be better than the silence."

"Well, surely you had things that you spoke about together before?"

"In Paris we had classes together and I showed him around the city and he told me all about San Francisco. We've had less and less to talk about since I got here and now there is virtually nothing," she says aggravated.

"He'll be gone tomorrow and then you won't have to worry about it so it's ok, just calm down," I say gently.

"I know, thank god," she says with a sigh, dropping her head into her hands. I pause and look at her stunned. Her head snaps up and she realises what she just said. "That was a terrible thing to say. I just mean it's not easy being in a relationship with someone you can't talk to. I'm so sorry, Cosima."

"No, hey," I stop her, putting my now empty plate to the side. "There's no need to apologise to me, ok? Neither of you could have predicted that this would happen, you both had the best of intentions when you were coming out here. Don't beat yourself up, relationships fizzle out all the time."

She rests her elbows on her knees heavily, dropping her head down again. I shuffle over to her and sit with one leg behind her back and the other tucked up to my chin. I put my arm around her shoulders and rub her arm. She doesn't respond at all, if anything I feel her slump over a little more.

"I didn't want to have to do this," I inform her.

I throw the leg I had tucked against my chest over her cross legs and bum shuffle closer to her until I can hook my heels together on her other side. I then wrap both arms around her clasping them together under her arm, then finally rest my chin on her shoulder.

"Cosima, what are you doing?" Delphine asks in a faint voice as she shuffles slightly to see if she can move.

"I'm being a comforting octopus," I explain as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. She turns her head to look at me, our faces mere centimetres apart. I don't think she was expecting me to be so close because whatever words she was about to say die in her mouth as she exhales lightly and I feel the hot air on my face. I ignore it and look up at her warmly with a grin. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay like this until you feel better. The comforting octopus clings on until it feels all the sad feelings go away."

I watch as her eyes light up and she bites her lip trying not to smile. Her eyes look all over my face before settling on my eyes and a smile tugs at the corner of her lips again.

"You are so cheeky," she tells me.

I can't help but laugh which shakes both of our bodies. It's contagious and eventually she too is laughing and throws back her head at how ridiculous I'm being. Once we both manage to stop I look at her softly, examining her face for any trace of sadness.

"See? Works every time," I say smugly. "I think the comforting octopus can let go now."

Delphine grabs my thigh and glances at me before looking away quickly.

"Not yet," she whispers. "I think there's still some sadness left."

My heart trembles slightly at her request and I keep my limbs where they are. Not that I had a choice, Delphine had one hand tracing circles on my thigh and the other was clutching my arm making sure I wouldn't take it away.

I turn my head and rest my temple on her shoulder instead, I don't think I can take much more eye contact when I'm this close to her. I inhale deeply and everything is Delphine. Never having had the opportunity to be this close to her before, it was all a bit overwhelming. I desperately hope she can't feel my heart pounding against my chest.

Delphine slowly rests her head against mine. I smirk to myself, I can hardly feel her head through all her thick curls.

"Thank you, Cosima," she murmurs. I squeeze her tightly to let her know I heard her.

The circles she was tracing on my thigh change to what seems to be writing. I tilt my head down a little to try and see while not disturbing her. I think she is writing my name but I can't be sure. I move my head a little more to get a better look when one of her curls falls across my face and tickles my nose.

I automatically go to pull my hand back from around her front to rub at my nose but it catches her hand that is drawing on my thigh and I don't know what she thought my intention was but she easily threads her fingers through mine. My breath catches in my throat and I lift my head to look at her. She's staring down at searchingly and I want to say something but it's like she's erased every thought in my mind.

I'm saved when the tickle in my nose becomes too much and I tuck my face into my shoulder to sneeze.

"I'm so sorry," I say apologetically, unlatching myself from her. "That was so gross. I practically sneezed on top of you."

I hop off the bed to grab a tissue from the box on my dresser. I turn back to look at her, wiping my sleeves as I do so and see that she has a deep red blush on her face. She seems dazed as if she doesn't know what just happened.

"No, no you didn't, it's ok," she assures me but her eyes refuse to meet mine. She tucks her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs before resting her chin on her knees.

"Did comforting octopus not work?" I tease, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't want to have to fire him but if he can't get the job done he'll have to go."

Delphine rolls her eyes and smiles, finally looking at me.

"Don't worry, he did the trick," Delphine replies and I sigh in relief that the awkward moment has passed.

"So, what time does Cyrus leave tomorrow?" I ask as I sit back down on my original position on the bed, putting some space between us.

"He said he wants to be on the road by twelve," she informs me and I nod my understanding.

"Are you ready to say goodbye?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yes, it may be a little awkward considering how we're leaving things but I'll see him again in a couple weeks and hopefully the time apart will do us some good."

"Delphine, I hope you don't mind me asking but why not just call it off now? You're only going to get to see him a few more times before you leave, wouldn't it be easier to end it now rather than drawing it out?" I ask, trying not to sound hopeful.

"Honestly, I considered it," she says surprising me. "But I thought I would seem ungrateful if the idea came from me. Had he suggested it I would have happily gone along but since he didn't I kind of feel obligated to stay with him."

"Is that any reason to stay with somebody? Out of obligation?" I ask a little bitterly.

"It just doesn't seem right to end things with him when I'm still going to be staying in his house and living with his family, even if he isn't going to be here," she says defensively.

"I understand your reasoning," I admit. "But that doesn't mean I agree with it."

"Why do you care so much?" She asks in confusion. I gape wordlessly for a moment, realising that my opinion on how they want to end their relationship should be completely irrelevant.

"I'm just looking out for Cyrus," I lie. "But like you said, if he didn't suggest it then this must be what he wants."

"Right," Delphine says slowly, side-eyeing me suspiciously.

"Well, I think it's time for sleep," I say quickly before she can pick up on anything else.

She moves off my bed to her own. I grab my wash bag off the dresser and head for the bathroom. I take my time washing my face and brushing my teeth.

When I get back to the room she appears to be asleep and I am more than relieved.

….

I wake the next morning to the smell of bacon and the noise of my Mom calling me to come downstairs. I look around the room and see that Delphine's bed is empty. I look at the time on my phone and see that it's 10:30. It's later than I expected.

I groan my way out of bed and tiredly put on leggings and a tank top. I put my glasses on and check myself in the mirror, rubbing at the lines still on my face from the pillow. I can't resist the smell of bacon any longer and make my way downstairs.

In the kitchen I find Cyrus dressed smartly in a shirt and beige pants. He's standing behind the chair that Delphine is currently sitting in, his hand on her shoulder. They seem more comfortable around each other this morning. I wonder if their bittersweet departure has softened them towards each other once again.

Delphine is dressed simply in a blouse and jeans but it's still more effort than I put in for his farewell breakfast. Cyrus is exuding excited nerves as her keeps bouncing on the balls of his feet, too jittery to sit down just yet. He walks over to the counter and pours himself a coffee. I roll my eyes because that really isn't going to help.

I smile at Delphine as I walk past the table over to my Mom at the hob.

"Do you need a hand with anything?" I offer.

She looks at me and shakes her head then looks down at my bare feet.

"Cosima," she says annoyed. "I wish you would put some socks on in the morning, the floor is cold and you'll catch a chill."

I roll my eyes and go to sit down at the table since she turned down my help.

"Mom, you've been trying to get me to wear socks in the house for seventeen years and it hasn't worked yet, what makes you think it's going to start working now?" I complain.

"If not to keep you well, you could have a least gotten dressed properly to say goodbye to your brother," she reprimands me.

"I would if we were going out for breakfast but we are literally just having a normal Sunday breakfast in the kitchen," I point out.

"Please don't argue with me, Cosima," she says flatly.

I'm about to say something back but think better of it and just shut my mouth. Delphine sees me make the mental decision and laughs quietly, trying not to alert my mother.

_What is up her butt? _I mouth across the table to her.

_What? _She mimes back to me.

_WHAT. IS. UP. HER. BUTT? _I punctuate slowly and she laughs out loud when she realises the message I was trying to get across.

Mom turns abruptly to look at us and we both set serious looks on our faces. Cyrus smirks behind his coffee having seen the whole exchange from over by the coffee machine.

Just then Dad walks in making Mom forget about the three of us. He too has a shirt on with nice pants.

"I didn't realise this was a black tie event," I joke.

"Enough with the attitude, Cosima," Mom warns, pointing the spatula at me menacingly.

"I just wanted to dress nicely to see my son off," Dad explains proudly.

"I'm so sorry, Cyrus," I say in faux seriousness, getting up from the table. "Please, let me just go change into my tux."

"Just sit down, Cosima," Mom orders.

I sit back down and Cyrus grins at me as he sits down too. He hates when all the attention is on him and I have no doubt that he is feeling the pressure to excel in his internship so if I can diffuse any of that, I will and he knows it.

Mom sets all the food down on the table. "Dig in," she announces and everyone eagerly starts putting food on their plates.

Everyone is tucking in when Dad raises his glass of orange juice. "A toast," he declares. "To Cyrus, I've no doubt that you will work hard and make a lasting impression."

Cyrus looks at me and rolls his eyes but we both lift our glasses along with Mom and Delphine just the same.

"To Cyrus," we all cheer as Cyrus bows his head humbly.

"You'll do great," Delphine says to him quietly as she puts her hand on his and gives it a squeeze. Cyrus seems to appreciate her comment most of all, probably because it's like a blessing of some sort. It's her way of letting him no that she truly isn't annoyed at him anymore. He leans over and pecks her on the lips.

I quickly look down at the food on my plate and proceed to cut my sausage into pieces. I glance up for a second and see Delphine's eyes flit away from mine.

The rest of breakfast goes smoothly, Cyrus is glad that attention has shifted to general conversation and Mom is probably relieved that I stopped pushing her buttons. I berate myself mentally for not putting more thought into where I sat down. Sitting across from Delphine means that I catch her eye every time I look up and avoiding her gaze feels obvious when I have to turn my head pointedly in either direction.

After we finished the main breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages, pudding and toast, we moved onto tea and a selection of pastries that Mom must have picked up at the bakery this morning.

I put two on my plate, not even sure I'll be able to eat them because I'm so full but it's better to be safe. I don't want to pass up on them now to see that they're all gone later, which they definitely will be if Dad has anything to do with it.

Cyrus rubs his tummy and looks at the pastries, tempted.

"Mom, are you trying to fill me up so much that I won't be able to drive?" Cyrus jokes.

"It's a long drive, I just want to make sure you won't go hungry," she says lovingly.

"Don't worry, I'm planning on taking a break when I'm half way," he assures her. "But I don't know if I'll need to now after that feast of a breakfast."

He looks down at his watch and sits back, declining the pastry Mom is trying to put on his plate.

"It's nearly 11:30," he informs us.

"I thought you said you didn't have to be on the road until 12?" Mom says, worried that he is about to vanish before her eyes.

"The sooner I get going the better, I have a room to organise and unpacking to do once I get there and I want to get it all done tonight since I start tomorrow," he explains.

Dad seems to approve of his attitude and gets up from the table.

"Let me go get your bags, son. Are they in your room?" He asks and Cyrus nods. "Then I'll meet you out by the car."

He strides off and everyone gets up from the table. Mom quickly goes to Cyrus' side and leads him outside, Delphine following closely behind.

I wander out slowly. I stand on the front step and see that Mom already has Cyrus pulled into her arms for what I expect to be a very long hug. I'm surprised at how clingy she's being, he just came back from being half way around the world. He's only going to be six hours away by car, I figured this would be much easier. But I suppose she only did just get him back and he's gonna be gone again.

"Mind your back, Cosima," Dad says as he comes up behind me with two massive cases. I step down the couple front steps to let him go by. I sidle over to Delphine who has stepped back to let my parents have their goodbye.

I don't ask her how she's feeling, we spoke about it enough last night and I don't want to make her feel like she has to lie in case my parents hear her. I know she's relieved but when I look at her now there is more emotion than I would have expected based on what she said to me last night. But that was all talk I suppose, now that it has really come down to it maybe she's realised that she is going to really miss him.

When my parents finally release Cyrus, Delphine goes over to him and my parents join me. Dad stands with his back to them, perhaps trying to give them a bit of privacy. Mom mumbles away about how much she is going to miss him and about how grown up he's become but I'm not really listening. I'm subtly trying to lean back to see past Dad. I don't know why I'm trying to see, I'll just be torturing myself. However, they only embrace briefly and kiss each other innocently. It was not what I was expecting at all.

Delphine walks back over to us and Cyrus opens the door to the car. He looks at me and smiles. He sends me a salute which became our traditional form of saying goodbye when we weren't going to see each other for a while when I was a child and didn't like to give him hugs. But whenever he or I returned I used to never be able to resist giving him a hug and it seems to have stuck. I salute him back and smile widely.

He gets in and starts the car. We all watch him as he backs out of the driveway and slowly drives away. Dad is the first to turn away, encouraging Mom to do so to or he knows she'll stand outside for ages just watching the road in the distance.

They leave me and Delphine standing next to each other in silence. Part of me thought that we would never get to this moment, where it was just me and her and Cyrus wasn't two doors away. The silence between us isn't uncomfortable but it is definitely charged with a certain excited energy that I know neither of us will address just yet.

"Do you know what's weird?" Delphine asks, eyes still following Cyrus' car that can no longer be seen. "This doesn't feel weird," she states, answering herself.

"What do you mean?" I ask, not sure if I should look at her or keep my eyes trained on the distance like she does.

"Your brother, my boyfriend just left," she says, finally facing me. "And I'm standing here with you, someone I hardly know and I thought it would feel weird but it doesn't. I feel like I should feel more about him leaving but instead I'm excited about what you and I will do."

She looks at me with all this emotion, mostly excitement that looks like it's trying to burst from her. Her eyes flicker between mine, looking to see if I feel the same way and I know that on the surface she means the road trip but that feeling of potential that is almost tangible between us has to mean more. So I nod in understanding, letting her know that I get it, I'm feeling it too.

But a part of me can't help but feel a little concerned and she spots it passing over my excitement like a veil.

"Wait, does it feel weird for you?" She asks worriedly.

"No," I state, voice trembling. "Not at all."

…

**And that, my friends, gets Cyrus out of the way. To many people's relief I'm sure. (And my own if I'm honest, I couldn't wait to get started on the Cyrus-less chapters.) It isn't the end of him though, he will feature again in the future but for now we're in the clear and the girls can start having some fun ;) Now, where will I send them first...? Thanks for reading,**

**Aisling xx freakingcharming-limaheights **


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Orphan Black, Drama, Romance