Here Comes Trouble

[Alice Kelly]

Alice had almost exploded with glee when Tom had told her that she could take his car to pick him up from the airport. Even the additional knowledge that he'd be bringing a guest home with him couldn't ruin the fun.

...What did ruin it, however, was the complete and total nerves of not getting a scratch, or a dent, or a smudge on the Impala as she sat through traffic on the 405 freeway. Whoever decided to put an airport on the opposite side of where everyone was going had to be either brilliantly sadistic, or just never imagined the sheer size that the city would eventually become. Alice was pretty sure it was the first.

It was only as she pulled into the terminal where Tom was supposed to be waiting that Alice could even begin to feel the tension in her shoulders lift. It was a good thing too... Tom would probably wonder why his radio had suddenly become unable to pick up anything but loud crackling static.

Her worries about that became forgotten though as she spotted Tom and pulled the Impala up next to where him and a young woman were standing. "Kept it safe for you. Just like I promised."

[Tom Harriman]

As soon as the car pulled up next to them, Katrina lifted her eyes from the floor long enough to give her brother a combination 'That is so awesome' and 'You are such a geek' look. She didn't have to offer any kind of explanation; Tom knew exactly what she meant, and exactly why she meant it. It didn't matter.

He threw back a look of his own, that said 'You don't even have a car. Sucks to be you.' His actions took the edge off his eye-language though; Katrina was still a long way from being back to her normal self, and so his arm instinctively gave her shoulders a squeeze. It had been weeks since the funeral; but this wasn't the sort of thing that you just casually got over after a couple of days.

"Only because you knew I'd kill you if anything happened to her," he countered, ducking down a little to peer through the window and flash Alice a smile. It was a careful smile too - a lot of effort went into not smiling too much, just in case Alice caught wind of the fact that he was a hell of a lot happier to see her than he was to see his beloved car.

His efforts didn't go unnoticed by his sister however; but all she did was roll her eyes, and climb uninvited into the back.

Abandoned with their luggage, Tom dutifully hefted their bags - almost all of which were Katrina's, for the record, containing a ridiculous assortment of clothes, and a full spectum of Converse - from the sidewalk, and loaded them into the trunk. The lid closed with a satisfying clunk; a moment later, Tom was sliding himself into the passenger seat.

That in itself felt weird. Not quite as weird as the 'I'm sitting on the driver's side; where is the steering wheel?' feeling he'd experienced when he'd first moved to the states, and again during his recent trip back to England after years away; but it was still pretty weird. He wasn't entirely sure he'd ever even sat in this part of his car before.

He vocalised his thoughts. "I'd ask you to scooch over, but honestly?" He grimaced a little. "After that many hours on a plane, I'm not sure I can actually feel my legs anymore."

A few seconds passed before he realised he was staring. Another two or three passed before he realised that it was actually within his power to stop.

[Kat Harriman]

Sat in the middle of the back bench seat - the place where the brothers shoved people who weren't cool enough to sit up front in the Impala, like Sam in the episode where their dad came back, but not as if Kat watched too much TV or spent too much time swooning over Jensen Ackles or anything - Katrina folded her arms firmly across her chest, and fired meaningful looks at her brother. Frustratingly, he was being too googly-eyed and smitten to actually notice any of it. She even tried bouncing her glare off the rear view mirror, but the stupid backwards-flipped car had it pointed all the wrong way.

Eventually she cleared her throat, switching the focus of her attention to Alice instead. She forced a tight-lipped smile - frankly, it was more effort towards looking friendly than she'd spent on anyone else for a while - and even unfolded her arms a little. "Since my brother doesn't feel like introducing us -"

She glanced briefly back at Tom, throwing him her most devastating Mom look - one of those 'I'm peering at you sternly over the top of my glasses, even though I'm not actually wearing glasses' looks. It lasted only a second, but it was a damned good bit of glaring.

Satisfied that her efforts had finally made a mark, her reestablished smile was actually a little more genuine. "I'm Kat," she introduced. "Sorry about the whole invading your home thing."

[Alice Kelly]

"Alice," she said as a quick introduction of herself. "And I would say it is my pleasure to have you as a guest, but most days I think I'm just a glorified one who helps play rent."

A feigned look of dramatic concern came over her. "But I do have to wonder what you've done to your brother. Not wanting to drive? You catch some sort of rare flu over there across the pond?"

Before the teasing could go on any further, the honking of a horn from a car behind them told Alice they couldn't linger any longer, thankfully however the traffic had looked mostly clear for the way home and before too long they were moving along the freeway, back towards the city and the apartment she would now be sharing with both the Harrimans.

She found the tension returning to her shoulders, but it remained in check. Alice figured that somehow Tom being around would be enough to help protect the car from the demons of the road. She still didn't dare try the radio, though.

"So...how was it?" It was an open-ended question, she figured either would answer and that was just fine with her.

[Kat Harriman]

"It was a lovely service," Kat muttered, echoing the empty sentiment that her brother had tried to offer. She couldn't muster the same desire to argue against it this time however, and simply let the statement hang, shuffling towards the door to rest her head against the glass, and watch the sights of Los Angeles rolling past.

It should have thrilled her. Aside from a few agonising car journeys and coach trips to a handful of places in France, Katrina had never set foot outside the country she called home; and the only time she'd set ever foot in an aeroplane was at the museum her father had dragged her to before she was old enough to get all stubborn and slam her door at him.

On the face of it, this was an exciting journey; and yet she didn't feel it even in the slightest. Jet lag, she hoped, with a gentle sigh. It must be jet lag.

Silence had fallen in the car; and while Tom seemed content enough to relax and let it happen, Katrina found herself duty-bound to break it with some sort of conversation starter. She picked something that would give her as much satisfaction as possible right now.

"So," she started, watching her brother's ears turning progressively more pink as she spoke. "Tom has been telling me all about you. He says you're quite the artist."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice cringed... Internally at least. She could feel her stomach twisting in that slightly uncomfortable manner that it always did when she found herself faced with anything resembling a compliment. Artist... The term sounded so grandiose to her, something reserved for the likes of the house-hold names that were displayed in museums all over the world... Not for her. Even if her bedroom was difficult to navigate with all the canvas and other supplies.

She could feel the warmth threatening to creep up into her cheeks and quickly fought it back down with a healthy dose of reality. "I don't know about that... Creating paintings that are based on what other people want could hardly be called art. But it pays the bills... And sure beats a desk job."

[Tom Harriman]

"Oh come on," Tom protested, shooting Alice an expression that somehow combined raised eyebrows with a frown. "I've seen the stuff that you paint. At best, your clients give you a few pointers; you're the one who turns all that vagueness into something beautiful and inspired."

He offered her a smile. "You're incredibly talented, so don't sell yourself short... even if your modesty is one of the things I love about you."

The words were a mistake the moment they tumbled out of his mouth. The corner of his eye caught sight of his sister and the smirk plastered across his face, which made things exponentially worse. Instantly, Tom felt a wave of embarassment smack him in the face, and quite swiftly turned his eyes forward, his gaze focused determinedly on the road while he fought to keep his face a vaguely normal colour.

He coughed a little, trying to cover for himself. "Katrina writes novels," he threw back, in sort-of revenge.

[Alice Kelly]

If she hadn't been so paranoid about wrecking the car, she might have found herself suddenly swerving into another lane with that little slip of the tongue. Surely it hadn't been meant in the way it came out, but it was enough for her to suddenly start worrying about any nearby electronics... or worse.

Alice cast a small smile at Tom, partially sharing in the embarrassment for him, and attempting to hide the fact that she felt that sudden surge that was honestly best described by saying one had a great many beautiful winged insects in your stomach that suddenly decided to flap about. There was only a moment to ponder how such a term came into existence before Tom spoke up.

"Oh?" She avoided the natural urge to look over her shoulder at Kat. "What do you write about?"

[Kat Harriman]

Katrina rolled her eyes at her brother. Trust him to be running on outdated software; it was like he hadn't bothered to download a fact patch since before he'd moved to America. That was so like him: her brother had the uncanny ability to absorb trivial facts and information and retain them forever; but he didn't cope all that well when those facts up and changed on him.

"Novels were just a phase, Tom," she shot back dismissively, almost adding Don't you read my blog? but thinking better of it before the words tumbled off the end of her tongue.

She shook her head. "I'm a musician now," she explained, adding in a pretentious hand-flick ofher hair. "I've spent a lot of time lately working on my first album." She cocked her head to the side. "It's pretty progressive stuff; I have some really groundbreaking and emotional songs in there, And of course the whole album tells a story from start to finish, because frankly that's the way things should be done."

Her next words tumbled out as an accusation at her brother. "You wouldn't like it though. Not enough power chords and guitar solos for someone with your 'retro' music tastes."

[Alice Kelly]

'Progressive', 'groundbreaking', 'emotional', It took a bit to not let lose the small chuckle that threatened the escape. Instead Alice cast Tom a somewhat knowing smile before turning her attention back to Kat.

"You going to be producing the album yourself...?" Alice wasn't the best at polite small talk, especially when doing so to just avoid the silence. The truth was she couldn't wait to get back home and start seeing how their new situation would work out.

[Kat Harriman]

"I was planning on it," Kat replied casually, oblivious to anything going on in the front of the car. "I had a friend back home with a studio set up in his back room."

She turned her attention once again to the view outside, letting out a dramatic sigh over the thought of home, and of all the friends she'd been forced to leave behind. She was here because she wanted to be; or at least, because she wanted to be where her brother was. With all that had happened, and because of what was going on with Jace, the only family that was available for comfort and support was Tom. But of course, there was no way that Tom could possibly come to stay with her in London, because Tom wasn't the youngest sibling. Being exiled to a strange part of the world was clearly a role for the baby of the family. Or maybe it was a sister thing.

Whatever. It was so unfair.

There was some hope. she supposed. There were worse places she could be trapped than Los Angeles. Maybe she'd be able to find a record label - not one of those heartless, corporate ones, of course. Or maybe she could take the opportunity to launch her acting career. Maybe there was a director who might be interested in reading one of her scripts. Maybe she'd end up getting picked up for a pilot by one of the studios. Maybe she'd meet someone on set... someone famous, gorgeous, wealthy...

She sighed again. Yeah, like that was going to happen. Knowing her luck, she'd end up turning into that Penny girl from Big Bang Theory. Except, you know. Less trampy.

With an effort, she managed to heave her head around to look at her brother again, and asked the most infuriating question a sibling could possibly ask.

"Are we nearly there yet?"

[Tom Harriman]

One long, awkward car journey later...

Kat was quiet, finally.

Not that she'd been talking all that much, mind you. It was just that everything she said came with an awkward silence in tow. For the first time since the airport though, there was a lack of talking without the obligation to feel uncomfortable about it. Tom knew that Kat would mellow out in a few days; she made a fuss about change whenever it was actually happening, but she always adapted to things pretty quick.

Once she got over the melodrama, he knew she'd get a kick out of living in Los Angeles. She always complained about how they'd never gone on holiday to anywhere exotic when she was a kid, and winged about how Tom had never invited her to stay while he was in New York (even though he had). Now she was living almost as far away from England as you could possibly get without learning a new language: there were beaches, there was shopping, and she'd probably have fun stalking celebrities once she'd worked out where they lived. He'd only hoped that in the meantime, she would have put more of an effort into making a good impression on Alice.

Having found the remote control, Kat was in the process of exploring the channels that Tom had available, no doubt in search of some cult show or other that she could watch the legitimate way, rather than some shady internet alternative. She could be there for hours, and it was a dead certainty that neither he nor Alice would ever get custody of the remote control again. But at least it gave him a moment alone with Alice, for the first time since he'd got back.

He rubbed a hand at the tired muscles bunching at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about all this," he offered.

[Alice Kelly]

"Don't be." Her reply came smoothly, without hesitation. "Family always comes first."

Alice couldn't even begin to comprehend why Tom was apologizing. Truth was, she'd had to fight herself not to beat him to the punch. She had always felt a bit like he had let her invade his space ever since she had moved into his apartment, the addition of his Sister somehow didn't change that in her mind. Her only real concern was if she needed to pack her things so that she would be in the smallest of the rooms, rather than confine Kat to it. After all, Alice knew how hard it was to lose family and suddenly uproot yourself from everything you knew to go someplace new.

Of course... Alice had chosen her fate... Run away from everything she knew rather than ran to whatever semblance of family was left. If she had the option to do what Kat had... Well, things may have been a bit different.

Though another person in the home would make some things a lot more complicated. But Alice was already trying to fix that.

"How're you holding up?" She asked, mostly to keep her mind from going down the road it had started traveling.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom shrugged, reclining a little against the worktop. "I'm holding up fine," he said, trying his best to force a reassuring tone into his voice. He offered her a tight smile. "It's not like I've got much of an alternative."

His eyes made it evident that his statement was very far from true, but he aimed them away in the hope that Alice wouldn't see, focusing intently on the kitchen floor. He felt drained and heavy, like someone had shorted out all the batteries in his reserves. Some of it was likely thanks to the long-haul flight and the half dozen or so timezones he'd just skipped across, but he knew there was more to it than just that.

"I'm not sure I liked the guy," he said quietly, his brow knitting in conflict. "We never really got along. I guess we were too different." He let out a bitter breath of a laugh. "Or maybe we were too alike."

He forced a smile, turning his gaze to Alice with some effort. "I'm not the sort of person who craves approval or anything, but sometimes I can't help wondering what he'd have thought of what I get up to."

Tom fell silent, musing over some of the many revelations that had crawled out of the woodwork these last few weeks. Particularly given what he got up to.

[Alice Kelly]

She hesitated a moment, her hand reaching out, pulling back, and then with a bit of resolve reached out again and gently came to rest on Tom's shoulder.

"I'm sure he would have been, well, worried. I think all parents reserve that right for us whether they'll admit to it or not." Honestly, Alice could only guess, but if her feelings for Tom could only begin to reflect a tiny bit of what someone who really knew him were...even an estranged parent... well, worry was a certainty. But maybe that was only a woman thing.

"I think he would be proud of you too, though." The cliche rolled off her tongue before she could put a stop to it and she instantly felt a bit bad for saying it. How would she know?

Alice pulled her hand away from him, feeling as if not only her words had failed to bring any comfort, but the simple fact she was touching him was some sort of affront as well. Maybe it was...

"I should... let you get your Sister set up." Alice glanced towards where Kat sat glued in front of the television as she found herself wrapping her arm in front of herself, her hand now gripping the other arm in an effort to... to do what exactly? Protect herself? Protect him?

Her thoughts from earlier came back to the forefront of her mind. "If you want, I can move my things and she can have the larger room. Anything to make this easier on her... on you."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom's hand settled upon her arm. He hadn't meant it to; he just found it there, as surprised by the gesture as she must have been. He didn't back away from it though; instead he compelled her to meet his gaze.

"You just being here makes it easier," he said softly, meaning every single syllable. It should have been an easy thing to say, and yet each word took so much effort to utter. "Not just with this, but with everything. Losing my job. The new job at Treadstone. My evening..." He trailed off. "...activities."

His gaze fell away from hers. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. It wasn't shame; guilt perhaps, for all he had inflicted on her? He had set out hoping to help her, to make her his damsel in distress; and now here she was, being the rock that he clung onto to stop himself from drowning.

"What I want -" His mind faltered. An admission prepared itself on his tongue, but better judgement held it back: a desperate effort to avoid ruining everything. What he wanted was to take her in his arms; to have her feel close, and maybe chase away the lonely feeling that seemed to haunt him no matter how surrounded by people he was. He wanted to fall asleep with her beside him like he'd imagined in his half-awake stupour so many times. He wanted to look into her eyes, and see the exact same feelings staring back at him. There was nothing physical or carnal about it.

What I want is you.

The words didn't escape, though. He refused to let them. He settled for a lie: one of the largest he'd ever told. "What I want is for things to stay as normal as possible," he said at last. "Just keep being you. You have no idea how much easier this all is with you around."

[Alice Kelly]

But I'm not being me... not really. Alice felt a smile that was bittersweet forming on her lips. If ever there had been a moment she was tempted to tell Tom the single thing that could completely destroy his spoken want for things to be normal.

But she kept silent on the matter. Again. Knowing full well that there would be a time that would come soon when she wouldn't be able to just brush off the odd static on the radio, the occasional burned out electronic device, the fact she seemed to glow at times. Maybe another day...

"I can do that." I've been doing that. Tom wasn't really asking her to do anything more than she had been, it should have been a relief. So why did she suddenly feel that it so vastly more important than it ever had been?

A small twinge in her arm made her suddenly realize just how tight her own grip had been and she let out and let out a deep sigh, trying to ease whatever tension was threatening to creep between them. "So, anything I can do for you now? You know...something less profound... like order some Chinese food for dinner?"

[Tom Harriman]

Tom finally let his hand fall away, and felt a smile beginning to creep onto his face.

"You always suggest Chinese food when you think I need cheering up," he observed. His expression didn't falter, despite the spark of bitterness that flashed in his chest as he watched her standing there, completely oblivious to how much everything she ever did meant to him. She always seemed so nervous and uncomfortable whenever he complimented her: no doubt she was terrified that he was harbouring the kind of feelings that he actually was feeling; that he planned on telling her, and ruining everything.

It wasn't the first time he'd fallen for someone without any hope of reciprocation. He just wished that it was easy to fall out as it was to fall in.

He turned, plucking the telephone handset from it's charging cradle. "It always works," he admitted. There was no point in asking what he wanted; he always ordered the same damn thing, no matter how long he deliberated over the possibility of having something different.

He handed the phone over to Alice, as if he was passing on some object of immense responsibility and importance. "I'm going to jump in the shower," he warned. "No sneaking down to pay the delivery guy without me this time though, okay? You've got to let me do something with all this money Treadstone keeps paying me."

[Alice Kelly]

"Save it for retirement some day." Alice turned away and began rifling through some paperwork, looking for the takeout menu.

"You know," she glanced over her shoulder at him. "If you can stay out of trouble that long."

She waved him off with the phone, not accepting any sort of argument from him on the matter. Alice still wasn't comfortable with the fact that Tom paid the majority of the rent, even if she did bring home far more money than her. Buying dinner now and then was about the only way she could even things up enough to where she didn't feel like a total mooch.

Once Tom was out of the room and she located the menu, Alice leaned against the door jam, watching Tom's sister watch television for a moment. She had gotten used to the small quiet living arrangements that she had with Tom, this new addition would be... well... a change, that was for sure.

She raised the menu into the air slightly and shook it. "I'm ordering dinner. You want anything in particular? Their Mu shu chicken is to die for."

[Kat Harriman]

Kat didn't bother letting her gaze deviate from the screen. Tom had cable. Cable. Jace would never have bought cable. He'd never have been able to wrap his head around the concept that sometimes you just wanted trashy, vaguely familiar noise going on. Sometimes you wanted to rewatch the same episodes again and again, so your brain could slip into a coma and not have to think.

Hell, Jace didn't get the whole switching off your brain concept at all.

It was strange the amount of anger that welled up in her when he thought about him now. She'd spent weeks thinking he was dead; thinking that her whole life had been whisked out from under her. Then she'd found out the truth - that he was in some sort of witness protection - and she was furious at him. How dare he hide? How dare he not be there for her when she needed him? Sure, he had to protect himself; his wife; his daughter. But what about protecting his baby sister, too?

"Tom's having the same black bean thing that he always has, right?"

It was hardly even worth asking. Tom always ordered the same thing from every single Chinese restaurant or takeaway that he ever came across. There wasn't even a point giving him a menu. He'd sit there for an hour if you let him, musing over the different possibilities, trying desperately to convince everyone - including himself - that he was going to break the habit of a lifetime. Sometimes, he even managed to have people fooled. But then the waitress came, or the phone picked up, and beef with green peppers in black bean sauce came tumbling out... absolutely without fail.

One time the restaurant didn't have beef; he'd been forced to have it with duck instead. He'd spent the entire meal moping like a kid who'd asked for ice cream and been presented with celery. It had been sad, in an I weep for your your pathetic existence sort of way.

She frowned a little, musing over her options as one of the myriad American medical dramas flickered away on the screen in front of her. "Do they have crispy shredded beef?" she asked, barely even making the effort to aim her head more than a couple of degrees in Alice's direction.

"And is it any good?"

[Alice Kelly]

She didn't know. It wasn't on the list of her usual stand-bys... but a quick flip of the menu and a glance into the items listed under beef and the flickering worry in her mind vanished. Alice certainly hadn't planned what to do if the requested item hadn't been available. Her need to try and make this whole transition as smooth as possible probably would have had her calling every Chinese food place within delivery radius to see if anyone had it... and probably a few that were pick-up only.

Thankfully extremes wouldn't need to be taken. But it did have one potential problem.

Alice flicked the menu back to how she had been previously holding it. "Well, they have it." She shrugged a shoulder and half-smiled. "Can't truthfully answer for the 'good' part, though. But I can say that I've tried over half the menu and haven't come across anything that wasn't yet. I'd say it's worth a shot."

[Kat Harriman]

"Hmm."

Kat frowned, silently chewing the inside of her bottom lip as she contemplated this grave and life-saving decision. Done well, crispy shredded beef was like eating little chunks of battered, spicy heaven. Done bad, it was like trying to chew your way through cardboard soaked in your own vomit.

Not that Kat would let it go to waste, mind. Chinese food was Chinese food, and she had long ago learned to consume as much as she possibly could before her brothers finished their locust swarm sweep of the dishes; taste, texture, and huge, accidentally consumed chunks of hot chilli were all ignored in the interests of ensuring as much of it ended up in her stomach before her brain caught on to the fact that she was full.

"Ah, hell," she muttered. "Go for it. I'm feeling adventurous."

There was a moment of silence, and she watched intensely as one of the impossibly attractive men in a suit started yelling with righteous passion at another impossibly attractive man in a suit, about the most important thing in the world, apparently. Kat wasn't particularly sure what they were on about, but she definately agreed with the blonde one, whatever it was he was saying.

He had pretty eyes.

A thought struck her and she turned, finally peeling her eyes away with the television screen. "Does the Chinese come with wine?"

[Alice Kelly]

"It can." Alice's finger hovered over the speed-dial and she nodded her head towards a small pantry off to the side of the refrigerator. "I don't have a huge selection but the rack's in there. Feel free to pick whatever you want."

Alice wasn't entirely sure exactly how depleted her wine stock was, things had been somewhat lean thanks to Tom's absence. "No roommate" was always a perfect opportunity to drink yourself silly while trying to paint the more stubborn images in your head.

Aside from opening the cabinet where the wine glasses were kept, Alice left Kat to her own devices as she called, placed the order, and immediately began rifling through her wallet for the amount to cover the whole meal.

Feeling secure enough she could get to the delivery guy before Tom, Alice set herself down in one of the armchairs in the room and looked back to Kat. "So what are we watching?"

[Kat Harriman]

"I have no idea."

It was an honest answer. Kat had been channel-hopping, and her attention had been focused more on the faces - or other body parts depending on the channel - of the guys that had been appearing, rather than the little box thing that told her the name of the show. Right now, the guys in suits had gone - the focus had switched to their ridiculously attractive secretaries now - and had been replaced by men with bulky muscles wearing scrubs.

American television was weird, she decided. Sure, Britain recieved a sampling of their shows, but the whole balance of what was on was just plain different. Britain seemed to take all of the good - or at least popular - American shows, and compressed them down onto a handful of channels. Spread around between all the networks though, those good shows were diluted by all manner of tat. Unfortunately, it seemed to be car crash telly: you didn't want to watch, but sometimes you just couldn't help staring.

That didn't stop her from talking, however. Fortunately, the parts of her brain involved in staring at cute boys were distinctly separate from the parts of her brain that handled conversation.

"So," she asked casually, letting the remote rest on her leg for a while. "What's the deal with you and my brother?"

[Alice Kelly]

"What?" It left before she could put a stop to it and she felt her cheeks growing warm as she cast a subconscious glance towards the door the bathroom - and shower - were behind.

She shook her head slightly and gave Kat a reproachful glance. "I'm Sorry...it's just..It's not what you think."

A wistful look crept into Alice's eyes as she leaned back into the chair as if it could envelop her and keep her from having to answer questions. "Your brother has a large heart." She started, letting a small laugh pass. "I needed help with having a place to stay... he barely had met me but just somehow knew that something wasn't right. He wanted to help and offered to let me be his roommate. I couldn't say no. Not given where I was at, which basically meant accept his offer or be homeless in a country I shouldn't even technically be in."

A soft but deep breath left her as she looked back to Kat. "I owe him a great deal... but yeah, we're not dating if that's your worry."

[Kat Harriman]

"Uh-huh."

Kat wasn't convinced, and her tone made that abundantly clear. It was the same old story: Tom meets girl, girl has problem, Tom straps on shining armour and rides to the rescue, girl welcomes Tom into the Friend Zone. Playing hard to get wasn't Tom's style. Saying Hey, I like you, do you want to go to dinner? wasn't Tom's style. He couldn't do anything the simple way... he was way too hung up on the romanticised notion that one day he'd stumble across his perfect damsel, everything would click instantly, and they'd ride off into the sunset together and live happily ever after.

A scathing sigh escaped, and Kat willed it to tumble across the appartment, sneak under the bathroom door, assault her brother in the shower, and slap him firmly around the face. Clearly, her brother wasn't equipped to deal with this himself, and it was her sisterly duty to intervene.

"So, Tom is just a friend," she summarised. She'd toned down her voice an impressive amount, and it now sounded almost insightful. "Just a friend who helps you out in every way he possibly can, and who - let me guess - remembers everything you've ever told him, pays attention to the things that make you feel better when you're down, does everything you ever ask him to, refuses to let you pay for things all the time, and who you keep catching staring at you when he thinks you aren't looking?"

Her jaw clenched, and her eyebrows rose in a come on, do I have to spell it out for you? expression, though her eyes were still firmly directed at the television. "Sure, there's nothing going on there at all."

Fingers tapping at the remote control, Kat changed the channel and the topic at the same time. "Do you have anything white in your wine collection? Red wine kinda makes me gassy."

[Alice Kelly]

She was certain that Kat had it wrong. Not that she was naive or completely closed off to the idea... it was... well... it was Tom. And he was, well, he was the type of guy that could probably get whatever woman he wanted if he put his mind to it and she well... she was no super model that was for damn sure.

Besides, all those things that Kat had listed off sure sounded an awful lot like things a good friend would do.

Thankfully the entire thought process was put to an immediate halt as Kat changed the subject. While her phrasing had been...interesting... it was enough to keep Alice from glancing back towards the bathroom again.

"Yeah, I think I have two of three left in there." She glanced back towards the kitchen, with the open cabinets showing off the wine bottles and the other the glasses. Apparently Kat had decided that the television was going to be her domain and not even alcohol was going to tear her from it. Tough. Alice considered herself a good hostess, offering someone free reign on your wine selection, but if they were going to be roommates the girl was going to have to learn to get things for herself.

[Kat Harriman]

"Sweet."

With a flourish, Kat tossed the remote in the air, flipping it end-over-end before catching it again. She rose, instinctively tucking the device into the pocket of her jog pants, and sidestepped the sofa, eyes still half-watching the television. It was okay though, there was an ad-break on so she wasn't missing anything important: but she hadn't yet learned how long a reprieve such breaks would grant; it was essential that she not take her eyes away for too long.

She grabbed a bottle as swiftly as she was able - she didn't pay much attention to the label; as long as it was alcoholic, that was fine. She even grabbed two glasses - Alice hadn't expressed a desire for a drink, but who in their right mind would actually turn down the offer of wine? - clutching the glassware awkwardly as she returned to the sofa.

A last-minute flash of foresight convinced her to set the glasses and the bottle down before she flopped back onto the couch. She frowned a little as she poured the first two glasses - probably filling them too much, but whatever: if they ran out they could just send Tom to go and by them more - the liquid glugging away as it and air swapped places inside the bottle.

"He really likes you, you know," Kat added off-hand, as she passed a glass in Alice's direction. She brought her own glass to her lips, hesitating for a moment before downing her first mouthful. "If you don't believe me, you should ask him. Ten dollars says he goes bright red and stutters before eventually admitting it."