The Winner

This Is Me Trying

*Julia*

I wake up to an unfamiliar noise. An alarm. But not mine.

"Mmmm, noo." I mumble and turn to the other side. Half asleep, I remember I'm not in my own bed. That's not my alarm. I open my eyes. Nate puts his pillow over his ears and groans.

"Nate, doing that doesn't turn the alarm off." I take my...well ..his.. pillow and throw it at him playfully.

"Fuck. shut up you stupid thing." At first I'm caught off guard until I realize he's talking to his phone alarm and not me.

"Ugh." He shuts off his phone and tosses it on the floor before grabbing my shirt to pull me in to him. "It's too early." He wraps his arms around me like I'm his personal body pillow without opening his eyes. I stroke his hair which I know he loves, hearing him let out a little hum.

"You're grumpy in the mornings,

 aren't you." I laugh. Who would have thought I would know what Nate Hollan is like first thing in the mornings. Who would have thought I'd be laying next him? Who would have thought he would pull me in to his chest and hold me the way he does? It all seems unreal. I push it aside remembering he is still a human, with flaws, plenty of them.

"I'm pretty sure you have an alarm set for a reason." I kiss the corner of his mouth.

"Fuck." He keeps his eyes closed tight and kisses my jaw, before burying his face in my hair. "I don't want to goooo."

I wiggle out of his arms just a little to reach my phone on the bedside table, and snuggle back into his arms. I open the calendar app to see what he has to do, furrow my brows and push him aside.

"Nate. Whos Cara??" I question. "And why is she blocking off most of your day??" I sit up waiting for an answer.

"Shit." Nate rubs his face a few times and sits up sleepily. "I gotta go."

"Fuck you do. Who is Cara?" My tone is now more demanding.

*****

*Nate*

God it's too early for all this. I pinch the bridge of my nose. I don't want to get into a long story about this. I don't have time.

"Nate...." Julia glares at me. She's pissed.

"Alright, alright. For Chrissakes let me wake up for a second." I take a deep breath and look at her. "Cara is my little sister." I see Julia's face get red and I can't help but sigh at her reaction.

"Jules, you seriously think I would take you home and have someone else lined up the next morning?"

"Well you ARE Nate Hollan...." She throws another pillow at me. I pull her in and tickle her to make her laugh. She squirms out of my arms and rests her head on my chest. "I didn't know you had a sister. You guys going to spend the day together?" She asks while playing with my chain around my neck.

Something like that- I think to myself... I should just be honest with Julia since this situation is going to come up often now. I take another deep breath.

"You good, Nate?" Julia looks up to make eye contact with me, concern written all over her face.

"Cara's not.. "

How do I put this..

"She's not well." I sit up a little and run both my hands through my hair. This is not how I wanted to start my morning. At all.

"I'm sorry she's sick. That's nice you are going over to take care of her. What a good big brother you are." Julia teases.

"No, Jules. She's sick as in...mental illness sick." I don't know why I had such a hard time saying that sentence but I practically had to force it out. Julia sits up completely now, straightening her back.