He had planned to reach back out to her, one day. Or at least that’s what he had told himself. But in reality, there was no guarantee he’d have ever actually done it. And now looking at her, rushing to his aid when she could’ve just as easily ignored the call, made him feel horribly guilty. It was just…He had no clue how to act around her. She was technically his sister. Half, but still. He naively felt like it shouldn’t be this hard. But he also knew that was an expectation that would never be met. Perhaps if they had met under different circumstances, if she had found out about his existence not in the wake of her father’s death. Maybe then they could’ve accepted each other into their respective lives. But those were the circumstances, and there was no changing that. It was ironic, really as even before Theo was aware of his half sister at a young age, he had always wished for a sibling, someone to share in his experiences with. God really had a way of taking the piss sometimes.
He looked down as she offered an uneasy smile and he honestly just wanted to beat his newly stitched head against the exam room door. Why was he such a bloody idjit? Why had he put her number down? He could of avoided this whole awkward mess if he hadn’t done it. But, as his mother always told him ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’. So with that, he decided it was about time to square his shoulders and deal with whatever it was that was about to happen.
“Trust me, I’ve done worse to myself just by being, well, a dumb-ass.” He offered with a half hearted chuckle. “But, well—God, this is fuckin’ embarrassin’.” he paused. “Despite it only bein’ two stitches they’re pretty much actin’ like I got a concussion so…They won’t let me out without like…A fuckin’ chaperone.” He grimaced. “Pretty much I just gotta walk out wiht you and then you can go back to whatever you were doin’, I promise.—Although, I definitely owe you like dinner, or a coffee at least.”
Family life had never been something that she had particularly associated with happiness or even contentment or ease. There had been nothing easy about the tenuous relationship she had with her parents, their affection fleeting and cold, hinging on her perceived successes. She knew that she couldn’t claim to have had a bad childhood when she had grown up with every comfort a child could possibly need, and then some. But she would refuse to admit it was ever easy when all she wanted was something genuine and intangible, not purely material. She wondered if she had the chance for some sort of healthy family relation now - not that she would know what that looked liked - or if it was even possible. Perhaps they were on the right track to being sibling after all, when none of their interactions had been remotely simple or easy.
There was a part of her that wanted to try though, despite how uncertain she was about it all. It was why she had come after all. Gaze flickered over his features, unable to help herself from looking for any similarities he shared with their father. Lips curved upwards slightly at a comment that couldn’t have sounded less like ones that would have come from Alistair. “I’m not sure I find that reassuring.” Tone was light, almost playful when all she wanted was to distract them both from the awkwardness of it all.
Frown flickered back onto her brow for a moment, concerned with how lightly he was taking it all. “I don’t think it hurts to be careful about a head injury.” For a moment she hesitates, wondering if it’s a step too far to make the offer on the tip of her tongue. “I can play chaperone.” Head shook almost immediate when he was talking about some way of thanking her or making it up to her. Even though they weren’t close, he was still family. Tied to her and she would do anything for those in her life. Besides, it wasn’t as though the call had pulled her away from anything particularly eventful. “Oh you really don’t need to. It was a pretty quiet evening, just Stella and I.”