Long Distance with Sister's Bestie

Writer's note: I've officially run out of steam. This is a short filler, setting up the finale, next chapter.

"Back in a sec," Maddie chirps, right before bolting from the terminal check-in line and disappearing in the crowd, her blonde ponytail wagging behind her.

Paige snorts.

"She needs to get her prostate checked out."

I look down at my little sister. She smiles at me, happy to let me carry her bags. It's a lot of stuff, even if she ended up staying two weeks at my place.

Maddie and I took turns showing her around the city whenever I wasn't stuck at work or she wasn't busy with classes. Somehow, that also meant she spent every single night over. Strictly for best friend bonding time, of course.

If you'd told me ten years ago that I'd be so eager to see the blonde brat from down the street crawling into my bed. Or that I'd spend so much time trying to fix her relationship with my annoying sister, I'd have called you insane.

But here we are. I can't stop smiling when I see the two of them back to normal. Laughing. Scheming. Gleefully invading every inch of my space.

Crazy how things have changed.

"What?" She asks, cutting my internal gushing short.

"Nothing, I'm just glad you guys are not fighting anymore."

"Well, I'd feel like a real party pooper, you two are real cute together," she says, in dramatic resignation.

She pauses. I can see the words being worked up behind her eyes.

"It's just..." She starts. "Kinda felt like you were stealing my best friend, and Maddie was stealing my brother."

I pull her into a one-armed hug.

"Aww," I coo, making her blush. "Is little P jealous?"

"Shut up," she snaps, but she doesn't pull away, leaning her head against my shoulder. "I mean, I guess I was. A bit, nobody likes to feel excluded, right?"

I let out a guilty groan and squeeze her tighter.

"That was one of the reasons I came to visit, actually," she says, suddenly shy. "I finalized the paperwork. I'm transferring here next year."

She tries to make it sound casual, but her eyes are glued to the floor.

I blink. I knew the distance was hard on them, but leaving a top-tier private school to follow Maddie to State? Talk about a downgrade. It's my alma mater, so I don't want to badmouth it, but still.

"Mom and Dad know?" I ask.

"Not yet," she shrugs. "But hey, cheaper tuition. Everyone wins."

"Fair enough. And Maddie?"

"Definitely not. Please don't say anything yet." Her voice turns wry. "She's sappy enough as is."

I chuckle, and we stay huddled together as we shuffle forward in the airport line. Until Maddie comes bouncing back moments later, immediately throwing her arms around both of us like she's been gone for months.

Despite Paige keeping her transfer secret, I'm still treated to the full waterworks from the pair when she has to move on to her gate.

===

My belly growls as I wrestle with a broken macro in my spreadsheet.

It's kind of wild how fast I've slipped into this new routine since Paige's visit wrapped up.

I wake up next to Maddie every morning. She hasn't officially moved in, but the evidence says otherwise.

We share a quick breakfast, and I drop her off at her bus stop on my way to work. I happily type away at my little keyboard until noon, when either Jim, my desk-mate, or I go get food.

Around seven, I head home and cook for a stress-soaked, cranky Maddie and myself. Meanwhile, she unloads about how terrible her classes are or catches me up on Tasha's latest dating drama.

Guilt-free, domestic bliss.

Today, it's Jim's turn to stand in line at the sandwich concession a few blocks away. He's taking forever, I'm starving.

My head snaps up when the elevator dings across the open floor.

But instead of landing on Jim's rotund form and his good-natured balding head, I'm hit with a woman-shaped ray of sunshine.

Maddie stands there, her blonde hair falling to her shoulders, wearing her favorite short blue dress, a visitor badge nestled in the middle of her very intentional cleavage.

"Look what I found at the front desk," Jim says, trailing behind her like a proud uncle.

She saunters over with her eyes locked on mine. When she reaches my desk, she leans over my chair. I catch her familiar scent first, something soft and floral, followed her hair tickling my face.

We share a quick, chaste kiss. Just enough to make my pulse skip.

"Hi," she says softly, blushing as she pulls back.

Jim looks at us with a wholesome smile. This feels like a weird twist on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. But I'm not one to complain.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, barely containing the dumb, corny smile tugging at my lips.

She shakes a Tupperware box, which I only now notice. In my defence, it's hard to focus with that much skin showing.

"Thought I'd try to make you lunch," Maddie says. "But I guess Jim's a better work-wife than me."

She pops the lid open as he guffaws at her joke.

If I'm being honest, her chicken parm looks... questionable. The smell's not doing it any favors either. And I'm already dreading what the kitchen's gonna look like when I get back home later. Cooking's just not her thing.

But the fact that she spent her morning doing this for me makes me giddier than any grown man would like to admit. Of course, this means she probably skipped class today. Again. I'm not her Dad, so I don't say anything, but I hope she doesn't get into the habit.

I lean over and give the container an exaggerated, appreciative sniff.

"Where'd you buy that?" I ask, laying it on thick, which makes her giggle, cheeks pink with pride.

"I made it silly."

Then, she points at a random spot on the ground.

"You dropped your pen, let me get that for you," she says in a sugary tone, before making a big show of bending over.

As I said, this is her favorite dress. She wears it all the time. Which is why I know I should see panty lines as the fabric stretches over her butt, stuck out right in my face. My throat tightens at what their absence implies.

Thankfully, Jim is too busy pulling a chair over to notice. But Maddie is faster than he is, and instead perches on my armrest, taking the opportunity to lean on me as much as possible.

We split our mess three ways and dig in.

The sight of the cute girl in the short dress draws a small group of people from neighboring clumps to join us for lunch.

"How come we've never seen you before?" asks Cheryl, a stern accountant, to a very receptive Maddie.

"I don't know," she answers in a conspiratorial tone. "Maybe Roman thought one of you guys would try to steal me away."

I chuckle, constantly amazed by Maddie's ability to become the center of attention in any social situation.

That is, until she starts blabbing about childhood stories and I have to cut her off from handing out more ammo to my coworkers.

"Maybe you should intern here this summer," Jim says, still recovering from his latest fit of laughter, spraying breadcrumbs onto his keyboard. "I bet you've got loads more dirt on Rommie."

I groan at the use of my Mother's old nickname. It took me months of dedicated work in tenth grade to get her to drop it. I would hate to see it pick up steam around the office.

"Ugh," Maddie whines. "I wish you'd told me sooner. I have something lined up in stupid Florida. I'm leaving in a few weeks to go stay with my sister."

That gets her a chorus of coos. Most of them ironic, of course. Poor little Maddie, forced to go to the beach.

Although I can see the parent switch flipping for a few of the older folks at the adorable twenty-year-old's obvious distress.

Maddie's summer internship has been a sore spot for a while now. We're both dreading the five-month separation, probably for different reasons.

Our routine feels so easy, so comfortable. It's going to be hard to get used to the quiet apartment and cold bed.

And yeah, I trust her. That's not the problem.

But the idea of my pretty girlfriend strutting around the frat-saturated beaches in skimpy bikinis all summer long...

Especially with her tendency to tan topless.

I shake it off and focus back on the conversation.

Maddie must have caught my momentary lapse, because she shifts her position, leaning even more of her weight onto me.

"Alright, that's enough of that," I say, pushing back from the chair and sliding an arm around her waist. In one motion, I pull her up to her feet. "Why don't I show you around? There's a great view on the top floor."

I don't wait for an answer. Just take her hand, fingers laced tight, and lead her away.

The terrace is getting nicer by the day. Less wind, more sun. There's a decent coffee stand. I get one for myself, and a tea for Maddie. We lean against the railing, shoulders touching, peering at the skyline below.

"You skipped class," I drop after a little while, instantly regretting it. So much for not being her dad.

Maddie glances at me, then shrugs.

"I'm an adult," she says. "Also, Tasha and I are sharing notes. It's not like they're taking attendance."

I groan. She has a point.

"Is everything okay?" I ask point blank. "You seem a bit off lately?"

She doesn't smirk this time. I expect a bit of a fight from my blunt words. Instead, she leans her head against my shoulder. I lower my head and press a kiss to her scalp. I love the smell of her hair.

"I don't want to go to Florida," she finally says.

"You're not interested in the internship anymore?"

"Come on, you know what I mean," she pulls away, turning to look straight at me. "This is really good, right? You and I?"

I nod.

"I'm just scared it'll be different with the distance," she continues. "Like we'll lose the magic."

My chest tightens. I know exactly what she means. What if this is just lust? What if it all fades away when all we have are a couple phone calls a week?

"You're overthinking this," I say as much for her as it is for me. "It's a few months. You'll be so busy with the internship, meeting new people, your sister, your nephews... It'll go by in a flash. And when you come back in the Fall, we'll move in together for real, like we planned."

My tirade manages to bring a shy little smile to Maddie's lips.

"I love you," I go for the kill shot.

Her face lights up. "I love you too."

Too soon, I need to go back to work. We walk through a small hallway, and as I'm about to call the elevator, Maddie pulls on my sleeve.

"Look!" She points at a nondescript door.

Before I can ask what she means, she slips inside. What the hell?

I look around, panicked, but no one's paying attention. I rush behind her, making sure to close the door shut tightly.

It's a janitor's closet. The only source of light is the exit sign, bathing the whole place in a dim green hue. Maddie's just standing there, with a big grin.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, trying my hardest not to get heard outside.

"Look what I found in my purse," she says, completely ignoring my question.

The foil of the condom's wrapper catches the light. I swallow hard.

"Yeah, no, this is crazy."

I'm about to turn around and leave, but she throws herself at me. Her lips are too soft for me to resist.

"Come on, Rommie," she whispers, full of lust. "I've been touching myself all morning. You don't have to do anything to get me going, just slip it in..."

I try to conjure some adult reason to turn her down. I swear I do. She's just irresistible.

"Okay," I breathe, between a flurry of kisses. "But you can't call me Rommie ever again."

Maddie lets out the cutest hushed squeal, presses the condom wrapper in my palm, then turns around. She leans against the wall, arching her back, thrusting her ass at me.

Somehow, I've forgotten she's not wearing panties. But when she flips her dress up over the swell of her hips, I get a vivid reminder.

"Hurry up," she calls over her shoulder. "We don't have all day."

I shake my head. No surprise, I'm already hard, and the rubber slides down almost on its own.

One hand on her waist, the other sliding between her thighs, she's soaked. I guide myself inside her.

Maddie sucks in a breath through her teeth and pushes back hard, trying to take every inch.

I stay slow, try to infuse some intimacy, give the moment meaning.

She'll have none of it. There's an urgency in her frantic movements. Something that makes me think this is more of a need than anything else for her. This desperation's been here, standing between us, for a while now, making me doubt the very nature of our connection.

The small moan she lets out against the wall brings me back to my body.

I'm inside Maddie. That's what matters. I reach for her jaw, sweep her hair aside to kiss her soft skin.

Her palm lands on my cheek, gently pressing my face into hers.

"Come on, baby. Just cum," she urges me. "You don't have to think. I just want to feel you pop inside me. You can go back to your desk after that."

My mind shuts off. Her voice becomes my thoughts. And for a few instants, all I can think about is filling that condom inside her writhing pussy.

I clench against her back, my belly tenses, and I bury myself inside her heat, deep as possible.

"That's it," she soothes me. "Give it to me, baby."

Maddie stands strong as I slump on her. My breath comes in hot and wet while she peppers my neck and face with fresh kisses.

I pull out, keeping the condom pinched around the base of my cock. I assess the damage. Luckily, it looks like my pants aren't completely ruined.

She kneels in front of me, bringing her face close to my cock.

"That won't do," she tutts. "If they swab the DNA on this condom, they'll know you were a pervert on company property."

She gently tugs the rubber off of me, careful not to let my cum spill.

I know what she's about to do. I've seen her dozens of times. Yet, I can't tear my eyes away.

Maddie. The girl I've known my entire life. The girl who used to beg to play SimCity on my computer. The girl now bringing the condom to her lips, tilting it back to dump its content inside her mouth, her eyes locked on mine in the semi-darkness of the closet.

She makes a big show of swallowing, then lets out a satisfied exhale, like she's downed an entire bottle.

God. I can't get enough of her.

"Can't afford to have my boyfriend in the sex offender registry," she says with a twinkle in her eyes. "Good thing I destroyed the evidence."

===

My phone rings in my pocket as I angle my car between two stupid pillars in the office garage.

I wriggle around in the seat, trying to fish it out without unbuckling.

"Hey Maddie, boarded your plane yet?" I ask, forcing a smile into my voice. I dropped her at the airport shuttle an hour ago, hit the gym, and headed to work.

"I don't think I can do it."

Her voice wrecks me. Small, cracking. She's crying. There's a ton of noise behind her. The terminal?

"Where are you?" I ask, on the verge of panic. "Are you ok?"

"I'm outside your office," she sniffles. "I don't think I can go to Florida."

Fuck.

"I'll be right up."

I spot Maddie the second I step outside. The crying woman, dragging a heavy suitcase behind her. It's not a subtle scene. People are staring

She hurls herself at me when I reach her. I have to fight the urge to take her home, to keep her to myself. I know she'd love it too.

"Come on," I say, rubbing her back and pulling her to a small coffee shop. "No point standing out here."

The barista shoots us a look as I herd Maddie into a booth. But when she notices the mascara streaks down her cheeks, she doesn't try to get me to order right away.

"What's going on?" I ask when she finally settles down.

"There's a million things," she says, sniffling and wiping her eyes. I've never seen her so agitated before.

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into me. Maddie melts, fitting perfectly against my side, just as she always does.

"I'm gonna need more than that," I say quietly, my nose brushing her hair. The scent hits me, warm and floral. A part of me is glad I get to steal a few more moments of this.

"The internship's freaking me out," she whispers. "It's a serious agency. Real deadlines, real clients. What if I'm not good enough? I can't just be the bubbly, flirty blonde."

I wince.

"Hey, relax," I say, tightening my arm around her. "You're smart. You're great. You'll figure it out."

"What if I hate it?" she shoots back. "What if I get there and realize the whole degree is a waste? That I don't even care about this stuff?"

Maddie cuts me off as I start to formulate an answer. She's spiraling, grasping at any possible excuse.

"And I'm supposed to leave you for five months for that?" Maddie says, voice cracking. "When I'm not even sure it's worth it?"

She buries her face against my neck. Her next words are muffled, but they cut deeper.

"I can't even talk to Claudia about you. She'd flip. She wouldn't get it."

Familiar guilt gnaws at my heart. It's hard not to feel like I'm contributing to Maddie's attempt at messing up her own life.

"There's only one way to know if it's for you," I say, keeping my voice calm. "And that's to go."

It's my turn to cut her off.

"You're twenty. You try stuff, you change your mind. If it sucks, switch majors. No big deal. And when you come back, you're supposed to move in with me, remember? I'm not sharing rent with a dropout bum."

That gets a snort out of her. Progress.

"I could be your cute little live-in maid," she whispers, her playful voice free from her earlier distress. Here's the Maddie we all know and love.

"No offence, but you suck at cooking and cleaning," I say, not too far from the truth. "You desperately need a degree."

She lets out an actual laugh this time. "Shut up," she says in that tone that always lets me know she loves it.

I enjoy the closeness for a few more seconds before pushing.

"So, are you going?" I hate to feel like I'm parenting her. Then again, maybe I'm just being a good boyfriend.

Maddie slowly detaches herself from my body, shifting her weight in the booth.

"I guess I'll need to book another flight," she sighs.

I peek at my phone.

"If we leave now, I can still get you there," I offer. "I'll call out for the morning."

Her face brightens up.

"Thanks," she says in a small voice, as if the shame from her outburst is starting to settle in.

She takes a quick trip to the bathroom to clean her face. I leave a big tip for the barista, who gives me a compassionate, if uncomfortable, smile.

We stay silent all the way to the airport.

Maddie clamps herself around me, holding on tight until her name is called over the speakers. Her eyes are red again when she turns to rush to her gate.

I sit on a bench, people buzzing all around me in the crowded terminal. There's a knot in my stomach as I watch her plane take off.

I already miss her.