Prompt: Joel/Tess on a date but Sarah (knows Tess and adores her) doesn’t know yet that they’re dating, catches them at the movies or at the mall. Something innocent and adorable yet very smoochy!
It's been a while since I got this but this prompt was lovely! Happy belated birthday @bignosebushybrows and hopefully you had an amazing day ❤ and fingers crossed you like it:
When her uncle barged loudly inside their house, calling her downstairs and immediately showing her the keys of the car looped around his finger with a flashy grin, Sarah hadn’t thought much of it. Really, she would, over all things sacred, hate it if someone else had been entrusted to watch over her.
But uncle Tommy was fun and, hopefully her daddy wouldn’t know if she lowered the voice inside her head just a little; Sarah liked going on with him because he let her do things on her own.
Now, she did love her dad. More than she could try to put into words, more than she could ever describe, more than the countless stars that adorned the countryside sky when they visited the old ranch where they grew up. However, she was growing older, and there was so much freedom a girl of her age could get under the vigilance of her parents. And she had long gotten used to her daddy being overprotective, it was for her own good, and there was truth to it sometimes.
Tommy rolled the windows down and clicked on the radio, humming along, and she beamed on the passenger side.
Yet she liked this, and it wouldn’t do her harm. At the end of the day, there was someone supervising her, and Sarah understood her own limits and what risks she could encounter.
“You gotta try the new arcade.” He said, messing up her hair, laughing at her scoff.
She couldn’t stop smiling, having talked long enough about that with her friends over the phone.
“Sure will.” She agreed eagerly, wrinkling her nose at him playfully.
“And what are you gonna do while I’m nowhere to be seen? You aren’t gonna be scared, aren’t ya? ” He teased half-heartedly, earning a giggle out of her as he took a turn and drove through the park, a shortcut he always reminded her existed when they went this way.
“I'm gonna use the money my daddy gave me, buy me some fries.” Sarah shrugged, playing with the bracelet around her wrist. “And you should take out Maria on a real date.”
Tommy gave her a sidelong glare before staring ahead.
“Uncle, meeting her at the mall only is a disgrace to the Miller’s last name.” Not for the first time Sarah scolded, and Tommy almost put his hands up in surrender.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He joked, elbowing her gently while she frowned, right as they approached the parking lot. “Listen, I promise this is the last time.”
“It better be.” Sarah gave, that chiding tone the same one she brought out so similar to her dad’s, and then she remarked seriously, elbowing him back. “You should buy her something nice.”
Maria was a cool, charismatic woman who worked at the cash register in one of the stores—she had forgotten the name now—and her uncle was infatuated. He would use the excuse of taking her to the mall for an ice cream or to shop around, but then he would flirt with her while Sarah looked around, and it became common.
Right now, her daddy had no clue, and she had zipped her mouth shut.
Once inside, Sarah counted her money twice as Tommy mocked her without malice, barely disguising his impatience.
Maria’s store popped into view when they took the escalator, and Tommy kissed her forehead to her light-hearted complaint.
“Don’t get too far, ‘kay? And if you need anythin’ you know where to find me. Go have fun, kid.” He squeezed her shoulders, trusting her and letting her acknowledge it as she nodded.
“Please, bring up the date before we leave!” Sarah exclaimed, waving a hand in the air before disappearing into a bright, big H&M store on her left.
She took a break at the food court when she got thirsty, all the walking and observing and trying on clothes tiring her some, so she sat close to the cinema entrance and ordered some cinnamon sugar pretzels after drinking her lemonade. Munching on them, Sarah squinted in the fluorescent lights above her head.
It couldn’t be him, right?
Sarah was sure of one thing: she could recognize her daddy on a crowd, and he just stood out with his physique. And he wasn’t alone! His arm was banded around a woman’s shoulders, leaning on him, and when she saw a glimpse of her face-
“Ish that Tesh?” She murmured around a mouthful of food, crumbs drizzling around her lips; Sarah brushed them aside, pretzels being set apart as she scanned them thoroughly, not being noticed.
Accidents happened, and she could mistake some random couple; nonetheless, some meters between them couldn’t fuzz out the truth. Sarah leaned on he elbows, attempting to capture more as her daddy whispered something on Tess’s ear, who in turn smacked him gently on the chest and pressed their lips together. Oh, oh, so it was something serious.
Tess had been a constant presence in her life whose encouraging words were always at the ready, who had figuratively taken her under her wing since the first day, who was confident and relaying both—she was friend of the family, had known her for so long. The past summer, she had spent so many hours at their home teaching her how to work with clay, starting with easy things since Sarah was a beginner.
Had she been so blinded by her own joy as to not notice the signs? Tess surely showed up more, and her daddy had been a bit weird, in the sense that he would act differently around her, and once Uncle Tommy picked at him because he called her during work hours…
Her heart almost leaped out of her chest, the dawning realization sticky like the cinnamon on the pad of her fingers, a gasp spilling out of her lips as they walked towards her seat.
Sarah froze as there was no way she was exiting without being noticed, clutching a napkin to clean her fingers anxiously and blinking repeatedly at the wait for the inevitable.
Warm eyes spotted her, their conversation drowned before being completely shut down, and then it was their turn to still like a deer caught in headlights.
Tess’s hands were intertwined with his, and Sarah fixed on it before her gaze darted between them, chewing the inside of her cheek.
The first one to regain her composure was Tess, laughing nervously. “Hey, hi Sarah. Nice to see you here.”
Sarah rubbed her palms, clasping them together as she locked eyes with her daddy, who looked as if he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
“Uh, baby girl.” He greeted gruffly, strained, but not dropping Tess’s hand at all. “How long have you-”
“You have some explainin’ to do.” Is what Sarah opted to answer after chosing her words carefully, approaching them openly.
Tess was the one who tilted her head and offered a relieving, small grin, offering her other hand. “Let’s go for a walk then.”
Joel sighed heavily and scrubbed at his face with a hand, staring at them both afterward. “‘S a long story, Sarah.”
“Got nowhere else to be, Daddy! I suspect we’ll be here for a long period of time.” She yelled to jab at them, who shared a quick, fleeting look, giving in easily. “At least you were in good hands.”
A complicit wink at Tess—they both busted in giggles, he rolled his eyes, and urged them forward.
the only time tess and maria where anything tighter around the house is if they’re working out, other than THAT? the muumuus and housecoats stay ON, the bills stay PAID, fridge stays FULL, and EVERYBODY is happy😏
