"This is the new year."

[innocenteyes]

Who: Amarlie-Rose Satori and Sasha Stanford
What: The Great McDonalds Test of 2017
Where: London, England
When: After this

True to what Justin had said, he pretty much crashed as soon as they arrived at their 3-bedroom hotel suite. The had been dozing off on the drive from Heathrow Airport as it was, head dropping to Sasha's shoulder before they were barely beyond the airport's boundaries. Amarlie liked watching her brother with his boyfriend. She liked thinking about how it would feel for her to have that someday. At this point, she was pretty sure she was bi. She had feelings in both directions for a little while now. She actually had this... thing with a trans guy that lasted all of six months before he left to go to college at Brown. Nothing much intimate had happened between them. He was still transitioning and hadn't been comfortable yet for anything sexual.

This was different to what she had with Jaxon. Now, she was pretty sure what she had there was mostly just a deep friendship and support. Seeing Justin and Sasha was making her wonder, would she had this some day? She hoped so. It looked nice to have a partner in crime to not only have romance and cuddles with, but also someone to laugh and joke with. Sasha's McDonalds comment was now a running joke. Justin would never let him live that one down.

Once they got to the hotel, Justin went to take a quick shower, and Justin's dad went over to get Sasha and Amarlie McDonalds so they could put it to the test. Justin came back out in his pyjamas, hair still damp, gave Sasha a kiss and went to bed. It was really early, but he looked wiped out. She overheard him telling Sasha in the elevator that he just needed to sleep when Sasha asked if he was okay. Now Justin's parents had gone out to dinner somewhere together and Sasha came back out from when he went into the bedroom with Justin. He hadn't been gone long, probably just sharing a goodnight kiss and cuddle with Justin. They had an array of McDonalds spread out on the coffee table in the little living area of the suite.

"So, what's your favourite, mister?" she asked him, gesturing to the food with a laugh.

Comments

[beautifulday]

Sasha laughed when he flopped back down on the sofa beside Amarlie. Justin had crashed pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow. He had been all warm and cosy from his shower, and in new Ralph Lauren pyjamas that made him really nice to cuddle. Sasha wanted to join him and get his big spoon on, but it was too early. Justin told him that if he went to bed too early, he would end up fighting all jet lag for the rest of the trip. Instead, he had changed into some comfy clothes - track pants and a long-sleeve shirt with slippers - and was sitting down to tackle dinner instead with the TV playing a British sitcom in the background. Even that fascinated Sasha, hearing the different accents, seeing the different types of commercials.

"I swear, I'm not a McDonalds addict," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "But it's a guilty pleasure, I can't lie. Definitely McChicken all the way. And see? Even the name's a bit different. They call it a McChicken Sandwich on the label. I've never been overseas before, so it all feels so strange and different. Like, the accents all around, and they drive on the different side of the road. It's so cool." He picked up the burger and unwrapped it, studying it before he took a bite to try. One thing was for sure, the McNuggets looks identical to their US counterparts, and the fries had the same tendency to go limp and sink down into the bottom of the pack before you got to finishing them.

[innocenteyes]

It definitely looked the same. Amarlie's choice was the double cheeseburger. She wasn't any wilting petal of a girl who thought she should only eat a lettuce leaf in front of a guy to make them believe she was stick thin and had a perfect diet. Hell, no. She liked her food as much as the next person, and loved junk food. She sat back with Sasha, enjoying the burger and sampling a couple of the fries. She also went the whole nine yards and got a strawberry shake with it. She nodded, licking her lips as she swallowed. "I think it's pretty much the same. The meat maybe tastes a bit different, but hardly anything. It even smells the same," she laughed.

"You've not been overseas before?" she asked, surprised. "I've not been to London, but I've been to Australia and New Zealand, and we stopped off in Japan on the way home. Then I went to Paris with my folks when they had a medical conference there. The differences is what makes it so much fun. I bet you'll be making a trip to Australia before you know it. Justin's not long back from there. I read about..." She stopped. She didn't want to sound, again, like she had been stalking him. She hadn't. It had only been in trying to find out more about her family before she came to find them. Reading that about Justin had actually delayed her trip to New York, because she read it soon after and knew he and his family would still be out of the country.

[beautifulday]

Sasha was worried Justin hadn't wanted to eat anything. The last thing he had was a cookie at the airport in New York, but that subsequently didn't stay in him long anyway. He was still finding his feet with caring for Justin, and understanding the ways Justin coped with his illness. Sometimes, it made him really tired and sleep was the best thing for him. He wasn't hungry to the point he was sure he would feel sick if he ate. It was about listening to his body, and Sasha was learning to listen to it for him too. Mr Campbell reassured Sasha on that front too, telling him that sometimes, Justin could go a few days with barely eating but he always bounced back. It was only time to worry if he didn't. "It does smell the same, huh? This mayonnaise tastes different, though. It's not as sweet, I don't think. More creamy. I think I actually like this one better. And this Fanta? Is completely different to the American one. It's a lighter orange and tastes different. I like this better too. I might have to move to London."

He was a typical teenage guy with a massive appetite. He had moved onto the nuggets, taking a break from the McChicken. He shook his head. "Nope, my dad's a quadriplegic. It's not really that he can't travel, it's just that it's extremely difficult because he needs aids to travel, and we have to stay in a place fully equipped for a person with his high needs. I think that's why my folks were happy for me to come without any issues. They want me to have these experiences. Trust me, no one is more disbelieving Justin wants to be my boyfriend than me. All this is blowing my mind." He glanced at her when she hesitated. "It's okay, you know. To say he tried to commit suicide. He says it. Not as often as he calls it 'hurting himself', though. I think he'd prefer us to talk about it comfortably than feeling awkward about mentioning it. That wasn't his first recent attempt. This latest was his fourth in a month, give or take. There were three just before I met him. The beach should never have been videoed, let alone shared. It was deplorable to do that to him."

[innocenteyes]

Sasha was so skinny and lanky. Amarlie didn't know where he was putting all this food, but she had a feeling he was probably going to sample everything Mr Campbell had gotten them. "Can I try it?" she asked. She didn't care about sharing food and drink if he didn't. As far as she was concerned, he was family now. There was no way she could just ignore the fact she had met them now. But she also knew her insecurities were melting away now that it seemed Gen did at least want to spend time with her and get to know her. Plus, it was fun to share. It was like they were having a picnic, only it was McDonalds in a five-star London hotel. Maybe that made it even more fun. "Oh, like Justin would have that when he's just found you. You'd miss him and his talents. Um, I mean... assuming you've sampled said benefits. Sorry. The girls at the party were taking bets on it," she had to laugh.

Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my god. How did it happen? Or was he born like that? Sorry, please don't feel you have to answer any of my questions if you don't want to talk about anything. I won't be at all offended. I can totally see why that would be tough for him. And as forward as we are in our society today, we're not near as universally equipped for that level of disability as we should be. So, he's completely paralysed? That must make things challenging for your family a lot, huh?" She hesitated then, and knew she deeply appreciated Sasha nudging the conversation in this direction. "If I'm honest, I do want to talk about it and learn about. I just don't want to upset him or make him feel like I'm sticking my nose into his business. Fuck, four times? So, he's... still sort of sick right now, then?"

[beautifulday]

Sasha happily handed over the burger and the Fanta. He wasn't bothered by sharing either. He and Justin had only been dating for a short while, and they already shared meals and drinks. It wasn't like he would do it with complete strangers, but he didn't see Amarlie as that. They had only just met, but she was Justin's mom's daughter, so she hoped they continued to know each other for a really long time. He had just taken a mouthful of his drink before handing it to her, though, and when she said that bit, he nearly joked on it. He started coughing when it went down the wrong. "Sex?" he got out in between coughs. Not that he was foreign to girl talk, because he knew how that worked with Andi. He had often been the brunt of it when she got together with her gal pals, but still, he blushed. "That's, um... y-yes, I've sampled them," he confessed, managing to blush even more.

He was trying to regain his composure. He knew the only reason he was getting embarrassed because he literally only just lost his virginity, so all this talking about sex was new to him. But he really hoped that they got to do it again soon, maybe even here in London, if Justin was okay. So, honesty was the best policy right? And then if their bedroom door was closed, there would be no accidental walk-ins at the most awkward moments ever. "Car crash. I don't know if you have any familiarity with IndyCar, but my dad used to be a championship winner. Martin Stanford. I was only a kid when it happened. It was during a race he crashed about ten years ago. He paralysed from the neck down. He has feeling in his shoulders, but can't move his arms. It's hard. Been beyond hard at times, but he's still just Dad to me." He forgot about his food for the moment. "He doesn't always seem sick, if that makes sense. I don't mean in the invisible illness sense, even if that's what is is. I mean, it's always there, but it's just worse at times, and settled at others. He's settled now. From what I can gather, how he has been with you today is Justin settled. I saw him when he was sick. It's emotional overload."

[innocenteyes]

"You're blushing! That is so adorable!" Amarlie laughed as she took the burger and set it in her lap. She wasn't going to run back and spill the beans to the other girls or anything. This was probably in confidence, and she respected that. She was sure they would all find out eventually anyway. It would go without saying that Sasha and Justin would want to have sex together, being in a relationship, and having feelings for each other. It hadn't been a question of if they would do it, just if they had already. But here was Sasha being so cute about it, that she could tell he was bashful and modest. He hadn't hesitated in confirming it, but he was still shy about it. She wondered if Justin would be too. She didn't know her brother well enough yet to know what he was comfortable talking about or not. She hoped that, one day, they could have a close sibling relationship where they could comfortably share all sorts of things with each other. She wanted that with Gen too. It's what she wanted all along.

"My dad and his brothers love IndyCar. I bet they would know him. I mean, I don't know a lot. I admit that. Save for thinking some of the drivers are hot. Wow, that's amazing your dad was one of the champions. So, you were six when it happened? Mostly all you've ever known. Are you close to him? I'm close to my folks, but I'm lucky nothing awful like that has ever happened to them. Not even remotely close. They've always been fit and healthy. Actually, the most that's ever come close to me is seeing that video of Justin, and then reading Paris has cancer. I didn't quite know how to process any of that not even knowing them, you know?" she murmured, appreciating this chance to chat to Sasha like this. He was sweet and attentive. No wonder Justin fell for him.

[beautifulday]

"Oh my god," Sasha laughed, putting his hands up over his face. Then he waved them, trying to figure out how to explain this without dying of embarrassment. "Okay, he was my first, and it's only just happened. So, all of this is really new to me, and I don't quite know how to talk about it without getting embarrassed as hell yet. He was my first kiss. That makes me sound like I'm somehow behind the eight ball, but it's really just that I've never had much confidence meeting people or anything like that. Then Andi was sick for awhile, so I spent most of my social time with her. There's no one at school I was ever interested in. I didn't even know I was gay until I suddenly had these feelings for Justin after I met him. Some kids have been assholes with my dad being disabled and all. Nothing serious, just mean verbal comments, so it never made me want to hang with them much anyway. It was the same group of friends I grew up with. I can't quite believe it's all happening. But it feels really amazing, and I keep getting this warm fuzzy feeling inside every time I'm with him."

There, he said it. He was still blushing, but she knew why now. It was embarrassing to admit that barely a couple of days ago, you were a virgin. "There's a whole lot of stuff online about him and what happened. He's written books about it too. His first one, he record it all on a dictaphone and I typed it for him. That was pretty amazing, especially when it got published. He's written four now. About his time as a driver, and about the aftermath of the accident. He knows everything there is to know about the sport, and he still does work as a keynote speaker in the industry. He was determined to not just let his life end with the accident. Just shows, you don't have to have a working body to make an impact on the world." He nodded at what she was saying. "I'm dating him, and I still don't know how to process it. He doesn't know how to process it. It's okay. He'll tell you that."

[innocenteyes]

Amarlie was still laughing. She shook her head and patted his arm. "It's okay. Don't be embarrassed. Hey, we've all been there, right? I take it how red you are right now means it was pretty damn good, huh? You don't even want to know about my first time. Complete and utter disaster. You so love him, don't you?" She could hear it in his words and see it on his face. She didn't know if they had gotten to the point of them telling each other yet, but she figured from what she knew of Sasha so far and what he was confessing to her, he probably wouldn't have gone all the way if it was just a fleeting thing. Not the first time. Not like her. She wished she could take her first time back for a do-over. She wished she waited until it was with someone special.

She was just shaking her head in awe. It was an incredible story, one that Sasha should be proud to tell. She knew just from listening to him that he obviously had a wonderful relationship with his dad. She made a note to Google his dad later, and grab his books off Kindle to read. Amarlie loved reading, especially things she didn't know a lot about. That was the name of this life game. Educate yourself to understand, and until you do, STFU about it. "He sounds amazing, Sasha. Damn, of course you're proud of him. Sounds a lot like Justin's survival story, you know. Maybe you're a guardian angel in disguise," she said, smiling. It did bring them back to the subject of Justin, though. Inevitably, and she was glad, because she wanted to understand. "I don't want to hurt him by interrogating him, you know? Have you talked about this stuff with him? You seem to understand, and I saw you helping him. All the little things."

[beautifulday]

The only person Sasha had talked about this was Justin. If Andi was still here, he would've been confiding in her about losing his virginity and how it was. Or more importantly, how it made him feel. And in this moment, he so truly appreciated that Amarlie was talking to him about it. Of course, the way he talked about it was Justin was way different. That was very intimate. That level of it would always remain between only him and Justin, but he realised now he wanted to talk about it. He was missing not having Andi, and he knew Amarlie wasn't Andi. He wasn't looking to replace Andi, but that didn't mean he would never again have someone else he could confide in as a friend. Things were happening in his life now, and it was okay to want to talk about that. "Your first time was bad? What happened?" he asked curiously. And then he nodded, dipping his head shyly. "I do. He knows how I feel, but we haven't said it yet. I figured we'll know when the right time for that is. It's early days. It was good, though. Really good. Like, I couldn't have even imagined that was how it would feel. He's amazing. I was ready, and it just felt... right."

He smiled but shook his head. "No, I'm not. I think he's mine. Not that he would believe it. He doesn't think of himself as special. Even all his incredible talent, he just thinks that's him. Like, he was given a messed up brain, so he just got that to balance it all out. But I've seen him perform. Not just in Footloose, but in a flashmob and at the concert. He sung at Andi's funeral too. I was supposed to, but I couldn't. I just... I couldn't do it. I wanted to, but it all hurt too much. So he sung for me. I can't put into words how amazing his voice is. You see it online, or on TV, and it's impressive, but the power has when you see him live, it blows you away. Not to mention how excellent a dancer he is. I can't dance to save myself," he laughed, because he was pretty sure he had two left feet and would be too embarrassed to try anyway. "You won't hurt him. You'll hurt him by not talking to him. That's why he broke up with Will. I've talked to him about it a lot, even before we dating. I asked him a lot, there's not been one thing he hasn't answered."

[innocenteyes]

Amarlie's choice to give up her virginity in the way she did wasn't one of her finest life moments, to say the least. She had regrets about it now, but hindsight was always 20/20, as they say. She just hoped that one day, she could find her Sasha-like person and have a do-over on it. "The guy was a jock at my school. I thought he was interested in me, but it turns out, he had just taken a bet with his bunch of imbecile friends about whether he could get me to date him and get in my pants. I only found out all this after the fact. By that point, he had decided he had fallen in love with me, but once he had wont the bet, he started to show his true colours and was actually a real dickhead. A dickhead who was terrible in bed. It hurt, and it didn't feel good at all. I think he thought he knew what he was doing, but he didn't. Not even close. So, after I found out about the bet, I posted all over Facebook how terrible he was in bed and how small his dick was. Karma's a bitch," she said with a smirk. "You'll know when the right moment is to say it. That's something I've never done. Really fallen in love, but damn, you guys make it look beautiful. So, was it strange at first? Did it hurt?"

It hurt to hear how her new brother thought of himself, because it was obvious from the way she had closely watched his family and friends interact with him that he was nothing but incredibly special. The beautiful things he had done for people, there was no way that, just because he was mentally ill, he was a bad person. In fact, Justin was the prime pin-up boy example of completely slaying that ridiculous stereotype. "He sung for you at her funeral? Man, I wish I knew him sooner. I wish I knew Gen sooner. I don't feel like I'm trying to replace my adoptive family at all. It just more feels like I'm expanding my whole family into one. I so want to see him perform, though. I can't imagine it at all. Like, it doesn't seem real. I seriously scared the shit out of him when I just got up in his business at that cafe. I never meant to do that. I just jumped in headfirst before I lost the courage to speak to him."

[beautifulday]

Sasha was shaking his head as he listened, nose scrunching up with a mix of sympathy and disgust. "What a fucking asshole. People can be such jerks, you know? Like, I've had on and off people giving me a hard time about my dad. I don't know if they even realise how cruel it is. It's not like he can help it. Then even recently, once Andi was too sick to go to school and I was kind of mostly just a loner. We have other friends, but none too close. I'd hang in the library at lunch, things like that. The assholes would say I was in love with Andi and we were having sex in hospitals beds and everything. Like for real, she couldn't even get up to use the bathroom some days. I'm glad you fucked him over. You shouldn't be treated like that. So, you don't have a boyfriend or anything now?" he asked. She hadn't mentioned anyone, and she was considering coming to New York for early-entry college, so maybe she didn't have anyone special back home. "Um, no. Didn't hurt. Like, I wasn't the one... um... you know. It did feel strange a little, but in a good way. Actually, it was completely awesome, and I had no idea it felt that good."

He nodded and smiled. "He was incredible. I didn't deal well with the funeral. I spent most of it numb, feeling like I was on autopilot to just get through it. Honestly, most of the day is a blur right now. I've got these recollections of Andi's coffin and seeing her being lowered into the ground, watching the handfuls of dirt being put in on top of her. Justin holding my hand. Then just how he stepped up and took over singing for me when I couldn't. Everything choked up in me, it was like my throat was closing over and couldn't get anything out. He is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. Don't get me wrong, when he's sick, it's scary. You fear for him, and it's heartbreaking seeing him so distressed. But all you want to do is help him. I don't think he blames you for what you did, even if you did give him a scare. You're part of the equation now for him. I guess just like I am. Which is a mindfuck for me sometimes. Like, he wants me. It's..." He shook his head. "I got worried I was just a rebound for him after the whole getting punched thing."