Sometimes life changes slowly, evolving over time.
Sometimes things change with just a knock on the door.
This is one of those times.
Gus' little sister is here, and the six need to figure out what it means for them and their new, open loving lifestyle.
Caution:
Book 2 explores the taboo subject of incestuous relationships between siblings, while also delving further into the group's polyamorous journey. There are also a few brief moments where two girls show affection for one another.
If that's not your thing, well, you've been warned.
As this is a direct continuation of the events told in Close Friends Book 1, I would strongly suggest starting there.
And yes, everyone is at least 18 years old.
=========
December 1980
"Stacy?" Gus asked, staring at the wet, hooded person standing before him.
She looked up at him, peering from underneath her dripping hood. "Hi," she said so softly that he barely heard her over the howl of the wind.
Just then, Mick looked around the door, past Gus' knee. Stacy jumped back a half step. "Oh!" she squeaked. Gus looked down at his friend, who'd woken up and was kneeling, looking to see why the door right next to where he slept was open to the storm.
"Come in, come in," Gus beckoned. Mick sat back as Stacy walked in slowly, looking around. Gus closed the door behind her. Just then, Bob's head poked up from behind the recliner that faced away from his daybed. He blinked a few times, looking at the wet, hooded person Gus had let in.
"Um... I should probably go," Stacy said as she backed toward the door, her head swiveling between Mick on the floor next to her, and Bob still peering from the other end of the room.
"No! No, it's okay, Stacy. These are my roommates, Mick and Bob," he told her, looking at each of them as he named them. "It's alright, really. They're my best friends," he tried to reassure her.
"Hi," Bob said and waved, blinking. He lowered his hand and rubbed an eye as he sat up.
"Why don't you come over, and sit down." He pointed to the couch and she walked over slowly and sat, still scanning the room. Gus reached over and wrapped the throw blanket at the end of the couch around her shoulders.
Stacy sat there, shivering, as she pushed her wet hood back. She looked up at him, her face wet, her expression unreadable.
Gus stood there, a barrage of terrible reasons his little sister was sitting on his couch, soaked, quickly passing through his mind. Horrible things that might have happened to her, causing her to show up unexpectedly in the middle of the night in the pouring rain.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he perched at the end of the couch, looking over at her. Stacy pulled the blanket tightly around her and sighed.
"I had to get out of there. I... just can't live there anymore with him," she said, looking down at her lap. She turned and looked at him.
She was so small and wet, like a lost puppy. "With who? Your dad?"
She bowed her head again, and said softly, "Yeah."
Gus couldn't believe the little princess was having problems with her doting father. He never thought he'd see the day. Gus sat there, looking at her, unsure of what to say.
"Can I use your bathroom?" she asked quietly.
"Um, sure. It's right over there, down the hall," he pointed. She got up and walked over and around the corner. He heard the door close and the faint noise of the ceiling fan coming on in the bathroom.
"Dude! That's your sister?" Mick asked, getting up. Gus nodded. Bob had stood and threw on a t-shirt. Mick was also in his t-shirt and boxers. Gus realized he was just in his boxers and went over and got his shirt on.
"I thought she and your dad got along really well," Bob said.
"I know!" Gus looked over at the closed bathroom door as if it would answer his questions. He turned and looked back at his friends. Mick sat in one of the low chairs facing the couch and Bob was in the recliner.
"My dad... I mean, her dad always loved her. She was his little princess. I have no idea what's going on."
"Gus?" he heard her call from the bathroom.
"Yeah?" he replied as he walked closer to the bathroom.
"Do you have a sweatshirt I can borrow? This one's soaked."
"Sure, let me get you one. Hang on," He rummaged in his closet and pulled one out. He gently knocked on the door and it opened a few inches. A small female hand appeared and he pressed the shirt to it.
"Thanks," she mumbled, then the hand quickly withdrew, pulling the dry garment with it. The door closed with a click.
"Go ahead and hang up your wet stuff on the shower rod so it can dry."
"Okay."
He went and sat on one end of the couch and waited, growing intensely curious about what happened.
A minute later, she came around the corner. Her long, dark hair was still damp, but had been brushed back and parted down the middle. The sweatshirt moved enticingly as she approached, looking at them.
Movement caught Gus' attention and he wondered if she was wearing a bra. He didn't realize she was that big, and tried to remember what she looked like when he last saw her. The sad, ugly day when he escaped that evil man's house. Leaving his sister behind.
Her legs and feet were bare, the shirt ending several inches above her knees. She sat down on the middle of the wide couch, a few feet away from where Gus sat at the end, and spread the blanket over her legs as they curled beneath her.
"You look so cold. Would you like some hot chocolate?" She nodded slightly, a small smile on her lips for the first time that night. Gus got up and went into the kitchen. He ran some water into a small saucepan and put it on the stove. He pulled down a mug and got a packet out of the cupboard, pouring it into the mug.
"How did you get here?" he asked from the kitchen as the water warmed.
"I drove," she said, looking down at her hands fidgeting in her lap. "I had to leave, get away from him... I just drove."
She looked over at him in the kitchen. "Thanks for this," she said, pulling at the shirt a bit.
"No problem."
When the water was hot enough, he poured the powder into the mug, stirring it with a spoon. Carrying it back, he handed it to her and sat down. She blew on it and sipped. She took another sip, then another. "Mmm, that's good." She held the mug in both hands as if to warm herself.
"Do you have any other clothes with you?" Gus asked her.
"Yeah, in the car," she said, taking a long drink from the mug. It was quickly followed by another.
Gus noticed how fast she was drinking. "I can run down and get them if you'd like. Where did you park?"
"Don't bother. I didn't park near here," she said, draining the mug and placing it on the small table in front of the couch. She sat back and adjusted the blanket.
Gus looked at her quizzically.
"My car died down the road. I don't know what's wrong with it. I was able to roll into a parking lot and pull into a space." She looked over at him. The wind howled outside and they could hear the rain beat against the windows.
"I walked the rest of the way."
"You what?"
"I had a map with me, and your address. I could see the crossroads by the store I parked at and saw how to get to your place on the map."
"Where did you park?"
"At the Mexico Super, down that way." She turned and pointed in a general direction outside.
"That's like two miles away! You walked all that way? In this?" he looked at the windows and the storm outside.
Her brows furrowed, and she looked down and sniffled. "I didn't want to sleep in my car, it didn't feel safe. Your place looked closer on the map. When I got here, I realized you were in an apartment. I had to find your number from the mailbox. It took me some time to find you."
"Why didn't you call me?"
Her head jerked up and she stared him right in the eye.
"How? I don't have your number! You never gave it to me! I only got your address because something came in the mail for you and I opened it. It was some sort of change of address confirmation, but I didn't realize it was an apartment. I only kept the street address and name of the town. I had to look up where it was. I didn't even know you were in the Bay Area.
"So far away," she said softly, a sob in her voice.
Gus sat there, looking at her as a sharp stab of guilt shot through him.
"Are you hungry?" he asked when he saw her glancing at her empty mug. She looked over at him, no longer piercing him with her eyes, but still clearly upset. She nodded.
"I haven't had anything since this morning. I had to use all my money for gas."
He rose and went into the kitchen and took out some stuff to make a roast beef sandwich. Remembering she liked mustard, he put some on the bread, with a few other items from the fridge, then poured a glass of milk, grabbed a bag of potato chips and took them over.
She quickly devoured the food as the guys made small talk about nothing in particular, just something to fill the silence. She sighed as she put the plate on the table and leaned back. In a few minutes, Gus saw her eyes droop, then close. The guys got up quietly and went to where they slept.
Getting up, he gently shook her shoulder. She looked up at him as he said, "Come on, let's get some sleep. It's late and we're all tired." She nodded and stood, the blanket falling away from her bare legs.
The sweatshirt quickly fell into place as she stood, but not before Gus couldn't help but glimpse her brown bush. He spun his head away as he felt the heat rise in his cheeks, certain he was blushing.
"Here, you take the bed."