Family Reunion - Ch. 01

Chapter 1: Home.

Early summer morning sun was slowly spreading its light across the city. The night was over and it wasn't long until everyone would have to wake up and start their day. Not Tom, though, no. Tom was already fully awake in his flat.

He was eating his breakfast: A healthy mix of fruits and vegetables. He wasn't a vegetarian by any means, no. But he always tried to maintain a healthy diet. As a result, Tom never had problems with being overweight, and was quite healthy overall. He was actually the opposite: a slim body and quite short. Some would even describe his appearance as "feminine".

After finishing his breakfast and doing the dishes, Tom looked at the calendar on the wall. Today's date was circled with a red marker. Later that day, Tom was going to travel to his hometown, to visit his family. He hasn't seen them in years, so the thought of a reunion had put a smile on his face.

A few hours later, Tom was ready. He was standing in front of a mirror, checking how he looked one last time before leaving. He was wearing glasses, a sweater, smart trousers and smart shoes, and his hair was as curly as usual. Tom nodded at his reflection and put on his over-the-shoulder bag. He didn't take much with him. Mostly just spare clothes that all fit in a single suitcase. Soon, Tom had already boarded a train and was on his way.

During the trip, Tom thought a lot about his family. He moved out a few years ago, when he went to college. Ever since then, he only saw his family during his annual visits home. Last year Tom graduated from university and now he was coming home a grown man with a job. Tom was looking forward to seeing everyone again. His mother, his father and his sister. They all stayed behind, so Tom embraced the big world all by himself.

The train finally arrived, and Tom got outside.

"This is it, huh? God, it's been a while..." he thought to himself as he took a deep breath, the fresh air of his hometown filling his lungs.

"Tom!" a male voice could be heard. "Tom, my boy! It's you!"

Tom was caught off-guard. He looked at whoever was calling for him. As it turned out, it was his father, George. George was a chunky middle-aged man with a friendly smile. He was wearing a suit, looking unusually professional.

"Dad!" Tom was happy to see him.

"Tommy! How are ya?!" George hugged his son.

"I'm fine, thank you. What's with the suit?"

"Oh, that? Hah! I haven't seen my son in years! I have to look my very best for the occasion!"

"Ahaha! I like it."

"Come on, let's go!" George nodded in the direction of the car park next to the train station. "Your mum and sister are waiting for ya!"

He enthusiastically took his son's luggage and carried it all the way to the car.

Shortly after, George was driving his son home. Home. This town was where Tom grew up. It's only been a year since his last visit, but it felt like it's been so much longer. As his father was giving him a ride home, Tom looked out the window, at all the streets they were passing. So many familiar places, so many memories. It was much smaller than the big city Tom had gotten used to by now, but that didn't make it any less welcoming.

George asked Tom about his job, his hobbies, and much more. Though, he tried not to ask too much to have something to discuss when the whole family gathers together. He did, however, make sure to ask one last question.

"You found yourself a girl yet, eh?" George nudged Tom.

"No..." his son didn't seem to be very enthusiastic to discuss this subject.

George noticed that. He knew Tom was in a relationship before, but it didn't work out.

"Well, don't worry about it," he decided to cheer his son up. "It's just how life can be sometimes, you know? There's somebody for everybody out there."

At this moment, they arrived home.

"Look, we're home!" George announced. "Do you still recognise it? Hahahahaha!"

As they got out of the car, George went to get the luggage, while Tom just looked at the house, his heart feeling warm. It was just as he remembered it. There was some comfort in the fact that no matter how many times he comes back to it, the house remains the same.

"Tommy! Tommy, it's you!" a female voice exclaimed.

This time, it was Tom's mother, Susan. A cute, chunky, middle-aged lady with curly hair. She saw her son out the window and rushed outside to meet him, still wearing her kitchen attire. She was obviously cooking something before this.

"Tommy, I missed you so much!" Susan said as she was hugging her son.

"I missed you too, mum," Tom hugged his mother.

"Wait, what?!" another female voice could be heard. "Tom's back?!"

As Tom was done hugging his mother, he saw his older sister, Ashley. Ashley was tall, fit and with long pink hair, done in a ponytail. She came out of the house, wearing a white tank top and a pair of black shorts.

"Tom! Tommy!" Ashley rushed to her brother enthusiastically.

"Woah! Easy, easy!" Tom wasn't sure if he could handle all the incoming love from his big sister.

She hugged him very tight.

"Tom, you little brat!" Ashley was almost crying from how happy she was. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Ashley," Tom hugged his sister.

As his sister was hugging him, Tom felt the calming, welcoming embrace of his family. Now, he truly was home.

Tom's thinking process got interrupted by Ashley. She's put him in a headlock.

"You dork!" she said playfully. "Leaving your big sis for so long! Do you have any idea how much I missed you?!"

"Aaaaaah! I'm sorry!" Tom tried to break free, but he stood no chance against Ashley.

"Ahaha! C'mon, Ashley, let your brother go!" said George as he walked past, carrying the luggage to the house.

Ashley let Tom go and patted him on the head.

"Seriously, though, welcome home, Tom," she said. "I missed you. We all did.".

Shortly after, the entire family was inside the house. It was already late in the evening and Susan made dinner for everybody.

"Man, I'm hungry!" announced Ashley as she entered the dining room.

Ashley bit into her food wildly, like a predator into its prey. Similar to how George ate his dinner. Meanwhile, Susan and Tom were the total opposites and were eating their food very carefully.

"How's work, honey?" Susan asked her son. "How have you been holding up out there, all by yourself?"

"It's great!" Tom replied. "Working as Ms Stone's personal assistant is tough, but it pays off. She's normally grumpy and blunt. But when she likes you, she likes you. I recently got a raise, which was a pleasant surprise"

"So you'rmf almfost a billiomfaire?" Ashley asked with her food still in her mouth.

"Ashley, please finish chewing before speaking," Susan told her off for that.

"Well, it wasn't THAT big of a raise..." Tom giggled.

"I'm just kidding, hahahaha!" Ashley nudged her brother.

He laughed in response.

"Your sister and I still work in my car repair shop" George said.

"Oh, really?!" Tom responded. "That's cool! Seems like you two have really found your passion"

"Yeah, well..." George looked down and didn't sound very happy. "It's not doing so well lately. We seem to be spending more than we're earning"

"Oh... Sorry to hear that. But I'm sure it will work out fine in the end"

"Maybe we should go out at night and damage some cars!" jokingly suggested Ashley. "Then we'll have more clients!"

"Ashley!" her mother wasn't happy with such jokes.

"Good idea!" George said.

"George! Don't support her on that!" Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Ashley and George started laughing. Ashley laughed so hard, she even snorted a few times. Susan sighed and covered her face. She couldn't help but smile at the silliness of what was being discussed at the table. As Tom watched it all, he was happy to see that his family hasn't changed much.

"Come visit us someday, son!" George said. "I know you're not really into this kind of thing, but you're always welcome at our shop."

"Of course!" Tom nodded. "I will."

After dinner, Tom went to his room. It too remained unchanged. It still had all his school awards, wall posters and figurines of his favourite pop culture characters, his old DVDs, games and gaming consoles. Tom placed his luggage next to the bed and started picking up random items to reminisce about the old times.

"We thought about renting this room out many times," Ashley was standing in the doorframe.

Tom got scared by the sudden appearance, but relaxed when he realised that it was only his big sister.

"But mum insists on keeping it this way. Sentimental value," Ashley continued. "I mean, I agree. You do come home every once in a while. And all of this does help make this house feel less lonely. It's almost like you never left."

"Thank you" Tom said. "This does bring back memories."

"What have you got there?"

Ashley took whatever Tom was holding. It turned out to be a figurine of a female knight.

"Yeah, you always were more into this kiddy fantasy stuff, weren't you?" Ashley smiled. "I still remember how scared you were when I introduced you to Resident Evil, wahahaha! You couldn't sleep all week! Man, were mum and dad pissed at me, though."

"Oh, God..." Tom was less fond of that memory.

"Whoops!" his sister accidentally dropped the figurine and it fell under the bed.

"Please, be careful!" Tom was worried that it might break.

"Relax, I'll get it!"

Ashley got on her knees and began searching for the figurine. That was when Tom noticed something. The lower his sister reached in her search, the higher she wiggled her butt. Ashley always was into sports and did her best to keep herself in shape. Clearly, all the squatting she did has paid off, as her butt looked curvy and bubbly.

It was facing Tom. He admired the results of his sister's workouts, but that was the problem: Ashley was his sister. The tight shorts didn't do him any favours. Ashley's butt looked so soft and inviting, it's like it was begging to be grabbed.

Ashley was wiggling her butt the entire time, the motions being hypnotising. And although she didn't do it on purpose, it looked like she was teasing Tom at that moment. The poor guy ended up looking away, feeling bad for staring. After what felt like an eternity for him, his sister found the figurine.

"Aha! Got it!" Ashley exclaimed. "Here it is! Your imaginary girlfriend is safe!"

Tom grabbed the figure, looking all flustered. He didn't say anything and couldn't look his sister in the eye.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked him, genuinely worried. "Tom, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop it..."

"No, no! It's okay!" her brother cleared his throat and placed the figure back on the shelf.

"Okay..."

Ashley thought for a moment.

"Do you want some beer?" she asked.

"No, thank you. I don't drink," Tom responded.

"Never?"

"Never."

"Oh... Well, how about just one, for the reunion?"

"I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Why not?"

"What if mum and dad find out?"

"What?!" Ashley chuckled. "Tom, you're a grown man!"

"I suppose so..."

"So let's go get some beer?"

'I don't know...'

"Pretty please?"

"No..."

Ashley put her arm over Tom's shoulder.

"Come oooooon!" she insisted. "For your big sis?"

Tom sighed.

"Fine..." he said. "But only a little."

"Of course!" Ashley responded.

Soon after, they were in the kitchen. Ashley took two beer bottles out of the fridge and handed one of them to Tom. He started to read the labels on it, while his sister got a bottle opener.

"Geez, relax!" said Ashley. "You're not gonna get wasted from this one bottle!"

Tom let out an awkward laugh.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm really overthinking it." he said.

Ashley got a bottle opener from one of the kitchen drawers and headed out of the kitchen.

"Follow me!" she said.

"Wait, we're not going to drink here?" Tom was surprised.

"No, no, no!" Ashley shook her head. "There's a much better view to drink to".

Ashley led her brother inside the garage and turned on the lights. Inside were many tools and George's car. What really caught Tom's attention was a motorcycle standing in the corner.

"Is that yours?" he asked.

"What, the bike?" Ashley responded. "Yeah! Cool, isn't it?".

"Well, I'm not an expert on these kinds of things, but... Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I like it."

"Hah! Thanks! It needs to be repaired, though. I just need to get around to it. Anyway, here! Hold this for a second!" Ashley handed Tom her beer bottle.

She opened the main garage door and picked up a ladder that was in the garage.

"Do you need any help with that?" Tom asked.

"No! I got this!" his sister replied.

She was carrying the ladder all by herself, but Tom could see that she was struggling with it. He quickly placed the beer on the table in the garage and rushed to help Ashley. They were then carrying the ladder together.

"Awww, aren't you sweet?" Ashley said. "So strong, Thomas! You work out?".

"Quit teasing!" Tom blushed.

His sister laughed. Together, the two of them have placed the ladder outside, next to the house. It reached all the way up to the roof.

"You want to drink up there?!" Tom asked.

"Yeah!" Ashley replied. "Come on, you don't know what you're missing out on!"

She quickly ran to the garage and brought the beer. After handing one of the bottles to her brother, Ashley began to climb up the ladder. Tom wasn't so confident. He was always scared of heights. Even climbing up a two story house, such as this one, was too much for him.

As he watched Ashley climb up the ladder, he could already feel that uncomfortable feeling in his groin that you sometimes get when you are terrified. That wasn't the only thing he felt down there, however. As Ashley was climbing, Tom could, once again, admire her sexy butt. It looked as inviting as before, when they were in Tom's bedroom. Realising that he is ogling his sister, Tom looked away and tried to focus on literally anything else.

"Well? Are you coming or not?" Ashley's voice could be heard.

Tom looked up at the roof. His sister was already there.

"Oh, this won't end well..." Tom mumbled to himself.

He slowly got onto the ladder, the first step already feeling like a nightmare to him. He felt like the ladder could collapse at any second. In reality, it was in perfect condition. If Tom didn't have to hold onto the beer bottle with one hand, he'd hold the ladder with both hands with a grip as tight as he could possibly get it to be.

"Come on, stop being such a scaredy cat!" Ashley giggled, looking down at her brother.

"Okay, Tom... You can do it, you can do it..." Tom was mentally preparing himself.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and breathed out. Tom then opened his eyes and then, with more confidence, began climbing up the ladder.

"See?! I know you can do it!" his sister was cheering him on.

Tom was getting closer and closer to the rooftop, but, with each step, he would lose more and more confidence in himself. His breath grew heavier and his hands got more shaky. Eventually, he stopped.

"Tommy! Tommy, come on, you almost made it!" Ashley was growing more worried and then noticed something. "No, don't look down! Tom, listen to me! Don't look down!"

But Tom didn't follow his sister's advice. Not out of ignorance, no. He was way too scared at the time to follow any rational advice. So he looked down.

Even though he wasn't that high up in the air, Tom felt like he was miles away from the ground. His hands were shaking too much. He dropped his beer and watched it fall all the way down to the ground. The bottle cracked and all its contents spilled over the ground. Tom closed his eyes and held onto the ladder tightly.

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" he started screaming in panic.

Ashley reacted fast. She grabbed her brother by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up. Tom was shivering. His eyes were still closed. He was not aware of what just happened. Tom could feel his face lying on something very soft. Something very warm. Tom slowly opened his eyes. He looked up and saw his sister's face. She was smiling.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

Then it hit Tom. He was lying on top of his sister and his face was buried in her breasts.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" he jumped up, his face entirely red.

"Ahaha!" Ashley laughed, "It's okay! You were scared, that's all!"

Tom sat next to Ashley and readjusted his glasses. He was too embarrassed to look at his sister.

"Tom, I'm sorry," she put her arm around his shoulder. "I shouldn't have forced you to come all the way up here."

"No, that's okay," Tom reassured his sister and managed to look her in the eye. "I have you to protect me, after all. I always did."

"Ahaha! You bet!" Ashley was happy to see that her brother had taken this scary experience quite well.

"Besides..." Tom looked up. "You were right. This view is very pretty".

Ashley looked up. The night sky was full of stars. It was beautiful and the two siblings couldn't avert their eyes from it.

They sat in silence for some time until Ashley had decided to break it. She picked up her beer bottle and took out the bottle opener she brought with her. With an audible pop, she opened the bottle.

"Here," Ashley handed it to her brother. "You dropped yours, so we'll have to share. You can have the first sip, I don't mind."

"Oh, no, no, it's fine!" Tom refused the offer. "You can go first"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay."

Ashley took a nice swig of the cold, refreshing beer. After she was done, she handed the bottle to Tom. This time, he took it. Tom looked at the bottle once more. The whole time, Ashley was staring at him and smiling in fascination.

"Who knew that I would be the one to take away your alcohol virginity?" she giggled.

"Is that what people call that?" Tom looked confused.

"Well, that's what I called that just now, ahaha!"

"Heh..." Tom couldn't help but smile at that.

He then took a sip of the beer. As he was doing that, he realised something: Ashley never wiped the bottle tip. Neither did he. This bottle still had Ashley's saliva on it. Saliva that has now made its way into Tom's mouth. It was like an indirect kiss. Tom thought that it would be more appropriate to feel disgusted by this, but he actually enjoyed it.

"Could it be that the alcohol is getting to me?" Tom thought to himself. "No, there's no way. I literally only started."

With that, he was done tasting beer. Though, his mind was focused more on the saliva instead.

"So? How was it?" Ashley was eager to find out.

"I... I liked it..." Tom said, feeling ashamed.

"Why the long face? Cheer up, man!" Ashley nudged him. "It's just beer! If you don't want to drink the rest, I won't force you to! I just wanted you to try!"

"Oh!" her brother realised what the question was about. "Oh! Uhh... I, uhh... No, I like it! It might take some getting used to, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be! Haha..."

"See?! I told you!" Ashley took the bottle and drank some more.

The two siblings sat on that roof, looking at the stars, drinking beer and reminiscing about the past. They remembered all kinds of stories. They talked about how Tom always helped Ashley with her school homework. Or about how Ashley always protected Tom from dangers. Sure, a lot of those dangers came from her crazy ideas, but the important part is that she managed to keep her brother safe. They remembered when they would spend time together, engaging with each other's hobbies. The years have gone by and these two remembered them fondly.

"Ahahaha!" Ashley was laughing at yet another funny story she and her brother remembered. "And then he was like... He was... Hahahahaha!"

She couldn't stop laughing. This resulted in her accidentally spilling the remaining beer on herself and her brother.