Sleeping with Ellie

"We aren't going to bother you, are we Neil?" Mom asked.

"Hm? Oh, no, that's fine," I said. "I knew the risks of reading down here. I can go somewhere else if I get too distracted."

"Okay. I wouldn't want to get in the way of your schoolwork is all."

"Nah. I'm keeping up with it pretty well."

No more was said about it, and soon Alice had a movie picked out. She and Mom settled in together on the couch to watch it while I kept reading. My attention was grabbed by the TV every now and then, but the movie wasn't anything I was particularly interested in.

****

Ellie spent most of the evening in her room. That wasn't indicative of any real problem on its own, but given recent conversations with her I wanted to be sure she was okay. Admittedly, I also had some lingering guilt from getting caught staring at her ass earlier that I wanted to make up for.

I decided to check on her just before going to bed. There was a chance she would already be asleep by then, but I didn't think she would be. I made sure to knock softly before entering, just in case.

"Come in," Ellie called.

I opened the door and took a half-step into her room. She had apparently been getting ready to go to bed when I interrupted her. She was wearing a pair of pyjama pants and a loose tank top. I assumed she had just finished changing since she scooped up her discarded clothes from earlier and threw them into her laundry basket as I came in.

"Hey," I said. "I didn't know if you wanted to talk or anything."

"You sure that's what you wanted?" she asked with a faint smile. "You should have stopped by a couple minutes ago, you could have watched me change."

"Are you really not gonna let that go? I look at your butt one time...."

"Yeah, your little sister's butt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you're supposed to be looking at all. And who knows how many times you did it before you got caught."

Ellie folded her arms across her chest and faced me with a steady gaze. Only the smirk on her face gave away the fact that she was just teasing me.

"I'll make you a deal," I said. "You drop this, and I won't pick on you about last night anymore."

"Hm, I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I think you being a perv has far more teasing potential than my little freak-out."

"Aw, come on," I said while attempting to look repentant. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again, et cetera, et cetera."

"You could at least try to sound sincere."

"Yeah, I could. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure you already know whether or not you're gonna keep picking on me and nothing I say is going to change your mind."

"That's a rather poor attitude to take. A little groveling might very well help your case."

I rolled my eyes and started to turn away.

"This is so not worth it," I said. "I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Wait. I... I'll try not to go on about it too much, okay?"

I paused and looked back. As far as I could tell Ellie was making a genuine offer, despite it being worded such that she wasn't really committing to anything.

"Yeah, okay," I said. "Good night."

"G'night, Neil."

****

Ellie was the last one to get up the next morning. Mom and the twins had already left, and I was beginning to think I might need to check on her to make sure she was awake when she finally stumbled into the kitchen.

"Ugh," she said. "Forgot to set my stupid alarm clock last night."

"Yeah, that'll do it."

"Don't suppose all classes have been canceled for today due to... I dunno, rampaging zombie dinosaurs or something?"

"I haven't heard, but I suspect not."

"Crap."

Ellie filled a mug with the remaining contents of the coffee-maker. She slumped down into a chair by the table and sipped the now-lukewarm liquid.

"You gonna make it?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just, you know, not a great start to the day."

"Indeed."

I went about my business getting ready for the day, leaving my sister alone in the kitchen. We weren't in any great rush, even contending with Ellie's late awakening. That was one of the perks of the university years; as long as we had a little bit of luck when signing up for our classes, we had no need to get out of the house at an ungodly hour. Ellie and I had managed to hit a pretty good balance this year when it came to our schedules. We were able to coordinate our schedules for the most part, as well as satisfy our desire for sleep.

We eventually got ready and walked out to the car together. Lily hadn't 'forgotten' to return the key to me, as she had once or twice before, so we were all set. I drove partly because I usually did, but also because I wasn't sure if Ellie was even up for it. She seemed happy to just stare out the window at the passing scenery.

"Neil?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"I know you didn't mean to stare at my butt. I'm sorry for teasing you about it."

"Well... thanks. I think." I watched her in the corner of my eye, trying to judge her mood. "I'm not sure you've ever apologized for something like that before. It's actually a little worrying."

Ellie smiled faintly. "Yeah, well, you know."

"I actually don't. I mean, you know it didn't really bother me that much, right? No more so than lots of other things that you've never shown any remorse over."

"Maybe this is different."

"In what way?"

"Look, do you want me to call you a perv some more? Would that make you happy?"

"No."

"So maybe just drop it then. Gift horses. Mouths. All that good stuff."

I took Ellie's advice and shut up. I still didn't really understand what had just happened, but it hadn't exactly been a bad thing. Apologizing was generally considered to be positive in society. It was just weird to have it come from a sibling who wasn't under any kind of duress.

****

Mom and Alice watched a movie together in the living room again that evening. I half-watched along with them, while also getting in a little more class-related reading. Mid-way through the movie Lily came in and dragged Alice off to their room. I wasn't sure what that was about, but Lily must have had some idea because she went along without question.

Lily was replaced about twenty minutes later by Ellie. I wasn't paying much attention at first, but I glanced over as she sat down on the couch and thought I was seeing wrong. Everything about her demeanour suggested that she was casually watching the movie. What confused me was the realization that she wasn't wearing any pants.

Mom noticed the same thing I had a couple minutes later. Ellie had done a great job of not drawing attention to herself.

"Ellie! What are you doing?" Mom demanded.

"Well I was gonna watch the movie with you guys," Ellie said. "But I don't have to if it's a problem."

"Go put some clothes on," Mom said, pointing toward the stairs.

"What? Oh, come on Mom. I spilled my drink all over my jeans and threw them in the wash. I'm gonna be going to bed soon anyway."

"Yes, and you can wear what you want when you do. You can't just be wandering around the house in your underwear."

I was doing my best to stay quiet during the exchange. Somehow I managed to not let so much as an errant chuckle escape my lips. I also decided it was in my best interest not to point out that the girls occasionally ate breakfast in little more than a shirt and panties. It wasn't exactly unheard of. It was, however, rather unusual for any of them to be so scantily clothed any time after first thing in the morning.

"Fine," Ellie said after a brief stand-off of silent staring with Mom. "I'll go put something else on. Happy?"

"Yes, I am," Mom said. "Just because your brother is the only boy around here doesn't mean you don't have to dress properly."

I purposefully didn't look up after that statement. I could feel Ellie's smirk without looking, whether or not she showed it physically. She'd told me she wouldn't tease me anymore about checking out her butt, so this couldn't be about picking on me some more. At least, it probably wasn't. Still...

I risked a glance upward as Ellie left the room, but she gave no sign of even acknowledging me. I really hoped that her choice of outfit hadn't been about me at all, and that I was just reading too much into the situation. It was better than the alternative.

****

Ellie didn't come back down to finish the movie. I wasn't particularly surprised by that. Regardless of what her earlier intention had been, getting scolded by Mom would most likely have sent her off to sulk in her room.

I only ran into her again when I went upstairs later, just as she was coming out of the bathroom. She met my gaze for a second before turning toward her room. I couldn't help noticing that she hadn't put on any more clothing since I'd last seen her.

"Thought you weren't gonna tease me anymore," I called just loudly enough for her to hear me.

She stopped and after a brief hesitation turned back to face me.

"Maybe I lied," she said.

"Yeah, maybe. I don't think you'd do that though. There's no point to going out of your way to apologize, just to renege less than twenty-four hours later."

"Does it bug you?"

I sighed and tried to step around her.

"Whatever. Come see me if and when you want to have a real conversation."

Ellie sidestepped to block me. I tried going around the other way, and again she placed herself between me and my destination.

"Serious question," she said, somehow giving me the impression that her next words would be anything but. "Do you like how I look when I'm dressed like this?"

"Oh fuck off."

I pushed her against the wall and tried to walk by her, but she tangled her leg between mine and managed to stall me.

"I just want to know is all."

"Fine, you want more material for your oh-so-hilarious repertoire? I think your butt looks better when you don't wear pants. You should prance around in your panties all the time so I can perv on you even more. Is that enough? Can you work with that?"

"Are you mad at me?" she asked softly.

"I'm definitely kind of annoyed. And I have no idea at all what game you're playing. Maybe you'd care to let me in on it?"

Ellie shook her head and did a good job of feigning a look of regret. I had to assume it was a pretense anyway, since that was the only thing that made sense.

"I... I'm sorry," she said. "I really didn't mean to do this to you." She brushed a few errant strands of hair behind her ear, using the action as an excuse not to make eye contact. "I'm not sure I can really explain why I did. Sorry."

"Uh huh. It was more believable the first time."

She shrugged and slipped away from me before retreating to her room. I might have simply imagined it, but it looked like her hips were swaying a little more than necessary as she walked. I really needed to stop watching her ass.

It took me a moment after Ellie had disappeared to realize that I wasn't actually alone. Further down the hall I could see Alice peeking her head out from her doorway. She smiled hesitantly when she saw that I had noticed her. I stayed where I was, unable to decide on a course of action, and waited while my younger sister approached me.

"Ellie's been acting kinda weird, huh?" Alice said.

"Yeah, she has," I agreed. "How much of that did you eavesdrop on?"

Alice blushed. "I wasn't eavesdropping. I mean, I was gonna come out, but then you two were talking and I didn't want to interrupt and--"

"Let me rephrase. How much did you hear?"

"Not much. Mostly I was just confused why she didn't have any pants on."

"Seems to be a common question this evening," I said, staring at Ellie's closed door. "I think she thinks it's funny. What's bothering me is she's not acting like she's having fun. What's even the point of her pestering me if she's not getting any amusement out of it?"

"Maybe she wants attention?"

I looked back at Alice, who once again blushed under my gaze.

"You think so?" I asked.

"Well... maybe. I mean, if so it's kind of working, right? Maybe she was hoping for compliments or something."

I thought about that for a moment. Ellie had asked me what I thought about her appearance, though at the time I'd assumed it wasn't a genuine question. It wasn't inconceivable that she'd been looking for some sort of validation rather than trying to mock me further.

"You think she'd do that?" I asked.

"I don't know," Alice said. "It seems kind of weird for her, but she's been acting weird, so... maybe?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

****

I waited until later to go talk to Ellie. I wanted to make sure no one was paying any attention when I went to see her. Alice probably hadn't been spying on us on purpose, but I'd still rather not risk her, or anyone else, overhearing anything more than she already had.

I made sure I was alone in the hallway before sneaking over to Ellie's door. I knocked softly and listened for a response.

There was a pause, just long enough for me to think she might not answer, before I heard her voice. "Come in," she called quietly.

"Hey," I said, pushing the door open. "Um, can we talk for a second?"

"Are you sure you want to?"

Ellie had changed and was wearing one of her standard nighttime outfits. Her pyjama pants did a much better job of covering her lower half than her panties had. She'd also changed shirts, but that wasn't quite as big a deal to me.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said. "I think... well, I've come to the conclusion that maybe you weren't just being mean earlier. If so then... sorry for overreacting, I guess."

She smiled a little and gestured for me to come closer. I walked over and sat on the end of her bed, leaving some space between us.

"I wasn't trying to torment you," Ellie said. "I mean, I mostly wasn't. But, you know, making you uncomfortable is kinda fun."

I decided not to start an argument with her about her last statement. I was pretty sure she hadn't meant it that way.

"So you, like, actually wanted me to look?" I asked.

Ellie fidgeted with her fingers, then eventually nodded.

"I actually did spill my drink on my pants like I said," she explained. "But then when I took them off I kind of got ideas. In retrospect I guess they weren't particularly good ideas. It's so much more obvious looking back." She glanced at me and forced a smile that faded as quickly as it appeared. "I think I was just hoping for a little confidence boost if I could get you to check me out again."

"Even though it's such a pervy thing to do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like I said, kind of a bad idea in hindsight." She shrugged. "At least now we're kind of even, right?"

"I s'pose we are. Me staring at you is no worse than you wanting me to look."

"So... we're good?"

I hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, we're good."

Ellie moved to sit a little closer to me, then crossed her legs and resumed toying with her fingers as a distraction.

"I just need attention sometimes," she said softly, not raising her head to look at me. "And I don't always feel like I have any way of getting some. It's been worse ever since Dad left."

"Oh," I said, trying to keep my voice neutral.

"Yeah, I know," she said, forcing another insincere smile. "What a surprise that I'd end up with daddy issues, right?"

"All things considered, I think you've been dealing with everything pretty well."

"'Cept for wanting the wrong kind of attention from my brother of course," Ellie said, her voice barely loud enough to hear.

I reached over and gently traced the side of her face with my fingertips, brushing a few strands of hair away from her eye. Her head tilted almost imperceptibly toward my hand. After a moment she finally let her gaze meet mine.

"There are worse ways to get attention," I said. "And I promise I won't say anything about it to anyone else."

"Thanks."

I started to pull my hand away from Ellie, but she stopped me and guided it back. I cupped her cheek in my palm while she closed her eyes and sat still. Apparently she just wanted some physical contact. I didn't mind helping her out with that.

After a few minutes I shifted closer so that we were side by side. I guided Ellie to lean her head on my shoulder, then I put my arm around her. She let out a small sigh and snuggled up against me.

"Neil?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to maybe... actually, never mind."

"No, come on, what were you going to say?"

Ellie shook her head. "It's another one of my bad ideas."

"So tell me anyway."

"Okay, well... I wanted to know if you'd maybe, you know, stay a while?"

There didn't seem to be anything too odd about her question at first. It took me a moment to realize that she was probably asking me to sleep with her, rather than just sit with her. That interpretation would explain her hesitance at any rate.

"Is that what you want?" I asked.

"You don't have to. I know it might be kind of weird. But my bed's big enough we wouldn't even have to be that close. And--"

"Ellie, I don't mind," I interrupted. "I'm fine with the idea. But I should probably go get changed first."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you probably should."

She reluctantly pulled away from me and allowed me to stand up. I smiled reassuringly, then went back to my room. I quickly changed out of my clothes into just a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. I didn't always wear a shirt to bed, but if I was going to be sharing it seemed like a good idea.

Ellie was in bed and under the covers when I returned. She had propped herself up against the headboard so she wasn't actually lying down. I turned off the light before slipping in beside her. I mirrored her half-sitting position and got comfortable.

At first we just kind of sat in silence, but then Ellie started talking about one of her classes from earlier in the day. That led us into some light conversation regarding the day's events and other such things. I had the sense that she didn't want to talk any more about some of the deeper topics we'd discussed recently. Since she didn't bring any of them up, I didn't either.

****

I was a little confused when I first woke up the next morning. Ellie's room looked nothing like mine, and it took me a couple seconds to remember that I hadn't actually slept in my own bed. I was facing away from my sister, so I rolled onto my back and looked over at her to find that she was still asleep beside me.

It seemed we'd managed to stay mostly on our own sides of the bed during the night. The exception was Ellie's arm, which was sprawled across the middle of the bed toward me. I gently took her hand and moved it away from my shoulder so as to not accidentally roll onto it. Her alarm clock was on her side of the bed, which meant I had to lift myself slightly to see it. It was still early, so I settled back down where I was. I wasn't quite ready to get up yet.

My sister's sleeping position was decidedly undignified. She'd kicked the blanket down enough that her tummy was showing where her shirt had risen during the night. It also appeared that she'd drooled a little as she slept, judging by a small wet patch on her pillow near her mouth. I was pretty sure one of her legs was actually dangling off the side of the bed, though the blanket made it difficult to see for certain. I wondered if I'd slept through a lot of tossing and turning, or if it was something that happened naturally to her during the night.

I rolled onto my side facing Ellie and just watched her for a moment. It didn't take me long to notice something I'd missed at first glance: her shirt had somehow gotten pulled tight across her breasts. I could even see the faintest little bumps of her nipples through the material. Once I realized they were visible, it was hard to look away from them.

It was hard to know where I stood, morally speaking. I wasn't supposed to be checking out my sister; that was pretty much a given. On the other hand I felt like the more important issue was how she would feel about it. After the events of the previous evening, her thoughts on the matter weren't all that clear to me. Either way, as long as she was oblivious to my gaze it couldn't bother her.