my fault(s) // samuel

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

Key chuckled, Sam laughing reminding her how silly her imagination was. Maybe Hollywood really did ruin her view of the real world, but Mason was so unbelievably attractive that Key had to imagine fantasy women being his type. And at the mention of sex, Key tried really hard not to think of having sex with Mason, because when she did she felt really restless and warm and her brain went all fuzzy. So she focused on something else.

“I don't want to be thought of as a younger girl.” Key admitted. It was a bit of a insecurity she had. All her life she tried hanging out with her sister's older cooler friends. Many of them actually liked her, to Gilly's annoyance. Even then, though, Key was the exception – the “surprisingly cool young kid.” She was never just “part of the gang”. “I just want to be thought of as a woman.” she confided in Sam, looking up at him all vunerable. “I mean, I am business owner. Though granted by default...”

Key didn't need Sam to tell her that Mason wasn't shallow or dumb. He was clearly complicated and mysterious. “I know, it's just that he seems so distant … or wait, I feel so distant from what he could possibly want. He was almost married once, and until a month ago I was still in college. I guess I just can't see a way I could possibly be what he's looking for.” Sam looked over at her gently, and Key managed a small smile by way of response. Maybe he was right. Maybe she owed it to herself.

But the idea of double dates was so funny Key tried not to laugh at loud – if only Sam knew he was suggesting going on a double date with his girlfriend's older brother who he was scared to meet. Instead Key cleared her throat. “I think my hair's ready to be rinsed – could you help?” In the back there was a sink Key could bend over, and the faucet connected to a rubber hose. All Sam would have to do is point the stream of water over her head.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

Sam shrugged. "Maybe age is just a number to him?" He said. Classically, he had an answer for everything and this was no different. "No one said you were a girl." He said with a shrug. Age wasn't as important as the feelings. Granted, he and Chloe were closer in age than he'd thought, but it wouldn't have been a deal breaker... probably.

"You won't know until you try," Sam pointed out. "Live boldly, and if he turns you down, you and me will go out and do shots." He said with a nod. "Chloe works at the bar, maybe we can get some free ones." Sam realized that only suggested if he turned her down and backtracked a little bit. "And of course, if he says yes, you still deserve free shots." He said with a smile. Sam had a tendency to talk to much, but it put some people at ease. He had no idea what kind of person Key was on that front. She was so quiet and hard to read...

She got up and headed to a sink and Sam followed her. "Yeah I bet I can do that." He said with a smile. He did offer to help right? The faucet squeaked as it turned, the water sputtering to a steady flow. He tested the temperature for her. It was an instinct, from somewhere in him he couldn't identify. "There you go."

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

Men always had an answer for everything. Key knew that from uncles and guy friends. Once she read somewhere that that was just they way they were – when presented with a problem, they wanted to fix it. Find a solution. Girls though sometimes just wanted to talk out problems. It was an interesting quirk, Key thought, and she admired men for that quality. It was actually really sweet.

The idea of getting drunk with Sam sounded like the most fun possible, so she said with a smile, “Yes! Totally. Shots, no matter what happens!” She didn't want to mention that if the guy-in-question (Mason) said yes (miraculously) then it might be awkward getting free shots from his sister.

Key watched Sam test the water and it occurred to her that he was definitely one of the least clueless, useless, inconsiderate men she'd ever known. He was none of those qualities. He was one of those rare nice and decent people. And she also realized that she'd trust him completely, especially if she ever needed to be taken care of. Chloe was a lucky girl; Key was actually jealous Chloe snagged someone so good. “Thanks,” she said brightly, suddenly optimistic about her life if Sam was going to be her friend. “It's all foamy, but it should wash out quickly. I'll run my hands through it, so if you could please just keep the water pointed at my head, that'd be great.” Key leaned over the sink and her hair hung all around her. She could see, even through the thick white foam, that her hair was already very considerably lighter. It seemed even lighter than Sam's dirty blonde. Kinda strange. She started running her hands through it and shaking out some parts so all of the solution was gone. When her hair and scalp felt clean (and really soft and silky– Key loved this stuff) Key said, “I think I'm good. You can turn it off.” Then, keeping her head bent she reached out her left arm, accidentally hitting Sam in what felt like his stomach. “Sorry! The, um, towel is somewhere over there.” She waved her hand in the general direction. Her neck was starting to ache from how heavy the water made her head.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

Sam grinned. "Yes, you, me, shots. Its happening." He said with a sincere nod. Now that Chloe had become his girlfriend he needed a new female bestie, and Caim seemed a good candidate. She needed someone on her side with no funny business.

The thought had occurred to her too it seemed as she babbled on about the foam and he just smiled, bemused by her, as he aimed the water at her head. It was much lighter than he would have assumed her hair could get without bleach, but maybe it was more of that magic stuff that everyone here seemed to have. She whacked him in the stomach with her hand and he chuckled, reaching for the towel and handing it to her. "I think its gonna look good, your man will never be able to say now." He teased lightly.

Sam bounced on his heels expectantly, anxious to see her new look. Sometime a color change could change a persons whole face and manner and he was excited. "You ever gonna give me a name for your mystery man or shall i just give him a nickname?" He asked.

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

Key chuckled at the thought Mason being stunned with her new look. It wasn't a major consideration when she opted for the change in look, but Key would be lying if she said she didn't think about it at all. She considered her general level of attractiveness the same no matter what her hair color was, but she had to admit she got more attention when she was blonder. Blonde was just shinier; attracted more notice. And maybe there was something to that. Maybe Sam had it right – maybe blondes had more fun.

And she liked the way Sam called Mason “her man.” If only. She took the towel and wrapped around her whole head and hair and stood up straight, which felt like such a relief after the strain. Sam was bouncing on his heels expectantly, and Key chuckled, also excited. When summertime came around, she always had shorter, medium length hair because of the heat. Her hair was down to the middle of her back now – it'd be such a new experience to have long, light hair. “Well, I was going to tell you his name, but now I got to hear the nickname you'd come up for him.” Key joked – it was mostly a lie, she had no intention of telling Sam it was Mason. Too weird. I love your girlfriend's ex-convict older brother. The one you're terrified of.

Key towel-dried her hair and then took a breath. She smiled at Sam as if to say ready? and then she let the towel drop. She felt her hair, now miraculous soft golden waves, tumble around her face. Her hair was mostly straight but it tended to wave when damp. “Well?” she asked nervously, pent up with anticipation. With the attention suddenly on her, Key noticed that during the entirety of their time spent together, she had been wearing a midriff. This was the first time she'd ever worn a midriff and not worried about a guy staring at her exposed stomach the whole time. Weird.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

Sam pouted. "Lame." he told her, intently curious as to the identity of her mystery lover. "Well, there are the obvious ones like, your man, the hunk, mystery lover, whats-his-face..." Sam rattled as she dried her hair. "Or a letter, whatever pops into our heads. Or like how you met him, like I hd this pal who was crushing on a guy who worked at Starbucks and we just called him Starbucks guy until she got his name." Sam wasn't sure he could come up with anything else given how little he knew, just that this crush was older and hunky. He shrugged.

Then the towel came down and her wet, long and now blond hair spilled everywhere and Sam nodded with a grin. "Totally good." He told her, giving her the thumbs up. "You got a mirror in this joint?" He asked looking around. She should see for herself.

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

His nickname method had possibilities, but Key was thinking “Car Guy” would be a bit of a giveaway. “We'll call him Tree Guy.” Key declared, as though this was an official declaration or anointment. “For reasons.” Key added with a dismissive shrug, as though that explained everything.

At his thumbs up, Key smiled and scratched the back of her head self-consciously. She very pleased at the positive reaction, even if Sam was just trying to make her feel better. “It probably looks like a nest – I'll have to comb it out.” Key added as an afterthought. She'd have to get her comb from her bag. “Yes, I do actually.” Key skipped to the bathroom and glanced in the mirror. She felt like a new, cooler person. At least for the moment.

She skipped back to Sam. “On second thought, I am not going to comb out my hair. Between the midriff and the messy waves, I feel like a rockstar.” Key even spun around, her waves twirling around her. “Now we're both blonde! We could probably pull of pretending to be siblings.” Key wasn't sure why she blurted that out, but it just seemed like a funny idea at that moment. They could sort of stretch, though he had blue eyes and hers were hazel/green. Key was just suddenly feeling like Sam was definitely the kind of person she'd love to get into antics with.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

"Tree guy huh?" Sam said thinking. Maybe he was a hippie... "We're not talking about Tarzan right? Because you seem the type who might crush on a fictional character." He was teasing her, but tree guy was just too funny and he decided, "We're calling him Tarzan now." It had a better ring than tree guy, and was hilarious. Sam smiled, imaging a buff guy in leopard print. Whenever he met this crush he would always thinking of him that way he decided.

He chuckled at her comments. "Rockstars it is. Got a radio? We can crank some tunes and play air guitar." he said with a smile. He imagined this was how it was with siblings on the day to day. That friends that felt like family. You just liked them all at once.

"My sisters are actually brunettes. I take after my grandma, Scandinavian and whatnot. My family is Jewish." he explained with a chuckle. His dad was American, as was his grandfather, but they were dark haired and eyed. "So they all look the same." he chuckled and ruffled her hair a little.

"But you can be my sister from another mr," Sam said with a nod, adding as a petname, "rockstar."

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

Key made a face, practically horrified with the way the code name unfolded. “I do crush on fictional characters.” Key conceded. “But I've never had a thing for Tarzan.” Mason was a completely different type. “Can't we call him Wolverine or something?” Key tried to offer meekly. Wolverine worked as a lumberjack, once, if Key remembered her comic books. It looked like Sam's mind was set, or that he was really amused with his own idea, but either way, Key was not referring to Mason as Tarzan, ape man extraordinaire.

Key laughed. “Yeah, we're got a radio, but I don't think air guitar is appropriate for a professional setting.” Key countered, nudging Sam lightly with her elbow before making her way back to the front desk. No one's come in but she was technically still at work. “Maybe another time.” Key said over her shoulder, because rocking out with Sam sounded like extreme fun. “Like after free shots.”

At Sam's suggestion at being his sister, Key felt touched. She wasn't sure how serious he was – this was the first time they really hung out for such an extensive period of time. But he did give her dating advice. And he did help her dye her hair. No one had been able to do that since Key lost her family. Not wanting to be so sappy, Key smiled sweetly – she loved her new nickname. “Alright. So I'll embarrass you in front of dates and freak you by dating dangerous men?” It ended up sounding like a question because Key wasn't exactly sure what younger sisters did to older brothers. Only one thing came to mind that Key knew what certain. “I may steal your t-shirts.” There was something about wearing men's clothing that was extra comfortable. Key still had some of her dad's flannel shirts and sweatshirts.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

Sam laughed as her eyes widened. "What's wrong with Tarzan? Hot muscly guy in a lion cloth. Wouldn't you like to see this guy in so little?" Sam argued with a smile. She mentioned wolverine and he furrowed his eyebrows. "What do the X-men have to do with trees?" He said curiously. He tried to think back to the movies, noting that Hugh Jackman played a lumber jack when he was dating that hot teacher...

She turned down his air guitar offer and he rolled his eyes. "You're no fun." He teased. Who needed alcohol to do air guitar? But she did own the place, so he supposed she was right. Sam didn't have much of an idea on professionalism as he acted like a goof all the time at work. It usually got them more business as opposed to less, but he was in no position to give her advice on how to run a business.

"That sounds about right," Sam nodded with a laugh. He wasn't sure how she could embarrass him, but she could date scary guys that would make him worry probably. Her Tarzan/Wolverine was probably fell into that category. Though it still would be easier if she just told him the guy's name.

He scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly at the mention of shirts though. "I don't think I can really let you borrow shirts, Chloe might get mad. That sort of feels girlfriendy." He said. Sam hated to tell her no, but that felt dangerous and maybe a little bit farther than he wanted to go here.

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

Key opened her mouth to protest, but blushed because at his suggestion she actually did imagine Mason in so little … Sam really had to stop leading her brain to such frazzled paths. Key countered mockingly, “C'mon bro, what don't the X-men have to do with trees. Seriously.” Such illogical arguments seemed to be what Key had to resort to to not think of Mason naked.

Key was happy to have gotten one part of the sister-brother equation right, but her smiled dropped when she realized she overstepped her assumptions. “I'm sorry!” she blurted immediately, suddenly worried she completely ruined the good mood or the friendship. “I didn't mean it that way...” she explained, her voice dropping. She had been caught up in the pretend annoying sibling relation. She had imagined stealing Sam's shirts and him saying Aw shucks sis, I've got nothing to wear. The whole girlfriend status implication had completely eluded her. “You're completely right.” she added, avoiding his eye.

She busied herself with stacking some papers.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

Sam chuckled and nodded lightly. "The x-men are pretty awesome." He agreed with an approving nod. He had all the movies. He hadn't been big on comics as a kid, but boy did Marvel do well in the film business. He'd gotten hooked. "But I still don't think of them when I think of trees." He pointed out. Sam had pretty much decided he was going to call the guy Tarzan. It was probably better that she hated it, then she might correct him with her crush's real name.

She seemed so crushed and nervous, which threw Sam off. He was more like a duck, water just ran off his back. "No worries, I know what you meant," He said with a shrug, making a face at her to express how little it bothered him. But she started working and he chuckled.

"Hey now, its all good," He said grabbing her hands off the paper, flicking on the radio nearby. Sam started to play air guitar faster than the music, which was a sad Taylor Swift song and threw up his hands as if to say, beat that, hoping to jolly her out of it.

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

Key figured she'd drop the fake X-men/tree argument unless Sam pushed – there was only so much bullshitting she could do. Though now that she was out of college and no longer having to write academic papers, she had a lot of bullshit left on reserve. Maybe it'd come in handy in business …

The way Sam just brushed off the awkward moment filled Key with relief. She really ought to let go of all her anxiety, but at least it was seeming that Sam was going to be the kind of person she could just relax around. It was a bit peculiar – right there playing air guitar he seemed like a regular, laid-back guy. But that moment with the water temperature proved that there was more to him. Key was convinced, though she was sure most people saw him as an overgrown kid – the floppy hair probably didn't help.

She laughed at his spectacular display of air guitar prowess. Key lucked out since the next song that was playing was a fast number by Muse that she knew by heart. The song actually did have a killer guitar solo. Key bobbed her head and held up her hands to indicate that Sam had to wait, but when the guitar solo came up, Key rocked out. Her new hair whipped about, and when she was done, she had to push it out of her face. “You don't mess with the rockstar.”

Key was an air guitar pro - it was the only thing she really remember doing with her dad before he passed away.

[SAMUEL JOHN HAYES]

Sam threw his hands up in defeat. "What was I thinking?" But he grinned at her and grabbed her in a hug, ruffling her hair lightly. She was cute, though in serious need of some lightening up. The blonde hair helped maybe, and he chuckled, letting her go. Maybe he ought to let her get to work... Hell, was he supposed to be at work. He checked his phone for the time, but was still okay time wise.

"You're pretty cool Key," he said with a smile. He'd had his doubts in the past, but she was fun after all. Maybe she just needed a few real friends and a main man. He figured she'd be okay. Sam smiled at her, the kind that looks like a laugh, traveling right into the eyes.

"But how are you at air drums? because I kick ass at that." He teased her. Not taht he really cared about beating her or anything, and maybe he wouldn't. She seemed full of surprises.

[CAIM VENUS HYSSOP]

The hug came out of nowhere but Key embraced him like a long lost brother. It was a good hug – there was something about hugs from men – their stronger stockier arms enveloping her petite frame – that felt just so damn comforting. It was like they were momentarily protecting her from the world.

That's what your name means Said a voice in Key's head that sounded so much like her mom. Caim means sanctuary, and it's the oldest spell known. You draw an invisible circle around your body with you hand. It reminds you that you are safe and loved, even in the darkest of times.

They let go, and Sam called her cool and said something about air guitar, and Key tried to pay attention and smile but suddenly she blinked and tears came down her face. And then, even more suddenly, she was laughing. Laughing and crying, and overwhelmed suddenly with a bitterweet joy. “I'm sorry.” she said, in between laughs, though she was running out of breath. “That's just the first hug I got in weeks that wasn't prefaced by 'Gosh, I'm sorry your mom's dead.'” It wasn't funny, but Key had to lean her back against the wall to stay standing. For a moment she just laughed, raising one hand to her face. And then she was done and catching her breath. Her face was still split in a smile and her eyes were twinkling, though the tear streaked cheeks were throwing off the general look of happiness. She wiped her face. “I'm sorry.” she said again. “I hope I'm not freaking you out with my nutcase behavior.” She crossed her arms, leaned her head against the wall to and smiled at him. “I'm fine, I promise.” I'm going to be okay now.