Girlfriends and Brothers

The Girlfriend

Disclaimer: I do not own Political Animals nor am I affiliated with them in any way

Note: Takes place when Douglas and TJ are fifteen and shortly after TJ came out.

Douglas sat at one of the tables in the tutoring centre. The room was empty, save for two students on free period who needed a quiet place to work. This meant Douglas was free to talk quietly to his girlfriend, Taylor. They were talking about the movie they were going to see after school when Taylor's eyes wandered over Douglas's shoulder and her expression hardened.

"What is he doing here?" she asked and Douglas turned to see TJ had entered the room.

"Hey man, what's up?" Douglas asked.

"Um, Ms. Nelson sent down," TJ said, "We've got this worksheet and I don't really understand any of it so she sent me here."

"Alright," Douglas nodded as he stood and looked at Taylor, "I'm gonna go help him. He only listens to me anyway." He smiled and she tried to smile back, but as Douglas walked away the smile dropped and was replaced by a glare at TJ.

Forty minutes later, Douglas and TJ finished the worksheet right before the end of class.

"Do you get it now?" Douglas asked.

"I think so," TJ nodded, "I mean, some of the longer questions are still a little confusing. But other than that the rest makes sense."

"Alright, well we can go over them again when we get home," Douglas said.

"Um, Douglas, we're supposed to be going to a movie after school, remember?" Taylor reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," Douglas said, "Um..." TJ glanced at Taylor and saw the way she was looking at him.

"It's cool bro," TJ said, "I can figure it out."

"Well, the movie's only a couple hours," Douglas said, "Do you have any other worksheets?"

"Once we finished this one Ms. Nelson had two more for us," TJ told him, "She said we have a test on this stuff tomorrow."

"Alright, go hand that in to Ms. Nelson and get the other sheets," Douglas said, "Try them and anything you don't get I'll help you with when I get home, okay?"

"Thanks Dougie," TJ said just as the bell rang.

"No problem," Douglas said, "Now go hand in your work." TJ smiled at his brother and left. Douglas turned back to Taylor who was already packing up their stuff.

"You okay?" Douglas asked.

"Yup," she said, "Just try not to be too distracted by your brother while we're out tonight."

"I promise I won't be," Douglas said, "Come on, the movie starts in half an hour."

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TJ ran his fingers over the keys, playing effortlessly. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Douglas standing in the doorway.

"Sounds good man," Douglas said.

"Thanks," TJ smiled, "How was the movie?"

"It was good, yeah," Douglas nodded, "Taylor seemed kind of out of it though."

"I'm sure she's fine dude," TJ said and Douglas nodded.

"So, um, how did your math go?" Douglas asked.

"I got most of it, but some of the questions were really confusing," TJ admitted.

"Alright, do you want to have another look at it?" Douglas asked.

"Yeah, sure," TJ nodded and he and Douglas walked to their room. He grabbed his homework and sat next to his brother. They were working for about twenty minutes when Douglas's phone rang.

"It's Taylor," he said, "Try the next one while I talk to her." TJ nodded and started on the next question while Douglas answered.

"Hey Taylor ... Me and TJ are doing homework ... Tonight? I don't think I'll be able to ... Well we've still got some more work to do and then our grandmother is here for dinner tonight ... I don't want to get out of it ... Listen, why don't you come over tomorrow? ... Alright, great ... Bye." He hung up and looked at the question TJ had just finished.

"You don't have to stay here with me you know," TJ said, "If Taylor wants to go out tonight then you should go."

"It's cool," Douglas said, "I'm gonna see her tomorrow. I want to hang out with you tonight." TJ nodded, but did not reply.

"What's wrong?" Douglas asked.

"Nothing," TJ shook his head.

"TJ come," Douglas said, "What's up?"

"I just don't think Taylor likes me very much," TJ admitted.

"What? Sure she does," Douglas said, but TJ didn't look convinced, "TJ, come on. Taylor likes you, alright?"

"Yeah," TJ nodded and smiled slightly at Douglas, "So, did I get this question right?"

Hope you liked this! I'm going to upload part two tomorrow!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!