Author's note: All characters are eighteen years or older. This is a work of fiction. Don't expect realism, and you won't be disappointed when you don't find it! Enjoy!
*****
It was beautiful. It was heart-wrenching. It was perfect. The inevitability of the situation, the empathy built in time, the identification grown out of so many little and not so little things.
Ben tried to resist it at first. But why, he wondered, why resist something so beautiful, so perfect? It was ultimately inevitable, after all. And so he let go. His chest felt tight, his breaths came short and labored but the tension seemed to diminish as soon as the tears started flowing.
He could barely see, the image too distorted and watery. But he didn't need to.
"It's incredible, Ben... It's just... So amazing..."
"Yeah, Kat, it really is..."
Ben felt the warm softness of his little sister's body press harder into his side. She was sitting beside him on the couch, her legs tucked under her. Her head resting on his shoulder, Kat was sniffling and crying softly while they cuddled in front of the tv, watching Walter White die, wide-eyed and alone, misjudged and misunderstood.
As My Baby Blue played in the background and the camera slowly zoomed out, Ben wrapped his arm tighter around his sister. He drew her in closer, eliciting a contented purr from her.
"This scene gets to me every time I see it... It's so powerful..."
"I know..." Kat said, turning her face up to look into her big brother's pale blue eyes. "Remember the first time we watched it?"
Ben smiled. "How could I forget it... I was bawling like a three year old..."
"So was I..." she whispered. Her tiny hands went to her face then to her brother's, wiping away their tears. Her soft fingers lingered on Ben's cheeks and jaw, tracing the sharp lines of his handsome visage. "It was beautiful though, and it was great watching it together. Like now... Like every other time, actually... I've always loved watching movies and shows with you, Ben..."
Looking into Kat's pretty face, taking in the upturned corners of her full lips and the light of intelligence brightening her smoky gray eyes piercing into his, Ben felt a wave of affection warming him. He smiled faintly, deeply glad that he was here. With her. Doing what they had always loved doing the most. "Yeah, I love it too..." he said eventually. After a moment, he added: "It's so good being together again, Kat... I really missed you, you know..."
Kat laughed, playing it cool. Still, she couldn't help but feel flushed and go all fluffy inside as she heard her brother's honest admission. "It's been just a few months!... Is college really that bad?"
"No, not bad... Just... Lonely sometimes... Well, there's plenty of people around, but..." he shook his head, giving up on trying to say it. He just smiled at his sister, recognizing that adoring stare as she looked up at him. He saw love there, as always. Clear and strong. True.
Kat rested her head on Ben's chest, her rosy cheek brushing against his T-shirt. Her lips were slightly parted, her body snuggled into his, her arms embracing him. He sank his face in her lush brown hair, the same shade as his own. Inhaling her unique scent, he kissed her head. He hoped she knew he loved her. He believed she did.
"I just really missed you, Kitty Kat... And I'm sorry I wasn't here for your birthday, eighteen is kind of a big deal..."
"Aww, Ben..." Kat cooed. "Forget about that, it's not that big a deal anyways..." she said, shrugging her shoulders. She wrapped her arms tighter around him, shifting so she could nuzzle his face and give him a peck on the nose.
The credits of Breaking Bad's final episode had rolled away. The static brightness of the tv screen and the soft, warm glow of a lamp were the only lights in the room as Ben and Kat hugged and talked into the night.
Softly, quietly, cuddling on the couch in the semi darkness of the den, the siblings caught up and joked and reconnected. Not much had happened to either of them since Ben had left for college and hardly a day had passed without them video-chatting or texting, but this was different. The last couple of days had been all about family time and Christmas stuff and visiting relatives. This was the first night they had to themselves. Of course, they had chosen to binge-watch again their favorite episodes of their favorite show ever.
As they talked, the topic of boyfriends and girlfriends unavoidably came up. Ben chuckled as he answered Kat's blunt questions, saying that no, no co-ed slut had tried to seduce him yet and definitely no, he hadn't been to any frat party culminating in a sorority pledge initiation gangbang.
Kat giggled. "Well, that's good to hear. Stupid internet porn got me worried!..." she said, her relief palpable beneath her playfulness.
Ben hurried to ask her about her own love life. He didn't really want to hear about some stupid high school dude hitting on his little sis, but discussing the details of Kat's experience with porn could be dangerous. It might lead to the hows and whys of his own porn browsing habits.
He was immensely glad to hear that Kat had no boyfriend, but he got thoughtful as he felt her mood shift. He was caressing her soft brown hair as he watched her brow furrow, lines of worry marring her clear, expressive face. Sighing, she mumbled that the guys at school were all jerks, only interested in her because of her big boobs.
Ben felt a pang of jealousy picturing someone putting his hands on Kat. Then came a weird mix of hope, excitement and elation at the thought that his Kitty Kat was still his. Then came doubt. He shouldn't be so possessive of his sister. He should let her choose who she wanted to be with, without being so emotionally involved in her decisions. Shouldn't he?
He was so caught up sifting through this surge of conflicting emotions that he barely heard Kat asking him about his ex, his high school sweetheart whom he hadn't seen nor heard from since the day after graduation, when she had dumped him. So much for promises of everlasting love.
"Don't you miss her?" Kat asked, cocking an eyebrow while Ben shook his head no in a most definite manner. "Well, at least do you miss IT? Don't you miss, you know... Sex and stuff?"