Lara smiled at Seth then as she answered, "Yeah, I have. We were just talking photography."
Seth looked back at me and I shrugged again in response. Knowing how much he liked this girl, I decided to try and help him out a little. Turning to Lara I took a deep breath before saying, "Seth’s the one who gave me this camera."
I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder and I knew it’d been the right thing to say. Lara walked back towards us, standing opposite Seth and I, and I watched as she took in the sight of me still standing in my brother’s hug, Seth making no move to step away or take his arm from my shoulders. I watched her smile as she seemed to acknowledge this, like Seth had just passed some test or something.
"Well, I was saying to Ash, that I could show her a few tricks with it sometime, if she wanted me to."
"You’re a photographer?" Seth asked surprised.
Lara laughed a little. "Well not a professional or anything, but I’ve done some courses over the years. Really though, it’s much easier if someone can show you, rather than sit through a bunch of lectures. Maybe we could all go out sometime and I’ll show you some of the things I’ve learnt?" Lara said, turning back to look at me now.
I felt Seth tense beside me and I knew exactly what he was thinking. I could almost hear the telepathic messages being beamed inside my head. Turning, I looked up at him and smiled, resisting the urge to playfully punch him, before turning back to Lara. "Sure, that’d be really great Lara, thanks."
Six days later, Seth and I picked Lara up and together we all headed down to Newport for my first photography lesson. Seth was beyond excited and had spent all week being extra nice to me thanks to my role in getting this to all happen. Even though he wasn’t actually alone with Lara, I think he figured with only me there he stood a better chance. I guess because she was paying attention to his family, he thought she was also paying attention to him. I think he was probably right and I’m pretty sure Lara knew exactly what she was doing when she suggested this. When we parked the car and got out, Lara suggested we walk along Thames Street first, just to have a look for somewhere to start. Seth, doing his chivalrous best, asked us if we wanted coffees to take with us. And as he headed off to buy them, Lara turned to me and said, "So I guess you must know, your brother’s been trying to get me to go out with him?"
I smiled back at her as I said, "Yeah, he’s not exactly subtle about these things."
Laughing, Lara asked, "So what do you think I should do?"
I’ll be honest, I was surprised. Surprised she would ask me, but even more so that she would care what I think. "You’re asking me?"
"Yeah Ash, I am," she said still smiling at me.
"Why?"
"Well, I’ve seen the way he is with you. You’re the number one girl in his life. I mean, it’s obvious he adores you, so I’m asking what you think."
If I wasn’t sure I liked her before, I definitely knew I did now. And I definitely wanted her to go out with Seth. Anyone who would care what I thought, like she did, had to be a good thing. "I think you should go out with him," I said confidently. "I think you should put him out of his misery and I think you won’t regret it."
She stood there smiling at me as I said all this, before she surprised me even more by asking, "And you’d be okay with me going out with him?"
And it was in that moment with that one little question that I knew what Lara was really asking me. She wanted to know if I was okay with her becoming the number one girl in Seth’s life, would I be alright sharing my brother with someone else now. Realising this only made me like her even more, so without thinking, I reached out, put my arm around her waist and said, "Lara, I would love it if you went out with him."
Laughing, Lara wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Okay then," she said and together we walked slowly down the street as we waited for Seth to come back.
After Seth caught up with us, the three of us spent the afternoon together. Lara teaching me loads about photography and lining up shots, the rule of thirds. Seth finally relaxed too, enough that he could talk to Lara normally, without trying so hard anymore. It’s almost as if he knew she’d made her decision now and it was just a matter of time before it happened. And at six o’clock, as we headed back to the car, I smiled as I watched Lara, who was walking beside Seth, silently reach out and take his hand. Seth held hers tightly and wrapped his other arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. Quickly, so she wouldn’t hear, he leant down and whispered in my ear, "Thank you Smash, for today." I could only smile in response.