Meadow took one final walk around the block before she decided she had given Markos enough time to get rid of whatever girl he was obviously trying to hide from her. Plus, she was tired of carrying around the large amounts of take-out she had treated herself to on Markos's dime. Her hands were too full to knock, so she didn't bother using the door this time. She took the easy way out and just popped up on his couch.

"Jesus," Markos jumped at the sudden appearance of his sister. 

He jerked towards her and his eyes were immediately drawn to the giant pile of food sitting on his coffee table.

"What the hell is all that?"

"A pizza," Meadow said. "And mozzarella sticks and garlic knots and cheesy bread and wings and cannolis and oh, and can't forget my latte."

Meadow smiled with faux-innocence as she sipped on her iced mocha latte.

"Good God," Markos said astounded by the sheer amount of food. "How much did I give you?"

"60 bucks," Meadow said casually. She popped the top off the pizza, kicked her feet up and grabbed herself a slice. "Want some?"

Markos looked at the steamy, cheesy pizza sitting in front of him. It did look pretty inviting and he was hungry. He supposed he should've been mad at her for spending all his money, but it was his own fault for not paying attention. He couldn't really blame her for that. Ah, screw it, Markos thought to himself then grabbed a slice and joined Meadow on the couch.

"So what's her name?" Meadow said through a mouthful of pizza.

"What? What's who's name?" Markos played dumb, but he was doing a terrible job. His shock at the question was so transparently fake that he knew Meadow could see right through it.

"Please," Meadow scoffed. "I'm not stupid. I know you had a girl over."

"No I didn't -" Markos quickly protested, but it was no use. The look on Meadow's face said it all. He'd been caught.

"Okay fine," Markos said. "Brie. Her name is Brie."

"Like the cheese?" Meadow questioned with distaste.

"Says the girl named after a field of overgrown grass," Markos countered.

"Fair enough," Meadow said. He had her there, but that didn't mean she was ready to let him off the hook. "So, what's her last name?"

Markos tilted his head in confusion as he dug deep into the depths of his mind, searching for any hint of a last name.

"That's a good question," Markos said with a guilty smile.

"Omg," Meadow laughed. "You're unbelievable."

"It was our first date, okay?" Markos said, laughing at himself right along with her. "Give me a break."

"Wow you actually took her on a date?" Meadow said. "I thought you only hooked up with girls in the janitor's closet."

"You knew about that?" Markos said.

"Everyone knew," Meadow said in a "like, duh," sort of way.

"Yeah but, you were a kid," Markos said. "How could you have possibly known about that?"

"Everyone was talking about it," Meadow said with a shrug. "Word got around."

His little janitor's closet escapades were no secret around school, but he thought at the very least his elementary aged sister would remain innocently unaware of the rumors. But as he found out, that was not the case. Markos slumped down in the couch and resigned himself with the fact that he wasn't nearly as sneaky as he thought he was.

"Yeah well," Markos said and sighed in defeat. "Maybe I should stick to the janitor's closets. I really screwed the pooch on this one."

Meadow brushed off his concerns with a wave of her hand. She doubted he could've done anything that unforgivable. She never met a girl that could stay mad at him for more than five minutes. Except Misty, of course. 

"You're a charming guy," Meadow said. "I'm sure she'll get over it."

"I doubt it," Markos said. "I messed up. Like I really messed up."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Meadow said still unconvinced.

"Oh it was," Markos said. "Take what you're thinking and dial it up to an eleven."

Meadow set down her pizza and turned to face him. She straightened up as she scooted closer to him so she wouldn't miss a thing he said. He had her full attention.

"Okay, you have to tell me now," Meadow said. 

"It's really bad," Markos said. 

"Tell me!" Meadow urged, slapping him playfully on the shoulder.

 Markos held back at first, but he knew there was no turning back now. He had to tell her.

"I made her climb down the fire escape," Markos admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Omg, Markos," Meadow gasped. "You didn't!"

"I did," he said with a guilty laugh and covered his face in shame.

"Okay yeah you're right," Meadow said. "There's no way in hell you'll ever see her again."

"Thanks, Meadow. I really appreciate your support," Markos said sarcastically.

Markos kept laughing because he knew she was right, but Meadow suddenly became serious. Even though she knew Markos was joking, she couldn't help but feel guilty for teasing him. She felt bad for showing up out of nowhere and dropping an absolute bomb on him. It wasn't his fault her and Misty got in a huge fight and yet he had to deal with the fall out. 

"Sorry," Meadow said, hanging her head. "I didn't mean to ruin your date."

"Hey," Markos said gently. "Don't be sorry. You didn't ruin my date, my stupid mouth did. It's time you learn your big brother is an idiot."

Meadow chuckled lightly, but she still kept her head down and picked at her finger nails.

"You're not an idiot," Meadow said, finally looking up and making eye contact. Her face cracked into a smile full of admiration. "You're perfect."

Markos gave a half-hearted smile, but inside his heart was broken. It hurt him to hear those words knowing all the terrible things he'd done. If Meadow knew, would she feel the same? Was he being selfish by not telling her the truth and letting her form a real and honest opinion of him? Who was he kidding, of course he was. But still, he just couldn't garner the courage to tell her. He'd already lost Misty and Millie. She was all he had left of his family. 

"I'm far from perfect," Markos said softly.

"Well, you're much closer to perfect than frickin' Misty," Meadow grumbled. "She's such a bitch."

"Hey, don't talk about your sister like that," Markos warned gently. "She's got a lot going on."

"Why do you always make excuses for her?" Meadow asked accusingly. "She's so mean to you."

"Because," Markos said, but he took a second to collect his thoughts and consider his words carefully.

"Because she's my sister and I love her," Markos explained. "Just like I love you and Millie. And I know she loves me too. She might hide it under ten tons of pure unadulterated hatred, but she does love me. I know someday she'll forgive me. And then we can be a family again."

"But there's nothing to forgive though," Meadow argued. "You did nothing wrong."

Markos took in her words with a slow nod of his head. If only it were that simple.

"Listen," Markos leveled. "I need you to understand something okay? I'm in no way blameless in all this. I played my part. I've fought with her just as much as she's fought with me. I've made my fair share of mistakes and she is just trying to do her best. It hasn't been easy for her."

Meadow looked down at her hands and tried to consider what he said. She still didn't see what it was that Markos did that was so wrong, but she trusted him and if he was saying it, there must be some truth to it. 

"You're not gonna make me go back, are you?"  She asked quietly.

"Of course not," Markos said. "You can stay as long as you need to. I'm happy to have you."

"Are you really?"

"Absolutely," Markos said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you did slam the door in my face earlier," Meadow said, injecting a bit of light teasing back into the conversation to lighten the mood.

"Okay yes. But that was purely an act of desperation," Markos assured her, taking it in jest. "I can promise you it will not happen again."

"Yeah?" Meadow asked again just to be sure.

"100%"

Meadow's face lit up in a smile as she threw herself on top of him and gave him the biggest hug she could muster.

"Yay!" 

Markos happily accepted her embrace and hugged her right back. Meadow gave him one last squeeze before resting her head on his shoulder. Markos rested his head on top of hers and just enjoyed the moment. 

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Markos said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, of course," Meadow said. 

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," Meadow laughed at the randomness of the question. "Why?"

"No reason," Markos shook his head with a satisfied smile on his face. 

Looks like she was still his baby sister after all.