"Hey, talk to me, Kicks. What's up?" Ethan says, cornering me against the section of counter between our refrigerator and the crockery cabinets.

Simon dropped us off after cockily asking if we wanted a ride or preferred to stalk them home. I am so glad that Dell finally found a boy that knows how to handle her intimidating brother. All her previous attempts at dating died premature deaths because Ethan believes that it is his duty as her brother to test any boy who even looks at her twice.

He'd glare at them, throw around mild threats, challenge them, whatever took his fancy at any given time. They almost always ran away without putting up much of a fight, and the situation just got worse the bigger Ethan became. I was starting to think that Dell was going to be forced to remain single for the rest of her life.

Until Simon came.

Simon patiently took all Ethan's antics and posturing in his stride, not willing to give up, and the guy really went all out to scare Sy away. If there's one thing nobody can deny, it is that Ethan is extremely protective of his sister, even to the extent that she'd on occasion threatened him with grievous bodily harm if he didn't give her some space. She's not breakable, and she is rather level-headed; there is really no need for him to want to guard her so fiercely.

The fact is that it runs both ways. Delia is often the cause of the ending of Ethan's less-than-savoury relationships. She has no qualms about telling girls she doesn't like to take a hike, and they usually do. Heck, I would run if Dell ever decided to level those blue eyes on me in anger. I am very fortunate that she loves me. I'm the only girl she doesn't glare into the ground for hanging out with her brother.

Fortunately, I am sibling free and can date and hang out with whomever I want; nobody interferes.

Wait... I only hang out with Dell... and Ethy... Apparently, he beat Cole up with a skateboard, and I do remember Liam suddenly saying goodbye and running home whenever Ethan or Delia made an appearance. Coincidence?

There was that boy in ninth grade that I rather liked. Timmy. He was new in town and flirted with me a bit, and then suddenly, one day, he wanted nothing to do with me, and then he started to date someone else. He acted as though I had rabies, and he was terrified of me each time I came near him.

I was heartbroken, and Dell just stroked my hair and tutted and told me the boy was not worthy of me, and Ethan... he grinned and shrugged and said something about weaklings. Surely, he didn't do anything to scare him off? Why would he? He's not my brother, and Timmy wasn't threatening in the least. I barely got to know the guy!

And he wasn't even the only boy I had that kind of experience with...

One day, about a week after they met each other, Simon stood up to Ethan. It was impressive.

"Look, Bro," he'd said, getting to his feet when Ethan joined us in the Fletchers' living room and proceeded to glare at the boy just peacefully having a conversation with his sister while we were getting ready to watch a movie on TV. "I get that Delia is your sister and that you treasure her, and I admire you for that and am glad that she has someone like you to look out for her. If you don't mind, I'd prefer it if you'd break my bones only if I hurt her in some way.

"But if you feel the need to beat me up regardless, just get on with it then. You and I both know that I'm no match for you. Just know that you're going to have to do it often if hanging out with your sister is the only reason you need to lay into me. I'd actually like to get along with you, maybe even become friends if that is possible, because I'm going to ask your sister to be my girlfriend and if she says yes, I'm not going anywhere, doesn't matter what you do."

We all just stared at Simon after that speech because, up until that moment, he'd been gentle and docile and very sweet. Delia got to her feet too and wrapped both her hands around one of his, resting her head against his bicep, grinning happily at her brother. "I'm going to say yes, Ethe, so you'd better get your fists up, but just remember that I'm still a biter, and I know all your vulnerable spots."

I knew when Ethan's smile broke out that we had a winner. I think he'd been waiting for that speech for so many years and was happy to finally get it. They did become friends. They might not have all that much in common aside from their love for Delia, but they seem to understand each other pretty well and have, on many occasions, hung out together without Delia in the mix. All in all, I think Simon's been a calming influence on Ethan, even more so than James.

I wish he were here now to exact some of that influence because I'm feeling extremely vulnerable with Ethan's hands resting on the edge of the counter on either side of my hips and his impossibly blue eyes boring into mine. He is too close! My heart is jumping around, and my breathing has become shallow. I don't want to talk about what's going on with me.

"You've been acting odd since Sy mentioned this weekend. What is it about the weekend that is freaking you out so much? I won't ask you to join us on the boat for the race, don't worry."

I push against his chest to make some space between us, startled, as always, about the solidity of his muscles and the warmth radiating from him. Ethan's body is always running at high temperatures. If there's aircon available, he cranks it up to North Pole levels, whether it's winter or summer. Living in Summerfields is sheer hell for the guy because the temperatures here always tend to hang around in the late 20s or early 30 degrees celsius, and that's on the cooler days.

"Nothing," I croak, pushing a bit harder when he's not budging. I glare up at his face, and perhaps I'm looking a little panicked because he lets go of the counter to fold his arms over his chest, no longer crowding me in but also not leaving me enough room to escape.

"Kicks, come on..."

His gentle tone startles me into taking a deep breath, and then I just spell it out for him. "It's a long weekend," well, at least I spell it out partially.

"Yes, and?"

"Amber," my voice fails me, and now I wish I hadn't said anything.

For a few seconds, Ethan just stares at me with absolutely no comprehension on his face, and then he starts to frown, his lips curling in disgust.

"I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying."

"Which is?" I have no idea what I could be saying to make him look at me like that.

"That you want to hand me over to her to continue the tutoring."

"Huh?" That was not what I was saying.

"Really, Kicks?" Why is he looking so upset now? "You find all of this so bad; you'd have a girl, I know you cannot stand, take over for you?"

"What?!"

"I know that you didn't want to marry me, okay," he growls, looking really sad now. Marry? Are we back to fourth grade now? Again? Why? "I know you wanted Robert Kingsley; hell knows why! The guy was such a baby! He cried every time I just looked at him for too long. Apparently, that is your type because all the guys you develop crushes on are like that." They are? "Do you want me to hand you over to him too, so he can teach you all about dating?"

"Huh?"

"I know he has a girlfriend these days, but hey, she wouldn't stand a chance against you. Want me to go put in a good word for you with Robert? I promise I won't make him cry again."

"Have you lost your mind?" I finally manage to splutter.

"Yes, I have! The second you said that you want to hand me over to Amber."

"First of all, I don't want Robert, and I never wanted him. He always had M&Ms of all kinds with him, and you know how I love M&Ms! I was hoping that if he were my groom, he'd share them with me. You, on the other hand, just liked pulling my hair and stealing my sweets! I didn't want to marry you because... oh, hell knows why! I was eight!"

Ethan's frown just keeps on deepening, and he is chewing quite harshly on his bottom lip now. I flinch when he shoots out a hand, his arm straightening past my head to open our snack cabinet tucked into the corner to my right. I don't know why I'm ducking; he has never in all the years that I've known him even tried to hit either me or Delia.

He plucks out my stash of M&Ms and shoves it into my hands.

"There are your precious M&Ms! Do you want me now?"

"These were mine even before you gave them to me!" I glare at him, pop the lid off my plastic container and grab a handful of crunchy goodness. I always buy many different bags and empty them all together into this bucket and refill it when I run out... usually after visits from Ethan. Surprisingly, he just keeps on glaring at me when I offer him the container, so I shove the lid back in place and plop it on the counter next to me. Shoving the sweets into my mouth, I crunch them with my teeth, trying to be as noisy as possible.

"What's your problem?!" I snap when I'm done chewing, and he is still glaring at me. I really don't enjoy the way he is looking at me. He is acting as if I've offended him or something. Actually, no, he never cares when I offend him... which is as often as possible.

"My problem?" he grunts. "My girlfriend is trying to pass me off on another girl. A girl she doesn't even like!"

He's right. I don't like Amber, and I've told Ethan many times that I hate the way she looks down on him and says condescending things to him, telling him that he's stupid and should leave the thinking to her.

"You also think I'm stupid," he'd frowned at me the last time I'd objected to her treatment of him.

"No, I don't; I think you're an idiot. There's a vast difference, Ethan! I don't think you're stupid!"

I had to clarify to him that an idiot is someone who plays paintball with his friends, wearing only goggles and underpants and then has brawls to determine who has the most bruises. Being an idiot is a voluntary thing that has nothing to do with intelligence... the same thing as being a moron. I call him and his friends that often, but I've never called him stupid.

He is far from stupid. He did, for example, study up on more than a year's worth of maths in just one week to push his grade up to almost an A. He can do anything when he puts his mind to it.

Amber does not deserve him!

"Don't the two of you get all tangled up every time she visits her grandmother?" I ask, trying to be reasonable.

"I don't usually have a girlfriend when that happens," Ethan mutters, and something about his glittering eyes is just completely off.

"Well... that's why I want to know if you want to put our... thing... on hold for the weekend or... end it so you can-"

"Wow! Aren't you just the most accommodating girlfriend ever?!" he shouts.

His shoes squeal in objection, as does my heart when he turns on his heel and leaves the house, slamming the kitchen door behind him.

What just happened?!

♂

Delia drops her paintbrush, leaving a blotch of purple on her paper and clicking her tongue, she sets the dirty paintbrush in the glass with colourful water and uses a clean brush and water from the glass of clear water to get rid of the unplanned splash.

I'm the reason for her watercolour mishap. I came charging into her room and dove onto her bed, burying my head among all the throw pillows she loves to arrange all over the place.

"Sorry," I grunt, stacking as many pillows as I can onto my head.

"Kiki? What's wrong?" Her painting saved, Delia puts the other brush in the glass, too and turns away from her art desk to look at me with concern.

Oh, right! I can never just collapse on her bed without her knowing that I'm upset. I only do the pillow burial thing when I want to hide from the world and cry for a week. It's a reflex! And to think I came over here, thinking I was going to be very calm about this and simply ask her advice like a normal person.

"I think Ethan and I are fighting... or we broke up... or something," I tell her, swallowing against some misguided tears clogging my throat.

"Why the hell would you do something like that?!" she exclaims, giving me a horrified look. Really? Why wouldn't we?

I sit up, frowning at her, my lips pulled into a lowercase "n" and Delia's face softens.

"Kiki, people don't break up just because they have a disagreement," she says, leaving her seat to join me on the bed and run a gentle hand over my messed-up hair. "Especially not you and Ethe..."

That was what Daddy said. He came into the kitchen just as Ethan slammed the door shut behind him, and when he saw my bewildered face, he wanted to know if everything was alright. When I told him that Ethan and I had a fight and that I think we're done now, he said virtually the same thing Dell just said, and then he hugged me.

"Sy and I often disagree, and we're nowhere near breaking up, and neither are you."

"Why, especially not me and Ethy?"

"Because... uhm," Delia brushes her fingers through the curls floating freely around her shoulders and bites her lip, thinking. "You cannot break up. This is really important to Ethan... and I think it is important to you too."

That's it? That is the reason?

"What are you fighting about anyway?" she shrugs, running her hand over my shoulder now. "Aren't you always fighting?"

Yes, we are, but this was different.

"Amber."

"What?!" Delia snatches her hand away as if I bit her, her eyes sparking with anger now. "Why the hell would you fight about that man-eater?"

"She's a man-eater?" Well, I did know that she's a piranha, but... "Isn't Ethy the only man she tries to eat?"

"No, have you been asleep?" Dell seems almost as upset as Ethan had been earlier. "She messes with him, ties him in knots and then she goes after his friends, doing her best to rile them up against each other. The stupid cow doesn't seem to get it into her thick skull that those guys have each other's backs. Even Jet won't allow a girl to come between him and his mates."

"She goes after his friends?" I knew she was a flirt, but why would she even think that she'd stand a chance with his friends? And why would she do that to Ethan? Why would anybody?

"Oh, my word, Kiki! You didn't know?"

"I don't normally hang out with Ethy and his friends much, and when she's here, I stay way clear because she's mean! And Ethan never really talked about what went wrong between them... At least not with me."

"That's true," Delia concedes, and then she smiles, tucking stray strands of hair behind my ears. "Well, I'm glad Ethe has you now. You won't let that bush harpy get her claws into my brother this weekend, right? You'll take good care of him, won't you?"

Oh, my soul! I cannot tell Dell why we were fighting; she'll kill me!

And I now feel quite horrible. Is that why Ethan is always so down when Amber leaves? Does she cheat on him and break his heart? Did I just remind him of that in a very insensitive way? I really do feel as though I'd been asleep all these years.

Well, even if Dell is right, that doesn't mean that he is not dating me just to get to Amber somehow. I'm trapped in a mess! I have no idea what to do now!

"Are you sure that she's not the love of his life and the reason he's dating me and trying to change?"

"No! She's definitely not!" The look Delia is giving me is so filled with horror that I decide not to pursue this storyline.

"Why don't you just chase her away then?!" I demand to know, feeling quite ready to flee myself being a victim of her glaring eyes.

"I tried; now it's up to you, Kiki. Don't let me down."

♂♀