"Sorry I couldn't get you anything better. I figured Ramen Noodles was better than a can of cold beans." Winter says as he sips on the broth of his own soup.

I twist the noddles onto my fork. "No this is perfect. Who knew you could do so many things with one of those hot faucet things."

He laughs. "To be honest, I've used it in more ways within the last couple of days than I have in the year we've had it. I usually stick to tea."

I look at him in confusion. "How have you had it a year? You just moved here a few days ago."

"We reinstalled it here. My dad didn't want to leave it there and have to buy a completely new one here." He explains through a mouthful of noodles.

Dakota walks into the room, scratching his head tiredly even though he's spent most of today napping. "What? You guys made food and there's none for me? I see how it is." He sighs.

"Don't worry, they're a little crunchy since we didn't have boiling water." I shoot Winter a teasing glance to which I earn a wink.

Dakota purses his lips in a pout. "You know that crunchy noodles are my favorite."

"Seriously?" Winter snickers.

"Sorry, D. You can go make some." I ignore him and give my brother a forced smile.

He groans loudly, hanging his head back. "I don't want to."

"Why?" I snort.

"I'm too lazy. You go make me some." He demands, flinging his body into the couch with a huff.

My mouth opens. "Uh...no way."

"Please?" He tries giving me big eyes. "Just be a good sister for once."

I gasp. "Dakota!"

He shrugs this off. "I'm just saying it wouldn't kill you to stop treating me like a third wheel and get me some Ramen."

I pause, glaring at him. "Fine." I seethe, standing up and setting down my own food on the coffee table. "I'll be right back." I sigh before turning and entering the kitchen.

I shuffle to the cabinet I remember has bowls inside and open the doors, pulling one from the stack. Grabbing a packet of the hard noodles, I pull the plastic apart and poor the contents into the bowl, removing the small package of broth seasoning.

Once the bowl has been filled with hot water and has sat for a few moments, I lazily grab a fork from the drawer and walk back to the living room.

" - all I'm saying is that you should be careful." My ears perk up at the sound of Dakota's hushed time. I quickly stand against the wall, careful to not be spotted.

"I know. Thanks for the advice but it's really not a big deal." I hear Winter mumble back.

"It seems like a pretty big deal to me, man." My brother replies lowly. My eyebrows furrow. What does he mean by be careful? Careful of what?

"Look, I'm not going to do anything stupid." I hear.

"You'd better not. This all seems way too weird and complicated so you should cut it off because Sam is clearly attached." My brother says calmly.

There's a silent pause and I can hear my heart beating in my ears. My hands hold the warm bowl carefully as I stand there stiffly.

"It could be nothing." Winter says. "I don't want to hurt her." Hurt who? Me? What's complicated? Is Winter regretting how friendly he'd been with me? If so, why would he act the was he did in the kitchen?

"I think someone is going to have to get hurt if you want to be an honest person." Dakota says firmly. "It's not fair to her if you lead her on."

"I'm not leading her on." Winter immediately replies. "She just got the wrong idea. It's not my fault." He sighs. My face falls and my stomach feels twisted.

"Well clearly you did something to make her act the way she does." My brother says.

"I promise, I didn't. I was just being nice." Winter says lowly.

"Yeah I understand. My advice is to tell her the truth before anything else happens."

"You're right." Winter sighs. "Thanks for the advice, I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this...clearly." He laughs quietly. "Oh and, hey, please don't tell Sam about this."

"Obviously." Dakota snorts causing my nose to scrunch up in annoyance.

With a deep breath, I turn and casually walk into the room. I hold a smile on my lips to cover up the fact that I've been eavesdropping. "Did someone order some Ramen?" I ask dramatically, holding the bowl up by my shoulder like a waitress.

"Me!" Dakota cheers, holding his hands up go receive the food. I carefully place it in his hands. "Thank you." He says with a toothy smile.

I roll my eyes. "As if you didn't force me to get it for you like the master manipulator you are."

His blows a childish raspberry in my direction. "You say manipulator, I say a good brother who uses genius tactics to teach you lessons on servanthood."

"Oh please." I mumble, sinking into the couch.

The two boys continue eating for a few moments before Winter stops suddenly. "Sam, aren't you going to finish eating?"

"I'm not really hungry anymore." I say quietly. Not that I'm lying because, trust me, something about eavesdropping makes you nauseous. Especially when it happens to be about you.

Winter sets down his own bowl. "Well then I'm not eating the rest of mine either." He shrugs, giving me a knowing smile as if he knows there must be a reason my appetite has suddenly left

I force a smile, picking up my bowl. "Fine. I'll eat it." I say begrudgingly. He gifts me a satisfied grin before continuing to eat.

"What wrong with you? You've never turned down food before." Dakota mumbles through his mouthful of noodles.

I shoot him a glare to silence him before speaking through my teeth, "Yes I have."

"No you never do." He says dumbly. "Unless you're mad or upset."

I don't respond, feeling their four eyes on me harshly. I sip on my soup as I try to distract myself from their attention. Mostly Winter's concerned gaze considering Dakota is only staring at me because he think I'm acting weird.

After a few moments, Winter's voice brings me to a pause. "Sam...can I talk to you for a second, please?" He asks me calmly.

I press my lips together and force myself to keep a cool and calm demeanor. "Sure." I keep eating my food, hoping he'll forget to bring it up later.

"Can we talk now?" He presses, finishing his meal.

"Um..." I look over at Dakota to see his raised brows, looking at me as if I'm in trouble. "Yeah, of course."

"What did you do?" Dakota whispers even though Winter can clearly hear him.

"Shut up." I say, red faced, before following Winter into the dining room and then up the stairs. Soon we're standing in his fathers office, the doors closed.

I stand there silently, waiting for him to speak. "Sam, are you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" I reply smoothly, running my fingers along the wooden bookshelves filled with what looks to be everything from Readers Digests to the classics to vintage comics.

"I don't know you just seem off." He shrugs, sitting on the edge of the sturdy desk behind him. "I mean I know it could be nothing I just wanted to ask before some kind of drama or something starts. And I'm not all about that." He jokes with a chuckle.

I laugh along with him, folding my hands in front of me. "Okay okay." I sigh, "I heard you talking to Dakota."

He blinks at me before sighing and turning around, running his hands through his hair and tugging slightly at the ends. "Of course you did." When he turns back around his eyes are foggy with frustration and his hair is ticking up at odd ends.

"Were you talking about me or..." I ask in a small voice.

"Yes." He breathes. "I mean no." He quickly adds before pausing again. "I mean yes...and no. I don't know."

I can't help but laugh a little at his befuddling. "Please explain."

He gives me an annoyed look at my amusement. "Okay so...while you were in the kitchen I took the opportunity to ask Dakota for some advice."

"You asked my brother for advice?" I deadpan. "You do realize he's not even capable to make his own life decisions?"

He rolls his eyes but I spot a ghost of a smile on his lips. "I have no service because the cell towers are down and he's the only guy here. I had a situation and I was desperate." He explains.

"What situation?" I inquire.

Winter takes a seat in the comfortable looking rolling chair behind his fathers desk. "So there's this girl." He says, spinning around once in the chair as my ear heighten at the mention of another girl.

"And?" I press.

"And she's kind of been hitting on me and trying to get me to be with her for a while now." He tells me with an exasperated expression. This brings me a silent comfort because from what I can tell, this girl isn't someone he's exactly fond of.

"How long? Who is she?" I ask him, taking a seat on the desk.

He looks up at me from his seat. "About two years now. Her name is Vanessa."

"Two years? Dang." I mumble. "How do you know her? What's the story?" I ask him, now simply feeling genuinely curious now that the disgusting feeling of jealousy has been swept away by his explanation.

"Yeah it's been a while." He chuckles darkly. "And I can admit that it's partly my fault. When I met her, I thought she was cute and funny so I asked her out to coffee. So we went and I figured out that we just weren't a good fit. But she kept insisting on more dates and so I obliged but after a few months I was one hundred perfect positive that she just wasn't the girl for me. I tried to talk to her but she kept saying we just needed to spend more time together."

My eyes narrow. "So she was basically pushing you into something that just wasn't a natural thing for you?"

"I guess so." He nods, playing with a paper weight in his hands.

"Huh." I hum, "So...has she been hounding you for the last two years or what?"

"Not exactly hounding. She would text me and call me every once and a while and try to make a spark happen but it wasn't there. When I moved here, I thought she'd leave me alone and let it go but she started calling even more." He rolls his eyes.

I think on this, the gears in my head turning. "Is that why you said your phone was dead when we got here?"

He nods. "Yeah. It really was dead, though, because I figured it was easier to have that excuse rather than have to lie to her." He gives me a sad smile and my heart warms at his compassion for this girl. She's obviously really annoying yet he doesn't want to hurt her.

"So is that what Dakota was saying? That you just need to be honest and make it really clear that you don't want her to call you anymore?" I look down into his frustrated expression.

"I want to, Sam. I just...I'm not always great at handling these things and I don't want to hurt anyone." He sighs, running a hand through his hair.

I press my lips together, thinking of any advise I could give him within my very limited experience. I offer him my hand and he gives it small smile before taking it in his own.

"Winter..." I begin, "you're a really amazing guy and I respect your attitude towards this situation a lot...but you're kind of too nice." My nose scrunches as I wait for his reaction.

He gives me a puzzled look. "Too nice?"

"Yeah..." I drawl out, "this girl isn't respecting your wishes or where you stand and so she's kind of asking for a blunt word called no." I chuckle, "I admire your reluctance to hurt her but she's hurting herself by holding onto you and you shouldn't feel obligated to spare her feelings." I speak bluntly.

He blows air through his cheek, scratching at brow. "Wow." He laughs, "No, you're right. You're completely right. I just need to text her - no call her and tell her that I've found someone else and it's never going to happen." He gives me a relieved smile as if I've offered him his freedom. Maybe I have.

"You've found someone else?" I grin, biting my lower lip to contain the smile as I walk around the desk to him.

He swiftly stands, shoving his hands in his pockets as I stop a few feet from him, leaning my hip against the wood. "Haven't I?" He says with a smile. I pretend to contemplate this before scrunching my nose and shaking my head.

"Stop playing with my feelings." He pretends to whine and I burst out laughing.

"You're so weird." I say.

"You like it." He replies.

"Kinda." I admit.