Ten Rules For Dating My Teenage Sister
Summary: Darcy is back from Kenya early after the school dance in Danger Zone. Now she is ready to give KC some rules on dating her sister.
Darcy Edwards leaned casually against the doorframe, yawning tiredly. "Hey....KC, right?" She asked, blinking at the young man that was currently standing infront of her.
"Yeah." He said with a smile and a nod, looking past her, into the foyer. "Is Clare up? I'd really like to see her." It was the morning after the dance where he and Clare had finally gotten together and now here he was, coming to her home to see her. Although he wished that it had been Clare who'd opened the door for him this morning, he also had to admit that he was glad that her sister had answered instead of her mother or father--especially her mother who----didn't seem to care for him too much. Frowning often at the way he dressed when he and Clare were still just friends but walking that fine line into more romantic territory.
"She's in the shower. She should be down in a few minutes, you wanna come in?" The older girl asked, stepping out of the way of the door and holding it open for him.
Thanks." KC replied as he stepped inside and walked into the living room to sit on the sofa.
Darcy curled up in the Lazy Boy recliner across from him and raised an eyebrow. "So....my sister told me that you two are dating now." Her voice was casual, conversational.
"Um....yeah. We are." For some reason his tongue felt dry and he could hardly breathe, let alone speak. 'What was taking Clare so long?' He wondered desperately.
The brown haired girl smiled. "I'm glad. My sister would always write me about you." She commented. Her voice was still so calm and it shouldn't even be making KC nervous but for some reason it was. Darcy was obviously up to something.
"What I'm getting at is....I have some rules for you. Guidelines if you will, for dating my baby sister." Darcy finally told him, her eyes were looking at him firmly.
KC swallowed. "O--kay." Oh God! No wonder he'd been nervous!
"First of all, my sister has never had a boyfriend before. Ever. Clare had always been more about school than guys---unlike me." Darcy said to him as she flipped back her hair.
"I---I'm aware of that." He replied, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"And I am aware of your past. Clare told me but she didn't tell our parents--yet." She said to him.
KC slumped farther into the cusions on the couch. And let out a frustrated sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "So what are you going to do? Tell me I can't see her anymore?" He asked, sounding defeated already.
Darcy raised an eyebrow and sat up further. "No." She stated simply, shaking her head. "Not at all. It doesn't matter to me what you did in the past because you make my sister happy. You could be the perfect little Christian Boy---which is soo NOT my sister's type by the way---and I would still give you rules and guidelines to follow because I don't want Clare to be hurt."
"Neither do I." He challenged. "I really care about Clare."
"Good. Then you can understand where I am coming from. Look...I haven't always been the best sister to Clare. Infact, sometimes it's like she is the big sister and I am the younger one. Especially when my online world and my real world collided a couple of years ago. I mean....Clare protected me. Adams could've easily hurt her. And last year something happened to me and Clare would hear me crying at night and would climb into my bed and hold me so the nightmares would stop. But---there is one thing that I can help her with and that is you. I can make sure that you will keep her safe. I can make sure that you don't hurt her and make sure you don't do anything to take advantage of her." She told him carefully, now sitting on the edge of her seat and looking him straight in the eye.
KC nodded. He could understand that. "Okay then. What are your rules?" He asked.
"Well....number one is for you to respect my sister's boundaries. I am sure that you are aware that she knows about abstinence?" Darcy inquired.
He nodded again. "I can do that. I am not dating her for sex. I really like her."
She grinned. "Good." Then she turned serious. "And Clare informed me before you guys began dating that when she learned about your past you would either ignore her or be rude to her and she said that you told her that she was judgemental. I need for you to promise me that you will never do that again. It really hurt her--more than she'd care to admit. She isn't judgemental. She knows that people make mistakes and really understands that people aren't perfect--and she doesn't expect them to be. She wouldn't be dating you if she didn't like you or if you were a bad person. She sees the good in you. That would be rule number two."
"Yeah...I really regret ever telling her she was judgemental. I was the judgemental one. I was lumping her in with people who judged me." KC admitted guiltily.
"Well atleast you know that now. Now onto rule number three. Never, ever cheat on Clare. If you do, I will kick your ass and Spinner and Peter probably would too. And so would Jane. They all really like Clare." Darcy warned him.
He shook his head wildly. "I would never cheat on her, Darcy. I care way too much for Clare."
"It's just a warning. I mean...I don't want you going off and cheating on her because she doesn't want sex." She said to him. "Rule number four. Take my sister to your group home. She doesn't think that you trust her enough to take her. Money and material things are not important to her."
KC looked down. "What if I am ashamed that I don't have a family? I mean...you guys have like...the perfect life."
Darcy laughed. "Oh please! We hardly have the perfect life! Our father barely talks and stands up for himself, my sister and I grew up believing that masturbation was a sin---she told me how mom wouldn't look at her when she found out about Clare having that vibrator. Mom also, sometimes forces her opinions on others and is sometimes way too judgemental. Which brings me to my fifth rule---don't punish Clare or judge her because of how our parents behave. She is so much different from them, which is amazing seeing as when I was her age and older, I was very judgemental, just like our parents."
He flushed and bit his lip. "So your parents might not like me?"
She snorted. "Believe me. They don't like anyone. They didn't like Spinner or Peter when I was dating them. Clare adored--and still does adore, both of them."
"What is rule number six?" He asked, feeling slightly better knowing that other people were hated by his girlfriend's parents.
Darcy chewed her lip nervously and streaked a hand through her hair. "Ask Clare why she wore her school uniform for so long. The answer is way more serious than you think." She knew why her sister wore it. To hide her body, to be invisible to boys, it was why she'd promised herself that very first day of school that she was going to school for academics and not boys. Darcy's rape had affected Clare greatly.
KC raised an eyebrow at the odd request but said nothing. He'd ask Clare about it when they left the house.
"Rule number seven, protect my sister and love her and trust her. Don't ever hurt her." She said to him.
"Um...okay. That seems like more than one rule though."
"It's not." Darcy told him. "Now number eight. Tell her about your past. She deserves to know. Number nine, don't pick on her for her beliefs. She was picked on a bullied way too much in middle school."
"Okay." KC said carefully. "And number ten?"
She smiled carefully and leaned in to whisper. "Make my sister happy."
He opened his mouth to speak when a voice said behind him, "KC?" He turned in his seat and saw Clare, standing by the stairs. He stood up, walked over and enveloped her in a hug, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Hey Clare." He said, pulling away to smile down at her.
She grinned at him shyly, eyes sparkling. "Sorry I took so long. "
"It isn't a problem. Darcy and I got the chance to talk. KC said, as he grinned at Darcy who passed by them on the way up the stairs. He was going to respect all those rules because Clare was worth it.
End