Hello! This is my first ever fanfic, so I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. Please give me advice on how to improve! This a one shot (so I can get the feel of writing). Also, don't expect me to be writing lots of stories; I'll just be doing it if I feel like doing it in my free time. Enjoy!

Sadies' POV:

I arrived at Brooklyn house late at night after going on a date with Anubis. We had just gone for dinner at a fancy restaurant, and then we strolled through the park in the moonlight. When I had started to tire, he scooped me up (after a lot of protesting), and carried me bridal style back to the mansion. He's the most romantic and adorable person-well, god-I have ever met! Even though he IS the god of funerals and death, he has a sweet and caring side, and I feel like his chocolate eyes just see right into my soul, and his smile turn my legs to noodles, and I just love him so…

Ugh, Sadie, you're being so lovey-dovey right now! Snap out of it! Thank the gods he's not right here right now. That would be SO embarrassing if he found out you actually love him. That's too forward, and you really don't want to ruin your relationship.

I frowned and bit my nails thinking about Anubis breaking up with me if he really did hear me say "I love you" ever. That cannot happen! As I opened the front door, a sudden thought hit me.

Oh no… Now I got to deal with Carter and the "protective brother routine". He's going to freak out about how I've been out too late, that I shouldn't be going out with a god, and…

I look down at my black strapless dress, which appropriately hits above the knee.

that I shouldn't have worn this dress.

I rolled my eyes at that last thought, because Carter is pretty old fashioned compared to most of our generation, and since he was homeschooled by Dad, he never got to really experiment with fashion (unlike moi).

I smirked. He really needs to get out more and learn to be a freaking teenager, not some old college professor! Too bad I can't laugh at his outfits as much as I could when we moved into Brooklyn House. I mean, it's a shame that he did improve his sense of style over the past couple of months, but what at least he's less embarrassing than before.

I cautiously headed up the stairs. Huh, the coast is clear. I was confused. Where is everyone? It's kind of difficult to hide all the initiates from sight… All the lights downstairs were off, no one was hanging out in the living room, and I didn't see Khufu eating JELL-O. Something was obviously not right. As I continued to wander the hallways, I heard a crash in the entertainment room. I grabbed my staff and wand from the Duat and sprinted over. She kicked the door open, got a fighting stance and took in the situation.

"What's happening in here?!" I yelled.

The lights were out and all I saw were many, many pairs of eyes, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces, and laser-tag guns.

"Sadie," whispered a small voice.

I turned on the lights, and looked down on the floor only to see a startled Cleo mid army crawl with glassy eyes. I looked around the room and was welcomed with cold glares from every single person, including Carter, who was crouching on the ground and looked like steam was coming out of his ears. Then it hit me.

"Oh-oh my gods, I am so sorry Cleo! I-"

Carter slowly got up from his crouch and walked up to me with a furious look on his face. This time I was in for it. I had done a terrible, terrible thing and was already upset at myself. I didn't need everyone else's disapproval.

Carter quietly said, "Shut up."

"But I can explain!"

He looked at me like I was scum; I felt like the worst person in the world.

"Sadie, I don't need an explanation. You planned this birthday party for Cleo, and yet, you missed it! How could you bail on us like that? We were all shocked when you didn't show up with the giant piñata, and Cleo," he looked at me with a disappointed look in his eyes, "you should go apologize to her. We need to talk later, okay? Also, don't bother staying for the rest of the party." He raised his laser gun up and yelled "3, 2, 1, GO!"

The rest of the kids looked at each other uncertainly, but soon were yelling and laughing at each other again. Cleo just looked at me with tears welling in her eyes, and I pulled her outside the room.

"Cleo, please forgive me. I didn't mean to miss your special day!"

Cleo stared at the ground and sniffled a bit. "Sadie, I thought you were my friend… Friends don't miss each other's birthdays. I was counting on you being there! You have always been so nice to me, and I just can't believe you could betray me like this! Well… I do trust you and know you have a good reason as to why you missed the party. What was so important that you couldn't show up?" She looked up at me curiously.

Cleo is the most innocent person I know. She's so smart, kind, caring, and the list goes on and on.

I am a jerk.

This girl looks up to me, and I had failed to show up on what was supposed to be the happiest day of the year for her. How could I tell her that the reason I didn't come was because I was on a date?

I stared at her dejectedly. "Uh… well, you see… the reason I wasn't here is… I was…" My voice trailed off. Carter had come back out, and he was gesturing for me to follow him. I looked back at Cleo who slumped a little when she noticed I wasn't going to tell her.

"Thanks Sadie. The party was great. You know what I really wanted for my birthday? Your trust. I know you just see me as the little librarian, the book worm, a nerd, etc. You've always been a role model for me, but I wish you could see me as your little sister or something," her lip trembled, "Thanks for the best and worst day ever." She started crying and ran away down the hallway. I was about to run after her when Carter grabbed my wrist.

"Soothe her later, talk with me now."

He dragged me to his room and made me sit down on the bed.

"Sadie, where the heck were you?! And don't lie, otherwise I'll give you a truth potion."

I whispered hoarsely "I was with Anubis."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I was with Anubis on a date"

Carter looked taken back. "You missed this amazing party that you planned to go on a date with Anubis? And in that dress? Seriously?!" He started to pace.

"I had planned this date with him at least a week ago-"

"You planned this party at least two weeks ago!"

I yelled at him "I didn't realize that both were on the same day!"

He looked at me sternly. "You know what? I knew that it was a bad idea all along."

I calmed down a little and asked "What was?"

"You dating a god," he spit.

I raised my voice again, "He isn't just a god! Anubis is the best thing that's happened to me! I can't believe you think me dating Anubis is bad! He's the most sweet, caring person ever, and at least HE doesn't treat me like a baby, unlike YOU!"

Carter snarled. "Sadie, you ARE a baby! You can't handle responsibility, you don't stay on task, you don't have priorities, heck, you couldn't even show up to a party YOU PLANNED!"

I retorted, "Oh, so I can help save the world, but I can't even choose my boyfriend? What kind of messed up logic is that?!"

He yelled "You know it's not right to date him! He's immortal, and you're not. You will grow old and die someday! Then what? If he doesn't break your heart before then, he'll just move onto some other teenage girl. He's like a pedophile or something!"

I screamed, "WHAT THE HECK, CARTER, HE IS NOT A PEDOPHILE! He's pretty much our age. He's a teenager too, compared to the other gods! Listen, you can't stop me from loving him!" I was shaking with anger by then. How dare he insult Anubis! However, I also started to panic.

Oh my gods, I just told Carter I love Anubis. What if he's right? What if Anubis dumps me? He could easily find another girl, and she would fall in love so easily… He is handsome, but he can also be creepy, but on the flip side, he's also kind, but then again she might not like the funeral and death god part of him. And if he does stay with me, I would grow old and gray and wrinkly (blegh)! Would he age his appearance too, for my sake? Or after I'm dead, would he stay with my ghost in the afterlife, considering the fact that he's the god of funerals. Maybe he would arrange my funeral, and mourn me, but then see me again in like 5 minutes when my dad weighs my heart… Holy crap, my dad is going to weigh my heart! If I'm bad he's going to make Ammit eat it! I shake my head. Earth to Sadie, you better listen to what Carter is saying if you want to make a good counterargument.

I blinked my eyes a bit and heard Carter saying "-none of this should've happened, you could've just dated Walt! At least then he could keep you in check."

He turned to go open the door for me to leave. I clenched my fists. I was so done with this crap. I screamed at him, "You know what? Time for a little history lesson. You know how tomorrow is America's Independence Day? It was the day that the U.S.A declared freedom from Britain because they were too controlling. The "price of their love", aka taxes, was a price that we were not willing to pay. I think it's time for the tables to turn. I'm a born and raised Brit, and you're an American. I say it's time for Britain's freedom. I'm done with your overprotectiveness, Carter, and you are not going to control me anymore! I've grown up and can handle myself. That's my declaration. GOOD BYE!"

I stalked out of his room, leaving Carter with his jaw hanging open, and slammed my door close.


Carter's POV:

What. Just. Happened.

I heard yells coming from the entertainment room. "Why is the penguin-", "-ate a laser gun?!", "AHHH RUN THE LASERS ARE COMING FROM THEY'RE MOUTHS-", "-all Felix's fault, get him-", and "AGHH AGHH AGHH!"

Wait, that last one was a distress call from Khufu. Oh gods, that's not good. I'll have to talk with Sadie again later.

I groaned and ran back to where all the noise was coming from. When I looked inside, it was as if Chaos itself had ravaged through the room. I saw the initiates hiding behind furniture, climbing up the rock wall, and in general just trying to get away from the laser shooting penguins.

Hold up, they're seriously shooting lasers.

I noticed that the three penguins were indeed shooting lasers whenever they opened their beaks. It looked like they were trying to play with the kids, but seeing that some initiates had their hair singed off, I guessed they weren't having fun. I quickly ninja-rolled over to Felix because, obviously, who else would have created them?

"Dude, why haven't you destroyed them yet?" I yelled at him over the din of loud screams.

He glanced at me and said "I've been TRYING to, but I can't focus! Julian, Alyssa, Zia, Jaz, and Walt can't get a clear shot at them either."

I shook my head. "Distract them. I'm going in."

I grabbed my khopesh from the Duat and leaped into battle-well, if you call fighting laser shooting penguins a battle. It was pretty easy to kill them. As soon as I hit them, they disappeared and all that was left were 3 small patches of snow, and a laser gun in the middle of each. Slowly, the initiates started gathering back in the center of the room, letting out sighs of relief. I looked directly into each pair of eyes until they looked away.

"Would anyone care to explain what happened while I was gone?" I growled at the students.

They all pointed at Felix. Felix turned red and stared at the floor.

"Felix? Did you lose control of the penguins?"

He answered dejectedly, "Yes."

"Explain."

He looked up at me sheepishly. "Well… See, what happened was that we were playing laser tag, and I was having so much fun, so I thought 'What could make this even better? Penguins!'. So I created some penguins, but I still haven't figured out how they found those real laser guns, and well… they ate them. The real guns. Not fakes like ours. Everyone thought it was funny that the penguins were playing laser tag with us, but when one of the girls' hair was burned off by a penguin," the girl showed me her ragged hair, "we all panicked and started yelling. Khufu was trying to knock them out with his basketball, but they just deflated it when it was shot with a laser; that's when he freaked out and grunted his distress call." Khufu let out a supportive "agh". Felix took a deep breath, "Then you came, and you know the rest."

I stared at him, dumbfounded with this whole story.

"Just an ordinary day at Brooklyn House," I said wearily. "Okay everyone, I think we can all agree that this very memorable party is finally over. Happy birthday, Cleo! It's getting late, so I think we can just clean up tomorrow morning. Good night everyone."

The tired initiates cleared out of the entertainment room, dragging themselves to their rooms. Some of the let out happy sighs, while others were just thankful that the penguin fiasco was over.

It's late, Sadie's probably already asleep. I'll just talk with her in the morning.

I walked to my room quietly, but before I opened the door, I stared at Sadie's door. I sighed and went to bed.


Sadie's POV:

After Carter had left, I lay on my bed for what seemed like hours, letting everything that I had said sink in. I smiled happily.

Sadie, that was a real nice declaration. That doofus needs to get the memo already! I'm growing up and don't need a chaperone 24/7.

I nibbled on my nail.

I guess he's right though. I don't have priorities. I can't handle responsibility.

I started to cry, but all of a sudden, a shadow appeared at my window. I grabbed a lamp (What? Lamps can be good for self defense. A sturdy lamp can knock a person out. Don't ask how I learned that.) and silently moved to the window.

"Ah!"

I jumped back when I saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes look back at me.

"I can't hang here forever" drawled a voice.

"Oops, sorry Anubis!" I quickly opened the window and pulled him in. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to see you," he looked into my eyes.

I blushed and said, "You're so adorable." Then I remembered why I had missed Cleo's party and looked down.

"What's wrong?" he lifted my chin up so I would look at him.

"Nothing."

"No, something is definitely wrong."
"No…"

"You can tell me, Sadie. You trust me don't you?"

"Yes…" I whined, "but I don't want you to be upset."

"And why would I be upset?"

"Because."

"Sadie…"

The truth rushed out so fast that I couldn't even control what details I said. I told him everything, from planning Cleo's party, planning our date, missing the party, and a word for word account of my fight with Carter. I started sobbing, and he hugged me to his chest. I just let all the tears out, and he soothed me.

"Sadie, did you mean everything you said to Carter?"

I sniffled, "Yes. Why?"

He smiled slyly, "Because you said you loved me to him."

I blushed furiously, "I- uh, it just- I didn't- I mean, you don't-"

He put a finger to my lips.

"Sadie Ruby Kane, I love you too." Then he kissed me.

By then I was as red as a tomato. I hoped it was too dark for him to notice, but then he pulled back and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I've never seen you blush so much Sadie. I'm glad you love me so much." He hugged me and stroked my hair. "However, tomorrow, you need to talk with your brother about giving you some more privacy and trust. He loves you a lot, and just wants to keep you safe from everything. He feels like he has to, now that both your mom and dad are not around to take care of both of you anymore." He looked away. "I hope Carter will accept me as your boyfriend someday. Well, he'll have to warm up to me if you love me." He smirked at me.

I gently shoved him. "You love me too, so he'll just have to get used to that." I smiled up at him, and he smiled back.

"I better go, but I'll see you soon, Sadie." He opened the window and gracefully jumped out; and with that, he vanished in a wisp a smoke.

I sighed and went to bed.

I am so not looking forward to tomorrow…

When I woke up, the sky was gray, and the sun was about to rise. I quickly got up and went to take a shower and get ready for the day.

Let's get this over with.

I marched down the stairs and headed to the dining area for breakfast. The only other people there were Carter, Amos, and Khufu.

Uncle Amos greeted me cheerfully. "Good morning, and Happy Independence Day! Did you sleep well?"

I nodded. "No dreams, thankfully."

Khufu looked up from his bowl of Cheerios and and barked.

Smiling, I said "How did you know? I will talk to Carter, but after some breakfast."

Carter just kept eating and didn't say a word to me when I took a seat, but he did offer me syrup for my pancakes. After a while, I couldn't bear the tension anymore and pulled Carter up from the table and into the kitchen.

I looked at him miserably. "Listen, I'm sorry I yelled at you like that yesterday, but I really do need more freedom from you."

"I understand."

"And I know that you might not be okay with that, but- wait, you understand?"

"Yeah, I've been way too overprotective. I finally understood when you gave me that history lesson." He smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, in that case, does that mean I'm free from your constant control?" I said eagerly.

He pondered about it. "Yeah, but I just want to let you know that I still don't fully approve of Anubis, but… he has good morals and isn't a bad influence."

I cheered at this. "Yay! Because we both love each other, so HAH! Can't do anything 'bout that, can you?" I did a victory dance, until I heard Carter snickering and saw the initiates had come downstairs and were recording me on their cellphones.

Julian laughed and said "This is going to go viral, just you wait!"

I chuckled and looked at their cameras. "Happy Independence Day!"

So... How was it? I hope it wasn't completely terrible. Tell me if you think I should write more. Also, did anyone notice the Hamilton references? ...No? Okay. *goes back to corner* Everyone have a great 4th of July! Remember to Read, Rate, and Review :D