A/N: While this story was my idea and I physically typed it all myself, I did not get all the ideas for it myself. The lovely delightisadream and I sat in my room and talked through this story for about half an hour. There are parts of it that were entirely her ideas, so credit to her where credit is due. :)

Daniel Miller sat in his garage on a Friday morning, eating a bowl of cereal before school. He wasn't particularly excited about going in today, nor was anyone in his class. It was finally senior year and while every senior at Iridium High felt like it should be April by now, it was only October. Everyone was slacking on everything: the preps on their homework, the jocks on their workouts, Gigi and Sebastian on their vlogs… Senioritis had invaded IHS and if Daniel's droopy eyelids were any indication, it didn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

"Hey, Daniel," his sister Melanie's voice sounded from around the corner. "Have you seen my lip gloss?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows with surprise but answered her anyway. "Uh, no I hav—"

He choked on his cereal before he could finish the word.

Melanie had just entered the room and she looked… quite a bit different than he was used to. She was in sixth grade this year, which meant she'd graduated from the Iridium Elementary School uniform to the Iridium Middle School uniform. And the IMS uniform did noooot look like the IES uniform. For one thing, the top Mel wore was rather tight on her chest, with a lower neckline. For another, her skirt was shorter. Not to mention her knee socks had been swapped out for knee-high cutoff tights.

Daniel had spent far too many years in the locker room with his fellow males to feel even slightly comfortable with what he was seeing.

Melanie paused mid-search for her gloss to take in her eldest brother's demeanor. At first he'd been coughing, but now he was staring at her with a weird look on his face. Her nose crinkled up. "What's wrong with you?"

"Uh…" What was he supposed to say?! This was not a responsibility big brothers were supposed to have! This was what dads were for, to tell their daughters to go change immediately, young lady. Where was their dad, anyway? "Uh…"

"Is something wrong with my outfit?" Mel asked, biting her lower lip self-consciously.

"Uh… no…"

"Do I look bad?"

Say yes! Say yes then maybe she'll change into the pant version of the uniform and throw on a cardigan, too! "N-No," he stuttered slowly, "you look… nice?"

Clearly, his reassurance didn't help. Mel pulled at her skirt anxiously and mumbled to herself, "I hope Jonathan likes it…"

Every bone in Daniel's body stiffened. "Jonathan?" He crossed his arms, trying not to scowl. "Who's Jonathan?"

Mel's eyes went wide, realizing her error. "Uh…"

Just then, Robbie's voice wafted into the room, saying something about "need to grab my good football for practice during free period." Just as quickly, he and Tommy arrived in the garage doorway.

"I'll be waiting in the car, guys!" Mel said quickly, pushing past her youngest and second-oldest brother and disappearing down the hall.

Robbie paid no mind, combing through the garage's contents in search of his football. Tommy hung back, waiting on his older brother.

However, Daniel saw an opportunity and he didn't want his eight-year-old brother present when he took it. "Uh, Tom," he said as casually as he could, "why don't you head on out to the car, too?"

Tommy gave Daniel a funny look. "Why?"

"Just do it," Daniel hissed.

And just like that, the little boy fled the premises.

Success.

"I know it's in here somewhere…" Robbie mumbled to himself, looking underneath the coffee table.

Daniel turned around in his chair and beckoned, "Robbie."

The younger boy looked up at his older brother cautiously. He too was growing up, but the changes weren't drastic. Mostly he just immersed himself in sports and tried to act tough. "What…?" he asked wearily.

"I know where your football is."

"You do?" He stood up from his crouched position and hustled over to the table. "Well where is it?"

"I'll tell you. If you answer some questions for me first."

The seventh grader rolled his eyes. "C'mon, dude, I have to get to school."

"Yeah, yeah." Daniel waved a hand dismissively. "Did you notice anything about the way Mel was dressed?"

Robbie drew his eyebrows together, deep in thought. After a moment, he said, "She was wearing clothes…"

"No, no." Daniel leaned in closer to his little bro. "I mean, did you think it looked a little too…" He raised his eyebrows and said in a lowered voice, "yanno."

The second eldest Miller child blinked, now even less comfortable than he already had been. "No, Daniel, I…," he mocked his tone and finished, "don't know."

Daniel sighed with frustration. Did he really have to spell it out? This was awkward enough as it was! "Yanno…" And then it came to him: he could demonstrate. He made some suggestive faces and began to unbutton his dress shirt, slowly thrusting his chest from side to side, front to back.

Robbie looked like he was ready to run, but before he could do anything, someone stopped in front of the garage door.

It was their dad.

Rick had actually been on his way to wish his eldest a nice day at school (it'd taken all morning but he'd finally worked up the courage), but the "show" he appeared to be putting on for his younger brother immediately erased those plans.

Daniel stopped what he was doing and sputtered, "Dad, I can explain—"

But Rick held up his hands and cut him off. "Please," he said through the best attempt at a smile he could muster. "Don't bother." He walked past the door and hollered, "Christine, please tell me you didn't unpack my suitcase."

From somewhere else in the house, his wife yelled, "AWW, YOU JUST GOT BACK!"

Robbie shook his head, trying to erase the last fifteen seconds from his memory. "Uh, no, Daniel, I didn't notice, because I don't look at our sister that way." He gave Daniel a very pointed, accusatory look.

"Hey, hey!" Daniel pointed at his brother. "Don't you even, okay? I know the rumors that go around my school, and I know the rumors that go around your school, but I am not like that!" He cleared his throat and composed himself. "Anyway. She mentioned some Jonathan kid, and—"

"Yeah, that's her boyfriend," Robbie said in a tone that oozed duh.

Daniel's eyebrow immediately started twitching. "Boyfriend?"

"Yah. They've been together for like two weeks. You might know that if you weren't half asleep all the time…" Before Daniel had time to process this information, Robbie quickly said, "Look, I've gotta go. Where's my football?"

Daniel's shoulders slumped. "It's in the backyard. I brought it out there last night because Mom said Dad agreed to practice with me."

"He never showed up?"

"No…"

Robbie shook his head and started for the door.

"WAIT!" Daniel yelled, realizing he knew absolutely nothing about the situation at hand. "What do they do together? Do they…" He made a couple of kissy noises.

Robbie's face scrunched up. "I don't know!"

"Well, what's this kid like?"

"I dunno, I really don't know him that well. I guess he's cool."

"HE'S LIKE JAX?!" Daniel burst.

"…What?"

"Robbie," Christine's defeated voice called from down the hall, "get in the car. I'll try not to cry while I drive you kids to school…"

"Have a nice day," the younger boy muttered as he made a mad dash out the door.

Daniel banged his head on the table, groaned, grabbed his backpack, and headed outside. As he was climbing on his bicycle, he noticed Jax and Emma roar out of her driveway on his dirt bike, her arms wrapped tightly around his abs. Fear immediately struck the athlete's core. Surely sixth graders couldn't get motorcycle license… right?

/ /

Daniel was uneasy all throughout his morning classes. While every other senior was taking a nap, he was worrying about what his little sister might be doing with this Jonathan character. Surely the middle school teachers wouldn't allow anything too inappropriate to go on… if they were paying attention that was. What if they left for a quick bathroom break and that hoodlum tried to touch his sister?

At lunchtime, Daniel didn't even buy food, instead opting to sit silently at his regular table with Diego and the Panthers. It didn't take long for Diego to realize something was wrong with his buddy.

"You okay, man?" he asked through a mouthful of pizza.

Daniel wasn't one to share his feelings with his friends, but Diego was his best bud and he really could use some advice right about now. Plus, Diego was an older brother himself. Sure, Gigi was only younger by two and a half minutes, but Diego still thought of himself as one of her protectors. He'd understand.

So Daniel decided to open up. He told Diego all about Mel's new uniform and how she was "growing up" and that she had some secret boyfriend.

When he was done telling his tale, Diego shook his head. "You know how girls are. You know how Maddie is," he said for emphasis, gently taking his girlfriend's hand in his.

Daniel was beyond confused. "What?"

"Well, you know, she wears those really short dresses and she looks really pretty—"

Maddie went to giggle and flip her hair, but before she could, Daniel asked incredulously, "That's what you're looking at here?"

"Well what are you looking at here?" Diego fired back. "At least I'm looking at my girlfriend and not my little sister!"

"Why does everyone keep accusing me of…" Daniel growled with frustration and tried to calm himself down. "Listen. She asked me how she looked, and she didn't look bad, but I just… I don't want her to…" He shook the emotions away and grumbled, "Man, I should've told her she looked ugly, then she would've taken it off." His eyes grew wide the same time everyone else's mouths dropped. "NO WAIT, I DIDN'T MEAN—"

Sophie sighed and pushed out her chair. "I'm reporting you again…"

"No, Sophie, wait!"

"The koalas were right about you, Daniel," she said with disappointment. And with that, she exited the cafeteria, headed for the guidance office.

"They came to her in a dream," Katie tiredly explained. "She gave me a thirty-minute play-by-play. Trust me when I say you do not want to know."

"I checked out thirty seconds in," Maddie added.

"It's true," her second-in-command vouched. "She did."

"Madds." A proud smile lit up Diego's face. "That's twenty more seconds than usual."

The blonde finally got in her giggle and hair flip, and pecked her boyfriend on the lips.

Daniel just shook his head. So much for opening up…

/ /

Right after lunch was study hall. Just what Daniel needed: more time to mull over his thoughts. He took an empty seat toward the back of the right side of the classroom and slunk down. He barely even noticed when his arms crossed over his chest and that familiar scowl took over his features.

Not a moment later did Mia slide into the seat next to him.

"Hey, Big Dan," she greeted in a serious tone that didn't match her words. "What's wrong? You seem grouchier than usual."

"I'm not grouchy," he grumbled.

The thin brunette merely raised an eyebrow.

And suddenly, in that moment, Daniel had an epiphany. He sat up straighter, shock written all over his face. "Is this why people don't like me?"

Mia nodded attentively. "Uh-huh."

"Aww, man!" He uncrossed his arms and worked to smooth the expression on his face. He sighed, debating on what to do. Sure, he'd had two failed attempts at talking about this today, but that had been with guys. Mia was… Mia. And she was a girl. Maybe she'd understand better.

"Well… Okay." He turned in his chair so he was facing the Kanay and began his tale once more. "My sister—"

Mia held up her index finger and closed her eyes. "Waaaait…" She thought for a moment then opened her eyes again. "Melanie."

"Yeah." Daniel smiled just a tiny bit. Mia had only been over to his house a couple of times last year yet she remembered his sister's name. She gave him a small smile back and for a moment Daniel forgot today had been the most stressful day of his life.

Then he remembered.

He cleared his throat. "She… Well…" He scratched the back of his neck. "She's growing up, and—"

All the color drained from Mia'a face. "Oh my gosh. Do you need to see a counselor?"

"THE RUMORS AREN'T TRUE!"

Everyone around them turned to stare.

"Mr. Miller!" Mrs. Jones scolded from the front of the room. She was sitting behind her desk, offering Homework Help to a growing line of students. "Be quiet."

Unbelievable, Daniel thought. Once his classmates went back to whatever they were working on, he lowered his voice and said, "No! I'm just being a normal, concerned big brother."

Mia let out a breath and clutched her hand to her chest. "Oh, thank God."

"How did this even start…" Daniel muttered to no one in particular. He shook his head and resumed his conversation with Mia. He told her the same story he'd told Diego minutes ago at lunch. It wasn't lost on him he felt rather at ease confiding in her. She was a good listener.

"I dunno," he said in closing. "I guess…" At that moment, Jax and Emma walked into the classroom, making a beeline for the Homework Help line in front of Jones' desk. Jax's arm was wrapped around Emma's waist and he was whispering something in her ear that was making her giggle. "I guess I'm just worried some troublemaker will saunter into her life and… I mean, I don't even know what type of person this Jonathan is! What if he—"

"Oh, come on, Daniel," Mia reprimanded. "I've met Mel; she seems like a really sweet girl. You seriously think some boy could make her do a complete 180?"

Right on cue, Jax not so subtly let his hand wander from Emma's waist to her ass. She giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, leaning into his chest as they waited on Jones.

Daniel held his hand out to the couple as if to say Exhibit A. "Do you know what she was like when I met her?" he whispered. "She was quiet and shy and innocent. She would have been mortified if a guy ever touched her there, especially in front of a whole classroom!"

"Okay, okay, I get your point." Mia held her hands up in surrender. "But Emma didn't do anything risqué until her third year of high school. Mel's only in her first year of middle school. I really think you're over reacting."

Daniel looked away dejectedly. If she didn't see things his way, there really wasn't much he could do to change that. What did he expect? No one else seemed to understand, either…

However, Mia caught the look on his face and quickly changed her approach. "Buuut that doesn't mean I'm not willing to help!"

He looked up, slightly hopeful but mostly skeptical. "How would you help?"

"I… I could… talk to her!" Mia nodded and added to herself, "Yeah, that sounds good."

"What would you say?"

"I can ask her all the questions you're too uncomfortable to ask her yourself. She'd probably be a lot more at ease talking to another girl about this stuff."

Daniel tilted his head, examining the Kanay before him. She looked particularly pretty today, orange dress shirt untucked per usual, cute little gold shoes. He smiled. "You'd really do that for me?"

"Of course." She returned the smile, blushing just a tiny bit. Mia Black, blushing. Because of him, Daniel Miller. "So what time should I come over?"

/ /

Mia lounged out on Daniel's garage couch, making herself at home. Since there was no swim practice on Fridays, the two had gone directly to Daniel's after school. Mia had arrived sooner since she drove her car and Daniel rode his bicycle, but nonetheless they got there before the T3.

They hadn't been in the garage for a full minute when Christine walked in, carrying a basket of laundry. She gasped when she took in the sight before her, and then a smile appeared on her face. Ever since he and Emma broke up at the beginning of junior year, Daniel hadn't had any girls over. Christine was happy to see her son 'back in the game' and she wasn't about to hide her delight.

"Mia! It's so nice to see you again." She hurried over to the couch, set the laundry basket on the coffee table, and gave the thin girl a hug.

Mia returned the embrace and smiled into the woman's hair. This is what it's like to have a mom. "Nice to see you again, too, Mrs. Miller."

"Please, call me Christine," she insisted, sending an unsubtle wink her son's way.

Daniel was mortified. "Mom, go away…," he grumbled before remembering his study hall epiphany. "Um." He stood up straighter and cleared his throat. "I mean, we'd really like some privacy, if you don't mind."

"Of course." Tears shone in the woman's eyes as she held a hand to her heart. "Beee-haaaaave," she sing-songed with a smirk as she left for the hallway.

Daniel winced. "I'm sorry about her…"

"Don't be," Mia said softly. "She's sweet."

For the next few minutes, the two went over what exactly Daniel wanted Mia to question Mel about. It wasn't long before they heard the front door open and three pairs of feet tread in.

"They'll be here any second," Daniel whispered. "They stop in here every day after school before they do anything else."

Sure enough, Robbie, Melanie, and Tommy showed up moments later. When their eyes landed on Mia, they grew suspicious.

"Hey, guys," Mia greeted kindly.

"What is she doing here?" Robbie asked blatantly. Then his eyes lit up. "Dude." He hurried over to his brother and whispered, "Did you finally get a new girlfriend?"

"Hey!" Daniel reached behind one of the many piles of junk accumulating in the room and grabbed a soccer ball. "Rob, Tom. You guys wanna go play some soccer?"

Tommy didn't really care one way or the other, so he looked to Robbie for an answer.

Robbie stared at his older brother for a good five seconds before deciding, "Okay." He leaned in close and added, "But if you touch me anywhere below the waist, I won't hesitate to call the cops again." And off he went for the backyard, Tommy right behind him.

Mia's mouth dropped open.

Before she could speak, Daniel hurriedly explained, "He called them for a false alarm, I swear!" He stormed out the door, muttering something about "If he would've just handed over the keys when I asked…"

Mia shook her head, trying to clear away the weirdness. She turned around to find Melanie in the supply closet, hanging up her backpack.

When the younger girl noticed her staring, she said, "So, why are you here?"

"Oh, yanno." The Kanay shrugged. "I figured we could hang out, just us girls."

Mel raised an eyebrow. "Uh, why?"

"I just thought it'd be fun. Nice outfit, by the way."

"Thank you?"

Mia casually cracked her knuckles. "So, tell me about it. Did you wear it just because you wanted to, or did you wear it for a guy, or…"

Melanie groaned. "Did Daniel ask you to talk to me?"

"What? No! Of course not! That'd be weird."

"Yeah, it would be…" The girl was quiet for a moment. Mia didn't seem threatening… She decided to answer the question honestly. "Well, I dunno, I guess I've just liked wearing more girly stuff lately…" She hooked a strand of hair behind her ear. "But… I do have a boyfriend and I hope he likes my skirts…"

It was clear to Mia by the way she spoke Mel had never vocalized any of this to anyone before. This made her try even harder to make sure the girl felt comfortable talking to her. "Oh, you have a boyfriend?" she said with false intrigue. "What's his name?"

"His name's Jonathan…" Mel blushed and decided she should sit down in case her legs got shaky or something. She took the seat on the other end of the couch and turned so she was facing Mia.

Mia did what the grief counselors had done with her when she lost her parents: she mirrored Melanie's body language to show her she was being an 'active listener.' "What's he like?"

"Well, he's actually pretty quiet and stuff. I mean, we held hands for the first time today for our two-week anniversary…"

Mia bit back a smile. This was too adorable. See, Daniel? Told you you were over reacting.

Mel was still in the middle of talking when suddenly the girls heard Robbie's recently deepened voice shout from outside, "DANIEL, GET AWAY FROM ME!" The girls could only look at each other for a split second before they burst into hysterical laughter. They cracked up until they had tears streaming down their faces.

"Ugh," Mel groaned, looking at the black residue from her cheek. "My mascara's running."

"Is it waterproof?" Mia asked.

The girl's eyes widened. "They make that?"

"Sure do! Do you wanna try some of mine?" She grabbed her purse off the carpeted floor. "I can show you how to apply it."

"Okay," Mel said with a tiny smile.

"Have you talked to your mom about how to apply makeup?" Mia asked, extracting the mascara tube from her purse.

"No…"

"Why not?"

"Well… I'm just so awkward about all this…," she made air quotes, "'girl' stuff. And then Daniel was weird about my outfit this morning… I've heard the rumors," she added quickly, "but I don't think they're true; I think he was just being awkward about it. So then that made me worry my mom would be awkward about it, and…"

"Mel, your mom is so nice," Mia soothed. "I'm sure she'd be okay if you talked to her."

Melanie didn't say anything, just twisted her bracelet around her wrist. She watched in silence as Mia showed her the correct way to apply her makeup. After the tutorial was over, she said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure! Shoot."

"Well… I had to go bra shopping recently and I don't think I bought the right size. How do I find the right size?"

"Oh, girl, do I feel your pain."

For the next hour, Mia shared her own stories of experience for any puberty questions and concerns Melanie brought up. She also offered her advice and tips on how to handle all the "becoming a woman" stuff.

Christine's voice rang out while the girls were talking about pads. They quickly shut up and tried to look casual when she walked in the room.

"What's up, Christine?" Mia asked sweetly.

"Hey, did Robbie beat Daniel up?"

The girls laughed even harder than they had the first time.

"Probably," Mel managed to get out coherently.

Christine sighed. "I'll get the ointment…"

She was halfway out the door when Mia urgently tapped Mel on the arm, nodding at her encouragingly.

"A-Actually, Mom?" Mel spoke up.

Her mother turned around. "What is it, sweetie?"

The pre-teen glanced at Mia who gave her a smile. "I, um… Well, I just kinda had some questions for you…"

Mia met eyes with the mother of four, hoping to somehow communicate through eye contact what this was about.

Christine didn't need the signal, though. She immediately broke into a smile and said, "I thought you'd never ask. Scoot over."

/ /

Daniel limped into his house an hour later. His body was covered in bruises (Robbie) and his hair was covered in goo (Tommy). When he reached the garage, he was surprised to find his mom and Mel having what appeared to be a serious conversation. Mia was scrolling through her phone but she quickly got up and went over to Daniel the moment she noticed his appearance.

"What ha—"

"Don't ask," he said, holding up both hands. He lowered his voice and added, "How'd it go?"

"It went really well," Mia said with a smile. "You have nothing to worry about."

Daniel sighed with relief. "Good. Thank you, for…" He motioned to the nice scene on his couch. "For that."

"No prob. Mel's a sweetheart." The Kanay walked back over to the couch and grabbed her purse, and then waited for a break in the mother-daughter conversation. The moment there was a pause, she said, "Well, it was nice talking with you both, but I should get going."

"Um, Mia?" Mel stood and said quietly, "Do you think you could come over again, sometime soon?"

Christine gave Mia a nod, confirming her presence was welcome there anytime.

Mia turned to Daniel for the final confirmation. He grinned and said, "I'd like that."

The Kanay mirrored his grin then turned to face the pre-teen. "I'd love to."

The girls hugged and said their goodbyes.

The moment Mia was gone, Christine pushed herself to her feet. "Well, if you'll excuse me…" She stepped out into the hallway and shouted, "ROBERT! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Her footsteps thudded down the hallway while Robbie's could be heard thudding in the opposite direction somewhere else in the house, undoubtedly looking for a place to hide.

Daniel shook his head. "I'm gonna go shower and find some ointment…"

"Daniel?"

At his sister's voice, he stopped and turned around. "What?"

Mel crossed the garage and hugged her big brother. "Thank you," she said softly.

He raised his eyebrows, surprised by the gesture. "For what?"

"For looking out for me."

Slowly, Daniel smiled and hugged her back. "Anytime."