People ask really stupid questions. Over and over again.
Seriously, is it that hard to figure out why two people decide to be together? How many possible reasons are there.
And if they didn't wait until she was legal, why would they announce it in an interview?
But, despite all the annoying questions and judgmental idiots, she's happy.
Like, over the moon, skipping through a field of sunflowers, singing in the rain happy.
Because she can kiss him whenever she wants, and she can tell all the skanky girls who throw themselves at him to back off, and she doesn't have to feel guilty or wonder if she's going to get him arrested or ruin his life.
She has her brothers and she has him and she could not possibly care less what anyone else thinks about it.
This is brotherly behavior.
And she gets it, really, she does. He's her big brother and he wants to keep her safe and he's afraid he's losing her.
But not only did he just threaten her boyfriend, he insulted her, and she loves him to death but neither of those things are acceptable and she is pissed.
And it gets pretty intense, because the Knights are not exactly known for backing down, but she's right and he knows it and James is his best friend, so he really doesn't have much of a choice.
So, that whole waiting thing she's been doing for the last for-freaking-ever? She is just so, so over it.
Hey, they're both stupid rich, if it comes down to it, they'll just hire a kick ass team of lawyers and/or buy off the judge.
So she kisses him, finally, because it's that or spend the next two years being all angsty and mutually pathetic because someone else decided they had to, and there is no part of that that appeals to her.
And then he's kissing her back and her shirt is gone and oh, look, a bed, and yes, fine, she's nervous and embarrassed but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to.
She's sure, she wouldn't be doing this if she weren't.
Besides, she is really freaking sick of subtext.
She buys a tiny little red bikini and then uses his shirt as a cover-up when Kendall insists she wear one (he even hands her the shirt, and she's pretty sure she'll be laughing about that for the rest of her life) and she knows it's a little bit mean but hey, she's a little bit mean and the whole 'maybe if I treat you like a little kid this attraction will magically cease to exist' thing he's been doing lately has got to stop, because it's just making everything all creepy and weird when it could be merely inappropriate.
And it's not like either of them have ever actually been appropriate in the first place.
She only dates to pass the time. She likes them, but she will only ever like them, and while that's normal for a relationship between two fourteen year olds (fifteen, sixteen, it's all the same really) normal has never really been her cup of tea.
The other girls don't bother her, and honestly, why would they? She has seen every facet of his personality, is intimately acquainted with all his quirks, his strengths and weaknesses and everything in between (he is self-centered and vain and immature and ridiculous but he is also loyal and kind and protective and so damn beautiful it hurts and it has nothing to do with the way he looks) . Those girls, even the ones he really cares about, are temporary, and the relationships he has with them are insignificant. He would kill for her, die for her, and there has never been any doubt in her mind that she was his endgame. How could she be jealous of his meaningless, superficial little flings?
(and besides, when the other boys are singing to the current loves of their lives, he only ever sings to her)
This is not brotherly behavior.
Or, well, it is, sort of, but there's definitely subtext. It's weird, uncomfortable, indefinable (it's not like that but it is also not not like that but it's been like this since before either of them hit puberty and she still kind of hasn't yet, so it's not physical and it's not familial and she doesn't know what the heck it is but she knows that it's there)
But it's enough to keep her from being able to even act mad at him, because he's been acting like a jealous boyfriend this whole time and he doesn't even know and he's just so adorably stupid that she has to hug him.
Besides, subtext or no, they love each other, and she knows enough to know that the people she loves are infinitely more important than the boys she likes.
Of course she has a crush on him. She's a preteen girl, he's a cute pop star. She's not made of stone. So yes, fine, she likes him. She's always liked him, but he doesn't need to know that (not yet, at least.)