It was a very cold and rainy Friday afternoon in Virginia as Penelope arrived home from her last class of the day. She loved the transition from summer to fall. She was always more of a homebody than a summer pool party kind of girl. She enjoyed spending quiet nights wrapped in a million blankets reading a book or watching a movie. She just loved the crisp, comfy atmosphere that fall brought. Penelope had recently started her sophomore year of college and the course work wasn't too bad, yet. She knew being a computer science major would be tough but she also knew that she was damn good at what she was perusing. She wasn't worried. She decided to tackle a bit of her homework before she got distracted by anything and forgot about it. That had happened on more than one occasion last semester and her parents were not too pleased.

Being the baby of the family her parents simultaneously treated her like a child and also an adult. She had lived at home with them until just a few weeks ago. She wanted to be more independent and she couldn't do that under the watchful, over protective eyes of her parents. After many long, and slightly loud, discussions they agreed to let her move in with two of her brothers. Her oldest brother was eleven years older than her and had a family of his own. The second oldest was nine years older and living with his girlfriend. He offered to let her stay with them but they were always all over each other and the thought of living with that almost made her sick. Her other two older brothers shared an apartment about 20 minutes away from their parents' house. Lucas just finished college and Bruno was in his junior year but was on the edge of failing out. Her parents knew she would be safe with her brothers, they may not have always gotten along but they loved their little sister and would never let anything happen to her. So, they finally agreed to let her leave.

Penelope loved being out on her own, kind of. Sometimes it seemed like she was in a frat house but she didn't mind it that much. She had no idea how her brothers survived before she got there, it felt like she was the only one that did anything around the apartment. After about two weeks of living there she sat her brothers down and told them that if she was going to contribute to the rent then that meant they needed to keep things a little cleaner than they were. She didn't mind the parties they had but she did mind the messes they left. Clutter made her stressed. After a pretty brief discussion her brothers, surprisingly, agreed to try and keep a handle on things, try being the operative word.

She went to the kitchen to bake something before she started her homework. That was one of her favorite ways to de-stress. Unfortunately the kitchen was a bit of a disaster and none of her brothers were home. She decided to put on her favorite Eartha Kitt album and try to ignore the mess while she baked. She was so wrapped up in her own world that she didn't notice her brother Bruno come in with his friend. Je cherche un homme played loudly through the kitchen and she sung almost as loud.

"Je cherche un homme, un homme, un homme" she sang with Eartha Kitt.

She jumped when she heard someone behind her. "You need a man? I bet you've got men lined up at your door."

She turned around to see a very handsome man leaning against the doorway with a smirk on his face. She didn't recognize him, but she knew that her brothers almost always had friends over. She also doubted an intruder would stop to flirt with her before hurting her.

"No, the lyrics are I'm looking for a man. That doesn't mean I need one, mon cher." She replied slyly as she turned back to her mixing bowl. This man was almost too hot to look at.

"Touché." He said as he moved further into the kitchen to the fridge. "I passed French but not by much."

"I passed by a lot, I had a lot of time to study." She chuckled in a friendly way so she didn't seem stuck up.

"I have no trouble believing that."

"What gave it away? The glasses or the song?"

He grabbed two waters bottles out of the fridge and turned to leave. "Neither, the sexy ones always speak French." He wink and then walked out of the room leaving her blushing and confused.

She had her fair share of relationships but it had been a long time since she was so casually complimented and hit on at the same time. She rarely paid much attention to her brothers' friends. She didn't like to judge but the vast majority of them were muscle heads that could only carry a conversation if it was about football or partying. They were very nice but just not the kind of people she had lasting relationships with. Both of her brothers were smart and they also loved sports. They were big guys on the football team, in high school and college. Penelope hadn't realized she was just standing there until the stove beeped snapping her out of her thoughts. She finished mixing her brownies, poured them into a pan and stuck them in the oven before heading upstairs to start her homework.

Bruno: Something is beeping. I'm assuming it's for you

Penelope had meant to bring a handheld timer with her but had forgotten. She was so engulfed in her current math assignment that she hadn't even heard the stove timer go off. She left what she was doing and headed downstairs. Her brother and his friend were in the kitchen already.

"What did you make, P? They smell great!" Her brother asked, he loved her cooking.

"Mint brownies" she smiled, she knew they were his favorite so she had made a double batch. Those brownies didn't stand a chance.

"Just admit it little sis, I'm your favorite brother."

"Eh, I don't know about that." She joked back.

"You're younger than him?" Derek interjected "They way you talk, Bruno I thought she was older."

"She just likes to think she is, but she's the baby." He said in a teasing manner. She tried her best but her pale skin displayed her blush right away. "My bad, Derek this is Penelope." Bruno said as her started cutting into the very hot pan of brownies.

"Nice to officially meet you. " Derek said as he offered his hand to her.

"You too." She said shaking it. Bruno was too enthralled with the brownies to notice the heart eyes the pair was giving each other.

"We're gonna go shoot some hoops, P. See you in a bit." Her brother said as he handed Derek a plate of brownies and headed for the door.

"See ya late, baby girl." Derek said smoothly with a wink as he left just behind her brother.