Chapter 1 – Beautiful Stranger

This was a bad idea. There was no way that a girl could live with four teenage guys. It just wouldn't be sane. Today was the day insanity would take over the McFly household. This was Dougie's fault. Ok, maybe not his, but his parents. Dougie's parents decided they wanted to move into a smaller house, too bad it was on the other side of the country. Dougie's sister, Vanessa, was gong to be forced into moving as well. At least that was the plan until Dougie offered that she live with us. For some unexplained reason, she was moving in.

I stood in the living room pacing back and forth. I had only met Nessa, as Dougie called her, once before, but didn't remember. I didn't know if she was cute or not, but having a girl around would change everything. I was anticipating the worst. Having a girl around three horny teenage guys would be a big problem. I held nothing against Vanessa; it wasn't her fault she was moving in. I just really didn't think it was a good idea.

Tom's mini cooper pulled up finally arriving with Vanessa and Dougie. I ran over to the stairs and screamed up to Harry. "Harry, she's here!" I waited at the bottom of the steps. Harry was excited; it was the first girl he spent quality time with beside his family. That's what a boarding school can do to you. Harry jumped the last few steps barely landing on his feet. I swung the door open to see Tom, Dougie and a girl with light brown hair about shoulder length. Vanessa had her back to us as she watched Tom and Dougie get the stuff out of the car.

"Hey all," Harry said making his way to the cooper.

Vanessa turned around to see who was talking. That was the first time I had seen her in over a year. You could tell that she was Dougie's twin. But there was a slight difference between the two. Vanessa was beautiful. Not the kind of beautiful you see everyday; more of the timeless kind of beauty you see once in a lifetime. Her angel blue eyes shined as she smiled up at us. She stood a few feet in front of me wearing one of Dougie's Flip sweatshirts and blue jeans. Her hands were in her pockets trying to keep herself warm on this cold January day.

"Hi, I'm Vanessa. It's nice to see you all again. I wanted to thank you for letting me stay with you." Nessa stuck her hand out to Harry and then to me. Her hand was cold to the touch. It sent shivers through me.

Everyone filed into the house to get settled and warm up. Dougie wrapped his arm around Vanessa's shoulders. "Actually, Danny didn't think it was a good idea. But I explained that it would be like Vicky moving in."

Vanessa eyed me. "I'm sure I'll change your mind." She winked at me.

"Would anyone like some tea? I'll make it." I tried my best to change the subject. I walked into the kitchen as the rest went to show Vanessa her room. I was an idiot. She was Dougie's sister, family. She belonged here. I felt bad about saying it was a bad idea now. Okay, she was beautiful and that's what really changed my mind, but she was like family. It was still a bad idea to have one girl and three guys together.

I heard heavy footsteps climb the stairs. Tom walked in and grabbed my arms. "Isn't she the most beautiful girl you've ever seen?"

I turned from him as I filled the kettle with water. "Yeah, I guess so," I lied. "I think Dougie's sexier."

"Danny, be serious for once. What do you thin Dougie will say if I ask her out?" Tom sat at the kitchen table waiting for my answer.

"I can't answer that because my sister would never date you. I don't know whose sister would date you, for that matter."

Tom scoffed, "Very funny. You'd be surprised how many girls would date me, especially because we're famous now. That's not the point. Would you ask Vanessa out?"

I didn't honestly want to answer him for several reasons. Tom had no standards when it came to girls he dated. He even hit on Harry's sister who's a few years older. He would ask Vanessa out even if Dougie didn't want him to." I had standards. But this time I might have to make an exception. She was beautiful. The kettle sounded and I never had to answer Tom's question.

"Tea's done!" I yelled down to the rest of the gang.

Harry came up first followed by Dougie who had Vanessa on his back. We all sat in the kitchen eating crumpets and drinking tea. We talked about everything so we could get to know Vanessa the best with the amount of time we had.

Around seven or so, we all went into the living room to watch movies. We started off with the classic movie on movie night: Back to the Future. Dougie sat on the floor with Vanessa. Harry and Tom shared the one couch. I had the other couch all to myself. I didn't pay too much attention to the movie. My mind was on Vanessa. Every time she would look at me I could feel that same shiver come over me like when we touched.

During the movie, I realized I hadn't made Vanessa feel very comfortable or welcome. Before I could ask her out and break my standards, I had to apologize to her. Why was I going to ask her out? She was Dougie's sister. It wouldn't be right. I had standards. But she was beautiful and I would rather see her with me than Tom. I wouldn't ask her out right away either. I didn't want her to feel as if she was there for our pleasure. I didn't want her to feel like she was a piece of meat or property.

Tom had got up to switch the movie. He put in Ninja Turtles, another classic. Harry had gone into the kitchen to get some Marmite. Vanessa, Dougie and I were left sitting. Vanessa's head was now in Dougie's lap. I suppose she was exhausted from the day she had. I heard her yawn as she picked her head up. "I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm tired and I don't want to fall asleep during the movie making you have to carry me down later. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She kissed Dougie's forehead. "'Night guys!" she called to Harry and Tom.

Dougie climbed up next to me on the couch. "I'm glad she's here. Under the circumstances, I know you understand why she needs to be here. But there are other things that you and the guys don't know about. Nessa and I decided it would be best to keep it between us until it's absolutely necessary for us to tell you." I didn't know why I did it but I leaned over and gave him a hug. I think it was because it was he was such a great brother to Vanessa.

"I feel horrible about what I said. I'm going to go talk to her and apologize. I'm sure she doesn't feel to welcome here. I want her to know she's as welcome here as you are." Dougie patted my back as I got up to go to Vanessa's room.

I walked down the steps and stopped in the doorway. She was still changing into her pajamas. She unzipped her jeans and started to pull them down. It was wrong of me to watch I turned around and kept my eyes to the wall for about five minutes. I knocked on one of the steps to get her attention. She greeted me by the curtain beads we had hung for her last week. "Hi," she said quietly. "What can I do for you?"

I leaned against the wall. "I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted. My original idea was going to lead to trouble. I didn't hold anything against you. It was Harry, Tom and me that I had a bad feeling about. You can't put a girl in a house with three horny guys. I know Tom would be his normal self and want you. Harry would be excited about having a girl in the house that he isn't related to. And me, I was afraid that you were going to be beautiful. I'm not saying that you're not beautiful…it's just that you're Dougie's sister and you're kind of untouchable." I was rambling now.

"Come in," she said turning her back to me and sitting on her. I sat down next to her. "I know what you mean. But there are things that you don't know about me. I know Dougie told you that it would be like Vicky moving in, but its not. I'm different than your sister. I need to be here for reasons that I can't get into now. When the time is right, I can tell you. But it's hard. I don't want things to get weird. I just need you to understand." She smiled weakly after explaining what she could.

I pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry about it. I can't ask you to tell me everything. I'm practically a stranger. But I promise by this time next year, I'll be one of your best friends. I'm always here if you need to talk. You're always welcome here, no matter how stupid or horny we boys can get." I kissed her forehead.

"Thanks Danny. That really means a lot to me." We pulled away. "Goodnight."

"Night," I said leaving her room.

I climbed into bed about ten minutes later. I was proud of myself that I had a conversation without making someone laugh for a change. I was being serious. That made me feel good. Vanessa was on my mind again. Then again when isn't she on my mind? I was going to give her time to get used to being in a house of guys. Maybe when we get to know each other better, I'll ask her out. I couldn't let a girl like her slip through my fingers.