A/N: Thank you all again for the reviews, they mean so much to me and really help me want to write this story, so please, please keep them coming, they all put a smile on my face and I love hearing about where everyone thinks the story is going. I hope you enjoy the chapter and leave a review, thanks! :)


I guess I'm thankful that Chris hasn't been able to sustain a relationship for more than a few months since I've known him. The longest was this girl in high school. She was nice enough, of course, I didn't really like her, but that's because I liked Chris. It's hard to like someone who is dating the person you love, trust me, if anyone would know, I would. She was nice to me and she didn't treat me like a stupid little kid. If I met her today, knowing she had no designs on Chris, I think we could actually be friends. They dated for a couple years, but in high school, relationships are so different than they are now. What they had, though long, was not serious, not like a serious business relationship that every relationship at my age tends to be.

When you start dating someone now it's like those thoughts of "Is this the one?" creep into your head, almost involuntarily. They call it settling down, but I call it ultimate pressure. I see friends I've known since grade school getting married, having kids and I'm still living with the guy who fails to notice me and thinks of me as a sister. They have stability, I have uncertainty. My problem is whenever I'm with someone, they're never Chris and that's the problem, my other problem is, every girl Chris is with, I have to worry if that is indeed his "one."

I think I'm his one, don't get me wrong, but I'm not so delusional enough to think that he won't find someone he loves and will just leave me in the dust, not realizing that I'm probably better because he doesn't see me the way that I want him to see me. It could happen and whenever he says that there's someone new that fear develops in the pit of my stomach. What if this is the one that lasts more than a week or two, what if it lasts more than a month? What if this is the one that lasts forever and I'm stuck being a bridesmaid at the wedding, a godmother to his kids, a nothing to his something?

Right now, I've got nothing to worry about. Chris is so busy, he doesn't really have time for a girlfriend. He's always off doing something. Sometimes he doesn't even come home when we get time off. I have to admit, it's lonely around the house when he's not around. He keeps telling me to get a dog, but if we're barely home as it is, a dog isn't going to do much good. He puts too much on his plate sometimes, I think, but he'll never listen to me. Chris is just the kind of person that wants a million projects going on at once. I have my work and then my charity work, but Chris has so much more than that.

He's out on a date right now, but I'm not too worried. Maybe I should worry, but I'm kind of not. It's a first date, usually these are a disaster so I'm hoping this one was no different. In fact, I hear the front door opening and a moment later, he's in the living room, throwing his wallet on the coffee table and collapsing on the couch next to me. He unbuckles his belt and pants, wanting to be comfortable and then closes his eyes.

"I am never letting my mother set me up on a date again!"

"Says the guy who has gone out with at least five different women his mommy has set him up with," I tell him.

"Shut up, Scout," he says, shoving me half-heartedly in the shoulder. "I look at these like a personal favor to my mother and nothing else. She obviously doesn't know my type."

"I thought your type was female and…female," I tell him.

"Well, that is a plus," he laughs, "but I think I need a little more substance than that. Why do I let my mom do that? Why do I let her talk me into these things?"

"Because she doesn't have grandchildren to spoil and she wants some," I tell him.

"Oh yeah, that little thing. She really should have had more children so she could've gotten on that grandparent train if that's what she wanted," Chris said.

"Yeah, that little thing," I said, rolling my eyes as I went back to watching the program on TV. Chris groaned and moaned and pretty much was telling me he wasn't done talking to me but I had stopped paying attention to him. Sometimes, I swear he is the neediest man on the planet and it's a wonder why I feel for him as I do. Trust me, as many times as I've thought, 'wow, I love this guy,' I've also thought, 'wow, why do I love this guy?' If I don't pay attention to him, he's going to start clearing his throat until I talk to him. "Okay, what?"

"You didn't even ask why it was a bad date."

"I don't really care," I tell him and I really don't. I don't need to know what he does on his dates.

"Well, as my best friend--"

"One of," I correct him.

"But Shane doesn't live with me, you do," Chris said, turning on his side so he can face me better. "Anyways, she tells me she has like fifteen cats and I'm like, no, no, no, in my head though, I'm not rude. I don't like cats so I'm not dating someone with like fifteen."

"Fifteen is Chris speak for how many?" I ask. He has a way of exaggerating things.

"Four," he grumbles, I know him too well and sometimes he hates it. I hate it when he knows me so well, except for that huge chunk of me that he never sees and never will see because I'm a coward and he's blind.

"Four's not so bad," I tell him, imagining having four cats. I don't think I could handle so many pets, even ones as independent as cats can be.

"I don't like them, so from then on, it was all downhill because she kept bringing up the cats. I didn't want to interrupt her cat lady ways. No wonder she was still single. Only my mom, man, only my mom."

"Your mom is great."

"I know, she just doesn't know how to pick a woman, which is fine. I guess it's just single life for me right now since there is nobody worthy in our company, isn't that sad, Scout, surrounded by beautiful girls and not a single one does anything for me?" Chris says with a sigh, one of his exaggerated ones.

"Do any of the guys?" I tease.

"Very funny, but now that you mention it," he teases back. "just kidding, none of the guys strike my fancy either. Too bad too, some gorgeous guys I work with."

"Oh yes," I say sarcastically. "Try being hit on every one of them multiple times, then come talk to me about gorgeous guys."

"You're picky," he tells me.

"You're pickier," I tell him back. He smiles and nods cheesily. I love that cheesy smile. Most people love when he smirks or when he just genuinely smiles and those are great, I'll admit it, but it's the goofy smile I love the most. When we were little, I got the goofy smile directed at me a lot. We'd be playing something like tag or hide and seek and he would pop out from behind a couch or something and there'd be that cheesy grin, full of laughter and joy. Seeing it now takes me back to those times, how young and carefree and not in love with Chris I was back then. He's got more teeth now though, only difference, besides the occasional bout of facial hair when he gets bored and decides to grow it out.

"I am picky, but if I'm going to spend a lot of time with one person, I want to make sure I can stand them for more than five seconds and I haven't found that yet."

He could have that if he looked at me and really saw me. We've spent much more than five seconds together. We've got a lifetime of memories between us, but I just never speak up. "Neither have I."

"Pathetic," he says with a laugh and closes his eyes again. "I could set you up with someone."

"No thanks, I don't like who you set me up with." I don't, but not for the reasons he thinks. "You know," I say, deciding to gauge something. If I ask him about us in a joking manner, maybe he'll answer seriously, or at least to a point where I can get a feel for what he really thinks of me, if he thinks of me beyond friendship, if there could be a spark, "I'm a little hurt."

"What? Did you fall down the stairs?" he kids and then he sticks his tongue at me even though his eyes are still closed. I guess he figures a stuck out tongue in my general direction will work.

"No, when you were running down the list of potential WWE girlfriends…my name didn't come up."

"Excuse me?" he said, opening his eyes and looking at me.

"I mean, you didn't even think of me, did you?" I point out. He's actually sitting up and staring at me. "You didn't give an opinion on what dating me might be like."

He stares at me for a moment and I stare back at him, unabashedly, hoping that he'll see, that he will finally see that I'm being totally serious and not joking and not the Scout that he's known forever. A moment after I think that he starts laughing and when I say laughing, I mean cracking up, side-splitting, tears-from-your-eyes, laughing and I feel like my stomach is dropping down to the basement, if we had a basement, maybe it's just completely in the ground.

"You and me?" he guffaws, yes guffaws and who even guffaws anymore?

"I'm just saying," I try to remain nonchalant and not let out how hurt this is actually making me feel. I want to sink into the floor right now. "I was just saying."

"Scout, you and me, date, you and me on a date, no way, no, no, no way, that would be so weird, oh my God, you're the best, I swear, you always know how to make me feel better," he laughs, holding his stomach. "Can you even imagine? Wow, that would be the strangest thing ever, you and me, I mean, come on, we've known each other forever, I've taken baths with you!"

"I was three and you were five and you were staying over at our house because your mom went on the road with your dad and my mom didn't want to waste time helping three kids take their baths, okay," I tell him because it's the truth, it's not like I wanted to take a bath with him.

"Still, we've taken baths together."

"Shane was also in the tub, you want me to spread it around you bathed with Shane?" I counter.

"Wow, that'd be bad," Chris laughs. "You know, your mom still brings up that story about how I saw you and I blurted out that you were definitely a girl. That's really embarrassing, you know, remind me never to bring over a girl to meet your mom."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I say, shaking my head. "It's not like we've bathed together recently."

"It'd save us on the water bill," he winks at me and he shouldn't put pictures of his naked self into my head because inevitably naked images of myself will enter into my head and hell if those two naked images will stay apart. I wonder if he'd even like my body, it has been quite a number of years since that day when he was little and declared I was definitely a girl because I didn't have the same parts as he did. Up until that point, maybe he thought I was a boy in disguise because I was such a tomboy. I'm a little self-conscious about my body, that would explain the breast implants I got, then reduced because they were too big. At least Chris had the decency then to tell me that I looked beautiful with or without them. He's not oblivious all the time, I swear.

"Yeah, right," I say, still feeling a little stung about the laughing. "I don't think the idea of us is that preposterous, you know, we do live together."

"Because your parents are paranoid freaks," he tells me, "not that I don't want you here, it'd be lonely without you, of course, if you weren't here, I wouldn't have to explain to any potential girlfriends why I have a female living here, but that's only what, 5 minutes out of my life, I think I can deal."

"Still, I was just saying, it's not like I want to be with you." I'm trying to save face now, just appear like you were curious, just appear like you were joking, just appear like you weren't putting yourself out there and the man of your dreams shot you down with a laugh and a guffaw (seriously, he guffawed).

"Why would you? You know me too well. You cannot possibly look at me, after knowing me for 29 years, after having seen me in every gross, disgusting, embarrassing position I've been in and still want me. It'd be weird to boot, I mean, you and me," he starts laughing again, I want to throttle him. "You and me, man, that'd be so weird. I love you, Steph, but come on, you and me. Thanks for the laugh though. I needed that after my disaster of a date. What's on TV?"

He picks up the remote and starts to flip channels as I sit there, watching him watching TV, not saying a word. I guess I know what his thoughts on a relationship would be. Can't say I didn't expect it, but it still hurts to know that he'll never see me the way I see him. I guess it's all just pipe dreams and I have to find second best out there somewhere because first best sees me as the little sister he never had. Maybe that's the problem, he's always seen me as little sister and now that I'm grown, now that I'm not a little girl with a bowl haircut and overalls, he still sees me as that little girl.

He may be laughing, but I'm not.