Author's Note:

Oh man, long time no update. But now I'm forcing myself to take a break from some other writing projects, and I really miss this story.

Thank you very much for the reviews, alerts, and favorites. They make me squee. Keep 'em comin'.

This one goes to SolelessBoots, who really inspired me to get back to this. Go read their stories if you haven't already!

xK!x

The twins arrived back at the blue Victorian in a steady silence. Emily could feel the day's heat creeping upon them as she rested her head against the car's window. She allowed herself to be enveloped in the small sounds of the car and the faint fragrances of rose water and something headier.

Morgan kept his eyes forward and his lips pursed while his fingers rumbled out a rhythm on the steering wheel as he brought the car to a complete stop. Emily began to wonder when the well of unspoken words between them would run dry.

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day when you would hold your tongue instead of just saying what you wanted to…Then again, I never thought I'd be disturbed by you not talking."

To Emily's great relief and amusement, Morgan let out a small snort while letting his hands slide from the wheel to his lap.

"Emily…are you? –" Morgan anxiously started. "I thought you'd be angry with me, y' know?"

"I was. I am."

"- not exactly what I was hoping to hear, Ems." Emily could hear the hurt in her brother's voice.

Emily shrugged and sighed before continuing. "I'm not upset by who you're becoming, or who you still are. But, until recently, you shut me out from all of it, Morgan, and that's been hard. That's the part that's been hell." Emily held back tears as she recalled all the conversations she's had with Jal and the drunken rants she made Cook endure. Hurting from the distance Morgan imposed between the two of them.

She felt slightly regretful for expelling the easiness that was re-forming between them, but also relieved to voice the loneliness that had been fermenting in her heart.

Morgan placed his right hand into his sister's. "Morgan sham." Emily let out a small smile before shifting the tension. "Yeah, well. You're still in hot water, but I think there's a fashion emergency that needs your immediate attention, yeah?" She unbuckled her seat belt as Morgan chuckled softly. "Yeah, I think poor Mrs. Fowler is still grieving for her shoulder pads I threw out last week."

"You'd feel the same if I confiscated all of your leopard print."

"Bitch! You wouldn't survive to tell the tale."

"Morgan, I really fear the day I'm trapped in a burning building with your shoe collection."

"I'm not that bad…I've pared down."A frowning Morgan added in a doubtful voice.

"Okay," Emily drawled out with mock condescension before leaning in for a hug. Morgan mumbled something into his twin's shoulder, and Emily asked him to repeat it.

"I'm glad you're here, Ems."

"Me too," Emily said with a small but genuine smile before opening the door and placing a foot on the curb. She paused a moment before turning back towards her brother and embracing him for a second time. "What was that for?"He asked, surprise evident in his brown eyes. "That was from Dad," Emily replied gruffly before completely stepping onto the curb and closing the car door, leaving a dumbfounded Morgan nodding sagely before putting the car into drive and peeling off down the road.

As Emily trudged up the porch steps while fumbling for the spare key Morgan had given her, she realized she was exhausted from their early morning excursion and put 'passing out immediately' on the top of her mental 'to-do ' list.

Emily slowly opened her eyes as she tried to decipher what exactly woke her up. Brown strands of her hair clung wetly to her cheek and across her forehead. She winced as sunlight glared straight into her line of vision. The concentrated heat of the August sun beat down on her from the window above the headboard. She groaned in discomfort from the smothering feeling of waking up from a nap to the dead heat of the afternoon. A quick glance at her watch on the nightstand confirmed her suspicions. She had slept most of the day away. Oh, the advantages of being on holiday. No guilt for sleeping in.

Another glance across the room informed her that Jal had wandered off at some point. Emily smiled to herself as she recalled coming back into the room after her twin had dropped her off to find Jal still asleep and sprawled out on her stomach with her limbs stretching out to all four corners of her bed and a pair of headphones dangling haphazardly from her ears. Music was blasting over her light snores. Emily had gently taken the ear buds out of her friend's ears and wrapped them around the bed post. She'd chuckled and shook her head at Jal's predictable chaotic form. It was as if all her riotous momentum still desired an outlet, even in slumber.

It had only taken two punches to her face and a surprise midnight propulsion from the bed to the floor for Emily to learn that if she valued her life, she should not share a bed with Jal under any circumstance. Apart from 'how to care for vinyl records' and 'how to avoid the entire Frazer family during a feud', 'how to make a makeshift bed on the floor' was the most valuable lesson Emily quickly learned early on in their friendship. Eventually, Jal just lugged a pull-out sofa into her room, which became affectionately known as the 'Emily couch' to everyone in the house.

As she dug out some clean shorts and a towel from her pack, she heard the soft sound of music and voices drifting in the room from down the hall. Draping the towel around her shoulders, she padded out of the room to investigate. After opening the door, two voices singing became more distinct as they drifted from the bathroom to Emily's ears. As she rounded the corner into the bathroom doorway, she smacked her face right against the bare, broad shoulders of a boy with tousled blond hair. Before Emily could apologize, the boy shifted slightly to the side and caught her eyes in the mirror above the sink instead of turning around.

"Oh hey! Hmm… you must be Emily, right?" Emily felt nothing but warmth from the boy's bright smile as she nodded. "Well, it's a pleasure, Emily. Heard loads about you. All good things, rest assured. I'm Maxxie. And this here," Maxxie gestured with dye-covered gloves to a shirtless boy sitting on a stool in front of him, "is Sean, my lovely boyfriend." Sean gave a short, shy nod towards the mirror as Maxxie placed a small kiss to his temple. Sean's hair was sectioned off in bits of foil and a bit of dye streaked around his forehead.

Maxxie maneuvered around the stool to fumble with the small radio that was perched on the back of the toilet, using his forearm to turn the knob, and the bathroom took on an echo-y silence as he successfully turned off the blaring music. He then turned around properly to face Emily. "Did you need the bathroom? We're almost wrapped up. I just need to do a rinse to make sure this one here doesn't go bald." Maxxie shot Sean a toothy grin and a wink and received a good-natured eye roll in return.

"It's alright. No rush. I'll just hop in the shower when you're done. I'm still getting used to this heat." Emily leaned against the door frame, finding some relief from the cool wood against the side of her head. Both boys let out a short chuckle, and then Sean spoke up in a soft voice.

"Feel free to hang out in here. I'm bored out of my mind with the current company." He let out a teasing smirk directed towards the blond who promptly gave him a light shove. "Watch it, hon. You're about two seconds away from getting tiger stripes if you keep up with the insults."

Emily couldn't help but smile at their playful bickering, and at Maxxie's insistence, she propped herself on top of the toilet seat to, in his words, 'keep the peace'. They fell into easy conversation, and Emily quickly discovered that the two boys brought out the best in each other. Sean boasted that Maxxie was the best dancer and choreographer on the west coast, while Maxxie claimed that Sean was the poet of this generation. But even beneath the slight hyperbole of their words, Emily could sense their sincerity and found it beautiful.

Apparently, Sean had evening plans that were fast approaching and opted on rinsing his hair out in the "art sink" the house had tucked away in a corner of the living room instead of taking a full shower. He dashed out of the bathroom with a quick peck to Maxxie's cheek and a smile for Emily.

Emily assumed Maxxie would begin to clean up, but instead, he seemed lost in thought while tapping the stool lightly with his thumb. Seemingly satisfied with his internal conflict, he then nodded and turned towards Emily, his bangs falling in his eyes with the effort. Despite the warmth still emanating from his eyes, his countenance took on an intensity that suddenly made Emily a bit uneasy. The moment passed and a small smile spread across his face.

"I have this sense, Emily Fitch, that bravery seems to be a trait that just runs through your family's blood. Am I right?"

"Well …I guess. Um, I've never really thought about it like that." Emily wondered if it was the heat that made it both difficult to answer that random question and not awkward that it was asked by a virtual stranger. She also decided to like Maxxie even a little bit more, because subtly, he'd also just complimented her brother. As she pondered this with her lip between her teeth, Maxxie made a quiet humming sound as he began picking up scissors and foil from the bathroom counter before he catalyzed the conversation once again by facing Emily with a conspiratorial look on his face.

"How do you feel about a change? " He asked with a grin, while holding up another box of dye.

Yes, again, ridiculously short. But I feel this chapter is cursed and I just want to move forward. Fun plans ahead, I promise! And Naomi will appear in the next chapter, scouts' honor! And it will be in the near future (I kinda promise)

Best

xk!x

p.s. SEASON 7 FTW!