Moving Worlds

If Sydney wasn't holding Joe's hand, he would've walked away a long time ago.

"Do I really have to do this?"

"Joe," Sydney gave him a disappointed look. "Be nice. It will be okay. She can handle herself, and I promise Sky won't hurt her."

Joe grumbled to himself and knocked on the door. A short, olive-skinned girl with black hair opened the door.

"Yes?" The girl looked at Joe and tilted her head. "Aren't you Anna's brother?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah, can you go get her for me? I, uh, need to see her for a second."

The girl disappeared into the house. A few moments later, Anna appeared.

"Joe? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Anna saw that Sydney was standing next to him. "Sydney! When did you get back?"

Sydney smiled. "Not too long ago. That's not why we're here though."

"Then why-" Anna spotted Skyler waiting behind Joe and Sydney. "Skyler?" Anna's face instantly lit up. "What are you doing here?" Anna pushed past Joe and bounced up to Skyler.

At this point, Sydney was holding onto Joe to prevent him from holding Anna and Skyler apart.

"I moved here with Sydney." Skyler nervously scratched the back of his neck, as if second guessing his decision. He hadn't stopped asking when they were going to leave Ray's to go see Anna. Now that he was here, he seemed to be doubting himself. His nervousness was very obvious.

Anna seemed oblivious however. "Really?" She paused to frown. "But I thought you were training to be a time agent? How are you going to do that in New York?"

"I sort of change plans."

"Oh?"

"How about we let these two catch up on their own?" Sydney whispered to Joe and tried to lead him away.

"What? No way!" Joe stubbornly resisted her.

Sydney frowned at him, deciding she was going to have to try a little harder to get him to give Skyler and Anna some alone time. "I just assumed you'd want to go to my new home and do a little catching up of our own. I brought over my old bed." Her voice had taken on a low and alluring tone while her hand ran flirtatiously down his arm.

Joe bit his lip, caught between spending some quality alone time with his long-lost girlfriend and making sure his little sister stayed young and innocent. "But-"

"Please?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "I've really missed you."

Joe sighed, giving in to his hormonal teenage boy side. "Fine."

They walked past Skyler and Anna, who were still awkwardly talking to each other. "I'll see you later, Sky. Try not to get lost on the way back. Oh, and I'm sure Anna would love to hear about why you moved to New York."

"Wait, what?" Skyler turned to them. They had already disappeared around the corner. His nervousness instantly shot up. He was not expecting to be left alone with Anna.

"What was she talking about?"

Skyler looked back at Anna. "Oh, um, I'm not sure," he trailed off.

"Skyler, why did you move to New York?" Anna asked. She had a worried tone.

"It's nothing bad. I promise," Skyler said, picking up on Anna's uneasiness. "I- Syd was taking such a big chance on moving here just to be with Joe. Well, I guess she was going to leave either way, but she chose to go to New York because of Joe. So I followed her lead and came to New York for you."

Anna's face was blank. "For me?"

"I'm sorry. I feel so stupid. I just think you're really cute and you seem like a great girl and I thought we could go out or something." By the end of his speech he was mumbling.

Anna barely understood the last part. "You want to go out with me? Like as boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Well, yeah."

Anna blushed. "I've never had a guy move worlds just to be with me before. I've never really had a guy do anything for me before," she said, thinking back on her past middle-school and freshman year boyfriends, not that any of them were serious or lasted long.

"I'm pretty special I guess." Skyler winced and looked away. "Sorry. I know I can come off as a little over-confident sometimes."

"I think confidence is really attractive."

Skyler stared at Anna. "Really?"

Anna's lips turned upwards and her head bobbed up and down excitedly. "Definitely."

"So… did you want to? Go out that is. I completely understand if you don't. I mean, you don't know me very well and it probably seems a little creepy that I came here because of you."

Anna was still processing the fact that Skyler had left his old life behind just to be with her. She had a hard time believing him. Of course she liked him. She knew she did the moment she stepped on his toes over a year ago. He was too cute to resist. "I'd love to."

Skyler's dark brown eyes lit up with joy. "You have no idea how much of a relief that is. I was worried I moved all the way out here for nothing."

Anna giggled. "I can't believe you came here just for me."

Skyler shrugged. "It just felt like the right thing to do." He looked into her eyes. "There was something about you when we first met. I still can't figure out what it was, but I knew I wanted more of it." He flashed her a smile. "I'm glad I can get more."

Anna's cheeks reddened, "Have you ever even been to New York before?"

"Not exactly."

"How about I go tell my friend that I'm heading home early? I could show you around, help you get acclimated. Or you could show me your new place! Is it nice?"

Skyler thought about how Sydney and Joe had just left to go there to be alone. He inwardly cringed. "Maybe we could go see a movie or something instead? Like a date?" Skyler tentatively reached for Anna's hand. Once he had it, he grasped it firmly.

Anna's eyes sparkled. "I think that would be perfect."


A/N - There's still about five chapters left to post before I start posting Sour Revenge. Don't worry, it'll be here before you know it! If you enjoyed, a favourite and a review would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!