Ann and Larie sat at her kitchen table, looking over books filled with pictures of insects and spiders.

"So wait." Larie said, holding out his hands, "You're telling me that there is a spider that uses it's web to hold an air bubble so it can breathe underwater while it hunts." He clarified. Ann nodded happily, "Indeed, arachnids are such fascinating creatures, don't you think?"

"They're little bad asses!" Larie agreed, "Hey, I have a question. You said that spiders' silk can be as strong as steel, right?" She nodded, eager to hear his question, "Well, do you think your hair is similar to spiders' silk? I mean, your hair can break a chainsaw, for crying out loud." Ann blushed and twirled a lock of her hair with her fingers, "Honestly, Larie, I think you could be right, it's quite possible that my hair is structured very similarly to spider silk, that would certainly explain how it can be so strong yet pliable." She said, examining the hair in her hand, "I'd certainly like to investigate your theory, however, I'd like to finish our current project and test it before we go on to see if my hair really is like spiders' silk, if that's alright with you." She said, smiling.

"Heck yeah!" Larie said, excitedly, "I can't wait to try that puppy out!"

"Shall we clean up and head down to start then?" Ann asked. Larie nodded eagerly. Their current project was something Larie had suggested to Ann after the Dance contest two weeks ago, she leapt at the idea, excitement gleaming in her eyes, "It sounds riveting, Larie!" She had said. Larie had been over every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and he even spent all of the past two Sundays working on it with her, they were getting close to testing the first prototypes, they hoped to get enough progress done that night so they could be able to test it when Larie came over on Thursday. They began closing and stacking books until they both had reached for the same one and their fingers touched, they both blushed but didn't pull back their hands, they looked up at each other. Larie suddenly heard himself say, "Double-N, would you like to go out on a date with me?" the moment the words left his lips, he felt both relieved and terrified. He felt relieved for finally asking Double-N to go out on a date with him and he felt terrified because, well, he had just asked Double-N to go out on a date with him.

Ann's face turned bright red, a few stray hairs fell onto her face, she looked nervous and he could feel her hand shaking a bit.

"It's okay!" he said, holding up his hands, "You can get back to me once you've thought it over, okay?" She nodded bashfully and pushed the stray hairs off her face, they finished stacking up the books in silence, Larie feeling like a total idiot. "I-I need to take these upstairs." She stammered, "I-I'll be right back." She scooped up the books and dashed upstairs. He looked up at the stairs longingly, he wanted to follow her up there so badly, but he knew better. Ann said to take small steps and he was going to, dammit. But at the same time, he wished those small steps were the ones up to her bedroom. He watched as she scurried back down and gave him a nervous smile, "Shall we go to the basement?" she asked him. He gave her a small smile and nodded, even though they weren't up to her room, the steps to her basement still led to a pretty awesome place.

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Down in her basement was what looked like a mini mad scientist lab, with various do-dads and thing-a-ma-bobs, there was a large encased shelving unit filled with failed inventions from over the years, Larie even recognized a few of them. There was a corner filled with jars filled with insects and arachnids, a single spider web stood alone in the top part of the corner, apparently that was where Ann's pet spider, Mildred, used to live before she died of old age, but she didn't have the heart to wipe away the cobweb.

But that wasn't what Larie was excited about, it was what was on the big table along the wall opposite from the stairwell. There were rocket-powered boots, the taser gloves and the helmet with the special one-way glass (the wearer can see out but no one could see in) all the way around the head. The glass had a few cameras and chips so it would alert the user to any danger around them that wasn't directly in front of them, as well as helped control the power in the boots and gloves as well as informed the wearer if anything was malfunctioning. Larie was so freaking proud of their recent work, he couldn't wait to try them out.

"So what do we need to do?" he asked.

"We need to download the program into the helmet as well as finish the wiring in the gloves and make sure everything charges."

"So the boots are all done?" He asked.

"All they need to do is charge." Ann informed him, "You did a fantastic job on the wiring and welding, all I needed to do was the shielding and putting the insoles in." Larie blushed at her praise, "Yeah well, your plans were well drafted and easy to follow." He said, "Even an idiot like me could figure it out."

Ann frowned at him angrily, then poked him in the chest with her finger, "You are not an idiot, Larie Kanker. You are a very intelligent man and I detest hearing you say otherwise." She snapped, then went over and pick up the helmet. She then walked over to her desktop and plugged the helmet into the computer and begin opening the program she had created so she could download it.

"Hot damn." Larie said, pleased that she had not only said that he was very intelligent AND that he was a man, but that she had actually gotten angry when he had called himself an idiot.

Larie got to work with the wiring, whistling happily as he worked, not realizing that Ann was still reeling from his date offer earlier.

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Sam was sitting in the bushes outside Double-N's house, waiting, like he always did on Tuesday and Thursday nights when Larie went over to her house to 'study' or whatever they did in Double-N's basement. Larie came over on Friday nights too, but Sam wasn't sneaking around Double-N's house on Friday nights, no, he watched movies with Jamie at her house on Friday night. They'd been doing that for years, it was their tradition, it was a way for them to unwind from the week.

"Come on… come on!" he growled, glancing at his watch, it was 9:30, which was much later then Larie usually stayed at Double-N's house, normally he stayed until about seven or eight. He clenched his fists, if Larie was trying something with Double-N then Sam would wipe the floor with that douche bag. Well, most likey it'd be Sam who got his ass kicked, but, still.

Suddenly, he heard the door open, he saw Larie walk out, slipping on his stupid brown jacket as he made his way out to the front door. "See you tomorrow, Double-N." he said, giving her a smile. Double-N was standing in the doorway, rubbing her arm, blushing, "Um, Larie?" she said, Larie turned to look at her, "Yeah, Double-N?"

"About your inquiry earlier…" she began, avoiding eye contact and staring at her feet. Larie suddenly looked a little nervous himself, but listened intently. "Would this Friday be all right?" She asked, glancing up at him, a small smile on her face. A huge grin exploded on his face, his cheeks turned pink and his eyes lit up with glee, "Yeah! Friday's perfect!" He said eagerly, then gave her a big hug, "Thanks Double-N! You won't regret it! I promise!" Double-N blushed and hugged back, she seemed to melt a bit in his arms, her smile getting a bit bigger. After a few minutes, it finally dawned on them to let go, both of them were blushing.

"So, I'll see you at school tomorrow?" he asked. Double-N nodded, "Indeed." She said, embarrassed, "Well, Good night, Larie." she said bashfully, then walked back inside, gave him a small wave and a smile and closed the door. Larie jumped up, his fists in the air, "YES! I GOT A DATE WITH DOUBLE-N!" he cried, then ran towards the Flush and Go Trailer park repeating, "BEST! NIGHT! EVER!" Sam popped out of the bushes, jaw dropped and heart-broken as Larie cheered all the way home.

Sam then looked between the window he had been peeping into and Larie's back, trying to decide something. He saw Double-N in the window, she was smiling and blushing, her hands were under her chin, as if she needed help holding up her humongous smile. She looked so… happy. Sam looked back over to Larie's happy form pumping his fists in the air shouting, "BEST! NIGHT! EVER!" then dashed off to follow him, determined to figure out what the fuck just happened.

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An and Jay were watching one of An's favorite old monster movies at the Kanker's trailer, Jay was wearing a white t-shirt and a grey hooded jacket, since it was now fall in Peach Creek, he started wearing the jacket to keep warm, as for the white shirt, well, his gray t-shirts had all been worn out so he had bought some fresh white ones, which oddly enough were what the gray shirts used to be. (White)

It was Tuesday, so Anny and Tee were giving the little girls dance lessons and Double-N and Larie were studying together and their dad was going to be working late.

Meaning Jay was all alone with An.

An cuddled up beside him, her arms wrapped around his left arm as she leaned on his shoulder. Jay leaned his head on hers, enjoying the quality time with his beloved An, but he was also a bundle of nerves. But he was determined, tonight was the night he was going to get to second base with An. He looked at his hands, and then at his beloved girlfriend's chest, not that An noticed, since she was so focused on the movie.

Since Larie was, until he started studying with Double-N, the local pervert, he had been inside the girl's locker room once or twice and found out their girl's bra sizes a while back. Jay remembered what his brother had whispered into his ear after Tee told him off for sneaking around the girl's locker room and had stormed off, "D-Cup, Jay. An's a D-Cup." Jay felt his face blush, as he looked at An's chest.

They had been dating for a little over two months now, he had taken her to a theater three towns over where they were playing an old, never been seen before monster flick that she had only heard rumors about, as a surprise for their two month anniversary. When she finally saw the name of the film on the theater, she had been so happy that she pulled him into a tight hug, however, Jay had not been totally prepared for it and accidently cupped her chest with his hands, it was an awkward ten seconds before the movie was about to start and Jay quickly lead her inside. The incident quickly slipped her mind as she enjoyed the film, but Jay was a little distracted and didn't pay much attention as he reeled from the accidental boob touch. Jay could still remember how they felt in his hands for that brief second and felt his face burn.

He almost shook his head, but it was on An's so she'd notice, so he just sat there and scolded himself. What was he doing? This was An! She wouldn't be comfortable with that kind of thing, that was something that Larie didn't even try to do anymore.

But… he watched as his hands quaked, he wanted to feel them one more time. Just one more time.

His hands stopped shaking, he was going to go for it, if she got upset, he could say he was trying to pull her closer to him so they could cuddle more and didn't mean to touch them. He felt bad about his deceptive back up plan, but his heart wouldn't able to take her hating him again. He took in a deep breath, and slowly reached for her chest, but just as he was about to make his move, the door burst open, causing Jay to retract his hand back to his side.

"BEST! NIGHT! EVER!" Larie cried, scaring the crap out of An and causing her to pull Jay close and hug him, scared by the noise. Jay held her close, comforting her, then looked at his brother.

"What's the big idea?" he demanded, a little relieved that his brother ruined his chance to grab his girlfriend's chest but pissed that he had scared her. Larie looked at him, his eyes bright with glee and a big grin on his face, "I GOT A DATE WITH DOUBLE-N THIS FRIDAY!" he shouted excitedly, pumping his fists in the air. Jay and An separated a bit and smiled at him.

"That's awesome!" Jay said, truly happy for his older brother, An nodded in agreement, pleased to hear her friend was going out on a date.

To be honest, An and Anny had been a little worried about Double-N when it came to dating. Mainly because she seemed to have no interest in it at all, she was always sticking her face into a book or making something. Anny and An were kind of getting worried that she'd never find someone she liked or when she did that she'd be too shy to make a move. So An was happy that her friend had someone she liked and that she was putting herself out there. That and if Double-N and Larie started going out too then they could double date! An could hardly contain her excitement, she was definitely in her happy place.

"Yeah! I'm going to call Tee and tell him!" Larie said, beaming, then he leapt up the stairs, his thumb quickly tapping on the buttons on his phone as he dashed into their room.

"An!" A shrill male voice called from behind them, "It's time to go home." An and Jay turned to see Sam, his arms crossed over his chest, both teens pouted.

"But Sam…!" An whined, as the love birds clung to each other.

"Dad said you had to come home, An." Sam said firmly, An's head sunk down into her chest. Jay gave her a peck on the cheek, making her perk back up, "I'll walk you two home." He said, slipping his fingers in between hers. An blushed and smiled widely at him as Jay turned off the TV and walked her and her brother out of the trailer and back to the cul-de-sac.

Sam stared at An and Jay walking in front him, holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. But instead of shaking his head with a smile like he usually did, he wondered if Double-N and Larie soon be doing this too. Sam shook his head, determined, "Not if I can help it." he growled.

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Tee was driving home after dropping his grandma off at home when he got a call from Larie, he put on the Bluetooth, but before he could even greet his younger brother, Larie shouted into the phone, "I GOT A DATE WITH DOUBLE-N!" making Tee nearly drive off the road due to the sudden blast of noise that exploded out of the speakers.

"WHAT THE FUCK, LARIE! YOU NEARLY GOT ME KILLED! I NEARY DROVE OFF THE ROAD BECAUSE YOU SHOUTED INTO THE FUCKING PHONE AND SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!" Tee shouted back into the phone. The phone was quiet for a second, then he heard his brother, remorseful, say, "Sorry, Tee. It's just…" his voice got excited once again, "I asked her out after she taught me a bit about entomology…"

"Ento-what?"

"It's the study of bugs and stuff, like did you know spider's silk is as strong as steel when stretched right?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah! Spiders are actually pretty fucking cool. Did you know that there's this one spider that uses it's silk to trap air so it can breathe underwater to hunt?" he asked, excited. Tee smiled, ever since Larie started spending all this time with Double-N, he was happier, his grades were better, and he brought home these awesome paintings and amazing metal sculptures home from school, he even got in less fights. Overall, Double-N was slowly opening him up to the world more and helping him finally start reaching his potential.

"Anyway, I learned that spiders are bad ass little fuckers," Larie went on, "I asked Double-N if spider silk was like her hair, because her hair is like fucking steel, she said that she thought that I was right and that it's possible that the way her hair is structured is similar to spider silk…"

"So you're going out with Spider-Girl?" Tee joked.

"Shut up." Larie said, but Tee could tell he thought the joke was a little funny.

"Enough about spiders, tell me what actually happened." Tee prodded, chuckling.

"Okay, so we finished studying bugs and we were putting her books away and we both grabbed the same book at the same time, then we kind of stared at each other for a minute, blushing, and I asked her if she wanted to go out on a date with me." Larie gushed, "She seemed a little nervous, so I told her to think about it for a bit and let me know. Then we went down her basement and finished the prototype for this kick ass project we started on together. Then when I was leaving to go home, she asked me if this Friday would good for our date!" He blurted, ecstatic. "Can you believe it? I've got a date with Double-N this Friday!"

"Congrats, man." Tee said, truly happy for him, but at the same time, a little jealous that Larie managed to get a date with his girl.

Not that he and Anny hadn't progressed at all since the dance contest, in fact, they had been getting along pretty well, she even greeted him with 'Hey Tee!' everyday at school instead of growling, 'Kanker…" like she used to. The Ans and Kankers even started eating lunch together after the dance contest, much to everyone else's surprise. Tee even got to dance with her in front of the little girls tonight during free dance when the girls asked them to dance together like they did for the contest two weeks ago, their eyes big and pleading. Needless to say, he and Anny had amazed the little girls with their skills, some of the little girls had come up to him after class while Anny was chatting with a few of the other little girls and asked, "Is Miss Anny your girlfriend, Mr. Tee?" he had blushed and whispered, "Not yet, but keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?" the little girls giggled and said that they would, then ran off to tell the other little girls, who giggled and held up their crossed fingers, he sighed but couldn't help but smile at them. The little girls had a recital on Saturday and he and Anny were in for a rough couple days, but he had a feeling they'd manage, plus it'd be a great way for them to bond more.

"Thanks, Tee." Larie said, "I have a plan for this and everything. I'll get my girl, just you watch!" he said confidently. Tee agreed and told him that he'd see him at home, then hung up.

His joy for his brother's happiness turned a little bitter as he drove home in silence, both his brothers had the courage to ask their girls out and looked what happened; Jay and An had been dating for over two months now and Larie had a date with Double-N.

But what about him and Anny? Yeah, sure they were getting along better now, but when was he going to get that moment that Jay had talked about with Anny? He shook his head, he couldn't just rely on lucky breaks to get his girl to fall for him, if he wanted Anny, he'd have to just work harder to get her… but how?

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Jay and Sam were walking back to the Kanker's trailer, after Jay had walked them home, Sam said he'd walk Jay back, much to An and Jay's confusion.

"I want to talk to him for a bit anyway." He said, acting as if it wasn't a big deal. Now, while An and Jay were not the brightest people in the world, they both realized that whatever he was going to talk to Jay about was probably something private that he didn't want An to overhear. So An gave her boyfriend a kiss goodnight and her little brother a goodnight hug in case she fell asleep before he returned from the trailer park and waved at them as they made their way back to the Flush and Go Trailer park.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jay asked Sam. Sam rubbed the back of his neck, "Remember when you first came to the cul-de-sac?" he asked, catching Jay by surprise. Jay strained himself to remember the details of the day, but all in all, it had been a rollercoaster ride of a first day in Peach Creek.

"Bits and Pieces." He replied.

Sam sighed and refreshed Jay's memory.

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(FLASHBAACCKKKK!)

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Karen and Rachel were chatting with Nate while Jenny was talking to a piece of wood, "Plankette." (Author: -Gasp- I gender-bended Plank? ... Heck yeah I did!) Sam and Jamie were playing hopscotch in the road, a little box of chalk next to them. The Ans were nowhere to be seen, so it was quiet and peaceful… Well, at least, it was supposed to be.

The Kankers seemed normal-err… normal-ish enough at first. They walked up to them and smiled. The kids had no idea how much they'd come to fear those smiles in years to come, so at the time, the smiles seemed innocent enough.

"Hiya." Tee had said, giving them his classic smirk, "We're new here, we just moved into the Trailer Park nearby, we heard there were kids our age around here, so we came to introduce ourselves. I'm Tee Kanker."

"I'm Jay Kanker!" Jay said with a snort.

"And I'm Larie Kanker, we're the Kanker Brothers." Larie said, shoving his hands into his pockets and popping his gum.

The other kids looked at each other and shrugged, 'they may look strange but at least they can't be as bad as the Ans' they thought.

"Hey, dudes, I'm Nate." Nate said with a friendly wave, glad that there would be more guys around to hang out with.

Oh sure, Sam was around, but Nate wanted guy friends his own age and Sam always hung out with Jamie, so when he saw the three brothers, he perked up a bit, excited at the potential for him to have guy friends. "This is Karen and Rachel." He said, indicating who was who. He then indicated Jenny and Plankette, "That's Jenny and Plankette." Then he pointed to Sam and Jamie, "And over there are Sam and Jamie." Just as he introduced them, Jamie accidently wiped a line from their game off. "Oh darn." She said, her voice a little warped by the headgear.

"Don't worry, Jamie, I've got it." Sam said sweetly, he reached into the box of chalk and pulled out several small, slobber-covered chicken bones, Jamie cried out in fright, "Are those bones?" The other kids, Kankers included, looked over at them. While the other kids were concerned, the Kankers seemed to think it was interesting and cool, even funny, their eyes bright with excitement as they chuckled. Sam crushed the bones in his hands, his face turning red with rage.

"Duck and cover, dudes." Nate advised, as he and the other kids covered their ears as Sam shouted, "AN!" The Kankers' eyes widened as if they had found an answer they'd been searching for, Jay grabbed Sam, lifting up off the ground with one hand, "With one N or two?" he asked. Sam looked confused, "One, but how did you…?" Jay dropped him, no longer interested in hearing from him, and looked at his brothers. Larie walked up to Jenny and asked, "Is there one with two Ns also here?"

"You mean Double-N?" Jenny asked, confused, she then looked to the piece of wood in her hands "Plankette says, 'Yeah, why, do you know her?'" Larie looked at Tee who grabbed Nate by the shirt collar, "And is there an Anny here too?" Nate nodded, "Yeah, they all live here, why? Did they do something?"

"I betcha they tried to scam you too, huh?" Karen said, then scoffed, "Those girls ruin everything." The brothers stiffened at that.

"What did you just say?" Jay asked, shaking.

"I said 'those girls ruin everything.'" Karen repeated, Nate nodded in agreement, not knowing her little comment would result in the first of many painful beatings they would all receive from the Kanker brothers.

"Agreed, those Good-For-Nothing An girls often cause trouble around here, yes?" Rachel agreed. The brothers began to shake more violently as the rest of them joined in.

"Yeah! What a bunch of block heads! Especially my sister, An." Sam chuckled.

"Those Ans are a bunch of trouble-makers!" Jamie whined.

"Yeah!" Jenny then stopped and said, "Plankette said those girls have to stick together because no one else would want to be with an idiot, a nerd and a loud mouth!" The other kids laughed, but the Kankers had reached their limits. Jay grabbed Sam and Jamie and painfully tied them into a knot. Larie threw Plankette into the sewers then hammered Rachel and Jenny into the ground with his fists.

Tee grabbed Karen and Nate by their necks and twisted them so they looked as if their heads were on the wrong bodies.

"What's your problem?" Karen demanded.

"We've been looking for those girls for a while now, so we could claim 'um as ours, but since they're not here right now, we'll explain how this is gonna work before we beat 'ya to a pulp." Tee said, smirking.

"The Ans are ours!" Jay declared, "If anyone else tries to take 'um from us, we'll beat 'um to a pulp!" he then demonstrated by slamming Jamie's braces into the concrete and yanking back. When he finally let go, the two kids took turns having their faces slammed into the concrete.

"If anyone tries to hurt 'um, we'll protect our girls and beat the punks to a pulp." Larie explained, "If anyone says anything bad about our girls, we'll beat 'um to a pulp." He then grabbed Jenny's and Rachel's hair and their tongues and tied them together, he then pulled their hair and tongues and watched as their heads slammed together. Tee put his face close to Karen and Nate's "And if you don't tell us where our girls are right now, we'll beat you until you wish you were pulp." He growled. The kids looked at each other, terrified. Jenny leans towards the sewer, "What's that, Plankette?" she asked, then strained herself to hear the silent wood speak, "They're in the swamp collecting bugs for Double-N's collection?" The boys smiled, Tee indicated for Larie to pull Jenny out of the ground, "Thank you for your assistance." Tee said, then nodded at Larie, who then smiled darkly as Jay lifted the lid to the sewer and then Larie threw her into the sewer, where her head got stuck on the way down. Jay hopped on her head for a bit, but she didn't budge. The brothers looked at her for a minute, then shrugged, going back to the other kids, their faces pulled in demonic grins.

"I-I thought you said that you wouldn't beat us to a pulp if we told you where they were!" Nate said, terrified.

Tee smirked, "I never said anything like that."

"But we did say that we'd beat whoever insulted our girls to a pulp." Larie said, pulling Rachel out of the ground while Jay stopped the two younger kids from smashing further into the cement. Tee grabbed Nate and Karen, all three brothers looking like demons, "Yeah, let's make sure they remember that from now on." Jay said as the brothers dropped them in the center of the cul-de-sac. The five kids cowering as the Kankers demon shadows grew over them.

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(End of flashback)

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Jay looked at Sam sheepishly, "Oh, yeah… Sorry about that."

Sam shook his head, "It's fine." He said, kicking a loose stone on the ground. "I kind of deserved it. I was a total jerk to An and her friends before Mondo-A-Go-Go…" He bit his lip, "To be honest, I used to beat An up for no reason all the time back then." Jay stopped dead in his tracks, Sam walked a little further before stopping as well, and looked back at Jay, looking ashamed of himself.

"What? What do you mean?" Jay demanded, angry to hear that Sam used to abuse his older sister for no good reason. And, while Jay wasn't exactly innocent in causing An grief over the years, he had not, nor would he ever hurt her.

Sam sighed and looked away, "Whenever I got angry about something, I'd hurt An as if it was her fault that I was angry. I treated my sweet idiot of a big sister like crap. So, I deserved all those beatings you and your brothers have given me over the years." Sam admitted, his head down. Jay didn't know what to say, while he was completely enraged that Sam used to hurt An, his own sister, for no fucking reason, Sam seemed legitimately upset about what he had done and seemed sorry that he had been an abusive asshole. But still, Sam had hurt An before, how did Jay know that Sam wouldn't do it again? Jay began debating whether or not he should fucking murder Sam right then and there.

Sam knew he had just possibly lost Jay as a big brother figure forever, but at the same time, it seemed fitting, he lost a brother for hurting his sister. But it still hurt. He liked having Jay as a big brother figure, and because of his own stupid anger issues, he could've lost one of the best male role models he had ever had. All because he had to be an abusive dick to his sister all those years ago, he wanted to tell him that wished he could rewind and erase his cruelty to An from history, but he knew that Jay wouldn't give two craps about that. He and his brothers had warned Sam and the others what would happen if anyone ever hurt their girls, and the Kankers were pretty good about keeping their word. He wondered if Jay was going to beat the crap out of him right there and then, not that Sam could blame him, if Sam was in Jay's situation, he'd fuck himself up pretty bad. But Jay did nothing. He just stood there, fuming. Jay looked up at Sam, looking angrier then Sam had ever seen him look before, "Listen the fuck up, because I'm only going to say this once." he seethed, "If you ever hurt An again, I will kill you and make it look like an accident." Sam nodded vigorously, fearful of Jay's wrath and surprised that he was swearing, since Jay was the only Kanker he knew to not swear. But Jay was also furious at him, so it made sense.

"The only reason I'm not murdering you right now is because, lucky for you, your sister's one of the sweetest and gentlest people in the world and she'd be upset if anything were to happen to you, even if you are an abusive shithead."

Sam nodded again, his chin tucked to his chest. "That's fair." He said, his hands in his pockets and staring at his feet.

They stood there for a long time again, both quiet.

Jay punched a tree, making it fly somewhere into the dark abyss of the night and walked briskly past Sam, he didn't say anything else to him, nor did he ruffle his hair like he normally did when he passed him. He was mad, really mad, but he was a little glad that Sam had been honest with him, even knowing that Jay could easily beat the shit out of him again for hurting his girl for all those years. Sam and Jay continued walking, the noises of the night and their shoes crunching through fallen leaves seeming to try to make up for the loss of conversation, but they weren't helping much.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Sam finally said, staring at his shoes as they walked, "I wanted to ask how you knew An, Double-N and Anny before you even moved here."

Jay rose his eyebrows at that, then smiled a bit for the first time since they had left An behind, recalling the first time he had ever saw her, "You wanna know when we really met the Ans?" he asked. Sam looked at him, and nodded. Jay stopped, counting down the years on his fingers, "Well, to be honest, we met the Ans roughly six years before we moved here so we were about…" Jay thought about it for a minute, "Six years old?" he guestimated.

"Six?" Sam cried, shocked.

"Yeah, 'ya see, our dad was looking for work at the time, he had just lost his job and was trying to find a new one, but we couldn't afford daycare or anything like that and he couldn't take us with him. But there were these 'free admission days' for kids at this museum nearby, so our dad kind of dropped us off there and left us to find ways to amuse ourselves while he was gone…"

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(Flashback #2)

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The six-year-old Kanker brothers are at a museum, playing on the skeleton of a T-Rex, well, Larie and Tee were playing on it, Jay was looking up at the T-Rex's skull and said "I don't think Mr. Rex likes us playing on 'um, guys." Jay's blonde hair was in a bowl cut and he wore a gray t-shirt and orange shorts and his buckteeth were much longer compared to his other teeth back then.

"He's dead, Jay!" Larie said, swinging on a rib like a monkey, "He doesn't care." Larie wore a black t-shirt and green overall shorts, his short blue hair was messy on the top of his head, it wasn't long enough to cover his eyes yet, so both of his eyes were visible.

"Yeah! And even if he wasn't, I bet we could beat this bunch of bones." Tee said, stomping on the T-Rex's toes to make a point. He wore a white t-shirt and jean shorts, his red hair barely covered the top of his blue eyes.

The doors to the museum opened and three girls came in, first a tall girl their age with her red hair pulled back into a ponytail, a huge grin on her face. She had no chin and she had a unibrow, she wore a red and white striped t-shirt and a jean shirt, both have stains on them. She sees the boys playing on the T-Rex and points to them, "Look, they have a playground, Double-N!" she cries. A short girl with pink hair down to her shoulders looks over at the boys, she wore a yellow dress with a purple ribbon around her waist and face-palmed, "That's a dinosaur, An, not a playground. Those guys are just being stupid." The middle girl was somewhere between her friends in height, she wore a black hat over her hair, little tufts of black hair came out the back, looking like pigtails, she wore a purple dress with a red shirt underneath, she gasped, revealing a gap in between her two front teeth, "Oh my!"

"Hey!" A security guard shouted angrily, "You kids get off of there!"

"Run, boys!" Tee shouted, and Larie leapt off the bones and they ran to Jay, ready to scoop him up, but the security guard smacks into a bone and knocks it over, making the entire T-Rex skeleton collapse, Tee and Larie ran to get their brother away from the falling head, but as they reached to grab him, they saw the skull plummeting down towards them, Larie and Tee grabbed their brother and put themselves over him, trying to shield him from the falling skull's knife like teeth, but just as it was about to fall on them, it stopped. Jay looked up, confused, only to see the girl with the red ponytail holding the skull with one hand, a light overhead shining behind her head, looking like a halo, "Are you okay?" she asked reaching out her other hand to help him. Jay looked at her with awe, nodding, his face turning red, 'An angel.' He thought, taking her hand, his heart beating wildly in his chest and his hand tingling as he took hers.

She pulled him up and her friends rushed over, asking if she was okay and inspecting her for injuries, once they saw she was fine, the girls helped his brothers up, both of their jaws had dropped, shocked. They'd never met a girl who was strong enough to hold up something as heavy as a Dinosaur skull with one hand before.

"Who are you?" Jay asked in disbelief.

"Oh, how rude of us," the one with the hat said, "This is An, with one 'N'." She said, indicating the red-haired angel Jay was gawking at, still holding her hand, An gave him a cheerful smile that made his palms sweat and a goofy smile curl up his cheeks. The girl with the hat then indicated their short, pink haired friend, "This is Anny." Ann set her jaw and slipped her hand out of Tee's and put both hands on her hips, making a sassy pose, "You're lucky An's so strong or you three'd be goners!" she snapped. The boys looked at her, shocked, no child, boy or girl had ever had the guts to talk to them like that, ever. "And I'm Ann, with two Ns, but my friends call me Double-N. We're the Ans." She said shaking Larie's hand. "Who might you three gentlemen be?" she asked. All three boys were now completely taken aback, they'd been called many things in their brief six years of life, but nothing like 'gentlemen.' The security guard popped out of a pile of bones, "LOOK WHAT YOU BRATS DID!" he shouted.

Brats. Now that was something the boys were used to being called, they looked at the man, unimpressed by his insult, the girls, however, looked baffled and insulted.

"Brats?" An asked, shocked and a little hurt. Her smile sank into a small frown, Jay suddenly felt rage surge through him. That guy had just called his angel a brat.

"What we did?" Anny snapped, "You knocked it over, ya' jerk!"

"Indeed!" Double-N agreed, "You nearly killed these three!" she said, pointing to them. The guard pulled himself out of the bones, looking pissed, An suddenly looked scared, "RUN AWAY!" she screamed, throwing the skull at the guard, smashing him and the skull into the wall. Tee grabbed his brothers and dragged them away, Larie quickly snapped out of it and helped him pull Jay, while Anny grabbed her friends as they ran in the opposite direction while saying, "HA! Nice one, An!" An and Jay held hands for a few more seconds before they were finally pulled apart, An giving him a small wave as she was pulled farther away. Jay felt his heart ache as his angel escaped from view. "An, huh?" he said to himself, "Must be short for 'Angel'."

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The boys finally stopped in a narrow hallway, Tee and Larie started chuckling, "did you see how that girl chucked that skull at that jerk?" Tee asked Larie.

"Yeah!" Larie laughed, "That was funny!" Jay smiled widely at the thought of her throwing the skull to save them, "I think I'm in love, guys." He said dreamily. His brothers looked at him, shocked, "Love?" they said in unison, grossed out, as most six-year-old boys would be hearing one of their fellows had fallen for the fairer sex. Jay nodded, a happy, yet dopey expression on his face. His brothers looked at each other in panic, then to Jay.

"Gross!" Larie said, "Girls have cooties!"

"With who?" Tee asked.

"An." he said, feeling all tingly just saying her name, "The one who threw Mr. Rex's skull at the mean security guard." His brothers looked concerned, but as Tee was opening his mouth to speak, they heard another voice. "HEY! YOU THREE!" They looked to see it was the security guard from before, he looked kind of beat up from having a dinosaur collapse on him then having its head smash him into a wall, but he looked more mad then hurt.

"Run!" Tee shouted, the three of them ran for it, but the guard grabbed Larie, "GUYS!" he cried, struggling against the guard's grip. His brothers quickly ran back and kicked the guard hard in the shins, the guard howled and dropped Larie, his brothers caught him, but all three fell to the ground from the force of his fall, then they quickly realized that they were now trapped against the wall. It didn't matter which direction they tried to run, they'd be caught either way. A smirk crawled up the guard's face as he reached down for them.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE YOU BRUTE!" A girl's voice called, the three girls from earlier ran in front of them, looking determined and defensive. An in front of Jay, who felt his heart soar at the sight of his angel again, Anny in front of Tee and Double-N standing in front of Larie, looking pissed. The guard laughed, "Aw, isn't this cute? You three have your little girlfriends protecting you." He teased. Anny and An helped Tee and Jay up while Double-N pulled out a sample perfume spray and a cigarette lighter from under her hat.

"Well what are you going to do with that?" the guard asked her, chuckling. Double-N glared at him, "I detest bullies." She snapped, "And you are about to be taught a lesson you shall not soon forget!" she said, her body shaking with rage.

"What kind of lesson would that be?" he asked, laughing so hard, tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"What happens when compressed air comes into contact with an open flame!" she said, opening the lighter and turning it on, then pressing the sampler behind the flame and pressing the spray button on top, creating a giant fireball that was headed straight towards the guard's grinning face. The guard yelped and backed away from the flame. Larie's jaw dropped and his face turned pink, he'd never met anyone so awesome, boy or girl,that could turn a lighter and a sample spray of perfume into a stinkin' flamethrower. "Whoa..." He murmured, his heart pounding as he watched Double-N stomp towards the guard, her friends cheering for her as she yelled at him, "I ABSOLUTELY DETEST BULLIES!" she sent another fireball as she said the word 'detest'. "DO YOU HEAR ME? DETEST! ABHOR! DISPISE! HATE! I HATE HATE HATE BULLIES!" she shouted, making more fireballs as she said words that meant hate. Larie couldn't stop watching her as she, a six-year-old girl, scolded a grown man while sending fireballs at him for picking on him and his brothers, she had to be the coolest girl he'd ever seen. "Hot darn..." he whispered, his face now turning red and feeling like he had eaten butterflies and they were now fluttering inside his stomach.

"WAY TO GO, DOUBLE-N!" Anny cheered as the guard fled, his pants on fire.

"HE'S A LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!" An laughed. The others laughed as well as she walked back and offered Larie her hand, "Are you alright?" Larie took it quickly, feeling his hand tingle as it touched her skin. "Yeah." He said, his face red, "Thanks." He held her hand for a few more seconds before turning redder and letting go, making Double-N giggle. They heard the sound of hissing steam, then the guard shout, "I'M GONNA MURDER YOU SIX!" Double-N inspected her perfume sample and looked to the others, panicked, "it's empty!" she cried.

"RUN! AGAIN!" An cried, grabbing her friends as Tee scooped up his brothers again and they dashed out the other side of the hall and went in opposite directions. Larie and Jay looked at what would eventually be known as their Ans, their cheeks red and big goofy grins on their faces.

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The boys were panting, hiding in the cafeteria under a table.

"I think we lost him." Tee said, falling to the floor.

"How awesome was that Double-N girl?" Larie blurted excitedly, "I mean, she threw fireballs at that guy! Aw man…" He looked at Jay, "I think I'm in love too!" Jay smiled and high fived his brother. Tee scowled at them, "Girls are gross!" he stated, his brothers looked at him, taken aback, "Not those girls." Jay said, "They're cool."

"Yeah, I mean, Jay's girl is super strong and mine can make a flamethrower out of a lighter and a little sprayer thingy." Larie agreed.

"They are not cool." Tee snapped, glaring at his brothers. Suddenly Jay saw the girls, walking up to the lunch line, chatting.

"Hey look! There they are!" he said. They looked at them from under the table, when their stomachs started to growl.

"We almost forgot about lunch." Tee said, holding his grumbling tummy. His brothers held their stomachs, wincing, "But we didn't bring anything, and we don't have any money." Larie reminded him.

"Hey." Anny said, sticking her head under their table, surprising them, "You guys want to eat with us? Our parents gave us some money for lunch and we'd be happy to share with you three." She informed them. Larie and Jay nodded gratefully and leapt out from under the table, running towards their Ans, who smiled and waved as they approached. Tee looked at her, stunned, no one was ever nice enough to share anything with them, "Why would you want to share with us?" he asked. Anny looked at him incredulously, "Because it's lunch time and you guys don't have lunch. You must be hungry, so come on." She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him with an impressive strength for someone her size and gender. Tee felt his face grow hot as Anny pulled him to join his brothers and her friends in the lunch line, his hand tingly in hers and he felt as if he was walking on air. 'What's with these girls?' he wondered as they got lunch and sat down, munching happily on hamburgers and hotdogs and slurping down juice boxes. As soon as they finished lunch, Double-N looked at them, "We never did get your names." She reminded them, as they opened their mouths to tell them, the security guard grabbed the boys from behind, "Gotcha, you little brats!" he cried.

Anny hopped on the table and pointed to the man, screaming "STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!" making all eyes fall on him, when he looked around to explain himself to the angry looking adults and teenagers glaring at him. Tee and his brothers looked at the girls, Anny made crying faces for them to mimic. They nodded and pretended to be upset, rubbing their eyes like they were crying, the adults and teenagers got up, pissed at the man for picking on little kids. Then Anny bit the guard and each Kanker was dragged away by one of the Ans as their angry elders beat the crap out of the guard. All three boys' faces were red and each had a goofy smile on his lips as he reveled in holding his An's hand. They made it to the front where the T-Rex had once stood, all of them panting and leaning against the Skull that An had thrown earlier.

"What's with that guy?" Anny asked.

"Who knows?" Tee replied with shrug.

"He certainly is persistent." Double-N commented.

"He's also a poop-head." Larie added.

"Why won't he leave us alone?" An cried.

"Cause he's mean." Jay answered.

"And he's also right next to you." The guard informed them. They all screamed and ran, but the guard grabbed the Ans this time, he had Anny by the hair and Double-N by her hat (which she clung to with all the strength she could muster to keep it on her head) in one hand, and he had An by the neck in the other. The girls stared at him, terrified. The Kanker brothers stood there, dumbfounded. They could've just ran and left them, but these girls were special. These girls actually cared about them, even though they were total strangers, and they had helped them all day. They couldn't just abandon them, but what could they do?

"You three little girls have gotten on my last nerve." He glared at An, "With you and your freakish strength, thanks for throwing this freaking skull at me, you no-chinned, unibrowed ginger freak!" An stared at him, heartbroken, her bottom lip quivering, her eyes watering. Jay felt rage re-surge through his body, but this one was unlike any he had ever felt in his entire life. The beautiful angel who saved him and his brothers, the one who had stood up for him and held his hand, was now in danger and he didn't like it. He felt as if he was literally burning with rage. He began grinding his teeth.

The guard looked at Double-N, "And you, thanks for setting me on fire!" he snapped, Double-N whimpered and clung to her hat, "What's the matter, sweetie? Bad haircut? Or are you trying to hide that huge ugly gap in your teeth?" Double-N looked as if he had just punched her, tears started rolling down her cheeks, her chest bouncing as she started to sob. Larie felt as if someone had set a fire in his stomach and the fire had spread through his entire body. The coolest girl in the whole wide world was crying because of the man dangling her in front of him. He was itching to rip the guy into a million pieces, he began to shake like an earthquake from anger.

Anny glared at the guy, "WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, JERK FACE?" she demanded, looking ready to start a fight. The guard glared at her, "I'm the guy who you bit, you pipsqueak! Honestly, just shut your big mouth, fish face!" Anny looked hurt by his words, but she kept herself from crying, resulting in her giving him an angry, hurt look. Tee felt a prick of anger grow into a raging inferno of fury. Now Tee had no idea why he had stopped running or why he was particularly angry, but he did know that the Kankers never let anyone hurt someone they cared about. And they, for whatever reason, really cared about these girls. He looked at the pile of bones, his mind reeling.

"And I'm also the guy whose going to call your parents and let them know exactly what you three did today." The girls' eyes widened in panic, "NO!" they cried out in unison. Tee then dashed over to the bones, grabbed one and bashed the guy in the nuts with it. The guy yelped and let the girls go, they fell screaming, but each An was caught by a Kanker. The boys then put the girls down, then Larie and Jay grabbed bones for themselves as Tee said, "It looks like someone needs to be taught how to play nicely with girls, huh, boys?" His brothers nodded with dark glee in their eyes.

The Ans' hugged, grateful to be out of the mean man's clutches, their eyes wide as they watch the Kankers beat the crap out of the security guard with dinosaur bones, their shadows dancing on the wall the Ans are standing in front of. When they were finished, the boys tossed the bones back into the pile, "Um, so what do you girls wanna do now?" Tee asked. The girls stopped hugging, An and Double-N wiped tears off their cheeks. The Ans then put on thoughtful expressions, well Double-N did, Anny was stunned and An just gave them a blank look.

"Well, we actually came here to see the Egyptian exhibit." Double-N replied.

"Egyptian exhibit?" Larie asked. She nodded and pulled a pamphlet from under her hat and opened it for the brothers to see, pointing to a section with the title, 'Come see the Treasures of King Tut's Tomb!'

"Yes, they have the royal sarcophagus of one of the last Pharaohs of Egypt, Tutankhamun." Double-N explained, "They just opened the exhibit today."

"Yeah!" An said, excitedly "We came to see mummies and cool pots with guts in them!"

"They really have pots with guts inside?" Jay asked, amazed.

"Yeah, Double-N said they used to take their guts out before they wrapped the mummies!" An said, jumping up and down with excitement, "Apparently if their hearts weren't lighter then a feather, a big monster would eat it!"

"We also wanted to see the cool treasures they had in their tombs." Anny said.

"Treasures?" Tee asked, not only surprised there was more cool stuff besides dead bodies wrapped in toilet paper and guts in jars, but these girls were excited about that stuff.

"Yeah, apparently they're cursed treasures. You guys wanna come with us?" Anny asked.

The boys hardly had to waste any time on their response. Hmm… did they want to go with girls who they had huge crushes on to go look at an exhibit with cool stuff like mummies, pots with guts inside and cursed treasures?

"Heck yeah!" they said in unison. The six of them then dashed off to the exhibit, laughing and smiling and holding hands.

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Later, they stood in the parking lot, the girls see a car pull into a spot, the driver honking on the horn and waving for the girls.

"That's my mom's car." Anny said. The boys looked a little sad that the girls were leaving after they had so much fun with them, but they were proud of themselves for paying them back at least a little bit for helping them and being nice to them all day. Before the girls went to the car, though, they got into a little huddle and chatted for a bit, then walked back to the boys, giving them shy smiles and giggling. The brothers looked at each other, 'what were they so happy about?'

Each An walked up to a Kanker and gave him a small kiss. Jay got one on his left cheek from An, Larie got one on his right from Double-N, and Tee got one on his forehead, after Anny made him bend down. Then they all hopped into the car, "Bye guys!" An cried, giving them a big wave and a smile.

"Tata, gentlemen!" Double-N said sweetly, giving them a big gap-toothed grin and a wave of wiggling fingers.

"If you're ever in Peach Creek, you should come over and play!" Anny said, waving and giving them a sweet smile. The car drove off, the girls popped up from the back and waved at them until the car turned and drove to wherever Peach Creek was. Each brother touched the spot he had been kissed and blushed.

"Hey guys?" Tee said.

"Yeah, Tee?" his brothers replied in unison.

"If we ever see those girls again, I say we claim 'um as ours, never let them go, and always protect them." Jay and Larie looked at their elder brother, smiling, and slapped him on the back, shouting "YEAH!"

.

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(End of flashback)

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Sam was stunned, but he could understand why the Kankers would be so fond of them after that encounter. "So you had been looking for them for about six years when you finally came to the cul-de-sac that day?"

Jay nodded, proud of himself, "Yup, it was totally worth it to see our girls again." he said with a big smile. "I don't regret one second of it, because each second got me closer to An."

Sam was stunned, Larie had liked Double-N for six years before he saw her again, and had been trying to get a date for so long and after all these years and all the work he had done, he finally got one. How could he beat over ten years of devotion like that? But even so, he still liked Double-N too, even though he hadn't liked her as long, his feelings counted too, right?

Sam looked down, "Hey, Jay, if An was in love with someone else, what would you do?" Jay looked at him, concerned and angry, "WHAT?"

"It's just a hypothetical question!" Sam said, waving his arms wildly, "My sister's totally in love with you, honest! I was just wondering what you would do if she was into someone else!"

"Prove to her that I love her more then him." Jay said instantly.

"And if that didn't work?" Sam asked.

"Beat him up." Jay replied, without missing a beat.

"What if you couldn't beat him?" Sam asked.

Jay scoffed, and looked at him, as if to say, 'Bitch, please.'

"Just humor me." Sam said.

Jay sighed and paused a bit, thinking, after a few minutes he finally said, "I'd sabotage him." He said plainly, "I'd make him look bad so she wouldn't love him anymore." Sam perked up, then played it cool, "Oh. Okay then." He said. They got back to the trailer park, Jay told him to head home from there. Sam obeyed. He had gotten what he needed.

"Sabotage, huh?" he said, a smile curling up his face.

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Sam walked home, chuckling as various scenarios played out in his head, each one ending with him getting Double-N and Larie defeated like a boss out of one of An's video games.

"Don't do it." A boy's voice said from behind him. Sam jumped at the sound, and quickly turned around, scared one of the Kankers had heard him. But there was no one there.

"Must have been the wind." Sam rationalized, and went back to walking home, it was weird though, the voice sounded kind of like what he thought what An might sound like as a boy.

"Don't mess up their date." A girl's voice said from behind, Sam whirled around, his heart thumping in his ears. But again, he saw no one. He began to shake, the voice had sounded like Jay's, only more high pitched and almost… almost like a girl's voice. He looked around, wildly, trying to see who had spoken, alarmed. They knew what he was going to try to do!

"Please, Sam. Just let them be happy." The voices said in unison from farther up the path, Sam turned to see two kids. They were wearing matching jumpsuits and identical fiberglass motorcycle helmets. The jumpsuits were black with a yellow stripe in the middle. The shorter one wore pants while the taller one wore a skirt. So he knew which one was the girl and which one was the boy. They had black gloves and thick black boots.

"Who are you?" Sam demanded. The boy and girl looked at one another, the girl shook her head at the boy, then looked at Sam, "We can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"We can't say." The boy replied.

"Then why should I listen to you two?" Sam snapped, stomping forward, the two cowered a bit, Sam smiled, these two weren't so tough, he smiled and got ready to pound the two figures to dust, when he suddenly heard Jay from behind him, "Sam!" Sam turned around and saw Jay run up, An's glasses case in his hand. Sam turned around and saw the two kids had vanished. "I'm glad I caught up with you!" Jay held out An's case, "An must of dropped this earlier, cause no one in my family wears glasses."

"Yeah, that's An's, thanks." Sam said, taking it, he looked back where the kids had been, "Did you see anyone over there when you spotted me?" Sam asked.

Jay looked at him, confused, "No, why?"

"No reason." Sam said, shoving An's case in his pocket, "Thanks, I'll get them to her. Night, Jay."

"Night, Sam." Jay said with a wave, then walked back home to the trailer park. Sam shook his head and hurried home, the two children had known his name, his plan, he began to shake and picked up speed, he needed to get home, the faster the better.

.

Jay walked home, whistling and his hands in his jacket pockets. The two kids from before were hiding in the bushes, watching him. The boy turned to the girl and pointed at Jay, "Big sister, is that…?" The girl nodded, "Yes, baby brother, it is." They looked at Jay intently, shaking nervously.

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The next morning Anny was driving Double-N and An to school in the van.

"So you have a date with Larie on Friday?" Anny asked, smirking. Double-N nodded, blushing, "I'm surprised that you're taking this so well, Anny." She said.

"Yeah well, after seeing how good Jay is with An and how good Larie's been lately, I think I can give him the benefit of a doubt." Anny told her. It was also because Double-N seemed much happier lately since Larie had been coming over to her house on days when she had dance class with the little girls and An and Jay had dates. Plus, she talked about the guy enough that Anny could tell she liked him, and Double-N rarely had anyone besides her and An who would listen to her go on about random things, but Larie just soaked it up and actually understood enough to have a conversation with her about it. It was cute to watch them at lunch going back and forth about something that the rest of them didn't know or didn't care about. (Usually with Jay and An not knowing and Tee and Anny not caring.)

An gave Double-N a hug from the mattress in the back, "If you two start going out, we can double date, Double-N!" An cried happily.

"Well, that is certainly a possibility, An." Double-N said, although Anny knew neither she nor Larie would feel comfortable going on a double date with one of the most affectionate couples in town.

"You know what this means, right?" Anny asked her friends. Both of her friend looked at her, confused. Which was rare, there was hardly ever a time that both An and Double-N were confused about something, especially about something Anny had said.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"We need to go clothes shopping!" She sang, her smile growing. An cheered while Double-N stiffened, "I have plenty of clothes that could be…"

"We know what's in your closet, Sock-Head." Anny cut her off, "But this is your first date, you have to look good. Your ankle-length dresses and skirts and turtle-necks ain't gonna cut it." Double-N winced. Anny felt a little bad for putting down her friend's clothes, but Double-N had chosen her clothes due to their length and ability to cover as much of herself as she could so people could admire her for her brains and not her body, but now that she had finally managed to get a date, she was going to have to break free from the cocoon of her long sleeves and skirts and show the world how beautiful the girl hiding behind those clothes could be in something other then turtle-necks.

"I'll text Jamie to come, too!" An said cheerfully, pulling out her cell phone.

Then Anny and Double-N looked confused, which was normal considering it was An who was talking.

"Why would you call Jamie, An?" Double-N asked.

"Because she's good at fashion and stuff." She replied.

"So am I, Lumpy." Anny said, a bit insulted that An would bring in someone else to help pick out an outfit for Double-N's date since Anny was the fashion master in their group. It was one of the few benefits she got from growing up with her awful older sister; she had great fashion sense, a lengthy knowledge of the best hairstyles, she knew a million ways to make herself more gorgeous with make-up and a mountain of shoes. All of this was granted to Anny by the time her sister left.

"But I think she might need a new dress soon too!" An said, looking up from her phone.

"Why would you think that?" Double-N asked.

"Because Sam wanted to talk to Jay alone, and why else would he want to talk with my boyfriend alone other then asking for advise about a girl?" An asked them. Anny and Double-N were stunned, An had a very good point.

"Okay then, Lumpy, why do you think he wanted to talk about Jamie? How do you know he wasn't asking about Double-N? I mean, he's had a crush on her a while ago, but he could still like her…"

Double-N shivered, "I hope not."

A while back, while looking for four-leaved clovers, An had found a rare flower. Double-N had taken possession of it after An and Anny had made it clear that, while they thought it was pretty and smelled nice, it wasn't really something they cared all that much about. Lunch, however, was. While they ran to Anny's house to make pizza, An and Anny had wrecked Sam and Jamie's hopscotch game, enraging Sam and causing him to yell at Double-N, who hadn't been as fast as her friends to avoid his wrath. When the two kids had noticed that she had a rare flower in her hand, they got excited and asked her about it. So, in her haste to catch up with her friends and to quell Sam's rage, she gave them the flower as a peace offering and dashed off.

However, Sam mistook her peace offering as a token of her affection and spent the rest of the day harassing her, calling her his girlfriend, following her around, and basically not giving her any space or time away from his loud, rude, and unwelcomed affections. She had thought that after the Ans had reunited Sam with Jamie that the nightmare was over. Until Anny revealed, after looking into Sam's diary, that Sam's crush on Double-N had not diminished at all, much to her dismay.

Now, Larie had been troublesome when they were younger too, but if she had to choose back then, she'd still pick Larie over Sam. While Larie was an… aggressive suitor back then, and to be honest, still kind of was today, at least he would leave. He and his brothers would come, they'd kiss, then they'd leave. That was their usual cycle, occasionally they'd do a little something extra, but she still preferred it over Sam popping out from under her hat then wrapping his arms around her neck, demanding a piggy back ride when she could hardly stand his weight on her back without falling to the ground. She remembered the horror of him skipping around her exhausted form, collapsed on the ground, singing, 'Ring around the girlfriend!'

But it wasn't just the constant invasion of her personal space that bothered her. It was Sam himself.

Sam used to mercilessly attack the Ans, even when they did nothing to aggravate him, especially An, he'd beat the snot out of her. While the Kankers would jump the girls, they never harmed them. Double-N would never forgive him for his treatment of his sweet sister, and she knew for a fact that Anny wouldn't either. So if anyone ever asked her to choose between Larie or Sam, she would pick Larie every time.

"Well why would he ask Jay about Double-N when he knows Larie likes her? Sam wouldn't put Jay through that." An asked.

"No offense, An, but your little brother is a selfish brat. I doubt he'd have any trouble making Jay miserable like he used to with us. And I don't trust him as far as I'd love to throw his ass." Anny said plainly, "And as for Jamie, that girl is a manipulative little bitch who has gotten us beaten up for shit we haven't done plenty of times before. You really trust her to help us find an outfit for Double-N, who Sam might still have a crush on, when Jamie has a huge crush on Sam?"

It was well known that, much like the Kanker's claims on the Ans, Jamie had a similar claim on Sam. And while it had never been vocalized or enforced, there wasn't a girl in Peach Creek that didn't know that Sam was Jamie's man, even if he himself didn't know it yet, and to leave him alone.

"Yeah, but it's for a date with Larie." An pointed out, "Not Sam." Her friends stewed that over for a second before looking back at her, impressed.

"Good point, An," Double-N praised, "Since it's for a date with Larie, she might be all for helping us."

"Yeah, but we don't need her help." Anny snapped, "I'm the fashionista in this trio."

"But Anny," An said, making Anny turn to look at her. An pointed to Double-N's clothes. Anny sighed, "Good point, Lumpy." An smiled triumphantly. "You certainly are on a roll today, An." Double-N said with a smile. "Yeah, since when have you been so smart?" Anny teased. An smiled proudly, "I watch cartoons, Anny." She explained as she began typing into her phone.

"But An, you never answered my question earlier." Double-N reminded her, An looked up, "Which question was that?"

"Why would Jamie need a new dress?" Double-N repeated. Anny smiled and looked back, "You think Sam will finally wise up about her crush?"

An shook her head, "Nope, but if we help her find a dress, he might!" Anny smiled proudly, "That's more like it." She purred as she pulled into the parking lot.

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.

.

Jamie felt her phone buzz as she stood with Sam waiting for the school bus. She opened it and was surprised to see a message from An.

"Hie Jamy! U wanna hellp USA finnd and outfit for DobleN's date with LArie?"

Jamie looked at the message, then texted back, "What?"

Her phone buzzed again, "Lumpy wanted to know if u wanted to come to the mall with us to help us pick out an outfit for Sock-head's date with Larie." She read, judging that she could read it without needing a dictionary and the nicknames used, she guessed that Anny was the one who typed for An. She absorbed the information, Double-N was going on a date with Larie? A smile grew on her face as she realized that there was now nothing between her and Sam… well except for Sam's inability to take a freaking hint. It was ironic, he'd often complain how stupid his sister was, yet An was one of the first people to realize that Jamie had a crush on him. She sighed, An may not be really bright, but she could be very insightful at times, and while Sam was no dummy, he had to be the most oblivious person she'd ever known. She quickly typed back, "What time can you pick me up?" she replied.

"We can pick u up at home at about 4, An has video game club today, so we're going to wait at school until she's done, then we'll scoop u up before going 2 the mall."

"Can't wait! " Jamie replied. She looked over at Sam, who looked grumpy, but if it was because his crush was going on a date with a Kanker over him, or because it was early and a school day, she had no idea.

"Hey, Sam, what are you doing after school?" she asked, trying hard to hide her excitement.

"Homework." He grumbled, "You?"

"I'm going to the mall to go shopping!" she cried happily.

"Whoop-tee-doo." He said grumpily.

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.

At lunch, the Ans and Kankers sat down at their table. It used to be where the Kankers usually sat by themselves, but after the dance contest, the girls had started sitting there with them, much to their glee. Anny and Tee were talking about the little girls' dance recital and any preparations that would need to be done on Thursday. Double-N and Larie were nervously making conversation about whatever project they were working on together, Larie wanted to know if they were still testing something Thursday and then asked if picking her up for the date at six was good. Double-N said yes to both questions, her face pink. An asked Jay what Sam had wanted to talk about last night, the others stopped chatting and looked at Jay, intrigued. Jay bit his lip, he didn't want to talk about how Sam had admitted to him that he used to beat An up, so he said, "Uh, he wanted to know about girls." He said vaguely. An bounced up and down, "I knew it!" she cried, "Did he say who?"

"No, he didn't say." Jay said. Anny nudged Double-N, "hopefully it's not you, Sock-head." She snickered. The Kankers looked confused by her statement.

"It's not funny Anny." Double-N huffed, putting her arms down on the table, "I'd love to see you try to deal with Sam's constant harassment for a whole day." Larie looked concerned and put his arm around her, "What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Yeah, what are you talking about, Anny?" Tee asked.

"An's brother Sam had a huge crush on Double-N when we were kids. It sucked, he followed her around for a whole day, kept calling her his girlfriend and wrecking everything we tried to do that day. It was a nightmare." Anny explained, "We thought it was over after we reunited him with his best friend," she smirked at Double-N, "Until we read Sam's diary…"

"You read Sam's diary." Double-N corrected, "An and I wanted nothing to do with it." An nodded in agreement, "He was really mad." Jay clenched his fists under the table, which meant Sam beat the Ans up. The Ans didn't notice him clenching his fists, but Tee did, Larie was fuming as Anny went on to talk about what she had found in Sam's diary.

"How did that passage go again?" Anny said, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Double-N looked up at her, pleading, "Anny, please don't…"

"Dear Diary," Anny recited, "Double-N is so cute! Last night I dreamed that I gave her a horsey!" she then cracked up a bit, An and Tee did too. Double-N groaned and let her head fall into her arms. Larie looked as if he was going to explode, some little brat made a move on his girl? He was ready to wipe that little shit off the face of the Earth.

Jay suddenly felt sick, remembering what Sam had asked him last night, 'If An was in love with someone else, what would you do?' after Sam threw out his first two suggestions, he had told Sam that he'd sabotage the other guy's chance at An. He looked at Larie and Double-N, feeling horrible. Sam was going to sabotage their date and it was all his fault! Anny and Tee seemed to pick up on Jay's duress, but An hadn't.

"It was a long time ago, Anny, I highly doubt that he still has a crush on me." Double-N said firmly, raising her head and slipping her hands onto her lap, "And even if he does, it doesn't matter." She slipped her hand into Larie's under the table, he could feel himself calm down a bit, but not much. "Because I like someone else." She said, blushing. Larie felt his whole face burn as he shoved Sam into a dark corner in his mind to make room for the fact that SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT HIM!

A huge smile spread across his face and he gently squeezed her hand, "Hot damn." He said.

"And besides, Jamie has a huge crush on Sam." An reported, "We're taking her out shopping, so we can help her get Sam, and you don't have to worry about him." An left out the real reason mainly because she and Anny had agreed to keep Double-N's closet of turtle-necks, long sleeves and long skirts a secret, they didn't want anyone to think that Double-N wasn't fashionable or anything.

An got up to go to the bathroom and Double-N and Larie went back into the lunch line to get something to drink. Anny and Tee turned to Jay as soon as the others had left the table, "What's wrong?" they asked in unison, Jay looked up at them, troubled, "Last night Sam asked me what I would do if An was in love with someone else, I told him at first that I'd prove that I loved her more, but he didn't like that answer, so then I told him that I'd beat up the other guy, but he didn't like that answer either so…" he looked at them, ashamed, "I told him I'd sabotage the other guy and make him look bad. And he seemed really happy with that answer." Tee and Anny looked at him, shocked, "I didn't know he liked Double-N, though! I had no idea he was asking me for advise on what to do to get her to like him!" Jay cried, completely distraught, he then looked angry, "Just like I didn't know he used to beat you Ans up whenever he got mad, especially An."

"He told you that?" Anny said, shocked.

"Yeah, why didn't you or Double-N tell us that?" Jay asked, hurt and upset that he and his brothers had been left in the dark about that.

"Because An wouldn't let us!" Anny said plainly, "The kid was an abusive jackass, but An loves her bitchy little brother, don't ask us why, but she does. Probably because he's the only one in her family who realized she was fucking there, her parents certainly didn't give much of a shit about her until Mondo-A-Go-Go! That's one of the many reasons Double-N would never ever even consider going out with that jerk-off. You guys may have done some mean shit to us over the years, but you never hurt us and you'd definitely never beat the crap out of us like he did. And although you three may fight a lot, you'd never hurt each other like he hurt An just because you were mad and couldn't deal with it like a fucking civilized human being." She then got angry, "And if that little shithead thinks he's going to ruin their chances of being happy, that little fuck face has got another thing coming."

"But Anny, we have the little girls' recital on Saturday, remember? We're doing the the dress rehearsals on Friday." Tee reminded her. Anny groaned, he was right, she couldn't let those little girls down, but she didn't want to let Sam shit all over Double-N and Larie's date.

"Me and An could watch out for them." Jay suggested.

"Yeah, because she'd really believe that her 'baby brother' would be heartless enough to ruin their date." Anny said, "And even if she was there when you stopped him, what would stop Sam from hurting her again?"

"Me." Jay said, "He knows I'll kill him if he hurts An."

"As much as I'd love to watch you rip that little piece of shit apart, it won't make An feel any better nor will it keep him from ruining Double-N's and Larie's date." Anny said.

"I have an idea, Anny." An said, they all jumped and looked at An. Jay looked upset, "An, I…" she stopped him with a hand, "I know." She said, giving him a warm smile, happy knowing that her boyfriend would protect her just in case Sam tried to hurt her again, "I think I might know who can stop Sam from ruining the date…"

"An, did you wash your hands after you were done in the bathroom?" The four of them jumped to see Larie slurping on a fountain soda and Double-N holding a bottle of iced tea, standing behind them. An suddenly looked nervous, "Maybe…" she said, looking from side to side and beginning to sweat.

Double-N narrowed her eyes, "An…" she warned, putting her iced tea onto the table and pulling out a small container of hand sanitizer spray, "Do I need to use this?" she asked, holding it up to An.

An was sweating as she leapt up from the table and started to run away, "RUN AWAY!" she cried.

"YOU GET BACK HERE, MISSY!" Double-N ordered, chasing her with the hand sanitizer, "YOUR HANDS WILL BE CLEAN WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

"NOO!" An cried as she started running around a lunch table. "SOAP IS BAD FOR AN!"

"THIS IS HAND SANITIZER, AN!" Double-N corrected as she continued to chase An around the cafeteria.

"HAND SANITIZER IS BAD FOR AN!" An altered, hiding behind a confused Karen, who was holding a lunch tray with a sandwich, chips and a soda, An grabbing her bare arm as she hid.

"THANK YOU! NOW HOLD STILL! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY GERMS YOU BROUGHT BACK FROM THE BATHROOM BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WASH YOUR HANDS?" Karen looks disgusted and yanks her arm from An's hands, snatches Double-N's spray, sprays her arm thoroughly, then shoves it back into Double-N's hands and stomps away grumbling about An's less-then-perfect personal hygiene. An and Double-N look at each other for a second, processing what just happened. Only for An to then cry, "NOO!" as she ran for the door out of the cafeteria and into the rest of the school.

"ANNY!" Double-N cried. Anny sighed and got up, "Yeah, yeah, I got it." she said, annoyed. She stood in front of the door, blocking An's exit. An began looking back and forth for another way out as Double-N walked besides Anny, out of breath. Anny slid closer to Double-N and hid the hand-sanitizer behind their backs, "Okay An, you win. See? The hand sanitizer is all gone now." Anny lied.

"Actually, you just shoved it behind my…" Anny covered Double-N's mouth before she could finish. An squinted at her friends, once she saw that the hand-sanitizer was indeed gone, she smiled. Only for Anny to pounce on her, "USE THE FREAKING SPRAY!" She cried as An struggled against her grip, "USE IT!" Double-N tried to get a good shot, but An kept flinging Anny in the way.

The Kanker brothers just hung out by their table and watched the struggle. Tee munched on his sandwich while watching Anny swinging in the air, Jay was eating potato chips while he watched his girlfriend, with Anny clinging to her waist, run away from Double-N and her spray, and Larie slurped his soda, a pensive look on his face. "Do you guys know what would make this more interesting to watch?" Larie finally asked his brothers.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"If they were naked." He said plainly with a straight face, taking a sip of his soda. Jay turned red and his eyes widened at the thought. Tee blushed for a minute, losing himself in the idea, then quickly shook it off and looked at him, disgusted, "Were you dropped on your head?" he asked.

"Nope, but when we were little, I'd wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back asleep, so I'd watch whatever was on TV." He said, then took another sip of his soda. "So?" Tee asked.

"The only thing on TV was porn." He said plainly, taking another slurp of soda. Tee thought about it for a minute, then said, "That actually explains a lot." Tee said. Jay nodded.

An managed to slip from Anny's grip and stood on top of a table, "HA!" she shouted.

"Man, she's good." Anny said, panting. Double-N carefully snuck behind An and sprayed her hands. An cried out, clutching her hands, as if in pain. Double-N looked at her, concerned, "An! Are you alright?" An looked at her, pouting, "No!" she shoved another lucky cheese chunk near Double-N's face, "You got Sheldon the 5th!" Double-N staggered back, "GOOD LORD!" she cried, cringing from the smell and covering her face with her hands, "Stinky, stinky, stinky!" she chanted as she backed away from her friend.

"You have another one of those things?" Anny asked, exasperated.

"Yeah." An said, as if it was obvious that she would have another lucky cheese chunk, then turned to Double-N, "Say you're sorry." She said, holding the chunk to Double-N who cowered at the foul stench that oozed off of it.

"I will not apologize to inanimate object, An!" Double-N said, only for An to begin to chase her with Sheldon the 5th in her hand, "KISS AND MAKE UP, DOUBLE-N!"

"THAT'S DISGUSTING, AN!" Double-N cried as she ran away, "I WILL DO NO SUCH THING!"

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF?" Anny shouted, chasing her friends around the cafeteria, only for her to end up on the other side with Double-N and run away from the stinky cheese in An's hand. "AN, GET RID OF THAT STUPID CHEESE CHUNK!" Anny shouted.

"NO!" An replied, chasing her friends with a determined look on her face, although it was pretty obvious that she forgot why she was chasing her friends with Sheldon the 5th, but she wasn't going to let up either.

Karen walked up to the Kankers while staring at the Ans running around the cafeteria like idiots, "What the fuck do you see in those three?" she asked them.

"The future mothers of our children." The brothers said in unison, small smiles on their faces as they watched their Ans.

"Your children are going to be weirdos." Karen said watching An chase her friends with moldy cheese. The Kankers scowled at her, but said nothing in response, they simply put their lunches down on the table and walked towards their girls. Jay stood in the girl's path as An chased her friends in between two tables.

Anny and Double-N saw Jay was standing right in their path, they skidded on their heels, trying to stop their momentum so they wouldn't crash into him, only to be pulled out of An's path by Tee and Larie onto the table on either side and finding themselves in their arms, sitting on the tables. An looked both ways, realizing her friends had been moved, she then looked ahead and realized that she was about to crash into her boyfriend, An pulled up onto her heels to slow herself to a stop, only to be grabbed by Jay, spun around and dipped into a kiss. An melted in Jay's arms, letting go of Sheldon the 5th and sending him flying into Karen's face with a SPLAT! Anny pointed and laughed, "HEY KAREN, I THINK SHELDON #5 LIKES YOU!"

Everyone in the cafeteria but An and Jay (who were a little busy at the moment) laughed at Karen's stinky cheese facial. Karen was outraged, she scraped Sheldon's cheesy remains off her face then began rolling it into a stinky, cheese ball and glared at the Ans and Kankers, trying to decide which one to hit.

An and Jay were making out, which was already gross so it didn't need the rotten cheese to make it worse. Larie was holding Double-N close as she caught her breath, "Thank you… Larie. I don't… think… I would… have lasted… much longer…" She managed, sounding truly grateful. Knowing Double-N, she'd have a fucking panic attack if the cheese barely passed her, and then Karen would have the remaining Ans and all three Kankers pissed at her and ready to crush her, and since Double-N was the only one of those six with no physical strength what-so-ever, it would guarantee that whatever beating Karen would get would hurt like a mother. Finally, she looked at Anny and Tee, who were laughing so hard they were crying, they were the leaders of those two trios, so they were the best targets, but which one? Knowing Anny, she'd find some way to dodge the cheese, the girl may have become a bigger target, but she was just as agile as she was back when she was the shrimp of the cul-de-sac. Tee, however, had his hair over his beautiful blue eyes, so it would be difficult to see the cheese coming at him until it was too late. That or Anny would take the hit for him, devastating all of them. Karen felt a smile curl up her lip, yeah, Tee was the perfect target. Karen threw it at him, feeling triumph as the smelly dairy ball flew off her fingertips. Unfortunately, Anny saw her throw it at Tee and quickly grabbed him and pulled him out of the way of the nasty cheese ball, leaving Karen to watch in horror as it smashed into Nate's face as he was coming out of the lunch line with his tray. "Karen?" he managed before passing out from the smell.

"HA!" Anny shouted, a blushing Tee in her hands, "NICE SHOT, KAREN!" she said. Karen scrambled over to Nate, then lifted him over her head and ran him to the nurses office, the smell off the two of them making people vomit as they passed.

The Ans and Kankers returned to their table, the drama now over, and went back to their lunches. An pulled out her phone and texted Jay, Anny and Tee who she knew who could watch out for Double-N and Larie on Friday. The three of them smiled and nodded, "Jeez, An, it looks like those glasses are actually making you a little smarter." Anny complimented.

Double-N looked at her friends, confused, "What are you talking about, Anny?"

"An just kicked my ass in Words with Friends with Q-I." Anny lied.

"Oh, very clever! And it's pronounced as 'Chi', Anny." Double-N said.

"Like I care." Anny muttered.

Double-N then looked at An, "Well I'm very proud of you An, you've just been full of insightful answers today!"

An smiled broadly, "I'm in my happy place, Double-N!" she said, then hugged Jay tightly, making him smile widely now that he was in his happy place. (Author: FYI, Jay's happy place is in An's arms)

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Jamie waited outside her house for the Ans, excited about going to the mall with them. She was happy that Double-N was going on a date with Larie, but not because she actually cared that much about their happiness, or that she thought they'd make a cute couple or anything, but for her own happiness.

With Double-N dating Larie, Sam was going to be crushed. And who would be there for him when he needed her most? Jamie would. And after what would hopefully be a short grieving period, he'd realize he belonged with her the whole time and ask her out.

She stood there, happily dreaming about their future together; going on fun romantic dates, Sam bending down on one knee with a ring in his hand, Jamie and Sam holding hands at the alter saying 'I do', buying their first house, their first child, their second child, their third child, etc. etc. etc.

She sighed, yes, everything would be as it should be.

The An's familiar van pulled up to the curb in front of Jamie's house, An opened the back seat and said, "Hi Jamie!" and gave her a smile. Jamie smiled back, "Thank you for inviting me to come along!" she said as she climbed onto the mattress in the back with An's help. Double-N smiled from the front seat, "It's our pleasure, Jamie."

"Yeah, I need all the help I can get with this one." Anny joked from the passenger's side seat, "We'll need clothes, shoes, make-up, the works."

Jamie felt herself perk up, even if she was mainly doing this to ensure her future with Sam, she had to admit, she was also excited to be going to the mall to do girly things like this. She didn't get to do very much of that stuff when she went with Sam, mainly because he'd get bored out of his mind after a while and start flipping through the alarmingly high number of photos of Double-N he had on his phone, sighing happily.

She hardly had time to browse through shoes or make-up or clothes, she normally could only grab whatever she knew she'd actually use or desperately needed before Sam would start drooling over pictures of the girl sitting in the drivers seat.

Or she could go with her mom, which was lame and embarrassing.

The other great thing about this was that the Ans actually wanted Jamie to use her fashion knowledge and would care about what she would have to say, who knows, maybe Jamie could find some things for herself while she was here.

An motioned for Jamie to come closer to the back of the van, Jamie was a bit confused, but it was An, so whatever it was, it probably wasn't that bad.

"Hey Jamie," An whispered, "We didn't just ask you to come to help with Double-N's outfit. We want to help you get Sam." Jamie couldn't believe it, not only was An okay with the idea of Sam and her being a couple, but she and her friends were actually wanted to help her get Sam. Jamie's eyes watered, she was so happy. She hugged An, which was something she'd never do normally, she may not be a clean-freak like Double-N, but Jamie knew that An wasn't exactly the cleanest person on the planet. "Thank you!" she said, "I won't let you all down! I promise!"

An was a bit uncomfortable, it had gone from 'We're going to help you' to 'here, take my beloved baby brother for however long you both shall live.' She looked at Anny, who gave her a nervous smile and a thumbs up. Nether really made her feel better, but Double-N's romantic future was at stake, that and, well, she knew no one was more loyal to her baby brother (outside their family) then Jamie and she knew that Jamie would take good care of him, but she was a little scary at times. She took a deep breath, feeling a little sick, "We want you to get Sam, but Sam apparently is planning to sabotage Double-N's and Larie's date on Friday, so he can try to get Double-N. So we want you and Sam to go on a date this Friday too."

Jamie frowned at bit at that news and let it sink in. Sabotaging Double-N and Larie's date just to get Double-N to not like Larie anymore… It seemed like a solid plan and sounded like something that Sam would try to do to get his sister's brainy friend. But the Ans had come up with a great counter plan that would benefit everyone (well, everyone but Sam, but honestly sabotaging someone else's date is a douche move, so his feelings about how it would turn out weren't really all that important) and as much as Jamie had been dreaming of going on a date with Sam, she had to ask…

"How do you know this?"

"Sam asked Jay what he would do if I was in love with someone else." An replied, a little hurt and angry that her brother used her boyfriend's love for her to try to find a way for him to weasel into Double-N's heart, even though it was obvious to everyone that Double-N wasn't interested in Sam, "He didn't like Jay's first answers, then when Jay said he would sabotage the other guy's chances with me, he got really excited. He didn't know that Sam would try to do that to Larie and Double-N until he learned Sam had a crush on her." Jamie nodded, so she now knew that Jay was in on this, but now she wasn't so sure that Larie and Double-N were aware of what Sam was planning to do.

"Do they know?" she asked An, An shook her head, "Larie would kill him." She said simply. Jamie nodded again, she figured as much. She hesitated, then asked "So why me?"

An considered this for a minute, then said, "Because you've always been together, I can't really see him with anyone else but you." Jamie sat there, stunned, the answer was so simple, yet so difficult for Sam to grasp. She didn't say another word for the rest of the ride to the mall, wondering which of the two siblings was truly the idiot.

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Double-N had been dragged through seven stores and they had found nothing for her date. But the others had found plenty of new clothes, accessories, shoes, make-up, jewelry, and Jamie even bought a new purse. Even though she was getting frustrated that she hadn't found anything yet, she was still having fun with the other girls as they explored each store in the mall. After a while, they stopped and grabbed dinner from the food court.

"I'm sorry we still haven't found anything for you, Double-N." Jamie said, looking guilty. An and Anny also seemed remorseful that they hadn't found anything for her yet either, they had been having fun and finding things for themselves and almost completely forgot the reason they were even there in the first place.

"It's quite alright, if we can't find anything, perhaps we can modify something I already own." Double-N said cheerfully, but inside she was starting to feel nervous, Anny had been right, she wanted to look amazing on this date, but she was starting to lose hope for that, and then she felt more unsure of what to do for this date, her confidence was starting to slip away. She lost her appetite and pushed her half-eaten meal aside, then glanced around the small shops near the food court until a display caught her eye. She got up and rushed over to the store and stared at the display, a small grin on her face, the other girls, startled by her sudden escape from the table, got up to see what had caused her to leave. When they walked over to her, Double-N looked back at them, "Well, what do you think?" she asked them indicating what had caught her eye. The girls' faces broke out in big smiles.

"It's pretty, Double-N!" An said, excited that they had finally found something for her.

"It's so stylish! It's perfect for your date!" Jamie squealed.

"Nice choice, Sock-head." Anny said, impressed and proud of her friend's find, "But you realize you need to try it on, then we have to get everything else you need, right?"

"Of course." Double-N said, "But Anny, don't you think the one next to it would be good for Jamie?" she asked. An and Jamie looked at the display next to it and hugged, squealing. Anny looked at the other display, then smiled, "I'm rubbing off on you, Double-N." she sang.

"It would seem so, Anny." Double-N said as they entered the shop.

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After a long day of shopping and finally getting everything Double-N needed for her date, the girls drove back to the cul-de-sac, feeling satisfied with their purchases. Double-N parked the van in her driveway and all the girls gathered their things and exited into the dusk and walked home, waving and laughing.

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.

Sam had been sitting on his front porch, bored.

Jamie had gone shopping at the mall and since he just had to tell Jay what he used to do to An last night, he knew he wouldn't want to come over and hang out with him, and he knew he probably wasn't welcome over at their place to hang out, either. Which sucks 'cause then not only could he not hang out with Jay, who he looked up to, but he couldn't get any info on Larie's date, so he could wreck it.

Sam bit his lip, how was he supposed to sabotage Larie's date with Double-N when he had no information to go on? He then saw An and Jamie coming towards the house, giggling and holding armfuls of bags.

Jamie had been going shopping with An and her friends? His eyes widened and he perked up, Jamie was his way in.

"Uh, hey guys, what's up?" he asked, trying to play it cool.

"We just went shopping!" An said cheerfully.

"Yeah! Double-N found the perfect outfit for her date on Friday!" Jamie said.

"Double-N has a date?" Sam asked, as if he didn't already know that.

"Yeah, with Larie!" An said, "She's really excited about it! She even picked something out for Jamie!" Sam was caught off guard, why would Double-N pick something out for Jamie? Did Jamie have a date too? He was suddenly hit with a feeling of unease and, to his surprise, a little bit of jealousy and anger.

"Why did Double-N pick something out for you?" He asked Jamie. She smiled, "Well, you'll just have to wait and see on Friday, now won't you?" she said, looking pleased with herself. Sam felt his stomach sink, Jamie and him always hung out on Friday… but wasn't he going to bail on it so he could follow Double-N and Larie and wreck their date? So if he was going to skip it, why was he upset and a little angry to hear that Jamie had plans and was going to miss it as well?

An hopped up the front steps and walked inside, "I'm gonna call Jay!" she informed them cheerfully, then skipped happily as she disappeared into the house.

"Uh, why, what's happening on Friday?" he asked, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

"Well, uh…" Jamie turned pink, "I was wondering if you want to try something different this week…" Sam looked at her, confused. "I mean," she went on to explain, "we both have seen all our movies and even a bunch of An's, I figured we should try something different… So…" She looked at him, her face pink, a shy smile on her face, "you wanna go out to dinner or something?" she asked. His eyes widened in surprise, was… was Jamie asking him out?

"You mean like a date?" he asked, completely taken off guard and with a little disbelief in his voice. Jamie was his best friend in the whole wide world, he had never looked at her as anything other then that… did Jamie like like him? His mind began to reel, how was that even possible? They had been best friends for years, when could that could have happened, especially without him noticing? (Author face-palms with both hands at his stupidity)

"Well, uh…" Jamie suddenly looked mortified and upset, but she tried to come off as nonchalant, "I just meant… uh…" she suddenly looked as if she was going to start crying. Sam suddenly felt awful, "Uh, I mean," he shifted through his brain, trying to find some way to keep her from crying, some where in there, he found words that had popped up into his brain that he immediately blurted without a second thought. "What time should I pick you up?"

As soon as the words left his mouth he clamped it shut, stunned that he just said that. Jamie was his best friend, he couldn't go out with her. It was weird. But he hated it when she cried. She looked up at him, her eyes bright with hope and a warm relieved smile on her face, "Really?"

He wanted to say no, but looking at how happy she was, he couldn't say it, so instead, he said, in a squeaky voice, "Uh, yeah, why not? It'll be fun." He then gave her a wide reassuring smile, even though on the inside he was kicking himself and screaming "YOU FUCKING DUMBASS!" Jamie suddenly gave him a hug, "Thank you, Sam!" she squealed. Sam suddenly smelled the scent of Jasmine blossoms coming from his friend. Was she wearing perfume? Sam had no idea, but he never smelled it on her before whenever they hugged. He kind of liked it… Jamie let go, smiling sweetly at him, "Pick me up at seven, we'll go to this new place in town, it's called Selina's, dress nicely." She said, then scooped up her stuff and skipped happily home.

Sam felt as if he had been thrown onto a roller coaster, his stomach was twisted and his head spinning, what just happened? He could still smell Jasmine blossoms even though Jamie was gone. He then tried to remember if his friend wore perfume and if she did, when did she start? He shook his head, he didn't have time to wonder about Jamie and her Jasmine scent, how was he going to wreck Double-N's date and win her heart if he was on a date himself?

Suddenly it hit him, what better way to go un-noticed while Larie and Double-N were on their date then to have one himself? It was perfect! He could also use Jamie to make Double-N jealous and show her how much better of a boyfriend he'd make then Larie. He smiled, he was a genius. He walked up to the door, feeling proud of himself, he opened the door, only to find his sister giving him a proud smile that took up most of her face, curving until it was close to being a full circle on her face.

"You little dickens…" she said, her voice a mix of pride and laughter.

"What?" he asked her, getting kind of creeped out by the way she was looking at him.

"I heard." She said, pointing to Jamie's house, "You're going on a date with Jamie!" she said, her eyes lit up with glee. She then pulled him into a big hug, "I KNEW YOU TWO'D MAKE A CUTE COUPLE!" she cried.

"What are you talking about, An?" he asked, embarrassed and a little annoyed as he slipped out of the hug.

"You and Jamie." An said, "She's liked you for a long time."

"Well, yeah she likes me, An, she's my best friend." Sam snapped.

An gave him a knowing smile, which on his sister, was something he was not used to seeing, "Not that kind of like, silly, the other kind." Sam looked at her, annoyed, "She just wants to go out to dinner instead of watching a movie this Friday, it's no big deal." An rose her eyebrows at him, "Oh? Then why are you blushing?" she asked, pointing to his face. Sam scowled at his sister, "No I'm not!" he cried. She just kept smiling and nodding, "Yes you are!" she teased. Sam felt anger rush through his body, he wanted to sock his sister in the mouth just to shut her up, but he stopped himself.

The whole reason he didn't hang out with Jay and was out on the porch when An and Jamie came home and for Jamie to ask him out is because he hurt his stupid annoying older sister. How would hurting her help his situation? If anything, it would just make it worse, not only would his dream girl be dating a Kanker, he'd be killed by the one he actually got along with. Or he used to get along with.

He stood there, trying to take deep, calming breaths, his whole body shaking with rage, "You don't know what you're talking about, stupid!" he finally cried, then ran upstairs to his room and slammed the door behind him.

He paced around his room, "An doesn't know what she's talking about." Sam growled, "I'm just going to dinner with her, that's all, it's not like I've never eaten with her before…" He stopped, then looked at his reflection in his mirror, An was right, his face was red.

He brushed it off. Of course his face would be red, he was angry, he always turned red when he was mad. He scowled into his mirror, 'It's because I'm mad… right?'

The faint smell of Jasmine still wafted up into his nose, 'where is that coming from?" he asked himself. He looked around, confused and a little frustrated and annoyed, trying to find the smell. The smell began to get to him, so he pulled his shirt up to block the scent, only for him to be overwhelmed by it. He quickly yanked his head out of his shirt, shocked, it was him. He looked at his shirt, the smell was coming from where Jamie had hugged him. He took off his shirt and threw it at his hamper, a little unsettled how much of her perfume had been absorbed into his shirt by such a short hug. He looked at his reflection, his face was fading back to normal. Sam gave his reflection a puzzled look, then looked back at his shirt. He picked it up as if it was something from An's room, with two fingers and as far away from him as possible. He walked to the mirror, then sniffed the shirt, the smell of Jasmine curling through his nose, his heart picked up and his chest felt tight. He looked at his face, it was red again, and to his surprise, he had a small smile on his face. He quickly threw the shirt back into the hamper, startled. His heart continued to race, but his chest slowly returned to normal. His smile was replaced with a look of fear and confusion.

"What's happening to me?" he asked out loud.

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.

Anny was placing her new clothes into her closet when she got a text from An, "Sam haz a dat with Jame on Frydai." Anny had spend years reading An's handwriting and texts, so it took her less then two seconds to learn that Sam had a date with Jamie on Friday.

"What are the details, An?" she texted back, a minute or two later, her phone buzzed again, "hess frekng out Anny." She replied, "wnt to chec on him, smelng sirt, trou it awy then pic it up agan, starng at himslf. Hess makng funy faces in the miror."

Anny rolled her eyes, "I meant about Sam's DATE, Lumpy. I don't wanna know what your brother does in his spare time." She sent.

A minute later, An had replied with: "pik up at 7, nw plac. Selina's?" Anny thought about it for a second, she had heard about that place. Apparently it was this new place, it was a restaurant where you buy sample plates of food from various cultures and countries. She pressed herself to remember where she had heard that…

She groaned. She had heard about it from Double-N at lunch last week, she had been really excited about it and wanted to go check it out. No doubt Larie would probably take her there, she strained herself to remember what time they had agreed on.

After a minute or two, she remembered that Larie and Double-N agreed that he'd pick her up at six. That left them an hour, maybe? Less with travel time and however long it would take to get a table…

"Hang on, Lumpy, we might have a problem. I've got to check with the guys." She typed, then sent the message to An. She then went to text Tee, realizing that this was the first time she'd ever tried to text him, like ever. Actually, this was the first time she had ever tried contacting him. While he was teaching her how to dance, he had given her his number, in case something happened and she'd be late or something. She had put it into her phone, but had never used it. She stared at his name in her phone, unsure why she was acting so weird about this, she was just going to check if Larie was going to take Double-N to this Selina's place so they could see if the two pairs would meet at any point. Yet, she was nervous to enter the contact page under Tee's highlighted name.

Why? It wasn't like she was asking about her date or his… or both?

She stopped, where the fuck had that come from? She felt her hands begin to sweat, what was going on with her?

That's when her phone came to life in her hands, playing the ringtone that all three Ans had set for one another, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. Anny threw it into the air, then quickly grabbed it, panicked, then answered it.

"Hello?" Anny asked.

"Hello?" An asked, "Helloo?"

"An." Anny said.

"Hi Anny!" An cried into the phone, knowing An, she was probably waving at Anny even though she wasn't really there. Anny sighed, but couldn't help but smile. An had been answering the phone the same way she did when they were five.

"Hey, Lumpy, what's up?" There was a pause, Anny shook her head, knowing An, she was probably looking at the ceiling, literally checking to see what was above her. She heard An say, "Hey, look a slice of pizza!"

"So you're in your room?" Anny guessed, since that was the only place that such a strange and gross thing could be stuck on the ceiling.

"How did you know that?" An asked, amazed and with her mouth full, despite all the years of Double-N scolding her not to do that.

"Where else would you be where you would find pizza on the ceiling?" Anny asked, then wished she hadn't, because she heard An going, 'hmmmm…' over the line.

"Never mind, forget I asked." Anny said quickly.

"Forgot you asked what?" An asked.

"Nothing, anyway, what's going on, why did you call?"

"Sam's acting weird, Anny." She said, concerned.

"Why are you telling me, An?" Anny asked, walking over to her bed and flopping down onto it, "I don't care about that little jerk."

"Because you have a big sister." An said.

"So? I hate her too." Anny huffed.

"No you don't." An said. Anny pouted, An was on a fucking roll on this whole 'knowing the right answer thing.' But that didn't mean Anny was going to admit that.

"Yeah I do." Anny lied, "My sister is a huge bitch who used to beat the shit out of me for fun. Of course I hate her."

"No you don't."

"Oh, really? Then tell me, An, how can I not hate someone who hurt me physically, psychologically and a bunch of other ways?" Anny asked, hoping An would be silent on the other end.

"You can't hate family." An said plainly. Anny bit her lip, then sighed, "You need to stop with this whole, 'being right' thing, An, it's starting to rub me the wrong way." She told her.

"I'll try, Anny."

"So what does me having a big sister have to do with your little shit head brother?"

"I'm worried about him, Anny."

"Still not seeing how the two relate, An. My sister doesn't give two shits about me."

"But you care about her."

Anny winced, then said, "My sister's a big girl, she can take care of herself…" then added, "and can we get off my sister now?"

"Okay Anny." An was quiet for a minute, "I think he's trying to figure out his feelings."

"Feelings for who?"

"I don't know. I don't think he does either…" An stopped for a minute and then her voice went soft, "Hey Anny? Do you think Double-N ever gets lonely?"

Anny switched her phone to her other ear, concerned with the swift subject change, "What do you mean, An? She's got us. And she's got a date with Larie…"

"I mean without a brother or sister." An said.

"Like I said, Lumpy, Sock head's got us." Anny replied with a smile, glad that she was the one with the right answer again, "We're the sisters we always wanted and the only ones we really need." Anny couldn't see An, but she could tell that she was smiling too.

"And as for Sam, let him sweat it out, everyone has to figure out what they want, if he beats himself up a bit, he beats himself up. I wouldn't worry about it, neither should you. It's about time he grows up and stops acting like a spoiled brat."

"But Anny…"

"You can't protect him forever, An, eventually he'll need to grow a pair and stop being a whiny little bitch. This is the first step," she looked at her phone, "everyone needs to sort out their feelings about someone at some point. I know it was easy for you, but for the rest of us, it takes time, let him work out on his own. We'll only interfere if he tries messing with our sister's date."

"Okay Anny."

"I'll let you know if we'll need Jamie to keep Sam in check. I'm gonna ask Tee what he knows about Larie's plans for his date Double-N. So I'm gonna go."

"Hey Anny."

"Yeah?"

"We're lucky to have such good sisters." An said.

Anny smiled, "the luckiest." She agreed, then said, "Talk to you later, Lumpy."

"Bye Anny." Anny looked as An's contact photo, which was a photo of the three of them hugging with An in the middle making a funny face with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. They really were lucky to have each other, but as Anny smiled at the picture, it faded back into Tee's contact page. Anny sighed, her own words coming back to bite her in the ass. Her finger hovered over the 'message' button, she was still kind of nervous about asking Tee, but she had told An she would ask him and she wasn't going to let either of her sisters down. But she couldn't move her finger to press the message button. Finally she'd had it with her stupid insecurities, Double-N had been able to overcome her own to agree to this date and Anny'd be damned if she let Double-N's effort go to waste.

"Oh, screw the stupid text." she muttered and hit the call button and put the phone to her ear, her stomach twisting as the phone rang. "Come on, come on, pick up." She muttered under her breath.

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Tee had been watching TV with his brothers when his cell rang, he pulled it out of his pocket and nearly dropped it onto the floor with a gasp. His brothers looked at him, as if to say, 'What the fuck, Drama Queen?'

"What the fuck, Drama Queen?" Larie asked.

"It's Anny." He said, stunned.

"Really?" Jay asked, excited. Tee nodded, wondering for a second if he was dreaming.

"Well, answer it, dipshit!" Larie said with a laugh, Tee flipped him off and fumbled with his phone until he got it open, then he pressed the call button and answered it, "Anny?" he asked.

"What the fuck took you so long to answer?" she asked, "I was about to hang up on your stupid ass!" His brothers chuckled, Tee flipped them off and headed upstairs to their room, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry, I was with my brothers." He said, it wasn't a total lie, he had been with his brothers, it's just that they weren't what made him take so long to answer.

"Whatever, An just told me that Sam and Jamie are going on a date on Friday too."

"Seriously?" Tee asked.

"Yeah, apparently she asked him pick her up at her house at seven and to take her to some place called Selina's, is that where Larie's taking Double-N?" she asked.

Tee was impressed, not only had the girls managed to get Sam to go on a date with Jamie in a few hours, but they got the time and place of their date. Maybe he should just ask An and Double-N to help him get Anny, since girls were apparently experts at gathering information and setting this shit up in no time.

"Uh…" he said, trying to remember the name of the place, "I can't remember the name of the place, but he said Double-N had been talking about it and it had all these weird foods from other countries and stuff."

"That's the place." Anny said with a huff, "Did he say anything else about it?"

"Just that you don't need a reservation to eat there and that there is an open space for people to dance… and something about it being semi-formal." Tee recalled, "At least that's what he got off their website last night."

"So they can be easily spotted and Sam can get to them with no trouble." Anny translated, "Do you know anything else?"

"He said he had a surprise for her but he didn't say where or when he planned to do it." Tee said, feeling bad that he couldn't be more helpful, "Sorry, I don't have much information."

"It's fine. How's Jay doing?" she asked, catching him by surprise, she had a chance to hang up on him after getting what she needed, but she then kept the call going by asking how his brother was.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he probably feels like crap that Sam tricked him into giving him the shitty idea to sabotage his brother's date. I mean, he looked pretty upset at lunch today, I figured I could see how he was and let An know before I hang up and tell her what I know." Tee smiled a bit. He had no idea if she was going to call An right after she was finished talking to him or not, but he was happy that she was going to talk to him some more.

"He was beating himself up while we were at school, but when we picked him up from video game club, he was smiling like a dumbass." Anny chuckled at that, "Yeah, An was pretty happy too." She said.

"He seems okay right now, but you might want to ask An to call him a little later."

"Why? You just said he seems okay…"

"Right now." Tee repeated, "I've caught him looking at Larie with a guilty look on his face a few times since we've gotten home. I think he might crack soon, and if he cracks…"

"…Larie will crush Sam into a million pieces." Anny finished for him.

"Yup."

"Yeah, well, if Sam wasn't An's brother, I'd let you guys have at him if I wasn't already doing it myself. Seriously, that little shit has no idea how lucky he is to have An for a sister, if he was just some random twerp then he'd be dead meat by now." She growled.

"Hey Anny?"

"Yeah, Tee?"

"Did Sam really use to hit you three?" There was a pause, "It was more An then me and Double-N, but yeah, he used to beat the crap out of us, occasionally we'd deserve it, but usually he just was being his hot-headed immature self." Anny said, "Right now the little twerp is going through some complicated shit and sorting out his feelings, and poor An's worried about the little shit."

"What's he doing to get An worried?"

"Apparently he's sniffing his clothes and making funny faces in the mirror or something." Anny said, "But An was really worried, I think you should have Jay call her now, she could use the comfort just as much as Jay does."

"Hang on." Tee said, he then shouted down to Jay that he should call An, "Make sure she got her case from last night, Anny said An can't find it and she's been looking everywhere!" he called down.

"Okay, Tee!" Jay called back up. Tee then shut the door.

"Make sure she got her case?" Anny asked, snickering.

"She left her glasses case here last night." Tee explained, "So she's not doing good?"

"She was better after I talked to her, but she kind of compared Sam to my sister."

"Sam's that bad?" Tee asked in disbelief.

"No." Anny huffed, "If he was, I doubt An would care if you beat the shit out of him..." Anny sighed as she said, "She meant that even though he treated her like shit, they're family. You love your family no matter what." Anny's voice was getting softer as she spoke, "Even though my sister's a heartless bitch, she wasn't always that bad. I've had a couple times with her that I wouldn't give up for anything, and I still would be sad if she just dropped dead somewhere." She admitted bitterly, "But if you tell anyone I said that, I'll tell them that I'd probably dance on her grave."

"Anny, have you ever told anyone that before?" he asked, a little happy that she was opening up to him so much.

"Out loud? … No. But An and Double-N know, even if I've never said it out loud before. And even if she did die, I know I still have two other sisters by my side to help me through it. Also who'd be happy to dance on her grave with me."

Tee cracked up, "Yeah well, if we do have to kill Sam, let me know, we can use the pick-up to move his body, since we know Double-N would flip if we got any of his blood or anything in her van." It was Anny's turn to laugh, "Yeah, she would. But I hope it doesn't come down to violence, as much as I'd love to watch Sam get his ass handed to him, An shouldn't have to suffer too."

"Then lets hope all that weird shit he's doing helps us and not him." Tee said.

"I'm kind of hoping he's committed by that time, but your thing works too." They both laughed. Tee's heart felt light as they talked for another hour before Anny informed him that her mom was shouting that dinner was ready, not that he couldn't hear her mom shouting, "ANNY! DINNER! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!" in the background

"Night, Tee, see you tomorrow." She said, then hung up. Tee had the biggest smile on his face as he walked down the stairs and flopped onto the couch next to Larie. Jay was in the kitchen, chatting with An, a huge smile on his face.

"What's with that grin? You just have phone sex or something?" Larie teased.

"Very funny Larie." Tee said, "Anny just wanted me to tell you that she and the girls went shopping for clothes for your date." Larie perked up, "And?" he asked, urging his brother to continue, his face eager and impish.

Tee smirked at him, "Oh, I'm not allowed to tell you, but it sounded like you're going to need some extra underwear."

"Hot Damn." Larie said, a huge grin on his face, his stud poking out just enough to reflect some of the light off the TV, his eyes bright with glee.

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Sam sat on the couch while he pretended to watch TV. Before dinner An had gotten a call from Jay, then during dinner she got a call from Anny, she left the room for a few minutes then came back and finished eating, then she called Jay back after dinner and she had been talking to him ever since. Dinner had ended at about seven. It was now ten at night. Sam could hear her from down the basement as they played the 'no you hang up first. No you. No you' game. Sam was ready to lose it, it was bad enough that he had all these confusing feelings, and his sister just had to be the most love-struck person in the world right now, so she really wasn't helping him feel any better.

After his freak out with his Jasmine scented shirt, he grabbed a fresh one from his drawer, but for some reason, there was a faint scent of it there too, he had to throw all his shirts through the wash three times before he couldn't smell it anymore. He had no idea why he suddenly smelled Jasmine everywhere, but the stupid scent was driving him crazy, it made his heart race and made him feel dizzy, if it got any worse, he'd go borrow one of An's nasty smelling good luck charms. It was a bit extreme, but Sam was desperate at this point. His head ached, his brain feeling as if he had thrown that in the wash with his shirts. He had liked Double-N for years, she was perfect in everyway, she was his dream girl. So why was he now smelling Jamie's stupid perfume everywhere? And why was it making his heart race and his head woozy? He wished there was someone he could talk to about this, but who could he talk to about it? An was an idiot and she'd get pissed if she heard that he was out to ruin Double-N's date, but he didn't know who else to turn to.

"Huh? You want to say something to Sam?" An asked Jay cheerfully, Sam perked up, he could ask Jay for advise… then he realized that he'd have to admit that he was going to use the sabotage thing he suggested the other night to wreck his brother's date…

An skipped over to him, wearing her pajamas, "Sam! Jay wants to say bye!" she called, Sam got up and took his sister's cell phone, "Jay?"

"Bye Sam!" he said, then hung up. Sam looked at the phone, then his sister, "Did he hang up?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry." He said in a defeated tone.

"Don't be, I'll see him tomorrow." She said cheerfully, then patted his head, "You okay, Baby Brother?"

"I think I need to take a walk, can you leave the door unlocked?"

"I'm supposed to lock the door at night?" she asked, legitimately confused. Sam face-palmed, got up, and left the house, slamming the front door behind him.

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The cool night air helped clear his head as well as completely rid him of the smell of Jasmine. He sucked in a refreshing breath of fresh air and let it out in a huff. He decided to walk up to the forest and back. He walked in thoughtful silence as his feet crunched crispy leaves on the ground. He closed his eyes for a second and began making a list about why he should stick to his plan to wreck Double-N's date with Larie. As he made the list, he heard the sound of leaves crunching increase as he walked. Sam quickly spun around, opening his eyes to see… nothing.

Sam felt paranoid, after the two kids from yesterday had told him not to go through with his plan, he had a nightmare about those kids becoming those stupid fairies Rachel always went on about on Valentine's Day and shooting Larie and Double-N, making them kiss in front of him.

Then Larie was suddenly wearing a tux and Double-N was wearing a wedding dress in a church. Sam was sitting in the back, farthest away from them. Larie's brothers and the other Ans were on either side of them, Jay and An waved at him and asked, "Isn't this great? Now they can be together forever!" the word forever echoed in the church until the minister said, "If there is anyone here that believe that these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Sam pushed against the ground with all his strength, but he couldn't get out of his seat, he tried crying out, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He then watched in horror as the two said "I do" and were legally married. Larie then scooped up his new bride into his arms and carried her princess style, down the aisle when he finally got to Sam, his face turned into one of a demon, but Sam seemed to be the only one who noticed, Sam could finally get out of his seat and he chased them, but no matter how fast he ran, Larie was just getting farther away, Double-N waved good-bye at him with a beautiful, warm gap-toothed smile before Larie got them out of the church and the door slammed behind him, Sam made it to the doors and did everything he could to open them. But they wouldn't budge.

He ran to the window, where he saw Larie and Double-N playing with a toddler with blue hair and a gap in it's teeth outside at a park, the moment it saw Sam, the two front teeth turned into fangs and it's eyes glowed red. Sam then woke up with a start and refused to fall back asleep, afraid of what would happen next in the dream.

Sam looked all around him, feeling as if he was being watched, "Come out!" he cried, "I know you're out there! You don't scare me!"

"Wanna bet?" a boy's voice hissed into his ear, Sam yelped and turned around to see a boy who was about the size Anny was before her growth spurt, two tall girls stood behind him. They had the same jumpsuits as the other two, only their stripes were red, not yellow.

"They asked you nicely last night to back off," the boy growled, "Are you gonna back off?"

"No!" Sam said, "I love Double-N way more then Larie, so I should get her!"

"Pftt, some love." The girl on the left scoffed.

"Yeah, wanting to ruin her date just so you can be happy, how sweet." The one on the right said sarcastically. Sam staggered at the comment, then righted himself, ready for a fight, "I'd make her happy!" he declared, trying to sound braver then he felt.

"Yeah, by tricking her into leaving someone who's been in love with her for over ten years and has actually worked hard to show that he truly cared about her." The one on the left snapped.

"All so she can be with you, who would beat his own sister, one of her best friends, just because things weren't going your way. Or beat her when he got mad. Yeah, great trade off." The one on the right seethed.

Sam felt as if all the air had left his body. How did they know all that stuff?

"Who are you people?" Sam demanded, "What do you want from me?"

"We want you to leave those two alone, you idiot." The boy said.

"And unlike the other two from yesterday…" The one on the left began.

"…We have no problem kicking your butt to ensure that." The one on the right finished.

"Actually," the boy said.

"It'd be our pleasure." The three of them said in unison, their voices dripping with dark glee. Sam knew in an instant that he'd never be able to take these three, so he did the only thing he could think of:

Run away screaming like the little bitch he was.

"AHHHHH!" he screamed as he ran through the forest, the three kids chuckling as they chased him, their laughter reminded him of the way the Kankers used to laugh right before he'd get his ass handed to him. The boy grabbed him and pulled out his tongue and tied it to a tree then pulled him back and let go, Sam smashed head first into the tree, breaking it in half. Then each of the girls grabbed one of his cheeks and Sam felt lightning spark from their gloves and into his face, making his hair puff out into an afro.

"Give up yet?" the boy asked as the girls let go of his face.

"Why do you care?" Sam asked, then pulled a few splinters out of his tongue, "It's not any of your business!" he snapped as he got to work fixing his hair.

"OUR FAMILY IS OUR BUSINESS!" the girls shrieked in unison, scaring every bird in the area, one of them so scared that it craps onto Sam's head, making the middle part of the afro sink in where the bird poop landed.

"I care because your selfishness is going to tear our families apart and I'm not going to let a stupid brat like you hurt our family just because he was upset that the girl he had a crush on didn't like him back!" The boy spat, "and if that means I have to put you in a hospital, I will." The three of them began cracking their knuckles.

"What's going on out here?" a voice called out. Sam glanced over towards the voice and saw Tee Kanker push aside a few low branches. Tee wore red and white flannel pants and had a light coat over his bare chest to protect him from the cool night air, revealing he had a six pack and was very toned and muscular, much to Sam's surprise. (Author: you're welcome Tee fan girls)

He looked at Sam, shocked, "What the fuck happened here?" he asked, looking at the destroyed tree and Sam himself. Sam pointed to the three kids, "They came out of nowhere and started beating the shit out of me!" Sam said. It wasn't the full truth, but Tee didn't have to know that.

"Who?" Tee asked, "There's nobody out here but you." Sam turned to see that, once again, the kids in the jumpsuits had disappeared. He groped at the air, "But, they were right here! Honest!"

"Uh huh." Tee said, not hiding his annoyance of being woken up because Sam was being a loud asshole, "Sure they were."

"They were! There were three of them, two girls and one boy!"

"Sure there were." Tee said, unimpressed, he then walked back home.

"So what was it?" Jay cried from the trailer.

"Sam being a loud asshole!" Tee called back.

"I'm telling the truth!" Sam cried.

"Sam, I don't really give a shit, it's late, the rest of us are trying to sleep, go home and go to bed." Tee snapped. Sam slumped his shoulders and stomped all the way home, kicking stones and grumbling.

.

Tee walked back to the trailer, "What a pain in the ass." Tee grumbled, lifting his hair and rubbing his eyes. The three kids glanced at him from behind a tree, "Whoa." One of the girls said. "So that's…?" the other one asked, both girls looked at the boy for confirmation. "Yup." He said. The three of them looked back at Tee, who was still grumbling about Sam, and watched as he walked all the way back to the trailer and slammed the door behind him.

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The next morning, the three Kankers yawned as Larie drove them to school. "So, you and Anny are staying late tonight?" he asked Tee.

Tee nodded, "Yeah. We have to help set up the stage before the dress rehearsal, some of the parents are gonna swing by and help, that big guy, Percy's gonna help us move some of the heavier stuff around." The brothers cracked up at the name 'Percy.'

"What about you, Jay?" Larie asked, "Any special plans with An?"

Jay blushed, "Actually, I've been thinking I should try to get to get to second base, only I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do that without her hating my guts for it."

Larie smirked at him, "Well aren't you ambitious?" he snickered.

"Yeah, what the fuck, Jay? I thought you were just fine cuddling with her all the time, now you want to feel her up?" Tee said, concerned that Larie may have been rubbing off on Jay.

"Yeah, well, I touched them before by accident and I just can't get the feeling out of my mind." Jay explained looking at his hands.

"When the fuck did that happen?" Tee asked.

"When I took her to the movies for our two month anniversary, she gave me a hug and I wasn't really ready for it and I touched them by accident."

"So how'd they feel?" Larie asked.

"Soft and bouncy." Jay said dreamily.

"Well, good luck with that." Tee said, then looked at Larie, "And you give a shit about our lives this morning because…?" Larie usually grumbled and growled this early in the morning, but today, he was awake and cheerful.

"I'm in a good mood." Larie said with a smile, "Today Double-N and I are testing our prototypes and tomorrow I've got a date with her, I know this week is going to rock, so I was wondering how your days were gonna be."

"Long and hard." Tee said. Larie and Jay snickered.

"What?" Tee asked, then he realized why they were laughing and blushed, "Real mature!" He snapped as they laughed all the way to school.

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Jamie's stupid Jasmine perfume was suffocating Sam on the bus, but he instead of getting up or opening the window, he had found himself sitting there enjoying the smell while barely listening while Jamie talked about her trip to the mall with the Ans yesterday, only when she mentioned Double-N did he perk up.

"Huh?" he asked.

"I said, when Double-N found her dress for her date, she also found one that would be perfect for me. After I tried it on, she put my hair in this pretty twisted bun and Anny showed me how to do it using An's hair. Then Anny found me these cute shoes and An picked out the perfect accessories. Then they gave me a make-over in one of the make-up shops. It was really fun! They said that if I ever wanted to go shopping again to let them know and they'd take me." She said, happily swinging her feet, "I got all of their cell phone numbers so I can call them anytime." She said proudly. Sam smiled, while he didn't normally care about all that stuff, he was glad Jamie had a good time with his sister and her friends.

"Did you hear anything about Double-N's date?" he asked, trying to sound as if he was just participating in the conversation instead of pumping her for information. Jamie paused, thinking, then said, "Apparently Larie's keeping it a secret, making it a surprise for her. Isn't that sweet?" she asked him.

"Yeah." He said, trying not to sound too disappointed, then he asked her, "So what's this Selina's place? I've never heard of it before." He asked, deciding if he couldn't find out about Double-N's date, he might as well find out about his own.

"Oh, Double-N told me about it." Jamie said, "Apparently you can order sample plates of food from other countries, so you can try lots of different dishes without being stuck with one you don't like or getting too full. They also have sort of a dance floor so while you're waiting for your order you can have some fun or just work off some of the food to try something else."

Sam straightened, if she learned about it from Double-N then Larie might have too. "When did she tell you about it?" he asked.

"Last week. My sewing machine broke so I asked Double-N if I could borrow hers. She said yes and we actually talked for a while about all sorts of things when she brought it over, she fixed my machine while I used hers, she even improved mine. Double-N told me about Selina's then, she was really excited about it. I thought it sounded like a nice place too." Jamie explained, then she got a text, she looked at it and her face paled a bit.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No." she said quickly, "I think someone must have gotten the wrong number." She said, then quickly shut her phone and looked at Sam, "If you'd rather go somewhere else to eat, though, that's fine too." She said.

"Nah, that Selina's place sounds cool. And Jay taught me how to dance a little, it should be fun." He said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Jay taught you how to dance?" she asked, surprised.

"A little, I don't know very much. I think I might sign up for one of Tee's dance classes, I mean, he taught Anny how to dance so well that she beat her sister in two weeks." He looked at her, noticed she looked a little upset, then blurted, "Hey, you wanna sign up with me? It could be fun!" he felt his face burn as soon as the words flew off his tongue. Why did he just say that?

A huge excited smile grew on Jamie's face, Sam felt his heart pick up speed, "Okay!" she said, then began bouncing in her seat like An would do when she got excited, "Do you think he could teach us how to waltz? I love that dance, it's so elegant!"

"Oh, Jay taught me that at home!" Sam said excitedly, "It was kind of weird because I had to dance with An, but it was still a lot of fun! Apparently the Ans and Larie know it too so if Jay or Tee is busy we could ask any of them and they'd know what to do." He then heard one of the other boys laughing at him, "You learned how to waltz?" one snickered.

"Lame!" Another called.

"Hey, I learned from Jay Kanker, so shut your pie holes!" Sam snapped. At the name 'Jay Kanker' the boys shrank back into their seats. The Kankers were legends at Peach Creek Junior High, known for their brutality and cruelty that they spread during their time there.

"H-how…"

"He's dating my sister." Sam said with a smirk.

"You mean the stupid red head with the big boobs? Gee, I wonder why he'd date her." one boy said, sending snickers through the other boys.

"HEY THAT'S MY SISTER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT JERK FACE!" Sam shouted, angrily, looking over his seat, his hands crushing the backrest. There were only two people who could make fun of An being stupid, him and Anny, but Anny hardly ever meant it and Sam was her little brother so he got special privileges, but anyone else saying it was out of the question, especially when they were talking about her relationship with Jay.

"YEAH! AND AN'S NOT STUPID!" Jamie defended, turning around and glaring at the boys, "SHE'S SWEET AND NICE AND JAY'S A GOOD BOYFRIEND TO HER!"

"YEAH! AND IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT MY SISTER RIGHT NOW, I'LL GIVE YOU GUYS A BEATING SO BAD YOU'LL WISH JAY BEAT THE SNOT OUT YOU!" Sam threatened. The boys instantly silenced themselves and looked out the windows, pouting or grimacing in defeat. If Jay Kanker had taught Sam how to dance, there was a possibility that he also taught Sam how to fight. And they weren't willing to risk the kind of beating that a Kanker could give. They both slipped back down in their seats. Sam looked at Jamie, grateful, "Thanks for helping." He said, "And for saying all that nice stuff about An."

"No problem." Jamie said, "An's always been really nice to me…" Jamie blushed, "To be honest, I've kind of thought of her as an older sister figure at times, so I'll stand up for her anytime." Sam was a little taken aback, An as a big sister figure to Jamie? He thought about it for a bit, then decided to stop thinking about it once he remembered when he first began seeing Jay as a big brother figure.

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At lunch, each Kanker was paired with his An and deep in thought. Tee and Anny were working on the little girls' recital, Jay and An were playing a memory game with cards, and Larie and Double-N were talking about their project.

Tee and Anny were going over the plans for the set for the little girls' recital while they munched their sandwiches. The plans were on graph paper they had borrowed from Double-N and drawn out in pencil.

"Do you think we should move that pillar?" Anny asked, pointing to the plan with a red pen she borrowed from Double-N, "because for the girls' second number, it'll be in the way, one of them could hurt themselves."

Tee closed his eyes and thought about how the dance would play out on the stage, Anny was right, for the second number, the pillar was in the way.

"Yeah," Tee said, moving her hand so the pillar she pointed to was circled in red and drew an arrow so the pillar was farther back and drew a new circle showing where the pillar would be placed instead, "Here. That way it'll still look good and the girls won't bump into it." he said.

Anny nodded, her face a bit flushed. Tee was puzzled for a bit until he realized that he was still holding her hand, he quickly let go, "Anyway." He said, blushing, "Grandma wants to put flowers up on those pillars, so it's good that you spotted that or else it could be really bad." Anny nodded again, her face still pink. They were quiet for a second as they pretended to pour over the plans, both blushing.

"Do you know what kind of flowers?" Anny finally asked, "Because we probably shouldn't get anything with thorns in case the girls brush past them while dancing and we should check to see if the girls are allergic to anything first, wouldn't want them to get hurt or have a bad reaction to anything."

"You're pretty good at this, Anny." He said, impressed and happy that she was so cautious with the little girls. 'She'd make a good mom.' He found himself thinking, then turned red as he shook away the thought.

"Yeah, well, they're good kids. It would suck if they don't get their moment to shine because of a stupid pillar or flowers." She said bashfully.

"Are you two planning your wedding or something?" Anny and Tee jumped to see Karen glancing over their shoulders at their plans.

"It's none of your business!" Tee snapped, snatching the plans off the table and shoving them underneath.

"So you are." Karen smirked.

"How's Nate?" Anny asked sweetly, "Still in a stink coma from your cheese ball yesterday?" Then Anny made a concerned face, "Or does he get sick at the sight of you because all he can smell is moldy old cheese whenever you're near?"

Tee puffed up his cheeks and pretended to vomit onto the floor, then he and Anny laughed.

Karen scowled, "Fuck you two, your kids will be total jerks." She snapped. Anny looked at Tee, "Where the fuck did that come from?" she asked him.

Tee shrugged, "Beats me." He lied. He didn't want Anny to know that he and his brothers had told her that they saw the Ans as the future mothers of their children. That would probably raise a red flag and could scare them away, completely ruining their progress with them and probably forcing them to start from scratch all over again, and the fuck they were gonna go through all that again.

Karen went over to An and Jay, who were playing a memory game with a deck of cards. You had to flip over 2 of the same kind of card (Aces, Twos, Threes, etc) if you got it, you took the two cards and start making a pile and you had one point.

Jay wasn't very good at it, he only had two points while An had six. But then again, he was kind of looking at her chest again, so yeah, he wasn't paying all that much attention to the game. An had a King of Hearts flipped over and her face was screwed up in concentration as she looked at the remaining cards. She flipped another card over, revealing the Queen of Hearts, "Hey look!" she said with a smile, showing him the King and Queen of Hearts, "It's us!" Jay's face was red and steam screamed from his ears. His goofy smile as wide as always.

"Well that was disgustingly sweet." Karen commented.

"Jealous!" An said smugly.

"Grossed out." Karen clarified.

"Then go away." Jay said plainly.

"Why, am I distracting you from An's chest?" she asked. Jay turned pink, he was so busted. An looked down at her chest and noticed a stain that looked like a little heart. "Aww! You found another heart!" An said, pointing to it, giving her boyfriend a smile, "Yeah, that's right, I did." He said, relieved that that stain was there. Karen scowled, "You honestly believe he was looking at that blob on your shirt and not your boobs." Karen asked An, An scowled at her, "It's a heart! You would know that if you had one!" Jay, Anny and Tee burst out laughing. Karen scowled at her and Jay, "Yeah, well, your kids will be idiots." An and Jay turned red and looked at one another, although they had done well in the parenting class, they had decided to wait until they were older to have kids, mainly because they were super tired after only doing it for two weeks with Sam's help, they doubted they could do it again so soon after that. "I'm not ready for that yet!" Jay cried. "Me neither!" An agreed, they hugged and scooted closer to Anny and Tee, fearful that Karen would somehow magically get them pregnant.

"STAY AWAY FROM US!" They cried out in unison.

Karen rolled her eyes at the two, then walked over to Double-N and Larie, who were talking about where to test their newest project after school.

"The junkyard would be perfect!" Double-N agreed, "Great idea, Larie!" Larie blushed and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, well, it just seemed like the best place…"

"Aww, is that where you two are going for your date?" she asked.

"No!" Larie shouted angrily, glaring at her darkly.

"If you must know, we're discussing where we are going to test our prototypes later today." Double-N informed her curtly.

"So why is Larie going to be there?" Karen asked.

"Because we are working on it together." Double-N said, "The devices we're testing were thought up by Larie to begin with."

"Then you're right, Double-N, the junkyard is perfect, because they're probably just useless junk if an idiot like Larie worked on them." The Kankers were ready to pop up from their seats and pound her, but Double-N was already way ahead of them, she stood up and jabbed at Karen with her finger, "HOW DARE YOU!" she shouted angrily, catching the entire cafeteria by surprise. "LARIE KANKER HAS MORE INTELLIGENCE IN ONE CELL OF HIS BODY THEN YOU'LL EVER HAVE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE AND I'LL KINDLY ASK YOU TO REMEMBER THAT BEFORE YOU OPEN THAT IMMENSE PERFORATION IN YOUR FACE THAT YOU CALL A MOUTH!" She shouted, fuming. Larie watched her, wide-eyed and smiling, "Hot Damn." He said, pleased and impressed, his tongue peeking out the side of his mouth, the stud shining in the light. Jay and Tee were stunned for a second, smiles frozen on their faces.

"Oooh, you got Double-N mad!" Anny said, snickering.

"You're in trouble!" An chuckled.

Karen opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Larie, "Immense means 'big' and perforation means 'hole'." He translated. "I figured I'd save you the effort of having to look them up since you probably don't know how to spell them." Double-N nodded in agreement, then they sat back down and Larie took her hand, smiling warmly. Double-N smiled sheepishly back, pink in the face. The other Ans and Kankers started laughing hysterically, along with the rest of the cafeteria.

"Yeah, well, your kids will be nerds!" She snapped before storming off.

Double-N turned red and stared at her, shocked at the randomness of the comeback.

"Our babies will be smart and beautiful." Larie said with a dreamy smile. (Author: Whoever gets this reference is officially awesome.)

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As much as he didn't want to run into anymore of those kids in jumpsuits, Sam couldn't sit on the bus with Jamie and her perfume again, it would make his feelings more muddled then they already were, so he walked home through a short cut through the forest. Deciding that he'd rather have those jumpsuit kids beat the snot out of him again then deal with his feelings, besides, he was so frustrated by his feelings that he welcomed the chance to let it out with violence. He wouldn't hurt someone without reason ever again, but if those kids started a fight like last night, he could claim self-defense.

He adjusted his backpack on his back, annoyed at how heavy it was. 'Whoever invented homework was a total asshole.' Sam thought as he felt his heavy books shift on his back uncomfortably.

He heard the sound of crunching leaves under his feet, and felt the cool autumn breeze slips through his red hair, he sucked in a breath of the cold air. He needed to figure this whole mess out before his and Larie's dates tomorrow.

First there was Double-N. Double-N was his dream girl, she had been for years, but was she just a dream? The perfect girl that he would never have? And did he even have the right to ruin Larie's chance with her just because he was jealous that Larie had the guts to do what Sam had always wanted to do? Did he even have the right to try and manipulate Double-N's choice in a boyfriend? (Author: Of course you don't, stupid! But I do! )

And then there was Jamie. Jamie had been his best friend, there was no one he was closer to then her, but now he was starting to see her differently and he didn't know what to do about it. Even if he did decide to date her, what would happen if it didn't work out, could they still be friends? Would they still want to be friends? And what if he didn't decide to go out with her, would she be hurt? He didn't want to lose his best friend, but he wasn't sure how he felt about her as a possible girlfriend.

He flipped through his mind, who could ask for advise about his conflicting emotions for two girls? It wasn't like he could talk to Jamie like he always could or his sister An or Double-N, they'd get mad at him for wanting to wreck Double-N's date. He certainly wouldn't ask Anny, she'd kill him for even thinking about it. He couldn't ask Jay, or any Kanker, or they'd kill him. Maybe he could reach out to the other kids in the cul-de-sac?

Nate? Nah, he was in the hospital, something about a bad cheese ball or something?

Karen? No way! She'd make fun of him and then tell everyone, especially Double-N, Jamie and Larie.

Jenny? No, she was very close to An and Jay, she'd tell them what he had planned to do. That and she apparently was busy with her own love life. She apparently had a new boyfriend, some mute guy named Patrick that she met on a camping trip with her parents last week.

Rachel? Maybe, Rachel was actually pretty good at giving advice, she and Double-N both were. But since he obviously couldn't talk to Double-N, Rachel was probably the best option.

Sam decided he'd talk to Rachel about it. He suddenly felt a tug on his pants, he turned around and saw another girl in a jumpsuit, only unlike the other five, this one was tiny, but unlike the boy with the red stripe, this one was a little kid, probably no older then four or five and she had a blue stripe.

"I'm Spider-Girl." The little girl said gleefully at him.

"Huh?" Sam said, confused. The other two times he had been visited by the kids in the jumpsuits, they had told him not to mess with Larie and Double-N's date, but this little girl just called herself 'Spider-Girl', whatever that meant.

The little girl pulled out what looked like a laser gun from one of An's movies. Sam yelped as the little girl pulled the trigger and fired at him, only, instead of blasting a hole in Sam, it launched what looked like white silly string at him, the little girl began running around him in circles shouting, "I'M SPIDER-GIRL!" as she wrapped him in the white string from his elbows to his knees, Sam was wobbling to retain his balance when the little girl finished, "I'm Spider-Girl." She said proudly, yet sounding a little bashful at the same time, like she was trying to be modest.

"Our apologies, our sister has a thing for spiders…" a boy's voice said from the left, Sam looked over and saw no one, then looked down, the boy was not much taller then 'Spider-Girl.'

"…Indeed, we had every intention of speaking to you unhindered." A similar voice said to his right, Sam turned to see another boy the same size to his right, he looked back and forth, making sure that the boy hadn't simply thrown his voice or something to trick him.

"Who are you?" Sam demanded. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because we want to live." An older male voice said from behind him, Sam hopped a bit so he could turn to see the tallest and probably the eldest of the four jump suited children he was now dealing with, "And because of your insistence on following this foolhardy endeavor to sabotage their relationship…" Sam noticed that he seemed to flicker a bit, like one of An's video games when they were messed up. "Our lives are in danger." The older one finished, "And although I detest violence…"

"We don't!" the younger boys piped in.

"I'm Spider-Girl!" The little girl repeated gleefully.

"…" the older one stared at the younger ones, the boys seemed to lower their heads a bit, the little girl seemed unfazed by the older one staring at her. "As I was saying, although I detest violence, I have a responsibility as the eldest to protect my younger siblings, all four of them."

"Four?" Sam said, looking around wildly, trying to see the fifth kid in a jumpsuit that he might of missed.

"She's not here, moron." The boy on the left said.

"She's only six months old." The boy on his right informed him.

"Indeed, we would not endanger her by bringing her out here." The eldest informed him.

"I'm Spider-Girl." The little girl repeated.

Sam looked at the boys, "Is that all she says?" he asked.

"Pretty much." The younger boys said in unison, they then grabbed Sam's legs, their small fingers seeming to pierce through his jeans and into his legs, "Do you have a problem with that?" they asked, their tones challenging him to say yes, to give them an excuse to beat the crap out of him.

"No! I was just wondering!" he said nervously, wincing in pain. The boys continued to pinch his legs for a minute or two, then let go.

"As I was saying, it's my responsibility as the eldest to protect four of my siblings," the eldest continued, "by any means necessary. So unless you agree to end your fruitless and cruel plans right here and now, my apologies in advance for the pain you'll endure, however, you'll have left us no other option." The boys on either side chuckled, the sound making chills crawl up Sam's spine.

"How will me wrecking their date put your lives in danger?" Sam asked, fear making his voice go up an octave.

"That's for us to know…" the eldest began.

"And for you to ascertain for yourself." The boys said, sounding eager for bloodshed.

"I'm Spider-Girl!" the little girl said deviously, pulling out her silly string gun. All three boys' gloves sparked with electricity, blue lightning dancing between their fingers, Sam stepped back, away from the frightening siblings, trying to rip the silly string off his body, but it wouldn't budge, it was tough.

"That's real spider silk." One of the younger boys informed him. As if Sam knew the difference between real and fake spider silk.

"Yeah, good luck getting out of it." the other one chuckled.

Sam's eyes widened in comprehension, "Oh, that's why she calls herself spider-girl!" he said, nodding.

"Indeed." The eldest said.

"That's really interesting…" Sam said as he backed away some more, then finally turned on his heels and ran, shouting, "BUT I HAVE TO GO, BYE!" he shouted, running as fast as he could.

"This'll be fun!" he could hear the younger boys saying in unison. Then he heard what sounded like a jet flying by. He turned to his left and saw the two younger boys with fire rocketing from their boots, "You can run," one said. "But you can't hide!" the other finished.

"I'm Spider-Girl!" the little girl's voice called out excitedly from the other side, Sam turned to see the girl and the eldest boy on his other side, also flying in the air.

"Shouldn't have done that!" one of the younger boys shouted from in front of him, grabbing him by the shirt and giving him a light shock.

"Indeed, you should have kept your eyes up ahead!" the other one said from behind, giving him another. Sam managed to push the two away with his feet towards two trees, "Yes!" he cried. Only for the little girl to shoot her gun again, this time making a web and stopping the boys from crashing into the trees. "Thanks." The boys said in unison.

"I'm Spider-Girl." The girl said proudly. The eldest clenched his fists, which were bright and sparking wildly, "How dare you!" he seethed, then blasted forward, "No one injures my little brothers!" he cried angrily, grabbing Sam by the silk and smashing him into whatever he passed as he surged forward with amazing speed, the spider silk holding him ripping as Sam was pummeled by nature, until the eldest suddenly turned to avoid a large tree, the sudden change in direction ripping the silk and freeing Sam.

Sam skidded into the ground, then dashed forward, realizing he was running towards the junkyard. Sam dashed forward, hoping that he could find help there, he heard the jet sound behind him as well as the boys cackling and the little girl shouting, "I'M SPIDER-GIRL!" as she fired another shot, Sam began running in a zig-zag pattern, dodging her shot.

He ran with everything he had, dodging electrical hands trying to grab him and spider silk shots, he finally made it to the fence to the junkyard and scrambled up it. He got to the top and fell over to avoid getting snatched by the little girl, crashing into garbage. He quickly rolled off it and ran around, looking around wildly for any kind of help.

Then he finally found it.

The Ans' retro-van.

'Thank God.' He thought as he slammed himself into the back doors of the van and scrambled to squeeze himself inside.

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After school, Ann and Larie dropped An and Jay at her house then went to Ann's house to pick up the helmet, boots and gloves as well as Ann's laptop and drove to the junk yard. Larie watched at her as she drove, infatuated. He couldn't believe after so many years he finally had a date with her. He remembered when he and his brothers had arrived in Peach Creek and had finally found their girls again.

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(FLASHBACK #3!)

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The boys sat on the porch step of their trailer, bored.

They sighed in unison, their father had gotten a new job and, without telling them before hand or giving them any warning, had literally attached the trailer to the pick up and drove to the Flush and Go Trailer Park over night, not giving the boys any chance to say good-bye to their friends or anything. They had literally woke up and found their home had moved overnight, after getting over the anger and sadness that they had literally been pulled out of their old lives to move to someplace they'd never seen or been to before, they were now bored out of their minds, since there weren't any kids in the trailer park besides them.

Their dad came out of the Trailer, wearing a blue jumpsuit for his new mechanic job, he had red hair like Tee and a face like Larie's. He had a lean, muscular frame and five-o-clock shadow on his chin and upper lip that he didn't have time to shave off. "Stop sitting there like lumps!" their dad snapped, "You'll love it here in Peach Creek!" the boys perked up at the name of the town, "Did you just say Peach Creek?" Tee asked.

"Yeah." He said, giving his eldest son a funny look before hopping into the pick up and heading to work.

The brothers looked at one another, big smiles growing on their faces as they remembered what young Anny had said to them, 'If you're ever in Peach Creek…' Their dream girls were here! They dashed out of the trailer park and went out to see if they could find any clue to where the Ans were.

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After beating the crap out of the kids from the cul-de-sac for talking shit about their Ans, they ran into the forest, excited to see what their girls would look like after all these years and if they'd recognize them. They dashed through the forest and made it to the swamp, hoping on low branches so their feet wouldn't get stuck in the muck. That's when Jay spotted them, "Over there!" he whispered, pointing to a small clearing in the brush, where they could see three girls that looked a lot like the ones they had met when they were only six.

All three girls were obviously taller, but An was still the tallest, with Ann, or Double-N, in the middle and Anny was still the shortest of the three.

An's red hair was cut short, so it looked a lot like a boy's haircut, she wore a green vest over her red and white striped long sleeved shirt and she wore jeans instead of a jean skirt, she wore thick rubber boots and gloves. An trotted happily with her friends, her big smile just the same as it was back then. Jay's face broke out into a goofy love-struck grin, he sighed at the sight of her, "That's An, alright." He said dreamily.

Anny's ears were now adorned with golden hoops, her hair was shorter and down to her chin, but it framed her face nicely. She wore a yellow blouse with a purple collar and jeans. She, like An, wore thick rubber boots and gloves, her hands in her pockets, "So how much farther, Sock-head?" she asked, sounding unimpressed. Tee chuckled, "That's my Anny," he said, his smile sliding up his face and his eyes glazing over a bit.

Ann's hair had grown out, it was now down to her shoulders, she still wore her hat. She wore a red tank top, a purple skirt and red tights. She wore the same boots and gloves as An and Anny. She gave her friends a big smile, revealing that the gap between her two front teeth had closed a bit over the years, but it was still cute to Larie. "I assure you, ladies, it's not much farther now."

"Hot damn." Larie said, leaning against a tree, with a big smile on his face, "That's Double-N alright." They watched in silence as the girls continued through the muck, none of them speaking, but none of them making a move either, at least, not until the girls had gone farther in.

"They're getting away!" Jay whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Larie asked him, also whispering.

"Cause I don't wanna scare them." Jay replied, still whispering, "This place is pretty creepy as is, I don't want them freaking out."

"Guys!" Tee cried, "Let's go, or we'll lose 'um!" His brothers nodded and they followed the girls deeper in, when they finally reached them, they saw that An had gotten herself stuck to a HUGE spider web, Anny was laughing while Double-N scolded her, "An! You get down from there this instant! You're disturbing that spider's web!"

"This is so cool, this is like 'Scurg of the Spider People!'" An cried, bouncing on the web.

The guys started to crack up too, but didn't realize that the girls could hear them, suddenly they looked nervous, "What was that?" Anny asked, looking around anxiously.

"An! Get down from there!" Double-N said, fearful of whatever made the noise, An struggled to get free, but it was no good.

"I'm stuck, guys!" An cried, her voice edged with panic.

"We're coming An!" Anny cried as she and Double-N yanked on her feet, finally pulling her free, knocking them all into the muck.

"Filthy!" Double-N cried, wiping muck off of herself. Jay stepped on a twig with a loud SNAP! The girls let out a cry and hugged each other, shaking with fright.

"Hey, it's kind of cute how they get scared like that." Larie said softly, staring at Double-N's knees knock and how she held a hand up to her face, looking scared. Tee and Jay looked at him, concerned, then looked back their girls, slowly seeing what he meant. The way the girls pouted their lips, the way their legs shook, the way their eyes got big, it made them seem more vulnerable and in need of protection. And that appealed to them for some reason.

"Now that you mention it…" Tee muttered.

"They are kind of cute like that." Jay agreed. The brothers looked at each other and smiled, "An, Ann and Anny sitting in a tree!" they began to chant, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

They kept saying those words as they watched their girls freak out, until they fainted. Then they looked at each other, panicked. They had gone too far and now their girls were sinking into the muck. They quickly ran out and pulled their girls out, Tee pulled Anny out, princess-style. Larie scooped Double-N up the same way. Jay tried, but his girl was bigger then him, so he pulled her upper half out of the muck.

"Now what do we do?" Jay asked. Tee looked down at Anny, who was covered in muck and was soaked and shivering in his arms, he felt awful. All of them did. They had promised to protect them, and what was the first thing they did? Finally tell them their names? Reveal themselves as the boys they kissed when they were six? Say hi?

NO! They had to scare them and make them faint into gross gunk.

Tee looked at his younger brothers and said, "We take them home, call Grandma, get her to help us clean them up, and then take care of 'um." He said, "Like we're supposed to." His brothers nodded and they walked home, Tee still carrying Anny like a princess, Larie had tossed Double-N over to his back so he could give her a piggyback ride to the trailer, Jay had trouble at first, then he tipped An over a bit, so he could half carry her back to the trailer, her feet dragging through the mud as he took her home.

.

.

.

Luckily their grandma had the day off, so she got there in a hurry, the moment she saw the three girls, she instantly knew what the boys had done and face palmed.

"You couldn't just say 'Hi'?" she asked them, the boys winced at that, but they knew it was well deserved. Their grandma then sent them up to their rooms while she cleaned the girls up.

When she was done and had put their clothes in the wash, she asked for the boys to pull out some clothes for the girls to wear, the boys looked at each other, they hadn't thought about what the girls were going to wear while their clothes were being cleaned. Their grandma face-palmed again and led them to their father's room and searched his closet. Luckily they had found their mom's old robes, Gladys took them and walked back downstairs, clothing the girls before the boys were allowed back downstairs.

She then handed Larie Double-N's hat, "I think she'll feel better with that cleaned up sooner better then later." she said, pointing to the girls passed out on the floor. Apparently Double-N had more under her hat then lighters, perfume samples and pamphlets, because her shoulder-length black hair was actually waist length. His brothers were amazed by it for about ten seconds before staring lovingly at their Ans.

"Whoa…" he said, amazed and a little mesmerized at the sight. His grandma flicked his forehead, snapping him out of his daze, "the hat, Larie, she obviously hides all that hair for a reason, so let's be nice and pretend as if we hadn't seen it." She said, pointing out Double-N's small frown.

Larie nodded and washed it thoroughly, then held it over a fan to dry. After he was finished, he placed it onto her head and stuffed the rest of her hair back into it. Double-N's face seemed to relax a bit, although Larie had no idea why. He thought she looked pretty with long hair, so why was she going to such lengths to hide it? But before he could ask, the girls started to wake. Gladys quickly slipped out, "I'll leave you kids alone now!" she sang as she then hopped into her car and drove away, leaving her clueless grandsons alone with girls they'd had crushes on since they were six.

.

.

.

That night, the boys wallowed in the disaster of what happened earlier that day on the couch, watching the aquarium channel.

"It was going so well at first." Jay lamented.

"Where did we go wrong?" Larie asked.

"I dunno." Tee relented, falling backwards into the seat cushion. Their father came home and looked at his sons, "What's eating you three?" he asked. Tee told him what happened earlier that day, their father sighed, "Scoot over." He said. His boys obeyed. He sat down between Larie and Tee, then pulled his boys close, "Boys, you probably confused them, being all friendly at first, you put them at ease so quickly that you three got trapped in the friend-zone. If you three are aiming for the boyfriend zone, you have to be aggressive, show them how much you care with constant affection. Got it?" His boys nodded eagerly, their eyes wide.

"Good, now, Larie, go take out the trash."

"What!" he cried, Jay and Tee laughed as their dad said, "Get going!" Larie scowled, but obeyed, grumbling as he dragged a huge trashbag to the door and opened it to find…

Double-N, holding their mother's bathrobes, which looked fluffier and cleaner then they had been when the girls had left screaming and running for their lives earlier, in her arms while the other Ans were hiding behind the sign to the trailer park.

"Um…" she said, then gave him a toothy grin while carefully putting the robes onto the last step and slowly backing away. "GUYS!" Larie called, a smile growing on his face, "COME LOOK TO SEE WHO PAID US A VISIT!" he called into the trailer. His brothers hopped off the couch and looked outside and saw the Ans outside their trailer, and grins crawled up their faces too.

"Well, look who we've got here." Tee smirked.

"It looks like our new friends are back." Jay agreed happily.

Double-N had made it to the sign where her friends had been waiting for her, "Yes, well, we wanted to return the robes you loaned us… So, welcome to the neighborhood, it was nice meeting you three… GOODBYE!" she said, the three girls backing away slowly as she spoke until they broke out into a full dash at the words 'good bye.' The boys ran and quickly grabbed them, surprised to see that the girls, who had attacked a grown man easily enough when they were only six, barely put up any resistance to their grabbing them. The boys looked at one another and looked horrified, their dad was right! They were in the… the…

Friend-Zone.

They realized they had to work fast to make their intentions clear.

"We should at least thank you three for returning our moms' robes." Jay said, pulling An into a hug.

"Yeah, thanks, Muffin." Larie purred into Double-N's ear as he pulled her close to him.

"I think I know how we can do that, boys." Tee said, then kissed a stunned Anny on the forehead.

"ANNY!" her friends cried. Jay then kissed An on the left cheek and Larie kissed Double-N on the right. The boys then learned how much they liked kissing their Ans, so instead of one kiss mirroring the ones the girls had given them that day, they smothered the girls in them. By the time they were done all three girls were covered in hickeys and running away, panicked. They laughed, threw the garbage into the trashcan, then went to pick up their moms' robes.

They really were much softer and cleaner then before.

"The girls must have washed them for us." Jay said, holding it close to his chest, only for a piece of paper to slip out. "Huh?" Jay picked it up and squinted, trying to read it, "It's just a bunch of scribbles… wait!" he said, "Dear Jay, sorry for taking your mom's robe. An." His brothers walked over and looked over his shoulder, he was right, it was covered in scribbles, but next to each one, in clean and perfect cursive, was a translation of what each scribble meant, the only scribble that was identifiable was An's name. Jay smiled and pulled the note to his chest. Tee looked in his mom's robe and pulled out another note.

"What's it say?" Jay asked him.

"Tee. Sorry. Anny." He read, then smirked, "Yeah, she'd write this." He said, throwing the robe over his shoulder, tucking the note into his pocket and walking back inside, Jay hopping in right after him, robe tucked under his arm and note clutched firmly in both hands. Larie looked through his mom's robe and found a neatly folded note, written in the same perfect cursive that had translated An's note,

"Dear Larie,

I am truly sorry for our behavior earlier, it was very rude and un-neighborly of us. Especially for us to run off in your mothers' robes like that. So we cleaned them at my house, I know it doesn't make up for what happened earlier, but I hope we can have a fresh start tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Ann (Double-N)"

Larie smiled dreamily, "Hot damn." He said, then walked back inside, robe and note in hand, and shut the door behind him.

.

.

.

(end of flashback)

.

.

.

"Larie?" Larie shook his head, Ann was looking at him, a little worried. "Are you alright?"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." He said, giving her a reassuring smile and grabbing her hand, "Just reminiscing." He explained sheepishly. Ann smiled and nodded, understanding, "Well, we're here…"

Suddenly there was a WHAM! from the back of the van. Larie pulled her close, defensively, "What the…?" the back doors of the van suddenly opened just enough for Sam to squeeze in and slam them closed, breathing heavily. He looked as if he just broke out of an insane asylum, his hair was a mess, he had various stains and tears in his pink t-shirt and his jeans, he had various cuts and bruises all over, his eyes were wide and full of fear.

"THEY'RE AFTER ME!" he cried, shaking. Larie and Double-N looked at one another, "Stay with him." Larie said, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife, "Here."

"Larie." She looked at him plainly, then reached over to the glove compartment and pulled out the electrified net gun they had made and pumped it up. Larie smiled, "Hot Damn." he said, then kissed her forehead and hopped out, slinking close to the van and closing the door behind him, he motioned for Ann to lock the doors. She nodded and did so. He then hopped out to face whatever was in the back…

Only to find that there was nothing there. Larie looked all around the van, he even looked over and under it, nothing. He then knocked the back doors of the van, "It's me." He said, he heard the locks open, then opened the doors, where Sam shook like a leaf while Double-N was patching him up.

"There's nothing out here, Sam." Sam looked at him, wild eyed and frightened, "There were four of them! I swear!" he held up the helmet, "They wore helmets like this and…" he stopped, "and gloves and boots like these…" he looked at Larie, "Why do you guys have this stuff?"

"We just finished making them." Larie said, "We were gonna test them today." Sam looked at the helmet, frightened.

"Larie, perhaps we can test the helmet and boots while proving to Sam that there's no one else here." Ann suggested. "If there is someone here who seems suspicious, you can use the gloves." Larie looked at her, stunned, then he saw her mouth, 'Please humor him, he's really upset.' He looked at Sam, whose eyes were twitching and who looked like he was close to cracking.

"Alright." He relented, "But I want you to keep the net gun out." He said, "Just in case." She smiled gratefully and nodded. Sam gave him a grateful nod, "Thank you, Larie." He said, he didn't sound very happy that he had to thank Larie, but he sounded legitimately grateful. Larie nodded and helped Ann out of the van, his hands tingling at the touch of her skin and a soft smile on his face. 'Because I like somebody else.' She had said. And she had meant him. He might not trust Sam, but he trusted Ann. And he knew she would have no problem shocking Sam if she had to.

"Alright, we're going to need to set up." He said, motioning for Sam to move some of the stuff towards the back for him and Ann to start.

.

The four kids hid behind a pile of car parts, watching as Larie and Ann pulled their stuff out of the van.

"We're quite lucky to see both of them, aren't we?" one of the younger boys whispered softly.

"Indeed, the others only saw one." The other agreed.

"Well, the time we can spend watching them is halved, I'm afraid. Look." The eldest said bitterly, pointing to the helmet and the boots, "I'm afraid they'll be actively looking for us shortly." He informed his siblings, the girl looked at him, pointing at Larie and Ann. The boys looked to the eldest, who sighed and gently patted her helmet.

"I know you want to watch them a little more, we all do, but we can't risk them finding us." The eldest said softly, the girl hung her head sadly, the boys patted her on the back, "It's not like we'll never see them again." One said gently.

"Indeed, this farewell will be brief." The other agreed. The girl nodded sadly as her brothers blasted into the sky, she looked back at Ann and Larie as they inspected the gear.

"Bye-bye." She said sadly, giving them a small wave good bye before blasting off behind her brothers.

.

.

.

Sam watched as Larie opened up Double-N's laptop and started up a program called 'Larie-bot 1 Protocol' 'Ugg, he must have named it that.' Sam thought as he watched Double-N help Larie put on the boots and gloves and connected them to the helmet with a bunch of wires. Larie gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose before he put on the helmet, Double-N's face was pink as she pulled out a Bluetooth ear piece from her hat and turned it on, "Larie, can you hear me?" she asked him.

"Loud and clear." Sam could barely hear him say from the device in her ear as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Alright, I'm going to activate the cameras now." She said, Larie nodded. She walked over to her laptop and tapped a few keys, then several windows opened, one with Larie's face in the lower right hand corner.

"Can you see?" she asked him.

"Roger." He said with a laugh. Double-N then handed Sam a Bluetooth ear piece, "He'll need to hear a description to know what he's looking for, I'll put the basic information into the helmets' targeting system as well." Sam put the ear piece in and told them what little information he had, Double-N typed in the data into her computer.

"So you're telling us that you got your ass handed to you by a five year old?" Larie snickered, his thick gloves wrapped around his stomach as he laughed.

"She tied me up!" Sam defended.

"Maybe she wanted to play with you, Sam." Double-N suggested.

"So her brothers beating me up was part of the game?"

"Well maybe they didn't know she wanted to play with you." She rationalized, "Perhaps all they saw was their little sister with a stranger and were afraid you might hurt her?"

"She tied me up." Sam repeated.

"There are some sick people in the world, Sam, you have to be super careful when it comes to little kids." Larie said, "for all they knew, you could have asked her to do that because you like it."

"So they attacked me?" he asked.

"An would do the same if she thought you were in danger." Double-N reminded him. He winced, then nodded. He knew the only reason Jay and probably most people didn't hurt Sam was because of An. Why did everyone have to remind him what a wonderful big sister she was and how much of an ungrateful little douche he was?

He felt bad about it already. He stared angrily at his shoes, pouting.

"If that's the case, we should probably find them anyway to explain that you weren't trying to hurt her, we wouldn't want them to report to the police that you did something you're not guilty of." Double-N said, still trying to humor him.

"Yeah, it's bad enough you got your ass handed to you by a little girl." Larie teased. Double-N scowled at him, "Larie!" she scolded.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." He said, holding his hands up in surrender, then let them fall back down to his sides, relaxed. "Now let's see if these boots were made for flying." He said eagerly. Double-N smiled at that and began typing into her computer, various charts and diagrams appeared on the screen, "Lift off in 3…" Sam heard the same sound he had earlier with the four siblings in the forest, he watched as the boots expanded a bit.

"2…"

Larie bent his knees.

"1…" Larie leapt into the air.

"Blast off!" Double-N cried. Fire erupted from the bottom of the boots while he was still in mid jump, allowing Larie to hover in the air. Even though the four kids from before had used something very similar, and that freaked him out, he had to admit that the boots were pretty cool.

"Hot Damn!" Larie cried, "They work!"

"This is fantastic!" Double-N cheered, clasping her hands together, "Larie, try and see if you can move in other directions," she instructed as she began typing into the computer, "I'm putting your motion specs into the helmet's database now."

"Motion specs?" Sam asked, reminding the two that he was still there.

Double-N nodded, "I had Larie do various actions in front of a camera so I could map out how he moves normally..."

"I still say that was just an excuse to stare at my ass." Larie teased.

Double-N turned pink, "I assure you, Larie, I did not stare!" He chuckled at that, Double-N went from pink to red, then looked at Sam, "Anyway, I mapped out his motions and put them into the computer. So when they finish uploading…" she said, waiting for the loading bar on her screen to go from 99% to 100%, "the helmet can adjust the power needed in his boots to administer to his needs, allowing him to move while in mid-air easier and smoother." She explained, "Try it out, Larie." She said. Larie nodded as more flames blasted out of the bottom of his boots, he then turned, with a little difficulty. Sam chuckled at that, Double-N glared at him as Larie snapped, "Hey, this isn't as easy as I make it look. And since I can't test these gloves on little kids trying to defend their five year old sister, I have no problem trying them out on you if you keep laughing." Sam glanced at Double-N, who nodded angrily, "Approved." She said sharply.

"But!"

"Sam…" she said in a warning tone.

Sam slumped over, "Sorry Larie." He grumbled. Larie then went to fly around the junk yard, looking out for the kids Sam described. Double-N went back to monitoring her computer, occasionally glancing down at the bottom corner and smiling. Sam's chest ached, "Hey, can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"You just did." Larie informed him, reminding Sam that he could still hear him.

"Certainly, Sam." Double-N replied, "What's on your mind?"

'How much time you got?' Sam thought bitterly. He couldn't ask her about her date, he couldn't ask her who she'd choose either him or Larie, he couldn't ask her who he should choose either, so what could he ask her that had nothing to do with her or the guy with the electric gloves flying around?

"Has Jamie always worn that Jasmine perfume?" he finally asked. Double-N seemed surprised by the question, then a huge smile grew on her lips, she put her hand up to suppress a chuckle.

"What?" Sam asked, anxious and a little upset that she was laughing at him.

"Sam, when did you start smelling that perfume?" she asked.

"Yesterday." He said, Double-N bit her lip, trying to stop herself from laughing at him, but she quickly let go and began giggling

"What?" he asked again.

"She's been wearing that perfume for years, Sam. Ever since you gave it to her for her birthday, there hasn't been a day that she hasn't worn it." she explained.

"Seriously?" Larie asked, sounding surprised and even a little impressed, "Man, she must like you."

"She's my best friend." Sam snapped, "Of course she likes me."

"Not that kind of like, dumbass." Larie said, "The other kind." Double-N covered her mouth with both hands as she continued laughing, "She's had a crush on you for years, Sam." She informed him.

"What?" He asked, stunned, "How…"

"An figured it out years ago, she was the first one to notice it." Double-N said, a little proud of his sister. "It quickly became obvious after she pointed it out to the rest of us in the cul-de-sac. Even the Kanker brothers noticed it."

"You never noticed?" Larie asked, Sam saw him shake his head in the window in the corner, "Poor girl."

"Shut up!" he snapped, he suddenly felt dizzy, he put his hands on his head, trying to keep it from spinning. She'd liked him for years? And AN of all people was the first to notice? Instead of him, who he thought knew Jamie best?

"Hey Muffin? I don't see anyone out here, I mean, I see some animals and bugs, but no other people, I'm coming back."

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit."

"Can't wait!" He said, smiling eagerly in the window. Double-N smiled at that. Sam hugged himself, he was so confused, now he felt more torn then before.

Larie soon was hovering near the van's back doors, "Landing procedures uploading now." Double-N informed him. Soon he slowly was lowered to the ground, his boots finally landing with a thud. He pulled off the helmet, his head sweating profusely.

"I think we should have a ventilation system in the helmet." He said, wiping sweat off his forehead. Double-N then made him sit down while she went towards the front of the van, where she opened the box that separated the front seats to the back of the van, she opened it, revealing it to be a cooler, then pulled out a water bottle and closed it back up. She scrambled back, unscrewing the cap and handing it to him, "You should have said something earlier, Larie!" she said, her tone angry and worried, as he poured it down his throat. "You could've passed out and crashed!"

"Sorry." He said sheepishly after emptying half the bottle into his mouth, lifting the soaked hair that clung on the back of his neck to try and cool himself down.

She went back up to the front, grabbing more things out of secret compartments.

"Hey Larie." Sam asked.

"Yeah?"

"How did you know?"

"Know what?" he asked, obviously exhausted. Sam pointed to Double-N, Larie's eyes widened in comprehension, "I just did. Still do." He said with a smile and a shrug.

"How?" Sam asked, probably looking pitiful.

"Have you held Jamie's hand in a while?" Larie asked, smirking.

"No." Sam said, a little confused. He hadn't held hands with her since the older kids in the cul-de-sac had moved onto high school, people were starting to make fun of them, so Sam stopped holding hands with her. It had been a long time since then.

Larie put the helmet back on, much to Double-N's concern, "What are you doing?" she asked, reaching to take it off.

"Showing him something, it'll be short, I promise." He said, then held his hands up and said, "You mind starting these up before I pass out?" Double-N scowled at him, "Please, Muffin." he pleaded. Double-N looked upset, but then relented with a sigh, going to her computer and began typing. "Program's been downloaded." She informed him.

Sparks erupted from Larie's gloves, arcs of blue lightning sprang between his fingers, he then had them shrink into smaller sparks, electricity would wiggle in between his fingers. "If your hands feel warm and feel like how this looks, and this feeling crawls up from your fingers to your heart, you'll know." Larie explained. Sam looked at his hands, then at the gloves.

"I'm powering it down now," Double-N said, a small smile on her face as the sparks reduced into a blue glow, then to nothing. Then Larie ripped the helmet off of his head, "Man it's hot in there!" he said, then Double-N and Sam helped remove the gloves and boots. The boots were pretty bad, they made his feet stink like An's, Larie had to lie down on the mattress with his feet sticking out of the van for a bit, Sam and Double-N removed their Bluetooth ear pieces and Double-N put them with the helmet, boots and gloves and her laptop. Then Double-N made him move up closer to the front when they were ready to leave. She had him sit up on the back of the passenger side seat. She had pulled out a few more bottles of water, a towel and a small hand held fan for him, "If you feel dizzy, tell me before you lie down, that way I know you haven't passed out." He nodded, smiling at her gratefully, "Thanks Ann." He said softly. Double-N turned crimson red and stuttered back, "I-it's no p-problem, Larie." Then started the van and began driving back to the cul-de-sac. Sam had never seen Double-N react like that to anyone calling her by her real name before. He looked at his hands and looked at Double-N, he couldn't recall ever holding her hand before, so he had no idea if he got the tingly feeling or not. As for Jamie, he hadn't held hers in a while, so he couldn't recall any special feelings from holding hands, but since he was also seeing her differently from how he used to, it would probably be different anyway.

Double-N dropped him off at home, "Thanks Double-N." he said, holding out his hand. Double-N looked at it for a second, a little shocked, she then gave him a friendly smile and took it in a firm grip and shook it. "You're quite welcome, Sam." She said, then let go.

Nothing.

He had felt no sparks or anything at her touch. "See ya Larie." Sam called back to him as he hopped out of the car, Larie lifted his hand, then lowered it. Sam watched as the van pulled out of his driveway and headed to Double-N's house. He stood outside while he watched Double-N help Larie out of the van and into her house, probably to ensure that he drank plenty of fluids and was completely alright before he went home.

He was happy for them. And he was happy for himself. He had finally figured out which girl he wanted. He looked at his hands, then at Jamie's house, then quickly shoved them into his pockets and walked up to his house swiftly, 'I'll do it tomorrow!' he thought as he quickly fled inside his house.

.

.

.

Jay and Sam sat in the living room, quiet and unmoving. An had been asked to help with dinner by her mother, leaving the two alone, watching TV.

Holy crap, it was awkward.

Jay glanced at Sam out of the corner of his eye, he didn't like being mad at the kid, but he was just a mess right now.

"Hey Jay." Sam suddenly said, making him jump.

"Yeah?" he replied, startled.

"When you hold An's hand, does yours feel tingly? Kind of like electricity's running through your hands up your arm and into your heart?" he asked. Jay looked at him, surprised, "Yeah." He said, "It's exactly like that." Sam looked at his hands, "I shook Double-N's hand today, but I didn't feel anything like that."

"Well, did you try Jamie's hand?" Sam turned pink and looked up at him, shocked, then realization dulled it, "An told you, huh?" he sighed.

"Yeah, congrats on the date." He said, smiling and ruffling his hair. Sam looked shocked then smiled back at him, "Yeah, well," his smile faded into a frustrated pout, "I don't really know what to do, I mean, she's my best friend. What if it doesn't work out? What if I don't feel the spark when I hold her hand? What if we do date and then break up, can we still be friends?" Sam grabbed at his hair, Jay patted him on the back, "Hey, isn't that why you're going on the date? To find out?" Sam looked up at him, amazed, then his face lit up, "Hey, yeah!" he hugged Jay, much to his surprise, "Thanks Jay!" he said. Jay looked down at him, then smiled, he ruffled his hair, "No problem, Sammy." He said.

"Dinner!" An told them, smiling and giggling like she had been standing there for a while, eavesdropping. Sam quickly let go, face red and dashed past her to get into the kitchen. Jay got up and smiled at her, "I think we don't have to worry about either of our brothers' dates tomorrow." He said proudly. An pulled him into a kiss and hugged him tightly, then he felt something… (well besides the usual glee he felt whenever he got hugs and kisses from An)

Her heart beat.

That was weird. Normally he just felt his heart go a mile a minute when she hugged him, but he could feel hers too. He felt his face burn hotter, he had never felt her heart beat when they hugged before. And it was going just as if, if not faster then his own. He felt more connected to her and closer to her. His big happy, goofy grin expanded on his face. Tee had been right, Jay was perfectly fine just hugging and kissing his girlfriend. One day he'd get to second base, but there was no rush.

"Hey, I felt your heart beating." He said when she let go. She smiled, "Yeah, I felt yours too! I was wondering why I couldn't feel it before, but I figured it out!"

"Really?" he asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, something was blocking it." An said, proud that she had figured it out.

"That so? What was it?" he asked.

"My bra."

"What?" he asked, feeling his whole body heat up, his face and where she had hugged him felt as if they were on fire.

"Yeah, I wanted to feel your heart beat so I took it off." She said with a smile.

Jay's heart was going so fast he was afraid it was going to explode, "You did what now?" he asked, his voice about two octaves higher then normal, his pants suddenly felt tight, steam was screaming from his ears, his head felt as if it was floating.

"I took off my bra so I could feel your heart beat, smart huh?" Jay nodded. She smiled, gave him another hug, Jay pulled her close, feeling her chest against his, their heart beats matching up.

"Best. Girlfriend. Ever." He said, earning himself a kiss before she led him into the kitchen, his hand tingling along with his chest, lips, and something in his pants.

.

The two kids with the yellow stripe looked into the window into An's Kitchen, where An and Sam's parents, An, Sam and Jay all ate dinner and chatted happily, laughing on occasion.

"So everything's good now, big sister?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, baby brother, everything's going to be okay again." The girl said, putting her arm around her little brother as they watched An and Jay laugh at a joke Sam told them.

"I still wish we could say hi." The boy said sadly.

"Me too, Sheldon. Me too."

.

.

.

Anny and Tee were worn out by the time they finally got into the pick-up to go home. After going over parts of the recital with the little girls, they had spent three hours setting up the stage, Percy was a huge help, if it wasn't for him, they'd probably been there all night moving half that shit up onto the stage. Also Percy was the one who brought pizza.

They were quiet for most of the ride home, until Anny got a text from An, "It looks like Sam picked Jamie." Anny said, sounding tired, yet happy, "so we don't have to worry about him ruining Larie and Double-N's date." She looked at him, smiling, "well, at least not on purpose." Tee laughed, feeling a little energy surge back into his tired body along with it. They were quiet again, not really knowing what else to say. Tee sucked in a breath, "Hey Anny?"

"Yeah Tee?"

"Since Larie's using the pick-up for his date tomorrow, you mind if I bum a ride home from you in the van tomorrow?"

"Sure, no problem." She said plainly, "Do you need it to the studio as well as from the studio?" Tee stopped, thinking. The Ans would go home in the van after school, Tee would drive his brothers home, An and Jay were meeting up half way in between the trailer park and the cul-de-sac and going back to the trailer for old horror movies and whatever else they did that Tee didn't really want to know about, Larie would take the pick-up for his date with Double-N, so he wouldn't be able to drive to the studio tomorrow.

"Yes." He said finally.

"Took you long enough to figure out." She teased, typing into her phone.

"Just double-checking." He glanced over at her, "Whatcha doing?" he asked her.

"Texting Jamie to let her know Sam chose her over Double-N, we're driving right behind where her house is, so we'll probably hear her…"

They suddenly heard a squeal from their right, they both jumped at the sound, Tee's grip on the steering wheel tightened. After they had recovered from the shock, Tee guessed, "We'll probably hear her squeal?"

"Yup." Anny said, stiff as a board. They sat there quietly for a second before they burst out laughing, they had no idea why it had been so funny, it just was.

He stopped out front of her house, "Thanks for the ride, Tee." Anny said with a smile, "See ya tomorrow." She said, slipping out of the pick-up and striding up to her house, Tee opened his mouth and reached out, but she was already gone.

So much for asking if she wanted to grab a bite together before they got to the studio tomorrow.

Tee closed it and pulled it into reverse, noticing Anny wave before closing the door behind her. Tee smiled a bit, then freaked out when he tried to drive forward and realized he was still in reverse and jerked backwards.

'At least Anny didn't see that.' He thought as he pulled himself out of reverse. His phone buzzed, he glanced at it, he got a text… From Anny?

He quickly flipped open his phone and read the text:

'Ha Ha Ha! Nice driving dumbass!' she had written.

Tee leaned back in his seat, groaning, he opened his eyes and noticed her peaking from the window, laughing, only to see he had seen her and let the curtain fall back into place.

He smirked and typed back, 'Aww. Did you miss me already?' he sent it.

His phone buzzed, 'look at the window' He read, he leaned back again and looked at the window to see Anny smile and flip him off. He smiled, then texted, 'Yeah, you missed me.' He sent it and drove home, his phone buzzed on the way, but he didn't check the message until he actually parked the car near the trailer and was walking up the steps. 'You wish.'

He typed, 'Yeah. I do.' He looked at it for a second, "I can't send that." But instead of hitting the backspace button he pressed send. He stood on his front porch, gritting his teeth,

"Fuck."

.

.

.

The next morning, Anny yawned as she drove An and Double-N to school.

"Anny, if you're tired, I could drive." Double-N offered.

"I'm fine." Anny said with another yawn, waving her off, "Don't worry about it."

"You must have finished late, Anny." An said, yawning as well.

Not really. Anny and Tee had come home at a decent enough time. What kept Anny up was the text she got back from Tee. She looked at her phone from the corner of her eye then looked back at the road, pink in the face. After his smart ass text suggesting that she missed him, she typed back a smart ass, 'you wish' but instead of getting another smart ass text back, she got one that kept her up for hours.

'Yeah. I do.'

Three fucking words keep her up until two in the morning, so she only got four and a half hours of sleep. She rubbed her eyes, why would he send that? Her face began to burn.

"Anny? Are you alright?" Double-N asked.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Anny grumbled.

"Does this have something to do with Tee?" Double-N asked. Anny was too tired to lie or ask how she knew and said, "Yeah."

An began jumping up in down in the back, "Are you two going on a date too?"

Anny woke up, "WHAT?!" she turned to An, "NO!"

"ANNY! EYES ON THE ROAD!" Double-N cried. All three Ans screamed as Anny swerved around until she was back in a safe place on the road. The Ans panted, catching their breaths and trying to slow their heart rates.

"LETS DO THAT AGAIN!" An shouted, pumping her fists into the air.

"NO!" Anny and Double-N replied in unison.

After they finally calmed down, Double-N asked, "So what happened?" Double-N asked. Anny explained what happened the night before and the text that had kept her up all night.

As soon as she finished, big knowing smiles crept up her friends' faces.

"What?" Anny asked.

"You like Tee." An said, her smile continuing to grow.

"What! No I don't!" she cried, her face feeling as if it was on fire.

"It appears that you most certainly do, Anny." Double-N said, looking a bit proud of her.

Anny opened her mouth, then closed it, what would arguing solve? She knew that all three of them could list a million reasons on both sides and she still wouldn't know, so she just came clean.

"I have no idea, okay?" she whined, "I'm still getting used to not hating him, I have no idea if I…" she couldn't even say the word 'like.' She parked in the parking lot at the high school and let her face fall onto the steering wheel. Her friends faces turned from knowing smiles to sympathetic ones.

"You'll figure it out, Anny. There's no rush." Double-N soothed.

"Yeah, everyone needs time to figure stuff out, right?" An said.

Anny smiled at her friends, "Thanks guys." She said.

.

.

.

Lunch was nerve-wracking for Double-N, she sat down with the other Ans, the Kankers hadn't shown up yet, but she still felt on edge. In six short hours she would be going on a date with Larie, she felt so nervous that she was afraid she was going to be ill. But she was determined, she was going to be fine, the date would be lovely and then…

And then what?

'That's why you're going on the date, Ann.' She told herself, 'To find out what happens next.' Her appetite was pretty much non-existent, she mainly picked at her food to try and keep her mind off of how nervous she was.

"You okay Sock head?" Anny asked her.

"You haven't eaten." An observed.

"Just a little nervous." Double-N admitted.

"A little, my ass." Anny said, "Take a few deep breaths, you'll do fine. Larie's the one who should be nervous, not you."

"Yeah!" An agreed, a big smile on her face, "You'll be great Double-N! And you'll look pretty!" Double-N blushed at that and just jabbed at her salad with her fork.

"Yeah, Larie won't know what hit 'um!" Anny said deviously, "He'll take one look and have to run home to change his underwear." Double-N looked at her funny, "Why would he need to…" her eyes widened as Anny and An laughed.

"Good Lord!" She cried, disgusted, "How is that supposed to make me feel better?" she demanded.

"Because that's probably what's going to happen!" Anny said, tears of laughter dripping down her cheeks. Double-N thought about it and stifled a chuckle, Anny was probably right, he might have to change them.

"What are you three laughing at?" They turned to see the Kankers.

They stopped and looked at each other, "Nothing." They said in unison. The guys looked at each other, confused, but shrugged.

"Okay then." Tee said, all three of them sat down and the six of them enjoyed lunch like it was any other day.

"Hey, Tee?"

"Yeah Anny?" Tee asked as he took a drink from his soda.

"Why was Karen saying stuff about us having kids yesterday?" She asked. All three brothers did spit-takes, somehow all spraying Karen with soda and spit as she passed their table, "GROSS!" she shouted, "YOUR KIDS ARE GOING TO BE DISGUSTING!" she shouted before storming off to her table.

Double-N and An watched as she stormed off, then looked at Larie and Jay, confused.

"That is a good question." Double-N agreed.

"Why would she say that?" An asked.

"No idea." The brothers said in unison, swallowing down their lunches so the girls couldn't interrogate them anymore. The Ans looked at each other, they knew that it had something to do with something they must of said, but knew they would get nowhere. They all rolled their eyes and looked at each other, as if to say, 'Boys.' Then went back to their lunches, deciding that they probably didn't want to know why Karen had said that stuff yesterday and again today.

.

.

.

Tee woke up with a pounding headache, he closed his eyes, trying to remember what the fuck happened and sat up with a groan only for him to feel large hands push him back down, "Oh no you don't!" Anny's voice snapped.

Tee's eyes immediately snapped open to see Anny over him, looking both worried and a little annoyed.

"Anny?" he asked.

"No duh." She said. He was surprised, normally she'd say something like 'no shit.'

"Your head was hit pretty hard." The big man, Percy said, handing Anny an ice pack.

"Hit with what?" he asked as Anny pressed the ice pack against his aching head.

"A sand bag, remember?" Anny reminded him, "I was helping Katie with her shoes when one of the ropes snapped, you pushed us out of the way and got smacked in the head pretty bad." Tee strained himself to remember, then it all came back to him.

He was at the studio. Anny had picked him up after school so they could do the last few touches on the stage and for the little girls' dress rehearsals.

Poor Katie's ballet shoelace snapped on stage and she had tripped, then began to cry. Percy was helping Tee lug a heavy speaker, and nearly dropped it on Tee's toes when he heard his niece cry, luckily Anny had been right there and found out what happened, she informed Percy that Katie was fine, that her shoelace had just broke and she just needed a band-aid. Percy then calmed down and helped Tee put the speaker on stage while Anny grabbed a new shoelace and a band-aid from the office and put the band-aid on the girl's skinned knee and re-laced her shoe, telling her that she was going to be okay, Tee felt his face flush a little bit seeing how motherly Anny could be. That's when Tee heard the sound of a rope snapping, he saw the sand bag begin to fall right where Anny and Katie stood, "LOOK OUT!" he had cried, pushing them out of the way before feeling something heavy hit his head, then everything had gone black.

"Yeah, now I remember." He said as his grandma led the little girls to where their teachers sat, which he discovered was one of the classrooms and that he had been laying on a mat that they used when people were learning how to do cartwheels.

"Are you okay, Mr. Tee?" they asked, looking worried.

"I'm sorry Mr. Tee." Katie said, her eyes filling with tears, "It's all my fault." Tee gave her a funny look, "What are you talking about? It's not your fault your shoelace snapped. I'm just glad everyone's okay."

"Is there anything we can do to help you feel better, Mr. Tee?" one of the other girls asked. Tee thought about it for a second, "How about you girls do a great job at your recital tomorrow? That would make me feel much better." He said. The little girls perked up, determined, "Okay!" they said. Then Gladys ushered them outside so they could go back to dancing.

"Thank you again Percy for helping. Thank goodness we had a doctor in the house when this happened." She said to the big man, Percy flushed, "I just did what I was trained to do, I'm just upset that I didn't notice the sand bag falling first."

"It's fine, Tee's a tough boy, he can handle it." Gladys said patting him on the back, "Come on, let's finish setting up the speakers and watch the girls dance." She said, leading him back to the stage.

And leaving him and Anny alone.

"Percy's a doctor?" Tee asked her.

"Yeah. And he told us that you don't have a concussion or any damage or anything, but he said you should lie down for a bit." Anny said, putting a little more pressure on his chest until he laid back down on the mat. Tee looked at her face, she looked a little scared and upset, with a bit of anger and guilt thrown in too.

"You know you could've just pulled us out of the way, you didn't need to push us!" Anny finally snapped.

"Sorry." Tee said.

"Do you know how worried we were?"

"I'm sorry."

"I cried in front of those little girls, Tee, I cried. So you better be freaking sorry." She continued, her eyes glazing with tears, but she quickly wiped them away and continued to scowl at him.

"Anny, were you… worried about me?" he asked, touched and amazed.

"Of course I was, stupid!" she snapped, her face red, "why wouldn't I be? I mean, you got hit in the head really hard and you weren't moving!" Tee smiled warmly.

"What are you smiling about, 'ya jerk?" she demanded.

"Just thinking that you'd definitely make a good mom." He said softly. Anny turned crimson, then said, "Oh great, you hit your head so hard now you're thinking like Karen."

"I'd have to be hit in the head a lot more times before that happens." He joked. Anny smiled despite her desire to be angry and upset with him.

"Tee, why did you take the hit for me?"

"I saved you and Katie." He reminded her.

"As if I'd let that thing hit her." Anny said plainly.

"Yeah, well, the girls would have been just as upset if it had hit you instead of me, I'm a guy, I'm not gonna let a girl get hurt when I can take the hit." He said. "Especially not my girl." Anny's face was red and steaming. "Thanks, Tee." She said softly, then looked around, making sure no one was around, then looked outside the door, making sure no one was eavesdropping, then came back and gave him a kiss on his forehead, moving his hair out of the way. It was a short and small kiss, but Tee still reeled from it. She smiled and shoved his hair back over his eyes and watched as Tee turned red and steamed as well, satisfied that she had made him as embarrassed and happy as he had made her. She sat next to him and held his hand, giving him a happy smirk.

.

The three kids with the red stripes watched intently, "Aww." The girls whispered, the boy placed a finger up to his helmet, silently shushing them.

"You two are the loudest little sisters ever." He hissed, "You'll let them know we're here!" The girls winced a bit then let their heads sink into their shoulders a bit. The boy rubbed the back of his helmet, then sighed and held their hands, "I'm sorry, okay, but as much as we want to talk to them or get closer, we can't."

"But Andy!" they cried in unison, sounding upset. Their brother put his finger to where their lips would be, "I want to say hi too, but it's not over, not until their date is over we can't take any chances. We still have to be careful." The girls nodded and the three of them watched Tee and Anny holding hands, their faces red and smiling warmly.

.

.

.

Larie had never felt so nervous driving to the cul-de-sac in his entire life, his knuckles were white on the steering wheel as he slowed to a stop in front of Ann's house. He was sweating profusely, he pulled at his long sleeves and hoped that he wasn't getting pit stains on the only dress shirt he actually owned. The sad thing was that it was a hand-me-down from his dad, so it was a little baggy on him. He looked at himself in the mirror, "Get a grip!" he told himself, "You can't screw this up! This could be your one chance…" His knees were shaking, his palms were sweating, he suddenly felt this sudden urge to flee. He looked out the side window, he saw her parents standing in the front window and motioning for someone near the door to move closer to them. Then her mother spotted him, she waved and indicated for her husband to look too. He saw him and nodded.

Larie smiled and waved back, "Well this isn't awkward or anything." He said through his teeth. He took a deep breath and turned off the car, his legs feeling like jell-o as he made his way up the steps to her front porch. He knocked on the door, running his hands through his hair nervously.

The front door opened and Larie froze, his head went completely blank, his eyes widened. His face was bright red, his jaw dropped, his heart was going so fast it could very well go flying out of his chest. Steam screamed out of his ears, he tried to speak, but nothing was coming out of his mouth except his silver studded tongue. His pants, which were a bit baggy when he left the car, suddenly felt really tight.

"Hi Larie." She said, giving him a sweet gap-toothed smile. She wore a red dress, the top of it wrapped around the back of her neck, the back of the dress started halfway up her back, the skirt of the dress came up to her knees. She wore matching red heeled sandals, they weren't too high, but they still looked elegant. Her hair was curled and cascaded down her back and shoulders. Her make-up was light but tastefully applied. Around her neck with a silver chain, the bent stud he gave her attached to it. She held a red clutch in her hands.

He suddenly wished he took his brother's advice and brought spare underwear. He had never seen this much of her, ever. He wanted to see more so bad, but her parents were right there, dammit. And he didn't want to screw up his one chance.

Ann walked up to him and carefully poked his chin and pushed his jaw back up until his mouth closed.

"Thanks." He said, his voice high and tense.

"You're quite welcome, Larie." She said, a little laughter in her voice.

"You two have fun!" her mother called.

"I want her back before midnight!" Her father said plainly, his arms crossed, trying to look imposing and authoritative. Her mother looked at him knowingly and patted his arm, then closed the door giving the two a friendly wave before the door closed all the way shut. Larie took a moment to regain his composure, and cleared his throat, "Ready to go?" he asked her, holding out his arm. Ann smiled and took it, "Of course." She said. He turned redder as he led her to the pick-up, his whole body tingling. Looking at the truck, he suddenly wishing that he had took it through the carwash instead of just driving home as fast as he could so he could get ready. He opened the door for her, "After you." He said, she nodded gratefully and hopped inside. He closed the door behind her and ran around the long way, "Hot Damn! Hot Damn! Hot Damn! Hot Damn!" he chanted as he ran to the driver's seat.

.

.

.

Selina's was a nice place, alright, and, despite it being a Friday night, it took them very little time to be seated in a nice booth in the corner. Ann still felt nervous, but Larie's reaction to her appearance had made her feel a little better. She actually found it to be very cute that he had gotten so flustered. Not that she'd tell him that, while she wasn't very experienced when it came to boys, but she knew better then to call them 'cute.' Their waiter was a wacky guy named Danny, who, once he learned that it was their first time there, recommended several dishes for them to try that sounded delicious and brought them a few drinks from other countries to sample while they waited for their order to be finished.

They chatted about what little they did know about the dishes.

"It can't be that bad." Larie said.

"I'm telling you, wasabi is pretty pungent, Larie, I wouldn't recommend eating it plain." Ann warned.

"Okay, now I just want to do it to prove my point, are you doing some sort of reverse psychology on me?" he teased.

"Honestly, Larie, it didn't work before when we were younger, why would I try it again when I know it won't work?" she asked. "Although, I have to say, now I'm quite glad it didn't work." He turned red and steam hissed out his ears. Ann chuckled, covering her mouth. Steam stopped coming out of his ears, he looked at her, concerned.

"Hey Ann?"

"Yes?" she replied, still chuckling.

"Why do you cover your mouth when you laugh?" He asked, looking a little bothered by it. Ann stopped and looked at her hand, why did she do that? She stopped, trying to recall when she started.

"I suppose I started when I was trying to hide the gap in my teeth." Ann replied, unsure, "I don't really remember when I started doing it, to be honest, I hadn't even realized that I do that until you pointed it out."

"Well, I'm not going to let you do that anymore, I want to see how cute you look when you laugh."

She felt her face burn, "Alright then, Larie, I'll hold you to that." She said. Her palms sweating into the napkin on her lap.

"Here is your food!" Danny said cheerfully, placing several plates in front of them, and smiling at them, "Enjoy!"

"Thank you." Ann said politely. Larie nodded in agreement. Danny left them to enjoy their meal.

Larie looked at the sushi sampler they had gotten and looked at the lump of green goop next to it, "I'm gonna do it." he said in a devious voice.

"I wouldn't if I were you." She chuckled, she reached up to cover her mouth, only for Larie to grab her hands with one of his, "Nice try." He said. She turned pink, both her hands were tingling, "Sorry." She said.

Larie said nothing and took a spoon with his free hand and scooped up the green stuff. Ann shook her head, smiling widely, Larie nodded his head, looking pleased with himself. He put the whole thing into his mouth. Then his face turned red and he made a choking noise, Ann slipped her hands from under his and grabbed one of the drinks and handed it to him, he gulped it down. When he finished, he breathed deeply, "Hot." He managed as Ann began to laugh, her hands grabbing him another drink, and not blocking her face. "I told you so!" she laughed as she handed it to him, but Larie just looked at her, stunned and face red.

"What?" she asked, still laughing.

"Hot Damn." He said, then tried to say something else, but he couldn't get anything else out.

"This might help" she said, handing him the drink. He drank it about half of it, "Thanks." He gasped, then looked her in the eyes and said, "Hot Damn, Ann, you're cute when you laugh." Both of them were crimson in the face as soon as he said it.

"Thank you." She finally said, smiling at him, "Um, you want to try something else now?"

"Yes." He said, "I've learned my lesson, no more wasabi." They both laughed and enjoyed their meal, trying all sorts of food and joking around.

Ann felt a little silly for being so worried, she was having a fantastic time, why had she been so worried?

"Double-N? Larie?" the two of them stopped at the voices and saw Sam and Jamie, looking at them, shocked.

"Sam? Jamie?" she replied, equally shocked. Larie was surprised as well, he also looked a little annoyed. Even though Ann was happy to see the two together, even she had to admit that this did dampen the mood a bit now that someone else they knew was here too.

'You just had to wonder why you were worried, huh?' she scolded herself.

.

.

.

Sam and Jamie had made it to Selina's at about seven thirty, mainly because it took Sam ten minutes to pull himself together after he saw Jamie's outfit. An and his mom forced him into a nice pink dress shirt and black pants. Now that he saw her outfit, he was kind of grateful that they did, if he had come in his normal clothes he would've felt like a huge jackass next to Jamie.

He made a mental note to thank all three Ans when he saw them next. Her dress was a light blue and was an off the shoulder dress, her hair was pulled back into that twisted bun that the Ans had probably taught her, her shoes were the same color as her dress, they were little pumps, they gave her a bit of a boost but nothing too extreme. She wore a slender silver bracelet on each wrist and a star pendant that he recognized as something he gave to her one Christmas a few years ago.

She had called his name several times and he had endured her jasmine perfume for five minutes before he finally snapped out of it, then he spent five minutes trying to function normally again. He had looked like a total idiot in front of her and her parents.

Her parents then drove them to the restaurant and told them to have fun and call them when they were ready to go home. They were led to a table immediately, by a friendly guy named Danny, then he and Jamie had heard familiar voices,

"Well, how is it?" That was Double-N's voice.

"Tastes like chicken." Larie replied. Sam paled, 'Shit' he had forgotten about their date being here too.

"I highly doubt that!" Double-N laughed, but she laughed differently, he had no idea how or why, but she did. Jamie heard them too, they both turned and saw Double-N and Larie, who were smiling and laughing and having a blast.

"I'm telling the truth!" Larie said, pushing the dish towards her, "Here, try it."

"Double-N? Larie?" he said, stunned. They both stopped and looked at them, both turning red.

"Sam? Jamie?" Double-N asked, confused and shocked. Their bright smiles dimmed a bit, Larie seemed kind of angry and annoyed.

"Someone you know?" Danny asked cheerfully.

"Um, yes," Jamie said, "I was also wondering if you had a ladies room…" she asked. Danny nodded, "Right this way, then I'll be back to take your gentleman to your table." Jamie nodded gratefully, "Thank you." She said as Danny led her to the bathroom. Sam waited until they were gone before he looked at Larie, "Thanks for the advice yesterday." He said, "It really helped." Larie seemed a little taken aback and nodded, "Sure, no problem." He then looked at Double-N, "And Thank you for that." He said, indicating Jamie. Double-N looked really confused and a little uncomfortable, "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're thanking me for, Sam."

"You picked that dress for her and you and the other Ans helped her with all that stuff and now I'm on a date with that." He said, he must have been really intense because Double-N scooted away from Sam, a little concerned and a little frightened, "It was no trouble, Sam. But I might recommend that you tone down your, uh, enthusiasm. It's a little off-putting." She said nervously.

"And really creepy." Larie agreed, also scooting away from him.

"Sir?" Danny said, Sam turned, "Your table is just this way, if you'll follow me." He said, Sam nodded, then looked back at them, "Thanks again, guys, hope you guys have fun on your date!" he said cheerfully.

"You too." Double-N said, still a little uncomfortable by his intensity earlier. Sam followed Danny with a little skip in his step, he knew he would have a good date tonight. He didn't look back, he sat down and waited for Jamie, tapping his fingers on the table. Yup, any minute now. When she came back they ordered, making fun of some of the names of the dishes while they waited for Danny to come back. When he did, they dug in, surprised how good the food was, half way through their meal, both of them saw Larie lead Double-N out, both smiling.

"Does that bother you?" Jamie asked, sounding a little nervous to hear his answer.

"Not really." He said. And he meant it. "I'm having fun with you, aren't I?" her face lit up and she smiled. "You wanna dance?" he asked her, "We can waltz, all you need to do is follow my movements and you'll be fine." Jamie nodded eagerly, "How romantic!" she cried, then turned pink, "I mean… uh…"

"Jamie." He said, she looked at him sheepishly, "It's a date, you're allowed to say that kind of stuff, okay?" her smile grew even bigger, "Okay!" she said. Sam slipped out of their booth and held out his hand, "May I have this dance?" he asked politely. She giggled and said, "Why of course, good sir." She took his hand, which suddenly began to tingle, he helped out her out of the booth while the tingling feeling crawled up his chest and reached his heart. Sam smiled, he made the right choice. He smiled and talked Jamie through the waltz and enjoyed the smell of her jasmine perfume and the tingling feeling of holding her hand.

.

.

.

Larie stopped the truck, "We're here." He said, looking at her excitedly, Ann seemed a little confused, but smiled and nodded. They had parked near the Kanker's trailer then he led her into the forest a bit, making sure to go slow so she wouldn't fall or get tired, his hand tingling as it held hers.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked.

"My secret place." he said, pulling a branch aside to show her a clearing in the forest where a small lake sat and the stars were bright in the sky. Ann's jaw dropped and her lips curled into a smile, "This is beautiful, Larie." She said softly.

"Yeah, I found it after we met." He said, 'for the second time,' he thought.

"I find that hard to believe." Ann said, smirking a bit, "Since when we six first met, we met in a museum in a different town and you hadn't moved here yet." Larie's jaw dropped.

"You… you actually remembered us?" he said, feeling as he was about to cry from happiness.

"Of course we did." She said, a little insulted, "You three were the first boys we had crushes on." Larie felt as if he was going to float away he was so happy, then stopped, "So wait, how come you guys acted like you didn't remember us?"

She looked at him plainly, "Because we didn't know it was you three. It had been six years, there was no way for us to know for certain that you were the three boys from the museum. And we never did get your names, so how could we know it was you three?"

"So how do you know now?"

"Remember when we looked through Gladys' album?" she asked. Larie felt his face burn, how could he forget how his grandmother had gone on and on about how adorable they were as babies and asking the girls if they enjoyed the pictures of the three of them in the bath tub together?

"I noticed the photo of you three when you were six, I thought you looked familiar so when I got home, I checked my album and found this." She reached into her clutch and pulled out a photo and handed it to him.

It was of all six of them, smiling and posing like the Egyptians on the wall behind them. Larie remembered them taking the picture, but he never knew what happened to it, the boys had asked a man at the museum for information, but the man had been useless. So Ann'd had the photo the whole time.

"Do An and Anny know?" he asked.

"Jay had already told An before I showed them the photo." Ann informed him, "As for Anny, she didn't really seem all that surprised at the fact that it was you three."

"So…" he said, scooting a little closer, "How do feel about that kid you met at the museum now?" he asked, slipping the photo into his pocket.

She smiled, pulled his head close and gently kissed him on the lips, his whole body feeling as if he was melting. When she finally pulled away, she said, "That he's grown up into a very sweet, intelligent, and handsome man." Larie's entire body felt as if it was on fire, steam screamed from his ears, his heart seemed to bang against his chest, as if demanding to come out. His pants felt tight, his head felt light, he felt as if he was hovering in the air, only without roasting in that helmet. "Hot damn." He managed, licking his lips. She laughed, her hands reaching up to her face, only for him to grab them and lace his fingers in hers.

"We never got a chance to dance at the restaurant because Sam and Jamie showed up." He said, "You up for it?" She nodded. They waltzed by the water's edge, laughing a bit and enjoying the silence. Then bright flashes began to appear in the sky and reflected in the water.

"I was wondering when it would start." Ann said softly.

"What is that?" Larie asked.

"A meteor shower," she said, giving him a triumphant smile, "why do you think I asked for it to be on this Friday?" he smiled back, "Well aren't you a little know-it-all?" he asked her. "Perhaps." She laughed.

He gave her a soft kiss on the lips, and to his delight he felt her kiss back.

.

The four kids with the blue stripe watched as Larie and Ann kissed from behind some shrubs on the other side of the lake.

"Ewww!" the boys cried out in unison.

"Shhh!" the older one shushed, "This is supposed to happen."

"But it's gross!" they said, still in unison.

The little girl nudged them, then went back to looking at the kissing teens across the small lake, not saying a single word. The boys looked at their sister, then to their brother, "Allbert?" they said in unison, "Does this mean we're okay now?"

The eldest nodded, "It would seem so."

"Not so fast, All." A voice came in through their helmets, "Sheldon just told us that some chick's been bad mouthing us."

"How is that even possible, Andy? We…"

"Yeah, I know. But you know the rules."

The eldest sighed, "Fine, but if we get in trouble later…"

"I know, Sock-head, I know, now you four need to get back to the cul-de-sac, it's time for a little refresher course." The eldest sighed and motioned for his siblings, "Come on let's go."

"Five more minutes!" the little girl pleaded. The eldest scooped her up and said, "Sorry, but you know how Andy gets." He said. And they blasted off, the glow from their rockets hidden in the brush.

.

.

.

Anny dropped Tee off at the trailer, "If your head hurts, let me know, I'll cover for you at the recital tomorrow." She said. Tee shook his head, "I'm good, Anny, but thanks." He gave her a comforting smile. She gave him a look that said, 'You're probably full of shit right now, but I'm letting it slide tonight.'

"Night Tee." She said, driving back to the cul-de-sac.

"Bye Anny." He said, giving her a small wave as she left before heading inside.

Larie was sighing happily on the couch, Jay was beside him, also looking pretty pleased.

"Okay, how did your dates go?" Jay looked at Larie beside him, but noticed that the guy was pretty much out of it, so he went first.

"An came over and watched movies, but yesterday, when I went over for dinner, she gave me a hug and I felt her heart beat."

"So?"

"So when I told her that I felt it, she said she could feel mine too, she said it had bothered her that she couldn't feel mine but that she had found a solution. And it was to take off her bra."

Larie heard that and was snapped out of his daze, "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I was pretty happy when I first found out, but she did it again today too." He said, a big goofy grin on his face, "I may not go to second base for a while, but at least I got her bra off."

"Yeah, only one more layer to go till you get there." Larie teased.

"And what about you, Larie?" Tee asked, "How'd your date go?"

Larie smiled proudly, "Well, I went to her house and as soon as I saw her all I could think was 'Hot Damn, if only her parents weren't right there.' We ate all sorts of weird food and flirted, it was great until Sam and Jamie showed up, which made it a little awkward that someone we knew was there on a date too."

Tee and Jay said nothing, only nodding.

"Then he thanked me for telling him how I knew Double-N was the one, and he thanked Double-N in a creepy way for helping her pick out an outfit. That's when we kind of left. Then we went to my spot." He smirked, "Apparently Double-N picked the day of our date so it would coincide with a meteor shower. We danced, we made out, I took her home." Then the biggest smile imaginable spread across his face, "And as of this night, Ann, aka Double-N, is my girlfriend." He said proudly, "At least that's what she told her dad when he started growling at me when he caught me getting a good-night kiss from her on their front porch."

His brothers clapped for him.

"But that's not all, guys!" Larie said, pulling a photo out of his pockets, "It turns out they never forgot about us at all," he said, showing them a photo of all six of them mimicking the Egyptians in the mural behind them, "Ann told me that we were the first boys they had crushes on. And the only reason they didn't seem to remember us when we finally found them again is, well, because they didn't know it was us, I mean, we never told them our names back then and it had been six years. She also said she figured it out a little while ago," he looked at Jay, "Apparently Jay already told An." Tee looked at him, shocked.

Jay smiled sheepishly, "It was the first time we made out, it just sorta slipped out."

"Anyway, Anny apparently wasn't all that surprised, Tee." Larie told him, "You've got her, all you need to do is reel her in." Tee flushed as he remembered Anny kissing his forehead back at the studio, he put his hand on his forehead, "So that's why she kissed me there."

"What?" his brothers asked, eager to hear more.

"Anny kissed you?" Larie asked.

"When?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, she did it at the Dance contest after I told her off for running away from her sister on the lips and she did it tonight after I pushed her and one of the little girls out of the way of a falling sandbag on my forehead."

His brothers looked concerned all of a sudden, "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a little bump, I'm fine. It turns out Percy's a doctor, so I was in good hands."

"Wait, wait, wait," Larie said, smiling, "So that big buff guy is Dr. Percy?"

"Nope, he's Dr. Percy Feeble." Tee said with a grin. It was quiet for a second then Tee and Larie laughed while Jay looked confused, he opened his mouth to speak but Larie explained "Feeble means weak, Jay" then went back to laughing

"Oh!" he said, then started to laugh with his brothers.

.

.

.

Karen woke up at three in the morning, suddenly thirsty, she rubbed her eyes and grumbled as she rolled out of bed. She clomped down the stairs, not caring if she made any noise since her parents were out of town anyway. When she finally made it into the kitchen, she braced herself as she turned on the light, only to see three boys standing in her kitchen.

They looked as if someone had taken the Kankers and the Ans, stuck them into a blender and poured out these three.

The tallest one wore a gray t-shirt, a green striped jacket and jeans. He had blonde hair and buck teeth, his ears were round and so was his chin, he had freckles, just like Jay. But he had a long thick neck, and flatish head, his smile was similar to An's (except for the buck teeth) and it smelled like he never heard of soap before.

The middle one wore a black shirt and green pants and a hat like Double-N's. He had blue hair, freckles and almond shaped eyes, his smirk was the same terrifying one that Larie would get whenever Karen would pick on Double-N. Only this boy's smirk revealed a gap between his two front teeth, his face was a rounded pentagon shape, Like Double-N's. His hair was long and in a ponytail low on his head.

The shortest one wore a yellow shirt with a purple collar and a red stripe down one side and jeans. He had red hair that hung half way over his beautiful blue eyes, Tee's eyes. But the rest of this kid was all Anny, well, except the blue tooth on one side and the freckles.

"Hello Karen." The short one said, he sounded like a male version of Anny.

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, "What the…" she fell backwards, terrified.

"We heard you were making fun of us." The tall one frowned, he sounded like An, only a little different because of the buck teeth and him being a boy.

"We detest it when others insult our family, especially when we haven't even been born yet." The one in the middle said curtly. He sounded like male Double-N, especially since he talked like Double-N too.

"But where are our manners?" The middle one said.

"I'm Andy Tee Kanker." The short kid said.

"I'm Allbert Larie Kanker, that's Allbert with two Ls." The middle one said.

"I'm Sheldon Jay Kanker." The tallest one said, then pointed behind her, "That's my big sister, April."

Karen looked behind her and saw a girl that looked like Jay, only with red hair, and glasses, she wore a red striped shirt and red shorts. "April Gladys Kanker." She said menacingly.

"And then there are my sisters," Andy said, "Mia and Tia." Two girls came into the light from both sides, they looked like girl versions of Tee, only with long pink hair that was swept out of their beautiful blue eyes, their smirk was like Anny's though. They wore red polka dot dresses with purple belts.

"Mia An Kanker, that's An with one n." the one on her left said.

"Tia Ann Kanker, with two ns." the one on her right informed her. Karen scrambled back into the kitchen.

"And allow me to introduce my siblings," Allbert said, "I'll start with my brothers, Lawrence and Terrance." Karen turned to see two young boys, smiling deviously at her, they looked like Allbert only their faces were rounder, they wore red shirts and purple shorts, their hair was long and shaggy, but it was closer to Larie's hair length, they too, had gaps between their two front teeth as well as freckles.

"I prefer Larry." The one on the left side clarified, "Larry Gerald Kanker."

"And I prefer Terry," The one on the right said, "Terry Harold Kanker."

A little girl flew down from the ceiling only to stop at Karen's eye level, smiling, she hung from a toy gun with what looked like silly string coming out of it and sticking to the ceiling, she wore a black shirt under a purple dress, she looked like the twin boys beside her, only her hair was longer, she also had a gap in her tiny two front teeth and freckles. "I'm Spider-Girl." She said gleefully.

"That's Mildred." Everyone said. "Anny Kanker." Allbert finished, "And I'm sorry you can't meet our other sister, Emma Barbra Kanker, but she's only an infant, so I hope you understand."

Karen was shaking hysterically, "W-what do you want with me? W-why are you telling me this?"

"Did you know the Kanker family has a code?" Andy asked her.

"A code?" Karen asked, her mind reeling.

"Our dads told you it when they first moved here." Sheldon said.

Karen remembered it clearly, "But that was only about the Ans!" she cried.

"The code does not simply stop at our mothers." Allbert informed her, "It refers to our entire family."

"Do you remember what they said about talking badly about us?" Andy asked.

Karen's eyes widened, "They'd beat us to a pulp." She said softly, fear rising in her throat.

"YEAH!" Sheldon said with a dopey grin similar to An's.

"Yeah, only in this case, instead of our dads beating you up, it'll be us." Andy said, a huge grin on his face.

Karen cowered by the back wall as the shadows of all nine Kanker children in attendance towered over her as they laughed darkly.

.

.

.

Anny covered her head with her pillow, Karen had been screaming random shit for hours. She had finally had enough, she threw off her covers, revealing her pajamas. A pink low-rise tank top and pink and yellow flannel pants. She stomped out of her room, and saw that her parents were also out stomping out of the house, in their pajamas, looking pretty pissed off. She looked around, everyone else and their parents were out too. Anny saw An and Double-N, both looking pissed off and tired. An wore a white tank-top and green sleep shorts, she moved her glasses a bit so she could rub her eyes, she wore socks on her feet but no shoes and Double-N wore a lavender nightgown and a matching night cap, her hair was still curly from her date.

"That bitch better have a good reason for waking us." Anny growled.

"Yeah." An yawned.

"Indeed." Double-N agreed.

"Loud-Mouth-Karen girl is going to receive a Three Shoe Beating for keeping the Daughter of a Shepherd up into the wee hours of dawn!" Rachel cried.

"Yeah." Jenny groaned, rubbing her eyes, "It's too early for this."

"What's her problem!" Sam demanded.

"Why can't she just be quiet?" Jamie whined. The parents, along with Rachel's grandparents, were all meeting up to figure out where the hell Karen's parents were so they could complain or get in some how. The Kankers' pick up pulled up, the four of them piled out, "Who the fuck is screaming?" Mr. Kanker demanded, looking pissed. The Ans were a little shocked, they had never seen the Kankers' dad before. He had red hair like Tee and his face was like Larie's. He was a strong looking guy, but he also looked out of shape, he had a bit of a beer belly and he wore a stained gray tank that was probably white at one point (Like Jay's shirts) and his boxers. After taking in about ten seconds of his appearance, they looked away, they had seen enough. They glanced over at the Kankers.

Jay wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing his toned surfer's chest ( Author: unlike when he was staying with An for the parenting class thing, he only wore a shirt so her dad wouldn't kill him, thinking that he was trying to get An into bed. So, yeah normally he sleeps shirtless.)He simply wore his gray jacket (unzipped) and red sleep pants, his long blonde hair was down to his shoulders, he smiled and waved to An, she flushed. She had no idea her boyfriend was that toned. She waved nervously back.

Tee, to Anny's surprise, didn't wear a shirt to bed either, just red and white flannel pants, revealing that he not only did he have a six pack, but that he was very fit and muscular, she felt her face burn, it wasn't enough to just have those gorgeous eyes, but he also had a hot body. Luckily he wore a coat to block it a bit or Anny'd probably melt. Anny suddenly felt self conscious of her own appearance.

Double-N had it the worst, Larie slept shirtless too, only instead of pajama pants like his brothers, he apparently slept in only his boxers, he wore his normal jacket to stay warm, but it was open. Revealing that he had a strong fighter's body and even a few scars. Her face was red and steaming. Larie looked at her reaction then looked down and cursed himself, he had barely had Double-N as his girlfriend for a few hours and he was already showing her what he looked like half naked. Although he was actually fine with exposing himself to her, he knew that to a girl as modest as Double-N, the sight was probably overwhelming just after their first date.

All three of the Ans mothers look at their daughter's reactions to the boys, then the boys themselves, and looked at each other, nodding approvingly. Their fathers looked at Mr. Kanker and stood between him and their wives, defensive. Mr. Kanker had hit on the An's moms on more then one occasion, so their fathers were not fond of the man.

The Kankers walked over to the Ans, then it was the boys turns to look at them and get flustered by them in their pajamas.

"So you could hear her screaming all the way over there?" An asked.

"Yeah." Jay said simply.

"THE AN'S KIDS ARE CRAZY!" Karen shouted from inside the house.

"She's still on about that?" Tee groaned.

"Apparently." Larie said.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm quite tired of her shenanigans." Double-N said.

"Right on, Sock head." Anny agreed, "I say we give her a piece of our minds." An nodded in agreement and the three of them walked up to Karen's front door and banged on it in unison. The Kankers followed them to the front porch, smiles growing on their faces, chuckling as the girls began to scold Karen for waking them up and keeping them up.

"KAREN! SHUT UP ALREADY!" Anny shouted at the door.

"WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!" Double-N agreed.

"BE QUIET!" An screamed.

Karen's door opened and the terrified girl poked her head out, "Ans?" she said, sounding shaken. The girls suddenly looked concerned.

"What the fuck is going on in there?" Anny asked.

"Uh, nothing! I just, uh, saw a spider."

"Really? A spider? For three hours?" Double-N asked.

"There were lots of them." Karen said quickly.

"Yeah right." An said. The Kankers joined the Ans on the steps, looking peeved off.

"You don't seriously expect us to believe that, do you?" Tee asked.

"It's true!"

"Uh huh, because seeing lots of spiders makes it okay to scream and keep everyone up for hours." Larie snapped.

"They were big spiders."

"Go to bed, Karen." Jay said plainly.

Karen glanced back inside for a second as the six of them began to walk away, then said, "Wait!" they looked back at her, annoyed, "What?" they asked in unison.

"Your kids are in here!" she said quickly, "And they're going to kill me!"

"Are you serious right now?" Anny demanded, "You're still on that stupid future kids thing? You know what? Fine!" she shoved the door open and called into the house, "HEY! IF ANY OF MY FUTURE KIDS ARE IN HERE, LISTEN UP! FIRST, EVERYONE'S TIRED, SO PLEASE MAKE KAREN SHUT UP!"

Karen motioned for Anny to stop talking, but she continued.

"SECONDLY, IF YOU DON'T TIE KAREN'S HAIR TO THE BANISTER AND FLIP HER OVER TO THE STAIRS, YOU'RE GROUNDED!" Tee started laughing.

Double-N came up next, "IF ANY OF MY FUTURE KIDS ARE IN THERE, PLEASE SHOW HER WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN SHE'S SURROUNDED BY MULTIPLE LARGE SPIDERS OR NO DESSERT!" Larie began to crack up.

An trotted up cheerfully next, "HI FUTURE KIDS! GIVE HER A SPANKING THAT SHE WON'T SOON FORGET OR NO TV FOR A WEEK!" An then looked back at Jay, "Do you think that I was too harsh?" she asked. Jay smiled at her and shook his head, "I'm sure they want her to shut up just as much as the rest of us, An."

"No doubt." Tee said.

"Yeah, have fun 'playing' with our kids, Karen." Larie snickered. Then everyone walked back home, the Kanker brothers reeled in their Dad from hitting on the An's moms and pissing their dads off and drove back to the trailer park. Each of the Ans' moms put their arms around their daughter's shoulders.

"You did really good An." An's mom said.

"I did?" An said, confused.

"You definitely have a keeper in Jay." An gave her mom a huge smile, "Thanks mom!"

"Ann, you seemed to have gotten a very nice young man as a boyfriend." Double-N's mother informed her, Double-N blushed, "Thank you, Mother."

"So that's why you go to that studio so much." Anny's mom teased.

"Mom!" Anny cried, embarrassed.

.

As everyone else emptied the cul-de-sac to go to bed, Karen slowly turned around and looked into her dark house.

"You wouldn't…" she begged.

"We would." Andy said, "After all, we wouldn't want to get grounded."

"Nor would we want to miss out on dessert," Allbert informed her.

"NO TV IS BAD FOR US!" Sheldon cried.

"Mildred, if you would." Allbert asked.

"I'm Spider-Girl!" Mildred said cheerfully as a glob of spider silk wrapped around Karen's mouth, she was then yanked back into by the young Kankers, who slammed the door as she came back in, laughing.

.

The next day, after the Dance recital, all three Kankers and Ans drove back to the cul-de-sac in the Retro Van, Anny driving with Tee in the passenger's seat and the two couples in back. As they all hopped out, they saw a white van outside Karen's house.

"I wonder what's going on?" Jay asked, his arm around An's shoulders.

"Maybe we should go over and find out." Larie suggested, holding Double-N's hand.

"Well what are we waiting for, an invitation?" Tee asked, "Let's go already!" He said, then walked over, Anny right behind him. When they got to Karen's front yard, they watched as several men in white uniforms carried a half bald Karen out of her house, bend over like she was sitting and covered in cobwebs, as soon as she saw the six of them she started shouting, "STAY AWAY! YOUR CHILDREN ARE EVIL! EVIL!" she began to sob as she was loaded up into the truck and drove to the nearest mental hospital.

"She's still on that shit?" Anny asked.

"That's pathetic." An said plainly.

Double-N glanced inside the house and her eyes widened, "Um, guys, I think you should see this." She said, pointing inside the house. The six of them entered to see red hair tied to the banister and spider webs all over the house. But that wasn't all, on the walls, someone had spray painted "WE'RE NOT WEIRDOS!" And "WE'RE NOT DISGUSTING!" in red, yellow and blue. Then, in red they wrote, "WE'RE NOT JERKS!" In blue they wrote, "WE'RE NOT NERDS!" and in yellow they wrote, "WE'RE NOT IDIOTS!"

"Whoa." Anny said.

"This is truly bizarre." Double-N said.

"I'm not allowed to draw on the walls at my house, guys." An said.

The Kanker brothers looked at each other, eyes wide.

"Do you think…?" Jay asked softly.

"No way!" Tee whispered, "it's impossible!"

Larie noticed a scrap of paper on the floor, "Hey guys, look at this." He held it up to Tee and Jay.

In red it said, 'Keep it up, Dad! You'll get Mom soon, just keep going!'

In blue it said, 'Congratulations on your recent success with Mother, Father, keep up the good work!'

And in a yellow-green color (because yellow is hard to spot on white paper) it simply said, 'HI DAD! TELL MOM WE SAID HI!'

The brothers looked at each other, then the paper, then around the room, then at the Ans, then back at each other, smiling. "Our future children are going to be awesome!" They whispered in unison, then high fived.

.

.

.

(Epilogue)

(Author's note: Cause this story wasn't long enough already)

All nine Kanker children flashed back into their own time into a small room.

April and Sheldon ran out first, "DAD!" they cried as they tackled a tall man who looked like a surfer, wrapping their arms around him in a big hug. He wore a black sweater and long red pants, his long blonde hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, stray dark blonde hairs poked out from his jaw. He smiled at the kids, revealing buck teeth, "Hey guys!"Jay greeted as he pulled his children close, "You did great!" They beamed in his arms, pleased that they had done a great job and snuggled up their dad.

Mildred, Larry and Terry dashed out, with Allbert strolling behind them, "Father!" the younger ones cheered as they hugged a rough looking man's legs. The man wore an open white lab coat over a black t-shirt and blue jeans, his shaggy blue hair was pulled back into short ponytail, his bangs covering his left eye, blue stubble covered the lower half of his face. He held an infant in his arms that squealed with glee at the sight of the others and babbled as she reached for them. He bent down and pulled the little ones close to their infant sister, a proud smile on his face. He looked up at Allbert, "Mission Accomplished, huh, All?" Larie asked. "Indeed, Father." Allbert said with a nod. Larie pulling his eldest to join his siblings in a big hug, "Aw! Come here, buddy." The five of them smiled widely as their father hugged them tight.

Andy, Mia and Tia hopped out and speed towards an athletic man. "Dad!" they shouted as they leapt into his arms. The man wore a red spotted vest, the arm holes torn, over a white tank and jeans. His red hair spiked out in the back, but was in a tight curl in the front, revealing soft, kind blue eyes. He caught them before they hit the ground. "Hiya kids." Tee said with a smile, "Great job with Sam, and Karen for that matter. We're all very proud of you." he said. Andy, Mia and Tia's eyes widened and large smiles popped up on their faces as they hugged their dad tight.

Suddenly they all heard a door open.

"Where is everyone?" Anny asked from upstairs.

"Their cars are still here, Anny, so we can assume they're somewhere around here." Ann informed her.

"WE'RE HOME!" An cried.

The kids looked at each other and raced up the stairs shouting, "MOM! MOM!" Emma in Allbert's arms to meet her mother with her siblings.

The Kanker men smile at their children's fleeing forms as they run to reach their mothers.

"Well, we were right," Tee said, "Our kids are definitely awesome." Jay and Larie nod proudly. Then a loud crashing sound is heard from above, the men wince at the sound and look up at the ceiling.

"JAY!" An cried, sounding worried.

"I'm coming, An!" he called, racing up the stairs.

"Ha! It was his kids this time." Larie chuckled.

"You know what happens whenever one of us says that..." Tee said, a knowing smile on his face.

"LARIE, SOME ASSISTANCE PLEASE!" Ann cried, sounding nervous.

"Coming, Muffin!" He said, dashing up the stairs.

Tee shook his head, "I told him so."

"TEE! A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Anny shouted, a bit pissed off that he didn't come up with his brothers.

"Alright, I'm coming, Anny!" Tee shouted back, smiling as he hopped up the steps.