CHAPTER SIX:

Hamilton yawned, bored. The Cahills were practicing basic hand-to-hand combat, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that no one was able to beat him. He only had one more opponent left, and he was confident that Sinead would pose no threat. "I'll go easy on you," he offered as the copper-haired girl approached him.

"Whatever," replied Sinead carelessly. She stopped about four feet away from him and went still.

Hamilton couldn't help but admire how poised she was, how intimidating she managed to be even without moving. Then he shook away his thoughts and made the first move. Sinead stepped back from his wild charge, unbalancing him, but he managed to grab her arm as he fell.

But rather than trying to resist the tumble like he'd expected her to do, Sinead fell and rolled onto her knees. She swiftly pinned his neck to the ground while settling herself on his chest, and Hamilton froze. He'd been trained to attack; defense was never his strong point. And it became dangerously clear at that moment that he would have to work on that.

"So, Hotshot, what're you waiting for?" Sinead challenged. "Or are you still going easy on me?"

Irritated, Hamilton tried to sit up, then relaxed immediately as her grip tightened. He stared at her with narrowed eyes. How was he going to get out of this?

Sinead held Hamilton's thoughtful gaze. She could tell that he was trying to think his way out of it, a fact which both surprised and pleased her. What she was doing wasn't particularly effective against someone with skill, but Hamilton's technique was strength and intimidation. There was little control in his motions. Which was why it surprised her to see that he'd caught onto this so quickly. It was only a matter of moments before he figured a way out of the choke.

Sure enough, Hamilton's face brightened, and he swiped his arm across hers. An irritatingly simple maneuver for having taken that amount of thought, but at least it was effective. He pushed himself to a sitting position.

Having been distracted by her analyzing, Sinead slid down his chest and into his lap. Startled, she grabbed his shirt, accidentally bringing her face close to his. For a moment she forgot to breathe. Then, her cheeks reddening, she scrambled off of him. "Sorry," she muttered.

"No problem," Hamilton mumbled, looking just as embarrassed. "Er, I'm going to go get changed for dinner."

"Don't forget to shower," she said, trying to return to her normal infuriating self.

Hamilton just waved at her.

Sinead pulled her hair out of its high ponytail and let it fall down to hide her burning face. She could feel the stares of the other Cahills as they finished their fights. It wasn't even the action itself that she was humiliated about. It was her thoughts. Sitting in his lap for those few seconds, all she could think about was how muscular his chest was... And how attractive he looked. Get it together, Starling, she commanded herself sternly. This is unacceptable. "I'm going back to my room," she announced to no one in particular. "See you all later."

As she passed Ian, he muttered, "So all we need to do is drop you in Holt's lap and you'll suddenly be friendly?"

Sinead punched him in the jaw.

Stripping off his shirt, Hamilton refrained from glancing at himself in the mirror. He didn't want to see how red his face was. As much as he hated to admit it, Sinead had beaten him. And then having her in his lap...

Groaning, he flopped onto his bed and buried his face into a pillow. So this is what normal, non-Cahill kids feel like, he mused. Unsure about how they feel, particularly when an attractive girl falls into their lap. I mean, not attractive. Sinead is not attractive. I've been hanging around Josh and Ethan too much.

Satisfied with this excuse, Hamilton pulled off the rest of his clothes and showered quickly. As he dried off and put a pair of jeans on (Dan had explained to him that morning that jeans were what normal guys wore), his stomach growled. "When's dinner?" he muttered aloud. "I should of - Dang!"

His hand had slipped off the counter and brushed against the razor lying on the sink. Swearing under his breath, Hamilton wadded up a tissue and wiped away the worst of the blood. Just as he was reaching across the counter to toss the tissue away, his bedroom door banged open. His hand hit the razor again. "ARE YOU KIDDING - "

"Cool it, Ham." Dan appeared in the doorway, his eyes closed and his hands raised in surrender. "Are you naked?"

"No." Mutinous, Hamilton stomped past him, looking for his unpacked suitcase. His mom had packed some gauze and tape somewhere... "What do you want?"

"Well, I was coming to return the favor of making fun of you about a girl," said Dan, eyeing Hamilton's hand warily. "But I think I'll wait."

"There's nothing to tease me about," replied Hamilton quickly. "It was an accident."

"Oh, come on, you're telling me you didn't like it?" Dan grinned, throwing himself onto the bed. "I'm a teenage boy too, Ham. You must have - "

"Shuddit, dude," Hamilton advised him. "It's Sinead. Teenage boy or not, she's..." But he couldn't finish the lie, so he tried to make a disgusted face.

"Yeah, I'm so - "

"DINNER!"

Teasing and bloodied hand forgotten, the two thundered out of the room.

Freshly dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a plain gray sweatshirt, Sinead was doing her best to ignore Hamilton. Apparently he hadn't had time to get fully dressed after his shower, because he was still shirtless. Incredibly distracting.

Gritting her teeth when she realized she was staring again, Sinead snatched her plate up from the table and stalked through the french doors and out onto the wide green lawn. She could hear the conversation die for a moment as everyone stared at her, then awkwardly pick back up when Dan said something. She hoped it wasn't about her.

The night was warm, and the moon glowed brightly in the velvety black sky. They were far enough away from town that no lights ruined the visibility. Sighing, Sinead sat down with her plate, but didn't finish eating.

She hadn't even realized that she'd closed her eyes until soft footsteps woke her from a light doze. "Can I sit with you?" Amy asked shyly.

"Sure." Sinead sat up and ran her hand through her now-grassy hair. "What do you need?"

"Nothing. I just thought you might want some company."

"Oh." Sinead nodded, though she really didn't. She lay back down and stared up at the sky again.

For a while, neither of them said anything. Then Amy said quietly, "Sinead, how do you act normal? I - I mean, like, not being a Cahill."

Sinead turned her head to look at the younger girl. Amy's face was thoughtful, and maybe a little wistful. Something twisted inside Sinead's gut; at least she had her family and branch to make her feel like she belonged. Amy and Dan had no one. Not after Grace had died. "Wouldn't know would I?" Her lips twitched a little. "Besides, normal is overrated. If you ever become one of those bi- I mean, brats, I will personally come and knock some sense into you."

Amy laughed. "And after seeing Ian's jaw, I think I'll decline that offer."

A pause. "I did hit him pretty well, didn't I?"

"Better than a Holt could."

Sinead laughed a little, marveling at how well the two of them were getting along. Maybe Amy's concern earlier that day hadn't been fake.

Maybe the girl genuinely cared about everyone - even those who'd tried to kill her.

Author's Note

Yes, I know. I'm despicable. I haven't written since... February (that hurts to type). I'm hoping I'll be able to update AT LEAST once a month now, though. Maybe more. Depends on how busy my summer is. And as my summer probably won't be that busy after June, maybe I'll even get back to doing one a week.

Despite my atrocious betrayal to you lovely readers, I do hope you review (preferably with suggestions!). One reason I was slow on updating is I couldn't figure out what to do. So, yes, suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!