So I didn't plan to post this until Saturday/Sunday, but I had some extra time this week so I got to finish it...enjoy!

Sinead had only been out by the pool for about a minute when her phone lit up. She debated ignoring it—the water in front of her looked so inviting and she was anxious to dive in—but made a snap decision and reached for it.

"Hey," Jonah's voice came through the receiver. "Can you come to the conference room where we're doing the rehearsal?"

"Um, sure," she answered, trying to think of why her presence was needed.

"Thanks. I'll explain when you get here."

She hung up the phone, then relayed the information to Amy, ending with, "You want to come with?"

Amy shrugged, but reached for her towel. "Yeah, why not?"

It took them only a few seconds to get dressed and find the room. Sinead felt a little uneasy for some reason, but she wrote it off to not wanting to interrupt rehearsal. Plus, she had no idea why they would need her.

But all of those thoughts fled her mind once she walked in the room.

Standing there, decked out in designer clothes and looking super out of place among Jonah's crew, were two familiar figures.

Ian and Natalie Kabra.

What are they doing here? How-

Her gaze flew to Amy, whose face looked both stunned and panicked. Sinead thought quickly, and said in the most casual tone she could manage, "Hey, what are you two doing here?"

She put her hand nonchalantly over Amy's as she voiced the question, hoping the gesture would help.

Natalie was the first to answer, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she smoothed her perfectly styled hair, "Visiting you all, of course. We thought it would be a lovely surprise."

Dan grinned back at her, looping his arm around her waist as he added, "Yeah, they were close by so thought they would spend a few days on tour with us."

Sinead processed this, while also processing that Ian looked just as uncomfortable as Amy. The British boy was looking at her cousin with an unreadable expression, while she was trying to look at everyone but him. Then Sinead saw him make a move like he was going to move closer and talk to them—as she and Amy were still several feet away—and Sinead thought fast, trying to think of something to say to divert him, or at least to give Amy time to get a grip.

But another figure approached the group, drawing everyone's attention away, and at first the Ekat felt relieved—until she saw who it was.

Dominic.

Uh-oh. This is going to be a disaster.

But she felt at a loss of what to do, and could only watch as he addressed Jonah, "Hey so these are your cousins?"

Jonah nodded, and for the first time, Sinead noted that he didn't look surprised at all. But then again, her boyfriend was pretty easy-going.

Dominic shook Ian's hand, then Natalie's—thankfully not flirting, though probably because Dan was giving him a warning look—then turned and looked at Sinead and Amy.

"Oh, so you two decided to join us after all?" he asked. "What an honor."

Sinead felt Amy stiffen, so she answered for them, "Yep. Jonah asked me to come in. What's up?"

She directed the last bit at her boyfriend, who had his hands in his pockets and was exchanging a look with his dad, who Sinead just noticed was standing beside him.

"Well," Broderick said with an easy laugh, "Jonah forgot to tell me they were coming and wanted to stay with our group. I can get them a room in Hong Kong, but not tonight. Can Natalie stay with you and Amy?"

"Of course," Sinead answered, shooting the young girl a smile, which was returned. Opening her mouth, she was about to offer to take Natalie up there now—and hopefully get Amy out of here—when Dominic beat her to it.

"So you've been swimming, huh?" he asked Amy.

Not giving the Cahill a chance to answer, he stepped towards her and brushed a brown strand of hair out of her face. "Your hair's wet," he added, like that explained his move.

Amy blushed a bright red color, but didn't step back.

And then a velvety voice cut in, smooth, but lined with something Sinead couldn't place. "I think it's pretty obvious that her hair is wet."

Both Dominic and Amy turned to look at Ian. When the British boy landed his gaze on Amy, ignoring the other, he said softly, "Hello Amy."

"Um, hi Ian," she answered.

Right away, Sinead regretted bringing Amy in here with her. If only she had stayed out by the pool, Sinead could have gone back and warned her. Instead, she watched her cousin lift her chin and try to look unaffected.

"Hi to you also Natalie. I'm glad you guys could join us."

Mentally applauding her, Sinead cleared her throat. "Yes, it will be a lot of fun. Natalie, do you want to go ahead and put your stuff in your room?"

"No need for that," Dan inserted cheerfully. "Their bags were already taken up. We figured you wouldn't mind."

Sinead barely held back her retort at that one. It was obvious what had happened here. Dan had known about this, Jonah too, it looked like, and no one had bothered to let the others in on it. And she doubted it was for the 'surprise' effect.

She glanced at Jonah again, but he was grinning at her and Amy, "Great, it's all settled then. And I think we're done with rehearsals too so we can all hang or something."

"Sounds good to me," Dominic spoke up. He had backed away from Amy at Ian's comment, but was still smiling at her. "I was just telling Amy this morning that we should spend more time together."

"I didn't agree though, remember?" she retorted.

"You were about to, before Dan interrupted us," Dominic said, making it sound like they had been having an intimate moment, which Sinead highly doubted. Annoyance flared up; she was sure that Dominic had picked up on the tension between Amy and the dark-haired boy, yet he was still putting her in this position.

"Maybe," Amy suddenly smirked, though her body was still stiff. "If you're lucky enough."

Wait, was she flirting back? With Ian right there?

"Spend more time together? I was unaware that you had a boyfriend Amy."

Shock hit Sinead at the way Ian's words came out, rigid and almost angry-sounding, but she didn't have a chance to think of something to say, because Dominic was already replying, "Oh, does Amy report to you? Weird, but if so, we aren't technically dating, so you have nothing to worry about."

No one spoke, and if Sinead would have had a mind towards humor, she would have laughed at the expression on Broderick's face. Jonah's dad looked both confused and trapped, his eyes scanning the room like he wasn't sure who to look at or what was happening.

Sinead glanced back at Ian though, wanting to see his response. Dominic had said the word 'technically' with an emphasis, implying that there was something going on, even if it wasn't official. Which wasn't true, but Ian wouldn't know that.

The Lucian looked like he had eaten something that disagreed with him, but only said in a tight voice, "If everyone will excuse me, I think shall go unpack. Key?"

Dan wordlessly handed it to him, and in seconds, Ian had crossed the room and disappeared out the door.

A somewhat awkward silence lingered, and Amy, who Sinead had thought was handling everything well, took a deep breath and said in a low tone, "I'm going up to the room too."

Before Sinead could stop her, she was turning to leave, but the Ekat caught the crumpled look on her cousin's face.

Heart sinking, she watched her go, then turned to glare at Dominic.

The dancer was shrugging his shoulders, "Guess we'll have to send them a text with our plans or something. Now who's up for drinks? They have a bar down by the pool, with non-alcoholic beverages as an option of course. But the snacks there are phenomenal."

Everyone chimed in their agreement and headed for the door, but Sinead lingered a bit in order fall in step beside Jonah. Once they cleared the door, she cleared her throat. "Hey cuz, can I talk to you for a second?"

She didn't give him a chance to respond, but yanked him down a hall and into an empty room. The second the door closed behind them, she hissed out, "You knew about this? Why didn't you say anything?"

Jonah looked surprised—and still nonchalant, like he had no idea what the big deal was. Wasn't he observant at all? She remembered how sensitive he was back when all of the cousins were together, but he somehow had missed it this time.

"Dan asked me not to. I figured he wanted to surprise everyone."

"Or," Sinead emphasized, wanting to shake him, "He was afraid that Amy would react badly, like she just did!"

Her boyfriend scratched his neck and avoided her eyes. "Uh, that crossed my mind. But I blew it off and honestly forgot that they were coming."

"You forgot?! And how in the world could you be so naive to think that-"

His brown eyes suddenly met hers, and a small grin formed on his face, "Your presence is distracting me babe, what can I say?"

Sinead crossed her arms, trying to stay annoyed, and trying to remember what she had been about to say. But it was hard when he looked at her like that…

He stepped closer, but she breathed a heavy sigh and moved back. "Look, I'm going to find Amy and make sure she's okay. You go up to the pool, find Dominic, and tell him to stop being a jerk. It was obvious that he knows something has happened between Amy and Ian, so he needs to stop making things worse with his vacuous commentary."

When she looked up, Jonah was pouting. Fighting the urge to tell him that this was partly his fault, she glanced around the room for cameras but didn't see any. All clear.

Sinead quickly closed the distance between them and kissed him lightly, then muttered as she pulled back, "At least tell him to tone it down, please?"

"Yeah, okay," Jonah was swift to agree. "I will."

Sinead was a little surprised that he agreed so quickly, and made a mental note that her kissing him might have had something to do with it.

I'll have to remember that. Not that I would use it to my advantage, but if it's a desperate situation…

Kissing him again—this time on the corner of his mouth—she turned to leave, but another thought hit her and she glanced back at Jonah.

"Actually, tell him I said to tone it down. Or I'll make him regret it."

Her boyfriend didn't answer, but his grin widened, and Sinead had the feeling the message would definitely be passed along.

Historical facts. Interesting details of the doctors, researchers, scientist, authors, and artists who painted those facts. That is what Amy threw herself in, when she was at a loss of what to do, how to feel—or in this case, both.

Ian is here. Ian Kabra, the person who I've been trying to forget for the past few days, is here. Not to mention, Dominic just flirted with me in front of him, and I flirted back.

She stared at Sinead's laptop screen, trying to drive her thoughts away from the scene. But it was hard. Ian had looked hurt when she had answered Dominic the way she had, and it bothered her, though it shouldn't have. He had a girlfriend, and if he wanted to date Amy, he would have broken up with the model a long time ago.

It's not fair that his presence is making me feel this way. I have every right to flirt with or date whoever I want to.

"Amy?"

She started violently, and looked up to see Sinead standing there.

"I didn't even hear you come in," she said absentmindedly.

"You did seem a bit zoned out," her cousin said, her tone light.

Amy didn't respond as the Ekat sat on the bed, and the other girl didn't comment further. Instead, she asked her what she was looking at.

"Peggy Whitson. Did you know that she was the first female to command the International Space Station?"

"Yes. I read an article about her last year."

"Oh."

They both lapsed into silence, though Amy could feel Sinead studying her. Finally, after about two minutes of this, Amy gave up. She and Sinead were as close as sisters after all, and she already knew all about her feelings for Ian. After coming back from their vacation in August, Sinead had advised her to try to forget about the British boy.

"Look, I know you have feelings for him Amy, and it's hard, but I think you should try to move on. Honestly, I wish that he would just break up with his girlfriend and date you. I think you two would be cute together, and you would balance each other out. But it's not right for him to have you on this up and down roller-coaster ride and I hate seeing you this miserable."

"You and Jonah had your share of issues too," Amy reminded her, but her cousin scowled.

"That was different. Neither of us was in a relationship already, and we didn't have history. Besides, you know I like Ian as a person, so this isn't against him personally. I just don't want to see you get hurt by him again."

Amy knew she was right, and it was hard, but she had tried to take her advice. Now though, with Ian popping up here, she had no idea how to handle this, especially with her conflicting feelings for Dominic.

"Look, I'm not sure what to do Sinead."

Her cousin looked sympathetic, but motioned for her to keep talking.

"Ian seemed so upset down there, and it made me feel guilty, so now I'm mad at myself for letting him affect me that way. He has a girlfriend, so what I do is none of his business!"

Sinead's eyebrows shot up at Amy's angry tone, but she nodded. "I totally agree with you. I would suggest ignoring him again, but"—she let out an exasperated breath before continuing—"it's not possible in this case without things being awkward, especially with this many people around that have no clue of your history. And unless you want them to know or try to find out…"

This is why she trusted Sinead so much, Amy mused. Her cousin always put a lot of thought into other people's problems and helped lay things out for them. It was a quality she depended on.

"That's not all though," she started, then stopped, not knowing how to explain.

"Dominic? I've noticed a spark between you two."

Amy flushed, wondering if it was that obvious, or if Sinead just knew her too well. "Yeah. But he's a total player. I know he's Jonah's best friend and sometimes has moments where he is nice, but the way he talks about girls…"

"I know." Sinead rolled her eyes. "I just pulled Jonah to the side and told him to set him straight. Hopefully he will tone it down, though I think he's mostly talk from what I've seen."

"You don't think he's a complete womanizer like he acts?" Amy asked, thinking again of some of his comments.

A snort brought her eyes to her cousin's green ones.

"Have you seen him with any girls this week? He's all talk, trust me. Though I'm sure he takes advantage of the opportunities of being a friend and dancer of one of the world's most famous celebrities, I can't see him willingly breaking hearts without a thought. Those girls probably know what they're getting into."

Amy blinked at her in astonishment, and Sinead must have read her surprise because she quickly added, "He's still a jerk. But I don't think he's horrible. He does need to watch his mouth though, and if Jonah passes my message along the way I said it, he will."

Allowing a slight smile to cross her face, Amy thought about asking what the message was, then decided that she didn't want to know.

"Be it as it may, I still have no idea what to do. There has been a bit of chemistry between Dominic and I, but seeing Ian again, all of those feelings came rushing back. You know, the ones I told you about in August."

Sinead nodded slowly, "I can see how it's difficult. I'm sorry you're in this position. I want to bash Dan and Jonah's heads together for this."

Amy pursed her lips; she had been thinking the same thing only minutes ago. Not really about Jonah, but her brother. Dan hadn't met her eyes one time down there, and she was a little hurt that he hadn't considered how she would feel.

She also knew though how excited he was that his girlfriend was here, so she supposed she could let him off the hook. Still, she would let him know that it better not happen again.

Her gaze went back to the screen, though her mind was far away.

"Should I talk to him?"

There was a short pause, before Sinead asked, "Which one?"

"Ian. I've thought about it before. I hate being miserable over it, and honestly it's not fair that he's ruining my trip like this. If I confronted him about it…"

"It might make it worse," Sinead pointed out, but then her brow furrowed. "But at least you will feel better. And who knows, maybe he will decide to leave early or something."

Amy's heart pricked at that thought. It wasn't like she wanted Ian to leave, but she did at the same time. It was so messed up. Another thought came to her, and she shifted her eyes to her auburn-haired cousin. "What do you think about Dominic? Like, you know, me and him?"

Asking the question alone brought a flush to her cheeks, but she wanted to know her cousin's opinion. Normally, when it wasn't Sinead herself dealing with emotions—like back when the Ekat was in denial about Jonah—she was on-point and good at figuring people and relationships out.

Sinead was silent for a few seconds, then she sighed. "I don't know. I'm sorry, I know you probably want a 'yes' or 'no', but…" she trailed, then continued after another short pause. "I like him as a person, though he's a brat sometimes. He's loyal to Jonah, so that's one good thing, but a relationship with someone who is like my sister? I don't know if he's good enough for you."

The direct honesty was sweet, and Amy leaned up to hug Sinead. "You're the best."

Her cousin returned the hug briefly, but pulled back and added, "I don't want to tell you what to do though. It's your life and only you really know your feelings."

Amy nodded, then pressed a hand to her head. "My head is killing me," she complained. "It was bothering me while we were shopping, but it's only gotten worse as the day has gone on."

When Sinead responded, her tone was dry, "Well, we did get bombarded by Jonah's deranged fan girls. Then with Ian showing up, Dominic flirting to make Ian jealous, then the latter responding like a baby, it's no wonder. Maybe you should lie down before the concert tonight."

It didn't sound like a bad idea.

"Maybe I will."

Jonah didn't know how he let Sinead talk him into these things. Yes, he cared about Amy and had even tried to help her with the 'Ian situation' before. But he had an understanding with Dominic. He didn't nose around in his love life, and his friend didn't in his either. Besides them giving each other a hard time—like his dancer had the past few days—or commenting about the attractiveness of a girl, it had held up. Now, he was going to have to tell his friend to 'back off' of his cousin.

I do want to look out for Amy, but it's weird being in the middle. Why didn't Sinead just drag Dominic to the side instead of me? I don't even know what the word 'vacuous' means. Though if she hadn't of pulled me in that room, I wouldn't have gotten to kiss her…

"Spit it out man," a voice came from the bar stool beside him.

Jonah looked over at his friend. "What?" he asked in a low voice, trying to stall for time.

"Just tell me what Sinead said when she pulled you away. I could tell she wasn't happy."

The Janus tried again, fiddling with the straw of his drink, "Maybe she wanted to make out with me?"

Dominic snorted and Jonah let out a sigh. It was a nice thought, but—he had to admit—that move would be a little far-fetched for Sinead.

"Fine," he conceded. "She told me to tell you to tone it down."

"That's all?"

Jonah paused; his dancer didn't even seem surprised.

"Uh, or else she would make you regret it? But take away my voice and add her pissed-off one."

"That's more like her. Okay."

"Okay?" Jonah gave him a sharp look. "You're backing off, just like that?"

And what did he mean by 'more like her'?

The silence that fell after he asked made him think that his friend wouldn't answer. Finally, in a serious tone that Dominic rarely used, he said, "I don't want to. I know I'm a jerk sometimes, but I'm genuinely interested in your cousin. I do feel sort of bad though about what I said down there with that other guy there. I wasn't trying to hurt her."

Jonah was too stunned to answer, and after a minute, Dominic laughed. "Yep. I have my moments. But it's okay; there are other fish in the sea."

The smile didn't quite meet his eyes when he made the joke, but Jonah let it slide. He was relieved that the drama was over though.

That had to be the worst of it. With Dominic backing off, Amy and Ian can either ignore each other or work it out. Simple stuff.

What he was trying to ignore though, as he turned back to resume conversation with everyone else, was the mental image of Sinead rolling her eyes at him while saying, 'you're so naive'.

Jonah was getting ready for his show when his phone rang. Normally he would ignore it, but he saw that it was his girlfriend so he hastily answered.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hey Jonah."

Right away, her tone sounded apologetic. Uh-oh. Hopefully she hadn't maimed his main dancer. Though he could manage without him, he really depended on Zane and Dominic for one of his songs.

"Uh," Sinead went on, and he braced himself for the worst, wondering how he was going to explain things to his dad if something had gone down. "Amy's been throwing up for the past fifteen minutes."

"Amy? It's not the flu or anything, is it?"

"I don't think so. She had a headache, but it turned into a migraine, and a bad one at that, apparently."

"Aww man that sucks," he responded, feeling a pang of guilt. It may be a coincidence, but it might have also been caused by everything that happened this afternoon.

"Yeah. Anyways, I was going to stay with her tonight instead of going to the show, but I didn't want you to get upset."

Jonah couldn't help the disappointment that hit him at her words, but he shrugged it off. "Of course I'm not upset baby, she needs someone."

"She insisted that I go ahead and go to the concert with everyone else, but I can't leave her alone. Natalie volunteered also, but she just got here and with the stuff with Ian"—a sigh could be heard—"well, I thought it should be me."

"Hey, it's okay Sinead. Don't feel bad about not going for my sake. Stay and make sure Amy gets better."

Her voice was soft when she replied, "Thanks Jonah. And good luck tonight. I know you'll rock it out."

He was going to answer but she let out a laugh and added, "I guess 'rock' isn't the correct term…"

"It works," he grinned, even though she couldn't see him. "Thanks for the confidence."

They hung up, and Jonah finished getting ready, turning his focus to his show. Though he was still bummed that Sinead wouldn't be in the audience, his fans still deserved the best. And he definitely would deliver just that.

"Isn't it great?" Dan asked, and watched as Natalie looked around the VIP balcony, wrinkling her nose.

Though they were at a completely different venue for this concert, the setup was basically the same.

"I wouldn't call it 'great'," she responded, lowering herself into a seat delicately, like she was afraid to touch anything. "But it will have to do I guess."

"At least the seats are padded," Ian added.

Dan looked over at him, but the boy was frowning out over the banister, standing and watching the empty stage. He decided to leave that one alone, and turned his attention back to his girlfriend.

"Daniel," her voice was soft as she leaned over, and he wasn't sure if her using his full name was a good thing or not. "Have you talked to your sister?" she continued.

"Yeah," he said, then amended, "Well, I sent her a text to tell her sorry for not telling her you two were coming. Then I told her to get better soon."

"Good. I felt rather awful myself about the whole thing. My brother is an idiot for upsetting her earlier."

Dan agreed, but tried to think of how to turn the conversation to something else. While he felt guilty, he was sure that Amy would accept his apology. Besides, she needed to work it out herself. He wasn't sure if he would rather her tell Ian or Dominic off, but she should do something about it.

If I had just rolled over or ignored things, Natalie and I may have never gotten together.

His mind went back to how it had all happened, and a smile drifted on his lips without him realizing it. Natalie of course, noticed.

"What's amusing about this situation?"

Throwing her a quick glance, he stated, "Nothing. I was thinking about something else."

"The show?" She let out a long-suffering sigh. "It figures."

It annoyed Dan when Natalie acted snobby, but it really annoyed him when she combined it with talking to him like he was a little kid.

Before he could stop it, he said, "I was actually thinking about how we got together."

She didn't say anything for a moment, but when she did speak, all she said was, "Oh."

Dan sneaked a look over, catching her smile, though her face was on the stage now.

Without saying a word, he reached over and took her hand, loving how she squeezed it in return.

She might act snobby still sometimes, but she definitely doesn't as often now. And somehow, she drops the act around me. I kind of like it.

"I'm so glad you're here," he muttered, not caring if she thought him sappy or not.

But her answer was, "Me too."

Then she leaned over and kissed him—something a little unusual for her to do with people around—making him almost forget that her brother was right there.

A few seconds later though, after Dan had looped his arm around her shoulders and was kissing her back, he could hear Ian sighing loudly. He ignored him, but only for a few more seconds.

"Your brother is seriously annoying," he whispered against Natalie's lips, and she giggled softly.

"He is. But his sighing has a point; we're surrounded by thousands of people."

"They can't see us," Dan retorted, unwilling to draw back. Instead, he kissed her again, and felt smug when she returned it. But it was only for a second, and then she was pulling away again.

"I believe the show is about to start," she said, turning and primly folding her hands in her lap.

Rolling his eyes, he put his arm around her chair, brushing his fingers over her shoulder. She didn't react besides a small smirk, but he let it slide.

"Keep an open mind," he advised her, "And you'll enjoy this. Who knows? You might actually dance along."

Natalie let out a graceful snort—a combination that had always impressed Dan—but he secretly placed a bet that she wouldn't be able to help herself.

So that wasn't too much of a cliff-hanger right? (At least not as bad as the last chapter) ;)

I already have the plot pretty much written/figured out, but as always, I appreciate the feedback and take suggestions! You guys have been giving me some good ideas lately! :D