Okay Dylan & Stella fans…this chapter starts out just for you. Toward the end of it you can blame some of the people at FanForum for turning my K+ mind to the dark side (as if it wasn't already there ;O ). This one got just a little sexier than I had expected. Not M, sorry Gigi, but closer than I meant.
I know…there's a long way to go for me to catch up on this story. My mind is finally able – at least momentarily – to enjoy the Canadian Chaos. So, pardon me while I make up a few stories along the way please. :)
Read, enjoy, review, pm, whatever! Just be sure to KTZLF! -adc
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It was 2:30 in the morning before the youngest kids in the house even hinted at bed time. Stella had skunked Dylan on Mario Karts for a fourth time and hadn't seriously pouted once over the other games where he had won. But at her victorious yelp at the end of the final lap, they both realized it was probably time to turn everything off.
"Shhh…Dylan tried to scold her gently. If Mom comes back down here we'll both be tucked into bed."
Stella covered her mouth with her hand. "The house is three stories and six bedrooms huge. We're in the den at the back of the first floor. There is no way that anyone heard me."
"You don't know my Mom. She's got like bionic ears or something. We were supposed to be in bed an hour ago. I'm surprised she hasn't come to check on us already." Dylan cringed thinking about punishment from his mother. How embarrassing would that be in front of a younger teenager.
"Scaredy cat. It's the weekend…a holiday weekend…in the middle of the summer. Not like we really have to be up in the morning." Stella forced the words out as she opened her mouth and released a yawn from her now-nodding head.
Dylan dared to change the subject before moving on to their third floor bedrooms. "Do you think Zac and V are still up?" his curious grin sparked Stella's as well. She couldn't help but get herself pulled into Dylan's mischief. She knew it irked Zac, but in a way it was fun to bug him. After all, Zac was practically her big brother too.
"I thought you said V was tired and they were going to bed." Stella's teenage mind was a little less innocent than Starla Efron was led to believe. Not that she had first hand knowledge of anything besides a kiss here and there and basic human anatomy.
But she had interrupted her sister and Zac enough to realize that the phrase "heating up" could mean a lot of things and when the two of them started "heating up" they should be advised to get a room…one with a lockable door.
So at the sound of her last statement Dylan waited for her to process the words she heard earlier…the very words she had just repeated out loud. And when the realization set in, Dylan saw her own mischievous eyes light up and widen.
"I'm not knocking on their door if that's what you're thinking." Stella quickly put her hands in the air. "Didn't Starla say for us to stay away from their room anyway?"
Dyl shook his head. "It's 2:30 in the morning. We've been playing video games for two hours and I'm a teenage boy. I can barely remember what games we played 30 minutes ago, let alone what my mom told me hours ago."
Stella smacked her hand to her forehead. "You really do get a kick out of bugging Zac don't you. This isn't just some weird obsession with catching him and my sister in the act, right? Cause if your pervin' on my sister…ewwwww…I don't want to know. Just get over it!"
Dylan laughed at her. "I am not a pervert. God, if Zac even thought I'd seen more of Vanessa than her face or her knees he would freak. She's hot…really hot… and he's damn lucky to have her. But if he heard me say that, I might as well kiss my ass goodbye."
Stella crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Zac's brother with a blush on her face. Dylan was older than her. They had spent time together many times over the past few years. But she had never heard him really admit his thoughts about her sister or any true reasons why he liked to pick on Zac.
"So what does that all mean?" Stella asked innocently as she grabbed her soda can from the table and a pillow that she clutched to her chest.
Dylan sat down on the leather item and looked at her. "You think of Zac like your big brother. I think of V like my big sister, at least I try to. It was hard at first cause she really is pretty. And the fact that she's dating Zac kinda sucked. But it doesn't anymore. She's always nice to me, gives me advice and even goes along with my pranks on Z…sometimes. She's like a member of our family now. Zac loves her and she loves him and we pick on each other like she's been in the family for years, you know?" He grabbed his own drink and held it in his hands as he thought for another moment.
"So you pick and Zac and V just because you can? Not cause you wanna know what they're doing or because your jealous or something?" Stella's questions were heartfelt. Zac and Dylan had become like her big brothers, but she hadn't grown up in the house with them. She really wanted to try and understand.
"Jealous? Pshhh." Dylan chuckled and then stopped. "I'll never admit it to him. What about you?"
Stella took a drink and thought a minute. "Maybe a little. Maybe it hasn't hit me yet, I don't know. I was a little jealous when they first started going out cause Ness wanted to be with Zac and not me as much. But they've always included me. I mean, like tonight…V wanted me to stay over too. She could've just told me to go home."
Dylan laughed again and shrugged off the thoughtful feelings that were running through him. "So, psychiatrist Stella, why do you think I pick on Zac?"
Stella thought for a minute and smiled. "Cause it's fun to see him get all worked up…and then leave him in V's hands to calm him down."
Dylan snorted. "I think you've got it!" he laughed and touched his glass to Stella's can.
Stella looked back at Dylan one more time. "I think my Dad is right about something…" she stalled as she thought about something Greg had said in the past couple of years since Zac and Vanessa had started seriously dating.
"What d'ya mean?" Dylan looked at her.
Stella thought for another moment. "I heard Dad tell Mom that you and I are like birth control for our siblings. With us around, why would they want to have their own kids right now?"
Dylan and Stella both smiled with conniving thoughts going through their brains.
"Back to my original question." Dylan started again. "Think they're still up?"
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The shadow just outside the den door backed away quietly and moved to the kitchen. Vanessa hadn't heard Dylan and Stella's entire conversation. But, she had heard enough to know that her and Zac's younger sister and brother really did love them both.
She silently grabbed a cup from the cabinet and poured water from the pitcher in the refrigerator. She leaned against the counter and stared out the window as she started sipping. A smile wandered slowly across her face as she thought about what Stella had said. Their father considered Dylan and Stella 'birth control' for the young couple.
Zac would probably agree about Dylan especially. She smiled a little brighter and then let her thoughts run deeper. She and Zac took precautions, always, because a baby wasn't something they wanted to share right now. Would they in the future? It wasn't something they had discussed recently and probably wouldn't, not anytime soon.
Between movies, traveling and just being on the go so much…plus marriage wasn't part of the discussions yet either…nope. A baby was out of the question. Vanessa decided with a sigh that she couldn't let those thoughts bother her, not right now.
In two days she and Zac would be back in Canada, working on moving across that country to Vancouver, and trying to get ready for each of them to shoot new movies. With her role in Montreal wrapping up, it was time to prepare for movie shoot number two.
And with that she wandered out of the kitchen and back to the stairs. At the bottom step she made one motherly decision. The light was still on in the den and two young voices were still talking inside. She loved that fact that Dylan and Stella got along so well. But at three in the morning, it was time for both of them to go to bed.
She walked back to the den and tapped on the door frame. Both teens jumped at the sound and jerked around to see their big sister smiling at them. "So who won?" Vanessa's sleepy eyes looked from Dylan to Stella.
Stella smiled widely. "I totally took him out at Mario Karts." Vanessa gave her a thumbs up as she took another drink from her glass.
"Yeah, well, you need more shooting practice and you absolutely suck at tennis." Dylan complained. Stella kicked him in the shin and threw the pillow at him.
"Your just sore cause I beat you like four times at the same game!" Stella squealed as the pillow came flying back at her.
"Hey!" Vanessa scolded. "Don't tear up my den. Stella if you spill cola in here you're…"
"What, grounded?" Stella interrupted and rolled her eyes.
"Hey!" Vanessa shot at her again. "My house little sister, I'll come up with some kind of punishment."
Dylan looked back at the clock on the wall. "Oh crap, it's almost three. Mom's not up is she?"
Vanessa looked at him. "Not that I know of. I just came down for some water and saw the light on and heard you guys talking." She noted the blush that appeared on both of the kids' faces. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing." Dylan covered. "I'm gonna head on up to bed. I don't need a Star-lecture for staying up too late, you know."
Vanessa nodded at him and looked at Stella. She hadn't been subjected to a lecture from Zac and Dylan's mom, but Zac had described them to her. It wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to, and she frankly hoped to avoid. "You ready too Kiddo?" she directed at her sister.
Stella nodded and smiled, trying to let the redness in her cheeks subside. She really hoped her big sister wouldn't ask her about the conversation that she and Dylan had just finished.
"All good?" Vanessa asked as they turned the light off in the den and headed toward the stairs. They heard Dylan snicker as he passed the second floor and ran up the next set of steps.
Stella just shook her head and then nodded at her sister. "Yeah. That was fun. Thanks for lettin' me stay over tonight."
This time Vanessa blushed just a little. "Um, sorry I wasn't out there when Mom and Dad left. Zac must've let me fall asleep longer than I meant to. I, uh, told him to wake me up when the fireworks were done." She avoided looking directly at her sister.
"Nessa?" Stella waited to catch her sister's eye as they reached the landing for the 2nd floor. "I'm 14. I'm not completely stupid on that stuff now you realize."
Vanessa laughed at herself more than Stella then her eyes widened. "Dylan didn't…"
Stella interrupted her again. "Dylan didn't say anything. He didn't have to. I've walked in on you and Zac before and gotten yelled at enough over the past four years. I'm just glad you took it to a room instead of getting caught under the fireworks in the back yard."
"Stella!" Vanessa cringed at the thought as her sister laughed.
"You sound more like Mom every time you do that." Stella continued laughing as she headed on up the stairs to her room.
Dylan had heard the gentle scolding and came back to the steps to make sure Vanessa wasn't angry about something. "Night Stellz, night V." he offered.
"Night Dylan." They answered in unison.
Vanessa watched as her little sister and brother made their way down the hall to the guest bedrooms. On this night she realized the two of them probably thought of each other as brother and sister as well. It was a feeling Vanessa liked. It was a feeling that made their two families seem even closer.
It was a feeling that made her think more about the potential future that she and Zac could share. But at that moment, that future seemed just a little farther away than what she preferred to imagine.
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Vanessa quietly pushed open the door of the master bedroom and walked back toward the bed. She climbed up on the mattress and slid back under the comforter, scooting within inches of her supposedly-sleeping boyfriend.
She smiled to herself in the dark room when a warm, strong arm reached across her waist and pulled her against him. "Where'd you go?" Zac's sleepy voice whispered into her ear.
She turned to face him and let her fingers quickly trace a line over his chest. "Just to get a drink of water. You didn't even know I was gone till I got back in bed did you?" The darkness didn't stop her from touching his face, feeling for his lips and then moving herself toward him to place a kiss against them.
"Let's see…I'm naked, you've been keeping the front of me warm since we finally fell asleep and then you throw the covers off both of us and get out of bed. Of course I knew you were gone. I think you made sure of that." Vanessa could feel him smiling as she kissed him again.
"Oops, sorry." She offered the insincere apology as she let her hands drift back under the covers and down his chest again. They stopped at the elastic barrier that she found just below his waistline.
"You put your shorts on?" she was genuinely surprised and Zac could hear the pout in her voice.
"I got cold. Please tell me you didn't go traipsing out of this room with what you were wearing." Zac ran his hand underneath the t-shirt she had slipped on.
"I wasn't wearing anything either." Vanessa smiled and wrapped one of her still naked legs over his shorts.
"That's my point. You know my father and brother are here. I certainly don't want to share anything more than your face or your knees with either of them…especially not Dylan." He reached down and grasped her thigh to pull it a little higher covering his hips.
Vanessa gently smacked his chest and laughed. "I put on your t-shirt and my robe. Dylan and Stella were both still up when I went downstairs."
"X-box or Wii?" Zac laughed.
"Wii I think. But they were just talking when I got down there." Vanessa admitted.
"My brother talks? Mom and Dad won't believe that. You'll have to have proof of it…that's like a miracle happening." Zac smiled as he caressed her leg a bit more firmly.
"No, it's true, I witnessed it and Stella was listening pretty intently I think. They seemed to be talking about us and why they like picking on us…well on you mostly." Vanessa admitted as she thought about the conversation she had overheard.
"Is there really a reason?" Zac sounded curious. "I thought that was just part of being brothers…we've always picked on each other. I'd be worried if it stopped."
"Well, don't be worried. Doesn't sound like it's gonna stop anytime soon. Matter of fact it sounds like Stella's becoming Dylan's partner in crime. So I'd say we're both in trouble." They both laughed.
Vanessa continued. "And apparently my father could be their ring leader from what Stellz was saying."
"Oh really?" Zac let his fingers wander farther up her leg and began to caress her smooth hip and thigh. His lips found their way to Vanessa's neck as she attempted to stay focused on her thoughts in the conversation.
"Mmm-hmmm." She struggled. "Apparently Dad thinks their prankster ways are a pretty good form of birth control for us. If they're bugging us we won't want our own kids to continue the torture…or something like that…" Vanessa's voice trailed off as she lifted her chin to offer him more access to one of the favored spots on her skin.
"Aren't we already covered in that department," Zac pulled away from her neck for just a moment to push a few strands of her hair out of the way, "with pills and condoms?"
Vanessa knew the conversation was finished. Zac's actions had just overtaken his words, so his questions were pretty much worthless. She knew he wouldn't hear any answer so she made it simple. "Yep."
She was a little shocked to hear him continue with the same thought. "Then let my little brother, and your little sister, pull all the pranks that they want. As long as we can still find time to do this…" he quickly lifted his hips and removed his shorts allowing her to feel his arousal directly against her smooth skin, "their birth control methods won't work. I vote we stick with the plan we're already on."
As Zac lifted the shirt over Vanessa's head he proceeded to take her mind farther away from their humorous chat. "Stick with the plan…" she mumbled as her fingernails streaked a path down his back and she grasped his hips to pull him on top of her.
Zac reached toward the bedside table and found the box that Dylan had teased him about earlier in the evening. He stopped for just a moment to get Vanessa's attention. With heart pumping he kissed her lips and whispered. "Ness, seriously…if we didn't have a condom?"
She couldn't believe he was asking this question right now. Did he really think her mind could actually comprehend what he was saying? He had used the word 'seriously'. That's practically a mood killer right there…but somebody was still extremely excited. So she decided to try and answer.
"No glove…no glory." She stated pretty coherently. "Don't even joke about that right now Efron. This is not the time for pranks."
He smiled, impressed with her comeback and pulled the one remaining square of protection from the box. "Huh. We're both in luck." He whispered into her ear as she waited to feel the results of his search.
Vanessa let her fingernails dig just a little deeper into his thighs moments later. Through her pants and moans of complete satisfaction she smiled. "Leave the pranks to your brother."
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Zac laughed afterwards while cuddled in Vanessa's arms. "Do you remember what we were talking about?"
Vanessa laughed along with him. "Younger brothers…birth control… or when you said, 'Prank this Dylan.'? She ran her fingers through his sandy hair.
"I didn't seriously say that, did I?" Zac raised his head up off her shoulder for just a moment and then put it back down.
"Well, don't hold me to it, my mind was a little preoccupied. But I'm pretty sure those were your words." Vanessa giggled and buried a kiss on the top of his head.
Zac laughed with her and then ventured to ask his real question. "The birth control part…were you serious when I asked what would happen if I didn't have protection? Would we have stopped right there?" He felt Vanessa pull his hand into hers and rub her fingers across his knuckles.
She thought for just a second before answering. "I don't know that we would've stopped. I don't wanna chance getting pregnant right now though. I can't. But I think we could strongly consider some of those alternate forms of fun that we use at other times…if the protection issue ever happens." She linked her fingers with his. "Why, would that be a problem?"
She felt Zac shake his head and kissed him again. "No problem at all. But will you remind me to ask Mom for an advance on my Christmas allowance this year? I didn't budget very well. Wait, let me rephrase that, you made me use more than I had expected…"
Vanessa could hear the smirk in his voice as she let his head drop to the mattress and raised her arm up to smack his chest. In the dark Zac caught her wrist and saved himself from just a touch of pain.
"Ah, ah, ah…" he playfully reprimanded her. "Don't forget that my parents are here. You don't want to hurt me while they're around, do you?"
Vanessa thought for a moment. "Good point. I'll just help Dylan and Stella plan their next attack on you and let them take the blame."
Zac thought for a minute and then leaned over his girlfriend and started peppering soft kisses all over her. "Just remember I love you with all my heart…" he grinned as his kisses reached her soft lips. "But, just ask Dylan, my paybacks are hell."
