So this chapter is a little longer than my others. I just couldn't stop writing! Haha, hope this one doesn't disappoint!

Sinead was finally back. She looked at the house from the car Jonah had sent for her, feeling a sense of deja vu, thinking back to her first time seeing the mansion and feeling intimidated. Now though, she was really happy to see it again. The last two days were a flurry of testing, analyzing, and hardly any sleep, so she was ready to resume her vacation.

Stifling a yawn, she thanked the driver and walked inside. It was quiet, most of the crew being gone for the day. Amy had let her know that some of them were going to Los Angeles to do some museum tours, and wouldn't be back until later that evening. Dan, Natalie, and Ned had opted to stay, and then Amy added that Jonah had been AWOL almost the entire time she was gone, being busy with stuff for his next tour that had come up unexpectedly so she had no idea where he was today.

With the thought of sleep on her mind she headed upstairs to deposit her luggage in her room - turning down the butler's offer to carry it up there for her - and ran into Natalie in the hallway.

"Sinead! Welcome back." The British girl said pleasantly.

"Thanks, I'm so glad that all of that stuff is over with. I'm ready for a nap." She said, thinking of the soft, fluffy pillows and comfortable sheets awaiting her.

Natalie frowned. "A nap? Why don't you hang out with me, Dan, and Ned today? We are planning on swimming in the pool and just relaxing a bit."

"That sounds wonderful." Sinead admitted, changing the course of her thoughts. Suddenly the pool sounded better than her bed right now. "If it wasn't so hot I would probably sit in the hot tub too. Let me change and I'll join you."

She quickly put her swimsuit on, not feeling weird about the scars on her arm showing since she was so close to Dan and of course her brother. Natalie was fine too, and probably would be too wrapped up in tanning to notice.

Catching sight of one of her big t-shirts on her way out though she grabbed it - just in case - and headed outside where she was determined to relax.

She splashed around a bit, then, putting her sunglasses on and some sunscreen (being a redhead was annoying sometimes) she laid out beside the pool where Natalie and Dan were sitting and talking.

"So how did everything go?" Dan asked.

She filled him in, but midway through her story a teasing glint appeared in his eye.

"How was it seeing Michael? Isn't he your crush or something?" Dan asked innocently.

Sinead frowned at him, not understanding where he was coming from. "Michael is just a friend!" She stated emphatically. "He may be slightly attractive, but you know how I am about relationships."

Dan just raised his eyebrows skeptically, and Natalie giggled.

"Hey Jonah," She said suddenly, causing Sinead to turn. How long had he been standing there? Suddenly overly conscious of her scars, she crossed her arms in front of her, wishing that she had put her t-shirt back on over her swimsuit.

"Oh, hey Jonah," Dan echoed, his voice still carrying the same innocent note. Sinead narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Don't mind us." The boy continued. "We were just talking about Sinead's 'boyfriend' over here."

Sinead felt a burst of panic in her chest, what was Dan doing? But Jonah didn't seem to hear what he said, instead just frowning out at the pool.

At that moment Ned came up and joined them, looking at Jonah. "How's the recording coming along?"

"Not recording." Jonah said, "Just fixin' some stuff up for my tour. Change of plans. We're starting a week earlier now due to some mix-ups, so that means extra rehearsals."

He rubbed at his face wearily, looking as tired as Sinead felt.

"Well, ANYWAYS, as I was saying." Dan said, taking control of the conversation again, "Sinead has a boyfriend. Can you believe that?"

Ned shot Dan a confused look as Jonah flicked his eyes over at Sinead, not really looking right at her, then back at Dan.

"Ok?" It came out like a question.

"Aren't you curious about it? Our little Sini-pooh is growing up."

"Stop Dan, Michael isn't my boyfriend." Sinead said through gritted teeth, wanting to reach over the chair and knock the annoying smile off of the blonde boy's face.

"Why is this any of our business?" Jonah asked, sounding annoyed. "I have a lot more important things on my mind right now than Sinead or her love life."

The words, along with the way he said it irked Sinead for some reason. She stood, forgetting about feeling self-conscious in her bathing suit or about her scars.

"Well." She said airily, deciding to take the high road in spite of his rudeness. "I guess there's too much on your mind to care that I turned in my project in plenty of time, but thank you again."

Again, Jonah didn't seem to be listening to her, but this time it was because he was giving her a lingering once over, his eyes looking her up and down as if just now seeming to notice her there and what she was wearing.

Feeling the blood drain from her face as her heart picked up its pace, Sinead blurted out, "Did you just check me out?"

Instead of acting embarrassed like he should have been, or denying it (especially given the fact that Ned was standing RIGHT there), a lazy half-smile, half-smirk formed on his face.

"Maybe?" He asked. At her hard stare, he added, "Hey I'm a guy, it's not my fault."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You're being a jerk." She informed him hotly, grabbing her shirt and pulling it over her head. While she could feel herself freaking out, she knew that it wasn't just anger she was feeling. There was another emotion lurking, but she didn't have time to figure it out now. Turning to go, she shot a glare at Dan too for good measure before looking back at Jonah, who actually seemed to have snapped out of his funk.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Don't leave yet." He said, sighing heavily, his face turning tired again.

"Why not?" She asked, crossing her arms and trying not to let sympathy rise for him.

"Because I would feel bad. Worse than I already do. Sit down."

"Dude, I can't believe that you did that in front of her brother." Dan muttered, causing Natalie to hit his arm, giving him a 'shut up, you've done enough' look.

Jonah's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath, stealing a look at Ned.

The other boy was calmly looking back at him, trying not to smile.

Ned sucks at acting. Sinead thought darkly. He WOULD find this funny.

She sat though, reminding herself that Jonah had apologized, which was more than Sinead had done after being a jerk to him so many times. She looked at him now, taking in the bags beneath his eyes and the stress on his face.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"Don't. It's fine." She waved whatever he was going to say off, her anger fading. She really was tired of fighting with him. "Tell us what has you so stressed out. I'm usually the one dealing low blows, not you.

He made a face, but told them, "I'm being pressured to write songs for my new record right now, prepare for a European fall tour, and I'm also learning new dance routines. I know that I'm a Janus and it should all come natural, but-" He paused to take another deep breath, "I also have had several promotions come up the past couple of days that I've had to take care of. Interviews and commercials and stuff. It's just been a lot ya know?"

"Aren't you supposed to be on break right now?" Ned asked, sounding mystified.

Jonah looked at him, a funny look crossing his face. "I am on break bro."

Dan shook his head, "Not healthy. That's like Sinead when she takes 20 classes at once. She barely sleeps or eats or anything."

Sinead frowned at him. "I'm not that bad; besides, we're talking about Jonah right now." She turned to him, feeling the sympathy for him rising once more. "Is there anything I can help with? I mean-" She stole a glance at the others, hoping they didn't mind being volunteered, "We can help with?"

"Thanks, but I don't think so." He said, then looked at her quickly. "Unless you wanna help me with that song again? The one I showed you all the other day?"

Sinead paused, looking at him like he was insane. "The one I tore apart?" She asked skeptically.

"The one you were honest about." Jonah corrected, shifting his weight and looking back across the yard. "You were right about it, only I'm having trouble getting the message across like I want."

"And you think I could help?" She was still mystified. Why would he want her help after the way she had acted about it?

"Please?" The way he said it, with an edge of pleading in his voice, as well as looking at her again with those eyes of his - eyes that looked just as pitiful, all warm and dejected - caused Sinead's mouth to go dry (for some odd reason that she couldn't explain, maybe she wasn't drinking enough water or something?).

"Ok." She heard herself say faintly, automatically.

She hated herself for being such a sucker. But he was the sole reason that she managed to complete her project, so she supposed that she didn't mind. She looked away, not being able to hold his gaze, which had now lit up with pleasure. She wasn't used to giving in, even to make other people happy like that.

"So is there anything the rest of us can do?" Natalie asked. Sinead had forgotten that the others were there for a second and turned to look at the girl now, who was raising one perfectly waxed eyebrow at Jonah. She looked amused, but Sinead wasn't sure why.

"If I complete the song maybe you could go into the studio, my small one here, and help me with the music?" Jonah turned to Ned, hands in his pockets. "You and your brother rock at technical stuff, and Dan, don't ya play the drums? That would prevent me having to bring my peeps in at the moment."

"What about me? I play guitar a little." Natalie chimed in.

They all stared at her, her boyfriend included. "I didn't know you played the guitar!" Dan said, eyes wide.

"Yo, that's cool." Jonah sounded impressed. "I love guitar. We should jam together."

Something fluttered in Sinead's heart, but she wasn't sure what it was. It felt like her lunch had disagreed with her or something.

I shouldn't have eaten that sandwich on the plane. I knew it wasn't a good idea. She thought.

But as she sat there, listening to Jonah and Natalie launch into a deep discussion about the instrument they both loved, the feeling got worse.

A horrifying thought hit Sinead then, was she JEALOUS? As soon as the thought came though she went into heavy denial.

Jealous? Of what? She scoffed to herself.

She had no interest in guitar, and she certainly wasn't talented in that department. She was just tired, and a lot had happened over the past couple of days.

Deciding that she just needed some space right now, she stood from her chair, wincing as it scraped across the stone floor of the patio. "Well I'm going to unpack." She announced.

Jonah looked up from his conversation, "Do you wanna meet me in the studio in an hour? Is that enough time?"

"That's fine." She said, heart beating at the thought of being alone with him, just now remembering that before she left Thursday he said that they needed to discuss stuff.

"Ok good. Take more time if ya need it, but I want to do this before everyone else gets back." He grimaced. "I've been ditching everyone the past two days and I wanna hang with everybody tonight."

"Hey we understand." Natalie waved it off. "But it is nice to uh, hang out with you." She added sincerely, her voice faltering on the word 'hang' but managing to get it out.

Sinead smiled, thinking of how far Natalie had come from the entitled snob she had been during the clue hunt.

No, we've all came a long way. Even I have.

A little over an hour later, she was walking towards the studio, lecturing herself about calming down. But she couldn't. Nerves had settled in and were there to stay.

She spotted Jonah sitting down in front of a keyboard as soon as she walked in, so she went right up to him and stated, "So, I'll just get right to it."

He looked up at her, perplexed. She could tell by the way his hands froze on the keys as well as his facial expression. It was kind of cute.

"Our talk." She said, as a way of explanation. He was still looking at her like she had just sprouted wings. "The one that we need to have before we attempt to act like we are friends. The one that you mentioned on Thursday."

"Oh." A small smile appeared on his face. "You don't mince words do ya? You just get right to the point."

"That's the best way to deal with things, in my books." She said firmly, sitting down cross-legged on the floor.

"I can get you a chair." Jonah offered, but she declined.

"I'm fine here." She assured him. Then, not sure how to start, she started playing with the rings on her fingers. "Sooo…"

"I'll start, if that's ok." He said. She looked up, surprised, but nodded.

"I think I understand why you were upset that day I walked onto the patio when you were talking with your brothers. After the talent show, we were talking-"

"You guys were sitting around gossiping about me?" She cut in, feeling a rush of embarrassment course through her at the thought.

"Let me finish," He said calmly, "We were concerned so asked Ned and Ted what was going on. They just told us that ya were getting all kinds of degrees so that you can help them. Pretty nice; it makes me respect you more."

His words warmed her, and her embarrassment fled.

Jonah looked down at the keyboard as he continued. "I also meant what I said Thursday too, that I think you close down when ya feel like people get too close, or feel weak if you think you're failing at something. I know the feeling. So like I said, I get why you were upset then."

Sinead was relieved as she watched his fingers lightly rest on the keys, but then tensed at his next words. "What I don't get," He said, his voice sounding a little awkward, like he didn't know how to say it, "Is why you hated me right away. It's like you had already convinced yourself that I was a horrible person."

She winced. "Um, you may not like this."

"Just tell me." He sounded impatient, his gaze meeting hers.

She sighed, "Ok. Well I'm a pretty rash person. While I like to take my time analyzing concepts and objects, I'm not very patient with people. I was curious about you after the clue hunt, and saw a few of your music videos and interviews, even though your stuff isn't really my style."

"Which interviews?" Jonah looked a little embarrassed now. Sinead was almost fascinated by the slight blush that appeared on his cheeks, and had to force herself to look back up to his eyes. "Please tell me they weren't ones from the year or two after the clue hunt."

"Yes they were." She said, still eying him. "You came across as an egotistical jerk and I decided that I didn't like you. So everything you said or did the first few days we arrived here I judged according to those times. I know it wasn't fair, but..." She wasn't sure what else to say.

He was quiet for a few seconds, and she didn't know if she should apologize or what. But he said, slowly, "You know how at the concert ya asked why my music changed?"

She nodded, remembering that he had also promised to explain.

"Well, it had to do with those interviews. You see, after the hunt I decided to be a better person, but some things happened with my family. Haven't you wondered why ya haven't seen or heard me mention my mom since you all have been here?"

Sinead frowned. "No, I just assumed that she was busy managing the Janus branch."

"She disowned me after the clue hunt, and she and my dad are in the middle of getting a divorce."

She stared at him, speechless. Disowned? By his own mother? Her and Broderick, divorcing?

"Yeah, it sucks." He said in a monotone voice, his body going still and his eyes emotionless. "Nothing I've ever done has been good enough for her. Who cares if my tours sold out in minutes or that I won awards for my songs, Grammys even? Who cares that I learned how to dance and choreograph all of my own shows, wrote my own music and so on? All she cared about was me winning the clue hunt. And I lost."

"Jonah." She whispered, finding her voice. Her heart went out to him, what kind of mother did that? She felt herself getting angry with Cora.

"So I kinda went through a rough phase after." He spoke like he didn't even hear her, and maybe he didn't. "I threw myself into partying, girls, drinking. Whatever I could to get my mind off of how I let her down. Finally my dad sat down and had a hard talk with me and it brought me back down to earth. Sinead, I could have ruined my career, my life, everything really. I went to a counselor and finally dealt with my problems and it was then that I started writing different kinds of music. I still love rap and hip-hop, but I found that I loved dancing more and it helped me deal with things. Like an outlet or somethin'. So instead of doing what my mom and the branch told me to do as far as music, I'm staying 'true to myself' and doing what I like to do now."

He finished this, and then looked at her, no self-pity in his eyes, but like he wanted her to understand. She did, and she also wanted to hug him again, like she did a few days ago. She supposed it was the sympathy she felt for him talking, since she normally wasn't a touchy person.

"I still have problems sometimes, I have my jerk moments, like out at the pool," He laughed ruefully, "But I really am trying. That's why I wanted to have ya guys visit too. I need to be around people that can look past the celebrity image and just be around me. And I need people to tell me when I'm being an idiot." He looked at her and smiled. Sinead didn't though, she felt horrible.

"I'm the worst person in the world." She whispered, looking at her fingers again. She couldn't believe the stuff he had just revealed to her, and now felt guilty at putting him down all of those times, not to mention his music. "I'm sorry Jonah, really."

"And I forgive you, really." He said. "If I had just seen interviews too I probably woulda had the same opinion as you."

They sat in silence for the next few moments, each lost in their own thoughts.

Then Sinead said in a hesitant voice, "Why don't we start over? I really enjoyed talking to you after the concert, and you've already proven that you're a good person. I would like to have the chance to prove to you that I'm not nearly as mean as I have acted."

"I don't think you're a mean person." He said quickly. "You're just sarcastic, and ya don't back down from stuff. But I agree, what do you suggest?"

"Twenty questions?" She said with a laugh. "Or we could just talk about stuff, I don't know."

So that's what they did over the next little bit. Sinead felt herself relaxing as they found out basic things about each other (like each other's favorite colors and bands) then they got to the more personal subjects, like life goals and what they disliked about their lives.

"Definitely not knowing who to trust." Jonah said. "You never know who likes you for who you are or who is in it for the status or money. I've had people I thought were my friends sell me out to the media."

"That would be awful." Sinead agreed. "I don't know if I could live like that."

"What about you, is there anything like that in your life?" He asked her.

She hesitated, "I might be direct, but I don't like to open up emotionally to people. That makes it lonely. I have Dan, Amy, and Nellie of course. And my brothers and a couple of school friends. But that's it. I don't like to get close to people and give them the chance to hurt me."

She hated disclosing this to him, but felt like honesty was the only way to show him that she wasn't a horrible person, that she had emotions and fears too.

But he didn't seem to think any less of her, eyes understanding as he nodded his agreement. "Yeah that kind of ties into what I was sayin'. Trusting people is hard."

He looked like he was going to go on, but Nellie poked her head in the door, interrupting.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt, but we are about to go eat at Mastro's Steakhouse if you want to go."

Sinead jumped up, grabbing her phone and looking at the time. "Is it already time for dinner?"

"Yes, we can wait a few minutes if you need to get ready but we are starving, so hurry." She advised.

Sinead and Jonah did so, and an hour later they were all seated and waiting for their food.

"Man, hanging out with you has its perks." Madison stated. "We didn't have to wait at all once they spotted you."

He just laughed and said modestly, "I think it was because there are so many pretty girls in our party."

Sinead rolled her eyes, and saw Natalie and Amy doing the same. "Right, I'm sure that was it." She said pointedly at him.

He just smirked at her before returning to his conversation with Ian, who was sitting right beside him. Sinead wondered how Amy was doing regarding the British boy, and felt guilty for not having asked her.

"So, did you finish writing the song?" She heard Ned ask Jonah and she froze from reaching for her glass of soda. The song. Dang it.

"What song?" Jonah asked, blinking at Ned.

Sinead caught the puzzled look her brother sent her, then Jonah, and winced. This was going to be awkward to explain.

"The song Sinead was helping you with, did you finish it? Because I told Ted about it and we are both ready to help you out with the other part of it. I filled the others in also."

"Oh yeah." Jonah looked over at Sinead, just realizing too that the song was the point of their meeting earlier. "Uh, we didn't get to it."

Sinead noticed heads turning to look at him, then at her.

"Then," Nellie sounded confused, "What were you two doing in the studio for hours if you weren't working on the song?"

"We were just talking." Sinead said quickly, hoping that Dan wouldn't feel the need to insert any commentary in this discussion. "I guess we lost track of time."

Jonah was frowning, "I wanted to get that done today too, how did I forget about it?"

Sinead bit her lip, ignoring the looks that were being exchanged around them and focused on Jonah. "I can help you after we eat." She said, "Really help you this time, instead of distracting you."

"Distracting you?" This came from Ted, and she didn't appreciate his tone.

"We were resolving our differences," Sinead gritted her teeth, "By talking. That's what I meant by distracting."

"You two resolved your differences?" Hamilton sounded impressed. "Wow, I guess that means peace for the rest of us."

"Don't count on that." Jonah said, amusement in his tone, "I doubt Sinead will be able to help herself in that area."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sinead demanded.

Jonah was looking at Hamilton though, "See what I mean?" He said. "She likes fighting with me too much."

She clamped her mouth closed and turned to Amy, refusing to take the bait, and instead asked her friend about the museums they had seen in L.A.

Amy launched into an explanation of their day, her voice excited as she described the exhibits. But Sinead was barely listening. She had that funny feeling again like her heart was going to burst out of her chest, and she couldn't stop thinking about Jonah's smirk, or the way his face had lit up when she had agreed to help him earlier, or of the empty look in his eyes when he had told her about his mother.

Feelings that she had tried to keep hidden, even from herself, were rising. And they weren't just feelings of sympathy either. Not knowing how to deal with them right now, especially out in public, she fought them off and won, catching the tail end of Amy's description of some art museum and launching herself into the conversation about it.

But all evening, even when they got their food, she caught herself looking at Jonah, wishing she was sitting closer to him so they could talk some more, or wanting to put her head on his shoulder (which looked so inviting for some silly reason). Where were these feelings coming from? What was wrong with her?

Sinead had the sinking feeling that she knew.

WHAT? Is Sinead finally getting with the program or is she about to make it all a lot more complicated? ;) :D