A/N: Yay, I just managed to get this update done in time for the weekend; the only chance I have to put it up. Not really a lot to say about this one; just enjoy, and please review! I've got a very decent amount of very helpful reviews recently, so keep up the great work you guys, love you all!

Chapter 20

"You…" Reno stepped in front of Elena as she was just about to unlock her apartment door. "…are a freakin' idiot!"

"Excuse me, Reno…" Elena asked sincerely. She was struggling to wipe the smirk off her face.

"Don't ya have a brain? Do you have any idea what you've gotten us into? When I'm with that kid, the only person I'd like to kill more than him is myself. Now, please… ring Rufus and tell him you can't do it."

"Excuse me, Reno." Elena repeated, not taking any notice of the redhead's rant. She pushed him gently out of the way so she could unlock the door.

"But 'Laney…" Reno whined, grabbing hold of Elena's shoulders. "A little kid; 6-going-on-60; livin' in your house. For a week!"

"Yes, well." Elena smiled at him as she opened the door. "It's my house, not yours. And it might help me make the decision about whether or not I want kids of my own."

That shut the redhead up. Elena could almost sense his jaw drop as she walked down the hallway. She knew the redhead wasn't following her, so she called to him as she entered the living room. "I don't know what you're so shocked about; nobody said I meant with you."

"That's it!" Reno's voice brightened an almost scary amount and he hurried down the hallway after Elena. Evidently, he hadn't taken note of what she had just said. "It's your house. I'll just go home for a week. In fact, I bet that's what you were tryin' to do, ain't it? Get rid of me?"

"No, Reno." Elena grinned at him and put her bag down on the kitchen counter. "But you can't get home if you don't have your keys, can you?"

"What?" Reno moved her back aside and hoisted himself on the kitchen counter. "Who says I don't have my keys?" Unsurprisingly, he began rummaging around in his pockets.

"Me." Elena laughed, and held up his keys, which had been in her pocket, dangling them from one finger. Reno made to grab them, but she threw them up and caught them in the same hand, putting them casually into her pocket.

"I hate you." he muttered, looking away from her. "And anyway, you think I can't pick my own lock?"

"You wouldn't do that… I know how much you love being here." Elena tried desperately not to laugh. She hadn't had the chance to torture Reno since their first bet. Now it would be too easy to turn this in her favour. "And besides, I've done this for a reason-"

"Oh, yeah?" The redhead seemed all of a sudden less angry, which worried Elena.

'Has he picked up on something I haven't?' Elena thought to herself, looking at his suddenly amused expression. "Yeah…" she said unsurely. "It's the perfect opportunity to put our bet in action."

"Our bet?" Reno raised an eyebrow. "So the bet is only lastin' a week? Piece of cake."

"Whatever you say Reno." Elena laughed and walked back into the living room. Putting up with Drake was definitely going to be worth it.

"Oh, and 'Laney…" Reno called from in the kitchen. "Remember… since irresponsibility doesn't come natural to ya, it's gonna just as hard for you as it is for me."

Elena laughed quietly to herself as she turned on the T.V. She was vaguely aware of the redhead making his way towards her as she made to sit down, but he caught her before she could. With a smirk on his face, he pushed her gently against the wall.

"Reno, what-" Elena began nervously, but Reno put a finger to her lips, smirking all the while. She could feel her heart beating so hard she was sure it was pounding against her ribs. He put one hand on the wall, and rested the other on Elena's waist. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek as she turned slightly to the side, not sure how to react. Her brain told her to slap him, but her heart told her to hold on, and look directly into those eyes. Those beautiful, blue-green eyes, that were staring at her, sparkling with mischief. Oh hell, she couldn't help but look. She could see every one of his dark eyelashes that framed those deep orbs. He got even closer, so she could even count the freckles on his nose. That was the last thing she saw when her eyes closed, as she felt his soft lips brush hers. She didn't dare kiss him back, because he had to maintain her dignity, but she let him do what he wanted. Her pushed into her, making her whole body feel like it was on fire. Slowly, his hand moved lower, until he pulled away, grinning.

"Well, 'Laney." the redhead snickered, holding up his set of keys in same way Elena had done earlier. "How very irresponsible of you. You're getting good already."

Quite suddenly, it wasn't Elena's whole body that felt like it was on fire, just her cheeks. She swatted Reno out of the way, and marched into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, and looked in the mirror. Indeed, her cheeks were red, as were her lips, and her eyes were bright. It was odd how much she enjoyed kissing someone she could quite happily kill. 'Kill him?' she thought. 'No, that's not quite severe enough.' It was so frustrating, because she hadn't quite set out the guidelines for what was irresponsible yet, so she couldn't say he'd lost the bet already. Besides, Reno's plea to get her to lighten up rang through her memory… she would be being a hypocrite.

"Right." she yelled, throwing the bathroom door open and storming back into the living room. "We need to set out some rules. And each person's prize."

"No more storming off into the bathroom when I make you look like an idiot." Reno instantly suggested.

"No more drinking." Elena retaliated.

"You're not allowed to use your whiney voice." Reno grinned at her.

"I do not have a whiney voice!" Elena snapped.

"There it is." Reno laughed. "And no more criticizing anything I do."

"No more swearing." Elena was determined to find more faults with Reno. "No more slouching in your seat. No more putting your feet on the coffee table. And stop purposely making me look like an idiot."

"More swearing, more drinking, more T.V… and generally pull that stick outta your ass." Reno combated against her proposal easily, even though he was mainly reeling off things Elena had already mentioned.

"Right. So basically, be you." Elena concluded. "And you have to be me."

"Right." the redhead agreed amusedly. "Won't that be fun? Ya get to have a life other than work for a week."

"I'm not sacrificing my job performance for the sake of-"

"'A stupid little bet.'" Reno said mockingly. "Yes, Laney. Blah, blah, blah… I get it. So what happens when you lose?"

"When you lose…" Elena thought for a moment, before an idea stuck her. "You have to ask that woman that works on floor 61 out on a date."

"If you're talkin' about who I think you're talkin' about, I'm not so sure that's a woman, 'Laney." Reno said, looking scared.

"Oh, she is…" Elena shot him a rare devilish smile. "I've spoken to her. She's a really nice lady, Reno. You'd get along wonderfully."

"Ya mean the hairy one that's twice my size?" Reno's eyes suddenly widened. "What's her name?"

"Vicky." Elena snorted. "Yes, that one."

"That's below the belt." Reno warned. "That really is…"

"You'd better hope for your sake it doesn't get that far… she'd probably crush you." Elena began to laugh hysterically at her own joke. Reno didn't look even slightly amused.

"All right, all right. " the redhead seemed to have come up with suitable consequence for Elena. "When you lose, you have to ask… that guy that keeps calling me."

"The one from the gym?" Elena enquired. "Reno… that man is gay."

"Ah, yes… but I reckon that if I hadn't been there, you would have been his second choice." Reno flashed a grin. "He did seem to like you too."

"You mean I have to pretend to be a man?" Elena concluded bluntly.

"Hey, I'd rather had him than old Vick." Reno laughed at his own cunning idea. "I think it's perfectly fair."

"Reno-" Before Elena could argue against what was in her opinion a grossly unfair wager, there was a sharp tapping at the door. The blond sighed at Reno as he smirked at her and dropped down on her couch, and went to answer the door.

"Good afternoon, Elena." Rufus said politely. He stood fairly stiffly outside the front porch with a fairly miserable-looking, miniature look-alike next to him, holding a small suitcase.

"Hello, sir." Elena smiled as pleasantly as she could manage, before looking down at Drake, and trying to be enthusiastic. "Hey, Drake." The child muttered something inaudible and moved backwards slightly. Elena rolled her eyes and sighed. "So, you want to come in then?"

"No." the blond child said in a small voice.

It was inevitable, in Elena's opinion, that Reno would have to give some input, even though he was in the next room. "Hey, c'mon kid." he called in an amused voice. "I've been lookin' forward to ya comin' all day."

A terrified expression was the only response that came from Drake. Evidentially, Reno trying to get Drake's mother to agree to him having an adopted ferret didn't change the fact that he just seemed to be scared of him.

"You never told me he'd be here…" Drake said, looking up at his uncle.

"That's because I didn't know he would be." Rufus said, slightly cynically. "But then I don't know what these Turks get up to."

Elena cursed herself as she blushed slightly at the memory of what had happened earlier. Casting the thought aside, she held her hand out to Drake. "Come on, just ignore him. He won't bother you."

Drake took Elena's hand, albeit grudgingly, and went inside.

"Thank you, Elena." Rufus said gratefully.

"Bye, sir." Elena shut the door and turned to Drake. "You can just put your suitcase in the spare room, just there." She pointed to the door just before the entrance to the living room.

"Spare room's mine." Reno called.

"No, Reno." Elena marched into the living room. "If you want to stay here, you're sleeping on the couch."

"Great… I've been replaced by a six-year-old." Reno sighed and purposely slammed his feet as hard as he could on the floor, before slouching in his seat.

"Reno…" Elena said warningly, putting her hands on the back of the couch. Reno looked up at her and grinned.

"We never shook yet." he said.

"I'm seven now, by the way." came Drake's small voice from the doorway.

"Oh, well that just changes everything!" Reno said, jumping to his feet unnaturally quickly, before turning around and saluting goofily. "Seven? Well… my sincerest apologies, sir."

"Reno, don't be mean." Elena put her hands on her hips and glared at the redhead.

"I know, I'm not allowed to, or it's hairy Vick." Reno suddenly laughed and went into the kitchen. "And since we're starting the bet now…" he came back with a bottle in his hand. "Here ya go?"

"Reno, I can't drink in front of a child." Elena took the bottle of him, dumbfounded. "And where did these even come from? I don't keep beer in my fridge."

"I put 'em in there a couple days ago…" Reno said, sitting back down. "And correction; I'm not allowed to drink in front of a child."

"It's okay…" Drake walked fully into the living room and sat down on the couch as far away as he could from Reno. "My uncle says he thinks you're a borderline alcoholic. I understand if you need to drink."

"You know too much." the redhead shot a worrying glare at the child, who looked nervous. "And that's not me, I'm clean. Elena's the naughty one, ain't ya 'Laney?"

It was at that moment, Elena saw how difficult this bet was going to be on her part. She did not have the manipulative skills that Reno did, and a date on which she had to cross-dress was not very appealing to her.

"Drake…" Elena said, another idea suddenly forming in her mind, as she put the bottle of beer Reno had given her on the side. "Do you know how much your uncle is going to pay us for this week?"

"It probably depends on how many bones are broke when we return him…" Reno muttered.

"Shut up." Elena snapped. "Drake?"

"I don't know. I know he said something about it having to be quite a lot so you'd keep quiet about it. Something about it being unethical… I don't know, I didn't really understand what he meant."

"Perfect." Elena grinned, and sat down in between the other two. "Well, Reno… I have a more appealing, and simpler wager for us…"

"That money's as good as mine…" Reno grinned, instantly picking up on Elena's idea.

A/N: That's it folks! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any ideas for the story, I can always fit things in!