Mallory was thankful that it was quiet in the back of her father's PBS studio. It gave her time to think. But even if it had been chaotic, there was no way that

she'd ever forget the events of the day before. Arthur, a man whom she had grown to love so much that she referred to him as Uncle, had caused her more hurt

and confusion than she'd imagined possible. And facing him again was the worst. Even though he'd apologized, she knew that things would never be the same

between them. She'd never think of him the same way again.

She was about to return to the set when Alex walked by. She tried her best to ignore him but as was always the case with Alex, it was impossible.

"Hey, Mal. What are you doing back here?"

"Just thinking."

"About Uncle Arthur?"

"Yeah."

When she turned away, she felt Alex's hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Not entirely but I'm better now. Thanks."

"Well, um, how did Mom take the news?"

"Mom was furious, actually."

"Look, Mal, I'm sorry about that. I figured that she might be angry, but she had a right to know!"

"She wasn't angry at me, Alex, she was angry at Arthur! Didn't you see the way she was screaming at him during the telethon?"

"Well, yeah, but I just thought-."

"If I tell you something do you promise not to tell Mom that I told you?"

"Sure."

"Swear it!"

Alex held up his hands in surrender. "I swear!"

"Okay. She said that the same thing happened to her. She said a family friend grabbed her."

"Woah. What did she do?"

" The Twist."

"What?"

"She said that she did the Twist and watched American Bandstand. Whatever that is."

Alex scoffed. "You mean you don't know what American Band-um, never mind. Well, I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry that I got her involved, but she

had a right to know. Does Dad know?"

"Yeah, especially since Mom blurted it out during the telethon."

"And then what happened?"

"Dad apologized. And so did Arthur."

"But Dad said he was disappointed that I didn't come to him right away. Alex, I was afraid to! Arthur is a close friend of Dad's!"

"I know. It took real guts to go to him. And it took guts to face Uncle Arthur I hope you never have to go through anything like that again."

Mallory shuddered. "Me too."

"I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing."

"I wasn't doing much."

"Even so. Um, look, Mal… I just wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"For trusting me enough to come to me with this. I know that it was difficult and I want you to know hat if you feel like you can't go to Mom or Dad you can

always come to me."

"You can come to me, too, Alex. Even though I'm kind of a ditz."

Alex took her hand. "You're not a ditz, Mallory. You're smart and funny."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry I made you tell Mom about what happened. But the only reason I did it is because-."

"I know why you did it. And I'm glad because I probably never would have done it myself."

"I'm just glad it's all out in the open now and I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks, Alex."

She watched her brother walk away and then called his name. "Alex?"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

The hug was spontaneous and so unexpected. Alex was clearly surprised by her actions. But Mallory wouldn't have changed that moment for the world.

The End