Author's note: There's a part in this chapter where Andrew and Carina are talking entirely in Italian. I've been using google translate for the Italian thus far, and did here as well. I am very sorry in advance if any of the translations are off. Hope you enjoy :) -L

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Sophomore Year, Meeting Andrew

Maya paced nervously around her room. Her parents were on their way with Mason to explore a boarding school in San Diego, which meant that she could stay at Carina's. She hadn't been there since the night of their first date, and Andrew hadn't been home that night. Which meant that she was about to meet her girlfriend's brother for the first time. Maya could barely take a full deep breath, and she was worried that she might have a panic attack as soon as she saw him. It wouldn't have been that deep, except that Andrew was the most important person in Carina's life. If he didn't like her, that was always going to be an obstacle. Carina had suggested that the three of them go out for pizza, but Maya was worried about the way that she might react if it went badly and didn't want to be in a public place. Not that she was a child who was going to throw a tantrum or something. She was just worried she might throw up, and that was embarrassing enough without an entire pizzeria witnessing it. Maya's phone buzzed on her bedside. It was a text from Carina: Take a couple of deep breaths for me, per favore, bella. He's going to love you. Maya felt like she could breathe again. This wasn't going to be as hard as she'd thought with Carina there to reassure her. They had been dating for a few months at that point, but it was hard to get used to, someone being there for her. Thank you. Are you almost here?, Maya texted back. She set her phone down, and grabbed the duffle bag she'd taken out of the basement to pack what she needed for the next few nights. It was spring break, so she didn't need to pack anything for school. Unlike some, though, Maya's style didn't really change at school. It was pretty much always jeans and her track jacket or some shirt she'd found at a thrift store. Therefore, whether or not she had school didn't have quite as big an effect on her packing as it might for others. Her phone buzzed again. I am five minutes away, but I will hang out while you finish packing. Maya smiled. Carina had known that she had barely started without even having to ask. Maya had a tendency to procrastinate when she was stressed out about something. She was excited about spending a couple of nights with Carina, but the anxiety about meeting Andrew overshadowed that excitement at this point.

Maya had managed to get halfway done with packing when the doorbell rang. Needing to see her girlfriend, she sprinted down the stairs like she was in the middle of a meet, and flung open the front door. There was Carina, looking as, if not more, beautiful than usual.

"Hi," Maya breathed out.

"Hi, bambina." She stepped forward, pulling Maya into a hug. Maya sighed into the embrace. This was exactly what she had needed in order to survive what was about to happen.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too." The girls stayed there for a few minutes, just holding each other. They hadn't seen each other since break started, which had been a week before, because Maya's dad had kept her on a strict training schedule the whole time.

"Your padre was not too hard on you this week, yeah?"

"It wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but nothing bad happened if that's what you're asking." Carina brushed her thumb across Maya's cheek.

"Sí. It was. Well, I think we should go upstairs so you can get back to packing, and I can see your room."

"It's kind of a mess. I didn't really get the chance to clean it, because I've been so busy."

"Maya, it's okay. I do not mind. I just want to see your space, even if it is un po 'disordinato." Maya smiled. She had started to pick up on some of the Italian words and phrases that Carina used the most; this phrase was unfamiliar to her, but she could tell from context clues the gist of what it meant.

"I just had to make sure I warned you first so you know what you're walking into," she said nervously. Carina slipped her hand into Maya's, and squeezed it.

"I am sure it is not as messy as you think, bella." They made their way up the stairs, hand in hand. Maya's room was the only one you could see from the stairs, so her mom always insisted that she keep her door closed so that if they had guests over, they wouldn't see inside. Her room was actually very clean, just not clean enough for Bishop standards, where essentially it had to look not lived in.

"Which one is yours?" Carina asked.

"The one right at the top." Carina smiled, running her thumb along Maya's knuckle excitedly.

"Aw did you close your door so you could do a surprise reveal for me?"

"Let's go with that," Maya said, reaching for the door knob. Carina stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

"You do not have to tell me, bella, but I am here if you want to."

"Thank you."

"Of course," Carina said. She tucked some of Maya's hair behind her ear, and kissed her softly. Maya sighed into the kiss. Ever since their first kiss, Maya couldn't get enough. Something about kissing Carina made her feel so alive. Maya wasn't the only one that felt this way, though. Carina felt the same. She'd never even really understood the appeal of kissing before she met Maya. Still kissing Carina, Maya flung the door to her room open. Carina turned away to look.

"Maya Bishop, you told me your room was messy."

"No, I said it was kind of a mess."

"This is not a mess at all."

"No?"

"No. Just wait until you see Andrea's room. You have no idea what a mess is until you have seen that pigsty." Maya laughed.

"I'll show you Mason's before we go. It's also pretty bad."

"Men," Carina said, shaking her head.

"My mom has this thing about messes, and I kind of do too but not the same extreme, which I why I guess I see my room as messy. Anyways, I swear half the time she wants to kill Mason for keeping his room in the state that he keeps it in. There was this one time where I thought she might actually do it," Maya recalled, then seeing the look on Carina's face added, "Not literally though." They both laughed.

"I guess I could make Andrea clean his more, but I do not want to limite his creative outlets."

"Yeah, that makes sense. That's what it's about for Mason. You'll see when I show you his room. There's just unfinished drawings and paintings all over, and half of his art supplies are in piles on the floor."

"That sounds like the room of a true artista." Maya smiled, nodding absently, her mind wandering to the feeling of seeing one of Mason's pieces for the first time. There was something about it that just opened you up in a way that your entire being was suddenly exposed for the world to see.

"Honestly, I see it happening."

"Well, I cannot wait to see his art, but someone," she poked Maya's shoulder playfully, "has to finish packing first." Maya groaned.

"Oh yeah." Carina gave a her another kiss to keep her going, and then pushed her into her room.

Carina had one hand on Maya's thigh, attempting to calm her, and the other on the wheel. They were about halfway to Carina's, and Maya could feel her heart rate speeding up again. She wasn't panicking quite as much, because Carina had assured her that no matter what happened it wasn't going to change how she felt about her. Maya was still nervous, though, because she wanted to have a good relationship with her girlfriend's brother no matter if she needed to or not. Plus, from what she'd heard from Carina, Andrew was pretty great, and a friendship with him wasn't something she really wanted to miss out on.

"How are you doing over there, bella?" Carina asked, pulling Maya from her thoughts.

"I'm okay. I think I'm just stressing myself out for no reason," Maya replied.

"Maya, your feelings are valid. Making a good impression on Andrea is importante to you so it makes sense that you would be stressata about it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am right," she said mischievously, "But?"

"I don't know I guess I'm just worried about Mason being alone with my dad so it's a lot of unknowns at once."

"Your mamma is with them, no?"

"She is, but when it comes to us or our dad, she's always going to pick our dad. If he's being hard on Mason, then she's going to be too," Maya explained. Carina shifted her hand so it was holding Maya's.

"Bambina, mi dispiace. That's terribile," Carina sighed, "As scary as it may be, I think you just have to trust that your mama will not let anything too bad happen to your fratello. It might seem like she would always pick your padre, but you never know."

"I hope so. Mason's supposed to call me every night, so I can get him to give me a rundown on how the parentals are acting tonight. If it's bad I'll just use the emergency credit card and book a flight so he's not alone with them."

"If that is what you need to do, bella, I will be behind you. I'll drive you to the airport," Carina assured.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Sí, Maya, di sicuro. Mason is your fratellino; if he needs you, then you need to be there. I understand that."

"Right. Of course," Maya smiled nervously, "I almost forgot for a second where we were going."

"On our way to see my fratellino," Carina smiled.

"Yes."

When they reached the house, Andrew was sitting on the front stoop. Dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, with a mess of brown hair, he was exactly what Maya expected him to look like: a younger, male, version of Carina. She hadn't seen any pictures of him, because he didn't like to get his picture taken, but Carina had told her that they looked quite similar. She had not been wrong; they could have been twins had Andrew been older.

"Andrea!" Carina yelled as she got out. Andrew looked up, his face lighting up as he saw her. It wasn't all that unlike the look that Mason often gave Maya when he saw her. Andrew rose from the stoop. He jogged over to Carina, and pulled her into a hug. Carina laughed, and hugged him back. Maya took a deep breath, and exited the car. Carina walked back to her, interlocking their hands. Maya knew her hand was shaking, and she knew that Carina could feel it.

"You have got this, Maya," Carina whispered. Maya let out a breath, the shakiness in her hand slowing. "Andrea, this is Maya, my fidanzata. Maya, this is Andrea, my fratellino."

"Hi, Andrew, it's nice to meet you," Maya said.

"What are your intentions with my sister, Maya?" Andrew asked. Maya would have thought that he was joking had his expression not been so serious. He was staring daggers.

"Andrea!" Carina swatted him in the arm.

"Mi dispiace, carina, ma sto solo cercando di assicurarmi che non ti faccia male. È il mio lavoro come tuo fratello." (I'm sorry, Carina, but I'm just trying to make sure you don't get hurt. It's my job as your brother.) Maya shifted from one foot the other. She'd picked up a few words that Andrew had said, but not most of them. Now she was worried that Carina and Andrew were just going to talk about her in Italian, and she was going to be in the dark about how he felt.

"Lo apprezzo, Andrea, lo voglio. Ti sarei anche grato se non trattassi la mia ragazza come il nemico per tutta la settimana." (I appreciate that, Andrea, I do. I would just also appreciate it if you wouldn't treat my girlfriend like the enemy this whole time.)

"Non lo farò. Lo prometto. Basta sopportare il mio per due secondi." (I won't. I promise. Just bear with me for two seconds.) Carina nodded, turning to Maya.

"I'm so sorry, bambina. He is not usually like this. Apparently he thinks this is his duty as my fratello."

"It's okay," Maya assured, "I don't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she nodded, then turned to Andrew, "Andrew, I promise you I only have good intentions with Carina. I love her. I would like to show her how amazing she is."

"That's what I like to hear," Andrew replied, "About how long have you lived in Seattle?"

"Uh, I've lived here my whole life."

"Okay good just making sure you weren't going to end up moving in the middle of junior year or something."

"No, I'm here for good."

"Good. What's your favorite food? And, Maya, if you say pasta or pizza because you think I want you to, it's over." Carina glared at him.

"Do not listen to him, Maya. He is joking. Whatever your favorite food is will be accepted with open arms." Maya chuckled nervously.

"Probably this salad that my mom makes. It's got avocado, grapes, apples, and chicken slices on top of the typical salad essentials." Maya felt Carina's hand slide into hers again with a gentle squeeze. She'd made it for Carina on their second date; they'd gone on a picnic in City Hall Park and watched the sunset.

"That sounds amazing. Carina, why didn't you tell me your girlfriend had such good taste? Then we could have avoided this altogether," Andrew said jokingly, "Well, Maya, you've passed my test. Welcome to the family." Maya was expecting a handshake, but Andrew stepped forward, hugging her. She smiled, feeling a huge weight lift from her shoulders, and hugged him back. She had made it. Not only did Andrew seem to like her, he had just referred to her as a member of the family. That was a hundred times better than any reaction she could have hoped for.

"I told you she was great," Carina said, placing a hand on the small of Maya's back.

"You were right." Maya beamed. She couldn't quite believe that this was actually happening. This was going to be a perfect week.