AN: A little bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but it is the second update in 24 hours! I hinted to this conversation in an earlier chapter, and I figured writing it was a good way to get back into the groove. Plus a little Andrew and Carina sibling banter in Andrew's honor is always appreciated right? -L

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Sophomore Year, Andrew and Carina's Late Night Talk

Carina absently ran her fingers through Maya's hair, lightly scratching at her scalp in the process. The soft snores that emitted from the girl in her lap elicited a smile from her lips. Carina had noticed that Maya snored that first night in the fort on the floor of the living room. She didn't dare bring it up with Maya though, knowing her well enough to anticipate the fanatic denial that would follow fueled by an obsessive need to be perfect, which was a result of Maya's father's harmful expectations. One day, when the time came, Carina would tell her all about it, and how it just made her love her more. For now, she would continue to allow her girlfriend to live in blissful ignorance of such quirks. Carina knew that it hadn't been all that long since they'd met, but she had spent every day since getting to know everything about Maya, and though traditionally it was far too soon, she was head over heels in love with her. And she was fairly certain that Maya felt the same way.

It had been such a perfect evening. Once the initial introduction, and interrogation, were out of the way, and Maya's anxiety lessened, it had been a night of laughter, authentic Italian cuisine and, of course, the occasional sneaky kiss while Andrew looked on and feigned being ill. For Carina, it had meant an opportunity to watch her two favorite people in the world become friends. For which, she would have given anything.

"I have heard you are quite the runner, Maya." Andrew said as he grabbed a piece of garlic bread from the basket Carina had just set down on the counter. Carina swatted his hand, causing the bread to slip from his fingers.

"Pazienza. Mio dio," she mumbled. (Patience. My god.)

"I would say that I am, yes," Maya said with a beaming smile. Carina bit her lip, slipping her thumb into the belt loop of Maya's jeans. Andrew laughed.

"I can see why Carina likes you. She is always telling me that confidence is sexy. Although I have no idea why she thinks that is the kind of thing that I want to be hearing from my older sister." At that, Carina scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"This is because you grew up in this country, Andrea. You Americans and your prudeness. You are aware that without sex, none of us would be here no?"

"Ehi, Carina! Abbiamo un ospite." (Ew, Carina! We have a guest.)

"Oh calmati, Andrea. Maya does not care if we talk about sex." At this point, both Andrew and Maya's faces were beet red.

"Well, uh, I wouldn't say it's necessarily my favorite topic of conversation for my first time meeting my girlfriend's brother, but it could definitely be worse." As Carina looked back and forth between the two of them, she smiled, letting out another playful scoff.

"Americans."

"Oh come on, you know you love us," Andrew teased, gesturing to Carina's thumb, which was still hooked on Maya's belt loop. Carina gave him a look, pondering for a second before replying.

"Si. I do." She looked at Maya. This time it was Maya's turn to bite her lip, her face once again looking as if she were Violet Beauregarde, and the magical gum had been strawberry flavored instead of blueberry.

"Well now that we've got that settled, can we eat? I'm starving," Andrew said, purposefully interrupting the intense eye contact that his sister and her girlfriend were in the process of giving each other. He was tempted to add that the obvious sexual tension in the room was the worse that Maya had been referring to earlier, but he realized that he preferred not to open that can of worms. Maya's attention quickly shifted back to Andrew, aware that they had been caught, and feeling self-conscious.

"Yes. Let's eat. I have heard that Carina's cooking is on the same level as my running and I'm dying to find out if that is true." She snuck a quick smile in Carina's direction. Carina returned the smile, blowing her a subtle kiss.

"Well, I have yet to see you run, but I will say that if there's one thing that makes putting up with Carina worth it, it is her cooking," Andrew replied.

"Hey!" Carina elbowed him in the head. "Rude." Maya smiled as she watched on, grateful to witness their dynamic. She knew 'Carina the girlfriend' and it was nice to get a chance to see a new side of her: 'Carina the sister.' As Maya would see throughout the next few hours, they weren't all that different. Besides the romantic aspects of their relationship, of course. Carina was a natural caretaker, whether that be with her girlfriend or with her brother.

"I never said that you don't also have to put up with me," Andrew pointed out. Carina rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wasn't entirely sure why she did put up with him. Except for the obvious, that he was her little fratellino and no matter how much she sometimes hated him, she loved him.

"Next time we should invite Mason," Carina suggested to Maya in passing as she helped Andrew carry the food to the table. "I would love to get meet him."

"Yeah, I would like that. Plus it would be good to get him out of that house."

"Si. And you."

"Yeah." Maya looked down, having ruined her own mood by mentioning her home troubles. She sighed in frustration. She hated the moments when her own thoughts got in the way of her one true escape from being at home. That escape being Carina, and everything that came with her.

"Hey," Carina set down the pot of pasta in her hand and shuffled to Maya's side. She cupped her cheek with her hand. "I'm sorry, bella. I did not mean to make you sad."

"You didn't," Maya shook her head, "I did it to myself. But I will try to put it out of my mind so that I can enjoy this wonderful dinner that my wonderful girlfriend has prepared for me and her wonderful brother."

"There you go." Carina glanced behind her to make sure that Andrew was preoccupied, before giving Maya a quick kiss. "I do want to talk about it later, though," she whispered in Maya's ear as she pulled away. Maya gave her a quick nod.

"I saw that!" Andrew yelled from the kitchen.

"Oh whatever, Andrea. Let's eat!"

Carina was pulled from her thoughts by a knock.

"Come in," she said, just loud enough to be heard, careful not to awaken her sleeping beauty. Maya often struggled with insomnia, and Carina didn't want to interrupt one of the first times in quite a while that she had easily fallen asleep. Andrew slipped in, trying to move as quietly as possible as he approached the bed. Carina had told him about Maya's insomnia when she had first told him about her. Andrew crawled across the comforter, coming to a halt in front of Carina. He maneuvered so that he was sitting criss-cross-applesauce.

"Che cosa succede?" (What's up?)

"Quella ragazza, Carina." (That girl, Carina.) Andrew shifted his eyes down towards Maya. Carina also looked down, her lips instinctively coming together in a smile.

"Lo so."

"Ti sei procurato un custode, sorella." (You've got yourself a keeper, sis.)

"Lo so."

"Fammi sapere se mai non funziona così posso sposarla." (Let me know if it ever doesn't work out so that I can marry her.)

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to." Carina knew that Andrew was joking, but when she looked down at the girl asleep in her bed, the girl who was using her lap as a pillow, she knew that she wasn't. She was being totally, and entirely sincere. She had sworn the second that things had gotten so bad between her parents that her mom had fled across an ocean to get away from her father that she would never get married. However, looking at Maya, Carina realized that she had been wrong. She was going to get married one day. She was going to get married to Maya Bishop one day. And nothing Maya could ever do would make her want to flee across an ocean.