The yacht ride had been pretty uneventful. They had to wait hours for it since they missed the earlier schedule. During their wait, Frank engaged Holly in some small talk and catching-up to wrest his mind away from the gnarled hands of anxiety. He tried to assure himself that he would see Joe when they reached Um and convince Joe to leave the island with him and back to Bayport.

Holly was pretty conversational- since young, she had been trained by her guardian in social graces that were evident in her ladylikeness- a huge contrast with Callie's raw candor. However, because of the pressures to always perform up to her father's standards, three quarters of which were imagined up by herself, Holly felt trapped and the feeling of being caged turned into an urgent need for rebellion. She ran amok- in her thoughts, emotions and soon, her actions. Now, the rough edges of adolescence weathered away and standing there before Frank was a young lady, still a little unsure but at least she was happy.

"It'll be fifteen minutes to Um!" Holly joined him on the deck where he stood; leaning slightly forward over the railing, taking in the salty breeze and thinking of ways to inform Fenton and Laura that he had lost Joe without being killed.

"You sure look excited! C'mon, smile! Your brother's on the island. It won't be long till we see his straw hair and ugly face." Holly nudged his side and he managed a weak smile.

"Straw hair and ugly face… hah! Wait till Joe hears of it. You must promise me to keep your opinions to yourself, or at least, away from him or I'll be the one who suffer…" Frank laughed a little. He could imagine Joe's striking mien turning dreadfully aghast at the worst insult anyone could give him- his wide eyes would grow rounder and rounder until they were all irises and his mouth would be gaping with shock. Next, he would be as still as a zombie before he start screaming his lungs out. Holly's description could possibly send Joe, who was always a little vain, over the edge.

"Why will your kid brother torment you for a comment that I've made?" Holly arched a brow and peered into his eyes in all innocence.

"Try having someone following you 24/7 asking you, 'Do you think what she said was true? Am I really that ugly as she said?' etc. etc. It's not torment, Holly. It's hell!" Frank turned over and leaned his back against the railing. Holly did the same and Frank was reminded of what a psychiatrist once said. A person who was attracted to another would unconsciously imitate the actions of his/her object of affection.

"I didn't know that Joe was so conscious of the way he looked. Anyway, he has nothing to worry about, judging from the harem he has in school. But I heard he hooked up with someone already… right?"

"Yup. Vanessa Bender. They were prom king and queen… quite a sweet couple." Frank replied absentmindedly. Talking and thinking about Joe fuelled the momentarily dormant anxiety and soon, it was cruising up and down his veins with too much glee. Though it would never show on his face, Frank's mind was riddled with questions of what-ifs.

"Tell me something I'll be surprise at. How about you? I heard about high school sweethearts getting engaged before college…"

"Callie and I have broken up a few months back." Frank answered her directly and saw her blushing furiously.

"I wasn't trying to… well..." She shrugged, lost for words, before breaking into a soft smile, playing with her hair at the same time. Frank grinned, not at all offended by her subtle questioning.

"It's ok. How about you? Met someone?"

"Nope. No one in UCLA that I've taken a fancy to. Somehow, they all don't measure up." She gazed up at the sky and Frank, for a moment, was mesmerized by the loveliest smile he thought he had ever seen in a girl.

How quickly we have forgotten about Callie Shaw.

"Measure up to whom or what?"

She stole a glance which implied volumes at him but he chose not to acknowledge it. It was not long before she shook her head with a whimsical smile on her face.

"My expectations." She replied and he nodded, conceding to the complete validity of her answer.

***

"You said Frank will be here and we walked through forest without even stopping to catch a breather and he's not here!" Joe slammed his backpack onto the beach and crossed his arms angrily, oblivious to the scene he was creating. The lady shook her head and smiled at him, bemused by his tantrum. Joe decided then that if they were going to make his life miserable, he would make theirs hell.

I don't care! Don't care! I'm not going to budge and be all nice and friendly this time!

"He'll arrive soon. He must be held up. Why don't you take a rest in the resort before everyone around you start branding you an angry idiot?" She asked him sweetly with a smile that caused his face to scrounge up more in frustration. He was tired but what kept him walking through the forest, enduring a splinter that had impaled in his thumb when he accidentally fell down once, was the anticipation of seeing his brother again soon. These freaks could be lying to him after all and poor Frank was probably already buried beneath the ocean and he would be next.

It was then he smelled burning charcoal. A barbecue! His mind, lethargic but over-active, convinced him that they were going to eat him up and was preparing the fire to cook him. It could be the long plane ride, it could be Frank's absence or it could be something he did not understand yet but Joe felt his eyes tearing.

"I'm not an angry idiot. You hurt my brother. I never got to see him. I'll probably never see him again!" Joe hissed back at her and breathed in deeply to stop himself from crying. He would not show them his weakness. He would be brave and fight to the end. His brother would expect nothing less from him, neither did himself.

The lady stood in front of him with her hands akimbo. Now, she was not smiling and neither was she amused. If the expression on her face was anything to go by, she was the perfect picture of someone who was very irritated.

"You're coming into the resort, young man! I am given strict orders to make you comfortable and you're not helping me by acting like a child and throwing a tantrum that should not come from a man! I promised you that you'll find your brother here and I intend to keep my promise! Now, will you go or not?"

"NO! You and Clown only want me to go away from my brother. Well, I won't fall for any tricks this time! I'm going to stay right here until Frank appears in front of me!" Joe spoke resolutely, pointing on the ground in front of him for dead emphasis.

"You'll have better luck waiting at the jetty. The yacht's arriving soon." The lady frowned at him before pointing in the direction of a long stretch of jetty some distance away. A beautiful yacht with a huge white sail and bluish metallic body was already parked there. Joe shielded his eyes with one hand and found ire rising up his chest again.

But this time for a completely different reason.

"Frank is arriving in a yacht?" Joe asked stately.

"Yup."

"One as nice as that?"

"Oh no. He's on the second yacht here and it is much bigger and prettier. More luxurious too."

"And I have to trek through that damn forest to get here. Great!" Joe threw his hands up in the air. "Just great!"

"Do I smell envy? Don't get pissed over it. Everybody's experience is unique. Now, you can boast about seen half the forest on the island, right?"

"BOAST? Boast about waking up with sand in my mouth, stumbling up and down a trail, sweating like a skewered pig in the sun and helping someone pick up dead leaves? I'm sure he'll much more to say about the nice yacht. Thanks a lot for singling me out to be the one to suffer." Joe spun around and glared at her. She threw him an innocent expression but he could tell she was laughing at him from behind her twinkling eyes.

"You're welcome. So, where are going to? The jetty or the resort?" She asked again, indicating to his backpack which implied the answer she wanted. Not wanting to be an obedient little boy, Joe pouted before turning around and stalking away in the direction of the jetty.

"Hey!" She shouted after him and he started running away from her, needing some space from this trip which had not been anything but crazy.

***

"He gets to come in a yacht. I got a sick deal. Drugged and dragged to a forest. Yacht! Oh, it is much bigger and prettier! More luxurious too! Load of bull! What kind of place is this?" Joe mumbled to himself as he sat at the edge of the jetty with his legs dangling over the side. He was too angry to admire the sight before him and a small part of him wondered if he should still be worried about Frank even if his guts instincts which he always trusted told him Frank was safe and in extreme comfort.

Joe brought his right arm up to his nose and sniffed it. He stank of perspiration. The anger melted away, replaced by a twinge of regret. If he was in the resort, maybe he would be enjoying a hot bath. Feeling thirsty and hungry, Joe grumbled incoherent phrases and pounded a fist repeatedly onto the ground.

Wait! THERE! FRANK!

Upon seeing a little yacht-shaped dot in a far away distance, Joe scrambled up to his seat and started jumping up and down, waving his hands about as if Frank had some magical sight and could spot him from where he was, about ten thousand miles away. However, that little bit of exercise made him feel happier. He remembered Vanessa telling him it had everything to do with those nice things called endorphins. It must be true for he always felt extremely pleased with the world after a tiring gym session.

"HEY!!!" Joe shouted, running to the very end of the jetty after the yacht was near enough and he could see the outline of Frank and some girl on the deck. It was then he was aware of the calming sea breeze blowing against him, drying his bright yellow surfer's T-shirt which was drenched in perspiration before. Now that he knew Frank was indeed safe and sound, he had no idea if he was running to catch more of the invigorating salty air or to welcome his brother. It could be both. He just felt exhilarated.

"HEY! BRO! I'M HERE!" He yelled and saw Frank waving enthusiastically back at him. From afar, the girl next to Frank seemed very attractive indeed with deep red hair and a nice slim figure. Joe wondered if Frank had somehow charmed her on their trip to the island.

Then suddenly, he was very mad. Frank should be worried about his kid brother, not chatting up some girl. That was something Joe would do, not Frank. It was definitely out of Frank's character to do so and it left a bitter taste in Joe's mouth.

He stopped where he was, just a few steps away from the end and halted, pressing an arm against his chest trying to catch his breath but it was difficult to do so since he was POed. Glaring at the yacht which had already pulled up at the jetty, he realized after a while that he was fuming at the very face of his brother.

"Hullo brat! Happy to see your big bro?" Frank waved at him to which Joe could only narrow his eyes.

"Yah. Very happy. You look comfortable." Joe replied blandly but he did a double take when he saw who the girl who had arrived with Frank onto the island was.

Holly Strand! That pesky, weak, no-mind-of-her-own Holly Strand who almost-got-us-killed.

"Woah…" Joe remarked as she strolled down the platform linking the yacht and the jetty, able to keep perfect balance even as the platform rocked with the yacht which was in sync with the choppy waters. She threw him a dazzling smile and he smiled sheepishly back.

"Hello Joe! It's been a long time!" She pushed her fringe out of her eyes, her smile never wavering at any point. Joe slanted his sight towards Frank and was met with a warning look that told him not to jump to any conclusions.

Yah, right. Hahahahaha. Frank and Holly! Hahahahaha.

He hadn't realized he was sniggering aloud until both Frank threw him a dirty look and Holly gazed at him as if he had suddenly gone crazy, which was perhaps not too far away from the truth given what he had just been through.

"Just keep a lid on, all right brat? It's not what you think." Frank drew close to Joe and whispered as he wrapped a hand around Joe's neck, almost choking Joe's sinister laughter in his throat as he led him away. Joe tugged at Frank's grip as he almost tripped a few times because Frank was walking too fast and too furiously.

"Can't… talk…. Can't breathe…" Joe dramatized what he was feeling with wide gestures. Frank had the most evil sneer at the side of his lips.

"Good. We'll keep it that way."

"Don't you want to hear how I got here?" Joe pulled his lips into a grim line after Frank released his hold. Frank put an arm around him then and it was then Joe saw tensed relief in Frank's eyes. So Frank had been worried after all but he was not one who would be overtly affectionate or expressive about his feelings, especially towards his kid brother.

"I'm all ears... later. Right now, I'm just glad you're ok… still a little irritating but at least you're all right." Frank smiled at him, a genuine warm smile and Joe playfully nudged his brother's side.

"Me too." He answered, hearing Holly's footsteps behind them, catching up really fast. "She sure blossomed."

"Oh, shut up" Frank's face darkened for a while but when he thought Joe was not noticing, a slight smile crept up the side of his lips.

"Hey guys! It's rude to leave me behind!" Holly barged in between the both of them and linked arms with them. She took in a deep breath and stared up at the late afternoon sky which was turning tangerine as evening approached.

"This will be one of the most beautiful places you've ever been to. You'll never forget Um. We have to get you two ready for tonight!"

"But I'm whacked from the plane ride…" Joe grumbled and Frank nodded in agreement as well.

"Oh, you'll have plenty of time to sleep... you wouldn't want to miss the tea party!" Holly whispered loudly in a conspiratorial tone before breaking into a series of giggles. Joe exchanged a baffled glance with Frank which she noticed.

"I know it's in your blood but you can throw your suspicions away. I have friends to introduce the both of you! Time to PARTY!"