The next morning, after saying a quick good-bye to Nicholas, I headed home and attempted to sneak in before Dylan discovered that hadn't come home. I figured that there was no way that he would be awake at six in the morning, especially on a Saturday.

Apparently I underestimated just what Dylan can do when he finds my Second Cup stash.

As soon as I walked in the door, I could smell it. Coffee. A lot of it. I looked to the counter to see a pot that was nearly empty, and on the couch, sat Dylan, staring absently at the TV screen. I tip-toed to the stairs, and though I was home free when I heard him ask, "where were you?"

I sighed and headed down to where he was. "I'm sorry I didn't call."

Dylan looked up at me from the screen. "What the hell were you doing last night that was so important that you couldn't call me?"

Dylan is most definitely not a morning person. He's also the kind of person who needs a lot of sleep. When he was playing hockey and had early-morning practices, he had to be in bed by nine o'clock. So even though it wasn't his first all-nighter, there was no good company for him, and he was pissed off.

I sighed again. I was getting good at it. "Come on. It's not that big a deal. You've done it before."

"This isn't about me Paige. This is about you!"

"What about me?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You didn't tell me where you were going. You were mad at me when you left. You didn't bother to call to say that you weren't hurt or that you were staying out all night! I called Ashley, Spinner and Hazel, and none of them knew where you were. So I checked if they knew the guy you've been going off with. None of them have met him. Spinner didn't know you were dating someone. Ashley didn't even know his last name! What's going on in your head Paige?!"

I was furious. "What gives you the right to ask me what's going on? You're not interested in my life. And who the hell are you to be so hypocritical! You're not my dad!"

As soon as the word left my mouth, I regretted them. His face twitched, but he remained calm. "You're right Paige. I'm not your dad. And it sucks that you never had one. But news flash, neither did I. And I'm not used to this either! So please, just cut me a little slack. I'm learning as I go, okay?!"

I saw down beside him, but didn't look at him. "I'm sorry. I really don't know how to do this either. And it wasn't that I intentionally didn't call. . . other things were going on." When he said nothing, I got up and headed back to the stairs. I heard his voice low, behind me. It stopped me in my tracks, but I didn't turn around.

"I hope you didn't do something really stupid."

"You're going?!" Ashley exclaimed the next day at the dot after I told her about Nicholas's invitation to come up for his sister's birthday.

"I think so," I said, absently playing with the straw in my diet coke. "I mean, I'd like to. . . I said yes."

"You said yes, but you're not sure if you're going?"

I shrugged. "I'm going. I just have to convince Dylan of that. He's not too pleased that I didn't call him Friday night."

"I don't blame him. Has he even met Nicholas?"

I shook my head. The truth was, Nicholas hadn't met any of my friends. I tried to tell myself that I just wanted him all to myself, but the truth was, I was afraid that the people I cared about the most wouldn't approve.

"Why don't you have him over for dinner one day. Introduce him to Dylan. Maybe Dylan will ease up a bit."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Maybe he knows what's best for you."

"Because I don't?"

"I don't mean it like that. I just mean that if he says you can't go. . . he probably has a reason."

"Everyone always has a good reason. This should be my choice, not Dylan's." I finished my drink, and looked at my watch. "I have to go. The aunties are coming tonight."

"Sounds like fun," Ashley said sarcastically. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Paige come to play?" I heard a small voice ask from my doorway. I turned to see my little cousin Laurie standing there, her favourite doll tucked safely under one arm.

"Oh, hey sweetie. I didn't know you were here yet. I'll come and play in a minute. I need to decide what to wear first."

"Oh," she said, like it was the answer to life. "Did your closet throwed-up?"

Clothes were scattered all over my floor. I wanted to make sure that I looked put together, under control, so that my aunt Alicia would know that we were moving on, that we were doing fine on our own. I couldn't decide on casual or dressy. I didn't know if I should wear my hair up or down. Was make-up too much? Nail polish?

"No, sweetie, my closet didn't throw up. I just can't decide what to wear."

"Oh," she said again. "Well, my mommy picks out my clothes." She walked over to the pile, put her doll down on my bed, picked up a hot pink blouse and handed it to me. "This pretty."

"Should I wear this?"

She nodded, and picked her doll back up. "It's pink, Paige. You supposed to wear pink."

"I'm supposed to wear pink?"

"Yes! Pink is for girls, silly."

I smiled, and changed into the blouse. I decided to keep my jeans. Then I looked over at my nail polish. I smiled evilly. . . aunt Alicia would kill me for this.

"Hey, Laurie, do you want to put on some hot pink nail polish?"

"Mommy! Look at my nails!" Laurie exclaimed, running down the stairs, hand held out proudly.

Aunt Alicia shot a look at me. "Who did that?"

"Paige! It's pretty, right?"

I was going to pay for this later. She looked at the look on Laurie's face and managed out a, "yes, Laurie. It's pretty."

Laurie skipped off happily to show her dad. "Why in the world did you do that?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I was putting some on, and she wanted some. What's the big deal? I wore nail polish when I was her age."

"Your mother was always too lenient with you."

"What?"

"Your mother always let the two of you have whatever you wanted."

"No. She didn't. She was strict with us." I couldn't believe that she was criticizing my mom, even after she was gone. "And by the way, she did an awesome job." I didn't wait to hear her reply. I stormed out of the living room and downstairs, where Dylan, my uncle, aunt Amy and Nate, her fiancé were watching some form of sports on tv.

"Alicia giving you a hard time?" Aunt Amy asked. I nodded, and she laughed. "Man, that girl has got to loosen up." She was about to say something else, then turned to the screen and screamed at the refs.

Nate looked at me, smiled, and rolled his eyes. "It's the rugby that does this to her."

"Rugby?"

"Yeah," Aunt Amy replied. "Why? Don't tell me you've never heard of it."

"I've heard of it. Actually, my boyfriend plays." As soon as the words left my lips, I regretted them. Aunt Amy and turned to me.

"Boyfriend? Really?"

I felt my cheeks flush. She turned around to look at me, the game forgotten in the background. If you didn't look at her, you could swear that she was fifteen. "So how long has this been going on for?"

"Um. . four months, I guess."

"Really. . . so is he cute?"

I felt myself blush a little. "Very."

"So why haven't I heard of him before?"

I shrugged. "We've both been busy," I lied.

"So what's his name?"

"Nicholas."

"How old's he?"

"Amy, would you give her a break?" Nate asked, winking at me. I mouthed 'thank you' to him, and when Aunt Amy turned back, I headed back upstairs. Maybe Laurie had the right idea. . . watching Disney movies really was better than trying to deal with the adults.

"So what have you been up to lately?" Aunt Alicia asked Dylan after dinner had been served.

"Not too much. My course load was heavy this semester, so I kept a low profile," he said before stuffing a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Dylan had been seeing a guy he had met in class all semester, and the two of them had been getting serious. Aunt Amy knew that he was gay, but Aunt Alicia had no idea, and we fully intended on keeping it that way.

"Have you been seeing anyone?"

Dylan's eyes flashed the deer-in-the-headlights look, but quickly recovered by saying, "No one special."

"But Paige is," Aunt Amy quickly supplied. I kicked her under the table, but she didn't say anything.

"Really?" Aunt Alicia asked. She turned back to Dylan. "Have you met this young man?"

I looked at him and begged with my eyes- I didn't want her to demand to meet him. I didn't want her to have access to that part of my life. I didn't want her disapproving stare.

"Yeah, I've met him. Nice guy."

I slowly released my breath, and Aunt Alicia turned her attention to another subject.

"Thanks for covering for me earlier," I said to Dylan later that night, when we were finishing the dishes. Everyone had gone home, and we were finally able to relax.

"No problem. But she did bring up a good point."

I silently put down the plate I was drying. "Which is?"

"I've never met him. I don't even know his name. You're off with him all the time, but I've never seen him."

I shrugged. "We've both been busy."

"I want to meet him."

"Why?"

"I don't have a right to know who's taking my little sis out?"

"I'll have him over one day. But I want you to promise that you'll let me keep seeing him. Whatever you think of him."

"Why? Is he some kind of serial killer?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. He's a really good guy. I just don't want you to get all big-brotherish on me."

"Okay. I promise I'll do my best to not go big-brotherish on you."

"Thank you. Because we both know if you do that, I will have to kick your ass."

He and I both laughed, but I still felt uneasy. There was no way that the two of them meeting could possibly go well.

"Why don't you have him over for dinner next weekend?" he suggested.

Next weekend I was supposed to be going home with him. And there was no way that Dylan was going to agree if he didn't meet Nicholas before. "What about Tuesday?"

He shrugged. "Tuesday's fine."

I swallowed. Neither of them would have any idea what they were getting themselves into.