There's a power outage. And it's right in the middle of looking up next semester's voice rep! But on the plus side, I woke up this morning in Erik's arms. It was like cuddling a skeleton with a heartbeat, but it was sweet and not creepy. I could tell through his touch that his intentions were pure, and if something insane did happen, I had the character-sitting contract to stop an Erik-sized drama. No shattered chandeliers here!

Erik wouldn't talk to the rest of my family that much, so he just ran around the house with me trying out all the lights-nothing. And then we called in to report it and to ask what the heck, and they said that about a four-mile area of our city was experiencing a massive power outage and we could be out for a couple of hours.

I went into my dark bedroom where Erik was hiding and played with the tuning on my ukulele for a little bit. Then I ate a tuna melt that Mom helped me make on our gas grill. Then I came back to my room and Erik could happily hold me again.

"Lauren," Mom called. "Can you come empty the dishwasher?"

"Okay," I called back. "Erik, let me up."

"Why?" he pouted. "I haven't seen you since you rose this morning. I let you get clean and dress, and then your sister came barging in and gave me this strange look-"

"What kind of look?"

"A look like she wondered why I was here. Your family knows, don't they?"

"Yeah. They know the cover story. My sister's just weirdly overprotective and, um, wants to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing instead of slacking off or daydreaming or something. I like living in my own head a little too much, you know?"

"Well..." Did that tone mean a red flag or not?

"Lauren?" Mom calls again.

"I'll be quick," I told Erik, and scrambled back downstairs.

I texted Nadir about Erik's feelings toward my sister. "One notification," announced my phone a few minutes later. "One unread message. Nadir Kahn: Erik is just being Erik, possessive and protective of you. He really did want to go back to our world despite my attempts to convince him to stay, but when you contacted me and asked when he would be back after your friends left, he was in quite a happy mood. He is glad to be wanted and the fact that you like singing lessons is a bonus. My advice regarding your sister: try to keep them apart. Erik can be irrational, and if your sister does have a big personality as you say, it could become ugly if they are together."

Wow-long freaking text.

So I told Erik that once I was back at college, my sister would be at her own college, and wouldn't be checking up on me as much. "Good," Erik replied coolly. "I will not stand to have her be your dictator."

I was really glad I didn't let him bring his Punjab lasso to my world.

Erik had distracted himself from wanting to get my sister off my back by composing and exploring his cell phone. He said it would be good if he knew how to work it before I was in classes again. I'd realized that Erik had been distant recently before the out-of-towners visited, and he was still distant now when the family was home-or more specifically when my sister was home. He did not want to see our interactions. He loved when I was by myself, because then he could hold me and talk with me all he wanted. Even if I was doing something that required just one hand, Erik was at least holding my other hand.

The first time he had held my hand had been the first morning he was back, when I took Treble out to do business and eat breakfast. I needed one hand to hold onto her collar, so Erik tried to walk with an arm around my shoulders. But Treble was too hyper! "Here," I said, grabbing his hand. "Let's just hold hands for now." Erik didn't unknot our fingers until I said I had to pee.

I ran back upstairs after doing the dishwasher and put away my little ukulele. "I'm so bored! I'm afraid to read more because if my computer dies, then I can't charge it, and everything in our society requires freaking power and there's none!"

"Well, I come from a time where electricity was too new to be a necessity. Why don't I play for you?"

"Ooh! Yes! Would you?"

"Of course, but we would have to use your piano downstairs..."

"Okay, so-" I pulled Erik by the hand, but he wouldn't get off my bed. "Dude, you're worse than my dog on the couch. Why don't you want to go downstairs? I'm pretty sure my family will be happy to hear-geese! Geeses!" I heard them honking and flying over the house!

Erik chuckled at me. "You're rather adorable when you get distracted."

"Come on," I said, and walked out of my room.

"Fine." He rose, but before he could grab me, I ran away down the stairs. Erik let out an unhappy noise as he chased after me.

"Hah! I got you out of my room!" I yeled in triumph.

Erik caught up to me and gently and timidly took my hand again. "Won't you let your Erik touch you?"

"Well, yes, but you wouldn't leave my room, so I used myself as bait. See? You're out in the daylight now! ... Where's the piano bench?"

Erik sighed. "You're a very clever little woman. And the bench was moved. No doubt by your ridiculous sister."

"Hey, go easy on her. We moved the furnature around yesterday and she just forgot to put it back."

"Inconsiderate," Erik muttered. "She addresses you like you are no more capable of fending for yourself than a child, scolds you like a pet owner over the smallest things, and now she doesn't even respect your need for organization?"

"I can fix it, and you're being a little dramatic. SHE means well. So, what would you like to play?" But then I heard beeps from our kitchen appliances and our heating start back up. "Wait-OMG! The power's back!"

But Erik pinned me against him with his arms. "No, Lauren. Don't go back to that computer yet. You said we could play."

So we messed around with some classical pieces for a while, and Erik eventually let me go back to my computer, mumbling something about "absurd, lazy millennials being too dependent on their fancy technology."

Yeah, we're aware we have a problem. But we call it something that sounds progressive rather than regressive like societal evolution to feel better about it.