Exhausted, Daniel was practically dragging his feet by the time he got home. Samantha unlocked the door and stepped inside the flat while he lagged behind. Eventually he made it in as well before allowing himself to fall on top of the couch. He didn't bother changing clothes. He just needed a nap. Somehow, he managed to kick his shoes off in the process, but that's as far as he got.

The Westleys had gotten home a little later than usual, as the man had his first appointment with Mister Grey that afternoon. From Daniel's perspective, they didn't really accomplish much. For the most part, it was just him embarrassingly trying to talk about sex in explicit detail with a practical stranger. He wasn't even able to get to the nitty gritty before they ran out of time. Still, he set up another appointment, as this was apparently a "process" of sorts.

Samantha had stayed at Geraldine's house, having been picked up by the Midford family driver. After her brother's appointment was finished, the man came and retrieved her, but now, he was emotionally spent and felt like he needed a nap. The girl didn't know what kind of appointment Daniel went to and found it a bit odd that he refrained from telling her. Ordinarily, he definitely would have, but older of the siblings felt as though it was for the best that his sister didn't have to think about her brother's sex life. Just the idea that he might have to confess to being assaulted to her was too much for him to bear. Thus, it was best for him to keep that to himself for now. He wasn't ready, yet.

The weight of it was starting to creep again, as it occasionally did. He refused to let it crush him. He couldn't. Not now. He still had Samantha to take care of, so he didn't have time to slip back into that kind of depression. Since breaking it off with Blackwood, he had been completely sober, so that was a start. He was looking into joining one of his friends who exercise to the gym, as well. Daniel was doing everything he could to force all of the negatives away and focusing on becoming the person that he not only wanted to be, but needed to be. Samantha didn't deserve to be raised by a depressive drunk who can't even take care of himself. She needed stability and support, so he was going to provide it. Part of that was taking care of himself, however, which is why he decided to visit Falchion in the first place.

He hadn't even gotten to the "bad" part of the discussion, yet. He was simply discussing his own sexual practises and interests. Falchion said that he wanted him to process those things and develop a healthier outlook on intimacy. All of that started from the ground up, much to Daniel's dismay. It was horrendously awkward. In normal etiquette, one does not discuss their sexual fantasies and masturbation habits with someone they had only recently become acquainted with, although some tragically misguided men on Tinder may disagree with that.

Daniel was tired. With his energy depleted and seemingly nothing more to do at that moment, he decided it would be for the best that he closed his eyes and forget about everything for a little while. That is of course, until Samantha poked his face.

"Are you dead?" she asked, earning a groan in response. "Alright, so you're either alive or undead, then. Lovely."

"I'm tired." the man replied, hearing her rustling around in the kitchen. Then he heard Samantha stop before setting a glass on the counter. There was a pause before she spoke.

"I know something that'll make you even more tired, but it's better to tell you than not." his sister stated.

"Lay it on me." Daniel sighed.

"Nathan called." Indeed, that did make Daniel a lot more tired, yet he still shot up.

Nathan Westley was the oldest of the Westley siblings. He was also the meanest, having taken the most from their parents as far as personality went. The man was frivolous and threw money around because he could. He couldn't hold a job and he couldn't keep a relationship due to his selfishness and inability to take anything seriously. He was awful to his younger siblings in their youth, and if he came ringing, he undoubtedly wanted something.

"How did he even get your number?" Daniel questioned while sitting up.

"I don't know." his sister shook. "Maybe he got it from mum or something? He said he tried calling you, but you wouldn't pick up."

"I blocked his number, that's why. What did he want? Money?"

"Money." the girl nodded. "He said that mum told him that we'd give him some."

"What about his inheritance?"

"He said that he didn't get much. That means that either mum took it, which is also likely, or he spent it, which is equally likely."

"Did you tell him to fuck off?"

"Duh! Once you start giving him money, he'll blow it all and then ask for more! I told him to piss off and hung up on him." Samantha said. "Does he know where the flat is?"

"Ours? I don't think so… But if he did get your number from mum, then maybe? I'm not sure if she knows, either, though. There's no telling."

"Why doesn't mum loan him some? She's the parent, after all. She shouldn't shove 'im on us!"

"She doesn't like spending her money on anybody but herself and her indefinite holiday. God forbid one of us needs something and has the audacity of interrupting her trying to find another old rich man who she can marry for money."

"Isn't she a bit old for that?" the girl asked.

"If she wants to find someone her own age, yeah. She could probably find some eighty or ninety -year-old."

"Ugh." Samantha wrinkled her nose at that, but knew it was true.

Their mother had no time for them, nor did she have any real belief in romance, it seemed. Their parents hated each other. They only stayed together to maintain a certain image, but were more often apart than not. Missus Westley was on a permanent vacation, and both of her two youngest children knew that when she too, ran out of money, she would either go looking for a new husband or come crawling back to them. She would probably bat her eyelashes and tell them the usual sob story about how she was trapped in an unhappy marriage, how her children don't appreciate her and how no one really loves her in hopes of making them feel guilty. It was all so underwhelming to Daniel and Samantha, now. Both knew that as long as they put their foot down and refused to budge, they would be perfectly fine.

"Sammie, don't ever let some guy drag you down. If you're not happy, dump him or get a divorce. Have high standards." Daniel said before laying back down. "Same goes for me."

"Right." the other replied, pouring herself a glass of juice. After a moment, she added: "Or a girl?"

"Girls, too." Daniel nodded, unsure as to whether he would date a woman or not, but entertained the possibility in his head. Either way, he wasn't prepared for the sound of a knock at the door. "Oh, fuck..."

Standing up, he gestured for Samantha to be quiet while the tiptoed to the door. Cautiously, he placed his eye up to the peephole and peered out to see who was there. Seeing nothing, he pulled away with a confused look on his face.

"Who is it?" mouthed his sister from across the room.

"Nobody?" silently shrugged Daniel right back. Just as the man was about to walk away, he heard the knock again, this time, he could tell that it came from lower on the door.

Out of curiousity, the younger of the two walked over and looked for herself, only to see the same thing. Then, she gently pushed her brother further back into the house. Once they had reached the living room, she spoke.

"Don't open the door." she whispered. "It could be Nathan."

"How? There's nobody there?"

"I've heard this happening before. Someone hears a knock at the door, so they look through the peephole to see who it is. Then, seeing nothing, they open the door to look down the hall, only for the person on the other side to jump them out of nowhere because they were hiding in a crouching position just out of sight of the peephole."

"How do you know about this?"

"I'm a girl. It comes with horror stories."

"Right." the man nodded, not needing to ask further. "So, here's what we'll do: be very, very quiet and hide behind the couch."

"That's your plan?"

"You got a better one?"

Realising that she didn't, Samantha followed her brother's plan, hiding behind the sofa like he instructed, only to be joined by him soon after. They waited for a few seconds, only for the knocking to continue. This time, it was more aggressive.

"Oh, c'mon, Danny!" called a voice from the other side. "I know you're home!"

Daniel shut his eyes as he winced at the recognition of the voice. Both he and his sister knew it to be Nathan, but still, they remained silent. They didn't want to put up with this conversation, but also didn't want to come back. Nathan was the kind to keep coming until he got his foot in the door, and once he had that, he might never leave.

"What are we going to do if he doesn't leave?" Samantha whispered.

"Don't know… I know a couple of guys who can scare him a bit… Get him off our backs?" suggested the older Westley.

"Has it really come to that?"

"If he keeps coming back, maybe."

After a while, the knocking and shouting ceased, but the pair did not rest easy just yet. The eldest of the Westley siblings could be faking having left so that he could catch the others inside ignoring him. They waited. They waited for a long time. Then, after a seemingly inappropriate amount of time, they decided that it was time to come out of hiding. That, and Daniel's leg was starting to hurt from the position he was sitting in and needed to stand up.

"I think he's gone." he said, stretching his limbs and popping his joints.

"Okay, you are way too young to have your bones make those noises." Samantha replied. "Go to a gym."

"Focus, Sam."

"Right, I think he's gone, too. But what happens if he comes back?" the girl questioned. "Hide behind the couch like cowards?"

"If he keeps coming back, I'll see if I can get a Phantomhive or somebody to startle him a bit." Daniel stated. "Preferably the blue one."

"Yeah, the blue one's got a look about him."

"He's evil. Like, legitimately shady. But, he's a pretty nice guy."

"How can you be both? That doesn't make any sense?"

"Trust me. I've seen him. Somewhere underneath all that angst and that scowl, there's a fucking dweeb. Anyway. We're going to block Nathan's number tomorrow..."

"Agreed..."


A/N: This was hard to write for some reason... I haven't been feeling too good over the weekend, so my mind was elsewhere. I'm sorry about that.

I wanna write this confrontation really, really, soon. I just wanted to update, mostly. Sorry to leave you hanging!

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!