BACK TO YOU

The next few days were great for all intended purposes, Lyra hanged around everybody, giving each one of them the spare time of the day to spend with. Lupa was the only one that didn't bother at all, everyone else was disappointed, but left it be, they had to resolve it on their own. Lyra did talk to her, but it always came off awkward and full of uncertainty on the older girl's behalf. Lupa would only shrug her off much to Lyra's disappointment. In regards to her and Lemy on the other hand, everything sailed smoothly for them both, the day after their bedroom talk it was all back to normal, Lyra was back to her confident, gleeful self. Lemy wanted to talk about last night's exchange, but chose to drop it in order to do more meaningful activities with her.

On Saturday after spending the previous day dragging his feet through most of the day at school and sitting bored alone in his room for she had gone around town with Lincoln and Lynn he now had the chance to spend an actual full day with her. His alarm clock ringing early morning, something he would never do, roused him from his sleep. With a smile he got to his feet and stretched his body. It was 7 in the morning and he felt absolutely ready to start. Ever since entering high school together, Lynn finally got him to follow a daily workout routine, one that didn't require him to actually go to the gym as he found it pressuring to be around massive bodybuilders who would only silently judge you with their arrogant stares. No thanks, he's very content to workout from the privacy of his home, not that he's overweight or a walking skeleton. On the contrary he's in great shape for his age, no bulking muscles or anything that crazy, just the perfect body ratio for the average healthy teenage male of his age.

After completing his morning aerobics and lifting his 20lbs dumbbells he felt ready for the day. Before getting a chance to pull out his drawers the urge to relieve himself got noticed. Reaching for the door he opened it wide and was now face to face with Lyra. Both didn't say anything at first, taken aback about the sudden interaction. Lyra was still wearing her long sleeve pajamas and her hair was a nestling mess. Surprise in her eyes as well in Lemy's as both kept on starring at one another in silence.

"... Morning?" Lemy finally said.

"... Mo-Morning!" It took a while for Lyra to respond as her eyes had wondered about his body, all he was wearing wear his boxers and a muscle shirt allowing her to see a portion of his bare body, his hair too was an equal mess as hers too.

"Is something wrong?" Lemy was now concerned, why else would she be standing by his door this early as well?

"N-Nothing really! Just...came back from the bathroom. I was not sure if you were up already, giving that it's a Saturday and such..." Lyra explained her words with her hands, a hint of unexpected awkwardness in her small smile.

"I don't really wake up this early, but...today is different." Lemy pointed out, him too, unsure of how to phrase it.

"Yes. Well..." Lyra crossed her arms to her chest.

Lemy wanted to ask her out, invite her to walk around town, take her to the mall, the local music shop, even the skatepark, but the silence had overtaken his voice and he just stood in place as she fidgeted about. Most of the household hasn't woken up yet and here they were, alone again, a space filled with an unknown force between the two. Four years really does that to you apparently. He was still trying to understand his position with her and admittedly not the brightest in the family had no capability to read her mind at the moment. All he could see was the conflicted look in her eyes and he wasn't sure if it was her not knowing how to proceed their conversation or if it was because her idiot younger brother was just standing there uncomfortably looking at her like some damn wax model. This was getting ridiculous for Lemy, man up already and ask her. With no more seconds wasted he went for it.

"Do you want to do something today?" They both said in perfect unison.

Both jumped with surprise. Lyra covered her mouth with both hands and Lemy leaned slightly backwards, both amazed at each other's response. After a while, Lyra started giggling, hands still connected to her mouth, but now rolled up in fists allowing him to better see that cute smile of hers taking shape. He too smiled and let out a small chuckle. Soon, both siblings started laughing with restraint at their antic. This must have been a godsend for all the previous tension of uncomfortableness was now gone. Lyra posture changed as she stood straight and confident after that good laugh and so did Lemy as well.

"Well that was strange." Lyra said

"Totally." Lemy smiled at her, "Got some telepathy going on, that should be fun."

"Maybe we do." She replied back as she played with her hair, "Looks like we're both free for today then right?"

"Guess we are."

With no more words being exchanged, Lyra playful punched him in the shoulder as she began to walk back to her room. Before entering she looked back over to him, "Wear something nice okay?"

"I will." Lemy told her, leaning on the door frame.

Lyra couldn't stop smiling at him and held on to the door before sliding back to her room at a slow rate, never breaking eye contact. Once the door had shut, Lemy stood by himself staring at her door. He let out a long groan feeling the rising heat inside of him. He was excited to spend all day with her, but damn was this getting complicated by each new conversation with each other. Might as well get dressed for the day, she did say to wear something nice after all. As his mind explored all current thoughts, Lacy had exited her room and walked down the hall towards him. She stood next to him with hands behind her back and a raised eyebrow at her brother's random behavior out in the hallway.

"You okay?"

"Lacy? I..am fine. Everything is fine." Lemy snapped out of it.

"Why you up so early?" She asked.

"Um, just cause?"

It was stupid to hide his intentions, there was nothing to hide. Him and Lyra are just going to spend some time together, just them, alone, in town. Just two siblings who have not seen each other in a very long time. Today he would get to be around a very beautiful girl who is equally happy to see him too. Lacy could see him lost in his thoughts again. She tapped him on the nose to regain his attention.

"Hey, you are clearly not a morning person at all." Lacy got closer to him and presses her chest against his own.

"How about after I go do my thing in the restroom I come over and you and I can have a quickie in your bed to start off the day?" She whispered in his ear. Lemy looked at her with interested while the teenager sported a cheeky smile on her. Can't say that he wasn't opposed to the idea, better get it all out of his system before their date later today, don't want his body to start acting inappropriately around her. Hold up did he say date? Lacy pressed herself harder against his chest and she was definitely not wearing a bra for he could feel her breasts rubbing themselves individually on him. She gave him a quick kiss before turning around and walking down to the restroom. Lemy didn't waste anymore time and headed back inside to get changed. Well not yet at least. He's got to please an athlete first.

Downtown...

Truth be told that there really wasn't that much to do in Royal Woods. Being a small town took away many options as major sites of entertainment. Lyra had already visited most of the stores yesterday, now here they were walking around downtown, not in search of anything in particular, but just enjoying each other's company. The day was mildly cloudy and temperatures were to be around the same this time of year, he could see Lyra shivering up a bit despite wearing a coat on her. He would have asked to hold hands, you know, to warm up the coldness in hers, but she was wearing gloves and it would have been extremely odd to do such a thing to begin with. They had been walking for a while now, side by side. Took the bus since Aunt Lucy took the spare car to Detroit for a quick errand and the car that he thought was a rental that Lyra had gotten was just for that single day. The last hour for the bus schedule ended at around 8pm so they had the whole day together before deciding to head back home. They could also get picked up by any of the three adults home since Lucy and Lincoln would be back home before dinner.

"It's much colder than I remember." Lyra rubbed her hands together, her breath visible to the common eye.

"California don't go below 45 degrees?" Lemy playfully asked.

"Rare occasions. Most of the time during the fall season, the weather sticks to the 60s. Rest of the year it's sunny or straight up burning." Lyra explained.

"You'll readjust. This is our home." Lemy responded.

Lyra stopped walking. She looked on forward, down the streets ahead, nothing in particular, just a stare that had no target. Lemy wondered what she was thinking for it seemed as she went into deep thought at that very moment. Her face was neutral of any emotions, no signs of anything, just a blank stare that he didn't understand.

"...It always was, wasn't it?" She finally replied.

"Is...is something bothering you?" Lemy placed a hand on her shoulder.

Lyra looked over at him and sighed, "Yes, everything is Lemy...I..." She searched for her next words, but quickly lost her focus and changed the subject, "Let's go to the record store! I didn't get the chance to see it yesterday!"

Grabbing his hand she dragged him along towards the store. Her behavior was all over the place and all he could only do was stick by her side which is something he already wanted to do. Walking inside they both let go of each other and looked around the music store. Not much to witness, a single massive, one story floor room with many aisles, each carrying different genres of music discs, tapes and electronic equipment. Lemy would visit often, looking for new music to try out or to get a new set of headphones whenever the last ones would break. Lyra smiled, this place bringing back so many wonderful memories from her earlier youth. Luna would always bring them both every weekend to search for new music as well to talk up business with the store manager. It was mostly business, but they both got to explore all the music they could get their hands on, pleasant memories regardless.

"Come on, It's been ages for me." Lyra walked forward, happily waving him over to her.

Lemy scratched his head in confusion, but followed with his own smile on him. Lyra was taking her sweet time checking out every album disc of very possible artist on display, admiring the artwork of the cover and reading the songs included. Lemy stood by her side, but his eyes wear more focused on her than on the stands in front of him. He may say otherwise, but he was totally checking her out. His eyes moved form her face down to her body, making sure he was being as sublte as possible while doing so. He really did like her new hair cut, it made her look much more mature than what she really looked. She grew so much, he couldn't understand why she looked so amazing right now and why this feeling within him kept growing the more he lingered around her. Hoping he wasn't invading her privacy he leaned in closer to her just an inch from touching shoulders and looked down at the album covers she was seeing. Damn it, he could see the shape of her well endowed breasts pressing against her shirt now, not what he was expecting to see.

"Anything you like?"

Lemy pulled back almost immediately in surprise, "E-E-Everything looks great!"

"Nothing in particular catching your eye?" She slyly asked.

Fuck, did she catch him starring? He wanted to hide, or punch himself unconscious, This is not how he wanted to be behaving around her at all, just a simple day for both of them to hang out together. He needed to control himself, he can be a totally horn dog with Lupa and Lacy, but Lyra...she was special, very special to him. The last thing he wants and fears is for her to be disgusted by his unintentionally perverse attitude, he treasured her too much to see her in such way. But lately... that's all he's been feeling, albeit in a much more intimate way. He waiting for a response, but she just shrugged and kept on looking. Okay, maybe she didn't mean it in that way.

"I had a nice collection back in my dorm, shame I left if behind." Lyra walked away to the next aisle.

"You could have brought it with you." Lemy chimed in.

"Oh I...packed to quickly, didn't really thought about it until I boarded the plane." She explained.

"I'm sure you could have had it all packed in time?" He asked.

"Got distracted. Plane was about to take off." She added.

Lemy looked at her sideways, she spoke that sentence very fast. He was not going to delve any further, even though there was so much more he wanted to ask her, many questions he needed to hear from her. But not now, this conversation between them both can wait at an appropriate time and place. Right now they were, as he much as he didn't want to call it...on a date to put it in simple terms.

"Mom is coming over in two weeks, she managed to squeeze in as much material as possible in order to see you." Lemy changed the subject.

"Figures she would do such a thing." Lyra rolled her eyes, "It's not like I'm going to disappear again."

"I really hope you don't." He spoke, uncertainty in his voice and eyes.

"Lemy...I..." Lyra crossed her arms on her chest and looked down on the ground, a look of regret on her face. He on the other hand shoved his hands to his pockets and too looked around anywhere expect into her eyes. Somehow this dreadful conversation continued sneaking up on them at every possible opportunity. Shaking his head, he pulled out his hands and approached her. Grabbing a hold of both her shoulders she looked up at him as he placed his forehead with her own.

"It's okay." Both their eyes focused on each other, "You're here now."

"Yeah..." She softly replied.

Both refused to back away, somewhat enjoying each other's proximity. Lyra raised her hands up and placed them on his sides, keeping his head in place. She grinned, touching his nose with hers. Lemy had dropped his smile as his heart beat accelerated, he was way past the space of privacy with his sister, but she didn't seem to mind it. He looked down at her lips and saw her gingerly smacking her lips together, an act of anticipation for something. This only re-enforced the urge within him to want to do the one thing invading his mind at the moment. He was resisting so bad, resist the urge to not fucking ruin their relationship, not destroy what they had started to rebuild. But he was right there just a few inches away from sealing the deal with this girl and not just any girl, not just his sister, but the one person he has cherished more than anyone else in his life. Then it came to him, she wasn't pulling away. Maybe she...wanted this too? Was Lyra feeling the same way? Fuck, he was never good at these mind games, and if it was all a game and she pulled back and said 'gotcha!' he would fucking hate the world and himself.

Both Lemy and Lyra where now more than an inch from each other when Lyra just moved her head to his side and buried herself to his neck and wrapped herself around him, "I'm so happy to be here with you. That's all that matters to me!"

Fuck him.

"I'm glad." Lemy patted her gently, his face very flustered.

"Oh I love this song!" She said excitedly as the store's intercom played the next song on its playlist. An old hit song from a popular pop singer from the 2010s. He didn't know that she was into pop music that much, but hey the more he knew the better for them two.

"Let's not waste our time standing here, there's still much more I want to check out." She walked past him and he had no choice but to oblige to her needs and wants.

They checked up the entire store, every nook and cranny possible grabbed a whole lot of CDs that had caught their attention and added it to their inventory. Having spend enough time, they headed for the register and checked out their items. Lemy ever a gentleman carried the bag for her, a kind gesture she appreciated from him. Walking out the store the were greeted by a strong gust of wind. Lyra not expecting such act from nature slightly lost her balance, but Lemy was quick enough to grab her. Sadly he too was caught off guard and her entire weight pushed him down to the floor. Landing on their rears, Lemy held on to her, making sure she was safe. For her part, Lyra starred laughing at the whole situation, which Lemy soon followed with his own laughter too.

Both got to their feet as the wind kept blowing so unexpectedly around town, other residents holding on to their hats and bags as they carried on. Lyra leaned on Lemy still laughing from her silly fall. Seeing her with such a high spirits was warming him up deeply inside. He placed a hand in front of his face so the strong blast of air wouldn't obstruct with his vision and keep looking at her. Lyra regained her composure and smiled at him.

"I did that on purpose!" She shouted.

"Of course you did." He smugly rolled his eyes at her, "Good thing you got a haircut, you would be eating your own hair right now with this wind."

"Ha! Ha! So funny." Lyra's sarcasm was obvious for him. The wind began to die down a bit and they stood around, looking for anything around them to interact with.

"Where to now?" She wondered out loud, clearly asking him the question.

"Wherever you want to go." Lemy responded back.

She couldn't explain it, but she was extremely happy at the moment. Something she missed feeling much. Despite being 21 years of age and five years his senior, just being around him brought back the child in her. She felt so young by his side, only with him did she truly felt so alive. Here they were acting like children, very immature, goofing around with each other on the streets of Royal Woods. Not a single care about what any other person though of them both as she happily swung from the trees planted on the sidewalk with one hand, around and around as Lemy looked on at her antics. Just two siblings who had lost touch, catching up with each other. She loved it, just them to together. Nobody else to interrupt them from their fun or force them to separate. She wanted to spend it all with him, only him and no one else.

Lemy brought her to an ice cream shop and ordered two vanilla ice cream cones for them both. Walking out they continued their journey around town, making the most of it before it was time to head back home. As Lyra licked on her cone Lemy found it hilarious to tap it from underneath and smear it on her nose. His sister gasped in shock at his action and stared at him in disbelief. He immediately regretted his actions and started apologizing to her, believing he went way out of line. Half way through his sentence, Lyra gave him a devilish grin and planted her entire ice cream cone on his face, facially smearing him whole. He just stood still as Lyra laughed at him and swayed her hips arrogantly.

"What now?" She taunted him.

Lemy looked back at her and without warning grabbed her and started shoving his own ice cream to her face. Lyra screamed in excitement and laughter as she tried to get away from him. Both were now covered in vanilla ice cream and laughing their asses off. People gave them weird looks as they passed by them, but the overall attitude of them both was too hugh for them to care. Lemy began to clean her face with his hands, but Lyra just chuckled back.

"You're making it worse!" She smiled.

"I can just lick it off then." Lemy said, but his heart dropped hard after realizing what he had just said.

Lyra gave him a wide stare in return and he felt very vulnerable again. She said nothing, probably thinking about what he had just proposed to her and he was now mentally cursing himself hard for it. Eventually with one finger out she wiped up some of the ice cream on his face and licked it herself. Now this made him fucking blush hard, that ice cream was now melting faster on his face for sure.

"Only if you let me do it first." She suggestively raised her eyebrows at him.

Fucking hell, why was she doing this to him? Was this torture? It had to be torture, no way she would say something like that and to her own brother of all people? It was now Lemy's turn to stare at her with eyes wide open. She bursted out another laugh out of her, leaning down to her knees.

"Bro! That was way too funny!" She said in between laughs, "It's okay. We all say dumb stuff every now and then."

She got him yet again. He should really stop with all the assumptions and not get overwhelmed by every word or action she took with him. Either way it was starting to get late for them both, best head on home and meet up with the rest if the family. Hopefully the bus was still around to get taken back to Franklin Avenue. It had been a great day, for all intended purposes and the fact that Lyra was smiling and laughing was an absolute mission accomplished. Lemy pulled out a rag that he always kept around with him and cleaned up his face. He then placed the rag on her face and started wiping it clean too. She stood still waiting for him to finish, no real hurry for either one anyway.

"There you go, pretty face again." Lemy said.

"You're too kind." Lyra told him. She lowered her gaze to the floor and clasped her hands together, "It's more than what..."

Lemy kind figured out what she was getting at and cut her off immediately, "Your my sister, I will always...care about you. I lost you for too long to not show you all the love in the world."

Lyra quickly got shy at his words, words that he truly meant for her. A genuine honesty that she had not experienced in a long time. She fidgeted about uncertain what to do next, feeling confused and somewhat agitated, whatever was on her mind it sure was whispering uncomfortable thoughts to her. Her eyes started getting wet and before he could ask she cut him off.

"I'm sorry, but can we go home now?" Lyra asked, sounded more like a plea, "Please?"

"Okay? Sure let's go." Lemy and her started walking to the closest bus stop, both in silence.

Back Home...

Arriving at the house they walked up to the porch. Since getting on the bus the situation suddenly got quiet between them both. Even if he wanted to say something, anything to lighten up the mood he found no voice to share with her. He really hated this, did not enjoy this feeling at all and knew that she felt the same way too. From the outside they could hear all the ruckus going on inside the house, just as noisy as their namesake could grant. The family was always active in some shape or form, always bringing an abundance of energetic life to that house and the whole street as a whole. Lyra walked ahead giving Lemy her back as he quietly followed behind. He stood by the steps as she unlocked the door and and opened it. He felt extremely disappointed at how this day had ended for them. Hated how he somehow felt responsible for ruining the great day they were having.

Before Lyra walked in she halted her steps and turned around to face him, "Lemy I'm sorry! I...I... nothing that you did was wrong... it's...just..."

"What is it?" He genuinely asked her.

"... you're too good for me." She muttered low enough for him to not hear properly.

"Uh, what?"

Lyra looked back at him and put on a brave face, "Doesn't matter. I really enjoyed spending time with you. You made me smile, that's a win in my book. Just remember that... it will never be your fault."

She walked up to him and much to his surprise planted a kiss on his cheek, not a quick smooch or just pressing her lips to him, instead a very caring and loving kiss to him. Backing away from him she smiled back, biting her lower lip as she felt astounded for what she just did, "I...care about you too."

"Let's go inside I'm starving."