AN: Hey guys! Here's number Six, and where I'm going to start tying this into the show. Let me know what you think and please enjoy!

PS: Don't be too hard on Dex, lol. Ya gotta see it from her point of view.

Six

The following morning, Dex jogged downstairs and was immediately annoyed with what she saw. There was a tangle of limbs and blankets sprawled out over the couch, and she didn't have to bother guessing who it was.

Dex stared at her sister with that level of disapproval and disappointment that could only come from knowing someone for the entirety of their lives. Yesterday, she'd called Desi a dozen times, maybe more, and she hadn't picked up. She'd been looking for her for so long that she had no choice but the call the bar, and still her sister wasn't there. Dex gave up after that and went to bed. Apparently, Desi snuck in some time later and passed out on the couch.

The knock on the door brought Dex back into the moment. When she answered it, she was glad to see Grey standing on the front step.

She smiled and with a heavy, tired sigh, she said, "Hey."

"Morning." Grey chuckled.

Dex stepped aside and waved her arm, silently beckoning him into the house. Grey did as she asked, tugging his sunglasses off in the process. Dex closed the door, moved around him, and headed toward the kitchen.

"So," Grey said as he followed. "What's the problem?"

"I don't know." She grumbled. "The damn disposal just stopped working. It just hums now."

"What'd you put down it?" Grey asked with a knowing tone.

Dex immediately plastered her most innocent expression across her face, ready to spout her many excuses, but it faded when she turned around and saw what Grey had hidden under his sunglasses: a black eye. Dex's jaw went tight as she scowled.

"What happened there, hm?" She asked, somehow already knowing the answer.

"Oh, this?" He pointed to the blemish. "Nothing, it's fine."

Dex sucked on her teeth as she nodded sarcastically. "Yeah, something tells me that's Des's handiwork."

Grey scoffed and eyed her like she was crazy. It rang hollow. "You think your sister punched me in the face?"

"Oh, no," her laugh held absolutely no kindness or joy. "No, I don't, but I know she's the reason for it, isn't she?"

He chewed on his bottom lip and hesitated to answer. Even though she knew he was willing to lie, probably to keep her from getting angry, his lack of response was all the answer she needed.

"God damn it," she snapped. Dex instantly grabbed a tall glass and filled it with water from the tap. "She always does this, always."

"Look, it wasn't her fault, okay?"

"Oh, it never is." Dex said tightly. She opened the freezer and dropped a handful of ice cubes into the glass. After she slammed it shut, she turned to Grey again. "You know why I was looking for her last night?"

Grey's shoulders slumped. She could tell he knew she was in the middle of a tangent and that the wisest thing to do was just step aside.

"No," He muttered.

"Because I got a call from a cop, a detective, from Nashville." Her anger was growing. "He told me that she's wanted for questioning in connection with a case he's working. Grand Larceny, Grey. She's wanted for Grand Larceny because she stole her ex's stuff, sold it, then skipped town."

He didn't reply, but she could see how badly the good-guy in him wanted to defend her. He didn't, though. Grey didn't say anything.

"And I was stupid enough to think this time might be different." Dex shook her head disappointedly. "But it's just the same old shit."

Without another word, she charged into the living room a few yards away, yanked the blanket off of her sleeping sister, and proceeded to dump the contents of the glass all over her. As one would expect, Desi shot up, gasping for air and stifling a scream of shock. She panted and breathed heavily for a few seconds, clearly doing her best to remember where the hell she was, until her gaze finally landed on Dex. Dex shot her a sarcastic smile.

"Mornin'." She chimed. The smile faded quickly. "Get your ass up."

"What the fuck, Dex?" Desi sighed. She wiped her hands down her face and then back over her head to get her hair out of the way. "What's that for?"

"Got a phone call yesterday."

"Yeah, well, wrong numbers happen." Des kicked off the rest of her blankets and did her best to steady herself after the unpleasant wakeup call.

"Cute," Dex said sarcastically. "No, see, they were looking for you."

"Why?"

"Turns out your ex doesn't like you stealing and pawning his shit." She said before she pointed toward the kitchen. "What happened with Grey?"

Des's head shot up and for the briefest of moments, Dex saw a strange sort of worry. And then she followed Dex's hand and noticed him standing in the kitchen. Her face fell a little.

"Damn," Des stood and walked toward him, stumbling briefly over her blankets on the way. "Kyle got you good, didn't he?"

Grey eyed her. "That guy's name was Kyle? Seriously?"

"Yeah," she nodded slightly. Des glanced at her sister. "The guy I was with started getting rough, Grey stepped in. Kyle swung."

Dex sighed once more. It was an increasingly common way of showing her intense exasperation when it came to her little sister.

"You are like a walking shit-storm, you know that?" Dex said angrily. "And this time, I'm not putting up with it. You hear me?"

"Dex, come on." Grey said.

"No," she snapped at him before her attention went back to her sister. "You're not bringing this here, not around Ansel. You want to fuck up your life, that's fine. But not here, not with him."

Des said nothing. Instead, she kept her gaze firmly fixed to her sister's, unblinking, and her jaw remained tight. It was a hell of a poker face, really, but Dex wasn't fooled.

Dex's jaw tensed and relaxed multiple times. She was angry, frustrated, and she knew she came down on her sister hard, but this was far from the first time Desi had brought trouble to their door. This time, however, Big-Sister-Parios was going to nip the problem in the bud. She could see the hurricane on the horizon and she wasn't going to wait for the storm to make landfall. Dex had worked too hard for her and Ansel to have a good, stable life, and as much as she loved their sister, Dex couldn't put it at risk. Not this time.

Desi chewed on her bottom lip. Her eyes were tinting pink and glassing a little bit, which told Dex that she was about to cry, but the tears never came. Instead, the younger of the two nodded solemnly.

"Fine," She finally said. "Give me a couple of days, and I'll be out."

Dex swallowed a hard lump that had formed in her throat. She nodded as well and that was the official end of the conversation. Her sister left, headed upstairs to either dry off or just take a shower, while Dex fought the self-loathing that coursed through her. She hated that she had to play the bad guy, but if Dex had to pick between her siblings, it was Ansel every time. Desi could take care of herself, mostly. And besides, how many chances were you supposed to give someone before you just wipe your hands clean of them? Because, surely, she'd hit that limit with Des more than once.

When she turned back around and caught sight of Grey, Dex shook her head.

"Don't," She warned him. "Just don't."

Grey held up his hands in surrender, a silent agreement that he wouldn't broach the subject with her. She gave a nod, as well.

Des didn't go back downstairs until she heard her sister storm away. She just couldn't manage facing Dex again. Maybe she should have hated Dex for the cruel words, but she didn't. She couldn't. Dex might not have realized it, but Desi was well-aware that she was the albatross around her family's neck. The only problem was her sister thought it was intentional. It wasn't. That kind of stuff just found Des somehow.

When she made it downstairs, Des found Ansel playing video games and Grey in the kitchen. He was still purging the disposal of coffee grounds. He must have heard her and glanced up. All action ceased when he met her eye.

"Hey," He greeted her a little unsurely.

"Hey," Des mumbled. She approached him and turned her back to Ansel so he couldn't hear the conversation she was about to have with him. "Look, I'm sorry about that earlier, and that." She pointed at his eye.

"Nah, don't worry about it." He replied.

"No, seriously." She said. Her head dipped slightly. "Dex is right, okay? I'm a shit-storm. I don't know how, but I always manage to find that guy. Every one of them –liars, yellers, beaters, cheaters… I mean, you name it, I've hooked up with it. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up being the leader of a religious cult or a bank robber or something." His smile turned forced and in it, a strange thought came to her. "Oh God, that's it, isn't it? You're one of those Mormons, but not like a normal one. You're one of those extremists that has thirteen wives, aren't you?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Twelve," He replied. "I've only got the twelve wives. It's a nice round number."

Des smiled for the first time in a couple of hours and felt better for it. The pair of them were at ease for a moment, but only a moment. When Grey's smile faltered a little, he spoke.

"I don't want you worryin' about this, okay?" He pointed at his face. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, the night wasn't all bad."

She felt a nice little rush raise the hairs on the back of her neck and smiled softly again.

"Dex said you're in some trouble, though." He continued. "Your ex said you stole a bunch of stuff, or something?" She ground her jaw. "Everything okay?"

Des sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and scratched the back of her head before she replied. She hated the itch that she felt when someone mentioned her ex. In fact, it wasn't even a simple itch. It genuinely made her skin crawl -almost the same way it does when someone just mentions something like lice. It's a natural, unintentional reaction.

"Another winner." She grumbled. "It's bullshit," She said as she met his eye again. "He was… not a nice guy." Grey's brows twitched together curiously, but she wasn't going to elaborate. "Anyway, he got possessive and stalker-y and creepy,"

"You didn't go to the cops?"

Des held up a finger and pursed her lips. "He might've been a piece of shit, but his dad and brother are cops." Grey's face fell. "Yeah, so I just left town and came home." She shrugged a single shoulder, "I didn't steal anything."

"Then just tell her that."

Des shook her head. "There's no point. Like I said, Dex's isn't wrong, but, if you're still okay with it, I'd like to keep workin' at the bar."

He seemed mildly surprised, probably wondering why that, of all things, was her worry. As far as she was concerned, it was her only worry at the moment. It wasn't as though she could change Dex's mind any time soon, so she just wanted to know if she still had a job. It was the only important thing.

"Yeah," He said as though it should have been obvious. "Of course you do."

Des smiled heavily and nodded. "Thanks." She then took in a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. "Now I have to tell Ansel I'm moving out, again. Christ, this sucks."

She turned and made her way into the living room, all the while thinking about what she was going to have to say. The last time she told Ansel she was leaving, the look on his face practically tore her heart out. He didn't even have to say anything, just the disappointment in his eyes made her feel like shit.

"Hey, bud." Des said when she made it to the couch and sat beside him.

"Hi," He replied while he struggled to keep his FIFA player on point.

"I need to talk to you for a sec, okay?"

He paused the game and when he looked at her, Des could see his measured skepticism. Sometimes she genuinely hated how well he read people.

"Something's wrong." He said. It wasn't even a question. Des could only nod slightly. And then his face fell and his brows tugged together. "You're leaving again, aren't you?"

"Sort of,"

His head dipped. Des felt an itch in her throat and hoped she wasn't about to start crying.

"Hey, look at me." She said. He did, but his expression was still sad. "I'm staying in town, okay?" Des wrapped her hand around his arm reassuringly, though she couldn't say for sure if it was for his sake, or hers. "And I'm still going to be working at the bar, I'm just not going to be staying in the house."

"Why?" He asked sadly. "I like that you're back."

"I like being back, too." She smiled. "But me and Dex… you know how we get when we're together for too long."

"Live wires."

Des smiled wider than before and it actually held a little bit of happiness.

"Yes, exactly."

She remembered years back trying to explain to the very-young Ansel why she and Dex couldn't be under the same roof sometimes. There was a science show on TV at the time (Bill Nye rerun or something) and he was dealing with electricity or something. He held two live wires to each other and showed how they sparked and spit. Des used that as a chance to explain why the sisters didn't get along all the time.

"Where are you going to live, then?" He asked.

"I'll think of something. Me and Dex just need a break from each other for a little while."

"But you still love each other, right?"

In an exaggerated, high-pitched way, she said, "Well…" Ansel smiled. "Of course we do. Come here,"

Des wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. Ansel hugged her in return and she felt better for it. At least she didn't disappoint him.

Des brought Ansel to work. Grey had a couple things to take care of, he wouldn't say for who so Des assumed it was her angry sister. Ansel was busy gathering up some cleaning supplies to give the place a good once-over before they opened, and Des was in the bathroom doing the same. She didn't envy the people responsible for cleaning them at closing. Fortunately, that hadn't been a request made of her. All she had to do was make sure there was enough toilet paper in the stalls, those paper things people put on the seats, and other little tidbits. It was an easy job and only took her about ten minutes per restroom.

When she'd finished and headed back out into the bar, she heard a voice she didn't recognize. She stepped to the side around the central bar and noticed a stranger. A tall, thin man with ginger hair and clothes right out of the seventies was talking to Ansel. Des could tell by her brother's body language that he wasn't comfortable. Ansel was a great judge of character, he always had been, so she trusted him.

"Do you have the keys to that office?" The ginger guy asked as he continued to step toward Ansel. Ansel shook his head. "But, you been in there, right?" Ansel didn't reply. "He have a safe in there?"

That was more than enough for her. Des didn't like the guy or the questions he was asking, and she sure as hell didn't like him near her brother.

Des stepped out from behind the bar. "Can I help you with something?" She asked in a strong, tight voice.

The ginger glanced up and looked her over. "Just talkin' to my friend here."

"That right?" She didn't hide her sarcasm as she stood beside Ansel. "Well, I don't know who the hell you are."

"Hi, Desi." Ansel said to her.

"Hey, sweetie. You good?"

He nodded, but glanced briefly to the stranger. "He's looking for Grey."

"Yeah, I caught that." She smiled softly at Ansel before turning her cold, angry eye to the ginger. "I'm pretty sure my brother already told you we're closed, and as you can see, Grey's not here. So, I suggest you get out and come back during regular business hours."

The ginger stared at her and Des could tell he didn't like being spoken to so derisively. Few people did.

"Yeah, well, like I was telling him," He pointed at Ansel, "Grey's an old friend of mine."

"And not here," Her voice was barely above a growl. "So leave."

The stranger scoffed. He shook his head and, fortunately for him, he chose to set his glass down and leave. Des watched him go and didn't relax until he was gone. When he was, she let out a sarcastic sigh and looked at Ansel.

She scrunched up her face. "I didn't like him."

"Me neither." Ansel said with a small smile.

Des smiled, too. "Alright, bud. Let's get this place ready, okay?"

"Okay,"

He grabbed the tub he'd set down and walked off. Her smile faded the moment he couldn't see her. Des couldn't say what kind of people Grey was friends with, but the ginger set her creep-meter way off.