Pogue drove Eleanor towards Caleb's. He'd only gotten to drive the car once before, when he was young and William, Caleb's father, had let the boys take a car of their choice out for a drive. But he wasn't about the tell Branwen that the classic cars were never let out.

She had been so terrified that she had done something to make Caleb and Evelyn angry that he had remembered she was a good person. Nothing like Kate. But thinking of Kate made him remember how horrible it had felt for a girl to move on without him. Branwen had said the kiss hadn't mattered and Pogue's soul had disagreed. And that had hurt.

And then he had seen the look on her face and his anger turned to lust. Lust that had still wanted to hurt her back, but wanted to do it in sinfully delicious ways. When he had grabbed her arm and felt her shaking, he'd felt bad for being so angry at her. She was confusing him with all these different faces and he was beginning to understand that behind every face she showed him was worry and fear. When you took away the glare and the anger, she was this beautiful girl that had so much on her shoulders and no one but her cousin to rely on.

The boots had been the final blow. He had been out with his fair share of girls and they had all dressed up in leather jackets or boots to impress him, but when he saw her wearing worn old biker boots and when she confirmed that they were hers, not just a gimmick, he'd felt the fall. He knew he liked her and he knew it was for numerous little things, and he even knew he barely knew her, but he couldn't help it. She was the only girl that could have him fuming mad at one moment and then have him wanting to have her under him in nothing but those old boots a moment later.

He didn't know what to think about his feelings and that's where a lot of his frustration and anger came from, but her, standing there looking at his picture of his parents had brought back the memory that they had loved each other more than anything and all it had taken was one look. So despite his frustration and despite how confused he was about her, he was going to give her what she wanted, if only to have faith in what his parents had proven. Love doesn't have to make sense.

He wasn't saying he was in love, but he wasn't saying he wasn't going to be there one day.

So if what Branwen could handle right now was friends, then he would be friends. And hopefully, eventually, she would change her mind and give him a chance to be something more.

He pulled Eleanor back into her spot in the warehouse and turned to Branwen, about to tell her it would be their little secret when Caleb walked in the door.

"Have a nice ride?" He asked.

Pogue walked around the car to stand beside Branwen and smiled at Caleb. "You should really give your guests a tour." He said, tossing the keys at Caleb. "Branwen thought this was the garage and almost had a heart attack when I told her you were going to have her arrested for stealing a collector's car."

Pogue didn't look at Branwen, knowing his game face would falter. Caleb looked at Pogue before shaking his head. "You're an ass." Caleb walked over and gave Branwen's shoulders a squeeze. "Don't worry. These cars could probably use a day out. Pogue's just getting back at you for hurting his tender feelings."

And like that, Branwen smiled at him and they all walked into the house.

Evelyn was sitting in the family room when they walked in, and smiled when the three of them walked in together. She hugged Pogue and rubbed his back and Pogue smiled down at her. For all intents and purposes she had tried to be as much of a mother to him as she could be and he loved her like one.

"I'm glad you came back. We all missed dinner but maybe we could all have a slumber party on the floor tonight. I miss having all you guys home."

"That sounds fun." Branwen said and Evelyn's face lit up. "I'm going to run upstairs and get Aria and get in pyjamas."

Pogue wished she'd stay in those boots but he doubted she would. They weren't sleepover boots.

When she disappeared from the room, Evelyn looked up at him. "Did you two kiss and make up?"

Yes. Was he that obvious? If he was than it wouldn't take Branwen long to discover friends was the last thing he wanted to be with her. Pogue just rolled his eyes. "We're just friends."

"Yeah," she said solemnly, "That's what I got from all the talk about making out and half-naked dancing too."

"Mother!" Caleb laughed.

Pogue smiled and leaned down to Evelyn's ear to whisper. "I'll take what I can get."

Evelyn smiled at him and patted his cheek. "Smart boy." She pushed him towards the door. "Now you and Caleb go pull down all the spare blankets and pillows. I'm going to go help the staff throw together a buffet of food that will leave us in sugar comas."

As she left Pogue and Caleb laughed before heading down the hall to the stairs. "She's really changed." Pogue said. "She's gotten back to who she was before your dad took his turn for the worst."

Caleb nodded. "Yeah, now if I could only get her to stop worrying so much about me."

Pogue couldn't resist. "You know one way you could do that."

Sighing, Caleb continued up the stairs, ahead of Pogue. "Please don't ruin a good night with all that crap."

Pogue wanted to spin Caleb around and tell him it wasn't crap, it was Caleb's life, but the last thing Caleb was going to do was listen right now. So Pogue let it go for the moment. "Too bad Reid and Tyler aren't here. They'd love camping out in the family room."

"We should call them."

"I already did when I got home. Tyler brought Hayley home and they've got plans for the night. And Reid isn't getting in until tomorrow."

Caleb stopped and smiled at Pogue. "Reid just can't help himself. He always had to be fashionably late."

Pogue smiled, thinking how true that was. "He was even born a month late."

They continued down the hall, going into all the unoccupied guest rooms and stealing the pillows and blankets. When they had all they could carry, they deposited them in the family room and then Pogue couldn't help but agree when Caleb suggested they go see what the girls were up to.

"So you have a thing for Aria?" Pogue asked, mildly teasing.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "You're worse than my mother. What is it with everyone thinking that?"

"I know you just invited Branwen to mess with me, but you were the one to suggest intruding on them now. Unless you suddenly have a thing for Branwen, which your big brother act in the garage would suggest otherwise, you must really want to see Aria."

Caleb glanced at him while they walked. Instead of denying it, he hit Pogue with an entirely different confession. "I've spent the last three months looking for Sarah."

Pogue grabbed his arm to stop him. "I thought you called it quits."

"She did. But that's not the point. I can't find her. I mean we go to the same school, you would think I would run into her. You ran into a girl you randomly met in a club one night and you're not even studying the same thing."

Pogue thought about that and wondered if Sarah had switched schools or something. Was there more to the breakup than Caleb was letting on? Pogue was going to ask Caleb but then they heard a shriek and ran for Aria's bedroom.

When Caleb pushed open the door, it was like time slowed and their testosterone kicked into high speed. It didn't matter if you were madly in love with someone, the sight that met them was one of the few things that could get to any man.

Kneeling on the bed, Aria sat in a little pair of pyjama shorts and a baggy sweater and Branwen supported herself on her hands and knees, wearing a tiny tank top and loose-fitting sweatpants, both girls with pillows in hand. As the boys opened the door, Aria's head spun around, her hair flying out around her in a fiery halo, and Branwen, having just been the victim of a pillow to the head, pulled her head back as she sat up, her hair pulling a Baywatch and flying up over her head to rest against her back.

And true to their gender, when met with two really sexy girls on a bed in pyjamas, engaged in a pillow fight, Caleb and Pogue just stood there, mouths open and brains seized. Faced with the guys' lack of movement, the girls looked at each other and collapsed on the bed in giggles.

Being laughed at finally snapped the guys out of their shock and Pogue looked over to Caleb before they moved towards the bed. Branwen glanced up in her laughter and shrieked when she saw them approaching. Aria followed her eyes. "Oh no!" she cried out as the girls jumped up and rolled off the other side of the bed.

Caleb looked over at Pogue and Pogue nodded, understanding they were going to split up. Pogue made to walk around the bed while Caleb went over it. But despite their size, the girls were quicker. Using what Pogue could only classify as something like ballet moves, Aria twirled out of Caleb's reach. Branwen ran at Pogue and just when he was about to grab her, she dove between his legs, flipped over and kicked him in the butt, knocking him forward before gaining her feet.

Positions reversed, the girls waved before bolting out the door. Pogue looked over at Caleb. "How did they pull that off?"

Caleb shrugged. "They're geniuses, right?"

Rolling his eyes, Pogue ran for the door, Caleb on his heels. Pogue laughed as the girls laughed and squealed all the way down the hall.

"What's going on up there?" Evelyn asked from the bottom of the stairs, smiling at them. By the time the boys reached the top of the stairs, the girls were at the bottom, huddling around Evelyn.

"They're coming for us." Aria said.

Branwen nodded. "They decided to break up our pillow fight. I think they're jealous we were having fun without them."

Evelyn wrapped her arms around the girls as the boys walked down the stairs. "Well, how ungentlemanly of them. I guess that means you girls get to pick the movie."

Pogue and Caleb groaned. "Great," Caleb said. "A chick flick."

Pogue watched the girls roll their eyes and turn to each other. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" They asked in unison. Evelyn raised a brow at them and they did it again, this time saying the titles of two different movies at the same time.

"Silent Hill." Branwen said. While Aria had shouted. "Children of the Corn."

Then they both laughed and said, "That too!"

"Then it's decided." Evelyn said. "Double feature horror night."

Caleb frowned. "Mother, do you even know what those movies are?"

As the girls went into the family room, Evelyn leaned towards the boys and whispered, "I know exactly what those movies are, my son. We alcoholics need something to do while we drink. And despite the movies chosen, I am enjoying having the estrogen levels in this house beat out the testosterone for once. So if you ruin this weekend for me I won't invite you back." And with that she followed the girls into the family room.

"I think my mother just threatened to disown me." Caleb said.

Pogue smiled. He missed this side of Evelyn. She had a backbone and she wasn't afraid to show it. "Yeah well, no offense, but I'd pick two girls over you too." Smiling he followed Evelyn.

They didn't end up having a horror night. After Caleb told Evelyn about Branwen taking Eleanor out, they watched Gone in 60 Seconds, Daredevil and made it half way through The Italian Job before they were all asleep. Evelyn was on the couch, Pogue was leaning against the couch, Caleb was spread out on the floor, Branwen was lying with her pillow on Caleb's ankles and Aria was lying in the middle of the floor with her legs over Branwen and an arm over Pogue's legs.

Needless to say, when quiet laughter woke Pogue, he looked around and understood why Reid was laughing. Pogue shifted Aria's arm off his legs and moved Reid back to the main sitting room, where Tyler and Hayley were standing. Pogue nodded to Tyler and shook Hayley's hand.

"You will never guess what I walked in on." Reid said, still laughing.

Tyler's eyes danced as they traveled over Pogue, who must have looked amusing because Tyler laughed. "What, did he fall asleep in the kitchen again?"

Pogue narrowed his eyes at Tyler. "I was drunk, and you two idiots are the ones that left me there."

"This time's better." Reid said. "They were all having a slumber party in the family room."

"Actually, it was movie night." Branwen said, rubbing her eyes as she walked into the room.

"Awe." Reid cooed. "We didn't miss much, Did we? I'd be so upset. Maybe some hair-braiding, gossiping and sisterhood of the traveling vaginas?"

Tyler scolded Reid but Reid just laughed. Pogue, however, knowing how Branwen's temper could be, watched as she raised her eyes to Reid's face and any lingering sleepiness disappeared. "Actually we watched action movies because the guys didn't want to watch horror movies and we discussed how happy we were that you weren't there to ruin it. But you won't be half as upset having missed all the fun we had as you will be if you ever condescend to me again and I'm forced to neuter you and feed you your own testicles."

Tyler burst out laughing as Reid's jaw dropped and he just stood there staring at Branwen. "Yeah, being vulgar is fun, isn't it?" She said. "I can act like an ass too and I don't even have to make one of myself to do it."

Reid shut his mouth and narrowed his eyes. "And you are?"

"The girl that just woke up from a pleasant sleep to have visions of kicking you in the scrotum flash through my mind. Now lower your voice and act like a decent human being before I'm tempted to test whether I can be as accurate as my imagination."

"Not a morning person?" Pogue asked. As both Tyler and Hayley tried to settle their laughter.

Branwen looked at him. "I work in a night club. Wasn't that a dead giveaway?"

Pogue raised his eyebrows at her snarky tone. "I'm sorry, but up until yesterday, I didn't know you did work in a night club, remember."

She glared at him. "You have a point. I concede. I can be a morning person if I get to bed before a certain time and if I'm not up all night eating candy and watching movies. Better?"

"Mildly." Pogue said, smiling.

She rolled her eyes and turned to Tyler and Hayley. "I'm sorry, I'm Branwen Argall." She shook their hands.

"It's nice to meet you." Tyler said. Hayley nodded.

"Should I be waking everyone up?" Branwen asked.

Pogue shrugged. "I figured they'd wake up when you left the room. After all, you can be a bit of a klutz sometimes."

Branwen's jaw dropped. "I am not! I believe I kicked your ass last night. Literally."

It was true enough. "Perhaps, but I remember you almost destroying a very old picture frame yesterday."

Frowning, she turned away from him. "I blame you. Both times I was only reacting to you." Reid snorted as Tyler and Hayley smiled and Pogue smirked. Understanding dawned on her and she rolled her eyes. "Reacting to your words. You startled me." She crossed her arms over her chest and Pogue's eyes were momentarily drawn down. "The point is, nobody else is awake and if we need Aria to function any time in the next hour I have to go get her up now."

Pogue motioned back down the hall and Branwen glared at him before walking away. He watched her go, thinking he actually kind of liked this friend thing, especially when he could pick on her like this.

Tyler cleared his throat and Pogue looked back at him. "Yeah?"

"I thought we could take care of our guy stuff while the girl's went shopping today. Hayley wants to get some things for Thanksgiving dinner."

Pogue nodded. There was no time like the present to confront Caleb. "Let me talk to the girls and we'll sort things out." With any luck Branwen wouldn't be so combative after a cup of coffee.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really thought, given how dramatic their lives have been so far they needed some fun and light-heartedness. Please review.