Chapter 3

"How did it go?"

"Not even a 'good afternoon' dear twin sister'?"

"That's if you were dear to me."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, enthusiastically jumping on the couch, "Anyway, Link apologised for accusing me first hand and we agreed that if anything ever went wrong between us, we should immediately assume you had something to do with it."

"Nice to know I play a role in your relationship." Max remarked, reinserting the blue wire into the tiny hole, turning his invention around to reattach the handler to the main body. "I'm just glad you guys are back together. No human being should be able to make that face and sound that depressing."

Phoebe shot him a dirty look, but smiled nonetheless. "I'm touched, but thanks to you everything is back to normal. And I know I don't say this much, but you're a great brother."

Max clicked his tongue, hefting his invention into his arms. "Getting mushy, aren't we?"

"Warranted. You care about me. You just suck at saying it." she said with a shrug, sticking her tongue out to him. Max frowned and stepped on a button as the hatchet popped open. He slid down the slide and willed a nearby remote into his hand. He pressed a button.

Crash!

Silence ensued for a few seconds.

Max smirked.

Three.

Two.

One.

"I TAKE IT BACK! YOU'RE THE WORST BROTHER EVER!"

"My butt still hurts from that stunt you pulled last night."

"Would you stop whining already? That's just your butt pimples talking."

"S-Shut up!" she yelled, embarrassed, carefully taking a seat. "Seriously Max, my butt really hurts."

"And would you please stop mentioning your butt already? Geez Phoebe, I have no intentions of finding out what goes up in there, okay?" he joked with a silent murmur, snickering as he ducked beneath the couch pillow that flew over his head.

"Jerk."

Max ventured into the kitchen, already fiddling to fill the kettle with water, a forlorn expression etched on his face. "This is so boring."

"What?"

"I still don't get why mom and dad insisted to take Dr Colosso to that stupid convention with them. They could've left him with me instead of leaving me here stuck with you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Which is why the two of us are going to throw the wildest party ever!" he announced, grinning from ear to ear, before frowning when he saw her shaking her head. "If that's a no, they should change your name from Phoebe to buzzkilllington."

"We are not throwing a party Max. And if I remember correctly, mom and dad left me in charge, so no party."

"What! But mom said I was in charge," he protested. She sent him a smug smile, which he immediately read. "false enactment?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh, which means we aren't throwing any party."

"You see, that's what you think is going to happen from your point of view."

"I'm serious Max. If we throw a party, mom and dad won't trust us again. They'll always ask someone to watch over us whenever they leave town, or worse, send us to go live with someone we can't stand. Think about it."

"Okay, let me think about it." he mused, developing a thoughtful expression, before turning back to her. "...I thought about it and I still say we throw a party."

"And have people soak their shoes in water? I don't think so."

He followed her gaze and stumbled to switch the kettle off, acknowledging the spills of water nearly everywhere.

"If this day gets anymore ho-hum, I swear."

"What's that?"

"Invitations I'm sending out, online."

She gawped. "Even after I told you there will be no party?"

"Especially when you told me there'd be no party."

"Max, you can't throw a party!"

"And just why not?"

"Because a party is on the list of things that mom and dad gave us on things we aren't supposed to do in their absence."

"Wait, they gave us a list?"

"They did!"

"And why wasn't I made aware of said list?"

"To avoid this. "

Max sighed. Their disagreements usually led to the destruction of a few things around the house, which he was trying to avoid by all means but classic Phoebe decided to get in the way of his plans, again.

"Alright, what do you propose we do?"

"We?"

"Yes, the two of us, the only living inhabitants present in the Thunderman household, us twins, us siblings-"

"Stop it! I get what you're trying to say."

"Seriously Phoebe, there's literally nothing to do. I'm bored out of my mind." he whined, slumping on his chair, perching his chin on the table to look at her.

Phoebe sat across him with a wince, to which he smirked at.

"I'd recommend pimple cream for that."

"I don't have pimples on my butt!"

"I know, I just find it hilarious at the number of times I get you to say the word butt. "

Phoebe shook her head, pertaining her sights to him, still wondering how he of all people could get bored with his inventions down stairs or the numerous pranks he could pull off on a whim courtesy of his boredom.

"I may as well just up and soul search."

"Good luck."

"Which you didn't need considered fate has a weird but sufficient way of pairing the weirdos together."

"I take offence to that!"

"There is no point in denying the lack of liveliness and animation to your relationship Phoebe."

"That's uncalled for Max."

"Sorry. I'm just so bored."

"Speaking off topic and kind of word play, what exactly is an Empress?" Phoebe inquired out of a sudden.

"Why do you ask?" he asked, surprised, though a part of him reminded him of what happened earlier when she barged into his lair and the mishap he might have mentioned.

"Cos earlier when I came into your lair, you had this dazed look on your face and called me your Empress," Phoebe noticed he appeared caught up, "was it a dream?"

"Y-You could put it like that." he replied, feeling imaginary anvils weigh down on both his shoulders when he made to stand up. "I'm going out."

"Where to?"

"Uh, SplatBurger?" he answered unsurely, instantly regretting it.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"Max!"

He snapped forward, eyes drinking in the visage of one Link Evilman, casually sitting across of him in his uniform, sending him a semi-worried look.

"Whah-what is it?"

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy!"

"Are you sure? Because you've been trying to drill a hole into the table with your eyes for the past three minutes."

"I've been uh," he noticed Phoebe send him a confused expression, compelling him to compose himself. "Just, thinking about which new conditioner, to uh, use for my hair." he explained, running a hand through his hair for emphasis.

Link diverted his attention back to Phoebe. "I have to return to my shift. Thanks for coming to spend lunch with me." A swift turn of his face and he planted a chaste kiss on her lips and wandered away.

Max inwardly groaned when Phoebe's head rotated to face his.

"Max."

"What is it?"

"Are you okay? Your face is all red."

"I'm not blushing. I'm not flushed. I'm not flustered. I'm not embarrassed. What do you want from me?"

"Woah, calm down, I was just asking, no need to bite my head off."

"Sorry, your stupid boyfriend-"

"There we go! Now you're calling my boyfriend stupid."

"My bad, my bad," he apologized, swiftly marking his attempt of leaving when he stood up. "I think I'm gonna go home now, the food must have done something to me, probably explains why I'm not feeling well."

"Max, you haven't even ordered anything ever since we arrived." Phoebe ventured. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem edgy."

"Phoebe, why do you insist something's wrong with me?"

"I just-"

"I'm going home."

"But you didn't eat anything."

"I'll eat something at home."

"Okay then, I'm coming with you."

"Do you have to?" he asked, already feeling uncomfortable just being in her presence. "Link's shift ends in an hour. You could stay and wait for him."

"Yeah right, with me out of the way it'll be easier for you to throw that party you were going on about."

"Okay spill, what did I do wrong?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been ignoring me the entire way home."

"That was you talking?"

She sent him a look.

"Look, I just have a lot on my mind, is'all." he explained offhandedly, sinking into the couch, a soft yawn escaping his lips as he randomly flipped through the channels.

"Is it about what I asked earlier?"

"No, no it isn't." He stood up, a precise turn around the couch and he was trudging toward the dark narrow hallway leading to the door of his lair. That's if she didn't move faster to stand before him.

"What are you doing?"

"You haven't eaten anything all day."

"I'm on a diet,"

"Max."

"I'll eat in the morning, now please get out of my way-"

"You're acting weird because I brought up that 'Empress' thing, aren't you?"

"Yes. You satisfied? Now please move out of the way."

Phoebe momentarily faltered, not having expected him to acquiesce to her accusations.

"So in extension to your dream. I AM your Empress?"

"Pheebs, just forget whatever I said-"

"How can I forget it when you're acting this weird and I'm probably the cause of it since you dreamt about me?"

"Dreams don't apply to reality Phoebe."

"Don't they?"

"Look, I just dreamt about you-me..." he paused when her head subtly elevated in anticipation. "us, fighting-"

"You dreamt about the two of us kissing."

A sloth could have done a better job of etching fake disbelief on his face but his clipped response probably gave him away. "Is that the best you could come up with? The two of us doing something so taboo and unheard of? No, we did anything but do what you're insinuating."

"So we did kiss in your dream."

If he wasn't utterly embarrassed and drenched with guilt, he would have slapped himself hard, so hard for falling prey to the cheapest and probably oldest trick in the book.

"How'd you know?"

"You looked weird when Link kissed me at Splatburger." she pointed out. "And the fact that you're finding it difficult to keep your eyes off my lips."

"All the more reason to go to bed and sleep off this embarrassment."

He made to turn around her, successful doing so, three heartfelt steps and his heart dropped within the cagey confines of his ribs when a hand clutched his arm.

"Wait."

"If you're going to make fun of me, can't it at least wait until tomorrow when I'm better prepared for it?"

Phoebe felt her own misguided heart prickle in regard of her own intentions.

"Kiss me."

He nearly forgot to breathe.

"What?"

"I know you didn't hear me stutter."

"No."

"If you don't, I will."

"But-"

"If we kiss. The dreams won't bother you anymore."

"I don't think that's how it works Phoebe."

Phoebe's smarts went to work. "You're my brother. A kiss won't mean anything. Unless I start assuming you never kissed a girl before."

Max looked insulted. "For your information, I'm not new to kissing and the only reason I don't want to kiss you is because it will be weird and I have no intentions of coughing up my breakfast."

Phoebe rolled her eyes and raised her hands, forcefully dragging his face into hers and captured his lips.

His nose brushed against hers ever so tenderly as he returned the gesture with unabated complacent enthusiasm. It wasn't anywhere lengthy. Phoebe retracted, immediately turning around without glancing at him and his frozen perplexed expression.

"We're having shrimp for dinner."

Max stared at her retreating back, a grin threatening to cleave his face in half. His tummy actually churned in disbelief. The kiss wasn't bad. Her lips were soft.

"I love shrimp."

She turned in the most dramatic of flair, his eyes never leaving that wonderful smile of hers before she wordlessly continued into the kitchen before his mouth decided to ruin things.

"Link is going to kill me."

She managed to have heard him.

"Why?"

"You see, thing is, I just happen to remember that we never actually kissed in my dream."

"Wait, what?"