A/N: Thanks to Gudrun, american x dreamer, Dawnie-7, annewithane2, and AureliaMerula for the reviews, you all are awesome! And thanks to all the readers, you all rock! Well here is Chapter 3. Hope you enjoy it :) Please read and review! Thanks a bunch!
Chapter 3: The Stupid Things We Do
Erin was still waiting for her brother to come home; she figured he was working late. A blue beat up Cadillac pulled into the driveway. A tall, broad shoulder man got out with his sunglasses still on. "It's not sunny," Erin called out to him. The man looked her way and she felt a chill go down her spine.
"Aren't you cute? Is Neema here," he asked closing the car door. He wiped some dirt from the door handle. Erin rolled her eyes and nodded. He walked up the stairs slowly still looking at Erin.
"That's the door," she whispered to him while pointing to the door that looked as if a cat had used it as a scratching post.
"I know," the man said and walked over to the door. Neema opened the door before the guy had a chance to knock. "Ready," he smirked at Neema. She kissed him passionately. Erin tightened her grip on her bottle of soda.
"I'll be back later. You take care of dinner," Neema said to Erin sounding like she attempted to care.
"Have fun," Erin said sarcastically and waved at them with a huge smile on her face. Neema and the man walked to the Cadillac. The man glanced at Erin before he got in. Erin looked down at the porch still feeling the man's icy stare. They finally drove off. "Thank God," she sighed out of relief. Her burn began to itch again but she resisted the temptation to scratch. She got up from the bench and headed inside. She heard someone coming up the porch steps. She opened the door and turned to see a certain blonde guy standing there. She sighed and shook her head. "What the hell do you want," she asked standing at the door with one foot in and the other still standing on the porch.
"Came to see you," Jay said as he took notice of the bandage on her face. He touched it lightly. She pushed his hand away. "Sorry," he stepped back.
"Well I don't want to see you. So please go," she stepped inside her house but unfortunately before she could shut the door Jay pushed it open. He walked in and began looking around her house.
"This looks like something from the Brady Bunch," Jay smirked as stared at the pictures on the wall. The wallpaper that looked brand new was covered in sunflowers. Everything looked so prime and proper. Nothing seemed out of place. Erin closed the door and leaned her back against it just watching Jay as he walked around the living room.
"Yeah thanks. Well I was fortunate enough to be the one not to decorate it," Erin shrugged and didn't move from where she was. Jay turned to look at her and nodded.
"Oh wow are you serious? I thought you did cause this totally represents your personality," he smiled as he lifted up a picture of Erin and Charlie when they were younger. Erin was wearing a pink bathing suit and Charlie was wearing black trunks. They each had a piece of a watermelon, in the shape of an 'o' with the inside cut out, on top of their heads as if the pieces were halos. "Cute picture," he said flashing a grin at her and showing her the picture. She rushed over to him and grabbed the picture from his hands.
"I'd rather you not touch anything," she warned as she glanced at the picture.
"Sorry Miss Sensitive," Jay raised his eyebrows and plopped down on the couch. Erin groaned and placed the picture back down.
"Leave," she whined and crossed her arms.
"Why," Jay whined and looked at her waiting for a response.
"Cause I said so," Erin stared back at him and crossed her arms, stomping her foot like a child.
"Fine," Jay stood up and walked over to her. He touched her cheek; she could feel a tingle run through her body when he touched her. Jay got closer to her; she could feel the heat from his body near hers. He leaned in close nearly touching her lips. Erin felt her lips begin to tremble. "I'll leave," he whispered to her and stepped back from her walking to the door. Erin touched her lips and glanced at Jay.
"What time do you guys go surfing," she asked. Jay grinned to himself and turned around quickly wiping the grin from his face.
"Around 5 in the morning," he answered. "Before the sun comes up," he opened the door. Erin nodded and touched her bandage since it was itching again. "Care to share what happened," he asked pointing to his cheek meaning hers.
"Yeah. I pressed my face against the frying pan for the hell of it," she smirked and shrugged. "You know me always living on the edge," she sat down on the couch and glanced at Jay then at the coffee table.
"Yeah of course," he nodded knowing it was something more. But he wasn't her boyfriend; well not yet anyway, so he wasn't go to push her into telling him.
"Yup," she smiled at him and motioned her hand for him to leave. He nodded and walked outside. He closed the door behind him and saw an old Chevy truck pull into the driveway. Jay walked over to the truck to see Charlie get out.
"Hey man," Charlie grinned at Jay. "Haven't seen you around here in a long time," Charlie knew Jay liked Erin even before Red Dog began to date her. In all honesty, Charlie always favored Jay over Red Dog, but he wasn't going to try to convince his sister to date Jay. It was her love life and he knew better than to butt in.
"Hey man," Jay smiled. "Just came to see how Erin was and she is going to go surf with us tomorrow," he put his board down on the driveway and put on foot on top of the deck. Charlie nodded.
"All right that's cool. Well I'll see you around Jay," Charlie headed inside the house.
"Later," Jay skated off heading in the direction of Tony's house. Charlie opened the door to see Erin staring at the picture Jay had picked up. Charlie put the keys down on the table near the door and went to sit next to his sister.
"Hey sis," he smiled as he looked at the picture she was looking at.
"Mom took this picture before she left. Remember," Erin smiled as she continued to stare at the picture. She sighed and leaned back into the couch.
"Yeah and I believe it was your idea to get the watermelon," Charlie smiled as he took the picture from Erin. She nodded and didn't bother trying to deny it. She was usually the one that came up with the oddest ideas. "We did a lot of stupid things when we were younger."
"When mom was here, she was unbelievable," Erin sighed resting her elbow on the arm of the couch. Charlie nodded in agreement. He turned to look at his sister and saw the bandage on her cheek.
"What happened to your cheek," he asked turning her head so the bandaged cheek could be facing him.
"I fell off my skateboard and scratched my face," she lied. She prayed that Charlie would just fall for it and wouldn't start attacking her with questions.
"You need to be careful," he told her and got up from the couch. She felt a burden being lifted off her shoulders when he fell for the lie.
"I am," she protested and pinched her brother's arm. Charlie quickly covered his arm after feeling the sharp pain. "Ha ha," she smiled innocently. "At least I didn't put you on fire," she pointed out and got up as well. Charlie pushed her playfully and headed to the kitchen. "Eat whatever you want. Neema is out with some creepy guy," she shuttered at the thought of him.
"Figures," Charlie sighed as he searched the cabinets for something to cook quickly. Erin sat at the table and grabbed the toothpicks from the middle of the table. She began to form shapes with them.
"It's a square," she exclaimed and clapped her hands. Charlie laughed softly and decided to eat the Chinese leftovers. He poured them onto a plate and put the plate into the microwave. "It's a triangle," she scrambled up the toothpicks to figure out what else she could make. Charlie just watched his sister. They were each other's backbone; they were always there for each other no matter what. When Charlie was called to be sent to Vietnam Erin tried not to shed a tear. She just joked around with him and spent every minute with him. The day he left was the day Erin broke down...
"Don't go please," Erin begged still hugging her brother. Charlie hugged her back.
"Erin he has to," their father said as he pulled Erin away from Charlie.
"Take this," Erin said and handed him the rosary their grandmother had given to Erin when she was 6.
"I'm coming home. I promise," Charlie reassured her and put the rosary into his jacket pocket. "Bump knuckles," he said holding up his fist. Erin weakly bumped his knuckles with hers. "Take care of dad," he said to her as he headed to his gate to board the plane. Erin cried harder watching her brother walk away. Their father put his arms around her and tried to calm her down. Charlie could feel tears begin to swell up in his eyes but he didn't turn back. He just kept walking. He gave his ticket to the lady standing in front of the gate. He glimpsed over at his sister and his father. They were walking out of the airport. He boarded the plane.