Anthony and Danielle both got out of her car and casually walked towards the front door. Anthony decided to play it cool in case his parents were mad he wasn't home until now. He knew that they wouldn't yell at him in front of company, which was one of the reasons he invited Danielle inside. Well, that, and he thought she was amazing. And gorgeous. And a thousand other things he had trouble describing. Anthony smiled at Danielle as he opened the front door, and found Ciara lounging on the couch, but his parents weren't in sight.

"Hey Ciara," Anthony said. She sat up straight and turned around.

Danielle waved a small wave and said, "Hi Ciara."

"Hey guys," Ciara greeted.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Anthony asked.

"They're upstairs getting ready," Ciara answered him. She stood up and joined the pair. "Danielle, you still up for the movie tonight?"

"Yeah, I am!" Danielle replied happily. "Actually, Anthony thought I could stay here until the movie started and maybe hitch a ride with you guys to the theatre."

Ciara raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?" She looked at Anthony. "Yeah, I think that'd be fine," Ciara said, looking back at Danielle.

"Is Logan still coming?" Anthony asked his sister, hoping he wasn't since he knew his brother had a little crush on Danielle also.

"Yeah, I think so," she told him. "You better go tell Mom and Dad you're here. Daddy was in his 'almost pissed at you' mood when he went upstairs.

"Yikes," said Anthony, knowing how quickly the 'almost pissed' mood could turn into the 'get your ass over here' mood. He ran upstairs and knocked on his parents' bedroom door.

"Come in," called Sara. Anthony entered the bedroom and Sara looked towards him. "Oh, good, you're back. You might want to go see your father. I know he wasn't too happy with the fact that you weren't home with Ciara two hours ago. Where were you, anyway?"

Turning back into the surly person he had been that morning, he shrugged and said, "Out."

Sara raised her eyebrows. "'Out' is not an acceptable answer. Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing?" she demanded.

"I was hanging out behind the bleachers with a couple of guys from study hall, and I tried out some weed," he replied sarcastically.

Sara was angered. "You'd better not take that tone with your father, Anthony Nicholas Stokes," she warned. "I'm going to ask you one more time, where were you?"

"I went out for coffee with Danielle, and we lost track of time," Anthony admitted.

Sara was surprised. "I didn't know you liked her."

"Mo-om," Anthony groaned.

Sara chuckled. "Dad's in the bathroom. I suggest you go see him pretty quickly."

"I'll wait until he's finished, thanks," he told her sarcastically again. Sara shot him another look. Anthony was definitely the smart-alec of the bunch.

"He's shaving, Anthony. He should be done now." Sara informed him.

"Yeah, yeah." Anthony told his mother, and dilly-dallied over to the master bathroom. He knocked as his parents had taught him long ago and heard a "come in" from within. Anthony pushed the door open and leaned against the frame. "I'm home. Sorry I'm late," he said right away, knowing he couldn't get away with the same amount of attitude with his father.

Nick rinsed out his razor in the sink and looked at his son. "And where've you been?" he questioned his wayward offspring.

"I went out with Danielle," Anthony told the truth.

"Really? Where?"

"We went to Starbucks, and we had a really good conversation and I guess we just sort of lost track of time. I came as soon as I realized how late it was," Anthony said. "I'm sorry," he added for good measure.

Nick nodded. "Thank you, Anthony." Realizing the rare opportunity that was being presented to him to delve a little bit into his reclusive son's personal life, he asked, "What did you guys talk about?"

Anthony shrugged. "Nothing much, really."

Nick winked at his son as he shaved another strip of shaving cream off his face. "Come on, really. What did you say?"

"Dad. Please," Anthony told him as he watched his father delicately handle the razor. He remembered when his dad had taught him how to shave a year or so ago, back when they at least semi-regularly had deep conversations. However, Anthony was starting to drift away in a big way, and he just didn't feel comfortable sharing things with him as much anymore. Now he wanted to share things with girls.

"Alright, suit yourself," Nick told him. "What are your plans for tonight?" He asked his son, wiping the excess cream from his face with a hand towel.

"Well, I was thinking of tagging along with Ciara and her friends to the theatre," Anthony casually mentioned.

Nick smiled at himself in the mirror. "With Ciara and her friends? Or Ciara's friend?" Nick teased, switching his glance to Anthony.

The sixteen-year-old looked at his feet and shifted uncomfortably, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Without moving his head, he glanced up at Nick. "Danielle," he admitted. "Is that alright?"

Nick was shocked. Had his rebellious, disobedient son just asked for permission to go out? Finally, he thought. Finally, we might be making some progress. Nick smiled and tried not to chuckle. Even though he could be a handful sometimes, Anthony just wanted to please him deep down, he thought. "Of course that's alright. Just as long as you don't drive, remember?" he reminded his son, since he still had possession of his license.

"I know, Dad." Anthony told him.

Nick cleared his throat and patted his son on the shoulder. "My boy's growing up," he commented. Anthony rolled his eyes a little as Nick passed him.

"So, do we still have a curfew since we'll all be out together?" he asked hopefully. It was obvious that Nick trusted Ciara the most, and if he'd be out with her, maybe he'd be more lax.

"As long as you don't kill anybody, you guys are free tonight," Nick promised. "Your mother and I will be at work, but you can call us if you need us."

"I know, Dad," Anthony said. It was something that had been drilled into their heads since they were twelve. "Oh, by the way, Danielle's here. She asked if she could just hang out until we went to the movie."

"Yeah, that's fine," Nick said. "Just stay out of my beer," he teased, knowing that his kids, even Anthony, were probably the only three teenagers in Las Vegas who would actually obey the command.

"Sure thing, Dad," Anthony chuckled. "I'm going to go back downstairs now, okay?"

"Alright, have fun," Nick said.

Anthony disappeared down the stairs and Nick sat on the bed so he could put on his shoes and socks. Sara was putting a pair of studs in her ears at her vanity table. "Anthony's crushing on Danielle," he told his wife. "That's so funny." He smiled as he worked one blue sock onto his foot.

Sara shook her head and looked at her husband in the mirror. "He's a teenager, Nick, in case you haven't noticed," she reminded him. "And it's funny that you feel so differently about Ciara dating. With Anthony it's funny, and with Ciara it's the worst thing in the world."

Nick chuckled and looked at his feet. "But Ciara's my little girl," he reasoned.

Sara stood up and faced Nick, placing her hands on his chest and rubbing a little bit. "But Anthony's your little boy," she argued.

"I know, and I love them both..." Nick trailed off.

Sensing that he had more to say, Sara said, "But?"

"But...come on, Sara, you know how it is. We see it at work all the time. Girls are more vulnerable. It's just the way it is. I hate it and you hate it, but really. I worry about her all the time when she's out. Really, it's not that I don't trust her, it's that I don't trust the boys she goes out with," he confessed.

Sara kissed him softly. "Nick, you're so sweet. I worry about her too, but she's a smart girl. I think she has pretty good judgment and is almost ready to take care of herself."

Nick nodded, trying to accept what his wife was saying. It was just hard to believe that the baby he'd brought home yesterday was almost a woman, ready to make her own way in the world with nothing stopping her. And to tell the truth, it scared him to death.

Sara cupped his face in her hands and gave him a slow, tender kiss, then pulled back. "You're so sexy when you're being overprotective," she whispered.

Nick smirked, "I can't help it. We've seen so much, Sar."

Sara nodded and allowed Nick to pull her back for another kiss, situating her in his lap. They enjoyed each other for almost a minute before they heard laughing coming from downstairs, reminded them of the teenagers in the house, and the fact they needed to go to work. "Mmmm." Sara pulled back and stroked Nick's cheek. "I hate to end this, but our duties are calling," she told him. Nick gave her one last kiss and then helped her up. They headed down the stairs to the kitchen, where they greeted Danielle along with their own two teenagers.

"We're going to work now," Nick announced. "Have fun at your movie. Ciara, no curfew tonight, but call us when you get home."

Ciara grinned. "Awesome, thanks Daddy!"

"We'll see you soon," Sara said, opening the front door.

"Bye, Mr. Stokes, bye Mrs. Stokes," Danielle said. "Thanks for letting me hang out here."

"No problem, Danielle," Nick said, smiling.

"Bye, guys," Anthony said.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Ciara promised. As the two adult Stokes left the house, Ciara locked the door behind them. "What do you guys want to do?" she asked.

Anthony glanced unsurely at Danielle. "Actually...Danielle was talking earlier about how I might give her a guitar lesson sometime. We could go do that now," he proposed.

Danielle smiled and nodded. Ciara shrugged. "Whatever. I'll be in my room," she said. "We need to leave for the movie at seven," she called back as she went back to her room.

Logan would have to be back before then if he still wanted to join them. Anthony let out a breath and turned to Danielle. "Would you like a lesson right now?" he asked her, checking to make sure.

Danielle smiled and nodded once again. "Of course," she told him, but wasn't sure if he meant in the living room or downstairs in his room. Her question was answered when he opened the basement door and motioned his head for her to join him. Danielle felt butterflies in her stomach, excited that she got to spend more time alone with him. Soon, they had reached the bedroom he shared with Logan. He quickly shoved some dirty clothes under his bed and cleared some books off his desk chair.

"Take a seat," he told her politely, motioning for her to sit down. Danielle smiled and took a seat on the bed while Anthony got his guitar out and sat down on his desk chair. "So, first I'll teach you a G chord," Anthony said, holding the guitar. "You put your index finger here, and your middle finger here, and your pinkie here," he said, demonstrating as he spoke. Once his fingers were in place, he strummed the strings a few times. "Now you try," he said, offering the guitar to her. She tentatively took it and mimicked his finger placements. When she strummed at the guitar, Anthony winced at the sound.

Danielle saw his face and laughed at herself. "Oh, shoot, that wasn't right, was it?"

Shaking his head, Anthony said, "No, not really. You need to do it more like this." He moved off his desk chair to the bed on her left and covered her hand with his. "Here, here, and here," he demonstrated again. The feeling of her hand under his alone was enough to make Anthony so happy that he could die having lived a fulfilled life.

Danielle felt her face blush, because she was enjoying the feeling of his hand over hers. She tried to shrug it off.

"You've just gotta hold the strings down hard." Anthony told her. They had both been stealing glances at each other when they thought the other couldn't see, and then they finally looked at each other at the same time. They looked into each other's eyes for a minute and Anthony thought they may kiss when the door flew open, and in walked Logan.

Logan stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before his eyes. Logan knew that Anthony had had a thing for Danielle for just as long as he had, but to bring the girl into the very room that they shared was just plain low. He gritted his teeth and put on a fake smile. "Hi Dani," he said. "Hi Anthony."

"Hey, Logan," they said together.

"Did you have a good time at Andrew's?" Anthony asked, though he really couldn't care less.

"It was fine." Logan told him, setting his backpack down and grabbing a couple items from his own desk. Though his brother didn't have the decency, Logan decided he should leave them alone to have some privacy. He could use the knowledge that Anthony had a girl alone in his room to his advantage later as blackmail if needed.

"Oh, I'll be going to the movies with you all later too. Hope you don't mind," Anthony smugly told his brother, knowing he probably wouldn't like it.

Logan bit back a few nasty words, instead saying, "I'll be upstairs watching TV."

"Alright, suit yourself," Anthony said. Logan turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door behind him. The sixteen-year-old redhead still inside the bedroom turned his attention back to the particularly beautiful girl he was sitting with. "So try that a few more times," Anthony said, referring to the G chord. Danielle put her fingers on the strings, this time in the right place, and played the chord perfectly.

"Is that right?" she asked, her beautiful brown eyes meeting his, boring into him as though she could pierce all his thoughts and know everything about him. Anthony swallowed a hard, dry swallow.

"Perfect." He barely croaked out, speaking of both her finger placement and of her. Anthony had already kissed several girls in his life, but he'd never been this nervous before. He saw Danielle's tongue dart out quickly to wet her lips in anticipation, so he slowly leaned forward. Moments later, their lips met in their first tentative kiss. He gave her one sweet kiss, and then pulled back to gauge her reaction. What Anthony saw - her eyes closed and a serene look on her face - gave him more confidence, so he leaned forward again and kissed her more confidently this time. Anthony brought his hand up to caress her cheek lightly as he dipped his head to the side. After kissing this way for about fifteen seconds, Anthony decided to up the ante. He was enjoying this way too much, and from the way Danielle was breathing, it seemed like she was too. He let his tongue taste her beautiful, perfect lips, and smiled when she opened her mouth to his. Soon, their tongues were dueling sensually and Anthony didn't think he could ever live again without her.

Anthony felt her hand go around his neck to bring her closer, and it became apparent that the guitar was getting in the way of where they wanted to go. Danielle whimpered a little as he pulled away to take the guitar strap from around her shoulder and set it gently on the floor. He then got back to business, capturing her lips again. Danielle began stroking his chest and Anthony's hand nervously disappeared under her shirt. Minutes later, they were breathing heavily as Danielle pulled back from the kiss. "We should stop." She told him, catching her breath.

Also catching his breath, Anthony said, "Yeah." He pulled his hand out from under her shirt, though the sensation of her skin under his was soon missed. It was a good thing they'd stopped then, because mere seconds later, Ciara burst into the room, tipped off by a pissed-off Logan that there may be a little something more than a simple guitar lesson going on in the bedroom. Luckily, neither Anthony nor Danielle looked too flustered, and so Ciara, who still suspected that something had been going on, pretended not to know what had been going on only seconds earlier.

"Mark just called, he says he needs a ride to the theatre," she said.

Anthony cleared his throat a little. "Okay. Are we leaving soon then?" he asked his sister as Danielle uncomfortably tucked some hair behind her ear and brought her legs up to sit in a pretzel position.

"Yeah, in like fifteen minutes." She looked at the pair, not having been born yesterday. She hoped Danielle would pick someone better than her brother to do anything with. Honestly, Ciara thought she deserved better. "Danielle, can you come help me pick out what to wear?" she suggested.

As much as Danielle didn't want to leave Anthony, refusing Ciara's suggestion would be too obvious. "Sure," she said, standing up and following the blonde out of the bedroom. Before leaving, she looked back apologetically at Anthony and shrugged a little bit, and then stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Anthony sighed and rested his head in his hand. Wow, that was close. Not the part where they were almost caught, but rather, what they were actually doing and where it might have headed had Danielle not put on the brakes. Thank goodness for that girl's judgment, he thought. It had just saved them from a potentially disastrous situation on many levels.

Danielle followed Ciara up the basement stairs wordlessly, hoping she wouldn't say anything about what she'd just seen. She wondered if Logan had said anything to her.

Ciara walked back to her bedroom and closed the door after Danielle came in. "Are you into my brother?" Ciara asked her friend right off the bat, folding her arms over her chest.

Danielle sighed and sat down on her friend's bed. They'd been good friends since they were eight, and Danielle had only recently started hanging out with her brothers. "What if I am?" she retorted.

Ciara shrugged. "No big deal. I was just wondering."

"Well, maybe a little bit," Danielle confessed. "He is really good-looking, and he's got that bad boy air to him too."

"Aww, come on, Dani. You can do so much better than my dorky brother."

Dani laughed uncomfortably. Trying to change the subject, she said, "So, what are you thinking of wearing?"

Even though Ciara could see that Dani was trying to get off the topic of Anthony, and although she wanted to find out more about her strange infatuation with Anthony, Ciara could feel her friend's discomfort and she let it go. "Well, here are my choices. Item number one: a halter-top that my father would never let me out of the house with." Ciara reached into her closet a second time, saying, "Item number two: a top I just bought last weekend at the mall, and item number three: the classic tried-and-true black t-shirt." Ciara looked gorgeous in black, and she knew it. Her blonde hair contrasted beautifully and she used that fact to her advantage.

Dani didn't think Ciara needed the halter to wow the guys, and didn't need the chance getting in trouble with her father. "Definitely the black shirt." Danielle advised her. Ciara smiled and tossed the other two shirts on her bed and then took the black shirt off the hanger. "I do like that new shirt from the mall though," Dani told her as Ciara turned around and took off the shirt she wore to school that day.

"Thanks. Cost me two weeks' allowance, but I think I'll save it for my real date with Jason tomorrow." Ciara told her, pulling the black shirt over her head. The girls changed all the time in front of each other, after gym class, at sleepovers, and while shopping, so it was no big deal at all for them.

The doorbell chimed from downstairs, and Ciara said, "I'll get that." She raced down the staircase, Dani not far behind, and answered the door. Mark was there, all ready to head to the theatre. "Hi Mark," Ciara said with her usual smile.

"Hi," he returned, stepping inside the house.

"Anthony, Logan!" Ciara called. "Get up here, we're leaving!"

The two boys were at the door right away, ready to go. Ciara hit the kitchen lights, grabbed her purse, and ushered everybody out the door, locking it behind her. Time for their well-deserved night at the movies.