1

Brandon sat on his uncle's couch, looking over his schedule for the year. He was secretly very happy that Liz was in four of his classes, and had little stars next to each one of them. After running through the schedule a few more times - Algebra, French, Language Arts, Social Studies, Lunch, Gym, and Science - he stowed it away in his backpack and plugged his ipod in, deciding not to worry anymore and just relax until his uncle got back from work. It was 7 o'clock, and he probably wouldn't be home until around 7:30 or later.

As predicted, Sergeant John Munch walked into his apartment at 7:35 , wincing at the loud music coming from his living room. "Brandon!"

"Hi Uncle John!" Brandon practically shouted form the other room, "How was your day?!"

"I'm not quite sure! I can't think straight over this racket!" He called back sarcastically, wandering into the living room and unplugging the ihome.

"Your first day here and you're already being an obnoxious teenager?" John threw his hands to his hips, shaking his head in false disappointment.

"I love you too, uncle." Brandon said dryly, grinning.

John scoffed, successfully hiding a small smile, "Yeah, yeah," He sat down next to his nephew on the couch, "So, I'm assuming I'm supposed to be acting all "parental" now?"

"Whatever." Brandon agreed, shrugging.

"Good. I think..." John paused, and then asked cheerfully, "So forget about my day, how was your day?"

"Good, I guess. My schedule's okay."

"That's good." He replied, mimicking Brandon's bored and mellow tone, "Make any friends?" His nephew only shrugged slightly.

"Meet any cute girls?"

This time, Brandon blushed, shrugging again before quickly saying , "no!"

John Smirked, raising his eyebrows mischievously, "what's her name?"

"who?" Brandon asked nervously.

"Her name. You know, the girl whose got you twitching like a neurotic little rabbit?"

"There is no her." He persisted, frustrated.

"Oh come on," his uncle drawled in a purposefully annoying, nagging tone.

Brandon snickered, sighed, and finally said, "Her name's Liz, okay? I don't even know if I like her, she's just...nice."

"Nice." John dead panned, Brandon nodded.

"Friendly?" He nodded again, with a small smile.

"Really, really cute?" He insisted, trying his best to sound like a gossipy teenage girl.

"Uncle John!"

"Oh, fine, fine. Just, do your homework or something, I'm going to take a shower." He suggested, with mock defeat.

"I don't have homework." Brandon replied smartly, grinning.

"Fine then, smart-ass, just plug your Linkman Park back in. Just don't put it loud enough to wake New Jersey." He countered without even looking back as he headed towards the bathroom.

"Or you know, I can plug my Linkin Park back in. That works too." This time, John turned around to shoot him a look that could kill any small, furry creature that happened to walk by (None did, of course, but that's beside the point).

Refusing to leave their playful bickering off there, Brandon retrieved a piece of paper from the side table and said, "I took down a message you got a half hour ago." Then, smiling, he read off, " Hey Munchkin, it's Liv. We still going out for dinner tomorrow? Call me when you get back from the precinct. Love ya, bye."

He grinned, "does the Munchkin have a hot date tomorrow?"

John gave him a , "gee, thanks for wondering" look, and settled for saying, "yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Why don't you ask Lizzie, on a date?"

"Wait," interrupted Brandon, pretending to be shocked, "you actually have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, sherlock. Now shut up, let me take a shower, or your grounded." He said with authority, right before going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

Brandon raised his eyebrows, chuckled, and turned his music back on, leaning back casually and thinking about Liz. Whether he would admit it or not, he did actually like her. But his uncle definitely did not need to know that.

TBC