You'll have to read the endish part of chapter 14 of my fan fiction Total Sibling Rivalry to really get what the heck is going on in this chapter.

EDIT: A chunk of the story was missing for some reason! Sorry, folks!

It was Wednesday. While Selena was closing the shop up, Trent took that moment as the perfect opportunity to tell his sister Grace about Lindsay. He picked up the phone near the counted and sat on the bar stool behind it. Listening to the beep of the dial tone, Trent calmly waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" a small voice asked.

"Hey, Grace," Trent greeted. "It's me."

"Oh, hi, Trent!" the ten year old happily chirped. "What's up? You're still coming over today, right?"

Trent bit his lip, wondering how he should put it. "Yeah, but this time… I'm bringing someone else with me."

"Oh. Who? Geoff? Duncan?"

"No… Her name is Lindsay."

Grace was silent on the other end of the phone.

"You still there, kiddo?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm still here."

"She's an old friend of mine from Wawanakwa. You met her during the second season, though you probably don't remember her and-"

"Is she the one who almost killed me with that fugu sushi?"

Darn it, he thought to himself. Why'd she have to have such a good memory?! "Well, yes, but you probably don't remember that she only did that on accident and felt really bad about it."

"Now that you mention it, that last part's kinda foggy… I seem to remember her doing it on purpose because she is a horrible person and feeds on the misery of others."

"… Grace, you know that's a total crock. Lindsay's one of the nicest girls from TDI."

Grace scoffed and muttered, "Mmhmm. I'll bet she is."

"Grace, just promise me you'll be on your best behavior," Trent begged. "I told Lindsay you were completely transformed, and I know that isn't totally true…"

"Trent, you worry too much," Grace reassured. "When have I ever not been on my best behavior?"

Trent cocked an eyebrow, even though he knew she couldn't see him. "Do I have to sit you down and make you watch Total Sibling Rivalry reruns again?"

Grace was silent again. "… Okay, I guess you have a point there. But I was young! Foolish! I don't care if you date or not."

"Oh, really? I believe Gwen would beg to differ."

"But that was still back in my evil days! And besides, it was just Gwen I didn't really like. I haven't even done anything to her since!"

"Oh, don't you lie to me, missy!" Trent half-yelled. "I know that entire punch bowl of eggnog just didn't 'accidentally' end up in Gwen's lap last Christmas and neither did that mug of hot chocolate!"

"… Well, I'm sorry about my clumsiness. I have a very ironic first name."

Trent squeezed the space between his eyebrows and sighed. "Grace, if you won't be nice to her just for the sake of being nice, please do it for me. She's the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. Please?"

More silence. It was so silent, he thought he had lost connection with her. But he finally heard a sigh and a quiet "Okay…" from his sister. "But if she tries to take me to Hot Topic like Gwen used to, girlfriend's gonna pay…"

Trent couldn't help but laugh at that. "Worry not. I don't think Lindsay's ever set foot in a Hot Topic in her entire life."

"Hmm." That grunt actually sounded like a pleased one. "I already like her better than I liked Gwen. But that's not saying much."

"Aha! I knew you still didn't like her!"

"… Rats." It sounded like she grumbled something to herself, most likely an obscenity, then told Trent, "Okay, fine! You were right! Whatever, Gwen's ancient history. I'll be nicer to Lindsay. Happy?"

"Very. See you soon. Bye."

"Bye!"

Trent put the phone down and sighed. He hoped Grace would stick to her word…

Lindsay stepped out of the car and looked at the house her boyfriend had pulled up to. It was very nice; not too big, not too small.

"Is this where you grew up?" she asked as he got out of his car.

"Nah, Dad and Grace just moved her a while ago," Trent explained, locking the car as they walked up to the house. "Our old house was way back in Toronto."

She looked over at him, worry in her eyes. "Trent, are you sure they'll like me?" Lindsay asked.

He stuffed his keys in his pocket and gently took her hand. "Of course they will, babe."

"Gretchen knows I didn't mean to poison her all those years ago, right?"

Trent nodded. "You've got nothing to worry about, Linds." He opened the door, not really seeing the need to knock. Grace was sitting near the door, looking through her school bag.

"Hey, short stuff," Trent greeted.

Grace beamed. "Trent!" She jumped into his arms and happily laughed, then noticed Lindsay standing next to him. "Oh." Trent let her down and she walked over to the blonde. "Hi." She gave her a quick hug and Lindsay breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi, I'm Lindsay!" she greeted, shaking her tiny hand after she stopped hugging her.

"I'm still Grace…" Grace let go of her hand, crossed her arms over her chest and mumbled, "And I'm thankfully still alive… Since you almost killed me and all…"

Trent muttered "Behave" and hid it with a cough so Lindsay hopefully wouldn't notice. She didn't, but Grace did.

"So… Um… Daddy didn't know we were having more company, so he just ordered a pizza," Grace explained to the both of them. "I hope that's okay."

"Oh, I love pizza!" Lindsay chirped.

"Really? Surely, someone with a figure as great as yours must diet like crazy. Or I guess you're just naturally beautiful!" Grace batted her eyelashes and smiled sweetly at the guest.

"Aww, thank you!" Lindsay bent down to hug her again and looked back up at Trent. "Your sister's just the sweetest thing!" She walked into the kitchen to meet Trent's dad, expecting Trent to follow her.

Trent, however, stayed behind and looked down at Grace, who still had the same innocent expression as before. "Impressive." He patted her on the back and said, "Keep up the good work, kiddo."

After his back was turned, Grace slumped, looking exhausted. "Boy, playing sweet ain't as easy as it used to be. I'm getting too old for this puppy-eyed stuff…"

Trent joined Lindsay before she could make it to the kitchen and grabbed her hand. As they walked in, they saw a slightly older than middle aged man slicing a cheese pizza and setting pieces onto several plates. Oh, good, Trent thought to himself. Grace told him Lindsay was coming. "Hi, Dad.

He looked up and smiled when he saw his son and his guest. "Hey, son." Setting his knife down, he walked over to the blonde. "And you must be Lindsay."

"I sure am!" Lindsay shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr-"

"Please, don't start with the 'Mr.' stuff," he said, letting go of her hand. "I get enough of that at the office. Call me Vince. "

Lindsay smiled. "Okay! Sorry for such short notice bout my visit, Vic."

"Oh, it's fine… And it's Vince."

"Oh… Sorry."

Dinner went remarkably smooth. Vince and Grace seemed to like her so far. Vince showed it more, but you could tell that even Grace liked her. Trent was glad that she really was trying, this time.

After they were finished, Grace dragged Lindsay into the living room to chat while Vince and Trent cleaned up.

"And I got a gold star on this paper, too, see?" Grace held up a page of math homework to show Lindsay her good work.

"Wow, that's great!" Lindsay looked the paper over. "You're really good at school and stuff. I usually just got gold stars out of effort. Or pity."

"Yeah, but you're really nice," Grace told her, trying to boost her confidence. "When I was little… -er, I was pretty mean and not many people liked me for it. I think kindness counts more than school smarts…"

"Aww, that's sweet," Lindsay said, handing her the many perfect grades back to her to put in her book bag on the floor.

"… and then Chung kept trying to tell me the fax wouldn't go through. Load of crap, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"So I told him he had to check again and what does the man do? He tells me to check it for myself!"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm his boss! I shouldn't have to check the fax to see if it's working! The only reason I hired him is because he knows about computers and all that technological nonsense."

"Uh-huh."

Vince, washing the dishes in the kitchen sink, glanced over at his son, who was supposed to be cleaning the table off. He was, but he was doing it very sloppily. It was like he wasn't even there, like he wasn't listening to his father's fascinating story at all.

"And everything was going fine until he gave birth to that purple monkey."

"Uh-huh."

"Then the darn thing exploded and chunks of it landed right in my coffee."

"Uh-huh."

"… Trent, I sold your first guitar to put the money in Grace's college fund."

"You WHAT?!" Trent snapped back to reality upon hearing the terrible, fake news.

"Well, at least that got your attention." Vince smirked. "What's got you so distracted?"

Trent looked to the doorway by the table, then back at his father. "I… I was trying to listen to what Grace and Lindsay are talking about, okay?"

Vince groaned, "Trent, you've got to learn to trust your sister more. She's not as nasty as she was when she was three."

"Dad, don't you remember the reason she was so nasty?" Trent dropped his washcloth and walked toward his dad to talk more privately. "It's because we were gullible and thought she was this innocent little angel who could do no wrong. Well, she did plenty of wrong."

Vince sighed, then put a hand to Trent's shoulder. "Look… You haven't lived with her in a long time. I have. Grace is a good girl now. Well, for the most part, anyway. I've gotten barely any comments about her behavior from her teachers in the past few years. Besides, you were almost as mischievous as she was when you were a tike…"

"What? No, I wasn't!" Trent protested.

Vince smirked. "So you don't remember the incident at the old Chuck E. Cheese? You know, the one you were banned from?"

Trent's cheeks flushed red. He did remember, even after all those years. Not that he wanted to. "How was I supposed to know the Chuck E suit was flammable?"

Grace laughed, hugging Lindsay again. "I'm glad you came tonight, Lindsay! You're a lot of fun!"

"Me too! You're such a sweet girl!"

The girls got up from the couch they were sitting on and walked back to the kitchen, but Trent and Vince met them before they could enter.

"So…" Trent started nervously, "How you girls doing out here?"

"Great!" Lindsay patted the younger girl on the head. "Oh, Trent, Grace has to be the nicest, most well-behaved girl I've ever met!"

"Seriously?" Trent caught himself on that and added, "Oh, of course, she is! Always has been…" Looking up at the clock above the couch, he frowned and said, "But it's getting kind of late… We'd better go." They still had to pick Sabrina up, who was staying with Selena and Marilee.

"No, don't go!" Grace latched onto his leg at looked up at him with big, pleading eyes. "Can't you guys stay a little longer?"

Trent laughed. "No, Grace. We've seriously got to go." He started walking off, expecting Grace to let go. But she didn't. "Grace? Gr-Grace, let go."

"No, I like this," she said, pouting. "It's a fun ride…"

"Well, it's hurting my leg." Trent muttered, straining to lift the leg Grace was clinging to. "Can't I just give you a piggyback ride or something?"

Grace shrugged. "Okay!"

She pried herself off of him and jumped on him and he carried her out the front door. "I'll be waiting for you in the car, Linds!"

Lindsay looked back at Vince. There were a few more things she wanted to tell him that she didn't feel was appropriate dinner conversation. Actually, only one thing. Sabrina.

"Vinny, can I talk to you for a second?"

Well, at least it's close. It is another nickname for Vincent… "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Well, there's something I kind of want to tell you about me, so if you find out later, it won't be a huge, uncomfortable shock."

"Would it have anything to do with a young lady named Sabrina?"

Lindsay gasped. "Are you psycho?"

Vince laughed and shook his head. "No, I'm not psychic. Trent told me about her after dinner."

How could Trent do that without her permission? Now his dad probably thought she was a whore!

"Oh… Gee… Look, Virgil, let me explain-"

"You don't need to explain. Lindsay, you could have a two-headed pet alien named Benedict for all I care. All I care about is how you make my boy feel."

Lindsay looked up from her brown wedge heels and back up at him. "And how do I make your boy feel?"

Vince smiled and hugged her. "Like the greatest man alive."

Lindsay tensed for a moment, but eventually hugged back, with a small smile and a few tears in her eyes. It felt nice to be accepted by somebody's father…

Sorry for such a late update, guys! I've been uber busy!

And the next chapter is Selena's big birthday bash! And guess what? Something EXCITING with an actual PLOT happens!!! *chokes on own saliva*