omg, SO SORRY guys!! i've just been so busy with school. I'll be updating alot more often during summer break. Ok, well, I made up for it by making this chapter longer. yay! Enjoy!

"Resa! I'm home!"

"I'm upstairs!"

Meggie dropped her bag on the couch, grabbed some yogurt from the fridge, and went upstairs. Even after four years, she still got a tingle of surprise and excitement when she heard her mother talk. She found her in a spare bedroom arranging books on the bookshelves she insisted Mo get. Meggie liked this change. She no longer bumped into stacks of books on her way to the bathroom at night.

"Hi Meggie, how was school?"

"Uh…fine."

"Why, what happened?"

"I said it was fine."

"Meggie…."

"What?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing unusual, honest!"

"Okay, sorry"

Resa always acted like this when Mo was away.

"Resa, Sam's birthday's on Friday, she invited me to a sleepover. I can go, right?"

"Of course, I'm going to be at Elinore's anyway. What are you getting her?"

"I don't know..."

"How about a book?"

"I always get her books, I thought maybe she's like something different."

"Meggie, she's always reading, just like you, and if she loves books half as much as you do, a book would be perfect. Your grandmother always used to say, 'A book is a gift you can open again and again'."

"Ok, ok, I'll give her a book…again."

Meggie sifted through stacks of books that were still to be sorted, then started looking through the bookshelves. She always gave her own books away as presents; it seemed to her that giving an old tattered book as a gift was more special. It showed that the book had been loved, and giving it away was like giving it a new life, so it can be loved again. It was the same with anything, really, but books were different, they could bring emotion so deep that it could change your life; toys can't do that.

Not that Sam would want a toy, Meggie thought as she laid the book she had chosen on her bed: The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. She loved this book, it was one of her many favorites. She could tell a book was good when she found she had a crush on one of the characters. In Thief Lord, it was Prosper. Meggie chuckled as she remembered how she used to daydream of him. She stroked the spine and flipped through the pages one last time before putting it away to be pitifully wrapped.

"Hello Daniel," Sam said formally as she walked through the front door. Her older brother was lying on the couch watching tv.

"Hell-O Sa-Man-THAAA," he responded, mixing formal with silliness.

But Sam wasn't laughing.

"Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

"We've already gone over this!"

"Then why do you call me Daniel? Only Dad ever called me that, don't you think it bothers me too? Sam, you can't keep making a big deal out of things. It's your freaking name. You're almost 16 years old; I thought you would've at least gotten over THAT by now."

Sam was silent. This is how Dan was, funny, but serious when he wanted to be. He had his ways; if someone else had told Sam all the things he had, she would've punched the living daylights out of them. Dan wasn't like other older brothers. For one, he was ten times as nice as all the older siblings in the world put together, in Sam's opinion. He could say things so…pleasantly, and easily, he almost always got his way, no matter who he was talking to. He always seemed to be...right. It was almost creepy.

Sam stood there, book bag still on her shoulder, looking down, and thinking over what Dan had just said. But it brought back memories of her dad calling her name, and tears started to well up in her eyes. Not wanting Dan to see them, she ran up to her room.

Dan's POV

Crap, I've got to stop doing that. I wait to hear her door close then go up after her. I knock on her door —

"What is it?" she said, trying to sound like she hadn't been crying. I could tell she had been, though, by the hollowness in her voice.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

I walked over and sat down at the edge of her bed. She was sitting on her bed, legs crossed, with an open book in her lap, looking down. I sat down at the edge of her bed and didn't say anything. Her eyes weren't moving.

"I'm sorry, Sam."

"It's okay…"

"No, it's not. But Sam, you've got to get over things," I started another one of our many conversations about moving on, "It's been almost a year–"

"Eight months."

"And you've got to get over things. Dad wouldn't want you to be sad. You're not enjoying life anymore, you're always depressed. I can't even remember the last time I saw you smile," I said this with a hint of sarcasm, to not seem harsh, but I seriously couldn't remember the last time she really laughed.

"I know, but I can't believe that…it's just….he….it's hard," she ended flatly.

Awkward Silence…

It sounded like we were rehearsing for a part in a lame soap opera. These conversations always ended like this. I 'm sick of it, but I'm also worried about Sam. I'm afraid it's going to get to the point where she starts hurting herself, or using drugs or something. Mom's worried too, but I make sure to make it sound like everything's alright when I talk to her. She so needs a boyfriend. I smiled as I thought that.

I got up and ruffled her dark hair as I left.

"Just try."

Soo, how was it? PLEASE review!! Oh yeah, the whole thing with Dan, I needed some way to introduce him, he'll be playing an important role later on. He's our Reader :D.