I know, this chapter is insanely short, but it's only some kind of interlude, to get the story going, and I needed this part to be able to go on.

Chapter 3

Of course with the experience I have today I wouldn't call it a kiss. It was more lips touching than anything else and probably the most innocent thing. But back then it changed everything. I don't even know why anymore, and now I know how stupid I was, but back then, being barely twelve years old I really thought this was it. This was the real thing that would change my life forever. And in a way it did. After that none if Mark's girlfriends bothered me anymore. Because I knew, he would come back to me eventually. But I never could understand why he went on dating Barbies. I never thought that maybe he did it because they were the exact opposite of myself, blond and light headed. I still don't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Just like I still don't know if I ever was much more than a friend to him. I wasn't his sister anymore, that was for sure, I mean, gross, I couldn't be in love with my brother. And he never referred to me as his sister after that. Laura still was my little sis, and I never want to loose her like a sister, but Mark and I, we were just friends.

It went on like that, probably until I was fifteen. Mark was my best friend, and I believed I was in love with him, and he with me. He always gave me the feeling that I was something special though we never talked about any of it. I never told my mum about it either, all she knew was that I was getting along with my 'siblings' and she was happy about it. And why shouldn't she be. By that time she was head over heels in love with Luke and didn't think even about dad in any other way than 'dad', you know.

He and Susan never suspected anything either. Every time when I would sleep over at dad's house, I would wait until they both had gone to bed, and then I would go to Mark's room. We used to talk only, sometimes with a little peck on the cheek when I finally went to bed. But by the time I was fifteen we had progressed to full fledged make-out sessions. Even Laura didn't notice. At least I hope she didn't. She could never forgive me, and if she found out I couldn't forgive myself either. It was a huge betrayal of her trust in us being the perfect family. But then I thought I was the happiest person in the entire world. Little did I know that Mark wasn't as committed as I thought he would be.

Some time in the fall after my fifteenth birthday I visited my dad again. Nobody was home yet, so I let myself in and went to my room to unpack the things I had brought for the weekend. When I heard the front door being opened, I immediately went in the hall to say hi to dad, but then I heard voices, that clearly didn't belong to either Susan or my dad.

"And you're sure nobody's home?" A female voice. Squeaky.

"No, we're all alone. Come on, let's go to my room!" That was Mark, no doubt.

And then it made 'klick'. Mark was bringing a girl home. Mark was cheating on me with, I bet, yet another Barbie girl. He hadn't had an official girlfriend since our 'relationship' had deepened, so naturally I had assumed that he was faithful to me.

Slowly I stepped back into my room, closed the door and took a deep breath. It was enough, seriously enough. I decided, there and then, that I was done being his little, whatever I was to him. I didn't even know anymore what he was to me. We had never said anything about being together, let alone being exclusive. But I didn't want to find any explanations for his behaviour. He didn't deserve it. After making sure that they had gone into Mark's room I put my things back in my bag pack and, very silently, went out of my room to go back home. Hopefully Mark would miss me this weekend.

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Taking a sip from her coffee, Rory made a short break from typing. She was exhausted, but the black liquid had managed to keep her awake for the past hours. She only the realized that it was almost 4 o'clock in the morning. Yawning, she put the bare foot that she had tucked under her on the floor, shivering at the contact with the cold wood. Making sure she didn't make any noise she went to the bedroom and got a pair of socks from the cupboard, only to go back to the laptop she had sat at for the past 6 hours and continue her writing. Although she was extremely tired, she was determined to go on, when she heard the tapping of bare feet on the hardwood floor behind her. She felt a pair of lips lightly being pressed on the top of her head. Rory just tilted her head back and soon got a real kiss from the man behind her.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked with a little guilt in her voice.

"No, I was already awake, just waiting for an excuse to get up." The man gave Rory a little smile. Glancing at the screen, where the cursor still was blinking after the word 'weekend' he asked "Where are you at?"

Rory looked back at what she had written, and a sad smile took over her before happy face. "The day I decided to stop being Mark's dirty little secret" she said without any emotion, or at least so it seemed.

"Then I'm gonna pop up soon, right?"

"Yeah.." Rory sounded like she was lost in her thoughts. Soon she snapped out of it though and shaking her head sharply she said "I think I wrote enough for today"

"Are you sure?"

Rory smiled at the concerned voice of her boyfriend. "Yes I'm sure. I'm going to bed now, and I think I'll skip my first lecture in the morning and just sleep for a while."

"You should, you look exhausted, beautiful, but still, exhausted"

Rory chuckled and took the man by his hand, tugging him behind her into the bedroom, where she immediately fell asleep in his strong arms. She would continue writing some other time. She knew she had to.