Tanith Panic, I think I'd probably rather sneeze on Ethan than flash Ethan... he's much more used to illness than underwear! But it is a very close-run thing. Thank you for your review - I'm really happy you're enjoying it. I wish someone would make this into a romcom - that would be amazing!
beckyboogle, thank you for your review - I'm really glad you're enjoying it so much. I'm afraid not much happens in this chapter, but things should get more exciting in Chapter 11.
CBloom2, thank you for your review. It really means a lot that you like the couples - I'm not sure that many girls are good enough for Cal and Ethan! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.
X-Sammii-X, I'm glad you found Cal falling asleep believable. I have to agree: Ethan is definitely a sweetheart and I hope I'm doing him justice. Thank you for your review.
Tato Potato, you'll find out in this chapter whether either or both couples have a second date planned! I'm really happy you like both the couples. Thank you for your review.
ETWentHome, thank you for your review. It is good they managed to be honest - some couples go on pretending for years! Luckily, I think Cal and Ethan are far too relieved to feel offended!
Sarah was feeling very happy when she arrived home. She'd done her best to let Cal know he was still on very thin ice with her, but she had agreed to see him again tomorrow.
She felt a lot less happy when she realised Emma was lying on the sofa with tissues and throat sweets. "Emma, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Emma. "I'm just exhausted. Ethan took me clubbing."
"What, seriously?" said Sarah. "I wouldn't have said Ethan was the clubbing type at all. He told me he was a terrible dancer."
"I couldn't really tell if he was good or not," admitted Emma. "He didn't look that good, but the lighting was really weird." She started to sit up.
Sarah pushed her back down again. "You stay right there and rest." She sat on the floor beside the sofa. "You'll never guess where Cal took me! You're going to be so jealous."
"To the cinema to see a foreign film?" said Emma.
Sarah couldn't help feeling slightly put out. The trouble with being twins was that they did sometimes read each other's minds. "Yes."
"No!" exclaimed Emma.
"Maybe we've got the wrong guys," said Sarah jokingly. "Want to swap?"
Emma shook her head firmly. "No. Ethan's perfect. He admitted afterwards that he hates clubbing and he only took me because he thought I liked it."
"That's so weird!" said Sarah. "Cal took me to the film because he thought I'd like it."
"Did he like it?" said Emma.
"No. He was so bored, he fell asleep!" said Sarah. "He ended up snoring all over my shoulder. He's so lucky he didn't dribble or I'd never have agreed to see him tomorrow. I very nearly didn't agree anyway - I didn't want him to think I was over-eager. But I think he has promise as a boyfriend and there's nothing wrong with the way he looks. So very kindly agreed to see him as he'd asked so nicely."
Emma smiled. "I'm glad you're seeing him again. I think it's a good sign if your boyfriend is prepared to suffer something he hates to make you happy."
Sarah hadn't thought of that. "That's a good point. Maybe I should have been a bit more appreciative. But lovely as Cal is, he does have a little arrogance problem going on so I do need to treat him a little bit mean."
"Treat him mean to keep him keen?" said Emma.
"Oh, no. Treat him mean to keep me keen!" said Sarah. "If he gets any more in love with himself, I'll just have to break up with him." She paused. "Which would be a shame because he is really sweet when he forgets to show off how gorgeous he thinks he is."
"I'm sure you can handle him," said Emma. "Figuratively."
"I can handle him literally too if I have to!" said Sarah. "So, when are you seeing Ethan again?"
Emma blushed. "Tomorrow. We're going to the cinema. Ethan loves foreign films."
"Emma, that's brilliant!" said Sarah, and hugged her. "I never have to see one of those awful films ever again!"
"Unless it doesn't work out with Ethan," said Emma.
"Then I'll just have to hope it does work out with Ethan," said Sarah, and hugged her again. "But not because of the films, Emma. Because I want you to be happy."
"I want you to be happy too," said Emma emotionally.
Sarah smiled. "Then I've got good news for you. I haven't been so happy for ages! Just don't tell Cal. Now go to bed. If you infect me I'm not going to forgive you for at least three hours and if you stay up too late and make yourself too tired to go out with Ethan tomorrow, I'm not going to forgive you for three days!"
Ethan was in his room when Cal arrived home. Cal had slightly mixed feelings about that. He really wanted to boast to his little brother about what a great night he'd had and how much Sarah liked him, but he still wasn't completely sure if she liked him or not. It would be okay telling Max and Lofty because he could lie and they'd believe every word, but it was a lot more difficult to deceive Ethan.
He went to bed and got out his phone, hoping for a text from Sarah to say she'd had a good time. He hadn't heard any new texts coming in, but he'd managed to convince himself he might not have heard her over the noise of the car radio.
There were no new texts.
Cal waited for a little while, but no text was forthcoming. He wondered if she'd run out of credit or her battery was flat. If so, it might take her as much as an hour to text him.
But an hour later, there was still no text. Cal was starting to worry. He'd dropped her off outside her house, but she'd told him not to see her to the door because she was perfectly capable of walking up her own drive. "You're going to walk up your drive on your own, aren't you? So why shouldn't I?"
Cal hadn't been quite brave enough to say something that could be construed as sexist, so he'd said he'd stay outside the house and watch through the window till she got inside, but Sarah hadn't been keen on that idea either and had told him she wasn't going anywhere till he'd gone.
Eventually, Cal had decided there was nothing for it but to do as she said, but now he was starting to regret it. What if she'd forgotten her keys or something? Cal knew she had a sister, but he hadn't asked if they lived together. Girls tended to take it amiss when Cal asked questions about their sisters and female friends.
In the end, he was so worried, he went and knocked on Ethan's door. "Nibbles, I don't know what to do."
Ethan opened his eyes and sighed. "Go to bed and tell me about it in the morning."
"No, this is serious," said Cal, and explained his problem.
"Cal, I'm sure she's fine," said Ethan. "But if you're worried, you could always phone her."
"Of course I can't!" said Cal, shocked.
"Why not?"
"Because that's going to look over-eager, isn't it?" said Cal. "Maybe you don't care about that kind of thing, but I do."
Ethan shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm going back to sleep."
"But why hasn't she phoned me?" said Cal.
"I don't know… perhaps she doesn't want to look over-eager," said Ethan.
Cal stared at him in amazement. "Don't be stupid. Why would she worry about something like that?" He laughed. "I can tell your last two girlfriends were a murderess and a girl who was more interested in your job than in you."
"I suggest you stop teasing me before I remind you what your last girlfriend was."
"What was wrong with my last…. Oh right. Yes. Okay. Teasing over."
Ethan, curse him, looked like he was going to laugh, but then he put his hand over his mouth and coughed instead.
"Are you okay?" said Cal, worried. "Are you ill? I hope you didn't give Emma any germs. Girls tend not to react well to that."
"I really don't think there's any need to worry about that," said Ethan.
Cal groaned. "Ethan, don't tell me you didn't even kiss her."
"I'm not going to tell you anything relating to kissing," said Ethan. "It's none of your business."
"Ethan, I only asked about kissing!" said Cal. "I didn't ask you if you pushed her against the wall and tore her dress off her, did I?"
To his complete shock, Ethan blushed.
"You didn't!" said Cal.
"No, I didn't," said Ethan. "It wasn't me."
Cal gasped. "You let some other guy tear her dress off?"
"No, she tore it off," explained Ethan.
Cal felt completely shocked all over again. "She tore it off? Ethan, are you seriously telling me that you and Emma… on the first date?"
"Are you saying you didn't on the first date?" said Ethan.
"I'm not saying anything," said Cal. "It's none of your business." He felt almost offended. How dare Ethan sleep with his girlfriend when Cal hadn't been able to sleep with his? That was just unfair. It was wrong. It shouldn't be allowed to happen.
"Cal, close your mouth," said Ethan. "You might catch a fly."
Cal sighed. "Maybe I should catch a fly. It's not like I can catch a girl at the moment."
Ethan looked sympathetic. "Didn't it go well?"
"It went brilliantly!" said Cal. "Under the circumstances."
Ethan coughed again, but this time, he didn't cover his smile quickly enough.
Cal glared at him. "Oh, great. So there I was, worrying about my little brother's health, and all the time you were laughing at me."
"Sorry," said Ethan. The fact he sounded like he meant it was little consolation. "What did you mean: 'under the circumstances'?"
"I might have fallen asleep on her shoulder when we were watching the film," said Cal.
"So you did sleep with her," said Ethan.
Cal stared at him for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "You're right. I did! We went into a darkened room and I slept with her! Or maybe I'll just say I slept with her in the cinema. That should impress the lads." His phone beeped. "And I bet that's a text from her right now!" He opened it. Hi gorgeous, I hope you're thinking about me as much as I'm thinking about you. Love Dylan. WHAT?"
Ethan laughed. "Oh, so that's who you were with."
"It's a wrong number!" shouted Cal.
"Of course it is," said Ethan soothingly, but his eyes were full of mischief.
"Ethan, if you even think of telling anyone about this, I'll tell them… well, I don't know what I'm going to tell them, but it's going to be good!" said Cal.
Ethan patted his arm. "Come on, Caleb. I'm not that unkind. Do you seriously think I'd do something like that to Dylan?"
Cal stomped off to his room. He was so annoyed with Ethan (for some reason, the text message seemed to be his fault too), he forgot all about not texting Sarah and accidentally sent her a message saying he'd had a really good time and he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.
By the following morning, he still hadn't had a reply.
That was Ethan's fault too.