Derek ushered me into the room we were sharing. He had rushed through the introductions, and insisted that I put my things away in our room. I sat down on the bed, and looked at the air-mattress that was placed on the floor. I wondered how much a futon would cost, if we could afford one.

"Simon, what's with you? You haven't said two words since we got here," Derek bristled with annoyance. A feeling of comfort and security rushed over me. As long as Derek was impatient and annoyed, then everything must be ok.

"I'm fine. Just tired. We've been on the road all day, and we didn't get much sleep last night. Or the night before that, really. Thanks for calling, by the way, and letting us know you and Chloe were still alive. We really appreciated it."

"I said I was sorry. I had a lot on my mind, and-"

"You were too busy making-out with your girlfriend to remember Little Brother," I said snidely.

"It's not like that, Simon!" Derek snapped. "I wasn't too busy making-out with Chloe, I was recovering from another partial Change! And trying to find out exactly what I am, because in case you have forgotten, Dad wasn't exactly an expert on the subject. I know he did his best, but really, I need more than he gave me." Derek sat down on the bed with a thump. He sighed, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. I should have called you when I first got up this morning. There is no excuse. It won't happen again, and I will make it up to you. Somehow."

I rolled my eyes, and punched him in the arm.

"It's cool, bro. No worries." I grinned at him, and raised my eyebrows. "You promised on the phone you'd tell me what happened with Chloe."

He sighed, then cocked his ear to the side, listening. After a few seconds, his eyebrows raised in surprise, then he smiled.

"What's Chloe saying?" I asked, wishing I had supersonic hearing to for the millionth time.

He shook his head, then turned back to me, still smiling.

"Come on, dude. The suspense is killing me," I pleaded, then threw a pillow at him. He just raised him arm and sent it ricocheting to the bed in one fluid motion.

"I told her how I feel," he said. I looked at him, really looked for the first time in awhile. For the first time for as long as I could recall, my brother was happy. Not just making-the-best-of-things happy. He was actually happy.

"I take it that she feels the same way," I said smugly.

"Yeah, she does," he replied.

We talked for a few more minutes after that, Derek's face positively glowing the whole time. Jeremy knocked on the door, and told us we had fifteen minutes before we all headed out for dinner. So, I hopped in the shower, got dressed, headed downstairs with time to spare.

After everyone filed out of the house, we all piled into this monster SUV that was parked in the garage.

I ignored her, and concentrated on my comic. It was really coming along, and I wanted to add some pages about Derek and Chloe's relationship, because every good story needs some romance. That's what I told myself anyways. I was really happy that Derek had found someone. It didn't even bother me that they were already more serious that I had ever been with a girl. I figured that if anyone could make a relationship work, it would be those two. They weren't quitters, and that's what made them perfect for each other.

We got to the restaurant, and sat down. Jeremy kept the talk light, trying to find out about our different interests. His eyes lit up when Chloe told him I was an artist. We talked about art until dinner arrived, then we talked about Chloe's art school after that. She wasn't sure she was going to go back there when things had calmed down, but she recommended that I check it out. Derek stayed quiet enough during the conversation that I figured something was up.

When I asked him about it after we were leaving the restaurant, he just mumbled something at me, then grabbed Chloe's hand. They sat together in the back of the car on the ride home. Tori sat up front with Jeremy, so I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Something told me I was going to need it.