Leo was watching Erin carefully from his position in the kitchen .He'd received a phone call from Erin's school earlier informing him of her slight upset during the day and had resolved to keep an eyes on her. Currently she was sitting at the table, tongue stuck firmly between her teeth, as she tried to work on a biology question. She didn't seem too upset currently but she was a little too quiet for Leo's liking

"Erin?" he called bringing the girl out of her thoughts "Are you okay?"

"Fine" she forced a brief smile onto her face

"Only you're a little quiet this evening and I thought as Janet's working this evening maybe you and I could have a little talk"

Erin snapped her biology book shut "I'd hoped you say that" she said, "Because there is something I need to talk to you about"

"Good" Leo said sitting down opposite her taking a sip of his coffee

"Boys"

"What exactly about boys?" Leo asked cautiously

"Kissing them"

Leo almost spat out a mouthful of the hot liquid "Sorry?"

"I kissed a boy today," Erin said slowly

"Really?" Leo asked not sure whether to be horrified or amused

"Well no, he kissed me actually" Erin frowned

"Right…"

"How do I know if I'm in love?" Erin asked innocently

"Aren't you a little young to be in love?" Leo asked

"No, I don't think so"

"Right…" Leo took a deep breath "So a boy kissed you today and now you want to know if you're in love"

"Pretty much" Erin nodded

"Could you not talk to Nikki about this?" Leo asked desperately

Erin shook her head "She'd start to plan my wedding" she sighed "And I am not ever getting married"

Leo smiled at his girl's resolute attitude "You might change your mind one day"

"Doubt it" Erin snorted in disgust "But how do I know if I'm in love?"

"Well…" Leo began "It's no easy matter"

"That's such an adult response" Erin rolled her eyes

"Well it's a complex matter" Leo told her

Erin sighed loudly "I'm going to ask Nikki," she told him and Leo breathed a sigh of relief

…………………………………………………………………………………………

The next day when Nikki picked Erin up from school, the girl launched into her second interrogation

"I think I'm in love," she told Nikki who smiled to herself

"Oh really?"

Erin nodded "But I'm not sure"

"Have you talked to Leo about this?"

"Yes" Erin said simply "But he's rubbish at girl talk"

"As are most men" Nikki chuckled

"But how do I know if I'm in love?"

"Well…" Nikki said slowly "How do you feel around them?"

"My stomach feels funny" Erin blushed

"Like it's full of butterflies?" Nikki asked and Erin nodded

"And my heart beats really, really fast like it did when he kissed me"

"And did you like him kissing you?" Nikki questioned

Erin paused "It was nice….but I don't understand something. When Leo kisses me goodnight that makes me feel safe and secure. But when Nate…" Erin bit her tongue when she realised that she had name-dropped

"Nate?" Nikki noticed it immediately "The boy with the shaggy hair?"

"You can't tell anyone," Erin begged and Nikki nodded

"Go on…" she prompted

Once Erin was sure Nikki would keep her promise she continued "But when Nate kissed me, it made me feel…." Her sentence trailed off and she made a noise of frustration "I don't know the word," she growled in annoyance

"It makes you feel wanted," Nikki told her "It makes you want nothing else but to stay with them for the rest of eternity just in their hold because with them you finally feel complete. The way you fit perfectly together almost like you were to halves of one whole makes you feel that all the bad times that you've gone through have been worthwhile"

"Yes!" Erin nodded enthusiastically "How did you know that?"

"It's what I feel when I'm with Harry" Nikki blushed "You see, Leo loves you in the way a father loves his daughter, full of compassion and kindness. But Nate, well Nate cares for you in a different way Erin…."

"I felt that when he kissed me" Erin said slowly "So am I in love?" she asked

"Only you can know that" Nikki smiled at her

"Why isn't there one straight answer?" Erin groaned

"Welcome to the wonderful chaotic world of relationships" Nikki told her with a grin

…………………………………………………………………………………………

The next day it was Harry's turn to pick Erin up from school and she decided to launch her attack on him

"Erin are you alright?" Harry said as he glanced across to the girl who was staring absentmindedly out of the window

"Yes" she smiled

"You're being very strange…."

"I'm always strange" she quipped

"But no strange in your usual Erin kind of way" he told her and she grinned at him

"I'm in love," she told him

Harry nearly crashed the car

"Love?" he spluttered as he regained

"Yes" Erin said resolutely "I decided today"

"When?"

"During art" she told him

"Oh" Harry said trying to make sense of this

"I don't want a boyfriend through" Erin wrinkled her nose "Do you think I can just be in love without having to have a relationship"

"I don't think that'll work Erin…" Harry sighed

"You and Nikki were like that for six years" Erin retorted

"That was different," Harry, said trying to move the conversation away from his love life

"Why?" Erin asked innocently

"Because we are adults," Harry said and Erin snorted with laughter

"Even though I'm more mature than you!" Erin said launching into a rant

Harry just sighed with relief as he realised he had successfully diverted the conversation

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"Leo I've decided something" Erin said sitting down in front of Leo who was just finishing a report

"And what's that?" he asked

"I don't want a boyfriend" Erin said and Leo breathed a sigh of relief "But I can still be in love"

Leo frowned as he tried to process what she was saying

"I'll be like Harry and Nikki," she told him

"Anything but that" Leo groaned, "I had to put up with years of tension between the pair before they finally admitted their feelings for one another"

"I think it's sweet," Janet said walking into the room

"I didn't ask you," Erin muttered

"Erin!" Leo reprimanded, "Don't speak to Janet like that, it's rude"

"She shouldn't have been listening in to the conversation," Erin protested

"I'm sor…" Janet began before Leo cut her off

"She wasn't listening in Erin, it was an open conversation and anyway you shouldn't speak to people like that"

"Why do you always side with her?" Erin said, a thundercloud passing across her usually sweet features

"I don't" Leo said calmly trying to avoid an argument, "You know you were out of line and I want you to apologise"

"Sorry" Erin said moodily

"Like you mean it…."

"Sorry!" Erin bellowed before storming out off the room and slamming the door

Leo closed his eyes momentarily and took a deep breath

"Should I go after her?" Janet asked

Leo shook his head "I'll go" he told her gently "I think I know what's bothering her"

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Erin was shaking with anger as she threw herself onto her bed, screaming into her pillow. She suddenly felt a weight on the bed and looked up to see Leo watching her

"I am sorry…," she said and Leo could hear the repentance in her voice

"I know," he told her "But you needn't have shouted Erin"

"Why can't it go back to just being you and me?" she asked

Leo sighed, his assumption of what had been bothering Erin was clearly correct "Because sometimes things have to change and you will get used to it, you just have to give it some time"

"I don't want things to change" Erin mumbled

"I know" Leo repeated "But please just give it a little more time" he reasoned with her "She's only been here a couple of weeks and it will take some getting used to"

"Fine" Erin gave up and rolled back over into her bed

"Good girl" Leo said, "Are you coming back down?"

Erin shook her head "I want to do some reading," she said holding up a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice'

"I should think you know that off by heart now," Leo teased

"I want to know more about this love thing" Erin told him and flicked to a marked page in the book

Leo gently left the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He knew that the crisis had been averted for now and to him, that was all that mattered.

Author's note: Sorry for being rubbish with the updates! A little question though: Is the whole conflict/angst getting a little bit much? That seems to be all I can write now, I am not so good with the fluff.