Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or its characters!

Chapter 3

The following morning Alan skipped his morning run, which was a smart choice considering he found Carter waiting in the living room.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked excitedly.

Alan stared down to realize he wasn't wearing a shirt. "How did you get in here?" He wondered.

Carter covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. "Mary let me in before she left for work." She explained.

"Let me just find a shirt and I'll meet you outside." Alan blushed leaving the room.

"There's no rush if you want to hang out here for a while. We're painting a house with my dad so it doesn't matter if we're late." Carter hollered from the living room.

Alan pulled on the first shirt he could find and met Carter in the living room. She was looking at a picture his aunt had of him and his brothers. "That's me and my four older brothers. It was taken two years ago." He whispered trying not to startle her.

"Four? Wow now I get the confidence issues." Carter stated setting the picture down.

Alan was suddenly aware of how close they were to each other. Carter ran her fingers over his bruised cheek. He had honestly forgotten all about last night's incident. "I might just figure you out yet." She pulled her fingers away. "Come on, that house isn't going to paint itself."

They had been painting for five hours when Mr. Murphy let them off the hook. "I think your shirt is permanently baby vomit." Carter laughed tugging on his sleeve.

"Well at least I got paint on the wall. You were so busy flinging paint at me I'm surprised we finished the room." Alan scolded.

"Hey there is no "I" in team Blondie." Carter joked.

Alan and Carter were close again. Alan could feel his heart racing. "Do you want to stay for dinner? I'm sure my aunt wouldn't mind." He offered.

Carter nodded then followed him inside. "There you are. Oh my stars, who barfed?" Mary said examining their clothes.

"Oh Alan kissed me and I couldn't keep my food down." Carter lied.

Mary raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "You really know how to bruise a guy's ego." Alan shot back.

"Speaking of bruises where'd you get the shiner?" Mary interrogated.

"Two words, Kevin McWilliams." Carter spat.

"Alan I don't want you hanging around the McWilliams kid. The last thing I need is your dad all over me for being a bad influence." Mary gushed.

"It was my fault Mary. Alan was only defending me. Kevin was drunk and I set him off by asking him to leave." Carter defended.

Mary nodded, "You two just need to be careful. That boy has trouble written on his forehead."

After dinner Carter drove herself home. As scared as Alan usually was around people Carter actually made him feel safe, despite the fact that she was crazy.

"John called while you were out. Said he is coming to the mainland next week and wants to stop by for a few nights." Mary sighed.

Alan took a seat on the floor next to the couch. "Does he have to come?" He blurted running his hands over his face.

"I know you were hoping for a brother free summer, but it's only for a few nights. Plus by then maybe you will have the courage to ask Carter out on a real date." Alan threw the pillow from the couch at her.

Mary laughed throwing the pillow back at his head. "I better go shower." Alan said hugging his aunt.

The next morning Alan called John and confirmed his plans for next week. Then he went for his morning run. He saw Carter waving at him, but was too angry to stop.

Suddenly Alan felt something pull him to a halt. "Hey, what's wrong?" Carter's eyes met his for a brief moment. She was out of breath from running after him.

"My brother is coming to town next week." Alan choked holding back his fury.

Carter placed her hands on his face forcing him to meet her eyes. "It's going to be okay Alan." Then she pulled him into a hug. At first Alan was confused, but as he felt her arms around him he relaxed.

When Alan pulled away he felt his fear and anger dissipate. "Do you want to hang out tomorrow night?" Alan asked holding on to his courage.

Carter smiled, "I thought you'd never ask." She kissed his cheek before walking back to her house.

Finally it was Friday. His aunt had the day off. "I asked Carter out this morning." Alan said in between bites of cereal.

"And?" Mary fished.

"We have a date tomorrow." Mary gave him a big hug.

"Oh my nephew is shedding his alien skin and becoming a teenager. I think I need to get a picture." She said playfully.

"I'm almost 18. I've been a teenager for a while." Alan informed.

"Yes, but not a dating teenager. Do we need to have a talk?" Mary pondered.

Alan rolled his eyes and left the room. "No I think the health class at Wharton and having four older brothers kind of covered it." He stated trying not to sound annoyed.

Mary followed him onto the patio. "You should talk to one of your brothers. Your dad said you and John were close." He knew she was only trying to help.

"Yeah, we were when I was 14. Since the whole 'you're not mature enough to be a Thunderbird' thing I pretty much avoid all of them." Alan realized. "I don't know. It's like they think I'm a waste of space or something. I thought things would get better when I got older, but I was wrong."

"Alan, have you talked to them about this?" Mary asked placing an arm around his shoulders.

Alan shrugged, "If they don't care enough to observe it themselves and treat me better than I want nothing to do with them. They have the problem, not me."