"Capture the Flag. We're seriously playing Capture the Flag." Katie said, and I giggled. My entire family was gathered on the couch.

"How are we picking teams?" Barrett asked. Jessica shrugged and said, "It would be funny if Elle and Cat were the two team captains."

"It would also be more fair. They're mother and daughter." Ryan said. Elle and I both got up and Jessica said, "Alright! Rock-paper-scissors! Both of you! Winner picks first!"

"Who said you were in charge?" Evan asked. Jessica slapped him and said, "I can't play. So I'm doing the next best thing. Being the referee."

I shrugged and Ryan said, "I have a better idea. I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10." Elle and I stared at each other and Elle said, "7."

"5!" I yelled without thinking. Ryan sighed and said, "It was 6. Cat won. Cat, who's your first pick?"

"Evan." I said, and Evan got up.

"Alice." Elle said.

"Barrett."

"Jon."

"Katie."

"Ryan."

"Why did I get picked last?" Ryan said, storming over to Elle's side.

"If you could play, I would pick you." I said to Jessica, and Evan slapped me. Jessica pulled out two sheets of construction paper and started cutting little strips out of it.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Elle's team, grab a blue one and put it on your wrist. Cat's team, get a red one." We all got our strips of paper and taped them to our wrists. I put my name on mine before putting it on my wrist.

"Here's how it's going to work. If you get tagged, you're out and have to sit down, unless someone from your own team tags you back in. Simple as that. Team captains control the bases. Winner is the first team that gets the other person's flag and takes it to your base."

"Where's the line? Like, where's the safe zone?" Ryan asked.

"How do we split the apartment in half..." Jessica said to herself, making mental lines in her head. "I got it!" Jessica folded up the blanket and put it over the middle of the couch. "This is the line."

I tied a towel to a yardstick and ran to my bedroom. "I know where to put the flag." I said. I put it in my closet and propped open the door.

"Why would you do that?" Katie asked.

"Elle's probably going to go into my bedroom first thing. If we get her out instantly by just standing here, we have a chance." I said.

"The kid does have a point." Barrett said.

"Alright!" Jessica called from the living room and we all gathered on our respective sides.

"Let the games begin in 3...2...1...go!"

No one moved. We were all too scared to go anywhere.

"Charge!" Alice yelled, and her and Ryan started running around. I hid behind the living room chair with Evan and said, "Try to grab Alice's leg."

"Darn it!" I heard, and I heard maniacal laughter.

"Yes! Alice is out! Come on, kid!" Evan said.

"Who got her out?" I asked.

"Me!" Barrett said, grabbing my arm. "Run. I think I know where Elle put the flag." Barrett said.

"Where?" I whispered.

"Be careful. Ryan is right there, and he's not moving. We can get easy access to the flag if one of us gets him out." Barrett said.

"Where is Katie?" I asked, and Barrett said, "She's guarding our flag."

"Are you seriously kidding me?" I heard, then saw Elle trip over her own feet, clutching something.

"Is...Elle out?" I asked.

"Nope." Evan said.

"She's got our flag!" Barrett cried. Evan stood on a chair and Barrett stood behind Elle. I ran to my bedroom and stood in the closet.

"ELLE'S OUT! CAT! ELLE'S OUT!" I heard, then a stampede of people ran into my room.

"RYAN MCCARTAN! TAG ME BACK IN!" Elle cried, and then Katie ran in. "Go, go, go. There we go! Run!" Katie yelled, and then Alice came in.

"Who got you back in?" I asked.

"Jessica." Alice said, smirking.

"What-that's cheating!" I said. Alice laughed, and said, "She made the rules."

"You're no fair!" I said, and Katie shoved Alice on my bed.

"And you're out again. Get yourself comfortable, you're gonna be here a while." Katie said, and I walked out, giggling.

I heard a bang, and saw Evan dive under the couch. "I got Ryan!" he said.

"Great!" I said. I heard a yelp and Elle yelled, "And I got Barrett."

"Evan! Get Barrett back in!" I yelled, and Katie said, "Shut up!"

Elle tagged Evan out and Barrett reached over and tagged Evan back in.

"Smart move!" I said, high-fiving Evan.

"Evan, Elle's running around, and I don't know where Jon and Alice went. Go get the flag." Katie said.

Evan ran to the bathroom, where I knew Elle's flag was. Ryan ran out of the bathroom as fast as he could, and tripped Evan.

"Ha-ha!" Ryan said, running to my bedroom.

"Cat! Get him!" Evan said, and I grabbed Ryan's leg.

"Got him!" I said, letting go of Ryan who sat down on the floor.

"Elle! Get me back in!" Ryan whined. Before Elle could do anything about it, I got Elle out.

"Evan! Now's your chance!" I cried, and Evan dove over Elle and Ryan and ran to the bathroom.

"I forgot about Jon! Help!" Evan said.

"Evan!" Barrett yelled. "Help!"

"Great, Evan and Barrett are out. Again." Katie said.

"Well, don't just stand there! Tag them back in!" I yelled.

Evan slapped Barrett on the arm and she did the same thing. Evan ran to the bathroom and came back with the flag.

"Evan's got the flag!" Elle cried. Elle and Alice stampeded to Evan, but he dove away just in time.

"Katie, get Ryan!" I cried, tagging Elle out. Elle whined a little, then Katie tagged Alice and Ryan out at the same time.

"Barrett! Enemy at six o'clock!" I cried. Barrett ducked, avoiding Jon.

"We're safe! Evan, run!" I cried, and Evan ran into my bedroom and grabbed our flag.

"WE WON!" he cried.

"Darn it!" Alice said.

"Come on, you knew we would win." Katie said.

"I hate all of you." Jon said. "Except for Cat, she's the pure bean of this family." I giggled, and Evan said, "She's my little sister. Of course she's pure."

"Shameless self-promo." I said, and Evan picked me up.

"You're too cute." Evan said. I nuzzled my face into his neck and he said, "Aww." and kissed me on the cheek.

"You're a good big brother." Elle said. "She really seems to love you."

"I love her too." Evan said.

I relaxed a little and fell asleep in Evan's arms.

_______
Evan's POV

"Hey, Cat." I said, trying to gently wake my sleeping sister up. I was on the couch and had repositioned Cat so she was laying on my lap. I heard her snore a little and sighed. I couldn't wake her up. She's been so afraid to sleep lately, she needs this. I ran my fingers through Catlynn's hair, trying to keep myself busy.

"Psst. Evan." I heard. Jessica was sitting next to me. "Let me take her." I sighed. Though I knew Jessica would be better with Cat in this situation, I didn't want to wake her up.

Suddenly, I felt Cat fidget on my lap. I quickly pulled my hand back and whispered to Jessica, "What's going on?"

"She might be having a nightmare. Let me take her." Jessica said.

"No. I'm her brother. I promised to protect her." I said, almost about to cry. Jessica inched away from me and I stroked Catlynn's hair.

"Hey, Cat. It's me. Evan. I'm right here." I said. Cat kept fidgeting, it was getting worse. She was about to wake up. She needs the sleep, I need to keep her asleep.

I kept Cat still on my lap and pulled her into me, not sure what to do.

You're her big brother, Evan. She looks up to you. You need to protect her.

I kissed my sister on the head and held her tightly.

"Hey. I'm right here, kid. It's me, Evan." I said, still holding Cat.

"Evan!" I heard, and Cat shot awake.

"Hey. Shh...it's me. What's wrong?" Cat hugged me tightly and began to sob.

"I was right. It probably was a nightmare." Jessica said. Cat nodded and buried herself in my chest again.

"Hey, did you have a nightmare?" I asked, pushing Cat's hair out of her face. Cat said, "Y-yeah..." and she started to cry again.

"I'm going to go tell Elle." Jessica said, and I nodded, still holding Cat.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, and Cat shook her head.

I realized what could help her. A distraction. She's been wanting one ever since she hurt her shoulder.

"Hey, I have an idea." I said.

"What?" Cat said softly, curled up on my chest. I stopped myself. I was going to draw with her, but I think she needs to stay put and calm herself down.

"I was going to do something fun with you, but I think you need to stay put." I said, which was true. Cat sighed, and I pulled her in closer to me.

I then got an idea. I knew Elle and Jessica did this to calm her down, could it work for me?

"Hey, Sunshine? Do you hear my heartbeat?" I asked, and I felt Cat nod.

"Good. Focus on it for me. That's it." I stroked her hair and felt Cat relax a little.

I knew that would help her. I put my hand on her back to feel her breathing, and noticed it going in the same rhythm as my heartbeat.

"You got her to sleep." I heard, and I saw Elle smiling.

"Yeah." I said, noticing that Elle was right, Cat has fallen asleep.

Elle picked Cat up off my lap and said, "I'm going to take her to bed. Thanks for being there. You're a good big brother." I nodded and went on my phone, vowing to myself I'd stay here until Cat woke up.

AN: Don't we love a friendly game of Capture the Flag? Also, don't we love nice big brother moments? Are there any cast members you guys want to see in upcoming chapters? Let me know! Hope you enjoyed! Catch ya later!