A/N Okay, so I badly (REALLY BADLY) wanted to torture you and not update for a few days, just so y'all would be obsessing over the cliffhanger. But I'm on a roll and I don't want to lose that. So here it is, Lucy punching Brenden for kissing her without permission. Enjoy, my lovelies!!!

"Who are you?" I demanded, backing away towards the kids and wiping my lips uncertainly. "Brenden." The stranger seemed dazed. "My name's Brenden." He clarified, picking at his shirt hem. Now that I got a good look at him, he was rather cute. His shaggy blonde hair glinted in the sunlight, and his eyes were a deep green. He was also about 6 inches taller than me. But good-looking or not, he was a stranger, and I had no idea if he wanted to hurt the kids or me.

 I stood protectively in front of the sleeping children as I asked sharply, "Well? What are you doing here, Brenden?" "..I live here." He sounded confused, as if this should be obvious. "Those kids you're protecting are my siblings." My eyes flew wide at this surprising claim, then narrowed in suspicion; I wasn't convinced. "How do I know that that's not a lie? What proof do you have?" He seemed a bit taken aback, then he grinned. "Kat!" He called loudly, "Wake up, little hurricane!" Behind me, Kat sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Brenden!" She called happily. "You're home!" She scrambled to her feet, darted around me, and leapt into his arms. 

"How's my little hurricane?" He shot me a smug sort of grin. "Are you having fun with Lucy? She treating you right?" I stared open-mouthed. How did he know my name?? "How do you know my name?" I hissed. Kat, still clinging to Brenden, giggled. "I told him about you, silly." She seemed completely unaware of the tension still radiating off me. Brenden seemed to, though, and he explained, "Kat here, said she'd met a nice girl named Lucy with red hair, that jogged down our road." He grinned, "So I came home early to see who this Lucy was." So he wasn't lying! He was the brother Kat had once mentioned. My face burned. I realized that the strange boy who'd caught, then kissed me, was my favorite kids' older brother!

"I need to go." I said quietly. "I gotta get home soon." Kat's face fell. "Aw, Lucy, now? You have to go home now?" I smiled at her, purposely ignoring Brenden completely. "I'll come again soon." I promised the little girl. "Kat, wake up Scot and Angel and take them inside please. You can handle afternoon snacks, can't you?" Brenden gently set her down, glancing at me. Those green eyes looked thoughtful, almost calculating. It was unnerving. It almost as if he wasn't sure if I'd run. But, suddenly, I had no intention of leaving before I got an explanation for that stolen kiss. Kat led the other two inside, all of them yawning a bit. I instinctively yawned as well; man, they were contagious! By the time I'd finished yawning and opened my eyes again, we were alone.

"Hi Lucy." Brenden said, slightly awkardly sticking out his hand, as if for a handshake. "My name's Brenden." "So I heard." I replied dryly, taking his hand and giving it one firm shake. After dropping his hand, I fidgeted uncomfortably, not sure how or even what to ask. "So... how'd you meet my siblings?" He asked, after what seemed like a long silence. "Oh!" I smiled, relaxing a bit. "I jog home everyday, and I met them last week when they were playing in the yard. Kat stopped me to introduce herself. I've seen them a few times since, on the way home from school, and the last two times they asked me to play with them."

 My smile softened as I reassured him, "Don't worry, I'm very gentle when playing with them. I have lots of siblings and cousins so I know how to take care of children." I laughed. "I think that's one of the things that makes me such a good babysitter." Brenden raised his eyebrows, "You babysit?" he questioned. "Of course!" I pretended to be offended, finally relaxing. "You're telling me you don't know the best babysitter in Bakerfield?" He looked down. "We just moved here.. I don't know anyone yet." He laughed, almost sadly. "Those  three little monsters make friends much easier than I do, apparently." I tilted my head, confused. "Why haven't I seen you at school? It's already been 5 weeks since school started." 

He raised his eyes to mine, and the green was startlingly clear. "I've been helping my mom unpack and taking care of the kids. I start school next week." "Oh." I nodded understandingly, "I get that." I smiled half-heartedly, "I've moved around a lot too." He looked faintly surprised at this statement. "This is only our second move. For the kiddos, it's their first one." he scratched his neck, not seeming to know what to say next.

I suddenly realized that my legs were aching a bit from clenching my muscles so hard earlier, so I sank to the ground; staring up at him until he lowered himself onto the ground as well, across from me. "So why'd y'all move?" I asked as I settled myself more comfortably on the grass. "Well," he looked at me, as if to judge whether he really wanted to tell me. I must have passed the test, for he continued, "We moved because we couldn't afford the house we were in. Dad was the one with lots of money, and since he's gone..." His voice trailed off into the warm fall air. 

I realized that twilight was descending, and I was glad that my father closes tonight. "What happened to him?" I asked softly, not wanting to break the fragile armor that I could suddenly see surrounding Brenden. I couldn't believe that he trusted me with his painful past. "I-I don't know. I woke up one day, and Mom was in tears. I never saw or heard from him again." He said softly, voice breaking. I saw in the fast way he was blinking that he was holding back tears. 

Suddenly, possessed by the undeniable urge, the need, to comfort him, I reached out and took his hand, gently rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "That's terrible. Do you miss him?" He just looked at me, in the fading light, with those green, green eyes. And they said more than he could ever say. I saw the pain, and the need to trust someone. I saw a young boy, trying to hold it together for the sake of his remaining family. I saw anger, at his father for not being a good person, for leaving a son and wife and three little kids to fend for themselves. It felt like I was drowning in his gaze.

Then, suddenly, his gaze dropped to our intertwined hands. I had unconsciously curled my fingers around to grip his hand, lending support in the only way I could think of. I blushed, and started to pull away; but his grip tightened suddenly. He turned my hand over, looking at it in the darkening twilight. My breath caught; his hand was warm and I was cold, even in the warm fall evening. He very lightly tapped every mole and freckle decorating the back of my hand. It felt like the brush of a butterfly's wing.

He looked up, abruptly, his gaze piercing. "Am I that bad of a kisser?" He asked softly. "Wha-at?" I could still feel the echo of his finger, tracing every mole and freckle I'd memorized years ago. He shrugged, snapping me out of my trance. "Earlier. I must have been a pretty bad kisser for you to shove me away like that." He grinned slightly, "You're strong, by the way." I almost laughed at the compliment-ish statement. 

"It's just that, you were a random stranger, no matter how well you kiss. And I'm not that type of girl. Plus I had to protect Angel, Kat, and Scot." I blushed. "Although you weren't a danger to them, being their brother and all. I just didn't know if you were dangerous." He cracked a smile at that. "I'm glad you're so protective of them. I mean, even when you're.. distracted. It makes me more at ease to know they have someone looking out for them when I can't." He coughed. "I bet you're a great sister." I wasn't sure what to say to that. It was almost completely dark now.

After a while he asked, "Then what type of girl are you? If you're not the kiss-a-total-stranger type?" I laughed. "I'm the type of exercise nut that gets picked for the Raider team, the type of girl that has read more books than you've heard of. The type of girl that loves to dance and write poetry and sings in 3 different choirs." I paused, growing serious. "I'm not the type of girl who kisses or holds hands with a boy she's barely met." I slipped my hand out of his as I said this. I was surprised that he didn't resist, just let me slip through his fingers.

I stood up, brushing of my shorts. His gaze remained on his suddenly empty hand as I retrieved my backpack and purse. "Well, goodbye Brenden." I wasn't sure if I should leave yet or not, so I just stood there awkwardly. "It was nice meeting you!" I turned away, heading towards home. But I hadn't gotten more than a few steps before he spoke and I stopped in my tracks.

"Are you the type of girl that gives a guy a chance?" He asked, still looking at his empty hand resting on his knee. "Everyone gets one chance. That's all I can promise." I told him, and started jogging away.

~Brenden's POV~

I shouldn't have kissed her. I hadn't even planned to. I was just watching from the living room window and I saw that she was getting ready to leave, so I came outside. I wanted to talk to her, get to know the girl spending time with my siblings. But then Bouncer saw me, standing behind Lucy, and went crazy. The next thing I knew, she had pitched forward and was about to fall, fall, fall. I grabbed her hips without thinking; I just didn't want her to get hurt.

 And when she turned around, whoo-wee! She was beautiful, with long red hair and stormy grey eyes. And I could see her tanned mid-riff and suddenly I wanted to know if she tasted as good as she looked. I knew it was stupid and that she was a total stranger; but she tasted like watermelon, and chocolate, and mint toothpaste and her waist was so slim and her hair so red. I didn't blame her for pushing me away though; I was completely out of line. I hadn't even introduced myself first!

But now, I sit here on the grass, staring at my suddenly cold and empty hand, my fingers tingling from her touch and her words echoing in my mind. "One chance...That's all I can promise." I could feel the ghost of her hand in mine. I wouldn't waste my chance.

A/N *evil laugh* Okay so she never punches him, I just wanted to torture you guys. I love y'all though. Speaking of, I am a Texan, and I say y'all for just about everything, so I'm not being stereotypical when Lucy says y'all all the time. Also this story is set in Texas. And I gotta say, I'm becoming completely obsessed with this story. I stay up until 1 am, stress-writing or pleasure-writing and I write at school and at home and when I'm bored. I love this story so much. So I hope y'all love it too. I don't really have anything else to say so GOODBYE LOVELIES!!!