The things she did with Tristan would be engraved in her mind forever.

A permanent smile was etched on her face and she never wanted it to go away. It felt like her life with Tristan was only beginning.

"I need to go throw these sheets in the washer, we kind of made a mess all over it." Tristan rolled his naked body out of the bed while she lay there in bliss, staring at the ceiling.

"I need to shower."

"Yeah, let me do that as well downstairs...then I'll wash the sheets, I know how the hot water gets sometimes."

"Or," she smiled at him. "We can conserve hot water and take a shower together."

He looked down at her with a grin. "See, that's why you're in college. You're smart."

Taking her first shower with a man, how exciting. Tristan already devoured every inch of her body with his kisses, tasted the wetness between her thighs, and pleased her over and over and over again. She knew sex was something awesome from reading her grandmother's diary. Now she understood why her grandmother and grandfather always seemed to be obsessed with it.

Tristan started the shower and the water got hot fast, but she knew that long showers would turn the shower cold. They still had not gotten the water heater permanently fixed. A new one was needed but Zee and her never discussed how they were going to pay for it. That was a matter she did not want to think of right now.

"Are we going to get clean or just get dirtier?" She stepped in the shower which she had only used by herself. Good thing it was large enough for both of them.

Tristan stepped in behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Girl, haven't we done enough already? Three times!"

It did not feel like enough to her. She wanted more of him. With the hot water, beating down on his back, only sprinkles hitting her face. Although she pulled her hair up in a messy bun, she could feel her edges getting wet.

"Okay, okay, I won't jump your bones in here."

"But damn, I love every minute of making love to you." Tristan pulled her to him so that their lips met while water showered down their bodies. He whispered. "And I'm going to enjoy making love to you every night, every day, forever and ever."

She giggled at that, thinking naughty thoughts of the places she wanted to have sex with Tristan. Not just his bedroom. Her bedroom, his bathroom, and of course, the laundry room. Something about being in that small, cramped room, and sitting on a vibrating dryer seemed like a perfect combination.

"I love you, Tristan."

"Jo, I love you so much."

"Right here, right now, I want you again" she added with a laugh.

"Don't play with me." He rubbed his semi-hardened length on her. "Okay, one more time-"

Before Tristan could finish that sentence, the shower curtain sprung open and Zee stood there, with her gun pointed at Tristan.

The shock of seeing a gun so close she screamed and had no time to react.

"I told you I would hurt you if you laid a hand on my sister!"

"Zee!" Tristan grabbed her, shielding her behind him then raised his hands in surrender. "Zee, let's talk about this."

"Man, fuck you! You in here fucking my sister, no condom, going to leave her pregnant and alone like our scum father."

"Zee, it's not like that!" She could not believe her sister was taking things this far. A gun? Pointed at Tristan. No, this was not like her sister, and she was not going to be afraid. She moved from behind Tristan, the water hitting her in the face, and wetting her hair, but she did not care. She stood in front of Tristan. "I won't let you hurt him."

"Get out the fucking way," Zee said, not lowering the gun. It was now pointed at her.

She trembled a bit, looking down at the gun, but not backing away.

"Zee, come on now, you're scaring your sister. Can we cut the shower off, get dressed and talk?"

"Zee, we were going to tell you-"

"Tell me what?"

"Zee...I'm going to slowly cut the water off, okay," Tristan said in a soft, calming voice, hands still up as he slowly moved to do as he said, while she stood in front of him as a shield.

She knew her sister would never hurt her, so even standing there naked, soaking wet she knew she was okay. And if she wanted to hurt Tristan, she had to go through her.

"Zee, please put the gun down," she said as Tristan cut the shower off. "Tristan did not take advantage of me. I want to be with him. We want to be with each other."

"After I told you what this dude wanted from you? Fuck you and leave you!" Zee was screaming so loud, but she lowered the gun so it was not pointed towards them.

Tears streamed down her face. What she thought was a magical day with Tristan, now her sister seemed to be having a mental breakdown. This was not the older sister she looked up to, loved, and called her best friend.

"Zee please, Tristan is not that guy."

Tristan grabbed a towel that hung near the tub and wrapped it around her.

But her eyes never left her sister.

"He promised me he would leave you alone so his word means nothing to me."

"Zee, I'm sorry," Tristan stated, trying to reach for another towel, but Zee aimed the gun back at him. He jerked his hands back up.

She slowly stepped from the tub, not afraid anymore, and stepped close to her sister, the gun right in front of her. She reached over, touched her hands, and lowered the gun down.

"I love him Zee, and he loves me. I'm sorry we didn't tell you and you...found us like this. Please, whatever you think is going on, it's not that. Tristan is not our father."

That's what this was all about. Comparing Tristan to a man who used and ran through women, never in a committed relationship for long. All summer long, Zee stayed away from the house because she did not love it as much as she did. While she loved the house because of its connection to her grandmother, for Zee, it was a connection to their father.

"Come on Zee, to my room, let's talk."

She kept the gun held down, hoping Zee would drop it because she did not want to handle it. She never touched a gun in her life. There was no time to be afraid right now.

She led Zee to her room and then closed the door to the bathroom. This would give Tristan time to get dressed as she calmed her sister. Maybe get through to her.

"Zee, I'm sorry I hid my relationship with Tristan from you. We didn't think you could handle it but..." And obviously, they were right, but she never expected this from her sister. "You have to listen to me. Tristan has been there for me. All summer. He taught me how to drive when you bailed out on me all summer. We talked, I got to know him, we became friends. I made the first move on him, he didn't because he respected how you felt. But we couldn't deny our attraction to each other."

"I don't want him to hurt you."

She wanted to talk more to her sister, but she did not know if she was still a loose cannon. Her adrenaline was still pumping and she was wet and wrapped in a towel. The situation seemed to be diffused but she knew it was not all over.

"Zee put the gun down, I'll get dressed and we can talk more. Whatever you want to talk about."

With that, Zee nodded, placed the gun on her bed, and let out a deep breath. Her sister was holding in so much pain she could finally see it. She grabbed her in a hug, squeezed her, and held her there as they both began to cry. Tristan opened the door, dressed how in shorts and a T-shirt. He saw them and walked over to wrap his arms around both of them.

"Zee, I hope we are good," Tristan said. "I love your sister very much and you know I love you too. We fam."

This was a special moment. Her sister breaking down. Maybe now they would get to the bottom of whatever was going on with her. This was not the Zee she knew before moving into the house.

"Zee, talk to us, tell us what's going on. You're never here and you don't talk to me anymore like we used to. I feel like the house has pulled us apart instead of bringing us closer."

"I hate this house! And I hate GiGi for leaving it to us. And leaving us, the only one that seemed to care."

She figured that much. Neither of them dealt with the sudden death of their grandmother. It all seemed to happen so fast. Their grandmother suddenly dying, the funeral, then the house. Tristan moved in days later, and her thoughts were taken up by him. Her saving grace was finding her grandmother's diaries, getting to know her that way, reading about her falling in love, and growing up with that love.

Zee did not have that.

"GGi wanted us to have the house so that we could always have a place to stay. And so we could be together. I can't be here without you, Zee."

"Well, now you have Tristan." She pulled away from them and walked out of the room.

"Jo, you know this isn't about you...or us," Tristan said to her. "Let me go holla at her. Put that gun away somewhere safe. I'll lock it up in my safe later. Zee doesn't need to be around that right now."

Tristan left the room to go after Zee who went to her room. She turned to look at the gun, quickly grabbed it, and put it in her nightstand. Not safe, but hopefully Tristan would lock it away. Then she grabbed clothes to get dressed and fixed her wet hair as best she could.

Zee's bedroom door was open and she could hear them talking softly. At least they were not yelling. When she walked into the room, the chaos and disorder of it felt clear to her. The room was not a mess because her sister was messy, yes, she was always that, but it was in disorder because her mind was.

Tristan sat on the bed with Zee and he had an arm around her shoulders.

"Zee, you gotta talk to us about whatever is going on. I'm not the enemy. My father left me when I was young and I've never heard from him again. Your father comes around for the wrong reasons. He doesn't want to be a father. And he doesn't know what he's missing either. Two great girls is what I see."

"I wanted that man to love me and accept me for years. That's why I haven't come out to him."

"Oh, he knows," Tristan stated. "If he hasn't shunned you for being gay, at least there is that."

"We don't need him in our life." She sat on the other side of Zee. "He just wants this house anyway."

"He can have it as far as I'm concerned."

"Whoa! Wait! I love this house. GiGi loved this house. It stays in the family."

"Then you have it," Zee said. "I give up my half of the house. You two have it, stay here and do whatever you want here."

What was her sister saying? She was giving up her rights to the house? She did not want to lose her sister. Not like this. Whatever depression she was in right now, she wanted her to get the help she needed. There was no way she would take advantage of her sister's mental state now and take away the house from her.

"Zee, this will forever be your home, if you stay or want to go away for a while."

"Yes, and I am here for as long as Jo lets me...which I hope is forever," Tristan said with a chuckle.

"You two..." Zee stopped talking to gather her thoughts. "I hate to say it but...I'm glad you have each other. Lil homie, I still need you to prove you deserve my little sister. She's the only one I have sometimes I think that loves me, flaws and all."

"I do, I love you, sis." She hugged her sister again.

"And you have me too, Big Zee. You know I love you...just a different kind of love I feel for Jo."

"Better be," Zee added with a chuckle. "I don't swing that way, my guy."

It was good her sister was laughing now. It made her feel better about things. There was hope for her, for them, all of them living together in one big house, happily ever after.