Devon's POV-

 I was in the kitchen reaching up in the cupboard for the popcorn while Sidney was setting up our movies.  We ended up settling for The Hangover and its sequel.  I didn't know, for the life of me, why people kept their snacks up so damn high.  Hell, I'm 5'5” for crying out loud and I still needed a boost to get up there!  As I propped myself on the tips of my toes and stretch out as much as I could, I suddenly feel a warm and hard chest against my back and see and arm reach over me to grab my intended target.

“Here you go.”  It was Shane.  I turned and felt myself blush.

“Thanks.”  I tell him.  He shrugged his shoulders like it wasn't anything and walked over to the fridge to get himself a drink.  “Are you sure you don't want to join us?”  I asked him.

“Nah.  Maybe later.  Besides, I don't think Sid would be very happy with me infringing in her girls night.”  He winks at me and then turns to head back upstairs.  I couldn't help but watch him walk away.  Two years at college had changed him since I had last seen him.  Shane was built nicely.  I had always thought so but you can tell he definitely works out now since his shoulders, arms and chest were so much more defined under that form fitting white t-shirt of his.  I couldn't figure out why I couldn’t shake the butterflies that hit me every time our skin touched; sure, it'd only been twice now, since his return, but my nerve endings felt like they were gaining sensitivity with every moment of contact.  It would be just too weird… He is hot though.  And I smiled to myself.

I walked to the living-room and plopped myself down on the couch and shoved a handful of popcorn in my toothy grin as Sidney came and joined me.

“What?”  She asked me.

“Oh nothing.”  I tell her as I shove another handful in my mouth.  The movie started...

Sidney's POV-

 We were half-way through our first movie when Shane decided he'd crash our movie night.  He let himself drop between D and I.  I scuffed at him and he only looked at me with a grin.

“What?”  He asked me.  All I could do was shake my head at him.  “You're ridiculous!”  I whispered at him.  He let out a small laugh as he wrapped his arms around the backrest of the couch on either side of him.

The movie ended and I got up to pop the sequel in when I turned and noticed my brother looking at Devon as she walked to the kitchen to get us all a drink.

“Seriously?”  I semi whispered to him so Devon couldn't hear us.  “Don't you have a girlfriend or something?  Stay away from her.”

“Oh sis, don't worry about it.”  He tells me.  “She's practically my sister.”

“Keep thinking that way buster.”  I tell him as I come back to the couch and slap his thigh.

“Ouch!”  He yelps and laughs.

“Quit it you two!”  Devon says, smiling at Shane shyly as she comes back with our drinks.  Did I miss something here?  I decided to shrug it off.  There's no way Devon would go for Shane.  She's always told me that he was like a big brother to her and that the idea of them ever getting together was sort of gross.  The again, that was over two years ago...

As our second movie rolled to an end, Shane bid us good night and headed upstairs while both of us girls headed for my room.  We jumped into our pyjamas and after a few minor grooming efforts, we crawled into bed.  My last thoughts were of how excited I was to see Tony tomorrow.

Shane's POV-

 I lay on my back, awake, unable to sleep for some reason.  It was two in the morning.  I got up and headed downstairs to fetch myself a glass of water and that's when I heard a whimpering sob coming from the bathroom adjoining my and Sid's room.  I knew it wasn't Sidney.  Heck, I knew my drama queen of a sister’s cries and those weren’t hers.  What could Devon possibly be upset about?  I thought about going to see what was up but then thought otherwise.  I chalked it up to possible boyfriend troubles or something of the sort.  I letDevon have her privacy and proceeded out of my room and down to the kitchen.  When I came back, everything was completely silent and the light from under the bathroom door was off.  I lay down and found myself thinking aboutDevon.  As I drifted off to sleep, I began imagining what her lips would feel against mine.

Devon's POV-

I heard the floorboards creak and realized that I wasn't the only one awake.  I woke up with a start from my recurring nightmare, the one where my father attacked me over and over again.  I desperately didn't want anyone to know or hear how distraught I was that I headed off to the bathroom to cry it out and calm myself down.  I knew that it was Shane that was up because the creaking came from the floor outside his bedroom door.  I automatically hushed and waited until I knew the coast was clear, knowing that chances are, he most likely had heard me.  I dried my face and headed back to bed.  I lay there awake for a while and heard Shane come back to his room.  Somehow, I found myself wondering about his relationship status.  I couldn't help but wonder why it is that it didn't feel awkward with him touching me.  This was a first; since my father's advances had started I found it hard to physically make contact with anyone of the opposite sex; but Shane made me feel like everything would be right in the world when his arms were wrapped around me earlier today.  My skin never crawled in the slightest.  I fell asleep with an image of Shane and me, earlier today with his joyous hug.  I smiled to myself as everything went black.

The next morning, I headed to the bathroom to get dressed.  I grabbed the hand towel in time to cover my chest as Shane's bedroom door opened before me.  I squealed in surprise as he stood there shirtless and in a pair of beige cargo shorts eyeing me.  I desperately tried to cover every inch of bare skin that showed on my upper torso but I couldn't shake the look of horror that crossed his face when I realized that the hand towel wasn't hiding anything.  He shut the door behind him and entered the bathroom further as he locked the entrance from Sidney's bedroom.

“What happened?”  He asked me as he turned toward me.  I cowered away from him in shame.

“N-nothing.”  I stammered nervously.

“It doesn't look that way, D.”  He tells me.  “Who did this to you?”  I knew I was busted.  I took a deep breath as he held my shoulders so he could look at my face, my eyes.

“Can we talk about this when I'm dressed?”  I asked him as I blushed slightly but I knew that this wasn't the end of it.  If there’s one thing I know that hasn’t changed about Shane, it was his stubbornness.

“Fine.”  He started.  “I'll be waiting in my room.”  And he let go of my shoulders, he turned and headed back where he came from.

Shane's POV-

 I sat there, on the edge of my bed when my bathroom door opened slowly and I saw a forcefully smilingDevon come my way.  I motioned for her to sit down but she shook her head, no.  She stood with her arms crossed at her chest on the wall opposite me.  If I didn't know better, I'd say that she was trying to keep some distance between us.

“So?  Are you going to tell me or will I have to guess why you were up crying hysterically at two o'clock in the morning and why you're covered in bruises?”  I ask her.  She began to cry silently and I almost, ALMOST feel bad for practically forcing her into telling me what's going on.  “They're both related aren't they?”  Devon nodded.  “Is your boyfriend doing this to you?”  I ask her.  She shook her head before she began to talk.

“I don't have a boyfriend.”  She tells me.  My heart skipped a beat and I somehow felt relieved but happy that the door was open for me to make my move.  Mind back on track you idiot!  I remind myself.

“Then who did this?”  I demanded.  “D, you can't protect this person; not after what they did this to you.”  She nodded slightly, agreeing with me.

“It's my father.”  She tells me and she collapses onto my bedroom floor in silent sobs as my jaw dropped in shock, my body fills with anger and then I realize that now wasn't the time to dwell on my rage.  I rushed over to Devon and tried to throw my arms around her.  She cowered away from me, pushing my arms away so I grabbed her hands in mine and looked at her.

“Please tell me that this is the only time the bastard's laid a hand on you.”  I asked.  She didn't answer until I grabbed her chin and brought her eyes to my level.  She shook her head, no.

“He...  He ra...”  She couldn't get herself to completely say it out loud.  I knew what she meant to say.

“Raped?”  Is all I was able to say at a whisper as I watched her nod and before I knew it, she collapsed into my chest and my arms were around her as I buried my face in her hair.  “Shhh.”  I whispered in her ear.  “I'm here.  You're safe now.”  I tell her as I begin rubbing her back in soothing circular motions.  As she calmed down, she pulled away slightly and looked up at me.  It wasn't until she reached up to wipe something from my cheek that I realized that I had been crying along with her.  I made a move to wipe a tear from her face as she pushed her cheek into my hand so it cradled it and took a deep breath.  I let my hand fall away slowly while my fingers trailed down to her chin.  Our eyes met and in that moment, I knew that she had to be mine.  I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her forehead before I helped her up.

“Thanks.”  She tells me, with a sad smile and then her hands went to my bare chest, shooting bolts of heat as she stood on the tips of her toes to kiss my cheek.  She backed away from me and paused by my bedroom door and turned to me.  “Can we keep this between us?”  She asks.  I nodded to reassure her.

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