"Your dad is amazeballs, Chester," Francie murmured to her boyfriend as they left the conference room.

Ben Wozniak had just given a symposium on the violin, specifically on Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, and played portions of it with a piano accompanist which were worthy of a Carnegie Hall performance, in Francie's humble opinion. She felt like she understood the piece like never before, and could've sat and listened to him explain it for hours. Some of the violinists in the audience actually had their phones out, recording his words, and were taking notes on his talk.

"I know next to nothing about the violin, but wow, he's mind blowing, isn't he?" Francie continued as she held the door for Chester.

"He is," her boyfriend agreed. "And a very tough act to follow."

"What do you mean?" They were now walking back to their cabin, and Francie was enjoying the fresh air and birdsong that surrounded her.

"I'm supposed to give a similar talk with my cello tomorrow," Chester confessed. "And I'm a little nervous about it."

Francie stopped walking so she could stare at Chester. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Chester stared back at her. "No, I'm not fucking kidding you. I have to present a symposium with my cello to a room full of teenagers tomorrow, and I'm a little freaked, and you're not helping, if I'm honest, Francesca Dahlia."

Francie began walking toward the cabin, picking up her pace. "Well, going over your talk would be a good beginning, don't you think?"

"Hold on, hold on, I'm crippled, in case you hadn't noticed," Chester called out plaintively.

Francie slowed down and turned back to Chester. "That's so not even funny, you jerk," she admonished, making a face at her boyfriend.

They spent the afternoon going over his talk, which would focus on Beethoven's Cello Sonata number 3. Francie didn't know it at all, so Chester played it for her, and he was mesmerizing, as usual, and his talk made much more sense after she heard the piece.

She just stared at him for a moment when he finished, and he looked back at her, smiling. "I love how you look at me when I play," he confessed.

"Well, I love looking at you when you play," she replied. She rose and walked over to him, lifting her shirt to wipe his forehead with the hem and giving him a flash of her beautiful tummy as she did so.

He leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on it, letting out a soft moan as he did, causing her to make a similar sound.

They both laughed happily, enjoying being alone together.

"I wish I could finish my talk like that tomorrow," Chester complained.

"Yeah, that would make it more fun," Francie agreed, nodding as she looked down at him. Impulsively, she leaned down and kissed him, holding his face in her hands, making it last, making it hot.

"Well, I was wondering if this thing between you was for real, but I guess I'm going to have to believe it," a sardonic voice called from the porch.

Francie and Chester quickly separated, and Chester laid his bow and instrument aside as they looked to see Holden and Nadine standing on the porch and looking in through the screened window.

"Why would you think it wasn't real?" Chester asked, pulling Francie onto his lap.

"May we come in, or are we going to carry on the entire conversation through the window like barbarians?" Nadine asked.

"It's unlocked." Francie gestured to the door without rising.

The brother and sister entered and looked around with interest before sitting on the loveseat facing Chester and Francie.

"So, aren't we cozy," Holden said, gesturing toward Francie and Chester.

Francie was getting really tired of people referring to Chester and her this way; first it was Jill at school, now Holden.

Chester put an arm across Francie's legs. "Well, yeah, we're very close, we like to be close as much as we can, you know how it is when you're in a relationship, right, dude?"

"Oh, a relationship, wow, I didn't know it was that serious," Holden said, eyes wide. "You two bumping uglies already, hm? You doing the deed, as they say?"

Francie took a deep breath. "Whether or not we're fucking is really none of your business," she said succinctly.

Nadine let out a laugh and turned to her brother. "Well, I guess she put you in your place," she said with a smile.

Holden pursed his lips into a small circle. "Whoo, the mouth on her, Wozniak, I bet she's a real spitfire in the sack, hm?" He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Tell the truth, she's a firecracker, isn't she? A total gutter slut? I bet she--"

But no one found out what Holden bet Francie was or was not.

Chester pushed Francie gently off his lap and onto the sofa next to him, but that was the last gentle thing he did. He grabbed one crutch and pushed himself up to a standing position and swung with his other hand at Holden's face, hitting him with such force that he swung himself around nearly in a complete circle. He twisted himself around on his unsteady legs and fell over, smacking his own face on the corner of the table next to the sofa.

Holden, too, fell backwards onto the loveseat he'd been sharing with Nadine.

"Hey, asshole, what'd you do that for?" he roared, jumping back onto his feet. Blood was pouring from his nose, and his eye was already swollen nearly shut.

"Oh my god, Chester, your face!" Francie cried, helping him back onto the sofa. He had a gash on his forehead from where it had connected with the corner of the square table, and blood was dripping onto his shirt.

"His face?" Holden repeated. "What about my face?" He turned to Nadine so she could assess the damage.

Wordlessly she headed for the kitchen, presumably to get a cold compress.

"Never, ever hit my face!" Holden shouted at Chester. "Ever! You hear me?"

"You can fuck right off," Chester said, grasping his other crutch and turning to face Holden. "If you ever insult my girlfriend, I'll do it again, do you hear me?"

"Chester, this is so not the time to get all chest-thumpy and Cro-Magnon, do you hear me?" Francie interjected. "I think you might need stitches on your forehead, and you've done some serious damage to your hand on asshat over there's forehead."

Nadine returned with some ice wrapped in a towel and had her brother sit so she could hold it to his nose.

"What in the world is going on?"

The four young people turned toward the voice, which had come from the front door.

Mr. and Ms. Wozniak stood framed in the doorway, matching expressions of shock on their faces. "Have you boys been fighting?" Sharon asked, putting a hand to her cheek. She automatically moved toward Chester, but she looked with concern toward Holden, who definitely looked worse, with the bloody nose and one eye swollen shut.

"Ms. Wozniak, we were hoping we wouldn't have to tell you," Nadine began, her chin trembling. "Chester invited us here, and then picked a fight with my brother. He insulted me to my face, I'm afraid. I was so shocked, I had no idea what to even say when I heard language like that." Her voice lowered to a whisper and she shook her head, lowering her gaze to the floor. "I've never even heard those kinds of words, you know?" A tear spilled over. "So then Holden told Chester to take the words back, apologize, and then Chester just stood up and punched him, out of nowhere, it was shocking and brutal."

She looked up at the Wozniaks, eyes swimming with tears.

"Of course, my brother tried to push him away without hurting him, but Chester lost his balance because of, well, you know." She gestured toward his crutches. "And he fell and hit his head on the edge of the table." She shook her head again. "We'd give anything not to have to tell you this, Mr. and Ms. Wozniak, we really would. We're so sorry."

She was very good.

Francie just shook her head at her in disgust.

Sharon stared at Nadine in disbelief before looking at Francie, then Chester, then back at Francie again.

Ben Wozniak was on his phone to Holden and Nadine's parents, presumably.

"Francie, is that what happened?" Sharon asked her.

Francie shook her head. "Switch the names around and you'll have a closer version of the truth," she said grimly. "They came in here, Holden insulted me, and Chester hit him and tripped, hitting his head on the table on his way down."

"You're parents will be here in a couple of minutes," Ben interjected. "They're just at the bottom of the path."

"Great," Holden said, taking the towel from his sister so he could hold it himself. "I'm sure they'll be really happy to see this tableau."

"Sharon, I know this all needs to be sorted out and explained and everything," Francie said, "but Chester really needs this cut on his forehead to be seen to right away, I think, not to mention his hand. It's swelling a lot. Can we take him to the emergency room and leave them to talk to their parents?"

"We're here, what needs telling?" Mr. Levine said as he entered the Wozniak's cabin. "Oh my god, what happened?" he added when he saw the bloodied boys.

"Apparently your son forgot his manners, and needed ours to remind him," Sharon snapped. "That's the short and fast version. "Now if you don't mind, my son needs a doctor, please excuse us."

She gestured to Chester and Francie, who rose and followed her to the car.

"Okay, someone start talking," they heard Ms. Levine say as they walked away.

"I wonder if they're going to hear anything resembling the truth," Francie remarked as they drove away. "Maybe I should've stayed to represent what actually happened?"

"Don't worry about it," Sharon replied. "Chester's father heard what went on, he gets it. That Holden is a horrible young man, and his sister isn't much better. Ben will set them straight."

Mom, you know about Holden and Nadine?" Chester asked in surprise. "I always thought you liked them!"

"Are you kidding? There's a reason we never spend time with them away from these retreats," Sharon responded with a smile. "Those kids are poison, and they get it from their parents. Enough said, I think."

And later that evening, after Chester had gotten five stitches in his forehead and had his hand bandaged, he and Francie relaxed together in front of the fire. His parents had long since gone to bed, and they had the living room to themselves, finally having the romantic quiet time they'd hoped for.

"Well, thanks to you, I don't have to give my symposium," Chester remarked with a smile, lifting his damaged hand so it was silhouetted in the light of the fire. "Can't play the cello with this sucker, can I?"

Francie snuggled into his side. "I'm so sorry, Chester. It was a good speech, too. I was really looking forward to it, and to hearing you play the Beethoven again. And I'm sorry you got hurt."

"Please, I'd do it again in heartbeat," Chester said loftily. He pulled her close for a soft kiss. "Man, you look amazing in the firelight, Francie. The most beautiful girl I've ever seen. So worth punching that worthless piece of garbage." He kissed her again, making a happy sound.

Francie laughed softly. "Well, thanks for defending my honor, I guess."

"Anytime, fair maiden."