"Do not be in a hurry, the right man will come at last."

-- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
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After the audacious declaration of his non existant relationship with me, Theo took long, confident, steps in my direction, and snaked his arm protectively around my waist.

"That's enough time you've had with this one here, love. I think we should call it a night.", He wispered softly in my ear, and placed a feather light kiss on my head, which had me wiggle out of his grasp, and narrow my eyes at him.

Jesus! Isn't he the same man, who wanted to drive a butter knife through my heart, and twist it repeatedly, the day we met. Which, for the records, was only the previous day.

A shudder passed my body, at the disturbing imagery, and I looked away, just in time, to see my brother's eyebrows rise in surprise. He glanced between the two of us, opened his mouth to say something, but failed miserably, as nothing, except a series of unintellectual words, tumbled past his tongue. I snorted.

One who hadn't seen him earlier, would never believe, that the man'd  been practically jumping with joy at the possibility of his little sister having a boyfriend, minutes ago.

Talk about multiple personalities.

"Hera, sweetheart, please tell me you don't have a boyfriend yet. Isn't this your first day at school?", He pleaded me to deny what his eyes were seeing, and though the idea of spiting him further was thoroughly tempting, I found myself giving into the anxious look on his face.

"Of course I'm not dating him. Or anyone for the matter. What do you take me for?", I scowled at him.

"Thank the lord!", He muttered beneath his breath, and relaxed visibly, though only for a while, as some sudden realisation had his features hardening in aggravation.

"If you really aren't dating the bastard, then why does he have his filthy paws on you?", he said through clenched teeth, while never removing his eyes from Theo, despite his words being clearly addressed to me.

"Damn, woman! How you manage to have every other male fight over you, is beyond me.", my conscience wistled lowly, and rested her chin atop her folded hands, in anticipation of what was about to come.

I shook my head at her antics. She was too far gone to be tamed.

"Oh she's going out with me, alright.", Theo growled emphatically."What I fail to see though, is how it even concerns you."

I winced.

Poor, poor boy. That's not something you say to a girl's older brother. A fuming brother at that.

Clearing my throat, I tucked at the sleave of Theo's blazer, and wispered
timidly,

"He's.."

"An old friend of hers.", my brother completed for me, his words striking like a feral blow to the gut. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

Of course.

I know I shouldn't be surprised, seeing he'd explained everything to me earlier, but it hurt none the less. Too damn much.

As my brother gave me a worried glance, I nodded assuringly, and forced a fraudulent smile on my face for his sake. And Theo's.

And their's, who'd been standing in the background, watching the whole exchange, with concern on their faces.
I understood everyone's perspective. They were worried about me. The whole lot of them.

Theo wanted to protect me from an unknown man, who'd caused me heartache a while ago, and my brother wanted to protect me from failing in love. Again.

All sort of thoughts clouded my vision, until I was pulled out of my reverie by Theo, who extended his hand towards my brother and muttered,

"Theodore Wilkinson. The man you'll have to answer to, if she sheds another drop of tear. Heaven knows what kind of friend you are, to treat her thus, but I'm letting it pass this once. As long as there isn't a repetition of what happened earlier, we'll be fine."

Big bro clasped his hand firmly and shook it with a neutral expression. Well, as neutral as it could be with an underlying gleam of appreciation. I knew for a fact that the overprotective side of him, wanted to knock Theo sensless, but somehow the guy'd managed to surprise him, with his undeniable concern for me.

It would be wrong to say, that I wasn't surprised myself.

"Archer West. As much as I hate to say this, I'm glad to see that Hera's made some good friends. And-d I-I wouldn't mind you two dating as long as you ask me first to pursue her, take care of her, and not touch her, at all."

"But I'm already.."

"No you aren't. My s..friend wouldn't have denied if you were dating. She's never been one to take relationships lightly, and I know her far too well to not notice the absence of any kind of affection towards you. Attraction? Might be. Emphasis on might. Adoration? Nope. Not yet at least."

Theo glared at him. At the man, who'd introduced himself as Archer.

Shaking away my uneasiness at the bombardment of lies, I stepped forward, and hugged my brother goodbye. I needed to send him away before either of them decided to act upon their obvious dislike towards the other, in a violent way. "Laters, Danny. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, little sis. Just take care of yourself for me.", he whispered back.

I nodded with a smile. "Damn right I will. So, I'll see you soon, Eh?"

"Whenever you want."

Oh, no, no, you don't get to say that. Not after practically demanding me to forget that we ever met. After ten bloody years at that.

Ignoring the psyched up rambling of my conscience, I gave Daniel a thumbs up, and motioned him to leave. He did, leave I mean, and I watched him disappear into the same darkness he'd come from, with a heavy heart. The whole experience still felt surreal.

I kept staring into the distance, unblinking, until I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, and pull me into the warm comfort of their body. Theo. By now, I'd become familiar to his touch, and as difficult as it was to admit, his touch did make my skin act funny.

"Thank you.", I whispered, as I burried my head in his chest. "For everything."

A low laughter rumbled through his chest.

"For you, love, I would do anything.", he wispered so low, that I wouldn't have caught it, had I not been pressed to his body.

I smiled slightly, indicating that I'd heard him, and allowed him to carry me to my dorm, as exhaustion took over me.