((The awesome trailor made by the awesome person I dedicated this story too! @novemberdreamer ))

Dane

Mike always wanted me to back off, but unfortunately for him, I wasn't going to do that today.

Every time I stood on the sidelines, I felt pathetic as an older brother. I'm supposed to be there for him, not walk away and turn my back on him every time a new problem arose. Mike never wanted to admit it, but he hated me because I never made an effort to help him.

I did try- trust me on that- but he keeps pushing me away. I don't know what he wants, but today I'm going to make a stand.

Swinging open the door, I walked into the dorm and looked around. No one was here.

This could only mean one of two things. Either Mike was telling a lie and he was pillaging around in someone else's dorm or this girl knew she did something bad and was hiding. I carefully laid my foot out in front of me and strained my ears for the slightest sound.

"Come in." a voice grumbled, clearly unhappy. "Apparently, our dorm is an exhibit and everyone is welcome at any time."

I took a quick glance to the side and found a brunette sweep by me, throwing her hair behind her as she reluctantly threw a bag of chips into the cabinet. Up close, I couldn't believe that she was the one that beat my brother to a pulp. The girl was slender in an athletic way and looked like the type that didn't get angered easily.

 She seemed to be a happy person, or a person that used to be happy anyway.

"Are you Ashley?" I asked.

Without looking up to acknowledge me, she shook her head and poured herself a bowl of cereal. "It's Ashlyn."

"Ashlyn," Ashlyn? Never heard that name before, but it was pretty unique. I wonder what it could mean. "Did you talk to my brother, just a few minutes ago?"

She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "The fake?" Ashlyn swirled her spoon in the cereal and took another bite "Sure. It wasn't much of anything though."

How could she think that my brother was a fake? Maybe I had finally met an a girl, besides Jacquelyn, who was smart enough to know that Mike wasn't going to be her husband. Even though we had only met each other for a few minutes, she seemed like a really cool person.

What was I thinking? This girl beat up my brother in the halls and had the nerve to do it again. Mike may have started it, which gave her a good reason to do whatever she did, but I wasn't going to take it.

"What did you do to Mike while he was here?" This time, I made sure my voice resonated with command and authority. Ashlyn reminded me a lot of Jacquelyn- to the point that made it kind of scary- and I could see that she was the type that loved to mess around with people.

I had to take a strong hold and show her I was not here to fool around.

A coy smirk inched up her face as she leaned against her kitchen counter top, slowly pulling up another spoonful of Coco puffs.  "What relation to do you have with," she put down her cereal and threw in two sassy air quotes, "this 'Mike'."

Thank God I have dealt with this type of behaviour with Jacquelyn before, because if I hadn't, this girl would be dead.  I'm just kidding because I wouldn't ever do such a thing, of course. It would be impolite.

I let out a deep breath and stayed calm. If there was one thing that I hated more than high school dances, it was being angry.

"Please," I asked in the nicest way possible, "I asked you my question first, and I would like it if you answered it. But since you asked your question, I am Dane, Mike's older brother."

Ashlyn tilted her head and studied me, her eyes quickly flitting from side to side. It was apparent that she was confused; it was obvious by the low arches of her eyebrows, but I couldn't understand what she was trying to figure out. I asked her a question, and all I wanted her to do was answer it, was it that difficult to comprehend?

Man, I was terrible at being threatening.

"You're confusing me. You came in here to have a serious talk, hoping to scare me into not doing it again." She talked with her hands, threw them up in the air, and swung them from side to side. From what I could see, she had a terrible habit of talking with her hands.

It was a distracting habit because that was all I could focus on. It was like she had her own sign language, but I could see what she was getting at. I didn't even know what I was doing here anymore.

Still pondering on the thought and being clueless, I nodded. "Yeah."

This was not my thing.

"Are you? Because you're being so polite about it."

Mike was right. I was too nice for this stuff. No matter how hard I tried, I can never bring myself to yell at somebody and be mean.

Throwing my hands up in surrender, I gave up and sat down on the ledge of the couch. "I-I'm sorry. I really am. I don't know what I'm doing, to be exact."

What was I thinking? Did I honestly believe that I could storm into her dorm, thunder questions at Ashlyn, and walk out like a hero to have Mike celebrating and telling me that I was the best brother ever? I could try for decades but never get anywhere. All of that was fantasy and it was all it would ever be.

I expected the girl to be mocking me, but I was surprised to find a smile cracked on her face when I looked up. It confused me for a second, but I couldn't help but smile back.

"It's a yes or no question." She laughed lightly as her eyes sparked in a friendlier light.

Okay, now she's confusing me. I came in here with the intentions of being mean and insincere, but here she was smiling at me and being nice. Ashlyn might have been confused, but out of the two of us, I believe that I was the one who was the most oblivious to what was happening.

Scratching my head in befuddlement, I nodded. "I guess."

Ashlyn laughed again and walked toward the door, pulling it open. "It's my turn to be nice. Can you please leave and end this joke that you and your friend are playing on me? It's not funny anymore."

This conversation keeps on getting stranger and stranger. What did Mike get himself into?

"Joke?" I stood their with a blank look on my face but slowly made my way for the door. Seeing what Mike got himself into, I didn't want to get on this girl's bad side.

The friendly spark in her eyes disappeared, and the brunette opened her mouth to respond. But before she could do so, Mike burst through the doors and pushed the two of us apart. I told him to go, but why was he still here? Please don't tell me that he listened to our whole conversation.

"It's all fine!" Mike rushed while pushing me out the door, "she's just being retarded. I fucked up today and made her upset. Happy Dane? Now bye!"

The door was instantly slammed into my face and my nose was pushed back into my face by the wood. It was ironic how this door summed up the story of my life. Every time I try to help somebody or make things better, they slam me out.

Mike was right. I should leave him alone.

From past experiences, I knew Mike could deal this out on his own some way or another. Like he said, he never needed me and it was best to walk away when I had the chance. It was what I had always done, and something that I should continue to do.

Thankfully, Ashlyn's dorm was close to the exit, so I didn't have to go through a labyrinth of smelly teenage dorm rooms to escape.

I honestly don't think teenagers should have the responsibility of holding a dorm. They make messes out of themselves, crush and spill everything on the floor without cleaning up, and hold numerous of parties in them, cramming everyone in like sardines. It's not right.

The worst out of all the teenagers in Ridgewood was Garrison, one of Mike's snotty little friends.

As a normal person- not just as Mike's brother- I don't trust him. I'm not trying to be rude, but there is definitely something wrong with him. Garrison is in my grade-junior year- but has the body and the mental age of a twenty year old.

It's good to be mature, but Garrison was on a whole other level of 'mature'.

He knew how to press peoples buttons, what it took to destroy someone, and how to get what he wanted. I'm not sure why he hangs around Mike, but what I was sure about was that it wasn't for a good reason.

Vibrations resonated from my coat pocket, and I reluctantly turned on the screen to see a text message from Melody, a family friend that my mom was dying for me to hook up with. There was nothing wrong with her, but I can't date her or even think about liking her.

I just can't.

Melody: Miss you. Can't wait to see you next Saturday ;) xoxo.

How could she do this? I told her so many times in the past that we should avoid each other. Once before, I dared myself to tell her I wasn't interested, but she waved it off and had her mind set on getting me.

Everyone, including Jacquelyn, believes that I should be with her. But as odd as it sounds, Melody was not my type and it made me nervous to be around her. Every time I'm around her, I feel overpowered, weak, and suppressed. It's difficult to describe.

I shook my head and slid my phone back into my pocket. It made me guilty to not reply back, but I'll do it later and make the excuse that I was busy.

It was the partial truth, since I had to go to Mike's home and prepare everything for our father's arrival. There was an endless amount of food to cook, decorations to string up, and gifts to display.

Speaking of gifts, Mike refused to give a present for dad, so I had to go out and buy two gifts and put one under Mike's name.

Part of me wanted to yell at Mike for being selfish and ignorant, but at the same time I couldn't blame him. They had bad history.

"Dane!"

My eyes wandered up towards the voice and found one of Mike's younger bodyguards frantically running towards me. Poor man, he deserves a raise. I don't know how Mike does it, but he manages to escape them every time.

He should be a qualifier for the New Guinness Record book. Mike gets a new bodyguard every month because his previous one had it with Mike's child play, got another job offer, or went insane. Either way, they quit after a month.

"Hey, Gardner. Looking for Mike?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, how did you know-"

I waved it off and got in my car. "Same thing you usually ask me." Giving him a light smile, I flipped through the messages that I had with Garrison and tried to find the room number that Mike was heading to. It was slightly disturbing that I could always ask Garrison where Mike was and that Garrison would always give me an answer, but hey-it worked.

"Middle building, second floor, room 98 near the stairs. He's with a girl, at the moment."

Gardner grinned and reached out to shake my hand. "Thank you, for your services. I wouldn't be able to protect him like I would if you weren't constantly helping me. You're practically doing the job for me."

For a second, I was close to reaching out and shaking his hand, but I stopped and got ready to leave. Shaking his hand or not shaking it-either way would be wrong. All I ever did was stand on the side lines and give him directions. Gardner did the real hunting.

"No, Gardner." I started with a sigh but finished with a smile. "Give yourself some credit. You do the real protecting. All I do is stand on the side."

And with that, I pulled out of the parking lot and made my way to Mike's house.

What was wrong with me? The thought of leaving Gardner's hand hanging from a harmless handshake pecked at the pieces of my boggled mind. All he was trying to do was thank me, but I turned it down and drove away.

My grip on the steering wheel tightened as Gardner's and repetitively clawed out of my memory.

This was not me. Maybe I was worked up from all the things I had to prepare for dad's arrival. There were so many things on my list.

Thankfully, I could cook-it always helped taking my mind off of things.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Not again! Not now. How long could I hold Melody off? It wasn't right of me to push her off like this, but I needed some time on my own.

Parking my car besides the fountain that sat out front, I threw my seat belt back into the car and took a good long breath of fresh mountain air. It was more like fresh high-hill-that-sat-above-the-city air, but it was a whole lot better than the congestion down below in Los Angeles, California.

Such a shame. Mike had a good view of the entire city but never had anyone to share it with-not even his dad. Dad was always spending nights in fancy resorts and hotels across the country, meeting up with different business associates and doing whatever he does best.

It was a good thing he wasn't home though. Mike hated his guts.

After spending a good amount of time admiring the looming trees hovering behind the white granite house that stood boldly in it's undertake of woodland surroundings, I finally made my way up to the door and knocked twice.

A minute had gone by and there was no answer. I guess it was fine. The maids and housekeepers must be going crazy with all the decorations they were putting up.

"Still have that old thing." I mumbled as I scraped my feet against the door mat, pulling the edges up against my foot and letting it flap back down again. Mike always loved that scraggly brown thing, but all it ever brought me was bad memories.

They should be opening the door for me any moment now, but I bet they were at the halls coming over to answer me.

I tapped my foot anxiously against the door mat and looked up at the towering auburn wooden doors in front of me. Twelve feet high planks that were eight feet wide made Mike look like he was storing giants in his house.

Rich people always confused me with their huge doors.

An old woman wrapped her fragile fingers around the side of the door and peeked out at me. Her old eyes were worn from hard labour, but once she saw me her arms spread open and pulled me in like all her strength came back to her."Oh, Mr. Nor! You're back! I'm so glad to see you!"

"Mrs. Toland!" I beamed "It's so good to see you too!"

Bending down a bit, I pulled her in for a hug and walked into the kitchen. "So, what have you got for me to cook today?" Whether it was Crème Brulees, tiramisus, or bananas foster crepes, I was ready to make anything and get my hands dirty.

Mrs. Toland led me into the kitchen, which was piled up with flour and fresh market apples, and cheerfully tossed me my favourite navy blue apron, one I always wore when I began to cook something. "Oh, Mrs. Toland," I smiled while flinging out the folds of my apron and holding it up to me, "you didn't have to clean and iron this for me."

"Oh no, Mr. Dane Nor." She laughed "It's my pleasure! Now, you better start cooking those pies because you got five of them to make!"

I grinned as I started to make the dough, cracking open the eggs, pouring in the right amount of flour, and kneading the dough. "But why are there six pie sheets?" Although I knew the answer, I just wanted to hear it.

"One for you, of course! Who can go on making pies without eating one for himself?" With a pat on my back, she staggered out of the kitchen and left me to my business.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Wiping my hands clean from flour, I picked up my phone and saw that I had two new text messages. Two minutes of battling myself, I decided to pick it up and answer Melody. Messaging her couldn't be this hard. I could do it.

To my surprise, both of the messages were from Jacquelyn.

Jacq: Want to hang out sometime today? :D I got nothing to do, so I can drive over to where you're at if your doing nothing. :P

Jacq: Txt me back when you can, okay? I need to tell you something.

A smile crept up my face as I saw that things weren't as awkward as I made it today. Was she joking me? Of course I wanted to see her.

Dane: Got some extra pie at Mike's house if you're interested.

That should be enough to get Jacquelyn's butt over here. The girl was picky over what she ate, but if there was one thing that she loved more than the world itself, it was apple pie.

Jacq: You kidding? :0 Be right there in a few! :D

While the oven was still pre-heating, I sat on the counter and occasionally bathed the rich apples in the thick cinnamon molasses. Like it was supposed to, it bubbled up and transitioned into a golden shade- the aroma flowing out of the pot and layering the kitchen with the smell of heaven.

I breathed in and let out a deep and happy sigh. This was why I could never get tired of cooking.

Once the time came, I poured the filling into the pies and threw them into the oven.

Like usual, Jacquelyn came to visit on the right time- the pies only having to bake for ten more minutes.

"Oh my god!" She groaned as she came in the kitchen nose first, "Is that what I think it is?"

I grinned and held up the wooden spoon of extra pie filling I had left. "Want to try the filling?"

Jacquelyn reached forward for the spoon like a little kid and licked it clean. Without saying a word, she held the spoon close to her chest, closed her eyes, and shook her head from side to side-making it difficult for me to tell if I nailed it or completely failed.

"And-"

Giving me back the spoon, she shook her head in amazement. "Brilliant, Dane. I don't know how you do it. I hate to be abrupt, but can we talk?"

The anxious edge to her voice made me concerned, but since Jacquelyn came in here with such a happy attitude, it didn't seem like there was anything bothering her before. Maybe it was the pie.

"Sure!" I smiled, patting the open spot on the counter next to me. It was the only other part on the kitchen counter that wasn't covered with sliced apples or random splotches of flour and sugar.

Jacquelyn crossed her arms-her fingernails digging into her arm- and tapped her foot hastily against the kitchen tiles. "Maybe somewhere more private?"

Whatever was bothering her, it made me uncomfortable and a bit reluctant to talk, to be honest. Everything inside me hoped that it had nothing to do with today's quick and embarrassing re-enactment of the past, because I sure as hell couldn't take another few months of awkwardness.

"Okay," I started, drawing out my 'o' out in uncertainty "sure. We can do that."

 Walking towards Mike's room, I opened the door and walked in.

"Isn't this Mike's room-"

I nodded and made an attempt to mask my anxiety by a light smile. "Yep! None of the maids bother to go in here without his permission. We'll be safe here. Come on."

Jacquelyn was hesitant to come in, but she soon joined me on the couch and sat next to me. "First things first. Happy Birthday, Sunshine!" Like a rattlesnake, she lunged forward at me and attacked me with a hug-holding me tight and resting her head on my shoulder.

This was the exact opposite of what I expected. One, I didn't expect the hug. Two, I was surprised that anyone remembered my birthday.

My face flushed with heat when I felt her arms rest gently against the side of my neck. Was I supposed to hug back?

Slowly putting my arms around her back to complete the hug, I hesitantly rested my head on her shoulder. It felt odd, and I didn't know how to explain it. All the stress that I built up inside my chest seemed to float away as soon as I had Jacquelyn in my arms.

"You haven't called me that in a while." I sighed, closing my eyes so I could try to enjoy the moment. "You didn't need to bring my birthday up, you know?"

Hugging me tighter, I felt her shake her and let out a chuckle-her breath warming the side of my neck. "But I did."

It felt good to have her next to me. I needed to have her by me.

What was I thinking?

Being the first to pull away, I shrugged and pushed myself to sit the farthest end of the couch. Jacquelyn was my friend and we both didn't want to be anymore than that. The signs were obvious at the Homecoming dance last year that Jacquelyn and I didn't want to be anything more than friends.

A moment of silence rested between us, causing me to look up to see what Jacquelyn was thinking. It was apparent that she was nervous too; her fingers pulling at the pieces of her hair and her constant fidgeting were a dead giveaway.

"So," I began, "What did you want to-"

Jacquelyn interrupted me, flooring me with a sudden wave of words. "I know that we've been pushing this off for a while now, but I think we're ready. You know, three words. Three syllables. Eight letters?"

Counting out all the possible combinations on my fingers, I couldn't get what she was trying to say. Jacquelyn always loved throwing simple things into hints and confusing the heck out of me. I brought her over for pie today, but how could I say that in three words?

"I have pie?"

"What? No!" Cracking out from her nervous exterior, Jacquelyn shook her head and pulled down her eyes with her hands. "Are you really going to make me say it out loud?" She laughed again, but hid her face shamefully behind her hair.

Could she possibly be saying that she- no, no way. She was the one that first laid down the rules, and we were going to follow them.

But I didn't want to anymore.

I wanted to hear her say that she loved me back, but I was afraid to hear it. My palms grew sweaty and my heart climbed up to my throat-causing my whole body to pulse to a frantic beat. What have I done with all the years that I have suppressed and denied my feelings for her?

The day I have been dreaming of had finally come, but it didn't feel the way that I expected it to-the giddy smile and the sudden wave of comfort that was supposed to wash over me. Instead, I felt nervous and scared.

"Holy crap! I totally forgot about the pie." I blurted. In an instant, I was up on my feet and half way out the door.

Surprised by my sudden response, Jacq leaned back into the couch with open eyes. "Ten minutes had already passed?"

Nodding my head to get to the pies, I gave her one last look. "Time flies! I'll be back." Hopefully.

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A/N: And that's a wrap! Vote if you enjoyed and share if you think it should be shared ;)

Comments, I love them xD

QUESTION: What do you think those three words, three syllables, and eight letters ment? Clearly, it's not 'I have pie' ;)