The Inevitable

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

reserved, obviously ♥

Kellan was going to throw up.

She had felt like this all morning since she had woken up at 5:26 a.m. She tried to go back to sleep, but it was an impossible task when there was so much going on in her head. Seven hours later she still felt the same – like she was about to hurl the contents of her stomach on to the sidewalk at any given moment.

What was it that had the girl all knotted up and feeling like she was going to die? Today was the day that her older brother and her boyfriend would meet for the first time.

Kellan and said boyfriend were walking down 27th Avenue in Seattle, not too far from Kenneth’s new townhouse. They were on their way to meet Reese at a café a few blocks away. She was dressed in a blue and white floral dress and a pair of leather flip flops because for some unknown, indescribable, ridiculous reason, she felt that she needed to make a good impression on her brother, not just Ken. It wasn’t like she had known the guy since the moment she was born or anything…

As sick as she felt, she probably looked half as bad. The fact that her hands had been shaking for the last three blocks and that she looked like she had just seen a whole family of ghosts were dead giveaways as to how nervous she really was. She tried her best to look calm, but it just wasn’t working. She tried to distract herself by giving Ken some last minute pointers on how to survive her brother.

“Remember, don’t curse. Reese doesn’t think that guys should curse in front of girls like… ever. Don’t say y’all. He hates that word. No beer or any other alcohol. Don’t you dare mention anything about me taking you to the movie theater in Masonville because he’ll kill me if he knows I was there in the middle of the night. And please, whatever you do, no perverted comments! This is my brother, not Dorian, alright?”

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

Kenneth found it absolutely adorable that Kellan was stressing so hard over this. Ken wasn't overly worried; he was a likeable guy, and couldn't think of anyone who met him and hated him. Maybe it was cocky, to think like that, but that was just another quality he possessed that drew people to him. Confidence was like a magnetic pull really. That's what got Kellan to say yes to him in the first place.

As she filled the silence with inane chatter, he looked down at her and sighed dramatically.

"Darn. You just killed my opening line. I had this amazing speech prepared. It went a little something like this:" He cleared his throat and then adopted a harsh accent that belonged more in the Bronx than Seattle, "Yo yo motherfuckaaa, let's go get booze and get trashed in the threatre Kellan took me to in the middle of the night! Whooo your sis has junk in the trunk, eyy?"

He was giggling like a school girl (albeit a school girl with a frog in her throat. A frog with a tenor croak). Ken took the hand he was holding and swung it between them animatedly, skipping.

"Now that I've got that out of my system, I'll be the perfectly behaved boyfriend. Don't worry, your big brother will never know you're dating a scoundrel. I will be a civilized gentleman today." He grinned in a way that was slightly less than convincing, what with the mischief brewing in his eyes.

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

“Oh, you’re making me feel so much better,” Kellan complained, her words absolutely drenched with sarcasm. She didn’t understand how Ken could find this all so amusing when she was obviously freaking out. This was a huge deal for her – bringing Ken to meet her brother. Not that she had a huge list of past boyfriends, but with those few other boys, Kellan had never been even remotely inclined to bring them anywhere near her family, especially her brother.

Ken’s laughter was a reminder of how uptight she was being, and as frustrated as she was, Kellan didn’t want to be like that. She had been stressing all morning, and what she really needed to do was take a page out of Ken’s book and just relax. She took a deep breath and stepped in front of Ken, stopping him from walking any further. She grabbed his unoccupied hand and looked up at him almost regretfully, though she did manage to smile just a bit.

“Sorry. I’m just… nervous,” she apologized. “I want Reese to like you and for you to like him too. I don’t want him to scare you off. But I’m sure he’ll love you! What’s not to like, right?”

It seemed like she was trying to reassure herself more than anything, but at least she was making an effort to relax. With a sigh and a smile – a genuine one this time – Kellan stood on her toes and kissed Ken quickly, repeating over and over in her head that today would be okay.

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

Ken wanted to pinch her cheek and tell her how adorable she was, all nervous and flighty and chatty, but something told him that action wouldn't be received very well. But then Kellan stopped them from going any further, and he got a chance to look at her dead-on. Yep. Adorable.

"You're cute," he accused after all her babbling, still looking remarkably unruffled. He tapped her on the nose as though she were a pet bunny and kissed her too. It was more chaste than the usual kisses they shared, and he didn't pull away after. Instead he leaned down to rest his forehead against hers, and he chuckled, a low sound in his throat.

"I'll tell you a little secret," he decided, speaking softly so only she would hear. They looked like a teenage couple infatuated with each other, which was pretty much exactly what they were. "I'm worried too," he revealed after a pause, then a he spoke very seriously, "I'm worried your brother is going to think I'm dating a weirdo," his mouth cracked into a grin, and he pulled back and squeezed her hands, lifting them to her sides so she was more exposed. "Look at you, it's like you've got tourette's or something. How am I going to explain it when you start twitching sporadically throughout the day?" Ken teased, and let go of one of her hands so they could walk side by side again. He squeezed that one hand, hoping maybe he had succeeded in lightening her nerves.

He could clearly understand where her anxiety was coming from. It would have been super weird if she wasn't nervous, and if she wasn't freaking out, he would demand to have some of her prozzak. He wondered if Reese was anything like his sister. Maybe the guy was freaking out over meeting Kellan's boyfriend. However he doubted this; the way Kellan described him made him sound like someone Ken would really get along with. Hopefully the circumstances of their meeting wouldn't alter any friendship that might have happened if he wasn't seeing the guy's sister. If Ken had a sister as gorgeous and amazing as Kellan, he'd be prepared to grill the guy with tough questions and maybe a knuckle sandwich if he got any of the answers wrong.

He expected nothing less from Reese, which asks the question why Ken wasn't nervous. Maybe he drank too much that morning, although he'd swear he hadn't had anything. Maybe he was just naturally cool, which he'd attest to if given the chance. But the truth was something much simpler than that. Ken knew that regardless of what happened today, Kellan would still like him tomorrow, which was really the most important thing here. Making a good impression on her family was important, sure, but their opinions would never matter as much as the girl's.

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

For a moment, Kellan really thought that Kenneth was going to confess that he really was worried about meeting her brother. She thought that he was actually going to tell her that he too had been up at a ridiculous hour this morning and had been freaking out all day like she was. She thought that maybe he was going to reveal that he was only so cool and confident now because he was just trying to calm her nerves… but of course he was just messing around.

“Hey, I’m not a weirdo!” she defended herself. She tried to pout, but she was so unoffended that she couldn’t keep the corners of her lips from turning up into the familiar grin that Kenneth seemed to be so good at drawing from her. He really did make her feel better, even if he was making fun of her.

That grin, however, slowly slipped as they turned a corner and Kellan realized that she could see the café where they were supposed to be meeting her brother. It slipped even more once she realized that she could not only see their designated meeting spot, but her brother as well.

“Oh man, are you ready?” she asked Ken, though it didn’t really matter if either of them were ready because she was pretty sure that her brother had just seen them so it wasn’t like she could turn back around the corner and run all the way back to Ken’s place.

Reese Callahan was sitting by himself on the far side of a table for four in the outside seating area of the small Seattle café. He was fiddling with his cell phone, looking absolutely concentrated on whatever it was he was doing until he glanced up and spotted his sister and who he had to assume was this Kenneth guy walking toward him. He immediately set his phone down on the table and stood up, waiting for the pair to reach him.

Once they did, Kellan let go of Ken’s hand and let her brother envelop her in a massive hug. She didn’t realize until then just how much she had missed Reese. She had seen him at Easter, but they had grown considerably closer over the last year or so that one month felt like three.

“You’re wearing a dress,” was the first thing that Reese said to her, a huge smile on his face.

“Shut up. Don’t act so surprised,” she responded, her smile matching his.

Okay, so this was it. It was the moment that Kellan had been putting off and postponing for much too long. She took a deep breath and took a step back toward Ken, wishing he would share some of his confidence with her.

“Reese, this is Kenneth,” Kellan introduced, knowing that it was now or never.

“Hey,” the older boy greeted, extending a hand out to his sister’s boyfriend. He was still smiling, though it wasn’t the same smile he had shared with Kellan. This one was still friendly, though it held that trace of a smirk that said ‘I don’t like you yet, but I don’t hate you either’.

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

Kenneth walked with Kellan, and as they got closer he placed his hand on her lower back. He rubbed up and down in a gesture he hoped was reassuring, but he couldn't be sure of its effect because his girlfriend was wrapped in a hug by the guy that could only be her brother.

He liked the guy's comment on Kellan's clothes. Ken was a typical guy; he didn't notice a lot of things, and the fact that he hung out with Kellan so regularly didn't help him see the minor changes. If she showed up one day with really short hair, he'd say 'nice haircut', but clothes weren't something he was able to appreciate as much. Now that Reese mentioned it though, he couldn't remember Kellan wearing dresses back when they were first dating. There was the briefest of smug smiles on his lips, because he fancied thinking the change was for him.

But the smile turned into something less self-gratifying and more 'You might not like me yet but I can tell you will'. He took the guy's hand.

"Hey. You get anything to eat yet?" Ken didn't see any plates on the table, but they could have already come and gone. He hadn't eaten at this place before, and wondered what their menu was like. He was sort of getting hungry... yes. Ken was thinking about his stomach while Kellan was trying to convince her brother she wasn't dating a psycho. He gestured to the table in a silent question as to whether or not they should sit.

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

Well, it seemed like things were off to an alright start. Kellan had only just introduced them, but at least Reese hadn’t immediately try to intimidate Ken from the moment he saw him and Ken hadn’t actually introduced himself that way he joked about before. She thought that that had to be a good sign, but it still didn’t make her any less nervous. Today just had to go well, and she didn’t now what she was going to do if it didn’t.

Ken asked of Reese had eaten yet, and while Kellan’s eyes doubled in size and every inch of her expression read ‘oh my God, is the first thing he’s going to say to him really about food?’, her brother didn’t seem to mind at all. There was nothing wrong with it, Kellan was just being paranoid. Unfortunately for her, she simply didn’t understand all guys could be complete opposites yet would always share one common love: food.

“No, not yet. I was waiting for you guys,” Reese answered. He nodded to the two empty chairs on the other side of the table and the menus that we stacked at the end of the table before he sat down himself.

As Kellan nervously took a seat across from her brother, she noticed that he hadn’t visually sized Kenneth up like she thought he would. She thought back to the phone conversation she had had with him this morning and realized that it was eerily similar to the one she had with Kenneth minutes ago.

“Reese, please don’t be a jerk today.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I know you. You’re going to do something or say something that’s going to make him never want to touch me again.”
“I wasn’t going to, but now that you bring it up it does sound tempting.”
“Reese!”
“Kellan, I’m just kidding. I’ll behave, I promise.”

She could only hope that both of them, the two most important guys in her life, would keep their words.

“So,” Reese began, speaking to the other boy. “Kellan said you finished school last year? What have you been doing since?” He was careful not to sound like he was grilling Ken because he promised Kellan that he wouldn’t, but he also had to make sure that this guy was worthy of his sister’s attention.

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

Ken sat himself down with Kellan, and picked up the menu. He didn't look at it though, it was more just something to hold since he didn't think Reese would like to see Kenneth squeezing Kellan's hand every five seconds. Ken was a hands-on guy; he always liked to have something in his hands. Whether it be a bottle, a remote, a pizza, a hammer, or a football, he was always more at-ease when his hands were occupied.

"Well, straight out of school I tried my hand at performing. I sing," he explained with a cheeky grin, "but I didn't score too many gigs, and it wasn't very good money. Then the school moved, taking this one with it," he grinned at Kellan, "and I heard there were some good jobs nearby. And I'm not a huge fan of long-distance, so I moved to Seattle to be closer. I'm in construction right now, and I have my own place just down the road," he gestured down the street they'd come from. He looked over the top of the menu at Reese, then opened it. He still didn't look at its contents though.

"How about you? I hear about what a great guy you are, but other than that you're a complete mystery to me," Ken added as an afterthought. He knew the point of this visit was for Reese to meet him, and like him, but Ken didn't want to be on the receiving end of this interview for the whole hour or so they were together. He could hold his own, and hopefully Reese would find that respectable rather than annoying.

Ken did however, peek over to Kellan to see how she was handling everything. He didn't want her freaking out and hyperventilating should he say the wrong thing. Kellan was usually a cool cat, but she was under a lot of stress today (however self-inflicted), and he wanted to make sure she was okay. With a look that asked 'How'm I doing?', Ken also winked with the eye that was obscured from Reese by his profile.

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

So his sister was dating a construction worker. Were his friends the cop and the cowboy from the Village People? But at least from what Reese knew, the construction business paid well in big cities like Seattle, which meant that this kid was probably bringing in some decent money, most likely enough to take care of Kellan if she ever stopped being too stubborn to let him. That automatically scored him a few points in Reese’s book.

“I work for a sales and advertising firm,” the older boy explained. “Companies come to us and we develop marketing campaigns for them. Television commercials and print ad and stuff. It’s not the most exciting job in the world, but it’s not the worst, either.”

They hadn’t been there for long, but things were running smoothly so far, which was all Kellan could have asked for. She was still nervous, but it was easy to see that she had relaxed considerably. Her hands stopped shaking and her face was back to its normal color.

“Reese coaches Hailey’s soccer team too,” Kellan added for her brother. The eldest Callahan child just shrugged like it wasn’t anything important.

“Just on weekends and Tuesdays and Thursday,” he said modestly. He wasn’t here to pad his resume. “KC, they have strawberry pancakes here,” he told Kellan, knowing that was her favorite, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Kellan immediately perked up and began flipping through her menu, her eyes leaving either Kenneth or her brother for the first time since they had arrived.

“So what else do you do besides work?” Reese asked Kenneth, hoping that his sister’s boyfriend didn’t have any weird, creepy hobbies.

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

Reese should have said the Village People line out loud; it would have been rewarded with a laugh. The blond boy instead listened, something he usually only did when someone was talking about game scores or offering to go on a beer run.

"Advertising," He repeated, a sure sign that he was making an effort to remember, "ever make one of those Superbowl commercials?" Ken gave him a big grin, which added a bit more excitement to their conversation, "Some of those are brilliant," he added, which couldn't hurt if Reese actually was involved in making those. Ken figured each commercial had to cost a small fortune to be aired during the Superbowl.

As Kellan piped up about Reese coaching kid's soccer, Ken sort of forgot that the guy was his girlfriend's brother, and instead they were two dudes with common interest. Kenneth loved kids. If anyone asked him, he would readily admit he wanted like twenty kids. His cousin wasn't the only reason he visited the paediatric ward in Missouri every weekend. Children loved Ken's upbeat personality and willingness to dive into mischief with them. The guy transformed when he was playing; not a foul word left his mouth, and beer and sports were the last things on his mind. He would watch cartoons and draw and make crafts with them just like any other guy, and they were his best audience when he offered a free performance.

"Only?" Ken chuckled as Reese tried to shed the spotlight from the team, "Admit it, you plan your schedule around those practices," Kellan could attest that Ken rarely took her out on Saturday afternoons. Truthfully, Ken missed the kids back home, but he started his own YouTube channel and his mom made sure her patients got a chance to tune in and make their own videos. It was like another project for them.

Reese's distraction worked on Kenneth too. As Kellan hunted down the strawberry pancakes, Kenneth made his own search for chocolate chip. He was less of a citrus guy and more of a dark-milk-chocolate guy. When Reese spoke again, Kenneth put his finger on the menu where the pancake section was and looked up to answer.

"I just got a gym membership a month ago, and that takes up a lot of time," Ken was big on fitness. Even though he was lifting heavy things and hammering nails into wood planks all day, it wasn't a focused work-out like the ones he used to do in school. Plus, having super strength made it difficult for him to tire, and he was a guy who had to challenge himself, "Watch sports a lot, sometimes go to the games in Seattle." They were standard guy things, but then he added, "I'm also hoping to score a record deal, so I've been going to this local studio to record some stuff."

He hadn't told Kellan this yet; he was waiting until he finished so he could play it for her. She might even recognize that some of the songs were about her. But because of his silence, he held a cheeky grin because he knew she was going to beat him up for that. Oh, the romance of an abusive relationship!

He felt obligated to tell Reese this news however, to show that he aspired to do more than the career he'd just lately settled into. Reese seemed like he was pretty solidly in-place at his advertising firm, and it sounded like he enjoyed his work, despite how modest he appeared. Ken was a wonderful construction worker, however the physical labour wasn't his calling, even if it came easy for him. Although he would kick ass at the Olympics, the boy's passion was and always would be, singing. He knew he could make it big, big as Raelena St John, bigger even, if he set his mind to it.

His sheepish grin could only last so long, as he thought about the future he wanted. He could serenade Kellan when she came to his shows just to embarrass the hell out of her, but she would love it. Even if she would never admit it. His smile broadened into something more proud; for Kenneth Lorne to keep a secret... it was nearly unheard of. The boy used to be the gossip mill back at school, and anything that wasn't sworn to secrecy was fair game to be spread around. This demo CD must've really meant a lot to him to have kept it from his girlfriend.

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

“No, no Super Bowl commercials,” Reese shook his head. “Not yet anyway. We’re still a small firm – me and a buddy of mine developed the company last year – but give us a year or two and I think we can grab some big-name clients.” He loved that company like it was his baby. Before Reese, all the men in the Callahan family found themselves stuck in some field of physical labor. His father built ships for a living, as did his grandfather before he retired. Two of his uncles were masons and all of his male cousins were bound to follow in their footsteps. Not Reese, however. If there was one thing that Kellan got from her brother, it was his independence.

Reese shook off the comment about his youngest sister’s soccer team. Unlike his favorite sister and much like her boyfriend, Reese really did like kids and liked coaching even more. It was awesome to see his players begin to understand and execute something that he taught him. If he wasn’t so creative or enjoyed his job so much, he would have made an excellent teacher. But today wasn’t for Reese to talk about Reese, it was for him to determine whether or not he approved of this kid being close to his sister.

The two Callahan siblings listened to what Kenneth had to say about what he did in his spare time. Reese was learning about the guy on the other side of the table while Kellan already knew it all. At least she thought she did. She slowly glanced up from her menu and over to her boyfriend when he mentioned his visits to the recording studio, meeting him with a look that practically said, ‘oh reeeeally now?’

“That’s pretty cool. Kellan didn’t mention that,” Reese commented, honestly seeming interested.

“Hmm, must’ve slipped my mind,” she shrugged, still staring Kenneth down. Had her brother not been there, her reaction would have been much different, but she didn’t really want Reese to know that Kenneth had kept something that huge from her. She wasn’t angry. Not even a little bit. In fact, Kellan thought it was great. For a while she had started to think that Ken had given up on his love for music. She should have known better. Kellan wasn’t mad, but she just didn’t understand why he wouldn’t tell her. Were there other things he had been keeping from her? Kenneth could bet she’d be drilling him with questions the moment they left the café.

“So that’s what you want to do then? Sing?” Reese asked. He wasn’t sure if he necessarily liked the thought of his sister dating a musician – the drugs, groupies, and E! True Hollywood Story popping into his mind – but Kellan’s boyfriend seemed to have his head screwed on straight, which was definitely a good sign. Reese just hoped he wouldn’t be seeing Kenneth on Hollywood’s Top Train Wrecks any time soon.

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

"Wow, so you actually made the company? That's incredible!" Kenneth indeed sounded impressed. Even though it was apparent that the two young men had extremely different ambitions, Kenneth was smart enough to respect the effort it must take to lift a company off the ground.

Reese's interest in his demo cheered him considerably, enough so that when Kellan turned her gaze on him, he didn't completely deflate at her cool stare. He didn't answer her though; there wasn't really a question in the first place, and instead when Reese spoke up again, Kenneth turned his attention back to him.

"Yeah, singing is my passion. I had a uh... minor set back, about half a year ago, but I've bounced back from it," Kenneth briefly reflected on the sadistic demon that tortured him to within an inch of his life, permanently damaging his vocal chords. "Once I'm done my demo, I'm sending it out to a bunch of labels and then hoping for some kind of response. Oh!" Ken exclaimed, an idea hitting him, "Does your company do like, small projects too? I have no artistic talent whatsoever... and my demo would probably stand a better chance if it wasn't just a CD with my name in marker," which was exactly what he'd been planning on doing.

Just then, a waiter showed up to take their orders. Kenneth, easily distracted, asked about the chocolate chip pancakes before placing his order. He then looked back at Reese, "I'd understand if it was too small a project to take on." He glanced beside him to look at Kellan, hoping she didn't think he'd been planning on taking advantage of her brother's career. He probably should have waited until after their meal to discuss this. It was sort of really rude to exclude Kellan from the conversation like this.

So, feeling like an ass, he made a mental note to take Kellan to the studio later so she could see what he'd been up to in his free time.

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

“Yeah, pretty much. We were hanging around one day, complaining about how bad all the commercials on TV sucked and how we could do a better job, and I guess it all started from there. That was the easy part. The hard part was finding the right investors who were willing to throw money to a couple of 21-year-old kids who never went to college. But it’s going pretty well so far, so that’s all we can really ask for,” Reese explained effortlessly, as if starting your own business, and a successful one at that, while most guys your age cared about nothing but beer pong and skipping college classes wasn’t a big deal.

As the conversation went on, Kellan watched both her brother and Kenneth curiously. This was good, she decided. This was very very good. Despite whar she may have told both of them, it wasn’t that she didn’t trust Reese and Kenneth to behave. Kellan just knew both of their personalities. Ken liked to be the center of attention and do whatever it took to make everyone laugh. Reese was more clam and much less of a show boat. Kellan had been worried that they simply wouldn’t mesh very well, but listening to their conversation let her relax. They didn’t seem to despise each other right off the bat and Kellan absolutely loved it.

Their waiter came and both Callahan kids placed their orders. Strawberry pancakes with extra whipped cream for Kellan, just as expected, and a grilled Cuban sandwich for Reese. When their server left, Reese gave Ken’s inquiry a few moments of thought before he shrugged.

“Firm-wise, that’s not really what we do, but I’m sure I could personally work on something for you,” Reese offered genuinely, which was absolute music to his sister’s ears. If she had known that this dreaded first meeting was going to go so well, she would have told her brother about Kenneth months ago.

“Oh hey, Kel! I forgot, Mom wants you to call her. She said something about wanting to know when you want to go to Granddad’s this summer,” Reese told his sister, which made her perk up even more. He slid his phone across the table to her and she quickly picked it up. Feeling that it was safe to leave the two boys alone for a few minutes, Kellan scooted out her chair from the table. She promised Kenneth she’d be back in a minute and kissed the side of his head before hurrying off to the sidewalk to call her mother.

A smile formed on Reese’s face as he watched Kellan scurry away. She looked so happy and grown up. He didn’t know if any of that glow she was possessing had anything to do with Kenneth, but if it did, well then Reese didn’t have too many complaints about the guy.

“Listen,” he said quietly, leaning forward in he seat just the slightest bit. “I like you. You seem like a good guy and I don’t hate you like I thought I was going to, which I guess is a good thing. But that girl over there,” he glanced over at Kellan, who was standing by street, laughing at something someone on the other end of the phone, presumably their mother, was saying. “is my sister. And I swear to God, if you hurt her, I can think of plenty of people, myself included obviously, who love her enough to more than hurt you, just so you know.”

Yes, it was a threat even though Reese promised Kellan that there wouldn’t be any today. However, he felt that it was his duty as an older brother to at least make sure that his sister’s boyfriend was at least aware of the consequences associated with hurting his sister. And while that was his promise to Kenneth that he was as good as dead if he made the wrong moves when it came to Kellan, there was still a softness in his voice that hinted that he really did trust him, despite barely knowing him, and hoped that it never came down to those consequences. From what Kellan had told Reese, Kenneth had a younger sister of his own. Maybe he would understand.

[҉ Kenneth Lorne]

Kenneth listened as Reese described how he and his friends started their business, and it was all very interesting. It sounded exactly like something he and his friends would do, if they had the initiative and the drive to carry it out all the way through. It impressed him immensely that Reese had enough passion to pull it off.

He offered a, "Thanks man," and made a mental note to ask Reese for his business card, even though he knew he could contact him through Kellan. It would seem more professional if he didn't get his girlfriend to ask her brother for a favour. He sat back comfortably as Reese told Kellan about her mom's inquiry, and watched her leave with the phone. A smile had grew on his lips before he knew it was there.

Then Reese lowered his voice, even though Kellan was far enough out of hearing distance. Ken supposed it was so he would pay attention. That, or lean forward. It accomplished both, and the boyfriend sat up and listened carefully to what the brother had to say. The smile temporarily disappeared to show the concentration between his brow, but it didn't stay away long.

"I was wondering when that was coming. And it's stupid to tell you not to worry, I know you will, but it might ease your mind to know she's got an aweful lot of friends who would do that service for you. And your people," Kenneth added, imagining Reese and his buddies beating the shit out of him. "You can call first shot though, should the need ever arise," Kenneth offered, although from the tone of the voice he didn't think the 'need' would be lurking around any proverbial corners.

"I'm taking notes on this," The boy added, gesturing to Reese, "My little sister isn't old enough to date yet," Kenneth looked back at Kellan and something very fond softened his eyes. When he turned back to Reese, his smile was affected by the same thing, and he shook his head.

"You know, she's more likely to break my heart."