Nothing is sacred between siblings. (Hat + Rawrg)

Gerald set her down, rubbing the back of his neck as he did whenever he was embarrassed. "I... ah... I'm sorry. I... uhm... er..." he looked at the floor for a few moments. "I... Look, you don't have to tell Anthony... or anything... We can just forget the whole thing... I..." he blushed heavily, trying to escape. "I'll go check on Anthony...." he wandered into the room, and jumped back.
"D-dude!" he said, "shut the door, hang a tie, something!"

((Space-time-re-wind!))
Anthony took the invitation, kissing her neck and nibbling her ears as he lay atop her. His hands slid slowly under her shirt.
From the other room, Gerald and Jorfdan's voices were barely audible, until Gerald decided to walk back to check on Anthony.
"D-dude!" he said, "shut the door, hang a tie, something!"

Jordan walked where Gerald had jumped back. Her form was slender, weak, as her hand rested against the door frame. "Andrew..." She whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she saw his position atop the other girl. She swallowed hard, looking at Anne. Of course she liked Anne. Anne was attractive, and beautiful, and kind to the younger girl always.

"Hi... Anne..." She managed, softly, her hair hanging into her face. Anne blushed. How could she be in this position with the poor girl's brother. And such a cute girl too. ...but that shouldn't have been running through her mind then, should it have?

"H-hi.. Jordan..."

Andfrew rose and looked at his feet, grabbing his forearm nervously. He braced for the slap, the yhell, the slamming of the doors.
Gerald was not an idiot. He saw the reaction the tears. He found himself.... not all that weirded out. Not grossed out, not like society said he should have. All he was was a little angry at Andrew.

Instead of yelling at Andrew, or running to Gerald, Jordan ran to Anne--to another girl who would be nice and know how to hug and stroke. She'd always liked Anne,... in more ways than one. Jordan had sometimes found herself curious about her own gender, perhaps even because of Anne, who was beautiful and kind and very tender with the younger girl--always tender.

Jordan sniffled, climbing into Anne's lap, hugging her tightly. Anne blushed, having not actually expected that. She took the younger girl into her arms and stroked her hair, making comforting little "Shhh..." noises. Jordan pulled back after a few moments, looking up at her brother. "I kissed Gerald." She informed him, curtly, as if it would make him feel bad for what he'd done.

Her gentle side took over, though, and she looked away, proceeding to amend her statement. "Well... I mean... I suppose he kissed me first, but I did kiss back, a-and I liked it." She looked up at Gerald, being honest about the kiss. She had liked it a lot. And it was very confusing, because now that she'd seen Anne and Andrew, she was having confused thoughts about the other girl.

Anne herself was a little confused. She had realized what probably was happening between Jordan and Andrew. She had always had suspicions--Andrew was always thinking about someone else, with all of his girlfriends. It must have been Jordan. And she felt horrible for doing that to the poor girl. Shyly, she held her closer, tighter, kissing her cheek and forehead. "I'm sorry." She whispered, and Jordan nuzzled closer, pressing her body against the other girl's, crying into her shoulder.

Gerald gave Andrew a glare and left the room, beckoning him over. They left the room together, the girls deserved some privacy. As the they closed the door to the study, Gerald took a deep breath. "I don't normally get violent, but..." he reached up and gripped Andrew's collar, slamming his back against a wall. "What the hell were you thinking?!" he asked angrily. "She loves you so damn much, you bastard! And then you turn and go back to that old flame, right here, without even fucking making an effort to hide it! Almost like you wanted her to see it!"
The first punch was fast and harsh.
"Gerald, please..."
"No! You broke her heart!" he responded angrily, giving hism a harsh backhand the broke Andrew's nose.

Jordan stopped crying quite suddenly when she heard the slam, and listened to the yelling, barely muffled by thick brick walls. She let out a little breath and hurriedly stood up, bolting for the door. She made it out into the hallway just in time to see Andrew's face being desecrated by another punch from Gerald.

"G-Gerald..." She managed, softly, looking at him with still tear-filled eyes. "S-stop..." Anne hadn't moved from her position on the bed. Andrew loved Jordan. He didn't love her, and he probably never would. Not again. She sniffled softly, rubbing tears away from her eyes.

Jordan spoke a little louder this time; "G-Gerald! Don't hurt him..."

Gerald looked over at her and set Andrew down. "Fine." he said, still simmering. "But if you hurt her agaqin, I'm not going to stop." he warned Andrew.
Andrew, his nose crooked and bloody, his face bruised, looked up at his friend. "Swear by that." he said softly. "Swear that if IU hurt her again..."
"I'll pay the hospital bills." he replied.
It was an old way they used to promise things to one another. Bt now it was obvious that it was totally serious. Andrew lookedup at his sister, but couldn't look into her eyes. He stared at the floor, heart heavy with guilt.

Jordan was not vindictive. She was not a sadist, she did not hurt people. And that was why, when she saw the pitiful look on her brother's face, she looked up at Gerald instead. "Thank you." She said, quietly, demurely. "If you could go keep Anne company... I would really appreciate it." She murmured, her face very cool, very calm.

Quickly, she left. When she returned, not three minutes after, she was carrying a small bowl of warm water and a wash rag. She knelt by Andrew's side, carefully wetting the rag, beginning to clean his face. Her fingers were as tender as ever, careful not to touch the cartilage of his nose very hard, just clean it off so he wasn't dripping blood everywhere.

Gently, she applied pressure to his lower lip, wanting to stop the bleeding of his nose. He still had cuts and some bruising on his lip and cheeks and a developing black eye, but the bleeding was her biggest concern for the moment. She didn't look into his eyes, just focused on his face.

He was silent as she cleaned his face, looking only at his feet in shame. Everything he had dreamed of shattered before his eyes, tears forming in them. "I..." he took a shaky breath. "Jordan... I'm so sorry." he managed. It cam,e out soundiong odd because of his nose, but it was authentic, the tears going down his cheeks. "I should have known better... No... I did know better. I'm sorry. I... It won't ever happen again. I promise."

Jordan's fingers shook slightly as he spoke. She closed her eyes, calming herself, not wanting to shake so hard that she put too much pressure on his broken extremities. "We should get you to an ER." She said, softly, having relatively vast experience with things like this. the marrow could leak and start clogging things if they didn't hurry. She still wouldn't looked at him--looked at the floor, and her rag, and the now-bloody water.

He nodded, and winced. Derald was far stronge than he thought, and had strained a few of the muscles in Andrew's neck. He couldn't go in a car, because with his neck like that, he couldn't drive. So Gerald drove him and Jordan to the nearest hospital.The car was bathed in a shroud of silence, nop one said a single word. As they arrived, Gerald helped Andrew out and Andrew gave him a look of confusion.
"Dude. I already punished you. The rest is up to Jordan." he said simply, then they hauled him into the hospital.

Jordan sympathized with Andrew's pain when he had to go through the resetting process. Her arm was still in a cast for another week or two, and she remembered clearly the feeling of having your insidy bits shoved back into their proper place. It wasn't any fun. She sat quietly by his side, not really saying anything, not looking at him. She was thankful Gerald had stayed--at least there was someone there she wasn't mad at. Granted, she wasn't happy that he'd beat up Andrew. It wasn't in her nature to wish pain on people. But he had a good enough excuse.

They quickly got him set up on a bed, and into a brace for his neck while his muscles returned to normal. They said that they needed to cjheck some things with the inside of his head.
And then there was another problem. He wouldn't eat. Despite what the nurses asked, and the doctors, he would not eat the hospital food. All they got is a mumbled. "'s horrible." as he turned away.

Jordan sighed as she listened to him complain more. She had been by his side for almost three days while they tested his motor functions and MRI'd his head. "Don't be such a baby." She muttered. "I'll make you a cake when you get out. Just eat, 'else they'll never let you go." They were barely talking, only the bare minimum, but she only ever left his side to eat or get water or use the bathroom.

"No." he managed. "I only like what you make anyway." he managed. "This stuff is shit." he said, though the statement had little heat. The quality obviously wasn't the reason. A large part of Andrew wanted to die there, in that hospital. That way, Jordan could be happy with Gerald, and Anne could move on. After all, who really cared about the son of a drunkard, anyway?

Jordan couldn't stand this. Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned on her heel to glare at him. "Then I'll fucking cut off my hair!" She screamed. It was the first time she'd showed real contempt for her brother since he'd melted her Barbies when she was five. "Eat the fucking food or I'll shave my fucking head!"

Tears welled up in his eyes. "Jordan.... don't do that...." he managed. "Please... I'll eat whatever you want. Please, d-d-don't do that." he copuld reach out for her, his eyes pleases woith her. "P-p-please.... even if we never.... even if nothing happens betweeen us again, d-d-don't d-do that!" he managed, his voice breaking. He loved her hair. He loved his sister. He didn't understand the pain he was causing her.
But now he did.
"I'm s-s-sorry... F-for every.... everything...."

Jordan practically collapsed onto his bed, sitting down heavily, as if her legs had given out. "Thank you..." She practically whispered, looking blankly at the floor, with wide eyes. She was so worried about him, so concerned over his health, and he hadn't understood it for all that time. She loved him--why couldn't he understand how she felt?

"I thopught.... when you saw me and... her.... that you hated me. That you'd never love me.... again...." he closed his eyes. "I guess.... I was only a little right." he said, closing his eyes. "We'll only be brother and sister from now on, huh?" he asked softly, not expecting anything. "For what it's worth.... I really do love you."

"I... wouldn't put out." She said, softly. It was obvious, but, well... she needed to say it. "You're... experienced, handsome, smart... you're going off to college next week." Jordan's lower lip started to quiver, tears streaming down her cheek. She still had big, wide eyes, empty of emotion, staring at the floor. "I knew a plain little high school girl like me wouldn't be able to keep your attention." Her body started to tremble lightly as she stood up. "I'm going to get something from the cafeteria. I'll be back soon." She said, and quickly walked out into the hall before he could say anything, wiping her face. It was what she'd been afraid of all along, really--she was a passing fancy for him, and nothing more.

Gerald sighed as she left, following her. "Hey." he said, "Listen to me before you make an assumption like that." he said quietly. "Andrew doesn't just give up on someone like that." he said quietly. "Rigtht now, he thinks you don't love him back, and that hurts. And...." he sighed, looking at the ceiling. "You know how much he likes to express love physically. He has such a hard time putting it into words, and when he's like this...."

"I'm a virgin!" She turned to face him, tears still filling her eyes. "I'm a virgin. I only had my first kiss a little over a month ago. He can't rush be into being physical. He couldn't rush me into being physical, and what did he do? He turned around and made out with Anne to satisfy himself. God only knows how far he would've gone if you hadn't walked in, and--" Her stomach interrupted her with a loud growl. She hung her head, turning away from him. "I need to eat something."

"Please, just.... give him another chance. I'll talk to him while you're away. Please." Gerald loved his friend, and Jorfdan. He couldn't bear to see this happening, it was like watching a kitten being abandoned by its mother. "Please, I'll... I'll do anything."

"Yeah, sure." She murmured, and then shuffled off, to sample the cafeteria 'gourmet'. The food there was barely better than the stuff that came up on trays, but it was food, and she was hungry enough that she would eat just about anything.

"Well... it's up to you, in the end. I just bnow he really loves you. Just tell him to slow down, and he will." he gave her a gentle hug from behind and went back to the waiting room.
Andrew sighed, looking out the window. Whoat would mother want him to do? What could he do? he thought long and hard, then pressed the nurse-vcall button.