Insimenator.org

First it was a teen drama that flopped, then it was a thread to house what would have been contest entries had either of them made it. (Yes, I know one had another chance, but meh :P) This time it's a bit of a mixture - during my stint in Gender Defenders (http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=57682), this vivid imagination of mine woke up from its rest from Uni to bombard my mind once more with story ideas. I needed somewhere to put them, so here they are :) Title slide courtesy of last mini-task in fact, was so proud of it I decided to show it off ;)

A word about the format though: this is a little different to how I usually write. To save you from skipping to the contest to catch up, I'm mixing my entries into this story, although those of you also watching/participating will notice a few differences here and there, nothing major but there'll be times you'll think "That wasn't there before." Think of this as a director's cut ;) Anyway, back to the point, the contest is run like a reality show of sorts, and that's how I've written my entries. You'll have periods where it will seem like he's talking to the camera, and other parts that revert to normal dialogue, which are generally the parts the "viewer" doesn't see. I hope it isn't too confusing, but that's the best way I found to do this.

Before anyone complains about there not being enough background on the character, I left it out on purpose - round one's mini-task goes a little more in-depth so I handle it then ;) Enough of me babbling, I'll let you get on with it - enjoy! :)



Since there seems to be a little confusion over which sim belongs to who, I'm putting up this little list of credits to the sim-makers concerned:

Alec Banks (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1009672&postcount=24) and his Mum - adalita
Kiichi "Kii" Misho (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1011632&postcount=46) - brendabond
Zamir Nuñez (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1012560&postcount=52) - nextor_torres
Katsumi Takahashi (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1010881&postcount=41) - erica_jean
Autumn McPherson (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1014679&postcount=64) - skizicks
Ginny Harris (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1011127&postcount=43) - aprilcrow
Rowan Murphy (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1011548&postcount=45) - 3Alissa

Sims were downloaded from links in the contest chatter thread, apart from Alec's Mum, who I asked ever so nicely for in a PM :angel: All other sims are my own :)

Hi folks! Leo Sedoni at your service! I'm fourteen and live in a quiet suburb known as Alpinloch, tucked away somewhere in East Sussex, England. I'm one of triplets, living with my sister Joanne, brother Luca, Mum Emily and Dad Evan... and we're all about the same age. Yep, even the parents. Work that one out if you can... Well okay. Dad's fifteen and Mum's seventeen, but we all get to go to school together - St Grey's Private School, which some while ago offered night time hours. We could go during the day, but who else can say they get to go to school with their parents? Ashamed? Why should I be? They may be... different, but that's all the more reason to love 'em!

Mum and Dad want to get rich, I want to get famous. Luckily for me though, I got his musical talent. I also got his good looks! Should make the job a little easier, huh?



Rock on baby! No the others don't complain about the music, we all sing and dance to it – yes we're all fruitcakes, best way to be!



It's not just me into music - we're all just as bad as each other. I have to fight for a turn on the piano, and make the most of it when I get the chance to practise.



I'm too funny too, I'm always making my folks laugh. Too modest for my own good, I know… No that's not Mum, that's my sister.



I couldn’t get a picture of Mum I’m afraid, although you can see her back in the second to last shot – cameras and her don’t get on. Anyway, this isn’t about her… Sooo, not a bad application, huh? I’ve never entered anything like this before. You may well ask why I’d go for something like this, boys competing against girls when I live with two of each. You really wanna know? Fun! That and meeting new people; this town’s a little too close if you get me – everyone not only knows everyone else, most of them are related too! Our family’s huge – Dad’s surname is Turilli. Sound familiar? Yeah, thought so – he had his own story to tell at some point. He doesn’t like to admit it, but he’s just as musical as he is lyrical. They say talent’s hereditary too, luckily for us! Thanks to a good number of them being vampires, the Turillis have practically taken over the town, although the Staropolis are in fierce competition. Not as many vampires on their side, but with the two families mingling at certain points you have to be careful who you ask out these days. Mum and Dad brought our cousins home once, way back when my brother, sister and I were still at junior school. They’re both gay, as is one of my Uncles, one of my Aunts too I think he said. Still, as much as I could go on for ages about my family tree, this isn’t getting me packed…



The keyboard? Haha… I didn’t feel lucky enough to stay somewhere with a piano, so I wound up pestering my parents for one of my own. Not a full-blown piano obviously, but something more portable. Plays like a dream too. The bedroom isn’t me? No, it certainly isn’t! It’s been like that since I was little – Mum and Dad didn’t want to force their tastes on us, so they went for a neutral approach. Trouble is, when they realised we did like the same things, they only had enough to do up Jo’s room. Despite the size of our house they’re not rich – apparently even that wasn’t bought with their money, but was a gift from Dad’s folks. … I’m doing it again, I need to focus on getting this done… Let’s see; got my posters, got my clothes… where’d I put that list again? Here we are… yep, yep, yep… Great, let’s get out of here! Can’t wait to meet the others!

Here we are… hold on. Four? I thought there were five of us? Oh well, let’s see who we have here…



“Hi guys!” I greet cheerfully as I approach. Two of them at least seem to be just as chirpy, although the other seems a little quiet. Oh don’t you worry my friend, if I don’t see to that I’m sure these other guys will!
“Hi!” the Asian looking guy replies, “I’m Kiichi, but you can call me Kii.”
“Pleased to meet you!” I grin, stretching out my hand, “I’m Leo.”
He accepts with a smile, but soon frowns as he looks about himself before addressing me again.
“Leo?”
“Why, what’s up?”
“Well, that’s Zamir,” he introduces, indicating a Latino looking guy, “and that’s Alec,” he finishes, gesturing to the quiet one in the sweater.
I rub my chin thoughtfully. “I thought we were missing someone,” I remark, “Rick I think his name is.”
“Oh yeah,” Alec chips in, “Something came up, he had to drop.”
“Oh,” I nod in acknowledgement, before smiling as I note his accent. “You from Oz?”
“Is it that obvious?” he chuckles, “Yeah, I’m from Sydney.”
“Cool!” I smile, looking about me. Kii may look Asian, but his accent’s as American as you can get. Meanwhile there’s this Zamir, who seems as able to keep still as me. Meaning, he can’t.
“What’s up?” I ask him, “You’re jumpy as a flea on a hot brick.”
“What?” he checks in reply, and continues to speak with a thick Spanish accent, “Sorry, my English not so good.”
I think to myself for a minute. I remember Dad mentioning that Italian and Spanish are that similar, the two can understand each other. Now, Dad’s half Italian, and Mum can speak a multitude of languages, although so as not to confuse us she sticks to his Dad’s mother tongue. Worth a try if nothing else.
“S’cuse me a minute guys,” I say to the others, before addressing Zamir, repeating in Italian what I said to him earlier.
He bats his eyelids in surprise for a moment, before smiling in befuddlement.
“Oh,” he replies, “I need to do something, not this standing around.”
At this I laugh. “Damn, you’re as bad as me!” I tease, repeating in Italian after getting another puzzled look. “So, where’re you from?”
“Puerto Rico,” he replies. Before we have time to talk any more, one of the camera crew approach – is it that time already?
“So, been breaking the ice?” he asks.
“I hope so!” I grin in reply. The man holds a note, which he passes to me.
“First task,” he says, “Don’t worry, it’s not ‘til tomorrow. Plenty of time to get your clues sorted out.”
“Clues?” I check, before reading the note.

Hi guys, and welcome to Gender Defenders! For your first task, you have a scavenger hunt at a house not far from here. You’ll be taken there in the morning, but in the meantime you’ll need some riddles! Find someone to write them out and hide them – you’ll find the map to the house and a sealed envelope in your home for the next four weeks. They’re for whoever’s writing the riddles, but no cheating! You’ll have one of the cameramen with you to make sure you don’t open it. Oh, and it’s five to a team – the girls have five, so it’s only fair that you do too. Good luck!

“Oh for sure!” Zamir exclaims, “We have only four!”
I’m already getting some ideas though. A smile slowly spreads across my face as I become grateful for being able to keep my mobile, at least for now.

Looks good so far. :D Your Sims are so shiny; I can't stop staring.

Now this is encouraging! Thanks! :D I must point out though, the other three sims that Leo meets aren't mine - for round 1 we had to download each other's sims, and we just keep using them throughout the contest. Kii's creator is brendabond, Zamir belongs to nextor_torres (sp?), and Alec is adalita's :) As for them being shiny, that's a combination of good skins and application of certain Photoshop techniques to give a more ambient feel ;) Glad you like it anyway!

Yeah. :D My friend told me that some Sims creators used Photoshop to enhance the Sims, etc, but despite having Photoshop myself, I can never figure out how to do that so I'm in awe. XD

You downloaded other people's Sims? You mean it's a competition? o.o

Can't wait for the next installment though. ^___^ Refreshing to read something that doesn't spawn from tragedy.

Hehe, I'm pinching cheeks again! He's adorable.

@Niirachi: Yep, it's a competition - check the first post for details ;) And thanks - it's refreshing to not write such heavy stuff ;)

@babyblue: Are you following me? ;) Thanks - in-game too! I've been pretty lucky with the genes mixing in my game :D

Following? I don't know what you're talking about:lol: I cruise the stories forum to see what everyone's doing. I was actually trying to click on something else, then I saw Leo, and I was like awwww! Yes, it took me that long to realize I was in the wrong thread. I did, eventually, get un-lost, though! In the meantime, this was an interesting read:rofl:

:laugh: Well, I'm glad you got distracted enough to enjoy my story anyway ;) Brenda's Kii is adorable too, you'll see more of them all later :D

I do suppose there's more cheek pinching to be done, then!

“You want me to what?”
“Pleeease!” I continue, my hands clasped together with a sparkle in my eye, “You said yourself you love to write, this’ll be a challenge!”
“Well, at least you’re polite in your demanding these days,” comes the teasing reply as he ruffles my hair, “How long do we have? The rest of the day?”
“Yeah,” I tell him, before throwing my arms around him in a big hug. “Thanks!”
“You’re welcome,” he chuckles, before breaking away. “Go on, don’t you have someone else to pester?”
“Sure do!” I grin, bounding happily out of the darkest room in the house. Where’d I put that brother of mine again?

“How’d it go?” Kii asks on my return.
I stay quiet, but wear a smug grin as I give him the thumbs up.
“Oh really?”
“Yep!” I reply happily, “Riddles, replacement, everything! Now all that needs doing is to settle in!”
“So, who’s this replacement?” Alec asks. I swear he doesn’t trust my judgement or something.
“My brother Luca,” I smile in reply, “He’s a nice guy, you’ll like him I’m sure. Pretty reserved though, but at home he’s as loopy as the rest of us!”
“Uh-huh…”
“Am I scaring you already?” I tease.
He smiles awkwardly, shaking his head as he moves upstairs, to play on his guitar he says, but I think he’s a little unnerved. Bless him. There’s a sociable guy in there somewhere, I’m officially making it my mission to coax him out. In fact he reminds me of Luca… maybe that’s why I’m so determined to do it.

Speak of the devil! By the time we all get to the house he’s already there, waiting outside.



“Thanks for stepping in,” I tell him after we greet.
“You kidding?” he laughs, “Wasn’t gonna turn this down! Haven’t done one of these since junior school!”
“Yeah, I did figure it was a silly question,” I chuckle, before introducing him to the others. Before we step inside though, something occurs to me as I turn to address them.
“Erm, just remembered,” I tell them, “I’d better warn you guys, our Dad wrote the clues and we’re all fruitcakes in our family, so…”
“Just be grateful it wasn’t Mum you asked,” Luca mentions.
“Good point,” I agree as he turns to the others.
“Dad’s actually the most sensible of us, believe it or not,” he tells them.
“Quite the writer too, that’s why I asked him,” I add, before looking about myself, “Okay, where’s he put the first…?”
“Maybe inside?” Kii suggests, and we all head indoors. We look around for at least half a minute, before I feel a tap on my shoulder.
“Wouldn’t be this would it?” Luca checks, gesturing to a noticeboard in the hallway.
“Right in front of our noses?” I reply as we all follow, “Very likely.”



Yell or shout or cry or cheer
While sat snug upon your rear
Enjoy with friends or alone
In the comfort of your home

“Huh… okay,” I muse aloud.
“Well, it’s indoors, that’s for sure.”
“I don’t get it,” Zamir complains. I repeat the riddle in Italian, but all he does is shrug. “I still don’t get it,” he complains.
Oh, haaang on a minute!
“Hey guys!” I call as I race off, “This way!”



“Beauty!”
“Genius!” Alec grins.
“I know,” I reply playfully, tossing my hair. I notice Luca rolling his eyes somewhere behind me, and decide to polish my nails on my shirt just to wind him up.
“Just find the next clue!” he chides, tapping my rear with his foot.
“Si Signore!” I salute, before rummaging in the cabinet.
“Not on the screen …?!” Kii checks.
“That’d be too obvious,”  Luca tells him.
Aha! Gotcha! Right, let’s see…

Keep belongings safe and sound
No trace of dust to be found
Yet unwelcome friends may roam
Keep at bay with balls of foam

“What?” Zamir quizzes. Once again, the Italian version doesn’t help. Maybe this just isn’t his thing.
“He did warn you,” Luca supplies.
“Yes Dad, very poetic,” I muse, “Unwelcome friends?”
“Balls of foam?” Alec echoes.
We ponder the puzzle for a good few minutes, looking about ourselves. Then Luca gets hit by a brainwave – must’ve hurt!
“Oh, wait…” he begins, before he tears up the stairs. Shrugging I follow suit, and hear the thundering behind me of the others’ feet as they try to catch up.



“Balls of foam – mothballs!” he grins.
“Unwelcome friends being the moths…” I add.
“I’ll have to meet this father of yours some time…!” Kii says.
I cross my arms uncomfortably as I look at Luca, but he’s already half submerged in the wardrobe.
“Okay Dad, where’ve you hidden the next one?” he remarks as he rummages inside. Zamir opens the other door and joins in the search, tossing clothes everywhere as he does so.
“Here we go!” comes the triumphant cry from my brother as he surfaces, “With a complementary mothball, no less!”

Play word games upon my door
Look within to use the store
Trust me with your fresher food
My cool breath will keep them good

“Ha!” Zamir scoffs, “Word games! Look who’s talking…!”
I merely grin as I flutter my eyebrows, while Luca speaks.
“Oh, he’s very good at that! He’ll make a good writer, that’s for…” He stops as Alec suddenly takes off, and we exchange puzzled looks. “Where’s he going?”
“This way!!”



“That was too easy,” the Australian proclaims smugly, “Food? Cool breath?”
“You’re slipping Dad!” Luca says, tutting playfully as Alec forages around in the fridge. I decide to leave him to it – he’s the one with the woolly. Even so, he shivers as he eventually closes the door.
“Damn, it’s cold in there!” he complains, producing the note.
“That’s a good sign it’s working!” I supply with a cheeky grin. Luca nudges me as Kii takes the note from him. “Hey, don’t start on me!” I tease, prodding him in the ribs. As anticipated, Luca shrieks and grabs at my hands. I in turn wave them about, making occasional jabs at his ribs which, this time, he manages to dodge.
“You wanna take this outside?!” he challenges.
“Come on guys!” a laughing Kii prompts us, and we oblige as he reads out the next clue.

I will keep you fed and well
Hear for the sound of the bell
Open, close, don’t leave alone
In mere minutes it is done

Luca and I exchange looks, before the pair of us burst out laughing.
“Definitely slipping!” I chuckle, “Deary me!”



“Don’t speak too soon!” Kii tells me,” “I’ll bet he’s saved the best for last…” So saying, he begins to rummage. “He’s even made it hard to find the clue!”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” I snigger, before frowning a little. “You alright in there?”
“Got it!” a little voice eventually announces from within the small appliance.

Rest your weary legs or head
When there is no time for bed,
But beware the humble seat
For your small change it will eat

Luca and I exchange expressions of puzzlement as I rub my chin thoughtfully.
“I spoke too soon didn’t I.”
“So did I dear bro, so did I.”
Kii props himself up on the counter as we all look to each other, but it seems Dad’s well and truly got us on this one. Talk about saving the best for last.
“Well, it’s not a bed,” Luca ponders, “That’s mentioned in the clue.”
Alec’s fingertips feel the stubble around his face as he speaks.
“Okay, this is gonna take…”
“Hold on a sec!” I cry happily. Now it’s my turn to be hit by a brainwave, and my fast little legs carry me with speed back into the front room, before I stretch out on the last object.



“How many times have we lost coppers down the cushions?” I ask Luca, not expecting an answer.
“Ah,” he replies, “Well done you!” So saying he pats my head, just like you would a dog. To play up on that I start panting and making barking noises.
“What’re you like?!” Alec says, once he’s stopped laughing.
“Like… me!” I grin with a sparkle in my eye.
“Dad and Jo are the more serious ones, even though that’s not saying much,” Luca tells them, before thumbing in my direction, “He’s the nuttiest.”
“Oh, look who it is!” I announce as one of the staff emerges, complete with cameraman in tow. Question time now, eh? I’ll do my best…

Leo: Well, we all had a great time, be it bantering with each other, being on the receiving end of Dad’s practised pen, leaving our mark in the bedroom… Don’t blame me! I don’t care what the others say about teenager’s bedrooms and being messy… *tosses hair* Won’t catch Luca or me doing that, we were brought up proper *sniffs*
Luca: Oi! *slaps Leo’s arm* Don’t you know the Queen’s English? *playful grin* I don’t know…
Leo: Of course I know she’s English! Who doesn’t?! *both brothers laugh* What? Was it easy? Erm, sort of – camera editing does wonders, eh? *winks* No slackers if that’s what you meant, although they all want to meet our parents now! I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not…!

“Why wouldn’t it?” Alec asks as we get back home.
“Erm,” I begin, shifting from foot to foot, “Well, this town’s very different…”
I look up as the staff member beckons us inside. It seems our questions aren’t over yet…

Hobbies? What, aside from the music? Oh, okay. Well, I like to go for a run in the park. No I don’t take my mp3 player; all you hear in the park is the birds singing, maybe the odd dog barking. The sheer quiet of the area, accompanying the rhythm of your feet pounding on the path, is very relaxing.



As much as I enjoy the sunshine, I look forward to the nights just as much. Most teens would love for their parents to be tucked away in bed all day, but it has its flip-side. I don’t know if I’d be so close to them if things had been different, but I don’t think about that. I just look forward to giving Dad another kicking at darts!



What? Yes, that’s my Dad. I did say they’re different, you thought it was something small didn’t you? After I said we’re all the same age too? Tsk tsk. Was that not a clue? I’ll give you another; check his teeth. Mum? Let’s see… Ah, here she is!



She’s several hundred years old, and she’s also the one who bit him. Long story, one I don’t even know the full version of, but I do know that much. Moving swiftly on… Two things that tick me off? Top of the list are bigots!



Not only what I read in the paper, but Dad often mentions the time he found his gay brother this close to death in an alley. Some a***holes thought they had the right to decide that gay people don’t have the right to live. I nearly lost a very nice Uncle ‘cause of them. Yeah, they tick me off big time for that alone.

Another? Whoever said all guys love football (soccer if you're American) needs to sit down with me some time, I’ll soon change their mind.



Why do I hate it so much? Let’s see, there’s their ridiculous wage, the hype, the violence, and what does it all come down to? Twenty-two men kicking an inflated piece of leather across a pitch. I can’t understand why people get so worked up about it – give us their wage for a week and we’ll never have to worry about money again!

Shut me up now before I get to anything else – oh yeah, I need to unpack. My room’s picked, but there’s only so long I can live out of boxes. Catch ya later!

Ah. X3 This was so cute. Did you make the riddles yourself?

Yep, that was part of the requirements for the round :) Next chapter is a little more heavy ;)

Sweet you captured Alec very well!

Oh good! :D Thanks - I hope I keep that up as it progresses :)

Yeah, I got my own room - a big one too! What's that? I get to design it myself? Awesome! I'll have to see if I can get my room back home like this... Now this is me!



Dear diary,

Every so often I get to recount my feelings to the cameras, but there's one thing I don't dare tell them. You see... I have a teen-style crisis on my hands here. Fourteen years old, holed up with three older boys... could there be a worse time to wonder what side of the fence I really sit on?! I don't know when or where it came from, only that I'm starting to feel very awkward around two in particular... I have to put on a front every time and hope I don't slip up. It's only been two weeks and already I'm starting to go mad through that alone... I can only be grateful for being a good actor, but how long can I keep it up for?

Gah! When did you sneak in? Yeah, this is my room, how do you like it? Sure it won't be to everyone's tastes - yes I'm a goth, probably shows most in here, eh? Plenty of room for my keyboard, and even a sofa! The desk's for my songwriting moments, which I get a few of. Nice and tidy too, told you I was brought up proper! I can't stand a mess. I also can't stand living out of boxes, those got unpacked and tucked away almost as soon as I got here - I like to be able to find my stuff. Not that I own that much compared to some others, but there's always time for that later.

I watch the camera crew leave for the next room, still wearing my painted smile until the door closes. My head drops as does my façade, heaving a large sigh as I walk back to my diary. Picking it up, I sit back down and tap the closed book against my chin for a bit, allowing the dark clouds to billow over me once more as I try to get back to where I was.

It’s not even as though it’s well into the second week either, it’s only just begun. Zamir and even Kii are starting to drive me mad with their talk of girls, and the only reason it’s getting to me so much is because of this, I know it is. Alec doesn’t seem bothered either way, he immerses himself in his music. If he ever did have these kind of issues he’s well over them by now, while for me they’re just starting. I need to talk to someone before I go any more crazy than I have been already… and to make matters worse, that freedom we had early on with our mobiles was short-lived; it ended before we embarked on our scavenger hunt. Time to do some grovelling…



“I’m sorry Leo, it can’t be done.”
“Look, I wouldn’t normally ask, but…” I trail off as I notice one or two of the others nearby, and beckon the man into my room before resuming my pleading. “I really need to talk to a gay relative…”
“You think you’re gay?”
“Uh-huh,” I nod desperately, “and I’m surrounded by guys I’m now starting to fancy! Pleeease!”
The man sighs, and I can see in his face he wants to do something. The big problem for him is, his hands are tied.
“The best I can offer is a stint in the diary room,” he tells me, “Sounds like you need it.”
I walk off a little in exasperation. “I can’t go in there,” I whimper in reply.
“Why not?”
“And tell the whole nation?!” I exclaim as I turn back round, “Do you guys not remember what I said about my Uncle? He nearly died because of that and he’s forty-two! What chance would I have??”
“It’s either that or carry on like this,” he explains, “I can’t break the rules, I’m sorry.”
I slump onto the bed, tears of despair stinging at my eyes. “Thanks anyway,” I mutter, trying valiantly to stem the sobs working their way up my throat. I wait until my ears pick up the sound of the door as it closes, then slump forward as I let it all go, and time is lost in the sea of tears. Never have I cried so much in my young life.



Urgh… boy did I need that. Where are Chris and Andy when you need them?
Tap tap tap.
S***. I hope I don’t look too bad. Oh well, this is as good as whoever-it-is will get right now.
“Leo? It’s just me.”
My heart sinks as I hear the Aussie accent filtering through the door. Alec is one I’ve been feeling really bad around lately, and not just because of his looks. I allow myself a sigh before I open the door, trying to look casual. Try that with glassy red eyes though…
“I thought I heard crying,” he acknowledges with dismay as he sees me, “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head, wishing I could find the courage to answer. It seems he senses this as he ushers himself inside and closes the door. Laying a hand on my shoulder is intended to soothe my raging emotions, but instead it makes things worse.
“Hey, you can tell me,” he says in a hushed tone.
“I can’t, really,” I utter, feeling my bottom lip tremble. He eyes me sadly, as though he really is concerned about me, and this becomes more apparent when he pulls me into his arms.
I resist the urge to fight and instead allow him to embrace me, my eyes closing as I enjoy his warmth and the caresses of his fingers upon my back. Somewhere in the depths of my mind, I hope for there to be a hidden meaning in his touch, but a reality check is enough to dismiss those thoughts as quickly as they arrive. I want so badly to tell him too, if for no other reason than to check his reaction, but right now I’m too scared to even do that.

We seem to spend hours just standing there, and as we break away I feel the strongest urge to kiss his lips. I fight against it though, even with him gazing back at me with that sweet smile of his.
“You gonna be okay?” he asks.
I merely smile back, nodding and hoping he hasn’t noticed the increase in my heartbeat with our bodies so close together. If he has he seems to ignore it, bringing us both back to reality with a bump.
“Oh yeah,” he remarks, “They want to know how we’re getting on with each other so far.”
“They do?” I check casually, feeling my stomach lurch.
Oh God. How am I gonna pull this off?
“Yeah,” he replies, “They also have another task for us.”
“Oh, cool,” I acknowledge, this time meaning it. A distraction, finally! All I’ll need to do is look forward to that, I can blag the rest.

So, four teenage boys sharing the same house, supervised only by the camera crew... a parent's worst nightmare? Actually, I've been pleasantly surprised; the only one who needs chasing up (and who left his mark in the bedroom on that scavenger hunt) is Zamir. Still, if there's one thing we have in common, it's sky-high energy levels - thankfully there's a gym in this place! We often work out together - we need to burn off the surplus somehow.



Alec I've grown very close to, and it's mainly down to our love of music. We often have a jam together when the instruments in the main room are free - he's a great guitarist. Maybe we can form a band together once we're outta here!



Kii's crackers... I love it! Tell a lie, he's not quite as bad as me, but he's not far off! He's often at the pool table during his quieter moments, and I join him there sometimes.



All in all they're cool guys, we have our moments of course, but that's only to be expected, especially with a mix of cultures like this!

… Was that alright? Phew. I wasn’t lying, they are cool… sorry, wrong word – hot is more like it! Hehe, yeah, laugh it off, works every time – I feel better already!

Okay, what’s this other thing we have to do? Make over a nerdy guy? Hmm… As in, change his image? … Leaving me in charge of a makeover? Bwahahaha!!

“Uh-oh,” Kii remarks, watching me as I rub my hands together gleefully, “The cogs are turning… not good!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” I challenge, folding my arms indignantly, “Don’t you trust me?”
“After seeing your room I can just imagine,” Alec giggles.
“You’re all so mean!” I pout, “Goth can be sexy, I’ll prove it!”
“How you can tell sexy in a man?” Zamir asks.
Ouch.
“I just can,” I reply evasively, “And you’re all just gonna have to trust me.”
“We want the photos!” Kii demands after a resigned shrug.
“Oh, I’ll take great delight in showing you them,” I agree with a glint in my eye, before studying the card we’ve been given, which gives a brief description of him. “Prrr… we have a challenge on our hands.”
“Oh, well, you’re in your element there, huh?” Alec teases, slapping my shoulder. My eyebrows twitch a little into a puzzled frown as I notice the pressure delivered – I swear he gives it a little squeeze before taking his hand away.
No, come on Leo, since when are you this lucky? Just concentrate on the job at hand. Oh damn, get this photo of him though!



Luckily for me he had long hair, albeit tied back in a ponytail. That was enough to set the ideas snowballing, and I indulged in a taste of what I would love to go out in. Hair, clothes, piercings, the works… by the time I left, I needed a cold shower to bring my temperature back to normal! As it is, I stand outside the building that I call home for another two weeks, making sure no one’s at the window before allowing myself to admire my handiwork once more, this time through the photos I took, which I then feel a need to fan myself with before stepping inside. They wanted a head shot, body shot and free shot, so that’s what I got, with a little caption scribbled on the back. I can’t believe what I managed to do with him, but I walk back inside with the smuggest grin I’ve worn in a long time.

“Oh, here he is,” comes Kii’s friendly greeting. “You got the photos?”
“Aye,” I grin, “I got the photos.”
“Let’s have a look then!” he coaxes, plucking them from my hand as they all gather on the couch. I just watch silently, enjoying the moment their jaws fall open almost simultaneously.



“Oh – my – God!!”
I proudly polish my nails on my shirt as they all gawk at first the photos, then me.
“How??” Zamir utters.
I tap my temple before speaking again. “Imagination,” I reply, “The ladies were drooling by the time I’d finished with him.”
“I’ll bet!” Alec remarks, “Great job!”
“Thanks!” I grin, before walking off whistling. Funny how the day can start off so crap and end so well, even if it was just a task set by the show that did it.

*giggles* So cute that Leo was questioning his sexuality at the beginning. X3 Are you planning for him to be straight or gay? Or maybe even bi?

I still love the glossy effects on your pics.

Anyone who's been through that stage of not knowing what they are - including me - will tell you it's anything but cute :( I guess at that age it might be though, from an outside point of view ;) In answer to your question, straight he ain't and that's all I'm saying ;)

Oh, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. :x In real life, it's got to be difficult, I understand, because you don't want to make the wrong decisions for yourself. :D

He isn't straight? Hehe. Now I'm definitely hooked.

Sorry if I came across bitchy or anything, didn't mean to. I actually wrote that part of it based - kind of - on experience, that period drove me mad. Anyway, next chapter will come after I finally post my round three - I'm doing it like this for a reason ;) Glad you're enjoying it anyway :D

Oh that was good the first part made actually me cry!  I can't wait to see what happens ;)

Aaaaww :D Thanks - I will get that entry in, then you'll be able to find out ;)

O__O I didn't mean for that emoticon to pop up, I swear! I meant to use the =x emote but with a colon replacing the equal sign and I guess the board changed it to a yellow angry emoticon. @___@;; I'm so sorry.

Well. I never really had to fight with myself when I went through that. It was kind of me experimenting a bit and I came to terms with it peacefully.

:laugh: I thought it was odd. Never mind - message boards, eh? ;)

You too, huh? Interesting to hear other experiences :) I guess it's different for everyone - for me it came pretty late, what about you?

sadie I'm enjoying this your character is very endearing even when he is being narcistic!  I guess I'm going to have to go to the contest thread now and check his story out closer!

Thanks! :D The contest would tell you what we had to do, but this actually goes more in-depth. I pinched the photo of Tom (makeover vic... erm, subject) from the tasks for round two :)

Glad you're enjoying it :) Even more glad I mangaged to get across the other side to him - quite the boisterous type, but one of my fave mottos is "appearance can be deceiving" ;)

... *wisely checks the disables smilies option* >___>;

Mine is actually pretty boring. ^^; I think either I was just open-minded about the whole thing or just didn't care so I wasn't too bothered. I started, erm, lusting after this girl in my History class last year. >.>; And then a couple of others... So it was pretty obvious.

I hear really scary stuff about people going through the are-you-or-are-you-not stage. I'm really grateful that I wasn't one of them. Must've been hell on earth.

Sadie I read the contest rounds a little confused about his story but not about how cute Leo is!
I especially liked him writing in his diary in his room you captured the angst of a young boy very well!

Aaaw, thanks! :D About the contest rounds, that's just what we had to do; I included a storyline in my entries, which in turn gave me ideas for this. It would be best not to refer to the contest for anything other than the tasks we were set ;)

Sadie what a amazing job you are making. I love it you put a lot of work into this contest. I always enjoy reading your rounds in this & other contest. Go wild ejejejej. :D

Aaaaw, thanks nextor! :D I love your rounds too, you've been doing a great job :)

Finally I got around to reading it!  Completely brilliant!  *smooches*  

I do hope you continue at it!  Even after round 3 of the contest I mean.  I'd love to see Leo and Alec get together and make a home for themselves.  

Oh is that a bit far in the future?  :lol:  Sorry.  Very good, we both know you are going to win the contest!  :D

You came! :D Glad you're enjoying it :)

Ah go on ;) Some very stiff competition in this contest, so I'm not holding my breath just yet ;) Oh, I will continue with it, no doubt. Got too many ideas :angel:

Yes your should continued. I really like it. You know why? Because is very different of all your work, always fantasy & darkness but this time some reality & little darkness. I also love your story in the Adult site ;). If you want I could make a new character for this story, so you could spice things up. EJEJE Let me know I would like to see this growing.

Thank you so much! :D Haha, new character to spice things up? Do tell ;) Mind you, I'm about to turn the flame up as it is, although your Zamir might be getting a little bored with the lack of female company ;) (He's such a hottie btw! Can't wait to see how he grows up ^_^)

Always fantasy and darkness? Am I that predictable? :angel: Um, yeah, okay I have a lot of vampires in my game... what can I say, I like different stuff ^_^ Mind you, I've got my self-sim in B&G - what will become of that I don't know. I'm also hoping my dry sense of humour will keep me in Baby Story 2, they're my light relief couple right now :D See, I can branch out :P ;)

Predictably, the mirth doesn’t last. It’s now week three, and we have a break from tasks to spend a period much like that in the Big Brother house, although at least here there’s no evictions. I’m at that point where I’ve just about managed to control my feelings on my newly-discovered sexuality, letting the talk of girls wash over my head as I focus on a tougher feat – acting cool around Alec. The other two are definitely straight, but him I’m not so sure anymore, I don’t even know why. If he does like guys he’s in the closet… like me. He’s acting a lot more relaxed than he was, so it’s mission accomplished on that one. The next is to find out what side of the field he plays, but how the hell am I gonna do that when I couldn’t even tell him about myself? If ever I wished I was a vampire it’s now – lucky them can read minds.

There’s a lot of mixed signals being given off, which doesn’t help. It could just be me reading too deeply into his actions and mannerisms, clutching at straws when he could just be acting friendly. As the week progresses however, I find it harder and harder to keep the burning flames of passion from engulfing my entire being. There is a tension, most likely one-way, that I feel every time we’re in the same room. Whenever he lays a hand on my shoulder or arm I want to take hold of it, letting my fingers stroke his tanned skin. He’s doing that a lot lately too, and as much as I enjoy the touch it’s starting to drive me crazy.

I’m fast wishing I could talk to one of my gay relatives again, not to relieve the burden of this turning point in my life, but to ask advice. What’s the best way to find out if a man likes another man? Okay, we’re not men yet, but the problem’s the same. Asking outright is a no-no, but on the other hand he’s a lot more tactile with me lately, unless it’s just that he’s more relaxed, and thus feels more able to do so. Supposing it’s not though? Is he testing the water with me? Is that the way to go, being subtle? I know I’ve wanted to take his hand when he’s touched me, maybe I should try that – not just grabbing it of course, but letting our hands brush together, accidentally on purpose. Only one problem with that though; how without the others seeing? We haven’t got long now either, one more week and it’ll all be over. I’m trying not to think about that too much, as every time I do sadness pangs at my heart. This is the only chance I’ll have to find out about him, I can’t afford to waste any more time.

Tap tap tap.
Looking up, I rise and tuck away my diary, hoping it’s not any of the staff. As I open the door however, suddenly my pulse races.
“Hi,” Alec smiles.
“Hi,” I smile back, hoping my mounting anxiety doesn’t show through too much as I invite him in. “What’s up?”
“Just wondering how you’re doing,” he replies, “You’ve been tucked away in here most of the day.”
“Oh,” I remark, sitting down on the sofa, “Well, been doing a lot of writing lately.”
As he sits down next to me, it’s all I can do to keep my breathing steady.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, why?” I reply innocently.
“You seem nervous,” he observes, “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” I lie, “I’m fine, thanks.”
“You don’t look that way,” he says, laying a hand on my shoulder.
No, it’s not my feelings deceiving me, I’m sure – he really is stroking my shoulder. Act now Leo, do it now.
My hand raises to shoulder level, lightly brushing his hand with my finger. I then lose control of my breathing, sharply exhaling as I feel his fingers grip mine.
“I thought that might be it somehow,” he muses, his tone now barely above a whisper, “I’ve been picking up all sorts of crazy stuff from you lately, didn’t want to think it might be this…”
“W-why?” I ask, beginning to trip over my words, as my heart pounds against my chest to the point where I hope he can’t hear it. Can this really be true…?
“Because I’m never that lucky,” he smiles, releasing the grip on my hand to slide his along my shoulders.


“Y-you’re gay too?”
“Have been since I was your age,” he replies, “Just too scared to mention it around here, didn’t know how they’d take it.”
Tears sting my eyes at the words echoing my own feelings. I just barely dare to ask this new question that’s starting to nag at me.
“How long have you been interested?”
“About a week or so,” he confesses, before giving a weak chuckle, “Not that long, but enough to drive me nuts.”
My head lowers, mainly in an attempt to hide the tears trickling down my cheeks. All this time I’d been agonising over him, the poor guy was going through exactly the same with me… He’s not as outgoing as I usually am either, but look at me now…
“You too huh?” I admit, clutching at his free hand as it rests on mine.
“What about you?” he asks, before turning round to face me, freeing his other hand to lift up my chin before drying my cheek. “Is that why you were crying last week?”
At first I nod, before managing to back it up with words.
“That, and I’d only just found out I like guys,” I add, “It was all too much to take.”
He gives a little sigh before speaking again. “Come here,” he offers, pulling me into a now welcome embrace.


This time feels much different. This time as I bury my head in his shoulder, I fan the flames now burning again inside as I clutch him tightly, sharing with him my own heat and basking in his. My eyelids clench tightly together as I enjoy the sensation of his fingers combing through my hair, his face brushing against mine, before I feel it; that wonderful feeling of his lips pressing softly against my cheek. My head rises as a wide smile takes hold of my mouth, turning towards him in anticipation. He smiles too, brushing a hand along my cheek and pulling my face closer to his. My eyes close as a new taste registers, that of his mouth as it places a tender kiss on my lips.


The fire becomes an inferno, coursing through my body and felt from his too as he kisses my lips again, this time stronger, and for a moment at quicker intervals, until I realise this is what passionate kissing is, when I feel his lips begin to stroke mine. I pick it up soon enough, and our mouths become locked together as we continue to cling to each other.


Now I know why couples make those little moans when they kiss, as I find myself doing that without even realising. My breathing’s become shallow too, as though I was out running, and I’m even starting to sweat as the heat of passion continues to burn. I find myself becoming very uncomfortable, shifting in my seat as we embrace. He takes my hand and moves it gently somewhere else, holding it firm against his body as he releases his grip, and for a moment I’m unsure where he’s put it. That is, before I feel his hand against me, right where I was feeling awkward before. My grip tightens, as does his, before his lips move away from mine to kiss my cheek and neck. I give another soft little moan as my other hand raises to his head, running my fingers through his hair, silently urging him onward. Just as he seems about to do so however, he stops, cursing under his breath as he looks anxiously about himself, swiftly pulling his hand away.
“What’s up?” I ask, frowning.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he tells me, eyeing me apologetically.
“Why not?”
“You’re fourteen,” he says meekly. I’m about to answer with ‘so what?’, but he seems to sense this as he raises a hushing finger. “There’s also cameras,” he reminds me, gesturing about the room.
“Oh s***!” I utter, looking around myself with a reddening complexion. “How could I forget?”
“It’s easy to,” he smiles in reply, affectionately stroking my knee.
Staring in a broad general direction, I next address whoever operates the hidden apparatus. “You didn’t see this, okay?” I tell them, “Don’t even think about airing it!”
“Come on,” he chuckles, and we both rise to our feet. Slowly we start to cool down, but make the most of the time we still have to ourselves before we show our faces to the others.


“I can’t tell you how happy I am right now,” I tell him fondly, caressing his hands before he hooks them round my waist.
“Same here,” he says, pulling me closer as my arms encircle him, and we share another kiss.
Thud thud thud.
“Oh for…” I grumble to myself, and as Alec answers the knocking, I take a brief moment to make sure I’m not flying low before the door opens.
“Hey,” he greets the cute Asian-American staring back at us.
“Damn, what’ve you guys been doing in there?” he teases, “You’ve been ages!”
“Just talking,” I shrug casually as I join them.
“Yeah, we were writing some songs together,” Alec hurriedly chips in.
“Oh, okay,” Kii accepts, to my relief. “Well, this just came in,” he finishes, waving a now familiar looking envelope.
“Wondered when that’d start again!” I muse as we all leave, and join Zamir in one of the seating areas.


“Buenas noches!” he greets with a cheeky smile.
“Don’t you start!” I chide, while Kii opens the envelope and starts to read out the note.

Hi guys! I know what some of you may be thinking, but none of your antics have been shown yet, you may be happy to know. There’ll be a premiere to attend before that happens, and your final task is to choose an award to present to a deserving star of your choice. This is celebrity-only, so no inviting family I’m afraid. You may need to do some shopping to make sure you look the part – it’s all expenses paid, so go crazy! Within reason of course.

“A premiere?” Alec echoes.
“Like the movies?” Kii adds, his eyes lighting up.
“Qué?” Zamir checks. I wind up translating in Italian, and his eyes sparkle as he speaks again. “Hey, that mean a party?”
“I thought you’d say something like that!” I tease, but Kii is getting just as excited. The two look to each other as they continue to work themselves up.
“Party!!” they cry in unison, but it’s down to Alec to calm them down.
“Whoa, cool it guys!” he tells them, “Not that kind of party!”
The two settle enough for him to speak again.
“Kii, you’re from the States, you know the movie premieres they have in Hollywood?”
“I do know what a premiere is!” he grins, rubbing his hands together in glee. “Always wanted to dress up for one of those!”
“Ey, maybe we get more girl wearing suit?” Zamir grins mischievously.
 Alec and I roll our eyes at each other, before something clicks. My face drops through the floor as my hearing registers the use of probably my least favourite word in existence.
“Suit?” I repeat slowly, “We’ve got to wear suits??”
“Ah, you’ll love it!” Kii grins, but I shake my head in disagreement.
“Hey, suit to me is a dirty word,” I growl, “Damn it!”
“Aw, come on,” Alec teases, “You’ll look great once you’re wearing it.”
I shrug indignantly, before it’s his turn to lose the smile from his face. “Oh God,” he mutters, looking similar to how I did earlier.
“What?” I ask, a little concerned.
“We’ve got to present an award?!” he exclaims, “In front of everyone??”
An affectionate smile spreads across my face as I turn to him. “You’ll be fine, really,” I soothe as I lay my hands on his shoulders, but frown as I notice him already beginning to tremble. If he’s like this now, I dread to think how he’ll be on the actual night.

Ahh how cute!  My boy is in love!  Pity he is 14 hey!

That never stopped Leo's Dad ;) Apart from the fact he's (still) 15 instead of 14, but what's a year... ;)

Here's some trivia for you: Your boy and mine have three bolts for each other :D

Awww, I absolutely love it!  :love8: So very sweet and such wonderful pictures. Three bolts, lovely!  :D The conversation seems so natural.  I'm no good at conversations, you might have noticed as I rarely use them in my stories.  

Also you have a great use of colour.  Even when I mess about in photoshop I can't quite get the pictures to look that good.

:lol: Enough kissing up.  Very nice, keep it coming. :D

That was quick! :lol: But really, thank you so much! :D So good to know I seem to have got it right these days; when I first started out my pictures sucked, and my narrative was weaker. I still don't always get it right though of course, and there'll always be room for improvement, but to see comments like that really encourages me to keep at this writing game, it definitely seems to be a strength of mine :) (I used to/still do sometimes suffer from insecurity, so I need to tell myself things like this ;)) Definitely casts light on what is usually a bleak period for me (my mood drops in winter >_<), so thank you all for lifting my spirits with your kind words! :love4:

@Nextor: Completely off-topic, but I've decided I'm gonna give Zamir a taste of his own medicine - remember Erica's Kat? :evil4: Nothing to do with the story, just that my game could do with some livening up... They'd make an awesome "couple" :muahaha: ;)

Wow lovely story! I always love judging your rounds in the contest...so it's nice to see some more of Leo!!

Thanks! :D Round 3's next on the cards funnily enough, but there'll be plenty more to come after that ;)

[/SIZE]

I hate dressing up in suits. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I have enough of that in school, yet here I am again wearing a suit. I had no choice for my Grandma’s double wedding, and what’s worse I had to wear white. This is neither white nor fancy; I don’t care what anyone says, this is the best you’re going to get.



After splashing some cologne behind my ears I leave my room, a smile spreading across my face as I notice Alec in his room applying any finishing touches he needs. I saunter inside, snuggling up behind him as I slide my hands round his waist.
“Hi sexy,” I greet as I plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Hey,” he smiles, completing his preening before turning round to face me, his arms encircling my body. “How’re you doing?”
“Fine,” I reply, “You?”
“Nervous,” he chuckles.
“You’ll be fine,” I reassure him, “Just act like no one’s watching.”
He nods with an awkward smile. I move a hand to his jaw, brushing it lightly with a finger before gently kissing his lips.



All too soon, our tender moment is rudely interrupted by a loud thudding on the door.
“Come on you two!” cries a familiar voice, filtering through the wood, “The limo’s here!”
“Yes Sir!” I reply as we leave, opening the door to the other two before pausing thoughtfully for a moment.
“Hold on. Limo?”
“Yeah!” Kii grins, “Dead classy black one!”
I cackle in delight as I race downstairs and out of the house, the other three struggling to keep up as usual.

“Wow, this is cool!” I grin, looking about me as we ride. This car is huge! There’s even a TV…
“You okay?” Kii checks. Frowning, I look around for whoever he might be asking, and then I spot Alec – the poor guy looks terrified!
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask, laying a hand on his shoulder.
“Just nerves I guess,” he replies, trying to ease our concerns, but then grimaces as he clutches his stomach. “I feel sick,” he complains.
“You want us to pull over?” Kii offers, but I have a better idea, promptly unfastening my seatbelt and turning myself round to face him.
“Here, undo your seatbelt a minute,” I tell him. Frowning, he eventually does so, and after some encouragement on my part he turns with his back facing me. Moving closer, I then apply not a shoulder rub, but a proper back massage designed to relax the body, and hopefully mind. It’s times like this I’m glad for such a large family, and for a centuries-old vampire for a mother – amazing what you can pick up from the right people.
“Is that better?” I ask after a while, not with the intention of stopping unless the answer’s no. His head slowly nods in response, so we stay like that for the remainder of the trip, with me savouring the moment of his touch and hoping I don’t come across to the others as anything more than friendly.

“Here we are!” Kii grins as the limo pulls up. My eyes widen in delight as I spot the hive of activity just outside, with the paparazzi waiting, armed with cameras to snap our best moments… as well as our worst, Alec muses.
“Come on, don’t be such a pessimist!” I tease, playfully ruffling his hair.
We step outside and soon disperse, as we all find places to explore. My eyes light up as I spot a few members from Rhapsody of Fire, one of my favourite bands, and pat my back pocket. Satisfied that my notepad and pen are still where I left them, I head off armed with a happy grin and fluency in Italian, since that’s their first language.



“Hi guys!” I greet cheerfully, introducing myself.
“Hello my friend!” Luca greets, “How are you?”
I still glow with pride even now, just knowing that so many of my family, extended or otherwise, happen to share his last name. Luca Turilli, founder of this band and of two others. I barely know him yet I can safely say he’s one of the most amazing guys I’ve ever had the fortune to meet.
“I’m good thanks,” I grin in reply, “You?”
“I am well, thank you,” he smiles, before breaking into giggles. “Nice suit!” he grins.
“Thanks!” I smile, my eyes lighting up, “It’s the closest you’ll get to seeing me smart, put it that way…”
“Buena sera!” a soft voice greets, coming it seems from nowhere. The men frown, eyelids batting in surprise.
“Where did you come from??” Fabio, their curly-haired singer exclaims.
“Huh?” I quiz, looking about me, before noticing this other man stood right by me. I smile wryly as I notice his eyes, but also study his features – there’s an odd familiarity about them.



He chuckles at Fabio’s question, making no effort to disguise the little fangs peeking out of his mouth as he laughs. “Oh, of course, you’ve never met a vampire before, have you?”
The looks on their faces are priceless, I have to admit.
“Maybe now’s not a good time to say my Dad’s one too?” I muse with a wicked grin.
“Oh, Evan?” he checks, “How’s he doing these days?”
I wear a broad smile as I look back at him. “You’re Gino aren’t you,” I check.
“Yeah!” he replies, “Thanks for the invite!”
“You’re welcome,” I reply as we embrace, “I’m glad you could make it.”
“Hey, you kidding?” he says, “Miss out on a chance to see one of my nephews?”
I deliberately neglect to mention – or even think, knowing what vampires are like – the real reason I invited him. There were a few, but the most important is one he doesn’t need to know just yet. Put it this way, I’ve never been so glad one of my Uncles is a famous face.

Then it’s time for the awards. Time to shine in the limelight, and to give poor Alec another backrub to soothe his mounting nerves. He seems to be getting better though, maybe because he’s still high from his meeting with his favourite band. Yeah, like I don’t know how that feels! Although this time it’s me who risks losing his cool, not because of the presentation, but the nature of the award I picked, and the person I’ll be giving it to.
“And now, a special award,” I begin, “To someone whose story has not only touched me, but also driven me, who turned the tables on death and used his experience to help others, when he could have so easily fallen under and slipped away.” I need to swallow a lump in my throat before I can continue. “This award for acting’s most unsung hero, I am very proud to present to my uncle, Gino Turilli!”
I noticed the change of expression as I spoke, from interest to puzzlement, then to outright shock. As he approaches the stage, his face is already stained with his bloody tears.



“I wasn’t expecting that!” he grins before we break away, “Thank you so much!”
“Thank you for coming!” I reply, “It’s great to finally meet you.”
“You too,” he says, before gesturing to the award. “Is that why you invited me?”
“That’s the main reason, yeah,” I tell him with a smile. Maybe I shouldn’t have, as the tears start again and he throws his arms around me for a third time. He’s such a big softy, just like his brother!

Then it’s my turn to stand on the hot-spot, as a member of staff arrives with yet more questions.
“So, what kind of experience has this been for you?” he asks.
Oh boy. Act cool Leo, act cool…



“Well, it’s been different to say the least,” I answer evasively, before slipping into a reverie, “I joined because it sounded fun, and because I love to meet new people. I was hoping to make some new friends, from other places, and I’ve certainly done that,” I continue with a grin, “It’s been a great month, and I really hope to see them again. Especially one in particular,” I finish, winking at my new partner with a happy smile.
“How was it being around others who also want to win?”
At this I shrug broadly. “To be honest, that part didn’t bother me,” I tell them, “I wasn’t living with fellow contestants, just a bunch of guys I got on really well with. If I win it’ll be a nice surprise, nothing more, I didn’t join for that.”

Ah, home free! Nothing more to do now than relax and… answer more questions?! Oh come on, give us a break!
Alec: Well, look at it this way. Once more and we’ll be left alone.
Leo: True. Okay, what is it? How did I answer the questions? *laughs* Oh, that’s a classic, that is!
Alec: Can you take anything seriously?!
Leo: I have my moments, you know I do. Huh? Oh yeah. Well, I’ll be honest, that first question made me pretty nervous. I wasn’t about to go into detail about my other experience of this month, I had to rely on my gift of the gab for that one. The other was cool though, and no, I wasn’t just saying that. Huh? What did I really think of this experience? Well… It’s quite a jump; I went in just meaning to make friends, and came out with more than I bargained for…
Alec: You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Leo: Well, the first part was alright, for both of us wasn’t it.
Alec: You more than me, it has to be said.
Leo: Yeah – hell of a time to find out I prefer guys! Still, I found my first love here, that’s all that matters and I couldn’t be happier.



Alec: Aaaww. You’re a big softy yourself really, huh?
Leo: I have my moments *grins* Boys rule in more than one way!

That’s it… go on, shoo! This is our time now. Thankfully the other two are already upstairs, watching the late-night match or something like that. Not a bad idea actually, it’s getting late. Alec’s starting to yawn too, but as we cuddle each other we start to whisper in each other’s ears. We only have a few more days to go now, and we fully intend to make the most of it.

“Uh-huh,” I finish with a smile, before whispering to him again. “See you in a little while.”
“Yeah, see you,” he replies, and we kiss each other good-night before heading for our rooms. I’m getting tired, but not too much I’m happy to say. I nestle under the covers with a happy grin, fond memories of past and present drifting through my mind as I close my eyes.

“What the…? What’s he up to?”



“No idea. Better keep an eye on him.”

I lay in a half-asleep state, keeping an ear open for any sign of movement. Eventually I hear it, the sound of the catch on my door, ever so gently. Smiling expectantly, I reach for the lamp by my bed, before propping myself up on my arm as I spot him by the door.
“Hey there,” I greet him, my voice scarcely above a whisper.
“Hey,” he returns as he slinks over to my bed, a smile spreading across his face as I hold open the covers invitingly. He slips under them next to me, moving closer to slide a hand across my chest, and my breathing deepens even before our lips meet for a deep, passionate kiss. He moves on top of me, sharing with me the rising heat burning within him, before his mouth moves across my cheek to my ear, whispering to me so softly even I can barely hear.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Very,” I whisper back, being careful to keep my reply at the same volume.
Satisfied, he kisses my cheek and lips with a new intensity, before this new feeling building up inside gets too much for either of us to control, and we begin to tug at the bedclothes.



Now shrouded from any prying camera, we resume our kissing before he discreetly tugs at my clothes, and me at his. He places soft kisses once more upon my neck and I let out a quiet little moan, although something in me takes over as a wicked grin spreads across my face. My moaning grows in volume until he stops, and even though I can’t see him I know he’s giving me a strange look.
“What the…?” he chuckles.
I can contain myself no longer and burst into a fit of quiet cackles. On realising what I was doing, so does he.
“What’re you like?!” he giggles.
“Like me!”
When the laughter dies down I pull his head closer to mine, so I can whisper in his ear.
“That should throw them off the scent, huh?”
“I get it,” comes the barely audible reply, “Let’s hope so.”
“Didn’t put you off did I?”
“Almost,” he chuckles.
“Sorry.”
In reply he kisses my mouth once more, and it doesn’t take long before the fire within is rekindled, burning fiercely as he moves down my body.

He rises again to plant more kisses upon my lips, his hand running up and down my back, before breaking away and turning over. Sensing there’s more to come, I snuggle up behind him, unsure of what I should be doing. He guides me with his voice, still very quiet, talking me along, although the more he says, the more uncertain I become at first.
“Don’t think of it like that,” he chuckles.
“Won’t this hurt?”
“Not if you’re careful, just take it slow.”
I do so, and as I grow more confident in my actions, I chew on my lip as this strange sensation grows in strength, even taking me over as I become accustomed to this way of bonding. I’m quickly finding out why they call it the ultimate expression of love, and as it becomes second nature and I lean forward to kiss his cheek, then his lips, I can certainly feel the love inside rushing forth, spilling over as the physical feeling builds to a crescendo. It’s all I can do not to cry out, throwing an invisible clamp over my throat that at least restricts the sound that does escape. All that’s left after that is the sound of our short, sharp breaths as we lie together, damp with sweat and our energy spent, but happy.
“I love you,” I tell him softly, after he turns back round to face me and kisses my lips. I’ve never loved before or even experienced it, but as I speak I’m sure this is indeed what I now feel.
“I love you too,” comes the gentle reply. A finger brushes against my forehead before we embrace again, but the heat of the covers becomes too much. We surface from their shelter if for no other reason than to come up for air.



He pulls me into his arms as I drift into the happiest sleep I’ve ever experienced, moving on top of him to rest my head upon his chest, the only sound now being his heartbeat as it gradually slows back down to a normal pace.

Hope that wasn't too racy :oops: If it is, feel free to slap my wrist ;)

sadie I don't think it was too racy it's a love story just has two teen boys instead of adults.  Don't know if their age would be an issue I guess it's ok since they are both teens?
I have never done a same sex love story in my sims.  I have always wanted to but never had a character that was just right.

I think I want to explore that subject in my little story I'm doing now the gypsy one just too see if I can pull it off.
Your character is in love and you write that very well regardless of gender issues.

I was more concerned with how well I managed to hold off on the more intimate details than anything else ;) After being used to having free reign with the sexy scenes (see adult site) it was a challenge; I think with Evan I was over-cautious, so I was a little more daring this time ^_^ Thanks for reassuring me anyway :D

Wowee! Really lovely!!!! I hope this isn't the last of Leo...:( xx

Not by a long shot, don't you worry ;) Glad you like it :D

Well done! I had hoped you would place, and being 1st rules!!
Update soon!!

WOW great Sadie, keep it comming. I agree with vicky I love that are 2 teens the main characters. I can't wait to read more. By the way I love the pic you did with Zamir & Katsumi.

Yay!  Of course I loved it, and I think it's fine for this site but I'm all pervy as you know. ;)

I'm not quite sure about the paragraph right under the second to last picture, did I miss something?

Anyways, very sweet and innocent and good!  :D  Keep them coming!

How do you mean? Which bit? There was a jump from one to another but I did that deliberately - wrong site to go into too much detail ;)

Oh my boy is so cute!  I am glad he found LEO!

Hehe... I think he is too - ACR doesn't work on teens (unless you leave the controller on the lot, which I haven't done), and they still can't keep their hands off each other :D

Gonna change his hair in a couple of chapters though... that won't be the only thing either, and I don't just mean on Alec ;)

It’s me who wakes first, smiling happily as I watch him sleep for a while. He turns over, before his eyes open and a smile takes hold of his own face.
“Morning honey,” I greet playfully, flicking a stray lock of hair from his face.
“Morning,” he grins in reply, hooking his fingers around my face as I peck his lips. We lay there for a little while in each other’s arms, before we realise we have a challenge ahead of us – digging under the duvet for our pyjamas, so we can get out of bed without scarring the potential viewers for life.
That turns out to be the easy part – Alec’s somehow got to get back to his room without making the others suspicious. We hover at my bedroom door as we contemplate how best to do this, but before that there’s a question now on my lips.
“Are you okay?” I ask, noting how awkward he now seems.
“I’m fine,” he smiles, and as if to ease my concerns he pulls me into an embrace, before lightly kissing my lips.



“Better go I guess,” he says with a resigned sigh.
“Yeah,” I agree reluctantly, and move to tentatively open the door, looking about me for any sign of movement. Spotting none, I leave the door ajar as I tell him that the coast’s clear, stealing another kiss before he scurries back to his room. Shutting the door, I lean against it for a moment as I allow a fond smile to take hold of my mouth, still wearing it as I move to get dressed.



Phew, I made it. By the sound of things they’re all downstairs, apart from Leo of course. Getting dressed however is the last thing on my mind, instead I sit on the bed as I ponder what happened last night. At first I smile, but as the clouds are blown away by the winds of reality, I come crashing back to Earth so hard, I inwardly fear I’ve broken something. … No, I have broken something!



“Oh s***,” I mutter to myself, “What have I done?!”
Don’t get me wrong, last night was amazing… but he’s only fourteen! Granting him his first kiss is one thing, but claiming his innocence? I just hope this doesn’t get out…

I decide to stay in my room after dressing, feeling in a musical mood as I sit at my keyboard. I don’t know long I spend there before I notice my fingers start to seize up, but the loud complaint from my stomach pretty much settles it – time to stop I think. Hmm, mushroom omelette sounds good!
I frown as I get to the kitchen, however. Alec is on a barstool at the counter, slumped over it as though bothered by something. Looking furtively about me to be sure we’re alone, I approach and lay a hand on his shoulder as I speak.
“Hey, what’s up?”
He delays eye contact, wearing a smile that mixes sadness and unease. “I’m sorry,” he tells me, finally looking at me, “We shouldn’t have done that…”
Frowning, I take his hand, truly puzzled at his change in manner. “Why?” I ask, beginning to feel dejected. Is he having regrets?
“You’re fourteen,” he replies, “I could get in trouble…”
“Dad’s fifteen,” I tell him, “Mum’s seventeen and she didn’t get in trouble…”
“She’s very lucky,” he remarks, wisely choosing to ignore the blatant flaws in what I just said.
“Look,” I continue, turning round to face him as I caress his hand, “I come from the wrong background to believe age is an issue. The only concern I may have, which I’m sure is unjustified but I’ll mention it anyway…” My speech dwindles as I fight the building sadness in my heart, before finding the will to finish. “Did we make love last night?”
His head tilts to the side, his face now wearing a “need-you-ask” look as his free hand runs along my cheek. “Of course we did,” he replies with a wide smile, his mood lifted, “I love you Leo.”
I just about have time to return his love with a happy grin of my own, before I feel his lips against my own. He slides off his seat to grip me tightly, and we share a kiss that soon grows in strength.



“Woo!”
“Ah, that good game!” Zamir grins as he leans back, watching as Kii reaches for the remote.
“Sure was!” Kii replies, before frowning as he clutches his stomach. “Damn, even worked up an appetite!”
“Yes, me also,” Zamir agrees, before they both rise and amble towards the kitchen, “Who cook this time?”
“Mm, don’t care.”
Zamir throws a playful arm around his friend, a mischievous grin upon his face. “I cook last time, is your turn I think.”
“Hey, so long as it’s edible I don’t care!” Kii says, before a smile takes hold of his own lips. “Think you’d better do it,” he finishes with a wink.
“Ey, you not bad cook!” Zamir tells him, before delivering a teasing nudge. “Nice try!”
“Come on, A for effort?”
“E for result!”
Kii crosses his arms, pouting as the kitchen opens up before their eyes. Although he pauses, holding his friend at bay as something catches his eye.
“What…?” Zamir asks, frowning as Kii hushes him before creeping forwards.
“What the…?” Kii wonders aloud, barely letting his voice reach above a whisper. Then his arm moves, frantically beckoning Zamir forth but making sure he remains quiet.
“What?” Zamir whispers, before being hushed again.
Kii grips his arm and ushers him further forward, the two creeping into the kitchen. Finally the Puerto Rican youth sees them, his jaw dropping in amazement as the sight before them registers.



“Por mi madre!”
My heart races as we hastily pull away from each other, looks of horror upon our faces as we slowly turn to find them, a fair distance away, watching us. Zamir looks almost as shocked as we are, while Kii just stands there with folded arms.
“Hey,” Kii grins as he throws up his arms, “Don’t mind us!”
“S***!”
So saying, I walk away in despair, not caring if Alec follows or whether he’s still where I left him. I can feel my heartbeat in my throat and even begin to hyperventilate, Dad’s words about Gino ringing in my ears.
“Hey, guys,” Kii’s voice echoes through my mind, “Guys? It’s okay, really…”
“Is it hell,” I mutter to myself, and soon feel Alec’s hands upon my shoulders. My racing thoughts are picked up by my brain, which in turn continues to command the adrenaline flow into my blood, and my body’s reaction to what becomes an overdose of the substance is to go into panic.



“Whoa, whoa,” Alec soothes, his hands stroking the shoulders of his troubled partner, oblivious for now to the presence of the others.
“What I do?” Zamir asks, his tone softened as they gingerly move closer.
“Hey buddy,” Kii adds, “It’s okay, really…”
“Oh sure,” Leo suddenly utters, his voice strained in the fear he still feels, “Try telling that to my Uncle!”
“The guy at the awards?”
Leo nods in reply, but before he can continue his outburst Zamir takes the reigns, no longer caring who quietens his complaining stomach.
“Look, guys,” he adds, “I fix us breakfast, we talk more then, no?”
Kii looks to him and nods, trying to ignore his own demanding appetite as he looks back to Leo. “I’ll get you a drink, huh? You guys drink tea don’t ya?”
“Not a bad idea,” Alec agrees, and as Kii moves off he guides Leo to a table. “Come on sweetie,” he coaxes, “let’s get you sat down before you fall down.”



I don’t usually drink tea, although that might be why I’m always so hyper. For now I can only be grateful for the calming nature of the drink, as the tannin works through my system and gradually reduces the adrenaline concentrate to a more acceptable level.
“Feeling better now?” Alec asks, nursing my shoulder.
I nod, but although I’ve stopped shaking and my breathing’s normal, I’m only a fraction less worried than I was.
“What happened with your Uncle?” Kii asks.
“There was a reason I picked that award for him,” I tell him, taking another sip from my cup, “Dad, my Uncle Joe and my Grandma found him in a bloody, battered heap in an alleyway. I remember the state of Dad when he came back, and I was only… seven? Eight? He said they’d pulled off a load of guys beating the s*** out of him, trying to kill him.”
“Geez,” Kii mutters softly.
“Why?” Zamir asks.
I look up from my plate, fixing him with a steely gaze and a dry smile. “Because he’s gay,” I tell him, looking about me, “Now do you get it?”
“Whoa,” Kii remarks, “Come on, we’re not all like that…”
Thankfully, Alec rises to my defence, his tone lowered as he speaks.
“The problem is,” he tells them both, “we have to assume people are. School back in Oz was a nightmare, they’d been giving me hell since they found out.”
“If these guys air our time together I’ll get it too,” I add, glancing about me at the hidden cameras.
“So, how long has this been going on?” Kii asks, with no more than curiosity in his eyes.
“Just over a week,” Alec replies. Zamir nods in acknowledgement too, before speaking again.
“Look,” he tells us, “Was shock yes, but that all. You guys happy, that cool. No problem,” he finishes with a smile.
“Thanks,” I reply, before looking to his friend, “Both of you, thanks.”
“Hey, no problem,” he says with a smile, which slips as he changes the subject. “So, how come your Uncle was bleeding when he came to pick up his award?”
“Bleeding?” I check, not sure what he means.
“Yeah,” Kii answers, “from his eyes. Call me crazy, but I swear they were the same colour…”
“Come to think of it,” Alec chips in, “The way you mentioned your parents, as though they are fifteen and seventeen? Don’t you mean “were”?”
Uh-oh… I suppose when you grow up around it you consider it normal, but none of these guys are from around here. The shock those poor guys from Rhapsody got when they realised what else lives here…
“Um, no,” I answer Alec carefully, “That was no mistake.”
He opens his mouth about to speak again, but I cut him short. “Actually, in real terms, Dad’s… um, pushing thirty now I think, and Mum’s… what did she say she was? Two hundred? Or one hundred and eighty? Something like that…” I trail off as I notice the others straighten up in their seats.
“Excuse me?!” Kii queries.
“Welcome to Alpinloch,” I tell them, throwing out my hands in my attempt to lighten the mood, “Home to vampires, aliens, plant guys, werewolves…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoaaa!” he splutters, his poor brain already suffering from overload by the looks of him.
“You did ask,” I supply casually.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I did now!”
“Your parents are vampires?” Alec checks.
“Yep,” I reply, “and Gino’s boyfriend, who bit Grandma. He visited Gino in hospital, who on one occasion asked him to bite him – he wanted to stop what happened to him, happening to others.”
“Wow,” Kii utters, before pressing forth with his next question, “So, those guys who attacked him…”
I silently run an index finger along my throat in reply.
“Thought it might be something like that…”
Sensing a rising tide of fear within all three of them, I speak again.
“Oh don’t worry,” I tell them, “Unless you’re out causing major trouble at night, they’re quite harmless. In fact they’re really nice.”
“Right,” Kii utters slowly, “All the same, I’ll take a rain check on that meeting your Dad thing…”
“Mm,” Alec adds, before taking my face into his hands, lifting up my upper lip, “Got nothing tucked away in there have you?”
I start to laugh as I pull his hands away. “You would’ve known about it by now if I did,” I reply, in a way that only he’ll understand.
“Would I?” he checks, before the penny drops. “Oh, right…” Even so, he nervously strokes his mouth.
Zamir then clears his throat anxiously, changing the subject once more.
“Well,” he begins, “Is our last day tomorrow, no? How about a party before we go?”
My eyes light up at the thought. “Yeah!” I grin, “Great idea!”
“Yeah, and invite the girls from downstairs too!” Kii grins, a sparkle in his own eye, “See who we’ve been competing against all month!”
“Oh yeah, that’d be awesome!” I grin, our spirits well and truly lifted. Apart from Alec, who goes quiet.
“Aw, come on,” I tease, “You’ll love it, really.”
“If you say so,” he smiles uncertainly in reply.
“We’ll promise to keep those ladies away from you two,” Kii winks.
“Oh, I’m sure you will,” I reply, looking between them. Zamir’s already rubbing his hands together gleefully at the idea of female guests, and Kii now has a big grin fixed on his chops.
“No good can come of this,” Alec muses aloud.

Very nice update!  I'm so happy that Kii and Zamir were understanding.  Of course I knew they would be. ;)

Oh just imagine sitting down for tea and being told that vampires, werewolves, plant people and aliens really exist.  I think I would have indigestion at the very least! :smt120

Please keep them coming!  :D  I'm still secretly hoping Kat makes an appearance, but if you want to keep it guy orientated I understand.

And as far as this:



I wasn't sure if they were, let's say, built the same way.  It sounds like they were a bit confused by what they found.  I wasn't sure, but I'm probably just misreading innocence. :angel:

Oh, you don't mean this do you?

Leo was messing about. It started with a soft little moan of pleasure, then he decided to start making louder noises for no other reason than him being Leo ;) If that's not what you meant, either you're misreading innocence or I'm mistyping it ;) As for the other part... maybe, maybe not... ;)

Ah!  It all becomes clear now.  :D  Cute and funny, and so precious.  I love writing for teenagers and you do it well.

Thanks! :D Glad you're enjoying it :)

Yay! Totally love it...update!!! :D

Ajajaja :D. I love it. Sadie you are doing a great job, I really enjoy the phrase "Por mi madre", glad that you keep the latin flavor. Things are getting more interesting in this story :D I can't wait to see more ;)

I noticed you like that phrase ;) Tried to keep the characters the way they were portrayed in the rounds, which I seem to be succeeding at :D Glad you're enjoying it :)

I'm so gonna love this next chapter :muahaha:

Ahh they are in love and out to the house now....

“It’s a deal,” I grin maliciously, rubbing my hands together, “Remember, you’re doing it too!”
“Yeah, just the hair,” he reminds me, “I’m more interested in what you’ll do!”
“Never let it be said I won’t accept a dare,” I tell him, still grinning, “Within reason, of course.”
“Is that so?” he chuckles in reply, “Well, shall we?”
I grin as we head for the shops. Kii and Zamir probably won’t do much in the way of clothes, but I have a challenge to fulfil here. I’m so looking forward to this! Never have I been so glad to get my mobile back, either…



“Hi there, do you do evening appointments? You do? Great! I’ve got the clothes, I just need to complete the look…”
I don’t know the lady, I got her number while I was out. I couldn’t go for just anyone, but with what she specialises in, she’d be perfect – just starting out, she’s running it from her home for now. Just one more call to make, but I’d better clear it with the others first.



“Um, I don’t know,” comes the predictable reply.
“Aw, please?” I persist, “They’re really nice, like I said…”
“Well,” Alec offers, “We met his brother already, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, I know,” Kii replies, “but that was before…”
“I wouldn’t ask my parent to a party!” Zamir chuckles.
“Isn’t that saying something?” I challenge him, “Besides, weren’t you the ones saying you wanted to meet Dad?”
“That was before we knew he has fangs!” Kii points out, before looking thoughtful. “Still, might be worth it for that alone…!”
“You are serious?!” Zamir splutters.
“Hey, come on,” I explain, “They always make sure they eat before going anywhere.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that much, as they now begin to look uncomfortable, and Kii anxiously rubs his throat.
“Bit too much info Leo,” he utters.
“Sorry,” I shrug, “It’s all normal to me, you know?” I pause enough for them to relax again, before resuming my pleading. “Pleease?”
They look among themselves for a moment with knowing smiles.
“Oh, alright then,” he smiles knowingly.
“Yay! Thank you!” I grin, throwing my arms around him, before a part of me decides to plant a big kiss on his cheek. Understandably he pushes me away, rubbing at his cheek as we both laugh.
“Go on, get outta here,” he chides playfully.
“Yeah, he’s still got a dare to do,” Alec says, throwing me a reminding wink.
“Phone call first,” I tell him, pecking his lips as I move off, “Then I’ll be gone for a while…”



“A dare?” she checks.
“Yep,” I agree, still with a sparkle in my eye, “Mind you, I just see it as an excuse…”
She breaks into a fit of giggles before she speaks again.
“What about your parents?” she asks, “Do they know about this?”
“They know about the dare,” I reply, “Sort of… I just wanna keep the rest a surprise.”
She then studies my features for a moment, before talking once more.
“Evan?” she remarks suddenly.
“Huh?”
“You’re one of Evan’s?” she asks, “You look so much like him.”
“Oh, you know him?”
“Yeah, he was at my school,” she replies dryly, “Is he still your age, or did he take a cure?”
“Oh, I see,” I smile awkwardly, “No, he’s still about my age. He’s no worse a father…”
“It’s not just that,” she muses with a sad smile, “He can’t fight off adulthood forever. You’ll end up older than your own parents at this rate.”
I lower my head as I uncomfortably nurse it.
“That had occurred to me,” I confess, “Still…”
“No, no, it’s okay,” she says, “Sorry, it’s none of my business. I feel better for knowing who your parents are though, they’d probably want something like this for themselves!”
I laugh a little, before she changes the subject.
“You said you’ve got some clothes already?”
“Yeah,” I grin, diving into the bag I’d brought along.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding!” she exclaims as she sees what I bought earlier, “Okay, just so you know now, one thing I’m not going “overboard” on is piercings. You’ll be with them for a long time, so choose wisely.”
“I will,” I agree, before following her instructions as I head for her bathroom to change. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.



“Let’s see,” Kii muses aloud as he eyes the collection of bottles, “What do we have here; orangeade, limeade, cola…”
“Ah, just throw it all in,” Alec chuckles, “Should all go together…”
“Allow me!” Zamir offers with a big grin as he moves the others aside, “In Puerto Rico, we always are making punch!”
As the others watch him at work, Kii decides to ask Alec a question that’s been praying on his mind for a while.
“So, what’s this about a dare?”
“Oh, it started as a tease,” he explains, “You know what his taste’s like?”
“All dark and goth you mean?”
“Yeah, exactly,” he smiles, with a mischievous glint in his eye as he continues, “Well, he started talking about these outfits he wanted to wear, even mentioning piercings. I just dared him to come up with the most outrageous get-up he can think of, and he’s gotta wear it to the party, all night.”
Kii stares at him for a moment, his jaw hanging open.
“Are you nuts?!” he eventually exclaims, “You do know he’s gonna take you up on that, right?”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Alec winks in reply.
Kii eyes him a while longer, a smile creeping across his face, before he erupts into a fit of sniggers. “Oh man,” he mutters, “This I’ve gotta see!”
A knock at the door jolts them both from their talk.
“I’ve got it!” Kii proclaims as he heads off, but turns to Alec on his way to the door. “I’ll let you warn them about that boyfriend of yours!”
“It’ll be my pleasure!” comes the gleeful reply.




“Oh yeah!!” I almost squeal in delight, as I spy my reflection in the mirror.
“You like?”
“I love!” I tell her, kissing her cheek, “Thank you!”
“You’re very welcome,” she smiles, “Okay, now remember; don’t fiddle with your new piercings, clean them with a mild salt-water solution twice a day and they’ll be fine. This’ll tell you more,” she finishes, handing me a leaflet.
“Got it,” I agree, “Cheers!”
My ears and nose sting like hell, but I can already see it being worth the while. I can’t wait to see their faces!



“What’s this?” one of the girls checks, “You dared him to dress up?”
“He’s a goth,” Alec replies with a smirk, “He was talking about all this stuff he’d wear, so I was like, “Go on then! The whole works!””
“He will too,” Kii tells them, “He’s crazy!”
“Takes one to know one,” comes the teasing reply.
“Hey!” Kii bites back with a laugh, “What about you with the hair? Is he converting you or something?”
“No, he was just like “I’ve got to do something too”. I’m nowhere near as bad as him though, this is where I draw the line!”
“Coward,” another of the girls giggles.
“Yep, and proud of it!”
Suddenly, a lot of them pause. Their jaws hang open as their eyes become locked onto something ahead.
“Oh… my… God!” Kii mutters.
“What?” Alec checks before following their gaze, and his eyes widen in a mixture of feelings, surprise being near the bottom of the list.



“Is this OTT enough?” I check innocently, with an air of smugness as I bask in the limelight, laughing at the wolf-whistles from some of the girls.
Alec merely nods, before beginning to fan himself.
“Wow,” he utters as I sit next to him, shifting in his seat, “Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?!”
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I grin, running my fingers through his hair. “I wondered what your other eye looked like!”
“Yeah, very funny,” he laughs, slapping my arm. “Might wanna watch those pants, they’re pretty low!”
I just shrug with a naughty smile, as Kii introduces the girls.
“Leo, this is Autumn,” he begins, gesturing to a punky looking girl, “Rowan,” to a freckled young lady with long, brown hair, “Ginny,” to a black haired girl, “and, erm… we call her Kat,” to an Asian looking lass, who Zamir is already trying his luck with by the looks of him.
“Katsumi,” she corrects, “but you can call me Kat.”
“Japanese?” I guess. The name sounds it, and unlike Kii she speaks with such an accent.
“Yes,” she confirms, “Osaka, to be exact.”
“Cool!” I nod, looking around, “Quite a mix we have here…”
“I love that accent,” Ginny smiles, “You from London?”
“Nooo,” I reply, “Not far off though. We’re about… twenty miles south from there. Quite nice of the guys to set this thing up here.”
“Oh, you’re from around here?”
“Yep,” I tell them, before my smile slips a little. “Ah yeah, dunno if the others have warned you, but…”
A knock at the door cuts me off. Knowing who it is, I beam from ear to ear as I spring from my seat and tear off to answer it, leaving my friends to explain about vampires and the like as I go to greet two such beings.

“Oh my word!” Mum giggles as I step outside to greet them.
I chuckle briefly in reply, before I see…
“Dad??” I check, my eyes locked onto the brown-haired male just ahead.



“Didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun, did you?” he grins, his little fangs peeking from behind his upper lip.
I study his outfit in a mixture of awe and amazement.
“Where did you get that?” I breathe, “That’s awesome!”
“Hands off,” he tells me with a jokey air.
“That’s not what I asked and you know it!” I retaliate as I invite them inside, and we take a breather from our banter to embrace each other.
“So, how’ve things been?” I ask.
“Oh, same as always,” Luca replies with a smile.
“That bad, huh?”
“Very funny,” Dad remarks dryly. “So, what about you?” he asks, his smile slipping, “We get to meet your boyfriend?”
All of a sudden, the humour in the air evaporates. My heart skips a beat as I look back at him, my face now deadly serious.
“What boyfriend?” I test him, my stomach flipping over in dread.
“The one you slept with a couple of nights ago?!”
My head drops into my chest, as though a string holding it upright had just been cut. The flames of humiliation lick at my cheeks as I realise what must have happened.
“S***,” I mutter under my breath.



“Yeah, exactly.”
I look back at him, wishing instantly that I hadn’t. My eyes flicker from face to face, but they all look equally as angry or disappointed.
“What did I say, Leo?” Dad complains, “Don’t make the mistakes I made…”
“So Mum was a mistake?!” I counter, daring him to say yes.
“I was very lucky with your Mum,” he replies, “Besides, we’re vampires. We can hear what people are thinking, so we knew that our feelings for each other are real. You can’t.”
“I don’t need to be a vampire to know he’s for real,” I tell him, feeling my eyes sting with tears of bitterness.
“So how do you know?” he asks.
“Words are easy to say, I know,” I explain, “but it’s in his eyes, his smile, his touch…” I look about me as I speak, hoping by now I’ve convinced them I know what I’m getting into.
He doesn’t speak or even move for a while, but I know exactly what he’s doing. I become aware of the racing of my thoughts and that he’s listening to them intently, before he gives a little nod as he approaches with his arms outstretched. I smile in relief as I accept, clinging tightly to him as his arms encircle me.



“We love each other Dad…”
“I know,” he mumbles into my ear, before he releases his grip around me. “Come on,” he hints as we break away, “Let’s get upstairs, eh?”
I giggle as I lead them back to the party. “Yeah, maybe get that god-awful “music” changed too!” I agree.
“Ouch,” Jo winces, already guessing what I’m referring to, “You poor thing!”
Suddenly Luca forgets his shyness, at least for now, as he bursts into a run. “Yeah, get some proper music on!” he grins, before addressing me, “Race you to the stairs!”

Ahmygawd I love this.
You're amazing.
Fantastic story-writing + amazing pictures = pure love
<3

Thanks! :D Seems my experimenting with the camera is paying off ^_^

I only just started reading this, It's amazing!!! Please Update soon??? :D

Ooh, two new readers? :D Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :) Currently in between another story and my B&G contest entry, but I will get to this one fairly soon, I have plans ;)

Awesome Job like always Sadie already more people are enjoying the Drama & the fun. Love this round & the super cool makeover :D & glad to see your signature darkness & vampires, I love it :D

Haha, thanks :D I was beginning to think my makeover had scared people away :laughing: Erm... signature? You've lost me... :scratch:

Nice story sadie, I see that u use some lines from ur other story... ;P anyway I don't care, I just like ur stories xD

Well, one has to assume that not everyone will read all my stories, been getting away with it so far ;) Although, it's a little hard to not repeat yourself when both your stories follow a similar theme ;) Glad you're enjoying them anyway :)

Very good Sadie.

Hey, Sadie.  I just started reading this, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit!  You are a great storyteller, and I love the pictures.  Oh, and Alec and Kii are sooo cute!:love10:

Thanks! Glad you're all enjoying it :) Writing out the next chapter as I type ;)

@Astral: Oh they are - especially Kii I have to say :D According to Bren he "grows up fine" too, can't wait to see for myself :love2: I don't know if those guys are in-game born or were made just for that contest, but with results like this who cares? ;)

Oh wonderful love!  I really enjoyed it as usual.  And there is Kat, yay!  Got the name of her city right as well.  Very good capturing the awkwardness it must be knowing you will grow older then your parents someday.  Though his Dad still appears to be just that, a Dad. ;)

I had to take her out of my game unfortunately. :(  Way to many sims, I did some house cleaning. I mean she is still in bodyshop but I'm not actively playing her.  Nice to see she's getting a second life here! :D

Thanks! :D So glad to see I managed to get across what I'd hoped to - about growing older than your parents, and about his Dad - Evan may only be fifteen, and still immature in some ways, but as Luca pointed out right at the start, he's the most serious of them along with their sister ;) That'll be more apparent next chapter.

I know what you mean about too many sims though; I've started making those I very rarely play into townies. I've still got enough to make up a small town without any help from extras... although said extras have been appearing in-game for some reason. Do I have an out-dated notownieregen or something? :scratch: Oh well. Yeah, I regularly check back on your applications/rounds (your = everyone who took part) to make sure I've got my facts right, although there's been plenty of gaps left for my imagination to fill :twisted:

Disclaimer: I don't pretend to be fluent in Italian - just the opposite in fact, which is why I had to consult http://www.freetranslation.com to get the phrases I needed. Apologies in advance if you speak Italian and the translator's efforts make you cringe :angel:



“Come on slow-coach!” he calls as we reach the stairs.
“Hold on, hold on,” I mutter, slowing down. There’s a distinct sliding sensation at my hips, and a draft chilling more skin that it should. I know I’m baring a lot of flesh this evening, but…
Luca turns, and starts to snigger as he notes my predicament. I don’t even want to know what expressions are worn by the rest of my family as they tail behind.
“Running and tight leather doesn’t mix,” I finish, tugging at my trousers.
“Oh Leo,” Dad chuckles as they catch up. Luca just bursts out laughing as I begin to wonder if I’m fighting a losing battle. I’m just glad they’re used to seeing me in the buff, since I don’t always cover up after a shower, but here there are cameras. Oh well, I guess the guys at home could do with a good laugh.
“You need a shield?” Jo offers.
“Might be a good idea,” I accept, already beginning to work at the buckle. My folks huddle around with their backs towards me and, satisfied, I unfasten my trousers and resume the task of pulling them back up.
“Leo?”
I look up from my struggle at the sound of Alec’s voice, a smile spreading across my face.
“Hi there!” I call, releasing my lower garments to give a wave, before addressing the human – or not – shield in front of me. “S’okay, he’s my boyfriend.”
Alec looks about the faces with a bewildered expression. “What’s going on?” he asks.
Luca gives a little snigger as he explains, before moving aside to let him pass. Understandably, he cracks up when he sees me.



“I wondered what kept you,” he chuckles, “Come here.”
I decide against telling him the whole story for now, allowing his focus to remain on getting me re-dressed, a feat in itself if his next remark is anything to go by.
“Damn, just how tight are these things?!”
“The idea was to keep them from slipping,” I muse, prompting another fit of titters from just in front of us, before my eyes widen as he yanks them upwards. “Careful!” I complain, “There’s fragile equipment down there!”
“Wouldn’t want to damage that, would we?” he smiles, “Breathe in!”
I find myself having to do so as my belt is re-fastened.
“Thanks,” I smile, before turning to Luca, “and next time you want a race, the answer’s no!”
“Not my fault you wanted to shoehorn yourself into those trousers!”
“Yeah yeah,” I reply, before introducing Alec properly.



“Hi,” he smiles, before eyeing Dad’s outfit. “So that’s where he gets it from!”
Dad gives an innocent shrug, before he and Mum gaze upwards.
“Oh yuck,” he groans, “We need to fix that quick!”
“What, the music?” I check.
“Yeah, that’s partly why I came down,” Alec says, “That and, you going missing, a certain couple all over each other…”
“Say no more,” I groan, and take him by the hand as I lead us all back up to the party.



“Oh boy,” I grimace, before looking back to my parents, who look equally disgusted. Yes we’re old-fashioned, and now especially I’m proud of that.
“Turn the stereo down,” I tell either of them, my pace quickening as I release my grip on Alec’s hand, raising my fingers to my mouth to give a piercing whistle. At about the same time, one of them has worked their magic on the stereo, and that god-awful “music” that was playing drops to a more acceptable level.
“Come on guys!” I protest at the offending couple, “Save it for the bedroom!”
Zamir throws up his hands apologetically as I approach the stereo, and briefly introduce my folks.
“Hey, is a party, no?” he grins, before watching me work the equipment, “Oh no, not this screaming you call…”
“Screaming?” I check, before hitting play. It seems this Autumn shares our taste, as she rises happily from her seat while Gethsemane plays through the speakers.
“Okay, okay,” he surrenders, “but how we dance to this?”
I glance across at Alec, who shares my knowing smile. “Allow me to demonstrate,” I grin as I take his hand.



The party gets into full swing, complete with Mum singing along in a voice that puts Tarja Turunen to shame. We take an occasional break to prop ourselves up on the wall, and dive into the tasty punch that Zamir knocked up earlier, and I notice that Autumn seems to be taking an interest in Luca. Happy that my brother’s taken care of, I scrunch up another emptied punch cup and get back to the music.

As the evening draws on however, I start to feel light-headed. Alec and even Luca are acting very out of character, and my otherwise quiet boyfriend is prattling and even starting to giggle on occasion. The only people who seem to be acting normally are my parents, but as Kii tells me how cool they are, just looking at his face tells me something is very wrong. His eyes are glazed over and he’s unsteady on his feet, almost as if…
“Thanks,” I smile evasively, before excusing myself from the presence of my friends. No sign of Autumn or Luca, but right now that’s the least of my concerns. Heading for the punch bowl again, I grab a cup, fill it and head straight for my parents.
“Hi Leo,” Dad smiles, but that drops from his face when he notices that mine is serious.
“Hey Dad,” I greet him, “Could you do me a big favour please?”
“Sure,” he frowns, “What’s up?”
“Drink this,” I tell him, holding out the cup.
He takes it, eyeing the fluid bemused before looking back at me. “This is the punch?” he checks.
“Yeah,” I tell him, “Don’t add your vodka this time, just drink it.”
“Right,” he complies with an understanding nod, and throws his head back as he guzzles quickly at the liquid inside. I wait with bated breath as he draws the back of his hand across his mouth, crumples the cup and… waits.
I notice Mum eyeing him with equal concern as she takes the buckled cardboard from his hand. For a moment it looks as though he’s about to reject the drink, but all that comes forth is a stifled burp.
“S’cuse me,” he mumbles, before looking across at Mum expectantly.
“No,” she observes, just as sombre, “It would have happened by now.”
He looks back at me intently. “Is there a reason you suspected something?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I begin, gesturing behind me, “Look at them! Kii can’t even walk in a straight line! I’m feeling a little weird myself…”
“And you were drinking the least,” Mum remarks.
“Exactly.”
“Alright,” Dad says, already heading off, and throws the stereo a gaze long enough to shut it off as we walk by. The others look about themselves puzzled, but he draws their attention with one question.



“Okay guys, who added what to the punch?”
The guy who mixed the drinks looks back at him, stunned.
“Perdón??” he queries, with an expression reading “Are you implying what I think you’re implying?!”
“That sobered you up, didn't it?!” I hint, addressing all of them.
Dad doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead he studies the crowd, likely tuning into their thoughts, and listening for anything that would give away something even well-mastered body language wouldn’t.
The question seems to have a sobering effect on the others too. Alec’s face drops as he notes the stern expressions on our faces.
“Hey, wait a minute,” he checks, rising from his seat, “You’re suggesting someone spiked the punch?!”
“Not suggesting, Alec,” I tell him, “Stating.”
“But how do you know?”
“You may have noticed, we have been adding to our own drinks these past hours,” Mum explains, “I understand Leo has explained of us to you all?”
“He’s said you’re vampires, if that’s what you mean…”
“Vampires can’t stomach a non-alcoholic drink,” I tell not only him, but the others, “So I asked Dad to drink some without adding the alcohol, but he kept it down.”
“Whoa, whoa,” Kii complains, “Slow down, my head’s spinning here…”
“I’m not surprised!” I blurt out, “You’re p***ed!!”
“And our survey says…!” Dad deduces, pulling Ginny forward.
“Look, I didn’t mean anything,” she protests, “Just wanted to add a little something to the party…”
“There’s a reason we have an age limit you know,” he tells her, “Kids your age can’t handle it!”
“Kids??” she splutters, “Look who’s talking!”



“I’m actually twenty-six,” he tells her, “I only stayed fifteen ‘cause that’s when I was bitten. Not that it matters, since we can’t get drunk like you can.”
“Uh-huh, and you expect me to believe that?”
Alec’s head twitches off to the side, as if spotting movement. I follow his gaze to find Luca and Autumn trotting across to join us.
“There you are!” I acknowledge, before explaining the situation, deliberately ignoring the look of shock on Ginny’s face as Dad displays his fangs.
“What??” Luca exclaims as I finish.
My gaze returns to the rest of the gathering, noticing with dismay a similar surprised look upon the faces of the other girls. I look to the boys with them, my patience beginning to wear thin – I idly wonder how much of that is down to the drink.
“Didn’t you tell them?” I ask.
“We never got to it,” Kii shrugs. I cradle my head in my hand, but movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I turn to find both Mum and Dad eyeing Luca accusingly.
“Così dove lei era?” (So where were you?) Dad asks him.
“Giusto posa l'atrio,” (Just down the hall) comes the oddly meek reply.
“What’s going on?” Alec asks softly as he approaches my side, slipping his hands round my waist. All I can do is shrug in reply, frowning as the conversation gets more heated. For some reason Luca’s head drops into his chest, his face turning red. I frown as I notice another shade about his mouth, and decide to put forward a question of my own, hoping my own mounting concerns are unjustified.
“Quel rossetto è?” (Is that lipstick?) I check gently, but firmly.
The silence he gives in reply is disturbing.
“Oh Luca, you didn’t…”
His head jerks upwards, and his tone becomes defiant as he speaks.
“Ha sentito la destra a lei, ha fatto non?!” (It felt right to you, didn't it?!)



After allowing my poor head to rest in my hand for a moment, I look back at him, continuing our talk in Italian as I do so.
“Don’t pass this onto me!” I snap, “I wasn’t drunk! I’d known him longer than a few hours! You might never see her again!”
“You might never see him again,” he challenges, “Did that never occur to you?”
“Oi,” Dad interrupts, “This isn’t about him anymore.”
“Perhaps we should wait until he is sober,” Mum suggests.
“You guys mind speaking in English?” Autumn chips in, looking indignant.
Dad looks about him, before pulling us all aside from the others. Alec tails along, thinking he may have something to contribute, and in a sense I’m glad he does. In a roundabout way this concerns him too.
I offer to take us into my room as Zamir shrugs and advances on the stereo. Safely shut away from the rest of the group, the first thing I tell Alec is the real reason I was detained at the start of the night.



“Oh s***!”
“I know,” I tell him gently, but it does nothing to soothe his nerves.
“She’s gonna kill me, I just know it…!”
“You two weren’t drunk,” Dad prompts us, bringing our attention back to the most recent problem as he faces Autumn. “Did you know he was a virgin?”
The look on her face amplifies her answer.
“He was?” she utters, a hand rising to her mouth.
“Hold on, what’s going on?” Alec asks again.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure if alcohol wasn’t involved he still would be,” I growl in reply, “but I gather my very shy, quiet brother tossed his cherry out the bathroom window.”
“No need to be like that,” comes the insolent reply.
“Definitely wait until he’s sober,” Dad muses, gazing coldly at him. “Maybe then he’ll realise why we’re angry.”
Luca stares back at him, with an expression I can’t see given I’m faced with the back of his head.
“I am sober!” he protests.
“Tell that to the judge,” Dad remarks, “I bet you didn’t use protection either.”
“We didn’t have any,” he tells him. In reply both parents hang their heads in dismay.
“It was just the once!” he justifies. Dad merely laughs in reply as he raises his head, before he becomes serious once again.



“So were you three,” he states simply.
I look between my family, and I notice Jo looks just as surprised as I now feel. I’m fast wishing that Alec and Autumn weren’t around to hear what is becoming a very personal family discussion.

Ah, teen troubles.  Glad you addressed the issue of young sex and drinking.  Those are tricky things to reconcile.  I am feeling that I am really getting to know that characters well.  Keep it up. ;)

I could've sworn I replied to that earlier :scratch: Oh well. Great to hear you're getting to know the characters, as a writer that's such a big compliment (it means I'm doing my job properly!), so thank you so much *hugs* Oh yes, teen troubles at their best, with teen parents having to deal with them :evil4: This is just scratching the surface, however... :twisted:

Also wanted to say, I finally added a little list of "sim credits" to my first post, so anyone wondering who was made by who can now find out :) Update on the way!

Even with nothing else being said for now, tears begin to well at my eyes as I feel that the happy family life I once knew is starting to fall apart. Suddenly everyone’s angry at each other, and now it looks like there’s a lot we still have to learn. From wishing the others would leave, I’m already grateful that Alec at least is still here, as I feel his hand stroking my shoulder. My hand rests upon his as Dad briefly addresses Autumn, who is by now looking uncomfortable.
“You’d better get yourself a morning-after pill,” he tells her, his eyes flickering back to the guy she’d unwittingly made into a man.
“Right,” she utters, looking among us, “Maybe I’d better go.”
He gives but a nod in reply, and as she leaves his eyes rest on Alec. Our relationship, however, is very different, and he makes that known as he speaks.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he states bluntly, snuggling closer to my side. I smile in my gratitude as he moves his hand across to my head, stroking my hair as the first of my tears escape the prison of my eyelids, smudging the eyeliner Emilia had applied with such precision earlier.
“Better get comfy then,” he offers, gesturing to the bed and loveseat, “This could take a while.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I confess as I sit on the loveseat. Alec takes a seat by me, and pulls me into his chest as we await whatever story is to be told.
“Okay,” he commences, pacing the room a little, and I can only guess he’s trying to work out how best to begin as the others sit on my bed.


“I guess the best place to start is when Dad became a werewolf,” he explains, “He was the first to be bitten, so all this corrective therapy stuff wasn’t in place then. Without that his personality started to change, from the loving, caring father I knew to someone who’d be aggressive, hyper-active, even aloof. He chose my half-brother’s wedding to rip into his new son-in-law, making him one too. That was the first big clue that something was wrong, but there were others. Mum did notice too eventually, but it was so gradual, it took a while before it fully registered.

“When it did though, things went downhill pretty quickly. I couldn’t bear to be around him anymore, it felt as though my real Dad had died and I was grieving. I went into depression, I stopped going to school… I don’t know why, but one night I just thought to slip out to this bar, and that’s when I met your Mum. She offered me a shoulder to cry on that I’d never had before, and mainly through that I quickly grew very fond of her. We got together about a month after that, and dived in head-first, just like you two did.” At this point he gestures to Alec and I, before his manner becomes awkward.


“It was then she bit me, but I didn’t know it. Something else I was unaware of until Mum told me, was that vampires are still fertile. Sure enough, about a month later we found out about you three…”
I feel the blood drain from my face as I try to process what he’s saying. Fresh tears sting my eyes as I look back at him.
“We were an accident?!” I check, straightening up in my seat, “We weren’t meant to be here?!”
“Very happy accidents,” he admits, but his words are of no comfort. My jaw’s too pre-occupied in its shaking to allow me to say anything in reply, although I wouldn’t know what to say if it wasn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he utters, blood beginning to seep from his eyes, “We’ve done our best though… at least I thought we did.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Jo exclaims, “It’s not as though you come home drunk or hit us or anything…”
“I was trying to teach you guys some valuable lessons in life,” he replies, looking back at Luca and I, “Don’t make the same mistakes I made, wait until you’re good and ready…”
“I was ready!” I protest, “It’s not as though we just met and had a drunken s**g in the bathroom!”
“That’s enough!!” Luca snaps, “I’m a big boy now, I can take care of myself, just like you…”
“Don’t you get it??” Jo chips in, “I’m not condoning what Leo did, but at least he knows the guy! Men can’t get pregnant either…”
“Alright, alright,” he growls, rising from his seat and storming off a little.


“Tonight we are wasting our breath,” Mum tells us, “You are all intoxicated to some degree, and like it or not, it is affecting your ability to reason.”
“Some more than others,” I growl, slumped in my seat. I don’t know whether to explode into a fit of fury or crumble into a sea of tears.
“No, you’re right,” Dad agrees, addressing Mum before turning to my brother and sister, “Come on you two, let’s go before a real fight starts.”
Luca seems happiest to oblige as he marches out of the door. I follow them outside, where I spot an apologetic Autumn talking to him. I look back to Mum and Dad, my tongue once more bound by the events of the evening.
“I’ll send Andy round in the morning for you, okay?” he tells me, “See if I can get him to fix the hangovers you’ll no doubt be waking up with.”
All I can do in reply is nod, as I find myself leaning towards the tearful option.
“I’m sorry,” I begin, but Dad quietens me as he lays a hand on my shoulder.
“No, I’m sorry,” he says softly, “for everything.”
I look up at his face to find fresh crimson tears trickling down his cheeks. I want to tell him not to be so hard on himself, but all I can do is swallow the sobs rising in my throat.
“Come here,” he offers, opening up his arms.


“Luca!” Mum calls, at which Dad breaks away and looks back at me, running a hand along my face to wipe away the black streaks from my cheeks.
“We’ll see ourselves out,” he says, before eyeing Alec. “Look after him, huh?”
The straw to break the camel’s back. My folks are still on their way out when the dam bursts, and I wind up sobbing uncontrollably into Alec’s arms. I dread to think what must be running through his head by now.


It seems to last forever, but by the time it ends, my ears tell me I’ve attracted an audience.
“Leo?”
I don’t like to cry in front of others if I can help it, so I look around in dismay at the extra faces peering at me.
“Come on, let’s sit you down,” Kii continues, sobered up enough to speak clearly, “Looks like you need to.”
I note the absence of Zamir and Kat, but I don’t care anymore. At least they’re old enough to do what they please without getting their ears chewed off.
Alec sits by my side, nursing my shoulder as the others gather. “You okay now?” he checks.
I slowly nod, before turning to him. “I’m surprised all this didn’t scare you off,” I remark dryly.
“Hey come on, don’t be silly,” he soothes, before breaking into a smile, “You don’t get rid of me that easy.”
“I didn’t cause any trouble did I?” Autumn checks, swallowing nervously, “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known…”
“It wasn’t just about that,” I tell her, “Things got very personal in there. I’m surprised Alec stayed, but I’m glad he did.”
“Look, um,” Ginny starts, “I didn’t mean to stir up all this…”
I scoff in reply as I look up at her. “Ginny, all you did was remind me never to let that brother of mine get drunk ever again,” I tell her, “From one of the nicest guys alive to cocky a***hole in… however long it took him to get through that much.”
“Seriously?” Autumn checks, “He was fine when he came out… okay, he looked hurt, but…”
“Hurt?” I check, chewing on things for a moment. “Maybe it’s a defence mechanism then… wonder if he’ll be like that after his hangover clears?”


“I’m so sorry about tonight,” I utter.
“Hey, don’t be silly,” he smiles, “It’s not like this was your fault.”
I lower my head in despair as my mind races. I nearly say some of it was, but Alec gets there first.
“So who’s this Andy?”
I smile at the brief encounters I had with him. “He’s one of my cousins,” I explain, “Last time we met I was about seven or eight, so I don’t know him that well. Dad does though, he’s told me a few things about him.”
“Oh, cool,” he acknowledges, before a huge yawn escapes my lips. “Yeah, good idea,” he agrees, “Think you need it more.”
I wearily nod, my body drained by all the crying. Before I undress, I decide first to remove the make-up still remaining on my face, and then I slip under the covers next to him in my briefs – not something I usually wear, but shorts wouldn’t look so good with those trousers.
The lamp is turned off, but as I cuddle up to him I can’t find the will to shut down. Instead I just lay there, enjoying the warmth from his bare skin as he embraces me, running a hand along the length of my back before tenderly kissing my brow.
“You okay?”
“Not really,” I admit, “Can’t sleep.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” he muses.
Despite the belief that I’d cried myself dry earlier, fresh tears sting my eyes as another thought intrudes on my already overworked mind. I cuddle up closer to him as I look into his eyes, adjusted well enough to the dark to know where they are.
“I’m gonna miss you so much,” I tell him sadly.
“Me too,” he says, kissing my head again as he caresses my face, “I love you.”
“I love you so much,” I reply, our heads moving in closer until I feel his lips upon mine. Our mouths delicately brush against each other for a while, a desire within building despite my physical tiredness. In fact it has the opposite effect, sending away the clouds shrouding me earlier. It allows me a breather as our lips part, and we eye each other in silence for a moment, my breathing deepening as I study his features. The sparkle in his eyes lights up the darkened room, and with a growing smile I kiss him again, my grip round him tightening as I roll on top of him.

“Oh my God, what do I look like?!”
One peek into the mirror is enough for me to tuck the eyeliner away for the day… guess tears before bedtime can do this to you.


Alec is still in bed, presumably sleeping off the excess alcohol still flowing through his system while I finish getting ready. I hear movement downstairs, telling me my cousin Andy has let himself in. A dhampir apparently, or “genetic vampire”, meaning he can do all a vampire can without needing to worry about the sun, although I’ll bet the smell of eggs and mushrooms will be driving him mad. Still, with me most likely being the first to rise, now’s a good time to finally meet one of my older cousins properly.


“Buen giorno!” he greets cheerfully when he spots me, “How’s your head?”
I smile knowingly at the question as I approach. “Fine thanks,” I reply, “but then I hadn’t drunk that much.”
“Ah, okay,” he nods, but then frowns as he studies my features. “Leo?” he checks, puzzled.
“Yeah,” I confirm, chuckling a little at his expression, “I know, I’ve changed a lot since the weddings.”
“You’re telling me!” he agrees, before warmly embracing me. “Long time no see kid! How’re you doing?”
“Okay thanks,” I smile, “What about you?”
“Not bad thanks,” he replies, his smile now slipping from his lips, “Your Dad told me what happened last night.”
“Yeah, thought he might,” I mutter, my gaze lifting upwards to watch his huge brown eyes as a green finger traces the lines under my own.
“He’s just concerned for you, that’s all,” he soothes, “He was worried that you’d all be following in his footsteps despite his trying to warn against it.”
“What about you?” I ask, hoping for an understanding ear, “Did you do this kind of thing too, or were you a good boy?”
I detect a rising tide of sadness within him, however. I watch quietly as he serves up my breakfast and sets it down on the table, hinting that I should take a seat before he’ll answer.
“I made a pot of tea,” he offers, “but since you’re probably the only one without a hangover, I can fix you a coffee if you’d rather.”
“Yes please,” I accept, waiting patiently for my answer. It doesn’t come until he places a steaming mug of coffee by my plate and takes a seat himself.


“I was far from good, sadly,” he replies slowly, “It wasn’t my jumping into bed with a guy at fifteen that got me into trouble… more who that guy was.”
Images of him at Mum and Dad’s wedding drift through my mind. I recollect seeing him with what looked like his boyfriend, seeing them in each other’s arms when our group photos were taken. That lad he no doubt speaks of seemed familiar…
“I remember seeing you with him when Mum and Dad got married,” I mention, “Didn’t we also see you after coming back from school?”
“You have a good memory,” he smiles.
“Was only about seven years ago,” I remind him.
“Ah yes, so it was,” he observes, “Time’s gone by so quickly.”
“Didn’t Dad say you were cousins?” I test, “Plural?”
“Yes,” comes the wary reply, “That’s why the trouble started.”
It’s then I notice the ring on his left ring finger, the one usually reserved for a wedding ring.
“You obviously love each other,” I shrug, gesturing to his ring, “So what’s the problem?”
A sad smile lifts the corners of his mouth. “That’s pretty much what your Dad said,” he remarks, “Seems some of his lessons have paid off at least.”
“Surely you’d understand why I did it though?”
“Do you two love each other?”
“Very much so,” I reply in a hushed tone, before I notice movement out of the corner of my eye. “Speak of the devil,” I announce as he walks over, and I take some time to introduce them to each other as Andy rises to finish serving. Alec seems a little worse for wear though. As he sits by me, he whispers into my ear while my green relative works.
“Some problem with his boyfriend?” he asks innocently.
My eyes flit across to Andy, noting his worried glance in our direction. “No need to whisper,” I tell him, “Andy’s a day-walking vampire.”
As if to confirm his range of hearing, he arches an eyebrow knowingly as Alec looks back at him.
“He’s a nice guy,” I reassure him, reverting to Italian as I speak.
He says nothing, but as he anxiously studies him his brown eyes seem restless. Remembering that Mum and Dad would adopt a similar stance sometimes, I know that he is administering his own test as he runs a surface scan on my boyfriend.
“Go on then,” he agrees, leaving me to explain softly to Alec that, for all that has happened with us so far, our situation is comparatively tame. I check his reaction carefully as I finish.
“He’s engaged to his brother?” he checks softly.
I silently nod, deliberately adopting an indifferent expression.
“Just don’t broadcast it, okay?” Andy warns as he serves the rest of the omelette. “Not only for us, but we’ve got kids to think about.”
“You have kids?” I ask. This is news to me.
“Yes,” he agrees, his eyes darting about the room. Spotting the others as they approach, his cheery air resumes as he greets them before he ducks closer to us. “All I’ll say for now is,” he mumbles to us, “thanks to our alien Grandfather, we can get pregnant. That’s on top of being able to plant the seed. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”
“Wow,” Alec muses as he watches him serve the tea, “And I thought we had problems.”
“Welcome to my family,” I mutter back to him, before my tone turns deadly serious as I lean closer to him. “Listen,” I tell him, “You never heard any of this, okay?”
His head jerks backwards, blinking as though taken by surprise. “Hear what?” he asks casually, glancing back at him, “Nice ring, wonder who gave him that?”
I don’t hide the satisfaction in my smile as I pat his leg. In reply, with his head turned away from the others, he slips me a sly wink as he picks up his fork.
“Thanks,” I whisper, pecking his lips. Inwardly, the love I feel for him, as strong as it is in such a short space of time, has increased threefold at least through one gesture. One hell of a test to put my first partner through, but with such promising results I pray he’ll also be my last.

*****

If anyone knows where I can get some nice decorative mugs/cups, please let me know! There's only so long I can keep using that alarm clock...

Wow totally love it!! Can't wait for more!

Thanks! :) That boy actually drove me nuts during my stay at my folks - I've got another... four, I think, chapters written! Progression's halted update-wise though, sadly - for one I'm waiting on a reply back from someone, for another I'm waiting on a request being done. Hopefully the first one won't be too long at least ;)

Sadie U gotta be kidding me? xD Why does Andy appears in this story and why not Leo in Brotherley Love? xD or is theres a little suprize waiting for us :D... But wath I don't get is that they know Andy and Chris of ur other story, But wath I don't get is that Mom (or jo) say (atleast if I readed it right) that males can't get pregnant... (well in your stories everything is possible xD. Thats wath I like the moust in your stories)

EDIT: srry I haven't read the full story before I posted xD, now I see only 'aliens' have the ability to make males pregnant. But isn't Leo related to Andy and Chris? So if I puzzeld right, Leo have a chance to have alien genetic to and the ability to become pregnant to? ( Ow my head xP )

 Anyway Sadie again as always a wonderfull update ( ;) )

:laughing: Okay, since you've read my adult story too, I'll see how well I can explain:

Evan is Leo's Dad. He met Andy and Chris while Leo and his siblings were about 7 (the kids running in from school during their talk at home) - note that Leo said he didn't know Andy that well. Leo is Andy's cousin through Evan and Joe being half-brothers; Joe (Andy's Dad) was the result of Evan's Dad getting abducted. Leo is 100% human, so no, he can't get preggers ;) (Damn, that gave me a headache just trying to explain! :lol:)

As for Andy showing up; Evan needed someone who'd be able to let himself into the house while the teens slept off their hangovers (telekinesis from vampires coming into play there). Vampires die in the sunlight but Andy doesn't, therefore he got volunteered ;) And yes, you will eventually see Leo in Brotherly Love, this part being the first of his appearances - I'm saying no more than that ;)

Ah, the joys of having more than one story concerning this hood - chances abound for crossovers ;) And yes, I do like to throw a fantastical spanner into the works of reality, opens up a wealth of story options :muahaha: Glad you're enjoying it anyway, even more so if that's the main reason you like them :D

My oh my...I knew you were workin on this when Gender Defeders was going on and I read the begining, but then I lost track of it. I just got caught up. Ohh my, my little Autumn is a fire starter. Great job now I need to go read the adult version lol......any plans on uploading Luca any time soon?

If it's any consolation, she didn't mean it ;) Alcohol and teenagers never mixes well (try convincing the teens over here though -_-) Glad you're enjoying it anyway :)

You want Luca? Just cause you like him, or you want to set them up? :D I may be able to arrange something :)

Wow, this story certainly was very different and good to read. I came across this from another thread and couldn't stop once I started reading when I became very curious upon seeing "Gender Benders" in the link.

I do look forward to the next update (or rather next chapter) for this! Keep up the great work. Cute kids you got in the pictures.

Gender Benders? :oogle: I think you misread somewhere.. :lol: Glad you're enjoying the story though, always good to see new readers :D

I know Autumn didn't mean anything by it and your correct alcohol and teens don't mix.

Mmm I want Luca cause I like him and I would be interesting in seeing what goes on between the two. :D

:lol: Okay, here he is (http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?p=1093204#post1093204) - be gentle with him, he's pretty shy :love2:

OMG I have to post here too. Thank you for sharing Luca I know he is pretty shy, but as we have seen not too shy. He is such a cutie! You Rock!

Aaww, thanks :D Oh, once you bring him out of his shell he's a character :laughing: But yeah, he's actually got 3 outgoing points. Have fun with him anyway :)

Breakfast passes without further incident, although Andy receives plenty of strange looks before they get used to his colour. He seems to take it in his stride though, and generally comes across as very laid back in his manner, yet for all his outward chirpiness I can’t help but notice a sadness in his eyes, like there’s more bothering him than he’s letting on. I make a mental note to ask him about it after breakfast, but no such luck – a member of staff approaches to usher us into the communal lounge, another to eye him curiously as we all gather for whatever announcement he has in store.


“No, it’s not make-up,” Andy corrects before he’s even opened his mouth, “I really am green. Not the only one either,” he finishes with a cheeky grin.
“Do all your family have fangs, Leo?” he asks me suspiciously.
“No,” I reply truthfully, but find myself having to think really hard about just how many of my family are human. “I know my brother and sister don’t,” I offer, not wishing to delve any deeper. I didn’t wake with a headache, and I don’t fancy that changing any time soon.
“Okay,” he acknowledges slowly, before changing the subject back to what he grouped us together for. “Anyway, although it’s been boys versus girls, there can only be one winner in the end, and this is the part where we find out who that is.*”
We all share eager looks as I rub my hands together in anticipation.
“The show hasn’t been aired yet, so it was down to our very own panel of judges to decide who fared best in the tasks that were set,**” he explains, “The scores were very close, and they had a hard time choosing, but…” So saying, he pulls out a card from the envelope he was holding. “In third place, for the girls, is Katsumi!”


“Woooo!!” she cheers, doing a little dance in her seat. I chuckle a little as we all give a little clap, “Girls rule!”
“Yeah, right,” I tease, “We don’t know who’s won yet!”
She playfully pokes out her tongue in my direction, so I do likewise back at her.
“Hey, put that back in,” Andy teases, “We don’t know where it’s been!”
I eye Alec knowingly before we both snigger.
“Save that for later,” he hints with a wink. Alec laughs before the staff member clears his throat.
“In second place, for the boys, is Zamir!”


Now it’s his turn to give a cheer as we clap some more.
“Boys rule!” he teases.
“We don’t know who’s won yet!” Kat replies.
Alec, Andy and I look among each other, laughing at how ridiculous they sound.
“The show’s over folks!” Andy calls at the bickering couple, “You can stop the fighting now!”
Kat pokes her tongue out at Andy, but gets more than she bargained for when he returns the gesture.
“Oh my God, his tongue’s even green!” she giggles.
“Of course it’s green!” he protests with an innocent smile, “What did you expect, purple?!”
“That’s if you caught it in a door,” I remark with a grin.
“Erm, no, it would just go a greenish-black colour,” he ponders aloud, before realising he has an audience, and decides to react to it. “Yes folks, even my blood’s green, that would explain why the rest of me is, huh?” he finishes with a wink.
The member of staff is left eyeing me with mild disdain. “You have strange family, Leo!” he muses.
“I know,” I grin in reply, “Now you know where I get it from…!”
Andy breaks into a fit of stifled titters as the man returns to the card, and everyone makes shushing noises as Alec and I exchange excited glances.
“And the gender defender for the boys, the man of the house…”
“Boys rule!” Kii teases with a gleeful grin.
“The winner of this competition, is none other than Leo!!”


“YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!!”
Poor Andy, and even Alec, are left wiggling their fingers in their ears, but I’m in no mood to care. After the distress I suffered last night, this has made my week!
“Well done you!” Alec grins, pulling me into his arms.
“It’s official, boys rule!” I proclaim with a cheeky smile, triggering another bout of laughter.
“This time,” Ginny warns playfully.
“Yeah yeah,” I wink back, “Pays to have a weird background sometimes, eh?”
Andy chuckles, before glancing at the window. “Looks like your folks are coming to pick you all up,” he observes, before turning to me, “Come on you, let’s get your stuff shall we?”
“I guess so,” I mutter, the elation gone as quickly as it arrived. I don’t want to leave – not only did I make some new friends, but there’s one in particular I will really miss. That person looks just as disappointed as we reluctantly rise from our seats.
“I’ll give you a hand if you like,” Andy offers him as we go.
He slowly nods in reply, already looking how I feel. I’m only glad now my eyes were too puffy for eyeliner.

With all our things at the door, and with everyone’s numbers stored in my phone, there is nothing left now but to bid our sad farewells as, one by one, the others get taken back to where they came from. Zamir tells us we’re welcome to visit him in Puerto Rico sometime, while Kat offers us a little tour in Japan. Kii and the others give similar promises about the States, although Autumn reassures me she’ll keep in touch with Luca, despite what happened with them last night. Thankfully Alec is the last to depart, even though he’s the only one who’d moved here permanently. He may as well be going back to Australia, the way we’re both feeling right now, and there’s no stopping the flow of tears with either of us as we linger in each other’s arms.


“I’ll stay in touch, I promise,” I vow, clinging to him tightly. I can hear him sniffling in my ear, before feeling his lips against my cheek. He pulls his head away a little while clutching my face in his hand, his thumb moving now and then to wipe the tears from my cheek as he speaks.
“Me too,” he replies, “We can still see each other, you know? We’re in the same area, you can show me round…”
“Yeah,” I agree, trying to remember to count my blessings. “I’ll look forward to it.” I run a hand along his cheek to dry tears of his own. “I love you Al,” I smile, running a thumb along his lips.
“I love you Leo,” he responds, and with no further words he places a firm kiss on my lips as our grip tightens round each other.


“Alec!!”
The yell cuts through our tender moment like a hot knife through butter, his eyes screwed shut as he mouths one word to explain his new anxiety.
“Mum…”
My head lowers, as I remember his panic when I told him that our parents knew about our encounters under the bedclothes. He kept saying she’d kill him… my stomach ties into knots as a horrible feeling nags at me, that I’m about to witness the murder.
He quickly wipes the tears from his cheeks as he turns to face her, and I count blessings of a different kind; I’m lucky, my parents and even my adult cousins can understand our motives, but it seems this lady can’t. Is this what would have happened if I’d had ‘normal’ parents?
“Look, Mum…” he begins, but she doesn’t let him finish.


“What were you thinking Alec?? He’s a child! There’s an age limit for a reason you know, he’s far too young…”
“He has a name you know,” I interrupt angrily, my arms crossed, “And he’s old enough to think for himself, thank you.”
She glances at me as though I’m not important enough to intrude on her tirade, and glares at him.
“Get in the car,” she growls, “and you stay away from him, you hear me?”
“Mum!!” he protests, but she jabs her finger at the waiting car.
“Go!”
Throwing up his hands in resignation, he reaches for his guitar, now tucked away snugly in its vinyl case, and drags his heels as he goes.
“Look,” I try to explain, “He didn’t take advantage if that’s what you’re thinking, it was my idea as much as his…”
“Underage sex is a criminal offense!” she reminds me harshly, “He could be in serious trouble, do you realise that?”


“Since when do a bunch of politicians know what’s best for the rest of us?!” I growl.
“Don’t go there Leo,” she dismisses, “Rules are rules, and I’m not going to see my only child go down for the sake of an infatuation…”
“You think that’s all it is?” I challenge.
“First boyfriend at fourteen, and you think you’re already in love?!” she retorts. “Come on. It’ll take a lot longer than that before you’ll even have an idea…”
“Yeah yeah, bet my parents had that too,” I counter, “They’ve been married for about seven years…”
“So where are your parents?”
“In bed,” I tell her, “or rather coffins, since they’re vampires. That’s why my…”
“Yes, very funny,” comes the predictable response, before she wiggles a menacing finger at me. “You stay away from my boy, understand? He’s been through enough already, he doesn’t need any more trouble.”
“I wouldn’t give him any trouble!” I complain, but she remains rigid in her stance.
“You already have!” she defends, “No more, I mean it!”
She walks back to the car with the rest of his belongings, and I can only watch helpless as she drives off, tears trickling down my face as she takes with her any hope of seeing – or even hearing from – him again. Pressure on my shoulder reassures me that I’m not alone, but it gives no comfort.
“Tell me this isn’t happening Andy,” I whimper, “Please…”
“I’m sorry Leo,” he says, his gentle voice drifting through my mind like a summer breeze through a bush fire. “We’ve been very lucky with our parents regarding our impulsive moments, but this is reality’s slap in the face I’m afraid.”
I gaze pleadingly up at him, but all I can react with as he pulls me close are hysterical sobs.


“Come on,” he eventually coaxes, “Better get you home.”
The drive is quiet, and I remain that way once we get inside. Even Andy is sullen as he helps me bring in my things, and my poor siblings get a shock when they try to give a happy greeting.
“What’s happened?” Jo asks.
“Better wake your parents,” he tells them, “I don’t fancy repeating myself, and I know Leo won’t.”
“You want a drink?” Luca offers.
I nod as I head for the front room, letting myself crash into the nearest chair and leaning my head against its back, my eyes shutting out the light in an attempt to stem any further attack against my aching red eyes. I don’t move from that position for a while, not until Luca brings my drink and Andy finishes explaining the scene he witnessed earlier.
“Oh dear,” Mum remarks as I take a sip from my cup.
“Yeah,” I muse softly, “That’s putting it mildly.”
Now I can understand his panic before, why he was reluctant to go any further when we first kissed. They call it the ultimate expression of love, but how ironic for that closeness to now drive a wedge between us. If I was just two years older this wouldn’t be a problem, but instead we face a spaghetti junction of red tape and angry parents. All I can hope for now is that eventually she’ll see sense, but in the meantime we need to find a way to stay in touch, whatever it takes.


* These are the results (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1050064&postcount=265) from the contest
** I don't know how it works in the States, but here they usually premiere before the show starts, not after, so it was a surprise when we had to describe the premiere in round three. This is my way of getting round it - there were gonna be elims too, but maybe due to so many dropping out that didn't happen in the end.

My bad! I must've been tired when I started reading and thinking it was the title of the story..

Still, the story is great with unexpected twists and plots. :) I look forward to the next update to this story. It's sad to see two young people in love and in grief because of one upset parent. I do hope they find a way to stay in touch or be together!

Gee my boy Alec's mum is a meanie!  I'm loving your story!

Thanks :D Although I was kinda hoping people could read between the lines on that one - who noticed the line where she said "He's gone through enough already.." for instance? ;) I'm pretty sure the majority of parents would act in a similar way, just trying to protect their kids, however cruel it seems to those involved. I've certainly heard of these things happening.

Glad you're enjoying it anyway :) If my request doesn't get done after the next update though, I'm gonna have to improvise :(

Aw, young love is so difficult.  You manage to capture its essence beautifully.  Top notch pics, as always, Sadie.  Where did you get the tears from (in the pic where Leo is hugging Andy)?  Will there be more to the story now that the contest is over?  Will we get to find out what that 'he has been through enough already' statement means?

Thanks! :) I got the tears from here (http://http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=232068) but they're also hosted here on Insim :) As for your other questions, yes and yes ;) Although Alec did mention part of what he's had a few chapters ago, but more will follow eventually :)

Yay! Update...but it's so sad :'(
And Luca!!! Yay *gives big huggles and a cookie jar*

I love you now!! lol xx
Fab update, can't wait for more!

LOL Thanks - wow, Luca's proving to be popular, hope Leo doesn't get jealous ;) Ooh, cookies! Thankies! :D *starts munching on cookies*

Apologies for my writing taking another standstill lately (although the next few chapters for this have been written, need to get the pics taken). Uni work was driving me nuts, but thankfully now D-Day's passed I can relax a little. That and I needed a break from the stories for a bit. Will update shortly - looks like I'm gonna need to improvise after the next chapter. Never mind, so long as it gets posted ;)

Thanks for all your lovely comments, they've been very encouraging :)

Hey sweetie, how’s it going?

I don’t know if you got my last letter – I never heard back from you, I hope everything’s alright. Things are still s*** here, I have to be careful in mailing these letters in case she catches me. I knew I’d be in trouble for sleeping with you, but this is just taking the p***… is there any way to convince her we love each other?! I don’t know… I miss you like crazy…

He never got my letter? Damn it… This is the second time it’s happened. Is she intercepting them or something? I’ll bet it’s not worth replying either. She’s already confiscated his mobile, so the phone’s out… there must be a way round this, there must be…



“Hey, Dad?”
“What’s up?” he asks, naturally taken by surprise after I’d pounced him so soon after waking.
“You know on some mp3 players, you can play videos?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there a way to put a home-made movie onto them?”
“Of course there is!” he chuckles, “How else do they get on there?” His mirth fades as he notes my rising excitement. “Why?”
“Alec hasn’t got my letters,” I tell him in dismay, “If his Mum’s hiding them, I need to find another way to reach him…”
“So how’s an mp3 player gonna fare any better?”
“If I can make it look like it came straight from the shop, maybe she’d just pass it on?”
“Oh, I see,” he nods, “Nice idea.”
“So, can I?”
He wears a knowing smile as he dips into his back pocket, and leafs through his open wallet. “So long as it’s a cheap one,” he agrees, “You won’t need a four gig one just to send him a movie.”
“So long as it can play them I don’t care,” I grin, planting a kiss on his cheek, “Thank you!!”
“Hey, come on,” he remarks, “You think I hadn’t noticed how sullen you’ve been lately?”
My head drops as I feel tears sting my eyes. I barely lift it again to peer into the red pools of his eyes. “I miss him Dad,” I utter, feeling my jaw beginning to quiver, “I just wish I could hear his voice…”
“Oh Leo,” he groans, pulling me into his arms. I cling tightly to him while my brain tries to decide whether or not to turn on the taps behind my eyes.



“Anything for me?” I ask expectantly, hoping that one of the envelopes she holds has Leo’s writing upon their surface.
“Hmm,” she muses, and I momentarily frown at the official looking parcel that she studies. I open my mouth about to ask what it is, but as she beats me to it I quickly close it. “Did you order something from dabs recently?”
“Oh, that online electronics store?” I check. Instinct tells me to play along for some reason, so I do so. “Oh yeah! I needed a bigger pen drive for school,” I lie as I move to take it, rushing excitedly to my room before I close the door. Once there, I allow myself a frown as I study the box. No, I didn’t order anything from there recently, what the hell could this be?
I sit upon my bed as I open the package, revealing not a pen drive, but an iPod clone. A delighted gasp escapes me as I spot a Post-it note on the back of the device, with the words “I’m fully charged, check the videos” scribbled onto it.
“Leo?” I wonder aloud, in a voice scarcely above a whisper as I hastily dig out the earphones and hook up to the player, pausing only to refer to the manual as I find my way around. There is but a single movie, unoriginally labelled “Play me”, and a smile stretches slowly across the width of my face as those familiar streaked locks appear on the tiny screen.



“Hi honey!” comes his chirpy greeting as he blows a kiss at the camera. Just seeing his face is enough to bring happy tears to my eyes, without even hearing what he has to say. It’s not all good though.
“If you’re watching this now, my plan has worked,” he continues, his manner becoming more serious, “I did get your letters, it was wonderful to hear from you. I replied too, both times, and each of those letters were about a mile long. Your last one tells me that something fishy is going on – once I could understand, but twice? I can’t help but wonder if she’s hiding them somewhere, maybe even reading them. I hope she has in fact, maybe they’d tell her how much I miss you, that this isn’t just some infatuated schoolboy thing but real love? Enough of my own folks can see that, and I’m not even counting the vampires!” He takes a pause from his outburst  to let out a sad sigh. “Okay, I’m done ranting, how are you doing? Still got your photo on my mirror, so at least I can see your pretty face each morning. Haven’t changed much myself as you can see, still your baby-faced goth! I was probably the only trip not enjoying our fifteenth birthday though… it’s just not the same without you Al, I’ve really missed you… good for something though I guess.” At this point he reaches for the notepad I’d often seen him scribble in, and opens it out to the camera, leafing through pages of writing. “See all this?” he remarks, “Songs, poems, all sorts of crazy s*** in here lately…” The book closes, and his glassy green eyes are once again locked onto the camera. Still wearing eyeliner, which now is starting to smear as his tears mix with the black substance, creating streaky dark paths down the length of his cheeks. “They say you’re at your most creative when you’re low, guess it’s true,” he muses, “I’m even worrying my folks lately – I just don’t leave my room much anymore. I’ve been that bad…” So saying, he gives a sniff as a hand rises to his mouth, almost at the same time as I do as I feel the onset of tears myself. It gets so that I have to pause the video, dropping the player onto my bed as I cup my face into my hands, sobbing quietly as my head spins. If Mum has hidden his letters from me I’ll be so angry.

I do manage to finish the video, burying the player into a drawer before getting ready to face the day ahead. It takes longer than it usually does, mainly because this time I need to let my eyes get back to normal first. Thankfully Mum’s working, so I make a mental note to have a snoop around when I get back from school.



“Now, if I was Mum, where would I hide my son’s boyfriend’s love letters?”
I shrug to myself as I head for her chest of drawers, reminding myself that this is no scavenger hunt as I carefully pick through her clothes. Finding nothing, I come to her vanity table where my eyes are drawn to a drawer with a lock, which doesn’t yield to my tugs at its handle.
“I’ll bet they’re in there,” I mumble to myself, and look about the surface for any sign of a key. I decide to look in her jewellery box, and a satisfied smile spreads across my face as I uncover the little key from its hiding place, growing wider as it works to unlock whatever buried treasure lies within. Replacing the key carefully, I slide open the drawer, my smile dropping from my lips as my eyes spot a pair of envelopes stacked on top of each other. Clutching at them, I pull them free from her drawer, not caring what else lies within for now as I push it closed and walk away from the table, my hand diving hungrily into the already opened white envelope before me. My eyes scan the handwriting that is unmistakably his, and with growing dismay I notice the other letter is also from him.

I swallow hard as I hear the door close. She’s home, and I have no idea how I’ll face her. All I can do is sink into her mattress as my knees weaken, my mind reeling. I feel so betrayed, so invaded, by my own mother of all people…
“Alec??”
With my hands between my knees, she can’t see yet what I’ve found. My head turns in her direction, not hiding my glassy eyes as I look back at her – she has the audacity to look indignant as she approaches, closing the door behind her.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I could ask you the same thing!” I snap, waving the envelopes at her as I rise. “These were addressed to me! Since when did you have the right to read my mail?!”
“He’s a child, Alec!” she counters, “You could get into serious trouble!”
“We love each other!” I protest, “Does that not mean anything?”
“You think you love each other…”
“We know we love each other!” I tell her, “Everyone I’ve met who could read minds knows it’s real…”
“Oh, don’t start that again,” she dismisses, “They don’t exist Alec, they’re nothing but fairytales…”
“Oh, sure,” I scoff, “I’ll bet his teenage parents would agree with you.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I’ve met them!” I tell her, “I met his green cousin, who by the way also has fangs…”
“Enough!” she yells, “I said no contact, and I mean no contact.” She moves closer, her hand moving to the envelopes in my hand. Consumed already by mixed, strong feelings, something strange slips from my mouth as I pull away.
“Rack off,” I snarl, even pushing her away as I run from her room and into mine, where I lock the door before she has a chance to intrude any more than she has already. With what strands of privacy remain now back in my grasp, my head thuds against the door as I lean against it for a moment, tears streaming down my face as I gather my thoughts.



“You okay?” Jo asks.
I merely shrug as I pick at my meal, the tool in my hand reduced to a plaything as it teases the food on my plate.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
I look up at the voice, and notice Dad rising from his chair. “Come on you.”
“Are we going somewhere?” I ask, spotting Mum joining him with a gaze that tells me communicative thought is passing between them.
“You are fortunate we understand your pain,” she says, “Adults seem to assume we are too young to love; since she still will not accept yours, it is time we proved ours to her.”
A grin spreads across my face as I brace myself for the ride, and in so doing my eyes rest on Dad.
“And you thought this made you a bad parent?!” I tease, but mentally I cross my fingers that their idea will work.



“Something wrong with my cooking?”
I don’t bother looking up at her, but give a feeble shrug as I continue to prod at the food with my fork. Speaking to someone who seems to make it her goal to keep you miserable is no easy task, and still it is one I can’t find the will to tackle.
“Come on, this is getting ridiculous.”
You’re telling me.
“Alec, look at me.”
Give me one good reason why I should.
“Alec!”
It’s harder to ignore a nudge, but after pulling my arm away there’s only one thing that I can say.
“Leave me alone.”
“You can’t carry on like this,” she coaxes.
“Oh really, and why would that be?!” I snap, my patience exhausted, “What is it Mum? Are you jealous?!”
“Don’t be…”
Our spat is cut short by a knocking on the front door. Frowning, she rises from her seat to answer, and my curiosity pulls me from my own chair, although for now I linger in the background as she heads for the door.



“Mrs Banks?” Dad checks. I watch from behind the wall, following their advice to keep out of her sight until she shows signs of being reasonable.
“We’re in the middle of dinner,” she tells him.
“So were we,” he replies, “Well, our children were, but one of them just won’t eat.”
“So call a doctor.”
“Oh, we know why he won’t eat,” he explains, his arms crossing as he continues, “He’s not ill. Not physically, anyway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Get to the point Dad…
“Perhaps you misunderstand my husband,” Mum supplies, “He does tend to talk in riddles. You think we are talking about a baby, but that is not the case. Our son is fourteen and in love…”
“Leo,” the woman groans, unmoving from her spot and also folding her arms. “I’m not discussing this with kids. You bring round his real parents, then maybe we can talk.”
She goes to close the door, but Dad hastily plants his foot in the gap, preventing her from doing so.
“We are his real parents,” he tells her.
“You’re only a child yourself!”
“Who’s that?” I ask, approaching the door. I can pick out the sound of a young lad, British going by his accent… and yet it sounds familiar.
“Just kids,” she replies, “Claiming they’re Leo’s parents.”
My heart skips a beat as I realise who the boy is that she’s been talking to.
“Evan?” I check, “Emily?”
“Hi there!” Dad waves, “I gather your Mum still hasn’t met vampires by the way she’s talking…”
“I’ve heard enough talk of vampires,” comes the typical response, “I suppose you’ve got your prosthetic fangs in place too.”
At this he raises an eyebrow. “So sure they’re fake, are you?” he observes coolly, before a cat-like roar escapes his throat at a volume that makes me catch fright. I’d seen him do that in play, but now he even looks like a tiger about to move in for the kill.
Damn, that was loud… do we have a wild panther stalking the streets?
“Still think we don’t exist?” Dad checks, now propped up against the doorframe polishing his garnished nails.
It seems to work enough for her manner to change, but not in the desired direction.
“And you expect me to let you in?!” she splutters.
My cue to move, methinks.
Stepping into her view, I eye her squarely as I cross my arms.
“If he’d wanted to kill you, he’d have done it by now,” I tell her, “But they prefer the bad guys.”
“Mum!” I protest, “I’ve met them already, they’re cool.”
She looks from me to the figures at the door. I can only silently pray that she realises that not all vamps are out to get you, even though the only ones who’ll hear me are the creatures hoping to gain entry.

*****

Apologies for the size of the parcel - would you believe that was the smallest I could find? *grumble*

Great update Sadie! I've been following this for a while. It was so sweet that Leo went to all that trouble to get a message to Alec. Out of interest, you seem to have quite a lot of gay sims in your game, was that intentional? One of my sims yesterday started making out with his male best friend, even though he is married, although I'm not sure which one started it. Very random. Anyway, the point of this post was to congratulate you on another fantastic update, so I'll leave it there. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! :D Um, yeah, about the amount of gay sims, a lot of the time it was but some of it wasn't. Gino was an accident (wrong settings on an auto bed), for instance, while others I just got story ideas that wouldn't work if they were straight. It may sound odd, but there's something about all the things that can happen with gay guys, that I like to explore in my stories and even relate to sometimes, maybe it's 'cause I've spoken with a lot of gay men IRL, who knows. :dontknow: Glad you're enjoying the story anyway :)

*bounces* Wonderful update Sadie, but NASTY cliffhanger.

LOL I know, I'm mean ;) Glad you enjoyed it :)

Wahaha She was afraid haha xD. Cool move thar roar xD. Damn Sadie I just can't help it I love ur stories :). But when Brotheley Love get another update? :P

Ok...ANd why have I only noticed the update now!!! *smacksself*
Anyways, totally love it as always *brings a bug cookie jar*
Love ya!!
p.s. I adore the new avatar ;)

Haha, thanks :) You are spoiling me with these cookies you know, good job I can't put on weight ;)

@matt: So would you be if a fifteen year old boy suddenly roared like a big cat ;) So nice to hear you like my stories, it's very encouraging to get so much good feedback, so thanks :) About Brotherly Love... I know, I'm sorry about that, inspiration's run dry for now, and I can't force it. On the other hand... I need to explain something at this point; I have the attention span of a pea, which might explain the gap in updates with that one - it also means I get hit with other ideas! *headdesk* Something completely different this time, nothing to do with my current hood, but instead borne from Strangetown! :D May well start posting that shortly, once I figure out a way to get these scrambled ideas into a decent written form, first chapter's pretty much done though.

Glad you're all enjoying it :) Methinks it's time to say hang it and improvise though, with the next chapter :-\

Apologies for the delay in getting this up. Also taking the chance to warn you, it might be a while before another. Leo finally left me alone, to the point where I'm out of ideas for the rest of the next chapter. Meanwhile, my head's been buried in Strangetown, where certain residents have been using my brain as a football :smt120 Translation: If I'm feeling brave enough, you'll see another story popping up here pretty soon... :angel:

Anyway, on to the chapter. Improvising abound this time sadly, you'll have to bear with me on the pictures, but overall they could be worse ;)

*****



I cling to him as though it’s our last time together, for it may well be. At any rate, I start to wonder if it’s worth wearing eyeliner as again I become aware of it smudging.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I tell him, speaking into his ear as I feel the warmth I’ve missed for so long.
“I’ve missed you too,” he says, pecking my cheek, before we indulge in a lingering kiss.
It is only Dad’s voice that interrupts our reunion, and it’s not even aimed at us, but at Alec’s Mum.
“What more do you need?” he asks, “Why do so many adults think we can’t feel real love?!”
“You’ve barely lived!” she claims, “You fall too fast, you get your heart broken…”
“That happened with Dad,” Alec explains glumly, “We moved here after they broke up.”
“I see,” Dad nods, before looking back at her. “My parents broke up too, and they’d been together for over thirty years. It’s not something you can foresee or prevent you know.”
“I know that,” she relents briefly, before deciding we may as well sit down if we’re going to talk properly. “Look, he’s thought he’s loved before…”
“That was different Mum,” he chips in, before clutching my hand. “This is different. I’ve really never felt this way before…”
Dad leans forward, knowing full well I’ll hear all he says, but he continues unmoved. “Leo’s a good kid,” he says, “Okay, he can be a cocky little… twerp when he wants to be, but still… he loves your son, he won’t hurt him.”
I snigger at the predicted put-down, but decide against lightening the mood before it’s ready to be lifted. Instead I remain silent, gripping Alec’s hand as I eye his Mum intently.
“I have been around a lot longer than all of you put together,” Mum tells her, “I know well the difference between infatuation and real love. I too have thought I loved, but only with Evan has that really been the case.” Emphasising her point, as she clutches Dad’s hand, she indicates her wedding ring. “Is this not a sign of our feelings for each other?” she tests, “We have been where these two are now, despite having three children and our own dwellings. We have had bother of our own to deal with, and now we have witnessed it once more.”
“Not that this is the time to ponder her use of language,” Dad remarks dryly, maybe answering her thoughts, “but Emily’s nearly two hundred years old. That’s why she talks differently.”
“Wow,” is all his Mum can reply with. I suspect her head’s still spinning from little things like Dad’s unprecedented lion’s roar earlier.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too when he told us,” Alec chips in. “It took some convincing before Kii would let him invite them to our party, but they’re nice guys.”
“Look,” Dad suggests, perhaps in a peace offering, “You can come round ours if you like, meet the rest of the brood…”
“Well,” she shrugs, “We were half-way through dinner…”
“So were we,” he replies, “There’s plenty to go round though. We may be kids, but we know how to run a home.”
“You don’t need to prove anything you know.”
“That’s not why I’m offering,” Dad says, but I suspect he’s lying. “Just a chance for us to know each other better, you know? Since these two care so much for each other…”
She looks between us while the grip on our hands remains firm. Eventually she smiles, rising from her seat as she accepts.



We get back home, and come to the mirror in the hallway. Now a lot happier, and with the mood much lighter, I notice Dad give a cheery wave at the reflections in the glass. I chuckle as my left hand lifts and knocks against what the mirror sees as an invisible wall, but looking back I know it to be his chest. He giggles as he clutches my fingers and pulls my hand about, both of us looking back at the mirror where it seems as though I’m playing tug-of-war with an unseen force.
Crack!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!”



It all happens at about the same time; a sickening crunch that seems to come from his hand, he screams, his Dad releases his fingers as though they were about to bite him. My stomach churns as I lay a hand on his shoulder, my heart racing as Evan starts to freak out.
“Oh Leo,” he whimpers, “I’m so sorry!”
Emily tries to get to his hand, which he now keeps pinned under his good arm. Meanwhile, not surprisingly, his screams had alerted his siblings, who slowly advance.
“What the hell…?” Jo asks.
All I can give is a clueless shrug, my attention focused on Leo and on trying to uncover his hand.
“We were just playing,” Evan utters, “I think I broke something…”
“Can someone retrieve the first-aid kit please?” Emily asks, still trying to get a look at his hand.
“Come on sweetie,” I coax him, “She’s trying to help, she can’t do that if you don’t show us your hand.”
Slowly but surely, as Luca arrives with the kit, Emily and I manage to pull his hand into view, although I’m starting to wish he’d kept it out of sight.
“Good Lord,” she breathes, gently examining his fingers and prompting a series of yelps as she does so.
All four of his fingers look as though they’d been caught in a hydraulic press. Misshapen, bruised, even bleeding from where I can see fragments of bone piercing the skin, and they’re already beginning to increase in size. For Evan to say he’d broken something is a gross understatement.
Luca approaches with the open box, and he also cringes on seeing his brother’s hand. I notice their Dad slowly walk away to what looks like their front room, with Jo going after him while their Mum treats Leo, who cries out intermittently at the slightest touch.
“We’d better get him to hospital,” Mum states, rummaging in her purse and producing her car keys. “Come on.”
“Oh, thank you,” Emily smiles gratefully as she accepts. Between us both, we get Leo into Mum’s car and we head off.



“What happened, Dad?”
Evan doesn’t look upwards to face his daughter, but instead mutters his reply while continuing to direct his distress into his fingers, fumbling as he speaks.
“We were just playing,” he explains, “I grabbed his fingers, pulling them about.” At this point, he demonstrates with his own hands. “All of a sudden I felt something give, and there was this horrible cracking sound even the humans could hear…”
“Ouch,” she winces.
“That’s not quite what he said.”
“So I heard!”
Evan leans forward, his hands pressed to his lips before he speaks again.
“I forgot my strength,” he utters, his mind reeling.
“It happens Dad…”
“Yeah, that’s what scares me.”
He then looks up at Jo, coming to a decision, both of them unaware at first of Luca’s presence, but neither alarmed when they notice.



“I want a cure, Jo.”
Jo and Luca exchange hesitant looks, but it’s him who speaks.
“You’ve always loved being able to do all this stuff,” Luca points out.
“Oh sure, at what price?” comes the reply, “I mangled your brother’s fingers tonight, in play! What’s gonna be next, your neck?!”
Luca lowers his head, uncertain of how to respond. Evan reaches into his back pocket and pulls a note from his wallet.
“That should be enough,” he remarks, looking between his children, “Can one of you promise you’ll get me one in the morning please?”
All they can do in reply is nod, quickly burying their relief on hearing his choice.



My left hand throbs like crazy. No longer the shooting, excruciating pain I felt earlier, but enough to keep my face scrunched into an expression of discomfort. We all sit in an awkward silence while awaiting a free doctor, which happens sooner than we anticipate. A tanned male doctor with brown hair glances in our direction, and engages in what becomes a heated discussion with the receptionist before turning to face us.
“Leo Sedoni?”
I rise expectantly, as does Alec. We both follow him into an examination room, but as we all sit down and we see him close-up, neither of us can help the bewildered frown that plays upon our faces for a moment.



“So, what happened here?” he asks, a question I have to keep from aiming at him as I remember we’re here for a reason.
“Oh, well, both my parents are vampires,” I begin, more to explain the situation.
“Right,” he acknowledges, unmoved. He looks familiar too, another reason for me to not be surprised at his indifference.
“I was messing about with Dad in front of the mirror,” I continue, “He grabbed my fingers, just in play…”
“Me, and probably Mum too, heard this crack,” Alec supplies, “Evan thinks he “broke something”, I’d say crushed would be more accurate…”
“Evan?” the doctor checks.
I nod in reply, waiting for him to finish his notes as I sense there’s more to come.
“Evan’s your Dad I take it?”
Again I nod, wondering if this is going anywhere.
“I remember Evan,” he muses, “We went to the same school. My brother Rowan’s engaged to his twin sister.”
“Oh right,” I acknowledge, holding out my hand as directed before pondering aloud. “He mentioned Aunt Amy…”
“Mm,” he muses as he unravels Mum’s handiwork, “So he’s still a vampire, huh?”
The pressure on my damaged hand causes me to wince. Once the dressing’s removed, I see for the first time, the true extent of the damage Dad unwittingly inflicted, a sight that causes even the doctor to flinch.
“Damn, he made a good job of it, too,” he observes, laying out my hand to investigate further. Testing the movement of my fingers does nothing more than trigger a pained yelp, the nerves in my hand reacting badly to the sharp pain registered by a routine exam.
“We’ll have to get this X rayed,” he deduces, glancing at Alec, and perhaps noting the way he’s been caressing my shoulder the whole time as he speaks again. “When your boyfriend said crushed, he plainly wasn’t kidding.”
He applies a temporary splint to keep my fingers still, but as he does so I take the chance to ask a question of my own.
“What happened to your eye?”
He gives a sad smile as he works, disdain showing through in his voice as he explains.
“I happen to like guys too,” he begins casually, almost indignantly, “I’m not the only gay doctor here, and I’m not the first to feel it, but I was in the closet for a reason…”
“Oh boy,” I groan, already guessing what’s happened. He gives a knowing sideways glance as he finishes applying the dressing.
“This guy happened to be one of the guys I used to go to school with, one of them who outed me too. Thought I was feeling him up while treating an injury, gave me a nice reminder why I never make the first move.”
“Thought it might be something like that,” I growl, not hiding the anger bubbling inside.
He raises an eyebrow accompanied by a wry smile, before applying an elevation sling.
“Yes,” he muses, “My boss advised me to take the rest of the night off to simmer down, but… what with seeing you two in each other’s arms earlier, it was like a tonic I guess.”
“Know what you mean,” Alec says, “You know you’re not the only one, yet it always feels that way.”
“Keep that raised,” he advises in a change of subject, and decides to lead us to the X ray department. “I need to grab an ice-pack, there’s one on the way.” So saying, he allows himself a mild wince as he clutches at his eye. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Poor bloke,” Alec mutters as we watch him go.
“Yeah,” I agree as we enter the room, my mood dropping through the floor as I crash into the waiting seat.



“Great,” I mutter in dismay, wincing as I feel another painful twinge in my injured joints.
“Has this never happened before?” Alec asks.
I silently shake my head in reply. “Nope,” I add, “I’d never even seen him roar like that before. A playful snarl here and there…”
“He just wanted to tell Mum his kind exist,” he smiles reassuringly.
“Oh, I know,” I agree, “It just spooked me a little.”
“Hold on, roar?” he checks, “That was him?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I thought we had a wild cat loose or something!” he chuckles.
I snigger in reply. “You think that’s bad,” I tell him, “Better stay indoors on a full moon.”
“Werewolves too?” he groans.
“’Fraid so,” I reply, “If you haven’t seen or heard any yet, well…”
“Leo?”
My head turns at the doctor’s voice, and I begin to rise from my seat.
“Better get back to the others,” I tell Alec, before pecking his lips. “See you in a bit.”

The X ray doesn’t take long, and before I know it I’m back in the waiting room with the rest of them.
“Everything alright?” his Mum asks.
“I hope so,” I tell her, “The look on that doctor’s face when he saw them though…”
“Yeah, so Alec said,” she replies. Mum remains quiet, as though lost in thought. I decide after a while to either interrupt or add to whatever’s being chewed over in her mind.
“That guy knows Dad,” I remark idly, “Went to school with him. So did the lady who made me over, funnily enough.”
“Oh, really?” Alec quizzes with interest.
“Yeah,” I reply, “Emilia, her name is. Mentioned that I’d end up older than my parents – I gather a lot of these guys have been nagging or hoping for him to take a cure.”
“Huh,” he muses, “Got that impression from Doctor Staropoli too, just from the way he was talking.”
I peer at him, intrigued. “Where’d you find out his name?” I ask.
“From his name badge,” he shrugs innocently in reply.
“You’re more observant than me,” I smile, before pondering his appearance. “Come to think of it, he looks familiar.”
“He attended our weddings,” Mum pipes up, “It was part of a double ceremony, the other being his older brother and Evan’s mother.”
“Marco!” I recall happily, “That’s why he looks familiar – they look so damned alike!”
“So it was a double wedding?” Alec’s Mum asks, I suspect more to make conversation while we wait.
“That is correct,” Mum replies, “We are not a wealthy family, even less so then. Those two are, and when they heard of our engagement they invited us to join them.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, “Marco’s the guy who got me dressing up in that fancy white suit.” So saying, I give a theatrical shudder while Alec laughs.
“Aw, you poor thing,” comes his teasing reply as he strokes my hair. “You look good in a suit!”
I wear a grin as I look back at him, my good hand upon his face.
“You look better,” I tell him, my smile taking on a mischievous air as my eyes light up. “Suits you!”
The Aussies groan, while Mum and I giggle.
“That was awful!” he complains. I’m on a roll however, as much as I can be given my predicament.
“No it wasn’t!” I counter, “That was… almost bad. I can do worse!”
“I know!”
I look back in mock offense. “You’re not meant to agree!” I protest, prompting another fit of giggles. I have to stop though, when my fingers tell me off for jerking them about in my merriment. Doctor Staropoli approaches with a tell-tale large envelope to beckon us to another room, and this time all four of us follow as the mood becomes sombre once more.

ooh! update - me loves!