Out of Step

xv. hot, wet, and soapy

"I'm going to take a shower, any of you nerds need to use the bathroom?" Alana asked, leaning in the doorway of her brother's room and looking between Ian, Alex, and Owen. They each shook their heads and she nodded, going to turn away.

"What's on your arm?" Ian asked before she could leave. She looked down to where he was gesturing to, the angry red mark left behind from the other night with Emmett.

"Nothing. Probably from a hair tie or something," she said, taring her eyes away and avoiding eye contact with the boys. "You know how tight those things can get."

She didn't wait for a response from them and soon enough they could hear the water starting in the bathroom.

"Betcha it's from Emmett," Ian muttered, saying what they were all thinking. "We've all seen the marks those hair tie traps leave, and they never bruise."

Alex breathed angrily out through his nose, pressing harder on the buttons on his controller. "I just wish she'd fucking listen to one of us."

"You know she's not going to listen to us," Owen said, his eyes trained on the TV as he tried hard not to think of Emmett and Alana together or even of what Alana was doing right now. "She's as stubborn as you."

"Hey!" Alex paused the game, much to the chagrin of Owen, and was ready to fight the statement.

"He's not wrong," Arista said as she and Laila appeared in the doorway. "It's one of the worser qualities of you two as twins. Personally, I think your twinness actually makes it stronger."

"As crazy as that sounds," Ian said, reaching over to unpause the game. "She's right."

"No Lucas today?" Laila asked and Arista nudged her and sent her a look. "Err, I mean.... Well –"

"And here we always thought you guys were coming over to visit us," Alex deadpanned. "Or better yet, your good friend. You know the one, right? My sister of course."

"Right. Of course. Where is Alana?"

"The shower," Owen said, a bit too quickly and Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

"Could you like stop thinking about my sister in the shower," he said, reaching for his controller. He had already died once since Ian had unpaused the game. "That would be greatly appreciated."

"I wasn't – why would I even – I mean – err...."

"Listen," Alex said, cutting him off and rolling his eyes. "I would rather have her be with you too, over having sex with tha –"

"They – They're having sex?" Owen asked. Laila's eyebrows rose up, while Arista pursed her lips in thought before nodding and muttering, "yeah, probably. Especially knowing him."

"What?" Alex said, now distracted as he leaned toward the TV and focused on not dying. "I don't fucking know. Ew.

Owen scratched at the back of his neck and muttered, "You're the one who brought it up."

Alex waved a hand, barely paying attention at this point. "And you're the one who's completely and utterly in love with her."

"I – I'm not – I mean – well.... It's nothing."

"Nothing," Laila snorted. "That's an understatement."

"I just mean – I'm not in love with her!"

"Who aren't you in love with?" Alana asked from where she leaned in the doorway. She was wearing shorts and a sports bra, using a towel to dry her hair and Owen couldn't help but to stare at her. "You got a crush on someone? I want to hear about this mystery girl."