Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Title: Fever Dream Pt.  02


Summary: More of the twins past is revealed.  To better days...


Keywords: inc,fic



   Pt.  2 The Best Day Ever

   CH.  6

   Stella turned over to glance at her phone on her nightstand.  4:00 AM.

   God Damnit!, she thought to herself in frustration.

   Sleep had eluded her for over 3 hours since she had leapt up to console
Jackson back to sleep.  She got close a couple of times, but seconds before
she was about to slip into real slumber, her body would jolt her awake. 
Just a simple twitch, that had originated in her hips, but it kicked her
awake every time.  This was distressing to her since her body hadn't
reacted this way in ten years.  Not since a time she had done her very best
never to think about; about the time he had disappeared.  She didn't sleep
back then, not without aid of powerful sleep medications.  When she tried,
her body would kick her back awake, over and over again, all night long. 
It also made her sweat, a lot, her body's reaction to what it viewed, no
doubt, as extreme emotional stress.  Forget that she kicked off all the
covers, except the thin sheet, and that she slept in only the thinnest of
t-shirts she owned and a pair of scant, lace panties, it didn't seem to
matter.  With a frustrated sigh, she quickly got out of bed and stood up in
the middle of her room.

   She stretched a little, then silently tip-toed towards Jacksons room,
stopping in the middle of his room.  He was on his back, one hand behind
his head and pillow, the other on his stomach, his legs spread out at odd
angles, one crooked, one straight out.  It seems that he too had gotten hot
and kicked all his covers off.  No matter how angry and resentful she felt
towards him, deep down she couldn't stop thinking about how different he
looked now.  He had clearly spent a good portion of the last ten years in
various gyms.  He was bigger, firmer and much more defined in every single
place she could see, which was quite a bit at the moment.  He just looked
so...solid.

   God Damn, he's beautiful, she couldn't stop herself from thinking.

   Not that he hadn't been perfect to her before.  He had been a great deal
thinner, but no less gorgeous.  But his beauty was different then.  He was
softer, sensitive, lithe.  More like her, but in male form.  It was as if
God had created his physical appearance to match the gentle, kind spirit
housed within.  It seemed now that God saw fit to update his work with the
changing inner workings within his creation.  As it seemed Jackson had been
through difficult, rough things in life, in harsh places, forced to do
truly difficult things, his body had changed with his experiences.  He
seemed more guarded, silent, rough, and his body had been sculpted to show
it.  Just as his heart was now scarred from whatever happened over there,
she now saw the subtle signs of physical scars through the darkness of the
night.  A place that looked to be from something violent on his right
shoulder caught her attention.  Something had pierced him.  Someone had
tried to take him away from her at some point, for good.

   She was lost in thought, now somehow standing at his bedside over him,
watching him when he suddenly twitched.  It made her jump and her hand flew
up to her mouth just in time to cover her yelp.  She noticed that, like her
twitches from tonight, and ten years ago, it originated from his hips, and
made his entire body jump.  His eyes flashed open, but only for a second,
as they slowly closed.  Those med's must be strong, she thought.  Was that
what she looked like when it happened to her?  As she asked herself that
question, another realization came to her: He twitched too!  She began to
put some things together in her mind.  Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence or
just a genetic trait.  Maybe their bodies subconsciously longed to be near
each other.  I mean think about it, mine started once he left, and only
years of therapy made it go away, and now all of a sudden, on the night he
appears, its back, she thought to herself.  I mean, we snuck into each
other's beds every single night since we were toddlers...and that was even
before we started to feel...things...like that for each other, and not ONCE
did we twitch awake like that in all the time.

   She wanted to try something.

   She went back to her bedside table, grabbed her phone, checking to make
sure it was entirely charged, and then went back to his room.  Once back to
his bedside, she tried lightly nudging him awake.  Nothing.

   "Jack?" she whispered, pushing against his chest a little more
forcefully.  Nothing.  Slow and steady breathing.  Good Lord, maybe they're
too strong.

   She set an alarm for an hour, put the ringer on low volume, so it would
wake her and not him, and then crawled into bed with him.  Not worrying so
much about waking him up through his sleep med's, she laid herself against
his side, nestling into him, putting her left arm behind her, with her
right arm draped across his chest, even snaking her leg across his leg. 
She laid her head on his chest, face in his neck.  She closed her eyes and
took a long, deep breath of him in.  Instinctively, as she slowly breathed
out, she squeezed him as tight as she could, loving the feeling of his
solid form in her arms.  Letting her emotions get the best of her, she
leaned in and gave his neck a long, soft kiss.  Then another.  She gave
another, her emotions and exhaustion clouding her judgement more and more
as each kiss became more moist, and her lips parting farther each time they
met his skin.  Just as she was about to lay another long, wet kiss on his
neck, he shifted in his sleep.  She froze in place as his left arm came
from underneath his pillow and wrapped around her shoulders and his body
turned itself towards and into her, his other arm wrapping around her
waist, lightly pressing her against him.  Once he was done shifting, his
breathing became steady and deep again, and she cocked her head up to
inspect his face.  He still had the same furrowed brow, same serious face
in his sleep he had just a few moments ago.

   She repositioned herself, wrapping herself around him tighter, her arm
now completely snaked around him, her leg now completely over his groin,
and nestled her face deep into his neck.  She took half a dozen deep
breaths, and in almost no time at all sleep found her.  Peaceful, dreamless
sleep.

   CH.  7

   "Wake up, Birthday boy!" A soft, playful whisper said as a pair of soft
lips trailed gentle kisses up his neck.  As he forced his eyes open, he
took stock of what, or who, was in his arms.  As he squeezed his arms
around her, pulling her into him while she wrapped her arms around his
neck, planting her kisses around his jaw towards his lips, he couldn't hold
back a satisfied smile.  "I'm up, Birthday girl," he answered with a smile,
but anything else he wanted to say would have to wait as Stella pounced on
him, straddling on top of him, crushing her entire body against his as her
hungry lips finally found what they'd waited all morning to find.  He put
his hands on her hips, gripping with increasing intensity as she began to
grind herself against the hardness his body had harbored underneath his
underwear in the night.  He felt things heating up, both of them starting
to let their hands search and roam over each other, lost in a kiss neither
wanted to ever end.  Lips opened and closed, interlocked, and slid against
each other, tongues playfully slipping in and out of each other's reach in
a teasing dance both seemed created to play with other.

   Just as her hands had started to travel down to the waist band of his
boxer-briefs, and his hands had each taken as big a handful of
barely-covered ass-cheek as they could grip, they both gave a simultaneous
moan into each other's mouth to signal their satisfaction with what the
other was doing.  This made both start giggling uncontrollably together,
enjoying the truly serendipitous moment with the one who meant most.  Both
thought, at the exact same moment, that they knew utter joy, the kind of
joy that nothing, and no one, could ever take away.  It was their 18th
Birthday today, and they had been impatiently waiting for this day for
almost all 18 of those years.  The moment was brought to a halt, however,
as Jack suddenly remembered that it was their Birthday, and that they could
in fact, be discovered at any moment.

   "Wait, Stel!  You need to go and get some clothes on, and get off me. 
You know she is gonna come in here any minute and start singing and stuff!"
he said, his eyes now wide and holding her off.

   "So what!  We're 18 now.  We can do whatever we want.  That means we can
just...be together now.  For real!" she said, trying to keep her feelings
from being hurt.

   "It's my birthday and I want to be with you, whenever and wherever I
want to," she said, her voice getting more serious, and Jack could see her
starting to ramp up.  She had been becoming more prone to letting her
feelings take precedence over her reason since they finally kissed on their
16th birthday, finding out how they truly felt.  He knew that they had very
little time, but he also knew that he had to find the right time to try to
interrupt and make her see sense, or she would be really upset, and it was
her birthday...he didn't want that.

   "I'm tired of hiding Jack," she started, her eyes welling with tears. 
"I am tired of going to school with you every day, and all our friends get
to go to their girlfriends and boyfriends and hug them, and hold their
hands, and kiss them, hell, even fucking make out between classes, or under
the bleachers.  They get to just be young, and themselves and be together,
and we don't.  I hate this.  I hate that I can't kiss you before I go into
class.  I hate that I can't hold your hand at lunch.  Jack, Kara is
convinced I'm LESBIAN, because I've never had a boyfriend or talked about
any 'boys I like'."

   "But we're not even in school anymore?" he said.

   "You know what I mean, Jackson!" she almost shouted.  "Just listen to
me!"

   He remained silent as she unloaded her feelings.  He was aware of most
of them, but she was always such a calm, cool customer with her feelings,
even with him sometimes.

   "Imagine what they think of you," she added, wiping her tears away.

   There was really no question about what guys at school thought of his
orientation.  He'd been told it, and picked on for it his whole life.  As
he considered this, she looked down at him and he saw the dawn of
realization on her face about the effect what she said would have on him.

   "Oh, I'm sorry baby," she said, quickly cupping his face and kissing
him. "I shouldn't have said that.  Fuck them!  You are ten times the man
they are.  They are just jealous because they want me and they know they'll
never even get close.  I mean, they don't know why...but still...they don't
understand us, Jack...No one does." she said.

   "I mean, when we finally have our...y'know...first time...any first
time...blowjob, hand job, sex...I can't even tell my friends about it. 
Everything with us is always a secret.  It just isn't fair..." She
finished, and with that, she hung her head.

   "I know, Stel." He finally said.  "I wish for all the same things.  I
don't like keeping this secret any more than you do.  Our friends are gonna
be here, and we are gonna be in the pool, and the hot tub, or movies in the
living room, or whatever...and they are all gonna pair off and grab
blankets and...whatever, do stuff with each other, and you and I have to
just sit there and be this silent secret...hide that we are even holding
fucking hands.  I'm tired of sneaking too.  I'm tired of looking over our
shoulders too, Stella." He said.  He had hoped that showing he felt the
same would calm her, but it only seemed to strengthen her resolve, as she
launched into it once again.

   "All because in the last couple centuries, someone decided that it had
to just be bad!  That there is something wrong with me!  I have a 140 IQ, I
have straight A's, I am going Ivy League!  I am just a normal girl, except
for I want to be with you, and that alone makes me a freak?  Fuck That!"
she said, starting to get out of hand.  She would have kept going but Jack
had seen his opening, having heard enough.  He placed both hands on her
head and she made immediate eye-contact, both having done this ritual
hundreds of times.

   "Control." He said simply.

   She took three deep breathes, her eyes moist again.

   "I'm tired of being in control, Jack." She wept.

   "I know.  But trust me right now, Control." He said, his voice less
matter-of-fact and more gentle.

   "Cool...Control," She said, getting herself under control.

   "I want the same thing," he said.  "...but this isn't the way.  We need
a plan.  We need to make things clear...everything.  Our feelings, our
goals, our ambitions.  If you're serious about us, then let's make a plan.
A serious one.  Tomorr-"

   "Tonight!" she demanded.

   "Ok," he said, smiling and kissing her before continuing.  "Fine,
tonight.  Tonight, we can start making a plan, after the party is over.  If
we make a good plan, and both agree to it, then I'll gladly tell anyone and
everyone, right next to you."

   "Promise?" she asked, biting her lip.

   "I promise, Stella."

   At this she smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him an
intense, passionate kiss.  He put his hands on her bare ribs, feeling up to
her lace bra, then going back down to her lace-clad hips, causing her to
physically respond by scooting up her crotch to right on top of his,
clutching her body against him.  They resumed the dance their mouths had
been making before their talk, her hands tangling in his hair while his
took another two large handfuls of ass-cheek, gripping them tightly,
causing her to moan into his mouth.  She then began grinding and gyrating
herself down along his hardness between them in earnest.

   "Stella," he managed to gasp between kisses.  "You know we can-"

   "Please!" She gasped, not bothering to hide the absolute desperation in
her voice.  "Please, baby...for my birthday, let me..." She continued,
kissing fervently all over his face and down his neck.  "...I locked the
door, I promise...baby, just let me..." but instead of finishing her
sentence, she ran her moistening panties up, and then down his upturned
length, both covered by thin layers of fabric, to show what she meant.  The
effect made all of his defiant resolve wither away.  They sat there, him
propping himself up by his hands behind him, while she straddled him,
gyrating, grinding and sliding her sex up and down the entire length of his
covered manhood.  It would have felt better had he not had cotton covering
him, but he was just grateful to have the most gorgeous, intelligent,
caring, simply amazing girl in the world all over him.

   As if reading his mind, he suddenly felt Stella loosen her embrace
around his neck, and slide her hands down to the waistband of his
boxer-briefs, deftly, yet gently slipping her hands inside.

   "Stella!" he started, but whatever he was about to scold, once she
raised her hips up, and her hands slithered down and wrapped around him, he
thought no more.

   "Please baby..." She again whispered, knowing full well the effect it
would have on him, knowing she would get her way.

   "...I just wanna pull it out a little...I just wanna feel it against
me...against my panties baby...please!?" she begged in her whispered,
throaty way.

   He'd cave, she knew it.

   She began barely stroking her hands as softly and gently as she could
along his length, merely running her fingers over it, feeling it twitch
under her lightest touch.  Any minute now.

   "...Of course, baby...Ok...anything for you..." he croaked out, now
desperate for her touch.  She smiled, and pulled the waistband down and
underneath his package.  She then resumed her position, sliding her wet,
satin-clad nether against his entire length, taking it slow and tender,
making sure to get every inch.

   "See sweetie...see how good that feels...I've wanted this for so long,
baby..." She coaxed to him, their eyes locked onto each other, her arms
back around his neck.

   "God...Stel...Ohhh God..."

   "See how good it feels...when you give me what I want...I just wanna
make you feel good baby...Don't I make you feel good?" she whimpered now.

   "Yes...yes baby...you do..."

   "How good baby?" she begged, picking up her pace, moving up and down
him. She was now trying to drive him up the wall, but she couldn't ignore
the burning all over her skin, throughout every inch of her.

   "...So good baby...I swear..."

   "...Oh God, baby...You feel so good, so hard...You're getting me close,
just being against it...are you getting close?"

   "Fuck yes baby...So close...I'm gonna..." he started, but stopped,
concentrating on her expertly executed movements, running herself gently,
and yet so firmly against him, seemingly a natural.  He broke eye contact
to look her up and down, marveling at his life's worth of good fortune. 
She was any mans, every mans, wet dream.  She had to be.  Her hair, raven
black, messily put up, her red satin bra hiding her breasts, her long,
lithe and yet toned body riding up and down him.  Her ab muscles tensed and
moved as she rode along him, his eyes hypnotized by them until they rested
on her matching lace and satin panties, her small tuft of hair and defined
lips almost completely visible because of the moisture her body was
producing for him.

   "You're gonna what baby...what are you gonna do?" she begged, her hectic
pace now reaching an even faster tempo, her need for release almost
consuming her.  "huh...What are you gonna do..."

   "...I'm gonna...Oh god Stella, don't stop...I'm so close..." he panted.

   "Close to what baby...tell me...tell me honey, it's ok...you can say
it..." she pleaded, feeling herself dangerously close to her breaking
point, sweat now starting to bead all over her body from the effort she put
in, moving her body in both a way that he would like to watch and that
would make her reach a height she now desperately needed to reach.  She
wanted to be totally open and on display for him.

   "...I'm gonna...cum...baby..."

   "yeah, baby?" she asked, her face now showing how desperate she was to
hear what she was doing to him.  "Yeah...you're gonna cum for me?" she
gasped, verging on the precipice of her climb.

   "Yeah...I'm gonna cum, Stella!" he finally gasped.

   "Go ahead, baby...please...show me." She panted, finally at the top.

   "Oh GOD!" He cried.

   Then, she felt the explosion within her, shooting through her body like
a tidal wave, radiating across her skin, down her arms and legs, up her
back, neck, her scalp...washing over every sense she knew...she was
absolutely on fire, her entire body shuddering and convulsing, seemingly
uncontrollably...then she felt him.  He'd grabbed himself, his hand a
flurry of motion, and it grabbed her attention down to his work.  She saw
it throb once, then before she could react it started shooting streams of
him...all over her.  One large one went right across her chest, some even
on her neck and chin, the next across her entire abdomen, still more spurts
landing all over her panties, and even on himself.  He was moaning and his
face was strained from the release he felt, and she smiled, watching him
work.  She didn't know why, but coming down off of her own release, she was
so proud of him at that moment, releasing with no reluctance, no shame,
just completely open and himself, reveling in the orgasm she had provided
him.  She looked down, and he was still stroking it up, coaxing the
remnants out, watching it dribble down and fall, landing on her wet
panties. God, I love him so much!

   "God baby, look at you...Thank you so much," She whispered, grabbing his
face, kissing him with intensity and purpose.  She broke the kiss, and he
looked in her eyes.  She might have known, somewhere deep down for their
whole lives, but at this moment she knew.  She loved him.  They had still
never said the words out loud to each other, but she knew.  She would
always love him.  It's always been them, and it always would be.

   "Happy Birthday, Jackson!" She said, beaming at him.  "Now, we gotta
hurry up and shower before Mom comes!"

   She quickly jumped off him and trotted back to her room towards the
shower, the smile of a cat who'd devoured the canary spread across her face
the whole way.  Jack was left sitting on his bed, frozen except for the
shudders still spreading throughout his body, his breathing slowly coming
back to a steady rhythm.  He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and
basked in his post-orgasm glow.  Sure, they'd been making out every day
since they were 16, but she just never got old.  Perhaps it had been
because they always had to wait until every other soul was out of sight,
and there was as little risk of discovery as possible, but truth be told,
it was a miracle they had made it to graduation and the start of Summer
break, because whenever they were alone, they just couldn't keep their
hands off each other.  Every open opportunity that came, they seized it,
lips locked and in each other's arms.  Hell, he thought, this is
practically 'our' bed anyway...and it was true.  They had been sleeping in
each other's beds since infancy, but their parents put a stop to it when
they were both 14.  That night had not gone well.  They fought, screamed,
begged and cried at their parents for hours that night, practically until
daylight.  It broke their parent's hearts, their mother even on the verge
of caving at a few points, but they stood firm and won out.  Jack nor
Stella had recognized or realized anything romantic between them at that
time, they just really were 'inseparable'.  It had been that way since,
again, infancy.

   Then one day, after a double dentist appointment where they both needed
anesthesia for work done, they had kissed.  When they woke up and
remembered, they tried kissing again, to see if it was just the drugs, even
though they were both individually certain how they felt about the other.
Since that day, for all intents and purposes, they were boyfriend and
girlfriend, albeit secret ones.  They then worked out a system.  They were
both analytical thinkers by nature, and so they laid down an intricate
groundwork for both how they would be with each other and how to keep from
getting caught.  A series of contingencies, cover stories, alarms and it
was really a piece of cake, and it had worked flawlessly up until now.  The
one big rule they both agreed to was no sex until they were 18.  Oral,
vaginal, anal, hand stuff...none of it.  At first it was out of fear, then
it was out of routine, then it was just out of wanting to see if what they
felt was beyond anything physical.  Could their unique sibling bond
continue to evolve, grow and mature into something...else?  Something
bigger and deeper?

   As he was lost in these thoughts and memories, the jostling, and then
opening of the bedroom door caused him to jump, quickly covering his lower
half with his sheets before whoever it was would see him splayed out. 
"Happy Birthday Carter babies!" his mother practically shouted as she came
in.

   Locked the door my fucking ass, he seethed to himself.

   "Stella beat you to the shower honey?  You two better hurry up and get
ready, you have a big day and I already made breakfast downstairs.  Now
come on honey!  Let's get to it!" his mother said, trying to sound both
authoritative and enthusiastic.  And he did.  After Stella got out of the
shower, trying to maul him into a 'round two' in the bathroom, he
successfully fought her off, citing his frustration at her for lying about
the door, then showered, dressed, and they both headed downstairs, giving
each other a quick kiss before they were forced to spend the rest of the
day performing their 'act'.

   CH.  8

   They entered the front room, towards the kitchen and were met with
smiling faces and birthday hugs.  Martha and George were bringing out the
last of the special breakfast spread, with Paul already chowing into his
meal, head down and shoveling as much bacon into his mouth as he could. 
Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and waffles with 5 different kinds of syrup
were on the table.  Fruit juices, milk, coffee, muffins...they had tried to
make today truly special for their youngest babies' first day as legal
adults.  Everyone laughed, ate, drank...and were merry.  George looked
around at his family, everyone busy either eating or talking happily to
each other.  It truly warmed his heart to see.  Then he focused mainly on
his twins.  They couldn't be more different inside, at least from what he
could tell usually, and yet he had never seen, read about, or heard about
twins, or any siblings for that matter, that were quite like them with each
other.  From the day they were born, they were never apart if they could
help it.  There was probably an explanation in some academic corner of the
world to explain them, but he was perfectly happy watching them grow up
like this.  And watch them he did throughout the morning, even as their
school friends started to arrive for their all-day hang out party.

   They had most of the same friends, even though their personalities were
so different, with Jack being a quiet, soft, and sensitive boy, nothing
like he had been growing up, and yet that had made him his 'favorite' kid.
Somewhere deep in his heart, he liked to think that any and all goodness,
kindness and beauty he had had within his genes, all funneled into Jack,
leaving out the gruff, alpha-male bullshit.  Stella seemed to get a lot of
that instead.  Stella could be sweet, and kind, but she kept it to herself
mostly.  She was cool, calculated, yet bold and confident...and yet the
moment Jack was threatened in any way, she reacted like a bull elephant,
physically or emotionally trampling any in her path.  Sometimes he wondered
to himself if the tables were ever turned, and Stella needed the
saving...what would Jackson do?  He hoped he'd never find out, and he was
confident that he never would.  Stella could take care of herself.

   Watching them though, he thought to himself, it was kind of like
watching the nature channel.  Even in this simple social situation, they
almost...moved in sync.  They might not even realize it most of the time,
but they seemed to always make sure that one was never too far out of eye
or ear shot of the other.  Jack would find a friend of his out near the
pool, and within minutes, Stella would be found a stone's throw away,
finding one of her friends who was in a good position for her to,
subconsciously, monitor Jack.  He wasn't sure if he'd ever noticed it
before, because it was so subtle.  They didn't even seem to be aware of it,
it looked so instinctive.  Jack would follow his friends into the pool, and
not 5 minutes later, Stella had talked her friends into throwing their t
shirts on the lounge chairs and were in the pool too.  She didn't even look
over at him a whole lot.  Sure, every so often they would look over at each
other and smile, but they'd always been like that.  Best friends are like
that.

   "Hey Sweet pea...you ever noticed how Jack and Stel are always...near
each other?" he asked his wife, tentatively, as she was busy setting out
plastic cutlery on the counter.

   "Honestly George, they are 18 years old today, and you pick now to
notice they are close?" she tisked.

   He laughed out loud at this.  "No babe, I mean...they even...move
together...like they are a...2-wolf pack or something...it's really
interesting actually." He mused, more to himself than to anyone else.

   "George!  Don't just lean there and stare at them their whole party! 
How are they supposed to feel comfortable and free to have fun with their
friends if we're just gonna be in here, spying and rubber-necking the whole
day?"

   "Yeah...you're right honey...sorry.  I'll go finish getting ready and we
will head out and leave them to it." he said, as she quickly trailed behind
him, towards the stairs.

   "I still don't like the idea of just leaving a bunch of eighteen year
olds to their own devices all evening..." he mused.

   "Now honey, you know that Paul will be here the whole time..." she
placated.

   "That isn't saying much baby...he isn't even a handful of years older
than the rest of 'em." He answered.

   "Honey, he is a very responsible twenty-one-year-old...And a cop now to
boot!  You got your way!  You got one of them to follow yo-"

   "Oh Hush!  I never tried to make any of them follow after me, Martha. 
You know that.  He's wanted to be one since he was six!" He snapped back at
her, annoyed at the implication.

   "I'm sorry, sweetheart," Martha cooed, rubbing his back as they walked
up the stairs.  "I only meant that all these kids are gonna be in good
hands, that's all."

   They freshened up, grabbed their keys, and were out the door to a
hopefully relaxing evening, just the two of them.

   Once he heard his parents leave, Paul shuffled down the stairs, through
the house and out onto the back porch, taking a seat in the shade, where he
could both enjoy his book and see most of the grounds and pool area.  He
didn't want to intrude, and he wasn't the sort of older brother to crack
down on the kids, watching them like a hawk or anything.  "You're not there
to ruin all their fun Paul!  You understand me?  Just keep an eye on them,
especially the twins, and make sure everyone is safe," His mother had
commanded him, the night prior.

   "And watch Jackson!" his father chimed in.  "I know it hasn't happened
to him in a while, at least around the neighborhood, but if you see any of
the bigger guys getting on his case at all, you step in...BEFORE Stella!"
he added, his eyes narrowed and deadly serious.  "It's his birthday, and
you're his older brother.  Maybe if he sees you there with him, he'll pluck
up the nerve to finally stand up for himself."

   "George..." Martha spat, cutting daggers at him.

   "I'm not harping on him, sweet pea honest.  I know how sweet he is." He
assured her, and he truly meant it.  He didn't want to change a hair on his
head.  "But this world can be cruel, and it takes full advantage of people
like Jackson.  I just don't want him to get hurt."

   "Dad, I promise he will be fine.  They all will.  I'll keep an eye on
him, and if something like that happens, I'll be there." Paul assured them.

   "You'd better!" George said, pushing his finger into Paul's chest. 
"We-"

   "...  'protect each other, no matter what'...yeah I know Dad, trust me.
Everything will be fine." Paul said, closing the discussion.

   Everyone seemed to be having a good time.  About 3 dozen kids were
there, from either the twin's school or from the neighborhood, having a fun
summer party.  Some swam, some sat in the hot-tub, some had even paired off
and were talking, holding hands, making out...most were thoroughly enjoying
themselves.  Attention began to draw to a pair of kids, a boy and girl, who
were not having a good time.  Paul, as well as the twins and whomever they
were hanging out with all turned their heads to the commotion coming from
the lawn.

   "...I don't know what you expected, coming here today.  We broke up
like...a week ago," a tall, thin blonde in a swim suit said to a rather
beefy-looking young man.

   "Yeah but...you never even gave me a reason.  I mean, what the fuck
happened?  We've been together since sophomore year.  What did I do?" he
pleaded, which he didn't seem particularly practiced at.

   "you didn't do anything, Tyler.  It's just...look, people are looking at
us...can we not do this now, please?"

   Paul sat up and smiled.  Not because he liked watching uncomfortable
situations, or because he wanted to watch someone in pain, but because he
knew exactly what came next.  It was the classic trap, one that all teenage
or young adult guys fell into at least once in their life, at least most
did.  Graduation happened, and she was probably going off to some school,
and he was either not going and she wanted a clean break, or maybe they
even got into the same school, but because she was about to 'embark upon a
new life journey' or some shit, and she wanted to be free and single to
meet someone else.  In the end, it really didn't matter.  It would play out
the same, regardless.  He had tried his hand to win her back, and she had
refused.  Now an audience was present, and he could react one of two ways:
turn and hang his head in defeat, with his dignity intact and possibly give
himself time to mend his 'broken heart' and find he was probably better
off, or choose his ego, challenge her to explain herself in front of
everyone, and he'd only get embarrassed and humiliated, only instead of it
being a quiet affair, now everyone of his friends and hers would see,
making him look like an ass.  He chuckled because they always chose the
second one...and it was always hilarious.

   "No!  I want to know, Brooke!  I deserve to know why you threw us away!"
he shouted.

   "Tyler!" she hissed, getting red-faced with embarrassment.

   "No!  Tell me!" he said again.

   "I don't want to be with you anymore, Tyler!  Ok?  I broke up with you
because I'm leaving for Stanford, and I am over this!  Sorry, but move on!
It's Over!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face, and without another
word, she ran off into the house, a handful of her girlfriends following
close behind.  A humiliated and crest-fallen Tyler looked around at mostly
cocked eyebrows and silence.  He then turned and walked past the pool, past
both Jack and Stella with their friends, and slumped himself down on a
chair secluded from the group.

   They never learn, Paul mused to himself, chuckling and turning his
attention to his siblings before he got back into his book.  He checked
Stella, who was back talking to her friends, then a couple groups of kids
over to Jackson, who's full attention was towards Tyler all by himself. 
After a few seconds of watching Jackson turn the wheels in his head, he saw
him start over towards Tyler.  Don't bother bro, he's done nothing but call
you a faggot your whole life, he thought, images of Tyler, the neighbor
boy, constantly picking on and making fun of Jackson running through Paul's
head.

   But Jackson couldn't help himself.  He hated seeing anyone hurt or in
trouble, no matter who they were.  Paul's eyes weren't the only ones
watching Jackson heading over, however.  Once he'd started weaving through
people to get over to him, Stella had him in her sights.  Paul caught this,
and although he'd promised his parents he would intercede if necessary, he
was intrigued as to how this was all going to pan out.  He turned his head
to Stella, who was fixing a very intense gaze at Jackson, especially once
he reached Tyler sitting in his seat, and even though she was smooth about
it, she was immediately moving, finding a spot not too close to be noticed,
but close enough to see and hear what was going on.  She took a seat a
table away, next to some friends, smiled at them, asked a question, and
then trained her eyes straight past them, watching.  This is gonna be
interesting, he smiled to himself.

   "Hey Tyler..." Jackson said softly, a look of concern in his face, as he
approached.

   "Fuck off, fag!" Tyler snapped, turning his head away.  Tears started to
form in Jackson's eyes, but he stood a little taller than before.  Stella
however, had quickly grabbed an opened glass bottle of root beer and poured
it out, then rotated it upside down in her hand, gripping it by the neck,
lightly tapping it against the table, ready to break the bottom off.  Paul
caught it, and quickly stood up, walking to the railing of the porch, ready
for what might happen.

   "I just came over to say how sorry I was.  I came over because I thought
maybe you might need someone to listen or something, but never mind.  I can
see you just wanna be an asshole," he said defiantly, through his misted
eyes.  At this, Tyler, the kid who had probably been the meanest to Jackson
in the neighborhood, just turned to look in Jackson's eyes, his own full of
tears.

   "I'm sorry man...I didn't mean that.  I just don't know what went
wrong..." he croaked, ducking his head back down, fighting back his tears.
Jackson started shedding tears of his own, not from Tyler's harsh words,
but because he could see how much he loved his now ex-girlfriend, and he
put himself in his shoes, how he might feel...something Jack couldn't ever
seem to stop himself from doing.  He took a seat in the chair right next to
Tyler, put his hand on his shoulder, and just whispered, "I'm sorry Tyler."

   "Thanks man." Tyler whispered back, and he then started recounting how
confused he'd been, how much he thought they loved each other, all the
plans they'd made...everything from the last 3 years.  He had planned on
them living together, getting married, traveling, the 'whole nine'.  Young
love is like that; fast, fleeting, intense, and ultimately too short...and
it probably always would be.

   Paul, his heartstrings tugged from watching his brother be himself, sat
down again and dug into his book.  Stella had to get up, excusing herself
from her friends to get herself a water.  She had to leave suddenly, mostly
because her eyes had started pooling right away at watching Jack...be Jack.
He really was a miracle.  She couldn't be any more in love with him,
throughout her entire life, than she was at that moment.  She wanted to run
to him and throw her arms around him, kissing the life out of him, but she
had to keep up the 'act'...until tonight.  Tonight, they were going to
start 'the rest of their lives'.  They were gonna get real about how they
felt.  She was going to finally say those three words, and then she was
going give all of herself to him, and moreover, she was going to take
everything he was, everything she loved, everything she wanted.  He was
going to belong to her, she would possess him...she was going to take what
was hers.  We'll make love, then make our plan...no matter what it is. 
I'll leave this house, this town, this family, my inheritance, everything.
I'll have Jackson, and no other.  Nothing else matters, she thought to
herself as she grabbed her drink, and chugged it down in seconds.

   "Why do you look like your about to invade Belgium?" her friend, Kara,
asked her, chuckling and referring to her intense gaze and squared jaw.

   Stella was brought out of her mental reverie to look at her short, thin,
brown-haired friend.

   "Oh...I uh...I was thinking...about someone." She answered, immediately
regretting this sudden urge to open up to someone.

   "What?!  Who?" she squealed, looking in Stella's face for clues.

   "Someone...secret.  We've been together for a couple years" she
half-lied.

   "...and you're just waiting to tell your best friend this now?!" she
asked incredulously.

   "It's...complicated Kara.  We've had to keep it from everyone...our
families, our friends..." she trailed off.

   "Why though?" Kara asked, confused.  "Do your parents not get along or
something?  Is he like a Muslim or...wait...is it a she?  I knew it!  I
freaking knew it!" she almost shouted, the excitement of possible
vindication overwhelming her into a fit of giggles.

   "SHHH...calm down...and No!  I am not a freaking lesbian, I already told
you that!" she scolded.

   "Alright, alright.  I'm sorry," she almost whispered, looking around
them to make sure no one was listening in.  "I mean, it's fine if you were,
I mean I might be a little offended if your girl crush wasn't on me,
but..." she said, bringing giggles from Stella finally.

   "I'm just kinda shocked...you've just been...I dunno...'categorically
unavailable' for so long, it's weird to picture...I'm sure all of the guys
see you as like the biggest, walking talking fantasy...come on don't look
at me like that, you know they do." She said to Stella's disapproving face.

   "So, do I know him?"

   "No...no one does," She said, again seemingly merging existential truths
with literal falsehoods.  "He is so amazing, Kara...he is just so...so
incredible...you can't even imagine," she said, tears flooding down her
smiling face.  "He sees right through me.  He is everything I'm not, and
everything I am, all at once...and I..." she started, but her smile was
gone and she was now on the verge of openly crying in front of someone,
something she had never done, with the only exceptions being her immediate
family.  She was a mask of perfectly cool demeanor in front of everyone
else.  "...I...d-don't know how much longer I can keep p-pretending.  I'm
tired of hiding, Kara.  I just wanna be with him, and be free..." she
gasped, internally trying to prop up all of the walls and hold on to the
masks she kept on.

   "Jesus, Stel...I've never seen you like this..." She said, utterly lost
on what to do or say.  Stella was never like this, and to see such a strong
and immovable person like Stella go to pieces, she knew that whoever she
was talking about must be something else entirely.

   "How does he feel about you?  Is it because you don't know?" she asked.

   "No." Stella said, now laughing out loud.  The thought to her was
ludicrous, but as she saw the look of utter confusion in her face, she had
to try to remember that Kara was clueless about what was really going on.
"No...no he loves me.  I mean...he loves me...so much, Kar...if you only
knew..." She said, the laughing subsiding and wonder taking its place as
she looked up to the ceiling, stretching her neck.  "We are...we are in
fucking love Kara...like you fucking read about!" she said, smiling now,
the joy in this knowledge pouring out of her, spilling down her body and
washing her entire world in the ever-radiant glow of her feelings.  She
looked back at Kara, only to see Kara now misty-eyed.

   "What's wrong Kara?" she asked, concern now washing over her face.

   "...Nothing I just...I want that...so much Stel" She said, trying to
hold back tears.

   "Oh Honey...you will.  Trust me, at Stanford, you and Brooke are gonna
meet much better guys than here.  Just watch, you'll be in love before
thanksgiving, I'd bet my life!" she said, both of them now holding hands
and laughing.

   "Thanks Stella.  So...tell me about him."

   "Oh...I'm sorry Kara, I can't.  Not yet...trust me.  But soon, you'll
know.  Everyone will know."

   "Well I better be first!" Kara said, not amused.

   "You'll be...first, after my family." She said, squeezing Kara's hand in
reassurance.  This seemed to do the trick, and soon both were back out to
enjoy the summer sun with friends.

   CH.  9

   All too soon, the sun was well along its path to the west, nearing its
game of hide and seek behind the thick wood of tall trees behind the estate
grounds.  People started to either pair up, group up, or trickle out of the
party as dusk settled in and people started making their way inside.  The
hot-tub became a popular spot for a few brave, adventurous souls with a
mind for bodily exploration, but since he didn't know everyone's ages for
one, and he was pretty sure his parents didn't want their hot-tub to be the
next teenage-pregnancy topic on Maury for another, he told them that he
wouldn't stop anyone from making out, but that clothing was not optional.
To keep them honest, he even turned on all the pool area lights, turning
the damper switch above the hot tub on to full brightness.  They could
still have fun, just fully clothed fun.

   With the chance of getting lucky practically gone, the last stragglers
came out of the tub and into the house.  Before long, it was movie watching
time.  10 kids, including the twins, were still there, with everyone else
having left, and the competition was fierce for good, comfortable spots for
the 'mostly' couples who were there.  Jack asked Stella where she wanted to
be, and he saw her eyes on the most prime spot on the long portion of the
couch.  Then she saw Kara and her "friend" vying for the spot, since it
would be prime for making out and getting frisky.

   "It's fine, really, you guys take it," she said.  "We can sit on the
floor."

   Jackson would normally go along with whatever she wanted, but damnit it
was her birthday.

   "No!" he said, uncharacteristically authoritative.  "I'm invoking
'Birthday Privilege'.  You two can go give each other CPR down there." He
said, gesturing closer to the flat-screen TV.  "Stella gets to sit wherever
she wants!" he said, with a tone of finality.

   "You tell 'em Jack!" Tyler said, surprising everyone in the room,
Jackson most of all.  He looked back, and saw Tyler giving him a nod and
holding up his drink, smirking.  Jack just smiled, feeling hopeful that
perhaps he'd made a new friend.  He looked to his right, at Stella, just in
time to see that her eyes were positively sparkling with pride.

   "I'll go get our blanket from upstairs!" she whispered, checking to make
sure everyone else was looking away, before sneaking a kiss to his cheek
and running upstairs.  She ran up them 3 at a time, and trotted down the
hall to their suite.  She walked over to the foot of her bed, opened the
chest and grabbed a large, soft blanket.  Her favorite blanket for cuddling
with Jack.  It was pale blue, with deep blue stripes and it kept them just
warm enough to not be cold, but not too hot that they couldn't snuggle
under it for hours.  She stepped into the bathroom, throwing the light on
to check herself.  She hadn't worn much make up today, on account of the
day being centered around the pool, but she just needed a couple minutes to
touch a few places.  She had to look good for him, after all.  Once she was
satisfied, she quickly trotted back downstairs, reaching the couch where
Jack was already saving their place.  Before she started to sit down, Kara
sat up.

   "Hey Everyone!  Listen up...school's over, Summer is here, and
things...will never be the same," She started, looking at Stella, her best
friend." I just wanted to say, 'Happy Birthday' to the fucking awesome-est
twins ever.  You guys are amazing, your party has been amazing, your family
is amazing...you guys are the luckiest fucking people I've ever met, to
have someone like each other...who will always be there.  Anyways...just,
happy birthday I guess."

   "...Happy Birthday!!" everyone else in the room cheered, beaming at
them. Stella, for once, was in tears, and Jack was not.  He looked behind
him, catching Paul by the arm as he walked by, towards the entryway.

   "Hey, when is the Pizza getting here?" he asked him.

   "Hmm...good question.  It technically should have be-"

   DING DONG

   "-en here...right now, hopefully," he finished, chuckling as he walked
briskly to the door.

   "Ok," Stella announced.  "Jack's choice, what do you wanna watch,
Birthday Boy?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear.  He met her eyes, but
he didn't smile.  He knew what his favorite movie was, but it was more of a
guilty pleasure he forced Stella to watch with him, or his family...or
better yet alone.

   "Oh...uhh...no, you pick.  Whatever you want.  Seriously," he said,
trying to deflect.  Stella scowled now, confused.

   "No, The whole day has been for me, I want you to pick...whatever is
your favorite mo-" she started, but the realization of what he would pick
hit her mid-sentence.  He was embarrassed.  he loved Jane Austen, after
all.

   "Ok, cool.  My pick.  I choose...Pride and Prejudice!"

   A collective groan from the guys and a resounding purr from the girls
came at them both.

   He turned to her, surprise on his face, along with relief, and
adoration. She returned his look, smiling, and underneath their blanket,
squeezed his hand as tightly as she could.  God, I love you, he mused to
himself, happiness radiating through them.  How was it possible, he asked
internally, that a single day could be so full of beauty, so wonderful? 
Even though I've had to hide behind our act, I don't know if I've ever been
this happy...I'm gonna tell her.  Tonight.  I'm gonna say it.  If I have to
go one more fucking day without telling her how much I love her, how in
love I am, I'm gonna scream!  She's right, there's nothing wrong with
us...today is a sign.  It must be.  Nothing has gone wrong all day, and
I've never felt this close to her.  We'll make it.  We will, I know it.

   As Jackson came out of his head and settled into his place, Stella
snuggled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder, their hands
underneath their blanket holding each other for dear life.  Paul finally
reached the front door, opening it to a short, thin, redhead.

   "I'm so sorry, sir.  I know I'm late-"

   "Late, shit!  These pizzas were supposed to be here 40 minutes ago.  I
was about to call and raise hell!" he said, clearly more than annoyed at
getting 6 cold pizza's.  "you do know the Chief of Police lives here,
right?" he asked.  He waited for an answer, writing his signature on the
receipt she'd handed him with the pizzas, and when he'd finished and she
still hadn't said a word, he looked up...and felt the world fall out from
under him.

   There were some memories that stayed with a man for the rest of his
life, like the day their father took them on their first fishing trip, or
the day they won, or lost, their first fight.  Their first crush, or the
first time they got hurt and didn't run to Mom for consolation.  As he
looked at the young woman in front of him, he was absolutely certain that
he would remember this day for as long as he lived.  Before him stood a
delicate, pale flower with petals the color of fire and piercing blue eyes
that reminded him of a frozen lake, or maybe a close-to-freezing lake, as
they were pooled to overflowing with moisture...tears.  Oh, I'm a fuckin
Asshole!  He said to himself, as she looked panic stricken and close to
some sort of breakdown.  He really needed to start looking and thinking
before he spoke.

   "Oh sir...Mr.  Chief sir...I'm...I'm so sorry.  Please...I didn't
know...I...I'm new here.  I just moved here, and I don't know my way
around. Please, I really need this job, I can't afford to lose it...I'll
get kicked out of my room...and I have no family...and I haven't been here
long enough to make any friends to help me...please...one more late
delivery and he said I'd be fired..." she rambled on, openly sobbing.  He
couldn't have felt any smaller in that moment.

   "Oh hey, look...I'm so sorry miss.  Look, I was an Asshole, ok.  Truly,
I'm sorry.  Please don't cry." He started, flustered and wanting nothing
more than to calm her down.  He set the pizzas down quickly and rushed to
her.

   "I'm...s-sorry...I c-cant stop..." she managed to get out between sobs.

   "Don't apologize, really.  You've done nothing but your best, it's all
on me, sincerely...please...sit down a minute...this chair is really comfy,
I promise..." he pleaded, smiling.  She was managing to slow her crying and
let out a small chuckle as she let him guide her by the arm to a plush
chair by the door.

   "Besides...The Chief lives here...but I'm not him...he's my Dad." He
corrected himself, still feeling like a royal jack-ass.  "I'm Paul, by the
way...I am so sorry, seriously...I guess you never know someone else's
struggle, huh?" he chuckled, feeling like a serious heel.  Luckily, for him
she chuckled back.

   "Well, Paul, that's true...I guess my struggle is that I'm a crappy
pizza girl." She said, trying her best to smile.

   "Bullshit!  I've seen many crappy pizza guys, but I've never seen a
crappy pizza girl...Just pizza girls who hadn't figured out they were great
pizza girls yet." He said, smiling at her, trying to coax one out of her.
He was rewarded with a flash of her pearly whites, and they made her entire
face glow.

   "So...just so I can say one day that 'I knew her, way back when', can I
ask your name, future great pizza girl?" he asked, putting it on the line.
Her smile turned into a wide grin, despite herself.

   "Caroline.  My names Caroline." She answered, trying not to grin.

   "Well, again...I'm sorry for my behavior Caroline.  I hope this doesn't
make you unwilling to deliver here again," he said, chuckling.

   "Well, with the way you apologize...I guess I could give this place
another try." She said.  "And I usually go by Tillie..." she added, truly
looking into his eyes.  They were a crystal blue, and they were stunning.

   "Ok, Tillie...pleased to meet you.  So...being a crappy pizza girl
doesn't seem like it's your only struggle..."

   "Oh, No!  really, I'm fine.  Don't pay any attention to me...I was just
emotional..." she said, trying to quickly dismiss her earlier confessions.
"Besides, I thought we both decided that I'm just a great pizza girl who
doesn't know it yet," she said with a sly smile, trying to deflect.  It
didn't work.  Paul was truly dazzled by her smile, but he couldn't forget
what she'd said.  Things that can break your heart usually stay with you.

   "That is true...but about the other stuff...what did you mean you don't
have any family?" he asked, genuine curiosity and concern on his face.

   She couldn't quite place it, but something made her want to answer.

   "I meant...that...everyone has a sad story," she sighed, looking down at
her feet.  "...and mine ends with me being ejected from foster care at
18...and told 'good luck'," She said, the weight of her struggle feeling
heavy.

   "Anyway, I'm not here to bore you with my struggles Paul, I came to
deliver your pizza's, and now I have.  I'm sorry for being any sort of
burden or unloading on you or-" she said, but was cut off when she felt his
hand on hers.  She stopped midsentence, looked down at his hand, and then
locked eyes with him.

   He didn't know what had possessed him to do it, but it was as if
something inside him shocked his body into action, and he had to make some
kind of motion to show that he cared about what she was saying.

   "You're no one's burden, Tillie," he began, a fire in his eyes and a
fierceness in his voice as he firmly squeezed her hand.  "Don't you ever
let anyone tell you that." He almost commanded.

   "Ok." She said, not sure why she wanted to believe what he'd said.

   "My struggle is that you no doubt have more pizzas to deliver, and I am
stuck here, baby-sitting a birthday party." He said, a tinge of sadness
dropping over his words, which wasn't lost on her.

   "You're actually my last stop.  I'm off now...." She said, leaving
things in the air.  Perhaps everything hung in the air, perhaps nothing, he
couldn't be sure, but he felt like she didn't leave it there by accident.

   "Ok...uhh...here, let me take these pizza's inside, ok...and uhh... 
you...you stay here, ok?" he said, not even bothering to hide his
excitement.  His excitement was contagious, and even though she had no idea
why, she felt an electric current of excitement through her at the thought
of staying there.  "Ok!" she said, with a little more energy than she
wished she'd shown.

   "Ok, be right back." He said, and quickly rounded up all the pizza's in
his arms, and shoved his way clumsily inside, making her giggle at his
back.

   She sat down and suddenly she was a bottle-rocket, full of energy.  Her
hands were wringing and her foot wouldn't stop tapping the floor.  What is
happening??  This feels...special.  But why?  WHO CARES DUMMY, he's
gorgeous, and so...kind.  Understanding...no...no this is crazy.  I need to
leave, now!  She questioned to herself, her thoughts racing a mile a
minute. She quickly shot up as if electrocuted, grabbing her pizza bag and
started fast-walking to her car.

   "Wait!  Please!  Don't go!" she heard him shout back to her, rooting her
to her spot.

   "Please!  What did I say?" he asked, running over to her as she slowly
turned around, her arms hugging herself out of nerves.

   "Where are you going?" he asked, curiosity and tinge of desperation in
his voice.

   "...I...I don't know..." she managed to get out, her eyes now full of
tears again, lost for what to do, how to handle this.  She looked up at him
and found him simply smiling down at her.

   "Well, if you don't know where you're going, why go there?" he asked. 
The question sounded so silly that they both found themselves laughing
together.  They stood, quiet, looking to each other for a whole, silent
minute.  A cool, evening breeze was starting to come in, moving the bushes
and trees around the driveway, whisking the scents of summer around them.
It was intoxicating.

   "Look," he started, once he'd found the courage.  "If you have somewhere
to be, I completely understand, but I'd really love it...if you stayed.  If
you're nervous...we can just stay out here...yeah, in fact why don't I go
grab a nice warm blanket for you, and ill snag a couple slices of pizza and
a couple soda's.  We can just sit here and talk, get to know each other, or
we can just talk about...whatever you want to talk about, I really don't
care...as long as you stay." He said.  She studied his face, looking for
the telltale sign of some kind of hidden agenda...but he was without one.
She didn't know why, but she was sure.

   "Why?" she asked.  "Why do you want me to stay so bad?"

   "I just...there's...just...something...isn't there?" he asked, at a loss
for words but desperate to figure it out.  But she knew what he meant. 
There was something...just slightly out of reach, but it was there.  She
couldn't describe or define it either, but somehow, she knew just what he
meant.  There was...something.

   "yeah..." was all she managed, not knowing what was happening, but
finding that at the moment, she didn't really need to know.

   "Come, sit, I'll go get us food.  Don't run away again though..." he
said, more a question than a statement.

   "I'll be here." she answered simply.  As he ran into the house, again
clumsily, she sat down, and instinctively cupped her hands over her nose
and mouth, hiding a wide smile.  Please let this be something good...

   CH.  10

   Everyone was snuggled up nice and tight in their pairs...everyone but
Tyler, who didn't really know why he'd stuck around.  He sat at the dining
room table, using Jacksons laptop to be on Facebook.  In truth, now that he
thought about it, Jack was the reason he'd stuck around.  When things fell
apart with Brooke, he'd felt the bottom finally sink out from under him. 
She'd embarrassed him in front on everyone.  Fuckin Bitch!  Fuck Her!  If
she wants to be single so she can go to California and have a bunch of
'college' guys run a train on her, fine!  She can go and be a sorority slut
all she wants!  He seethed to himself.  These hateful thoughts made him
feel better, but only for a quick second.  After, the pain was still there.
She wasn't a slut.  She was amazing, and probably the best he believed he'd
ever find.  But one thing, or person really, had made him feel better, and
it was from the most unlikely place.  So what if Jackson was probably gay,
he thought to himself...his 'boys' had been there to watch him get yelled
at and made to look like a bitch, but when he needed one of them to have
his back, be there for him, they'd all turned away, pretending they didn't
see.  Punk ass bitches...but Jack, this dude he had beat up and picked on
for years, came to him...damn.  Life's a bitch, huh?  He asked himself.

   And you know what...he's actually a pretty cool dude.  A pretty boy? 
Yeah, but at least he wasn't an ugly motherfucker.  If I was drunk enough,
and he begged to suck my dick, I'd let him I guess, but id beat his ass if
he told anyone, he mused to himself.  Odd, drunken, homo-erotic scenarios
aside, he sat there and listened to him, his feelings, about being
betrayed, about his heart being broken, about not ever feeling good enough
for her.  Jack listened to it all, and just seemed to understand how he
felt.  Maybe some dude broke his heart before, so he knows what it's like
to just be dumped and thrown away, he thought.  Whatever had happened, Jack
was a 'down-ass dude' in Tyler's book now.  He turned his head towards the
front room, the girl movie playing on the TV, and people in various stages
of making out, feeling up, and from the quick, frantic movements underneath
Kara and Scott's blanket, and with Scotts head just hanging back, his eyes
closed and his mouth open, she was definitely in the middle of giving him a
dynamite hand job.  Lucky bastard!  His own situation told him that it was
probably time for him to head out.  Nothing more awkward than being that
one dude still hanging around while everyone is slobbering all over each
other, he thought.

   He got up and walked to the back of the couch behind Jack and Stella,
who had always been weirdly close in Tyler's book.  He never liked Stella
much, mostly because of their constant fist-fights growing up, when she
swooped in to save Jack.  They were snuggled up all close, just smiling and
watching their movie together.  Probably super cool though, to have a twin
who's got your back, especially if she's super hot, like Stella, he
thought.

   "Hey man, I'm outta here.  Nothin' like a...'ninth wheel' if you know
what I mean.  Happy Birthday bro.  Just know, from now on, I got your back,
alright?" he said, and Jack looked up at him, smiling.  "Thanks man.  I got
yours too...and don't worry, you'll find someone new, someone better.  I'm
here if you need to talk.  Thanks so much for coming." He answered back. 
Tyler then clapped his hand on his back and walked towards the door. 
Yeah...totally gay!, he mused.  He was almost to the front door, but before
he reached it, Paul had come stumbling in the door.

   "You leavin man?  Thanks for coming bro, have a good one!" he said,
barely taking the time to look at Tyler as he rushed towards the kitchen.

   Paul had reached the kitchen table, where he'd set the pizzas down and
put together two plates of pizza, and grabbed the last two cold root beers.
He then remembered the blanket, and quickly went over to the twins, from
behind the couch.

   "Hey guys!  Where is there a good, warm blanket I can use?  I need it!"
he stammered.  His odd behavior caused both twins to look up in unison, the
same cocked eyebrows and smirks on their faces.

   "What do you need a blanket for?" Stella asked, intrigued.  "What's been
keeping you outside so long?" she asked.

   "I...I don't know guys, but I have this feeling...that my life is about
to change tonight...and to make sure, I need a fucking blanket!, so if you
please?"

   "Uhh...well you're not taking our blanket dude, so go up to the linen
closet and grab your own." Jack said.

   "On our wedding day, I'm gonna remember this, guys.  The day I met the
woman I was gonna marry and my asshole siblings didn't do shit to help!" he
snapped, and then bolted upstairs.  They both looked at each other, and
couldn't stop giggling.

   When their laughing finally ended, they sat still, eyes locked together.
Jack smiled at Stella, and quickly surveyed the attention of the room, just
as he heard Paul hastily come down the stairs and slam the door behind him.
Kara and Scott were completely lip locked, and her hands were very busy
under their blanket.  Stella's friend Stephanie was currently straddling
her boyfriend Zack, her entire body gyrating on him and although they had a
blanket wrapped around their mid-sections, their heavy breathing, and the
fact that her panties were currently hanging precariously off her right
ankle meant that they were definitely fucking.  A few other couples were
strewn around the floor, most merely cuddling and kissing in the pale wash
of the TV across the dark room.  Lastly, Jacksons friend Will was sitting
against the far wall, a blanket over his bottom half...which had a bikini
clad ass and legs sticking out of it, with her top half underneath it, his
hand atop a conspicuously head-shaped lump, bobbing up and down on where
his crotch should be, at a slow and steady pace.

   He looked back at Stella, who had a sultry, sexy look in her eyes.  He
was afraid of what she might be thinking, but he needn't be.  She had no
intention of doing something here, in front of people.  She wasn't
impatient.  She already had a plan formed for when everyone left, and all
went to sleep.  Something truly special.  She merely glanced to make sure
the coast was clear, planted a soft, gentle kiss on his lips, and snuggled
back into him, grasping his hand, and squeezing all her love for him in it.
She turned her face to whisper something in his ear, and he craned his neck
to accommodate her.

   "Just wait until they all leave," she started, licking her tongue across
his lobe.  He instantly gasped, albeit quietly, closing his eyes.

   "...just wait until everyone else in the family goes to sleep, baby..."
she purred, taking his lobe between her lips, and teeth, sucking on it.

   "...you will never...forget tonight.  Neither of us will..."

   "...oh Stel..." he gasped.

   "Shhhhhhhh, baby...shhhhhhhh..." she whispered, succeeding only in
igniting the quickly escalating inferno starting within him.

   "Be patient baby...you're gonna have all night to call my name..." she
again whispered, giggling.  She gave his cheek a soft, slow kiss, then
turned her attention back to the movie.  Jackson was on fire inside, but he
did love this movie.  It was almost over, and the end was the best part. 
He loved the morning scene, when Elizabeth and Darcy walked along an
idyllic English countryside, meeting in the middle to express how ardent
their love for one another was.  He may be a man, but he was a sucker for
true romance.

   Once the movie ended, and the credits started rolling, everyone started
to situate themselves so they could successfully get up and start making
their way home.  It was actually funny, watching Stephanie try to
unsuccessfully put her panties back on under the blanket without anyone
noticing.  In the end, she merely just pulled her dress back down, and
tried slipping her panties in her purse.  Will's mystery blanket woman
walked quickly to the kitchen, grabbing a can of soda, swishing it around
in her mouth, and chugging the rest, her hair an obvious mess.  Will looked
like the boy who found the golden ticket, a grin from ear to ear as he bid
everyone goodbye and headed off.  As the last couple to leave, Kara and
Scott gave them each a hug, and Kara walked through the door, but Scott
stopped, approaching Jackson.

   "Hey uhh...what should I do with this, it probably needs to be washed?"
he whispered, holding the blanket he'd received his hand-job under.

   "...Why don't you keep it.  we got plenty of blankets." He said with a
smile, trying not to make him too uncomfortable.  Scott thanked him, and
quickly exited, just as Paul came back in.

   "So?" Stella asked, peeking outside to search.  "Where's the mystery
girl?"

   "Oh, she just left actually," he said, trying his best to keep it cool
and not sound too invested as he tried to brush past them.  His attempt
failed.

   "Oh WHATEVER...where is she, Paul?" Stella asked.  "...wait...you scared
her off huh?" she guffawed, throwing her head back and cackling
triumphantly.  This caused Jack to join her.  "Dude...you gotta stop
telling chicks you're a cop, man.  Seriously...it never works....oh
wait...you offered to take her for a 'ride'" he air quoted.  "...in your
patrol car, huh?" he said, now throwing his head back with Stella, laughing
uncontrollably.

   "...I drive around in this all day, puttin' my life on the line,
girl...it's no big deal though..." Stella said, doing her best 'Paul'
impression, which made the twins fall over together, holding their sides.

   "you two gonna finish anytime soon?" Paul asked, slowly losing his
patience with them.

   The truth was they all clowned each other on a daily basis, but with
this new person having walked into his life, changing it in some way, he
felt differently.  He didn't find it funny tonight.  The twins looked up at
him and noticed his serious, and visibly hurt, look and their laughing
stopped.  They looked up at him, waiting for a sign, but when he didn't
speak, they merely helped each other up to their feet.

   "Sorry, man." Jack said, feeling genuinely bad at having misread things.

   "Me too." Stella added, not feeling quite as bad as Jack.  "I mean, I
still don't see why your mad but..." Paul realized he'd overreacted, and
decided he'd spill the beans, if for no other reason than tonight being
their birthday and they should get what they want, within reason.

   "Her name is Caroline...Tillie for short.  And she is..." he started,
getting lost in thought, his face turning into quite a goofy smile.

   "...she's what?" Stella asked.

   "She is just...ok I don't even know how to describe it.  She is smart,
beautiful, she has like this...good heart, and...I dunno man, she just..."
he said, again getting lost in his words.

   "What.  Does.  She.  Look.  Like?" Stella practically shouted,
enunciating each word separately for effect, to show her impatience and
irritation.

   "Like a freakin' angel, I swear...shorter then you, but thin.  Pale
skin, this super red hair, ice blue eyes...I can't describe her guys, there
aren't words.  She is just fucking gorgeous, OK?  Seriously," he said,
tripping over his words, he couldn't get them out fast enough.

   "OK, OK!  Fine.  She's gorgeous, perfect, a goddess, we get it." Stella
said, getting impatient.

   "Look, you can tell us about her tomorrow or something, ok?  Jackson,
let's go." She said, and feeling an urgency to get Jack alone, so she could
perhaps listen to Jack say the same things about her, snatched him by the
hand and practically dragged him towards the stairs, Paul chuckling to
himself about his 'weird' twins.

   "Jesus, Stel, slow down...my arm doesn't bend like that." Jack said,
trying to figure out what was going on.

   "Shut up and c'mon...I can't do this anymore today..." she hissed,
almost more to herself than anyone else, feeling a sense of panic now
setting in.

   She had been a good girl all day.  She smiled, laughed, talked, and
entertained everyone she could today.  She played the part the world told
her she must, and she did it flawlessly.  She listened to their summer
plans, their school dreams, their relationship ups and downs, smiling and
nodding the whole time.  She fought the desire, the need, the draw towards
him every second of the day.  Sitting through that movie, about people
falling in love, expressing it, finding happiness, all while couples
entertained, embraced, and pleasured each other while she was forced to
hold on to him, secretly, felt like holding her head underwater...and she
needed to breathe.  Her mind was a chaotic web of emotions and thoughts,
and she was losing the ability to make sense of it.  Her poise and grace,
which seemed to set her apart from her peers, was crumbling, she knew.  She
was the one people looked to.  To stay strong, to stay confident, and to
lead.  Even Jack relied on her steadfast nature, and she had gladly spent
18 long years 'keeping it together' for them both.  But right now, she
wasn't that girl.  She wasn't a girl at all anymore.  She was a young
woman, a woman tired of hiding, a woman already falling apart at the
seams...a woman who needed to feel something.

   She pulled him up the stairs with her, taken them two at a time.

   "Stella!  Come on!  What's the matter with you?" he demanded behind her,
but she was undeterred.

   Jack couldn't tell, from being dragged and bustled up the stairs, that
Stella was trembling from head to foot, and tears were streaming down her
face.  Somewhere near the back of her consciousness, as they crested the
stairs and made their way towards the bedroom, she heard and understood his
attitude and questions, and the last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt
him, but all she could focus on was the need.  A thirst she'd refused to
truly quench since that fateful day near their sixteenth birthday.  The
moment they kissed that day, after the anesthesia had fully worn off and
they had both taken the leap of faith to try it again, she felt an
insatiable thirst in her body, and heart.  Everyone else in the world might
as well have been a spoonful of salt to her...because from the moment their
lips met, even though Jack had always been water to her, he had instantly
become like whiskey to a drunkard.  And she had kept herself stone sober
until today...when they were both supposed to be 'independent'.  She knew
there was a risk.  She knew what was at stake, and what could happen if
they were found out, but she was only 18...and today, she didn't care.

   "Stella, God da-" he started as they entered his side of the room, but
he never got a chance to finish his thought as Stella grabbed him by his
arms and threw him, with all her strength, against the wall.  In less than
a second, his lips and body were on frontal assault.  She was gripping his
shirt, trying to tear it to pieces off of him, grinding her entire body
against him with as much strength as she still had in her, trembling and
tears still streaming, breath coming as if she was suffocating from need.
Jackson felt himself losing control again, and knowing Paul was downstairs,
and that he didn't know if or when he might come upstairs, not even
mentioning the fact that his parents were due home any minute, he knew he
had to get a handle on things, and fast.

   "MmmMm...Stella...wait, please..." he started, trying to gently push her
off him, but she wouldn't budge.  With every move he made to pry her off
him, she reached further and held tighter to him, ripping his shirt collar
in her effort to free it from him, her mouth mounting a fresh assault on
his.

   "Stella, I'm serious...c'mon, control y-"

   "I CAN'T CONTROL...Jack..." she shrieked desperately, finally breaking
down completely.  "I can't control it anymore..."

   "Stella-" he again started, before being cut off again.

   "No, Jackson.  Don't." she said, a tone of desperate finality ringing
through her words.

   "Just...I'm losing control...lose control Jack...please...just let go,
baby...lose control..." she whispered through gasps and tears, not holding
back her desperation in the slightest.

   "...please baby...let go with me...don't you love me?" she gasped,
forgetting they hadn't said 'that' word yet.  This fact wasn't lost on
Jack, and hearing her question had the oddest effect on him.  He was angry.
Angry at her for even asking it.  Angry at himself for not saying it. 
Angry at life that he felt he couldn't say it.  Angry at the world for
telling him he couldn't say it.  His anger got the best of him and he
snatched her by her arms, twisting them around and slamming her against the
wall, where he had been but a moment before.

   "Don't...you...ever...ask me that!" he said, through gritted teeth, a
fire raging in his heart, the flames flashing across his eyes.  His very
skin was heating up.  "Do you really not know how much I love you?  Are you
fucking blind!?" he asked, shaking her as he uttered his last word.  She
merely stared into his eyes, her own as wide as saucers, filled past the
brim with tears, her bottom lip quivering from the complete breakdown she
felt coming, but couldn't hold back.  Jack had never been this way before.
He had never forced any issue with her, never taken a stand, never taken
such control.  This was new for them both.

   "I'm sorry baby...I'm sorry...please...don't be m-mad..." she said,
confused and scared in this new emotional territory.  Her fear was readily
apparent to Jack now.

   "I love you Stella...I've always loved you." He said, grabbing her into
one arms embrace, as he took a hold of the back of her hair with the other,
pulling her head back and holding it firmly in place, looking down at her.
He searched her face, her eyes, but saw a Stella he didn't recognize, as
she looked up at a Jack she was unfamiliar with.  She wasn't the aggressor
anymore.  She wasn't taking what she wanted...something was different.  She
was a woman, desperate with need, and yet at the mercy of the object she
desired.  Jack felt the paradigm shift as well.  The only thing equal about
them at this moment was the amount of wanton need both felt for each other.
He had turned the tables of their entire relationship in one deft move, and
he was suddenly a man, taking the woman he loved in his arms.  He held her
there, searching deep into her eyes, her face, waiting for a reaction, but
she gave none, just that of silent, yet desperate assent, and waiting for
him to take whatever it was he wanted.

   "Do you love me back, Stella?" he asked, in a much more forceful way
than he knew he was capable of.  His question drew her face into that of
hurt and pain, eyes filling with new tears.

   "...so much baby.  I love you so much, Jackson.  I'm yours, fore-" she
tried to reply, but she was cut off by the fiercest kiss she could have
imagine.  As if to show her how to properly rip a shirt off someone, he
grabbed her tank top with both hands and ripped it from top to bottom
completely, in one forceful pull, wrenching it down her shoulders, off her
arms and throwing it on the ground.  He felt like an animal, a feral one.
He looked at her, her bikini clad breasts heaving with labored breaths, her
eyes no less tainted with an all-encompassing need.

   "...please, baby..." she begged, her voice a whimper, no effort made to
mask her desperation.  It had the effect she wanted, however.  In less than
a second, he was back on her, snatching her by her hair again, holding it
in place, as his mouth assaulted hers, her mouth reciprocating in kind, as
her body, and hands, started their own campaign.  She had gone to rip his
shirt off of him again, but even in his need, he simply raised his arms up,
with her getting the message and pulling it up and over him, tossing it on
the ground beside hers.

   Suddenly they were on each other again, no thought given to anything or
anyone else in the world.  In fact, no thinking was being done by either.
Animal instinct had taken over, hands roving places because the body
'needed' to, not because the mind 'wanted' to.  His hands surged underneath
the front of her bikini top, now grasping onto flesh they'd never dared. 
Her hands had unclasped his belt, unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, a
second away from sliding them down his legs, a move she'd never done
before, yet her body knew to do.  All the while, even their kissing had
changed from anything it had ever been, even this morning.  Teenage
awkwardness was gone.  The strict rules they'd kept until today, each
somehow knew, were gone.  The dance their lips and tongues had known had
changed.  A new tempo, a new step, a new move set, a new intensity.  A new
man and woman were learning a lesson all eventually do, in life's most
natural and visceral way.  Intimacy.  True intimacy was taking place with
no regard or holding back, and nothing could stop them or get in their way,
or so they thought.  Jack had moved his hands from her breasts to the back
of her bikini top to untie it, just as Stella had begun trying to wrench
his pants down, both panting through their kissing assaults when they heard
the familiar, yet completely unwelcome sound of their mother calling from
downstairs to them, having just walked through the front door.

   "Helloooo!?...Where are my birthday babies?!" she called, excited to see
them, and hear about their party.

   "Fuck..." Stella whispered, starting to cry again from frustration. 
"No...don't stop, baby...please.  Shut the door and lock it, it's
fine...please...take me, don't stop!"

   Jack however, knew that would never work.

   "Shh, its ok.  Stella...stop crying, Now!" he demanded, taking a hold of
her shoulders, causing her to immediately stop, feeling again this new
paradigm they had emotionally moved into.  He needed her to be calm, and
she wanted to do what he wanted her to do.  She wanted to please him.

   "Look, stay here and take some time...lie down, or take a shower, or
listen to something calming...ill cover for you." He said, trying to slow
everything down, even himself.  He might have adapted quicker to his
parents coming home, but he was just as frustrated as she was.  His skin
was burning, his breathing hadn't slowed very much and He was so close to
making love to her, he could practically taste her body on his tongue.  He
thought, at that moment, that perhaps if he told her this, it might help
get her on board quicker.  They were in this together, after all.

   "Trust me, Stel, I want to throw you on that bed and take everything you
have to give, right now, but you know we will get caught, and then
everything we want will be gone." He said, meaning every word he said.  He
then grabbed her in his arms, holding her close, and planting a fierce kiss
on her, before ending it, and looking into her eyes.  "I will make love to
you before the sun goes down, Stella!  Believe that!" he boldly stated.  In
those words, that promise, seemed to be all she needed.  The tears stopped,
a smile came to her face, and she kissed him fiercely back.

   "I love you, Jackson," was all she said, and let him go.  "Go downstairs
and entertain them, I'll be down in a few...and don't let them turn off the
hot tub...just trust me." She added, to his puzzled look.

   "Coming, Mom!" he called back to them, bending down to get his shirt,
putting it on and heading downstairs.

   CH.  11

   Jack trotted down the stairs, trying his best to put what he was leaving
upstairs out of his mind.  Stella was already the main topic his mind
thought of, apart from school, music, art and various other topics he was
interested in.  But after having to tear himself away from her, she was the
only thing he could consider.  He looked into his parents smiling faces,
answered their questions about the party, and listened to them describe the
movie they'd gone to see, but all the while Stella silently called to him.
He was about to do it.  He had actually let go.  Of his fear, of his
caution, of their adolescent rules, of his senses...he just let go...and it
was like tasting of true freedom after living a lifetime in an emotional
prison.  He'd been a good boy all this time.  He had kept their teenage
hormones in check, never letting things get past a kiss, or a hug, or
holding each other's hands.  He had made the contingencies, had laid the
rules out, had born Stella's tantrums when he'd pull away.  What she had
never stopped to consider, in his mind, was the fact that each time he had
had to refuse her, he was refusing himself.  Each time he had to remind her
of the rules, of the stakes, of their age, he had had to remind himself
first.  Each time a kiss started to turn into something more, before made a
move to release her and pull them apart, he had to have an inner battle
within himself.  Did she think, for these past 2 years, that he felt any
less desperate for her, as she was for him?  When she made sure, every
single day, to look perfect; her makeup, hair, and clothes.  The way she
walked, the sway she put in her hips, the way she talked, the way she
looked at him sometimes, eyes penetrating him, her mouth slightly open in
the most accidental of seductive smiles on her lips...he knew it was all
for him, but did she think he just didn't notice it all?

   Hell, it's a fucking miracle every single day that someone hasn't
noticed us basically eye-fucking each other, he mused to himself.

   "Sweetheart, what happened to your collar?" Martha asked him, looking at
the rip Stella had made in his shirt collar moments before.  Paul had
looked to, his brow furrowing.  "It wasn't like that before...you pissed
Stella off, huh?" he said, a smile and chuckle coming from him.

   "Oh...yeah...well she was freakin' dragging me upstairs by my arm and it
pissed me off, so I tried to yank myself away and my shirt ripped." He
said, rambling.

   "Well tell her to fuck off then man...I knew you guys are each other's
'soul siblings' or whatever, but you gotta stand up to her man.  Just
because she has your back, doesn't mean you gotta let her boss you around
all the time.  Be a man, bro!" Paul preached.  Normally Jack wouldn't have
even paid attention or given it a second thought, but something in him had
changed upstairs, and it seemed that it encompassed more than just his
sexual interactions.

   "First off, I am a fuckin man, so fuck you!  Second off, Stella doesn't
'boss me around'.  I let her do those things because I fucking love her,
ok? If it makes her happy to take charge, or whatever, than fine, because I
love her and I want her to do what she wants to do.  You have no fucking
idea what your talkin' about!" he practically shouted, tears starting to
stream from his face, and his anger boiling.

   "Jack, calm down sweetie!  Its ok...he didn't mean anything bad by it."
Martha said, palms out to try to calm him.

   "No, Mom!  I'm tired of this.  I'm tired of this...way...people see me.
I'm a MAN!" he shouted, his anger now completely having taken over his
thoughts and feelings.  It might have been his sexual energy trying to find
another outlet.  It might have been resentment for the way he'd been seen
and treated until today.  It could have been these, and a hundred other
factors leading up to this day.  In the end, it didn't matter.  Today, it
seemed, was fated to be a day of reckoning, a day of change.

   "I'm a fucking man, and I say what my life is going to be.  I can stand
up for myself, just fine!  I'm...I'm a lot...stronger than you think,
Paul." He said, tears now replace by clenched fists and gritted teeth.  His
shoulders and jaw were set, and he was rounding the island towards Paul
now.

   "Jack, you don't wanna do that man.  Look, I'm sorry, OK I shouldn't
have said it that way.  I only mean-"

   "I know what you meant...it's what everyone always means...but you all
won't say...well no one is gonna say it anymore..." he exclaimed, getting
progressively louder as he inched towards a retreating Paul.

   "Jack, honey what is going on with you right now...just calm down
sweetie, plea-"

   "What the FUCK is going on?" Stella yelled, her presence now known to
all as they whipped their heads back at her...everyone except Jack, who
never wavered his gaze from Paul.  She had crept quietly down the stairs
and into the kitchen when she heard the faint sound of Jack raising his
voice.  He was yelling and sounded distressed, and he clearly needed her.
She took a look at Jack, and saw him in the most aggressive stance she'd
seen him have.  He seemed to be moving in on Paul, for some reason.  The
reason didn't interest her.  If Jack was acting this way towards someone,
it was for a good reason.  There was no other explanation.  Realizing this,
she squared herself as well, eyes locked on her prey and she too, from the
opposite side of the kitchen island, rounded towards Paul, isolating him
with no exit, back to the kitchen sink and a sold wall.  The only way out
was through either, or both, of them.

   "Stella, I swear...all I said was that he shouldn't let you boss him
around so much.  That's all.  I was sticking up for him for Christ's
sake...and he just started yelling about how he lets you run things because
he 'loves' you and wants you to be happy and whatever...and how he is a man
and stuff.  I didn't say he wasn't a fucking man...I swear!" he said,
trying to appeal to her reason, assuming she had any at the moment. 
Normally should wouldn't even listen, but hearing Jack sticking up for her
for a change had, in and of itself, changed things.  She stopped her
approach, and looked over at Jack, who was silent and standing defiant,
still refusing to budge from Paul.  Jack didn't need a defender...he needed
a consoler.  Upon this realization, she backed up quickly, and made her way
over to Jack, coming up behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest,
under his arms, and squeezing him tight.

   "It's fine now, Jack...calm down...remember?  Cool control." She said
soothingly, rubbing his chest.  She then leaned in to his ear, whispered
softly so only he could hear.

   "Calm down, baby...he doesn't understand...c'mon Jack, come back to me.
Take a deep breath for me...please..."

   Her soft whisper proved all he needed to lift the red haze from his
eyes. His breath came easier and he started seeing things clearer.

   "I'm...I'm sorry Paul.  I'm sorry...I don't know what's wrong with me
today.  Things...I feel so different today." He said, trying to get a grip
of his feelings.  Once he saw things were calming down, Paul made his way
to his brother.

   "Hey man, come here..." he said, shooing Stella off him and wrapping his
arms around his kid brother.  "I didn't mean anything hurtful man, ok?  I
love ya and I know you're a man now...a better man than me." He said,
hugging him tight.  Jack hugged him back, feeling guilty for his behavior.

   "I swear, you three," Martha said, sounding exhausted from the whole
ordeal.  "You need to all by out your teenage years, and soon...or else I
don't think I'll survive it." she said, making her way over to Stella.  She
kissed her on the forehead.

   "Did you have a good birthday, sweetheart?" she asked her, realizing
this was the first she'd seen her since her and George had gotten home. 
She looked different somehow to Martha.  She was growing up so fast, and
she didn't like it, one bit.

   Where has my little black-haired monster gone?  She asked herself,
wishing for her little babies back.  She loved watching them grow up, but a
mother will always look back on the days her children were tiny,
bright-eyed, and filled with questions.  They both had been such a wonder
to watch grow up for her and she always counted herself as blessed to have
had such a unique experience in raising the twins.  Even though they were
fraternal twins, they looked unbelievably alike, save for their genders and
differing heights, and they're personalities were miles away from each
other...but it was really their hearts that were identical.

   "It was good, Mom.  We had fun...but I'm kinda glad it's over." She
said, giving her a smile, then turning her attention to Jack.

   "Well, I'm off to join your father in bed.  Paul, is everything cleaned
up?" she asked.

   "Almost, I just gotta go turn off the lighting outside and take care of
the pool and hot-tub equipment for the night." He answered, moving toward
the sliding-glass door.

   "Wait...Jack and I are gonna go out and swim for a while...it's so
beautiful outside and the moon is so big...isn't it Jack?" she asked,
turning to him, smiling.

   "Yeah it is...ill go get my swim trunks real quick." He said, making to
leave.

   "Now wait a second...It's after dark and everyone is tired.  Plus, you
know that you both need an adu-"

   "Mom...We are adults now!" Stella said, standing up defiantly "I
know...we're your babies, but we are actually babies anymore."

   Martha initially was in gear to scold them and send them straight to
bed...but the truth was that her daughter was right.  They were good,
mature kids.  They always had been.  Other than fights with Stella
defending her brother and Jackson constantly leaving things undone and
forgetting things, they had both been as close to model kids as she could
have hoped for.

   "Ok.  That's fine...but it's on the both of you to finish cleaning up
after your party.  No trash, no food left out, and when you're done, make
sure to turn off the pool equipment and all of the lighting outside...and
set the alarm!" she finished, finger-wagging at them, then heading up to
bed.

   "Well, I'm outta here.  Caroline is waiting for me to pick her up. 
Thanks for taking care of the rest guys." He said, ,snatching up his keys
and starting for the front of the house.

   "Paul," Stella called to him, causing him to whip around at the two of
them.  Stella looked at Jack, who smiled at her, knowing what she was
thinking, and the two of them looked at Paul.  "Good luck." She said, smile
brimming.

   "She sounds special man.  You got this!" Jack added, grinning from ear
to ear.  Paul flashed a smile back at them, and feeling more confident than
ever before, jogged towards the front door, out it and into the night. 
Jack started to make his way to his room to change, when he felt Stella
grab his wrist, causing him to turn.

   "I just need to run up and get my board shorts, Stel." He said,
wondering why she stopped him.  Her eyes were smoldering and she merely
fasten her grip around his wrist tighter.

   "Jack...you don't need them...not tonight." She said, her voice think
with desire and promise.  A promise that jack instantly caught on to.  He
wanted to smile, but this didn't feel like something to get giddy about. 
She gave no smile either.

   Earlier, upstairs, the moment had taken a hold of them, and their
passions were at a fever pitch.  They'd let their desire and instincts take
over, fully succumbing to their bodies...but this wasn't the same
situation. The choices had been made.  The paradigm of their relationship
had twisted.  Both were of solid mind and it was time for the gravity of
those choices to be shown.  Jack merely looked into Stella's eyes, gauging
her.  Desperation was gone, replaced by determination.  Playfulness had
gone too, making way for an unabashed look of want.

   "Come on, Jack...follow me." Stella whispered, taking his hand gently in
his, and lead him through the sliding glass door.  She was dressed in only
her blue bikini, a sheer shawl wrapped around her hips, flowing elegantly
behind her as she led him along the length of the back of the house,
towards the lighting controls for the yard.  Once they reached them, she
let go of his hand, and went to work, turning off all of the perimeter
lighting in the back yard, and the pool, and the hot tub, save for the
small, in ground lights lighting the cement paths from the back porch to
the pool area, splitting to two paths to both the pool and the hot tub
respectively.

   Once finished, she closed the clear plastic lid to the controls, and
gently clasped Jacks hand, slowly padding off towards the pool, with him
following behind.  Even in this moment of freedom, they were a secret, only
this time it was one of their own making.  Like spies, they crept, under
the cover of darkness, with only the moon shining its light upon them. 
Once they reached the split between the tub and pool, Stella's steps turned
uncertain.  She had only planned up to this point, expecting her steadfast
need and instinct to lead her the rest of the way.  Now that she was here,
however, she wasn't sure of anything.  Jack felt the hesitation and
something in him kicked into gear.  He padded past her, still holding her
hand, turning to face her as she looked to him.  His brave Stella, always
so sure of where to go, what to say, and what to do looked to him, eyes
full of a need for guidance, for surety.  Now that she had gotten them
here, she needed him to lead them the rest of the way.

   "Uhh...which...which one ...should we..." she stammered, not knowing
what to do.  She wanted him, so very badly, but she didn't have raw passion
and instinct to guide her anymore.  She wouldn't need it, however.  Jack
just gave her a smile and led her to hot tub.  The pool sounded nice, but
something in him felt like the heat might 'help' things along.  She smiled
timidly at him and followed his lead to the edge of the tub.  He turned to
face her and let go of her hand.

   The bold, certain girl he'd spent his life beside until this moment, was
gone now.  In her place was a nervous, beautiful young woman.  She stood
before him, her loose hair, and shawl, moving in the light breeze of the
new summer.  The moon shone down on them, bathing her in the shimmering
light of the night.  Their night.  Although tonight was warm enough, he
felt her hands shivering in his.  Although it didn't happen such every time
during the past 2 years, whenever they found themselves truly alone, even
for a moment, it was almost always Stella making the move, reaching for
him, holding him to her, bringing her lips to his.  It wasn't that she
wanted to kiss him more than he wanted to kiss her, she was just usually so
much more self-assured, more confident.  That Stella seemed to be gone now
too.  The new young woman merely stood, searching him for guidance,
trembling in his hands, waiting for him to show her how to begin showing
their love for each other.

   Wanting to end her internal questions, he reached slowly for her left
hip, where she'd tied her shawl around herself.  She stepped closer to him,
closing the gap between them, to make it easier for him.  He held her gaze,
giving her the sure, calm, serene look he knew she needed as he untied it,
letting it fall to the ground.  Next he reached down and pulled his shirt
over his head and off of him, tossing it to the ground as well.  Stella
merely watched him, looking up and down his chest, enjoying just looking at
him.  Jack wasted no time however, clasping her hands and pulling them
behind his neck, letting her interlock them, while he slowly slid his hands
down her arms, behind her back and to the tie which helped hold her bikini
top on.  Not letting their eyes leave each other's, she stayed within the
safety of his calm, loving gaze.  He made short work of the tie and slid
his hands over her body to behind her neck to the second tie, slowly
undoing it, letting it fall to the floor.

   She had never been this naked, this exposed in front of him before.  The
rules forbade it.  But as she felt the warm cooling breeze hit her breasts,
a shudder went through her body.  All the while, she held safely unto his
eyes.  He didn't even look down at them as he slide his hands to them,
running over them until he cupped them firmly.  He squeezed gently and her
breath caught in her chest, eyes flickering closed for just a moment.  This
made him smile mischievously at her, which caused her to do the same.  Both
felt the relief of a momentary smile, but Jack wasn't content to stop here.
His smile faded as he took a moment to look over her body, his hands gently
running over breasts, kneading them, caressing them, and each new place he
went, she made a sharp, involuntary intake of air, if for nothing else, to
let him know the pleasure it brought her.  She was open and on display for
him, and she found it to be the most exhilarating feeling she'd ever known.

   After a few moments of both caressing her chest and drinking her in with
his eyes, he stopped suddenly.  She looked at him in question, and he again
held her gaze as his hands started lower, towards her hips.  As he did so,
he began to slowly kneel.  Her eyes widened as he reached eye level with
her bottoms and his hands reached the ties at her hips.  Her breathing
started to quicken, and he saw panic set into her eyes.  They had already
waded into new territory, but this was a big step...and suddenly she was
filled with self-consciousness.

   "Are you ok?" he whispered up at her.

   "...yeah...I just...are you...are you sure...is this ok?" she said,
running her hands nervously along the top lip of her bottoms, halfway
between holding them up and wanting to pull them down for him.

   "It's ok, baby...this is ok...trust me." He coaxed.

   "Yeah, but..." she started.  "What if...you...don't..."

   He understood now.  He wanted to say something to assure her he would
love every inch he was about to see, but he couldn't think of any words
that would sound right.  But then a thought came to him.  Maybe words
aren't enough for this.  He looked up into her eyes and, never breaking
contact, slowly brought his lips to the small, thin patch of fabric
covering hers.  Her mouth opened in surprise and anticipation as his lips
made soft contact.  Then she took a sharp breath as he made contact again,
only a bit firmer this time.  Than he did it again, kissing gradually
lower. He kissed again and again until he had reached the convex of where
her bikini met her thighs.  Never leaving her eyes.  He then kissed his way
to her thigh, finally touching skin, ever so soft.

   "Oh ,God" she gasped, feeling every cell of her body jolt from the
contact his lips had made on her inner thigh.  Instinct had come back to
her, as her leg parted ever so slightly, opening herself up to him, he
looked up at her, her eyes full of question, and in answer, he couldn't
hold back a smile.  A smile which she returned.  Her trepidation was
leaving her, with each soft, progressively more wet kiss he planted on her
thigh, traveling up.  Her hands traveled to his head, taking hold in his
hair as he kissed over her covered lips to her other thigh.

   "Oh...yes, baby...", she cooed, taking a firmer hold of his hair as he
ran his tongue across her inner thigh, stopping only once it his fabric,
making her twitch.

   The taste of her skin as intoxicating him, and her scent was starting to
make him almost dizzy with hunger.  He had started this little game down
there to ease the tension and open her up inside, and as far as he could
tell, she was wide open now.  He locked eyes with her again and, reaching
his hands to the ties on her hips, pulled them taught.  He looked for any
last vestiges of apprehension from her, but her chest heaved from lust and
she simply gave a quick nod, which was all the permission he needed.

   In one steady motion, he pulled both sides undone, then released them,
letting her bottoms slowly peel down her and fall to the ground.  He wanted
to look down at her.  He wanted to see it.  he could smell it.  he wanted
to taste it.  But he look up into her eyes, gauging her reaction.  She
reached again for his hair and took a gentle hold, giving him the only sign
he needed.  He looked down at the small tuft of black, curly hair and at a
place he had only imagined up until tonight.  He didn't really know what to
expect.  Sure, he'd seen porn a couple times, but this was nothing like
that.  Without another thought about it, he brought his mouth as far below
her as he could reach and upon reaching it, drug his tongue slowly all the
way up her, eliciting a hiss through her teeth, and a firm clench of her
fist in his hair.  It hurt, but he was beyond caring.  He had tasted her
most intimate of places, and as far as he was concerned it was more than he
had ever imagined.  He went back for more, but she tugged on his hair to
get his attention.

   "Come here baby, please..." she begged as he rose to his feet.  Once he
reached up to her, he found a different woman than the one he left before
his adventure down south.

   She reached down to his shorts, her nimble fingers making short work of
the button and zipper as her their lips started the new dance they'd found.
Finding that the zipper that held his shorts up wasn't going to go down as
gracefully as her bottoms has, she locked eyes as she deftly yanked it
down, making a louder zip than she'd expected, making them both jump and
look around.  Once they looked back at each other, they couldn't help
themselves, and fell into a fit of laughter.  Jack had closed his eyes in
laughter as his shorts slid down to the floor, but he stopped mid chuckle
as he felt a soft hand encircle around him.  He felt her squeeze slightly,
and opened his eyes to see her looking down, watching her hand gently
squeeze as she began slowly stroking it back and forth.  Without intention
to, he let out a barely audible moan, making her look up to him, her face a
seductive question.

   "Yeah?" she asked, in the most seductive tone he'd ever heard.

   "...Like this?" she again asked, her voice a husky whisper as she
grasped him more firmly, stroking up and down its full length.

   "...yeah," was all he could whisper.

   She continued to stroke him, but she began lightly pulling him towards
her, as she backed up, turning her head behind her enough to make sure she
didn't trip as she took a first step down, into the hit tub.  He was
completely at her mercy as he held her eyes, her guiding him by her grip.
One slow step after another, she led and he followed, her face now a
seductive smile.  She needed no guidance now.  Instinct and desire had
returned.  She knew exactly what she wanted, and what she needed to do.

   Once they were both nearly waste deep, she released him and placed her
hands on his chest, guiding him back towards the wall, intending to sit him
down.

   "Sit down," she whispered, sealing her request with a kiss.  They smiled
and he sat back, laying his neck back on the lip of the tub, as she lowered
to her knees, in front of his completely open legs under the water.  She
slid her hands up his thighs slowly, up until they reached their target,
and she encircled him with both hands, her grasp feather lite, running her
hands up and down it.

   "Stella...God...Damn..." he moaned as she kept a slow, steady pace.  She
kept at it for only a few moments, relishing the feel of him in her hands.
Taking mental note if its size, shape, feel...she couldn't believe she
finally had him here.  She released him and slid her hands up his abs, his
chest, finally encircling her hands behind his neck as she lifted herself
up, swinging each leg slowly on either side of him, straddling him, and yet
taking care to hold herself up over him.

   "Look at me," she said gently, making Jack open his eyes, meeting hers.
Her face was one of both desire and focus.  He was rapt in his attention to
her now.

   "I love you Jack." She whispered.

   "I love you too, Stella."

   Suddenly her look was deep, her thoughts organizing.  She was here, on
the precipice of the point of absolute no return.  All the emotions, the
kissing for the last two years.  Their morning dalliance into fooling
around.  The episode in their room after the party; they could all be
explained away, in time.  Either one could step back, right at this moment,
and their lives could follow different, independent courses.  There would
be pain.  Separation would be needed, for a time.  Their relationship would
never be the same, but they could stop, right now.  He was her brother
after all, and although she had, for whatever cosmic or intrinsic reason,
never seen the distinction she was supposed to, that fact could never be
totally forgotten.

   "You're my brother," she said, finding her bearings.

   "I know."

   "You're my best friend," she stated, finding her way to where she was
going.

   "...and you're mine," he answered back.

   "You're the man I love.  The man I'll always love, Jack." She said, her
emotions starting to reach towards the surface.

   "You're the woman I'll lo-"

   "Promise me Jackson," she interrupted, not knowing if she could finish
if she didn't focus, her sexual desire starting to turn her thoughts into
wanton chaos.

   "...that once we do this...once we...make love...that this is it, for
us," she continued on, tears starting to form and her voice quavering.

   "I promise, after tonight, I am yours...completely, Jack.  I'll never be
able to love another after this," she said, with absolute certainly in
every bone in her body.

   "I need to hear you promise me, Jack...that you'll always be here...cuz
I'll always be here, Jack.  I'll spend the rest of my life...trying my
best...to be everything you need...to provide everything you want...promise
me, Jack...please," she finished, not fully able to speak anymore, her
emotions having taken full control of her throat.

   Jack didn't know how to follow her promise.  Of course, he felt the
same, in every way, but he didn't want to just regurgitate her words.  He
took a firm hold of her hips, squeezing with all of his strength.

   "I am yours...in all things, and all times.  Where you go, I go. 
Always, Stella.  I love you, and only you.  I always have, and I always
will.  I promise...I'll always be here." he said, without a second's
hesitation, and without any internal reservation.  They were life to each
other, and that's the only way it made sense to him.

   The second his lips stopped moving, hers were on them, crushing against
them with ferocity.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, crushing her
body against his.  His hands grabbed a hold of her hips, and on instinct,
her hips responded with what both of their bodies wanted, lowering herself
to him, stopping only when her entrance made its first contact.  It made
them release their kiss, looking intently in each other's eyes.  This was
it, they knew.  The last line to be crossed.

   "...slow...ok?  Nice and slow..." he whispered, verbally and physically
coaxing her down.

   "...ok...ok..." she whispered, nodding her head and repeating the words,
quieter and quieter as she pushed down steadily until he breached her folds
for the first time.

   "Yessss...baby...yes..." he moaned, feeling the warmth and wetness
inside her.

   "We're doing it, Jack...we're there bab-AHH..." she gasped as he reached
a new depth, not expecting how big he was, or how small she might be
inside. She had to stop, panting and trying to figure out what to do.

   "Are you ok?" Jack asked, panic hitting him for the first time tonight.

   "Yeah...I'm ok...just give me a minute...go slow...really slow..." she
moaned, starting to feel herself adapt and expand slightly inside.  She
knew it wasn't her hymen...she'd broken that years ago falling off a horse.

   "We can stop, if you ne-"

   "No!  No way...its ok baby, I swear...don't stop me...I can do
this...please don't stop...I can do this, I promise.  I need you so bad..."
she begged, raising herself up, and then back down, slowly, taking another
couple inches in.

   "Fuck...yes...Stella..." Jack, moaned, starting to lose his control,
trying to push up into her.

   As he did, she raised herself up again, and then lowered herself back
down a third time, then a fourth, and a fifth.  She had repeated almost a
dozen times, increasing the length she took each time until she felt
herself hit his abdomen.

   "Oh...baby...You're all the way...I took it all the way...it hurts...but
it feels so good..." she moaned, the pain subsiding and a new feeling
taking its place.  By now, her arms were wrapped like pythons around his
neck, her hands running through his hair, holding his head to her chest,
feeling him stroke up into her with his full length, over and over, her
downward thrusts meeting him at each stroke.  He was kissing her collarbone
and neck in earnest, sucking and biting his way up and down her as his hold
on her hips only strengthened while his strokes quickened in intensity and
strength.

   Like this morning, she felt it.  They both did.  That feeling of their
skin being on fire, tingling.  Pleasure radiated from their groins and
showered them both, from head to foot, in pleasure.  Their whispers turned
to whimpers, then gasps, then moans.  Their moans increased in volume as
their sex increased in speed and ferocity.  They weren't 'trying' anymore.
No thought was given, no plan was followed.  Pure instinct, lust, love and
most of all: power.  She thrusted herself down, spearing herself on him
with an equal measure to the power of his thrusts up, into her.  If not for
the jets still on in the tub, the water would have been a flurry of
activity anyway.

   "Oh Fuck...oh God, Jack...yes...yes, baby...yes, get it baby." She
moaned, with no regard for anything or anyone else.  Only wanting to
encourage him to push deeper, thrust harder, go faster.  Whatever he
wanted, she wanted.  Needed.

   "Stella...God...DAMN it...Fuck!" he grunted, his gentle nature gone,
with only the ferocious animal within, hungry for more.

   The grace and gentleness of their love lay forgotten, strewn on the
ground beside their clothes.  Animal magnetism took its place.  An
aggressive need for each other.  Their bodies had been denied for too long,
and now they were slaves to them.  Stella threw her head back, opening her
eyes and finding herself writhing in absolute ecstasy, staring up into a
great, white moon and a clear night sky, strewn from one side to the other
with stars...stars of all colors and sizes.  This was religion.  This was
heaven.  This was God.  He was her God.  Tears of pleasure, of joy filled
her eyes.  She had thought she knew happiness every time she looked at
Jack. She thought she'd known fulfillment every time they kissed.  She
thought contentment was being held in his arms as they fell asleep.  She
had been a fool.  Every thrust he gave her, every time he hit her cervix
with his depth, her foolishness practically hit her over the head, and she
didn't mind at all.  She was lost in this spiritual moment when he thrust
from a new angle, hitting her in a new way inside.

   "OH GOD...baby...yes...yes, just like that.  Don't stop,
Jack...please...please don't stop." She desperately begged, crushing her
body against his as he reached his arms around to her ass, grabbing each
cheek with all his strength and pulling them apart.

   "Oh...GOD...yes.  How do you...oh yes.  Thank you, baby..." she gasped,
feeling herself more open for him than she ever imagined she could be, now
draped over him, powerless to hold herself up, resting her face in his
neck.

   Jack was feeling his climax rising.  Truthfully, in a few seconds he
allowed himself to consider it, he was surprised he had lasted this long,
it being his first time, but he wouldn't complain.  He was free.  Finally
free, to be a man.  To be her man.  Free to show her his strength.  His
power.  He used all the strength he had now, continuing to hit the new spot
he found that seemed to drive her wild.  He wanted to drive her wild.  He
wanted her to be satisfied, in every way he could provide.  He would spend
the rest of his life proving it to her.

   But at the moment, she needed no convincing.  Her own culmination was
reaching its apex as well, and she held on to him for dear life.

   "Oh baby...I'm...I'm almost there...just a little more...harder baby,
please." She begged, and he answered in kind, grabbing a better hold on her
and thrusting somehow harder.

   "YES...yes, like that baby...just a little faster baby...please..." she
again begged, needing everything he had.  He threw his head back now, took
a firm hold on her hips, planted his feet flat on the floor and using all
his strength and muscles he didn't even know he had, thrust in her with
renewed speed and strength, trying to hold on as his finish was on the cusp
of overtaking him.

   "UHHH...OH...FUCK...God you're so strong baby.  So good to me...right
there...god, I love you so much...I'm right there, please..." she pleaded,
her orgasm now seconds from washing over here.  She threw her head back one
final time as the last hard, fast, deep thrust she needed hit the exact
spot she needed.  An explosion, the magnitude of which she wasn't prepared
for, and she couldn't have seen coming, burst within, and over her.

   "OH...JACK!" she shouted as it crashed over her again, threatening to
carry her out to sea.

   Her climax caused her to squeeze down hard on him, which was exactly
what Jacks climax needed, as a heat emanated from down below, spreading
with lightning speed through his body, up his back, his neck, and over his
head, his eyes seeing stars as wave after wave, causing stream after stream
to shoot from him, deep inside of Stella.  She thought she couldn't have
felt more full, inside, until the moment he started throbbing inside of
her, shooting his seed inside.  She never wanted the feeling to end.  She
had been on birth control since she was 14, for other reasons, so they had
no worries of repercussions.  Only the feeling of him twitching and
shooting within her, sending shudders throughout her body in response.

   "Fuck...yeah...God Damn..." he moaned as his climax spread over his
body, seemingly forever, slowly subsiding.  She threw herself forward onto
him, crushing herself around him, never wanting to let go.  Beyond her
control, an overwhelming feeling came over her that she couldn't explain,
and she began inexplicably sobbing in his arms as her climax ebbed, and a
desperate need and love for him took its place.  He didn't question it,
because emotions so deep, he couldn't quite describe them came over him
too. He simply held her, squeezing her as hard as he could.

   "Don't ever let me go, Jack...please...don't ever let go," she cried. 
He wouldn't.  He would sooner die than let her down.  He simply held her
there, letting the complex emotions take control.  For moments on end he
held her there, enjoying the feeling of being inside of her, while having
her wrapped around him.  After a length of time he didn't bother to count,
she was calm and quiet.  She released him, and took his face in her hands.
Her eyes were that of a woman in love.

   "Take me to bed, Jack," she whispered, serenely.  "...take me to bed,
and make love to me again...slow and gentle...please." She asked.

   They crept to their clothes, stayed true to their word to their mother
and took care of everything outside, and then they tiptoed to their
room...to Jacks bed, and made love.  Slowly and gently, until the sun
started to show its face.  If asked about their 18th birthday the next
morning, they would both answer the same way: It really had been best day
ever.



   to be continued....
   For pics visit ---->> https://bit.ly/2ReHUJI