((OOC: This thread takes place before A Grave Mistake))

The apartment was dark other than the light coming from the TV, casting flashes across Tarin and Lee sitting on the couch. They had stopped at the movie store on the way home from the shop that night and rented a good half dozen movies, and were now in the middle of their movie marathon. Tarin apparently thought it was cold, as he was sitting there in pyjama pants and a hoodie. An NYPD hoodie of all things. Lee was much more comfortable, at least when she was sitting there curled up with Tarin, and was just wearing her black cotton pyjama pants and a white tank top.

Reaching out toward the bowl of popcorn that was sitting in Tarin's lap, Lee was just grabbing a handful when the vampire suddenly appeared behind the main character, and Lee jumped. She liked watching horror movies, especially when she was able to curl up with Tarin like this, but that didn't mean she didn't jump during them.

Then Lee heard a knock coming from the door, and the unexpectedness of it caused Lee to jump again. They weren't expecting anyone, they'd already gotten their dinner so there shouldn't be a delivery person coming. And it wasn't exactly as if they had many friends in the city, even fewer who would just stop by randomly like this. Actually, the only one who ever really dropped by randomly was Rupert, and he was anything but a friend.

"Let's just ignore it," Lee said softly, glancing up at Tarin. "Maybe they'll go away." Settling down once more, Lee was just starting to get back into the movie when a knock came again, louder. And then again.

Groaning and rolling her eyes, Lee sat up straight rather than how she'd been leaning against Tarin. "Could you pause it? I'll tell them to get lost."

Pushing herself to her feet with a sigh, Lee made her way to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open.

Lee was shocked to stillness by who she saw there. She hadn't seen her brother...since before she had moved back to New York. Sure, she'd had to talk with him on the phone a few times, but she hadn't actually seen him. And Lee couldn't recall a time he had ever just shown up like this before.

Before she was able to react to seeing her brother standing on the other side of the door, Lee felt a hand closing around her wrist, pulling her. "Come on, we're leaving."

Lee blinked. Then yanked her arm out of Robert's hand. "What the hell are you talking about, Robert?" Lee asked, a hint of anger creeping into her voice. "I'm not going anywhere."

Movie night! Movie night with scary movies! Tarin had been thrilled when they'd stopped at the movie store and Lee had said she was in the mood for horror flicks. The reason that Tarin was so excited about this was that he knew where movie nights usually ended. Throw in horror movies, and the likelihood of those results increased exponentially. It had to be something about all the cuddling required to get a scared female through a slasher film. It was enough to remind a man why it was worth trying to go on existing when people like Rupert made such good cases for why they shouldn't.

They were comfortable, though Tarin was still trying to figure out how Lee was in possession of all her extremities in lieu of the way she dressed in the dead of winter. Point in case. Lee was in simple cotton pajama pants and a tank top. Not that Tarin minded, it left that delightful expanse of skin between her shoulder and neck all but bare, but still, he was in his own cotton sweats and a hoodie and if Lee hadn't been leaning against him, he'd be freezing. The tank top was nice though, very nice. Tarin once again thanked...whoever...for granting him with a hot wife. Then turned is attention back to the movie, they were only halfway through the marathon, after all. Then came the knock.

If Tarin had been paying more attention to the movie, and less attention to the amount of skin his wife was showing he might have jumped like she did. Instead, he just laughed. "We don't want any!" he called out, wrapping his arms around Lee as she settled back against him and declared that they should just ignore the knock. Tarin was in direct agreement, movement would make him cold...and eliminate his view. Neither of which Tarin was a fan of.

The knocker wouldn't go away though...and finally Lee couldn't ignore it anymore. Up she got, requesting that Tarin pause the movie while she told them to get lost. Tarin paused the movie and leaned his head back against the back of the couch, frustrated. Then he heard the voices.

Robert?! For the love of fuck...what was that SOB doing at their apartment. Another moment...apparently he was trying to kidnap Tarin's wife. That's what he was doing. Tarin was up in a second, not that he really thought Lee needed his help defending herself against Robert...but still.

"She's not going anywhere Robert." Tarin said, wondering if it looked like he was materializing out of the dark.

"She's sure as hell not staying here with you. What did you do to get her to marry you, you sick SOB? After what that cop told me on the phone...I couldn't believe it at first Emily..." Robert looked aghast. Tarin just smiled and shook his head.

Emily? Oh, this was going to be good. "Lee." Tarin said, walking up to put a hand on her shoulder. Her practically bare shoulder that was going to have to wait. "Why don't you ask your brother in. Obviously, we need to talk."

Suddenly Tarin was there, right behind her, reiterating the fact that she wasn't going anywhere, least of all with Robert.

But, as always, that was not the end of things with Robert. All Lee could do was blink at him for a moment as he brought up 'that cop' who had spoken to him about Tarin. Lee didn't even have to think about who that could be, she just knew.

"I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions, Robert," Lee spat at her brother. "And I asked him to marry me, not the other way around." That was before her brother had called her 'Emily'. If not for Tarin's hand that was suddenly on her shoulder, a physical reminder to stay calm and not do anything stupid...well, Lee wasn't sure what she might have done, but it most likely would not have been good for Robert.

And then Tarin was suggesting that she invite her brother in, that they had stuff to talk about. Looking over her shoulder, the surprise clearly written on her face, Lee just looked at Tarin for a moment. Invite Robert in, after he had tried to drag her from her home?

But it was a better idea than doing all this out in the hallway. "Fine. Come in," Lee told her brother frostily, holding the door open a bit wider. "But stop being such an idiot, or I will kick your ass."

"Why? What's there to talk about? You're coming with me, Emily."

Tarin didn't feel the immediate need to say anything after he'd invited Robert in to discuss the situation. After the call Tarin knew Rupert had made, and the situations he'd seen Lee in before Robert had every right to be concerned about her sister being married to Tarin. Lee, of course, didn't feel the same way. Tarin was slightly surprised at his lack of animosity towards the other man, but he knew that Lee wasn't going to leave simply because Robert wanted her to. So it was easy to take an outside stance on the matter.

Lee was handling herself beautifully, letting her brother know that no matter what he did, she was staying with Tarin. He smiled slightly, hand still on Lee's shoulder. It was nice to know he was right. Even if he'd thought he would be from the start. Lee even agreed to let Robert come in.

It just wasn't meant to be easy, and as Robert opened his stupid mouth again he rolled his eyes and nearly stomped his foot. If nothing else, Tarin wanted this over quickly, and if they didn't get everything out in the open, it wasn't going to be that way.

"Look, Robert..." Tarin said, "First off, if you want to keep all those limbs attached to your body, I'd remember that your sister prefers to be called Lee."

"Don't you tell me a damn thing about my sis... Tarin held up a hand, cutting the other man off and moving around Lee to stand in front of him. It was times like these that Tarin wished he'd had just a few more of the genes that Josh got. It was hard to get people to take you seriously when you were shorter than they were, and Robert was considerably taller.

"There's two ways this is going to work Robert. You can either walk in here, sit down, and have an adult conversation. Or you're going to leave...and I think Lee is just waiting for an excuse to toss you out on your ass." Tarin gave Robert a moment to digest, then continued.

"We're both a little irritated that you showed up like this. It's movie night and we weren't even half done with the night's festivities. So. In or out dude. "

Robert looked pissed, and he didn't say anything, just looked right over Tarin's shoulder at Lee. Then the tension went out of him, replaced by something like defeat an he walked past Tarin and into the apartment, "Fine. We'll talk then.

Tarin turned, looking at Lee, and shook his head. "So much for movie night." he said, then went about turning the lights on while Lee started to get to the bottom of things with her brother.

Robert was being a real ass, Lee decided as he her brother continued speaking. More so than usual. And then there was Tarin, stepping in front of her in a protective manner, yet threatening Robert on her behalf, just as she was about to open her own mouth about the whole 'sister' comment.

When she heard Tarin say that he was sure she'd love an excuse to toss Robert out on his ass, all Lee could do was nod with a slight smile on her face. Of course she would love that, and maybe then, after he had felt her manhandle him despite the nine inch height difference between them, never mind the much more considerable weight difference, maybe then Robert would believe she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and didn't need her older brother to do it.

After Tarin's threats, Robert finally seemed to calm down, at least slightly, and agreed to come in. Which fully ruined the night. But, Lee realized, it was probably for the best. If it was this big that Robert had come over like this, things would only end up getting worse if they didn't talk about it.

Walking back into the apartment as Tarin was turning lights on, Lee sat back down on the couch and grabbed the remotes, turning first the movie, then the TV off. Once she was finished that, she turned to look at her brother, who was just standing by the chair in the living room.

"Sit down before I make you sit down, Robert," Lee said, rolling her eyes. "We're going to talk, and I'm not going to strain my neck because you're standing."

"What's there to talk about, Emily?"

Lee was sure there was more to the question, but she cut her brother off before she heard it. "First off," she said, leaning forward, her voice tense, words clipped. "Stop calling me Emily. The last person who did got a bottle of Scotch shattered over their head. You've already ruined my night, so I wouldn't be too upset if I also had to clean your blood out of my apartment too.

"Now," Lee continued, forcing her voice to be more relaxed, less angry. "Haven't we already been over all this? How all that stuff wasn't Tarin and was all a misunderstanding and all that? So why are you trying to drag me away from my husband?"

"You're far too good for someone like him, Em--Lee."

At least Robert caught himself there before he called her Emily again. So she wasn't going to have to beat him, or waste another bottle, on him. At least not yet. But he was still standing, so Lee simply raised an eyebrow then looked pointedly at the chair Robert was standing beside. He seemed to take the hint, because a second later, he sat down.

"So?" Lee simply asked. "He is far too good for me in so many more ways. If you would actually listen to me sometimes instead of just hearing select things, maybe you'd know this, Robert."

Lee took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to go through even a single day not touching anyone? How hard it is to be in love, yet be terrified to touch them?

"Tarin has been so much more patient, understanding, more than I could actually have asked him to be, he's put up with so much from me, that I'm still actually kind of surprised he agreed to marry me when I asked..."

Once the lights were back on and Robert had entered the apartment, Tarin moved and shut the door as Lee sat and shut the movie off. Tarin sighed as the TV went blank and made his way to sit down on the couch next to Lee.

Again, Tarin felt absolutely no need to talk as he sat, looking back and forth between Lee and her brother as Lee threatened Robert and he finally sat in the chair Lee was indicating. Lee really was scary when she wanted to be. The mental picture of just how hard she'd thrown that bottle at Rupert was still fresh in Tarin's mind, now she was threatening to do the same thing to her brother. Tarin almost pointed out how bad Lee had felt after she'd done that to Rupert, but he held his tongue. Then Robert spoke.

Tarin's jaw clenched and he realized that his benevolence towards the unwelcome visitor was starting to wear thin. They both already knew that Lee was too good for him. Why did people insist on constantly pointing it out? Then Lee talked and Tarin could feel his own cheeks coloring as Lee read off a laundry list of things that made him too good for her. And she was surprised that he was willing to marry her? The thought was nearly laughable.

Tarin just stared at Lee as she looked at the hands she'd folded into her lap and waited for Robert to speak. It didn't take long.

"But...Lee..." he said, frowning in consternation and casting Tarin a narrow-eyed look that Tarin returned with a level gaze. "He's hurt you...and admitted to hurting you...over and over again. It's like you've got Stockholm syndrome or something."

Robert paused and shook his head, frustration obvious as he tried to piece together his words, "Abused women do things like that all the time. They convince themselves that the bad is worth the good."

Tarin's eyes had shut at some point and his hands clenched into fists. Taking a few deep breaths, Tarin opened his eyes and turned to look at Lee for a few moments before turning back to Robert, "You have no idea how many times I've tried to convince her that I'm every bit as dangerous as you seem to think I am..."

Tarin paused and looked at Lee, gaze pleading, "I can't explain this." he said, sighing and running his hand through his hair, "But, I'd never do anything to hurt your sister...and in reality...it's never been me who has hurt her."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You showed up on my doorstep and said almost the exact opposite...then stood in the middle of a street and pulled it back...now you're trying to pawn it off on some blend of both?"

Robert paused, then continued, disgust evident in his voice, "I think you're a damn liar with a convenient excuse for when you think she needs knocked around. And you know what? You're not doing anything to convince me otherwise."

Tarin sighed again and looked at Lee, "Obviously I'm not doing this right...can you please try to explain the situation to your brother in words he understands?"

The problem was, Lee really wasn't able to argue with some of the things that Robert was saying. Yes, Tarin had admitted to hurting her, right before he had run off to Maine, leaving to 'protect' her. And he had; what she could remember (though that was very little) of the trip to Robert's that night had been very painful. But it wasn't as if Tarin was wanting to hurt her. And it hadn't been Tarin who had broken her collar bone in the first place that day.

And since Lee couldn't really argue with anything that Robert was saying, she kept her eyes on her hands. At least until he compared her to an abuse victim who kept going back to her abuser. Then she looked up at Robert, a look of pain mingled with anger in her eyes. "He's abusing me?" Lee asked, not looking at Tarin, her eyes locked on Robert. "If that's the case, I must have learned this response somewhere, right? Do you still think I was wrong to leave home, then? Remember, just because there's no bruises, doesn't mean it's not abuse."

Raising an eyebrow as she let that sink into her brother's head, Lee was ready for Tarin to step in again, to help her explain, argue, threaten, something. But all he could say was he didn't know how to explain it.

How did they explain it? This was why they had put off the initial talk with Robert about Tarin's merging as long as they had. That was likely why even after they had had that talk, Robert still didn't understand it enough to think that maybe there was a valid reason Lee was still with Tarin.

So how the hell did they explain this to Robert?

Then Lee got an idea. She wasn't sure it was a good one, didn't know if it would work, but it was all that she had, she had to go with it. "What about my siphoning?" She asked softly, looking over at Robert.

"What's that got to do with this?"

Lee didn't answer his question, just continued on with the same tone of voice. "Do you still blame me for that, for all the times my powers made you tired, made you have to go to sleep early, made you feel miserable because of how tired you were? Is that my fault that that happened, even though I hated it more than you did?"

Lee could see her brother thinking about that. Thinking because, she was sure at least on some level, he did blame her for all of that. Yet, because of everything he had said since he'd found her again, everything he'd said to apologize, Lee was sure he wouldn't actually say that it was her fault; if he did, it would essentially put to lie everything he had apologized for.

"Of course I don't. But that's different."

"No, Bobby, it isn't," Lee said, reverting to her childhood nickname for her brother without even thinking about it. "I can't control what my siphoning does, I can't stop it. I can't help it, no matter how much I wish I could.

"When that happens to Tarin, when he merges, he can't either," Lee continued to explain. "He has no control over what happens, no control over what he does. Just like I have no control over my siphoning."

Lee explained things in the only way she really could...in terms of her own powers. In terms of the way things had happened when she was still at home in Canada. The way that Robert had felt about her when she was doing her things. The words were scathing and Tarin could see Robert actually thinking about them as Lee said them.

Lee had a point though, why would something that was true for her be different for Tarin. A niggling voice in the back of Tarin's mind pointed out that Lee had never killed anyone, but Tarin ignored that for the time being. Lee was getting through to Robert about the things that weren't going to change.

Robert pointed out that the two situations were different and Tarin tilted his head to the side as the listened to Lee continue to explain how when he merged it was something he had no control over. In that way, it was just like Lee's powers. Tarin really couldn't control it. He stepped in now.

"I do try to stop it though..." Tarin said, nearly pleading with Robert to understand, "If I can avoid it...I do...at any cost. It just can't be stopped sometimes." Tarin paused and frowned, looking for an explanation.

"I still don't think you understand. When it does happen..." he said, looking Lee's brother right in the eye, "I'm not me. In its purest form...I don't even look a thing like myself...sound a thing like myself. As far as I can tell..I cease to exist." Tarin patted his chest as he said it, trying to emphasize the point. Robert just stared at him, then very slowly, his eyes moved to Lee.

"You have no idea how hard this is to believe..." he said, but Tarin could tell by the look on his face that his resolve to condemn Tarin as a lying woman beater was wavering, if only slightly.

Back to Tarin, he turned then back to Lee, "Is that what you've meant? When you said it wasn't him? But that still doesn't explain that call...from that cop..."

Robert was actually listening. For once in his life, it seemed, he was actually hearing and listening to something she was saying to him. Sure, he might not actually believe what was being said to him, but for the first time he was considering the possibility that what she was saying might be true.

Finally, Tarin was speaking again, helping her explain something she really wasn't sure how to explain, something she didn't fully understand in the first place. And then Robert's eyes slowly moved to hers; Lee could see the wheels turning in his head, could see the effort there.

And then he spoke, and Lee's eyes slid closed with a slight sigh. He didn't believe, but he wasn't unbelieving any more. "I do have an idea," Lee said softly, opening her eyes again to look across at her brother. "Believe me, I have a very good idea how hard it is to believe."

That wasn't the end of it, though. Nodding her head, Lee continued. "Yeah, that's what I meant by it wasn't him."

But then Robert went on to ask about 'the cop'. Lee blinked, unsure for a moment what Robert was talking about. And then it clicked, a night when Rupert had mysteriously managed to get a hold on her using a phone number that very, very few people would know would be able to reach her.

Sighing again, though not in relief this time, Lee rubbed her eyes before she started speaking. "Rupert was trying to get a hold of me," Lee said as she opened her eyes to look at her brother again. "Tarin was merged, and as soon as I got here, Rupert left so I could 'take care' of it. I...seem to be one of the only ways we've found so far to actually end a merge."

"What do you mean you're the only way?"

Lee nodded sadly. "Yeah, I seem to be about the only thing that's stopped it..." Lee told him. "I siphon from him, until he passes out. Until the merge ends. Sometimes things get out of hand, but I'm somehow able to end them..."

Lee openly admitted how hard the concept of merging was to believe and Tarin had a brief flashback of the second time he and Lee had spoken at length. The explanation had shocked her as she sat in the shop, sipping on a coke. She’d done well trying to hide the reaction, but Tarin had known, just like he’d always known when it changed things. Only Lee didn’t let it change things. In fact, they’d agreed quickly after to be friends, then went for Chinese. Robert didn’t seem to be taking it quite as well.

The confusion in his demeanor was evident, and that stupid phone call that Rupert had made months ago wasn’t helping matters. Lee was exasperated by the matter, and wasn’t nearly as clear as Tarin was on the details, no matter how much he wished he was as in the dark as she was. “He was trying to get a hold of Lee.” Tarin added in, trying to be helpful without give details, “At the time I wasn’t sure how to reach her, and the situation was a little desperate. He called you. Our friend has a sick sense of humor and decided to add fuel to the proverbial fire with what he told you.”

Robert looked skeptical, Tarin couldn’t blame him. It was the sort of thing that you saw unfold on a soap opera, not in the middle of an old apartment in New York City . Tarin shrugged, “That’s all there really is to it. It’s up to you if you want to believe or not. I will tell you though…if Lee didn’t want to be here, there’s no way I could keep her against her will. You seriously underestimate your sister’s physical abilities.”

”Then why is she always bruised and battered? If she’s so strong, why are you still always hurting her. Then dragging her off to Vegas to get married…without telling her family?

“Robert…” Tarin said, “Vegas was not my idea. None of it was. I readily agreed, leapt at the chance, even. But I didn’t drag her anywhere.”

Lee was trying to explain how she managed to end the merges and Tarin winced slightly at the explanation she gave, pretty sure it was only going to make things worse.

”Until he passes out?! Things get out of hand? Yup…suspicion confirmed.

Robert ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in his seat, ”And you expect me to believe this? he said, gesturing at them in general, ”That you two have set all this up on purpose…and all this…merging….business is true.” he looked at Lee, ”You really believe that when he hurts you…it’s not him?”

Tarin sighed, he couldn’t help it. This was what he hated most, people simply assuming they knew about him. And now Robert was talking like he wasn’t even in the room.

“Look…” Tarin said, not giving Lee a chance to speak, “We’ve tried it the other way Robert. I left once, and Lee did too. It just doesn’t work when we’re not together, so we’re doing the best we can. I know that she makes me happier than I’d ever thought I deserved to be, and I think we’re well on our way to the most normal life either of us can have. Give it a chance.”

Tarin waited, Robert thought, and god only knew what Lee was going to do. Her reactions to her brother had always varied, and Tarin wasn’t going to start guessing about them now.

"Friend?" Lee asked sceptically, an eyebrow raised as she looked over at Tarin. Maybe before Christmas, before this last round of...stuff that had gone on with Rupert, they might still have been able to consider him a friend. Using a loose definition of the word. But now, after that last stunt the man had pulled, Lee didn't even know how Tarin could say the word in regards to Rupert.

Robert's next words, next questions, made Lee blink as her eyes shot back over to him. "He didn't drag me off to Vegas," Lee said. "He might have driven, but if anything, I dragged him there. I'm the one who asked him if he wanted to get married. Both times. Plus, I did tell Rachael, she was there. I didn't tell you because I was happy, and didn't want something like this ruining it, and didn't think it mattered to tell mum and dad."

Lee conveniently 'forgot' to answer Robert's questions about how she often ended up looking beaten and bruised. It might be the truth, but that didn't mean it was something Lee wanted to talk about.

And at least until Robert questioned how she had siphoned from Tarin until the point of passing out, multiple times, she thought she might get away with not answering. "Yes, Robert," Lee said with a sigh. "Until he passes out. I hate it, but it's the only way we've found to stop it so far, so I do it when I need to. And when you're that close, you can't always stop every hit..."

Then Robert asked the big question: did she expect him to believe this. "Yes and no," Lee said, almost before she had needed to think about it. "I know it's hard to believe, I know. But, I do need you to at least accept the possibility, be open to the fact that it's true, even if you don't fully believe it.

"That cop who called you believes it, no matter how much he might tell himself it's not true."

Sighing, Lee leaned her head back against the couch, then looked at Robert with a hard expression. "Me and Tarin are in love, Robert. We're happy together. Nothing you, or anyone, can say or do is going to change that.

"All you're going to do," Lee continued, sitting up straight once more, still looking at her brother. "Is make my life harder, more complicated. It's already hard enough most times without dealing with your b*******. You're the one who wants to get to know me again. So do it, Bobby. I've grown up, I'm not 16 any more!"

Lee gave Tarin a look when he used the word ‘friend’ in relation to Rupert. It was definitely an argument for later, but despite everything, Tarin counted Rupert more in the ‘friend’ column than the ‘enemy’ one. Rupert wasn’t after either Tarin or Lee for their powers, he didn’t want to use them, and he wasn’t out to hurt Lee. The only one he felt the need to hurt, was Tarin, and that was really okay. Yeah, this was definitely a conversation for later, because frankly, Tarin didn’t have a clue why he was counting Rupert in that friend column.

Lee explained about the way they’d eloped to Vegas, and Tarin couldn’t help but smile, a smile that Robert didn’t miss and returned with a scowl. Tarin bit his tongue and avoided making a leering statement about the events that led up to Lee suggesting such a sudden culmination of their marital plans. There were some things you just didn’t say to your wife’s older brother. Tarin figured this was one of them.

Lee hadn’t told anyone but Rachael, and while he’d disagreed with that at the time, Tarin hadn’t wanted to put the kind of damper on their wedding day that pushing Lee on that subject would have caused. Tarin had been delighted that Rachael had managed to get there in time to be one of the witnesses. She really was a delightful girl and Tarin let himself wonder for a moment if a sunny design student was what Ash needed to pull his head out of his arse. His older brother had been more than standoffish while he and Lee were in Texas and downright rude on a couple occasions.

Lee was still talking to Robert, and Tarin pulled himself from the mental vacation he’d gone on to hear Lee reaffirm, again that they were happy and that all Robert was doing with all his interference was making it worse. Tarin couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when Lee pointed out that Robert was the one who wanted to reconnect…and that if he wanted to, he needed to do it. That was far more diplomatic than Lee had been about the situation in the past, it was a good thing, and Tarin smiled. This time Robert didn’t glare, he was too busy looking at Lee.

”I guess the only way I’m going to be sure is if I start hanging around you more. Both of you.” Robert leaned back in the chair and sighed, looking around the apartment for a moment.

I’ll give it a chance, but Em…I’m always going to be your older brother, and I’m always going to worry when you’re hurt.” He paused and held up a hand, no doubt to stop the inevitable tirade he got from Lee every time he said something like that. ”And spare me the lecture this time…I know what you’re going to say. I’m giving in a lot here...just give me the acknowledgement that you’re not going to cut me off again, simply because I’m concerned for your well being.

Robert was waiting now, no doubt for a response from Lee, but Tarin decided to step in for two reasons. First, he wasn’t sure that Lee was in a diplomatic enough mood to accept what Robert had said at face value, and Robert had really made a very diplomatic proposal. Second, Tarin wanted to push the boundaries, just slightly to see how Robert would react to him encouraging Lee on a course of action, “I think that’s very fair Lee. I know if I had a little sister, I’d be nuts trying to protect her. You’ve got to give an inch if you want an inch.”

Lee blinked. Robert wanted to hang out with her, with them more. Well, it was true that Lee didn't see her brother very often, the last time had been well before she and Tarin had gotten married, and the fact of the matter was, for whatever reason, the few times she did see Robert were times she was bruised or beaten looking.

If he was really going to try, maybe she should, too. Robert was, after all, the member of her family she had missed the most over the years because of how close they had been when they were younger. Maybe now, now that Robert was finally willing to actually listen to her, they could start trying to get that back.

It wouldn't be the same, it couldn't Lee knew. They'd both changed far too much for things to go back exactly like they were when they were teenagers, but maybe they could have a relationship again.

Before Lee was able to say anything, Tarin was speaking. Saying it was at the very least reasonable. And brothers were supposed to worry, right? Lee thought she remembered a few occasions when they were younger of Robert worrying about her, but those were slightly clouded by time.

"You can't do this though," Lee said, looking back at Robert. "You can't just come and try to drag me away from my home and husband. If there ever comes a time when I don't want to stay, I won't be here for you to drag away.

"But, baby steps, Robert," Lee continued with a small nod. "I'm a girl who often needs baby steps. Just ask Tarin how long it took before I was comfortable even just holding his hand every time we walked down the street. So how 'bout we start with a movie, just you and me?"

Then Lee got an idea and smiled, pushing herself up off the couch. Heading to her purse, Lee pulled out her cheque book, the cheque book for hers and Tarin's account, the first bank account she had actually had since leaving Toronto at 19. Writing quickly, Lee ripped the cheque out and turned, heading back toward her brother as she handed the cheque to him.

"Since we're starting over, I'd like to start fresh," she told him. "I've owed you for over a year, it's about time I finally pay you back."

"No Em, you don't have to. I told you that you didn't have to pay me back for that." Despite the fact that he was arguing, Robert took the cheque without really looking at it because Lee was holding it pretty much in his face.

As soon as the slip of paper was out of her hands, Lee returned to her seat beside Tarin. "And I told you that I would pay you back," Lee continued, her tone almost offhand. "I hate owing people, especially for that much. So that should about cover it."

Robert blinked at her, then finally looked down at the cheque in his hand. And, Lee could have sworn, that he just about swallowed his tongue there. "Emily. No. I can't accept this."

"Well I'm not taking it back, Robert," Lee replied, ignoring the fact that he had just called her Emily. She had, after all, just given him a cheque that should more than cover what he had paid to take her to the ER for a broken collar bone and concussion. "And I hate owing people, especially for that much, so you may as well just cash it because I'm going to be watching my statements to make sure you do."

Lee was still laying down the law on Robert, making sure that he understood exactly what it was that he couldn’t do. He had to smile, especially when Lee said that if there were any reason to leave, she’d be gone before he could drag her away. That was true. Tarin had already said it once during this conversation, if Lee wanted to leave, there wasn’t a thing in hell he could do to stop her.

Lee was willing to work though, and that made Tarin smile even more. He’d gotten his family back thanks to Lee and her random phone calls and impromptu meetings. The least he could do was to try and help rebuild the relationships she’d had with her family too. Things were already good with Rachael. In fact, that’s who Lee had gone to when she’d thought she had to leave New York. Lee hadn’t been as close to Rachael as she had been with Robert though, and Tarin knew that even though Lee was being stubborn, deep down she wanted this.

Lee mentioned baby steps and Tarin had to grin again, a soft chuckle erupting before he could stop it. They had moved in baby steps, baby steps for long periods of time, but then they would leap ahead by great bounds. He hoped that was how it would work with Robert. Lee had tried this with him once before, then everything had fallen apart. Tarin was confident though, Robert at least had the information he needed to understand, this time.

And then Lee was up, going to her purse. Tarin looked at Robert, the puzzlement he was feeling reflected in Lee’s brother’s face. She came back with the checkbook and started talking about how she needed to pay him back for the hospital bill. Tarin’s eyes widened to nearly the size of dinner plates, why the hell was she bringing that up now. Then Lee was handing Robert the check.

Robert didn’t look at the check, but Tarin couldn’t help but laugh at the self-satisfied look on Lee’s face, then laugh even harder when Robert actually looked at the check. Tarin was laughing so hard that he didn’t see the glare that Robert shot in his direction.

”I fail to see how this is funny…” Robert said, still half-gaping at the check, ”You’re little business can’t be doing this well.”

“Actually…I don’t know what she put on that check…but you’re right. The shop isn’t doing that well. Lee and I came into some money though.” Tarin paused and shrugged, “She means it about the bank statements too…she’s a financial nazi.”

Robert shook his head, cracking a small smile and Tarin laughed again, ”She is stubborn as hell… Lee's brother said.

“Bound and determined to get her way…” Tarin added.

”No matter what it takes.”

Tarin and Robert smiled at each other and nodded slowly, ”I’ll cash the check." Robert said, "But Em...I'm buying the movie tickets."

Robert was still staring at the cheque she had given him and Tarin was laughing. Laughing. An eyebrow raised, Lee looked at her husband, and a moment later things erupted, Tarin and Robert speaking back and forth.

And somehow by the end of it all, they almost sounded friendly with each other as they talked about how stubborn she could be. By the time Tarin and Robert had stopped talking, all Lee could do was blink at the two men for a couple moments.

Considering the fact that when he had entered the apartment not that long ago, Robert had been determined to drag her away because he thought Tarin had been beating her or something of the sort, it was kind of unnerving to see them joking around together now. At her expense. It didn't matter if it was true or not.

"I think it was my turn to buy the snacks, anyway," Lee finally replied to her brother, a smile crossing her face as well. She knew he had been trying to pull that because he didn't want her to spend more money after that cheque, but really, for that to work, they'd have to change how they had always done movies.

"Em,"

Lee shook her head at her brother. "No," she said simply with a slight shake of her head. "Movie day. That means one of us buys the tickets, the other gets the snacks. That's how it was when I was 12 and could barely cover it with my allowance, that's how it's going to stay. You said you were getting the tickets, that means I'm getting snacks." He and Tarin had just finished talking about how stubborn she was, how she always got her way no matter what, right?

"And Tarin's right, the shop isn't doing that good," Lee continued with a slight shrug of her shoulder. Only one shoulder, her left shoulder, something she had finally managed to get used to when her collar bone had been broken a year earlier. Something she unconsciously did now because she was thinking of that again. "But the shop is doing well. Something you'd know if you actually looked at the books once in a while," Lee continued with a pointed look at Tarin.

Though, to be honest with herself, it might have been a good thing that Tarin didn't bother looking at the books all that often, that he left her to take care of them. When it had been up to him to keep track of everything, the shop had been a disaster when she got back, after all.

Lee saw Robert's head cocked to the side slightly as he looked at her. "But, isn't it his shop? Shouldn't he be doing all that stuff?"

At that, Lee laughed slightly and waved the question off. "Apparently I'm a damn good business woman," Lee replied with a smile. "Barely managed to finish high school, yet I can manage to make the shop pull in a damn good profit, even with paying an extra employee."