Chapter Four

"Hello? Lis?"

"Yeah? Where are you? I can't see you anywhere."

"I'm over at the entrance. Come on, I'm starved."

"See ya soon."

Lisa pocketed her Motorola before grabbing ahold of India who'd gotten distracted talking to other people. India yelled a hurried goodbye, giving Lisa's arm a pinch.

"Ow!"

"What's the rush?"

"Me. Hungry. Courtney. Entrance. Waiting. Starved. Need I say more?" Lisa grinned at her, not slowing down as she plowed through the crowd.

"Look at all these people. Is today the last exam day for everyone or what?" India marveled, observing the people they were pushing past.

Lisa didn't reply, shrugging instead and occupying herself with her search for her twin. It wasn't easy looking for a girl who stood at 5'5" among the group of 6-foot-plus rowdy males jostling each other playfully near the entrance. She paused with surprise when the guys just stopped fooling around and parted in the middle to let the very person she was searching for through. They would never have done that before. Courtney would've just walked around them. Somehow, people knowing about their celebrity family had changed their behaviour around them and oftentimes Lisa discovered she didn't actually like the change. Sure they were treated with more respect and all, but it wasn't respect out of something they'd done, but rather of who they were now related to, which she really hated. It wasn't respect they'd earned. People were just so superficial.

"Madness. Let's get away and grab some coffee," India shook her head, linking her other arm with Courtney, who agreed enthusiastically.

Once they were out of the hustle and bustle, Courtney shook herself free of India's grip and threw her hands up in the air. "I'm FREE!"

The other two laughed out loud at her dramatic actions. "Yeah yeah we know," they chorused.

She whirled around and stared at them. "Why aren't you more excited? We're done with deadlines and exams. It's SUMMER!"

Lisa sighed. "Beaches. Tanning. Surfer boys. Cold milkshakes and fruit juices on the beach. Swimming. No classes. No projects. HEAVEN!"

"Exactly!" Courtney threw up her hands in relief. For a moment there she'd thought they weren't normal, not being all excited and eager for summer break.

"No plans yet?" India questioned as they made their way towards DeGraves, their favourite place for coffee.

Lisa started laughing. "We haven't actually made any plans but someone else has." She turned to Courtney. "Remember that time Night started this whole rant about summer break? Back when you both were still fighting cats and dogs?"

Courtney grinned evilly, nodding firmly. "He totally deserved that whack on the head I gave him."

"Tell me," India pressed, knowing a good story when she heard one.

"Well, it was like this..."

-----

(flashback)

"Oh. My. Gosh. I can't wait until it's actually summer break," Courtney groaned, slumping on the table. She swirled her cereal in milk mindlessly, not even caring that it was getting soggy. Her deadlines were coming up and haunting her sleep. She'd taken one look at herself in the mirror that morning and had been appalled at the bags under her eyes. Ew, gross! "Look at me, I look like a witch!"

"Zombie, more like," Lisa mumbled, shoving another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"That's so much for your help," Courtney retorted sarcastically, stabbing her spoon into her bowl, causing the milk to slosh around. Moments later, after a heated pause, her tone changed abruptly, worried this time. "Do I really look that bad?"

"Yes," Lisa said immediately with a big grin.

"No. You definitely do not," another voice said simultaneously. Night walked into the room and claimed the empty chair next to Courtney. He slumped forward, leaning his head on his right hand, facing her.

"Aw," Lisa teased, flicking her sister playfully.

"Don't," Courtney threw her a glare before settling it on Night. He shot her an innocent look that said, What did I do? "Don't even start," she warned him, moving her chair away from him, closer to Lisa.

He merely chuckled, dragging his chair closer. It became like a dance, Courtney inching closer and closer to Lisa until she was finally trapped between the two of them with nowhere else to go. She adopted a mutinous expression, sulking at him. Both Night and Lisa seemed to find that hilarious. Courtney never gave up easily, but this time it looked like she didn't have a choice. She was stuck.

"So what do you have planned for summer?" Lisa asked Night, leaning forward so she could get a look at him. He still wore the amused look on his face. It was one she recognized, for he put it on often when her other half was present.

"Lots. First, we have to get Courtney a passport. I found this remote island right, well, it isn't really as if I found the island, but it belongs to a friend, so it's private. I'm going to get you to pack her stuff, especially things of the swimsuit, summer dress and thongs(in Australia, flipflops are called thongs, so I'm not talking about G-strings here) variety. Oh and a big hat to prevent a sunburn. Then, we're going to drag her kicking and screaming to the airport, and once she's there, she'll not want to make a scene so she'll be quiet and not be able to get violent on me. I'll check in our stuff and drag her along with me to customs with our passports and make sure she doesn't bolt. When they're done with the passport inspections, I'm stealing her passport and keeping it with me. I'll breathe easy once we're on the plane," he grinned easily, neatly dodging the sharp nudge Courtney aimed in his direction.

"She can't run then huh?" Lisa pointed out all-knowingly, nodding as she pretended to think it over.

"Yeah. She'll have to give me first-class treatment while we're on the island so that I won't leave her behind. Slowly I'll charm my way through her defenses and she'll start to like me and when we finally have to get back, we'll be happily in love," he beamed like a little boy who'd just found a stash of candy.

Courtney was beginning to find the humorous side of his speech; the corners of her mouth started twitching as she pursed them together in a defiant move not to seem entertained by him.

"Night, I think you've been reading too many trashy romance novels," Lisa said seriously, squelching a grin behind her hand.

"I know, but they give me hope," he tilted his head innocently, widening his eyes just a fraction. He was living up to his profession. Actor indeed.

The two girls broke out into peals of laughter. "Maybe you should seduce her on that island, get her pregnant. Then she'll have no choice but to marry you. You can win her over when you're married," Lisa offered, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.

His unique eyes lit up at her suggestion. "Hey, that's not a half bad idea!"

"LIS! Don't give him ideas!" Courtney yelled in frustration, banging her fists onto the table top.

"Sorry mate, you're on your own in this. Twin orders. Can't refuse. Dire consequences await if I do. I'm allergic to pain," Lisa said hurriedly, backing off.

"It's okay. I'll try it anyway." He winked, looping his arm around Courtney's shoulders comfortably. She squirmed, trying to wriggle away, but he held on fast. "Nuh uh, not so fast babe."

She whined, sounding uncannily like a lost puppy. Her hands were flat against his hard torso, trying her hardest to push him away, but to no avail. He was 6'4" and built like an Australian footballer. She was 5'4" and built like...Christina Aguilera. No contest there. He obviously won hands down.

Lisa giggled at the "help me!" look Courtney shot in her direction, choosing to ignore it instead. She grinned wider when Courtney finally gave up, allowing him to pull her even closer. It didn't take her too long to relax in the circle of his arms. Then again, she'd found herself in that very same position too many times for her to still be uncomfortable with it.

"I'll win her over yet, you'll see," he promised, nodding his head with childish conviction. Lisa smiled involuntarily at that. The man was just too adorable sometimes.

THWACK!

"OW! What was that for?" he complained, turning wounded eyes at Courtney, rubbing the back of his head and wincing unhappily.

"That's for planning my summer break for me and pretending like I don't exist while you divulged all to Lis!" she growled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry! Forgive me?" he begged, holding her head in his hands and forcing her to look right at him. She tried turning to look elsewhere but he wouldn't allow it. She slapped at his arms a bit, not too hard, but hard enough to show that she meant business.

"Nightttttt..." she said warningly, trying to pry his hands away. She tried leaning back to pull out of his grip but he wouldn't let her move.

"Say I'm forgiven first," he said firmly, not budging an inch.

Lisa hid a grin behind her hand. "Now where have I witnessed this scene before?" she teased.

"NOT HELPING!" they yelled at her in a chorus.

"Okay, okay," she backed off, her arms held out in front of her as if to ward them off.

They paused in position when they heard footsteps bounding down the stairs. It was only a matter of time before whoever it was entered the room and saw them. Sure enough, it was Jem. He stared at them in bewilderment. "Again?"

Lisa cracked up.

-----

"Peace and quiet. Finally," Brody flopped down onto the couch bonelessly, switching the television on. He started flipping channels, groaning when he kept landing on programs that didn't interest him.

"Why finally?" Courtney joined him, sticking a spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth.

"Girls at school," he shuddered, as if those three words alone explained everything. In a way, they did.

"Your cover's been blown too?" she grinned, waving her spoon at him.

"I don't even know how," he admitted, finally stopping at Entertainment Tonight.

"Do you have no other show to watch?" she whined, punching him lightly.

"No."

She grumbled under her breath, settling in comfortably. It was just the both of them home that night. Jem and Logan were at work, Jessica and Sasha were already in bed, Alex, Kristina, Ez and Night were attending some important function, Lisa had just gone out for drinks with some of her high school friends, and Ryan was having a late basketball game with his team. The butler and maids were around, but they kept out of sight, going about their duties discreetly. Next to their talking and the drone coming from the television, everything else was silent.

"Here we are tonight, live at..." the blonde woman on screen intoned, smiling widely at the camera. Behind her, cameras flashed as celebrity after celebrity walked down the red carpet, dressed to the nines in designer evening wear and expensive jewelry.

"Isn't that the thing mom, Alex and the guys are at?" Brody frowned slightly, leaning closer to get a better look.

"Is it?" she shrugged, not really caring. All these "important" functions just didn't matter much to her; they just went over her head. Kristina had asked if they'd wanted to go instead of being stuck at home but they'd both refused, preferring to laze around than having to dress up, look better than presentable and act "elegant" all night. It was stress they didn't need.

They continued watching as the camera left the blonde woman and panned the crowd, before settling on a limousine that had just arrived. The door opened and a tall man, none other than Alex, who had on a black suit, stepped out, reaching his hand out.

"And here we have Alex Whitton, who is newly married to Kristina Valentini. Doesn't she look beautiful? I'm sure there are a lot of jealous men and women out there watching tonight's program," Blondie gushed, leaving Courtney to snort disdainfully and fold her arms across her chest.

"Oh oh and there's Ezra Whitton and Night Prescott, who's here with the lovely Mika Hamasaki. Looks like the rumours about Mr. Prescott's mystery love aren't true. Does this mean he's dating Mika? You'll find out here first, on ET." With that, Blondie boldly stepped forward toward the barrier that held the press off the red carpet.

"Night! Night! Over here!" she called.

Courtney almost laughed out loud at the "deer in headlights" expression he wore on his face. He smiled easily and walked toward the camera, greeting Blondie as "Lauren". He knew her?

"It's good to see you here tonight. I was just talking about your arrival when I noticed you came with Mika. Are the two of you dating?" she asked, her face eager for some juicy tidbits.

"Sorry to disappoint, but no. She's a friend. I was initially coming alone, but her date had to cancel so we thought this would be a good time to catch up," he replied, seemingly careless but she knew better. Night was never careless with the press. He'd long learnt how to deal with them and their tricks.

"What about your mystery girl? Why isn't she here with you tonight?" Lauren, or Blondie as Courtney insisted on calling her, pressed on.

Brody nudged her, grinning widely. "That's you. The news has sure spread."

"I know right," she mumbled, frowning. She didn't bother denying it, the way she would have two months ago. The whole family was familiar with the Night-Courtney saga by now. Alex and Kristina found it extremely amusing.

Night shrugged. "I did ask, but I knew she wouldn't be interested. No more questions about her please." His tone was firm.

"Oooh sis, he's fighting for your privacy. How romannnticc," Brody drawled playfully, dodging her elbow as she lunged for him.

"Shut up," she muttered, gritting her teeth. At the beginning, all the teasing had been amusing, but now it was just plain annoying. Night did NOT like her. He just made it seem like he did. That was her theory anyway, but Lisa had dismissed it the moment she'd heard it, saying that she must be deranged to be so blind.

"Why is it so hard for you to accept that Night might possibly, and probably does, like you?" Brody pressed curiously, his brow wrinkling.

She stared at him like he'd just sprouted a second head. "Do you seriously think he does?"

"Well yeah, he would've let up a long time ago if he wasn't serious. No sane guy would put himself up for so much rejection just for a mere joke," Brody said reasonably. His tone was firm, brooking no argument.

She had nothing to say to that. He was a guy, so he would be the better authority on what a guy would or would not do. She couldn't pretend otherwise. She still didn't agree with his opinion of Night though. How could she? He was rarely serious when he brought it up. Besides, he was a big-time celebrity of his own right, and she was just a typical university student. He was constantly surrounded by beautiful women and fans. Who was she to compete with that? She couldn't, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to. She wasn't even sure if she did like him in a non-platonic way. His compliments and flirting were flattering, but she found it hard to take him seriously.

"Look at him, and look at me. We're worlds apart. In what reality do you think we'd work out?" she said, slouching further. "Besides, he plays around but in reality, we don't really know each other. I don't know anything about him next to him being a talented actor, a charming, funny guy who can be annoying at times, and that he's not afraid to admit he's wrong."

"Doesn't that make you want to get to know him better though?" her younger brother said wisely. "Those aren't exactly bad qualities, especially in a guy."

"I know, but I don't even know what I feel for him. It would be too easy to fall for him, but I don't want to put myself in that position, not until he stops being all flippant about it," she sighed. "I don't know. He confuses me. One day I think I know exactly what I want in my life, then he pops up and I just don't know anymore."

"Give the guy a chance to get to know the Courtney that I know. You push him away because he comes on too strong with his flirting and that scares you, but try not to cast him aside. He's a good guy," he slipped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly.

"I know that, but I don't want to end up falling for him and getting my heart broken. I was doing just fine before he came along," she muttered, wringing her hands together. She didn't like thinking about Night and his supposed "like" for her. He made her feel insecure and it wasn't a feeling she cared much for.

"How would you know if he'll break it or not? It's all about risks. You'd be better off chancing it and losing, rather than choosing not to take the risk at all. At least you'd know for sure then," Brody advised, flicking at her hair.

"How did you get so wise huh?" she teased him, poking his side so that he had to drop his hand from her shoulder and back away. She laughed.

"By watching Lis and you screw up," he retorted, watching Blondie interrogate more celebrities on the red carpet.

The serious topic had officially ended, but she had a lot to think about.

-----

"M-m-m-morning house!" Courtney trilled, bounding down the stairs. Her dark hair was bundled up into a messy bun at the back of her head, and she hadn't yet changed out of her sleep clothes. Loose, baggy drawstring bottoms and a simple red tank top were all she had on.

She almost skidded into the wall when she landed on a rug at the bottom of the stairs, which should NOT have had been there, thank you very much! She squeezed her eyes shut and opened her mouth to scream, but instead of slamming into the wall, she found herself slamming into a hard, broad, warm body instead.

"Oof," someone grunted.

Even with her eyes clenched shut, she knew that it was Night. He'd saved the day. AGAIN. It was becoming a frequent occurrence. This was nice though. Warm and comfortable. He'd wrapped his arms around her protectively, and stood patiently, waiting for a reaction from her.

"Um, hi?" she opened one eye and giggled up at him sheepishly, waving one hand.

He was looking down at her with amusement written all over his face. "This is what, the third time that has happened?" he asked, looking thoughtful.

She thwacked him at the back of his head. "It's not my fault! That rug shouldn't have been there! It wasn't there yesterday!" She pointed accusingly at the white rug lying innocently on the floor.

Someone smothered a laugh in the other room. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Night cleared his throat hurriedly. His ploy worked; she turned her attention back to him. "I'm hungry," she announced solemnly.

His blue eyes lit up with laughter. "Come on then. There are a few people I want you to meet too."

"What? It's too early in the morning to meet people. I just want my brekkie," she whined, tugging at his hand, which was intertwined with hers. She tried to ignore the happy tingling inside of her as she stared at their hands.

"Oh be quiet you. Excuses excuses," he teased, squeezing her hand before pulling her into the dining area. She stopped short, staring.

Ez was there, but it was the other two unfamiliar males who caught her attention. Unfamiliar as in she'd never met them before, but she'd definitely seen them on TV.

"Morning," Ez greeted her when he caught sight of her. He grinned and raised his eyerows in a silent question, looking at their intertwined hands.

"Hey, how's it going?" one of the males nodded at her, obviously checking her out, the way he was looking at her. The other one smiled and waved. She decided she liked the silent one better. The other one was giving her the creeps, a little.

"Brandon Atwell and Daniel Evans. Courtney Valentini," Night grinned.

"Your new sister?" Daniel, the quieter one, turned to Ez. He had very blonde hair and green eyes, a surfer's physique and a very dark tan.

"Yeah," he grinned, taking a large bite out of his monstrous sandwich. He saw her staring at it and wiggled his eyebrows wickedly. "Want some?"

She made a face at him. "Nuh uh. It's HUGE."

"Thought so," he smirked, taking another bite.

"So, I hear you're still a student?" Brandon folded his arms on the table, grey eyes interested.

"Yeah. Design," she said, more interested in looking for food than answering his questions. She tugged her hand free of Night's, a movement that wasn't missed by any of the three guys seated around the table, judging from their raised eyebrows, and headed over to the cupboards. She grabbed the bread and went to hunt down last night's leftover roast chicken in the refrigerator. She re-emerged with the platter of chicken, some slices of cheddar cheese and lettuce. She pulled out a plate from the drying rack and started building her sandwich.

She looked up when she realized that the room had gone silent and started when she noticed all four guys watching her.

"What?" she asked crossly.

"That's brekkie?" Brandon asked with disbelief.

She looked down at her food and back at him and nodded, brow furrowing with perplexity. "Yeah. Why?"

"I hadn't pictured you to be someone who ate a lot," he said nonchalantly, shrugging.

"I don't like to conform to what other people think," she retorted, picking up her plate and joining them at the table.

Night and Ez laughed at Brandon's expression, but he shrugged it off with a good-natured grin and started up a topic about football with Daniel. Ez listened in.

Courtney munched slowly, looking at Night contemplatively. He was seated next to her, close but far enough. He was listening on to the conversation going on, smiling but not participating much. She'd learnt some time ago that while he did play football and basketball and other "land" sports, he still preferred water sports. Swimming, water polo, sailing, surfing and such. He'd practically been brought up in the water. Both his parents were hardcore swimmers and sailors.

As if he felt her staring at him, he turned and quirked his eyebrow up. "Something on your mind?" His smile wasn't playful, or mocking in any way, but genuine, conveying the curious tone behind the question.

"Brody said some things some days ago that made me think," she said in a low tone after she'd swallowed. She didn't need everyone else listening in on to their sub-conversation.

"Like what?" He looked mildly surprised that she was telling him this.

"I need to learn to be a better friend. I realized that I don't know much about you at all, next to all the playing and flirting, and it isn't fair that I keep pushing you away when you try to get close," she murmured, turning her eyes away from him and back to her sandwich.

"Why do you do that? Do I make you uncomfortable?" he asked, honestly wanting to know.

"Sometimes," she admitted. "Not bad uncomfortable, but I just don't know if you're serious because when I'm around you, it's all just teasing and playing and we've never really gone more in depth than that. I guess I push you away because I don't want you learning anything about me beyond surface level if you're just fooling around. I have trust issues, I know."

He laughed softly. "All this while I was playing that part because I thought you'd be uneasy if I turned serious on you. Not many people see that side of me, besides those at work. You know how much I like my privacy, so I tease and play and act flippant in public. I guess it's become a habit to be that way around other people that I didn't realize until after a long time that I was doing it with you too, and then I didn't know how to stop."

She pushed her plate away and leaned her forehead on the table. "I feel silly, bringing this up during brekkie."

He brushed her hair away so he could still look at her face. "Don't be. It's good that we've gotten that out. Things will probably change some after this."

She nodded, her dark hair falling back down.

"Are you two done with your serious talk yet?" Daniel asked tentatively.

"Shhhhhh!" Brandon hissed dramatically. Ez just laughed wryly, not bothering to comment. Courtney blushed.

Before either of them could retort, someone else came bounding down the stairs. Everyone whipped around to face the dining entrance, ready to face the newcomer.

Lisa burst in, smiling brightly. When she caught sight of everyone, she stopped short. "Whoa."

Ez and Night burst out laughing as Brandon and Daniel turned from Lisa to look at Courtney, before focusing their attention on Lisa again with wide eyes.

"There are TWO of you?" Daniel blurted out, raking a hand through his sunstreaked hair.

Courtney opened her mouth to retort, his question being obvious enough for her to say something like "duh!". Lisa beat her to it. "Well duh! It's obvious enough, isn't it?" She rolled her eyes and went to hunt for food.

Ez and Night were still laughing. Ez mock-wiped tears away from his eyes. "That was classic."

Brandon whacked him at the back of his head. "You're no help."

"That's Lisa. Lisa, meet Daniel and Brandon," Night carried out the introductions.

Lisa joined their little circle. "How's it going?" she asked carelessly, biting into her ham and cheese sandwich right after.

"I think I've died and gone to heaven," Brandon smiled dreamily. Courtney stifled a smile, knowing what was coming next. She'd seen it happen often enough by then.

Thwack!

"OW! What was THAT for?!"

"Those are my sisters you're talking about dude!" Ez exclaimed, frowning.

"Oh right. Sorry about that."

"You'd better be."

"Someone's getting protective."

"Do you want me to thump your ass?"

"Sorry sorry."

The rest just started laughing at their display.

Can we see more of Night/Courtney? You kind of jumped ahead with their relationship, going from hating eachother to being somewhat close friends. Could you show a little bit of the progress of their relationship?

-- i'm still experimenting, but i thought i'd really like to make them close in the present tense and reflect back on the whole "her hating him" part using flashbacks, as you can see in this chapter. i'll have to see if it works out though, because writing the hating into the story without flashbacks would probably make it longer than i'd like it to be. i'm just trying it out though.

Why is Night always at Ez's house? Does he live there? Does he not have anywhere else to go?
-- it may not seem like it, and i may have to do some re-editing after i'm done with this piece, but quite some time has passed since the beginning of the story. it's not like a period of 2 weeks from chapter one to four, more like 2 to 3 months. i don't want to put in filler chapters if i can help it, and you know life isn't as dramatic as soap operas make it to be, where significant things seem to happen every day. there are days you just sit and bum around doing nothing, there'd be no point in me putting those moments in. moments of significance in this part of the story would be where Night and Courtney are in the same place (i'm not saying that those are the ONLY significant moments). that's why it seems as if he's always at their place. you can probably see by now that I'm writing this from the POV of the Valentinis.

Why does Michelle dislike Courtney?

-- You'll find out later. I can't say how much later yet though. HAHA

me...duh: HAHA. this story's actually loosely based on my ex-boyfriend's family. they're MAD. and there are like 9 siblings, versus my eight Valentinis in this fic. i got this idea and wanted to try it out. hmmm more reviews? xD i'll give you a cookie if you go and tell people to read this and leave me reviews!! lol too many people read this but don't leave reviews. 1200+ hits and only 31 reviews. that just proves it.

Thanks also to: Iced-Faerie, ELEgant-disasTER:-), starXcookie, Addicted to Five Alive (i like your FP handle!! xD), demented penguin, Willoughby Spit (thank you love!! i'll try and live up to your expectations! xD), DancingInTheSnow

until next time beautiful people! you're ALL legends!! xox