This is part two of chapter two

"What? Where?"

"The living room window! He was trying to open it! I couldn't see him through all the rain, but then I saw his shape!" she babbled senselessly.

Oh, shit, I thought, panicked. Liz was certainly not the type to make up lies about there being men outside.

"Henry," I said as calmly as possible.

"Yes?" he asked, voice trembling slightly.

"I need you to do me a favor, okay?" Henry nodded slightly. "Okay. Take your sister up to your room and lock the door. Don't let anyone in unless you know it's me."

"O-okay." He went over to his sister who was now sobbing.

"You don't have a landline, do you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"What's a l-landline?" Liz managed to ask through her sobs.

I shook my head. "Never mind, go upstairs. Quickly."

"You should come, too," Henry said. I shook my head and raced over to the draws, looking around for a weapon of some sort. "Diana, it's not safe here," he said, clearly trying to be a brave gentleman.

I grimaced, not knowing how to get him and his sister safe. "Henry, I'm fine. I have my cell phone and I'm going to call the Police. Now do what I say."

He winced at my severe tone and didn't question why I was now holding a large butcher's knife in my hand instead of calling the cops.

"Go!" I shouted, shoving them both towards the staircase.

They scurried up the stairs, Henry throwing me one last pained look before shutting the door. I stood frozen until I heard the twist of the lock click into place.

I looked down at my dead cell phone and make a futile effort to turn it on again. It didn't react. I dropped the useless thing to the floor in frustration.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart rate.

I cautiously walked into the living room, making as little sound as possible.

A cool breeze greeted me as I stepped into the room and I immediately noted that the window was now open, rain pouring into the house.

I squeezed the knife's handle as if I was scared it would run away at the first sign of danger.

A shuffling in my peripheral vision instantly caught my attention.

A tall man stood at the corner of the room by the entry room, his back to me. There was a large duffel bag in his hands which I suspected he was about to stuff with robbed items.

"Stay right where you are!" he jumped, obviously caught by surprise.

Slowly, he turned to face me. What I saw stunned me.

In no way did the man look like the stereotypical robber. He was large with muscles that were more attractive than intimidating. His hair was dark and his eyes an electric blue. He had a naturally mischievous face that was distractingly handsome. He watched me, half-shocked and half-amused.

"Um, I think there's a misunderstanding," he told me in a deep, baritone voice.

I shook my head, trying to get a grip. Yeah, he was attractive, but he was also a criminal and he could harm me or Henry and Liz. I was not going to let that happen.

"I've already called the police," I lied. "They will be here soon."

He laughed. "Does that mean you won't stab me?"

I clenched my jaw. "Don't be too sure."

"Okay, then," he said uncertainly. "My name is Chris. I live here. I am Henry and Elizabeth's older brother."

"I have never heard about you," I said suspiciously.

He smiled, far more casual than I wanted him to be. "I've been at soccer camp for a few months. I'm surprised my parents haven't mentioned me... You can lower the life now, cutie."

"Don't patronize me," I snapped. I examined him for another minute and he stared back at me openly. "I don't believe you," I told him.

He laughed again. "What other evidence do you want me to give?"

I lost my patience and walked towards him, knife aimed at his chest.

He backed up suddenly and his back hit the door.

"Woah, woah, calm down." He held his hands up in a surrendering pose.

"Call 'your parents'," I insisted, knowing that this would prove he was lying.

I had known the Sullivans for months and they hadn't mentioned their son? Impossible. Mary talked about everything, she would certainly have mentioned her other son.

The guy-Chris, apparently- grimaced. "I, um, my cell phone died."

I smirked. "Oh, how convenient."

"Can I borrow yours?"

Now it was my turn to grimace. If I gave him my phone, he'd know it was dead and therefore know I probably couldn't have called the Police. Also, since he knew Henry and Liz's names, I suspected that he had been watching the house for a while and probably had long figured out it had no landline.

"No, you can't borrow my phone," I said a little too aggressively.

He laughed, back to being amused. "Then how am I going to prove anything to you?"

I ignored him and moved on to the next part of my interrogation. "Why wouldn't Mrs. Sullivan warn me that the son she never mentioned was coming back the night I'm babysitting?"

He looked genuinely surprised. "Oh, you're the baby sitter?" I gave him a look. "I thought you were some kind of body-guard or ninja woman. Then I was confused, because you're so tiny." He looked down at me as if to emphasize my shortness.

"Answer the damn question!" I snapped.

"Okay, okay. I decided to come home a week early because I got into a little fight with a friend," he pointed to his lip which I noticed for the first time was spilt. I had to drag my eyes away from his mouth and back to his eyes to keep myself focused. He seemed to notice and grinned smugly before continuing. "I was going to call my mother but my cell phone had died. I crawled in through the window because I couldn't find my key. My car's outside, you can go check."

I laughed now. "Nice try."

He took a deep breath.

"If I was really a 'bad guy', don't you think I would have wrestled you to the floor by now and stolen your knife?"

I shook my head indignantly. "You thought I was a 'ninja-woman', remember?"

"Yeah, well, now that I know you're not, what's stopping me?"

I took an uneasy step backwards, then immediately regretted doing so when he started laughing.

I glared at him until his laughing slowed. He cleared his throat awkwardly and I was satisfied my anger finally got to him.

"Okay, this little game was fun, but I'm pretty sure you're about to kill me, so," he turned in the direction of the staircase. "Henry! Bud, get down here!"

I automatically hit him, forgetting the knife was in my hand and cutting through his shirt in the process.

"Shit!" he hissed and looked down at his now bleeding chest. He looked back at me, incredulous. "You are a feisty little thing, aren't you?"

Henry's voice interrupted me before I could cut him again.

"Chris, is that you?" he asked from the top of the stairs.

"Why yes, little brother," he emphasized, giving me a look. "It is me, Chris, your big brother. Now come down here and save me before your hot babysitter drives a knife into my chest."

Henry bolted down the staircase and hurled himself at Chris.

"You're home!" he shouted, hugging him tightly.

For a second, I thought I was imagining things.

Liz appeared at the top of the stairs a second later.

"Chris? Is that you?"

That's when reality bitch-slapped me in the face.

"Oh, fuck!"I exclaimed, dropping the knife.

Everyone froze and looked at me.

"I cut you," I whispered, horrified. "I cut the son of my bosses."

"You did what?" Henry asked, confused.

Chris laughed. "Don't worry about it, bud. Go back to bed so I can have a talk with…?" He looked at me, waiting for my name.

I was too shocked to answer.

"Her name's Diana. And one day, I'm going to marry her and protect her."

Chris grinned mischievously. "I think she's pretty good about protecting herself."

"Chris, why are you home?" Liz asked, still upstairs. She looked a little uneasy, probably because of the whole "intruder" ordeal.

"I'll tell you in the morning. Go to bed, guys."

Henry gave Chris a last hug and then turned to me.

"Thank you for being my baby sitter tonight," he said with a big grin.

I nodded in response, not being able to do much else.

Henry marched back upstairs and it took until shut the door to realize I was now going to be alone with Chris.

He examined me, both amused and curious.

"Diana, huh?" I nodded again. "Pretty name."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"I'm Chris Sullivan," he stuck his hand out towards me. I stared at him, not entirely sure if he was serious. He was. Hesitantly, I shook his hand.

He threw me a dazzling smile before picking up my knife from the floor.

He retreated into the kitchen and I heard the clatter of the knife being placed in the sink.

A few moments passed and I stood frozen by the entry way.

"Hey, cutie, can you come help me with something?"

I turned on stiff legs and walked to the kitchen.

As soon as I entered, my jaw dropped.

Chris was leaning against the counter, his shirt off, examining his cut.

I don't know if it was the cut or his six-pac that caused my heart beat to increase dramatically.

He glanced up at me. "Can you help me with this? I don't really know what to do."

Despite myself, I managed to smile. "Does this work for you every time?"

He smiled back. "Hey, you almost killed me today. The least you can do is nurse me back to health."

I sighed, but made my way over to the sink and grabbed a washcloth, dabbing it with water. I felt his eyes on me as I made my way over to him.

Hesitantly, I pushed the wash cloth against his smooth, tanned skin. He didn't even grimace at the pressure.

"Does it hurt?" I asked curiously.

"Does what hurt?" I glanced up to see that his eyes were trained on me. He blinked, coming back to reality and threw me another smile. "Oh, that. Yeah. I think I might die."

"Well, there certainly won't be any mouth-to-mouth going on," I said before I could catch myself.

He chuckled deeply. "How evil of you."

I laughed, too. Soon, silence fell around us and I was beginning to feel extremely guilty.

"I am so sorry."

"Oh, please don't apologize, that was hilarious. Either way, I should have probably called Henry down first thing."

"Yeah, you should have," I joked, moving the cloth gently across his abs.

"But then this wouldn't have happened and… I'm quite enjoying it-." I put more pressure on the cloth and he grimaced. "Hey!" he scolded.

"You deserved it," I commented.

He smiled down at me and we were silent again. I stiffened as he reached his hand to my hair. He stroked it gently, and then twirled a piece in his finger.

"I should go," I murmured, putting the rag on the counter and taking a step back.

"Why?" he asked, his eyebrow creasing.

"It's getting late. Please tell Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan that I had to go home to study."

He paused for a second. "Okay." I nodded awkwardly and then turned to leave the kitchen. "Diana," he called, stopping me. I glanced at him from over my shoulder. "You'll be babysitting again, right?"

"Now that I stabbed you? Probably not."

The mischievous grin returned to his face. "Who said I'd tell?"

Thanks for all of your wonderful, inspirational reviews. So, thoughts about Chris? Quite different from Noah, yes?

Reviews=faster update : )

Stupid question: What specifically does a beta reader do?