Standing Strong Forever

When we finally separated, I watched as Misty prepared a bowl of cereal for herself. I had already eaten, so I simply gave her shoulder a fond squeeze and was rewarded by a gentle smile before I departed from the kitchen, my mind wondering exactly what was happening between us.

*****

Once I was alone in the house, I returned to my bedroom, turned on the laptop, and went looking online for some accounts of successful sibling relationships. Unfortunately, the only success stories I could find were fictional tales, erotica focusing on brother/sister or sister/sister relationships. One such very lengthy series was particularly interesting, about fraternal twins who shared an apartment in Berkeley while they each attended different colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area. Told from the sister's point of view, the series made me wonder about Misty and me, about how things would change between us if we did become romantic lovers, and then how that change would affect us once we both were attending the same college in a few months. The thought was both intriguing and worrisome, primarily because the college environment is definitely not conducive to privacy, and even though I had "won" the room lotteries and would have a single both for the summer research and again for my Junior year of college, people would definitely take note if my sister was coming and going from my dorm room a lot, and especially if there were sounds of sex coming from behind the closed and locked door while she was there.

Admittedly, the series was good enough to bring me to several orgasms that afternoon, but it also gave me a great concern about my interactions with Misty. In a way, the dual-celebration vacation suddenly did not seem like a very good idea. But on further consideration, I realized that with Misty and me being alone – no parents, no teachers or professors, no other students, and plenty of solitude once we hit the hiking trails or started canoeing down the river – the lengthy time alone together would either bring us really, really close – and not necessarily in a romantic way – or drive a massive wedge between us which might be almost impossible to remove.

With a sigh which quickly transformed into a groan of frustration, I flopped out on the bed, my mind still churning as I attempted to uncover the various possibilities. In the end, however, I decided that I was putting far too much thought into this, that I needed to simply let things happen as they happened. If all Misty would ever be to me was a little sister with whom I shared a rather close bond, then I would be more than satisfied with that. If something greater would ever develop from that rather close bond, then I would accept it – but not actively hope for it.

*****

Thursday was Graduation Day, and there was a lot of preparation involved. Misty was focused on preparing herself: hair, makeup, clothes, accessories, shoes, perfume. Mom and I were focused on preparing for the small party afterward. Dad was focused on preparing the grill and my car. Preparing my car may sound odd to most people, but since he knew so much more about cars than I ever would, he wanted mostly to assure himself that, short of failing to refill it with gas, the car would make it to and from the vacation destination without any concerns.

The evening was warm, but not too hot. There was a gentle breeze coming from the southwest which actually made it fairly comfortable to sit on the bleachers of the high school football stadium for several hours. All the graduates knew that the diplomas they were receiving from the principal were fake, that the real diplomas would arrive in the mail sometime around mid-July, but their enthusiasm did not seem to be at all tempered by the falsehoods upon the imitation parchment papers.

It was good to see some of my old friends again – friends in band who were performing at the ceremony, friends who were graduating, friends who had already graduated and had returned to watch their siblings or cousins or neighbors graduate. Both before and after the graduation ceremony itself, I spent a lot of time catching up with people I hadn't seen in quite some time, including a few teachers who had truly helped to guide me toward my future science career.

We had guests at the house until nearly midnight: Neighbors and family friends had come by to congratulate my sister on surviving thirteen years of public school education. Like me, Misty had never been part of the Advanced track, so she had never been part of the school system's "elite," but she had certainly earned the respect of many, both students and teachers alike, and word of that had spread throughout the neighborhood, with younger kids, especially those who would be starting high school in a few months, looking up to her as a role model.

Despite our father's protect, Misty helped to clean up after everyone had gone home, and it was deep into Friday morning when I heard her tentative knock on my bedroom door. "It's open," I called out to her, and she came in, once again wearing the soft pink robe, the sleepiness evident in her eyes.

"I just wanted to say thanks," she said softly, in case our parents were already asleep in their bedroom down the hallway. "Thanks for coming home for this, Thom."

I had been sitting on the bed, but I stood before her. "I wouldn't've missed it," I assured her. "Congrats, Graduate."

Despite her fatigue, Misty smiled, and as if we shared the same mind, we drew close for a long, heartfelt hug. "You're really sweet," she whispered, and after a kiss to my cheek, she stepped back. "G'night."

She closed my bedroom door behind her, leaving me standing there with a weary but proud smile on my lips.

*****

Friday was all about preparation for the journey. Misty and I were out of the house in time to hit our favorite local camping supply store when it opened, returning home in time for lunch. I dropped her off at a local mall to meet with one of her friends while I went to wash to car and buy a few books for the vacation, then picked up Misty so we could be home when our parents returned from work.

The evening was spent packing and giving the driving itinerary one final review. We would drive about eight hours on Saturday, spend the night in a hotel, and then finish the drive Sunday morning, arriving at the campground roughly around lunchtime and giving us the afternoon to settle in. Misty came to join me, and we chatted about the journey and what to expect once we arrived.

"I think the main change from what you and I are used to is that it'll be a tiny place, essentially a cabinette," I informed my sister as she stood behind me, her hands on my shoulders as we both looked at the laptop's screen. "I know you like camping, but a week of sleeping on the ground gets old really fast, especially if it rains a lot, so I got us a cabinette. It's certainly larger than the dorm room you'll have this fall, but still..."

"Are there any pictures of the inside of the cabinettes?"

"Unfortunately, no," I answered. "But from what I understand from one of my profs is that they're really tiny. Remember that the whole point of this place in general is to be outside, so they really envisioned the cabinettes as simply a place to cook, eat, sleep, and enjoy running water and a flushing toilet. There's a tiny bathroom, a kitchenette with a small table, and a bedroom with either one or two beds – I reserved a two-bed cabinette for us, so no need to worry there."

"I wouldn't've been worried," Misty assured me as she gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze. "I've shared a tent with you more than a few times over the years, remember?"

"True, but we each had a separate sleeping bag."

"Good point, but still, I know you wouldn't kick me out of the bed during the night."

"Hmm..." I kept thinking about her comment at the back of my mind, even as we continued talking about our vacation.

*****

The first rays of daylight were gracing the eastern sky as Misty and I packed the car. By the time we had finished breakfast and said goodbye to our parents, the top curve of the sun was just appearing over the horizon behind us as we drove down the street, headed toward the highway.

Since it was a Saturday, there was no rush hour traffic to contend with on the highways, which meant that we could take the main highway through downtown and save about forty minutes of driving. It was a little sad though, however, to see that due to the economic downturn, even more businesses along the highway had shut down, their doors and windows boarded up as if they were anticipating a major hurricane to ravage the city. It was a little depressing in a way, but that was greatly offset by my sister's presence and the adventures which surely awaited us.

"This is more or less a 'back to Nature' week, right?"

Misty's question seemed a bit odd, even for her. "Effectively, yes."

"Well, in that case, I hereby vow not to shave or wear a bra until we get back home."

"Um, that's not very ladylike, you know."

"OK. I'll at least wear a bra."

I rolled my eyes, but we both smiled.

Once we got out of the city's western suburbs, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the speed limit had been raised. Since I had not driven on this side of the city for quite some time, I had not known that the state had raised the speed limit for highways in the more rural areas. That would advance our arrival time at the hotel, or at least allow us to spend more time having lunch or just enjoying any scenic points along the way.

Conversation lapsed, and Misty continued reading a book she had started before graduation, but soon the book had fallen to her lap. I glanced over at her to find that my sister had fallen asleep.

The seat belt crossing her chest made me suddenly aware of her breasts once again. This time, she was not topless – thank goodness, or else some state trooper would have pulled us over and arrested us both – but the curves jutting forward from her ribs definitely attracted my attention. Fortunately, I maintained the presence of mind to primarily keep my eyes on the road ahead and in the side and rearview mirrors, but still...

Misty was dressed sensibly for summer travel: t-shirt, shorts, sandals. It was an outfit I had seen her wear many, many times over the years, yet I could not understand why suddenly she seemed so much more appealing wearing something so simple: t-shirt, shorts, sandals. Her hair had been tied back into a ponytail which was draped over a shoulder, but that was also nothing new for her.

I kept my eyes on the road and on the mirrors, monitoring the traffic. Yet I kept thinking of the sleeping woman sitting beside me, of the tanned, toned legs emerging from the denim shorts, of the trimmed fingernails resting on a thigh. I imagined my face between those legs, my mouth devouring the wet sex at their juncture as the thighs clamped tightly against my ears and those fingernails were twisted in my hair...

With a noticeable bulge at the front of my own denim shorts, I drove on, thankful that the woman who was unknowingly inspiring my arousal was asleep.

*****

Lunch was a pair of sandwiches from the cooler. We ate at a picnic table at a rest stop which was positioned near the top of a cliff, providing a nice view of the farmland in the valley below. We could have taken the highway which ran through that valley, but since that route would soon turn northward before dipping back toward the south, it had made more sense to travel the way we were headed.

"I had a daydream while I was asleep," my sister announced.

"Oh? What about?"

"You."

That surprised me. "No wonder you woke up."

Misty giggled. "Don't worry, Thom. It wasn't a bad dream."

"That's good to know."

My little sister just looked at me slyly, returning her attention to her sandwich.

*****

As I refueled the car, Misty went inside to get some drinks other than just water to help refuel us. I noticed a few guys – teenagers, college students, and older – all watching her appreciatively as she emerged from the gas station's store with a Diet Coke for herself and a Dr. Pepper for me. It looked like one of the teenagers was about to make a comment to her, but then realized that she was heading toward my car, and given how quickly his mouth suddenly shut, he had clearly decided against it. I may not be bulked up like an offensive lineman, but my height does intimidate some people, and since Misty and I have enough features in common that we are very visibly related by blood, the kid apparently figured that taking on the pretty girl's brother might not be a good idea.

I had to turn away to try to hide my smirk from the teenager.

Once we were both safely in the car and pulling away from the gas pumps, she asked: "What was that smirk about?"

I smirked again – not intentionally. "Did you see the short kid with the baggy jeans hanging down?"

"Oh. Yeah," Misty replied, her tone clearly announcing her disapproval of the everyone-in-the-world-should-see-my-underwear look.

"Well, he was about to make a comment to you, and probably some lewd comment at that, but then saw that you were heading toward me, and his mouth shut rather quickly."

Misty smiled. "He didn't think he could take you on, I guess."

"I guess not."

"Well, I'll take you on for him then."

That caused me to raise an eyebrow as I turned onto the entrance ramp to rejoin the highway. "Another wrestling match, I suppose?"

"Of course!"

"Why? You know that I always pin you."

"I know."

The conversation hit a lull while I merged into the highway traffic and came up to full speed. Misty took another sip of her Diet Coke. "So you're saying you want me to pin you again?" I asked, resuming the topic.

"Not necessarily. It would be nice to pin you on occasion, but I don't mind when you pin me."

I thought about that for a moment: ...but I don't mind when you pin me. "Should I pull over right now and pin you to the asphalt?" I challenged.

"Um... no. That might involve us getting arrested, and possibly run over by a semi. But when we get to the hotel, you can certainly pin me to the floor in the room, or maybe pin me to a wall or pin me to the bed... In those situations, when we won't run a risk of getting killed or arrested, I'll be quite fine with being pinned."

And suddenly the dreams and visions I had enjoyed previously took on a new meaning. As long as Misty had been talking about being pinned to the floor or to the ground, I had been thinking purely of wrestling with her. But once she had mentioned being pinned to a wall, and especially when she had mentioned my pinning her to a bed...

Fortunately, Misty changed the subject, or else my arousal would have likely reached the point where it would have been noticeable to her.

*****

Thanks to the higher-than-expected speed limit, we made it to the hotel earlier than I had anticipated, even with the road construction delay about ninety minutes from the hotel. That was good, because we were able to get to our room, leave our belongings, call home to let our parents know we had arrived at the hotel safely, and then head to a small restaurant in the strip mall across the street before the dinnertime crowd truly began to arrive.

Following dinner, since there was still plenty of daylight, we took a drive across town to a large park I had seen on the hotel's online guide. Even for so late in the day, there were a lot of families there, and we soon discovered why: There was a small zoo in the park, along with plenty of ducks and swans swimming on or lingering near a large pond. The frogs were certainly plentiful around the pond, including several which were crossing the walkway – it reminded me of Frogger, except that the cars and the trucks had been replaced with humans and the occasional stroller or wagon.

By the time we returned to the hotel, there was still some daylight remaining, but after spending the day driving, I was mentally exhausted. Until that day, the longest I had ever driven in a single stretch – if one does not count the stop at roughly halfway to refuel the car – was four hours. Misty seemed to recognize that, and as we rode the elevator to the fifth floor, she offered me a massage once we were in our room.

I was more than grateful for the massage. I stripped off my shirt and kicked off my sandals, then took the required position on one of the beds. A few moments later, my sister was straddling me, her hands beginning their work on my shoulders before slowly moving down my arms to my hands.

It all passed in silence, with the exception of a few contented sighs from me. It felt good. It felt really good to have my sisters hands on me.

She worked back up my arms to my shoulders again, then worked at the back of my neck before making her way down my spine. And then, it felt better than good.

It felt arousing.

All too soon, her hands stopped, and Misty slid back, then dismounted the bed. I was a bit disappointed, but I was fine with it if she wanted to end things there.

"I'll be back," she said softly, assuring me that the massage had not officially ended.

I heard her in the bathroom, then she returned with one of the small bottles the hotel had placed by the sink. I decided it was best not to ask questions, recognizing that Misty clearly had a plan which she was enacting.

Once she was again perched above me, I heard the bottle cap being opened, then heard nothing for a few seconds until it was closed again. She set it beside her on the bed, then I heard her rub her hands together.

A moment later, my sister was massaging me with the lotion the hotel had provided in the bathroom. I could not identify the scent, but it smelled good. Even though she had warmed it in her hands first, the lotion still felt a little cool, especially along my lower spine. My arousal was also slowly regenerating beneath me, but since I was laying on my stomach, I did not worry about it, giving myself over to the soothing touches of my little sister's hands, closing my eyes and secretly wishing that she was not related to me by blood.

It seemed like a long time passed, but I would not know, since I did not think to look at my. I simply enjoyed Misty's kind attention, luxuriating in the way she was helping my muscles to relax while inadvertently arousing me. For a long time, her hands paused their work only so that she could add more lotion to my back or to my arms or to my shoulders.

But eventually, she leaned back, and I opened my eyes to glance back over my shoulder at her. To my great surprise, Misty was taking off her t-shirt. I watched, intrigued, fascinated, and even more rigidly aroused as the baby blue color of her bra was revealed to my eyes. Once she had pulled the t-shirt clear of her ponytail, she cast it aside, and as it fell over the edge of the bed, she turned her attention back to me, smiling sweetly as she thrust her chest forward and reached back behind her.

The bra was about to come off. I was already aroused, and my sister was about to become indecent in my presence once again – the second time in the same week.

How could I have been so fortunate?

Misty smiled at me, sweetly – acting as if she was about to take off a raincoat and not a bra – and rendered herself topless with practiced ease. Her movement was graceful, and I wondered if it was a result of having spent much of her young life practicing and performing in various forms of dance, or if she had perhaps purposely practiced that motion many times for a moment just like this.

But if she had practiced that specific motion for a moment just like this, then what was she expecting from me, her own big brother?