Fight for Me Ch. 02

"I know." Stephanie said quietly. "Thank you for caring."

"I'm going to smack the shit out of you one of these days, girl," Kristen said and was happy to get a little giggle out of her friend.

Just then Stephanie's phone started ringing from across the room.

"Yeah, that thing has been going off since I got home" Kristen said as Stephanie slowly got up and walked over to it. "That's why I came in here to begin with. Good thing, too. You almost died. Again."

Stephanie picked her phone up and saw that it was Daphne calling for the seventh time. "Can you be any more dramatic? I never almost died." She silenced the phone and let it stop ringing.

Kristen stood up and stretched her arms in the air. "Whatever you have to tell yourself. You want to get something to eat or what? I'm starving."

"I don't understand how you eat ten times a day and stay so skinny," Stephanie said. She looked at Kristen who was still wearing the red skirt and shook her head. "Anyway, I'm supposed to be at my parent's house right now. Family in town and all that."

"Good, I wanted to order pizza anyway."

"You make me sick."

"Hater's gonna hate," Kristen said with a smug smile as she left the room.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and closed her bedroom door so she could get dressed. She sat on the bed and crossed her legs, wanting to look at her texts first. Her pulse quickened when she saw that one of them was from Sebastian:

"Needed to hit the gym early. Fight in a few weeks. Sorry I didn't say bye, didn't want to wake you. See you tonight."

She looked at the time; it was seven in the evening. The text was sent at one in the afternoon. Stephanie shook her head, cursing herself for having so many issues. Why was she the one that ended up being the basket case in the family?

Putting that thought aside, she got up and went to her closet to find something interesting to wear, excited to spend a little more time around Sebastian.

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The fireplace was lit that night. It burned brightly and heated the living room comfortably. The house was buzzing with laughter and chatter as the Blaine's and their family carried on with their evening, reminiscing about old times and catching up on events that had occurred in the past year that they had been apart.

Uncle Shawn was freshly divorced and professing his love for being single now. It was a clean cut; they didn't have kids or property to fight over. Everyone was happy for him as long as he was happy. Whatever was in his big coffee mug had improved his outlook, too, as the evening went on. Uncle Eric had submitted his request to retire from the Army, which his wife, Sarah, was extremely happy about. It had been a hard 22 years and had been a tremendous strain on their relationship, not to mention having to put their kids in different schools every couple years until he had finally been able to get some stabilization. It had been particularly hard on Kelly and she still resented the military for it. She swore that in the new year she would finally quit waitress-ing and start cosmetology school. The family was encouraging, even though it was the same story every year. The Army did not seem to bother Kyle as much. He was ready to be done with the last semester of high school and start living the college dorm life. He and Daphne went back and forth with their plan to go to the same school, depending on if they were on each others nerves or getting along.

Sebastian Blaine gazed into the dancing flames in the fireplace, not concerned with any of it in the least. He stood with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, deep in thought about the next few weeks to come. Camp was going well. He was injury free. His striking was sharper than ever and his ground game had evolved tremendously since his last fight. There was not a doubt in his mind that he was ready to challenge the current middleweight champion, who already had two successful title defenses under his belt and was undefeated. But Sebastian was undefeated, too. In a few weeks one of them was going to walk out of the cage missing the zero on their record; Sebastian was positive that it was not going to be him. He thrived off being the underdog.

"You sure are broody tonight," a sultry voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as Kelly approached and stood by his side in front of the fire. "Where's your holiday cheer?"

Sebastian crossed his arms and shrugged. "I'm cheery," he replied flatly.

"Now that I'm here, right?" She bumped her shoulder into him playfully.

Looking at her fully this time, Sebastian did manage a slight smile at his cousin's determination. He afforded himself a quick survey of her in the baby blue skirt and heels she was wearing. Kelly had always been the fashionable one, he thought. He diverted his attention back to the fire.

"You can say it," she teased touching his arm briefly.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he replied coolly running a hand through his blonde hair.

Kelly moved to stand right in front of him and did a slow turn, returning to face him with a hand on her hip. "You think I'm hot." She smiled mischievously and took a step closer, leaning forward a bit and looking up into his eyes. "Hmm?"

Sebastian shook his head with a low chuckle. "I don't think you've ever needed anyone to say that to you before in your life; you do a good enough job of reminding yourself."

Kelly gave him a sultry look. "I'll take that as a yes," she said stepping in even closer.

"People can see us in here," Sebastian cautioned her. He stood his ground, though, and looked into Kelly's hazel eyes. She was so close that he could feel her rum-scented breath on his face. She pouted her glossy lips at him and Sebastian swallowed in spite of himself.

"As I recall, there was a time when you didn't care who saw us," She draped her arms around his neck and gazed up at him.

"We were kids," Sebastian said gently taking her arms off of him and returning them to her sides. He had a feeling he knew where the conversation was going; it was one that they had had before.

"We were old enough to understand what wanting somebody was supposed to feel like. You can't tell me that there was never a time when you wanted me. You can't tell me that our little boyfriend, girlfriend role plays didn't interest you in what it would be like for real."

Sebastian could see the passion in his cousin's misty eyes as she remembered times from his early teenage years. He was three years older than Kelly, but she had figured out early on that girls liked boys. She had figured out early on that she wanted him to be the one to touch her in all the right places, even though he never had. Every year that passed by it never seemed to change for her.

"But it was never real," he told her. The flicker of pain that flashed in her eyes made him regret phrasing it so harshly and he sighed. "We were just pretending."

"That's not exactly how I remember it." Kelly traced a hand across his chest as she walked around him. She rested her head and hands on his back. "Remember the time you kissed me, Sebastian? That wasn't pretend, cousin."

Sebastian closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, both at the sensation of his cousin cuddling against his back and at the mentioning of the damned kiss. It had been playful and brief, on a day when their role playing had been particularly engaging. It had not been the moment of wanton lust that Kelly had turned it into in her mind. She had wielded the memory against him before. His reaction this time would not be any different than in the past.

He turned and took her shoulders softly in his hands, looking at his cousin hopelessly. Her eyes shimmered as she silently pleaded for him to return her desires. But the past was the past, and the truth of the matter was now what it had always been; Sebastian had just not developed the same feelings for Kelly that she had for him.

"We were kids," he said again in a tone of finality.

Kelly shook herself from Sebastian's hands, her eyes flashing painfully. "And what's changed so much since then?" she asked. Her voice was strained and sad. "Is it because that was before SHE had developed into the woman she is now? Is that why you stopped wanting me to be your girlfriend, because your little sister suddenly wasn't so little anymore?"

Sebastian glared at her and crossed his arms. "I'm not going down that road with you," he said firmly. "We've both already seen where it ends. I don't know what your problem is with Stephanie lately, but it has nothing to do with me."

Kelly laughed incredulously and wiped the tears from her flushed cheeks. "Are you really that fucking blind, or are you just stupid? Nothing to do with you!? You're the only one who doesn't see that it's ALL to do with you for her. God, you two are fucking gross."

With that Kelly turned and walked away before anything else could be said. Sebastian stood there, stunned and confused about what had just transpired. He knew that he had hurt Kelly's feelings, and he wasn't happy about that fact. But for her to take stabs at Stephanie over him wasn't fair and didn't make any sense. He was the one refusing his cousin's advances, not his sister. He tried to remember a time when the two of them actually got along. Their rivalry had never been so bad as it had become recently, and he wondered what had happened between them for the tension to have risen so drastically.

Damien walked by just then, interrupting Sebastian's thoughts and giving him a weird look on his way to the kitchen. Sebastian looked right back at him, trying to decide what his cousin could possibly be thinking behind his scrutinizing eyes, until Damien averted his gaze. He guessed that Damien had probably witnessed the exchange with his sister and wasn't happy about it. At length Sebastian looked back into the fire and shook his head. He knew he was doing the right thing with Kelly, even if it wasn't what she wanted. Why her brother would possibly have a problem with that was beyond him and not worth worrying about as far he was concerned.

The last words that Kelly had said to him replayed in his mind. Sebastian wasn't sure if he even wanted to speculate as to why Kelly had called him and Stephanie "gross".

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Stephanie parked her car along the side of the road in front of her parents' house and got out. She pulled her black wool coat around her and shivered a bit in the cold winter air. It was a calm night, at least, with only the slightest of breezes sweeping the chilly air around her, and the sky was clear and beautiful. The snow crunched beneath Stephanie's feet as she made her way to the front door.

Her Uncle Shawn was standing outside smoking. "What's up?" he greeted her.

"Hi," she replied sweetly. "Smoking is bad for you, you know."

"Well, I ain't dead yet." He took another drag and blew a couple smoke rings before inhaling the rest of it and blowing it through his nose.

Stephanie giggled. "Just doing my job. Don't stay out here too long; you'll get sick."

"Sure thing, Doc," he said with a wink.

Stephanie opened the front door and stepped into the warm house, shaking her head at her Uncle's teasing. She closed the door and took off her coat, hanging it on the coat rack. Seeing Sebastian's black leather jacket hanging there too made her smile. Her grandparents were sitting on the couch together talking, and they greeted her as she made her way inside. Still happy together after decades, Stephanie thought. Passing the anteroom Stephanie saw that there was a card game in session. Her father and mother, aunt and uncle, and Damien were there. Everyone welcomed her except Damien, who simply glanced over his hand at her briefly before looking back at the cards. Stephanie picked up a subtle vibe involved with that gesture but couldn't quite place what exactly was amiss. The sight of her sister approaching, beaming at her as she drew nearer, distracted Stephanie from thinking about that any further.

"Well, hey, stranger," Daphne said. She wrapped her arms around Stephanie's waist and gave her a warm hug. Looking up at her sister after a few moments while keeping her arms around her she said, "You know, you can answer your phone sometimes. I was starting to get worried about you."

Stephanie smiled warmly at her sister, draping her arms around her neck. "I'm sorry," she replied. "I was just... tired today."

Daphne's eyes sparkled up at her, and the feeling of her sister's hands on her hips gave Stephanie a little chill. Daphne was dressed casually in some gray yoga pants and a blue hoodie, and her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail. Stephanie was impressed with her athletic frame and tried to remember when it was exactly that her little sister had decided to grow up so much.

"I think I can forgive you this time," Daphne said swaying her gently from side to side with her hands. "Oh, guess what?" Daphne said suddenly excited.

"Tell me," Stephanie answered with a giggle as the energetic little girl in her sister that she knew so well instantly resurfaced.

"Sebastian said that after he wins his next fight I can start training at the gym!" She finally released her sisters hips and put her hands up in a mock fighting stance. "I'm going to get gloves and hand wraps and a mouthpiece and shin pads and it's going to be awesome!"

Laughing, Stephanie pulled her arms from around her sister's neck and covered up against the playful punches that Daphne began throwing at her.

"Daph, isn't that just a little bit dangerous? What if you get beat up?" Stephanie could hardly force herself to watch their brother step inside the cage. The last thing she could handle would be if something happened to her little sister in there.

"Not with me in her corner."

Sebastian's voice from behind her pleasantly startled Stephanie. She turned to see him standing with his hands casually in his pockets, an amused look on his face at the spectacle of his future pupil playfully beating on her sister.

"Do you see this!?" Stephanie said giggling as Daphne bounced around on her toes and tapped her all over with her fists.

"It's only going to get worse," Sebastian replied watching Stephanie move awkwardly to defend against her attacker.

Stephanie noted the sparkle in his eye as he looked at her and her pulse quickened. He met her gaze and blinked at her, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

The punches stopped suddenly and Daphne said, "That's my cue." She hugged Stephanie warmly from behind before walking off through the house.

Stephanie cast a confused look over her shoulder at Daphne before turning back to face her brother. "She's strange sometimes," she told him.

"It's in the air tonight," Sebastian said distantly.

At that thought, Stephanie suddenly remembered the look that Damien had given her earlier and how strange it had felt. She didn't mention it, though; she guessed that Sebastian had picked up on some sort of vibe, too.

"So what's new?" Sebastian asked.

Stephanie was thankful for the change of subject. "Well, let's see... I got invited to a party with Kristen." she told him smiling sheepishly. "That doesn't happen very often."

"Well, look who's suddenly Miss Popular," Sebastian teased.

Stephanie blushed slightly. She allowed herself to be distracted for a few moments by how nice her brother looked in his red polo shirt. The fitted sleeves wrapped around the top of his formidable bi- and -triceps and outlined his big shoulders. She glanced across his hard chest and shifted her weight uncomfortably, biting at her lower lip.

"Nice socks, nerd," a voice said from behind her, brutally tearing Stephanie from her hot trance.

Before she could even turn to face the girl, Kelly walked up and slapped Stephanie hard on the butt with a loud pop as she passed right on by swaying her hips. Stephanie shrieked in surprise and pain, having felt the full effect of the blow through her thin black skater skirt, and stared after her cousin mortified.

"Freak!" Stephanie yelled and was even further enraged when Kelly held up her middle finger without so much as a glance back as she rounded her way into the dining room. It made her furious!

Sebastian waved away his sister's anger and indignation. "Forget about it," he said. When Stephanie continue to fume angrily, he stepped in close to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Stephanie- stop."

Stephanie looked at her brother pitifully. "But..." she protested. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "What a bitch," she said. "And now my butt hurts."

"She's just... in a mood tonight," Sebastian said glancing over his shoulder, thinking briefly about his encounter with Kelly earlier. Turning back to his dejected sister, he smiled and said, "Hey. I happen to like the socks. A lot."

Stephanie was wearing black thigh- high socks with her skater skirt to keep her legs warm, along with a soft, light-gray turtleneck sweater. Her black shoes had shiny silver buckles on them. Kristen had approved of the ensemble. She had wanted to look good tonight and she loved the idea that Sebastian might have had his eyes on her legs enough to comment on the socks.

Smiling in spite of herself, Stephanie let her head fall forward to rest on Sebastian's chest. It felt so good to be this close to her brother. She wanted to fall completely into his arms and and stay there forever. He gave her shoulders a little squeeze and she shuddered delightfully. She lifted her head and gazed up at him. But the thoughts that began occurring to her were causing her anxiety to come on and she painfully took a step back. Where the absurd images she was having of the two of them came from she didn't know, but she knew that Sebastian would never forgive her if he ever found out. She still wasn't ready to forgive herself for imagining them in the first place. Sebastian let her shoulders go and it made her sad.

"I was kind of wondering if you would go with me?" Stephanie said abruptly to clear the air and her head. "To the party, that is..." Even though it had been Kristen's idea, Stephanie realized in that moment just how badly she wanted her brother to be there with her.

Sebastian gave her a curious look. "You want your boring brother to go to a party with you?" he asked with a soft smile. "You know I'm not very good in those kinds of situations; I might make you look bad."

Stephanie couldn't help the shrill laughter that escaped her then. She placed a hand over her mouth and looked at her brother with eyes wide with disbelief. "You're kidding right?" she said. "Make ME look bad? Oh, Sebastian you are a funny guy."

"Yeah that's me," he said sarcastically with a puzzled look. "Regular comedian."

She was still laughing a bit. Stephanie knew that it would probably end up working the other way around, with her making Sebastian look like he took her there to be charitable to his lonely little sister. Not to mention the fact that Kristen, among others, would undoubtedly make sure that he was plenty enough occupied to not be bored. Her humor faded a bit a that thought. This had the potential to be a perfect experience or a long miserable night, she thought.

And then another thought hatched in her mind. "I need you there, though." She waited for him to take the bait.

Sebastian crossed his arms. "I'm listening," he said suspiciously.

She shuffled her feet nervously. "I need you to be... my bodyguard..." She winced at how stupid that probably sounded, but it was too late now.

"Bodyguard?" Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "You girls expecting trouble?"

"Well, not exactly." Frantically thinking Stephanie explained, "But it's a frat party. You know how crazy those boys can get." She bit her lip and dared to look at her brother with suggestively innocent eyes. "And you don't want any crazy boys getting close to your little sister, now, do you?" She tugged at the bottom of her skirt and drew circles on the floor with one toe.