Having Some Brie

All characters are at least 18 years old.

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"Stefan! Wake up!"

I grumbled into the pillow, shading my eyes from the sunlight filtering through the blinds.

"You need to get up before mom finds us like this!"

What was Brie even talking about? It was too early for this shit.

She shoved me and I rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a hard thud.

"Gah! Brie, what the fuck!" I griped.

The door opened and mom stuck her head in. "Are you kids already fighting first thing in the morning?" she asked mellowly.

"Just Steffie being a massive idiot," Brie quipped with a touch of mockery.

"More like Sabbie being a massive bi--"

"Stefan! Language!" mom said disapprovingly. Apparently her tolerance for us cussing was higher when she was bringing strange men home. I didn't say that, obviously. "Play nice, kids. I have to leave before breakfast." True to form, she was already dressed for work, and blew us kisses before closing the door. Brie was at my side in an instant, helping me off the floor.

"Sorry, Stef," she mumbled. "She was calling down the hall and I knew she was coming in. We couldn't have her finding you in bed with me, so I had to do something. Are you okay?"

"Peachy," I snipped. Looking up at her concerned face, all my anger dissipated. I leaned up and kissed her, and she sank to her knees and knelt between my legs, wrapping her arms around my neck. What a way to start my day.

It wasn't until I was making breakfast that I found out it was going to get even better. "So glad we don't have practice today," Brie sighed. "You excited?"

"Hm? What's up?" I asked absently, focusing on the eggs.

"Fair Day, dummy," she said matter-of-factly. I almost smashed the yolks on the flip.

"Wait, Fair Day is today?" I whirled to look at her. She nodded with a grin.

Twice a year, the county fair would roll through town, and our school would suspend after-school activities so that students could attend. I could honestly say I had no idea why. The good news was that I suddenly was getting a chance at a free date with Brie, without having to burn time on real life. It was starting to increasingly feel like I was living in some fantasy with her, and every day I'd have to fight through reality just to spend time with her. Maybe I was just tired. It had been a hell of a few days, after all.

"Apparently they added a haunted house this year," she noted when I finally set our salvaged breakfast down on the table. I gave her a skeptical look, and she shrugged. We ate a few bites in silence, with my expression quizzical and hers inscrutable.

"You *hate* scary stuff," I finally stated. "*I* hate scary stuff. Why the hell...? Doesn't really affect us that there's a new haunted house, does it?"

"I dunno. Guess I was feeling brave." She was being so damn cryptic, and yet it felt like I could still make a bit of sense of it. Was she trying to say something about what we'd been doing recently? I couldn't decipher her full meaning before she finished eating and tapped her watch, indicating that we should be on our way. Guess I'd find out later.

--

Brie and Lexi were already at our usual table at lunch. Drew was oddly absent, but I knew he'd made it to school since we'd talked on the bus. Lexi looked animated, yet her head was dipped as if she were trying to keep her voice down. For her part, Brie was shaking her head and looking like she was trying to avoid eye contact with her best friend. Guess it was time to rescue her.

"Hey," I uttered as I sat down next to my sister. Lexi grinned so wide that I realized just how much of a fool I was. As if I could rescue anybody from this girl. She was about to chew me up and spit me out. And if I knew anything about Lexi, she chewed very slowly.

"We were just talking about Brie's plans later," Lexi said. Nobody elaborated, but just judging by her tone... Maybe I was reading too much into things, but it felt like she was making it apparent exactly what the nature of these plans was.

Not one to disappoint, Lexi picked up her hot dog and eyed it mischievously. And then she kissed the tip. I frowned and looked over at Brie, whose eyes were wide with disbelief and disapproval, just barely shaking her head. Lexi suppressed a laugh and gave her hot dog another kiss before extending her tongue to give it a gentle lick. What the fuck was happening? I looked around us, but nobody seemed to be paying our table any attention. Moaning appreciatively, Lexi then *took* the hot dog in her mouth. It was the only way to describe it. Any passerby would have been hard-pressed to say that she was putting the food in her mouth with the intention of biting into it. Her lips wrapped around the hot dog, bun and all, and at no point did she break eye contact with my sister.

"Stop it, Lex," Brie said suddenly, her voice strangled. Her friend obeyed with a smirk before lifting a glass of milk to her lips. Why was she drinking milk? Lexi began gulping the beverage down without pause, two or three rivulets of the white liquid rolling down her chin and neck. Oh. That's why. She was gulping loudly, exaggerating the sound, and finished with a lustful sigh. She refrained from wiping up what she'd spilled, and the two of us were looking at her with mixed expressions of shock and... perhaps a hint of arousal.

Who was I kidding? I was rock hard.

We were snapped out of it when Drew dropped his lunch tray on the table and sat down with a groan. "Sorry guys, coach ambushed me in the hall just now." He peered over at Lexi next to him and frowned. "Jesus Christ, Lex, you got milk all over you."

"Whoops. Silly me." She winked at me and Brie before wiping up her drink with slow and deliberate strokes.

Oblivious, Drew reached over and knocked his knuckles against mine. "Dude, Fair Day! Rematch at the guns?"

"You know it," I replied, trying to pull myself back to the conversation. We had an ongoing rivalry of who was the best marksman. Back when we played video games together, we'd compare our speed and accuracy in shooting games. Naturally, we wanted to see if those skills translated well into real life, and took full advantage of the airsoft rifles one could use to shoot balloons on a spinning wheel at the fair. I was faster, but he was more accurate. I wondered if it had anything to do with the sports we were involved in.

"You gonna win me anything, Stef?" Lexi lilted.

"Not a chance," Drew retorted, puffing his chest out. "Brie's gonna be the one taking them prizes home today." I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes, and he held his ground with a challenging grin.

"Alright boys, settle down," Brie scolded. "Drew, you don't have to get me anything. We're just there to have fun, right?"

"Winner gets to take Brie on the ferris wheel," Lexi rushed out.

"Lexi!" Brie protested.

Drew and I didn't break eye contact, our stares intensifying. Lexi had just upped the ante, and Drew got a glint in his eye. There was no doubt in my mind that he was gonna make a move on Brie if he got her alone on that ferris wheel. Fuck that. I didn't even realize I was staring daggers at him until Brie tugged on my elbow. Drew's eyes flashed down to the movement, and he sat back with a dangerous smirk. I might have growled, and he took a bite of his lunch, looking satisfied with himself. I swear I was going to have a heart attack one of these days from beating men off my mom and sister with a stick.

--

The fair was set up not too far from school, and Brie and Lexi were waiting for me on the street when the last class ended.

"Lexi, what the hell," I demanded when I approached. She gave me an innocent shrug and turned her gaze skyward, a smile playing at her lips.

"Just don't take the challenge, Stef," Brie pleaded with me, and I scoffed in response. Drew could count that as a forfeit and claim Brie by default. Just the thought of it made my blood boil. Besides, not accepting the challenge made me look weak. Yeah, the male ego is stupid. Sue us.

"Well, it's not a concern as long as Stef wins," Lexi said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. I groaned, scratching my head vigorously, and she leaned in close to murmur in my ear. "Otherwise Drew gets Brie. You're not gonna let your best friend *have* your sister, are you?"

Something about how she said it triggered a powerful emotional response, and I grabbed Brie by the hand and stormed off, leaving Lexi to titter to herself. Brie yelped as I dragged her along, my thoughts plagued by possibilities that horrified and disgusted me. There was nothing that rendered me more helpless in the moment than my rational self knowing how ridiculous I was being, and succumbing to my imagination anyway. Even if Drew won, it wasn't like Brie would let him do anything to her.

...Right?

It felt like somebody was crushing my heart right in my chest. My jaw was clenched so hard that it ached. Blood thundered in my ears, and my breathing was escalating.

*You're not gonna let your best friend have your sister, are you?*

"Stef, you're hurting me."

I looked down at my hand and sure enough, Brie's hand was red, maybe turning purple in my grip. I let her go and huffed, turning away from her in shame. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Drew probably wasn't even that serious about this. He was my friend; I knew at some level I could trust him to treat my sister with respect. But something primal in me kept replaying the look he'd given me at lunch, and all I saw was a wolf. On the hunt.

"Sorry," I managed, my voice like gravel. Brie was cradling one hand in the other, rubbing it tenderly. I'd hurt her, and I think I was scaring her. Great going, Stefan.

"Hey." She put her good hand on my cheek and turned me back toward her. She didn't say anything until I mustered up the strength to look her in the eyes. "It's alright." She wasn't mad, and she wasn't scared. All I saw was tenderness and concern. My breath left me like a sigh of the wind. I realized I was exhausted. My dumb emotions had worn me out.

"I just..." I began, faltering pathetically.

"I know you'll win. It's gonna be alright." She smiled brightly at me. Yeah, no pressure or anything. Knowing I couldn't disappoint her put some fight back in me, but at least I was grounded again. I looked behind us and saw Drew walking with Lexi, the two of them maintaining their distance from us. Drew's head was tilted to one side, watching us curiously. Lexi looked like she was speaking to him, looking between him and us with ease. God knew what she was telling him.

I sighed and took Brie's hand again, holding her hand loosely enough that it bumped back and forth in my grip. Her thumb rubbed the back of my hand comfortingly, and I swallowed when we finally came into earshot of the fair music. It was already bustling with people, crowds of folks walking around with cotton candy and funnel cakes, and it reminded me of how cheerful I usually was at these things.

Drew and Lexi caught up with us, and the four of us looked around, wondering where to start.

"Save the best for last?" Drew suggested, shooting me a sideways glance. That meant waiting until the end of the day to do the shooting and ferris wheel. I couldn't tell if he wanted to have some fun first before our competition, or if he was just building the tension. Brie gave my hand a squeeze, and I took a deep breath.

"Sure. Food first, then we walk around and see what catches our attention?" I responded, and the others nodded. Brie and I each got a cone of cotton candy, Lexi bought a funnel cake, and Drew was already digging into a turkey leg before we began exploring. We played some of the other games, like the ring toss and high striker, and at one point we almost talked Lexi into the dunk tank.

Drew and Lexi were having a round on the carousel when Brie spotted the haunted house. For some reason, she dragged me in, with me laughing and shaking my head the whole way. We didn't make it ten steps in before we received our first jump scare, some clown with long jagged teeth and leathery clawed hands. Was it any wonder why people were afraid of clowns?

Brie squealed and grabbed my arm, hiding behind me and almost making me trip over her as I backed away from the actor. We both caught our breath with shaky laughter, continuing deeper. Ghouls, axe murderers, and even a dude filled with arrows sporting some very impressive blood makeup. At this one, Brie curled up in a squat, and no amount of coaxing could get her to move. Worried we'd hold up the flow of the attraction, I scooped her up in my arms, and she wrapped her arms around my neck as I carried her the rest of the way through. She had her face buried in my neck, her breath brushing my skin and making me hold her tighter. The remainder of the actors kindly left us alone, and I blinked a few times as we stepped outside. The sun was hanging low, and Drew and Lexi were waiting for us at the end. Both of them had their own amused expressions as I set Brie back down on the grass, and she straightened up her hair nonchalantly.

"It's time," Drew announced dramatically, and I nodded gravely. The two of us led the way to the airsoft booth, with Lexi whispering something to Brie as they hung back.

Drew went first, lifting the rifle to his shoulder and eyeing the twenty balloons spinning on a large rotating bullseye. Players had one minute to shoot as many balloons as possible, time measured by a carnival song the booth attendant played. Drew popped twelve without missing a shot, and he presented his medium tiger plushie prize to Brie.

"Milady," he said proudly, and she hesitantly accepted it before thanking him.

I exhaled heavily and picked up the rifle, realizing only then how sweaty my hands were. I wiped them on my jeans as the attendant replaced the popped balloons, then leveled the gun at the bullseye and nodded at him to start the music. My first shot missed. So did my second.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath. Lexi stepped up behind me and put her hands on my waist, and I heard Brie inhale sharply behind us.

"Focus up," Lexi whispered next to my ear as the balloons seemed to become a blur of color as they spun. "Brie's counting on you. You need to protect your sister."

Why had she phrased it like that? I never got a chance to thank her for it.

Without pausing between pulls of the trigger, I fired like a well-oiled machine, barely even consciously registering where I was placing my shots. When the music stopped, only two balloons remained. Eighteen. I'd won.

Lexi cheered and claimed a giant stuffed bear from the attendant while I turned around in a daze. Drew was wearing a respectful smirk, extending a hand for me to shake it. His grip was firm and his gaze was unreadable. Brie was silently beaming from behind her plush tiger, probably refraining from cheering to avoid making it seem like both girls were on my side.

"Well, you know what that means," Lexi announced elatedly. Drew grumbled but nodded, and Lexi relieved Brie of her plushie before waving us off toward the ferris wheel. The two of us awkwardly left them at the booth as they chatted, and eventually Brie's hand found mine. The line at the ferris wheel was surprisingly short, and we got on after a brief wait.

As we slowly rose off the ground, our legs hanging off the seat and the sun burning brilliant colors into the sky, Brie shuffled closer to me. When we were halfway up I put my arm around her, and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I can't believe Lexi turned me into a prize," she griped, and I laughed softly.

"Nothing would've incentivized us more," I answered, and she was silent. "Besides, you know Lexi is enjoying the hell out of this. She wanted to stir the shit and see what I would do."

"So you're happy you won?" she asked, squeezing my arm. We were near the top now. Nobody could really see us. I turned to her and she straightened up, then I hooked a finger under her chin and tipped her face up.

"You have no idea," I murmured before bringing my lips to hers.

She made a small noise before digging both her hands into my hair, and I pulled her body as close as I could with the way we were seated. Slipping my tongue into her mouth earned me a long moan, and she twisted hers around mine while tugging my head more fiercely toward her.

"You're mine," I growled between breaths, and she nodded as we made out. My hand slipped under her shirt and then her bra to cup her breast, drawing a restrained moan from her. I could have spent another hour with her up there, but we were on the clock. We were forced to break apart as the music below grew louder, signaling that we would be back in eyeshot soon. Panting heavily, we both patted our hair down and straightened our clothes. Our friends were waiting at the base of the ride, and Lexi waved up at us as we descended. I only smiled as Brie waved back, and soon we were disembarking.

"Well, I guess that's that," Drew declared. He looked disappointed but not angry, which was a relief. Lexi handed Brie back her tiger, and it seemed she fully intended to keep the bear I'd won her for herself. "See you guys at school tomorrow?"

"Sure," Lexi agreed, turning to walk back to school where her car was parked. "I'll text you later, girl!"

As Brie, Drew, and I walked to the bus stop, Brie pulled ahead by herself and Drew leaned over to me.

"Wanna tell me what's going on?" he murmured.

Oh *fuck*.

"What do you mean?" I asked casually. He gave me an unamused look, and I gave him a blank one in return.

"I mean this whole sibling thing!" I had to remind myself to keep walking and act natural. "You're protective of her, yeah, I get that. But she looks like she's also super protective of you and she's cockblocking Lexi. And Lexi..." He trailed off, scratching his head.

Okay, so it seemed he wasn't exactly onto us. *Onto us*. Because we were doing something wrong here. I gulped, uncomfortable that Drew was bringing my conscience back into the mix.

"I dunno, is Lexi hitting on you just to piss Brie off or something? 'Cause she doesn't seem that upset when Brie rebuffs her for you."

"Yeah, it sure does feel like that," I managed.

"Dude, she's your sister. Not your girlfriend." My heart skipped a beat. "No need to be so jealous of each other." My heart hesitantly resumed pumping.

"Get off my ass, dude," I chuckled, elbowing him lightly in the arm. "If she's actually interested in somebody, she's not gonna listen to what I have to say about it." Even if that somebody was me.

"Eh, you're probably right. Guess until she meets that somebody, you have her all to yourself, huh?" He gave me a sidelong glance.

He was testing me, trying to catch me off guard or force an involuntary reaction. If I had whipped my head to look at him just now, that was as good as an admission of guilt and the jig would've been up. Thankfully I was smart enough to see the moves he was making, and kept my cool.

"Pft. I think we see enough of each other as is."

I could tell it was still niggling at him, but he couldn't get anything out of me and eventually dropped it. The three of us rode the bus, chatting about the parts of the fair that preceded the shooting competition, until we got to our stop.

"See you tomorrow, Stilts," I said to Drew as Brie and I got off.

"Later, Fish Legs," he replied with a grin, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the bus drove off.

"Fucking hell."

"Lexi's so dead when I get my hands on her," Brie fumed, leading the way into the building.

"I can't fucking believe she pulled that shit," I added. "The hell was she thinking?"

"Yeah, I heard Drew grilling you. So what do we do?"

"I don't know." I was drained from the day, and decided I didn't want to cook. I settled for making sandwiches for dinner, and we went to get changed. Throwing on a t-shirt and shorts, I washed my face before going about constructing sandwiches for mom, Brie, and myself. Brie sat at the counter tapping like mad on her phone. "Chewing Lexi out?"