For all she didn't always love spending time with her brother, Lea did feel a bit excited about getting to go out and garden today. Her butterfly bush wasn't set to bloom just yet, but she could check on it, and also help get the rest of the garden ready for spring and summer. She finished pulling on her blue high top Converse before yelling up the stairs, "Dustin, get down here, too much screentime'll kill even more brain cells, you know! Mum's already waiting outside for us!"

With a loud groan, Dustin shut his laptop, wondering briefly if there was any use in making up a sudden test that he had to study for but no, that way he would be forced to actually study all week. Or, he could come up with a sudden sun allergy. Maybe he'd been bitten by a vampire recently. Yes, that was perfect. Laura Parrish totally would not panic at all at that and let him browse the internet on his bed in peace. "Coming!" he yelled back as he eventually got up from his bed and made his way towards the stairs. "Also Lea, that is just stupid, almost everyone uses screens these days all day. And we haven't suddenly become stupid, have we? Besides, I'm not sure that would have an effect on my brain at all, I can already feel my brain cells slowly dying off having to hear the stuff that comes out of your mouth each day..."

Lea raised an eyebrow as Dustin arrived at the top of the stairs. "It is not stupid, it's a true fact and I know that, dumb-ass. I use a screen too, obviously. I'm just saying that you could use some more outdoors time, it's not gonna hurt you too much and oh, wow, good one! How long did it take you to think of that comeback?" She rolled her eyes and held up a pair of sneakers before tossing them to the bottom of the stairs. "Now! We're already late."

"Yeah, you do, I'd like to see you go one day without your phone," Dustin muttered as he reluctantly came down the stairs. There were so many better things he could do than spend time with his sister and his mother in the garden. Even homework would probably be more fun. "I spend plenty of time outdoors!" came his reply, rolling his eyes. He did! He walked or biked to school and drove his bike to places he wanted to go to. Oh, and he had recently been at the bonfire at the beach all evening. Grabbing his shoes, he put them on before making his way towards the door letting to the back of their property. "How can we be late to plucking weeds in our own garden?"

Rolling her eyes, Lea crossed her arms and looked up at Dustin. "Yeah, but I talk to my friends via my phone. It is a necessary mode of communication, and besides, I also spend time outside all the time, so at least I've got a proper balance, unlike some of us." She trailed after Dustin as he headed to the back door. "Because, dear brother, even in our own house we can have plans, and those plans can have set times. Just like you can be late to dinner, you can be late to plucking weeds and getting our garden all set for the coming seasons."

"I also talk to my friends," Dustin huffed as he opened the door and stepped outside. Cold air attacked him as soon as he set foot into the garden. Or well, maybe it wasn't that cold, but it was definitely not as warm as his room, which he'd been heating so it was full of warm, stuffy air. "Yeah no, that makes no sense," he just told Lea, when Laura Parrish spotted them, kneeling over a flower bed. Or vegetable bed. He couldn't exactly tell. "Come on, you two, grab a bucket and help get rid of all the weeds!" she instructed them, a smile appearing on her face. "Hey munchkin, I see you made it outside! That's great- no, don't pull that face, this is fun."

Lea raised an eyebrow at her brother. "Uh-huh, sure." She followed him outside, running a hand through her hair and twirling the ends. She breathed in the scent of the air, wrapping her arms slightly around her body - despite wearing tights under her jean shorts and a long sleeved shirt, she did still feel the chill of the Maine spring. But she unwrapped her arms from her body as their mother gave the both of them a wave. She hop-skipped over to where Laura stood and grabbed a bucket, quirking her lip as she did so and replying, "Yes, all thanks to me. Otherwise he'd still be stuck upstairs in, like, some virtual reality or whatever." She raised an eyebrow as their mother placed a gloved hand on her calf and said, "Lea, let's all enjoy this time, no matter how we ended up out here, alright?" With a small huff and a rolling of her eyes, Lea gave a nod. "Fine, fair enough." A glance over to Dustin. "So long as he agrees, too."

Dustin did not, in fact, stop pulling that face. If he was forced to go outside into their garden to pluck weeds, fine, he would go out and help, but he didn’t have to look happy doing so. Who knew how long this was going to take and how long he would be forced to be civil to his sister under his mother’s supervision. Virtual reality? Did Lea know nothing about the Internet? “Yes, just because I’m googling something definitely means my brain enters another reality,” he replied and rolled his eyes. When his mother basically reprimanded Lea to be nice, Dustin couldn’t help but smirk, but quickly changed his face back to normal as soon as Laura Parrish turned her head back to him. “I’m being perfectly nice, and I’m all for enjoying this wonderful time together!” Dustin quickly replied, just a small hint of sarcasm in his voice as he grabbed one of the buckets and kneeled down.

Lea gave another small huff. "I thought you were playing a video game, I do know what google is. I use it to find good academic articles when I wanna write papers for, like, history class. Have you heard of JSTOR? It's great." She knelt down next to their mother and began tugging a few weeds out of the ground, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. She threw the weeds into one of the buckets and gave her mother a small kiss on the cheek, before readjusting herself but not before she gave Dustin a small face - one that she knew their mother couldn't see. "Hey, I'm glad the weather worked out, I'm real excited to see how the garden turns out this year! It'll be the second year with my butterfly bush, I hope it'll bloom again."

"Yeah, I have heard of JSTOR, I'm not stupid, Lea," Dustin replied, mouthing 'unlike you' so quietly that his mother definitely wouldn't hear it. He started plucking out a few weeds. Or, he hoped they were weeds and not the plants they had put in the dirt on purpose. "Also, I'm sure you use google for other stuff, too. Like, how to make friends when you're ugly or-" "Dustin!" Laura Parrish gave her son a stern look. "I don't want to hear anymore of this, do you hear me? Or you'll have to get all of the weeds from the other side of the house completely on your own, and I don't care how long that takes you, you will not be able to see your friends before you finish the task. Or, you could just apologise to your sister now. The choice seems rather simple to me." With a sigh, she turned back to the task at hand. "Oh, I'm very excited, too, I've got some great additions planned and we'll grow plenty more herbs and possibly a few more fruits ourselves. Some fruits from the store just never taste like they do when you grow them yourself."

"Well, I am sorry. I did not know and I thought it a good sort of site to mention. It's good to get the best sources possible when writing papers." Lea commented, sticking out her tongue at Dustin, still hidden from their mother. As their mother admonished Dustin she kept her face facing the ground, a smirk threatening to creep across her lips. Well, things did come around, and Dustin did deserve that reminder. She had plenty of friends, after all. His statement wasn't even sort of true. "Ooh, you are so right. Plus, there's just something extra nice about growing stuff all on your own. Gives you a certain sense of accomplishment." She grinned up at their mother as she pulled up a few more weeds. "You are right, Lea." Laura replied, turning to Dustin. "What would you think about my making extra-locally grown fruit salad this summer?"

"Oh, I didn't discover that website for school work," Dustin said, shaking his head. "I just think they have interesting articles in general. People can be interested in stuff even if it won't get them a good grade," he told her, pulling a face at her when she stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm really sorry I said you were ugly," he mumbled finally, ripping a few green plants out at the same time and dropping them in the bucket. There was a high chance those had been weeds. "I think I'd probably try that, yeah," Dustin told his mother. At least fruits where somewhat sweet. Though he wondered if their own fruits from the garden would look just as good as the ones they could buy at the supermarket. Since those came from actual farmers, who probably knew exactly what they were doing. Laura turned to her daughter, observing her pluck a couple of weeds from the ground. "I think you've got this covered," she said, as she rose to her feet. "In the meantime, I'm going to put more seeds on the lawn, it's time we get a nice, full green lawn again. Please down kill each other. I'm still close enough I can hear all attempts of murder."

Lea sighed. "I know, I like the articles in general, too. Just yesterday I was reading one about the history of... whatever, anyhow, not the present point at hand." She grinned when Dustin apologized. "Thank you Dustin, and mum, I'd try that too. Especially if we maybe try out a solid berry one? We can see how the fruits we grow work out, though." She watched as their mother got up, giving her a small wave. "Don't worry, I know I've got this for sure!" She waited until Laura was out of earshot before turning to Dustin. "Don't bug me, I want to do a good job of this. I care about how our house looks, and I want to give the plants the best space to grow, okay?"

Dustin stared at his sister for a few seconds, not sure what to even say to that. He'd been so sure that Lea was just pretending to be so into this to suck it up to their mum that he never considered the possibility that she actually cared about plucking weeds and planting berry bushes. "Are you actually serious?" he asked her, his voice incredulous. "Who even cares- you know if we don't do a good job of this, mum will make it look good anyway. And I don't think the plants care about weeds anyway," he said, flicking a piece of weeds at her. "You're so weird sometimes, I can't believe you're not adopted."

Lea looked straight back at Dustin. "Yes, I am, as a matter of fact. It might be boring as hell sometimes, but it is important to help out in the house's upkeep, and I know mum'll make it look perfect if we don't do the best job we can, but she works really hard, Dustin. She shouldn't have to do that." She glared at him as he flicked some weeds at her. "Yeah, well, I'm not, jerk," she said, flicking a few of her weeds over to Dustin. "Also weeds can sometimes kill plants, or at least impede their growth. Maybe you should ask mum if you can make a weed garden or something if you're so into them."

Dustin shrugged. "I just think that a garden can look good even if it's a little messy," he said. "That could give it charm, actually. As long as it's green, who cares if the plants were originally supposed to grow?" Still, he plucked out another couple weeds, before throwing both them and the ones that Lea had flicked at him back at her head. "Well, I wasn't there when mum supposedly gave birth to you, so I'm just going to pretend that you were switched at birth because that means we're not actually related," he said, shifting a little to be more comfortable kneeling over the flower bed. "And sure, I will ask her if I can grow a weed garden. I might actually make a huge income with that if I sell the weed at school. I'm sure she'll say yes."

Lea rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, you would. I've seen your room." She blew a few strands of hair out of her face. "Because gardens should look nice and not just be all green, jeez." She ducked and grabbed the weeds, throwing them forcefully into the bucket. "Not switched at birth, Dustin, plus I don't think that's even all too common and I look like mum, so ha!" She pushed herself off the ground and went over to Dustin at his next comment. "Not that type of weed, oh my god." She picked up a stray gardening glove and whacked him on the shoulder before going to kneel back down. "I meant like these." She held up a plant. "Plants that can impede the growth of other plants. Not drugs, or I'm telling on you."

"My room isn't messy! It's just homey," Dustin protested. "And I think that gardens that are super orderly and perfect look stuck-up, sorry. So maybe that is why you like them so much," he told her and despite his words plucked out a couple more weeds. This was boring. Why couldn't he go back inside? But his mother would definitely notice it if he snuck back inside and let Lea happily do this boring work on her own. "You can't know for a fact that you aren't, and maybe you just look like her by chance." He was just minding his own business, plucking out another plant that he wasn't sure was a weed, when suddenly his sister came over to whack him on the shoulder with a glove. "Ow!" he said loudly and rubbed at his shoulder, glaring at her. "What, would you tell on me if I was selling weed to the other students at school or if I ever smoked some?"

Lea have a small sigh. "Oh, that's what you're calling it?" She let a bemused look cross her face as Dustin continued to weed the garden, despite still complaining. "Yeah, well same goes for you, then! You could've been switched as well, you know." She giggled when he exclaimed out loud. "Serves you right, y'know. Also yes, you should not do illegal activities like that, and also why would you smoke some? It smells soooo bad, ew!" Lea said, making a small gagging face.

“Yes, that’s what I’m calling it, because that’s what it is.” Dustin’s room had lots of stuff in it, that’s what made it so comfy and nice. Not everything had to be perfectly orderly to look good, not all close had to be hung up in his wardrobe and not every book had to be in the bookshelf and it was also perfectly fine that a couple of papers were flying around. “I kind of wish I was switched at birth, then I could live with my real parents and I wouldn’t have to see you again.” He dropped his hand from his own shoulder, raising an eyebrow at her. “Me and illegal activities? Never.” If you didn’t count underage drinking, breaking and entering and illegal streaming, he’d actually never done anything illegal before in his life. “I think it’s kind of obvious why people would smoke it, Lea. But thanks for letting me know you hate the smell, I’ll make sure to smoke it in your bedroom if I ever do.” Maybe he should ask Quinn if he wanted to try it. Even though he had no clue who even to get weed from, but that couldn’t be so hard to figure out, could it?

"Fine, sure, whatever." She replied brusquely. It wasn't Lea's fault that she liked order, liked making sure that her room looked nice and presentable. Drawers for set items, a roughly color-coded set of bookshelves (which certainly took some effort but was well worth it in the end). "Yeah, but if you'd been switched you'd still be with me, so sorry, you're stuck with me for life, no take-backs no matter what." She beamed over at Dustin before throwing a few more weeds into the bin. "Okaaaay, well, if you've never done anything illegal I see utterly no point in starting up on them. Even you have to be smart enough to realize that, right?" She wrinkled her nose. "Smoke it in my room and I'll find a curse that turns all your clothing hot neon pink or maybe one that makes you smell like my peach or apple or strawberry perfume." She hissed, narrowing her eyes.

“Fuck my life,” Dustin muttered as he kept on plucking out weeds. “Maybe I want my clothes to be that colour, have you considered that?” He gave her a look. “Men can wear pink, it doesn’t make them gay or anything…” He threw a couple of weeds into the bucket. Okay, maybe he didn’t even own any pink clothes so Lea kind of had a point. “And maybe I want to smell like a fucking fruit salad, okay? You know my life.” He didn’t want to. “But yeah, if I’m going to smoke it, I’m going to do it in your room. So you’ll get in trou-“ “What are you two talking about?” came the voice of his mother from behind him. Dustin nearly pushed over the bucket. “Taylor Swift,” he said quickly, eyes darting to his sister, warning her to keep quiet and go with it. “Well,” Laura said. “I just got called in to work. Nadine called in sick so I’ll have to take her shift. Your dad make dinner tonight. Oh, and please, I put new seeds for the lawn, the two of you will need to water it so they can grow.” She leaned down to press a small kiss to the top of Lea’s head before ruffling through Dustin’s hair.

Lea shrugged. "I know, pink actually used to be more stereotypically a boy's color before it became a more stereotypically girl's color. It's derived from red, which was considered a stronger color and therefore more suitable for boys. Also I know it doesn't make you gay, Dustin! Clothing doesn't do that, it's a natural thing from birth, or whatever." She tossed some of her hair over her shoulder. "But I do know that there's no way wearing pink or smelling like my perfumes is something you'd be into." A small huff. "And you can't - " she began, talking partially over him before their mother came out and even Lea half-jumped. "Yeah-huh. I was telling Dustin aaaaall about her, and the evolution of her songs from more country to more pop." She narrowed her eyes over at Dustin. "I hope work goes well," Lea said, beaming up at Laura, "and of course we'll water the lawn. Don't you worry." In a few moments their mother was gone and Lea turned to Dustin. "You know mum and dad would never believe I'd smoke that shit. Your plan would neeeever work."

"I already knew all of that, Lea," Dustin just retorted as his sister told him about the history of the colour pink for boys. "And like, I don't get the whole stereotype that gay people like pink because gay people are also supposed to have a good sense of fashion and pink is clearly horrible, so." He picked at a few more weeds, watching his mother walk back inside the house to get ready for her shift. Thankfully she hadn't heard any of the conversation. He wasn't sure exactly where his mother stood on the issue of weed, but he doubted it was something she would be okay with in relation to her children. "Uh, yeah? I mean, obviously I wouldn't just smoke in your room and think that's it, no. Before, I'd drop hints that freshman girls were caught smoking in the girl's toilets at school. And maybe I'd drop the name of one of your friends. So then, if they smell it in your room, it becomes more believable. Also. I think I'm gonna get started on the watering the lawn part, you have fun making space for your plants."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that you knew it? It's not something that everyone does know!" Lea grumbled. "Pink is not horrible, FYI. It's a lovely color, but I wouldn't expect you to know what's fashionable and what's not, sooo... also it's a stereotype for gay men, not gay women." She followed her brother's gaze towards their mother before snapping back and glaring at Dustin. "Right, and if they asked me about that I'd tell them that no, I've not heard of any reports of that and I don't know where you got it from. Also none of my friends would smoke weed, obviously." She half-hissed at Dustin. "Half of them don't even drink soda 'cause it's too bad for you. Have fun with the watering," she said, rolling her eyes. "Just keep it over there, I'm not ready for it just yet."

"I know what stuff looks good and what doesn't," Dustin protested, frowning. "Like, I dress myself and I don't look ridiculous. So there's your proof." He pushed himself off the ground. "Okay, but mum and dad might think you were just protecting your friends and I'm not sure they would know that your friends definitely wouldn't smoke," he said before walking over to the shed where they stored the water hose. After turning on the water, he held it out onto the lawn, making sure the grass and the new seeds were getting watered. Then he moved a little. Fuck. This was the most boring work ever. But it was still better than digging in the dirt to pluck weeds.

"I mean, I've seen people dress worse, but... I wouldn't say that means you're extra skilled or anything." Lea pursed her lips. "Well, don't do it or else I'll find some major way to retaliate. Don't doubt me, Dustin. You know I can." She grinned up at him before she went back to picking out the weeds. After a few more moments, most of them - if not all of them - seemed gone, and she made her way over to where Dustin stood with the hose. "Give it to me." She demanded, holding her hand out. "I need to make sure I get the dirt out from my nails." Lea raised an eyebrow. "Also see, isn't this nice? Being outdoors! It's so pretty out today!"

"Thank you," Dustin replied sarcastically. "I mean, I guess that means that I definitely couldn't be gay then," he said, before shrugging. "Oh yeah? What would you do?" he asked, before going back to watering the lawn while his sister was busy with the weeds. He looked up when he heard her approach him and asked him to give him the hose. "Oh, you want to get all the dirt?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sure, I can do that." But instead of handing her the hose, he just held up, splashing water over her head and body. "I know, it's just beautiful! Hope it won't rain." He started laughing.

Lea rolled her eyes. "Sexuality is not tied to clothing, you know. You know Jenna's gay, right? She's super open and even has a girlfriend and she's never worn flannel in her life." She hummed briefly to herself. "Something unexpected. Still up for debate, and as if I'm gonna tell you. Nice try, though." When he sprayed her with the hose she spit out a bit of water. Okay, should have seen that coming. "Rain's good." She spat back, water dripping off of her hair and onto her nose. In a quick moment, she grabbed part of the hose and turned it back to Dustin, covering him in water. "Not that you need to get aaaaany taller, but hey, you said you wanted to keep weeds around, right? You need to water them to make them live."

Actually, Dustin hadn't know that Jenna was gay. From what he'd figured, freshman girls, which included Lea's friends, were completely obsessed with boys. And how was he even supposed to tell if the girls were dating when they always acted super close and affectionate anyways? It took him a little by surprise that Lea had a gay friend, although it wasn't very surprising that in theory, she was good with gay people. They had been raised like that after all. "You're not telling me because you don't know yet," he told her, and really, he should have held on more tightly to that hose and stopped Lea from grabbing it. When the ice cold water hit his face, he let out something that could only be classified as a very manly yelp. It wasn't summer after all, so this wasn't a nice and refreshing surprise - this was cold and wet and the exact opposite of nice. "I think humans usually ingest water by drinking it, not by diffusion through our skin," Dustin retorted, wiping a hand over his forehead to get the wet hair away from his eyes. Reaching out, he tried to grasp his sister's shoulders, wrangling her to try and push her to the ground which had turned a little muddy from all the water.

"I do know." Lea giggled. "But surprises can be good, plus, it'd be more fun for me." She paused, watching the water drench him. "Just. Like. That." She flicked her wet hair over her shoulders. "Nice yelp, by the way. Also I know humans ingest water by drinking it, but maybe you're like, part alien or something. It'd explain a whole lot." She wriggled out of his grasp as he tried to push her onto the ground. "Nice try, big brother, but looks like you didn't succeed. Oopsie daisy." She smirked up at him, brushing some hair out from her face. "Also you'd better not ruin this shirt, it's one of my favorites."

"You mean, it would explain why I am so exceptionally smart?" Dustin asked. A disappointed frown formed on his face when he didn't succeed in pushing her down into the mud. Damn. He would have loved to see that. "That is one of your favourite shirts? God, how horrible must the rest of them be then," he told her, starting to shiver a little. Pulling at the hose, he tried to direct it back so that it would drench her instead of him. "You look like you need the watering, dwarf, not me."

"Uh, no." Lea rolled her eyes again. "Absolutely positively not what I mean, at all." Her eyes narrowed briefly. "Wow, what an insult. Truly brilliant, one for the books - even!" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. However, Dustin did succeed in hitting her with water the next time she tried, and Lea coughed, spitting some of it out of her mouth. "I am perfectly happy with my size, thankyouverymuch," she said, running the words together. "Plus, I'd rather be tiny then some freakish giant."

"Haha. It was much better than your insults," Dustin replied, rolling his eyes at her. He had to grin when it turned out that he was successful getting her with the water hose again. "You look like a fucking fish," he informed her as she spit out some water, and then he started to laugh. "Oh, you're happy with your size? How can that be when you can't even reach high cabinets, Gimli?" With a glint in his eyes, he towered over her, hose in his hand, as he tried to stick the end of it down the back of her top.

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, and who knows?! Maybe one day it'll come true." Lea crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow over at Dustin. "Also I like fish, and I know for a fact I do not look like one, but thanks anyhow! Dad got some new ones over at the aquarium." She brushed her fingers against her nose. "I have no idea who the hell Gimil is, and besides, I can climb to reach them or use a step stool. At least I don't have to duck to get through a doorframe." She sidestepped him and tried to grab the hose, in hopes of spraying him directly in the face.

"You like fish? Yeah, you keep telling yourself that you don't look like one," Dustin retorted and grinned. "You look like the ugliest fish I've ever seen. In fact, you totally look like a blobfish," he said. "And one day, I'm going to duct-tape you to a chair and make you watch all three Lord of the Rings movies. One after the other, with no break or mercy," he told her. "It will change your life." His plan to directly spray water down her back did not succeed, and instead he got a huge load of ice cold water spraying directly into his face, blinding him for a few moments. He spluttered a "fuck you", but then a plan formed in his head. Turning his body into the other direction, he started sprinting towards the back door of their house. With this head start, he was likely the first one inside their bathroom and therefore the first one who could get warm under the shower.

"I mean, they aren't my favorite animal, but I like them well enough." Lea cleared her throat. "Um, no. I do not look like one of those, thank you very much." Though soon enough he had moved beyond and she let out a sigh of exasperation. "Duct-taping me to a chair sounds really freaking painful, Dustin." She rolled her eyes. "Maaaaybe someday you'll get me to watch them, we'll see." She giggled as the water hit him in the face, but in the brief moment she'd lost focus Dustin had begun to run toward the house - Lea darted after him, ducking under his arm as he opened the door and moved so that she was standing right in front of the stairs, one hand on the railing and the other on the wall. "Nuh-uh, no way are you getting to shower first. You'll use up all the warm water and I'll have none left!"

Fuck, why did the backdoor take so long to open? The handle, again, was a bit stiff so it was difficult to get it down - and of course, just as Dustin had opened the door Lea had moved through it by going underneath his arm. Why the hell was she so fast?! He moved inside, towards the stairs, which she was practically guiding like a dragon was protecting its eggs. "Like you wouldn't do the exact same thing!" he retorted, darting forward and grasping her shoulders, trying to push her to the side so he could run up the stairs.

"Um, no, I would only use the allotted amount, thank you very much. Plus I actually have more hair than you do and I need to make sure it stays all nice." Lea smirked up at him, trying to wriggle out of his grasp but falling slightly against the stairs. Nothing too bad, though she did narrow her eyes. "That's not fair!" She pushed herself up and ran up the stairs after him, trying to make it to the bathroom door to block it.

"Yeah, well, and I have more skin than you in total since I am bigger than you," Dustin told her, letting out a triumphant laugh when she fell against the stairs. He started racing up the stairs, which truthfully wasn't that easy with heavy, wet clothes. He was still wearing shoes, and for a moment he feared about what his mother would say regarding the wet dirt inside the house and on the stairs, but that didn't matter now. What mattered was that Lea actually tried to get after him and block the door. This was the only bathroom they could use, since his parents would definitely notice if one of them took a shower inside their en-suite bathroom. He reached for her arm. "I swear, if you go in first, I'm going to set fire to your English homework," he threatened, though truth me told, that was a threat he would never go through with.

"Right, you're a giant." Lea giggled again. Once she'd made it up the stairs she crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring straight up at Dustin. "You better not, and if you did that I'd set fire to your PS4. Call it faulty mechanics and all that. Let. Me. Into. The. Bathroom." She reached her arm around and under Dustin's and undid the door, ducking again under her brother's arm to get into the bathroom. "Well, look at that. I win, sucks to be you." She smiled again before slamming the door shut.

Dustin rolled his eyes, like Lea would actually set fire to his PS4. Didn't she know how much that had cost? Determined to not let her into the bathroom, he gripped her tight, but somehow, she was able to open the door and sneak inside. Mouth open, he watched as the door was slammed shut in front of his nose. "Fuck you, Lea!" He yelled, slamming his fists against the door. "Fuck you!" He tried the door handle, but of course, the door was locked. His cold, wet clothes were clinging to him like a pair of second skin. "I will drip on everything you love!" he threatened through the door, before retreating, searching for somewhere to keep warm. After getting his phone from his own room he promptly sat down on Lea's bed, wrapping her blankets around his dripping body. This would serve her right.

"Right back atcha!" Lea replied as she turned the lock to fully close the door. She stripped out of her wet clothing and flung it on the floor, before turning up the shower so that it was very warm and stepping in, shouting to Dustin - "screw you, big brother, but I still won!" and smiled to herself, scrubbing her shampoo into her hair and making sure to use her favorite peach-scented body wash. She wasn't about to be so cruel as to totally use up all the hot water, but taking a little extra time couldn't hurt - especially since it was Dustin's fault that they were both soaked, wasn't it?

  Not only was he freezing cold, shivering even though Dustin was wrapped in the blanket (it probably would have been a good idea to take off his wet clothes but he wasn't going to do that in her bed and if he went back to his own room instead of dripping on her bed that would be no fun) he was also quickly becoming very bored. Waiting for something was always annoying, and waiting to get out of his ice cold clothes and under the hot spray of his shower was excruciating. To pass his time, he took out his phone, starting to play a game but quickly getting bored of it. Then, he opened the gallery of pictures he'd taken. Most were completely random shots from outside, from his sister, there was even the shaky picture of that weird ghost, but then, yes. There were a couple of pictures he had taken of Quinn. One of them showed him right in the middle of the process of eating a pancake, it wasn't a flattering picture. What would Lea say if she saw that? Wait, would Lea think it was weird that he had pictures of Quinn on his phone? Lea had pictures of her friends, he knew that, but that felt different. Would Lea think something about the pictures of Quinn he had on his phone if she ever saw them? And what if she did, what if she figured it out, how would she react?

When Lea was four years old, she had decided that it was about time to move on from baths, as fun as they were, and have showers. Though being tiny and having a lot of water hit her head with great force had been a shock to start with, she quickly found that it was quite fun - and when their mother wouldn't allow Lea out in the pouring rain, she could always shower and style her hair in fun shapes with shampoo before rinsing it all out. Her rubber duck could come into the shower, too - back when she was little - and baths were too babyish, anyhow. Lea ran her hands through her hair, untangling it section by section, before rinsing out the shampoo and moving on to the conditioner - squeezing a decent amount into her palm and running it smoothly through her hair and ducking her head under the stream of warm water. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped her body with one of her giant fluffy green towels, expertly tying her hair up in a topknot under another, smaller towel.

Dustin was still moving through the pictures on his phone, but really, his mind was somewhere else. If he told her about Quinn and him, would she think that he was gay? Was he really gay? Maybe she knew something about that. She had gay friends, after all - okay, and that was another reason that maybe, he could tell her. Since she was clearly okay with her friend having a girlfriend maybe she would be okay with his thing, too. Of course, he couldn't be absolutely sure because it was always different when it was family. Always. Thumb hovering above the screen, which showed a picture of Quinn, smiling, looking up at him with a controller in his hand, he suddenly got the urge to tell her. The kiss, and everything else, how he felt about boys, or one boy - that was so far his most safely kept secret. He hadn't breathed a word to anyone. He hadn't had anyone react to it. And maybe it was time. Yes, he should tell Lea. He should tell Lea so she could tell him if this was okay, if this was really him.

Lea stepped out of her towel and grabbed her robe off of the hook on the back of the door. Towel still wrapped her hair and head, she exited the bathroom and turned toward her room. She turned the handle on the door and opened it, before looking up and straight at Dustin, sitting on her bed. "What the hell, Dustin?!" She said, her voice rising. "Get out of my room! I just washed those sheets and now I'm gonna have to get them all washed again!" Lea narrowed her eyes and stomped over to her clothes hamper, hanging her still-drying clothing on the side before standing up again and crossing her arms, staring straight at her brother. "You can go, now."

Now that Dustin had made up his mind, waiting for her to come back from her shower just became more unbearable. He kept flicking through the pictures on his phone, but he couldn't relax, or even smile at them anymore. What the hell was she going to say? Would she be happy for him? Or maybe would she say that actually, she thought that he wasn't really into boys, but that he was just enjoying the attention of the one person who actually seemed to like him and paid attention to him? He had almost forgotten that she wouldn't be happy about the bed situation when she suddenly appeared in the doorway, yelling at him. "Well, you shouldn't have taken a shower first then!" he retorted, but his voice lacked the usual fire. He watched her go over to the clothes hamper, biting his lip. "Actually, no, I can't go. I wanted to talk about something with you first. Something related to what you told me about Jenna."

"You have your own room! Plus mine smells like my body mists and I thought you always complained about them." Lea snapped back, glaring at him - startling a bit when he mentioned Jenna. "What about her?" She raised one of her eyebrows in a perfect arch, taking three steps towards Dustin. "She's one of my best friends, so don't even think about saying something obnoxious."

Dustin just shrugged. He wasn't going to tell her that the reason he was sitting on her bed was to annoy her. He had a feeling that wouldn't go over too well with her. "Relax, I'm not going to say something about her," he replied, frowning. Did she really think that he was going to make fun of her friend for being a lesbian or say something bad? "Like, why would I say something obnoxious? I kinda- Did you know that Quinn is gay?" he wanted to know. "I mean, he's pretty open about it, so I'm not, like, outing him against his will. So maybe you knew already."

"Because you're a teenaged boy and you already tend to say obnoxious things, big brother." Lea rolled her eyes. "Also, um, no? I knew he was a senior but I don't know everything about every senior or anyone else in the school. I know a decent amount, though. Could probably peg who'll win prom queen and king, maybe." She squinted at him. "So, what's your point? We both have gay friends? Congrats, it's not a big deal. Doesn't make them any different than if they were straight." Lea moved over to her dresser and undid the towel around her hair, before putting some leave-in conditioner into it and brushing it through - then turned back to face Dustin as she began to weave her hair into one thick braid. "Is that all? The shower's waiting for you."

Dustin rolled his eyes, he did not say obnoxious things. Never. "Yeah, but I thought you might know a bit more about him seeing as he comes over quite a lot," he replied, biting his lip. He pressed a button to make his phone screen come back to life, looking down at the picture. He could just tell her that it was all and be done with it. He could just get up and take a shower. But then, he still wouldn't know what she'd say about it. "No, that wasn't really my point," he said. "Especially considering that Quinn isn't just my friend." The last words came a bit quicker than he meant to say them, but as soon as the sentence had formed inside his head, it wanted out. Shit. This was it. He looked up at where she was standing, eyes tracking her every facial expression and movement.

Giving a small sigh, Lea took a few steps towards Dustin. "Him being around does not guarantee that I'll know loads more about him. I do know he's way into computers, even more than you, and that he once ate my last watermelon popsicle probably because you told him to, but I didn't know he was gay. No." Lea fiddled with the end of her braid, twisting it tightly around her finger. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" She took a few steps towards him and raised an eyebrow. "What is he, then?"

"Okay," Dustin just said. And sure, of course she wouldn't know he was gay. She would only know if he'd told her, or if she'd been stalking his blog. Which she probably hadn't. Because why would she spent hours going through her brother's friend's blog? Of course not. He bit his lip as she asked him to repeat himself. He himself didn't even know what they were. Quinn hadn't exactly asked him to be his boyfriend. And to use that word... that would feel like a huge step. "He's still very much my friend, my best friend," Dustin mumbled, looking down at his hands. "But, um, he likes me. And I'm very sure I like him, like, I kept thinking about him? All the time? And I feel really good when I'm with him, which honestly is not surprising because he's one of the nicest people I know and to be fair he is very attractive-" Dustin stopped to take a bit of breath, suddenly aware of the fact that he was rambling. But how else was he supposed to explain this thing to Lea? "So, the point is, there's kind of this thing between us." He looked up at her, still biting his lip.

Lea pursed her lips and turned her head to the side, as if to examine Dustin. Process what he'd said, more fully. "So, like, are you gay?" She bit her lip. "Is that what you're trying to tell me?" She squinted at him. Not that it mattered, but it was still something - something she hadn't known about Dustin. Lea had never really given much of any thought to what his sexuality was - he was Dustin, so it didn't matter. "Or at least into Quinn? I guess he's cute, though not really my type." She shrugged.

Dustin sighed. That was the big question, the question that he had been asking himself nearly every day for a while. Or at least, ever since he figured out that he liked Quinn as more than a friend. "I don't know," he said truthfully. "Would that be a problem if I was?" he asked her. Okay, so she was fine with Jenna, but Jenna was a girl and Jenna hadn't been living with her for the past fifteen years. Was she going to be angry that he kept this a secret from her? "I mean, I think there's at least a 70% chance I'm gay? I think. Like, I've never been into a single girl at school and I very much enjoy kissing Quinn." He shrugged, looking away, then back at her, trying to read her reaction off her facial expressions.

Lea rolled her eyes. "Why the heck would it be a problem?" She asked, squinting at him. "Though if you go any further with any talk of kissing we might have one, because eeeeeeeew as much as we share DNA, I do not need to hear any details about who you're swapping saliva with, holy crap." Though if Quinn and Dustin were doing anything, a message to Quinn or some talk with him in the hallways at school was in order - though school seemed like a less appealing idea. "Also did you really have to tell this to me when I am in my freaking bathrobe? I don't even get to have this memory in a pretty outfit." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I don't know! I thought maybe you would be mad because I kept this a secret from you!" Now that Dustin thought about it, maybe it had really been irrational to think she would be angry. Hearing her reaction now, it was such a relief. Even though, yes, technically he could have guessed she would be fine with it. "Oh my god, you are so immature! I just mentioned that we kissed, nothing more, nothing about spit or anything. So, can I tell you that this started by us holding hands or is that too inappropriate for your baby brain to handle?" Dustin asked, rolling his eyes at her next words. "And I'm in fucking wet clothes, what's your point?" She was nothing but ridiculous. "What memory?"

"Well that's freaking stupid, but fine." Lea pursed her lips. "I am not! I just don't want to hear about my brother kissing. I've got nothing against it as a general concept." She glared at him. "Chill the heck out, big brother, I thought you've said I'm supposed to be the one with no chill." Lea scrunched up her nose. "On my bed, where you could've gone and gotten out of them in your own freaking room, so I don't have sympathy for that, sorry." Lea hopped onto the bed, next to Dustin and turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. "The memory when my annoying as heck big brother confided in me about one of the most important things ever and I'm in a freaking fluffy bathrobe."

Dustin started grinning. "Oh my god, I have a new weapon against you. Every time I want something from you, I can just start talking about kissing Quinn in as much detail as I can, and only stop when you do what I want you to." This plan was genius. He shrugged when Lea complained about him being on her bed. "Well, I had to be here 'cause I wanted to tell you my secret," he said, not mentioning that his original reason for going into her room had been to drip all over her things instead of his own. Looking back at her as she joined him on the bed, he raised his own eyebrow right back at her, mimicking her expression. "So? Looks stylish. You'll always remember you were in a fucking fluffy bathrobe, and you will always remember that bathroom fondly as the 'my-brother-told-me-he-might-be-gay'-bathrobe. Also, um, can you please not say anything about this to mum and dad?" he asked her, biting his lip. "They're pretty open-minded when it comes to gay people, but they're still assuming we're both straight and so far the open-door rule for me only applies to girls and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Um, no. That is cruel, and if you do that I'll just plug my ears and ignore you." Lea smirked. "That sounds incredibly fake, Dustin." She continued, with a rolling of her eyes, which only continued as he copied her expression. "This robe might be cute, but it is not any sort of stylish look. Also that's a freaking long name, big brother." She cocked her head to the side, her braid falling down her side. "I won't say anything, I'm not about to be a jerk and out you to our parents. Plus sexuality's a whole tangled mess, if we're being honest."

Dustin crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Uh, you know you can't ignore me. So you'll probably still have to hear all about it. And besides, it's not like I could terrorise anyone else with this stuff," he told her. "It's not fake. Don't call me fake. You're fake." He stuck his tongue out at her, even though technically she was right. "Well, you can't call it a coming-out bathrobe since I didn't technically come out," he mumbled, smiling when she said she wouldn't say anything. "Awesome. So being maybe-gay does have its perks. 'Cause if you bring over a guy, you two will be watched like a hawk by mum and dad. Isn't life beautiful and fair?"

Lea sighed. "I can try, practice does make perfect, after all." She narrowed her eyes. "What if I get a boyfriend and tell you aaaall about that?" Lea smirked. "Except that no, I wouldn't. I don't need to hear your thoughts on my love life." She pulled her robe tighter around her body. "You didn't, no, but it is news that you're into boys and I knew that time you got together was a daaaate. See? I'm right about everything." She let a soft giggle escape her lips. "Life is not fair but there's no boys around even though Jackson gave me those candy hearts or whatever."

"But I'm still un-ignorable," Dustin retorted, chuckling. "Yeah, there's no way you would tell me about your possible boyfriend. You'd probably just tell your friends instead." He ignored the fact that the reason he couldn't do that was that he pretty much had no friends. This wasn't the time to think about that. "Also, yes, maybe that was our first date." He couldn't help but smile. "I mean, it wasn't a date originally, but it kinda turned into one. But you totally could not know that. Just a lucky guess on your part." He refused to believe that his sister could read him that well. "Oh, so his name is Jackson! You never told me that. I'll have to keep a closer look at him then." He laughed. "Wait, are you even into boys? Cause, I mean, being gay is heritable, so maybe you are, too."

"Only because you're giant and have an obnoxious voice, but I have practice. I am immune." Lea raised an eyebrow. That was not completely true, not at all, but it was important to say. "Yeah, you're right. I would tell Jenna and Beth and all the others, and ha! I knew it." She huffed. "Psh, not a lucky guess. I am simply that brilliant." A proud smile crossed her lips before turning into a frown. "Why would you bother keeping a closer look at him?" She squinted. "Um, I guess? I don't know, I've never really given a lot of thought to what I am, if we're being honest. There's other more important things to think about."

"Um, excuse you? I have a beautifully energetic and deep voice!" Dustin protested. "And I can make you listen, definitely." He frowned. "What, you would tell them? But surely you would tell me first if you got a boyfriend? I mean, you're the first person I told. First and only person," he said. "And don't look so smug. It was Valentine's Day after all, and you're not brilliant at all." Dustin shrugged. To be fair, he had been mostly kidding. "Um, I don't know. Probably to make sure he's not bothering you or anything. I mean, giving you candy hearts? That's a pretty bold move," he said. Lea raised a few good points about sexuality and how important it was not, but of course he couldn't admit that to her face. "Of course you haven't thought about that. You're just a baby after all."

"Again, no, but if that's what helps you sleep at night, keep telling yourself that." Lea shook her head. "No you can't." She rolled her eyes. "Because you don't have as many friends as I do, Dustin. Don't try to make me feel special, it's not gonna work." She replied, "and I'll look as smug as I want. With good reason, just saying. Also aww, how cute! You do care about me!" Lea laughed. "Still never ate any of the hearts, but it was a bold move. I can't help it that I'm pretty though." At Dustin's next comments she rolled her eyes again. "Not a baby, just not something I focus on. My age has nothing to do with it."

"I do have many friends I could tell," Dustin protested, even though technically it was a lie. There was no one at school he would tell, and he wasn't exactly sure if Noah considered him a friend or just an annoying, if not slightly amusing teenager to put up with. "Shut up, I don't care about you at all!" he lied. "Like, why would I care about you? You're just the person taking up the room that could have been my own gaming room." He grinned at her. Of course he did care about her. But her ego was already so inflated, she didn't need to hear that. "Of course you'd say that, I bet you've never even held hands with a guy." He stuck out his tongue before getting up from the bed. "I better get out of these clothes before I catch something."

"That is factually incorrect, Dustin." Lea pursed her lips. "Even if you do have friends, I don't think you'd up and share this with them." A glare flashed across her face at his comment, if only for a brief moment. "Liar. Oh my god, Dustin, you are the worst at lying." Raising an eyebrow, she continued. "Nope, mum would have had some craft room in here for her knitting or dad would have gotten it. Not you, ew." She wrinkled her nose in false disgust. "You don't know that I could have held hands with many guys. I do have quite soft hands, I use excellent lotion." She rolled her eyes. "Yes, especially 'cause if you catch it you're sure to make it so that I, too, will catch something. Feel free to go, now."