After his father dropped him off at home, Joe went straight to his room and lay face down on his bed, but then he turned over as his chest protested fiercely. He felt miserable, not as bad as he had before talking to his father, but he still felt bad.

Biff’s father had gotten mad at him, he’d gotten mad at Biff, and now Frank was gone off, Lord knows where, with Lily….It was an absolutely horrid day!

He was emotionally drained and his body still ached enough to keep reminding him of the earlier accident.  Pulling himself off the bed, he went into the bathroom to get some pain killers.  After that he decided to just lie down for a bit, although he had no intention of going to sleep; he wanted to be awake when Frank got home.

Things didn’t work out that way though, and as soon as he lay down and closed his eyes, even for a brief moment, he was gone.

* * *

It was after eleven o’clock before Frank and Lily got back to her house.  After the movie they had decided not to go to Mr. Pizza’s but to grab some burgers at a drive-thru and cruise around for a bit. Inwardly, Frank was relieved at the change of plans; earlier he had forgotten about his brother’s self-imposed exile tonight, and would have felt bad showing up the pizza joint after all!

As he pulled up the long driveway and drove towards the house, Frank was momentarily surprised to see the number of other vehicles there: Mercedes, BMW’s, a Jaguar, and other high end automobiles. Indeed his mother’s car looked very much out of place, an ugly duckling among swans.  But then he remembered it was Saturday night, so it would be another one of Davis Getty’s famed parties.

Pulling in next to a black Audi, Frank stopped the car, got out and then went around to open the door for Lily.  She smiled sweetly at him as he held his hand out to her when she stepped out.

“Such a gentleman, too,” she murmured, pleased to see him blush. As he walked her to the door, she leaned against him and felt his arm automatically go around her slight frame, and she shivered.

“Cold?” he asked, feeling the tremor, but she shook her head and didn’t elaborate.

“You are going to come in for a while, aren’t you?”  Lily turned to him at the door, and stared into his warm brown eyes, her own bewitching blue ones burning with intensity.

Frank hadn’t intended to, not overly anxious to hang out with Davis and his friends at the kind of party his were reputed to be…but then Lily reached up and touched his face.  Her touch was feather light but sent a thrill coursing through his body, and he found himself melting into the depth of her gaze.

What’s happening to me? He wondered vaguely as he nodded and then obediently followed her into the mansion.  I used to have a spine…I was sure of it…!

Davis looked over when Lily and Frank came into the large room where the party was in full swing, and he quickly strode across the room, smiling at them.  Frank actually felt a chill when he saw the smile directed at him.

“Aw Frank Hardy, what would a party be without you?  Come in, come in.”  His welcome was overwhelming.  Lily rolled her eyes before planting a kiss on her brother’s cheek and then glancing around.

“Everyone seems to be having a good time,” she commented, and her brother shrugged:

“It’s a Getty party; of course they’re having a good time.”

“Where’s your parents?” Frank asked as he looked around, not completely impressed by what he saw.  Yes, the house was lovely, as he would have expected; however the behavior of Davis’ guests was downright deplorable, at best.

Davis laughed and put an arm around the younger teen’s shoulders.  “Don’t worry, Frank.  I know it might be hard for you to do, since you’re such a ‘stick-in-the-mud’ and all, but try and have a good time anyway.  Besides, you might surprise yourself and actually have some fun!”  And then he was gone, mingling with his guests.

Lily smiled and grabbed her date’s hand.  “Come on, Frank.  I have some people for you to meet!”

* * *

Evan Pratt pulled Davis aside and gestured towards Frank and Lily.  “He’s going to be a problem.”

Davis shrugged, “Maybe.  But if Lily puts him on the same short leash as the others, he might actually end up being an asset.”

“He’s too smart.  I don’t like it,” Evan continued, shaking his head, but his friend shrugged again.

“Lily knows what she’s doing.  Besides which, Frank Hardy has an Achilles heel…other than his personality, of course.”

Evan laughed.  “Yeah, that he does.”  And then he added, “I just hope your sister knows what she’s doing….If he gets suspicious it could blow it for all of us.  And Davis, my friend, I am not that anxious to go to jail!”

“Don’t sweat it,” Davis assured him, “First sign of trouble from Frank and we’ll give him something else to worry about.”

Reassured, Evan moved away from his friend to check on Allan.

* * *

“Biff?”  Frank was surprised to see the muscular teen standing beside a large table set out with almost every kind of snack food known to man.  He wasn’t surprised to see Biff beside the table…he was just surprised to see him here!

And judging by the look on Biff’s face, he was equally surprised to see Frank.

“Hey Frank,” Biff tried to smile but it came off a bit sick looking.  He felt like the kid who’d been caught with his fingers in the candy bowl, as he knew Joe would have told his brother about what happened today.

Frank frowned as he quickly put two and two together and knew Ross Hooper had been intentionally misled.  Grabbing Biff’s arm he began to pull him away from the crowd as he hissed, “We gotta talk, now!”

“Allan?  Frank?”  Evan’s voice behind them made both teens cringe, but not as much as hearing Biff referred to as ‘Allan.’  “Where are you two trying to sneak off?”

Frank looked at Evan and gave him a fake smile.  “Oh, nowhere special.  We just had some old times to talk about.”

Evan gave him an equally false look.  “How sweet.  But I’m sure neither Lily nor Davis would be too pleased if I didn’t make sure you guys had a good time.  So come on.”  He pushed between the boys, grabbing one arm in each hand, and led them towards a group of seniors who were involved in some sort of stupid party game.

This is a mistake, Frank thought to himself, and hoped Lily hurried up and came back downstairs so he could say good night and go home. She had gone up to change into something a little less dressy.  Up ‘til this point, he’d been having a wonderful time….

* * *

Fenton went upstairs and knocked on Joe’s door.  He wanted to talk to his son and let him know that he’d had a good talk with Biff’s father.  Getting no answer, he quietly opened the door and then stepped into Joe’s room.  A soft smile graced his handsome face as he could see that the teen was fast asleep on his bed. The curtains had been left open and the bright night gave the sleeper an ethereal glow.

He approached the bed and looked down at the boy’s face, so tranquil in the moonlight.  Joe looked younger than his fifteen years, and Fenton could easily see the small child that he’d known only a few short years ago.  Caught up in remembrance, he reached out and gently stroked the soft golden hair, frowning as the cuts stood out in stark contrast to the moon-paled face – where had the time gone?

Once it had been monsters under the bed that he’d chased away from his son, but now the monsters weren’t under the bed anymore, and they pursued relentlessly under other names.  The detective wished he could chase these new ones away…but he couldn’t.  All Fenton could do anymore was make sure he slew the really big ones for his son….

Sighing softly, he tucked the blanket around Joe, closed the curtains, and left the room so silently he might have never been there.  He went downstairs to his office, shut the door and picked up the phone. Although it was late, the detective knew Collig would still be at the office.  It was an amazing day if the workaholic Chief of Police left his post before midnight.

Fenton needed to talk to him.  He knew his longtime friend would take great interest in the little wine and beer store that was selling alcohol to minors….

* * *

Lily walked Frank out to his car.  She was now dressed in a pair of jeans and sweatshirt, but to him, she was as breathtaking as before.

“Are you sure you can’t stay a bit longer, it’s still only early,” she cajoled, not wanting him to leave yet, but Frank just smiled at her as he reached out to stroke her cheek.  It was funny how only a few short hours ago, doing something like that would have never occurred to him, but now it just felt right.  And by the soft look that crossed her face, as she closed her eyes, and then placed her own hand over his, he knew he had done the right thing.

“I can’t,” he said, his voice husky and foreign sounding to himself.  “It’s almost midnight and lateness is not taken lightly in my house…”

“I guess not,” Lily agreed.  Of course she knew very well what Frank’s father did for a living.  She knew a lot about the Hardys, as she always did her homework first before selecting her new ‘accessory.’

“I really had a nice time,” Frank said as he reluctantly turned away from her to unlock the car door.  He didn’t count the time at the party in that assessment, and he wished he’d had a chance to talk to Biff…but Evan and Davis seemed to go to lengths to make sure neither boy was alone long enough for anything.

“So did I,” Lily said as she nervously bit her lip, and then before Frank realized what she was going to do, the girl grabbed his face and gave him a very passionate kiss.  Stunned for only a moment, Frank drew her close and returned the kiss.  His heart beat furiously in his chest and he prayed he was doing it right.  She was the first girl he had ever kissed….

And then she pulled away and ran towards the house, calling over her shoulder as she ran, “Call me tomorrow!”  She was inside before Frank had even recovered enough to say ‘good-night’!  With a slightly dazed look on his face, the teen got into his mother’s car and drove home.

Wow, was the only word on his mind!

* * *

Lily watched Frank leave and then turned to Davis. “Are you guys ready?”

“Darling, we were born ready,” Davis replied, grabbing his gloves and heading towards the front door.

“Okay,” the girl said, quickly pulling her long hair into a pony tail and following her brother, “Let’s do this.”

Five of them in total left the party.  It was time to play….

* * *

Fenton was just stepping out of his office when he heard the front door unlock.  He let out a sigh of relief that Frank was home, although he wasn’t concerned that his teen wouldn’t respect his curfew – he was just glad to have him home.

“Son,” he greeted warmly when Frank came into the house, “have a nice night?”

Frank smiled back at his father and nodded his head as he locked the front door and the older man set the house alarm.  “Yeah, I did…and you were right, Dad.  I was just myself and I had a lot of fun.  Lily is a really nice girl.”

“Good,” Fenton said, pleased that his advice had helped.  “Girls aren’t as scary as your brother likes to think, huh?”

“Not scary at all,” Frank beamed, and then covered a yawn.  “I need to hit the sack though, I’m wiped.”

“Good idea,” his father agreed, “I’m heading up myself.”

“Uh…Dad...”  Frank paused and looked at his father.  “how was Joe? I mean, is he still peeved off about this?”

Fenton pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I really don’t know, son,” the sleuth admitted.  “We got to talking about other things.”  When Frank continued to look at him, his father elaborated, “Your brother told me about the beer.”

Immediately Frank said, “It’s not Joe’s.”

“I know,” his father said, hiding the small smile at Frank’s quick defense of his younger brother, “and now Mr. Hooper knows, as well.”

“Good.”  Frank let out a sigh of relief.  For one moment he had been afraid that his father and brother’s talk might not have gone too well. And then he added, “I did see Biff at Lily’s house tonight.  But I never got a chance to talk to him.”

“Lily’s house?” Fenton said, not getting the connection.

“Yeah,” Frank explained, “her older brother, Davis, throws these wild parties every Saturday night.  I only stayed for few minutes after I dropped Lily off,” the teen hurried to explain, realizing his father might not like the implication that Frank had been to this ‘wild party.’

“And Biff was there?” Fenton pressed, making sure he got the full story.

“Yeah, but like I said, I never got a chance to talk to him.”

“Frank,” Fenton asked, carefully, “would this Davis kid be one of the guys Biff was buying the beer for?”

“Probably,” Frank admitted, honestly, “I did see open cans at the party…and that is kind of what Davis Getty’s parties are known for.”

“Underage drinking,” Fenton stated, and the teen nodded.  “I did call Chief Collig tonight,” the older Hardy continued, “and gave him the name of the store that sold Biff the beer without ID’ing him.”

Frank looked at his father, a bit concerned.  “That’s not going to go down too well.”
Fenton waited as his son continued, “With Davis and his buddies, I mean.”

“Probably not,” the detective agreed and then yawned.  “Well, if you’ll excuse me son, I’m not as young as I used to be and the late hours are playing havoc on your ‘old man’.”

“Old man, my foot,” Frank scoffed, going up the stairs ahead of his father.  “You could probably still take either of us in a race!”

Fenton laughed, ruffled his son’s hair and didn’t comment.  He was sure he couldn’t, but appreciated his son’s vote of confidence!

* * *

Joe tossed restlessly in his bed…he was dreaming.

The big man grabbed the teen and tossed him against a wall, knocking the breath out of him and pinning him there with a beefy arm.  “It was your beer!” Mr. Hooper snarled at him.

“Is there is a problem?” Joe was flooded with relief as he heard his brother’s voice and then the older teen materialized beside him….

“No problem,” Ross said, still holding Joe pressed against the wall.

Frank smiled, “Good.”  And then started to walk away….

Joe called after him, begging for him to come back, but Frank kept walking.  And then the blond teen saw a black truck pull up in front of the house and saw a beautiful girl with long black hair get out and give his brother the keys!

“FRANK!  PLEASE!” he screamed at his brother, each word a sob torn from his throat, “DON’T LEAVE ME!  DON’T LEAVE ME!”

* * *

Frank was just getting ready for bed when he heard something. Listening for a moment, he realized that whatever the sound was, it was coming from his brother’s room.  Quietly, his bare feet padded across the carpet of his bedroom, the cold tile of their shared bathroom, and then back onto the carpet in Joe’s room.

Moving quickly to his brother’s bed, the first thing he noticed was Joe’s blankets were on the floor, which didn’t really surprise him since his brother tended to thrash around in his sleep.  But then he heard the same sound again and realized Joe was having a bad dream – he was sobbing in his sleep!

Sitting down next to the younger boy on his bed, Frank gently shook him. “Joe?” he said quietly, “Joe, wake up, you’re having a bad dream.”

Slowly, vibrant blue eyes opened and fixed on Frank.  And then as recognition flooded them, Joe suddenly bolted up and grabbed him in a tight hug.  Shocked, it took Frank a moment to react and then he slid his arms around his brother’s shaking body and rubbed his back soothingly.  He didn’t understand what had upset him so badly, as he felt his brother’s quick breath, warm on his neck, and his hot tears wetting the t-shirt he usually wore to bed.

“Easy little brother,” he consoled.  “What’s wrong?”  He tried to pull away gently so he could see the other teen’s face, but Joe just tightened his grip and pressed his face back in against his neck.  Frank was getting spooked, and then he heard his brother whispering something and it broke his heart.

“You came back…”

“Of course I did,” Frank said softly, a bit confused.  “I’ll always come back.”

After a few minutes, Joe began to calm down, and slowly pulled himself away from the older boy.  He wiped his damp cheeks with the back of his hand and then looked down, obviously embarrassed by this display.  “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Frank squeezed his shoulder and shrugged.  “Nothing to be sorry for.” And then he pressed, “Want to tell me about it?”

Joe shook his head.  “Not really.”  Now that he was awake and his brother was sitting on the bed next to him, the dream seemed so childish that he was hesitant to share, knowing exactly how Frank would see it.  Nothing more than a manifestation of his jealousy; that’s what his brother would think as he heard the words again…. Because you’re jealous…and you’re letting your emotions blind your instincts….

Scowling, Joe moved away from Frank and lay back down on his side, turning away from the other teen.  “I’m going back to sleep. Good night, Frank. “

The older boy was taken aback by his brother’s abrupt dismissal of him, but then decided that whatever he’d been dreaming about, had shaken Joe up worse than he was willing to admit, so he shrugged off the attitude and got up off the bed.  He couldn’t force his brother to talk to him….

“Okay little brother, pleasant dreams.”  He reached down, grabbed Joe’s blanket and put it back over him.  He heard a mumbled ‘thanks’ as he was leaving the room.

After Frank had gone, Joe lay awake for a while longer, feeling bad for treating his brother so callously, especially since he’d just helped Joe break out of a bad dream and then been there to comfort him afterwards.  But he couldn’t help it.  He was still bothered by the dream, but even more so because he felt that Frank was right…in some small way.

However, what Joe was feeling wasn’t really jealousy, it was more uncertainty…not knowing where he stood anymore with his brother was what had driven his nightmare.  He snorted softly, disgusted at himself.  Come on Joe, he thought, grow up. You’re overreacting!  It was just one date!!  You’ve got a great brother… and he is allowed to have a non-Joe life without it meaning you’re not important to him anymore… Frank’s just got somebody new in his life…. But then he frowned, but why’d it have to be Lily?

It was nothing he could explain, but there was just something about that girl that set off a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach… something about her and her brother, he amended, and then decided that he was going to pay a lot closer attention to Lily and Davis Getty.

Something wasn’t right, and he was determined to find out what; this was his brother he was thinking about, and Joe would do anything to make sure Frank didn’t get hurt.

Finally exhausted from his musing, he closed his eyes and hoped the dream would stay away….