Lily opened the door to her house, went inside, dropped her purse by the door and kicked off her shoes. This morning had gone even better than she’d planned, and now she had a date tonight with Frank – love was definitely in the air…for him.

As for herself, Lily was an extremely calculating person.  Everything was looked at for exactly what it was worth, and she doubted there was actually anyone that she did love – her brother and parents included.

They had value, but so did everything that she included in her life.

“Hey sister,” Davis said, coming down the stairs towards her.  At 6’1”, the dark haired eighteen-year-old was handsome, muscular and very intelligent. Quarterback for the football team; head of the fencing club; captain of the swim team, he was the perfect accessory brother and Lily knew it. 

She scowled when she saw him.  “Stupid Davis. I told you to delay them, not try and kill them.”

“It worked either way,” Davis shrugged. “It would have been a permanent delay.  Besides which, death makes space.  I was just ‘space making’…for you.”

“I suppose I can forgive you,” Lily decided, heading towards the kitchen with Davis on her heels.  “It did afford me an opportunity to show Frank that I’m ‘concerned’ about his family’s well-being and all….” She smiled brightly at her brother.  “And I’ve got a date with him tonight.”

“Tonight?” Davis scowled, “We have a party tonight.”

“You don’t need me for a party,” Lily reminded him, “besides which, I’m sure we’ll put in an appearance, afterwards.”

“You sure?” Davis asked, sounding uneasy.  “Your new conquest is a bit of ‘goody-two-shoes’, I’m not sure he’d approve.”

“He approves of me,” Lily reminded him, “And that will be enough.”

“Just be careful with this one,” the older boy advised.  “He and his brother are pretty close, and neither is stupid.”

“True,” the girl admitted, opening the fridge and taking out a can of cola, “but I’m sure his little brother won’t cause any problems my big brother can’t take care of, now, can he?”

Davis snorted.  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about Joe Hardy. I can squish that kid like a bug if I have to.  Besides which, I’m already moving his muscle.”

Lily looked at him, and he clarified, “Biff Hooper.”

“Ah,” the girl said, enlightened.  “bringing him over to the dark side, are you?”

Davis laughed.  “Something like that.  Besides, it’s always a good idea to have some extra muscle around.  I can’t expect Evan to do all the lifting!”  He was referring to his best friend, Evan Pratt.

“Speaking of ‘Pratt the brat,’ where is your shadow?”  Lily was a bit surprised not to see the other boy hanging around, as he spent so much time with Davis, it was as if he lived in the Getty household.

“He’s gone to get his cousin’s truck fixed.  We ‘borrowed’ it this morning to play with your beau’s little brother.  Didn’t think the ‘vette could take the hit.”

“A white Corvette would have been pretty memorable too,” he added after a moment.  But Lily wasn’t interested in talking to him anymore, so she just left the room.

* * *

Ross Hooper knocked on the front door of the Hardy house and then waited.  He didn’t see any vehicles in the driveway, but knew that that didn’t necessarily mean no one was home, since the Hardys had a double garage they tended to use as much as the driveway.

After a few minutes the door opened, and he saw the surprised look on Joe’s face when he saw who was at the door.

“Hi Joe,” he said, feeling a bit awkward, “Is your father home?”  He really wished the blond teen had not answered the door, because he had wanted to talk to Fenton about this first.  It wasn’t his place to say anything directly to the boy, although he did think of the fifteen-year-old as a second son.

“No, he’s not,” Joe said, looking at him curiously.  He was wondering what Biff’s father would want with his dad, but then the realization dawned on him – of course, he’d found out about the beer, and probably wanted to talk to Fenton about the guy who had sold it to Biff!  That made sense so he added, “Biff told you about the beer then?”

“Yes…” Ross paused and then added, “he did.”  His jaw clenched and unclenched as he looked the teenager.  Joe was so young, and it upset him to think of what he had done.  Even more so than the idea that he had used his friendship with Biff to get the bigger boy to buy it for him!

“I’m glad he did,” Joe admitted, looking very relieved.  “I told him I was going to tell you about it myself, but deep down, I kinda hoped he would.  I figured it’d be easier if you heard it from him.”

Ross looked at him, his disappointment in the kid growing.  He didn’t even have the nerve to admit it to my face, he wanted my own son to tell me…to make it easier on him.

“Joe…” he started, a bit hesitant at first, “I think that in light of what’s happened, it might be better if you and Biff didn’t hang out for a while. Not until this whole mess has been a little better resolved, anyway.”

Joe was in shock. He just stared at Biff’s father, speechless for a moment – it didn’t make any sense!

“I don’t understand,” Joe finally managed. “Sure, buying beer is a pretty big deal…but don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

Ross closed his eyes, took a steadying breath, and fought to control his temper. Joe was only a kid, and not his, at that.  So it wasn’t his place to reprimand him, even if he didn’t seem to understand just how serious this really was!

That’s what Ross was trying to tell himself anyway, but then Joe continued and he found it harder and harder to control his temper and his words.

“If it wasn’t for Davis Getty and his stupid parties, none of this would have ever been a problem anyway!” Joe scowled. “Talk about peer pressure—”

Ross cut Joe off, startling the teen into stepping back by the ferocity in his tone.  Hearing Joe blaming anyone else but himself was the final straw. “Shut up, Joe!  Just shut up!  Don’t you understand it yet?! What you did was wrong… very wrong.  In fact, it could have gotten you killed – and might still if you don’t buck up and take responsibility for what you did!!!  Now…I do understand how tempting it must have been for you…and I feel sorry for you, honestly kid, I do.  Who knows, maybe if your father spent more time at home, instead of always off, God knows where, trying to save the world, things might have been different...and you would have never considered doing something this stupid…. But he’s not.”  He paused to take a breath.

White-faced, and in shock, Joe said nothing.  But he trembled slightly under the intensity of Ross’s glare, as much as from the stinging remarks.  He was extremely confused, and it was confusion that tied his tongue and intimidation that twisted it tighter – Biff’s dad was huge to the teen, and seemed to grow larger with each angry word!

“And because of that, I don’t want you anywhere near my son. You didn’t even respect me enough to tell me about this yourself.  Instead, you had Biff do it.  Joe, I am so disappointed in you…I thought you were a lot better friend than that.  Friends don’t use friends.”  His words were bitter and meant to sting.  He was hoping it would be enough to jar some common-sense into the kid’s head.

“Is everything okay?” Frank’s voice came from behind Joe as he hurried downstairs. He had been awakened by the knocking on the door, and then hearing a raised voice, decided to check things out.

Ross looked at Frank.  “Do you have any idea what is going on with your brother?”

Joe just listened, dumbfounded; his mind still reeling over what Ross had just said to him.

“Usually,” Frank said, approaching them and giving Joe a curious glance. The younger boy looked like he was about to be sick, or pass out, or something.  “Is something wrong?”

“You might say that.”  Ross’s voice was tight and sarcastic.  “Where’s your father, Frank?”

“Probably at the police station,” the older boy said, although he wasn’t 100% sure about that.  “What’s going on?”

Ross looked at Joe and snorted, “Ask your brother, because right now I think I’d better leave before I say something or do something I might just regret.”  And then he was gone, hurrying back down the wet walkway to his car.

“What was all that about?” Frank asked, frowning at the departing man.

Joe just shook his head, turned around and took off upstairs.  He was shaking so badly, he didn’t want his brother to see.  But Ross had given him a fright – he’d never seen that side of the big man before….

* * *

Frank started to follow Joe, intending to find out why he was so upset, when his cell phone rang.

Answering it, he smiled when he heard Lily’s voice, and sank down on the couch to have a chat with her.

* * *

Ross sat in his car for a few minutes and took deep steadying breaths.

“Stupid, Hooper,” he chastised, chagrined at himself for the outburst. He had wanted to talk to Fenton first and then the detective could decide how to talk to his own child.  But hearing Joe refusing to take responsibility had just been too much.

Sighing heavily, he started the car and pulled away from the curb. He tried to tell himself he was doing the right thing – and that telling Joe to keep away from Biff would be the best thing for now.  But deep down he wasn’t as convinced, and didn’t look forward to talking to Biff about this at all.

* * *

“Just what the hell did you tell your father?!” Joe yelled into the phone.  He had hoped Biff was home and knew he’d only have a few minutes to talk to his friend before Ross got home.  “He came by here and ripped a strip off me!!”

[What?]

“You heard me!  If I didn’t know better, I’d think, he thought I had to force you into buying that damn beer!  Now what did you tell him?”  The younger Hardy was gripping the phone so tightly, his fingers hurt!

[I told him about the beer.  But honestly, Joe I never said it was yours!]

“Did you tell him it was yours?” Joe demanded, trying to keep from reaching through the phone to strangle his friend.  He already knew the answer before Biff said anything.

[Well, not in so many words…]

Joe cut him off, his tone so bitter it sent a chill up his own spine.  “So you let him infer whatever the hell he wanted?  Well thanks, friend, he now thinks the beer is mine!!”

[Joe…I’m sorry—]

Again the younger boy cut him off.  “It doesn’t matter now though, does it?  Well Biff, looks like you’re going to get exactly what you wanted all along.  Go and be best buds with Davis Getty…drink yourself stupid, for all I care….Davis can be your best friend from here on in, ‘cause I ain’t…not anymore!”  And then Joe slammed down the receiver, went into his room, locked the door and lay down, face first, on his bed.  His chest heaved in anger, as his fists clenched and unclenched, and he fought to take deep breaths to calm down.

Could this day get any worse??

* * *

After hanging up with Lily, Frank took the stairs two at a time.  He still needed to find out what had happened between Joe and Biff’s father. For a second there he thought the red-faced man was going to have a heart attack or something….

He was surprised to find Joe’s door locked.  Giving the closed door a strange look, he promptly turned, went into his own room and in thru the bathroom that the brothers shared.  As he had hoped, that door to Joe’s room was unlocked.

It was kind of an unspoken code.  While they might lock the door to the hallway as a ‘Do Not Disturb’ notice to their family, the brothers always kept the ‘backdoor’ open for each other.  Nothing had ever been so bad, as to want to make one lock the other out….

“Hey, kiddo,” he said softly when he saw the miserable form curled up on the bed, “You okay?”

He heard a choked reply, a cross between a sob and a chuckle.  “Depends on who you’re asking….”

The younger boy sounded so disconsolate, it broke Frank’s heart, and he sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to see his face.  He wasn’t sure, but it sounded like Joe had been crying.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Not really,” was the muffled reply, but Frank wasn’t ready to give up so easily.

“Well, you want to tell me why you and Biff needed a search party this morning?” he pressed gently, feeling guilty for not inquiring earlier.

A heavy sigh came from the huddled mass and, more on instinct than anything else, Frank put a reassuring hand on his brother’s arm.  “Whatever it is, Joe.  It’s okay…you know that, right?”

This got a reaction, and the boy slowly pulled himself up and sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at his brother.  Frank instantly became alarmed when he saw the cuts on his brother’s pale face.  He reached out with his hand, grasped Joe’s chin gently, and turned it so he could get a good look at the other side, as well.

“What happened, little brother?” he pressed again, more determined than ever to know what was going on.  “What happened to your face?”

Unconsciously, Joe reached up and touched one of the cuts.  He sighed and spoke softly, his anger at Biff deflated into an all-encompassing weariness.  “Some jerks ran us off the road.  Car ended up a little upside down, and we had to crawl out the windows. We’re both fine, though,” he added, seeing Frank pale.

“Are you sure?” Dark brown eyes appraised him critically, and Joe shivered under their scrutiny.

“Yeah, nasty bruise on my chest, pretty much sums it up.” He lifted his shirt enough to show his brother and heard Frank whistle in appreciation.

“Looks painful,” was the comment.

“Not bad,” Joe shrugged it off, not willing to admit it hurt like hell.

“Do you know who the ‘jerks’ were?”  Frank used Joe’s word although the term he would have preferred was a lot less flattering. He was incensed that anyone would try and hurt his brother; and shaken because Joe could have been killed.

“Black truck is all,” the younger boy said, slumping back against the wall and closing his eyes.  He felt the start of a wicked headache.

Frank eyed him for a moment and took a leap. “Is that what Biff’s dad was all hot and bothered about? The accident?” He wondered if Mr. Hooper was blaming Joe for it, thinking they had been run off the road by someone trying to hurt one of Fenton Hardy’s sons.

And to his surprise, Joe just shook his head.  But that surprise did nothing to prepare him for the shock when the younger boy finally spoke.

“No, he was pissed off about the beer.”