Out of Step

xii. 99 bottles of beer

"Where are you going?" Alana froze, swearing under her breath slightly before turning to where her brother leaned against the bathroom door. She hadn't heard the water turn off, or even the door opening, so she had thought she'd be able to leave without him knowing. Not that it mattered if he knew or not.

"That is none of your business, my dear brother," she said, taking another, more hesitant step. He followed her as she went downstairs.

"I never said it was any of my business," he said, pushing past her to sit on one of the stools at the counter, swinging it around so he was facing her. "I was just curious on where my baby sister might be going so late at night by herself."

"I'm not your baby sister," she said as she debated whether to take a jacket or not. She bit her lip, weighing the options of looking like a fool or being cold once she was picked up. Spotting her sister's too big, but not able to return, leather jacket, she decided to take that. "And I'm not going to be by myself, not that it should really matter." "Who are you going with?" Alex asked, his arms crossed over his chest. He raised an eyebrow in question as she avoided looking at him, instead pretending to search for her shoes before slowly slipping them on.

"That is also none of your business." Headlights flashed through the front window as someone turned into their driveway and Alana hurried to the door before her brother could see who it was. "But I need to go. Bye!"

She slammed the door shut just as Alex tried to follow her and was on Emmett's motorcycle a minute later, pulling a helmet on as he kicked his bike back up.

"Ready?" he asked, even as they were already halfway down her road, the small amount of sun that was left, glinting behind them. She squeezed herself closer to him, tightening her grip.

"Where are we going again?" She asked, trying to raise herself up slightly so she was closer to his ear. He moved away, turning slightly to face her with a frown.

"I already told you." She thought she saw him roll his eyes, but wrote it off as him turning back to the road.

"I know you did," she said, glad she brought a coat as he whipped through a stop sign and around a corner. The wind seemed to bite at any part of her body that was exposed, especially her hands. She was able to bury her head in Emmett's back and after a second, she tried to hide her hands in the bottom of his shirt and coat. "I just forgot."

"Seriously? Already?" He sounded irritated, his voice snapping. But maybe it was just him raising his voice so she could hear it and the wind twisting the sound of it around.

"I know. I'm sorry." She said, trying to keep track of where they were going. That was hard to do, considering she had lost track of where they were almost four blocks ago. "Could you just tell me again? Please?"

She felt his body move in a sigh in front of her, but he didn't answer.

After they had gone a few more blocks, she tried again, this time raising her voice slightly.

"Where are we going again Emmett?" She moved her head up slightly, hoping he'd be able to hear her better, but almost immediately regretted it when the wind whipped across her checks, causing them to turn red.

"Jeez," he said, his voice nearing a growl. He let out a breath before speaking again, this time sounding a lot calmer. "You'll find out when we get there, okay babe?"

She frowned, but decided against saying anything more, instead choosing to bury her head in the back of his shirt until he finally slowed down, pulling into the parking lot of a dark house and stopping.

Hopping off, she frowned up at the place, only remembering to take off her helmet when Emmett knocked on it with a small grin.

"What's the matter?" he asked as she quickly took the helmet off, setting down on his bike and smoothing out her hair with one hand.