Disclaimer: Don't own From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series

AU - The Fullers meet Seth and Vanessa before Seth goes to prison.

1/2

Kate Fuller was used to this, used to being dragged along with her brother Scott behind her parents as they brought a homemade dessert and Bible to every new neighbor once they moved in. She'd learnt to look forward to these little events, as did Scott, since it gave them an excuse to get a good first look at whoever was new in the neighborhood. Usually the eighteen year old was able to get a glimpse of the new neighbors before actually meeting them (her mother quite enjoyed peering through the blinds and calling her over to join her in the spying) but this time the neighbors had moved in late at night and other than being able to tell that it was a young couple, Kate (and her mother) hadn't been able to catch a good glimpse of them. It was probably why Kate was more interested in this exact meeting.

Whatever her reasons for wanting to be here had been before, she forgot them all the second the door swung open to reveal a handsome man who left her breathless and wide-eyed behind her parents. He was-oh wow.

"Can I help you?" He eyed them suspiciously.

"We're here to welcome you to the neighborhood, son." Her father smiled as her mother reached out and handed him the pie. "You're going to love that, my wife's a genius in the kitchen."

The guy eyed them in confusion as he received it, holding it as if he'd never held a pie before as he called out over his shoulder. "Vanessa?"

A gorgeous woman appeared behind him and smiled brightly at them. "Howdy neighbors!"

"They've brought us pie." The man handed it to her, still visibly confused.

"And the Good Lord's Word." Kate's father passed them the Bible.

Both Vanessa and her husband looked at it as if it was the oddest thing they'd ever seen, before Seth took it from Pastor Jacob Fuller.

Vanessa smiled. "Why don't you come in for a couple of minutes?"

Her husband did not look pleased and yet didn't comment as he stepped aside.

"We'll only intrude for a couple of minutes, you two must be so busy unpacking." Mrs Fuller stepped inside first, ever eager to see the inside of the house.

Scott, Kate's adopted brother, followed right after, muttering: "Cool! Dad! Come look at this!"

"Pardon the intrusion." Pastor Fuller took off his hat as he entered.

Kate was left on the doorstep with the nameless guy, who was still holding the Bible awkwardly. She gave him an embarrassed little smile. "I'll try and get them to leave in under ten minutes."

He blinked before a crooked smile lit up his face. "I take it you have to do this often."

"My parents are very friendly Mr-."

"Gecko, but call me Seth." He rearranged his grip on the Bible and held out his hand. "And you are?"

"Kate." She shook his hand and bit back a gasp at the electricity that raced down her spine at his touch. "Uhm, my parents usually are better than this at introductions but mom really wanted to see what the inside of your house looked like."

He snorted in dark amusement. "I think she's in for a world of disappointment."

"No way, her curiosity will be sated so she'll be happy." Kate shook her head.

Seth eyed her before he cleared his throat. "You should probably come inside."

She nodded, a flush rising up her cheeks as she slipped passed him into the house.

She was praying more than ever lately, and not because her piety had increased, but because her lustfulness had.

Kate couldn't believe it, couldn't fathom the fact that she was that type of girl, but every single time she saw her hot older neighbor her crush on him grew. He was all sorts of contradictions that fascinated her, as did his dark humor and apparent need to keep away from everyone else, and no matter how many times she tried to remind herself that he was married she couldn't stop her crush from growing. He always did something so utterly cute without even trying to that it made her heart hurt, especially since she really felt that Vanessa didn't understand him the way she should, and Kate was fighting with the dark little voice inside of her that screamed that his wife didn't deserve him. It wasn't her problem, wasn't her business, but she wanted it to be.

Dear Father in heaven, please save my soul and change me, I have become a Jezebel, a Delilah!

And yet even as she prayed, Kate's gaze searched for, and eventually found, Seth Gecko in the midst of the large neighborhood party. He stood off in the darkness on his own, cradling a beer and looking mightily uncomfortable and out of place.

Somewhere in the crowd of people Vanessa's laughter could be heard, the woman in her element and enjoying herself immensely.

Kate prayed for strength, prayed for guidance, prayed for something to happen, a sign that would tell her to stop looking at Seth and to walk away and ignore him like a good girl should.

Seth suddenly looked up and noticed her stare on him. A small smile touched his face as he gave a small wave.

My god, but she was weak!

The eighteen year old was walking towards him before she even realized what she was doing, the smile on her face a mixture of brightness and embarrassment as she found herself standing in front of him. "So, you're obviously the life of the party."

He snorted in amusement, his grin growing. "What gave it away?"

"Your joie de vivre," she responded, face emotionless.

Seth snickered in amusement as he took another swig of his bottle of alcohol. "These really aren't my kind of things, but Vanessa told me we need to be personable and get along with our neighbors. No offense, but I don't give two shits if I get along with most of these people."

"That's mean." And yet Kate was smiling as her gaze surveyed the crowd. "If you were friends with Mr Tyler he'd invite you over to his place during the football season, there's almost a club of guys who go there for every game since he has the best television set and alcohol." She tapped her lip as she continued to stare at the crowd. "Mrs Livingston, the one with the purple wig? Her son owns his own IT repair-shop and she gets him to repair her friends' things for free." Kate tilted her head to the side and continued to search the crowd. "Mr Hunter is the guard at the bank and is good friends with the tellers so he always makes sure we get in the quickest line in the bank and also understands a lot of what the bank is doing, like promotions and specials and such, and he'll always share that information. The only thing is I wouldn't tell him any secret because once he gets drunk he doesn't have a filter and will tell anyone anything... So heads up on that. But otherwise he's an incredibly nice guy." Her gaze fell on someone else. "Oh! And Bobby Waters! There's a guy you want to keep on the good side of! He's the head of the neighborhood watch, which is really just another word for the Gossip Club, and if there's anything you want to know anyone who lives in this neighborhood it's him."

There was silence before Seth spoke, his voice highly amused. "You're an interesting mix: the preacher's daughter with the instincts of a con-artist."

She blinked and turned towards him, not sure if she'd been insulted or complimented.

Seth's grin was still in place as he stared at her before suddenly he cleared his throat and looked away as he took another swig of his beer. "So, who else should I make an effort to get to know?"

Kate grinned brightly. "Well, there's also the Harrison Twins, they're really handy when-."

She didn't know how it'd happened, but somehow she spent the whole night letting out the beans on every neighbor to Seth, who seemed to be taking mental note of each and every person, genuinely interested in what she had to say, even asking questions now and again. Usually she'd spend these parties with her family or the few kids her age from the neighborhood, but Kate forgot all about them and had so much fun her face was hurting from just how much she was smiling. And every time Seth would chuckle or send her a side-ways glance or raise an eyebrow at something she'd said or offer a darkly humorous comment of his own-that crush got more and more dangerous.

She managed to forget about Vanessa until the woman appeared out of nowhere, clearly bouncing with happiness, and with a "Hey Katie" pulled Seth away with a "you just HAVE to meet this guy!"

Seth sent Kate an apologetic look over his shoulder.

Kate smiled and nodded to him, hands clasped behind her back, all the happiness she'd felt before shattered at her feet at the remembrance of why it was wrong to enjoy herself with him so much.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

She'd tried her best to stay away from her handsome neighbor and keep from even looking at his house. Kate had done her best. It'd been two weeks since the neighborhood party and other than waving to Seth and Vanessa once when they'd noticed her going up the steps to her front door she hadn't had any sort of contact with them. She'd immersed herself in reading the Bible, in listening to her father's religious music, in even attending some of the bible lessons he had with the newly converted or those who were interested in converting. She'd prayed and prayed and prayed until her knees started to hurt her. She'd fasted. She'd done everything she could think of, but nothing was keeping the thoughts of Seth Gecko out of her head and she was scared that maybe she was obsessed.

Maybe she was like that woman in Fatal Attraction. Maybe she was mental. Maybe, just maybe, Seth and Vanessa were actually scared of her because she was some sort of psycho.

So many worries plagued her and she even lost weight over the whole issue as she struggled with her guilt. She wasn't Catholic but she was sorely tempted to go to Confession just because she needed to tell someone, someone who couldn't judge her, someone who didn't even know her.

She was toying with the idea of it, and even heading towards the Catholic church in town, when she noticed someone stumbling out of the local bank, clearly drunk, and her eyes widened when she realized who it was when he turned his head and looked at her. Obviously God had it in her for. That was the only thought she could think as Seth Gecko stumbled towards her.

"Neighbor!" He grinned brightly as he slurred. "Long time no seeeee."

"Are you okay?" She made a face and caught him when he stumbled.

"M'fine." Seth nodded his head longer than necessary, beer on his breath. "What've you been up to? Taking care of the homeless?"

She raised an eyebrow, not sure if he was mocking her or not. "No."

"Bad pastor's daughter." He chuckled as if he'd said the funniest thing in the world.

"I'll never understand why people actually do this to themselves." But then again, she was enjoying his scent (other than the alcohol) as she found herself turning them around and starting to lead him back towards home. Thankfully it was only about six or so blocks from where they were and they should be able to make it. "You can't even walk straight."

"Lies!" And he proceeded to stumble and nearly take her down with him.

Only managing to barely somehow keep them both of their feet, Kate sent him a sideways glance as she tightened her grip around his waist. "Did something happen?"

"Why would you think something happened?"

"Well, unless you just really wanted the people at the bank to think you're drunk, and I can't think of any reason why you'd want them to think so unless you were trying to get their guard down so you could case the joint and then rob the bank, well… Something must've happened." She bit her bottom lip. "Did you hear bad news? Are your parents okay?"

Seth was quiet and he stopped stumbling as much as he had before, but he still leaned hard on her. "My parents are dead."

"Oh." She worried her bottom lip. "I'm so sorry. Was it recent?"

"Nah. Happened when me and my brother were kids." He let out a dark snort of laughter. "My drunken ass of a father fell asleep with a cigarette in his hand and burnt himself alive-caught the whole damned apartment on fire at the same time. If it wasn't for Richie pulling me out of bed when I was sleeping I would've died in the fire too."

"So Richie is like your guardian angel or something like that, huh?"

He snorted. "He's no angel, I can tell you that." He let out a deep sigh. "But I owe him my life and I'll never be able to repay him for that." He shook his head. "I'm the older brother, I should've been looking out for and protecting him not the other way around, you know?" He looked up at the night sky. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I haven't even told Vanessa."

Kate's heart skipped a beat as she told herself not to dare feel special. "Well, you're incredibly intoxicated. I don't have much experience with dealing with very drunk men, but from what I've been told they usually get very truthful."

"Not the first time I'm drunk," he reminded her sourly.

She smiled in amusement at the petulant sound in his voice. "I'm not surprised. A can of beer seems to be your accessory of choice. You almost always have one in your hand whenever I see you."

"Someone sounds like her dad."

Kate flinched at the thought. "That's exactly what every girl wants to hear. That she's like her father."

"Didn't say you looked like him," Seth defended. "Now that would've been an insult."

Despite the fact that she loved her father, Kate burst out laughing and nodded. "It would've!"

Seth chuckled softly to himself as he changed the subject. "So, your father tells me you're going to college soon."

She sent him a sidelong glance, wondering if he and her father talked about her often. "Once I decide where I'm going. I've gotten into a couple of the ones I wanted and some I never thought I would."

He smiled softly to himself. "You're a smart girl, Kate, smarter than I ever could've hoped to be. You're going to get farther in this life than I ever did. Send me a postcard when you do."

A frown touched her lips at the wistfulness in his voice. "Don't say that."

"Don't say what?" He asked her curiously.

"You act as if you haven't amounted to anything, like you think you're not good enough or something." She'd noticed the self-depreciating way he spoke about himself with before, and it always bothered her.

"Between you and me, I'm really not the best guy, Kate." He cleared his throat. "It would do you good to remember that."

"Stop saying things like that." Her eyes narrowed on him. "Stop putting yourself down!"

"I'm not-."

"Yes you are! Constantly! And I can't stand it!" She felt embarrassed all of a sudden for her outburst, her head lowered as her voice came out in a soft whisper: "I think you're incredible."

Seth gulped.

Uncomfortable silence fell between them and remained there long after they finally reached the house and she dropped him on his doorstep.

"Now, Preacher…" Seth shook his head. "Don't you get enough preaching on the pulpit every Sunday? I think you should just take today off."

"Son, a minister's work is never done." Jacob Fuller clapped his back. "We are always on call in the service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

"Believe me, he really is." Scott sighed.

Kate looked up from the magazine she was pretending to read and chanced a look in their direction.

Seth and Vanessa had invited them all over for barbecue (which had obviously been Vanessa's idea) and the men were gathered around the barbecue grill she hadn't even realized the neighbors had.

"And so I said," Vanessa smirked at Kate's mother, "it's me or the dog. So he finally gave that fleabag mutt to his brother, Richie, who is another mutt if you ask me."

"I'm sure you don't mean that," Mrs Fuller shook her head.

"But I do! That dog was atrocious." Vanessa made a face at it's very memory.

Kate frowned at Vanessa before she returned her attention to Seth and saw him gazing at Vanessa with a small frown on his face as well.

Seth took in a deep breath and took a swig of his bottle of beer before his gaze slid to hers and he paused. His Adams Apple bobbed as he swallowed his gulp of beer and the corner of his lips twitched for a second before he gave a small, nearly imperceptable wave.

Kate blushed at having been caught staring and looked down at the magazine once more. She excused herself after a couple of minutes saying she wasn't feeling better, and spent the rest of the day on her bed staring at the ceiling, heart racing.

The shouting could be heard even at their house, which wasn't surprising considering there was only a wooden fence between their house and that of the Gecko's. The sound of a door slamming shut, as well as a car engine roaring to life and speeding down the road heralded one of Vanessa's many escapes to go and cool off. At least nothing had broken this time, the woman liked to throw things when she was angry.

Lying by the side of the pool, wearing her bikini and eyes on her magazine, Kate couldn't help but wonder what they'd fought about this time. Their fights were beginning to become the talk of the neighborhood, as well as the couple's very colorful language as they shouted curses at each other. Kate hated herself a little bit more after every argument they had because she could feel something dark inside of her gleeful at the fact that all wasn't well in paradise.

If only her parents could see inside her soul, could read her mind, and hear her thoughts. They'd be so horrified at knowing what a horribly sinful child they'd conceived and raised! They'd be so heartbroken and ashamed!

The back door to the Gecko's home opened and slammed shut, Seth audibly still in a sour mood as he talked on the phone with someone. "I don't know what the hell to do, Richie. Sometimes I just want to put my hands around her neck and squeeze!"

Kate felt a little bad for eavesdropping, but then again he was the one talking loudly in his anger and it wasn't like she'd gone to the back yard to listen in on him. She'd been there first!

"I know, I know-will you stop calling her that? She isn't a-why do I even call you whenever I fight with Vanessa? You hate her." Seth sounded very tired, somewhat resigned, and very much annoyed. "That's not true. I'm not trying to opt out and looking for you to give me a good reason to do so."

Kate raised her magazine higher to hide her face even though no one was watching her, her guilt settling in her stomach for how eager she listened to this conversation. She was going to hell, there was no more doubt about it anymore.

"I'm over with that kinda life, Richie. I'm trying to settle down and be a good man for once." He let out a dark chuckle. "Shut up." He sighed. "It's not like that. I'm not that kind of fucking bastard."

Kate bit her bottom lip, wondering what his brother had said.

"What would you know? You haven't even seen her!" Seth sounded quite annoyed. "No. I don't want you visiting, I still haven't recovered from the last time you and Vanessa were in the same room together." He snorted. "Yeah, talk to you later too." He sounded tired once more. "Take care of yourself, little brother."

The first time she saw him in church Kate barely kept from laughing. She'd never seen a more uncomfortable looking guy in her life! He fidgeted in the pew and kept sending everything and everyone wary looks, as if expecting someone to be God in disguise ready to shoot a lightening bolt at him. He was obviously not a church-goer, never had been, and was only here because of the beaming woman next to him holding a hymnal up and bluffing her way through a song neither of them knew. Vanessa looked like a kid enjoying a now toy, and Seth looked like someone who just wanted to be at home, on his couch with a beer in his hand and a game on the television.

Kate's parents were ecstatic, of course, and the girl knew that now that Vanessa and Seth had finally given in and actually come to church her parents were going to hound and wear them down until they became regulars. Her father was a compelling man and his wife was his best weapon, the woman always preaching on the pulpit on how he'd saved her life and how every word she heard from him in the pulpit quenched her soul. Together the two of them were enigmatic, a winning team, and the Geckos wouldn't be the first reluctant couple who her parents had worn down and converted.

Her mother was at the piano playing a hymn while her father led in the song and encouraged everyone to 'rise and greet thy neighbor with joy'.

Scott got up immediately, always enjoying this part of the service because it meant he got to hug Tricia, the girl he'd been crushing on since second grade. Their church was very small and very intimate, their father always encouraging everyone to be loving with the other and 'to greet your brethren with a kiss'. Usually Kate would smile at how cute that was and indulged in the hugs and well-wishes during this part of the service, but for the first time she hesitated because God would surely strike her down dead in her pew if she went near Seth Gecko while in the holy church.

"Hey Katie!" Vanessa grinned and scooped her in a tight hug before letting go and hugging Mr Hunt.

Kate hugged elderly Mr Fitzpatrick and effortlessly avoided the placement of the hands of the elderly (yet still quite fresh) old man.

"Really, old man?" A voice asked, amused.

Mr Fitzpatick cleared his throat and went to look for Tricia, his next victim.

Kate turned to find herself face to face with Seth Gecko. "He, uh, meant no harm. He's just an old man."

"An old man who clearly knows how to get away with stuff a younger guy never could." Seth gave a little snort, his gaze on the man in question before he was suddenly hugged by buxom Mrs Granger, who gave him a little wink before scooping Kate in a tight hug and continuing on her way. "Okay, this is weird."

Kate smiled in amusement. "Not that weird."

"I've gotten more hugs in the last five minutes than I have in my whole childhood." Seth's eyebrow rose.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Her smile fell, the girl able to see dark shadows in his eyes at the memory of his childhood. "Everyone needs a hug now and again, need to feel that human connection."

"Not everyone needs that touchy-feely crap." He shrugged, his hands in his pockets as his gaze slid away.

"Every kid does."

He cleared his throat and licked his lips, still unable to look at her.

She almost asked him if he really didn't want to be touched, but blushed at the very thought of saying those words when she felt the way she did. The girl cleared her throat as well and looked away from him, her hands folded over her chest.

The duo didn't speak to each other, didn't even look at the other as they were hugged by other parishioners, but they didn't move away from each other until the song had ended and everyone returned to their seats.

"You're slipping up." Scott eyed her as he leaned in the doorway and watched her as she held up two different dresses and eyed herself. "You're never this into what you wear, if you're not careful someone's going to figure it out."

Kate sent him a sidelong look, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Her brother snorted. "So you're not going to admit that you're getting this dressed up because Seth is coming over for dinner?"

Kate froze, eyes wide in horror before she slowly turned to face the boy. "Why would you s-say something l-like-?"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I knew you were a horrible liar, but you've outdone yourself this time." He shook his head and stepped into the room as he closed the door behind him. "Mom and dad haven't noticed anything, don't worry. I'm not going to say anything to them either."

"But I-."

"Kate." He stopped her with one word.

Kate collapsed sitting on her bed, her blues raising to him. "I'm not going to do anything-he's married-I just want to look pretty."

Scott went to sit down next to him. "If you end up seducing him with your awkwardness, I call first dibs on his wife."

Kate stared at him in mute horror before she realized he was trying to comfort her in his own way, and she sighed as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder. "I'm going to hell."

"Probably." Scott agreed good-naturedly. "I'll save you a spot next to me with a great view of the Lake of Fire."

She let out a snort and smiled softly.

But she wasn't amused later that evening when Seth and Vanessa were there, Vanessa dominating the conversation and Seth merely mumbling little agreements whenever Vanessa prompted him to do so. The woman looked so incredibly gorgeous that Kate felt like a plain jane next to her and she felt horribly depressed. Her appetite suffered as she pushed her food back and forth on her plate while her parents laughed at something incredibly charming Vanessa had said.

Scott eyed her before he sighed and turned to Seth. "So, I heard you say you had a brother. Is he older or younger?"

Seth straightened. "Richie? He's younger than me."

"Do you have any other siblings?" Scott asked.

Seth shook his head. "It's just me and Richie. He's my only family."

"Except for me of course," Vanessa interrupted and placed her hand on Seth's thigh. "Right honey?"

He gave her a little smile. "Of course."

Pleased, Vanessa returned to her conversation with Kate's parents.

Seth sighed and leaned back hard on his seat, downing his drink.

Scott pursed his lips, eyes narrowed in contemplation. "So, Seth, we're going to go camping-the youth from church. Why don't you guys come along?"

Kate stared at her brother in confusion. Exactly what was he doing?

"Camping?" Seth was confused as well. "Uh, that's more Richie's thing than mine..."

"Oh, you'd love it!" Jacob smiled as he joined the conversation. "Usually my wife and I go to help keep an eye on the kids but we can't this year-we have some business we need to attend to-but some of the older youth are going as well. You and Vanessa should go. You'll enjoy it. It's during the weekend and we all stay up in a place not that far from here-closer to nature closer to god I say."

Vanessa made a face. "I'm not one for camping, but honey, you should go."

Seth frowned at her. "I don't think-."

"I insist." Vanessa smiled an odd smile. "I don't want to hear another word about it. You're going and that's final."

Seth narrowed his eyes at her slightly, almost as if he was suspicious of something.

"You'll like it, Seth." Scott insisted. "There's all sorts of events we do, and the place is pretty isolated so we don't have to worry about making noise or bothering anyone. There are bonfires and games and Kate makes an incredible s'more like you wouldn't believe."

Seth hesitated before he cleared his throat and sent Scott a look. "What sort of events?"

Scott grinned almost evilly.

"You need to give me a chance!"

"Kyle, I said no." Kate glared at the boy she'd liked not too long ago, and instead of butterflies she felt annoyance. "I don't like you like that so give it a rest!"

"We were made for each other." Kyle stepped forwards, persistent. "You're my soulmate."

Her eyes widened. "Are you high?"

"Of course I'm not!" He glared at her. "I'm ripping my heart out and laying it at your feet!"

Kate took in a deep breath and tried to figure out how to go about this without telling Kyle to get lost. That wouldn't be very christian of her and she was already failing as a christian in too many other aspects. "Kyle, you're a great guy, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you, but I do not feel the same." She took in a deep breath. "The Bible said: Thou Shalt Not Lie. I won't lie to you."

He flinched. "Jacob worked 14 years for Rachael. I'll wait just as long for you if I have to!" And with that he turned, got back into his truck, and stormed off.

Kate leaned hard against the fence and brought her hands to her face.

"Kate Fuller, heartbreaker."

Jumping in shock, the brunette pulled a dark strand of hair as she turned to see the one speaking. "You scared me!"

"Sorry." Seth looked, as ever, darkly amused, a grocery bag tucked under his arm as he stood in front of his fence, a lollipop's stick poking out from between his lips. "What's wrong with the boy?"

"What do you mean?" She turned to face him as she fidgeted with her clothes.

"He looked nice enough, so why not give him a chance?" Seth tilted his head to the side.

"He's not my type." Kate gulped.

Seth raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Your type."

"I can have a type you know." Her blues narrowed on him in annoyance and embarrassment.

"Of course you can." Seth reached into his grocery bag and held out a lollipop similar to the one he was sucking on. "Please accept my most heartfelt apologies."

Snatching it from him, blushing darkly in embarrassment, Kate played with the wrapping. "Never took you for a guy who liked sweets."

"I don't, but recently I've developed an oral fixation." His eyes then widened like saucers and he flushed. "I didn't mean it the way it sounded." He rubbed the back of his head and cleared his throat, unable to look at her. "I meant to say that I quit smoking and I find I still like the feel of something in my mouth... No... That doesn't sound any better."

Her lips twitched in amusement as she snickered. "The things you learn about people."

"S'not like that, I-." Seth grumbled as he shook his head. "Never mind, I'll just dig myself in deeper if I say anything else."

Amusement growing, Kate unwrapped the lollipop and slipped it passed her lips.

Seth slid her a glance before clearing his throat and shaking his head, almost as if he was telling himself not to do something. "So, uh, I should, uh-." He let the sentence die, his gaze on his front door.

"Are you ready for the camping trip this weekend?" Kate asked, not wanting him to go just yet.

There wasn't any sin in just talking, was there?

He took in a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be."

She stared up at him, confused as to what he could mean with that.

"So, I'm making my move on Tricia this weekend." Scott eyed the girl laughing as she swam in the lake with others. "She's reluctantly into me and I'm going to use this isolation to my advantage."

"She's reluctantly into you?" Kate sent him a glance as she put sunscreen on her arms.

"Yeah, she's dating Toby." Scott grinned. "I've never liked Toby. I'll enjoy stealing his girl from him."

Kate raised an eyebrow with some amusement. "Thou Shalt Not Steal."

"Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Husband." Scott threw back.

Kate sighed and pursed her lips. "We're both going to hell."

"Yeah, but at least we'll be neighbors." Scott seemed completely unaffected by their future in damnation. "And if you play your cards right, you might go to hell with the neighbor's husband."

She glared at him. "Don't joke about things like that. Just because I have a c-crush on him doesn't mean that I would ever try to break up his m-marriage with Vanessa. I'm not a home-wrecker."

Scott eyed her thoughtfully. "From how I see it, there's not much to break up. They're basically on the outs already."

Kate narrowed her eyes, confused. "What are you talking about? They're always happy and together whenever we see them."

"Oh Kate-Kate-Kate, if you're going to be my neighbor in hell I'll definitely need to teach you to be less naive." And with that Scott yelled out: "Chicken fight! Tricia! You're on my team!" and raced to the water.

Kate watched him with confusion and amusement as she finished applying lotion to her body and laid out in the sun, soaking in its warm rays. She'd only meant to close her eyes to keep the glare from bothering her but she must've fallen asleep because the next thing she knew the sun was much hotter and there was a cool hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, sorry to wake you but you look like you're on the verge of a very bad sunburn."

Kate sat up and blinked when she came face to face with Seth. "Uh, thanks." She lowered her gaze, hoping that he'd attribute her flush to the heat. "How long have I been asleep?"

He shrugged and sat back, dark eyes firmly fixed ahead of him on the people playing in the water.

She sent him a side-long glance before she lowered onto her back.

Seth shook his leg.

Kate reached for her dark-tinted shades and slipped them on.

Seth grabbed a book she hadn't noticed next to him, and began to read.

Relieved for his distraction, Kate used the anonymity the shades gave her to stare at him at leisure. He was truly handsome, manly so, definitely not boy band pretty in the least. His hands looked rough, as if they were calloused.

The image of him running his rough hands down her skin made her heart race and mouth dry. The girl shifted and rubbed her thighs together, her body a mess of tingles.

Try as she might she couldn't understand how Vanessa could just send Seth away with young, attractive women - because Tricia and her friends were remarkably good-looking. If Seth was Kate's she didn't think she would let him go even to the convenience store down the street without her. How could Vanessa be so confident? Did Seth really love her so much that he was blind to anyone else? Kate knew she wasn't the only girl from church who thought he was ridiculously attractive. How could Vanessa not worry?

Seth licked his lips and turned the page in his book.

Kate rubbed her thighs together once more, highly uncomfortable, every nerve in her body oversensitive for some inexplicable reason.

Seth's gaze slid to her legs before he looked away immediately and shook his head harshly.

"Kate! Seth!" Scott yelled from the water, Tricia sitting astride his shoulders. "Come play! No one can beat us! Give us some sort of competition."

"Nah." Seth shook his head.

"Come on!" Tricia yelled, just as cocky as Scott. "Join us!"

"I'm fine right here." Seth shook his head.

Tricia began making clucking noises, immitating a chicken.

Scott snickered. "You're right Trish. Someone's scared he's too old to keep up with us younger folk."

Seth snorted. "Nope. Definitely not the issue here."

Some of the other kids (as well as the older people) began to cluck as well.

Seth shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"Don't worry, you don't have to prove anything to anyone." She really wished everyone would stop acting so immaturely.

Seth sidled her with a disbelieving glance. "Not you too!"

"Huh?"

He looked away and sighed, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

She stared at him in confusion, not sure what he thought she'd meant by that because she truly had been on his side!

"Okay. Come on." Seth narrowed his eyes on her. "But beware that I don't plays for kicks and if we do this we're playing to win."

Blue eyes widened before she nodded. "We'll make them regret their clucks."

A snort escaped his lips as he stood. "We'll make them choke on those clucks." And with that he started towards the water.

Nerves and excitement twisted in her gut as she stood and followed him in amidst the cheers, and while she might've told Seth that they'd make the others pay, and she'd been initially resolved to do so, all her resolve (and any thought at all) disappeared the second she was seated upon his shoulders with his hands on her thighs. If her every nerve had been alive before by just being next to him, they were now on fire and on the verge of collapse as those calloused hands she'd imagined so many times were truly on her skin.

"Come on, Princess, head in the game." Seth cleared his throat as he gave her thigh a squeeze, as if he'd been saying something for a while and had had to resort to that to get her attention.

It worked.

A gasp escaped Kate's lips that caused her to flush in embarrassment and Seth to go rock still behind her.

"HERE WE GO!" Scott grinned as they attacked.

Seth tightened his grip on her and in a split second swept out his foot towards Scott, whose eyes went wide as he fell, bringing Tricia with him.

Kate's eyes widened in shock. "Wow."

"I'm not someone who plays around." Seth lowered her to the ground and instead of walking away swam away, his movements stiff.

Kate watched him go, horrified that maybe, just maybe, he'd figured out how shameless she was.

"It's the job! Don't forget that!" Vanessa's voice reached Kate as she stood on the other side of the door, hand raised to knock while holding the basket of brownies her mother had made and encouraged her to give to their neighbors.

"I know that." Seth's voice was low.

"You don't seem to." Vanessa sounded hella annoyed. "You were the one who didn't want to do this at frst, remember? I told you that to get the job done it was better to become a part of the community, to blend. There are important people at that church and-."

"Don't turn this around on me." Seth snapped. "You sent me off with some kids and then spent the weekend sleeping with him!"

"I got what I needed out of him, which is more than you can say!" She sounded furious. "I'm having to do everything on my own here! I don't even know why we're in this together anymore because it seems like you've lost all your purpose-all your interest-in the reason why we're here in the first place!"

"I've been trying, for once, to be the better man." Seth sounded close to losing it. "When we got married we promised each other we'd try to be better people this time!"

"And this will help us do so!" Vanessa growled. "Once this is done we can go and be better people somewhere else! Together!"

Kate took a step back off of the doorstep.

She wasn't exactly sure what she was hearing but she didn't want to hear it.

Turning around, the girl walked away, wondering exactly what job the Geckos were arguing about.

"Either my big brother finally ditched the bitch, or I'm in the wrong backyard."

Kate jerked out of the lounge chair by the pool in shock, not having expected that unexpected voice in her ear. She turned around and came face to face with a handsome guy in glasses who looked somewhat familiar to her, though she couldn't exactly tell why. "W-who-?"

"Name's Richie." He gave her an enigmatic smile.

Blue eyes widened as her fear was replaced with curiousity and understanding as to why he'd seemed familiar. "You're Seth's brother?"

He nodded. "You never answered my question."

"Question?"

Richie leaned forwards, in her personal space, smirk quite similar to his brother's, which caused her heart to race. "Am I in the wrong backyard?"

"Yes." A dark voice said. "You are."

As one, Richie and Kate turned to see Seth leaning against the fence, a muscle jumping in his cheek as he eyed them.

"Seth!" Richie grinned as he slung an arm around Kate's shoulders. "How are you?"

"Curious as to why you're here." Seth raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I just wanted to see my big brother." Richie chuckled at the look that that earned him. "Or, maybe, I was curious about the cute next door neighbor I've heard so much about."

Kate's eyes widened and she flushed darkly. Had Seth told Richie she was cute?

That muscle jumped harder in Seth's cheek. "Stop bothering Kate, Rich. Come on over here and we'll talk about whatever it is you want to talk about."

Richie seemed to be studying his brother. His lips suddenly pulled in a grin, apparently deeply amused by whatever he found. "Maybe later. I think I'm going to spend some time here with Katie."

"Richard." Seth glared at him.

"Wow. Didn't expect my whole name." Richie chuckled, visibly amused by something as he let go of Katie immediately. "Talk to you later, Katie."

"Kate. Her name is Kate." Seth took in a deep breath. "Get your ass over here already."

Richie didn't answer, merely snorted in amusement as he made his way to the front yard so he could get into the right yard.

Seth eyed his back before he turned to Kate. "I'm sorry he was bothering you."

"He wasn't-bothering me I mean." She clasped her hands behind her back. "So... That's your brother."

"That's my brother," Seth echoed with a sigh.

"He seems... nice."

Seth raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Kate nodded. "Mom and dad will probably want him over for dinner sometime. We've all been curious about your brother since they found out he existed."

"Have you now." Seth raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah." She licked her lips.

"Strike one." Seth raised a finger.

Blue eye blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"While I appreciate a Gecko being the princess' mysterious type, as a friend of your father's I'm going to tell you that Geckos and preachers' daughters are not a good combination."

It was hard not to take that as a direct rejection of her. "Why? What's wrong with me?"

His face shifted, almost as if shocked that she'd asked him that. "It's not you who has something wrong with her. It's us. We're not worth it." He cleared his throat. "I'm-I'm looking out for you."

"Why don't you let me decide who I find 'worth it'?" She glared at him before storming away into the house, his gaze on her back.

TBC