I decided to write this after watching the Lifetime movie Petals on the Wind. And I also was a fan of their movie version of Flowers in the Attic. lol. I love forbidden love stories. PLEASE DON'T READ IF INCEST FICS FREAK YOU OUT. even though this is not really incest because they are not related, but they were still like brother and sister for a few years, so...yeah.

Also, sadly, this will be my last Fallen fanfic for a long while, I think. =( I just have to really focus on RL stuff. Wish me luck! Haha. But I will come back and write in the future if something really inspires me. I still want to try writing a proper Cam/Luce or maybe Lucifer/Luce fic. Hmm. I also bought a book, Writing Fiction for Dummies, because I want to improve my stories, so I hope next time I write a fic, it will be much better than my current stories. haha.

Oh, this is off-topic, but if any of you like romance novels, I recommend A Gentle Feuding by Johanna Lindsey. Gentle Rogue is another book she wrote that I love, too. =)

Too CLose

Daniel was beginning to regret his decision. How could he possibly think that he could only be like a older brother to Luce in this lifetime? He should have never maded those fake documents so that he could be adopted. But he was just feeling so lonely and it felt like a good idea at the time. Daniel just wanted to try to be a normal teenager, with a normal family. Unfortunately, they decided to adopt another child. A girl. She was 13 and he was supposed to be 17 when they first met. Lucy (but everyone called her Luce) was a cute little girl and she got attached to him fast. But he knew he had to stay away from her.

Daniel was deeply conflicted back then. He wanted to watch her grow up, take care of her, and protect her. But he did not want her to think of him as a brother. And it would be too strange to act like her brother now and then later become attracted to her. He definitely did not like her that way now, but eventually, he would. But he wondered if he could finally break the curse if he only treated her like a sister. Would she be able to live past the age of seventeen? He had to try. Maybe he could suppress his romantic love for her, replace it with brotherly love.

And so, for the first time ever, Daniel and Luce were brother and sister instead of lovers. They were inseparable for three years. He did all the things siblings usually did together at that age. They watched her favorite TV shows and movies together. He took her to the park and drove her to school. They played board games on rainy days, went to the beach or local pool to swim, played basketball in the backyard, he gave her piggyback rides. They also had a lot of fun on family trips together to the amusement park or random festivals. And of course they pranked each other and got on each others' nerves, too. But they never stayed mad at each other for long. The Luce of this lifetime was very athletic, intelligent, and kind. She even wore glasses and was a bit of a nerd, but he still thought she was cute. Luce was his precious little sister.

But their innocent, carefree days together came to and end when Luce turned fifteen. She was growing up. Her body was changing and she became more mature. His adoptive sister was not a kid anymore. It was hard for him to ignore her womenly curves and how pretty she was becoming. Boys and men were starting to notice her, making him angry and envious at the same time. He was angry that they were attracted to his little sister, who was still young. He was envious because as her brother, he could not have those feelings for her. Even if they were not really related, he had acted like her big brother for two years. And he did think of Luce as his sister for a long time now. If he fell in love with her, it would still feel like incest.

Daniel had to keep his distance from her. At first Luce was upset, but she seemed to accept his excuse that he was getting more busy since he was a senior now and had to prepare for college. He was at home less. But whenever he was at home with her, he found himself stealing glances at Luce. Sometimes when they were sitting next to each other on the couch, he would secretly hold a strand of her long black hair and sniff it. She always smelled so nice. He liked touching her gently on her cheek, shoulder, or arm when they talked to each other. Daniel even sneaked into her room to watch her sleep sometimes. He wondered how she would react if she knew he was beginning to see her as a woman and not just his sister. Would she be disgusted, upset, and never want to see him again? Or would she be happy, since in every lifetime so far, they have fallen in love no matter who they were? Could she be attracted to him even though she had thought him as her brother for so long?

One fateful night, everything changed. Daniel would never be able to see Luce as only a sister afterwards. By now, he had gone a whole year of trying to deny his feelings for her. She was sixteen years old now. It was raining and Daniel was working on an essay for his philosophy class on his laptop. On paper, he was nineteen years old now. He had wanted to find a college far from his house to have an excuse to stay in a dorm and avoid spending too much time with Luce. But their parents and Luce insisted that he live at home and commute to a university close by. He finally agreed after much begging from Luce.

Luce suddenly barged in his room and plopped down on his bed. He would usually tell her she should knock first, but he noticed she was crying. Daniel immediately closed his laptop and sat down beside her.

"Luce, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Close the door, I don't want them to hear..." She said between sniffles.

He did what she said and then sat back down. Daniel usually tried to avoid being alone with her in a closed room, but he figured in this case they would probably need some privacy. Their adoptive parents were downstairs, probably watching television like they always did after dinner.

"What happened?" He said, stroking her back gently.

"Do you remember how I have a crush on this guy in class, Jeremy?" She said, wiping her tears away.

"Yes..." Daniel replied. How could he forget? When she excitedly told him a few weeks ago, it felt someone had just punched him in the stomach. And it was silly, but he felt like beating up that kid, even though he had done nothing wrong. He did remember looking at the picture she showed him and thinking it was ironic that Jeremy looked a bit like him.

"Well, I finally told him I liked him today. But he rejected me. He said he already had a girlfriend. I thought it was strange because he didn't hang out with any one girl a lot at school. But then my friend Avery said she heard some girls saying that they heard him talking to his guy friends about me. He said that I was a geek who wore glasses and is obsessed with the swim team and getting grades. He said my chest is too flat and I'm not sexy. Jeremy said he would never date a girl like me." She explained everything while tears streamed down her face.

"Don't listen to him, Luce. He's just an idiot and probably is intimidated because you're too smart for him and you're probably a better athlete than him." Daniel said. He was fuming. How dare this stupid boy say those things about her! At least now he had a reason to find him and beat him up. "Show me who he is the next time I pick you up from school. I want to talk to him."

"No, Daniel! Please don't. It would just be more embarrassing if my big brother had to come and yell at him for me. And I definitely don't want you to hit him!" She clung to his arm, pleading with tear-stained eyes and he reluctantly nodded.

"Okay, I will leave him alone. And I want you to forget about him. He doesn't deserve you." He left out the part that he was thinking to himself, "The only person you should be with is me! I am your soulmate. Can't you tell?" Daniel kissed her hair and gave her a big hug and did not intend to let go until she stopped crying.

She finally stopped crying after a few minutes and pulled away from him. "Daniel, what if no one ever wants me..." She sadly said.

"That won't happen. You're a beautiful and amazing person. You will find someone right for you. But if it takes a long time, you'll still have me. I'll always be here for you if you need me." He said, holding her hands and smiling.

"Daniel..." She smiled back at him and kissed him on the cheek. She lingered close to his neck for a bit too long after the kiss and it made him nervous and happy at the same time. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course! And you are very smart and great at sports and such a sweet girl. I could go on all day." He paused before he managed to say the next words. "I'm so glad you're my...sister."

Luce seemed happy to hear what he said, up until the last part. "And I'm glad you're my brother." She said quietly, staring at the floor.

A bright flash of light lit up the dark sky outside his window and loud, rumbling thunder quickly followed. Luce practically jumped into Daniel's lap. She had always been afraid of thunder.

"It's okay. Don't be afraid. I'm right here." Daniel said, holding her close.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, Daniel?" She said. "We always slept together when I had nightmares or there's a big storm."

He hesitated. They used to sleep together sometimes but that was mostly when she was younger. Their parents probably wouldn't care, as long as Luce felt safe with him, especially on stormy nights like this.

"Umm..." Daniel looked at her and she made such a cute pouting face that he couldn't say no. "Alright." He finally said. "You better not hog the blanket, though! Or accidentally kick me in your sleep." He laughed.

"I won't! Daniel, you're the best brother ever!" She gave him a big hug and he hugged her back.

Luce was going to kiss him on the cheek but he turned his head right then, so her lips accidentally brushed against his. He freaked out, afraid that she would burn up in front of his eyes right then. Even though he knew that kissing didn't always end her life and there were other things that could make her burn up, but it was still something he needed to avoid. Daniel jumped backwards on the bed, too shocked and scared to say anything.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. You don't have to be so disgusted!" Luce said, her face red from embarrassment.

"No, I was just surprised, Luce. I'm sorry." Daniel reached out to touch her but she turned away.

"You don't have to pretend, Daniel. We are just siblings after all. It's okay if you don't want to be near me. Maybe I'm annoying you. Maybe I should just go back to my room." She stood up to leave.

Daniel couldn't believe that was what she thought. Nothing could be further from the truth. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back into his embrace.

"You're wrong, Luce. There is nothing I want more than to be close to you. I love you... I want you..." He almost left it at that, but he had to add on something else. "I mean, I want you to be happy."

"Daniel..." She pulled away to look at him and smile. "I love you too, and being with you always makes me so happy."

Gazing at her, he couldn't stop himself from continuing. "And if I wasn't your brother, I would...I would definitely fall for you. You are gorgeous and wonderful and lovely and I'm sure there are so many guys who like you, but are too intimidated by your perfection to ask you out."

Hearing him say all this left Luce blushing and speechless. She only shook her head and looked down shyly as if to say "I'm not that great."