Author's Note: Sorry it took longer than expected for me to update; my laptop died and I had to get a new one. Sorry for the wait!

PLEASE READ: Everyone, this is the final chapter of "Tutoring a Holt." This story has been going on for well over a year now. When I began it, I was still a newcomer to this site, overwhelmed and completely nervous about posting my writing for the world to see. I was inexperienced and, in my opinion, a much worse writer than I am today.

I'd like to offer my thanks to everyone who's taken the time to read this story, especially everyone who has reviewed. I appreciate all of you, and hopefully, this ending won't disappoint you too much. Thank you for embarking on this ride with me. I can honestly say that this is by far the longest fanfic I've ever written, and I feel pretty proud to be finishing what I started at last. Proud, but bittersweet.

Anyway, thanks again for reading and reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this last chapter of "Tutoring a Holt." :)

It was the most nerve-wracking confession ever on the face of the Earth.

No, not Hamilton's confession to Sinead; his confession to his father that he was now dating Sinead.

Eisenhower Holt was predictably upset. First, his face turned so red it was nearly purple, and his mouth fell open and closed and open and closed again, and he couldn't say anything. Then, he gave the whole "what in the world are you thinking; she's an Ekat; you're a Tomas; why on Earth would you want to…" speech, followed soon by the "at least your sisters would never, ever do anything so absolutely, positively…" lecture, then threats to disown him.

And that was in the span of a minute.

But actually, once the shock wore off, he took it rather well. He slapped Hamilton hard on the back and said with a grin, "At least that means that we've got Ekat intel now, huh, son?" (To which Hamilton just rolled his eyes.)

Madison and Reagan taunted him for two straight hours- a perpetual loop of "Hammer's got a giiiiirlfrieeeeend!" and "Hammy and Sinead, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"- but they eventually grew tired of teasing him without getting any violent reaction and went outside to play football.

And Mary-Todd Holt actually told her son, "Good for you, honey. She's a pretty girl, isn't she?" which made him grin like an idiot.

Sinead's brothers hadn't been exactly thrilled. Ned had given him the old "if you ever do anything to hurt her" speech, which Ted had finished by saying that he would sic his guide dog, Flamsteed, on him. But then, they realized that they and Hamilton shared a mutual love of computers, and thus began a new friendship. (Though they made sure that Hamilton knew that their threats still stood. Sinead was their favorite- and only- sister, after all.)

Then, there was everyone in the school, who probably figured it out the next morning when he and Sinead walked into the building together, holding hands. His football buddies teased him, and Kenzie Radcliffe looked amusingly pouty and indignant, and Mary-Anne Carlisle asked them a billion questions ("Are you two dating?" "Awww, how'd he ask you out?" "OMG, you got hit by a car?"). But that was actually all right.

As for their math teacher, Mr. Katswell seemed pleased and appeared to think that he was himself responsible for the new couple getting together. "If I hadn't assigned you to tutor him, Sinead," he said, "This never would have happened, you know."

Sinead had raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You're saying that this is all thanks to you?"

The teacher's eyes smiled at her over the curve of his round glasses. "Pretty much."

In all his time at the school, Hamilton Holt never would have guessed that his math teacher had any semblance of a sense of humor.

/

Sinead could not wait to share the news with her new best friend. She had tried calling Amy the previous day, just after everything had happened, but she hadn't picked up; probably on some sort of Cahill business, the Ekaterina figured.

The moment she got home, she completed her homework, then hurried to phone Amy. It took nearly three rings for her to pick up.

"Oh, hey, Sinead. Sorry I didn't answer your calls yesterday. We had some Madrigal business to take care of."

"Yeah," said Sinead, hardly suppressing a smile, "I guessed as much."

Amy heaved a sigh. "Inter-branch peace seemed so easy in theory, but in practice, it almost seems like an impossible dream."

Now, she really was grinning. "Oh, Amy, don't give up hope yet. People of different branches can learn to cooperate… which brings me to my big news."

"Wait a second…." Suddenly, her friend didn't seem nearly as unhappy. "Don't tell me- Hamilton finally asked you out."

Sinead rolled her eyes. "Of course. I forgot: in this family, everyone knows your business before even you do."

"Dan and I helped him plan it," Amy explained. There was a note of excitement in her voice. "So, tell me, how did the flowers and chocolate go over?"

"I'm not sure," said Sinead wryly. "I never saw them."

"What?"

So Sinead told Amy the entire story as Hamilton had told it to her. By the end, Amy was stunned into silence. After several seconds, she spoke.

"He got hit by a car?" Her voice was now high and worried. "Oh, my goodness, is he all right?"

"He's fine." Sinead laughed. "Apparently, he stood right back up, shrugged it off, and kept running."

Amy groaned. "The saddest thing is that I don't even doubt it."

"Someone really should have taught him not to text while crossing the street," said Sinead.

She groaned again, this time mournfully. "I texted him yesterday morning, Sinead! Was that when it happened?"

"I think so."

"Oh…" Amy paused, drawing in a deep breath. "Now, I feel awful…."

"Don't. I told you," said Sinead, "He's perfectly fine. Anyway, like I said, everything turned out fine."

She sounded mostly consoled. "I guess you're right. So, you two are an item now? Hmmm, Hamilton and Sinead… Hamead, would you call it? Or maybe Sinilton?"

It was Sinead's turn to groan. "Oh, goodness, not those cheesy portmanteaus."

"What?" said Amy sheepishly. "There are all sorts of those couple names on the Internet. They've become pretty big in the past few years."

"True." Weighty silence hung in the air for a moment. "So, Amy, Hamilton and I are heading out near your area to have dinner Friday night. I was wondering, do you want to join us?"

Amy's voice was skeptical. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to be a third wheel…."

"You wouldn't be." Even by the sound of her voice, Amy could tell that she was grinning impishly. "It would be a double date. Hamilton and me, and you and…"

"Don't say it," Amy interjected.

Sinead laughed out loud. "Clearly, I don't have to. You already seem to know what I was going to say."

"Well, of course. You've brought it up before." She paused. "But Sinead, I keep telling you, I do not like Ian! In case you've forgotten, he's kind of a jerk."

"And didn't I think the same about Hamilton Holt?" she teased. "It worked out for us, did it not, Amy?"

"Oh, no. Don't tell me that you're going to start trying to give me relationship advice now. Need I remind you that you two have only been dating for one…"

"You say you want inter-branch peace, don't you, Amy?" she said wisely. "Well, what better way?"

"But I'm not sure how well that would…"

Sinead cut her off. "Come on, you helped me get together with Hamilton, right? And I would feel like such an awful friend if I wasn't allowed to return the favor."

"Sinead, I'm starting to get the feeling that you aren't even listening to a word I'm…"

"Amy," said Sinead with a grin, "You're going. That's that."

Of course she was dubious, looking for any excuse she could find in her mental book of alibis. "But, um… Dan would kill me."

"Oh, I already had Ham talk to him. He's perfectly fine with it- as long as he gets to deliver the standard overprotective brother speech, and as long as Ian agrees to owe him one," she announced smugly.

"But, uh…" Amy pondered for a moment. "Ian would never want to do that."

Sinead barked out a laugh. "Who are you kidding? Hamilton already talked to him, too. They talked over email, but he's pretty sure that Ian jumped for joy a little bit."

"If it was online, how in the world could he know whether he…?"

"Listen to me, Amy Cahill. You're coming with us on Friday night to dinner, and Ian is going to be there, and you two are going to like it, understand?"

She heard Amy swallow hard. "Um… okay."

Sinead hung up the phone minutes later and shot her boyfriend a quick text. And Mission: Return the Favor is a go. You've already talked to your contacts to ensure that everything will go according to what we planned, right, Ham?

His reply came less than a minute later: Right. They're all set. Heh-heh, those two are totally going to love/hate us.

It was good to be a Cahill.

Author's Note: And again with the Amian. It's as if it just seeps out of my fingers when I'm typing this story. XD

Anyway, moving on, thanks again to all my loyal readers and reviewers. I sincerely appreciate your time, your kind words, and even sometimes your reminders that I needed to get off my lazy butt and update! I'm grateful for all of you. Love you guys! :D

Signing off the way I used to way back when,

Peace, love, and ninjas,

~Lily