"I hope so." Lori ignored Cal as she took her sisters hand. "I'm exhausted." she yawned. "All that riding and I still need to tell you what happened."

"She's ignoring us know...I guess its an improvement." Alex joked.

Cal shrugged. "Better than all the arguing we were doing before." He said. "Let's head back to the inn. I'm tired."

"Well then we should get back so we can talk." Rosemary said. She paused and turned around to smile at Alex. "I'll see you in the morning." She said, before leading her sister back towards the inn.

"Lets get some sleep." Alex used his money to buy them a room.

As Lori got changed she caught her sister up on what had happened.

Once they were in the room, Cal sat down on the bed with a sigh. "So, after all this crap, at least tell me it was worth it on your end. Did you enjoy being with her?"

Rosemary changed as well while she listened. "That's...quite an ordeal." She said when her sister finished. She hugged her. "I'm so sorry. If I'd had any clue that something like that would happen, I never would have left you. But...at least he took care of you. The older one...sort of." She sighed. "It sounds like he's a complete idiot when it comes to his own feelings, but he does seem to care about some things."

Lori frowned a little. "Yeah I guess so. So hows the other brother. What is he like?"

"It was great." Alex grinned. "We got to know each other better and...she's really...she's everything I want in a girl." he had turned a red color.

Rosemary smiled a clearly lovestruck smile. "He's wonderful." She said. "He's so sweet and kind and caring, and we actually have a lot in common. He's taken care of me and never expected anything in return, unlike every other guy I've ever met who wanted something from me. He doesn't care that I was a princess, he sees me as a girl to love. But he doesn't try to smother me or treat me like a damsel in distress, he treats me like a strong, capable woman." She gushed. "I don't know how, but he's not like his brother at all. He doesn't have it in him to lie or pretend to be someone else. He's genuine and handsome and smart..."

Cal smiled. "I can't believe my little brother's in love." He said. "I'm happy for you. It's not often that people find someone who's everything they want in a partner. A lot of people never find a good match at all."

Lori laughed. "Is that all?" she smiled at her sister. "You have got it bad don't you." she reached forward and hugged her. "Look at you all grown up and falling in love. What happened to the Rosey who use to race after me threw the rain?"

"that's sad." Alex frowned. "I can't even imagine not..." he trailed off. "You poor thing." he patted his brothers arm.

Cal frowned. "I wasn't talking about me, you dork!" He said, giving his brother a playful punch on the arm. "I found a girl that's perfect. I just...have to work on making her like me in return."

"She's right here." Rosemary said, hugging her back. "I'm still me, and I'm still your little sister. I'm just a bit more mature now, that's all."

Lori pouted at her. "Your not suppose to mature." she joked. "Your suppose to stay small so that I can take care of you."

Alex laughed rubbing his arm. "That's going to be hard. Partly because she wants nothing to do with guys and part because she still likes that prince."

"Sorry sis." Rosemary said, pulling back a bit to look at Lori. "I never meant to get older. I don't know what happened."

Cal sighed. "Yeah, well...I'll just have to be patient I guess. Prove I'm better than any sleazy prince." He pouted slightly, clearly jealous of said prince. "I can wait. I've learned how to be very patient. I'll wait forever if I have to."

Lori smiled at her. "I suppose you didn't have much of a choice." she trailed off as tears appeared in her eyes. "I wish we could go back to being kids. I wish we could stay that innocent forever." she started to cry though she wasn't sure why. "Back to when I had no other responsibilities other then you. I wish thins ha been different. That we didn't have to run that are parents hadn't been so been so terrible."

Alex laughed. "I can just picture you two as old and her still glaring at you with annoyance."

Rosemary hugged her sister close, fighting off tears herself. She had to be the strong one. "I know, Lori. I wish that, too. I wish we had both gotten the fairy tale ending we were promised as kids. And I really wish I never had to see you cry again. But we'll be okay. As long as we stick together, we'll be fine."

Cal started to laugh, but his expression turned sad. "Yeah...so can I. I can picture it a little too clearly for my taste." He sighed. "Let's be honest here, I'm not like you. I've been a crook nearly my whole life, I'm not honest or kind or...any of the things that girls like in a man. How am I ever supposed to make her like me when I don't even like me?"

((*Cough cough*))

((This stupid thing))
"Yeah...I want you to be honest. If and this is a big if. If I decide I can't do this if I decided to go home. Will you hate me?" Lori stared at her sister afraid of what her answer would be.

Alex shrugged. "I wish I had the answer but I don't." he sighed. "I like you." he added. "Your not just a crook. Your my older brother who has taken care of me my whole life."

Rosemary looked shocked. "What? Of course not! Lori, you're my sister. I could never hate you. And besides, I've been saying from the beginning that if you wanted to go home at any time, I'd understand. You know I won't ever hold it against you." She said firmly, leaving no room for doubt

Cal smiled a little. "Thanks...I appreciate that, Alex. You're honestly the only person I've ever cared about, up until now...it's strange, suddenly caring about someone else as well. I'm glad I can always count on you to support me, even when I'm being stupid." He said.

"Your always being stupid." Alex teased his brother then yawned. "We ought to get some sleep."

Lori smiled at her looking relieved. She fell on to the bed "I miss my bed these ones are so hard." she whined. "Oh God I sound like a princess." she grimaced. "All that pampering over the years has made me soft."

Cal nodded. "Good idea. Lots of work to do tomorrow." He said, flopping back onto the bed.

Rosemary chuckled. "Well, it's better than the ground at least." She pointed out. "Speaking of, let's get some sleep."

Lori was already asleep tucked under the blankets her ankle resting on a pillow.

Alex fell asleep a smile on his face. He woke early the next morning, showered and changed waiting for his brother.

Rosemary smiled and tucked herself in next to her sister, quickly falling asleep. The next morning, she woke at dawn and went straight downstairs to work, ready to start the day.

Cal was waiting for the shower by the time Alex got out. With only a grunt of greeting, he went in, showered and got dressed. Once he was dressed, he was in a considerably better mood.

Lori woke after her sister and limped downstairs her hair a mess and her eyes still half closed. She flopped onto a chair and stared at the table.

Alex chuckled and went to grab breakfast. He blinked when he saw Lori staring at the table like food would magically appear. He chuckled a little and grabbed her a cup of coffee. "Here." He smiled.

Lori took the cup pouring sugar and milk into it. She took a sip and sighed happily.

Cal made his way downstairs and, spotting Lori and Alex, went to sit with them. He flopped into a chair tiredly, eyeing the coffee Lori had enviously.

Rosemary appeared then, in full waitress garb- complete with short skirt and shirt that showed off her cleavage a little too well, ready to take their orders. "Good morning. I'm going to assume you want coffee." She said to Cal, who nodded. "And does anyone want food?"

Lori nodded at the mention of food. "Food."

Alex laughed. "Now I have two of them. I'll take pancakes and so will my brother. You know what your sister likes."

Rosemary smiled and jotted this down on her order pad. "Coming right up." She said, heading away. She returned shortly after with coffee, pancakes and syrup, along with some bacon and eggs. "Here you go."

Cal barely moved, only breathing and blinking until the food showed up, at which point he seemed to come out of a trance. "Food?" He asked, blinking as if to clear his mind.

Lori dug in with a sigh. "Morning Rose." she smiled at her sister.

"She lives." Alex joked earning a glare.

Rosemary smiled brightly. "Good morning." She said. "I've got other customers, so I can't stick around. See you at lunch time!" She said as she whirled away to serve other people coming in.

"How is she so energetic?" Cal asked after a few healthy gulps of coffee.