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There would be no easy way to start that conversation, but if Samantha had to keep those words so close to her chest any longer, she thought it might literally crush her heart.

“But if I'm wrong about this...there's no going back from it," she whispered to herself, just outside of her brother's door. “These aren't the kinds of words that you can just laugh off, and if I tell him it was just a joke, it'll be that much worse..."

She wouldn't have much time left to tell him before school started, and if things went the way that she worried they might, she risked the possibility of someone making that sort of confession, first.

There was no way of knowing how many people gave Timothy that kind of a look, short of asking around the school and seeing who would be bold enough to confess, but Samantha couldn't think of a way to start that sort of conversation without things coming across as awkward and unusual.

She'd keep it to herself for one more moment, but once she pushed open the door into his bedroom, she created a silent timer for those words to either leave her maw, or be contained for the rest of her life.

“Timothy?"

With just a couple of weeks until the start of their senior year, Samantha wasn't at all surprised to find her brother glued to his computer screen, yet again.

He'd been putting in as many hours as possible on his favorite MMO, knowing that he'd have to put his nose to the grindstone if he was going to get into a decent college and live out his preferred career of being a programmer; he wasn't all that worried about spending time outside, despite the colder days that were soon to rush in.

“Oh, hey sis. Can you gimme just a second?"

He didn't want to interrupt his gaming session if he could avoid it, but more than that, he wanted to give Samantha his fullest attention, as timidly as she'd come into the room.

There was no way for him to miss just how withdrawn she'd been over the past few days, and that sound in her voice told him that she still hadn't come out of her funk, whatever it was.

“Sorry...had to let the guys know I needed a minute," Timothy explained. The raccoon turned in his chair, but even before he saw the concern on his sister's face, he knew that he'd finally find out what was bothering her, even if he didn't bother with asking the question.

To leave her hanging like that, however, was something he would never do.

“Did...d-did something happen, Samantha?" he finally asked. He thought she might speak first, seeing that tremble in the bridge of her muzzle...but it was gone before she had a chance to say anything. “You've been wearing the worry about you like a cloak, lately...is it just the fact that school's coming up?"

It would have been a completely fair question for anyone getting ready to enter their final year of high school. There were plenty of questions to be answered that had nothing to do with romantic interests, and many would have argued that figuring out a career path—or at least a college major—were more important points than trying to decide who you were going to spend the rest of your life with.

Figure yourself out before giving someone the chance to figure you out; it was something that Samantha and Timothy had done in their own time, but seeing the uncertainty in Samantha's downward stare, Timothy could only think that she was having second thoughts, with too little time for a third.

“I mean...n-not that I'm really looking forward to that. Mostly looking forward to it being over," Samantha admitted. “I can't wait to graduate, but I...no. That's not it."

She couldn't dance around the subject that much longer. Just speaking to Timothy right then, she felt a sensation against the edges of her lips that she'd never known before, as though a static cling was moving along that tender flesh, leaving her with a constant buzz.

It was more to contend with than she realized, and a quiver followed that tingling; whether it would be elation or tears that followed, she didn't know, but she could feel her body preparing for either one, as Timothy cocked a brow.

“Then, w-"

“I think I like you," it came out with a sudden burst, and seeing her brother's jaw start to drop, she knew she had to keep going. “No, I...I know I like you, but I think...I think maybe I love you, Tim..."

As close as they were over the years, Timothy would have thought himself ready for any confession from his sister, but to hear something so profound, and yet, so dangerous, he couldn't help being caught off guard.

He only hoped that the expression on his face wasn't one of total disbelief, but then, he wasn't the type to think he deserved the good fortune of someone like his sister offering him that level of affection in the first place.

Thank goodness she said it first, he thought. But...is this real? Did she actually just say that?

Samantha never would have guessed that her brother felt the same.

The pressure of finally releasing those words was gone, and in the immediate aftermath, there was such an emptiness in her chest that she wondered if her heart had collapsed.

The only thing that would bring it back to its rightful place in her chest was the truth from Timothy—be it her same truth or a different one—and the same quiver that she felt in her own lip, she could see in her brother's hanging jaw.

“Samantha, I..."

He wanted to ask if she was serious, but she was never the pranking type, and he didn't want to undermine the confession that she'd just made.

It was too important, too pivotal...the glassy sheen in her eyes too real, the uncertainty in her lips leaving him nervous to say anything at all...

...even when he felt the same way about her, it wasn't as simple as just saying that.

“You r-really...I mean...I know you do," he started off, his throat so tight and dry that he wondered if he'd be able to manage the breath to say the rest. “I just never thought I could be so...so lucky."

It wasn't the reaction Samantha expected, but then, it was a bit outside of the range of what she expected at all.

“So lucky...?"

“I mean, I..." he paused and stood up from his chair, and immediately, one paw flew up to the back of his head, scratching the excess fluff at the base of his neck with a nervous, uncontrollable twitch. “You know that I feel the same way, right?"

Samantha had wanted nothing more than for her brother to return those affections, but when he said the same, she still wasn't prepared for the weight of his confession.

Nothing in her life would have prepared her for such a moment: even if everything played out just the way that she hoped it would, that didn't change the fact that she'd never taken such a huge risk in her life.

Did he mean that? She wondered. I thought I screwed this all up, but he...he's smiling?

“I'm sorry that I didn't just throw my arms around you like in the movies, but this is...this is all kinda crazy...I...I mean, I know I love you too, but there was no way I could just come out and tell you, cause if I did, what if I said something wrong? And what if you didn't love me back?"

The fact that Timothy was of the same mind—curious, yet concerned—turned his side of the confession into something more comforting than anything, but if that was his brand of romantic, Samantha wasn't going to complain.

Having feared the worst at the start, it was still taking Samantha a moment to adjust to the whiplash of her brother's turnabout confession...but at the mention of the movies, she gave him only a moment to stand and deliver his speech before she threw her arms around him, capturing him under the pits with such a tight grip that she nearly lifted him from the floor.

“All you had to do was tell me," she assured him. Her face bumped against his chest as his arms draped over her back, and for a moment, the tears still tried their best to fight their way to the surface, albeit through entirely different channels.

If she openly sobbed right then, she'd have no shame about it; Samantha couldn't remember the last time she cried tears of joy, but she would be delighted to share in that cathartic sensation, again.

“...You say it like that isn't the reason you've had a huge stick up your butt for the last...shoot...at least the last few weeks?" Timothy teased.

The fact that they could so easily drop back into that natural, playful pestering that was found between siblings was another point of comfort for Samantha, who didn't know for sure what the future was going to hold, for either of them.

She knew she wanted Timothy around for the rest of her life, and just recently, she'd come to that more romantic crossroads, but she didn't want to take for granted that they were so young. Entering their final year of high school meant that they still had their entire lives ahead of them, and assuming that everything would be smooth sailing out of the gate would have been nothing short of foolish.

To imagine a future without him would have forced her already fluttering heart to skip a beat for all the wrong reasons, but to hear her brother's teasing voice once more, her heart raced that much faster. “I'm just so glad you told me, so I could tell you, and I...w-wow...how did I never notice how much I liked hugging you before?"

Those words carried a certain, innocent weight from Timothy, who knew that Samantha would understand the pressure that he was still under.

He wanted that moment to be perfect—their mutual confession assured that the rest of their summer would be time spent figuring things out—and starting off on the right foot meant so much to him that he still looked nervous, even when Samantha peered up at him with a new mischief in her eyes.

She'd been thinking about that moment for weeks, and those romantic inclinations had flooded her thoughts with all manner of fantasies that she needed to keep to herself, but pure and chaste enough was the idea of finally getting to know the warm, soothing pressure of her brother's lips against his own.

They didn't have to kiss for that moment to be complete.

Already, gazing into each other's eyes, there was a knowledge that came not from their budding romance, but from their lives as siblings, that whatever came next, they would still support each other...still love each other as they always had, but anymore, there was a chance to explore and expand on what that love could mean.

It was only a peck that landed, as Samantha watched her brother's lips quiver a moment longer, but the electricity in the air...

Oh my goodness...that's tingling all the way into my toes! She thought. I did it! I actually kissed him!

There wasn't an immediate regret, no sudden cloak of shame, nothing of the sort...only the inward knock of knees as a giggling, grinning Samantha watched her brother's ears wilt behind a bashful smile and a quiet gasp.

“If I'd known you would react like that, I would have kissed you months ago," she admitted. “But...n-not bad for a first kiss, right? I don't really know how to kiss all that well, but I think that wamf...mnf."

Timothy simply answered the call, feeling that same, powerful urge to lean in closer and experience the magic a second time.

There was nothing lost between that first and second kiss. His pressure was a little greater, his touch perhaps the littlest bit awkward, but they were both inexperienced then, left to wonder if they were doing it right, by the way other people would have judged.

With her fingertips pressing against the middle of his back and her body giving a full, delighted shiver at even the softest of touches, Samantha told Timothy that it didn't matter if they were doing it right by anyone else's standards, as long as they stayed right and true to each other.

“Heh, I...s-sorry about that," Timothy tried to ease back, but his sister's embrace was too alluring a grip from him to pull away from. “Just felt like the right thing to do, and it...it was really nice."

“I was still so busy enjoying the first one, but the sequel was pretty great," Samantha agreed. “Caught me off guard, having it come out so soon after the first, though..."

Their back-and-forth brought another shared giggle from the twins, and finally, they moved back together in perfect sync, their lips meeting for a third, feathering peck...but there was a mutual understanding that they didn't need anything more than that, just then.

Such pressure and stress was done away with that they didn't want to add the burden of something more impactful just yet, even if there was a mutual desire to keep on exploring.

There would be the rest of the summer for that part to occur, and all being well, the rest of their young adult lives to expand on it...

“Kids? I'm home!"

...but they'd have to do so privately, that reality coming in the form of Aunt Cass' return.

“Bet she's got the groceries down there," Samantha whispered. “We'd better run down and offer to help out."

“Hey...h-hold on a second."

Truth be told, Timothy was enjoying her embrace so much that he didn't want it to end, but his own paws were jealous for the chance to return the favor.

He'd gripped at her sleeves earlier, but for a moment longer, he kept his body close to her own, his arms crossing over the middle of her back in a hold that would have done away with any doubts that dared to linger.

“She's great and all, but...let's keep this between us, okay?" he asked. “At least for a while?"

“Of course. I...we...w-we can talk about it a little bit more tonight, if you want," she offered. “Maybe on IM?"

“You know I'll be online later."

Samantha giggled. “Of course, you will be...just make sure you've got a little time for me, okay?"

“Just like I always have."

It was a bolder move to lean in close and kiss his sister on the cheek, but away with his muzzle came the only tear that crept away from the corner of her eye.

That concentrated emotion—her fear and her passion all brought together—were all part of the package...and Timothy was ready to know more of that aspect of his sister.

One day at a time, as the school year approached, she'd share it with him.