“Hello?” I asked. There was a slight pause.

“Janie?” a voice asked.

“Davy!” I cried excitedly. I hadn’t spoken to my brother since he’d left for America six months ago and I’d really missed him. We were closer in age than our other two sisters and were inseparable when we were younger. “What a lovely surprise!”

“I was calling to ask you if you’d like to come to America,” he told me. My eyes widened. I’d only seen America at the pictures, and even then the view of America I had was only the musicals that Davy and I loved so much or the Westerns our father loved. So to actually have a chance to go to America was a dream come true.

“Oh, Davy, I’d love to!” I squealed down the phone. He laughed.

“I’m not sure how much we’ll see of each other because I’ve just got a new job,” he told me.

“What as?” I asked.

“I’m in a television show about a rock’n’roll band called The Monkees. It’s basically like A Hard Day’s Night on television. It’s just I’d not seen you for ages and I thought you might like to come over and see the guys,” he told me.

“I’d love to. Tell me about them,” I begged.

“Well, there’s Mike Nesmith. He’s from Texas, so Dad’d like him. He’s married and his wife’s about seven months pregnant. She’s really nice. Then there’s Micky Dolenz. You remember when we used to watch Circus Boy?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Well, it’s Corky,” he replied.

“Oh my god, you know Corky?!” I asked, shocked.

“Yeah. Micky. He’s not too bad, he’s just very silly,” he complained. I laughed. “And then there’s Peter Tork. He’s a bloody hippy,” he finished.

“Hippy?” I asked.

“Yeah, uhm, it’s like the Mods and Rockers at home. I dunno how the hippy movement’s taken off in England but it’s huge in America. He takes drugs and sleeps around a lot. That’s basically the thing,” he explained.

“Is he cute?” I asked, drawn to his seemingly bad boy personality already. Davy laughed.

“He’s about five ten and he’s got dark blond hair and brown eyes,” he described him to me.

“When do you want me in America?” I asked.

“Next week. Put Dad on the phone for me, love,” he asked.

“Yeah sure. Well I’ll have to go and pack, but I’ll see you next week!” I told him.

“Yeah, great,” he answered.

“Hang on a sec,” I muttered. Then I turned away from the phone and called, “Dad! David’s on the phone!” My father came rushing out from the living room and took the phone off me.

“Keeping your brother talking when he’s calling from America, silly girl!” he reprimanded me. I opened my mouth to proest but I heard Davy start explaining. “She can’t go, we can’t afford it,” he answered bluntly. My eyes filled with tears.

“But Dad!” I began.

“You’re too young to go away and we can’t afford it. Now go to bed, Janie, it’s way past your bedtime,” he ordered.

“Dad, I’m eighteen years old and it’s only eight o’clock!” I growled.

“Don’t talk back to me, go to bed,” he ordered. I called goodnight to Davy down the phone and went to bed. ‘He’ll talk Dad round somehow, I know he will,’ I thought to myself. Ten minutes later I heard my father call me downstairs. I went to the top of the stairs and asked what he wanted.

“Your father wants to talk to you, don’t argue, just get downstairs!” my mother told me.

“Okay,” I murmured, going downstairs.

“Davy wants you to go to America with him,” Dad told me.

“I know, but you said I can’t go,” I answered.

“Well, he said that the television company is going to pay for it and if you don’t go then he’s going on strike, and they’ve not even started filming yet. So you have to go. You leave on Monday,” he told me.

“Monday?” I repeated. “But it’s Friday!”

“Well start packing,” he suggested. I beamed at them and ran upstairs to pack.

“JANIE!” he yelled. I looked around and saw my brother run towards me.

“DAVY!” I yelled as I ran to hug him.

“I’ve missed you!” he told me.

“I’ve missed you too!” I answered. “What are you doing with your hair at such a stupid length? It’s nearly as long as mine!” I asked, exaggerating as his was just level with his chin and mine tumbled down to my waist. Then I saw three men walking towards us, one of whom I recognised as being Corky. Uh, Micky. I’d have to remind myself to never call him Corky. “Are they your friends?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fellas, this is my little sister, Janie,” he smiled.

“Little being the operative word. I’d swear she was shorter than you, Davy!” the tall Texan one joked. I’d forgotten his name. But he was gorgeous. Lovely and tall and thin and nice eyes and mouth. Shame he was already married!

“Maybe it’s an English thing,” Corky joked. I mean Micky.

“Hi, Janie,” the hippy smiled. Oh he was cute. Very cute. Just proportionally perfect. Nice and tall like the Texan one, maybe a bit shorter. Beautiful smile.

“Hi,” I blushed.

“Janie, this is Peter, the Texan one is Mike and please don’t call Micky Corky, I can see you’re dying to!” he told me. I laughed.

“Well he’s Corky the Circus Boy, I can’t help it!” I answered. “It’s great, it’s terrific, it’s the best show on earth!” I sang. Micky laughed.

“I’m Micky Dolenz, drummer extraordinaire now!” he told me.

“You play drums?” I asked.

“No, but I act the part of a drummer,” he replied. I furrowed my brow, totally confused by the whole thing.

“Oh, I see,” I lied.

“Well I’d best get you back to our hotel where we’ll be staying for a few days until I move into my apartment,” Davy decided, grabbing one of my bags. I reached down for the other but Peter picked it up for me.

“Thank you,” I smiled.

“Well it’s kinda heavy and you’ve had a long flight,” he explained.

“Thank you,” I repeated. We made our way to the hotel and when we arrived Davy showed me our room.

“Now, remember, I snore,” he laughed.

“You do? You told me that it was a monster hiding under the bed and if I dared complain about it he’d eat me for tea!” I protested. Micky, Mike and Peter burst out laughing.

“Seriously?” Peter asked. I nodded.

“But you never believed me?” Davy chuckled. I nodded.

“You were my big brother, I believed everything you said!” I answered.

“Obviously now you’re older and wiser, you don’t,” Davy inquired.

“Well I don’t now you told me about the snoring!” I joked.

“So are you looking forward to a holiday without Mum and Dad?” he asked.

“You bet. I’m getting sick and tired of them, Dave, you know how they can get. Dad sent me to bed on Friday night at eight o’clock because it was past my bedtime,” I told him.

“Just ignore him, he’s old,” Davy advised.

“It’s all very well for you to say that, when you live in America, how would you like to still live at home?” I asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t,” he replied, honestly.

“In fact, I’m not looking forward to going home!” I confided.

“You won’t be going home for ages, don’t worry,” he promised. “You’re here till we finish shooting the series, it’ll take about six months, maybe a year,” he told me.

“A year?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Fantastic!” I smiled. “So are there any places I can go to meet guys?” I asked, quickly. Everyone laughed.

“You can tell you two are related!” Peter joked.

“Well, what can I say? We come from Manchester!” I laughed.

“The place is crawling with them,” Davy told me.

“Great. See ya!” I called, rushing out of the door and shutting it behind me.

“Janie!” Davy called.

“May I go?” Peter asked. Davy nodded.

“Sure, just don’t ask her to smoke anything, she’ll only do it,” he made him promise. Peter smiled and followed me outside.

“Janie?” he called.

“I’m here,” I replied, tapping him on the back. He jumped out of his skin and I laughed. “So are you going to take me to see the sights or what?” I asked.

“Er, where do you want to go?” he asked.

“You tell me, I don’t know anything about America,” I told him. “Maybe a park or something. I like them.”

“You do?” he asked, his eyes brightening up. I nodded.

“Peaceful. You don’t really get them in Manchester,” I answered.

“Oh, there’s this really beautiful place I know we can go to, the flowers and trees and, oh, it’s just beautiful,” he told me, eagerly. I beamed at him.

“Well, show me the way!” I replied, taking his hand in mine.

Have you ever been to a park where you can smell the flowers before you reach them? Well that was the sort of park that Peter took me to. It was gorgeous. Hardly anyone was there, except for some people playing guitars and a few courting couples.

“Oh, Peter, it’s gorgeous!” I gasped.

“Yeah, I like it too. Here,” he smiled, picking a flower and handing it to me. “Your first present in America,” he explained.

“Thank you!” I grinned, taking it from him and inhaling deeply. It was a heliotrope, my very favourite flower, smells just like vanilla. “It’s beautiful, thank you,” I told him.

“Here,” he began, taking it back off me and putting it in my hair. “There you go, I’ll make a hippy of you yet!” he chuckled.

“What is a hippy? David just said that you took drugs and slept around a lot,” I asked.

“Well, that’s only a part of it, really. It’s not like we take heroin or anything. We just take LSD sometimes and maybe smoke a bit of pot or whatever. And it’s not sleeping around, it’s free love!” he told me.

“That sounds like exactly the same thing,” I replied.

“Well it sounds prettier if you call it free love!” he answered. “Anyway, hippies just believe in peace and love to your fellow man and being sweet and nice and lovely and we just want everyone to be happy,” he explained.

“Oh I see. That sounds nice,” I remarked.

“I knew I’d make a hippy out of you!” he beamed.

“I never said you’d make a hippy out of me, it just sounds nice!” I protested. “Don’t tell Davy!” I whispered with a wink. He laughed.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” he answered.

“Shall we sit down?” I asked, sitting down anyway.

“I guess we already have,” he replied, sitting down at the same time.

“Guess so,” I agreed.

“So…” he began, looking for something to say.

“A needle pulling thread!” I joked.

“La!” he continued the joke.

“A note to follow So!”

“Tee!”

“A drink with jam and bread!”

“That will bring us back to-”

“Do, oh, oh, oh!”

We burst out laughing. I took my flower out of my hair and smelled it again. That was it. I decided that the smell of vanilla would forever remind me of that day.

“Beautiful,” I murmured. Peter looked at me but said nothing. “What?” I asked. He shook his head and turned away. “What did I say?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he assured me. “Just you remind me of someone.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Just some girl I used to know,” he replied. “She, uhm, she dated me for a while.”

“She dated you? You didn’t date her?” I asked.

“No, she dated me. Saying I dated her would give the idea of a possession on my part, but it was the other way around. I loved her. But she didn’t feel the same so she went out with my best friend instead,” he told me.

“Oh, Peter, that’s awful! I’m not like that at all!” I protested.

“Oh, I know you’re not, I mean, I didn’t mean it like that! I’m sure you’re very nice, but I meant you look like her. Just, totally… beautiful,” he told me. I blushed and hid behind the heliotrope. He reached his hand out and moved my hands away from my face. “Don’t be embarrassed!”

“I’m not used to people saying that, that’s all,” I explained.

“I don’t see why not,” he remarked. “You are,” he informed me.

“Thank you,” I blushed again. Was it a trademark hippy thing to be so forward or what? I shrugged and lay down beside him, looking at the clouds. It was mine and Davy’s favourite game when we were younger. You know when you look at clouds and you can see shapes that they make? We loved playing that. “Look, it’s a lion!” I giggled, pointing up to the sky. Peter lay beside me and looked up to where I was pointing.

“Oh, yeah! And look at that, that’s an umbrella!” he told me, pointing to the left of the ‘lion’. I clapped my hands with glee.

“Yeah! And that’s an ice cream sundae!” I answered, pointing to just above the ‘umbrella’.

“No it isn’t!” he argued. “It’s an elephant!”

“Ice cream sundae!” I answered firmly.

“Elephant,” he replied.

“Ice cream sundae.”

“Elephant.”

“Ice cream sundae!”

“Elephant!”

“Elephant,” I shouted.

“Ice cream sundae!” he yelled.

“See, I told you it was an ice cream sundae!” I replied, calmly. He laughed.

“Ooh, that was very sneaky!” he told me.

“Davy taught me all I know!” I joked. “Look, it’s, it’s a… Peter Tork!” I exclaimed, turning onto my stomach and leaning over him. “Isn’t he pretty?”

“Well, I do my best!” he chuckled.

“You do a very good job,” I replied. He looked at me and smiled.

“Thank you,” he whispered. He sat up and looked at me again.

“What?” I asked. He leaned over and kissed me. “You don’t waste any time, do you?” I asked.

“Life isn’t long enough to waste time on,” he replied.

“You’re right, it isn’t,” I agreed. “Right, let’s get back, you know what brothers are, and Davy’ll only be worried!” I decided, standing up quickly, not sure whether or not I wanted another kiss.

“Yeah sure,” he answered. “Hey, Janie, are you all right?” he asked. “You look pale.”

“I’ve just gone really tired all of a sudden, I feel sick with it,” I replied, feeling as awful as I must have looked.

“Well come on, we’d best get back, you should get some rest, I think you’ve got a bit of jet lag,” he told me, slipping his arm around my waist to keep me up. We got back to the hotel and I couldn’t even talk, I was so tired. I just managed to smile at everyone before climbing into bed in front of them and falling fast asleep without even bothering to get changed.

I opened my eyes again half an hour later. Or so I thought. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes.

“Davy?” I yawned, looking around the room for him.

“Janie, do you have any idea how long you’ve been asleep?” he asked.

“Uhm, half an hour?” I suggested. He laughed.

“You fell asleep at one thirty in the afternoon. That was yesterday. It’s now ten in the morning! You’ve nearly slept round the clock!” he told me. I looked at him.

“Don’t be silly, I’ve only just shut my eyes,” I protested. He shook his head and showed me his watch. Sure enough, it was ten in the morning. “Well I guess I must’ve needed it,” I reasoned. “People don’t sleep that long without needing to.”

“Just so long as you aren’t planning on having an early night tonight,” he replied.

“Why?” I asked.

“Well we’re having a party to welcome you to America,” he told me. My eyes widened.

“A party for me?” I asked. “A real live party for me, with people and dancing and drinking?” I asked.

“Well, you’re too young to drink,” he told me. I shook my head.

“Davy I’m eighteen years old now!” I replied.

“Yeah that’s great, but in America you’ve got to be twenty one,” he told me.

“That’s so crap!” I sighed.

“Tell me about it!” he replied with a shrug.

“I’m going to have to drink sarsaparilla like Calamity Jane!” I joked.

“Yeah, and shout at all the men for looking at the girls on cigarette cards!” he agreed.

“Americans are strange things aren’t they?” I asked.

“Very. But at least we’ve got each other to keep sane!” he replied. “So, what do you think of Peter?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” I queried.

“What do you mean, what do I mean? What do you think of him?” he repeated.

“He’s okay. Very sweet natured. Funny too. I like him. Why?” I asked.

“You won’t get involved with him will you?” he wanted to know.

“David, I think that’s my business, don’t you?” I replied defensively.

“Janie, I’m just worried about you,” he assured me. “There’s something about Peter I’m not too sure of, just be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt. I’m your brother and I love you, okay?”

“Okay. Sorry for snapping, I didn’t mean to,” I answered. “Come here,” I smiled, outstretching my arms for a cuddle. “You’re the best brother in the world, David Thomas Jones!” I told him.

“I know, you’re a pretty decent sister too, y’know. You’re my favourite, but don’t tell the others!” he answered.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” I replied. “But Dave, I can look after myself, I promise. I’ll be careful if you think there’s something to be worried about but as far as I can see he’s just a perfectly sweet and genuine guy,” I assured him.

“Okay, I believe you, you’ve always been better than me at character judging,” he replied. “But if he ever does or says anything at all to upset you, you come straight to me and I’ll kill him for you.”

“It’s a deal,” I smiled. I flung my bedclothes to one side and got out of bed. “I guess I’d best get ready for the party!” I decided.

“Jane, it doesn’t start until eight o’clock!” he protested.

“Well I’ve nothing to wear for it, and I’ve got to get ready, check what you’re wearing so that whatever I get won’t clash with your outfit, get my hair done, oh I’ve got so much to do, couldn’t you have woken me up earlier?” I asked, panicking at the mere thought of the workload ahead of me.

“Nothing to wear? Janie, me and Peter nearly put our backs out carrying your cases to the hotel!” Davy protested.

“Silly boy, how can I go to a party with nothing new to wear?” I asked.

“Nobody’s even met you before, they won’t know!” he assured me.

“You just don’t understand what it’s like to be a girl,” I told him with a sigh.

“I’m glad. I’d be bankrupt!” he joked.

“Ha ha,” I replied sarcastically. “Just point me in the direction of the nearest shop, hand me a few dollars and I’ll be sorted!”

“I’ll call one of the guys to show you round, I don’t really know my way yet,” he explained, picking the phone up. “Mick? It’s Davy, can you take Janie out today?” he asked. There was a slight pause before I heard Micky start talking. Davy shrugged. “Okay, not to worry, thanks man, see you later,” he answered, putting the phone down. “I’ll try Mike. Maybe Phyllis will go out with you,” he thought aloud, dialling the Nesmith residence. “Mike, it’s Davy. Could Phyllis take my sister out today? She’s gone to her mother’s? Oh right. Oh I see. Right. Okay, man, groovy. I’ll see you both later on tonight? You won’t be there? Why not? Oh is she? Oh I see. Okay then, man, see you tomorrow. Bye!” he sighed, putting the phone down. “Phyllis has gone to her mother’s today and so she’s probably going to be worn out by tonight so they won’t be going,” he explained.

“Oh, I see. Well I’m sure I’ll get to meet Phyllis one day,” I replied.

“Yeah. Shall I ring Peter?” he asked.

“Yes please,” I answered. He sighed.

“Okay,” he muttered and picked up the phone. “Peter? Hiya, man. Uhm, how would you like to spend the day with my little sister?” he asked. “Woah, that much? Well she’s wanting to buy a new outfit for the party tonight and I don’t know my way around Sunset Strip properly yet so I tried Micky and Mike but they’re all busy. So could you do it? Oh, thanks, man, I owe you one. No, two! Right, see you later. Bye!” he smiled, putting the phone down.

“Success?” I asked. He nodded. “Great. How long will he be?” I asked.

“Ten minutes,” he replied. I moaned angrily.

“David! It takes me longer than ten minutes to get changed! Okay, when he arrives, stall him for half an hour!” I ordered.

“Half an hour?” Davy repeated, incredulously.

“Well twenty minutes if I put a move on,” I bargained, running into the shower.

“When did my little sister change from being a scruffy little urchin to being a sleek, chic… thing?!” he asked.

“As soon as my brother left home and one of the girls had to be the cute one!” I called. I heard him laugh. I got showered, changed and made up in double quick time and was only ten minutes late for Peter which I was very proud of. Davy had taken him for a drink in the hotel bar so that I could get changed and I ran downstairs as fast as I could until I got in eyeshot of the bar when I stopped running and started strolling casually towards them.

“Hi, Janie,” Peter smiled.

“Oh, hi Peter,” I replied, coolly. This being cool thing had taken months of practise and I was great at it now.

“So, where do you want to go?” he asked.

“I need to get something new to wear for tonight so basically every clothes shop you’ve got in this little town,” I replied. He laughed. “What?” I asked.

“Do you have any idea of how many clothes stores there are on Sunset Strip?” he asked. I shook my head. “Hundreds! Do you have any idea of what you want?” he asked.

“Something groovy,” I replied vaguely.

“Well if it’s groovy you’re after, I know just the place!” he told me.

“You do?” I asked.

“Do you?” Davy asked, intrigued.

“No but I’m sure we can find something!” he answered.

“Well we’d best stop wasting precious time and get a move on!” I decided, walking towards the door. “See you later, Dave, bye!” I called.

“Okay, bye. Peter?” he asked.

“Yes?” Peter replied.

“Look after her, okay?” Davy ordered sternly. “She’s my kid sister, I don’t want her getting hurt.” I think I was the only person who understood exactly what he meant, and I rolled my eyes in despair.

“No problem, I’ll look after her,” Peter replied with a cute dimply grin. We walked out of the door and I followed Peter to the shopping centre. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted so I had to ask the poor guy a million questions before I started looking.

“Is it a posh party, like with dresses and suits?” I asked.

“Er, it’s pretty informal,” he replied.

“What are you wearing?” I asked.

“Just a shirt and pants,” he answered.

“What colours?” I asked.

“Blue shirt and grey pants,” he replied.

“Shoes or boots?”

“For God’s sake, Janie!” he protested. “Boots probably.”

“What do you think I should get?” I asked.

“What do you like?” he asked.

“Look, Mr Tork, I ask the questions!” I joked. He laughed.

“Don’t call me Mr, I’m just a kid!” he replied in a panicked voice.

“Anyway. Skirt and top or dress?” I asked.

“Uh…”

“It’s not a difficult question!” I interrupted.

“Dress,” he answered.

“Okay, so I’m looking for a skirt and top,” I decided. He looked at me quizzically for a second and then shrugged.

“Women,” he muttered.

“I heard that!” I laughed. “Men!”

“How about in here?” he asked, pointing to a shop. I looked at the clothes in the window and frowned.

“Not really my thing,” I replied. “Here we are!” I declared, stopping outside another shop. “Surely I’ll find something in here!”

“Okay. Would you like me to wait outside?” he asked. I shook my head.

“No, you have to come in with me!” I giggled. He sighed. “But if you’d rather stay outside you could look for somewhere for us to have lunch,” I told him.

“I’ll go and find somewhere for us to have lunch,” he decided.

“Meet you back here in an hour,” I answered, looking at the watch I’d borrowed from Davy.

“An hour?” Peter asked.

“You don’t understand what it’s like to be a girl!” I sighed for the second time that day.

“No, you’re right, I don’t!” he replied. “I’ll see you in an hour, okay?”

“Okay, bye!” I answered, going into the shop. Hanging on the nearest coat hanger was the grooviest baby blue mini dress I’d ever seen in my life! I looked around for the boots, and sure enough there were some white knee-high boots there which went perfectly. All I needed were earrings and a necklace and I was ready! I bought them and went outside where I saw Peter talking to someone. He looked up and was a bit shocked to see me but called me over.

“Janie this is my good friend Steve Stills. He helped me get the job with The Monkees,” Peter told me.

“Oh I see. Hi Steve, I’m Janie, Davy Jones’ little sister,” I introduced myself.

“Nice to meet you,” he smiled.

“Likewise,” I replied politely.

“All done already?” Peter asked, pointing at my shopping bag. I shook my head.

“Nearly. Just got to find a jewellery shop, but that shouldn’t take too long,” I replied.

“I thought you said you’d be an hour,” he protested.

“Sometimes it just works out that way!” I answered simply.

“Hey, is it okay if Steve joins us for lunch?” he asked.

“Oh yeah that’d be great!” I answered with a smile.

“Hey, I’d love to, but I can’t, I’ve got to meet Bob for lunch in half an hour,” Steve told us. “Thanks anyway. We’ll have to do it again sometime,” he decided.

“Sure thing,” Peter and I replied together. We laughed. “Yeah, that sounds great, man,” Peter continued.

“How about Thursday?” I asked.

“Sounds great!” Steve agreed.

“Say one o’clock in the hotel bar and we can go from there,” I suggested.

“Perfect. I’ll see you two then!” Steve grinned.

“Groovy,” Peter smiled. “See you soon!” Steve waved and soon he was gone. “Well, looks like it’s just us two for lunch,” Peter remarked, turning to me.

“Looks like it very much,” I answered.

“So, what did you get?” he asked. I shook my head.

“You’re not allowed to see it until tonight,” I answered firmly.

“It’s not like we’re getting married or anything!” he protested. I laughed.

“I know, but still, you’re not allowed to see!” I told him.

“Okay then. Hey, Janie, uh, can I ask you something?” he began.

“Yes, of course. I mightn’t answer you, but you can definitely ask!” I assured him.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you that I had a great time yesterday at the park and I wondered if we could do it again,” he asked. I nodded.

“Sure, I’d like that a lot. I loved walking through the flowers and stuff, it was great,” I agreed.

“No, I meant - ” he paused and bent down to kiss me. “I wondered if we could do that again!” he explained.

“Yes, I’d like that a lot, too!” I answered.

“Good,” he beamed, flashing that cute dimply smile again.

“Thanks, Dave!” I replied nervously. “What time are we to be there by?” I asked.

“The taxi should be here in about five minutes. So… as you’re not allowed to drink in public, how about a little drink now?” he suggested with a grin. I smiled at him.

“Great idea!” I replied. He went to his drinks cabinet and took out a bottle of scotch and a bottle of coke. “You’ll love this,” he assured me. “Scotch and coke, it’s delish!”

“Sounds hideous!” I answered, pulling a face. “Davy?” I asked.

“Yep?” he replied, pouring the drinks out.

“Would you mind terribly if Peter and I, er, started seeing each other?” I inquired. He stared at me in slight shock.

“What? You’ve been here two minutes and you’re already dating someone? You move faster than I do!” he protested. “I promised Dad that you wouldn’t get into any trouble with me, and I can’t let you see him knowing what I know about him. He’s bad news. No. Sorry, Janie, but I can’t let you. I won’t tell Dad, but, just be careful. Don’t get too friendly with him. Please?” he pleaded. I shrugged.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” I began.

“You two haven’t…” he interrupted. I glared at him.

“No we have not! And even if we HAD, it wouldn’t be any of your business. I’m an adult now, Dave, I can see who I want, when I want. If I can’t have your blessing then tough shit,” I told him angrily.

"It's not like you don't have my blessing - it's just that I don't want-" he began.

"Me getting hurt, you've said. I can look after myself, Davy. I've lived long enough without you to know how to handle something as unimportant as a man. Right?" I snapped. He looked at me forlornly. I sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to worry about something that doesn't need to be worried about. I'll be fine. If it works out, wonderful, if not - bloody hell, Davy, this is America, there's about three billion other guys here who dig English girls!" I explained.

He finally relented, glanced at his watch and decided we had to go.

Back to THE PAD!

Back to FANFIC!