Wednesdays were always the worst, Daniel thought to himself with a sigh. In the six months he'd been working at the Ideal Hardware, he'd never had a Wednesday evening that was anything other than mind-numbingly boring, and the clock he stared at on his till always seemed to go its slowest when it was counting down to close on a Wednesday night. Tonight was shaping up to be no different. His mind kept wandering, watching the clock tick down the hours until his shift was over, until he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Danny boy, you awake?"

"Candice? Never thought I'd see you here. What's up?"

"Oh, just needed to pick up a few things. Where do you guys keep the axes?"

"You want an axe? Should I be worried?" Daniel chuckled, the thought of someone as girly as Candice splitting wood bringing an involuntary grin to his face.

"Actually, yeah. Alicia was complaining about what you did with her at the theater last night." Daniel's eyes widened a little.

"Um, I think it's traditional for the girlfriend's brother to defend her honor, not her sister..."

"It's not her honor I'm worried about. You take her to go see a Vin Diesel movie, and you only spend half of it making out with her? She actually had to watch parts of it! You, sir, are a terrible boyfriend." Candice managed to keep the accusatory glare on her face for about three seconds before they both broke down laughing.

"You actually had me going there for a second. Seriously though, what's up?"

"Danny boy, I've had you going since you were twelve." Daniel blushed, but didn't try to deny it. "Actually, I do need an axe - Dad's cutting down the big maple out back, wants to turn it into firewood. I was headed out anyways, so I said I'd pick it up. That isn't why I came by though."

"Oh?"

"Truth is, we need to talk. What time do you get off work?"

"I'm here until close, so I'll probably be done around 9:30."

"Cool. I'll swing by then, save you the walk home. So, the axes?"

"Oh, um, back left corner, right at the very back."

"Thanks!" Candice said, before scurrying off to the back of the store.

"Now that was odd..." Daniel thought to himself, shaking his head. He was used to talks with Candice being like a whirlwind, but this was the first time he'd ever seen her act even a little cryptic. Confused thoughts milled about in his head for the few minutes until she returned to the till.

"That'll be $21.09." She handed him her debit card, and he continued. "So you've got me confused. What's this conversation all about anyways?"

"Danny boy, I know your parents let you open your presents on Christmas Eve, but I don't. I'll talk to you at 9:30."

"Uh..." was all Daniel could get out as Candice grabbed her debit card and her axe, winked at him, and walked out of the store.

It turned out Daniel had been wrong. The clock could, in fact, go even slower tonight than on other Wednesdays.

Daniel finished closing up the store at 9:25, and walked into the parking lot to find Candice waiting for him in her car.

Before he was even belted in, Daniel turned to Candice and asked "So what's with all the mystery?"

"No mystery. I just didn't think you wanted me to talk about you losing your virginity with your manager standing twenty feet away."

"Wait ... my what?"

"Your virginity - you know? Busting your cherry, doing the deed, dancing the horizontal mambo. Having sexual intercourse with my little sister."

Daniel only thought he had been confused before, and it showed on his face.

"Come on, Danny boy. Get your seatbelt on, and we can head to someplace a bit more private than the parking lot outside your work."

Daniel stayed quiet for the next few minutes, as Candice drove them to a quiet corner of Memorial Park, parked the car, and turned off the engine. His mind raced as he considered the implications of what she had said to him, though. Sex! Actual, honest to god, sex, and he was going to have it with the beautiful girl he'd been fantasizing about getting into for more than a year. He was as stiff as he'd ever been in his life, and for the first time in a long time he didn't even think to hide it from the girl in the car with him.

Candice shut off the car and turned towards him. "A bit eager, huh? Well, can't say I blame you. You're a lucky boy, and you're about to get a whole lot luckier. I should probably explain what's going on before you break your pants with that thing, shouldn't I?"

Daniel blushed again, but managed to calm himself down a bit before replying "Yeah, it'd be nice."

"So it goes like this. Alicia and I fought like hell when we were younger, but even when we did, we never had secrets from each other. The first time I kissed a boy my mom never heard about, but Alicia got every detail. She was only eight, so she thought it was kind of gross, but little twelve year old me was over the moon about it, and she was the only one I trusted enough to tell. Same thing the first time I gave head, and the first time I had sex."

"Other than Alicia, I've never told anyone this before, but I need to tell you now so that you'll understand why I'm doing this, and why she's doing this. I was kind of wild back then. Still am really, but at least I know a bit better now. But I was fifteen, and a college boy I knew invited me to a party, and I went for it. There was loud music, too many people in too small a house, and a lot of booze. It was the first time I'd ever drank, and I had a couple too many.

Tony had always been sweet, and he was certainly enough of a looker that I was interested. I went along with it when he pulled me into a bedroom and started to pull my clothes off. I probably would have stopped him if I'd been sober, but I was drunk and horny, and I figured he was a nice enough guy. It sucked. Not only did one of his buddies accidentally walk in when he had me topless, it hurt like hell when he popped my cherry, and he lasted about thirty seconds. To this day, the worst sex I've ever had." Daniel grimaced, but she continued.

"Thing is, that wasn't the worst part. Not even close. You know what the first thing that guy did once he finished with me was? He got up, grabbed a camera off the dresser, and took a picture of me, naked, with blood and cum dripping out of me. That bastard was just putting notches in his bedpost, and taking souvenirs while he was at it. That said, he was at least nice enough to give me a present" she said, with venom dripping off her words.

"Do I even want to know?" Daniel asked, his arousal slipping away and being replaced with a mix of pity and dread.

"Syphilis."

"Oh god..."

"Yeah. Thank god I was on the pill, or I might have managed a trifecta for the worst sex in history. Anyways, when I got home and sobered up, I told Alicia what had happened. It shattered her a little, I think. Everything I'd been doing up until then had been sexy fun, but this was stuff on the dark side of sex. Nothing too hideous, in the grand scheme of things, but way different from everything I'd been telling her before. She was on pace to do the same things I'd done, maybe even faster, but it shut her down cold for a while, realizing that it wasn't all fun and games. She quit trying to get as much done as she could as quickly as she could, and started looking for someone she could have fun with without having to worry about the same thing happening to her. She went from being the most carefree girl around about sex to the most ... mature, you might say. She was still a horndog, but she didn't want to make out with random boys under the bleachers any more.

"She wanted, for lack of a better term, someone boring. Not mediocre - you've seen her, you know she doesn't have to settle for anything but the best - but someone who would give her love, and not VD. I think she's way, way too eager to settle down, but that's her call, not mine. You're pretty much exactly what she's been looking for - you treat her like a person, you give her respect and love, and you've got a really nice ass. You don't really appeal to me - you're not nearly exciting enough - but you're just what she wants, and man, she wants you. You've stuck with her, proven yourself to her, and she wants to stop imagining and start doing.

"I know you were going to bring her out for a date this Saturday to celebrate her birthday. My parents are in St. Louis for my aunt's 50th, and I'll be spending the night at a friend's place, so you have our house to yourselves. Show up at 6, dressed to the nines, and be ready to give her the night of her life, and I don't mean just in bed. I'm trusting you with my little sister here, and remember, I own an axe now." Candice stuck out her tongue, then grinned at Daniel, who grinned back at her. "Some kids get a car for their 16th birthday, you're going to make sure that she gets one perfect night."

"Actually, I've been planning to give her one for a few weeks now. I like to think I've done a fairly good job of it too. But you're the one with the axe, so I guess I should probably run my plans by you first."

"Danny boy, that's the first intelligent thing you've said all night. Now tell me, what did you have in mind?"

Daniel's heart felt like it was pounding in his throat as he walked up the steps to Alicia's house. He'd been going over this in his head for weeks, and it while it hadn't literally been on his mind every waking moment since Wednesday night, it certainly felt like it had been. He sighed, shook his head, straightened his tie, and rang the doorbell.

"Well look what the cat dragged in."

Daniel chuckled. "Good to see you too, Candice. Would Alicia be home, by any chance?"

"Yeah, I think she's around." Candice's eyes twinkled as Alicia walked around the corner wearing a low-cut red dress with the necklace he had bought her for the previous Christmas, her usual ponytail abandoned in favor of something elegant Daniel couldn't hope to put a name to.

"Hi Daniel" Alicia said slightly nervously, as Daniel's jaw dropped slightly.

"You look ... wow"

Alicia's face broke into a wide grin, nervousness buried by the compliment. "Thanks honey, you look pretty 'wow' yourself. Ooh, you brought flowers!" she exclaimed, hugging Daniel tightly and giving him a chaste kiss.

"He does clean up pretty nice, doesn't he? Here, let me get those into a vase before you crush them any more."

"Thanks sis."

"No problem. Now before you two lovebirds head out for the night, there's a few things I need to go over. You know I'll be over at Andrea's house until tomorrow afternoon. Her number's on the fridge, and I'll have my cell on. If there's anything you need, anything at all" she said, glancing intently at her younger sister, "call me, and I'll come back. Other than that, I'll see you at about one o'clock. There's a present for the two of you in the fridge for when you get back home. Don't speed, don't drink and drive, and I want you", she pointed at Daniel, "to have her in bed by eleven. Are we clear?"

"Wow, did you take lessons from Mom?"

"Nah, I've just gotten that same speech enough times I can give it in my sleep. But you didn't answer the question - are we clear?"

"Yes Candice, we're clear. Don't worry, she's in good hands."

"Good to hear. Anyways, you two have fun."

"Don't worry sis, we will" Alicia said, as she walked out the door and closed it behind her. She leaned to Daniel, "Man, she's got a stick up her butt tonight".

"She worries about you, dear."

"I know, it's just..."

"Don't worry about it. Tonight's not about her, it's about you."

"Aww, you're so sweet!" She pulled his head down for a decidedly unchaste kiss. "So, where are we going?"

"Come on, you don't want to open your presents early. Get in the car, you'll see soon enough."

"Yeah, I'm freezing out here. Lousy Smarch weather..."

"She's beautiful, and she can quote the Simpsons. Yup, I have definitely got the perfect girl."

"Creighton University? Isn't this the Catholic school?"

"I'm not enrolling you, dear. Just figured you might want to actually make use of the ticket I bought you." He winked at her as he parked the car, then handed her ticket over.

"Film festival? Oh, you're so sweet!"

"Well you've only been mentioning how much you wanted to go since September. After six months, even I can take a hint. Anyways, show starts in ten minutes, so we'd better get going."

The show, in this case, was a romance about a mail-order bride in the 1920s. They filed into the small, half-filled theater, and took up the traditional seat of young couples, in the back row away from prying eyes, and sat close, his arm around her shoulder.

About fifteen minutes into the film, Alicia leaned in a bit closer. "Honey, I'm cold."

Daniel whispered back to her as he pulled off his suitjacket. "Dear, you're always cold. And yet, you never bring a coat."

"Why would I? You always bring one for me." Alicia giggled as she draped the jacket over herself. Daniel just shook his head and turned back towards the movie, until Alicia spoke up again a few minutes later.

"No, this isn't going to work." He glanced at her quizzically, as she got up, moved over a couple feet, and sat down on his lap, spreading the jacket over the pair of them. "There, much better" she said, as she wiggled her butt in his lap. He just grinned and wrapped his arms around her, as he felt himself begin to get aroused.

It quickly evolved into an unspoken contest between the two of them, to see just how effectively they could tease each other with touches and movements without drawing attention to themselves. He stroked her stomach and thighs and kissed her neck, as she wiggled playfully in his lap, played with his arms and hands, and occasionally leaned her head back to nibble on his ears. A couple times during the movie they drew nasty glares from the middle-aged fellow several seats away from them and slowed down a little, but the two of them kept playing with each other for the whole movie.