Charlotte solved our problem.

"I know she was trying to break us up," I said simply. "I didn't see it for a long time, but I finally realized it."

"Brent! Why didn't you say something?" Kaila laughed. "You knew? Oh, why didn't we... We should have talked about this a long time ago."

"Well, that's the dumb part. I didn't know before today. Charlotte told me," I admitted, with a slightly embarrassed shrug.

Kaila blankly looked at me for a moment as we continued to walk. Then she started to laugh. She brought her right hand up to her mouth in a fist and tried to muffle it, but it soon swelled out of control and her hand went to cover her eyes as her mouth opened in a full horse laugh. It went on for a few moments and we had to stop for a moment a she caught her breath afterwords.

"That's... I love that girl... Oh I love her. She did that for me, you know..." Kaila giggled again. Another moment went by, and she grasped my hand again.

"I think she did that for herself," I shrugged. "She said you wouldn't want to sleep with her again if you were in a bad mood."

"Well, she was right about that. And what are we going to do about Imogene? " Kaila changed the subject as the stones of the rock beach became visible in the distance.

"She knows about all of us," I stated.

"Crap. Ok, I didn't expect that," Kaila groaned. "ALL of us? Ok, so at least we have that part already sorted. Ok... give me a second to think, because Helen and I had come up with some great bullshit to tell her. "

"Charlotte... made me realize a few things," I nodded. "Like the fact that you're right, those blue lagoon fantasies are a problem."

"I KNEW IT!" Kaila pointed a finger at me. "I fucking knew it, and nobody said anything because you were SO insistent that you didn't want her."

"Yeah, so great, I get turned on by the idea of fucking my sister, happy?" I felt a slight flash of anger beginning to grow again.

"Actually yeah, because now I get to say I get turned on by the idea of fucking your sister, too!" Kaila snarled back.

"What?" I boggled at her.

"Yup. First time I saw her. I thought to myself that there was a girl who seriously needed to get laid." Kaila's voice had a rising anger in it. "And every fucking time she came over, she was trying to get it from you!"

"She wasn't..." I shut my mouth as I realized that I was about to jump to Imogene's defense. Like I always did. "Yeah, she was, and I didn't see it because, well, I was afraid of what you'd say."

My feet crunched onto the small stones of the rock beach as we arrived back at the swimming hole. It looked much different in the fog, with the sound of water somehow seeming more sinister in the distance. I settled myself onto a small patch of grass near the beach, and waited while Kaila did the same. We both looked out over the water, not saying anything. The tension between us had become hot, flushed. Her hand still squeezed mine and I wondered if perhaps I said something that had gone way too far, again.