Sister vs. Sister

Puzzled over the tension between the Stratton sisters, Sean swung around, scanning the natural ice rink for Ramsey. His intention to follow Lacey's suggestion hit a bump in the road as he saw Whitney talking to her animatedly. Watching intently for any sign that Whitney planned to move, he never saw another person approach him.

"Hi, honey!"

"Hey, Mom, you're back out here?"

"Us girls decided to get a little ice time in before we head back," Bridget explained. Sean saw that Rachel and Gabby were in the middle of trying to help Skye perform a fast twirl. Kimberly headed in Jared's direction. Poor guy. Even Mr. Diamond worked on convincing Owen and Austin to give it one last try for the day.

"Denton!" Polly screeched at Newt over on solid ground.

"So, are you having a fun time?" Bridget asked after looking back to check on Newt.

"Yeah, outside of some snow drama, it's been pretty fun," Sean answered brightly before giving his mother a wary eye. "Uh, you're not mad at me like Mr. Diamond is with Whitney?"

"No, no. Although I must say, I'm a little surprised that you're flir--teasing two girls that not only have boyfriends, but those boyfriends have been watching you do it," Bridget said with a worried expression forming on her face. "I know you've had your troubles with Austin Rusk over the years."

"Mom, I wasn't flirting!" Sean protested. "Whitney's the one that started it. She's been teasing me since the moment I arrived. I have no clue why; it's not like we talk much at school."

"Well, maybe she sees that great guy who I see every day," Bridget said, ruffling his hair with her hand.

"Now you sound exactly like Jo," Sean remarked, ducking away with his mom's hand.

"That sounds like a point in JoJo's favor for you to be teasing her...or Ramsey. Those are the two single girls on this trip."

"Moommm! JoJo and I are friends; only friends," Sean stressed the last two words.

"Sure, I know that, honey. But sometimes you find love where you don't expect it."

"Jo and I will only ever be friends. We both don't see each other that way," Sean explained until he had another thought. "This better not be a repeat of your debacle with Pey and Finn."

"No, of course not, honey. I would never try and fix you up with JoJo. I learned my lesson there, I swear," Bridget hastily lied while changing the subject. "I just don't want you playing with fire when it comes to Lacey and her boyfriend."

"Nothing's going on with Lacey and me. Gawd, Mom, you sound like everyone else now," Sean added, looking up into the sky in frustration. "She's like a cousin, almost like Brynn. I would never go there."

"Never say never, honey. But I must point out you don't see Lana as like a cousin. You had such an adorable little crush on her," his mom grinned as she reached out to pinch his cheek. "It's not out of the realm of possibilities that with Lacey growing up, you might start to see her in a similar way to Lana."

"Lacey and Lana are not at all similar, and you know that," Sean sighed before revealing a topic he wholeheartedly wished not to discuss with his mother. However, it seemed like the only way to shut her ideas down. "If you must know, Lacey's working on fixing me up with a girl."

"Oh, that's wonderful, honey!" Bridget flashed a happy smile, acting like this was the first she had heard of Lacey's matchmaking scheme for her son. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Uh, Lacey's saving that reveal for the charity ball," Sean lied. Mumbling, he added, "She said something about it being more romantic that way."

"New Year's Eve is definitely a night where magic can happen," Bridget remarked with a wink. "I hope all your dreams come true that night, honey."

"Um, me too, Mom." Sean needed an out from this awkward conversation. He found it when he saw Whitney skate away from Ramsey. "Uh, I'm going to go check on Jared and Newt. See ya!"

Racing away from his mother, he made several wide circles around Ramsey, thinking of a way to start a conversation with her. When he saw a small grimace flash across her face, along with a hand to her stomach, Sean thanked Lacey for her parting suggestion to him. It did indeed appear that the strawberry blonde didn't feel all that well.

"Ramsey, are you alright? You look like you might be sick," Sean said, slowing down to a stop next to her.

"Oh, uh, hi, Tarver," Ramsey looked around for one of her friends, but they were nowhere near her. "Yeah, I'm not feeling that well."

"How about I give you a hand to the sturdier ground?" Sean offered both verbally and with an arm held. Seeing his crush hesitate, he added, "Is it your stomach?"

"Yes, it is," Ramsey begrudgingly admitted. Embarrassed to acknowledge to any guy, let alone one she still wasn't entirely sure about, that her stomach churned over and over, she hesitated in further explaining. "I never drink very much, and I overdid it last night."

"Yeah, I don't drink all that often, but Whitney's been almost pouring it straight down my throat this week. She seems to want everyone drunk."

"I know! She's almost out of control with her badgering," Ramsey exclaimed, happy to find someone thinking similar thoughts about her friend, that she reached out and accepted his offered arm. "I thought Newt was the only other person dealing with the same issue."

"I think Whitney's got other plans for Newt besides getting him drunk," Sean added with a smile, his arm burning from her touch. "I kinda feel sorry for him, but it's also good for someone to push him out of his comfort zone. He can be a little set in his ways."

"You think? Even I can tell that!" she chuckled but then groaned as her stomach felt queasy again.

"Hey, you okay? Look, it's no big deal if you're hungover," Sean said after seeing her embarrassment. "It happens to everyone at some point. But if you need to...throw up, I can help you get behind a tree or something. That way, everyone isn't watching."

"No, I don't think it's that bad. I kind of did enough of that this morning, I think," Rammy revealed, looking down at the ground.

"As I said, it's nothing to be ashamed of; it happens."

"Thanks, Tarver," Ramsey said earnestly, then quickly blurted out. "I'm sorry that I thought you tried to assault Lacey!"

"Uh, thanks," Sean replied, unsure how to respond to an apology like that.

"It's just that Austin seemed really insistent that you did something, and I know him far better than I do you. I should have listened to Lacey and Whitney's talk that you would never do that."

"First, I've known Lacey since we could crawl, and I would never, ever do that to her," Sean said in a strong, serious voice. "And second, Austin and I have had issues since we were little."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"We don't talk about it, but he used to pick on Newt," Sean felt the need to offer some explanation, but not the whole truth. "I didn't like it, and we got into an argument. After that, he left Newt alone, but he dislikes me even more."

"Austin picked on Newt?! But, Newt's so quiet and kind. Why would anyone want to pick on him?" Ramsey questioned.

"I guess people see him as an easy target. One who won't fight back."

Reaching the shoreline, Sean helped his crush off the ice. "You're a nice guy and a good friend. I'm sorry for thinking differently," the strawberry blonde said sincerely, patting his arm. "Um, maybe later this afternoon, we can sit down and talk about what we each like to read. Would you like that?"

"That sounds like a fantastic idea, Ramsey," Sean responded with a smile that could light up all of Honey Hollow. "I can't wait."

"Good, me too," she agreed, walking toward Mr. Stratton, but not before turning back for one last comment. "And you can call me Rammy if you want."

---

"Why are you so smiley?" Gabriela inquired as Bridget joined her and Rachel.

"Just happy that my boy opened up to me," the older blonde replied.

"Uh, what did Sean have to say?" Rachel queried, shooting a concerned look over at her best friend. Did Sean tell her what he did with Gabs? Bee is smiling, but that doesn't mean she's not about to attack Gabby.

Slowing down, Rachel's BFF glanced over at her with an unconcerned face. Why is Rach always so paranoid? There is no way that Sean told his mom that we fucked.

"Oh, Sean admitted that Lacey is working on setting him up with a girl," Bridget revealed.

"He did? That's great!" Rachel beamed, proud of her daughter's compassion for others. Of course, she already knew as did her friends. However, for Sean to openly admit so to his mother must mean that it was going well.

"Did he say who?" Gabby asked, dying to know.

"Well, Sean said that Lacey is keeping it a surprise until New Year's Eve. But I can tell that he's lying," Bridget stated confidently. "Considering how happy he's acting, I'd say it's Ramsey."

"Oooh, that's a great choice!" Rachel responded. "They have so much in common."

"Do they?" Gabby questioned, thinking that Sean needed a wilder girl.

"Well, Sean's definitely going to agree with you," Bridget nodded at Rachel. "He's had a crush on the girl for years."

"That's who you almost slipped up and named the other night?" Gabby questioned in surprise.

"That's wonderful!" Rachel squealed, sounding a lot like her youngest daughter. "How can we help? No, wait, I'll ask Lacey what we can do. Maybe set up a romantic moment for the two of them tonight or tomorrow. Wait, I know..."

"Shhh!" Gabriela shushed as Sybil skated over.

"Uh, Rachel, you might have a problem," the older brunette started hesitantly. "Your daughters went into the woods, and your youngest looked ready to murder her sister."

"Really?" Gabby perked up in alarm.

"Oh, that's nothing new. They'll be fine," Rachel dismissed, too preoccupied over how cute Sean and Ramsey would be together. "Just normal sibling arguments."

"I don't know about that. Fred and I have had our share of doozies, but your girls' body language..."

"Yeah, maybe you should check on them," Gabby agreed, scanning the treeline. "I've had to pull Jules off of Jared a few times. I thought the little tiger might kill him."

"No, no, it's not a big deal," Rachel insisted. "Neither of you have a sister. It's normal. Lana and Lacey have nothing on my sister and me. Boy, we had some hair-pulling dustups."

"I mean, yeah, I guess so. Cynthia is a bitch," Gabby said, referring to Rachel's older sister. "Remember that one time that I tripped her while she chased you into the kitchen. Wow, talk about a banshee."

"Uh, Cyn had to go to the hospital to get stitches in her forehead, Gabs," Bridget reminded her.

"Yeah, she did. Ah, good times."

"Okay, that makes even more worried about your daughters," Sybil stated, giving Gabriela a side-eye.

"Those two will be fine," Bridget insisted before Rachel could. "Rach is right. It's different between sisters. Bev and I fight like cats and dogs even to this day. Throw in Brandy, and my mom will pull out a flyswatter to break us up."

"I always loved how your dad would just leave the room. Clive always becomes such a worrywart," Rachel chuckled. "Maybe you should be worried about your girl, Sybil. I've never seen Polly so agitated. Usually, she's as silent as a mouse."

"I know! Isn't it great?" Sybil exclaimed excitedly. Then, noticing the confusion from the other three women, she clarified. "I think that Denton boy has lit a fuse in Polly. I'm hoping she's finally about to go boy crazy."

"Newt lit a fuse in Polly?" Bridget questioned in shock.

"I really hope so. Polly's always so sweet. She's never reacted like this around a boy. I mean, it's always possible that she just can't stand the kid. Outside of pining over Austin--not that I blame her. The whole boy-next-door who is also the star quarterback is for sure a draw," Sybil revealed, causing Rachel's eyebrows to raise. "But, Polly's been a disappointment in some ways. I was never frightened by boys at that age. If anything, you couldn't keep me off them."

"Me too!" Gabby said, acting as if she just revealed a big, hidden secret. Rachel and Bridget glanced over at each other, rolling their eyes.

---

"Let go of my arm!" Lana demanded as her younger sister dragged her along the snow-covered ground. Walking on ice skates proved difficult for her as she struggled not to twist an ankle or fall to the ground.

Having spent many winters at the frozen pond, Lacey knew precisely where to take her sister for some privacy, down a dead-end path to a small clearing surrounded by trees. Reaching her intended destination, the petite redhead spun around, bringing her face-to-face with the busty minx.

"What's your fucking problem?" Lana questioned, rubbing the spot on her arm where her sister's fingers had dug into as she dragged her.

"My problem? No, we're here to discuss what it is that you are doing," Lacey announced, putting her hands on her hips.

"I have no clue what you're talking about. And don't give me that pissy look of yours."

"You're getting this look because I don't like whatever it is that you're doing to Sean. I want it to stop right this minute!"

"Ooh, that's your problem. Getting jealous that big sister is moving in on your territory?" Lana winked at her sister, pleased that her plan to make Lacey jealous seemed to be working.

"No, I am not jealous! And Sean is not my territory," Lacey responded with a quick shake of her head. "I'm getting pissed at watching you work your slut charm on him."

"Slut charm?" an amused Lana questioningly repeated.

"Don't act so innocent or coy with me, Lana. I know the real you," Lacey stated. "Whenever you get bored or lonely when we're away from home, you whip out your slut charm to have a little fun. Never giving a damn for the consequences. You do it everywhere."

"I do not! You always like to exaggerate."

"I do? Well, let me remind you of some of our family vacations. The time when you were fifteen, and we rented that lake house and boat. You just had to flaunt your new, growing tits off in skimpy little swimsuits. Making sure to bend over in front of all the guys that had girlfriends or wives. And if they didn't look at your cleavage, you'd rub those tits on them, not caring what happened. I'm pretty sure that one marriage ended in divorce after his wife slapped him. Or the next year at the beach house, where you acted like you needed every single lifeguard's dick following you around. Never mind that they had important duties, like that one kid who almost drowned."

"People like to have fun on vacations, Lace. Not everyone is as uptight as you."

"And there was the next year on our national park tour with the Locketts. How many park rangers did you have 'fun' with? I'm pretty sure Mom managed to cover for you, but Mrs. Lockett's jokes about park ranger fetishes had to have clued Dad in at some point. And to cap it off, that college couple who traveled with his parents on the same tour. At what point did you decide to seduce him and break them up?"

"Gawd, that girl was a bitch, and you know it. And I didn't do that much with those park rangers, which there were only a few of them," Lana defended.

"And it's just not even on vacations. How about Justin's law school graduation party a few years ago?" Lacey said, referring to their cousin. "That young lawyer from the firm. You know the one who had his fiancé with him? The one you were caught fucking in the coatroom, who decided it was best to find a job in a different town after the scandal."

"Wow, you sure remember a lot about my fun. Maybe cause you never have any," Lana said with her patented smirk. "And I don't know what ancient history has to do with you acting like a little bitch right now."

"It has to do with me making sure you don't treat Sean as your vacation boredom distraction. Not after what you did to Finn."

"Finn? What did I ever do to Finn?" a perplexed Lana questioned.

"Oh, don't you give me that denial shit!" Lacey angrily retorted, whipping her finger out and into her older sister's face.

"I never used Finn like those other guys!"

"Yes, you fucking did! You decided that the single life was boring, so why not try dating a guy for your senior year. That would have been fine if it was any other guy." Lacey explained with a harsh laugh. "Then the inevitable came; the 'senior year is over, so I need to be single for college' breakup."

"Hey, that's not what happened!" Lana denied.

"Sure, it was. Everyone knows it. Mom, Dad, Peyton, everyone," spat out the petite redhead in contempt. "You broke his heart."

"I did not. Finn's fine with it," Lana insisted. "If he weren't, then we wouldn't still be friends. He's happy with how things turned out."

SLAP

Lana recoiled from the hand across her cheek. She blinked in shock at her younger sister.

"You fucking selfish bitch! Happy? You're the happy one. You got your token high school relationship out of the way and got to keep him as your--"

Lana's tackling ended Lacey's diatribe as both sisters fell to the ground.

"You fucking hit me?!" Lana screeched, attempting to counter-slap her sister, but Lacey's hands knocked them away. That led to fifteen seconds of the girls slap-fighting their hands at each other. Lana finally gained the upper hand when she reached wide, grabbing a fistful of Lacey's hair.

"Let go!" Lacey growled as her sister tugged her hair hard.

"You hit me first, bitch!"

"You deserved it!"

"No, I didn't!"

While Lana had the size advantage, Lacey had the speed and athletic advantage. Unlike her older sister, who may have lost a step in college from partying and sitting around, the younger sister still worked out intensely as part of her cheerleading. In prime condition and flexibility, Lacey swung her legs up, scissoring them around Lana's neck. Then like a wrestler, she flipped Lana backward, allowing her to gain the upper position.

"Oww! That fucking hurt," Lana moaned.

"Good! You deserve it." Lacey moved to hold both her sister's arms down.

"No, I don't! Stop saying that!"

"You crushed Finn's heart and then try to act like it's all good? Fuck you! He's still your friend because, despite everything, he still loves you. He loves you as a best friend and as the girl of his dreams." Lacey rattled off, getting an issue off her chest that had long bothered her. "And you know that. You choose to act like he's not hurt because if you admitted it, then you would have to deal with it."

Lana didn't answer the charges against her; instead, she reverted to an old tactic. "Get off me, or I'm telling Mom."

"Go ahead, let's bring Mom into this. Considering how many times what you did to Finn had her in tears, this should be interesting," Lacey challenged. Then, her sister's strength advantage started to free her arms, so she issued one last threat. "If you hurt Sean like you hurt Finn, then I'm done with you. I won't have a sister that uses family friends like toys to be thrown away."

"I was only flirting with Sean to make you jealous, you dumb bitch," Lana snapped in response. "You two have been circling each other for days now. Just admit it, you want to fuck him, so get it over with!"

"You're the dumb bitch, Lana," Lacey countered with a bark of a laugh. "I'm playing matchmaker for Sean and a girl he likes. That's what I've been doing. Unlike you, I don't need all the guys for myself."

"Ah, Lacey, the Matchmaker! The noble girl who worries so much about love that she plays Cupid for others," the busty ginger mocked her sister as she pushed her off of her. "Oh, please. Others might buy that line of crap, but I don't. See, when I want a guy, I go after him. But when you want a guy, you play some fucked up game where you set him up with a different girl."

"I don't want the guys I help match up," Lacey protested from the ground as Lana stood up, towering over her.

"Yes, you do, sweetheart. You want Finn, you want Sean, you want them all. But you're just too damn scared to go after them. Instead, you set them up with other girls in order to date--and fuck--them vicariously."

"That's not how it is!"

"I bet you love to hear back the reports from those girls who you found a boyfriend. They tell you all the romantic gestures their new boyfriends do for them — the ones your man doesn't do. And I bet you love to hear their whispered confessions about how good his tongue is, how big his cock is, and how great he fucks them," Lana speculated with a smirk. "I bet late at night you jill-off to those stories they tell you."

"You know what, Lana? You're nothing but a mean bitch."

"And you're a little girl who's too scared to get what you want. To go after the guy that's really right for you."

---

Sean took off his skates, feeling like he was on cloud nine. He couldn't wait to thank Lacey for her advice and help. For the first time in years, he felt confident that he had a chance with Ramsey. I'm gonna wow her with my knowledge of mysteries when we get back to the cabin. She's going to see just how much we have in common.

Sitting next to him on the log, Newt groaned as he removed his skates. JoJo, on the other side of Newt, rolled her eyes at his overacting. She knew her friend must be sore, but he acted like he had been run over by a truck.

"Okay, we're going to have to take the sleds the way we came. The shorter route is too narrow for them with some rough spots caused by tree roots," Harvey explained. "You still good on pulling the other sled, Finn?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Alright, then the rest of you can come with us, or take the shorter route, that I know Whitney will be choosing."

"Damn right," Whitney called out from the area where she and Ramsey changed back to their boots.

"I'm taking the shorter way," Newt announced while standing up, already moving in that direction.

"Shouldn't you wait for Whitney to show us the path?" JoJo responded.

"Don't need her. I already took it the other day," Newt replied, still walking.

"Sean?"

"It's okay; you go ahead with him. He'll need protection in case a rabbit jumps out at him," Sean joked. "I'll finish up and be right behind you."

"I'll go back with you if it's okay?" Skye inquired, looking for a way to avoid having to listen more about Kimberly's teenage wishlist.

"Sure, you can walk with us," JoJo brightly offered.

As his two friends walked away, he noticed Lana skating across the pond. Reaching the edge of the ice, she marched right past everyone, a don't-talk-to-me glare letting everyone know the mood she felt. Far behind her, Lacey slowly skated her way to the group.

Sean could tell immediately that the younger sister was upset. Glancing back, he noticed that Mr. Diamond had roped Austin into helping load the sled. Without her boyfriend aware of her return, Sean walked down to meet her. His concern shot up when he could see that Lacey had been crying.

"Hey, are you alright? What happened?"

"I got into a fight with Lana. She said some mean things."

Acting on instinct, Sean wrapped his arms around his family friend, giving her the hug that she badly needed. Whispering into her ear that these things happen between sisters and that it would work out, he could hear her sob a few times.

"What the fuck, Tarver?"

Turning both his and Lacey's bodies around, Sean looked at Austin as he angrily approached them. Taking one hand off the redhead's back, he motioned at her boyfriend to calm down before pointing back at her.

"Lacey and Lana had a fight, Austin."

Austin flinched at the news and at the way his girlfriend broke away from Sean, lunging into his arms. Looking down, Austin could tell that Lacey had been crying and might start back up, so he kept his mouth shut, nodded at Sean, and allowed his girlfriend to use his body for comfort.

"Uh, Lace," Sean interrupted, waiting for the girl to turn her head. "I just wanted you to know that your suggestion worked. I think I made some progress by helping our sick friend."

At first confused, Lacey's distressed face lit up when she realized what he meant. "That's great, Sean! You can tell me all about it later."

Nodding in agreement, Sean ignored Austin's curious look by walking away.

Noticing the red blemish on Lana's face and how Lacey behaved, Clive asked the obvious question, "Did something happen, girls?"

"Not now, hun. I'll talk to them back at the cabin," Rachel shushed her husband, recognizing that her girls' emotions were too raw at the moment.

Everyone went about packing up, with Ramsey helping Lacey take off her skates. At the same time, Peyton hovered around the other Stratton sister, waiting for her to unload about what happened. The adults, and the three college students, began to move toward the longer path, the teenagers shifted toward the shorter one, all the while Sean stood lost in thought.

Did I cause that fight somehow? Maybe Lana's mad at Lacey because she thinks something is going on between us? But why has Lana been teasing me more these last couple of days? Is Lacey angry over that? All I know is that I'm somehow involved; that much is obvious. I just wish I knew what I did wrong, so I could make it right. Aargh! Girls can be so confusing at times.

"Hey, are you going to stand there all day?" A voice asked, snapping Sean from his inner debate.

Quickly surveying the area, he realized that he was the last person left at their staging area. The parents were gone with the sled Finn pulled only now disappearing from sight. On the other side, Austin and Lacey were vanishing down the path, with Whitney and Owen waiting near it for the stragglers. One of which stood about thirty feet from Sean.

"Sorry, I must have zoned out," Sean apologized to Ramsey, who watched him with an amused smile.

"Are you going to walk with us, John?"