Penelope abruptly became aware of all the eyes that had fallen upon her.  Slowly, she released Ryan’s head.  “Sorry.”  She whispered looking down.  She knew that what she had done seemed odd, but the way he was looking at her was even weirder.  He didn’t seem surprised or angry, or even confused.  He looked, excited?  More, in awe.  This confused her even more than his eyes.  If a stranger had come up to her and grabbed her face, she would have flipped, but he just stood there and stared at her.

“Well…”  Lady Manson broke the silence.  “If we wait too much longer my lovely casserole will get cold.  Come now all and eat.”  Ryan slowly moved to the chair beside Logan.  He didn’t take his eyes off of her.  It made her uncomfortable the way he stared at her.  Like he was waiting for something.  As they stared to eat, Penelope tried to look everywhere except at Ryan.  As everyone settled into polite conversation, Ryan was silent watching her.  They were halfway through dinner when he suddenly shouted her name.

“Penelope!”  She looked at him without thinking and her eyes were stuck.   She tried to pull them away, but they were glued to his.  Everything around them started to fade away until she was surrounded by the blacks of his eyes.   She was left floating in a sea of nothing, yet she didn’t feel lonely.  She actually felt right for the first time since her mother died.  She marveled at the weird blissful feeling as she floated, happy to be away from everything.

                She didn’t know how long she had been floating.  A second?  An hour?  A day?  A lifetime?  But, suddenly, someone yelled something very loudly.  The blackness faded away, and she seemed to fall back into the pains of her everyday life.  When she was aware of her surroundings again, she was shocked at what she saw.  Logan was standing over his brother, who was now on the ground.  It seemed that he had pushed Ryan over.

                “What’s wrong with you?”  Ryan snapped at his brother.  Logan just glared him down.

                “Not her Ryan.  You can have anyone, just not her.”  He hissed.  Penelope looked around the table wondering what had happened while she had been floating.  She looked around the table for a clue.  What she found was just confused her more.  Kellie and she were the only ones surprised!  Cleo just looked tired and Ben looked like he was watching a wrestling match.  He quickly glanced at Penelope with a streak of passion, and then returned his eyes to his children.

                “It’s not for you to decide.”  Ryan said after calming himself. 

                “You can have ANYONE!” Logan repeated.  “Just leave her alone!  You could pick anyone off the street…”

                “You know it doesn’t work like that!”  Ryan snapped at his brother, no longer patient, and neither was Penelope.

                “What the hell is going on?!”  She snapped bringing them out of their bubble of “solitude”. 

                Lady Manson sighed.  “Kellie, honey… I think that you’d better go home.  I’m sorry dear.”  She gave the girl an apologetic glance.  Kellie gave her a hard stare.  As she looked at me her face filled with hatred.

                “Does she get to stay?”  She spat in Penelope’s direction.  Logan’s teeth ground together.

                “Just leave Kellie…”  He growled, looking back over at his brother.  Kellie looked taken aback.

                “But…”

                “Leave!”  He shouted.  Everyone at the table looked at him in shock.  It was the first time Penelope had ever felt sorta bad for the cheerleader wannabe.  She stared at her boy friend with hurt eyes, but he didn’t meet her eye.  Slowly she rose from her seat and walked toward the door.  Just before she disappeared behind it, she turned back around.

                “Will you call me later?”  She asked in a small voice.  Worry was painted on her expression.

                “Whatever.”  Logan said as he sat back down and looked at his dinner.  She fled through the door, but not before she could see the panic that was vivid on her face.  She thought that she was losing him.  Knowing Kellie, she probably took it one step further and thought that she was losing him to her.  

Penelope wanted to laugh at the concept.  Sure, Logan was good looking, sure he was sweet, charming, and gentle, but that didn’t matter.  It didn’t matter that he was accepting and open minded.  It didn’t matter that she loved spending time with him, or that she hated his girlfriend.  He was Dylan’s brother.  Even if she did like him like that, it seemed… wrong somehow.  It would be like running away with your brother-in-law right after your husband died.  Not that Dylan and Penelope were ever romantically involved, but for some reason, it still felt like cheating.  She could never be with Logan in that way.  Not that she wanted to anyway.  He was a friend, just a friend.