Gabe (whose alive in this story) almost walks in on Natalie and Henry, and gives Natalie an unwanted talk. :) One-shot just for kicks. Thanks and enjoy.

Keep Out

Gabe couldn't remember where his parents told him they were going…he was far to busy playing Xbox to hear them. His mother kissed him on the head while they were walking out the door, rolling suitcases behind them, and he simply yelled 'okay, have fun, love you, bye'. They went somewhere warm, like Hawaii or something. Gabe just remembers being pissed at them for not taking him along, too – 'leave Natalie home if you want too, just bring me!' – but no, Diana said something about 're-kindling their romantic relationship', which made Gabe almost throw up. Just thinking about his mom and dad…ewww.

Presently, Gabe was at it again – 'it' being his Xbox…playing Call Of Duty was totally his favorite pass-time. It was just another day of playing COD, until a miracle happened…he broke his high score. A moment of silence ensued, since he couldn't believe he'd actually done it – Gabe had been trying to break that high score for…months now. Then, it hit him.

"Yes!" Gabe shot up and cheered, the Doritos bag that was open in his lab spilling all over the place. "Natalie!Get down here and look at how awesome your brother is!"

Hmm…that's funny. Usually, if he called Natalie's name, there'd be some response…even if it was 'shut up!', 'go away!', or 'stop talking you loser!'. She'd always say…something. Gabe brushed it off at first, but then he really started thinking about it. What if she passed out or something? What some creeper climbed through her window kidnapped her, like those horror stories you hear on the news? These thoughts scared him a little, so, just to be sure, he ran up the stairs and banged loudly on her door.

"Naaaaaaaaaat?"

"Read the sign!" His sister yelled from behind the closed door. Oh. Gabe looked down and read the sign that she had taped on her door – it read: KEEP OUT. Hmm…that wasn't there before. She's probably just trying to get on my nerves, Gabe assumed, until he considered the much different possibilities. He pounded even louder this time, banging with both fists like an impatient child.

"Natalie Marie Goodman, you open this door right now!"

"I'm changing you perv!"

"You're my baby sister. I've seen you naked before."

"When I was, like, two!"

"Well, fine then you have two options – you can either tell me what's going on or I can break the door down." Then, after a little consideration, it dawned on him exactly what was going on. He started pounding on the door again. "I know you're in there, Henry, and if you do anything to my baby sister I'll murder you!" Then she ran out, the door swinging open, only in a beach cover-up.

"Gabriel Goodman you're dead to me!" She screamed, hitting him repeatedly.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Gabe yelled, now holding her arms back. "You should thank me! I just saved your virginity! I'm like a freakin' superhero!"

She hit him some more.

"Henry!" Gabe yelled into the open doorway. "You officially have ten seconds to get out here too, or I'll throw you out of an open window!"

The boy in question appeared, in faded jeans and a tight t-shirt that Gabe assumed he just through on now. His dark hair was all ruffled, just like Natalie's russet-brown hair was, too. Gabe wanted to puke and punch this kid out at the same time. How dare he try to sleep with his baby sister? And…how dare she let him?

"Natalie Marie Goodman, we're going to have a long talk very soon," he told her, then flicked his blue eyes to Henry.

"I…I'll go now," said Henry, already walking – more like running, actually – down the stairs when Gabe said as calmly as he could:

"Yeah, you do that!"

"Henry, don't g – " But she was interrupted by the slam of their front door. She slapped Gabe's shoulder again. "How could you do this to me?" She demanded.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no! You are not turning this on me! Now go put some clothes on and then I want to talk to you." She stared at him, silently for a moment, and then went back into her room, shut the door, and did just that.

"I can't believe you!" Natalie sobbed from in her room. "I hate you!"

"Trust me Nat, you'll thank me for this later." His sister re-appeared, now fully clothed again. Thank God, Gabe added in his head. She looked like she was going to bite him, at first, and then just looked plain…sad.

"Come on, Nat," said Gabe, and about twenty minutes later, they were sitting in front of the TV – Doritos cleaned up, Xbox turned off – with a carton of Ben and Jerry's Half-Baked ice cream. He started flipping through the channels and stopped when he saw a poorly animated ninja flipping through the air, throwing a ninja-star.

"Ah, violent cartoons," Gabe smiled, dipping his spoon into the ice cream again. "Just what we need at a time like this."

"Gabe…"

"Natty, what were you thinking?" He looked at her right in the eyes, and she looked away, focusing on the ice cream carton. All she did was mumble, but Gabe could make out:

"…and love…mature…ready for this… – "

" – I'm gonna stop you right there," he said, eyebrows raised. "Look at me," he said, and she finally looked up. "Nat, I know in your messed-up, hormonal, teenage-girl mind, you think you're ready for this, but your not, Nat. You're sixteen!"

"Sixteen is a fully-grown woman in some countries." Gabe flinched at that fact.

"Well…we're not in some countries!" He countered. "We're in America! And that's not the point here! The point is…" he trailed off, and took a deep breath.

"Gabe, I really don't know why you're so upset," Natalie said, as her brother was a little dazed now. He couldn't give her this talk…God, where was his mother when he needed her? "I mean, this is Henry we're talking about, not some random guy I met at a party! And I…love him…" The way she said the word 'love' made him want to gag.

"Please don't use the word 'love' in that context," he said. "And I'm sure you do love him, but…that doesn't mean you have to love him. Understand?" Natalie had a disgusted look on her face.

"Um, Gabe, I've seen Spring Awakening. You don't have to talk in codes here."

"I know, but it's a lot easier for me…" Then he shook his head. "When did you even get this new idea in your head?"

"It's not an idea!" She crossed her arms. "And it's not new! We got to, like, third base and then – "

" – Please, please, please stop talking!" Gabe put his hands over his ears. He sighed heavily, and murmured something Spring Awakening under his breath. He shook his head, thought about what he had to say for a second, and then finally said it.

"Natty, I know right now it seems so right, and so good, and all that stuff, but sometimes it really isn't. Sometimes you think that, and then…and then you wake up the next morning and just feel plain awful. And especially for girls! Trust me Nat, you'd wake up the next morning all dizzy with a lotta pain between your legs and – "

" – This is when you need to stop talking!" Natalie yelled over him.

"No, this is when you need to listen!" A pause, and then he continued: "Look, sometimes, honestly, it sucks. The first time almost always sucks for girls. But…then, when you're older and in love with the right person and it's the right time…it can be really, really…beautiful." She was silent for what felt to Gabe like a really long time. Then, finally, Natalie said:

"Thanks, Gabe. Thanks for everything."

"No problem," he said, getting up, but she had him sit back down, saying:

"Wait! I have a question!"

"Oh please no questions…"

"When did you?"

"When I did what?"

"When did you loose your virginity?"

Gabe's jaw hit the ground.

"Natalie Marie! I…you don't need to know that…"

"You were my age, weren't you?" She sat up on her knees.

"You're not gonna get that outta me, Natty! No way!"

"Oh yeah, you were my age…and it was with some slutty girl, wasn't it?" Natalie was totally enjoying Gabe's torture.

"You know what you should do? Go take a shower. Wipe all those disgusting boy cooties off you!"

His sister got up, and started to walk up the stairs, but then ran back to her brother and gave him a huge hug. Yes, Gabe would keep his sister pure and untouched and all that as long as he could. Even if he had to put a keep out sign on her.