There were exactly four words that could get Catori's undivided attention, no matter what. 

"I need your help."

This time, they came from someone unexpected. It was no secret to anyone who knew them that Nicky and Catori had a host of issues with each other. For years, Catori hadn't forgiven him for leaving them and not even coming back for their mom's funeral. Nicky couldn't stand her reckless nature, and probably resented her for dragging him into the middle of the mess they were in now. Not to mention, she had completely upended his world view by throwing him right into the whole 'seeing ghosts' thing.

Things were better now, though. Just...not better enough for her to expect to be his go to.

Sat in the papasan chair by the window, Catori stared at her brother standing in the doorway. For a moment, he looked incredibly nervous. And then he looked confused. 

"Are you doing homework in a wedding dress?"

"Yeah. What did you need? You looked like you wanted to throw up."

He shook his head, stepping in and looking over his shoulder as though they weren't completely alone in the small apartment. Their dad was out meeting with one of his friends, and Mr. Eckon was using his ghostly presence to give the book store downstairs a very specific vibe. 

"Not throw up. Well, actually, I might."

"Not in here you won't. I'd throw you out the window."

"Catori." The tone in her brother's voice made her pause, and she set aside the text book she was taking notes in. "I--uh...I think--" He took in a breath that was shaky enough to have her worried. And then he was talking, way too fast and with sentences jumbled and cut together like a quilt. A messy one. For a moment, she couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Then she caught two words that had her rolling her eyes. 

'Cisco' and 'feelings'. 

"I'm glad your brain finally caught up to your heart." She said, interrupting him as she stood and smoothed out the skirt of the A-line wedding dress she was wearing. She had never really thought of herself as someone who would ever be into the Queen-Anne neckline, but she had to admit. It looked good. "It's taken long enough. Especially for those of us stuck watching you pine. So what's the issue?"

"I don't...know how to tell him." Nicky seemed less concerned with how she already knew he had a thing for their friend, and once again more concerned with the dress she was wearing. "Why do you have that?"

"I was gunning for eloping with Cisco, seeing as we're both old enough in the state of Virginia. Looks like you're beating me to it though. I can't believe you would sabotage your own sister like this. On her wedding day." 

Nicky just stared at her for a moment. 

"Mica gave it to me, when I was over at Jo's. Not sure why she had multiple wedding dresses laying around, but mystery is where character begins to blossom, so I guess it doesn't really matter. You said you wanted to tell him?"

Looking like he wasn't sure how to respond to the first bit, Nicky nodded. "I do. I just...I'm not sure how best to do it. Kas kind of set the bar high, with confessing the feelings he'd had for years while Jo was laying in a hospital bed."

"I could always mortally wound him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, as long as I warned his mom." Catori offered, lips curling into a sharp half smile at the unamused look her twin shot her. "Okay, okay. No half-murdering your crush. Understood."

"I just...you know how bad I am at things like this. At emotional things in general. Just in the month I've been here--" He was cut off by his phone's text ring tone, and he pulled the device out of his pocket quicker than Catori had ever seen him do before. Half the time he ignored texts. "It's him. He wants to meet up to study."

"Did he mention the whole group, or was that left out?"

"Out."

Catori's half smile grew, her eyes twinkling with genuine excitement that managed to soften the sharpness of her smile just a bit. "I know what to do. Tell him to meet you at six, I'll make some calls."

___________________________________________________________________________________

A couple hours later, as the clock neared six, Catori smacked her best friend upside the head. 

"What the hell was that for!" Jo cried, his tone indignant. He'd been poking fun at Nicky for the past hour, as soon as the male Soua twin had accidentally let slip why they were decorating an empty bookstore. The owner, Marla, had been ecstatic to close up early and let the borrow the establishment. It helped that Catori had told her about the half off ticket prices at the local theater, and that they were running Dead Poets Society at 6:15. 

"Normally I wouldn't mind your assholishness, but the least you can do is afford my darling brother a break for a bit. Tomorrow will be here just the same, and all of the same jokes will be there as well. Besides, we need a couple more tacks on that string of lights."

"You're so bossy. You know, we could have just injured Cisco and--"

"Put him in the hospital so that Nicky could confess there? That's what I said." Catori finished, wrinkling her nose. "He got mad at me. Besides, then you wouldn't leave him alone about copying you and Kas."

"Fair." Jo consented, shrugging his shoulders and heading off to finish the lights. 

Catori had to admit, they'd done well with limited supplies. 

They hadn't actually changed much, and over decorating was completely out of the question. Nicky had gone on for a good ten minutes about how weird it would be to make it look like he had gone all out. So instead, Catori had recruited Jo to help her string up lights, with Marla's permission. They gave the bookstore a warm, soft glow. She'd even convinced Nicky to let her pick the study snacks, and had made sure to replace the bottles of water with sparkling cider. It was fancy, and an occasion that deserved such.

Besides Nicky's weirdly long rant about decorations, the subtle additions worked. She'd noticed how often Cisco asked for Nicky's help with studying and schoolwork. It was an excuse to spend time together. All the lights and change in store music did was make it slightly more special.

And with the amount of time Nicky and Cisco spent together, sitting at the same table in this bookstore, it had to be the perfect place to confess. 

"He's on his way." Nicky sounded nervous. It was only a slight tension in his voice that gave it away, but years apart hadn't made it any harder for her to read her brother. "What do I--"

"You go sit down. Jo, turn the closed sign to open for just a second and then grab the bag from Faherty's and come over here." Catori, entirely unconcerned by Nicky's nervous excitement and anxiety, plopped down in the chair across from the one he was sitting in. It was the one Cisco always sat in. "You're going to do absolutely fine, okay? Doesn't matter if you fuck it up horribly, you're a Soua. Even the less suave of us are charmingly awkward. Just take a deep breath."

"M'lady." Jo said, handing her the paper bag from the grocery store down the street. "You got us stuff, right? I'm not heading home until this is over, I have got to see the outcome." 

"Obviously. I got pizza pockets and other random junk food. I invited your boyfriend, but he's busy tonight." She riffled through the bag, pulling out the things for the 'study date' before addressing her brother. The bell on the door jingled, announcing Cisco's presence. "We're watching Ocean's Eleven."

"Again?" Cisco's voice came from behind her, and Nicky's fingers quickened their tapping on the table. "Is it really good enough for you guys to have watched it seven times since you met?"

"I know your dad was a shitty con man, but you'd think you would have some appreciation for an absolutely bangin' movie." Catori tilted her head back to look at him upside down. He shot her a lopsided smile, the expression lacking any of the old infatuation it used to have. His crush on her had only lasted a couple weeks, but it was good that it was completely gone. Otherwise this whole thing might go way worse. 

"I haven't even seen it, cariña. How would I know how 'bangin' it is?" 

She was quiet for a moment, before getting up out of the chair. "Point. Next time you're over, I'll make you watch it. That'll be time number two for Nicky, because there's no way I'm letting him get out of it again."

Nicky groaned. 

"Get wrecked." Jo said, looping his arm through Catori's after giving Cisco a fist bump. "Let us know if you learn anything. We'll be upstairs planning our great bank heist. That stupid Wells Fargo won't know what hit 'em."

Over Cisco's shoulder, Catori shot her momentarily panic stricken twin a wink. The gesture seemed to fill him with some confidence, even if only a little, and he focused his attention back on Cisco's text books as she and Jo went back upstairs.

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Gets me every time." Catori said, wiping a single tear from her left eye as the credits of the movie rolled. She and Jo had set up camp on the couch, her on the end against the arm rest and him sprawled across it with his head in her lap. A half eaten bag of chips sat on his stomach, and a paper plate that had once held pizza pockets sat on the arm rest next to her. 

"I don't know how Steven Soderbergh did it." Jo agreed, handing her the bag. As he was reaching for the remote on the floor, the door flung open, startling him enough to make him fall off the couch. 

"I can't believe Nicky has better taste in men than you." Cisco called, leading a flustered looking Nicky into the room by the hand. 

"Cisco!" Catori admonished, shaking her head. "Kasper is a lovely young man. And he's artistic!"

"I thought you were going to say he can see the future." Jo said, from where he was laying face first on the floor. 

"Well, there's that too. But I find it much more fun to let fate do what it does on its own, and then challenge it to a knife fight." 

"I was referring to you, actually. Not Jo. 'Cause your brother just scored a catch you turned down." Cisco said, and Nicky choked on his own throat. 

"What can I say? My feelings for mortal danger are too strong for you to contend with. I take it my lights worked?"

Cisco nodded. "I figured that was you, but it was mostly the way Nicky kept tripping over his words as he tried to get out the sentence 'I like you, wanna date?" Jo snorted into the ground, and Nicky grumbled something. 

"That was not what I was trying to say." He said, voice almost a mutter.

"How was I supposed to know? You kept switching into quadratic formulas. Which, by the way, was extremely adorable." Nicky sputtered something, before turning even more red. "Anyway, we were just checking in, since I figured you two were waiting for news. We're going out for dinner at Bella's, tonight's a live music night. Which means dancing." 

Nicky ignored that, in favor of finally gathering his wits about himself to speak. He didn't say much, but it was enough for Catori. "Thank you."

Catori adjusted the skirt of the wedding dress, now that Jo was off of her lap and on the ground. "Of course. Go have fun, now that the worrying part is over."

"He better be back by ten, Avillero! And no drinking!" Jo called, his words met by Cisco's laughter as the latter began to lead Nicky out of the apartment. 

"Bring me back an enchilada!" Catori added, smiling at the quick thumbs up Nicky gave her before he was out the door. 

For a few moments, it was silent in the living room. 

"So...ice cream and Ocean's Twelve?"