A knock thundered on the front door the second Andie finished warning Morgan that Eric might know of her whereabouts.

The knock shocked a startled cry from Morgan, who threw her hands over her mouth and shot her friend a panic-stricken look.

"Andie!" John's voice bellowed through the wood. "Open up, honey!"

Before Andie could make a single decision on what to do, Morgan dashed from the room, opting to hide from her brother instead of coming out to face him and putting an end to this ridiculousness.

"Andie! I know you're home!"

The sun was just beginning to set, which meant Andie's house was cast in the shadow of twilight where John could likely see her silhouette shaped against the curtains that hung over the window.

Feeling very much backed into a corner with little choice on the matter, Andie approached the door and unlocked the deadbolt. The door swung open. Andie bounced back to keep herself from being knocked over by it.

"Andie, is Morgan here?"

Andie opened her mouth to reply—to lie—but it was just too hard to get the words out. She closed her mouth and settled for a quick shake of her head.

She should have responded verbally, because John seemed to see right through her lie.

"Andie..." John took the same tone with her she'd heard him take with Morgan; the same tone that Eric took with her. It never failed to have the desired affect, and before she could hide her reaction, her face blushed bright red, and her head lowered as if she had something to feel guilty for.

...Which she did.

"I need you to be honest with me. Neither one of us wants to see how displeased Eric would be if he discovered you had been lying."

"Wh-what?" Her voice cracked. John knew?

Andie's blush deepened.

"I think we both know how Eric would handle a situation like this."

Chewing on her lip nervously, Andie shuffled her feet on the soft carpet, her whole body feeling so restless with anxiety. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she breathed, refusing to meet John's stern stare.

"Do you want really wish to lie to me as well? Because I'm warning you right now, Andie, I am not in the mood to play nice. If Morgan is here, I need you to tell me, so that I can make sure she's OK."

Knowing that both he and Eric knew of her deception, she gave up the fight. She felt very sorry for Morgan, but she knew her friend would suvive, and Andie knew that Morgan would forgive her—eventually.

"You're really just worried about her...?" she confirmed timidly, not bothering to hide how red-handed she had been caught in her lie.

"Yes," John answered, gentling his voice for her now that he had her cooperation.

"She's afraid... She doesn't want a spanking."

"I'm sure she doesn't. But discipling her isn't my only focus right now. First, she needs to know that I'm not mad at her for her grades. Mathematics has always been hard for her, and I should have found her a tutor sooner."

"So, she's not in trouble?" Andie asked hopefully, keeping her voice down so Morgan wouldn't hear.

"Oh, she is, just not for that. She was in trouble for hiding her report card. Now, she's in trouble for hiding her report card and running away."

"She wasn't running away," she offered pleadingly. "She said so herself. She just wanted somewhere to cool off for awhile. She was going to come home."

"I understand that, Andie, but Morgan's a sixteen-year-old girl. She can't run off when she's that upset."

Scratching at some chipping paint on the door frame, Andie frowned thoughtfully as John rationally explained himself.

"I guess I understand..."

"Mhm," John hummed while crossing his arms and ducking his head to capture Andie's wavering stare. "Do you think Eric would be alright with you running off in such a frazzled state?"

Keeping her eyes on his, Andie shook her head, nibbling so anxiously on her bottom lip that she thought she might draw blood.

"So," John continued patiently. "Will you please let me in so I can take Morgan home?"

Torn between feeling like a bad friend and doing the right thing, Andie was just about to step back and allow John entry when Eric appeared from behind John, just coming up the walk way to the front door.

John followed Andie's stare and spotted Eric. They shared a look in the silence before turning forward once again and assessing Andie quietly. Eric didn't say a word, but his eyes said it all. He knew that she had lied, he knew John had been trying to talk himself into the house, and he knew that Morgan had been with her this whole time.

Feeling downright crummy and defeated, Andie lowered her head and stepped back, opening the door wider, and allowing John entry. He stepped in, stopping long enough to place his hand on her shoulder and give a grateful smile before walking towards the back of the house as if he knew exactly where Morgan was hiding.

Andie watched him go before nervously turning back towards Eric who was just stepping into the threshhold of the home. She met his gaze briefly before lowering her head. She didn't even bother acting as if she were innocent. She had lied. This was without a doubt her worst offense yet.

Eric didn't speak a word, but his hand found the back of her neck and he held it there firmly, silenting ordering her to stay put until the guests in their house had left. He tugged her to his side, and despite the nerves that danced anxiously isnide her, she leaned into Eric, taking comfort from his presense and his strength. It didn't matter that he was about to bust her hide. She still wanted him.

Eric seemed to understand for his hand dropped from the back of her neck and found her waist. If John and Morgan weren't in the other room, Andie would have snaked an arm around Eric's neck and laid her head on his shoulder. He would have allowed it before ordering her to her room. He never turned her away when she wanted his affections.

John and Morgan appeared a couple of minutes after John had disappeared in the back. He was carrying as if she were no bigger than a toddler. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around his neck—and she was crying. John spoke soothingly to her, rubbing her back as he slipped past Eric and Andie without a word.

At first, Andie didn't understand. John hadn't spanked Morgan; Andie and Eric would have heard that. So, why was she crying? But when they past Andie and Eric in the threshold, Andie spotted Morgan's face, who had lost the anger and frustration and now expressed her exhaustion.

John hadn't yelled at her when he found her. It was evident that he had worked to comfort her first, and it brought her defenses down, thus soothing her anger, and bringing her to the exhausted tears that she had been battling all day.

The whole thing tugged at Andie's heart.

Eric shut the door, leaving him and Andie in absolute privacy. His hand returned to the back of her neck and his fingers slowly worked circled into her aching muscles.

"You're a very good friend, Andie," he told her.

Surprised, Andie lifted her eyes to his. "I am?"

"Yes. You shouldn't have lied, but I understand why you did."

"Then... I'm not in trouble?"

"If I told you that you weren't in trouble, would you think that's fair?"

Lowering her head, Andie shook her head.

"You believe you deserve a punishment, don't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then, yes... you're in trouble."

Andie expected nothing less. And Eric was right. She would feel very weird if she wasn't being disciplined for her infraction.

"I'm sorry," she told him softly, rubbing nervously at her arm.

"I know you are," he replied, taking her gently by the elbow and guiding her into the kitchen. "I know you didn't want to lie. I could hear it in your tone. And I appreciate that you wanted to be honest. But..." he trailed off, lifting a stern eyebrow at her.

"I should have told the truth..." Andie finished for him, stepping up to the counter as Eric guided her to. Without further instruction, she bent over the smooth surface, having been here before, and knowing exactly what Eric expected of her.

"No, no," Eric tugged her back up, leaving Andie startled and confused. "Not yet. I've ordered dinner for us and it's on the way. We'll eat first, and then you'll receive your punishment before bed. For now, though, I want you to stand there and do your homework. You're not allowed to sit. Do you understand?"

Andie nodded, her lips parted slightly in shock. She wanted to ask why she had to stand, but she knew better. Eric seemed to read her mind, however, for he offered an expanation anyway.

"You won't be able to sit down tomorrow, little sister. Better get some practice in tonight." Leaving her with those goosebump-inducing words, Eric fetched her backpack from the living room and brought it back to the kitchen so she may begin her homework.

Andie stood there for twenty minutes until dinner arrived, then Eric took a seat across from her in a barstool, but gave her no inclination that she was allowed to sit. So, she stood and ate her meal, and they talked about their days as if he wasn't causing her knees and back to ache by denying her a chair.

When they were finished with their meals, Eric cleared the counter before instructing her back to her homework.

Sighing quietly to herself, she waited until his back was turned before she bent forward some, and then bent her knees so she was sort of marching in place; anything to stretch and get some blood flowing.

She worked on her homework for another twenty minutes before Eric asked her if she had any plans of showering before bed. When she told him that she didn't, she was instructed to work for another ten minutes before she was meant to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

She did exactly as she was told; completing her homework within the next ten minutes, and then heading upstairs to brush her teeth, wash her face, and slip into her PJs.

This part of the discipline would never fail to get her nerves going. It didn't matter how much she wanted the spanking, knowing full well it would hurt wasn't even enough to sway her from wanting it.

But the waiting before Eric came to her room always left her clammy with anxiety. She had a feeling he did it intentionally, but how could he possibly know the affect it had on her?

Where was he learning these little tricks, such as keeping her from sitting and making her wait an excruciating long time for her spanking to begin?

When a gentle knock sounded at her door, Andie sat up a little straighter where she perched at the edge of her bed. She never told him to come in, he just entered directly after the knock; giving her the opportunity to properly position herself she assumed?

Andie's feet dangled a foot or so from the floor, and she crossed her ankles and pressed her hands between her knees.

The door opened and Eric entered, wearing the same blue jeans and white t-shirt he had come home in. His dirty blond hair was tousled as if he had just run a lazy hand through it.

"Ready?" Eric asked as he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Yes, sir," Andie replied, slipping from the bed as he crooked a finger at her; instructing her down from the mattress. She stopped in front of him and he lifted her head with a finger beneath her chin.

"You have a very big punishment ahead of you, little sister."

Andie gulped, blushing at the endearment that did strange things to her. "Yes, sir."

"You're going to start in the corner," he explained with a soft, yet firm voice. "I'm going to bare your bottom and you're going to recieve some of your spanking while you're standing with your nose against the wall. Then, you're going over my knee. You'll be spanked, and then paddled with the hairbrush. If you don't behave, then you're going to get a taste of what my belt feels like. I'm also going to spank you again first thing in the morning. Do you understand, Andie?"

Heat flooded Andie's cheeks. Her face was flushed, and her breath hitched in her chest. She felt light headed and breathless and on fire. She was sure she was melting.

When she answered, she barely managed anything above a whisper. "Yes, sir."

Sighing, Eric turned her around be the elbow and bent her over his arm. He delivered five stinging swats to her bottom, thankfully still clothed in the nightshirt and panties she wore.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," Eric scolded, and Andie whimpered at her own slip. She knew better than to keep such a quiet voice when she was answering her step-brother.

"Yes, sir," she answered more clearly, her tone high and nervous as Eric lifted her nightshirt and landed another five spanks along the lace of her white panties. The sound of Eric's palm striking the bare swell of her bottom filled the room, and Andie gasped at the sting it delivered.

"Go," he instructed firmly as he helped her straighten, and nudged her towards the corner.