Brian is woken up by the sound of the piano downstairs, and curses himself yet again for buying a house with a Jimmy inside of it. He just knows that the stupid musical is coming to life- and he bets his last fifty dollars that it was either Lizzy or Zacky who put that idea in his head.
He opens his eyes and finds himself face to face with fluorescent yellow colour, making him squeeze his eyes shut until it hurts to actually open them again.

Feeling around on his forehead, he finds the edge of a sticky note and peels it off, seeing his sisters slanty script scrawled across the paper.

'Bri- gone out for groceries, bro your fridge is EMPTY! Left Jam Jar downstairs w/Lisa- take her to the beach or something- but don't make a big deal out of it! We'll talk when I get back. Love you- and don't forget to shower! Lizzy xx'

He loves his little sister to pieces, hell he half raised her so he would know. He was too protective of her she told him sometimes, but when you had women to take care of- you fought to the death for them.
Lisa. She's his little sister too now, a lot littler than Lizzy, and needs taking care of more than ever. He's too hungover to make a snap decision, but he wants to be there for both of sisters.
Brian sits up, cursing when he feels a sharp blast of pain rocket through his temples.

"Bwi-Bwi?" a little voice from the door asks and he looks up to see Lisa, wearing one of Jimmy's shirts as a dress, standing in the doorway. She looks so innocent, and to think, it was only two days ago that he found her cuddled up under his jacket, wailing for her mother.

"Hey baby. Did you lose Uncle Jimmy?" he asks, picking up the little girl and wandering into the bathroom to find some Advil. She laughs when he hits his head against the side of the wall, and he wonders why kids like watching people get hurt. He only laughs when Jimmy hurts himself, but that's because he looks like he's walked straight out of a cartoon.

He finds the bottle and downs three little white tablets, and then tugs at his hair, trying to get it into some sort of shape that would be deemed acceptable. Lisa laughs and starts to tug on his hair, trying to put it out of shape.
"No baby, you want your big brother to look good for all the fans, don't you?" he says playfully, kissing her cheek, and then realises those two words he'd just uttered were...real.

He was her big brother- the one who was going to chase away the monsters when they crawled through the shadows of her bedroom, who when she was older, who round up his friends and go and beat the crap out of the guy that dumped her. He was going to do exactly what he did with Lizzy- except this time, he'd know what he was doing.
"Come on lil' Lisa. Let's go find crazy Jimmy"

Downstairs, Jimmy is 'noodling' (his word, not Brian's) on the piano, singing nonsense under his breath. He almost seems to have eyes in the back of his head, because as soon as Brian, holding his little sister, is halfway down the stairs, he launches into a dramatic rendition of 'If You're Happy And You Know It'.

"If you're happy and you know it...clap your hannnddddsss! If you're happy- AND YOU KNOW IT- clap your handdddsss!" he sings, almost as if he's starring in an opera, the music beneath his fingertips solemn and sad.
"Much I love hearing you sing, Jim Jam, Satan's currently residing in my brain, so could you ease up on the music?" Brian asks as he waltzes Lisa into the kitchen to Jimmy's tune, hoping there's something edible here.

No such luck.

"Briiiiannnn!" Jimmy whines, bounding away from the piano and into the kitchen. "I wanna go to the beach!"
"OK- but just because Lizzy's getting groceries. Try not to drown this time"
"That was one time Brian. One time"

Jimmy runs out of the house like a dog on acid and seeing as Brian's house is right beside the stretch of sand, and the two others follow. Lisa shivers in Brian's arms and he pulls off his sweatshirt, the one that Lizzy obviously put on him after he passed out last night, and bundles her up in it. He doesn't feel the cold, but then the guys are always telling him he has no soul- so he doesn't mind. She nuzzles her face up against his neck as they watch Jimmy jump into the ocean, and he takes the few steps on the cool sand to a clearing where they can watch him.

"Are you sure you're not cold, bro?" Lizzy's voice suddenly floats into his ear and she slides onto the sand beside him, smiling when she spots Lisa curled up in his arms.
"Guess she's really taken a liking to you then" she says and he smiles, looking down at the peaceful girl in his arms.
"Yeah, I guess she has"
"So do you want to tell me why you got so pissed at Dad last night?"

"I've grown up with Dad sleeping with other women, but when I found out there was a kid involved...I felt angry at him. Felt sorry for Lisa, but angry at Dad because he had another kid and he was treating her---" he couldn't even finish the sentence. There are so many words he could use to finish it, and all of them would just make him even more depressed.
"He was treating her just the way he treated us. Like sometimes she didn't exist at all"

Brian nods and then, detaching one arm from Lisa, wraps it around his sister's shoulders and pulls her close. This feels like family- his girls. The people he loves, all in one place. Though he can't really decide if he loves Lisa yet- surely people's emotions can change.
"We'll make sure she doesn't turn out like us. She's got all these people who care about her- people we didn't have. I don't want to see either of you get hurt. You're my sisters- my girls. I'm going to take care of you" he says and Lizzy smiles, watching Jimmy's figure hurtling through the waves.

"Is it that Jimmy chasing a Labrador?" she asks suddenly, and the two of them laugh. He's crazy- their best friend- but they love him to the death.
"Bwi-Bwi cold" Lisa mumbles, tightening her grip around Brian's neck and Lizzy makes a little aw noise at how cute the two of them look. He looks like a proud parent. The two of them stand up, and watch as Jimmy comes hurtling towards them.

"Let's go get some pancakes"