Shining was still seated at the kitchen table, now fearing the events to come. She knew! Twilight was setting us up!, he thought. It would make sense, Twilight was very smart, and he bet she could understand two teenagers liking each other, just by their behaviour. He had to leave the table at some point, and go in there and play. If he didn't, well, he didn't want to expose Cadence to that torture. Shining grabbed the plates on the table, and placed them in the sink. The pizza was placed in the refrigerator, and he went into the living room.

Twilight was removing the game pieces to Chutes and Ladders. Cadence was setting up the game board, and reading the instructions. In all honesty, it was an easy game to play. You roll a dice, and whatever you roll, you move that many spaces. Land on a space with a ladder, you move up, land on a chute, and go downward. The first to 100, wins the game. It was child's play, literally.

"Come on Shining! Are you gonna play!", Twilight said to her brother.

"Yeah Twilie, just hold on a second.", he said back.

He went and knelt by the edge of the coffee table, and waited for the two girls to finish setting up the little game. "So Twilight, which piece do you want to be?", Cadence asked. Twilight wore a face of deep decision, and deliberated for a long time. "I want to be........purple!", she eventually decided. She took her piece and placed it on the space designated "1".

"Okay then, I'll be pink.", Cadence said. That left Shining to make his choice. He was reaching for the green piece, but he had already made a decision. Twilight darted her hand forward and grabbed the blue piece and placed it at the start. "And you can be blue!", she smiled. "If you insist, your highness.", Shining joked. Cadence's eyes widened a little, and she shifted on he knees a little. Upon seeing this, Twilight swatted the back of her brother's head. "Ow! Twilie, what was that for?"

"Be nice! Cadence is a princess, ya know!"

"She is?"

"Yeah, so be nicer!"

Shining blushed a little at his own mistake, and apologized for his sarcasm. Cadence still appeared uncomfortable, but accepted the apology. "Let's start! Can I go first?", Twilight asked Cadence. "Yes, go ahead." Twilight grabbed the dice, and tossed it onto the game. She rolled a four, and moved the little piece of plastic forward four spaces. "Okay Cadence, your turn!"

The game lasted another half-hour. They all happily played together with minimal incident. In the end, Shining was the ultimate winner, reaching space "100" first. "Haha! Yes! Shining Armour wins again!", he boasted. Twilight laughed at her brother's silliness, and let out a might yawn. "Oh, it looks like a certain little girl is a little sleepy!", Cadence joked.

"Nuh-uh, I'm wide awake.", Twilight said sleepily.

"Come on Twilight, it's bedtime."

"Okay Cadence. Can we read a story?"

"Sure. Let's go."

"Shining. You come too"

"I think Cadence has this. Do you really need me?", he asked.

"Yes! You do the funniest voices when you read stories."

"Okay, go get changed, and I'll be right up."

The two girls went upstairs to get ready for bed, leaving Shining alone once again. Yep, she knows!

Shining was summoned to the bedroom when the two girls were ready. He high-kneed it up the stairs, and entered Twilight's small bedroom. She was already under her covers, and Cadence was leafing through the bookshelf, looking for a good book for Twilight. She looked a little distressed, and was frantically searching. "How about The Little Engine That Could?", she suggested. Twilight shook her head in disapproval, and waved to her brother, who had just entered.

He felt bad for Cadence. This wasn't her first time babysitting, but did she always have this trouble finding a story for Twilight? "Here. Let me.", Shining said. He reached under Twilight's bed (where she kept her contraband of stolen goodies), and removed a copy of The Notebook. "You would much rather read this, wouldn't you?", he asked his little sister. "The Notebook? Isn't that a little.....mature for a four-year-old?", Cadence asked in a hushed voice. "Not the first half.", Shining replied, "Okay Twilie one chapter, and it's off to bed."

The next forty-five minuets were filled with the tales of the young Noah and Allie. Twilight was slowly drifting off to sleep, and by the time the first chapter was finished, she was almost out. "Thank you for reading Shining", she said. "It's okay Twilie.", he said back. Shining levitated Twilight's favourite toy, Smarty Pants over to her, and Cadence adjusted the covers. "Nighty night, Twilight", Cadence said. The two sixteen-year-olds walked out of the bedroom, and Cadence turned off the lights. Now comes the weird part, Shining thought.

It was only 8:50, and Shining's parents weren't going to return until eleven. The two of them returned to the living room, and sat on the only couch in the room. It was an aura of awkward silence for a while, the two teens avoiding each other. Shining felt the need to break the silence, and said the first thing on his mind. "S-so, a princess, huh?", he asked. Fucking smooth, Casanova!, he silently scolded. "Y-yeah. It's....not as exciting as you think.", she replied.

"Why not? I would love to be one of the upper class."

"There's just so many rules and things I can't do. I'm lucky to even be a babysitter."

"Well, I want to be Captain of the Royal Guard one day. Do you think that has more strict rules than royalty?"

"No way, being a princess is much worse!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Sure, you're on!"

Shining was glad Cadence was warming up to him, and she was really an interesting girl. He just hoped that he wasn't acting like a total weirdo. "You can turn on the t.v. if you want.", he said. "No, I'm fine. I would much rather be talking to yo-" She stopped short in mid-sentence. Shining picked it up, and blushed. So she did like me!, he thought. "O-oh, okay, I mean, it's up to you.", he stuttered.

It's time to gather some intel!, Shining mentally shouted. "So, I bet as a princess and all, you always have to put up with suitors.", he said. "Oh, not really. I think that's a stereotype. My parents trust me enough to find a decent guy.", she replied with an odd look in her eye. Shit! She picked up on it! "Oh. Well I'm sorry for asking.", Shining apologized. he decided to push on anyway. "So what's 'a decent guy' to you?", he asked as inconspicuously as he could. He saw the small grin on her face as she answered. "He has to be gallant, kind, strong willed, and respectful. Somebody with a strong heart and quick nerves. Big and strong, and handsome wouldn't hurt.", she said, shifting a little closer to Shining as she did.

"Oh, well you have some high standards", Shining mused.

"Well my man is just going to have to live up to them. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a challenge.", she said, her voice thick with sarcasm, "So what' 'a decent girl' to you?", she said, putting Shining in the hot seat. "Well, I guess she'd have to be nice and gentle, but not afraid to assert herself in a situation. She'd stand by me, not matter the weather, and wouldn't mind being funny from time to time.", Shining replied.

"That's all?", Cadence said.

"Well, it would be a little inappropriate if I talked about what I enjoy physically in a girl, don't you think?"

"Come on, just tell me!"

"Okay. I wouldn't mind nice legs and waist. Tight butt, and decent, uh, breasts. That's a 'DAYNUM' in my official rating system.", he said. Cadence giggled a little, clearly amused by is descriptions. "Well excuse me princess. I didn't know I was that funny!", he joked. "Oh no, it was that you just came out and flat-out told me, no fear at all.", she said softly. Shining soon realized that she was sitting pretty close to him, their hands not even an inch apart. Clever little sneak! Shining cleared his throat, and moved his hand away from Cadence's, trying to avoid some awkward forum of contact.

She took notice of Shining's behaviour, and felt a little indecision. Should I pick on him? But if I did, and he doesn't like me and all, I could ruin this! But what if he does, and is silently egging me on, and I'm missing it. He'll think I'm a royal stiff, and won't want me! "So, t.v.?", she asked. "T.v.'s nice", Shining said as he grabbed the remote.

"Oh, Nachtlicht, that was wonderful!", Velvet said as she and her husband exited their car. "Yes, but I wonder how our little smooth man handled Cadence.", he said with a smirk. He grabbed the house key, and unlocked their front door. Nachticht had to hold in boisterous laughter at the sight. There sat the two teens, asleep! Shining was at the edge of the ouch, his head lolled off to the side, and Cadence's head was on his shoulder. The rest of her body was off to the side. If Nachtlicht didn't know any better, he would've thought that these two were happily dating. "Dearest, come look at this.", he said to his wife who was entering the house.

Her heart melted at the sight. "Daww! Let me get the camera!"

Shining was awoken by a shake of his left shoulder. "Mmmh? What?", he said. His father gestured for him to hush, and told him to look at his other shoulder. Shining obliged his father, and looked.......at Cadence sweetly sleeping on him. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA?!", he shouted out of shock. His outburst awoke Cadence, and she looked up from her "pillow". She had a similar reaction. "O-oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!", she said, clearly startled. She got off of the couch, and took notice of Twilight's parents. "Oh! Mrs. Velvet and Mr. Nachtlicht!", she said, "I-I'm so sorry!"

"For what?", Nachtlicht asked.

"Well, for, uh, using your son for a pillow" Shining blushed a little.

"Nonsense. Do you need a ride?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay, come on Cadence.", he said, grabbing his keys. Shining went to follow her out. Nactlicht exited and went to his car, Shining and Cadence stopped at the door. "Thanks for being cool to me tonight.", she whipered and kissed Shining's cheek. Cadence skipped out the door, and left the love-struck Shining at the door.

I could get used to this!

Author's Note

YES!! I AM A GUY AND I'VE READ THE NOTEBOOK!!! NO SHAME!!!!!

Find the references!! there's two of 'em I intentionally did.