Jill barely knocked before she entered Jake's room, "Have you been into my underwear?"
Jake was curled on his bed, reading a magazine. He didn't look up, "Of course, I'm a man."
"A boy."
Jake laughed, "When it comes to women's underwear, it's the same thing."
"Why?"
Jake looked at his sister and was relieved to see that she really wasn't angry so much as just ticked. "Well, have you looked at ours? They're boring. Yours, though. They're soft, delicate, colourful. They're pretty and sexy, that's why men love them. And anyway, I haven't been into your underwear. They were there, I admired them and I put them on your bed, not a big deal."
Jake's reasonable and unaffected answer made Jill feel a little silly, so she turned and left the room.
...
During the past few years, the two hours between when they both got home from school and when their parents got home from work had always been a quiet time for the sister and brother. They rarely spoke to each other before supper, never at any length, but with the underwear incident that changed. It was as if the panties created a shared experience, a shared intimacy that had to be explored.
Jill was in first year at the local community college while Jake was finishing his final year at high school. Youth had been an awkward time for both of them, for a number of reasons.
First, while their parents were very religious, both siblings were indifferent and their resistance to their parent's beliefs created an ever-widening gulf between them.
Second, neither Jill nor Jake were particularly attractive. They weren't ugly, it's just that their bits and pieces were fixed at odd angles, making them both 'near misses.' But neither was worried about it. They had seen early pictures of their mother and while they looked like she did in her youth, a near miss, they could expect to look like she did as a mature adult, stunningly attractive.
Third, neither sister or brother were joiners, both would rather spend time alone then suffer the fools of convention, and this led to the fifth reason why youth had been difficult: both were no-nonsense individuals, more interested in what could be, then what is.
So all in all, youth had been a lonely time for both, neither had many friends and neither had ever enjoyed a romantic interest. But, that said, both were responsible and mature and were poised to blossom in their adult years.
The knock was louder the next day when Jill came into Jake's room. "Do you have a moment?"
"Of course," Jake spun around from his computer and motioned his sister to sit on the bed, "is it about the panties?"
Jill laughed, "No, I decided not to bring that up again ... Although I don't get it."
Jake shrugged his shoulder without a trace of embarrassment, "Nor do I, but if every man does it, who am I to resist."
"But 'does' what exactly?" This had been bothering Jill for the past 24 hours. She could understand that underwear was like lingerie, designed to entice, but entice the female body, not attract attention to itself. What did men actually do with panties?
"Look at them, feel the material and ... hey, don't freak, but, maybe, sniff them."
"You're kidding?" Jill's eyes were wide with fascination.
"Hey, it's what we do."
Jill was trying hard to understand. "Do you do it with mum's, too?"
For the first time Jake showed discomfort, "I used to, but I don't any more."
"Just mine."
Jake shrugged.
"Do you masturbate with them?"
Jake gave an exaggerated smile.
Jill laughed, more a laugh of surprise then humour, then she got to her feet, "Well, live and learn," she said with a laugh as she walked to the door, but once there she remember why she had come, "Do you want to go to a movie Friday night?"
...
Jake was fidgeting 10 minutes into the film. He hated chick flicks and his sister knew it, that's why she took his hand, squeezed it, and whispered in his ear, "Sorry, I honestly didn't know." But when she sat back in her seat she didn't let go of his hand, nor did he let go of hers.
There's a lot to think about when you're sitting in a blackened theatre for an hour and a half during a really boring film while holding your sister's hand. You start by wondering why you have a growing hard on and it kind of goes from there. Physically connected as you are, you think of all the good things about the person you're with, and Jake was flooded with good thoughts and memories of his sister.
They had never been particularly close, always preferring independence to close friendship, but they had always been fiercely supportive of each other; they had a bond that both knew would last forever; a bond based on respect: both had total confidence in the other, confident that the other would consistently make the right decisions. That's why the hand-holding seemed so natural: if they both wanted to stay connected, it must be right.
When the lights came on and they left their seats Jake brushed by his sister's large tub of popcorn and noted that it hadn't been touched.
...
They were in the car now. "Coffee?"
"Sure, as long as we don't have to discuss the film."
Jill was driving but stole a glance at her brother. "Bad wasn't it."
"I don't know, I tuned out at the first kiss."
The cups were before them. "I wonder how many brothers and sisters are out on a date on Friday night?"
Jake laughed, "Is this a date?"
"You know what I mean," Jill took a sip from her coffee.
Jake looked around the busy coffee shop, "Probably lots."
"Why didn't you let go of my hand?"
The question blindsided Jake, all he could think of saying was, "Why didn't you?"
Jill smiled, "I don't know, I asked myself that question a hundred times during the movie." She hesitated a moment before adding, "I enjoyed it."
"The movie?"
"Holding your hand."
"So did I."
...
On Monday, Jake was on his bed reading when Jill knocked and walked in. He noticed she appeared nervous; she hesitated for just a moment before sitting on the end of his bed.
The silence was unusually awkward, then Jill said, "Did you think any more about it?" When she saw his confusion she quickly added, "that hand holding."
Jake smiled, "Yes, I wondered why we hadn't done it before."
As Jill considered what she was going to say, Jake sat up and reached over to take Jill's hand and as he lay back, he pulled her gently over to him so they could hold hands comfortably. Jill looked at the hands clasped together and said, "How did it make you feel?"
"Like we were close, closer then we have ever been," then he added, because he would have felt like a cheater if he didn't, "I got a hard on."
But Jill didn't seem to hear the confession. "You made me feel really special, Jake."
Jake gave a contemptuous snicker, "I think we're both very horny."
When Jill turned on her brother she let his hand go, "Is that what you think this is about?"
Jake shrugged and smiled, unfazed by his sister's anxiety, "Partly. We both care about each other but if I was regularly fucking Betty Sue or Alice Ann or whomever and you were getting laid by Buck, Stud, or Well Hung, I don't think we'd have been holding hands, never mind talking about it."
Jill got up from the bed and was about to walk away when Jake grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "Come on, Jill, don't get mad, I just said what I thought was true."
As soon as Jill sat on the bed she turned to Jake, "Will you hold me?"
Jake sat up and pulled her close to him, with his hands around her.
She spoke into his neck, "You're right, aren't you? We are horny." Then she asked a question she had long wondered about, "Do you have any experience with women?"
"Zip. You?"
"Just with Becky and Ann," she laughed, "no none, not even a kiss."
"Do you want your first?"
When she spoke her voice was weak but certain, "Yes."
Jake gently and carefully placed his lips on his sister's, almost in a caress, but he left them there and gently moved his lips along her's waiting for a response, waiting for encouragement.
It came in her little nibbles, in her parted mouth, in her slight, guttural moans so he applied more pressure and sucked in her lower lip, gently biting on it, all along its length, and when he sucked at the corner of her mouth he let out his own soft moan and then broke away, pulling his sister to him, pulling her head into the nap of his neck, "God, Jill, that was fantastic."
Jill pushed away from her brother, got to her feet and when she looked down at him she smiled and left the room.
...
Jake's door was wide open when Jill walked through it the next day after school.
When Jake saw her he said, "The two perverts meet again."