“See you later Joe,” said Lisa, squishing Joe against her cheek in the best version of a hug she could think of. Joe hugged back as best he could and planted a small kiss on her cheek.

“Love you sis,” he said, and Lisa pulled away to get a good look at her little brother. They had all taken a ride over to Michelle’s house, the exception being Jake, who stayed back to work on a few things. Joe had a feeling that he was still a little bummed Joe had not decided to stay with him, but Joe knew he’d get over it. Lisa and Giada were now just leaving, and saying their goodbyes to Joe.

“You sure you’re ok with this?” she asked, and Joe rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You have to relax, Lisa, I’m in good hands,” he said, than looked down at himself.

“Like, literally, good hands,” he said, and Lisa laughed.

“I know, I just… If anything ever happened to you I… I couldn’t-,”

“Lisa! Get out of here!” Joe said, half laughing. Lisa sighed and handed Joe off to Giada’s awaiting hands. Joe smiled up at her.

“Try and be slightly less of an annoyance for Lisa than you usually are,” he said, and Giada snorted.

“What are you talking about, I’m always perfect,” she said, fluttering her eyes. Joe laughed and patted her palm.

“Seriously, though, be good for Lisa,” he said, and Giada brought Joe up to her cheek, giving him a hug.

“Oh, when am I not?” she said, and Joe just rolled his eyes. She pulled away and planted a small kiss on his head, not enough to cover him, just enough to ruffle his hair.

“You be careful, lil’ bro,” she said, and Joe frowned.

“Technically, I’m still older then you, even WHEN I’m tiny,” he said, and Giada laguhed.

“Whatever short stuff,” she said, pushing Joe from a standing position into a sitting one in her hand.

“Twerp,” he said, than smiled.

“Oh, by the way, who’s Jared?” he said, and Giada’s eyes grew wide.

“Wha- how did you find out about that?” she said, her face blushing. Joe arched an eyebrow.

“You know, Facebook isn’t exactly the best place to hide stuff from me,” he said, and Giada’s face grew redder.

“He’s just a friend I swear!” she said, and Joe nodded.

“Uh huh, sure, a friend. That’s why you two are ‘In a relationship’,” he said, and Giada started to stutter.

“Well I, um, that is, you see… Oh come on, Joe, give this guy a chance!” she pleaded, and Joe sighed.

“As long as he’s nothing like your LAST one,” said Joe, and Giada shook her head.

“Oh, he’s better! He really is! He really wants to me you, too!” she said, and Joe looked at her.

“Really? Why does he want to meet me?” said Joe.

“Well, he’s met everyone else, so now he wants to meet you,” she said, nervously. Joe raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged.

“Well, that’s obviously going to have to wait. I’m sure as hell not meeting him when I look like THIS,” he said, and Giada nodded.

“Right I know, I know. Maybe when you’re feeling better?” she asked, and Joe nodded.

“Ok, we’ll see,” he said, and Giada smiled. She handed Joe off to Stacy, who was standing close by, positively bewildered by what just occurred, and headed out the door with Lisa. When they were gone, Stacy brought Joe to her eye level, question written all over her face.

“How do you do that?” she asked, and Joe smiled.

“Do what?” he asked, as if he didn’t know what Stacy was talking about.

“You know what. How is Giada so afraid about your opinion on her boyfriends?” she asked, and Joe laughed.

“That’s between her and I. Let’s just say, if I don’t approve of her boyfriends, then a few specific facts that my sister doesn’t want getting out might end up on the internet,” said Joe, casually inspecting his fingernails. Stacy’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re blackmailing her? Oh, you fiend!” she laughed, and Joe’s smile grew wider.

 “But why? Why do you care about who she dates so much?” Stacy asked, sitting down on the couch, keeping her hand as steady as possible. Even doing so, Joe fell onto his butt when she landed on the couch.

“Oops, sorry,” said Stacy, but Joe put a hand up.

“No worries. And to answer your question, it’s because I’m her brother, and her OLDER brother at that,” said Joe, and Stacy stared at him, confusion still on her face. Joe sighed.

“Look, Giada dates boys. I am a boy. I think like a boy, thus, I know how and what boys think,” said Joe, spelling it out for Stacy as clearly as he could.

“Because I THINK like a boy, I KNOW what those dirt bags are thinking when they look at my little sister. I don’t want some hormonal ass hole dating her, and I certainly don’t want them breaking her heart,” he said, and Stacy touched her chest.

“Ah, that’s so sweet! You care so mu-“

“And if one of those mother fuckers even THINKS about breaking her heart or hurting her in any other way, I’ll wring their necks, gut them, and hang them by there entrails!” said Joe, making twisting motions with his hands.

“… Ew,” said Stacy, grossed out and a little creeped out at the same time. Joe sighed and took a deep breath, realizing that he had probably been a little too descriptive.

“It’s a brother thing, you wouldn’t understand,” he said.

Michelle closed her drawer, wiped her forehead and sighed.

“Whew, much better,” she said, glancing around her room. She had spent the better part of an hour cleaning it up to make it “Joe proof.” Joe had told her about the tough trek from the bathroom to her bedside table, and how it was made harder by the mess in her room. Once she had gotten home, she rushed to her room and began cleaning. Walking over to her bedside table, she saw a small silver toothpick. Picking it up, she examined it and remembered seeing Joe with it.

“It’s like a little tiny spear,” she laughed. It was still quite amazing just how small Joe really was, and she just couldn’t seem to get over it. Smiling, she placed the toothpick back down, making a mental note to give it back to Joe later.

“Soooo… he’s an alien?” asked Stacy, and Joe nodded.

“Yeah, now shhh!” he said, staring intently at the TV. Stacy was quiet for a minute, then spoke up again.

“And that blue box… it’s a time machine?” she asked, and Joe sighed.

“It’s called the TARDIS! Yeah, it’s a time machine, but it does other stuff too. Now SHHHH!” he said, and Stacy was quiet again. The show continued, until Stacy spoke again.

“So if they call him the Doctor, then why is the show called ‘Doctor Who’?” asked Stacy again, and Joe almost ripped his hair out in frustration.

“Gah! Because that’s the question! Doctor WHO! They don’t KNOW his real NAME! Now shut up, I’m trying to watch!” he said with a huff, and leaned up against the couch cushion. He was on a pillow next to Stacy, who had made the mistake of letting Joe pick what to watch.

“Remind me not to let you pick what to watch next time,” she muttered, and did her best to keep Joe company while Michelle cleaned her room. It had been an unspoken agreement between the two best friends that if Michelle was going to help keep Joe safe until he was better, then Stacy would also help out too. In all honesty, she had thought it to be no big deal. Joe was alright at normal height, and thought him even better pocket sized. Though, at the moment, he was being a but annoying. Finally, Michelle rounded the corner, and sat down on the couch next to Joe, making him fly into the air a little, then settling back on the pillow.

“Done!” she sighed, and Joe glared up at her.

“Hey! Watch it!” he said.

“Oh sorry, did that hurt?” she asked. She was still getting used to having to be super careful around Joe. Something as simple as sitting on a couch was enough to bounce him into the air, and she made a mental note to remember that.

“No I’m fine, but I didn’t hear what The Doctor just said! It’s hard enough to understand them with their British accents,” said Joe, maneuvering back into a sitting position. Michelle looked at the TV to see one of Joe’s favorite shows on.

“I still can’t believe you watch this show,” she said, scrunching her face up, as if she smelled something bad. Joe rolled his eyes and glanced over at Michelle. Smiling, he rolled off the pillow and made his way over to her thigh. He hopped up onto Michelle’s thigh and walked towards where her body lay vertical and leaned against her stomach, finding it even more comfortable than the pillow.

“That’s because you won’t give it a chance. And at least MY shows don’t follow the lives of pretty little rich girls who complain about everything,” said Joe, making note of one of Michelle’s favorite shows. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the remote. She did her best not to make any sudden movements while Joe made himself comfortable in her lap. It felt strange to feel him walking along her thigh, and it tickled her a little. He was certainly getting used to being around her at such a small size.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about we find something that we all want to watch?” she asked, and Stacy and Joe agreed.

Eventually, they came across a movie playing that seemed somewhat interesting to all of them, through Joe’s mind began to wander a bit. The warmth of Michelle’s body lulled him into a dreamlike state, though he wasn’t exactly asleep either. Seeing his sisters again had brought to surface some memories he had of Giada and her so called “lessons”. One in particular was nagging at Joe’s brain, and he found himself remembering it like it had been just the other day.

********************************************************************************

“Ha ha! Sucker!” said Joe, pushing Giada out of the way and racing down the hall.

“Oh come on, Joe! Not fair!” she said, stumbling over herself, her towel falling to the ground. She picked it up and rolled it up, not bothering to refold it. She wore a light pink t-shirt and pajamas bottoms that matched. She had been walking towards the bathroom to go take a shower when Joe had burst from his room making a bee-line towards the bathroom.

“Gotta be faster than that!” laughed Joe. He was shirtless and wore only a pair of boxers, something Giada found annoying about her brother. Was it so hard for him to not run around the house half naked? He reached the bathroom door before her, flung it open, and slammed it shut behind him. The sound of the door locking reached Giada’s ears even before she tried opening the door, but that didn’t stop her.

“Come ON Joe! I called dibs on first shower this morning! You’ve had first shower all week! No fair!” she said, slamming her foot on the ground. All she heard inside was the sound of Joe’s maniacal laughter.

“You snooze you lose!” he said, and Giada sat down in front of the door in a huff. She hadn’t had a hot shower all week, since Joe had gotten their first AND took all the hot water for himself. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

“Hey Joooooooe! Did someone forget to take their pills this morning?” she said, a smile playing across her lips. There was silence, than Joe spoke.

“Ah I’ll be fine, I’ll take it after my shower,” he said, and Giada looked surprised.

“Joe, you know the rules! Pills first thing every morning! Otherwise you might… you know,” she said. The sound of running water came from the bathroom, followed by the sound of the shower curtain moving aside.

“Oh come on, Gi-gi, it’s a SHOWER. What could happen in here?” he said, and Giada put her head in her hands. Typical Joe. This is how he got himself into trouble. She than began to realize something. She had asked him the same question the morning before and he hadn’t taken his pills THEN either. She may have only been sixteen, but she knew that was wrong, and she also knew Joe knew it was wrong. Standing up, she made her way towards her room.

Joe needed to learn a lesson.

“Hmm, hm, hm! Taken a shower!” Joe sang, rubbing the shampoo in his hair, his eyes closed as the soap washed over his eyes. He sighed as the hot water cascaded over his body, steam filling the bathroom.

“Pills, shmills, I’ll get them after,” he told himself. There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that was telling him he was being an idiot. An irresponsible, stupid idiot.

“Ah, what do you know?” he said to the voice, and began rinsing the soap out of his hair. The voice babbled on, but Joe continued to ignore it as he relished in the warm water. The soft patter of the showering droplets on him and the floor was enough to mask the noises made by Giada, who was picking the lock to the bathroom door. He hummed a song in his head, not hearing the slight creak as the door opened, and Giada tiptoed in. Moving as quietly as she could, she made her way across the bathroom, careful not to slip on Joe’s boxers, which lay carelessly thrown in the center of the floor. His towel sat on the toilet seat, which was exactly where she was heading. She glanced at the curtain, yet Joe was still unaware of her presence in the bathroom. He was in the middle of rinsing his hair, when Giada reached toward the toilet and flushed.

“Hot! Hot! HOOOOOOT!!!!!” yelled Joe, as the water falling on him went from luke warm to boiling lava hot.

“Ow!... Jesus! How the?- Oh god-o-oh no,” he felt himself begin to tremble and, despite the hot water around him, broke out into a cold sweat. The affects happened too quickly for him to register, and before he could get out of the shower, he found himself standing under Niagra falls. A raging waterfall that threatened to crush him now replaced the once soft and somewhat comforting feeling of the shower on his back.

“Help! Someone! Help!” he shouted, but he knew he was on his own. There was no way someone would here him from outside the bathroom. The torrent of water continued its crushing decent, and Joe fell to the floor of the shower. Through the water, he glanced back at the drain, though he wasn’t too nervous about being washed away. It was covered with a small covering that had small holes that let the water through, none of them nearly big enough for him to fall through.

The biggest danger he faced at this point was the weight of the water that was crushing him from above. The constant pounding was making him sore all over, and he couldn’t find the strength to crawl out from underneath it. He was sputtering and coughing up water every time he tried to take a breath.

“Need… help…” he coughed, trying as hard as he could to take a breath. The voice in the back of his head that had warned him about not taking his pills was back now, and he could here it telling him I told you so, I told you so, over and over.

“Oh shut up!” he said to the voice, taking in another mouthful of water. Just when he thought he couldn’t take another second of this pain, he felt two small tremors, and then the waterfall stopped abruptly. Panting and completely sore, he wiped his eyes and looked to see two large flat mounds of flesh on either side of him. As his eyes adjusted, the mounds of flesh took form, and he found himself staring at two massive feet. The toes were wiggling and he could see water running down them from the legs they were attached to. It took him no more then a second to recognize these feet.

“Giada!” he screamed and looked up, immediately regretting it and shutting his eyes.

“Gah! Giada! What the hell!?” he screamed, and a loud, echoing giggle followed. His now towering little sister was standing above him, stark naked. Giada bent down to get a better look at her tiny little brother, being careful not to let the water hit him to roughly. The water trickled along the back of her and down her back, flowing across her body, some of which ended up crawling down her legs.

“What’s the matter, bro?” she asked, and he continued to cover his eyes.

“Jesus, Giada, you’re… you’re naked! In the shower! With me!” he said, and she laughed.

“What’s the big deal? I’ve seen you naked before,” she said.

“That’s different and you know it!” he said, pointing a finger at her while keeping his eyes downcast. In his mind, being seen tiny and naked was one thing, since he couldn’t always be wearing clothes while he was small. But this… this was just wrong.

“Oh relax, jus think of it as a way of saving water!” said Giada, standing back up and putting her face under the water. It felt good to take a hot shower after a week of cold ones because of the very person who was now right underneath her.

“Giada! Get out, now!... Or-or at least let me out!” Screamed Joe, a hand covering his eyes while the other waved at her clenched in a fist. She ignored him and continued soaking her hair. Joe stood below his skyscraper of a sister, not knowing what to do. Obviously, he was stuck in her until she decided to let him out… Or was he? Lowering his head, he looked straight ahead, keeping a hand above his eye line to block the view of his sister’s… he couldn’t even bring himself to think the word. He scanned the tub behind her, looking for something, anything that might help him escape.

His eyes rested upon a washcloth hanging over the side of the tub, one end inside and one outside. It was made of fibers that were just big enough for Joe to use as handles to climb.

“Bingo!” he said. Taking careful steps, and being sure not to look up, he slowly began making his way between his sisters leg towards the cloth that would be his ticket out. But he hadn’t even made it a few steps when he heard a loud squirting noise from above, followed by a large weight landing on his head. The shampoo from his sister’s hand had fallen out and landed on his head, covering him head to toe in a strawberry scented soap.

“Agh Fuck! My eyes!” Joe cried, as he tried to rub the soap from his eyes, which were now stinging insanely. But no matter how he hard he tried, the stinging would not go, and Joe now found himself utterly blind and helpless.

“Well this sucks,” said Joe flatly, and heard Giada giggle above him.

“Whoops, sorry bro,” she said, as she continued to rub shampoo into her hair. In fairness to her, she hadn’t actually meant for any soap to get on him, but it was certainly funny to see him flailing around blindly. Laughing to herself and closing her eyes, she dipped her head under the water.

Joe found himself slipping and sliding as Giada washed the soap from her hair, causing Joe to have a hard time walking around now that the soap now covered the floor.

“God dammit!” said Joe, and fell face first into the floor, whacking his head. He tried to stand up, but his feet kept slipping, making standing impossible. Panting with frustration and exhaustion, he blindly began crawling around on all fours, trying to find something to help him stand. The water above him was once again upon him, though it was now much softer, no doubt because of the massive titaness that loomed above him. Finally, he head bumped into something, and he flung his hands up to it immediately, and cursed at what he found himself holding onto.

Giada giggled as she felt Joe’s tiny hands grab hold of right foot, and she did her best not to move her feet. At first, he seemed frozen in place, his hands clamped around her big toe, not moving an inch. Finally, she felt the small hands moving down her foot and towards her heel. Curious, she wiped the water from her face and peered down to see where he was heading. A broad smile crossed her face as she saw just what her ‘little’ brother was heading towards.

“This HAS to be her right foot,” Joe told himself, using his sisters massive appendage as a makeshift railing, and slowly sliding along it towards her heel. He had grabbed onto her big toe at first, hearing his sister giggle one again, making him even angrier. He once again tried to get the soap out of his eyes, but he was still blinded by the strawberry scented shampoo. After feeling around a bit, he realized that this was his sister’s right foot, and that fact gave him an idea. If he wasn’t getting out of this tub on his own, he at least needed to find a way to stay safe until Giada was done torturing him.

“Come on, it has to be here somewhere!” said Joe, as he felt the slope of his sisters foot increase. He would be at the ankles soon, and if his hunch was correct…

Success! The surface on which he was touching went from soft and slippery to warm and metallic, as he found his hands gripping on to his sister’s anklet.

“Yes!” said Joe, and her grabbed onto the chain with both hands. As best as he could do with no sight, he slipped underneath the chain so that his back was now to his sister foot, and he hopped up and onto the slope of her foot, keeping hold of the chain so as not to slip down the rest of the foot, ending him back at square one.

“Not exactly ideal, but at least I’m not slipping around like an idiot,” grumbled Joe, doing his best to stay put. He was sore, tired, and blind, so at this point, being tied to his sister’s foot by her anklet didn’t seem all that bad.

Giada continued to shower, moving from shampoo to conditioner, then to body wash, all the while Joe stayed securely to her foot. She hummed away, idly moving her feet back and forth, causing Joe to slip around a little, but not enough for him to fall off. She lathered and rinsed the top of her body, the soapy water traveling down her body and down her legs, making Joe’s hold all the more difficult.

“She is so gonna pay for this!” said Joe through his teeth, his knuckles turning white from his iron like grip on the anklet.

“Oh, can’t forget my feetsys!” said Giada, and Joe groaned.

“Oh, you got to be kidding meee-ah!” he said, as he felt Giada’s foot rise through the air. Joe hung on for dear life as Giada brought her foot up to allow herself to lather and rinse her right foot. She made a big fuss about getting in-between each toe, making it take a lot longer to clean her foot then necessary. Joe gritted his teeth, but he felt his grip slowly slipping. No matter how hard he tried, and now matter how hard he gripped the chain, the mix of soap, water, sweat, and exhaustion finally won out, and Joe let go, darkness surrounding him as he fell from his perch on Giada’s foot. Joe screamed in terror as he felt himself falling, having no idea just how far down he was going. What had probably only occurred over a total time of three seconds felt like an eternity to Joe. Right when he thought he was about to hit the floor, there was a swoosh from around him, and he felt five large fleshy digits grab him out of the air, ending his decent.

“Watch it there, lil’ bro,” said Giada, as if Joe had just fallen out of a tree for not being careful.

“I-I-I,” was all Joe could stutter. The soap in his eyes was beginning to clear, and he was starting to make out basic shapes again. His saw his sisters smiling face peering at him, the rest of her body blocked from view by her hand, a fact he was incredibly thankful for. He glared at Giada, who smiled and, using her free hand, shut the water off.

“There, that’s should do it. All clean now, bro?” she asked, and Joe said nothing, continuing to stare at Giada angrily. Shrugging, Giada stopped out of the shower, grabbed Joe’s towel, and plopped him down in the center of it, then grabbing her own and covering herself up. Grabbing another smaller towel, she took to drying her hair, glancing at Joe who continued to stare angrily at her. Giada finished her hair and combed her hair back with her fingers, sighing. She stepped up to the toilet, put the lid down and sat down, her eyes resting on Joe, who had still not moved an inch.

“So, what’s on you mind?” she said. Silence followed, until Joe finally spoke up.

“You… what- Giada, what were you thinking?!” was all Joe could say, and Giada laughed.

“Whatever do you mean brother?” she said in an innocent voice. Joe’s face was red, though she wasn’t sure if it was from anger or over exertion. Probably a mix of both.

“Giada, that was… that was horrible! You, you treated me like some sort of doll! I can’t even believe you’d do something like that! You’re my sister!” he was fuming now, and Giada stared at him, the smile on her face gone. She let him finish his rant then sat up, looking down on him.

“Yeah, you’re right, that was horrible. It was degrading, wrong, and you could have gotten hurt,” she said, and Joe nodded, then stopped. Wait, she was agreeing with him?

“Yeah… yeah, what you said,” He said slowly, not seeing where this was going. Giada took her towel and adjusted it, not wanting Joe to see anymore of her than he already had.

“But it was just me, though. And I would never let anything bad happen to you,” she said, and Joe went to speak, then stopped. She had saved him from the waterfall that threatened to crush him.

“But what if it HADN’T been me, huh? What if that happened to you somewhere else? Joe, someone could have killed you!” she said, and Joe was stunned. Giada kept going.

“This is your senior year, Joe. You’ll be away to college next year. What if you forget to take your pills then, and you get hurt then? Will there be anyone to save you then? And what if the drain was bigger, hmm? Joe, you HAVE to be more careful, or you’re going to end up a smear on someone’s shoe! Or worse!” she finished, and Joe winced. He felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought of being stepped on, drained away, or… a multitude of other things that he didn’t want to think about. Joe grabbed the towel the lay around him and pulled it up and around his small, shivering body.

He might not have agreed with Giada’s methods, but she was right. Joe had been getting careless lately, and he needed a reminder of that. He looked up into the eyes of Giada and was surprised to see not anger, or annoyance, or humor even, but sadness. It was a sadness that he felt to. Giada reached out and stroked Joe’s hair, something she had seen Lisa and her mom do many a times. Joe sighed and leaned into the finger.

“Y-you’re right, Giada. I have been getting careless, and I- well I needed to be reminded of that, one way or another. I’m just glad it was by someone I could trust,” he said, and kissed the finger. With a sad smile, Giada lifted Joe into the air and brought him to her cheek where she gave him a small, quick hug.

“Let’s keep this little lesson between you and me, though, ok bro?” she asked, and Joe smiled.

“Yeah, I think I can manage that,” he said, and Giada pulled away. A small, devious grin was starting to spread across her face.

“Do you need some help growing back?” she asked, and Joe shook his head vigorously. He knew where this was going.

“Oh, ah, no, no, I got it, I can do it,” he said, shuffling backwards away from his sister, which was hard considering he was literally in the palm of her hand. Giada’s smile grew wider, and her other hand started to snake behind him.

“Oh, I think you DO need some help. I mean, it’d be faster anyways,” she said, and before Joe could answer, her other hand darted toward him and began wiggling underneath his arms. Joe burst into laughter and began trying to squirm away. But her fingers were relentless, and Joe was incredibly ticklish.

“Giada, stope! Please! I can’t breathe!” he laughed, as Giada continued to tickle him. In a few minutes, he gave up struggling and let the inevitable happen. Soon, he felt himself begin to grow, and Giada stopped tickling him. She placed him on the ground and stood up. Half way back to growing, he grabbed the towel and wrapped it around himself. Finally, he stood back up at his normal height and looked at Giada, breathing heavily.

“You can’t let me do anything on my own, can you?” he said, trying to shake off the feling of Giada’s fingers tickling him.

********************************************************************************

Ok, so that lesson, he admittedly deserved. He knew that his sisters’ would always take care of him and keep him safe, even IF it didn’t seem like it right away. He was still deep in thought when a massive finger poked him in the side, and he was wrenched from his daydreams.

“Joe, you awake? I asked you how the movie was,” said Michelle, and Joe arched his neck back, trying to look up to see her face, which was blocked out by her massive bust that loomed over her head. It wasn’t exactly that bad of a view, but it was impossible for him to see her face.

“Oh, um, it was good,” Joe lied and Michelle giggled.

“You fell asleep, didn’t you?” she asked, and Joe shrugged.

“Sort of. Sorry, I kind of have a lot on my mind,” he said, and Michelle nodded. She reached down and was about to pluck him from his spot on her thigh, when her hand froze. Quickly, she flipped it over and placed the palm up so he cold walk onto it on his own accord.

“You wanna lift? I was gonna run to the kitchen to grab a snack,” she asked, and Joe smiled.

“I would love that, thanks for asking,” he said, and stood up on his shaky legs and walked onto her hand. Once settled, she carefully stood up and carried him to the kitchen with her, leaving Stacy asleep on the couch.