«Fulfilling Her Purpose» by Daniel Kay

Peter visits home for a family reunion shortly after working on a chemical experiment that went awry. Unbeknownst to him a potent airborne 'love virus' was created and carried back on his clothes. As Peter greets each family member the love virus spreads, soon infecting the neighborhood, and before long the whole world.

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

Still a bit damp from the shower, he peeked into her room and leaned against the door frame, smirking. “Hey, Jenny.”

“Petey!” she said, her eyes widening in surprise upon seeing him. Within seconds she'd abandoned her social networking game to envelop him in a big hug. “I didn't think you were coming home until tomorrow!”

“I got an earlier flight. I wanted to surprise Mom and Dad.” He found his embrace lasting a bit longer than anticipated. His little sister had changed considerably since he'd seen her last Christmas. Her boyish stick figure had finally begun to produce curves, and she'd let her hair grow out from the last awful haircut she'd let Mom talk her into. It felt good to hold her. A little too good. “You look great.”

She blushed, pulling back a little, but not out of his arms. “So do you. And you smell good.” She leaned in close to sniff him and then, to his surprise, pressed her face against his chest. “Mom said you had an important experiment you couldn't leave at work.”

“There was an accident,” he said, suddenly hyper aware of his sister's breath against his skin. He stroked her hair softly. “My fault, really. I dropped a vial of the neurotoxins we're working with, and it shattered all over the place. They wanted to hold me overnight for observation, but as you can see I didn't stay. I probably should've but, well… it's the holidays. I wanted to go home, they wanted to go home…so I talked them out of it.” He chuckled. “Don't be gullible like those college kids.”

“Mmm.” She shivered suddenly and put her hand on his chest. “What were you experimenting with?”