Shower Files II

I own none of the characters involved here. I want to make up for the, er, controversial "Shower Files". And now? Yes, it happened, I love Scott too!

~*~

Peter marched into the lodge carrying a black bowling hat. He circled the room twice and then sat down in front of the Cliffhangers. "Guess what I have in my hands?"

Ezra piped up. "A very modern, high fashion hat?"

Peter frowned at him. "No, I have a very fair system for dealing out chores." He dipped his hand in and pulled out a handful of papers. "These papers have your names on them. I pull out two, and you guys get assigned to a job. There will be no changing places, and no complaining."

All the Cliffhangers groaned a protest. Shelby nudged Daisy. "With my luck I'll be stuck with Princess." She whispered.

Juliette shot her a hurt look. "I heard that."

Shelby smiled sweetly. "I'm so sorry." She slapped Juliette's leg. "Have you put on weight?"

"Shelby," Peter warned.

She sat up straight. "Sorry, where were we? Oh, yes, Peter was about to hand out chores. Goody!"

He glared at her for a moment. "First job, chopping the logs that arrived this morning. That means all of them, and includes stacking them." He shook the hat and put in his hand. "And lucky winner number one is, Daisy."

Daisy smiled for a split second. "Oh, I do love to work with an axe." She stood up and stepped behind Peter.

Peter pulled out the next name. He struggled to open the paper with the name on. "Juliette."

Shelby sighed with relief.

"No way!" she protested. "Chopping wood is boys work!"

"And I said no complaints." He indicated towards the door.

"Now?" Juliette cried. "Today? Now?"

"And no dinner if you don't finish it."

Daisy took Juliette's arm and pulled her towards the door. "Come on, we'll make a butch carpenter out of you yet."

Auggie and Scott laughed, folding their arms across their chests.

Peter silenced them. "Chore two is the general tidying up of the grounds. Raking leaves, picking up paper, straightening benches." he swung the hat around. "Winner number one is, just a second, Ezra and in second place, Auggie, it's you."

The pair high fived each other and trotted off to start. Peter put the papers back into the hat and stood up. "You two clean the showers in the boy's dorms."

Shelby sat back in the chair as Peter left. Scott stood up. "I wont do it, I will not do it! Do you know what guys do in the shower?"

Shelby laughed softly. "Including you?"

Scott blushed. Shelby stood up and linked her arm into his. "Gives us some quality time together." She said with a hint of sarcasm. She winked at him. "Promise I wont touch the drains."

~*~

They started at opposite ends of the rows of showers and were finally in the last dorm. As they worked, coming closer and closer together Shelby could hear Scott humming softly. She wasn't close enough to make out the tune, but she enjoyed hearing him anyway.

She heard Scott empty his bucket and refill it at a basin. When the water stopped she heard him hum again. She recognised the tune as one of the songs he played on the piano. She stopped to listen, absently polishing the tiles. She finished her shower and smiled at Scott as he hopped into the last one.

She emptied her bucket and washed her hands. Scott emerged and smiled at her. Gathered all the equipment and washed his hands. Shelby was leaning against the wall, watching him. "I've always wandered what the boys bathrooms look like."

"Now you know. Come on, let's go."

"No," Shelby said softly. She took his hand and led him into a shower, closing the door behind them.

Scott looked at her, puzzled. Shelby stepped forward and kisses him gently. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. His tongue glided into her mouth, gently exploring the outlines of her teeth.

Shelby pulled away gently. She pushed him against the wall and took his lips between her teeth. She tenderly tugged at them, running the tip of her tongue over them. She released his soft lips and weaved her tongue into his mouth briefly. She pulled away and rested her head on his chest.

Scott pressed the side of his face against her head and tangled a hand in her hair. She used the same shampoo as he did, but it smelt so much better on her. He felt Shelby smile. "What?"

"I'm listening to your heart." She whispered.

"Do you know what it's saying?" he asked, cupping her face in his hands. He gazed into her eyes and kissed her softly. "It says I love you."

Shelby smiled, tears forming in her eyes. "I love you."

~*~

They walked into the dinning hall hand in hand. Scott only let go to pick up a tray. When they got to a table he held her chair out for her and sat down across from her. Daisy and Juliette were already seated at the table. Juliette had several band-aids wrapped around her fingers. "Blisters and splinters." She said before Shelby could mock her.

"Softy." Daisy said, ducking the spoonful of mash Juliette threw at her.

Auggie and Ezra sat down at the table. Ezra looked at Daisy. "Did you enjoy the chopping?"

"You tell me, you were watching us most of the time."

Ezra shrugged. "Everyone here started to help out when they saw us cleaning up."

Auggie scooped a mouthful of mash into his mouth and swallowed without swallowing. "Jules, what happened to your hands?"

"Just a scratch." She smiled, winking at him.

The group smiled at one another before becoming engrossed in eating. No one noticed Shelby's foot reaching out to touch Scott's.