A/N- Revised. 05mar08

Enjoying yourself yet?


On the other side of the fire, Olivia is talking with Julia again when she hears his name. At first all she can see is him standing with another woman. When she sees him pull her into a tight, very obviously caring embrace, she can feel the temperature rising in her cheeks. Next to her, Julia asks softly, "Isn't that his sister?"

His sister? Wow. That's SO adorable. He's willing to hug his sister in public. That hoodie looks really good on him. Illyrian red is definitely his color. It'd look really good on me too.

"Well since you're not freaking out I guess it must be her."

"Sorry, Julie. I got a little distracted. I mean, how many other guys are willing to show their tender side in public? Oh. My God. He smiled at me. Did you see?"

"Yes, I saw. Did you notice they're the same exact height? Even from this distance you can tell they have the same build too."

Finally breaking eye contact with her crush, she turns to face her devilish friend. "I also noticed she has long hair, wears plenty of makeup, has ample amounts of cleavage, and smells like coconut. Sebastian, since you're so blind, has short hair, sideburns, and definitely has something between his legs she doesn't. I know even you saw that. Everyone saw it at the game. That and his chest is firm and muscular and he has a great butt from playing soccer all the time."

A smirk lifts the corners of her mouth and her eyes shine brightly in the bonfire's light. Olivia's last words only further her argument. "Ah, so you agree he has the same build as his sister. And you admit you like his girly fig . . . Wait. She smells like coconut?"

A set of blinking lights from a high altitude plane catches Olivia's attention, she responds distractedly. "Yea, I could smell her moisturizer on her neck." Those innocent words drop Julia's jaw, emitting a pop audible over the crackle of burning wood. Not recognizing the sound as coming from Julia, she continues watching the receding lights. Around them the other sounds of laughter and clinking bottles of cheap beer crowds in. She shakes herself, and notices the quiet from her roommate.

"What?"

Slowly the dropped jaw raises back to meet its other half, but utters no response. The ensuing silence forces her to remember what she just said and a blush creeps back over her refined features. In a voice edged with embarrassment and uncertainty she manages to explain herself."I, I tripped and she caught me."

Suspicious stare.

"It was right after you went to talk to Kaylee and Sara. I thought she was Sebastian at first so I kinda clung a little. But, w-when I noticed she wasn't I pushed away only to trip again. She had to hold me tightly to stop me falling again. I couldn't help but notice the nice smell. You see there was this root tangled around my foot." Noticing she is rambling and getting only a silent frown in response, she shuts her mouth with determination glad she hadn't mentioned Viola had had to tell her she wasn't Sebastian. I can't believe I'm getting embarrassed about this. I fell. She caught me. I always notice when other girls smell nice. I notice if guys are wearing anything good too. "What is it with you lately? You've never given me this much crap about who I like before. Even that college jerk who was like five years older and told me I should lose a few pounds." A sudden frightening thought occurs to her. "You're not trying to turn me off from him because you like him, are you?"

"NO! No. I am so not even remotely interested in him like that. Way too scrawny for me. You know how I like my men."

"Yes. All muscle, no brain. Stop making fun of him. I've just never met a guy I can so totally relate with. He's just so honest and sensitive."

Maria frowns at the irritated look on Olivia's features, and decides on a change in approach. She drops her voice to a mellow plea and tries again. "That's just it, Liv. I've never met a guy like him either. One minute he's acting like a total player, the next it's like he switches and says something really sweet. It's like he's putting on a show for everyone, but occasionally his real side slips out and I can't tell which side is real. I just don't want to see my friend get hurt. I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but I'd appreciate it if you'd just stop. He's worth the chance of getting hurt. I don't need your approval." Not waiting for a response, she turns away hoping Sebastian is still where she last saw him. Across the beach she doesn't notice any sign of him or his sister. Several guys are standing around arguing about who's going to score the most goals next game. A few have the same hoodie that she saw Sebastian in and she concentrates on the shadowed faces, but no, not him. I guess we have been arguing for a while. I'll just have to find him again.

"Should I find you when I'm ready to leave?"

Responding with barely a glance back, her voice still hard with anger. "No, I'll get another ride home."

"Alright. Goodnight, Liv."

Ooo, Sebastian how did you manage to get so completely under my skin that I'm fighting with Julia? All I can think about is that kiss and how much I want to do it again. Nope, that's not him. Toby! I bet he knows where he is.

"Toby! Hey, have you seen Sebastian recently?"

"Yeah, pretty sure he went that way. Looked kinda tired, maybe he passed out."

Heading in the direction indicated, a slight breeze blown off the lake sends a shiver down her spine. Getting a little chilly out here, I'm glad I wore my jacket. Hmm, but if I didn't have it I could ask Sebastian if I could wear his. Sigh.Just how far did he go? As the distance from the fire increases, she passes fewer partygoers, and more occasionally just couples making out in the pale light of the waning moon. A few hundred feet more and the noises of revelry fading fast convince her to go no further. The rich scent of pine fills her sinuses. Breathing deeply of the fresh air, she takes a seat against the trunk of a particularly large and old tree to enjoy a little quiet. Somewhere out in depths of Lake Illyria she hears a fish splash. Without the crowd or even her Sebastian around to muddy her thoughts, blissfully she enjoys just sitting.

Quite a while passes with a mind free from turmoil and misgivings over her love for her lab partner. Having found a sense of peace lulls her eyes to flicker and muscles to relax. Without the usual distractions she allows her mind to play over favorite daydreams of a future her and Sebastian together.

Standing not more than a foot away he gazes at her, drawing her into those orbs of brilliant sapphire and emerald. As he snakes one slender arm around her waist he tenderly traces a finger from her ear to chin, tipping it up slightly. Boldly she sends her own slightly trembling hand to touch the perfect skin of his face. Rewarded with a knee-dropping smile she leans in for him to take her lips and she inhales his scent. Mmm, coconut.

Startled by her own imagination, a crashing sound from behind sends her pulse soaring even higher. While her heart pounds buckets of adrenaline through a very receptive nervous system, she turns to see a raccoon extracting itself from a fallen tree's tangle of dry branches. Its eyes flash with mirrored light, reminding her just how far from other people she is. Brushing pine needles off her tight jeans, from well-shaped buns to flared bottoms, she heads down to the grassy beach. Many miles above her, lumpy clouds choose this time to completely cover the bare sliver of moon, successfully blinding her. Robbed of the meager light she is forced to study the ground carefully to pick her way through branches and tangles of grass around an enormous fallen tree. Even with such careful study she almost misses the cans of beer half hidden in the brush.

Ugh, those jerks, can't they even pick up after themselves? Come on! Ew, I so don't want to touch it. I hope it's not sticky. Reaching down she picks up two empty Bud Lites and begins to turn away when she notices a third one closer to the tree. A closer inspection reveals that a soft, chilled hand wrapped around it. Luck is seemingly on Olivia's side. Clouds move on, allowing the moon to once again shine a little light back down to the little piece of earth being occupied by a young woman and her now revealed crush. The two cans drop back down with a slight tink and she quickly kneels by the sleeping form's side. She stays there, taking in his grubby Etnies, to slightly baggy yet stylish jeans, and farther up to the hoodie she had so admired him in earlier this evening. Slightly disappointed that he has the hood up, throwing his face into shadow, she is overcome with the need to assure herself just how in love with this boy she is. Her arguments with Julia had even started to poison some very treasured daydreams. Lingering adrenaline still coursing through her lively young body sets free any thoughts of controlling her emotions.

In one swift motion, she takes a deep breath, her hands grasping both sides of his hooded face pressing the thick cotton to his cheeks. Following closely behind are her moist, searching lips. Contact sends a thrill starting from her toes to fluttering eyelids. Unlike her last kiss, she is not satisfied with its simple rushed intimacy. No. She continues, sucking lightly on his lower lip, releasing and then treating the upper lip likewise. So soft, mmm. Several satisfying moments pass until her tongue feels left out, wanting to taste those lips and she finishes exhaling that first nervous breath. As she begins her next breath and her tongue flicks out, her mind begins to interpret the incoming information along with a distant voice she must acknowledge. He tastes, he tastes like raspberry. Must be his lip balm and his scent...

"Hey, what'd you do, pass out?"

Coconut?

"Vi, if you're cold, you should . . . oh, sorry didn't see you were busy."

This is not happening. No. No. NO! Roughly her hands thrust back the red fabric. A set of wide-open eyes stares right at her. Well done, lined, mascara applied eyes.

"Wait, Olivia?"

Yanking her eyes from the face she had just been so very intimate with, she forces herself to absorb the features of the new arrival. Same wide eyes, same curve of jaw line, same stunned expression stare back at her, and wearing only a white T-shirt. Her own face draws blank, showing nothing of the massive internal struggle to forge new connections, to accept what she did not want to have happened. Again she looks back at the face she is still holding, her mind turning the joyous moment before to the imaginary bat she wanted to hit herself with. I just kissed . . . Viola. Inside she feels herself exploding, the violence of it leaking out to knit her brows, to pucker her bottom lip, to burn her eyes with salty tears. No. Unable to cope, she shuts down, her limp body collapsing onto the still-paralyzed Viola.