Thank you for reviewing, and apologies for the long wait, I had some exams to take care of. Hope this is to your liking...

2

Friends United

For the first time in what appeared to be forever, Hornet didn't cry herself to sleep. Her head was spinning from the unexpected encounter and she hardly noticed slowly drifting off to sleep.

He hasn't changed, really, she mused, her eyes drooping, he looks much older, much more grown-up. But his eyes are still the same. And his akward smile is, too.

She had told him she had missed him, and it was true. It wasn't the way she missed Prop. With Prop gone, she felt like a part of herself was gone, too. It was physical pain, as real as a cut or a bruise.

With Scip, it was different. It was a creeping poison, gnawing at her heart in secret, and she only noticed when she had seen him again. It had surprised her as much as him, she recalled, and smiled weakly.

And as the first hint of dawn crept over the rooftops, Hornet, a soft smile playing around her lips, drifted off to sleep.

The shrill, demanding ring of her alarm clock woke her. She kicked it away; it hit the wall, its weak, dying tone gave her a grim satisfaction. Digging for her school uniform, she silently debated with herself whether or not she should tell the others about Scip. She should. They had the right to know.

She was halfway dressed when Ida's voice carried up the stairs.

"Hornet, hurry, you'll be late!"

Maybe later.

Hornet disliked school. As much as she loved reading, the lessons about the mountains of South America or French grammar seemed to last forever, and she didn't have any friends to speak of that could light up her day. The other kids thought she was depressing. They said she pulled a face as if summer holidays had been cancelled. Hornet disliked the other kids as well. She was always watching the giant clock above the door, and this time she was even more eager for the day to end. Going home meant going to her books, and today, going to her books meant getting the afternoon to go by more quickly. And that meant seeing Scip again.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the bell rang for the last time that day. Grabbing her books, she hurried out the door, not looking back until she had reached the small house wedged between grey stone walls, looking lost and forlorn in the cloud-covered city. She unlocked the front door, giving Ida and Victor in the kitchen hardly more than a nod, and disappeared upstairs, dropping her books on the floor. Her uniform landed in a corner. It was going to be wrinkled tomorrow, but Hornet couldn't say she cared. Nobody was going to comment on it anyway, so why bother?

She dressed in a sweater and a skirt, lit the lamp next to her bed and settled on it, opening the book she was currently reading. It was gripping; a story about a girl who travelled to Arabia to find her mother. Right now, she was posing as a boy in order to get hired as a cabin boy on a ship about to cross the red sea, and was dangerously close to being discovered.

After about fifteen minutes, Hornet still hadn't read a single word. She turned off the light and stared at the darkening ceiling, her head full with thoughts of Scip and Prosper.

Time passes slowly when you're waiting on someone. Hornet watched the clock ticking away in slow motion. At one point, Ida called her to dinner. Then Victor. She didn't respond and the house fell silent again. In shortening intervals, she got up to peer out of the window and, when nobody was outside, sat back down with a disgruntled sigh. Finally, exhausted and confused, she fell asleep.

Hornet's eyes snapped open. 11:09, the clock told her. She jumped to her window, and there he was, sitting on a bench on the other side of the street. She sprinted down the stairs, calling "I'm going out!" to the amazed grown-ups, and only came to a halt when she had reached Scipio.

"Hey." He smiled. "Tired?"

She cocked her head. "A little. You?"

He shook his head. "Naa."

Hornet raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, maybe a little. I got up early to practice."

The girl stared up at him, her neck bent at a strange angle. He really had gotten a bit too tall for her liking.

"Practice? Practice what?"

"Oh, nothing. I've been swimming, that's all."

Hornet chuckled. "Oh yeah? Who're you trying to impress?"

Scipio blushed, then smiled. His dimples reminded her of Prosper, all of a sudden, and tears welled up in her eyes again, for the first time that day. She blinked them away hastily, but Scip noticed anyway.

Handing her his hankerchief, he smiled sympathetically. "Oh yeah. That happens to me too. Constantly."

Hornet fingered around with the hankerchief. It was as white as the dreaden snow, she noticed with vague surprise.

"You start crying in public?"

"No. But that I suddenly think of him and everything just goes to the devil."

Hornet merely sniffed. She buried her face in the soft cloth and started as she felt an arm on her shoulder.

Scip smiled. "Who wouldn't? I mean, it was Prop. How can it ever be okay without him?"

Tears were rolling down Hornet's cheeks now, but she smiled and leaned against his chest.

"You've gotten awfully tall, you know."

Scip nodded almost ruefully. "Yeah, I know. Imagine what it feels like to suddenly be able to spit on anyone's head."

Hornet giggled. "Did you?"

"No. But I was tempted, believe me," Scip said, wrapping his arm around her more tightly. "Didn't you bring a coat? It's cold out."

Hornet edged closer to him. It was strange. They hadn't had a lot of physical contact when Scip still looked the sixteen-year-old he was, but now that he was so much taller and broader, it just seemed natural. She had forgotten how good it felt to be touched by a friend.

"Forgot. If I go back in, they're bound to ask questions."

"Well then, let's go somewhere warmer. Then you won't have to look up to me any more, either."

They found a small café and talked; talked about Prop, about Scip, about Hornet, about Bo, about Ida, about Victor, about Ida and Victor, about school, work, friends, everything. They smiled, they frowned, they mocked others, and Hornet felt warm and protected. She hadn't felt this comfortable in so very long, and she pulled a face when Scip suddenly glanced at his watch and informed her that it was getting late.

"You are going to take me home, aren't you?"

Scip shrugged as he took some money from his pocket, but Hornet could see he was blushing.

"If you want me to."

Hornet jumped to her feet. "Yes, I do."

They parted at Ida's front gate.

"When are you going to introduce yourself?" she wanted to know.

Scip frowned, just like Prop used to do. "Er… Tomorrow?"

Hornet smiled; a slow, tentative smile, like she hadn't done so in a long while, as she watched Scip go.

"Tomorrow," she whispered.