A/N: Hi y'all! It's been ages, hasn't it? Sorry for the long wait – I've been at camp and stuff. No excuses. Don't worry; the next pause between updates will be much, much shorter. Hope you like it!
xox Sunny

Disclaimer: I do not own the Land of Elyon series.

Marco P.O.V.

The next morning, Alexa acted as if nothing had happened. She woke up and immediately began preparing for the first leg of the Stargazer's journey to Bridewell. The Stargazer was packed full of people and supplies, travelling from Castalia to Bridewell, by way of the Northern Kingdoms and Ainsworth.

"Everyone! For those of you who have just come on board, our first stop will be at the edge of the Northern Kingdoms. We will then be continuing on to Ainsworth, flying over the Great Ravine and into Lunenburg." Alexa said, addressing the people as the captain of the Stargazer. "From there we will go to Bridewell and, either to Turlock or Lathbury. Our journey will take a week, if the winds allow, and we should be able to return to Castalia from Bridewell in two or three weeks. We will stop and land the Stargazer every night so that we can rest, and will continue the journey in the mornings, as we have done for the past few days. Thank you." Alexa turned around and went back to work.

When the Stargazer was ready to take to the air again, she asked Phylo and Yipes to loosen the ropes. Although Phylo had been reunited with his mother in Castalia on the Stargazer's maiden voyage, he still liked to come on some the trips the Stargazer made. Yipes was married to Matilda, but he still came on a few trips. Alexa turned towards me.

"Marco, can you take the pedals? I need you to steer us up straight." She asked. I was surprised by the change in Alexa's attitude and the lack of the awkwardness that had hung in the air between them, but immediately followed her orders, settling into the seat and starting to pedal. The winds were good, so I didn't have that difficult of a job steering according to Alexa's orders. Instead, I kept sneaking looks at Alexa. She was talking to one of the boys that they had picked up at Castalia.

The boy said something, and Alexa laughed. I felt a sudden surge of jealousy. How was it that some random boy that they barely knew could make Alexa laugh with such ease – could make her like him so easily – when it had taken weeks for Marco to gain her friendship and trust? I looked back at the pedals and sighed.

"Who am I kidding?" I asked myself. "Of course she would trust him. I'm not good enough to be Alexa's friend, let alone anything more. I'm lucky she chooses to even acknowledge my existence." I sighed again. I heard a laugh and looked up to see Yipes looking at me.

"What?" I asked, wary of the look on Yipes' face. It was the look he had on when he was plotting something.

"You like her, don't you?" Yipes asked, a knowing smile on his face.

"Who?" I asked him, feigning confusion.

"Alexa."

"What?! No! I mean - yes, but –" I spluttered, looking quickly at Alexa to make sure she hadn't heard anything. She was still talking to the same boy.

"Right. You totally don't like her. That's why you've been staring at her all morning and why you look like you're about to murder the boy she's talking to." Yipes said, smirking even more.

"I don't!" I protested.

"You do, but that's ok. If anyone deserves her, it's you."

"Ok, now I know you're making fun of me. I'm the last person in the world who deserves her. She is beautiful and smart and kind." I said. "She and the Stargazer are made for each other – both tough as stone, but still gentle somehow. I could never deserve her." Yipes burst out laughing.

"It's worse than I thought! You don't like her – you love her!" Yipes was rolling over laughing "When did this happen?" I just glared at him, trying to find a way to kill him without Alexa noticing. "Fine, but let me give you some advice. Don't let her go."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Yipes said, climbing up one of the ropes and disappearing. I looked back at Alexa. She had stopped talking to the boy and was leaning on the edge of the box looking around at the darkening skies.

"Marco, Yipes, Phylo. It's getting dark and I don't like the look of those clouds ahead. I think that we should stop soon and settle in for the night. Could you guys prepare to land? Try to aim for that clearing in the forest at the edge of Mount Laythen." Alexa said, turning around. "We're making great time. At this rate, we should make it back to Castalia in a minimum 11 days."

"Sure thing Alexa." I said, already beginning to pedal. He carefully steered the Stargazer down towards the clearing. The ship went down without difficulty, and Yipes and Phylo were easily able to tie it down for the night. They made a fire and everyone sat down around it and ate some of the food they brought along. When they had finished and cleared up the food everyone settled in for the night.

Alexa and I once again found ourselves awake after everyone else had fallen asleep. We sat leaning against the outside of the box of the Stargazer. Instead of the awkwardness of the past few days, the silence between us was a more comfortable silence that fell between pauses in the conversation.

"Hey Marco, what were you and Yipes talking about earlier? He looked like he was about to die laughing." Alexa said, tilting her head.

"Nothing. He was being silly and jumping to false conclusions." I said quickly.

"Which were?"

"Nothing." I said sharply. "What were you talking about with that boy we picked up in Castalia? It looked like you were about to fall out of the box."

"Ha ha, very funny Marco. He was asking me how long the trip to Bridewell was going to take. Can you believe that he thought we would be able to be there and back in 2 or 3 days? That's what I was laughing about." Alexa said, shaking her head, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "We've become friends, of a sort. Why? Were you jealous?"

"No."

"You were! You were jealous!" Alexa laughed "Ha!"

"I wasn't jealous! I just don't want you to let down your guard. Even though Abbadon is dead, there are still people and things loyal to him." Marco said quickly.

"Right. I'm so sure." Alexa said sarcastically.

"Fine. I was jealous! So what? I was jealous that he could gain your friendship so easily when you hated me on sight, even after you knew that I had saved your life." Marco said, frustrated and angry. "I was jealous that he could so quickly gain your trust when I had to work so hard for you to even believe that I had no wish to kill you."

"Marco, I-" Alexa said, reaching out towards him.

"Never mind." Marco said, stalking off. He walked to where he had laid out his stuff and lay down, his back to Alexa.

"Great" Alexa whispered to herself "Now look what you've done, girl. Can't you ever do anything right?"

A/N: There we are! How was it? Drop me a review with your suggestions if you want!
xox Sunny