Edited as of 3 June, 2009
Aniyu: (shocked) Holy Hell, people like my story…
Anayi: (amused) Don't mind her everyone, she'll snap out of it in a minute.
Simon: I'm very shocked that people like this… I mean, how can someone actually read, let alone write, me as a bad guy!
Bran: (eyes rolling) I'll borrow Anayi's phrase; cry me a river why don' ya? Besides, Aniyu can write you as a bad guy if she wants, she's the authoress!
Aniyu: (snaps out of her daze) Thank you Bran. Now, I'll do the review responses at the end of the chapter, but I'd like to send a big thanks out to my beta, Bronze. Bronze has helped me big time with the rewrites and I'm grateful for that. Thanks Bronze!
Stephen: Aniyu does not own The Dark is Rising Sequence, so don't sue.
Will: (looks at muttering lawyers) Do you want me to send you outside of Time? I hear the Black Rider's been extremely drunk since the final battle. (lawyers run away in a dust cloud)
Aniyu: Enjoy!
Love's Salvation
Understanding
Bran excused himself from the chatting circle to top off his cocoa, laughing as Barney feigned begging for him to stay. As he entered the kitchen, Bran spotted Stephen standing beside the cabinets with a curious look on his face.
Acknowledging the eldest Stanton sibling, Bran let the kitchen door close behind him quietly so as not to alert the others to their conversation.
"What happened between you, Will, and Simon earlier?" Stephen started.
The albino explained what happened with only slight hesitation. He had promised Will that he wouldn't hurt Simon while around the Stanton family, and he was quite sure that Will didn't want his family to know about the incident. But Bran had a gut feeling that Stephen was supposed to know. Stephen, meanwhile, was becoming angrier by the minute.
"That bloody…!" Stephen nearly swore at the top of his lungs, but Bran stopped him.
"I don't like it either. Duw, if I had my way, I would have thrown him out the window or at least have punched him! But that wasn't what Will wanted, so I didn't. The question is: what do we do about Simon?"
After a few moments of Stephen simmering down, the eldest Stanton sibling spoke thoughtfully, "I could ask Max to have Simon room with him tonight. The original plan was to have you, Will, and the Drew boys bunk together while Jane was with the girls and I shared with Max. I'll just switch with Simon and Max will assume that I want to spend more time with Will."
Bran nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. Maybe we could find some way to keep Simon busy…"
Stephen laughed, "That's already taken care of. The Drew kids have to go through dance lessons with the twins and the girls." Bran laughed as he remembered his own dance lessons and what they were for.
Bran had finished making himself another cocoa at this point and turned to go back to the living room; however, Stephen asked him a question that made him freeze in his tracks.
"Bran? I know this may seem abrupt, but do you love Will?"
(Aniyu: This would make a great cliffhanger… But I wouldn't do that all of you!)
The albino boy didn't know how to answer. 'Should I tell him? Or should I run as if the Grey King is after me?'
"It's alright if you do or don't; I just want to make sure the signs I've seen aren't a thing of my crazy imagination."
This made Bran sigh in relief. "Yes, I do love him. Who can't love him? I just wish I knew why he looks like he's carrying the world on his shoulders…"
Stephen nodded with a worried look. "I've noticed that too, though I was hoping you would have an idea why Will looks like that."
"I truly wish I did…" Bran hesitated before letting his sentence die off. He knew that the moment on the train platform three years ago needed to stay between Will and himself. The memory of Will looking so sad, vulnerable… it made Bran's heart twist painfully and his protective instincts flared.
"I do know this, I'm not going to let anyone hurt Will and get away with it," Bran stated firmly, determination burning brighter than the sun in his amber eyes.
Stephen gave him a soft smile, "I'm glad that Will's going to have someone who will always protect him when I can't. When he's yours Bran, you do your best to take care of him." Bran smiled in return, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Neither of them saw the crack in the kitchen door close, nor saw Barney walk outside to find Simon.
TBC…
Aniyu: Review responses!
(Azure-lupis) Cookies! Thank you for the compliment on how I portray the characters' feelings, I tried my best! Don't worry; I will see this through to the end!
(Fimbrethil) I'm really sorry about the '&'s! When I get my laptop back I will fix it! Now as for Stephen, I wanted him to be closer to home to help illustrate how much closer the family became after Mrs. Stanton and Mary disappeared; the whole Navy concept wouldn't have helped that. I chose to make him a university professor since some of the other siblings were in school-related positions.
As for how he became a professor, I remembered from the books that at least all the siblings except Stephen, Gwen, and Max were still in school. Since the disappearance of one parent would make supporting the large family difficult, I decided that, as the oldest, Stephen would quit the Navy to help out. The degrees and stuff I really didn't look into since this is just a fanfic. I'm continuing this, don't worry!
(Bronze) Once I get my laptop back, those '&'s will disappear! Simon will certainly get what he deserves, because he's an evil git!
Simon: (indigent) Hey!
Bran and Will definitely end up together; I wouldn't have it any other way! Thank you again for beta reading for me!
Aniyu: Please R&R!