Author`s note: Again, thank you for all of the sweet reviews! PJoHoOFan and The First Maraudette, I belive you wanted an immediate update – well, here you go! Today was boring and I decided that starting the new chapter would be a good idea, but in the end I completed it too. And I listened to "Block Party - Signs". A lot (as in the whole day).

Hope you like it! Review, please! :)

Clarisse was in one of her moods again.

Sherman stood with hands in his pockets and watched her throw pebbles in the Lake from afar. She was glaring holes in the water and was cracking her knuckles. Other than that there was no indication that she was angry. Her face was an emotionless mask.

"¿Mis amigos, qué pasa?" and Chris was just in time. That kid had some sort of clock or a timer that knew exactly when to step in.

Clarisse threw him a blank stare and continued throwing pebbles. Only this time with more force.

"Why the long faces?" the hispanic boy had gained more weight during the past two weeks and now he was just skinny not skeleton like. His little sister too had gained back her lost weight, but the circles under her eyes stayed there, sometimes they got darker.

"I heard that there`s gonna be a new camper." Chris said with his hands behind his head and face towards the clear blue sky. "How can it be so cold when the sky is so clear?" he murmured.

"It`s winter, you idiot." these were the first words she had said that day. "Of course it`s cold."

"But why does it have to be "I can feel my fingers going numb and I`m afraid they`re gonna break like that Chinese dude from "Pirates of the Caribbean" cold?" " he yawned and sniffed.

"How can you talk that much without taking a breath when you smoke?"

"Wha- you told him?!" Chris was suddenly alert and not so sleepy anymore, firing his "mind daggers" at the girl that did not react.

"That day, on the same bridge that`s riiiiiiiight there," Sherman pointed the wooden bridge. "you remember? When you looked like you were chased by gorillas? Yeah, you reeked of cigarettes. It`s not hard to do the math." he poked at his nails. "Do you have some on you?" the older asked suddenly.

"You smoke?"

"Used to. But I`m desperate right now. It`s not like I`m gonna start again…"

"Pffffffffffft, yeah…. right…" when Chris looked at Sherman he was giving him the puppy-dog expression and looked like a cute Doberman with his head slightly tilted to the right, eyebrows drawn together and eyes shining. "Okay, okay! Jeez…" he threw his hands in the air in mock defeat and left towards his cabin.

"`Atta boy!" Sherman yelled after him.

"You`re not smoking." Clarisse said behind him.

He was just about to turn when he felt the tip of her sword on his lower back. Straightening in an attempt to move away from the weapon, he swallowed.

"Am I clear, Sherman?" she whispered in his ear and he could sense the dark aura behind him, nodding a few times. Just in case she didn`t catch it.

"Yes, sir." he sighted in relief when his sister backed away and turned to face her. "Oh, come on, it`s only one or two cigarettes, for fuck`s sake! I`m not gonna start again, it`s just a momentary craving, nothing more. If I`m lying I`ll wear one of Aphrodite`s children`s shirts!" he started whining the moment she was at a safe distance.

Her eyes were narrowed to little slits, calculating the situation.

"Fine. You start smoking I`ll arrange you a neon pink shirt, cyclamen jeans and neon pink Nike`s. End." she said, her face serious.

"Deal." Sherman smirked. Not on the inside though.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. What the fuck did I just do? We all know that once I start with one cigarette there`s no stopping. Shit. Fuck. Fucking shit. Shitting fuck."

There was a sudden gust of biting wind.

"I`m gonna wear pink for the rest of my life." his inner side cried.

"Yo, guys, look who I found on the way!" Chris shrieked. He was dragging a blonde kid with him. It was glaring daggers at Chris, but the hispanic boy didn`t seem to notice.

"This is Will! He`s the new camper I`ve been talkin` about." he looked so proud of himself. But his smile disappeared when he felt Will`s arm spasm while he was trying to compose himself. His fingers were squeezing and loosing, jaw clenched even when his mouth was open.

"Sorry, dude." Chris let go and stepped away with his hands in front of him.

The kid instantly calmed down, the anger leaving his face. He was wearing a grey "Awolnation" hoodie, sleeves rolled up. His arms were bruised and dirty, the knuckles bleeding. There was a tremor in his legs. The jeans he wore were missing several chunks of fabric. His face was also covered in bruises, a few large cuts on his jaw, cheekbones and one big plaster was covering most of his left cheek. Blonde matted bangs hid his forehead, but another large cut was visible on his left temple. His hair reached his shoulders and was tied in a half pony tail. Most of the hair had slipped away.

"You didn`t bring cigarettes, did you?" Sherman glowered at Chris.

"Uh… Oops…?"

Chris hid behind Clarisse and put his hands on her shoulders, using her as a shield. She just rolled her eyes, sighted and did the familiar "crossed arms" pose.

"Chiron made me do it!"

Sherman was smiling like a psychopath and approaching him when a pale hand stopped him. Will held an almost empty pack of cigarettes with a red lighter in it towards him, the lid open. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief and understanding.

Sherman took a cigarette slowly, as if it was going to disappear any moment, then he tugged out the lighter. When he was done he handed it back with a nod, showing his gratitude, and blew out a gust of smoke. Will lighted up a cigarette too and did a french inhale.

"Thanks, dude, you`re saving me here. I owe ya one." Chris said from behind Clarisse, but was looking at the cancer sticks.

"You want one?"

"Oh, my God! Are you for real?" Chris cried from happiness. Will shrugged.

Now, when the three of them were smoking it became quiet, the only sound coming from the inhales and exhales.

"So, how old are ya?" the hispanic decided to break the ice.

"Eleven."

Chris choked on the smoke and the girl hit him on the back a few times.

"I`m fine, I`m FINE, WOMAN!" he yelled and caught her hand before she hit him for the sixth time. "Eleven? You look like you`re fifteen, dude."

The blonde shrugged and took a deep drag, kept it in as long as he could, then exhaled while looking and the Lake.

"You look like you`re ten, Rodriguez." Clarisse said. That hit a nerve. Chris blew smoke in her face, but she didn`t react. Instead she kicked him in the gut and watched him gasp for precious air. He rested his back on the side of the wooden bridge.

"Dammit." he coughed.

Then they herd the loud music coming from Will`s headphones.

"No, there is nothing you can do I have not already DONE TO MYSELF!" the music boomed and Will made a face before lowering the volume.

"You listen to "Mindless Self Indulgence"?" the three of them asked at the same time.

"Uh… yeah." Will raised an eyebrow, his cigarette in front of him like a warning if anybody wanted to charge him, shoulders raised.

"I like him already." Chris grinned again.

"You remember when-" Clarisse started while looking at her older brother with a scary glint in her eyes.

"Ooooooooooh, yeah, I do." Sherman laughed and threw his head back. "We so have to do that again."

"Okay, what am I missing here?"

"One morning, when the little shits were deep asleep we decided that it would be nice of us to wake them up. With music. So one of the songs on the list was "Mindless Self Indulgence – Get it up"." Clarisse snickered. "And "Master Passion Greed"."

"With awakening, the tears will begin…" Sherman sang, smoke creeping from his mouth in waves. "What a splendid morning it was. We`re doing it again." he pointed the cancer stick at his sister.

"You bet." she nodded.

Basically, it was five in the morning and Mr. D was up, so they could stick to the plan, which was – "give the little shits a taste of their own medicine". They had awoken the whole camp in a matter of seconds, but the large music columns were placed around the Apollo cabin. It had been so loud that the glass vibrated. And fortunately didn`t brake. So the bastards didn`t have anything on them.

"I didn`t know that your hatred for the Apollo cabin burned that deep." Chris laughed awkwardly, it sounded fake. His hand was raking through his messy hair.

Will took a deep drag, eyes focused on the burning end of the cigarette.

"We`re not allowed to smoke, are we?" he said, voice raspy.

"Who gives a fuck? Legolas here, does it all the time." Sherman said, nodding his head at Chris for emphasis.

"I prefer being Gimli, thank you. Hey, Will, want a tour? Okay! Let`s go!" and like that Chris dragged Will away the same way he had dragged him there in the first place.

The siblings looked at their fading figures.

"Uh… what the hell?" Sherman`s cigarette died completely. "I was just starting to like the guy."

"You? Liking somebody new?"

"It`s not impossible."

"Fine. Then you dunk his head in the toilet. I have better things to do." Clarisse marched away leaving behind a confused half-brother.

Chris left Will in the infurmary after the two hour walk, so they could lose the strench of tobacco.

"I`m so stupid." he nagged himself mentally. "I`m so STUPID."

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" he stopped in his tracks and pulled his hair.

"What are you doing?"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he jumped like he was on springs.

Clarisse`s eyes were widened, her hand extended towards him like she was going to touch his shoulder. Or slap him. Or punch him. She was still staring at him like he was an alien in a hula skurt and pink earflaps.

"Are you-"

"Don`t touch me." she backed away from him. "Who knows what you`re infected with." then took another step back. Just in case.

"Will you quit that?" he pushed his hands deep in his pockets.

Something in his eyes made her look at him. She knew that he was getting worse again – all of those grins, the loud laughing, as if he wanted to convince himself that he was happy. That and the constant fidgeting, the incessantly touching of old scars and the emptiness that filled his eyes when he thought that nobody noticed. But he was a smart bastard and knew how to cover up his tracks. He was almost "everything proof". Almost.

Nobody was "Clarisse proof".

She continued staring at him. And he finally noticed.

"I don`t have flees if that`s what you`re thinking." he laughed, but Clarisse could see through the façade.

"Or parasites for that matter." he swallowed.

"I`m not an alien, too, you know." his mask was breaking and it was like she was watching cracking glass – little webs everywhere, until it… fell apart.

"I`m not wearing pink either, so you can stop looking at me like I`m some sort of a Barbie." the same way Chris was falling apart.

"What? Did antennas come out of my head or something?" he had strength, she admitted that. But it wasn`t enough, not anymore. She kept her mouth shut.

"Say something." the forced laughing stopped.

"Stop it." he took a deep breath.

"Stop looking at me like that." there wasn`t any trace of a smile left on his face.

"Clarisse." the haunted look reappeared. A second. Two seconds. And it disappeared.

"What are you doing?" his mouth clenched.

"What are you trying to prove?" anger swam in his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Answer me." one second he was just standing there, the next he was gripping her shirt, lifting her from the ground, until she wasn`t touching it anymore.

"Answer me, dammit!" fear was sneaking in between the anger.

His mask finally fell.

As if his eyes cleared and became a deeper brown – mocha brown. Anger was replaced with desperation.

She covered his hands with hers smaller ones. His eyes started filling with liquid. She squeezed tighter. The liquid was on the verge of overflowing. The warmness of her fingers ceased his trembling. A tear slipped. She brought her forehead to his. The tear rolled down his cheek. Their brows rested against each other. A sob rumbled like thunder in his throat. She unclenched her jaw. He inhaled the cold air in his lungs. She closed her eyes. So did he.

"It`s…" she started.

"Don`t."

"It`s going to be-"

"Clarisse, just don`t."

"Alright. It`s going to be alright." he choked on the air he was exhaling. "Not now." her thumb patted his skin. "Not tomorrow." then a second time. "Not in a month." and a third time. "But eventually." and a fourth.

His shoulders shook, his mouth trembled, the tears burned.

"It hurts."

She hit her brow with his gently, her grip turned vice for a second, then loosened.

"I know."

Reviews motivate me, you know!