Edited as of 2 July, 2009

Aniyu: Sorry for being gone so long! I was having computer issues.

Simon: Oh great, she's back.

Aniyu: (blinks) I see you got away from 'Fei. But anyway, I'm hoping to get two chapters up this time, and I'll have to postpone the review responses until chapter eight. Sorry!

Anayi: Cool. Let's see… since you were rude, you have to do the disclaimer, Simon.

Simon: (growls) Bitch. Aniyu doesn't own Dark is Rising, so don't bother suing.

Aniyu: Onward to the chapter!

Chapter 6:

Calm Before the Storm

Will watched in curiosity as Stephen and Barney went into the kitchen. 'I wonder what that was about... And why does it seem like certain people are hiding things from me?' Will glanced at Bran as these thoughts went through his head, before looking back at the kitchen door.

The albino boy had gone to the kitchen for more cocoa and had not returned for a good fifteen minutes. To Will's confusion, Barney had gone outside looking spooked just seconds before Bran had returned to the living room. Stephen had gone upstairs, giving Will a secretive grin at his questioning look. About ten minutes after that, Barney had tore upstairs looking a bit upset.

Jane had wanted to go up and check on her brother, but Max had come down a few seconds later, assuring her that Stephen had everything under control. Will had tried to ask what was wrong, but Max waved the question off and told a few jokes instead. Now that Stephen and Barney had made an appearance, Barney looking like nothing had ever been wrong, Will was positive something was wrong.

'There's a storm brewing, and I have no idea where it will come from. First Simon basically tries to molest me; Bran disappears for a fifteen minute cocoa run; Barney runs around looking like the Dark Rider's on his heels; and now he looks like nothing happened at all.'

Will's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched Barney and Stephen leave the kitchen and join them. Stephen seemed to notice his look, because he smirked in a way that said 'I'm not telling'.

The youngest Stanton turned to ask Barney a question, but Jane beat him to it. "Are you all right, Barney? You seemed extremely upset earlier…"

Barney blushed a little as he answered. "I'm fine, Jane. A noise startled me pretty badly while I was outside and I went to find Stephen since he seems to know about everything around here. Sorry if I worried you. I think I shocked Simon too when I ran past him."

The two Drew siblings laughed at that, while Will looked out the window in curiosity.

'Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Simon since that incident upstairs. Not that I'm complaining, but that does seem strange.'

Will noticed Bran's eyes narrow at the mention of Simon, and he couldn't blame the albino. Bran had been livid at Simon for the upstairs incident, and it wouldn't surprise Will if his best friend would prefer that Simon drop off the face of the Earth.

That made Will close his eyes with an inward smile. Bran had always been protective of him, especially after he had been introduced to the Drew siblings. He remembered how nasty Bran had been to Jane once.

She had made the mistake of saying that because she had known him longer, she was a closer friend of Will's than Bran was. The tongue-lashing she received had sent Barney into hysteric giggles and Will had looked at her in pity. Since then, Jane had gushed at the sight of him and Bran standing together.

'I doubt there's anyone inside of Time that could ever mean more to me than Bran… except maybe my siblings… but that's stretching it.'

Will opened his eyes to see Bran looking at him with a silent question. The stormy-eyed teen shook his head before gesturing to the kitchen. Bran seemed to understand, immediately standing up.

"Does anyone else want more cocoa? Will and I are getting more."

Jane handed over her mug, as did Max. The two boys went to the kitchen, making sure the door shut behind them.

Bran set the water to boil while Will dug the cocoa fixings back out. There was silence for maybe a minute.

"Bran? Why did you take so long to get cocoa last time?"

The Welsh teen looked at his best friend, whose eyes were full of questions. Bran really didn't want to have to tell Will about his conversation with Stephen, so he tried to play it off.

"The water was taking a long time to boil and Stephen was asking me about the first time you came to Wales. He seemed to think something had happened to you while you were there."

The ploy worked all right, but Will's eyes gained a new level of sadness that twisted Bran's heart painfully. He crossed over to Will's side and gently touched his arm.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?" Bran was suddenly reminded of their conversation on the train platform, and asked quietly, "Or is it about what you told me on the platform?"

Will looked up into Bran's eyes and nodded. That was all the answer Bran needed as he wrapped Will in a close embrace. Will leaned against his unknowing prince's body in gratitude and a bittersweet smile crossed Bran's face.

'How is it that a simple hug can make my heart soar and break at the same time? Duw, I can't even look him in the eyes without my heart trying to jump out of my chest! But… no matter how badly I want to tell him, something keeps telling me not yet…'

The kettle chose that moment to start whistling, causing Will to jump in surprise. Bran chuckled while Will swatted his arm with a smile. Bran pulled the kettle off the stove as Will prepped the mugs with one part cocoa powder and one part milk.

While Bran finished making the cocoa, Will looked out the window and froze. He shook his head and looked again with uneasy eyes. Bran noticed and looked at Will in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Will replied quietly, "It feels like a storm is coming. It's probably just my imagination."

But as Bran looked out the window himself, he couldn't help feeling that Will was right. Though it was clear and crisp outside, standing on a low hill was Simon. The eldest Drew sibling's back was facing them, and that worried Bran for some reason.

Little did Bran know, that what Will had seen was Simon standing in front of a rider and horse. A black horse, whose rider wore a light blue cloak and had red hair.

As the two boys turned to leave the kitchen, they both had the same thought.

'The calm before the storm…'

TBC…

Anayi: Not bad hikari. That's longer than some of your recent chapters.

Aniyu: Good. Well, I hope to have another chapter up soon.

Bran: (cursing) Damn it, still no kiss.

Will: (chuckling) That's a bit later, Bran.

Aniyu: Hey! No spoilers!!

Will: (sheepishly) Sorry.

Aniyu: Oh well. Hope everyone enjoys! R&R please!