A/N: I really hope you like this chapter, it's mostly...fluff. I think that's the right word. The story will pick up in the next few chapters. Please R&R. Seriously, even if you're just telling me about a typo or grammatical error. I love feedback of all kinds.

"I ran up the door, opened the stairs, said my pajamas and put on my prayers - turned off my bed, tumbled into my light, and all because he kissed me good-night!" ~Author Unknown

Chapter Six:

She loved him like a fat girl loves a hamburger; the love was unnecessary and unneeded. Whether or not he was healthier for her than the hamburger was for the fat girl, well, that is undecided.

We packed up and ran for the entire day. Cindy decided we didn't need guards tonight, again, and again with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. The guys fell asleep fast and I was about to do the same when Cindy whispered in my ear.

"Go cuddle with Jasper." I turned to her in confusion. She took in my reaction and sighed.

"Uhg. Watch me and do what I do."

She walked over and kneeled down next to sleeping Aidan. She laid her head on his chest and made herself comfortable. Aidan acted on reflex and wrapped an arm around her as he continued to sleep deeply.

"Now you," she whispered.

"No."

"If you don't I'll tell Jasper your real name," she threatened.

"You wouldn't dare." I glared at her.

"Yes I will Giselle Beatrice Arista." Damn, she would tell. Cindy closed her eyes after one last glance at me.

I looked over at Jasper and sighed, I knew I could never be that bold. I wanted to be, it would be amazing to fall asleep in his arms again. I looked over at Cindy enviously; she was falling asleep on Aidan's chest. Cindy was so brave, so bold, and I often wished I could be that way too. But since I was obviously not, I watched as Jasper slept and waited for unconsciousness. I could see his chest rising and falling with his breath.

When we awoke Aidan looked both extremely pleased and extremely surprised to find Cindy in his arms. She seemed pleased by his reaction and smiled at him often. Once again, I was envious. Aidan so obviously returned Cindy's feelings for him.

Jasper seemed every so slightly down. He was quieter than normal and when he smiled at me it didn't quite reach his eyes. I hoped he would get over it; I didn't like seeing him upset, even in the slightest way. I wondered suddenly, if he was envious too. I quickly shoved the thought aside as foolishness.

"Coward," Cindy whispered bitterly in my ear. I ignored her and began the run.

We ran well through the day and into the night, arriving at the mine near one o'clock in the morning. I was tired and my legs felt like jelly. I wasn't too tired to notice that Lin was asleep nestled in Ian's chest in the main room. Ian watched us walk in and put a finger to his lips in order to remind us to make as little noise as possible.

I walked into my room, changed into my cotton and eyelet lace nightgown that was floor length. In reality it was one of the only two nightgowns I owned. Both the nightgowns were identical and the same white color. We had stolen them on a "sneak"; I loved them. They were comfortable and pretty.

I snuggled next to Emma and pulled the large comforter over my body, rolling myself into a ball. It felt nice to sleep on a mattress again instead of the hard ground, but—and I quickly shunned the thought—I would trade my mattress any day to fall asleep in Jasper's arms.

I dreamt I was running with nowhere to go. I kept thinking someone would find me, but no one ever came. I remember that I stopped running. The land became barren and my vision turned to black and white. I couldn't recall anything else, but I remember feeing strangely lonely and horribly shaken.

When Emma and I walked out into the main room the next morning Cindy was sitting on Aidan's lap while Lin was lying down with her head against Ian's knee. Quite apparently Lin and Ian had become rather cozy during our absence.

Ian quickly opened his eyes at the sound of our footsteps, reflexively reaching down to Lin. When he saw it was just us, and not a threat, he gently shook Lin awake. She gazed up at him and smiled before shifting her body towards us. Ian rose to his feet and held out a hand to her aide. Things had changed immensely between them, I could see that.

Lin was rather shy, but quite outspoken at the same time, and her emotions were often only visible to the trained eye. But she was wearing her heart visibly for all to take note of and Ian was acting similar. I didn't know what had occurred to force this change, but I both rejoiced it and begrudged it.

Lin would have fallen for Ian just for the pure fact that he showed interest in her and was kind, but she had done more than fallen. Lin was completely on cloud nine, and I envied her. Jasper and I danced around each other, and I still was not convinced that he viewed me as more than a friend.

"Good morning," I said while fighting back a yawn.

"To you also," yawned Aidan.

"Hey Aidan?" Ian asked.

"What's goin' on mah bro?" Aidan replied, once again in an unfamiliar accent.

"Do you think I can have that book I lent you back?"

"Sure, let me go get it."

Aidan walked to his room and shortly returned with a tattered book and furious look upon his face. I could tell by Ian and Lin's grins that this was another prank, and I could tell by Aidan's face this was going to be a battle.

Aidan was a relatively easy-going guy. He didn't get angry often, and didn't get upset easily. Aidan made jokes, teased people, and was never without a witty remark or idea of revenge. In fact, the only time I knew of him becoming angry was when Cindy first told him about Simon and Louis.

"Is there a reason my room smells like rotting fish?" He was seriously pissed. Cindy walked to him and stood at his side with her arms crossed, awaiting the same answer Aidan was.

"Rotting fish? Good guess!" Lin laughed.

"Where did you hide the rotting fish in my room?" Aidan asked through a tight jaw.

"You'll have to beat it out of me," Ian dared.

Aidan ran at Ian and smashed him to the floor. The boys rolled around on the ground, arms and legs flailing. The boys would cuss loudly when the other brother landed a kick in the ribs or managed to hit them in the face. They yelled incomprehensibly and threw many punches.

"Should we be worried?" Lin asked.

"You should be, Aidan's going to kick his ass," Cindy informed her as though it was a fact.

"Want to bet? Ian's going to completely cream him!" Lin exclaimed defensively.

"Sure he is," Cindy's voice was full of mocking sarcasm.

"Oh shut up, you know that Aidan's a baby!"

"Excuse me?" Cindy was furious.

"He. Is. A. Baby." Lin annunciated each word so as to get her point across. Wonderful, I was raising seven kids now.

Cindy pounced at Lin, and I had to act quickly. While in the process of pulling them off of each other I managed to get clawed and shoved to the ground. When I finally forced them apart I was panting from effort, and Jasper (who had just walked in the room to find the battle) was holding the boys apart.

"Okay, now Ian, where did you hide the fish?" I asked, still short on breath from a blow Lin sent me in the chest during her effort to get at Cindy.

"I'm not telling!" Ian yelled, acting extremely childish. Jasper sent him a stern look.

"Yes you are! What if a bear smells that fish? What about some other wild animal? Why do you think we lock up the food in a cabinet?" My temper was at its end.

"It's under his bag in the back left corner," Ian spat, his mouth was bleeding.

Aidan stalked out of the room in a fury and returned second later with a bowl of rotting fish. The smell burned my eyes and nostrils; it lingered in the room long after Aidan had thrown it outside a considerable distance away from the cave entrance. The rotting smell slowly receded over the hours, as did the tension in the room.

Cindy and Aidan were treating Ian and Lin as though they were lepers, avoiding them like the plague. As unbelievable as it may seem, the avoidance was a heavily welcomed step above the evil glances and near fights that had haunted the first hour after the "fish-incident". The only part of the improving atmosphere was the contentment that now seeped out of Aidan and Cindy; they had planned something big for revenge.

Later that day, shortly after three or four, Cindy announced that she felt absolutely grimy and wanted to go for a swim as a group, of course she also decided that the kids should stay home and hold up the fort since Emma was still finishing up her nap.

"Sounds fine to me," I agreed, as had the rest of the group. "Arthur?"

"I definitely wish you would let us come, but Katie and I'll stay and watch Emma," he answered, still hopeful that we may change our mind.

"Katie?" Cindy asked.

"I promise not to cause any trouble until you return," Katie said begrudgingly, she hated being left behind.

With that we took of leaving behind the promise of a return in time to make a late dinner. We strolled down the faint path to a small basin near the joining of two rivers with smiles plastered on our faces, we rarely had the chance to enjoy ourselves as a group without the children to set an example for, and we rarely had the chance to simply let go.

"On three," Aidan decided as we stared down at the edge of the water. "One, two" and as if on cue all three guys tackled us into the water before the preparation of "three" came.

Cindy, Lin, and I let out high pitched squeals as the cold water soaked us and the tights shorts and tank tops we were wearing. We were engulfed in water; it streamed down our faces and shocked our every nerves. Surprisingly, the freezing water and chilling moisture was pleasant and refreshing.

"You know, I have a great idea," Jasper exclaimed as he resurfaced from under the clear, river water. His chest was built, with a slight tan from his shirt. Although I'd seen it before, I still blushed slightly. He was so handsome, and seeing him with so little on was making my mind wander to unfamiliar places.

"Does your idea involve convincing the girls to skinny dip?" Aidan joked. Cindy smacked his arm. "Just kidding. Sorta." She smacked him again while Jasper just rolled his eyes.

"Let's play chicken!" Ian announced, cutting Jasper off right as he opened his mouth.

"Yes!" Lin agreed, already glancing over at Cindy with a cocky smile.

"What are the teams?" I asked. The entire group stared at me, I obviously was missing something.

"Lin and I," answered Ian with a kind sort of pity for me.

"Aidan and I, of course," Cindy announced in a very sure tone, and I realized what I had missed that was obvious to everyone else. Of course they would be partnered together, and of course I would be partnered with Jasper.

"They're so going to lose Jasper," I informed him confidently. I walked over to his side and pretended that it had been my intention from the very beginning to partner with him.

"Yes, they are," he agreed, pounding knuckles with me as a sign of comradeship.

The whole game was silly and amazing. In the first round Cindy knocked Lin of Aidan's shoulders after a dirty tactic, she tickled Lin right in her stomach—Lin's most ticklish point—and won gracelessly by pushing Lin back into the water as soon as she surfaced from her first fall.

In my match against Cindy I knew I would have to fight dirty and break a few rules, it eased my conscious to know that she would be planning to use the same tactic. As I boarded Jasper's shoulders I was highly aware of how I oriented myself on him so that I wouldn't fall off easily.

The fight was short, and consisted of many laughs and giggles. In the end I managed to accidentally kick Aidan—causing him to lose his footing—and shove Cindy off his shoulders easily. She sorely lost and managed to pull me from Jasper's shoulders once her head was above water.

It was a rather good spot of fun, and we played several rounds more until Jasper and I were announced supreme champions and were given a large rock of jade Ian found at the bottom of the river as a grand prize. To our dismay when we looked up at the sky we could see the setting sun and decided we should change into the dry set of clothes we brought and head back to the cave before Arthur and Katie managed to destroy the mine beyond repair.

Shortly after leaving the boys we decided to have a meeting tonight, the usual, midnight in our secret meeting room.

Cindy, Lin, and I headed to a clearing separate from the boys in order to change. We each had simply brought our nightclothes, seeing as we figured it would be nearly nightfall when arrived back home to cook a late dinner. Lin had brought a pair of silky shorts and a white tank top; Cindy, a short nightgown that cut slightly too low in my opinion; I brought my usual white floor-length cotton nightgown with lace trim around the bosom.

I finished changing quickly and turned to see if the other girls had finished too. Lin was still drying off her naked body in her towel while Cindy…while Cindy was stealing her clothes!

"Cindy!" I yelled, but it was too late. Cindy was already running off, fully dressed, with Lin's clothes in her hands.

Lin turned around to grab her pajamas and looked at Cindy's fleeting figure in horror. Cindy had not only taken her dry clothes, but her wet ones as well. Lin took off in a sprint after her, struggling to cover her running figure with the towel.

"I'm going to kill you!" Lin yelled with fury.

I chased after them, hoping to be nearby when the fight started so as to stop it before there was too much blood and gore. To my horror it was not only the three of us running, and suddenly I saw Aidan and Cindy's horrendous revenge forming in my mind.

Ian yelled a very colorful set of swear words at Aidan from the distance.

The boys were running straight at us, in a very similar procession that we were in. Jasper was trailing behind just like me, awaiting the chance where his mediation would be needed, Ian chased after Aidan while clutching a small towel around him—and yelling ever more colorful words—while Aidan raced ahead of him with Ian's clothes in his arms and an evil grin on his face. To my horror—which continued to grow with each second—Aidan was running straight to Cindy.

Neither Ian nor Lin saw anything but their fleeing clothes and dignity, and neither of them responded to my yells or warning. Shortly after Aidan and Cindy passed each other with identical grins Ian and Lin smashed into each other forcefully.

For a long moment neither of them dared even breathe, both frozen in embarrassment and horror. When they finally moved they were desperately coving themselves with their towels and were untangling themselves from each other. They blushed fervently and Ian offered his hand to Lin so as to help her to her feet.

She refused his outstretched hand and stood up on her own, staring at the ground as she apologized with a hoarse "s-s-sorry" and snatched her clothes from Cindy's stationary hands. Ian watched as she left to change without once looking back at him.

"That was too far Aidan!" bellowed Ian once Lin was long out of sight and his voice had apparently returned.

"I don't think so," Cindy disagreed, but Ian didn't seem to hear her.

"What if she never looks at me again?!" he yelled with fury.

"Oh, she'll look at you. And she'll know what's underneath," Aidan snickered. "It's okay, size doesn't matter."

And that was it; that was Ian's breaking point. He smashed his fist straight into Aidan's jaw, grabbed his clothes, and stormed away to dress. He left us all standing there in shock, in utter silence. Aidan was no longer grinning.

Amazingly enough, as the evening passed, it was as though the horrible prank had never occurred. Lin acted no differently than she ever did, and Ian slowly began to stop walking on glass around her. Cindy and Aidan seemed disappointed that their prank had no lasting effect, but Aidan seemed to wear the darkening bruise across his jaw as a trophy of his revenge.

I figured that the reason Lin made no huge commotion about the ordeal was because she was too far past embarrassed. She must have simply wanted to pretend that it never happened and that it had all been some horrible, atrocious, discomforting nightmare.

Late that night, after we were all in the meeting room, I turned to Lin and asked the question that had been burdening me since we first cane back from our "sneak".

"So, what happened with you and Ian? What happened to make you guys like this? I crossed my fingers to show how close they had grown in the small period of time.

I watched her carefully in the bright light of the kerosene lamp, watched as her cheeks turned scarlet. There it was again—her heart—so apparent in her quiet giggle of embarrassment.

"Well, I actually lost patience and took a gamble. We both made excuses to spend time together, we both flirted and smiled. It was distracting, and absolute insanity. It drove me crazy that he wouldn't do anything farther than hold my hand or stare at me. Then it struck me. I realized he was waiting for me to make the first move.

"I was scared out of my mind, but I was simply past impatience. I walked over to him and kissed him, just like that. It was the most amazing thing, I wasn't sure I ever wanted to stop. When Ian finally pulled back to look at me I said 'Are you happy now? I made the first move'. He smiled and kissed me again. We fell asleep looking at the stars, then you guys were back." Her story was more than I expected, Lin must care for him very deeply to put her heart out for him to see before he showed her his.

"Now if Elle had just cuddled with Jasper we would be one big happy family." Cindy announced bitterly as she joined us. I shot her a stern glance.

"What?" Lin was confused. Cindy explained, embellishing in parts.

"You're even more of a coward than me." Lin mumbled. I stormed out of the meeting room, forgetting a lamp or flashlight.

I steeped with anger and hurt as I fumbled through the dark to my room. Their words hurt me, though I knew they should not. I truly wished that I was the type of person who would have wrapped myself around Jasper's sleeping figure. I simply wasn't though. I was cowardly, and was too careful to make risks with something as important as my heart.

In that instant I was worried, how deeply had I fallen already? Jasper and I may very well never be anything more than friends, I had to remember that. I couldn't fall so deep that I would be unable to climb back to the surface. It was too important that they stayed with us for me to mess things up.