(A/N) Ah, here it is the thing that has been bugging people for a long while, the Autumn Ball. There will be music, there will be romance, there will be fights, there will be teasing, there will be revelations, and most importantly, there will be kisses, the long awaited kisses.

:genki grin:

Anyway, the whole thing is like, 37 pages long, so I'm braking it into three parts. "The Day Prior", "The Long Awaited Night", and "The Morning After".

This chapter, tension! And finally some Bryan/Lizeth action. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, but I own plot and OC.

Learning To Fly.

Chapter Ten, The Autumn Ball, The Day Prior.

"-what do you have for brain? Yogurt? God damn it Kai, of all the stupid senseless things to do! Don't you know a trap when you see one?"

"Are you quite done now?"

"Hell no! I'm just warming up!"

A sigh.

"I mean, really Kai..."

"Tala..."

"A fucking good plan that was..."

"Tala!"

"You've been spending too much time with Granger, I swear-"

"Tala"

"What?"

"Three things mostly. One, its 3 o'clock in the morning here. Two, I have school tomorrow morning, and unless you've got a good excuse, so do you. And three, stop acting like a bloody worried mother, which, in case you have forgotten, is my job"

"Fine. Be a prat, is not as if it's that big effort for you"

"Let me get some sleep, you can yell at me at some later time... besides, I thought you mentioned that the ball was this Friday... don't you have like, a ton of work to do?"

"...I hate you when you're right"

"So you hate me most of the time?"

"Shut up"

"Heh. Tala, you aware I can hear you sulk, right?"

"Leave me alone you backstabbing annoying blue haired squeaking midget!"

"Love you too... and I don't squeak!"

"Arg!"

"Lizeth!"

"Urg"

Bryan had about point two seconds to react and catch the fainting female. Even unconscious, her limbs shuddered and trembled with the force of the seizure. She moaned in her nightmare.

Bryan cursed. Just why did she have to get a seizure when they were alone? Maneuvering her rather gently, he settled her on one of the couches of the living room, then went to fetch her pills from her trunk. When he re-entered the room, he found her instinctively curling, shuddering and moaning lowly.

"Go away..."

And talking. Bryan froze with her next plea though.

"Don't touch me! ...bastard... I'm not your fucking toy..." Her snarl surfaced just as she curled back protectively.

Just... Fucking Christ, just like Tala when... His train of thought was cut short when she let out an unholy screech. Snapping out of it, he reached down and forced her to swallow her medicine, and noticing her fever, he prepared himself for another fight to get her into the shower. Struggling with her, he was thankful when Tala poked his head into the cabin.

"Shower" The lavender haired teen managed through clenched teeth. The goddamned female had kicked him in the groin, the little bugger...

The redhead immediately went to ready the cold shower, and helped Bryan.

"Go, I'll take care of her..." The redhead sighed as he ducked a left hook from the struggling teen "Go to the kitchen and get her something light to eat. I have the feeling this has something to do with her skipping lunch and dinner..."

Bryan disappeared, still grumbling unpleasanties about Lizeth under his breath, and Tala resisted the urge to snicker.

Undressing the Wench, though, was a bit more of an ordeal than the redhead would have believed. He pinned her against the tile wall when he was half done and snarled at her as she bared her fangs at him.

"Will you calm down!" His eyes narrowed down in annoyance.

He wasn't all that good dealing with her, although they had reached somewhat safe land between them. It was usually Bryan who could calm the Wench attacks, generally by whispering something to her... though he'd be damned if he knew what. She was having regressions to... ah, the incident, and he wasn't entirely sure he was ready to deal with that particular piece of information out in the open.

The pills were taking effect already, since her eyes were focusing. He loosened his hold on her as she recovered her composure under the spray of cold water.

Then she noticed she was soaked and half naked. Tala shrugged sheepishly under the unamused death glare.

"Eat"

Lizeth and Bryan glared at each other slightly as he placed the plate in front of her. Tala was changing cloths in his room, while Lizeth was already dressed and wrapped in a blanket, comfortably nested in the coach. The sat, facing each other in a, surprisingly, tense silence.

For some reason, or rather, for reasons neither were particularly eager to disclose, the usually passive teens were strangely tense around each other. Edgy and somewhat forced, their normal interaction had become strained and somewhat impersonal. Tala had noticed, and had been giving both knowing glances.

Sometimes it sucked knowing what was going on when others were still oblivious to it. Then again, watching them squirm around each other was fun enough.

Tala, resting against the doorframe watched his teammates with a knowing smile. Lizeth was eating the soup in silence, while Bryan watched her intently. Blue eyes took quiet note of the electric air, and the tension and uneasiness... it was delightfully entertaining.

Heh, seems Kai owes me a few... snap her neck in a month. Ha, more like get in bed in a month... though I don't think this will be a walk in the park... Perhaps I should get out through the window in my room?

"Are you enjoying the fucking show?"

Damn.

"To tell the truth? Yeah. You two are amusing when you're not willing to stop hitting around the bush" The redhead resisted the urge to laugh at their expressions. Lizeth, of shock, Bryan, of fury. "Anyway, gotta go kids, behave"

"Tala would you-"

"I'm having a nearly orgasmic experience with my coffee. Bug me and die"

Ian raised an eyebrow at the redhead's comment, looking at him as if he had finally lost it. He had black rings around his eyes, he was sulking and he look like he was about to fall asleep on his feet.

Which he was mind you.

Also, he was cradling a cup of coffee with utmost care, swirling the black liquid almost lovingly.

Deciding it wasn't safe to stay around him, the Shrimp inched towards Spencer and tried to ignore the redhead. Ok, so he had been working about 20 hours daily for the last week or so. He had gone through a fucking blizzard to get his nemesis and a child out, he had managed to set a delivery service in the restaurant and he had gone through second period exams and not fail Biology. He was tired, he was sleepy, he was cranky and he was in caffeine whildrawal. Heads were going to roll of people didn't leave him alone.

"So, are you two sure you aren't coming to the ball?" Ian asked the silent teens, trying to divert attention from their moody leader. Bryan and Lizeth shook their heads.

"Too much people" The black haired teen said with slight shudder.

"Too much noisy people" Bryan clarified with a small sneer of disgust.

Lizeth, sipping a cup of hot chocolate, nodded in agreement, then, catching herself, scowled.

Ian sighed. With Tala and his caffeine whildrawals, Bryan and Lizeth walking on eggshells around each other, and Spencer spending so much time with Itza, for the first time in years, he felt absolutely alone.

And it sucked big time.

Kai looked at the room with a sincere contented smile. Kat grinned.

"Told you I would find something... You wouldn't believe all the crap Boris had in the Abby's storage rooms" She motioned for the different crates, which were covered by a fine layer of dust.

"Can I?" Kai asked a bit unsure, motioning towards the crate.

"Sure" Kat shrugged, smiling brightly at his son.

Kai reached out to open the old crate, unconsciously looking like an awed kid. His mother resisted the urge to squeak in delight. Tracing the smooth black surface with his fingers, the dual haired teen smiled.

"I believe" He said with a mischievous air in his eyes "That I've found Tala's birthday's gift... and an early Christmas gift for the rest"

Kat chuckled.

"Yep. I bet Tala miss his toys... and Bryan too. I'll do them good" She gave Kai a calculative glance "And, if you manage to rise up your grades this month, perhaps you can make a flash trip as a delivery boy..."

"Ha-ha, watch me roll with laughter Mom"

"Heh, I see you alright"

"Left, god damn it Tala, can't you tell left from right?" Irina scowled at the redhead, who was perched on a pair of portable steps, balancing precariously as he hung up the decorations for the ball.

A snort echoed in the empty gym.

"Of course the mutt wouldn't know left from right. Dogs ain't that smart" Karen said with a lop sided smirk, giving Tala his infuriating I'm-better-than-you-so-bow-to-me look.

"Go away Ruvloff" Tala said with a glare, looking more like a corpse than anything. Karen chuckled.

"Nope, came here to properly help set up the deco for the ball. Some of us know what sleep and caffeine are mutt" Tala tried to glare properly, but ended up losing his balance, squeaking and falling down the steps, landing on his butt with little grace. Karen laughed "Here, go take a brake. I'm sure Irina dear won't tell anyone you took a" Snort "Catnap"

Tala caught the black thermo deafly and opened it carefully, smelling it cautionously. His eyes turned into pink hearts at the characteristically smell of hot, black coffee. He whined low on his throat in content, delighting in the smell of fresh made coffee.

"What do you know? He's actually a whining pup!" Karen laughed again, but the redhead was too engrossed with his coffee to care.

Irina looked from one male to another and shook her head. At least they weren't at each other's throats all the time. Then again, if her worst enemy saved her life, she would back down too. At least their interaction had soothed from the prepare-to-die-you-bastard into a more I-hate-you-but-can't-live-without-teasing-you-bastard kind of thing.

And there weren't anymore left hooks being thrown around.

"Yeah? Perhaps I ought to get a fucking leash for you!"

Well, less left hooks being thrown around than before.

"One more word Karen. One more word and I will rip out your spleen and spoon feed it to you"

"Oh! I'm trembling! The big, bad wolf's snarling at me! He's gonna howl at the moon and bite me!"

"Ruvloff!"

It seemed though, that she would have to hang the damn decorations herself, given that both males were too busy to actually help her.

Men are such idiots!

"-and I want you both back home 2 o'clock, at latest!" Ma ended up her speech with a threatening glare.

Sarah nodded self-consciously, while Tala nodded half asleep. The older woman had pressing issues back at the city where Julia worked and was going to leave Tala and Sarah in charge of the restaurant while she was gone, probably a day or two. But since she was going to be gone the day of the ball, she made sure to make enough warnings to both teens.

In other words, she mentioned situations that they would have never thought about without her mentioning them, like most parents do when they warn off their kids.

With a last dark look, the matron walked into her taxi and both teens waved as it disappeared from view.

"So, wanna close this thing and go up take a nap?" Sarah grinned, motioning for the restaurant with a mischievous glint in her eye, taking in the redhead's stand.

"Hell yeah! Thought you'd never ask!"

"No. Never. Ah ah, don't think about it. Absolutely not" Lizeth glared at the females, fangs bared in warning "I'm not going to the fucking ball"

"But Li-iz" Mel pulled out a pair of spectacular puppy eyes. Lizeth snarled at the nickname.

"Oh c'mon Sugar, you'll love it!" Itza put her two cents by beaming at the dark haired female "I mean, someone with your natural grace has to be a great dancer! It's a crime to let that talent go to waste!"

Rinny, safely perched in Bryan's lap (how had the little squirt managed to worm her way into his heart was still a mystery), tilted her head to the side. Looking up at the pale haired teen, who was watching the scene with a wide smirk poorly hidden by his chocolate mug, she blinked.

"Why won't you take your girlfriend to the ball, Bry?"

The three females turned to look at Bryan coughing up his chocolate, a large stain of the hot liquid marring his grey t-shirt. Rinny looked at him curiously and painfully innocent. He glared at the teens.

"Go make your clown show for someone who cares" He stood up and waved a bit at the scalding cloth, before picking up his sketchbook "C'mon brat, let's go"

He stalked away, pretty much aware of the warm redness of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as he disappeared from view. It took Rinny only a few seconds before she scrambled to catch up with him, giggling softly. Itza raised a calculative eyebrow.

"Could have been the light, but was Bryan blushing?" Her tone was teasing at best, and she looked at her friends curiously. Lizeth shrugged.

"Oh, definitely blushing" Mel said with a sly grin, having caught the undertone Lizeth had ignored "Must be the fact he won't be going to the ball, will have the house all for himself..."

"Yeah, what exactly will he be doing is a mystery..." Itza used an extremely false spooky voice as she grinned somewhat evilly. Lizeth, still somewhat ignorant of their induendo, snorted.

"Mystery, ha" She rolled her eyes "He'll come back, get a shower, snuggle into the couch and draw until he falls asleep. Thus he'll be an ever crankier bastard tomorrow morning. Mystery indeed"

Mel and Itza crossed looks of amusement, then grinned evilly at the black haired female.

"That's exactly why you have to come and bring Bryan to the ball" Mel squeaked delighted.

Lizeth stared at them incredously.

"Oh don't give us that look. Everyone can see you two hitting off. Kinda more obvious than Mel and Ian, even" Itza rolled her eyes with flourish, but at the mention of her own love life, Mel squeaked self consciously.

"Hey!"

"Oh for god's sake, there's a freaking' betting pool around you two" Itza huffed at Mel, rising an eyebrow in slight irritation.

"Yeah? Well there's one about you and Spencer too, but I'm not that backstabbing to bring it up!"

"Guys..."

"And what exactly are you doing now? 'Sides he's like... my best friend – brother? The whole thing's incestuous"

"Urg, thank you ever so much for the bloody mental image"

"Guys"

"It's your sick mind, not mine"

"My sick mind? Who are you calling sick, you Miss-I-can-bend-like-rubber? And what kind of best friend – brother Spencer is, the kind you make out with in the gym?" Mel raised a sardonic eyebrow, looking a lot like Ian while doing so.

A dishearten sigh as Maritza squeaked, blushing brightly.

"It... you... we... it's not like that!"

Lizeth sat back on the couch, folding her legs up and resting her face in her hand. Those two were in for a looong discussion.

"What do you mean by that, you squeaky sexed up midget!"

Sarah dropped herself ungracefully in the bed, unconsciously jamming an elbow on the sleeping redhead. He groaned and turned, curling and almost making her fall off the bed.

"Oh move, I know you're awake" She poked his ribs and snuggled down the covers next to him "I wanna watch TV, Heartbreaking Storms is starting a new season today..."

Tala stretched like a cat, yawning widely and making enough space for Sarah to rest next to him. He blinked slightly as the old TV was turned on and settled on a Soap Opera kind of show. He twisted his lips in distaste.

"Urg, and to think I used to believe you were marginally smart..." His voice was thick with sleep and amusement. Sarah elbowed him to be quiet.

"Oh shut up. You men are insensitive to the beauty of true love!" She huffed indignantly and turned the volume up slightly.

Sighing, the redhead realized he was going to watch the goddamned show, given there was no way in hell of him getting up any time soon, so he settled back on bed, watching the overly dramatic, sappy, mushy and absolutely annoying program.

He sighed again.

"Where's my-" The dual haired teen snarled inwardly in frustration. Then he saw his blue cargo pants slowly sliding away. His left eyebrow twitched "Bruma"

Suddenly a black head poked from one of the pockets of his pants, and a soft meow sounded in the room. Kai scowled, hardly amused. The small, black fur ball emerged fully from the pocket of his pants, bright grey eyes looking up at him with the content only a loyal pet can muster. Kai, wearing a black t-shirt, and in boxers, glared at the small beast. Taking it by the scuff of its neck, Kai dropped it unceremoniously on his unmade bed and then got his pants on. He did the belt while he looked for his launcher.

Bruma, Omikami's cat, had been delivered to the Hiwatari household among other personal belongings. Kai, personally, wasn't all that thrilled at the prospect of having a cat around the house, particularly since the small pest had developed a tendency to hide in his pant's pockets. Annoyed, but consent that he had to run, he pocketed his blade and his launcher, and after a few seconds of indecision, his cell phone.

Giving the cat one last death glare, he quietly walked downstairs, out the house and into the clear night to answer Tyson's worried call.

Hiwatari, you're getting bloody soft around the goody-two-shoes.

Dranzer in his pocket and Nyx in the pendant glowed in response.

Sarah snuggled down with a contented sigh, turning the TV off. Resting her head on Tala's shoulder, she all but purred in content.

"You know" Tala mused with a grin, now well rested and enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate "This is probably on Ma's list of things we shouldn't be doing"

"Yeah" Sarah grinned, and then snorted "But I tremble at the thought of your sleep deprived self handling a knife" Tala sulked, somewhat insulted and she giggled "But really, why were you so tired Red?"

"Er, 'cause I've been earning my paycheck this week?"

"Tala"

"Oh fine, but don't tell the guys, I don't want them worrying over this" He sulked "We've got to pay the registration to next year's tournament, and I'm trying to do so by myself without having to ask Kai for help, even though I know the little bugger will gladly help. But I don't want to stand his smugness for it" He snorted "Plus I can do it by myself, thank you ever so much"

"So you've been working your ass out for a tournament?" Sarah rested her chin on her palm, laying in bed as long as she was and giving what he had come to call the eyebrow.

"Yeah. And I'm selling a few essays for 8th years who are far too idiotic to write something appropriate for Smiraldova's class" He shrugged "It's a few easy to win rubles and I'm sure they'll fail miserably in the monthly so... yeah, that's basically it, besides the Ball's food order, which shall I remind you, I got for us"

Sarah rolled her eyes, but then both started.

"Fuck!"

"The Ball!"

Scrambling out of the comfortable bed, they rushed downstairs to start preparing the food.

"Aw, we're not getting much sleep tonight, are we?" Tala sighed, setting up things in the working table and looking at the clock, neatly marking 5:38 pm.

"No. Where does Ma keep the mint anyway?"

"Um, the cabinet under the sink... yeah that one" Tala grinned at Sarah's sulky expression "Heh, have I ever told you just how cute you look when you're pissed off?"

"So that's why you keep bugging me, eh?"

"Touché"

Lizeth sighed again as Maritza went on with her rant on why Spencer and her weren't on a steady relationship, but rather on a close friendship. And how they weren't making out in the gym.

The black haired teen had never seen anyone rant so much about something, so fast and still so clearly. She massaged her temples as she felt a headache building up. Fed up with the, frankly, childish discussion and not in the least interested in having her love life, or lack of, as a topic of discussion of her so called friends, she stood up and retrieved her thick jacket, stopping at the door. She sighed again as she had gone unnoticed, Itza and Mel still bickering about non sense. With a last glance at both females, she stalked away towards the forest, intent in regaining her inner peace.

Just why the hell did Mel have to push Bryan's issue? I'm not that fucking transparent, am I?

A nagging whisper sounded in the back of her mind, but she quieted it with relative ease.

It was easier to, than to face the dooming truth behind it.

"Your girlfriend is unnecessarily annoying" Lizeth growled with slight irritation, looking at Ian with a mild glare "You've corrupted my best friend"

The blue haired, red eyed shrimp snorted and, to his credit, blushed almost unnoticeably.

"She's not my girlfriend-"

"Yet"

"-and I haven't corrupted anyone" He gave her a rather hentai grin "She was rather willing"

"Urg, gross Ian" Lizeth grimaced.

"But we're here to blade, not to deal with your emotional insecurities" The shorter teen said with a snicker. Black eyes were narrowed instantly.

"Who the hell has insecurities, Mr. I-turn-into-Jell-O-anytime-Mel's-mentioned?" Sherak was ready, and its mistress was growling quite loudly.

"Oh yeah? What about you, Miss I-so-have-the-hots-for-my-roommate-but-won't-ever-admit-it?"

"Shut up!"

Bryan walked towards the cabin, Rinny safely nested against him, sound asleep, when caught sight of Ian.

A roasted Ian.

He was covered in ashes and his clothes were letting out small threads of smoke. He blinked, then smirked mockingly. Lizeth's handy work, no doubt.

"What did you do to her?" He asked as greeting, giving his shorter teammate an infuriating smirk.

"Go. To. Hell." Ian grounded his teeth, ignoring the slight pang of shame at having been so easily defeated, and so thoroughfully humiliated.

By the Wench no less.

Bryan snorted softly, careful of not waking the child in his arms.

"Where is she, though? Itza and Mel will leave soon and dinner's just around the corner" The lavender haired teen smirked "And we wouldn't want to repeat last time incident, would we?"

Ian flinched.

"Fine, she was pissed off, rather monumentally, and stalked away towards the river" Ian sulked "But don't complain to me if she fries your ass"

Bryan snorted.

"Ha ha, here, take the brat, I'll go look for the Wench" He carefully set Rinny in Ian's hold and smirked at the Shrimp's death glare.

Then he walked towards the forest, not bothering to look back.

"If you freeze to death, it won't be pretty"

Lizeth jumped slightly as Bryan's voice shattered the silence. She sighed, and didn't turn to face him.

"Go away" It wasn't precisely a pissed off voice, her rage long since dead, but more like a sulky depressive tone.

Bryan sat next to her.

A rather decent river flowed about two miles southwest from the Center. It wasn't really deep, perhaps ten, twelve feet at most, but its sides were generally forming a barrier of ice and frost to it, particularly after the sudden blizzard. Both teens were sitting at the edge, the river running a few feet below them.

Lizeth sighed, taking out a small paper box from her pocket, she hit it against her palm twice, before extracting a cigarette from it. Her lighter seemed to be dead though, as she tried it for a few times. Bryan offered his. Smirking at him, Lizeth lighted it, and took a deep drag.

"Does Mother Red know you smoke?" The lavender haired teen asked with a risen eyebrow as he lighted one for himself.

"No" Lizeth paused to take another drag, then smirked "And he won't know, will he?"

Bryan pulled a fairly decent innocent face, or at least as he could manage to look innocent, taking a drag of his own.

"Know what?" He chuckled, shaking his head slightly "He'll throw a fit when he knows, though. Worries quite a lot, the bastard" Though the insult was issued smoothly, Lizeth detected a clear endearment as the lavender haired teen uttered it.

Well, as much as Bryan could be endearing anyway.

"Why are you here?" The black haired teen asked finally, looking at Bryan somewhat measurably.

"What else? To get you back in time for dinner" He snorted dryly "I'm not willing to repeat the bloody murder episode again"

"I'm not a child to be taken care of" Her retort held some acid, and Bryan rose an eyebrow.

"Skipping meals will land you with a seizure again" There was a slight reproachful note in his voice.

"Hn"

"I'm serious. I'm not going through Monday's shit again, just because you're too stubborn to admit you've got human needs" He actually glared at her.

"It was just... I'm fine"

"So I quote you. Hn"

They fell silent again, the only sound that broke the passive silence being that of the small puffs of smoke coming out of their lungs. Lizeth sighed.

"Sorry about Monday... I didn't... I didn't mean to hurt you" She looked away, not particularly glad she had had to apologize, but at least hoping he wouldn't mock her.

"You wouldn't be able to hurt me. Not even if you tried" Bryan snorted.

He regretted his wording though, since Lizeth stood up abruptly, walking away.

"Wench"

"Leave me alone"

"God damn it" Can't something go my way? Just once?

When he tried to reach for her, she sprinted.

No, apparently, no it can't. God damn it.

"Wen... Lizeth" He grabbed her arm, but she twisted it in an attempt to free it, then tried to hit him when she failed. Bryan held both of her hands tightly "God damn it woman, talk to me"

"Let me go, Bryan, or so help me, I will try and I will hurt you" Lizeth snarled fiercely.

Bryan shoved her against a tree trunk none too gently. He had a snarl of his own.

"Yeah? And I will watch you try" They glared at each other measurably "Speak. Up. I don't fucking care what's up, I want to know, and you will tell me so. I live with you, I fucking go on with your temper tantrums and your childish mood swings, and I even keep my fucking mouth shut when you wake up at any hour in the night because you are having nightmares. So forgive me for asking a so called friend to come down from her fucking superiority complex, be a little grateful and speak it out and in the open, What. The. Fuck. Is. Going on? Wanna rant? Then fucking rant. Wanna shout? Then fucking shout. Wanna yell bloody murder? Then yell bloody murder. But god damn it Lizeth, don't take it out on me like that. Not like that"

Her eyes were wide, but unlike her mind had expected, it wasn't fear. She would never fear Bryan, no matter what he did.

Lizeth frantically tried to gain control of herself before she did something stupid. Good graces, why the hell is he so close? Bryan's glare grew colder and the Wench was painfully aware they were mere inches apart. Oh sod it...

"Wanna know what my problem is?" She snarled, and silently congratulate herself on her unwavering voice.

"Hell yes" Bryan tried to ignore the fact that as he snarled back, he placed himself almost nose to nose with her.

Lizeth kissed him.

Square on the lips.

Bryan froze.

Two seconds later, before he could react, Lizeth was already running away in the woods.

He blinked, then growled out loud, frustrated. Smashing his fist against the tree trunk in a fit of anger, he sprint right after her.

God damn it!

"Gone?" Ian asked as Spencer entered the room.

"Yep" The blond dropped in the couch opposite from the blunette, smirking "Finally. Those two are definitely much more havoc than I care for on a single day" He sighed contently as he snuggled back in the couch.

"Yeah" Ian shuddered "But the thought of those two actually agreeing on something's scary. Must be the ball, though"

"Urg, do not remind me of that" The blond sulked.

"Heh. You're still in denial I see" Ian cackled when Spencer threw him a dirty look "Oh, c'mon Spence', everyone knows you and Itza are hitting off. Hell's more obvious than Mel and me, and that's saying quite a lot"

Spencer glared. And boy did he resemble Bryan when he put his heart to it. Ian, though, wasn't fazed. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"We are not 'hitting off' as you say. We did not in the past, we will not in the future. It never works" There was a slight tint of bitterness in that admission, and it perked Ian's curiosity.

"You sound like you tried" The shorter teen tilted his head to the side slightly.

"And failed miserably. Not once, but twice" Spencer gave Ian a meaningful glance "And you will not disclose that. Or you won't ever be able to sleep without threat to your physical well being"

"Down boy! No need for threats on the midget" Ian smiled somewhat knowingly "You should cheer up at least. You two are still best friends, and all"

"Suppose"

"Besides" Ian smirked knowingly "Who says you have to stay around Itza all the time?" The Shrimp shrugged at Spencer's risen eyebrow "Please, I'm sure you can find someone out there in that tide of over hormonal emotional teenagers"

"My worst nightmare has come true. Ian Kynestov is giving me advice on my love life" Spencer shook his head in mock despair "May god be merciful on us..."

"Ha, ha. Very funny mister" Ian snorted, then blinked "Mm, where's Bryan and the Wench?" At Spencer's risen eyebrow he elaborated "I had this little argument with her earlier, then Bryan said he'd fetch her for dinner. But that was two hours ago"

"Strange..."

"Wench!"

Bryan snarled out loud, as he tried to catch up with her and she quickened her pace. When the hell did she get this fast? He left his thoughts incomplete as he saw his chance and reached out to catch the fleeing female.

"Let me go!" Lizeth snarled wildly, half in panic as she tried to free herself.

With all that trashing, they ended up on the ground, Bryan was getting annoyed at the fact she wouldn't listen, and she was getting frantic not knowing what he'd do.

"Just... Stop it" He pinned her down, glaring down at her with all he had. Lizeth looked away "Fucking look at me, Lizeth"

Wincing at the use of her fist name, the black haired female dared to, only to have Bryan leaned in, returning her earlier favor much more gently and slowly. She let out a whimper under her breath, as her eyes slid close of her own accord.

When they broke apart, their breathing raged, Bryan rested his head on her shoulder, while she looked up at the sky.

"You don't have the faintest idea of how long I've meaning to do that" Bryan's voice dropped a few octaves at that particular admission, as Lizeth let a hand run through his hair.

"Perhaps I do" She admitted with a sigh as he rose to meet her eyes "But I don't know what I'm getting myself into"

Please don't hurt me.

For a moment, Bryan was silent. Then, to Lizeth surprise, he smiled. An actual, sincere smile.

"Then we'll have to make up as we go"

Please don't use me.

Lizeth smiled back, as she let him help her to her feet, still holding him. She leaned in to kiss him again, this time, both willing and prepared. As they broke apart, she grinned lop sidedly.

"We will... won't we?"

"There you are!" Ian called as the silent teens reached the dinner hall "Where the hell you were?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"We decided to have a few battles before we got here and lost track of time" Bryan lied smoothly, rising an eyebrow to Lizeth, seeking confirmation.

"Yeah" Lizeth smirked half hearted "Damn bastard just wouldn't give up"

Ian shook his head, his attention already back with his meal. Spencer though, smirked noting the tension had shifted significantly around them, but refrained from comment. Lizeth took her usual place next to Bryan as they started eating calmly.

"Tala?"

The redhead turned at the sound of his name, smiling softly as Sarah yawned.

"We should probably get some sleep, now" The brunette pointed out with a small grin "Thankfully we don't have classes tomorrow... so we don't have to get up so early"

"Yeah... Look, I'll just wait for this to be ready, then I'll get to bed, ok?" The redhead smiled gently as he pointed to the soup bowl before him.

"Alright... Night Red" She yawned again, and walked out of the small kitchen.

The redhead shook his head and sighed slightly. Then reached a hand to touch the pendant that hung from his neck. It felt warm against his hands.

Please, please let this feeling I have be wrong...

Notes on this chapter:

Not much to note on this chapter, except that I had to rewrite the last scenes a total of four times. Bryan/Lizeth is harder to write than one would expect! I particularly like the way Itza and Spencer try to explain to others the way things are between them... though I sense some unrequited feelings somewhere :grins: By the way, get your mind off the gutter, anything between Tala and Sarah was merely platonic in this chapter, ok?

Anyway, I posted a One-Shot related to this storyline. It's Abby-time, just a short friendship Tala/Kai. Though it's not required to understand this plot, some details later on will come out from there.

That being all, if you so you feel, please review.