Authors Note: Hey everyone :) So I'm really sorry for the late update. I said I would update in a few days and it turned into more than a week. But honestly, I was sick for nearly half the week and then when I was able to go back to school I was overloaded with makeup work :( Then the past two days I spent hanging out with my boyfriend and friends and relaxing so don't blame a girl :) Lol. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. This is the last 'fluffy' chapter before we get to the investigation so, enjoy! Please leave reviews because I absolutely LOVE them! New stuff on the website so check it out :) The GHI pages are under the "more" catagory. Don't click on it, just let your mouse hover and another list will pop up :) Also I added yet another page for pictures of the locations/hotels and junk (: so enjoy those as well!

Happy Reading,

- RIP.

PLAYLIST:

Secret Valentine

- by -

We The Kings

It's The Fear

Skeleton In The Closet: Part 3 of 11

Mercedes POV

- Somewhere in Europe, 2009 -

"Mercedes…"

A voice cut through the dream I was having which oddly enough involved me and the GHI team investigating Cesky Krumlov and how I hoped that the investigation would end up going. I was at the very edge of my conscious. Where I knew I was asleep and someone in the real world was trying to get my attention—yet I didn't really care. I wanted to stay asleep but the voice persisted. I let out a small moan and slowly tried to open my eyes. I felt a hand on my arm, shaking me slightly. I brought my hand up and swatted it away.

"Stop shaking me," I grumbled. "I'm awake."

It was just beginning to become light outside when I finally let my eyes adjust. I sat up in my seat and looked around in surprise. When I had first fallen asleep, it had been completely dark outside.

The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was Dustin telling me that he would wake me up when it was time to stop and switch drivers. I looked over to see who had awoken me and saw a cheerful looking Aisha standing next to my open door wearing the same clothes as yesterday that were slightly wrinkled, probably from sleeping.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's a little after five in the morning." Aisha answered.

I frowned, "Did we already stop and switch?" I asked.

"No, we're stopping and switching now." she replied.

"But that means that Dustin and Joe have been driving since around eight o'clock last night." I said.

Aisha nodded, "We were all asleep so they decided to just keep on driving. We're stopping here," she gestured to the small restaurant that we had stopped at, "to eat and get cleaned up a little before Robb and Barry take over for Dustin and Joe."

"I see," I replied, still dazed from sleep.

"I got into the van and picked out your outfit for today. You wouldn't wake up right away so I got your stuff out and then tried waking you up again. You must have been in some deep sleep." Aisha giggled.

I sat up from my curled up position in the seat and stretched, "Yeah, I was. I was pretty tired. I think I fell asleep around 3am last night." I told her.

"Joe said that I was out for nearly the entire drive. You know how much I hate car rides, especially long ones. They are so boring."

I laughed, "Sounds like you." I said. "You probably fell asleep as soon as the van started moving."

Aisha narrowed her eyes, "No I didn't. For your information I didn't fall asleep until four hours into the drive."

"I think that's a record for you."

Stretching a bit more and popping my back, I climbed out of the van and stood up, popping my legs and trying to get the feeling back into them. The position I had been sleeping in had caused them to fall asleep. It felt like there were tingling needles poking at every part of my leg.

"Are your legs asleep?" Aisha asked, observing me shaking my legs slightly.

I nodded silently and continued moving around, my legs feeling like complete jello.

"Come on," Aisha said, "Let's get changed." she held up a pile of clothes that I just realized that she was holding in her hands.

"Have you been holding those the entire time?" I asked stupidly.

Aisha laughed, "Uhm, yeah I have. Come on, I think you need some coffee in you as well."

And with that we both entered the restaurant.

- Bohemia, Czech Republic, 2009 -

Dustin and I didn't really talk much at breakfast. He looked too exhausted to do more than eat so I just let him eat in silence. Aisha and I changed into our new clothes in the bathroom before going to meet the guy's in the actual diner to eat. Breakfast passed by quickly and before I knew it we were all piling back into the vans and ready to make the rest of the outrageously long trip to Bohemia.

Robb and I chatted quietly as Dustin passed out as soon as he got comfortable in the passengers seat of the van. I had to admit, he looked pretty cute sleeping but I tried my best to keep my eyes from wandering to his sleeping form too often.

The rest of the ride went by pretty smoothly, we stopped again around 1pm for lunch and then Dustin resumed driving, much more awake than he was at breakfast. We arrived in Bohemia around 5pm that night and checked into the hotel right away. The hotel was older and had a rustic charm to the place. It was located in Krumlov, Czech Republic and was called Hotel U Mesta Vidne. It was also located pretty close to Cesky Krumlov. We all got our own rooms this time since there were plenty of rooms available. I was thrilled to know I wouldn't have to race Aisha for the shower anymore. I also checked with the hotel staff about my family's reservations to make sure everything was set up accordingly.

Ayden and my parents were going to arrive in Bohemia on Saturday and then fly back to the US on Tuesday when we had to leave to go back to Ireland for our next case which was apparently some haunted island. I was really excited about them coming but at the same time I was nervous. I was scared that my co-workers and my family wouldn't get along. My parents were nice people but they also had high expectations and if you didn't meet those expectations then you weren't exactly worthy in their eyes. They were still civil, but there was a certain coldness in their voices that you couldn't ignore and things could get awkward really fast. On the other hand, I knew Ayden would be cool with all the co-workers. He was an easy going guy as it was so I knew I wouldn't have an issue with him.

Robb wanted us to go down and check out the hotels signature restaurant that apparently had a mixture of French and modern Czech dishes. Earlier on in the day, Aisha had picked out a pair of faded ripped jeans, a pink top with matching pink converse while she was wearing a similar outfit, only green. I decided that it would probably be best if I changed into something a bit nicer than ripped jeans and converse.

When I had first walked into my room, the initial thing I did was place all my luggage on my bed. I had brought three suitcases and a small carryon bag with toiletries with me for the entire few months that we'd be traveling. I could carry the carryon bag and my two smaller suitcases, but it was the biggest suitcase that I had problems carrying. Dustin had to bring it into my room for me—again. My luggage set was cute. It had a black and white plaid pattern on it. Before we had left the States, Aisha and I had gone luggage shopping. She picked out a brown printed luggage set while I settled on my plaid one.

I opened my biggest suitcase that had most of my nicer clothes in it and stood staring at my clothes, trying to think of what was best to wear to dinner. I didn't want to wear something too dressy but at the same time I'd rather be overdressed than underdressed. I was still thinking on what to wear when there was a knock on my door.

I ambled over to the door and opened it up to see a distressed looking Aisha.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Aisha sighed dramatically, "I have no idea what to wear!" she cried.

I giggled, "Wow, for a minute I thought we might really have a crisis on our hands…"

Aisha glared at me, "This is a crisis, Mercedes! I don't know what to wear to this restaurant. I don't want to get too dressed up but I also don't want to go and show up completely—"

I cut her off, "Underdressed?"

"Exactly!"

I watched in amusement as Aisha flung herself down on my bed radically and put an arm over her face. I rolled my eyes at her antics and walked back over to my suitcase and stared for a while. As I was looked through my clothes I heard Aisha squeal. I hadn't even noticed that she sat up and was looking at my clothes with me.

"You should wear that!" she said excitedly as she pointed to a black low bust shirt with a sown on silver belt.

"What if it's cold in the restaurant?" I asked.

Aisha shrugged, "Do you have a cardigan in there somewhere?"

I dug through my suitcase and pulled out a cute black cardigan and held it up for her. Aisha's eyes darted between the shirt and the cardigan a few times before she smiled, nearly blinding me with her perfect white teeth.

"That's perfect!" she cried. "All you need to do is wear a pair of skinny jeans with it and those black Valentino heels you have with the silver bow on them."

"Are heels really necessary?" I asked in a voice filled with dread.

Don't get me wrong, I love wearing heels because despite what most people think, I find them comfortable. But, I was worried that heels would be overdoing the outfit and making it look too dressy.

"Not really, but do you have any other shoes that will match that black shirt?" Aisha asked.

I nodded my head 'yes' and dug inside the suitcase for a minute before I pulled out a pair of simple black flats. Aisha shook her head violently and smacked my hand, making me drop the flats back in the suitcase. "No way, the heels will look much, much better with the outfit. Just deal with it Mercedes!" she said sternly.

"Well," I said slowly. "They are really cute heels…"

"Then you're wearing the heels. Actually, after looking at your outfit, I just thought of the perfect ensemble for me to wear!" Aisha told me cheerfully.

"Glad I could help," I said cynically.

"Thanks!" Aisha cried out, not even bothering with my sarcasm.

Before I could even blink, Aisha hopped up off my bed and raced away from my room before I could even get another word out. I shook my head slightly and went over to close my door when I saw Robb standing by it, his arm raised half-way to knock but his head was turned, watching Aisha sprint down the hallway towards her room.

"Hey Robb." I said casually, as if Aisha hadn't just sprinted out of my room like it was on fire.

Robb turned to me and grinned, "What was that about?" he jabbed his thumb in the direction that Aisha had taken off in.

"Eh, nothing important—Aisha was worried about what she was going to wear to dinner so she came to bug me. She ended up picking out my outfit and then rushing out because she suddenly realized that she had the perfect outfit for herself waiting in her room." I explained.

Robb rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I wonder about her…" he mumbled while shaking his head sadly. "Anyways, the restaurant is kind of nice so we decided that we'd all dress up a bit. It's not fancy, but we should still clean up a bit." he told me.

I grinned and leaned against the door frame lazily, "I'm glad you guys decided on that because the outfit Aisha picked out is kind of dressy but not too bad." I said.

"Well, I need to get back to my room and change, I just thought I'd let you know." Robb said.

I nodded my head, "Okay, well thanks. You put my mind at rest by telling me that." I laughed.

Robb chuckled a bit in response, "Okay, we'll meet in my room at 6:30, is that good?"

"Sure, gives me plenty of time to get ready." I replied. "It's only 5:45."

"I thought so," Robb grinned. "Okay, well I'll see you then."

"Bye."

And with that Robb left and I quietly shut the door behind him. I turned back to my outfit on my bed and went into the bathroom to change and fix my hair and makeup. I put on my clothes quickly and decided to straighten my hair and put a bobby pin in my hair to hold my bangs in place. I was touching up on my makeup when I heard a knock on my door.

'Who could it be now?' I wondered. 'That's the third person in the past fifteen minutes…'

I struggled to put on my heels before going to the door. I had successfully gotten one heel on and was hopping around trying to get the other one on when I opened the door.

"Are you having problems with those heels?" Dustin teased me, his perfect white teeth beaming at me.

I shook my head at him stubbornly and leaned against the doorjamb to steady myself as I fixed my heels. All the while, I heard Dustin chuckling at me. When I finally had my shoes on correctly and had both feet planted firmly on the ground, I wiped the imaginary dust from my pants and stood straight and tall to take Dustin in.

He looked amazing. It was the first time I had really seen him when he wasn't wearing something with the GHI logo on it or sports gear. He was wearing a pair of nice dark jeans that was paired with a button up white and navy striped long sleeved shirt. I also noticed that his customary wooden cross necklace poked out of his shirt slightly. He seemed to rarely take it off. I then looked down to his feet and smirked when I saw that he had on a pair of nice and clean black converse. Finally looked back up to his face, his hair was re-gelled and I was just dying to run my hands through it again.

"You look nice." I said breathlessly.

His smirk turned into a full out grin, "Thanks sweetheart," he said cheerfully. "You look amazing too." My heart pounded wildly in my chest at another pet name he had given me. Sometimes, I wondered if he even realized he called me by pet names, it seemed like a second nature to him.

He then stepped into the room and lightly closed to door behind him. I was about to ask him what he was doing but before I could even open my mouth to speak, he brought both of his hands up to my face and was pulling me to him. Our lips met in a soft, sweet kiss as always. I opened my mouth slightly to kiss him deeper. When he obliged I sighed into his mouth.

When we pulled away from each other we were both breathing heavily and I noticed that his lips were slightly red and swollen. I knew that mine were probably the same. I took a chance in looking in the mirror near the door and knew that I had predicted right.

Dustin looked at the mirror as well and gasped, "You have a full length mirror!?" he said.

I raised an eyebrow, "Uhm, yeah I do. I guess."

"My room doesn't have one of these!" he exclaimed. I giggled and shook my head as Dustin stood in front of the mirror and started flexing his muscles and messing with his hair. "Dude, this reminds me of Astor Mansion. They had one of these there and it was freaking awesome." he twisted his body to the side and rubbed his jaw.

This time I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, "You look fine, Dustin. Stop oogling yourself in the mirror. You look pretty." I teased. "And you wonder why Robb teases you constantly…" I mumbled under my breath.

"What as that?" Dustin asked, finally looking away from the mirror.

"Nothing," I smirked.

He took a hint and changed the subject, forgetting about the mirror completely. "So, you ready for dinner?" Dustin asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, I actually am. I'm excited. I've never eaten Czech food before…"

"Neither have I," he replied. "I guess we'll find out together what it's like."

"So do you want to walk down together now or something?" I asked him.

"Yeah, sure." Dustin agreed. "You go out first though."

I knew why he wanted me to do that. We were still trying to be sneaky and I didn't want anyone even beginning to suspect things, even if they secretly did. I opened up the door and stepped outside, peering to the left and right and saw no one coming.

"It's clear, pretty boy." I said with a giggle.

I turned and motioned for Dustin to come on out of my room.

"'Kay." he answered, ignoring my jab as he stepped from the room.

"So, where is the restaurant anyways?" I wondered out loud.

Dustin laughed, "Do you not even know where it's at?" he asked me.

I shook my head, "No, not really. But I didn't think it'd be that hard to find."

"What am I going to do with you…?" Dustin mumbled, shaking his head and grinning down at me.

Dinner was fantastic. I had never eaten real French food or Czech food but I enjoyed both. It was also nice to just sit around with the crew and have an actual dinner. Robb wasn't kidding when he said that we were practically a family to each other. As we sat down to eat, I felt right at home. I felt like it was a Sunday dinner at my parent's house. The only difference was that I didn't have to listen to my mother gossip about the scandals that seemed to go on daily in their town.

The thought made me even more excited to see my family in a couple days. I felt pathetic, like a little kid missing her mommy and daddy, but I couldn't help it. I missed my family.

My parents didn't live in Whitefield, and instead lived in a big fancy mansion in Newport, Rhode Island that had been in my father's family for centuries. So why did I move to Whitefield then? My grandmother, Lucinda, lived there. Lucinda wasn't really old. She hadn't even broken her seventies yet. But my mother, Francesca, always worried that her mother was less than sane. So while I went to Dartmouth College, I usually went to visit Lucinda on weekends at my mother's request. During those visits, Lucinda always talked about seeing people in her home. Sometimes I would walk in on her having conversations with something that wasn't there. I nearly had a heart attack when I walked in on her mumbling to someone that she referred to as Gregorio. I immediately thought she was talking to my grandfather although I had never said something about her to it. The only weird this about this situation was that my grandfather, Gregorio, had passed not long after Ayden was born and I was still I young child.

Unlike my mother, I didn't think that my grandmother was insane. Since I researched the paranormal – I had other ideas. Every now and then I wondered if my grandmother was a medium. I hadn't met any psychics or mediums in person before, but it was very well possible that my grandmother had a gift to see those from the other side. That's what got me interested in the paranormal was my grandmother. My mother detested it and thought it was incredibly stupid but my father, Nathan, on the other hand, thought that paranormal things were interesting and had egged on my curiosity as a child. Ayden just didn't really care. He was too caught up in his band to really spark an interest in paranormal things like my father and I.

"What has you so deep in thought?" Barry asked me inquisitively as he took a bite of the dish he was eating.

I shrugged and started pushing around the food on my plate, "Just my family back home. Eating dinner with you guys made me think of the Sunday afternoon lunch I used to always go to at my parents house…" I mumbled.

Aisha giggled, "I remember those! Francesca would always call on Saturday making sure that you were still going to come to dinner and to church even though it was basically an hour and a half drive for you to get down there so you had to leave at like six every Sunday morning." Aisha said. "I remember the one time you asked me to come along…let's just say, never again."

"Do you're parents not live in Whitefield with you?" Joe asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

I shook my head, "No, they live in Newport, Rhode Island in a house that's been in my father's house for years. I went to college at Dartmouth and often visited my grandmother, Lucinda, on weekends. She lives in a beautiful old house in Whitefield that seems to have paranormal activity. While I was there, I experienced a lot of strange things. Anyways, after I graduated I decided to move to Whitefield to keep an eye on Lucinda."

"Lucinda's house is creepy," Aisha seconded, taking a sip of her wine that she'd ordered. "We thought about calling TAPS in a few times to investigate it but we never actually did. We did some of our own investigations there but we didn't have all the big fancy equipment you guys have. We just had the basic stuff. We caught a few EVP's and such but nothing huge." she explained.

"Is that what got you interested in the paranormal, Mercedes?" Robb asked me.

I nodded, "Basically, but my father always thought that paranormal stuff was cool so when I was younger he used to kind of fuel that curiosity. My mother hated it though, she is a huge skeptic as it is but he just wants me to be happy so she doesn't completely disapprove. Just don't expect her to freak out because we found an EVP or something." I said.

"They seem nice enough." Dustin commented.

"They are, they just have their own opinions on stuff and were raised pretty strictly. They both grew up with a lot of money and they love to live life to the fullest. Sometimes I think that they think you can buy happiness with money but I know that they mean well. It's just how they were raised so they don't know any differently. I try and make my own money without using my parent's as much as I can." I explained.

"That's good. It shows you can be responsible and not mooch off of your parents riches. You obviously have built a good life for yourself on your own." Robb said thoughtfully. He then took a bite of his meal and groaned, "I still can't—this is fantastic!" he said, changing the subject as he stared at the plate of food in awe.

I was glad, as much as I missed my parents, I really didn't want to talk about them. It wasn't that I was ashamed of them but I always felt like people would treat me differently once they found out my parents were nearly billionaires. Aisha was the only person I knew who really didn't make a big deal out about my parents being rich. I knew that the GHI team would find out soon enough, but I didn't want that time to come until it absolutely had too. Sure, they were all pretty rich from the show's funding, but my parents money was different. It was old money and had more being brought in every day since my mother seemed to be a real estate 'tycoon' and my father a 'super' lawyer. I tried to forget about my parents riches as I lifted my glass of wine and tossed it back, hoping that a slight buzz would put me in a much better mood.

The rest of dinner seemed to pass quickly and before I knew it, we were all leaving the restaurant with our bellies full of delicious food and wine. We ended the night by saying our goodnights to each other outside of our separate rooms before we all entered our rooms to get some sleep. We had the investigation at Cesky Krumlov tomorrow and all needed to get as much rest as possible before the investigation started.

Before I got some shut eye, I decided I wanted to go through the case information one more time but first I wanted to change out of my dinner clothes. I put on a tank top and a pair of comfortable shorts and then went to get the case information. I grabbed all the papers I needed and my laptop and curled up in my bed. I set my alarm on my cellphone for 8am and then placed it on my table beside my bed. I didn't want to text Dustin all night tonight because I knew he needed his sleep. So I settled on sending him a quick text telling him goodnight before I turned my eyes to my paperwork.

I was reading through the information for what seemed like the hundredth time when I felt my eyes growing a little droopy which was probably a mixture from the wine at dinner and just plain tiredness. I let my eyes close, telling myself I'd only rest them for a moment before going back to work.

An annoying ringing sound was what brought me from my slumber the next morning. I popped open my eyes and turned towards my nightstand and saw my cellphone literally jumping around, buzzing and letting off the annoying formerly mention ringing sound. I groaned before reaching over and shutting off my alarm. I had done exactly what I told myself I wouldn't do – fall asleep reading my paperwork. My papers and laptop were still spread out on the bed with me and I silently thanked God that I didn't roll around and push my laptop off the bed in my sleep.

I got up and walked over to my suitcase, pulling out a pair of jeans and a red sweater before making my way to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day. The shower helped me relax and calm my excited nerves about the case. The warm water cascaded down my back, releasing the tightness from my muscles and causing my entire body to relax.

I stepped out of the shower and dried off before throwing my clothes on me. I decided to not mess with my hair and left it wavy and only put on some dark liner and mascara on my eyes. The whole process, including my shower and getting dressed, only took about thirty to forty minutes and I was completely ready once I laced up my red converse. Aisha and I had ever single color of converse imaginable because we found converse so comfortable. We wore the same size in shoes so we usually shared them. I kept half of them and she kept the other half. If we needed to borrow the other's shoes, we let them because it wasn't a big deal.

I put my room keys and phone in my jeans pocket before I decided to clean up my bed, picking up all the papers and organizing them in a orderly pile for later and putting my laptop back in it's case. I had just finished when my phone lightly buzzed, signaling I had a text.

From: Aisha

Meet you down in the lobby in five for breakfast? :)

- A.

At that moment my stomach took the perfect opportunity to grumble, making it known that it was hungry. I grinned and sent Aisha a text back letting her know that I would be down there in a few minutes. I assumed we'd be eating breakfast in the restaurant once again but I couldn't be so sure.

When I got down to the hotel's lobby I saw Aisha sitting on one of the burnt orange plush chairs, texting on her phone. She was dressed down for once, wearing a faded pair of jeans and a black and white striped thermal. Her straight brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she had a yellow sweatshirt sitting in her lap. From the looks of it, it looked like her Michigan State sweatshirt she had bought at Victoria's Secret.

When Aisha had first moved to the States, her parents had settled in Michigan and had lived there until after Aisha graduated from College. They then moved to Hanover, New Hampshire where Aisha's younger brother and sister decided to attend Dartmouth College, which was where I was going to school as well. Aisha's younger siblings and I were around the same age so I had a few classes with them. It was then that I met Aisha and we became really close friends. After I graduated, we moved to Whitefield together and started the photography agency together. I smiled at the memories of our first meeting and thought about her siblings as well. I made a mental note to ask her about them later.

I walked up to her and cleared my throat to get her attention. She jumped slightly and her phone flew from her hands and onto the floor. I picked up Aisha's light pink Blackberry and started to hand it to her when it began vibrating in my hand.

New Message: Barry.

I looked from to screen to Aisha and back to the screen a couple times before I handed her the phone without making a comment. I figured it would be better if I didn't say anything and let Aisha either tell me herself or pretend it never happened. For one, I didn't see Barry as the type of man to text, but there was always a first time for everything. Aisha's cheeks pinked a little but she stayed quiet on the subject and instead asked if I wanted to go ahead and eat breakfast. I agreed and together we walked into the restaurant to wait on the boys.

For once, we actually were ready before any of the other boys. We picked out a table and sat down. I sent Dustin a text letting him know we were already waiting for them in the restaurant for breakfast and when he finally texted me back he said that the four of them would be down in about ten minutes. I sniggered to myself knowing that Dustin was probably still perfecting his hair.

Most people thought that Dustin was a bit stuck up and vain when it came to his looks. Before I met him, even I wondered if he was a bit of a jerk behind the good boy exterior. I had heard a lot of fans say that he completely blew them off when he met them but I had also heard a lot of his fans say that he was really nice and down to earth when they met him. Now that I had actually met him and was 'dating' him, I knew that he wasn't as conceded as he came off. He just cared about his looks and there wasn't anything wrong with it. He used his looks as a joke and a fuel for light hearted gags. When he would make a comment like, 'I'm too pretty to be in here,' or something of that nature, some people didn't notice the sarcasm behind it.

"What are you thinking about?" Aisha asked me curiously while sipping on the glass of water she had ordered while she was waiting on the waiter to bring us six cups of coffee, one for each GHI member obviously.

"Nothing really," I replied. "It's not important. I'm just tired."

Aisha looked like she was about to argue when she shut her mouth as I felt a firm hand close down on my shoulder. I jumped in my seat, startled slightly. I looked up and saw Robb grinning down at me, "Did I scare you, Mercedes?" he asked.

"A little," I said candidly.

"Good." he chuckled.

He sat down in the seat next to me while Dustin, Barry and Joe sat in the remaining seats. It didn't escape my notice that Barry sat down in the seat right next to Aisha just a little too quickly. I knew something was going on here. The text message had tipped me off and the performance I was watching now made me even more suspicious. I narrowed my eyes at the two of them as they both blushed, knowing they had been caught. I didn't say anything though, once again.

The waiter came and took our orders and after we got our food, Robb went through the plan for the day. He told us that after breakfast we could have until around 4pm to do stuff on our own time before we had to all meet to get the vans packed up and we'd head over to Cesky Krumlov for the investigation. It wasn't a long drive to Cesky Krumlov from the hotel.

Everyone had different ideas on what they wanted to do so it was decided that we would just have some time to ourselves before we would meet back at the hotel at 4pm. Aisha wanted to check out some of the shops. Barry and Joe decided that they would accompany her as they wanted to explore the city as well. Robb was going to talk to the client to get extra information before he was going to meet up with Aisha, Barry and Joe to go sight seeing while Dustin and I both just wanted to relax at the hotel which for us was code words for 'spending time together secretly.'

We all went out separate ways. Aisha, Barry and Joe headed out of the restaurant after they were finished with their meals and then Robb retreated to his hotel room to call the client which left Dustin and I still in the restaurant. I was finished with my meal but I didn't really want to leave yet either. Dustin got the idea and ordered two more cups of coffee before sliding into the seat that Robb had previously occupied.

"Do you really want to stay in all day?" Dustin asked warily. "I mean, we're in Krumlov, Czech Republic — in Bohemia. Most people never get a chance like this. We should go explore or something. We could just tell the others that you got bored so we decided to explore together because I didn't want you going off alone or something of that sort."

I tapped my finger on my chin and smiled at Dustin, "Yeah, that sounds fine but we should probably wait until Robb leaves. We could watch a movie or something in my room." I suggested.

"That could work. They don't have a pool or anything here do they?" Dustin asked, mostly to himself.

I answered him anyways, "I don't think they do."

"That would've been interesting if they did." Dustin commented.

I rolled my eyes at him and stood up, "Sure, sure. Do you want to go back to the room now?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied, standing up as well.

We walked back to my hotel room, chatting about what movie we wanted to watch. I had brought a few DVDs with me along with my laptop to watch in case I got bored. I didn't have a huge collection but we could make due with what I had. I had mostly comedies and chick flicks although I did have a couple thrillers and horror films.

By the time we reached my room we decided on a comedy since apparently those were Dustin's favorites. I had Benchwarmers, Role Models, Accepted and Yes Man. When I told Dustin to pick one, he chose Role Models. I grabbed the DVD from my bag and placed in the CD drive for my laptop before I kicked off my shoes and curled up in the big bed, leaning against the headboard with my laptop on my lap. Dustin followed my example by kicking off his shoes and climbing on top of the bed with me. I felt his arm snake around my waist and pull me into his side.

The movie started playing and I couldn't help but think about how strange it was that I was so comfortable with Dustin. I had known him for a little over two weeks and had been with him for about three fourths of that time at this point. Was it normal to be comfortable with someone that quickly? It seemed unnatural to me. With any of my other boyfriends, I would not have cuddled up in my hotel room with and simply watched a movie with after dating them for a week and a half. It just wasn't like that. But with Dustin, things were different and they just – happened.

And that was a good thing.

The movie was over too quickly for my taste but Dustin and I untangled ourselves from each other and decided that we wanted to go ahead and go sight seeing at that point. Dustin wanted to wear a pair of sunglasses but unfortunately didn't have any with him so he ended up wearing a pair of my yellow aviators that looked a little less feminine than the rest of my sunglasses. Still, it made him look completely ridiculous but I don't think he even cared.

The next few hours were spent with Dustin and I walking hand and hand down the ancient streets of the city just chatting about random things and looking at all the shops, sights and places that were available to look at in the city. I had brought along my favorite digital camera as well. I had brought two of my cameras with me on the trip. One was my bigger and more advanced camera that was a hassle to carry around places while the other was just a simple, slim red digital camera that still took amazing pictures. For the sightseeing trip I decided that I wouldn't mess with bringing my big camera and instead brought my slim red one that fit inside my jean pockets.

As Dustin and I walked around I snapped pictures of random sights and people. Some of my favorite pictures that I was able to take were candid shots of couples, families and friends who were shopping, talking or just spending time together. While I went on a full out picture raid, Dustin just watched me with a smirk plastered on his face.

"You look like Barry in a camera store." He told me with a laugh. "You both are very passionate about photography I see."

I turned to him and snapped a picture of him when he wasn't ready. I giggled when it came up on the screen, "I'm a photographer, that's what I do." I told him simply as I showed him the picture I took.

Dustin frowned, "That picture looks horrible." he said.

I giggled, "I think it looks cute."

The picture was Dustin talking so his mouth was opened partly, that was the only part that looked not so good. The rest of the picture looked totally fine. He was staring at me in amusement while he had his hands tucked casually in his pockets.

Dustin walked towards me and tried to take the camera away from me but I ducked in time and started running down the street. I heard Dustin laugh loudly before he took off after me. I felt like a teenager, running down the street, but I didn't really care. I kept running until something out of the corner of my eye caused me to stop.

There was a large fountain in the middle of the city square that just looked completely stunning. It was like a photographers dream. I stopped in front of a eye-catching fountain and took a picture of the statue in the middle of it. I felt two arms wrap around my waist and I sighed contently before I turned the camera around and took a self portrait. Most photographers didn't really like to be photographed themselves but I loved it.

I turned the screen around to see the picture and gasped at what I saw. The picture looked amazing and was probably my favorite one I had taken for the entire day we had been out and about. We were both smiling huge smile and you could see the city milling around behind us.

I turned in Dustin's arms to say something to him when I was stopped right in my tracks by a voice.

"Awh, don't they just so cute together?" I heard an older female voice ask. She spoke English but you could hear a strong accent in her voice

I heard a male chuckle in response, "Young love, isn't it great?"

Dustin and I both turned our heads to see an older couple looking at us with grins plastered on their faces.

"If you want, we can take a picture of you two." The older woman told me kindly.

I looked up at Dustin who shrugged, "If you want, Mercedes. It doesn't matter to me."

For a moment I thought about it before I handed the older woman my camera, "Sure, I guess. Thanks you." I told her.

"Oh it's not a problem." she told me sweetly.

Dustin and I stood in front of the fountain. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders while I wrapped an arm around his waist in return. We both smiled and the older woman pressed the button, taking the picture of the two of us. We stood still for a moment, before the woman gave us the okay that the picture had taken. She handed me the camera.

"It's a very nice photograph. So how long have you two been married? Are you newlyweds?" she asked.

My jaw dropped in shock while I heard Dustin start sputtering behind me. It took me a while to gather myself enough to give her a clear answer, "U-uhm we a-aren't married…" I stuttered.

The woman frowned, "Well that's such a shame." she said while shaking her head. "You two would make beautiful babies."

This time I heard a strangled cough from behind me and saw that Dustin's face had turned bright red from embarrassment. I probably would have laughed and teased him if I wasn't embarrassed myself.

"T-thank you," I said, but it held an air of question to it.

The older man finally spoke, "Honey, I think you're embarrassing them." he muttered.

The woman laughed nervously and then apologized, "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable." she said. "You two are just such a cute couple though. Well, I hope you have a nice trip."

"Thank you, you too." Dustin finally choked out.

I took one look at him before I asked, "Do you want to go back to the hotel now?" I asked.

Dustin nodded, "Yeah, that's probably best."

The walk back to the hotel was silent but it wasn't uncomfortable. I held Dustin's hand lightly in my own when I heard my phone start ringing in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered it.

"Hey!" Aisha's voice said through the phone. "We're all back at the hotel, where are you and Dustin. We knocked on your doors and no one answered."

I frowned, "Oh sorry." I told her. "I got bored and wanted to walk around and ask Dustin to come with me because I didn't want to go alone and I didn't know where the rest of you were at." I told her.

"Okay," Aisha replied. "Will you guys be back soon?"

"Yeah, we're almost there." I told her.

"See you in a few." Aisha said before she hung up.

When Dustin and I entered the hotel, the others were in the lobby waiting for us. We decided to go ahead and get the vans packed up since we had all of our stuff with us. I did make one quick trip back to the rooms to get my information on the castle because I knew I'd have to make a little speech in the van on the way over to let the viewers in on what went on at the castle. I was a little nervous about the speech and wanted my papers with me just in case I forgot something or got stumped. The last thing I wanted to do what give the viewers made up information on the castle.

Setting up the van only took a few minutes and before I knew it, we were off towards the castle.

So, did you guys enjoy the chapter? I hope you did :) Please leave some reviews for the poor sickly woman. Lol. Just kidding, I'm getting better. :) Outfits and pictures of the hotel and the town and all that will be up on the website soon! So make sure to check it out. Krumlov (the city) is so stinkin' beautiful it isn't funny! There is a bit of a change on the website navagation. The GHI pages are under the "more" catagory. Don't click on it, just let your mouse hover and another list will pop up :) And also, because I have so many beautiful pictures of Wicklow's Gaol and of Krumlov, there is will a seperate page for all those pictures. So there is now Three Pages: "GHI: Team", "GHI: Outfits/Acc" and "GHI: Places" :) Make sure to check them ALL out!