Hello Nerdians! Not much to say except: THIS IS MY LAST DAY OF HOLIDAYS! WHYYY! So yeah.

Also: I'm having difficulties deciding wether or not to ship Eddie (Sly) or James (Nova) with Aleks (Immortal). *First world problems intensify* Tell me if I should ship ImmortalFox or NovaHD! Or should I just ship UberFoxHD?

Also, there is a lovely poll on my page asking for your opinion regarding my story. Go do it please!

And by the way... HAPPY CHAPTER TEN!

CHAPTER TEN

"Jerome, Grace, we're here. Wake up," Cynthia said, reaching back and shaking Jerome's knee. Jerome woke with a jolt, head snapping up.

"What?" he muttered.

"You slept for four hours," Cynthia said with a smile. "The whole trip." Jerome yawned and rubbed his face.

"I needed it," he replied.

"Everyone out!" Jackson ordered. Cynthia climbed out of the car and went to the back door, opening it. She reached in and shook Grace gently.

"Wake up, honey," Cynthia said soothingly. Grace opened her eyes and blinked a few times, yawning widely. Cynthia unbuckled Grace and lifted her out, cradling her to her chest. Jerome undid his seat belt and climbed out of the car, straightening his shirt. It was a plain blue thing, the first shirt he'd grabbed when he'd got home. Way too thin for the morning's cold but perfect now. Grace slid out of Cynthia's arms and ran over to Sasha. Cynthia walked over to watch them and Jackson came around the back of the car to unpack.

"Jerome, give me a hand?" Jackson asked as he started to drag the folded chairs out. Jerome nodded and grabbed one of the bags. They brought one bag filled with enough clothes for the weekend for the whole family, and a separate section with some toiletries. The Aceti family had been going on these trips for the past eight years with the McDonalds – they learnt quickly not to over pack. Jerome dumped it by the car and started to pull out the tent. Jackson shifted some things out of the way and then helped Jerome haul out the tent. Jerome nearly dropped his end but he kicked is foot up underneath it to hold it up as he shifted his hands to hold the weight. The two walked over to the small clearing and set the tent down gently. Cameron and Madeline walked over with their tent and then Paul, the tent tucked under his arm. Mitch and Paul only brought a small tent. Speaking of Mitch…

"I heard you got suspended," Mitch said bluntly. Jerome was surprised Mitch was the one who started the conversation. After all, he was the one who'd said Jerome was just getting in his way.

"Yeah," Jerome answered cautiously. Mitch stopped for a moment, thinking as he put down his backpack.

"Good job," Mitch said, before walking away and leaving Jerome to stand there.

Mitch didn't know why he'd tried to talk to Jerome. It was a mistake. I just made it even more awkward. Mitch rubbed his head, growling. All of this is giving me a headache. Why do I care if things are awkward between us? There isn't even an 'us'! God dammit…

After everyone unloaded, the families set about setting up their tents… some with more success than others. The heat had intensified violently after the freezing morning, and Mitch had already shed his black and red jacket. His black shirt was a mistake – according to the one science class he hadn't slept through black attracted heat. Mitch walked towards the middle of the small camp, where everyone was putting the final touches to their sites. Grace and Sasha were begging Cynthia to let them go swim in the lake, bouncing around her as she tried to push her bag into the tent.

"The girls are begging to go swimming, let's leave the rest of this until after," Jackson said. Paul looked at Mitch, slightly panicky, but Mitch didn't look back.

"Sure, sounds fun," Mitch said.

"All right. Get changed then, we're leaving in five," Jackson ordered. Jackson walked away to his family and Mitch looked at the floor.

"You don't have to," Paul said.

"I don't hide from things," Mitch muttered, grabbing his backpack and disappearing into the tent to get changed.

Jerome came out of the tent with Grace and looked around the small camp. Grace played with the lacy frills around her hips and then squealed.

"Sasha has the same swimmers!" she shouted, running over to Sasha. Sasha wore a purple version to the pink of Grace's swimming costume, and the two girls were senselessly screaming about it.

"Let's go!" Cameron called. Then he frowned. "Paul, where's Mitch?" Cameron asked. Paul fiddled with his hands and smiled awkwardly.

"Uh, he said he'd catch up," Paul said. Cameron raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. He ushered the girls ahead and they started down the well-worn path. Jerome followed behind his parents, wondering why Mitch was taking so long. Maybe he can't swim or something. Then he heard footsteps behind him and turned around. Mitch was walking quickly to catch up, but it wasn't that that made Jerome's jaw drop. It was the large, shiny scar on Mitch's right hand side, stretching up to his bottom rib and disappearing down past the hem of swimming trunks. Mitch scowled and crossed his arms over his stomach.

"What?" he snapped. Jerome shook his head and blinked, having to remember to close his mouth.

"What did that?" Jerome asked.

"None of your business," Mitch growled, narrowing his eyes. Jerome turned around and kept walking, moving a bit faster. Wow. That looked horrible… and painful. Was he attacked by a dog or something? Geez.

"Jerome!" Jackson yelled. Jerome looked up from the path and saw his dad standing at the end of the path, beckoning for him. Jerome ran up and looked over the crest of the hill. Sasha and Grace were sprinting way too fast down the hill, screaming joyfully. The lake spread out ahead, miles of glittering, beautiful water. They always swam in it when they came and on the third trip the fathers had set up a rope on a tree so they could swing into the water like Tarzan. Jerome had been so excited at the time. The girls had reached the water and were splashing around in excitement. The men was laughing at some shared joke as they searched for the rope and the two women sat by the shore to talk, keeping a careful watch on the younger children. Jerome looked over his shoulder at Mitch, who was still covering his stomach. He was surprised. I didn't think of Mitch as being the sort of person to be self-conscious. He followed his dad to the rope and watched as he ran quickly with it in his hands before leaping off the small dirt mound. There was a loud shout as he released the rope, flying off into the water. The rope swung back, bouncing from suddenly going slack. Cameron looked at Jerome and took a step back, hand out towards the rope.

"You go first," he said with a smile. Jerome thanked him and grabbed the rope. He took a few steps back before running as fast as he could. He leapt and the rope jerked roughly in his hands. Jerome loved the sensation of flying, and when he let go of the rope he closed his eyes for a moment. Flying away from my stupid life. That's poetic. Caitlyn would like it. Then the hard impact and splash that brought him back down to earth. Jerome kicked his legs and surfaced, blinking water out his eyes. He swam quickly to avoid having Cameron land on him and just floated, treading water lightly. Jerome watched as Cameron landed with a splash, the rope swinging back to Mitch, who reached out to grab it. Cameron waded over to Jackson and they started talking about something related to cars, which Jerome didn't have much interest in. He sighed and ducked his head under the water, letting it slow currents caress his face gently. I'm not having as much fun as I usually do on these trips. Why? Is it because Mitch and Paul are here? What's changed? Jerome felt a sudden need for air and pulled his head up, water running down his face in rivulets. There was sudden splash from close by and he kicked backwards, surprised. The water rippled and then Mitch burst up. He flicked his hair out of his eyes and looked at Jerome with visible disappointment.

"Damn, I was hoping I'd land on you," he said.

"So you could crush me under your fat ass?" Jerome retorted. Mitch smirked, and held a hand over his heart.

"Shots fired," he replied. Jerome raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, tell me what happened to you. What gave you that scar?" Jerome asked quickly. Mitch's smirk dropped and he glared at Jerome.

"I don't need to tell you," Mitch said. Jerome swam closer and Mitch swam backwards, scowling.

"Yes, you do," Jerome insisted.

"No, I don't," Mitch hissed, swimming further back as Jerome kept swimming towards him. "What the hell are you doing? Back off!"

"I'm trying to intimidate you into telling me," Jerome replied, eyes not leaving Mitch. Mitch barked a sudden, sharp laugh.

"That's not going to work," he said. Jerome kept swimming closer. "Back the hell off!" Mitch snapped. He kicked out one leg and it collided with Jerome's chest, thrusting him backwards. He rubbed his chest, frowning.

"Ow," he said. Then he smiled slyly and kept swimming closer.

"Next time I kick you I swear it'll be your balls," Mitch warned. Jerome's smile widened and Mitch's scowl deepened.

"Dude, stop it," Mitch said.

"Not until you tell me!" Jerome said in a sing-song tune.

"I'm not going to tell you! Back off!"

"You're going to tell me…"

"No, I'm not. You're pissing me off! Oh my god, you're such an idiot!" Mitch yelled. Jerome laughed.

"Tell me!" Jerome yelled.

"Fine! If I tell you, you have to leave me alone, okay?" Mitch growled. Jerome stopped immediately and blinked.

"Okay," Jerome agreed. Mitch took a small breath and under the water, Jerome could see his hand gingerly touch the scar.

"When I was eight, I woke up with this horrible pain in my side and I was crying and screaming and it was really… it really hurt," Mitch said softly. "So, I went to my dad's room and he wasn't there, so I started to go downstairs but I fell over. I had to tug myself up when he didn't come and go to the kitchen to find him, but he was drunk off his mind. I was screaming for him to wake up and all he did was stare at his bottle. It was like I didn't exist." Mitch looked down at the water for a long moment before looking back up, face emotionless.

"I could feel this throbbing pain in my side, I didn't know what to do, I was fricking eight, so… so I grabbed a kitchen knife and tried to cut out whatever was hurting so much," Mitch said, voice barely a whisper. Jerome was shocked. He could see the pain and confusion swirling in his eyes, like Mitch was experiencing that same pain now.

"All I remember is screaming and screaming and then I woke up in Hospital. Turns out I had appendicitis and I had nearly died and all that time my dad did nothing," Mitch said harshly. Holy shit. That's horrible. I can't believe he had to go through that.

"Why didn't the doctors fix up the wound? They could've had it leave no scar," Jerome said softly.

"I was a smart kid," Mitch muttered bitterly. "I asked them to leave it so it would scar so badly that everything my dad saw it he would be reminded that he was a shit father and once again he'd done nothing."

"Mitch, I…" Jerome trailed off.

"Don't tell me you're sorry," Mitch snapped. "No one is."

"I wasn't going to say sorry. I was going to say that… that you're pretty damn amazing for surviving that all by yourself," Jerome said quietly. Mitch looked slightly shocked, and he sighed, rubbing his face.

"Thanks," he muttered, before swimming away.

"Mitch, pass the sauce!" Madeline said. He reached down and picked up the barbeque sauce, passing it around the circle. Madeline nodded in thanks, putting a large amount of sauce on her tofu burger which glinted in the firelight.

"How's everyone's food?" Cynthia asked. There were many murmurs of approval as everyone dug in to the excellently cooked hamburgers.

"Who would've guessed that small little barbeque could make such excellent food?" Jackson said. "Well worth the buy."

"Oh, it wasn't the barbeque," Madeline said, waving her hand. "We all know Cynthia was born to cook!" Cynthia smiled sheepishly. The adults continued their inane chatter until Mitch heard Madeline say the first interesting thing of the night.

"So, Jerome. I heard you've been suspended," Madeline said, disapproval in her voice.

"Oh, we've let it slide. It's his first time in serious trouble, the kid's never even had a detention," Jackson said quickly, ruffling Jerome's hair. Jerome rolled his eyes but smiled. "He's always been good, and we've never had a problem with him." Then everyone looked at Mitch, and he nearly froze. It took all of his strength to take another bite of food under the stares.

"Have you ever been in trouble, Mitch?" Madeline asked.

"I don't think-" Paul started, but Mitch looked at him. Paul stopped and closed his mouth.

"I've actually been suspended a lot of times, and I've lost track of all the detentions I've had," Mitch said calmly. Shock registered on all the adult's faces, except Paul. His face flushed with embarrassment, causing a spark of annoyance in Mitch. Oh, so now you think you'll look like a bad parent? Should've thought about that about, oh, ten years ago! And why are they all so surprised? Didn't Jerome… Oh. Jerome didn't tell them.

"Why so?" Jackson managed.

"He has a learning difficulty!" Jerome said, practically yelping. Mitch looked at Jerome in surprise, and all the stares swivelled to Jerome. Jerome gulped.

"Uh… he can't pay attention with so many people making noise. So he scores badly in tests, and then he gets in trouble," Jerome said quickly. "But he's really great at language. He's pretty fluent in French. He scores the highest in the class." The adults then seemed like they forgave Mitch. God forbid I'm not perfect enough to fit in with all you rich idiots.

"Where did you learn to speak French?" Cameron asked.

"Oh. I was born in Canada and I lived there for a while. They teach French as a regular class there," Mitch explained. Madeline clasped her hands together, tofu burger long forgotten on her lap. The plate shifted every time she moved and came close to toppling as she moved in her seat to look at Mitch better.

"I've always wanted to go to Canada! All the snow and culture," she gushed. "Where did you live? I mean, what city?"

"Uh… Montreal?" Mitch said, uncertain. Why are you suddenly so interested in me? And more importantly: why did Jerome defend me? So many questions, and I left my detective hat at home.

"Oh! Is it as gorgeous as everyone says?"

"I guess so… I was a four month old when I lived in Montreal. Then we moved to a smaller town. Couldn't afford it."

"I want to go so badly! Cameron, can we go to Montreal for our anniversary?" The conversation continued on normally from there, and no one looked at Mitch for the rest of the talk. When the fire began to die down and Sasha and Grace started to yawn, everyone was sent to bed. But Mitch laid there silently, staring at the top of tent. Too many thoughts flooded his mind and it wasn't until at least two am he fell asleep, his last thoughts going to Jerome.

So... who thinks the Big Kiss will happen soon? Tell me what you think a review, lovely people! AND DON'T FORGET TO THE POLL!

And thank you for 1317 views! That is so amazing!