AN - Well, inspiration finally struck me again, so... This one is, shockingly, MangaQuest (I say shockingly because I despise this pair, so it's a miracle that I wrote something of them). Also I looked over my previous stories and realized: the old ones really are horrible. I only start to like them again come the fourth one (Ambershipping). I went back and fixed grammatical mistakes in the previous ones, but I did leave the stories alone, instead of fixing them up like I wanted to. Ah, well.

Rite of Passage

"You know, when you told me you were taking me swimming, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

You stare apprehensively at the narrow river. You feel chilly just looking at it. Or maybe that's just the late October wind affecting you.

Beside you, a boy's voice says, "Well what did you expect? A swimming pool out in the middle of nowhere?"

Your name is Crystal, you are fifteen years old, and somehow you have been convinced by your rather frustrating companion to go swimming.

You turn to him and mutter doubtfully, "I don't know, maybe there was a hidden hot spring you found on one of your silly little adventures. A girl can dream."

He grins mischievously at you, golden eyes glinting, and something in that look sends your heart pounding. Ugh. "So you admit you wanted to go to a hot spring alone with me?" he teases.

You spin around quickly, refusing to give him the honor of seeing the flush his comment arises from you. You grit your teeth and snap, "You wish!"

He snickers, and you huff, crossing your arms and pointedly ignoring him. Finally, he sighs and says, "Oh come on, Crys, relax! This'll be fun… if you let it be, anyway."

You let out a sigh of your own and cast the water – about seven feet deep – another wary glance. "I don't know, Gold. That water looks awfully cold…"

"Nonsense! I bet it's warmer than the air right now. You remembered your swimsuit, right?"

You roll your eyes and turn to face him and begin to tell him that of course you did, it's on underneath your clothes, and really, what sort of idiot do you take me for when— "Gold!"

You whip back around in a hurry because he's peeling off his clothes and for one heart-stopping moment you think that he might be naked.

You can hear him laughing ferociously behind you, and you hate yourself just a little for getting so worked up – more than that, you hate yourself for being unable to stop the blush from spreading across your entire face, heat making you feel almost feverish in this cool weather.

He lays a hand on your shoulder and you stiffen. "I already said relax! And did you really think I was nude, Crys? Gimme some credit! I had trunks on underneath."

You let out a breath. He laughs deep in his throat and you just know he's going to say something— "Or… were you hoping we'd be skinny-dipping?"

Your first instinct is to smack him, and you have to fight to reel the urge in. Instead of giving into temptation, you whirl and shove his arm off of you, putting a little distance between the two of you. You're spluttering incoherently all the while.

While you're still attempting not to freak out and attack him – because ooh, does he make you mad sometimes! – he runs and dives headfirst into the water.

You stare at the ripples of his entrance into the – surely freezing – river in shock until he resurfaces a few seconds later, beaming like a madman.

"Come on in, Crys!" he shouts jubilantly, "The water's fine!"

You shake your head and take a step away. "You're crazy."

He lets out a frustrated grumble and says, "Oh, come on! The water really isn't all that cold!"

You just cross your arms and stare at him pointedly, wordlessly making your intention to stay put clear. He lets out a growl and swims to the bank, clambering up and coming to join you. Then he looks in your eyes with such a sincerity that your traitorous heart starts fluttering around in your chest like a deranged butterfly and implores, "Please, Crys? Just give it a try?"

You avert your gaze, unable to continue looking at him like that dead on without blushing, and do your best to stamp down the jumbled feelings dancing around inside your head. Instead, you focus on something simpler; logic.

You take one of his arms and run your hand across it. Bumpy all over. "You've got Goosebumps, Gold. That would imply to me that the water is indeed as cold as I think it is. Liar."

He rolls his eyes and huffs as if to say, of course that's what you'd focus on. "The Goosebumps are from when I got out of the water. This wind is a bitch. I'm kind of freezing my ass off, here."

He's lying. You know he's lying, and he knows that you know that he's lying. All in all, his behavior is curious. "Why do you want me to go in the water so badly, Gold?"

He looks away from your inquiring stare and scratches the back of his neck — a sure sign that he's embarrassed. "Look, swimming in the river — it's like a rite of passage, okay? It's just something everyone should experience once."

You can tell this is clearly pretty important to him, and consider jumping in right then and there to please him, because you really can't stand seeing him looking forlorn. But your mind is still rebelling against the thought of ice cold water.

You attempt to compromise. "I… see. Well, I'd really like to swim in the river sometime. I'm just not sure I'm up to it right now. How about in the spring, when it's warmer?"

He just raises his eyebrow. "Really? If you're willing to do it, why not now? No time like the present!"

"Yeah, but Gold — !"

He doesn't wait for you to get a response out. He strides to stand behind you, and before you fully realize what's happening, he pushes you, hard, and you go reeling into the water, clothes and all.

You come up flailing. Your clothes are clinging to you, your hair is sticking to your neck and you can't get your bangs out of your eyes. You're freezing, because, yup, Gold was totally lying about this water. Stay in here too long and you'll end up as a popsicle. But most of all, you're just really, spitting angry.

"You—you—jerk!" And he's just standing on the bank laughing like he'll never stop, and it seems like there's no word to describe how angry you are right now and how much you hate him, but darn it you're going to try.

"You ASSHOLE!" The word comes flying out of your mouth loud and unbidden, and you gasp, slapping your hands over your lips in a way that could only be described as melodramatically.

But it seems to work, as Gold shuts up for once of his life and stares at you in shock. He's known you for over three years now, and never once has he heard you curse – and for good reason, too; until today, you'd never cussed in your life. More proof that that ass — jerk — is rubbing off on you in a bad way.

The shock wears off, and he begins his peals of laughter anew, gasping, "Oh my god, this is just too great! Little goody-two-shoes Crys, cursing at big bad me! Oh, man!"

Your hands fall from your mouth to your side, curling into fist. Again, you're tempted to just deck him. Again, you manage to resist. Instead, you think of a better way to get back at him.

Laughing so, he's left himself totally exposed and defenseless right by the water's edge. You notice, and you take advantage. Grabbing his leg, you pull him – perhaps a little too forcefully – into the shocking cold water.

He stays under longer than you anticipated, and he comes up choking and gasping for breath.

All at once your anger dissipates and you feel terribly guilty. You rush quickly to his side. "Oh, god, Gold, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Are you okay?"

He looks all set to snap at you, tense and irritated, but he takes one look at your almost-tearful face and softens. "…Nah, I'm okay. Can't say I blame you for wanting a little revenge. Did ya have to pull so hard, though?"

There's something in the way he holds your gaze so intently, smile playing softly across his lips, that has you thinking maybe he'll — do something. Your heart seems to be beating so loudly that you don't know how he doesn't notice and make a crack about it. You look downward in a small effort to avoid having him see your red face. "W—well of course I did. I had to pay you back good for this, of course. Gold, this water's freezing!"

He ignores your last statement and nods sagely. "Ah, of course. Payback always has been a bitch."

You chance a glance back up and the blush increases tenfold, because he's looking at you so obviously, sweeping his eyes up and down your body in a way that makes you short of breath. You know you've come a long way from when you were twelve. You have long legs, wide hips, and a surplus of bust that guys never seem to be able to tear their eyes off of. You cross your arms to cover your ample chest when you notice his gaze stray too long there. Stupid clothes clinging to stupid big boobs.

"You know…" he starts, and there's this soft, gentle quality to his voice that really makes you feel light-headed, "…I really do like spending time with you. When you're not being outrageously bossy, anyway."

You focus only on the nice part of the back-handed compliment. "T-thank you…"

He's still staring at you, and you think today may be a day for firsts — for rites of passage. First time swimming in a river, first time cursing, first… kiss.

You smile nervously at him, and just know, just feel that he's about to make your third first come true when he starts to smile back.

Then he sweeps his arm back, and with a powerful stroke, splashes ice cold water all over you.

You call him an asshole again.

AN - Yeah, I wanted to try something new with this one, so it's second person! (Blame Homestuck, which I have been obsessed with recently and wherein most everything is second person) I actually think it turned out pretty well. I like it a lot, which is strange for me because I generally dislike my writing and I have extra reason to hate on this one 'cause it's MangaQuest. But whatever. As always I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to your reviews! ^_^