Chapter 9 - Part II

Going to Amoris Lake wasn't the finest time in Brooklyn's life. What, with her mother yelling at every driver who either passed her or drove to slow for her own tastes, her Grand-Mere chatting with Codi loud enough to make a parrot cringe, and Codi being her obnoxious little kid self. But luckily after four hours, listening to the three women in her life was over.

Well, at least in their Santa Fe Hyundai.

Putting her hand on the Santa Fe's opening handle and pushing the door open, Brooklyn stepped out and surveyed the area. Her Grand-Mere's cabin looked as if it had never aged since her Great Grand-pere had built it. The cabin was a dark wooden colour, and of course it was made out of the trees that had surrounded the area before people civilized it. Now there were still trees around, quite a few actually, but there were more cabins along the line of the beach shore. Their cabin was to the right of a few mountains, but it was beside a dirt path that led to the beautiful sandy beach of Amoris Lake, which was very convenient.

Opening the trunk and taking her mother's two suitcases full of...well god knows what, the purple haired girl walked down towards their cabin's front door, hoping no raccoons had taken refuge in there...

'Oh well this is cool' were her first words as she stepped into the cabin. When you first walk into the cabin, it's a small square room with a door on each wall. Taking her signature red sneakers off, Brooklyn put the suitcases down and went to explore each room.

The ruby orbed girl decided to head to the one on the left first and make her way around, hoping that it was a circle of some kind that led to the right side of the cabin.

On the left side was a closet, but if you turned right and went through the door frame, you'd encounter a spacious kitchen area along with a beautiful view of the lake. The living room was also in the area as well, but it was more in the middle of the spacious room then near the kitchen. Brooklyn stared at the wide window view that started from where the kitchen ended to the other side of the room where she assumed the bedrooms started. It really was beautiful, but Brooklyn decided to continue on her adventure of the cabin and not to stare at the view as if it were Medusa.

Opening the next door at the end of the living room, Brooklyn entered a long hallway that forked right and then right again to where the entrance of the cabin was. Doors lined the halls, probably full of bedrooms and bathrooms. Well Great Grand-pere really knew how to build a nice cabin, Brooklyn thought as she walked around the cabin to come back to the entrance where her Grand-mere was standing. Brooklyn wasn't nosy, so she didn't want to go into every room.

'Ahh Brooklyn, I'm glad I found you. This cabin is so big and so easy to get lost in hey?' her grand-mere said as she wiped her shoes off on the typical welcome mat. Brooklyn narrowed her eyebrows slightly; she hated being treated like she was a kid.

'I suppose. Where's mom's room going to be?' Brooklyn asked her grand-mere a bit snidely as she grabbed the suitcases.

'Aww come now Brooklyn, take a break! Come see the beautiful view of the lake! ~' her grand-mere ignored her question as she started walking towards the door in front of her.

'Grand-mere!~' Brooklyn uttered out, but her grand-mere had already stepped through and gone to the living room. I guess that's a shorter way to get there, Brooklyn thought as she turned to the right to drop the suitcases off in a random area.

'No! I am not taking Codi for a swim mom! I'm here to take a break, not to babysit!' Brooklyn yelled at her mother who was starting to make a drink for herself.

'Brooklyn that's the only way you get to leave. It's your choice' her mother authorized as she poured the drink into her glass and took a long sip. The purple haired girl wasn't impressed. There was always a condition she had to fulfill to do anything. Sighing, Brooklyn took the non-stop chatting Codi and walked to the door to go to the beach...

'Wow! Look Brookie! Look at the beach!' her younger sister yelled excitedly pointing to the pale coloured sand and beautifully darkened blue lake; there were few chairs and umbrella's lining the beach. Brooklyn was happy barely anyone was here. That meant more time to herself and her manga reading.

'Yeah yeah it's a beach. What did you expect? It's nothing special~' Brooklyn replied to her sisters enthusiasm with her own as she walked ahead of the girl to go grab some sunscreen. The girls were both wearing swim suits underneath their clothes, but the water didn't look too inviting today. Codi had on a white sundress with small flowers on it along with pink flip-flops while Brooklyn had on a black tank top and a green checkered skirt which had a chain on the pocket; and of course her red sneakers.

'Brookie! I wanna go swimming now!' Codi yelled at the back of her sister, making Brooklyn turn around to glare at the blonde seven year old girl that was her sibling. Half sibling, the ruby orbed girl reminded herself.

'We are not going swimming Codi. The water's too cold, and we don't even know if its shark infested. You might get your toes bitten off~' Brooklyn scarily replied, but her sister just laughed.

'Brookie that's not funny!'

'It wasn't supposed to be you little twerp' Brooklyn muttered as she took Codi's hand, the blonde girl whining all the way to the beach vendor...

'Ah! Brooklyn! What a nice surprise seeing you here!' a familiar voice spoke out making the purple haired girl turn around to see Rosalya's golden orbs look into her ruby ones.

'Ah Rosalya! Yes it is isn't it?' Brooklyn said forgetting about her sister's hand in hers, the other one occupied with the sunscreen she had just bought. Rosalya didn't miss that though.

'Awww! Who's this little cutie you have with you?' Rosalya asked as Brooklyn looked down to see Codi smile and walk up to Rosalya.

'Lady you have a lot of skin showing through your bathing suit' Codi replied blaintedly, smiling as Rosalya laughed.

'Well that's how my boyfriend designed it sweetie' Rosalya replied happily as she picked Codi up. Brooklyn had to agree with her sister though; Rosalya's purple one piece clung to her body nicely, the middle barely covered. That was how she dressed though.

'Ah you're here with family Brooklyn? We won't disturb you then~' Leigh's voice chimed out just behind Rosalya.

Ah so Leigh's here too. And not wearing a swim suit...

Hal would be so disappointed, Brooklyn thought smirking as she turned back to Rosalya who had put Codi down, but was holding the girls hand.

'Aww I think I've fallen for your sister Brooklyn! You never mentioned having siblings~

But that's probably because she's jealous of your cuteness Codi' the sexy silverette commented smiling down at Codi; Codi grinning up at the silverette.

'Yeah...

Well if you love her so much maybe you can take her off my hands right?' Brooklyn said jokingly.

'Yeah! You're much nicer than Brookie!' Codi chimed in, making Brooklyn glare at the seven year old.

'I wouldn't mind that actually~

Leigh what do you think? This could give you an idea to broaden your clothing sales to not just women, but to little girls too! Aww imagine Codi in one of your cute swim suits!' Rosalya chattered away excited as Leigh didn't look very amused.

'We'll have to see. Maybe Brooklyn's mother doesn't want us to keep Codi to ourselves all month long~' Leigh said looking down at the girl, ending up smiling at her anyways.

He'll give in; everyone does, Brooklyn thought.

'Ah Brooklyn, do you have any sunscreen on you?

Oh, well that's sunscreen right there isn't it?' Rosalya asked Brooklyn as the ruby orbed girl nodded and gave it to Rosalya who smiled and thanked her.

'Leigh can you put some on me then?

Ah, Codi I'll put some on you! First take off that dress though; you're on a beach not walking around the lake~' Rosalya said as she lay down on a nearby towel. Codi followed her and Leigh over to it;

Well I guess Rosa and I have different views on kids~' Brooklyn thought as she walked over there too.

'Oh Brooklyn, have you seen Lysander around? He came with us but wandered off somewhere on his own~' the silver beauty commented as Leigh started putting the sunscreen on Rosa's shoulders.

'L-Lysander came too? Ah~

I haven't seen him' Brooklyn commented a bit nervously. Her ruby orbs looked down at Rosalya, who's golden ones were full of amusement.

'Ah you haven't have you? Hmm…

Well if you spot him in his bathing suit, tell Lys-baby to come over here okay?' she off handily said smiling with mischief as she stood up to put some sunscreen on Codi's back.

I...I guess that means i'm off to find Lys-bab~

I mean Lysander.

God sakes why does she call him that?!, Brooklyn thought annoyed as she went to walk around the beach to spot the silverette~.

Walking along the beach with her hands stuffed in her pockets, a lot like a certain red head, Brooklyn found herself looking at the scenery, regretting not bringing her bag down here to read. Not stopping to look ahead of her, Brooklyn found herself running into someone's back and saving herself from falling, this time.

'Ah! S-Sorry I didn't see where I was going~' Brooklyn apologized as she saw who she had bumped into.

'Heh. The Princess figured out how to apologize? I didn't know royalty could do that~' Castiel snorted smirking as he crossed his arms.

Ugh what a nuisance.

'Nice to see you too Castiel. Have you seen Lysander anywhere?' Brooklyn asked not paying any attention to the red head in front of her. Maybe it was because she really wanted to see Lysander in a swimsuit, or because she just didn't want to spend any time with her stalker, or maybe both. Either way, Brooklyn didn't want to be near Castiel at the moment, so she hadn't heard him when he mocked being offended and uttered some insult…

Giving up on finding the silverette, Brooklyn paused near some rocks at the end of the beach and sat on them pulling her knees to her stomach and watched the waves come into the tide and back out again.

'Brooklyn? I didn't know you were coming here~' Lysander spoke out making Brooklyn jump and turn, instantly saddened. Rosalya lied! Lysander wasn't wearing a swimsuit, but a tanned long sleeved shirt which was open and Capri's!

'Ah yeah, my grand-mere has a cabin overlooking the beach. I would've told you but...everyone had left the day before. I'm shocked you didn't tell me where you were going~' Brooklyn countered as she stood up.

'Yeah that's true'.

'So...you're wearing a normal clothing attire' Brooklyn said nonchalantly, making Lysander frown.

'Well yeah. I don't believe a 'Victorian Style' bathing suit exists…

If I ever mentioned that to Rosa, she'd probably force my brother to make some~' Lysander remarked with a hint of a smile. Brooklyn had to agree with the man there though.

'That's true. She would. She just tried suggesting that he make girls' outfits now~

But uh, why are you wearing a shirt at the beach though?'

At this question, Lysander blankly looked at the purple haired girl.

'I feel more comfortable with a shirt on.

Why?'

'Ah-Ah no reason!

Rosa just said that you were wearing a swim suit, so I had assumed...~' Brooklyn said but trailed off, her face turning a bit red.

'Oh I see. Rosa and her fibs' Lysander said smiling.

'Yeah. Oh, there near the middle of the beach, in case you were wondering' she remarked as she dug her shoe into the sand, not wanting to look up at the silverette.

'Oh I see. Thank you for telling me~

Would...' Lysander started to say, but he too trailed off looking away from the beach. Looking up, Brooklyn followed his gaze to see Castiel leaning against the beach vendor's store, watching the two. Turning back to Lysander, she watched him shake his head.

'Ah i'll see you later Brooklyn~

I have to deal with something' Lysander said as he walked towards his best friend.

I hope they don't start fighting again.., Brooklyn thought as she watched the two walk away together in deep conversation.

Walking some more along the beach, Brooklyn watched the few brave people swimming in the cold water, chuckling at the sight. She'd never be so stupid as to go in there~

Turning her head a bit, Brooklyn saw Codi & Rosa sitting at the water's edge, their feet in the water, giggling.

'Having a fun time you two?' Brooklyn asked the pair as they both looked at each other and splashed the purple haired girl.

'Oh yeah; we're having lots of fun now!' Rosa replied still giggling as she splashed Brooklyn again.

'Aww no! My clothes are all wet now!~' the girl exclaimed as she shook her now wet arms.

This was part of her plan. To make me strip to my bathing suit~', Brooklyn thought as she frowned at Rosa.

'Well now that you're wet, show us your bathing suit Brooklyn! You can put your clothes where my stuff is!' Rosalya admitted as she stood to bend down and cup her hands, her palms filling up with water.

Foreseeing the attack, Brooklyn ran to where she saw Rosa's stuff, not wanting to be splashed again.

Turning around once she was at the site, Brooklyn watched as Codi got drenched in water. The purple haired girl couldn't help laughing as she took her sneakers off, and then her top, regretfully. When her skirt was off too, Brooklyn looked down at the revealing, but not as revealing as Rosa's, bathing suit Hal had picked out for her to wear.

'Stinkin' blonde chick...' Brooklyn muttered as she walked towards the girls, angry.

'Aww! So you do have a chest Brooklyn!' were the first words Rosa uttered once the silverette saw Brooklyn in her bathing suit.

'Ah~

Not that I didn't know that, cause they're so noticeable. More than most...

Um, you know what I'm trying to say right?

You look good!' Rosa tried finishing, laughing along with Codi, making Brooklyn walk away from the two crossing her arms.

It always goes back to my chest, Brooklyn thought as she looked at the lake again.

Because the purple haired girl was staring so intently at the hypnotizing beauty of the water, Brooklyn hadn't heard footsteps behind her. She also hadn't felt an arm go around her shoulders, the hand dangerously close to somewhere it shouldn't be.

No.

Brooklyn only realized someone was with her when the man had started walking towards the Beach Vendor; her eyes now staring at the pink and white lines of the shop.

'You know I have to agree with Rosa Princess. Though I've always known you had a nice rack' the man admitted as he walked in time with Brooklyn.

'W-Wha? Castiel?! What are you doing?!' Brooklyn yelled out, her face turning a bit red as she tried shrugging off his hold on her, but Castiel only moved his arm to her waist, now securing his hold on the purple haired girl.

'Ah nothing much. Just finished chatting with my good buddy Lysander, and I saw you with Rosa and your sister, so I thought I'd go chat with you some more. Luckily I heard her comment on your bathing suit; I didn't even know it was you she was talking about until you walked away~

Now I'm taking you for an ice-cream. It's nice to finally spend time with you again Brookie' Castiel spoke with a grin as the two walked up to the vendor. The old man gave them two ice-cream cones; one vanilla with a strawberry swirl, the other double chocolate. Handing the chocolate one to Brooklyn, the ruby orbed girl looked at Castiel questionably.

'What? You don't like chocolate anymore?' he pouted, his hand trying to grip Brooklyn's waist again but Brooklyn moved to the side to avoid his hand being on her again.

'Well yeah I do. It's the fact that you remembered' Brooklyn admitted shyly looking at Castiel in a somewhat new light.

{The two always used to get ice-cream whenever they hung out as kids, and they always got the same. Castiel got vanilla with something else, and Brooklyn always just got chocolate. He'd bug her about that two, saying chocolate wasn't good for you. But Brooklyn always countered him saying that vanilla wasn't much better}.

Shrugging, Castiel grabbed Brooklyn's hand and walked along the beach. This time Brooklyn didn't try shrugging it off, knowing it would be of no use anyways.

After a few minutes of silence, Brooklyn looked up at Castiel curiously.

'When did you get so...' she started saying quietly, but stopped to try and word the sentence better. Looking at the purple haired girl, Castiel smirked and offered,

'What? So good looking? I think I've always been sexy~

You on the other hand have turned into some sort of weirdo' he snickered as Brooklyn tried punching him, but couldn't considering her hands were trapped from ice-cream and Castiel.

'Definitely not! You were much better looking with your original dreads Cass~

Now you just look like some clown. You just need to wear lipstick and you're perfect' she countered and couldn't help laughing as Castiel glared at her.

'Well at least I didn't replace my eyes too. What kind of buffoon wears coloured contacts anyways?' Castiel countered back letting go of Brooklyn's hand to stand in front of her, hands on his hips. The girl hadn't even realized that Castiel was shirtless, or that he was wearing black swim trunks with a red stripe on either side, a weird sort of design on them.

No, instead Brooklyn sobered up. She was quite sensitive under her hard edged exterior, much like Castiel.

'Well i'm not surprised you don't remember that one, Castiel. I think you can have the rest of my ice-cream~' Brooklyn said holding in tears as she threw her ice-cream cone at the man's face, chocolate dripping off of it like the fantasy she broke out of.

He didn't even get to respond, because the purple haired girl was running back to where she had left her clothes, ready to return to the cabin and be alone.

Running back to where she had left her things, Brooklyn wiped her face so Codi & Rosa wouldn't see the tears that she'd shed. The beach at this time was almost empty, and she was even more glad of that now than before.

Seeing the umbrella and towel along with the piles of clothes, Brooklyn looked towards the water to see in the distance Rosa, Leigh, & Codi walking along the water's edge. Well I guess i'll be staying here for a while longer. Mom would kill me if I left without Codi, Brooklyn thought as she picked up her skirt and shoes. Noticing they were dry, the girl shimmied the skirt on and untied her shoes, then tied them again when they were on her feet. She felt so naked walking practically all day in her underwear. Reaching over to see if her shirt was dry too, a shadow blocked her light and so she turned, seeing Lysander leaning over her, hands in his pockets.

'Hey' is all Lysander said. The ruby orbed girl looked down at the sand, forgetting about her shirt.

'I saw what happened...~

Want to take a walk? I was going to ask you earlier but~' he trailed off as Brooklyn looked up at him and nodded, getting his meaning and wanting to walk with him. When he offered his hand for hers to take, she took it and stood up, starting to walk towards the forest area above the beach.

It seemed as though Lysander was always there when she needed him...

Walking under the darkened trees, trying not to stumble on the loose tree roots on the path, Brooklyn managed to only trip on a few things, like sticks, rocks, and once even a poor earthworm. The ruby orbed girl was feeling so down that she had almost begged Lysander to have a proper burial for the worm.

Stopping to rest at a tree, Brooklyn leaned up against it and looked around at the forest.

'So...

How do you think you did on the exams?' the silverette commented to break the ice as he sat on the ground, his hands breaking a stick over and over again.

'I dunno. I haven't thought of school since we got here~' Brooklyn admitted as she slid down to sit beside him. The silverette nodded and kept breaking the stick until it was too small to break, then reached out to take another stick to break. Watching him for a while, Brooklyn asked him,

'Are you and...Castiel alright?'

He instantly stopped and looked at Brooklyn, reaching out for her hand and staring at her with his jade & golden orbs.

'I'm not sure, Brooklyn. It seems as though Castiel is very jealous...' he trailed off looking at Brooklyn with curiosity, but continued.

'He doesn't like how close we've become...

Or well, how not close we've become'.

Brooklyn looked at him, for once in her life not saying anything. Lysander was so honest; she felt as though she had gotten to know every part of him since she moved to Sweet Amoris. Obviously not every part, but got to know the main parts.

Nodding her head, Brooklyn looked away from Lysander to stare at the dirt.

'Well that's his problem then isn't it. He should accept it and move on to someone else instead of using people around him as toys' she spoke angrily as she kicked the dirt.

'Brooklyn...

Castiel's not perfect, but he's obviously hurt that his two best friends have been spending time with each other and not with himself.

He's selfish in that way, but you can't blame him right?' he defended his friend as his other hand went underneath Brooklyn's chin to make her look at him again. Her heart was pounding so loudly she thought that Lysander would hear it. The echoing sound of It was drowning out all her sense, all her anger. Just looking into his jade & golden orbs, Brooklyn forgot everything around them.

Noticing Lysander lean forward, she followed suit, her face red as a tomato at its ripest hour.

Their lips were so close...a centimeter away, when Brooklyn felt the first raindrop. Stopping, Lysander looked up to see that it had started raining suddenly, and for quite some time too.

'Here, go under my shirt~', Lysander said as he let go of Brooklyn to take his shirt off and hold one end of it, Brooklyn the other.

They sat like that for quite some time, close but not too close. Maybe the rain stopped something that could've been a mistake, or maybe it allowed them to become closer, like Castiel had thought.

Either way, when the rain had stopped pouring and the two stood up, they both had reached for each other's hand and walked back to the beach smiling.

Telling Lysander that she'd meet him tomorrow, Brooklyn walked towards the middle of the beach again, but was stopped when she felt a firm grip on her arm. Starting to scream, Brooklyn felt herself falling back as a hand covered her mouth. She noticed that she was being pulled behind the ice-cream vendors shop, but the purple haired girl didn't know why.

When they were finally totally behind the shop, the kidnapper released her and Brooklyn turned around to slap whoever had taken her back there. 'What the hell do you want Castiel?!' Brooklyn yelled after her hand had attacked his face.

'Calm down would ya?!

I...

I wanted to apologize...

For earlier' he softly spoke, rubbing his now sore cheek. This was becoming an odd reoccurring scene for the two of them, and they weren't even at Sweet Amoris.

'Whatever. Can I leave now?' she replied annoyed as she crossed her arms. The ruby orbed girl was officially done with being on the beach, and being in close proximity with Castiel, no matter what Lysander said.

'Please Brooklyn? I really am sorry. Those things just came out! I didn't realize what I was saying~

Please' Castiel begged her with, she realized, honest eyes.

'Just tell me why you've become so violent and grabby lately. What's changed in the past three years Castiel?' she softly asked him. Castiel looked at her, not saying anything. Maybe he didn't really know?

The red haired man stepped towards Brooklyn and suddenly hugged her, catching her off balance. But as soon as he had hugged her, she was released and he walked away.

Turning around to see him shove his hands in his pockets, Brooklyn heard a noise from behind her. It was a rustling sound; she was sure now more than ever that this sound had been happening for a while, but she hadn't noticed due to the seriousness of the situation.

Regretfully turning back around not yelling at Castiel, Brooklyn saw a tree moving as if a breeze were blowing it. But...

There was no breeze.

Walking up to the tree, Brooklyn thought she had seen a hint of blue up there...

Suddenly, something fell down from the tree to land at Brooklyn's' feet.

It was a man.

'Uh, are you alright?!' the girl immediately asked as she kneeled down to inspect the man, but the man quickly righted himself to stand above her. He had electrifying blue hair and light purple eyes that could be mistaken as pink in a sort of lighting. His attire, she couldn't even explain in her thoughts.

'Ah yeah! I'm fineeeee!' the man drawled out putting his arms above his head laughing.

Brooklyn didn't see what was so funny about falling out of a tree; she assumed he had to have some scratches.

'I was just sitting up in the tree...

And I thought that we should go...

SHOPPING!' the man said grinning down at Brooklyn.

'...What?!' she responded looking at the man funny.

Is this guy serious or...?

As soon as the word was out of her mouth, the man grabbed her wrist and said, 'C'mon! There's the cutest little shop just above the beach! We can go there!' as he dragged Brooklyn down the beach.

She couldn't help wondering why strange men always found themselves a home in her life...