Okay, people, it's going to get exciting again!

But not now.

For now we have to listen to Anthony mope. But that's okay, right? We like listening in on his thoughts. .

Disclaimer: Artemis Fowl belongs to Eoin Colfer. Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyers. I am neither Eoin or Stephanie, so guess what that means?

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We meandered down the street, glancing at the various shops and such from which we could buy our necessary items.

Minnie had written down a list, which she was now staring at, as we walked down the street.

"Well, designer clothes are out," she muttered. "But I'm not shopping anywhere cheap, whether monetarily or otherwise."

I glanced at the store we were passing, the window of which featured a female mannequin clothed in fishnets and a skirt that could pass as a belt. "Aw, that's a shame." She glanced sideways at the window, then shot me a glare.

Pervert. I nearly burst into giggles at the sound of her thoughts. And here I was going to thank him for saving my life!

"Alright, we'll start here," she said, and stepped into a nearby store. I stuck my hands in my pockets, standing in the entrance of the shop to keep watch.

I leaned on the window, directly to the left of the door. My hands in my pockets, I stared up at the buildings across the street, keeping my mind fairly open to hear potential assassins.

We pulled into the park, singing Sonny and Cher at the top of our lungs.

"Hey, you bought your guitar, right?" I asked, addressing Adrian.

"Mm-hm. Bring it everywhere I go, brother." He grinned as he quickly preened his fro, then got his instrument from the trunk.

"Clint, baby, I wish you'd brought your harmonica." said Kim as she draped herself on his shoulder. "Then you could play a duet!"

"No way, babe." Clint adjusted his sunglasses and combed his fingers through slightly-greasy hair. "That's not how I roll."

I leaped over the door of my car and jogged over to get Lisa's door for her. She smiled brilliantly as she stepped out.

"Anthony, is it just me, or do you get sweeter ever day?"

"I dunno," I replied, meeting her in a kiss. I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, then interlaced my fingers in hers.

While the others found a nice, shady spot under a tree and started chatting and strumming, Lisa and I strolled across the grass. We silently watched kids play, old people talk, teens hang out. I imagined 'You and I' by Petula Clark playing in the background. Not that I was a fan or anything, but it suited the scene fairly well…

"Anthony!"

My eyes gained focus as I turned and barked around the corner into the store, "What?"

"Which of these is better, the white or the pink?" Minerva held up two angora cardigans.

I shrugged. "Both, I guess." I stepped inside, brushing my fingertips across a rack of coats. "They look a little fancy, though."

"I don't want to dress like Claire," she sniffed in distaste. I winced.

"Ouch. You can be so cold, Minnie."

"She's always wearing men's clothing, and things that are last decade's style. You'd think she'd at least learn to dress herself."

I narrowed my eyes with a smirk. "You know, most of her wardrobe consists of her dead mom's and brother's clothes."

She froze, then looked away, embarrassed at her own assumptions.

"I don't suppose you'd know that though. Artemis doesn't seem like one to keep people in the loop." I could see I'd hit a nerve by the way her cheeks turned pink. "Minnie, can I ask you something?" I asked as she fingered a pair of khaki pants.

Minerva sighed. "What?"

"Did you and Artemis ever have a… thing?"

She paused then, holding up the pants. She gathered then in one arm with her cardigans and moved to another rack. "We did, when we were younger. But only briefly. After he returned from his holiday, he called me, asked if I wanted to talk. We started seeing each other, going out, as you'd call it. However, after almost a year or so we realized that we were too alike, and would bore each other too easily. So we broke up with no regrets, and have been friends ever since."

I held a hand to my chest. "What a touching story."

She rolled her eyes. "What about you and Claire? Anything between you?"

"Nah, we're more like siblings."

She paused before asking a little shyly. "How did you meet?"

"I was living with the Cullens, the guys who made me like this. She walked in on me feeding."

She paled. "That's awful."

"Yeah, I attacked her a few times too, but she wouldn't leave me alone. We met up, made a truce, and have been friends ever since."

"She thinks very highly of you," the French blonde said as she passed her hand over a rack of high-quality jeans.

"I know."

"Oh. Right." Can you hear what I'm thinking now? she asked telepathically.

Yeah. You have a pretty mind-voice.

A what?

Mind-voice. The voice that I hear in my head from you. Don't think too much on it, it'll just confuse you more.

I'm not confused.

Oh. Right. Duh, she was a genius.

"Can we speak? It's a little awkward talking like that. I'll have to get used to it."

"No problem."

Minerva stopped in her tracks. "Hey… wasn't Mulch here a second ago?"

"He stopped next door for a sandwich," I answered immediately. That little dude was always hungry, it seemed. She nodded briefly and continued on her little search.

I watched her for a moment before asking, "Minerva, are you scared of me?"

"You attacked me, kissed me, killed men then told me about it—,"

"Okay, that's not fair. I didn't tell you about it."

She rolled her eyes. "How did you kill them anyway?"

"I drank their blood. It was really gross, to be honest. Tasted like crack."

"Really?" she asked with raised eyebrows. "You can sense that?"

I leaned in, lifted her chin with my index finger, and said under my breath, "Missy, I can tell you right now that your blood pressure is exactly 120/80, your temperature is about 98 degrees, your pupils are dilating even though it's fairly bright in here, your muscles are tense and you're getting goosebumps, blood is being diverted from your face, which is why you're going pale, and your pulse rate is 78—," her eyes widened as I read off her vitals, "—make that 80 bpm."

She inched backwards and whispered. "You're not going to…"

I caught on. "No. I'm more than satisfied, what with that deer and those humans. I won't hurt you, even if you were to cut yourself." This didn't relax her.

"Still, to be in the presence of something that can just feel that, combined with your strength, speed, and agility… It's all so unsettling. Vampires are very odd creatures."

I looked away, fiddling with a jacket…

We sat in our circle beneath the tree, listening to Adrian play.

"That's really something, baby," said Roxanne.

"Yeah, it's soulful and all, real deep," Clint added somberly.

I yawned. "Put me to sleep, bro. Real nice." I stroked Lisa's hair, since her head was in my lap. I smiled. "It makes me think—,"Kim made an expression of mock surprise, causing me to throw her an eyeroll. I reached into my pocket. "—Who's up for some enlightenment?"

Everyone made ga-ga eyes at my bag of peppermints. Clint was first in line, and the rest followed suit. Save, Lisa, who refused when I held up the bag.

"Aw, sunshine, why not?" I asked as I held my own mint in my hand.

She peered cautiously, almost apprehensively, at the bag. "Can I talk to you?"

I sighed, popped the mint into my mouth, and got up with her.

We found a fairly private spot by a massive tree with branches that hung low and shaded us.

"What's the matter with you? Why—,"

"They suspect what we've been doing. They think we've been doing dope."

I snorted, relishing the effects of the peppermint: the goosebumps, the smooth, chilled feeling, the shivers. I licked my lips, sensing an overload of drool. I leaned in to kiss her, the icing on the cake, but she sighed and gently pushed me away.

"Tony, I think…" she sighed again. "I just don't want to do this anymore, okay? I don't like all this sneaking around, all these codes and hidden meanings for what we do…"

"Woah, what's your deal?" I chuckled. I made another attempt to kiss her, but she pushed me back, a little harder this time.

"Wake up, Anthony!" she said, her voice raised. I cocked an eyebrow.

"You, missy, are a little too worked up." I got out a mint, but she slapped it away.

"I don't want this! I want us to both grow up, I…" I could almost hear what she wanted to say, could almost hear the things she was holding back. She hid her feelings from everyone, especially me. "Come on, Tony, let's be responsible. Let's forget what we do, focus on what we should be doing: I'm failing humanities for God's sake!"

The shivering was more violent, and her voice started running like molasses. I smiled absently. Just listen, stay calm, and it'll all pass eventually. She glared at me. Several times, I think.

I stepped away, done with the conversation, and looked around. Lisa barked my name rather uncharacteristically. She said something… maybe? I dunno. Who gave a crap anyway?

I giggled, child-like. The sky was, like, melting, dude. A flock of birds flew towards the sun, shrieking, and I saw some kid throw a ball to his friend. Leaves rustled with frightening clarity, and I could see a butterfly that was six feet away like it was right in front of me. The flock flew into the sun again…

Lisa said something. How could she be so serious? She repeated it, her voice cracking. I cocked my head and stared at her. She shook her head and cupped her forehead in one hand. Tears ran through her fingers. I took a step towards her, paused, then turned once more to my fantastic world that only I could see.

The flock shrieked again and flew into that dazzling, golden sun.

"I'm not a 'something'," I said bluntly, grabbing a beige sweater a little too harshly. I muttered, "How about this? I think it compliments your skin tone."

oOo

"So, wait, if he sends assassins through the window, gunmen through the doors, and others through the ventilation shaft, what do we do?"

Artemis let out an impatient sigh. Holly got it, why couldn't I?

"I shall explain this once again, Miss Davenport—," he was interrupted by Minerva, Mulch, and Anthony walking through the door, shopping bags in hand.

"Any trouble?" Holly asked.

"Nope," Anthony yawned. "They're most likely clustered by our other hotel, wondering where we went."

"Let's keep it that way," Artemis bade, his tone slightly warning. We collectively nodded and murmured in agreement. He sat back as Minerva fished out his clothing and laid it out for him. He admitted somberly, "It is a little casual for my taste, but it shall serve its purpose. I assume you obtained similar items for Mulch, Holly, and yourself?"

"Yes," she said. There was an odd little tint in her tone, something melancholy about it. I also noticed that she and Anthony kept a distance from each other, both a little uneasy. Artemis and I glanced at each other briefly, wondering what exactly had been said between the two.

Anthony stretched and said a little unconvincingly, "Sheesh, the whole time it was 'is this too showy?' or 'do you think this would clash with Holly's hair?' I'm going outside; I'm bored."

With that, he slipped out to the balcony.

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Alright, so there's chapter 14. I'll get the next up soon.