Hi everyone! New chapter and I REALLY like it! Hope you will too! Enjoy!

Chapter 14 – Question

Sawyer's POV

Alright, the finals were done, so now it was time. The whole school had been talking about it for a month, at least the girls had. Sawyer only wanted to go, if Hazel went with him. And he hoped she would, because today, he going to ask her. He'd gathered up his courage for days now. Since he and Hazel almost kissed the day before, he'd thought, at least hoped she would say yes. Every time he thought about the almost kiss, he felt all happy and excited. He couldn't understand that he hadn't planned on doing something about his feelings for Hazel until now.

Since it was Saturday, he wanted to get to the CMA as soon as possible. His mom was for once free from work so she slept in. Directly after he finished his cereal he took his bike and rode off to the CMA.

A lot of guests had already gotten there, despite the morning. Well, if it was Saturday, it was. A lot of volunteers were helping the guests with showing the way and advertising the place. He guessed that Hazel was helping with the preps for Winter's first session with the prosthetic. He walked up the stairs to do the same.

After he changed into his wetsuit, he walked over to Winter's and Hope's pool. Some people had already taken their seats and were smiling expectantly. Phoebe and Hazel were there too. Hazel smiled happily and waved when she saw him. Sawyer immediately felt nervous when he got reminded of what he was supposed to ask her later today.

"Hey, Sawyer!" Hazel said. Phoebe turned around and greeted him too.

"Hi" Sawyer smiled.

He helped them to make the last preparations, and soon it was time to start the session, by this time a lot of people had gathered, including some new volunteers who had never seen it before.

They didn't have a special guest today, so Sawyer and Phoebe were the ones to swim with Winter. There was a child with his mother there, he sat in a wheel chair, he'd lost both his legs. Though he smiled as happily as everyone else. He looked to be around eleven. When Sawyer looked at him, he felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy that he could still enjoy life, despite what its thrown at him, and sad that he had to live in that state.

"Phoebe?" Sawyer whispered.

"What?" she answered.

"That boy, that one in the wheelchair. Do you see him?"

"Yes? What about him?"

"Do you think maybe he would want to greet Winter?"

"Maybe. We can talk about it, with them after the session, but we have to start now."

"Yeah, alright."

Phoebe nodded towards Hazel who started.

"Hello and welcome to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium!" The crowd cheered. "We hope you're all doing great!"

The session went on well. And afterwards, they did speak to the boy and his mother. Apparently he and his dad had been in an accident and the boy had lost his legs. His name was Jeremy. His mother was delighted by the offer and so was Jeremy. They all decided that they would come by after lunch, since Jeremy was shy and didn't want everyone else to look.

Hazel's POV

After the session, she walked away to the pools where they kept the otters. Julia was there, she was feeding them.

"Hi!" Hazel said.

"Hi, how are you?" Julia answered.

"I'm great, you?"

"Yeah, I'm good too. Do you want some help?"

"Sit down!" Hazel sat down next to her and started helping her with the food. She had only known Julia for like a week but she really liked her. Apparently she went to Sawyer's school so she had seen him around but had very few classes with him. She was very sweet and intuitive, Hazel wasn't surprised when she had told him she wanted to become a veterinarian.

"Listen, can I talk to you about a girl thing?"

"Spill it!" Julia's face was immediately lit up and she had some kind fire-like glow.

"Well, I kind of like this guy…"

"Sawyer?"

"What? Yes, but wait how did you know?"

"I haven't seen you two together much, but when I have, it's very obvious."

"That's what everyone tells me…"

"So… What's wrong?"

"I've liked him for like years now, and there's this really stupid bimbo who's like after him or something. But last night, we almost kissed…"

"Aw! That is so romantic! Just like in movies, oh my gosh!" Hazel blushed and looked at Sawyer who stood a slight distance away, instructing some volunteers.

"Yeah… But I don't want things to get awkward between us. I mean, I don't think they are but I'm still worried, you know?"

"I understand. The way I see it you have three options. You can either just straight up kiss him to show how you feel about him, or you can just talk with him or you can pretend like nothing happened. But I think that talking is the best option."

"I guess you're right…"

"Just talk to him, alright?"

"I will…"

"I know that we both have like otter food on our hands but come here, I won't touch your shirt." Hazel laughed and leaned into the hug Julia offered. Then they both got up and started to walk back to return the bucket in which the food had been. On the way, Julia tripped.

"Are you okay?" Hazel half laughed, half asked when she helped her up.

"Yeah. I keep telling you, I'm clumsy."

Sawyer's POV

He hadn't gotten a real chance to talk to Hazel at the CMA, let alone ask her anything. His mom was out shopping, so he was alone when he got home. He left his bag on the hallway floor and immediately crashed in the sofa.

He had to do it! He had to ask her, he wanted to. But now that it was time, his bravery was long gone. Sawyer tried to imagine the moment when he had asked her, it would feel so good. If she said yes… But she would…right?

The phone was in his pocket, he picked it up and found Hazel's number. At first he wanted to call her and ask if they could meet up. But maybe surprising her would be better. More…romantic, maybe? He wasn't good at these like romantic gestures, but it felt right to surprise her.

Sawyer left a quick note to his mom, telling her where he was, then he locked the door and took his bike. But before he could get on it, someone stopped him. The last person he wanted to see…

"Hi Sawyer" said Scarlett with her flirtatious smile.

"Hello…" Sawyer answered, immediately feeling stiff.

"Listen. I have a great idea!"

"Oh you do, do you?" She put her hand on his shoulder. Sawyer wanted to shake it off, but for some reason he couldn't.

"Totally! There's a very special event coming up. I was thinking, we could go there together." She put both her arms around him. Sawyer tried to shake them off.

"Actually…"

"Yes?"

Hazel's POV

Hazel was on her way to see Sawyer and ask if this almost kiss meant something to him. She wasn't half way there but her heart was already pounding like crazy. What if he said no? What would she do then? If Scarlett ever found out about this, she would never leave Hazel alone! No, no! She couldn't think about Scarlett right now! That would only distract her from what she needed to do.

She saw the familiar neighborhood of houses where Sawyer lived and picked up her pace. She wanted to talk to him today.

A small smile had somehow managed to sneak up on her face but was immediately destroyed by what she saw when she got to Sawyer's house. Sawyer stood outside, and so did Scarlett. She had her arms around him and was pretty close.

She felt tears forming in her eyes and her heart felt like it was cracking. Her breathing became faster and before she knew it, she was hyperventilating. Hazel turned around on the spot and started to run back home. Why? Why would Sawyer do that to her?

Sawyer's POV

"I'm going with someone else" Sawyer said and forced her to release him.

"What!?"

"Yes. So leave me alone, please." Sawyer didn't leave her time to say or do anything else, he took his bike and rode off to the CMA again.

Hazel wasn't in the CMA itself, so he asked Clay where she was.

"Well, at first she said she was going to see you, and then she returned a little while later. She said she was going to the beach, she did look a little upset."

"I'll talk to her."

So now, he took off to the beach to find Hazel. He knew where on the beach she liked to be. It was the same place they almost kissed the day before. When he got there he saw a sulking figure sitting on the beach, and he realized it was Hazel.

"Are you okay?" he asked and sat down next to her. She didn't look at him and when he tried to put him arm around her she refused to let him do it. "Are you mad at me?"

"Don't know how you could be getting that idea." He could hear how much her voice cracked and that she held in tears that desperately wanted out.

"Well, it looks like you are. Can't you just tell me what's wrong?" She suddenly stood up.

"You know, I'll tell you 'what's wrong'!" Sawyer stood up too, though a couple of feet away. "Yesterday, we almost kissed, and I thought it actually meant something. I thought we had something. So I went to talk to you about it. And when I get there, you're all cozying up with Scarlett out of everyone! You told me you didn't like her at all, but it looks to me like you lied!" She almost screamed the last words out.

"Hazel! I didn't lie about anything!"

"Oh you didn't?"

"No! Scarlett tried to flirt with me, and whatever you think you saw was wrong! I told her to leave me alone because I want to be with someone else! You! I want to be with you!"

Hazel didn't say anything at first, she just looked startled the first second. Then she almost ran towards him, cupped his face, pulled him down to her height and kissed him softly. Sawyer immediately responded by putting his arms around her waist. Her lips were soft and tender against his as he kissed her back.

They were both smiling like crazy when the kiss broke, and Hazel rested her forehead against his chest for a moment.

"I have a question" said Sawyer and removed a tear from Hazel's cheek with his thumb.

"What?" Hazel answered and entwined their hands.

"Will you go to the prom with me?" Hazel's face lit up even more.

"Like as a date?"

"Yes, as a date."

"Yes! I would love to! Yes!" She kissed him again. Sawyer held her tight when she broke the kiss and just hugged him.

The day turned out good in the end. He had the date to prom he'd been dreaming of, and maybe that date was even a girlfriend?

FLUUUUUUFF! Finally! The kiss! Yay! ; ) And a prom date! What do you think? Please hit the review button! Thanks! See you soon in "Shopping"!

Simple Swedish of the chapter: Studentbal (Prom) Well, the direct translation is "Graduation ball" but it is the same thing as the Prom.