A/N: I'm not that knowledgeable about football, so sorry if I get anything wrong about the facts! If there's any corrections, PM or review. I was too lazy to look online for the rules of football^.^

Preview:

"…so that you'll know my side of our story."

Gavin laid flat against the wall and squatted right near the keyhole. He knew this was probably the wrong thing to do but what could you do when tempted with a rare occasion such as this?

So he shifted closer to the keyhole…and listened.

Chapter 14

Seth tried to relax. There had been enough pressure and worrying over the last few days and he wanted a break from all that. Football was a getaway activity for him and a getaway sounded just right at the moment. Right now, all he wanted was to not be reminded about Kendra and their problems. He knew that he would have to face his troubles soon, especially when the key showed up. Apparently Dana wanted that too since she had followed him.

But the best part about playing with satyrs was that they had no idea that Kendra had fallen ill or about anything that happened. Only the humans knew what was really going on.

They were well into the game. The score was 9-3, and Team Humans—Seth and Dana—were losing to Team Satyrs—Newel and Doren.

"I bet you won't be able to beat us," Doren taunted.

"We can still catch up," Dana countered evenly.

Newel coughed slightly. "Let's make this more competitive shall we? How about if you can't tie with us in the next play, you have to give us a bucketful of batteries? Different kinds if you don't mind."

Seth tilted his head. "What do we get?"

The satyrs hesitated. "How about gold?"

He shook his head. "Nah, there's nothing I would do with it anyway. I got it. You are going to have to owe us. Not now, but whatever we ask for…you do it."

Dana glanced over at Seth. "Pretty fair. I'm up for it."

"Seth, you used to be so easy to bribe. But it's a bet." They stalked over to the opposite side of the field and talked their plans over, and Team Humans did the same.

"Okay," Seth said huddling with Dana. "You know that all we need is a touchdown and then we'll be tied up."

"Yeah, so what's the plan?"

He hesitated. "Since you can't catch—"

"I can't catch well," she corrected him stubbornly.

"—you'll continue as quarterback. When I throw it to you at 'hike', just wait for me to get at a good distance—maybe around 30 yards—then throw it over. I'll run for the end zone, making it a touchdown. We'll be tied. Can you do it?"

Dana scoffed. "Sure."

Seth nodded. He flagged Newel and Doren to get into their positions. As soon as they were all ready, Seth couched down with the ball in his hands. "Down…set…hike!"

He tossed it over from in between his legs and she easily caught it. Seth made a run for it and looked back, waiting for the ball to fly. Just before Newel could take her down, Dana let the ball fly over to Seth. Seth had to move a bit to his right before making the perfect catch. Seth maneuvered around Doren and caused him to fall. Seth dashed off down the field and ran past the touchdown line.

"Touchdown!" Seth said gleefully.

Newel and Doren shook their heads sadly. "They caught up in one play?"

"And we lost the chance at getting more batteries? Unbelievable." Doren covered his face with his hands.

Meanwhile, Seth was racing down the field with his arms spread out wide. Dana was too busy laughing at him. "You look so stupid!"

"Who cares?"

Newel looked off into the woods. "Ah, look, if it isn't Verl," Newel said.

And it was indeed Verl. "Oh, my! Seth! Brother!"

"Brother?" she inquired, looking at Seth.

"Long story." He turned to Verl. "Hey."

"I see you have come back from your trip! I hear that almost everyone accompanied you on your vacation…including Kendra."

"Ohhh…another Kendra fan," Dana realized.

"Fan? No, miss, I am not just a fan. I am an admirer that breaches out of all the others, including that fairy boy…" Verl frowned when he said fairy boy. "He does not acknowledge her value as much as I."

"I don't know. I think he does. Maybe even more than you," Dana said.

Verl looked appalled. "And what would make you think that? Were the sculptures, the paintings, the love letters, the book, the collages, and the model of our future dream house not enough? What possibly could be the reason that you, miss, would think that fairy boy surpasses me?"

"Um, well, first, maybe Kendra didn't like anything that you made her in the first place."

"What?" Verl asked angrily.

"Uh, Dana, I don't think you should continue…" Seth warned.

Dana ignored them both. "Second, Bracken went out to find her the cure when you didn't even bother."

"Wait, cure?" Verl didn't know about any cure.

"And lastly, Bracken is the one who volunteered to watch her day and night while she lies on her deathbed and will do anything to heal her. And seeing that you are still standing in front of me, Bracken surpassed you by a lot."

"Cure? Deathbed? My lovely Kendra is sick? Dying?" Verl asked with his mouth agape.

"To put it frankly, yes."

"It can't be too bad can it? I know just what to do!" Verl was bouncing on his hooves as he excitedly started talking. "I'll make her a lovely carving of herself. That will make her feel better!"

Doren sighed. "I doubt it."

"And then I'll make some of my Mother's famous soup! It always healed me when I was a young satyr."

"Verl, you had a cold," Doren muttered.

"Ah! I shouldn't waste anymore time! I must go. The faster I get there the better. Verl raced back to the woods to get ready.

"That was interesting. And I'm terribly sorry about Kendra," Newel and Doren sympathized.

Seth sighed. "It's fine."

It seemed like no matter how much he tried to forget, even for a moment, the matter about Kendra would always worm its way back.

*.*.*.*

Gavin looked and listened through the keyhole.

"You know how I have the power to read minds when I touch someone's hand and everything. So I always knew what you were thinking, about me about how you felt, everything," Bracken started. "Like do you remember the time when Stan let you go back to your other home and you introduced me to your friends? I knew you were nervous that I might not like your friends or vice versa. And you were happy when we all got along."

Bracken smiled. "I'm getting a bit ahead of myself already. I'm going to go back all the way when we first met, back in the Sphinx's prison. You were shining so brightly and I was fascinated by you. You probably already knew that since it was likely that it was written all over my face. I was barely able to answer your questions about where Seth was because I was stuck…in wonder. And honestly speaking, you weren't like other girls, fawning over my looks and trying to get all close to me. I'm not trying to brag or anything. But you were true and I knew you weren't a girl that liked for looks."

Wow, this unicorn's all modest. It sounds really exaggerated though. Trying to win her over. Gavin rolled his eyes, but then frowned. Had he already won her over? No. He had time still. They weren't married yet and she wasn't immortal yet—nothing that would be a dead end for him.

"Do you remember that Ping-Pong joke that I told you when we were in the cell? I don't think you get it even to this day. But anyway, right after I said you were brilliant, and you asked if that was sarcasm. I said I meant that brilliant means shiny. I was lying. Brilliant back then meant shiny, yes, but also, exotic, wondrous…beautiful." Bracken sighed and rubbed the palm of her hand.

"I was glad when you finally trusted me. It helped my case you know. Trying to impress you and awe you and all that. You certainly weren't impressed by me being a unicorn. Then we met up again with Warren. Seriously, at first I thought you and Warren…nevermind. I'll just say that it was a relief when I looked into Warren's mind that you guys weren't what I thought it was and that he had a different interest in someone else. Whom I'm sure you know who."

Ah, learning new things every day. Vanessa and Warren had feelings for each other long before, Gavin thought. He eased himself on the ground right next to the door. It was tiring to keep crouching. He leaned back his head so it was touching the wall and decided to only look in the keyhole every now and then. He did so now.

"I'll skip past a few things now. But through that whole adventure we went through together with Warren and them, I thought the whole time that you were one of the bravest and smartest out of all of us out there. You killed the demon king on your own and you never gave up on any account."

Smothering her with compliments. How many girls did he do this with…?

"You know, the funny thing is, was that I was planning on telling you my feelings and all that stuff after the Zzyzx problem was finished. Really, I wasn't even sure what I felt then. I knew for sure that I admired you and I cared about you…but how much? I only realized it when Vanessa lashed out on me. I only denied it purely because of all the people around watching me. And I was tangled in my own thoughts. So I didn't approach you about my thoughts earlier. I waited. But only because you always had someone with you."

Groan from Gavin. But of course, it was inward so he wouldn't be heard.

"When I finally got you alone, I also held your hand so I knew what you were feeling. That's cheating I know but I had to play it safe. If you didn't feel the same way then…it would be easier to stop sooner. For both of us, really. You didn't know how relieved and glad I was when I found out that you harbored some feelings for me. The whole time I kept you close when we were sailing, because I was scared. I get scared too. I was scared that that was the last time I would see you." Bracken coughed a bit.

"So we survived and I lived in the new fairy shrine in Fablehaven—we got that all covered. So I'll skip to a little later when I asked you about past guys. Remember how I held your hand that time? Know you know the obvious reason as to why I did that. I knew that you were hesitant to tell me something. You've had crushes on other people before: your teacher, Mr. Powell…and a few boys." He chuckled. "Yeah, I secretly already knew. But the whole time I was glad to hear that you've never been in a serious relationship before."

A crush on a teacher, huh? Wonder who those 'few boys' she liked were….

Bracken cradled her hand in his and turned it over many times. "And then you told me about the whole Gavin thing."

Wait…what?

"I knew that you had a pretty strong crush on him since you went through a lot together. Yeah I knew. You guys wrote letters, fought together, worked together in Wyrmroost. All of those things were things to be jealous of. Things to want to do the same with you. When you first told me about all this I was jealous of Gavin. I hate admitting to it." Sigh. "The betrayal was really hard on you," Bracken continued. "But you took it really hard when he told you he was Navarog. You thought he could become your boyfriend too…I was angry when I saw that through your mind. I think I practically killed your fingers just by squeezing your hand."

This was way too much. Bracken—the unicorn who disliked him and wanted him to stay as far away from Kendra as possible—was jealous of him. But that was nothing compared to the other things he said. Kendra had really liked him. Wanted him to be her boyfriend—the whole thing. And what did he do? He ruined it. If only I could turn back time…if only I had realized things sooner…like my actual feelings for one….

"So after we had that talk I did everything to overachieve Gavin and make you forget about him. Like on your sixteenth birthday. Remember when I made the fairies lead you to that field near the shrine? And we had a wonderful picnic with the flowers and everything? I felt as if it was my birthday too. And you were the present. You know, I was actually worried and anxious and scared that time all the same. Why? I was scared you wouldn't like it. And as sad as this sounds, I had no idea what to wear, what to do, or anything. But you were my inspiration to pull through and just do it.

"A few months after that I had to leave to go with the Fairy Queen to another shrine. I was gone for about a month I think. One of the longest months of my life. Before I left I took something from Fablehaven. A picture from a frame in the dinette. I don't know if anyone noticed it but I'm pretty sure you did, but didn't say anything. Anyway, I took the picture so that I wouldn't miss you as much…but of course I still missed you. But your picture—or should I say you—was my motivation to go on with going to the shrine and doing what I had to do. When I was scared or unsure all I had to do was look at the picture and—Walla!—my troubles were gone. And look even though that was around a year ago, I couldn't help but keep it." Bracken gingerly slipped a folding paper out of his pocket and smoothed it out. It was a picture of Kendra smiling and sitting on the grass with flowers scattered around her. It was a nice picture.

Gavin kind of wanted a picture of his own…

"All I'm trying to say is, you've been my inspiration from the start. I know, no originality, but these are truly the words to use. Even from then until now I'm not as perfect and sure as I always let myself look from the outside. I get scared and worried and anxious all because of you…yet I can become strong and confident because of you even so. And that's probably the reason why…I love you so much."

Gavin froze in his seat and held his breath.

"So don't die okay? If you do, who's going to be my motivation? What will I have to return to from trips and missions—nothing. If you're gone…I'm going to have nothing. I've had to part with other people before but it's never been as hard as this. So don't make it a first time okay? Don't leave me alone. I need you with me here." A tear slid down Bracken cheek and glistened.

Gavin listened for more. But nothing came. Bracken hadn't continued. Gavin slowly lifted himself into a crouching position and peeked through the keyhole. His eyes widened.

Bracken was leaning his face down to Kendra's. For a kiss.

No. No. No. No. He wasn't going to let this happen.

Bracken's face was only an inch apart from Kendra's. He leaned down a bit more towards her lips and…

The door was flung open by Gavin.

By reflex, Bracken shot backwards away from Kendra and moved all the way back into his seat. When he saw the newcomer, he stood up and glared. "What are you doing here?"

Gavin thought quickly. "It's my watch, Unicorn."

"Is it?" Bracken glanced over to a clock. "You're fifteen minutes early."

"So?"

"It's still my watch. You can leave now. I'll call you when it's your turn." Bracken lowered himself back into his chair and waited for Gavin to leave.

But Gavin wasn't about to. "I don't think there should be a problem with me waiting here is there?"

"And what if there is?"

"In my opinion, I don't think there is so I'll watch with you." Gavin walked closer to Kendra's bed and Bracken.

Bracken stood up again. "What is your problem? I don't think it'll be that difficult to wait outside. I have it perfectly handled here."

Gavin scoffed. "Right. How do I know that you can be trusted to watch over Kendra?"

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"

"No, because I wasn't the one trying to make a move on her…was I?"

Bracken froze. "That's none of your business."

"Uh huh. I don't care. Let me ask you this: are you even her boyfriend?"

No answer.

"I didn't think so."

"What's it to you?" Bracken shot back. "Why do you even care?"

It was Gavin's turn to become silent.

Bracken didn't back down. "Weren't you the one who betrayed her without a second thought? Didn't you hurt her friends and especially hurt her?"

"I was wrong. I made mistakes. But you don't know anything about me or why I did what I did. And now I'm here to make up for my actions. I owe you nothing so it's none of your business."

"It is my business. If it has something to do with Kendra it has something to do with me!" He strode over to Gavin and grabbed the front of his shirt. He yanked it towards him until their faces were only mere centimeters apart.

Gavin tried pulling away but his shirt was way too knotted in his fist. The only choice Gavin had left was to stare right back into Bracken's silver blue eyes.

"Don't ever think that you can make everything all better. 'Cause it won't be," Bracken said. "I'm not gonna let you."

"If you think you can stop me, you have no idea who you're up against." Gavin defiantly stared him down.

"Neither do you." With a disgusted look on his face, he pushed him back.

A knock came at the door. "Everything alright in there?"

"Just fine," Gavin called through gritted teeth. Footsteps were heard pounding down the stairs.

Bracken looked back at Gavin who was warily watching him. "If you decide to do something, don't say I didn't warn you." With that Bracken left the room without closing the door.

Gavin stared at the empty doorway and then back to Kendra. "And don't say I didn't warn you."

At last! I found the time to finish this chapter. I hope you liked it this time and hoped things weren't moving too quickly. Some friction's coming up between Bracken and Gavin…and don't forget Dana and Seth!

This chapter actually contained real parts from the original Fablehaven story by Brandon Mull, like the Ping-Pong joke. I myself don't get the joke…probably because I'm not a unicorn. But if you're thinking of flipping through book #5 and looking for the part where they talk about Gavin…don't. I made that up. Along with many others :)

School's starting tomorrow for me :( and I probably won't update soon like I said before. I don't know if I can fit writing in the weekends but I'll try. I might just discontinue this…..TT^TT….just kidding! I'll finish this story up. And there's still a lot more chapters to come. XD

Also, thank you again to the readers and the reviewers!

—aznbooklover