"Oh, very funny Jared, really." Belle wasn't up for any kind of jokes. She shook her head and turned around again, to finally leave.
"You asked." It sounded rather defiant.
Luzy examined Jared's expression and then turned to Jensen.
"You can't possibly be serious. What do you expect? That someone invited a demon along?"
Jensen was still his charming self. He nodded over to Belle and said "They let her in…"
Luzy couldn't help but grin.
"Nah, you mixed something up there. It's not her. I'm the demon."
That was met with an awkward and way too tensed silence by the two guys. Luzy's grin vanished. "I'm joking, okay? Not a demon. What is the matter with you?"
Belle had still not left and now turned back to Luzy.
"They're nuts. That's the matter with them. Completely insane. Probably fame and too many Comic Cons have gotten to their little brains."
Jared flinched a little.
"Hell, I wish that was true. Anyway. You asked, I answered. Now we all can go our separate ways, right?"
The girls nodded. For the moment, they really had enough of those two. Probably not only for the moment. But suddenly, Jensen wasn't all that happy to see them leave. He stepped in their way.
"Not so fast. Now before the two of you can go, and believe me, I can't await the moment of your departure, you'll promise that you won't breath a word of all this to anyone. Are we clear?"
Belle couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh that's pathetic. Seriously. What do you intend to do if we don't stick to your instructions Mr. Ackles? Shoot us? With your pretty little rocksalt bullets? Or hang us with invisible rope on a non-existing tree? You're insane."
Jensen hissed "Keep your voice down!" and was about to say a lot more, when he was interrupted.
"Is there a problem?" Scott's voice sounded behind them. "What? Madwoman, are you picking a fight again? Don't do that, please. Don't. This is a public reception, rather formal, no one wants people yelling at each other. You hear me?"
He looked back and forth between Jensen and Belle, who were still staring at each other. Jared and Luzy were rather at a loss, and both of them were pretty sure that Scott's appearance didn't help the situation. Scott turned to them.
"What's up there? What's with the staring duel?"
Jared simply shrugged. Luzy grabbed Scott's arm. "Nothing. How about we go and get another drink?"
He was about to protest, but something in her look told him that he'd better keep his mouth shut. He waited until they were out of earshot, then stopped and asked again.
"So. Tell me. What was that?"
Luzy shook her head. "Not so important. Drink. Now."
But he wouldn't budge. "No. It obviously is important. These are the two clowns who also tried their detective skills, right? I want to know what's going on. What are they fighting about?"
Luzy gave out a desperate sigh. "They just don't like each other. Put them together anywhere and they'll pick a fight. Scott look, there's nothing I can tell you, okay?"
She could see that he didn't believe her.
"Then why do you look so worried? Something's wrong. What are you not telling me?"
He looked at her imploringly.
"There's nothing I can tell you. Nothing that would make any sense or would not make me sound like an utterly crazy person." While she tried to appease Scott, Luzy tried to get a view of Belle, Jensen and Jared but they were gone. Great, she thought, as if we needed more trouble.
Scott was just about to set out for another round of questions, when the guests all were called to dinner. Luzy welcomed that more than she could say, and this time, it was less for the food and more for the simple fact that between all the other guests, it wasn't very likely that Scott would ask questions about anything surrounding the murder or Jared and Jensen. She took his arm and moved into the direction of their table. Scott glared at her.
"Really? That's your strategy? We're not done here, just so that you know."
She couldn't help but smile.
"Noted. Can we go and try to have dinner in peace now?"
He sighed, rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling, mouthing a silent "Why?" Then he gave up his resistance for the moment and followed.
While Luzy and Scott went off, Jared tried to pacify Jensen and Belle.
"Guys, give it a rest. You are already attracting attention."
Belle looked at him. "Oh no, we wouldn't want that, right? That would make your sneaking around so much more difficult." Her voice was pure venom.
Jared leaned against the wall next to him, holding her gaze. "Let it go. I promise, you'll be happier if you do."
That didn't help much.
"Oh wow. Is that the good cop, bad cop method? You simply wrap your threats into some nice words? I think I prefer Jensen's way, that's at least honest."
Jensen didn't seem to care at all what she was thinking.
"Just cut the bullshit. You have no idea what is going on, and believe me, you don't want to know. Hell, even I don't want to, but I do. All we are asking is that you keep out of this, you and your friend and the Hollywood squad who's tailing you as well. It's for the better for all of you, and that's not a threat but the truth. And now get lost."
She looked at both of them in turn.
"You are serious. I don't believe it. You really think you can solve that, because you have some sort of superior knowledge and a gun loaded with… rocksalt?" She still couldn't say the word without feeling like she was doing a dumb impression of a scene she'd seen on tv. "Well good luck then. Try not to get yourself half killed again. Idiots that you seem to be, it still would be a waste."
For a moment, Jared looked truly scared, but the expression disappeared in an instant and made place for a look of determination. "We try to, believe me." Then the two of them made their way to wherever they had been headed when Belle had stopped them. She looked after them until they had vanished between the other guests and then went to find the others. She had just spied Luzy and Scott when the announcement came that dinner was to be served. A moment later, Alex showed up next to her.
"There you are. Everything okay?"
She nodded absentmindedly.
"I see. Let me guess. No questions."
That at least got through to her.
"What?"
He stopped, turned her towards him and looked at her. "I asked whether everything is okay, because you looked rather distracted. I guess I got my answer right here."
She shook her head.
"No. No, everything's fine, I was just thinking about something. Sorry."
Alex took a deep breath. "Why do I feel like we had this conversation before? One could think all you want is to get rid of me." He said that with a smile, but there was also a hint of a question. Belle looked at him, eyes wide open.
"What? No, no I don't. Why would I? I mean. No really, it's fine."
That made him grin and he pulled her closer, hugging her tight for a moment and silently said "Well, that's good to know". When he let go again, he held out his arm. "Shall we?"
Dinner turned out to be so fantastic that it took their minds of everything else for the next two hours. They enjoyed several dishes of the most delicious Hawaiian food, accompanied by a good amount of wine and surprisingly pleasant table talks with the people surrounding them. After dessert, even Luzy admitted that she'd not have been able to stomach another bite.
"Okay, I have to admit, as much as I hated the formal reception part, the food totally made up for that. You shall be forgiven" she said into Scott's direction.
He let out his breath audibly. "Lucky me, huh?"
Belle grinned, looking from him to Luzy and back again. "Totally lucky you".
That made him look a little sheepish, but then he grinned too, said "I know" and pulled Luzy over and kissed her. Then he seemed to remember where he was and let go of her again. "Uhm. Sorry. But…that was kind of due."
Luzy just grinned. "No complaints. I liked that."
Belle could read her friends face, and whispered "Another". The girls burst out into one of their laughing fits, leaving the guys to shake their heads. They didn't seem to mind too much, though. Scott, now way more reassured than before, put his arm around Luzy and both looked rather happy.
Belle couldn't help but be amused by them. She leaned back in her chair and murmured "And thus I got the hostel all to myself. Charming." Alex chuckled next to her. She turned, looking at him questioningly. "What?"
"Oh nothing. Just. The pure and altruistic happiness you display at this…" he nodded over to Luzy and Scott, "no self-interest visible whatsoever. That's really endearing."
She poked him in the side. "Shut up. I'm happy for her, they kinda deserve each other. But… why not be happy for me, too, if it brings advantages?" She giggled. "Oh lord, I'm tipsy again already. And there we were, discussing to tone down the drinking before we came here."
He nodded. "Point taken, and yes, wine obviously gets to you easier than rum. Impressive." He looked around. "I think they start calling it a night. Considering that Scott and I have to be out early again tomorrow morning, we should probably do the same."
That got Belle giggling again.
"I really don't think that going home now will do anything to the amount of sleep Scott will be getting tonight."