A/N. I definitely owe you guys an explanation for the over-a-month delay, don't I? :) But first...
Happy belated Thanksgiving! (Wow, I've really been gone a long time, I'm sorry!) Thank you guys for being so patient and amazing friends and sticking with me. You guys make my days, really. Special thanks to my gravy friends Gina, Kat, and Anastacia who have been with me basically ever since I've started FanFiction and continue to be absolutely amazing to this day. I thank my family who has always been there for me, even my especially annoying little sister Hannah and especially annoying little brother Kian, hah. We have so much to be thankful for, especially the people who surround us, but sometimes we take them for granted. I hope we used this day to appreciate what we have and enjoy. ;)
Sorry about these large breaks between updates! Honestly, I thought about it, and BCC is kind of completed, so I've been putting it off for my studies (by the way, my GPA was a 4.43 the first quarter of school! Whoop whoop!). I marked BCC as completed because the main plot was just some unfinished (now finished) business with Bryant and the rest of the uploads are just extras about senior week, prom, gradutation. So, I think you could've stopped reading at Chapter 48 (by the way, I added a thank you note in the bottom A/N. of that chapter), but I will still be adding those extras, and I will, hopefully, sometime soon start that chapter I've been saying I would add in before FTFT ends. It'll include the whole family, so get ready for some wackiness (although that'll be a while from now considering my horrible updating skills ;D).
Oh, and the reason I've been holding on the updates is that 1) like two weekends ago, I completely forgot and I swear I never forget, but I forgot it that weekend because I was in Nashville 2) the past few weekends other than last week have been hectic with work 3) I'm actually really enjoying all this free time I'm getting when I don't procrastinate and 3) HOLY STYX THE HOUSE OF HADES IS SO GOOD. (EDIT: And I finally got my copy of The Runaway King oh my goodness yes I love Sage/Jaron! EDIT EDIT: NO IMOGEN NOO…this book was so good oh my wow) I swear, if I didn't have school, and the House of Hades was 10,000 pages longer, I would never ever put that book down. But I finished it, and I couldn't cry when I did at the end because I had wasted all of my tears for *spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers do not read if you haven't read House of Hades spoilers spoilers DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NO READ LISTEN TO ME DON'T IGNORE ME STEVE* Leo and Bob and oh Bob D: But FRANK WAS FANTASTIC. Like YES! FINALLY! Just...wow. How RR wrote him in, and Viria's recent fanart, just wow. *fans self* And LEO LEO LEO LEO FINALLY YOU FOUND SOMEONE! I cried so hard when he looked back at Ogygia and said, "I'm coming back for you. I swear on the River Styx." Just...Oh and Nico. I won't go too much into that because I'm just not sure how to state what I'm thinking that will make sense, but I am kind of surprised. And so sad for him. I cried for him, too. Oh and Bob. BOB TOOK THE CAKE. And Damasen. And Small Bob. I'm surprised I didn't combust and flood the world with my tears. Now I'm just adding another sentence so if you directly look up above the sentence after this, you don't see any spoilers. But I really don't think any of this will be a spoiler considering it's almost two months since HoH came out, but just in case ...END OF SOBBING
Okay, sorry. But if you haven't read House of Hades, go! My advice is that you go read it ASAP, or you must already be overwhelmed with spoilers. Not from me, but from the PJO FanFiction, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Deviantart -everywhere. If you've seen any of Viria's art lately...WOW. Anyways, go, read HoH.
Ooh, I also have to recommend a Wattpad story, no? I kind of have two, and also an anime to recommend, so I 'll try to not make this long. The Flutterby Effect by hepburnettes has a really cool idea –it's the reverse of the Ugly Duckling, basically, and only has four parts, but lots of potential. Cherry Knots by hepburnettes (same person) has an adorable concept, too: "If you want a girl to kiss you, you get her to teach you how."
Now, the anime I'd like to recommend, if you haven't seen it, is Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. I know it's a summer anime, but holy Styx, I never knew it was possible to draw guys so BEAUTIFUL and I've never said that before. Besides the drawings and animation, I can't stop loving the guys' attitudes and personalities. I don't want to say much because it's so much nicer when you discover things yourself, but I will say: Watch the thirty second commercial first, and try to say your eyes weren't glued to the screen. Just try.
(Sorry for the long A/N. I've been gone for a while so I have had a lot to say, haha.)
Warning: Some people have been complaining about the suggestive themes in BCC, so I'm warning now that there is a little in this chapter, but there isn't any in the form of PDA, just conversation, and it's from Sage, mostly, so you should expect it anyways. ;D
Enjoy!
Chapter 53: Hiking
The smell of bacon woke me up in the morning. Groggily, I turned onto my side, expecting to see Matt's side of the bed empty. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when I realized he was still next to me, dead asleep, Milkshake curled up on his chest. After getting over the initial giddiness of seeing the cutest kitten ever asleep on my boyfriend, my thoughts went back to the problem at hand: If he was in here, then who was doing the cooking?
I tried to think back to this morning. The lock-in had gone better than expected. After all the games were finished, our group went back to Matt's classroom and chatted with each other while eating our snacks. Until five o'clock in the morning. Out of some pure luck, Matt and I managed to sleep next to each other on the floor without looking suspicious— at least for the three hours we had slept. Annabeth had pointed out it would be easier for all of us to sleep at the front of the classroom than to rearrange the desks for more space. No one complained.
Narrowing my eyes, I attempted to figure out what happened after that. I'd awoken later than everyone else, so only Ariana was left in the classroom, packing up her belongings. Mine, aside from my sleeping bag, were already done for me. I'd been half asleep, so I could only remember Ariana leading me out to Matt's car and then coming back to Matt's apartment here before falling asleep again.
"Daphne," Matt suddenly groaned, "don't cook. You don't know how…"
I grimaced. "I do…"
"Don't burn my house down," he said, opening his bleary eyes. When they landed on my face, they widened. "Daphne!"
"What?"
"You're supposed to watch food when you cook it!" he snapped at me, throwing the comforter off of him and into my face, sending Milkshake tumbling along with it. "Idiot!"
Ripping the comforter off my head, I glowered at him as he rushed to the kitchen clad in only boxers. Milkshake meowed at me and I rubbed his head, a little more roughly than usual. Why did Matt automatically assume I was doing something stupid? My Home Ec grade might be bad, but that didn't mean I would be stupid enough to start breakfast and then go back to bed.
"Morning, Mr. Firay!" I heard a girly voice, which I recognized as Ariana's, chirp.
"What are you doing in my house?" Matt demanded just as I thought the question.
I could imagine Ariana gesturing toward the frying bacon. "Cooking you two breakfast!"
"Obviously. I guess the important question is how did you get in?"
As if on cue, Sage popped his head into Matt's bedroom, grinning widely at me. "Morning Daphne!"
I blinked at him. While I usually didn't mind seeing the blonde, this morning I wasn't quite up to it. My eyes narrowed and I pulled the comforter back over me. Milkshake hopped off the bed and danced out of the room, brushing by Sage's legs as he did so.
"Not a morning person, are you?" Sage guessed, stepping into the room. "Don't worry though. I planned on bursting in here and waking you two about an hour ago, but after seeing you so cute and cuddly together, I decided to let you guys sleep while Ariana and I bought stuff and cooked breakfast."
After staring at him for another minute, I flopped back onto the bed and pulled the sheets the rest of the way over my head. "Go away."
Laughing, he came over and started shaking me. "Get up! It's already one o'clock! We have to be at the school in an hour!"
"What?" I cried, sitting up, my eyes wide. "That only gives me like, forty minutes to get ready!"
"Minus ten minutes to eat. That leaves you thirty minutes. Chop, chop, Daphne!"
Flinging the comforters off me yet again, I scrambled out of the bed, and stumbled to my overnight bag. Thirty minutes? What girl could get ready in thirty minutes? Cursing under my breath, I rushed out of the room and smack into Matt. He steadied me, and I winced, rubbing my throbbing nose. "You still have a hard chest…"
He chuckled. "That's a good thing."
"I gotta get ready," I told him, trying to push him aside. "Since someone is really lazy and slept all day…"
"You?" he guessed.
I stuck my tongue out at him before hastening to the bathroom. Somehow, I managed to shower and dress in less than ten minutes. Deciding not to blow dry my hair, I did up my makeup swiftly before sauntering into the kitchen. Sage, Ariana, and Matt were all sitting at the table, having a debate about something. Well, Matt and Sage were. Ariana head her head down, muffling her excessive laughter. Moving closer, I heard my name slip from Sage's lips.
"No," Matt responded as I stealthily hid around the kitchen door. "Daphne won't get lost, Sage."
"I think she will."
Scowling, I decided not to listen and confront him. "Sage! I'm not stupid enough to get lost on a hike! There's a path you follow!"
He pouted at me. "But I bought a bell and everything…" Holding up his hand, I realized he seriously did buy a bell. It tinkled as he shook it at me. "We'll be able to hear you when you wander off, Daphne!"
Unable to form any words, I just gaped at him, completely stupefied. This was the most unbelievable thing Sage had ever done. I couldn't wrap my mind around his act of idiocy. It was, for a lack of words, shocking.
"Daphne, he's kidding," Matt said after a moment, smirking at the expression on my face. "It's for Milkshake. Sage bought him a collar."
"Oh," I responded dumbly, feeling my cheeks start to flush. As Sage produced a black piece of leather from his pocket, I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. "I guess that's a good idea…"
"Think of it, Daphne. Milkshake trotting around and the bell tinkling as he does so."
"So cute," I gushed, moving over to Sage and snatching the collar out of his hand. "Oh my god, I have to put it on him right now! Milkshake! Here kitty-kitty!"
Matt sighed lightly. "Daphne, you have to eat something. Worry about putting that on him later."
Frowning a little bit, I placed the collar on the kitchen counter before trudging over to a seat beside Ariana at the table. "Okay…"
Acting like a father, Matt began to pile my plate with bacon, sausage, toast, and eggs. After that he got up and poured me a glass of orange juice as well as giving me a pile of napkins. "Because I know you're a messy eater," he told me.
Sage and Ariana snickered while I felt my face flood in embarrassment. "Not even funny, Matt," I snapped at him. "You're purposely trying to embarrass me."
"Maybe," he responded teasingly.
Grumbling under my breath, I scooped up a forkful of eggs and shoved them in my mouth. Surprisingly, they were still warm and almost as good as if Matt made them. "Did you use the same seasoning Matt does?" I asked, turning to Sage.
"Does it matter? Just eat so we can leave," he replied, gesticulating in a shooing motion. "We have to get good seats on the bus."
"Why do we have to take a bus?" I groaned. "I hate busses. I get bus sick."
"Because it would be a waste of gas to make 140 individual students drive to Mt. Monadnock."
I huffed. "I bet only about fifty of them will show up… Just like last night."
As it turns out, my predictions were true. More or less. It seemed the same people who had gone to the senior lock in decided to go on the hiking trip as well. There were some new faces, but not many.
This time we only had to split into three groups and that was only because if fifty kids went up the same side of the mountain, it'd be a problem. Matt somehow managed to form our group with the same members last night, plus five more to make our group contain fifteen members. However, he did try to have Sage assigned to a different group, which failed, much to his dismay. Mrs. Hernandez and Mrs. Dayscall were assigned to our group as well, making our chaperone count four. While Mrs. Dayscall was a fun teacher, Mrs. Hernandez was the one always catching Matt and I alone together. It put me a little at edge.
"Okay, Mr. Ross, Mr. Firay, why don't you to stay at the back of the group while Mrs. Dayscall and myself lead the front?" Mrs. Hernandez suggested as my group trudged over to the beginning of our trail.
I glanced up the trail, squinting my eyes. Ours was an intermediate trail, meaning harder than the simple trail, but easier than the advanced trail. Advanced trails usually meant using some type of equipment. Still, I didn't like the idea of an intermediate trail.
"Let's get started then!" Sage said excitedly, clapping his hands. "Forward, march!"
Jackson groaned loudly, complaining he'd rather stay home and watch T.V, but started walking nonetheless. The new faces in our group, including a girl from my Spanish class, Bella, all appeared excited to be hiking. One girl— Natalie— was actually carrying a walking stick. I glanced back at Matt, who just happened to notice the walker at the time. He cocked an eyebrow and grinned.
I fell back so that I was walking with him, dragging Ariana with me so it didn't look too suspicious. "How long do you think it'll take to climb this?"
"Probably about two or three hours?" he guessed, shrugging. "I've never climbed a mountain this size."
"Too tall for you?"
"Too short," he countered, smirking. "I didn't get this rock hard physique by sitting around all day, Daphne."
I pursed my lips at him. "Don't get too arrogant now."
Ariana laughed. "Telling Mr. Firay to not be arrogant is like telling Sage to be serious."
"Hey," Sage interjected, peeking around Matt's shoulders so he could see us, "I can be serious."
"Once in a blue moon," I countered.
"I was serious the other night when—"
"Ah ha ha," Ariana interjected awkwardly, whipping her arm out and hitting Sage in the chest. "Stop talking, Sage."
Taken aback, he shut his mouth, and rubbed his sore pectoral muscle. "She's surprisingly strong…"
"Yeah, so that means you better not take advantage of her," Matt told him; kicking a rock a little ways up the trail.
"I wouldn't do that anyway."
"Really? You seem like the type that would."
"I wouldn't!"
"Is that so Sage? Did you forget about the time in your old bedroom?" I inquired, pretending to shudder at the memory. "You were pretty rough…"
His eyes widened and he blushed. "You know that I was kidding! I didn't even do anything!"
Matt narrowed his eyes at me. "I never heard about this."
"It was the day Wendell was shot," I told him, "so I'm pretty sure I was a bit too preoccupied to mention it. Besides, that was the same time you were going on your dates."
"What exactly did you do to her, Sage?"
Sage waved him off. "Nothing. I was just playing with her."
"You were what?"
"N-not like that Matt…"
Ariana giggled as I shook my head at the pair. "Just forget about it. It's in the past. He didn't do anything, Matt. Sage, stop making it sound worse than it was."
In an act of childishness, Matt shoved Sage to the side, causing him to stumble over some loose gravel. I gave him a disapproving look, which he disregarded, pretending to be engrossed with the trees. In front of us, walking hand-in-hand, were Anna and Wendell. I gazed at him, feeling jealous. I wanted to be able to hold Matt's hand right now… In an act of rashness, I snatched Matt's hand into my own. Surprised, he glanced down at me. "Daphne—"
"Ariana, Sage, walk in front of us," I ordered quietly. "And try to stand behind Anna and Wendell."
The two nodded, doing as I instructed. Matt intertwined his fingers with mine, squeezing gently. "Feeling a little left out?"
"Jealous would be the correct word," I mumbled, ducking my head. "You don't think anyone will turn back and look, do you?"
"I doubt it," he responded.
Just as he spoke those words, Jackson, who was about ten yards in front of us, pivoted on his foot to speak to Daniel, who was plodding behind him. His eyes narrowed at Matt and I, causing Daniel to look back as well. Before he had a chance to see anything, Matt and I took a step away from each other, feigning interest in the nature around us.
"Why are you guys walking so slowly?" Jackson demanded, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smirk. "Don't tell me you're tired already?"
"Not at all," Matt and I chorused smoothly.
"Just enjoying the view," I added after a moment.
"I'll bet." He stared pointedly at Matt. "Very nice view."
My face flushed at his implication. When was he going to stop joking around with me? When would he make up his mind and decide whether he liked guys or girls more? And when would he stop flirting with my boyfriend?
"Don't you agree, Daniel?" he asked, elbowing Daniel in the side.
Daniel gazed at me, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "W-what are you talking about, Jackson?"
"The way the light reflects off Daphne's hair…"
"Ah, young love," Sage sighed deeply.
"Sage!" I cried at the same time Daniel cried, "Mr. Ross!"
Daniel blinked at me. "You call him by his first name?"
"Er, remember? I'm a family friend…"
"Oh, right," he replied, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah. Umm, I'm going to go walk with Bella…" In his haste to catch up to the blonde haired girl, he stumbled on a loose rock, nearly falling flat on his face.
Matt snorted from beside me and I elbowed him. "That's not funny."
"Yes it is. It's also funny how he has a crush on you even though you won't return the feelings."
"Matt!"
"You never know, Mr. Firay. Daphne might ditch you for me," Jackson warned him, looking smug.
As confident as always, Matt was unfazed by Jackson's words. "Keep dreaming, Kid."
"I bet you guys haven't even done it yet."
My eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. "J-Jackson! Don't say that so loudly!"
"Aren't you the one speaking loudly?"
Realizing I was, I dropped my voice and shot him daggers. "Whatever! Stay out of our relationship!"
He grinned. "I'm going to take that as a no."
"Jackson," Matt started, his tone hard.
"Okay, okay, I'll drop it," Jackson said, holding up his hands defensively. "You Puritans." Snickering, he jogged up to Anna and Wendell and stepped between them in a very effective cock block.
"One day I'll punch that kid so hard he won't be able to see," Matt muttered to himself.
For once, I didn't try to convince him otherwise. "Wait until he turns eighteen."
Matt blinked. "He's not eighteen yet?"
"Nope."
"I kissed a minor…"
"First of all, he kissed you. And second of all, you kissed me when I was a minor."
He grimaced. "That was once. Please don't remind me."
"Twice," I corrected him, jutting out my chin. "And once more when you were sick. You didn't remember afterward."
"I'm such a pedophile," he mumbled, rubbing his forehead.
"Yeah you are," Sage commented with a wicked smile. Then he cringed as Matt raised his fist. "Kidding! I'm just kidding, Musty!"
Matt nodded. "Good. Let's forget those ever happened."
"Every person loses his or her self-control once in a while," Ariana told him comfortingly, patting his shoulder. "And don't forget, if you and Daphne were the same age, one of you would turn eighteen before the other anyway. As long as you have parent consent, age doesn't matter. Well, as long as you don't have sex until you're both of age. Like you are now."
"I'm aware," Matt muttered, brushing her hand off him. "Let's just drop the topic. I don't want anyone to overhear."
"You might want to save your breath too," Sage spoke up, looking up at the trail. "This mountain is about to get a whole lot steeper…"
An hour later, we were about three quarters the way up the mountain. By this point I was dragging myself along, ready to pass out. "I should have worn less clothing," I panted, wiping sweat from my forehead.
Beside me, Matt still looked like a Greek god. He didn't look the slightest bit winded. "Want me to carry you?"
"No!"
"Okay," he responded with a chuckle.
The trail suddenly came to a fork. There was a fading sign in the middle with two arrows. Knowing the two trails already, Mrs. Hernandez decided that the students could decide which way the wanted to go. One of them was a little bit steeper, but more of a scenic route while the other was flat, but a little longer. It was no surprise when everyone decided to go the flat route. Everyone but two annoying pests.
"No one wants to calm with Mr. Firay and I?" Sage asked our group, putting his best puppy dog look. "Daniel? Bella? Ariana? Toby?"
"Way too tired to do that, sorry, Mr. Ross," Daniel apologized, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
Toby, a kid I hadn't had a class with since freshman year, shook his head. "Yeah, man. I'm worn."
I frowned. I swore he was on the football team.
"I would go," Bella offered, "but my friends are going the other way so… I'm going to stick with them."
Sage pouted. "Ariana?" he tried again.
Even though she looked dead tired, she unfortunately couldn't resist his look. "Okay, I'll go that way. Daphne will too."
"What? Don't volunteer me!"
"Mr. Ross, Mr. Firay, you'll need at least five people to go with you if you want to take that path," Mrs. Hernandez told them. "So far you have one."
Matt turned to me, his eyes imploring. "Ms. Grimm?"
"… Fine."
He grinned. "Great. How about you, Anna, Wendell?"
"Sure!" Anna chirped brightly. Surprisingly, she didn't seem tired at all. Neither did Wendell, who also agreed to go.
"So that just leaves…" Matt made a face. "Jackson…?"
Jackson raised an eyebrow. "You want me to go?"
"Yes," Matt responded reluctantly.
"If you beg—"
"Mr. Tomber!" Mrs. Hernandez said sharply. "Respect your elders!"
Rolling his eyes, Jackson silently mocked her. I put a hand over my mouth to hide my smirk. "I guess I'll go with you," he consented. "Because I love you so much."
Matt's shoulders tensed. "Very well."
After promising to meet at the top, our groups went our separate ways. Like a bolt of lightning, I realized with a shock that now, with our group modified, everyone knew Matt and I were in a relationship. I immediately snatched up his hand, grinning brightly. "Now we can hold hands!"
"Yes, we can," he agreed, swinging them slightly. "Feel rejuvenated now?"
I nodded eagerly. "I'm ready to climb this mountain!"
"Even though it's supposedly steep?"
"You'll help me, right?"
He mussed with my hair. "What's a teacher for?"
Saying this trail was steep as the understatement of the century. It was nearly vertical. Saying it was scenic though, was accurate. About teen feet to the side of the trail, the trees cleared, and you could see a few towns. However, along with the view came the cliff that was right there. It was quite intimidating, especially because the only thing stopping you from falling off it was a meager fence that would probably break if a bird flew into it.
"These stairs don't look safe at all," Wendell muttered, glancing up the stone stairs that led through an impossibly steep rock wall. The wall itself was about teen feet tall. "Anna, you go first so I can spot you."
"Sure," she said, cautiously taking the first stair.
"Be careful," Matt warned, moving forward to help Wendell spot Anna. "Wendell is right. Those don't look secure at all."
It took about five minutes to get Anna up ten steps. None of the stairs had given out under her, so Matt gestured for Ariana to go up next. After her was Jackson, and finally me. Matt paid extra attention to spotting me. "Because you have bad luck," he told me.
Annoyed, I stomped on the first stair, causing Sage's hands to shoot to my back. "Daphne! Don't do that!"
"Just showing I don't have bad luck," I stated, easily scaling the rest of the way up.
Matt sighed and shook his head at me. "Okay, Sage you go next."
"Will you catch me if I fall?"
"No."
Grimacing, he started up the stairs. "Thanks for that, Bud."
Sage slipped on the third step, but managed to right himself before he could teeter backward. I held my breath as he got to the sixth step. If he fell from any of the steps from that one on, he could actually hurt himself. Somehow though, he managed to make it up okay.
The others started moving ahead now since the only one left was Matt— which was okay with me. That meant more time alone with Matt and recently it seemed I hadn't been getting enough, even though I was with him almost all the time. Maybe I was getting a little greedy…
"Shoot!" I heard Matt suddenly swear and glanced down at him just in time to see the sixth step crumble under him.
"Matt!" I cried, my hand shooting out to grab him, but only meeting thin air.
Expecting the worst, I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see him fall. A few seconds later, he called out to me, and I opened my eyes to find him perfectly okay. "A five-foot drop is really nothing," he informed me, grinning at my worried look.
"How are you going to get up now? The others have already gone ahead!"
"I'll go the other way. You go catch up with everyone."
"You're not going alone," I told him, dropping onto my butt and sliding to the edge of the rock wall. "I'm coming with you."
He gave the stairs an uneasy look. "Daphne, don't try going down those."
"But—"
"Move over to the ledge and just jump."
I blinked at him. "Jump?"
He nodded. "I'll catch you."
"I don't know…"
"It's only ten feet, Daphne. It'll be fine. I won't drop you."
"Are you sure?"
"Have you seen my muscles?"
Shaking my head at his cockiness, I slid over so that my feet dangled over the flat wall. The ground seemed a lot further than ten feet away. "Okay… Are you ready?"
Holding out his arms, he nodded. "Just slide yourself forward."
"Um…"
"Daphne."
"Okay, okay," I said, closing my eyes. "Here I go."
Holding my breath, I pushed myself forward and felt myself begin to free fall. Two seconds later I crashed into Matt, causing us to stumble backwards. His arms winded me a bit, and I sucked in a deep breath of air, my eyes shooting open. He grinned at me. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"No," I responded, regaining my balance. "Come on, let's hurry so we don't show up too late and arise suspicion."
"You worry too much," Matt told me, taking me by the hand and leading me back down the trail we'd come from.
"You just worry too little."
"Maybe."
"Wait," I said suddenly, pulling him to a stop. "There's actually something I want to do."
Curious, he turned back toward me. "What's that?"
"Um… Do you, um, mind if we take a picture with this view in the background?" I murmured, dropping my gaze.
"I don't mind," he told me, moving closer to the fence. "Are you going to use your cell phone?"
I nodded, taking it out. "Don't make a stupid face."
"I'm not Sage."
Contrary to his words though, the first picture I took included him scrunching up his face as if he'd tasted something disgusting. After hitting him, we got ready for a second picture. This one came out a lot better.
"One more," he insisted, taking out his own phone. "I need a new background too."
"Sure," I responded, putting my arm around him again.
"Turn toward me a bit."
I did as he requested and he immediately pressed his lips to mine, catching me off guard. After the initial shock, I kissed his back, forgetting he still had his phone out. I heard the shutter go off and yanked myself away, covering my lips as a warm blush spread across my cheeks. "Hey!"
"Hay is for horses," he responded nonchalantly, slipping his phone into his pocket.
"That's not fair!"
"What's not fair?"
"I want my background to be of us kissing!"
He did a double take at me, his blue eyes widening. "Really?"
I pressed my lips into a line. "Is it really that surprising?"
"Kind of," he responded with a grin, leaning forward to kiss my nose. "I'll send it to you, okay?"
"Okay," I said, wrinkling my nose as he kissed it.
"Ready to go then?"
"Yeah," I sighed.
He chuckled. "Yeah, I don't want to rejoin everyone either. I prefer being here with you."
"I love you, Matt," I told him, standing on my tip toes to give him a quick kiss.
"I love me too."
"Funny."
"I thought it was."
"Matt."
Laughing, he wrapped an arm around my waist. "I love you too, Daphne."
"More than Jackson?"
His smile abruptly turned into a scowl. "Don't even mention that brat."
"Why not? You seemed eager enough to get him to come with us…"
"Speak anymore and I won't kiss you for a whole week."
"You wouldn't last that long."
"Watch me," he challenged. "I spent all that time in jail without kissing anyone. I could go a week."
Believing he wasn't joking, I immediately dropped the subject. Matt might have been able to survive that week, but I knew I was weak and wouldn't be able to. "Let's just catch up then…"
Smirking in triumph, he nodded. "Sounds good."
Together we turned to start down the path again. Together we came to a stop, both of us sucking in a breath of surprise at the wide-eyed person in front of us.
Daniel.
"D-Daniel," I stuttered, completely frozen in shock.
Matt must've been too, because he didn't remove his arm from around me.
"Daphne," Daniel said, his eyes moving from my face, to Matt's, to Matt's arm around my waist, his face pale. "I-I dropped my phone and came back to get it… Then I heard voices and saw you guys…"
"I can explain," I responded quickly, shoving Matt's arm away from me. "Matt— Dang, I mean Mr. Firay… He, um…"
"She was going to fall," Matt interjected, shooting me a meaningful look. "I stopped her."
Daniel didn't look convinced. "Is that why you kissed her too?"
My heart dropped into my stomach. "Daniel…"
"Are you two dating?"
"We're—"
"Yes," Matt interrupted confidently, "and if you haven't guessed, it's a secret. We'd like to keep it that way."
Daniel stared at him. "You're a teacher."
"I know."
"She's a student."
"I know."
"She's younger than you…"
"You're younger than her, no?"
His face flushed. "O-only by a year!"
"Still younger."
"But…"
"But what?"
Daniel dropped his eyes to his feet. "I just…"
"You can't say anything, Daniel," I told him, using my best pleading voice. "Please. We'll be graduating in a month. Please don't tell anyone."
His eyes met mine again. "How long?"
"How long what?"
"Have you been, you know, dating?" he muttered.
A bit taken aback by his question, it took me a few moments to respond. "Oh, um…" I hesitated. Technically we'd only been dating for seven months, but that was only when we made it official. "Seven months," I decided on.
"What?" he cried. "Seriously?"
I nodded. "Seriously. We've kept a secret that long. Please don't give it away."
"I won't," he promised solemnly. "But since I know I have no chance now, can I tell you something?"
"Yes?"
"I like you."
"H-huh?"
"I like you, Daphne."
A blush blossomed on my cheeks and I glanced at Matt, who was grinning. Completely embarrassed, I turned back to Daniel, who was also blushing. "Oh, um, thank you?"
"I-I just wanted to tell you, you know," he muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"Thanks for telling me," I responded honestly. "I'm actually a bit flattered. I would've never guessed…"
"Even though it was obvious," Matt commented casually.
Daniel gawked at him. "It was?"
He nodded. "Completely."
"I didn't notice!" I defended.
"You're dense," Matt told me.
I glowered at him. "Am not!"
"You didn't know Wendell liked you either."
"That's because… That's because…"
"That's because," he mimicked, smirking. "Give it up, Daphne. You're dense."
"I'm not! Shut up, Matt!"
"You're pretty popular, aren't you?"
"I said shut up!"
"I'll have to keep my eye on you from now on…"
"Matt!"
Daniel suddenly cleared his throat. "Guys… I'm still here."
Flushing again, I twisted on my heel and marched forward, grabbing Daniel by the arm. "Come on, let's go catch up with everyone."
"Sure," he mumbled, allowing me to tug him along. "I promise I won't tell anyone about you and Mr. Firay, too."
"Thank you," I responded, smiling brightly at him. "It means a lot."
He blushed again, redirecting his attention away from me. "N-no problem…"
"Ah, it must be nice to be in love," Matt sighed from behind us.
"Shut up!"
A/N. Did any of you see that coming? Huh? Huh? Probably not, haha.
I'm going to try to reply to reviews today. But I'm going to go ahead and upload the chapter first so you guys don't have to wait for the review replies you're probably not going to really look at anyways, haha. Then I will go back and re-upload this chapter with reviews. :D Esimorp. :D (Sorry 5:48 reference)
I'm sorry I can't keep myself organized with FF anymore. I hope you guys are still reading; I don't get many reviews anymore, but I probably deserve that, haha since I'm such a horrible updater. And like I said, BCC is basically done, just a few extras and epilogue to post, so if no one reads, it's okay. :) I'm also thinking of taking a really long hiatus because I really have this urge to write my own stories and maybe drawing more. I will still be writing one-shots, but I just don't feel like major stories anymore. I mean, I have SO many ideas for long stories, but not the motivation or time to work on them all the way through. But I need to continue The Case of the Hypocritical Killer with Curlscat. I REALLY have to work on that. :/ Anyways, thanks for those who have read and are still reading and following my works and it just means a lot to me, so thank you. :)
By the way guys, we're like three reviews away from 1,000 reviews! Yay!
See you guys hopefully soon (aka hopefully sooner than ten weeks, haha!)
~Lara
PS. HAPPY DECEMBER 1ST! We're officially in the Christmas season, YES!
