Author's Notes

Y'know, I might just stop saying sorry for a chapter being late and start celebrating when the chapter's on schedule. Just cuz.

Anywho, Reviews!

GiggiEba, I'm glad you think so. I like the cover, with or without the hi-def. :)

ThinMint, thanks. And yeah, Snowdrift is vewy cute. I like making my stories cutesy and funny, except for (obviously) when I'm writing action scenes and such.

Welp, let's get on with the story!

I think it's time to address something between Lila and Jack...

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Jack's POV

I drew back a little wooden slab on top of the crossbow to reload and aimed at the tree in front of me. There were already 12 other crossbow bolts buried in the poor oak's tough bark. I fired the weapon and reloaded.

Valory had pushed me to finally speak outright to Lila, to tell her how I feel. I'm not sure if that's a good idea, though. She'd always pushed me away whenever I tried to talk with her, or she ignored me comepletely. So here I was, taking out my frustrations on an innocent tree.

Simon got better, and Izabell didn't get sick, and they have been spending even more time together, if that's at all possible. With Snowdrift, of course. The creeper boy got busy right away, pouring ideas and showing off sketches to Thomas. The guy looked overwhelmed with all the stuff Simon was telling him, but he did agree to help him with one thing.

They were going to build a third airship. As if two weren't enough.

So now everyone was gathering even more wood and metal. Lila and Val were working tirelessly, 'knitting' together the balloon with their string. This would be the only time I'd be able to talk to her without Adrian being nearby, since he was in charge of logging with Thomas and Eba.

Izabell, Simon and Sarah went mining again, still hoping to find diamonds. Kaitlin got to stay at the house to take care of Flicker and Snowdrift, and I... sort of slipped away without anyone noticing. I needed time to think, to figure out what I would tell Lila. "Should I bring her some flowers?" I muttered to myself.

"Could I even find flowers during winter? Is there any left in the forest?" I mused, pacing in front of the tree. "Maybe I should look. There might be some flowers somewhere. But should I just walk up to her with them? Should I save them as a surprise? Or present or whatever? Will she listen to me this time?"

Doubt started creeping in, so I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. "It's alright... it's okay... she's your friend. There is nothing to worry about." I heaved a sigh of defeat.

"Who am I kidding? She doesn't even talk to me. I'll just humiliate myself. I should just... leave it alone and hope for the best." I started plucking the metal rods from the tree.

"Why is it so hard to talk to her?" I groaned. "Fuck, I'd rather face off against an army of creepers than have to suffer her wrath. I mean, she's even worse than my uncle!"

The Skeleton king was known to be stubborn and hot-headed, and because of a misunderstanding regarding my brother's suicide, I was forced to run away and never come back. That's why Sarah and Adrian are out here to begin with; my uncle sent them to bring me back so I could 'face justice'.

So, yeah, me saying someone is worse than uncle Troyel means a lot. I tucked the crossbow bolts into my pockets and started heading back home. Something else that's neat about the weapon is that with the push of a button the bow arms fold back so I can sling it over my shoulder. Very comfortable for carrying around.

I walked out of the forest and into the snow-covered plains. An idea was forming in my head, but I'd need help. The mining party had apparently returned, which was good news for me. I trudged into the house and took off my boots, already searching for Simon and Izabell. The couple was lounging on the couch, just talking together.

I sat down beside them. "Hey, guys."

Simon nodded. Izabell smiled. "Hi, Jack."

"Hey, uh... I need to borrow Snowdrift for a while."

The little snow fox had been curled up on Izabell's lap, and he pricked his ears at the mention of his name. The slime girl looked shocked. Simon raised an eyebrow. "Borrow Snowdrift? What for?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling nervous. "Well, Valory convinced me to... speak to Lila about my feelings for her, and I thought that maybe Snowdrift would be able to help me find some flowers."

Izabell smiled, looking a bit confused. "Okay... I'm sure Val knows what she's doing." The slime girl exchanged a knowing look with Simon, and continued. "I guess Snowdrift could help. He's no bloodhound, but he did follow us all the way to the mine without ever having been there."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

Simon frowned. "I doubt you'll find much. Most flowers wither in this weather. But there may be some hiding under bracken or ferns in the forest."

Izabell nodded and picked up Snowdrift. The little fox blinked at her and licked the slime girl's nose, causing her to giggle. "Do you want to go, buddy?"

The fox yipped and licked her again. "Okay, Okay! You can go." She put Snowdrift down and the little white fox walked over to me, so I leaned down to pet him. "Promise me you won't let him out of your sight."

I looked up to stare into Izabell's worried eyes. I gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. "Of course. I'll take good care of him, I promise."

Simon leaned closer to Izabell and whispered in her ear. It was barely loud enough for me to understand, which I guess wasn't his intention. "I could ask Ara to follow him if you want. To keep an eye on Snowdrift."

The slime girl smiled and pushed him playfully away, earning a grin from Simon. "You can trust me," I told her. "Snowdrift will be just fine."

"I know, Jack," she told me, still smiling. "It's Simon who's not trusting enough." She cast a mischevious, loving glance at the creeper boy.

He shrugged. "It's in my nature to be skeptical. Most creepers are."

She nudged him playfully and turned back to me. "So yeah, you can take Snowdrift, Jack."

I smiled. "Thank you, guys. I promise that nothing will happen to Snowdrift."

Izabell nodded, currently busy trying to untangle herself from Simon's nuzzles and loving embrace. "Good luck!" she called to me as I picked up Snowdrift and walked towards the door. The little white fox wiggled in my grasp upon feeling the cold air, so I put him down. He started sniffing the cold ground and bounding happily over lumps of snow.

"Um... uh, Snowdrift? Could you come here?" The little fox stopped and stared at me over his shoulder, tail-tip twitching. Then he reluctantly padded closer. "I need you to help me, okay?" I told him slowly. "We're going to go into the forest to look for some flowers. So I need you to stop playing for a little while. Could you do that for me buddy?"

The little snow fox blinked at me and sat down. I sighed. "Well, I guess that's a maybe. Come on, I'd like to use up the sunlight while we still can."

I trudged through the snow towards the forest's edge, Snowdrift following tamely behind. We passed Lila and Valory on our way there. Val waved, smiling quizzically at Snowdrift. Her sister didn't even look up. I waved back and kept walking, pulling my cloak's hood on. Once in the forest I took it off and began searching.

"Okay," I told Snowdrift. "Simon said there might be flowers underneath ferns, so let's look for big ones to check under." Snowdrift lapped some snow off his paw and sat down. I heaved a sigh. "You're not being much help, buddy." The little white fox blinked at me and twitched his ears. I smiled and shook my head.

"This is going to take a long, long time."

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Lila's POV

"Why do you have to be so mean?"

I looked up to see Valory frowning at me. "Mean?"

"Yeah," she answered. "You didn't even say hi."

I blinked. "To who?"

Valory huffed. "To Jack!"

"Jack was here?"

She groaned and went back to her side of the balloon. I felt a little guilty—only a little—for not having realized that Jack had walked by. But I had been distracted by something else. Someone else. Something... happened that day when Simon handed out all the gifts in his feverish state. While he and Izabell had been losing themselves in each other, Adrian had... held my hand.

Up until this point, there had been no physical contact between us, despite being best friends. We simply talked together. So his little gesture took me by surprise. I stared dumbfoundedly at our joined hands for a second, feeling warm and fuzzy all over, before looking up at him. The wither skeleton looked a bit flustered, and just as surprised at what he had done. He let go after a moment longer, and we took a step apart in embarrassment. We haven't talked about it yet, haven't really talked much since. And it was bugging me. A lot.

I know I like him, Val knows I like him, but did he like me? Why would he hold my hand if that wasn't the case? Did he think of it as only a friendly gesture? If so, why had he blushed? Why hasn't he wanted to talk about it? Why haven't I brought it up? Why had we been avoiding each other? Was it too awkward?

And a million other questions that had kept me up at night.

So I was distracted, trying to think of a way to confront Adrian about it. I hadn't told Valory yet, and I wasn't sure if I should. She would probably find a way to fix it somehow, but she might start bugging me about Jack again and nothing would actually happen.

Val and I took a break from knitting a couple hours later, and walked inside to join everyone for lunch. I sat down next to Adrian, as usual, but we only nodded at each other in greeting and then he looked away. I sighed in defeat and turned to talk with Kaitlin. The blaze princess was hugging Flicker close, preventing the mischevious baby creeper from running all over the table and causing a mess.

We had our lunch and then went back to work. Adrian and I didn't talk the whole time, but that wasn't the weirdest thing. "Where's Jack?" Valory had asked.

I looked over Kaitlin, and sure enough, the stray wasn't there. Simon finished chewing, swallowed, and spoke. "He took Snowdrift out for a while. He'd have come back if he was hungry. And Ara would have returned to tell me if he was in trouble."

Izabell almost chocked. "You still sent Ara despite me strictly prohibiting it?"

The creeper boy shrugged. "Like I said, skeptical by nature. But she's only tailing them to make sure no monsters appear out of nowhere. For their safety."

The slime girl shook her head. "You're so stubborn," she muttered.

"Guilty as charged," he murmured back.

Val looked only slightly reassured that nothing had happened to Jack, but she went back to eating anyway. I had shot Adrian a glance, but he either ignored it or didn't notice, just kept shifting his food around the plate.

I sat back on the cold grass. "Done," I said triumphantly.

Valory looked up from her section of the balloon. "Already?"

"Yep. Do you need help or can I go do my own thing?"

My sister shook her head and waved me away. "Go. You haven't been very good company for the past hour."

I smiled at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Val shrugged, a faint smile on her face. "You're not being very talkative, and it's kind of boring. It'd be the same with or without you."

I faked indignation. "Ex-cuse me, I happen to be very open, talkative, and efficient, so I find your complaints to be without reason."

She giggled. "Oh, yeah, just like how you efficiently messed up that section over there, right?"

I scoffed playfully and started walking away. "I fixed it, didn't I?"

"You only fixed it after I started barking orders at you!" She shot back, laughter in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah," I called back, knowing she had beat me.

I wandered towards the forest, lost in my own thoughts, and stumbled into Adrian. He was chopping down a log with his obsidian broadsword, making long, deep gashes in the tough bark. I leaned against a tree and waited for him to notice I was there. He took a couple more swings at the old oak before putting away his sword his sword. He was wearing the double-stacked sheath Simon had made for him, the Iron replica of his sword in the bottom part.

"So, are you gonna greet me, or will you just keep staring at me?" he said, turning to face me. There were a few beads of sweat on his forehead that were rapidly drying up. I took a couple steps forward.

"Hmm... I think I'll just keep staring."

He chuckled and shook his head. "How are you?"

I shrugged. "Alright, I suppose. You?"

The wither skeleton rolled his shoulders. "A little tired, but otherwise fine."

I nodded, staring at the tree he had been cutting down. "That's good." He had cut all the way to the middle of its trunk; only a few more swings would bring it down. "How many trees have you cut down?"

"Six, I think. Eba's helping Thomas bring them back, so I'm stuck with chopping and dragging. Otherwise, I'd have doubled that number easily."

"No kidding," I said. "I think the forest will thank Eba for not helping you, though. The valley would look pretty empty without any trees."

We smiled at each other, and Adrian took a couple steps towards me. "Why are you here? I thought you were helping Valory with the balloon."

"I finished early," I explained. "And Val said she could handle the rest, so I have free time."

He nodded and turned to look at the tree. "I think if I bring this one down and you help me drag it back home, Thomas would let me go if I asked him."

"Sure, I'll help."

"Great. Stand back, though. I don't want to cut you in half by accident."

"Oh, I doubt you could, but I'd rather not find out."

Adrian chuckled again and I stood back, watching as he drew the iron sword this time. "Let's see if this one's sharper," he said before swinging the weapon with all his might. It lodged itself into the tree, extending the gash from the middle point to three quarters of the way to the other side. The wither skeleton hummed thoughtfully.

"It's about the same. Simon really knows his stuff."

I drew a single throwing star from the pouch hanging at my waist, throwing it quickly. It leaned inches from his face, buried in the tough wood. "Yeah, he does," I said, cracking up as he jumped back in surprise.

"Hey, watch it! You could have killed me."

I tried to stifle my laughter, failing miserably. "Sorry," I choked out, "didn't mean to scare you like that. Oh, wait, yes I did."

Adrian shook his head and plucked the shuriken from the tree. "You're dangerous," he said, throwing the metal star back at me. I plucked it from the air with ease.

"You know it," I told him with a smile.

I helped him (barely; those logs are heavy) drag the tree in pieces back to the house. Thomas and Eba were dragging their own set of logs back, so we waited for them by the storage shed. The endergirl dropped the log and wiped her brow with her black hoodie sleeves, moving stray hairs out of her face.

"Hey, guys. How are you?"

Adrian smiled and nodded. "We're Okay. You?"

She shrugged. "Blight's been bugging me about this or that, and I'm pretty beat, but otherwise great."

"That's good to hear," I told her.

Thomas walked over to us after making sure the logs wouldn't roll away. "Hey Adrian. Hi Lila."

"Hello."

"Hi yourself."

He dusted himself off a bit, sawdust going everywhere, before looking back up. "What're you guys doing here?"

I opened my mouth but Adrian beat me to it. "I was wondering, Thomas, if you'd let me just... take a break? I've brought seven trees back."

Thomas blinked then smiled at the wither skeleton. "Okay, first; you don't have to ask for permission, Adrian. You're our friend. Of course you can take a break. And, seven trees? All by yourself?"

The wither skeleton rubbed the back of his neck. "Technically, Lila helped me with the seventh."

Thomas sighed. "You're gonna get a hernia or something, man. And I don't think Izabell would be too happy about that. If you need help, all you have to do is ask."

"But I didn't," he mumbled to himself. I shook my head and turned to face Thomas.

"Well, thanks for that, we're going to go waste time somewhere else. Bye," I waved, already walking away.

The wither skeleton excused himself and hurried after me. "See you later!" Eba called after us.

Adrian and I wandered aimlessly into the forest, talking about nothing in particular. But honestly, it felt good to simply chat with him again. And I almost forgot about what I had wanted to confront him about. I thought of maybe tip-toeing around the subject, but then didn't.

"Hey, do you remember what happened that day Simon gave us our new weapons and such?"

Adrian tensed a little, and answered me a split second later than he should've. "Not really. Why?"

I crossed my arms and glared at him. The wither skeleton kept his innocent façade for a moment longer and then sighed. "Yes, I do. Why?"

"Why? You've been avoiding me ever since!"

"To me it felt like you were doing the avoiding."

"Don't try to switch the blame!"

"I'm not. I'm just explaining my point of view."

I don't care about your point of view! I wanted to shout at him. But I did care, and I knew saying that would only make things worse. "Okay... then explain. Explain what happened. And why you did it."

Adrian frowned. He looked very uncomfortable and tired. "I don't know," he told me. "And I don't know why. I just did it, without thought or reason."

I let my hands drop back to my sides. "Then why didn't you want to talk about it?"

The wither skeleton shrugged. "I thought it would be too awkward. And that you'd find it weird or even repulsive. And you never brought it up."

I heaved a sigh. "I'd never find you repulsive. And I didn't bring it up because I thought you would find it awkward or weird."

Adrian chuckled. "Well, I guess we were both afraid to bring it up."

"Yeah..."

We stared at each other for a couple moments. The cold air felt still, and nothing moved among the underbrush. I finally gathered all of my courage and spoke again. "What did it mean? To you?"

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "What?"

I gestured vaguely with my hand. "The thing, th-the... the thing."

"Oh." The wither skeleton rubbed the back of his neck again. "Um... I... I guess it was... nice." He whispered. "It felt nice."

I blinked at him. Adrian squirmed under my gaze, and if he had been an enderman he probably would have warped away. His cheeks were tinged with red. I felt my own blush crawl on my face. "Yeah, I-I guess it did."

More silence. It stretched out like a chasm between us. Adrian started heading back to the house. "I told you it'd be awkward," he muttered.

I stared after the wither skeleton until the forest swallowed him. I heaved another sigh and wandered back home.

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Jack's POV

"Eureka! I found another!"

I crawled out from under a prickly bush and dusted snow off my clothes. Snowdrift watched curiously, a small bouquet of flowers clamped in his jaws. It consisted of mostly white and pink tulips, as well as a single bluebell. I pet the little fox's head and took the flowers from him.

"Thanks buddy. You were very helpful. Come on, it's about time we headed back. I'm starving."

Snowdrift shook himself and padded back towards the house. "I guess you're hungry too," I murmured to myself, following him slowly.

It may have taken almost the whole day, but I had finally gathered enough flowers for Lila. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Everyone would be having dinner. Snowdrift waited for me in front of the door, sitting down and cleaning a paw. I walked past him, towards the storage shed. I didn't want anyone finding out about the flowers before I had a chance to talk with Lila in private.

I wrapped them up carefully in some cloth and tucked them into one of my cloak's pockets (I asked Val to add them so I'd be able to carry more weapons or arrows). Snowdrift shifted impatiently as I neared. "Sorry, bud," I told him. "Had to do something real quick. Come on."

I opened the door and the little snow fox slipped inside. I walked in after him, closing and locking the door afterwards. Just as I had thought, everyone was at the table. Only a few of them looked up to greet me before returning to their meal. I sat down in my usual spot beside Kaitlin. Simon got up and walked into the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a bowl of food, which he placed in front of me.

I thanked him and dug in, casting furtive glances at Lila. The cave spider looked tired, and a little annoyed. She and Adrian weren't chatting like they usually did. I decided to ask Valory later what that was about. Slowly everyone started heading up to their rooms, until it was just me, Val, Adrian and Lila. I finished my bowl of soup and got up. "I'm going to get more," I told no-one in particular. I walked into the kitchen and made sure nobody was watching before carefully pulling the bundle of flowers out from my cloak pockets. I laid the fragile things out, gently picking them up an tying them with a piece of pink string I found in one of the cupboards.

I washed my bowl and put it away before peeking out of the kitchen. Only Valory was left. I picked up the bouquet and walked out of the kitchen. The spider was playing distractedly with her string, making little shapes and webs out of it.

I walked up to her. "Where's Lila?"

"In her room," Val said absentmindedly. She looked deeply lost in her thoughts. I decided to leave her alone and walked upstairs, towards Lila's room. Hers was on the third floor, all the way in the corner.

I got a sudden rush of nervousness and uncertainty. Would this be too weird? Just... barging into her room with flowers? She probably wouldn't be asleep yet; I had only gone into the kitchen about ten or fifteen minutes. I took a few deep breaths.

It's okay... it'll be fine. She might be asleep, so then I'd have to talk with her in the morning. If not, then... I guess I'll just have to roll with it. Okay... right. You can do this. Come on.

I took a few more steps forward. My arms and legs were trembling. I breathed deeply a few more times to steady myself. Oookay. Keep it together. Three... two... one...

I stopped in front of her door and reached for the knob. I realized that it wasn't closed, that it stood slightly ajar. That's weird, I thought absently. I swallowed a lump in my throat and opened it slowly. "Lila?" I whispered.

The lights were out on the hallway and inside, so it took a couple seconds for my eyes to get used to the gloom. And once they did, my heart shattered into a million pieces.

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Adrian's POV

"I'm going to go get more."

I looked up in time to see Jack slipping into the kitchen. "It's a bit late for such a heavy meal," I muttered to myself.

Lila heaved a sigh and got up. "I'll be in my room," she announced before walking upstairs.

I stared after her, feeling hollow and unsure of myself. Val had been toying with her webs for a while, and now looked up. "Tell me, Adrian. What happened?"

I blinked at her. "Lila hasn't told you?"

The spider shook her head and stared expectantly at me. I rubbed the back of my neck. "I held her hand when Simon and Izabell had been making out the other day. When he gave us our new weapons. And... well, it was pretty awkward, and talking about it seemed to have made the matter worse."

Valory nodded thoughtfully. "She likes you. Very much," she finally said. "But she's worried that you don't feel the same way."

I shrank back in my seat, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "I doubt that," I muttered.

Valory put down her tangled web. "Listen, I know my sister much better than she thinks. I know what I'm talking about."

"But she's always so sure of herself. Why would she be worried about my opinion of her?"

The spider leaned forward. "Do you like her?"

I squirmed under her gaze. "I don't know," I muttered, looking away.

"Do. You. Like. Her?"

Valory's tone was stern and commanding. I turned back to her, unable to avoid the red eyes so similar to Lila's boring into me. "I... d-don't-... yes," I breathed out. "I think so. A lot."

Val crossed her arms, elbows on the table. "Why?"

"Well... because she's so... confident. And fierce. Clever. Strong. Independent. Quick-thinking. Even her... rudeness, I like."

Valory searched my gaze for a second before nodding. "Go with her. She'll thank you for the company."

I shook my head. "I think I'm the last person she wants to see."

"If you don't talk with her now, she'll take it as an insult."

"Do you think so?"

"I know so. Go," she said, gesturing to the stairs before going back to her webs. I hesitated for a moment longer before standing up and walking upstairs, to Lila's room. I stopped in front of her door and knocked.

"It's open," she called from the inside.

I slowly turned the knob and walked inside. The lights were out. Lila was sitting in the middle of her bed, hugging her legs close to her chest, wearing some black-and-maroon pajamas. I closed the door quietly behind me and stood there, staring silently at her. The moonlight streaming in from the window made her dark-cyan hair glow silver, turned the red streak in it an almost pink color. Her eyes shone in the gloom, half-lidded with tiredness, hiding behind her knees.

"Hello, Adrian," she spoke softly.

"Hi, Lila," I murmured back.

The cave spider stared at me for a few more seconds before placing her chin on her knees, letting me see her whole face framed by shadow. "What are you doing here?" She whispered.

I sighed. "I don't know," I whispered. "I... came to talk with you. But I'm not sure about what."

Lila blinked and buried her face in her hands. "Val put you up to this, didn't she?"

"Not exactly."

"What did she tell you? What did she tell you to ask me?"

"Nothing. She just encouraged me to do so."

The cave spider stared at me through the cracks between her fingers. Her maroon gaze, bright under the moonlight, was hypnotizing. "Then What did you want to ask me?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I don't know," I repeated. "I just wanted to talk with you."

Lila hid her face behind her arms. "We need to sort this, Adrian. Right now."

I took a step closer. "Sort what?"

She looked up sharply. "Us. I need to know. Do you feel the same way as I do? Or do you not care?"

I stood there, speechless at her words. I took a couple more steps forward and opened my mouth, but Lila continued before I could speak. "Was that why you let go? Why you didn't want to talk about the hand-holding thing? Because you don't like me? Am I only a friend to you? Why do I bother?"

She swung her legs out to sit at the edge of the bed. "It's obvious you don't care. I've just been fooling myself. Good night, Adrian. Now go away."

I was shocked to say the least, but then I put on a brave face and stepped closer. "Lila-"

"Go away, Adrian. Leave me alone."

I ignored her tone and kept walking. "Lila-" I began again.

"Go away," she hissed. "I don't want to talk to you."

I stood beside her now, at the foot of her bed. She glared at me with her gorgeous eyes framed by thin black lashes. Her beautiful lips were curled back in a scowl. Even when angry she still looked pretty.

"But I do," I whispered. "And I do like you. Very much. You're an incredible person, Lila."

The cave spider's scowl slowly turned into a confused frown. "Really?" She breathed, as if she didn't believe me.

I nodded, sitting down beside her on the bed. "Really. The only reason why I didn't want to talk about what happened was because... because I thought you didn't like me. You always act so nonchalantly about everything. You shrug everything off. So I thought that... if you didn't take certain things seriously, then... maybe you wouldn't take me seriously. That you only wanted to be my friend and nothing more."

Her eyes sparkled in wonder and hope, and her thin lips were parted ever so slightly. "I'm sorry-" I began.

And then Lila kissed me. She threw her arms around my neck and dragged me down, brushing our lips together. There was a considerable heigh difference between us, with me being 6'3 against her 5'6. I tensed up, my mind blank for a split second, before responding. Lila drew all the air from my lungs, pressing her soft lips tightly against mine. I pulled her closer, my hands at her sides.

Lila opened her mouth, panting heavily. I took the opportunity to catch my breath, and she dove in as soon as my mouth opened, stealing the little oxygen I had recovered. I mirrored her every move, trying hard to keep up with her. We finally pulled away, our foreheads touching, to breathe. I stared at her flushed face and closed eyes, reliving the moments when her lips had been pressing against my own.

The cave spider took a deep breath and started kissing me again. Prepared this time, I kissed her back with the same hunger. Lila bit my bottom lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood, and then she passed her warm toungue over it to ease the pain. "Sorry," she panted. "Didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's alright," I breathed back. "Don't worry."

Lila collapsed against me, still panting. "Not just for that," she said. "But for being such a... a douche. I should have at least waited to hear what you were going to say."

I shook my head. "You would have been waiting for a long time," I murmured back. Lila smiled.

"Still. I'm sorry, Adrian."

I placed my chin on the top of her head. "That's alright. We've settled it now."

"Yeah..." She hugged my waist. "This is... a long step up from simply holding hands," she whispered.

I chuckled, earning another smile from the cave spider. "It really is. How did we get here so fast?" I asked, curling my arms around her.

Lila shrugged. "You got too close."

I chuckled again. We sat there, wrapped in each other's arms for a while, simply watching the moon glide down slowly. Lila placed her had on mine, rubbing circles on my palm with her thumb. I squeezed it, and she returned the gesture.

"Should I stay here tonight?" I asked in a hushed tone.

Lila thought about it for a second and shook her head. "I think you should go back to your room. I'd rather not explain you leaving my room in the morning to everyone right now."

I hugged her tightly for a second longer before letting go and moving to stand up. "Okay. If that's what you want."

"Thanks," she whispered.

I was still holding her hand, so I squeezed it. "No problem." I let go of her and walked towards the door. I felt Lila's gaze on my back at every step. The door had been left halfway open. "I thought I closed it," I told her. Lila didn't say anything.

I stepped outside and started closing the door. I clung to it, looking at Lila through the gap between the door and the doorframe. "Goodnight," I called to her.

Lila blinked and smiled at me. I felt warm and fuzzy all over from the simple gesture. "Good night, Adrian. Sleep well."

I smiled back and closed the door. "You too," I whispered.

It took me a couple minutes before my legs started moving again. I touched my lips, still feeling the ghost of hers brushing against them. I felt happy. And I probably wouldn't be able to sleep in some time. I walked past Valory's room towards mine and closed the door as I stepped in. There was something else, though. I felt a little light-headed, and my limbs were quivering. I felt weak. My head was throbbing too.

"What the hell?" I whispered, falling onto my bed. I drew up the covers and tried to get comfortable. But my stomach had started to hurt as well. "I'll feel better in the morning," I muttered to myself. I thrashed restlessly on the soft wool mattress, feeling worse with every second that passed.

Eventually, the pain in my head and stomach became unbearable, so I tried to go downstairs, feeling parched. But the second I got up, my knees buckled beneath me. I stumbled onto the floor, unable to stand up. I shivered from cold that I shouldn't have been able to feel indoors. "H-h-elp," I croaked.

"H-help... me..."

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Author's Notes

Woah, what happened? What's wrong with Adrian??? D:

Poor Jack... lots of stuff happened in this one...

Thank you so much for your time and support. Have an awesome day!

~ LeMafiaKreb