***

A couple hours later, the first round of burgers and hot dogs sizzled on the grill, watched over by the a few of the kids' parents who, while technically not supervising the party and enjoying their own little get together, still kept and eye on the boisterous, but overall well behaved group. Even Darien and John were on their, comparably, best behavior.

Sidling over to Darien, John nodded towards 'Chele. "Ya gotta do it. It's tradition."

Darien sighed knowing John would drive him nuts until he performed one of Cold Springs almost mandatory requirements. He was pretty sure it was even written up as some obscure law way back when the town was founded. "I suppose, but if she kills me I'm blaming you."

"Kill? Man, she couldn't hurt a fly," John sniggered until Darien smacked him on the arm.

"Right, she's been taking karate for years. Brown belt, I think. She could flatten you without effort." Darien felt immense satisfaction when John's laughter cut off abruptly. Striding away he joined 'Chele who had taken an observational position on the rough-cut stairs leading up to several of the jump off points. People had been in and out of the water most of the day, a few even going for a few jumps off the cliff, but mostly it had consisted of some disorganized volleyball and goofing off with music blasting out of the boom box that had been brought.

As he got closer he noticed the way she kept rubbing the back of her neck and was betting she was working on one of her migraines. She'd begun getting them about six months ago and found it best to get away from others until they had faded. He planted himself so he was blocking the sunlight and she tipped her head up to look at him with a smile.

"Need a break?"

"Yeah. How'd ya guess?" She took the hand he held out to her and, helping her upright, found her standing dead even with him, neither having to tip their head up or down to look the other in the eye.

He waved for her to head up the rough-cut steps, which she proceeded to climb with an agility that didn't surprise him in the least. She'd grown up climbing rocks like these, only those cliffs dropped off into the Atlantic, with jagged rocks and crashing waves at the end of the fall and not the deep still waters of a mountainside pool. "You got all squinty and were rubbing the back of your neck. Can't be that stressful can it? It's just a party."

"Nothing to do with the party, Dare. Just me," she replied softly, and to Darien it sounded as if she wanted to say more, but stopped herself. They made it all the way to the top before she spoke again. "How've you been, really?" She walked to the very edge, her toes actually hanging over open air as she looked down at the water below.

"Fine, why?" Darien was sorely tempted to yank her back from the edge, but stayed a couple of steps behind her and waited until she had satisfied whatever her cat-like curiosity had been after and backed away on her own. Sitting down on the sun-warmed rock she looked up at him.

"Well, I spoke to Kevin about a week ago and he mentioned you'd found yourself a... mentor, though he didn't use that word." Her tone was quiet and non-accusing, but Darien still felt himself begin to get defensive.

"Yeah, I just bet he used a stronger word or two. Was 'bitch' perhaps among his choices?" Darien sneered; really wishing the conversation hadn't started off here. He wasn't quite sure why he'd never mentioned Liz to 'Chele even though he'd known his mentor since junior high, and was now second-guessing that decision.

'Chele didn't even crack a smile. "Perhaps."

"Damn it, I don't need lectures from you too."

She shook her head, the curls bouncing about in response. "And you're not going to get one. Just a request."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Like what?"

"Be careful is all." When Darien just stared at her in confusion, she patted the spot beside her and after a moment he sat down. "Darien, I am not Kevin or your uncle. It's not my place to pass judgment on you or what you do." Closing her eyes for a moment she rubbed her forehead in obvious discomfort. "Though advice I'll toss at you every chance I get. Take Psych, behavioral studies. Trust me on this, its provides insights that every burgeoning con-man needs to learn."

Darien shook his head, not entirely sure he understood. "You're offering advice on how I can be a better con-man? Think you could prescribe the rest of my family a supply of whatever drugs you've been taking?"

She smiled then, a real smile that eased the tightness in his chest, though it seemed to inspire a whole host of other reactions as well. "They just don't see the way you light up when you talk about it. It's the same look you get when discussing your latest philosophic conquest. You love it and anything that makes you that happy can't be all bad."

Darien was dumbfounded. The way she saw him, saw through him was so different and yet so damn close to the reality that the few minor differences could be glossed over and ignored as insignificant. "Are you for real?"

'Chele laughed softly. "I just have a different perspective is all,"

"Well keep it. I happen to like it. How long can you stay?" He was hoping she'd be here all summer, but wasn't betting on it.

"Three weeks and then I gotta head back east." Her voice dropped towards the end and she turned away to look at the cliffs opposite where they were sitting.

"All of you getting together?" Darien asked able to tell she was upset, but unsure why.

"That too. Were packing up the house and selling it. We've all moved into our own places, even Mikey what with him going to Quantico now that he's finished his four years at MIT. Him going into government service, and as an agent no less. I never would have believed it if you'd told me." She shook her head in obvious consternation at her twin's career choice. "We don't need the house." She was still unable to meet his eyes, her voice tight and edged with pain. "Sell or give away what we don't want and divvy up the rest."

Darien allowed the first thing that came to mind to be voiced aloud. "Want some help?"

Now she turned to look at him and he did his best to let her see he was serious, that he'd gladly help with this painful task if she wanted him to.

"Thank you, but we need to do this. Kinda like our final goodbye, ya know?" She reached out with her left hand and tapped him on the knee and he set his over hers and squeezed gently.

He did understand. Lifting her hand he noticed the ring of earlier was gone and allowed his mouth to forge ahead without bothering to think about it first. "So where's the ring and who gave it to you?"

One eyebrow went up as she eyed him. "Jealous?"

"Maybe?" he countered. "And maybe I just want to make sure you're happy." True enough, he just wasn't sure he wanted her to be happy with someone else.

"Silly. It was my mom's engagement ring. Part of the bequest. I started wearing it a few months back to ward off idiots who think with nothing but their hormones," she told him with a sad smile on her face, the pain still just under the surface.

"They still don't know who did it?" The final NTSB report on the accident that killed her parents and five others had been released just a little over a month ago. There'd been miles of red tape to wade through before she'd finally gotten and unedited copy and the answers had, in many ways, done nothing more than raise even more questions.

"Not a clue. They can't even be entirely sure the targets were my parents, though they were the most prominent people on board." 'Chele turned away and tipped her head back to look up at the clear blue dome of the sky above them. "I mean a bomb? And the only reason I didn't get to witness the damn thing personally was cause the timer was triggered early due to turbulence over the Rockies." She shifted to sit cross-legged, her hands coming up to her face. A muffled, "Sorry," came a moment later.

"Hey, it's okay." Darien scooted closer to her, set a hand on her back and leaned his head near hers.

"No, it's not," she grumbled as she dropped her hands and sighed. Turning she faced him, mere inches separating the two of them. "Not today. It's your birthday and I am not going to mess it up for you by getting all emotional."

Darien fought the sudden urge to lean the rest of the way in and kiss her and instead just trailed his fingers higher until they were resting on the back of her neck. Pulling her closer he rested his forehead against hers, a gesture that had become a common one between them over the years. "Don't worry about it. It happens to me too. Something'll remind me of my mom and I just..." He wasn't quite sure how to put in words how it felt, that sudden constriction in his throat and chest and deep painful sense of pure loss. "I don't think it ever hurts less."

"You're probably right, but having someone who understands helps more than you can ever imagine," 'Chele told him in a soft voice, causing him to chuckle dryly.

"I think I might have some idea." Darien gave her a smile and relaxed when she responded in kind.

"Yo, Fawkes, get your scrawny ass down here. It's your party, remember?" was shouted by the unmistakable voice of Pizza.

Darien released 'Chele, got to his feet and looked down at John who proceeded to make jumping motions with his hands to remind Darien of what mischief he was supposed to be getting into.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on," Darien said in response and Pizza flipped Darien the bird, which was used to direct his attention to the water.

With a sigh Darien turned about, stripped off the bright orange shirt, which fluttered down onto the dark gray rock, a brilliant splash of color in the early afternoon sun. He glanced at 'Chele who was watching him with an enigmatic look on her face, then took a second to steel himself for the coming shock before running straight at the cliff edge and jumping off. "Yee-haa!" echoed off the rock walls as he fell 15 feet to hit the water with an incredible splash.

Once past the top few feet of sun-warmed water the temperature dropped dramatically and he had to force himself not to try and suck in air in reaction. Once his downward momentum ceased he swam back towards the surface, the sunlight glittering on the surface the clear water guiding him back to air, warmth and life. Breaking the surface he was careful to not yelp or shout due to the chilling aftereffects of the deeper water that his feet were still slowing moving through. The temp change was sudden and took place about waist deep on him, leaving the lower half of his body trying to shiver while the rest was content to bask in the heated layer at the top.

He rotated about as cheers and shouts from the beach caught his attention. There weren't too many kids that liked going off the top ledge and it always drew a reaction just to credit the jumper with the obvious insanity they suffered from. A pointed hand motion from Pizza made Darien frown momentarily and then turn back around. He slid onto his back to more easily gaze up at Michele, who, as he had expected, was standing at the edge of the cliff watching him. With lazy strokes he backed out of range so that she would have more than enough room to jump once he convinced her. And he had no doubts that he would indeed persuade her.

"Come on, it's great," he shouted as the lower sections of his anatomy sank back into the deeper water and tried to curl up to get away from the cold.

"You're nuts," she called back down, her voice echoing slightly off the curve of walls and seeming to come at him from all directions.

"Yeah, and how is this anything new?" He was pleased beyond all measure when she laughed and shook her head. "Jump on in. Trust me." When she began removing the t-shirt and shorts to reveal the skimpy black bikini she was wearing beneath he knew he'd conned her. Of course he also knew she was going to severely injure him once she came up for air, so he prepared to make a mad dash for shore once she hit the water.

She backed away until out of sight and then a moment later came at a full run at the edge of the cliff. She timed it perfectly, launched herself into the air and smoothly into a somersault, reminding Darien that she'd been on the dive team back in high school. She hit the water at a near perfect angle, causing only the barest of splashes as she slipped under the water.

On the beach the cheers began again while Darien tread water waiting for her to surface. When she did it was with a gasp and shout that turned the cheers to laughter. "Darien," she bellowed as she spun about looking for him.

"Oh crap," he muttered and began swimming for shore even though he knew that once she had determined punishment needed to be meted out nothing would stop her. He'd watched her plan revenge on her twin and patiently wait a week before executing it. He was dead meat.

He'd only made it about halfway to shore when he felt her hand grasp his ankle and pull more than hard enough to drag him under. Like an idiot he tried to grab some air, but was an instant to late and managed to gulp down half a lungful of water. He coughed, trying to clear his lungs and just barely stopped himself from trying to draw in yet more water and kicked hard to the surface. Belatedly he realized she was no longer holding onto him as he broke past the surface choking and spluttering.

'Chele appeared a few feet away aiming a deadly glare at him and not seeming to care in the least that he'd yet to get any real air back into his lungs. She patiently treaded water as he convinced his body to stop misbehaving and finally succeeded in catching his breath.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"I think so. Being reminded I'm not amphibious," Darien answered, hoping to inspire a smile or maybe the beginnings of forgiveness. Instead, he saw this glint in her eye that boded ill for his continued existence as a male of the species. "'Chele..."

"I would highly suggest that you swim." And she was gone, back under the surface and he damn well knew she could swim circles about him any day of the week.

With a mental curse at John for convincing him to pull this practical joke on her, Darien got horizontal and swam for all he was worth. He made it closer to the shore when he was dragged under again; he was surprised with how easily she was able to find the leverage to do so. This time he got all the air he needed and, instead of fighting her grip, folded himself and got a hand on her wrist.

She tried to pull away, but Darien simply allowed her to pull him down to her level where the warm water was nothing but a memory and darkness encroached as the light failed to penetrate with any power. Once he was in range he used the one weapon he had and tickled her.

All her air left in a rush and she squirmed to try and get away from him, but he held on and continued his exploitation of her weakness for a few more seconds before releasing her. Admittedly he was becoming increasingly in need of air himself and once she had kicked towards the light he followed her, popping up less than a foot away and sucking in much needed air. "Truce," he called out when it looked like she was about to dive under again.

"That was nasty. This water is beyond cold," she complained, splashing him with deadly accuracy and timing, which caused him to inhale a fair amount of the spray.

"Sorry," he got out as he choked, bobbed under for a second, and then finally sucked in some real air as he resurfaced. "It's a tradition. Had it done to me my first summer here." Damn, he did not want her angry with him. Not now. Not when this might be their last summer together.

"I figured based on the crowds' appreciation." She sent another wave of water at him. "You set me up."

"I conned you," he countered soun,ding slightly smug about it.

"Yeah, I got that part," she groused and Darien knew he had to turn her mood around quickly.

"Gotta admit given your professed skill at observation that you would have figured that a lake formed by an underground stream wouldn't get all that warm." He pointed out a wry tone and watched as her eyes flashed with anger before a hint of a frown crossed her features.

"True enough, but I seemed to recall you saying 'trust me' and now I'm wondering why I ever should again." She made it plain she was truly hurt by his using her trust in him for something as petty as a prank.

"Shit," he muttered. He'd gotten so used to trust being nothing more than a word to throw out as persuasion that he'd forgotten there were some people that actually did trust him. The prank probably wouldn't have bothered her quite so much if he hadn't tossed those words out. It was no wonder she capitulated so easily, he'd expected it require far more fast-talking on his part. "'Chele," Reaching out he set a hand on her shoulder, which she thankfully didn't shrug off. "You can trust me, I swear it. Sometimes I think you're the only one who ever has. That," He waved back at the jump off spot, "that was me being an idiot. Forgive me?"

"Would you two just kiss and make up for god's sake." Was shouted at full volume by the instigator of this whole mess, one John Pizzetti, who might not be alive for much longer if the thoughts running through Darien's mind were acted upon.

"Oh crap," Darien whispered, blushing in total embarrassment. "Ignore him."

'Chele surprised him by suddenly smiling and saying a soft voice, "I dare you."

Darien froze for all of a millisecond and then, justifying it in the back of his mind with the fact that she had dared him to do this, cupped her face with both hands and did what he'd wanted to do for months, if not years, and kissed her.

Whatever he might have imagined would happen the first time he kissed 'Chele, it was nothing compared to the reality. It was electric, her lips soft, sweet beneath his and what he'd intended to be no more than a swift brushing of lips, more brotherly than anything else, became something far different and definitely had little to do with brotherly feelings.

'Oh, damn,' was his last coherent thought as her mouth opened slightly, her tongue flicking his lips with soft strokes that made him groan in reaction. He slid one hand back into her hair, for a change not feeling reluctant to act on his urge to play with her curls.

Wanting to taste her, he opened his mouth and permitted her to capture the tip of his tongue between her teeth and suck it gently into her mouth. Damn, she was sweet, like fresh picked raspberries, warm and fully ripened in the summer sun.

It was the sudden need for air impinging on his awareness that ended the moment. He broke away to discover they had sunk beneath the surface while distracted by their intimate meeting. He bobbed up and sucked in air, all the while wishing he was still beneath the water with 'Chele. Speaking of which... "'Chele?"

"Yes?" she said from behind him as she set her hands on his shoulders.

She was amazingly calm; as if nothing of importance had just happened, whereas if it wasn't for the fact his lower half was entrapped in icy cold water he'd be unable to leave the lake for quite some time due to a very natural reaction. He wanted to turn about and take her in his arms and find out if it was a one time fluke or if they really had succeeding in making each other forget they needed air to survive. However, catcalls and hoots coming from the beach some including commentary involving 'getting a room' spurred him towards another course of action.

Turning his head slightly he motioned for her to move closer and she did, pressed up against his back, arms wrapped loosely about his neck and trusting him to keep them afloat. "I think Pizza is enjoying this far too much. What say we arrange for him to go for a swim?"

"I take it this is the John I keep hearing about, the one you seem to be in a never ending competition with for master prankster?" 'Chele asked with humor tingeing her words.

Darien blushed slightly. "Uh, yeah. He would be the culprit."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" She gave him a slight shove and moments later they were swimming for shore.

***

The last of the cake lay smeared on the foil cover cardboard, little more than crumbs and bits of frosting remaining behind. Darien leaned back against the table sipping Coca-Cola from a can slick with moisture from the cooler it had been residing in as he watched 'Chele talking to the twins Christian and Tristan. It seemed she had little difficulty telling them apart.

The sun would be going down in about an hour and he was looking forward to the bonfire that had been planned, though that was far more an end of the school year tradition than having anything to do with is birthday. This year the events just happened to get combined. He had to admit this was turning out to be one of his best birthdays ever; the gifts maybe a touch more sentimental than in the past, but since he was heading off for San Diego in a little over the month he wasn't all that surprised. So far it had been mostly books from the gals and from the guys far more humorous stuff, gag gifts that Darien knew, were the male version of saying they were gonna miss him. For the first time he was realizing he'd be missing them as well. 'Chele's small gift sat off to one side, Darien, perhaps unconsciously, leaving it for last.

"Come on, Fawkesy, open mine," John all but whined for the third time.

"All right already." Darien turned about, set the soda down and reached for the square box. "Acting like you got the frickin' Hope diamond in here or something," he grumbled as he shook the box lightly and listened for any sound the contents might make.

Removing the brightly colored paper with Happy Birthday written on it in several languages, he wiggled the top of the box and slid it up and off to reveal... Darien's heart jumped up roughly a foot and lodged firmly in his throat.

He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't think beyond the sudden mind numbing realization that there were spiders crawling quickly out of the box and across the table and up his arms and....

Next thing Darien knew he was sitting on the ground, a high pitched keening grating on his hearing, his heart was pounding hard enough in his chest to make the muscles ache and he couldn't seem to recall if he'd drawn in a breath recently.

He heard shouted, "Get me some ice wrapped in a towel now!" and then what felt like someone touching him but he could seem to connect the sensations to their meanings. "Dare, talk to me. You're safe. The spiders are gone." Then there cold on the back of his neck and he shuddered, his entire body quaking with it.

"What happened?" Some small part of Darien recognized the voice as Mr. Williams, one of the local sheriffs and Janice's father.

"He went fugue thanks to someone triggering his phobia." 'Chele, he now knew it was 'Chele sitting next to him, snarled as she held the jury-rigged ice pack against the back of his neck, the fingers of her other hand resting lightly against his wrist.

Just about everyone spoke up and placed the blame right where it belonged, squarely on John's shoulders.

Mrs. Grady showed up then, Francine's mom, who was a nurse and proceeded to examine Darien with the correct equipment while 'Chele did her best to soothe and calm him.

"John..." Mr. Williams began only to be cut off by protests from the accused.

"It was just a joke. A joke." John looked about at his friends his eyes locking with 'Chele's for a long instant before continuing on. "So spiders give him the heebie-jeebies, how was I supposed to know he'd go totally freakazoid?"

"You idiot," 'Chele hissed, her grip momentarily tightening about Darien's wrist. "He's phobic, if you can possibly comprehend what that means."

"Obviously I'm nowhere near as smart as you. Why don't you explain it to me?" was the snide comeback.

"You could have killed him. You know, as in scared to death." 'Chele said in a flat tone of voice. She turned away from John with a look of total disgust on her face to find Darien meeting her eyes. He shifted his grip to hold her hand, their fingers twining together. He found himself needing to hold on, wanting the comfort, the connection back to reality.

"Is that true?" John asked in total confusion.

"Yes," Mrs. Grady answered as she set the stethoscope's diaphragm on Darien's chest and listened.

"Shit," John mumbled heedless of the parents nearby. "Is ...is he gonna be okay?"

"He should be," 'Chele told him, still sounding quite upset to Darien's ears. "Dare?"

"Yeah, Truth?" He was surprised at the amount of worry he could see in her eyes. Looking about he realized he was at the far end of the beach, a good quarter-mile from the picnic area where he'd opened the damn box. He shuddered again, not wanting to remember, to feel the legs of the... the... "Crap," he got out at a strained whisper.

"Don't you dare. Stay with me." She squeezed his hand, giving him something to grasp onto other than the memory that would probably drive him back into that fogged state where those horrible creatures couldn't get him.

He nodded and swallowed hard. "I'm okay. I think." He turned to look at Mrs. Grady, whom he'd known for years. "Sorry about this."

"Darien, don't worry about it. I want you to sit and relax for a few more minutes; your blood pressure is still too high. A penlight appeared from nowhere and she grasped Darien's chin to shine it in his eyes making him blink and try to pull away in reaction. "Hmm, still not back to normal. Wait here." Patting him on the arm, she got to her feet and headed back to the picnic area.

There was the sound of a throat being violently cleared and Darien leaned about Michele to see Pizza standing there staring at his feet. "Look man, I'm sorry. It was just a joke, I didn't think you..."

"Forget it, man. We're cool." Darien would get pissed off about it later, after he had the chance to cool down. Besides, he wasn't quite sure if he could stand at the moment and was definitely in no shape to chase after John to beat some sense into him. Then he turned his attention back to Michele. "And, no, I don't want you to hurt him."

She laughed with a touch of bitterness buried within it. "If you say so."

"I do." His free hand came up to cup her face, his thumb tracing along her cheekbone; something he would never have done as recently as this morning. "Sorry if I scared you."

"Scared me? Darien..." She shook her head, plainly changing her mind about what she wanted to say. "You want to head home? You are gonna feel like serious crap in about 20 minutes."

"And miss the bonfire? No way." Darien tugged on a curl making her bat his hand away. "I'll take it easy. Much rather sit here with you anyhow." He was pleased with the blush and shy smile it got in reaction.

"You did scare me, Dare," she said so softly that he just barely heard her.

"I'm fine. Just keep the spiders away and there'll be no more problems. Okay?" He pulled her close, wrapping his arms about her, not knowing if this newfound closeness would last beyond this evening, this moment, and wanting to savor it while it lasted.

Catching sight of Mrs. Grady returning he encouraged 'Chele to sit up. No need for parental gossip to travel faster than necessary. "Hey Mrs. G. Sorry for the excitement."

"Darien, at least for a change it wasn't your fault." She crouched down next to the pair, handed Darien a bottle of electrolyte drink, which she encouraged him to sip at while she took his vitals again. A few minutes later she pronounced him better, but to take it easy for a while yet. Although he didn't realize it, he'd put quite a strain on his body with his reaction and didn't need to add any more.

A bit shakily he walked back to the picnic area and joined the crowd gathering around the slowly building fire. 'Chele scampered off and returned with the blanket, which they settled on. Darien sat behind her, his legs drawn up slightly and arms draped casually about her neck, making it plain that while they had been no more than friends when they arrived they were most definitely something more now.