AN: Okay, so I was starting to get impatient with the time frame of the story...hahaha...I'm impatient with my own story...that's bad. So this chapter has a major time gap, which is only because in my mind, they're doing the same thing, moving from place to place, letting the dragons move into London before they reach the castle, which by the way will be in the next chapter.

As always...R and R, because it keeps me going! I shouldn't take too long with the next chapter, I'm done exams and I'm at home sick, so I have nothing else to do with my time but write.

They moved not long after the dragon appeared. Alice was disappointed; all her hard work scouting that village was gone down the drain. Since then, almost seven years ago, Quinn wouldn't allow her to go scouting on her own. Nothing annoyed her more than having to take Creedy with her every where she went. She began to feel as if Quinn felt he couldn't trust her judgement when he himself had them stay in a village near a dragons cave.

She eventually got over it as they continued to move from place to place. She and Quinn even became an item after awhile. It felt good to have a body to relax into at night, but quite often Alice found herself picturing someone else other than Quinn. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't turn a blind eye to her attraction to Creedy. She tried to convince herself that she was only attracted to him because he had saved her life a few times.

"But Quinn's done it too." She muttered staring up at the roof of the tent that she and Quinn shared with Creedy and Ricky.

"What?" Quinn muttered sleepily, pulling her closer to his body.

Alice looked over her shoulder at him and shook her head. "Nothing."

She pulled away from Quinn and climbed out of her sleeping bag. As she left the tent Quinn fell back to sleep, figuring that she was just going to relieve the call of nature. Creedy waited until he heard his friend's breathing even out and deepen before he undid his own sleeping bag.

"And where are you off too?" Ricky's voice folded itself around his ears in the dark.

Creedy looked over at her and he could tell that she had a smile on her face. She knew damn well where he was going. "What I have to clear it with you before I go to take a piss?" He snapped, hating that she knew he was going to find Alice.

"No, but you should know that if she's gone to think, she'll be at the lake." Ricky said, settling herself back onto her pillow.

Creedy's jaw dropped. He knew that Ricky wanted Alice to pull her head out of her ass and realize the attraction that she had for Creedy, but he didn't think that she would encourage a late night rendezvous. Creedy left the tent and did as Ricky told him to; he went down to the lake.

Sure enough, Alice was sitting on a rock, her face hidden behind the veil of her hair. She was lost in thought staring at the water. "You shouldn't come out here alone."

Alice rolled her eyes. She hated when Creedy followed her and said that. She always felt like she was doing something wrong. Then again, most of the time when he said that she was always glad that he was there. She sighed and raised her head to glare at him.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I was on my way back from taking a piss and I saw you here." Creedy said.

Alice rolled her eyes and moved away from him as he sat down beside her. "You have such a way with words Creedy, it's amazing how women aren't falling at your feet."

Creedy laughed and leaned back on his elbows. "It doesn't matter if they did anyway, none of them would be the one that I want."

Alice looked at him curiously. Even in the moonlight she could see that his eyes were closed and she knew that he was mentally cursing himself for saying that. "Not the one you want huh?" She said, knowing exactly what he meant.

The two of them sat on the rock that suddenly seemed far too small for the two of them to be sharing. The tension between them was so thick they were surprised that they couldn't see its aura.

Alice jumped when she felt his fingers entwine with hers and she quickly pulled her hand away from his as if his touch burned her. "What are you really doing here Creedy?"

Creedy sighed and sat up. "I'm here because I want to be with you." He told her. "Why are you with Quinn?"

Alice's jaw dropped and she tried to pretend that his question insulted her. "I'm with Quinn because I want to be."

Creedy looked at her, his head cocking to one side. She knew that he didn't believe her. "So answer me one thing. If you're with Quinn because you want to be, then why are you sitting here trying to convince both of us that you want to be? Why aren't you walking away insulted like you're pretending to be?"

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but the words left her. She knew that he was right. If she had really been insulted she probably would have hit him, or at least walked away in anger. She raised her left hand to her mouth and began to chew on her nails, a nervous habit that she had picked up over the years.

Her eyes fluttered shut when Creedy's hand ran up her neck to her jaw, turning her face to his. The feeling of his hand on her skin set her body on fire and she found herself craving more of it. He leaned in slowly and pressed his lips against hers.

Alice gasped, giving Creedy the opportunity to deepen the kiss. One thing they were both thankful for was the seemingly never ending supply of toothpaste and toothbrushes that they brought with them. They may not have been able to bathe as much as they liked, but all of them went out of their way to make sure that they were healthy.

Alice groaned and wrapped her arms around Creedy, pulling him closer to her. Creedy shifted and lifted Alice over his body, sitting her on his lap. He pulled away from her and pushed her hair away from her face before leaning in to kiss her again.

This was the kiss that Alice had been craving; a passionate, needy kiss that set her body on fire. No matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, she would never experience anything like this with Quinn.

The image of Quinn's face popped into her mind, extinguishing the flames of passion like a bucket of icy water. She pushed herself away from Creedy. "No, I can't do this."

Creedy stared at her, not believing that she was pushing away from him. "What? Why not?"

"Because of Quinn." She told him. "I can't sit here and be with you when I'm supposed to be with Quinn."

Creedy ran a frustrated hand over his face. He knew that she was right. Quinn was his best friend and here he was trying to get with his woman. Creedy nodded and helped Alice slide down to the ground, watching her walk away from him he found that he needed to ask her something.

"Alice?"

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name passing over his lips. "Yes, Creedy?"

"If you weren't with Quinn, would you have stayed here with me?" He asked her.

Alice turned back to him and he could have sworn he saw tears shimmering in her eyes. "Creedy, if I weren't with Quinn, we wouldn't have even had to be here."