As you may have noticed, these past few weeks I've been releasing extra entries for you all to enjoy in celebration of some sort of event- this week is no different! Welcome to your earlier-than-usual fix of fiction. This is to celebrate me getting an A for my English feature article… the only A in the class… ok, I know- no big deal, but I'm proud of myself. Thank you to you all who have supported me for so long.
Thanks to: cassandrare2001, Stalker Mistress of Silence, Shrouded Mist, Red-Rose18, Forever Tranquility, CharmedSerenity3, CelloSolo2007, palikani, whitey9h, Pyro-Girl, Rose Zen, Illusion Glades, SailorButtons, Princess of the Saiyans 16, kireisnowtenshi, lina, ffgirlmoonie, Ishq, snowmouse, Angel Des, xblindinglightx, Miss Jessica Rabbit (Nope I think you're talking about Ian Somerhalder. He's a cutie too but I still like Drew Fuller better), Alicia Blade, Midnight, freeflowing, totallyme19, aQuA rHaPsOdY, mew bunnyboo, leanne, sailorceb, keepoath, cardcaptor eternity, SteelHeartRose, hypajoycey, princess-nav, Kaika1221, Rikou Kyohaku, Luna Eesha, Serena and Darien7, MunChixD, MegTao and pencil gal (Sam- read Falling For a Flirt- and your strawberries are coming!)
Title: Ski Bunny Blues
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: T13
Chapter: 9- Found
I groaned and winced at the brightness of the light shining into my eyes. I knew I would probably do some serious damage if I moved my head too quickly so I slowly tilted it. It was then I felt my mattress move beneath me. Strong arms tightened their grip around my body and my eyes fluttered wide open in shock. I looked around, trying not to move any more than completely necessary and it then came to my attention that I was sleeping ON Darien. I squealed and rolled off him, taking the blanket with me. Why did I not remember any of this… sleeping on him!
"Five more minutes… damn alarm clock" He grumbled and curled into a ball at the lack of warmth, before slowly opening his eyes and squinting as he looked at me. "Rena?"
"What… what did you put into that cocoa last night!" I glanced at him, horrified.
"What are you talking about?" He groaned, slowly lifting himself up off the stone floor. "You fell asleep on me. I didn't do anything. I just thought, since we had one blanket, we'd share it"
"So… we didn't do anything?" I wrapped the blanket around me, feeling the harsh cold morning air.
"Are you kidding Meatball Head? Of course not." Darien chuckled and I sighed in relief. "What makes you think we ACTUALLY did something?"
"Ohh nothing! Nothing at all!" I beamed and looked away, feeling a sudden rush of blood to the head as I remembered my dream from the night before. It was rather…
"Ok now you're making me curious…" Darien frowned, interrupting me from my thoughts.
"It's nothing. I just had a really strange dream. That's all." I shrugged it off "So are we going to head back now?"
"Yeah sure thing Meatball Head, so tell me more about this dream." He shuffled closer, seemingly interested. Oh god… I didn't sleep talk again last night did I? He seemed as though he knew something and needed me to confirm it.
"No. I don't want to tell you about it" I pouted, folding the blanket and putting it back into Darien's backpack
"Oh come on…" He insisted
"No!"
"Please…"
"Nooo"
"Pleeaaase?"
"Alright! Fine! I had a dream we kissed ok?" I huffed. A moment of silence fell upon the cave.
"Is that it?" He smirked.
"What do you mean 'is that it'? What else did you want for me to dream about?" I crossed my fingers and hoped to god that he didn't know just how tainted my dream was.
"Ohh… I don't know… It's just… you know… a kiss is so minimal. I mean- was it at least romantic?" He flashed me one of his winning smiles and I felt my heart skip a beat.
"No it wasn't. It was just a kiss ok?" So not true…
"Ok… well… am I a good kisser?" He grinned as he tried to pry further.
"Darien!" I pouted, unable to hold back a smile.
"Ok ok!" He put his hands up in defeat as he packed the thermos into his bag.
"You kiss as badly as a slobbering wet dog would." Another lie, but I couldn't tell him his kisses felt like the most gentle, softest silk. Or the first cherished blossom of spring. Or the warm feeling of the summer's afternoon sun. He could never know that. I would die if he found out I actually enjoyed my dream.
"Awwww." He pouted and I let out a giggle.
"Look I'm pretty sure it's that way." Darien sighed, pointing across the field. The snow fell lightly around us. "I came from that way. I know it's that way."
"My way is faster! Your way is the longer way!" I limped in the general direction that I was heading in the day before- downstream.
"You don't even know if that's the real way!" Darien protested
"Fine…" I sighed and gave in, following him across the field.
"There! I've seen that tree before!" I propelled myself painfully forward on my skis.
"You have not!" Darien cried out, clearly frustrated and lost.
"I have! And that rock over there." I pointed at a boulder that looked like a monkey's head. "Face it. You're lost."
Darien looked around.
"Everything's covered in snow! It all looks the same."
"Let's go this way. I know the way back from here. I'm 99 percentcertain that it's downstream and past that creepy looking forest. I remember it now." I directed.
"SERENA!" Mina blazed down the porch stairs and literally jumped onto me. "Girl we were so worried about you! Don't ever do that to us again!" She pulled away, tears glistening in her eyes. By then, everyone else had heard of our return and had rushed outside.
"Daz man! How ya doin?" Chad asked, taking Darien's backpack.
"Ohh you know… sleeping on a stone floor isn't exactly 5 star… my back is killing me!" Darien grunted, stretching backwards.
"Come on… lets go inside. It's so cold!" We all headed inside and split up. The boys headed into the living room while the girls, into Darien and my room.
"So what happened?" Mina, Lita and Ami sat on my bed while Raye occupied the executive style chair, leaving me to sit on Darien's bed.
"What do you mean?" I gazed at the girls, slightly uncomfortable under their stares.
"Ohh you know exactly what we mean! You and Darien, alone in a coooold cave all night… Must've been horrible." Raye teased, sarcasm seeping through her words.
"It was!" I fought back.
"Come on Serena, you don't need to hide from us. We all know you have feelings for Darien. So spill!" Lita held a pillow to her chest, listening intently to every word.
"Well… he was nicer to me…" I felt my cheeks burning up again as the girls sighed. "Ah stop it! Nothing happened ok." I stuck my tongue out playfully.
"What do you think of him?" Ami spoke up.
"I don't knoooow" I sighed and leaned back onto his bed. I closed my eyes and could almost imagine him next to me. His scent filled my lungs as I took a deep breath. "He can be such a jerk sometimes!" I pounded a fist against the bed.
"But…" Mina urged me to go on. She always knew when I had more to say. That girl definitely knew me too well.
"But… well last night he was genuinely nice to me. He came and found me. I hurt my leg so he carried me around for a bit and he looked after me. He checked out my leg, made sure I was comfortable and we…" My voice drifted off at the thought of me falling asleep in his arms.
"You what? Oh you can't just leave us there!" Lita threw the pillow at me and I laughed, catching the pillow and holding it close.
"We talked… I don't know. Something about him was waaay dreamy last night." I sighed once again. "I guess we settled our differences when we talked last night. We were talking about love, among other things, then I was cold and he told me to sit near him. He wrapped the blanket over us and he held me to keep me warm… and I fell asleep in his arms." The girls squealed in excitement and I closed my eyes, breathing in Darien's scent, from his pillow, once more.
Yes, not much happening… I know… but I've finished writing up this story and I'm proud to announce that I've started writing another. You'll get more details on it later… maybe. Uh, I'm also changing my update day to Tuesday/Wednesdays. So my next chapter will be out this time next week. Please review.Crystal Saturn