All characters that are from the TWILIGHT saga by Stephanie Meyer belong to Stephanie Meyer. All others belong to me. I do not receive profit for these stories except for the joyous enjoyment of reviews.
This story follows right after When I'm Gone: Third Installment to GONE Saga, so if you haven't read that one or the two before, please do.
The timeline of the story will coincide with Gabriel Michael Laskaris' growing up years, starting at Seth and Rosa's wedding day, April 12th and will progress from there.
AN: As promised, here's a new chapter! Got the other one in my head but not yet on paper/screen. Please review and let me know what you think!
Ages: Brad and Bailey, 15. Lili and Emmie, 10. Vivi, 14. Marc, 16. Carlos, 4. Harry, 1.
Chapter Sixty (14yrs)
End of July
Its lines were sleek, meant to aesthetically please the eye as well as designed for speed and easy handling. The bright yellow paint called attention to the black detailing and tinted windows, the chrome rims on brand new tires sparkling in the sunlight.
He stared in shock as it stopped at the curb in front of his home, the purring engine going silent before his wife and nephew stepped out of the low riding vehicle.
"What do you think," Marc's grin stretched from side to side, brown eyes dancing with excitement as he turned his attention back to the car, hands moving lovingly over its lines and curves, not needing an answer to his question.
Seth looked over at Rose as she moved up the walkway towards him, taking Harry from him to snuggle him against her chest, "You bought him a sports car?"
Rose gave him a look of surprise as her nine month old babbled to her, tiny hands patting her face in emphasis of what he was telling her, "We talked about this."
"We talked about getting him a car, yes," Seth pointed at the vehicle in disbelief, "Not a freaking sports car!"
"What's the difference?"
He was in complete disbelief the woman married to him –a race car graphics designer –didn't know there was a difference between a regular run of the mill car and a sports car, "That's a Camaro, Rose…completely opposite from something safe that'll teach him how to be responsible."
"A car is a car, Seth," Rose kissed Harry's cheek, smiling as Vivi and Carlos came out of the house, the little boy riding piggy back on his cousin's back, "He's still paying for his own gas and the insurance, which is why he got the job at Newton's store. In fact, he gave me all he's saved since he started working in May to put towards the down payment of the car."
"That car's not going to teach him responsibility," Seth ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head as Vivi bounded down the porch steps, Carlos squealing at the sight of his cousin Marc and the bright yellow car, "It's a freaking chick magnet. God knows what he'll get to doing in the backseat of that Camaro."
Rose arched an eyebrow as she looked up at him, tilting her head to the side as Harry tugged at a hank of her long hair, "What did you do in the backseat of your first car?"
"My first car was the Mustang," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he placed his other hand on his hip, "How much did that set you back?"
"It's used with only twenty thousand miles on it," Rose shifted Harry higher up her hip, giving him a nibbling kiss as she tugged her hair out of his little fist, "And you didn't answer my question."
Turning his attention back to his wife, he gave her a rakish smile, brown-green eyes twinkling as he teased her, "I never did get to break in the backseat of my Mustang…interested in helping me out with that on our next date?"
Rose blushed, chuckling as Vivi, Marc and Carlos –who had switched 'mounts' –came up the drive towards them, "I'll think on it…for now, it's time to feed the kids and then sit Marc down and explain the rules to him."
"Yeah, like they're gonna matter," Seth muttered under his breath as he followed Rose into the house, the kids behind him, "He's got a Camaro now…he'll find a way to circumvent whatever rules we give him."
Second Week of August
"So what do you think?"
Emmie smiled at her cousin as she flipped through the sketch book Lili had pulled out of her closet, touching the pieces of fabric pinned down the left side of the heavy paper, "I think it's great. You should have Bailey show it to their coach and see if she'll go for it. With the stadium done and the first game set for October, there's enough time for them to get done."
"She already did," Lili bit her lip as she fell back onto her bed beside Emmie, staring up at the ceiling where she and Bailey had placed a bunch of glow in the dark stars with sticky tack, "She's at a cheer meeting right now and they're supposed to announce which design got the most votes."
"You mean there's other options," Emmie set the sketch pad aside before falling back onto the bed, hands on her stomach as she studied the placement of the stars, realizing they were positioned as constellations.
"The entire cheer squad was offered the opportunity to submit a design," Lili let out a sigh as she pushed herself up, feeling a bit of envy when she looked from her still carrying baby fat body to her cousin's slim frame, wondering if she was ever going to be able to look like a model, the way her sister and cousins did.
Lili knew although she had her mother's quiet beauty –it's what Daddy called it –it was the exotic beauty, like her sister's and Aunt Leah's as well as Emmie, Tyra, Vivi and Nika, that got all the attention. They were all tall with subtle curves and beautifully detailed faces. Lili loved to use them as inspiration for her designs, always keeping their skin tone, figures and the way they moved in mind whenever she put together an outfit.
But every once in a while, she wished she could do the same for herself but her curvier, and shorter, body didn't inspire her so she kept to jeans and t-shirts one size too big, always self-conscious of her extra weight whenever she was around her sister and cousins.
She supposed when she designed her clothes, drawing them out on the heavy grade paper with her silk color pencils –both expensive gifts from her parents –she did it with hopes someday in the future, please let it be very near in the future, she could also wear them with grace and class.
"The coach would be seriously lacking vision and common sense if she doesn't pick your design," Emmie sat up, tossing back her dark hair as she pushed up her glasses, the light blue frames a replacement from the black ones she had before, "Not only is your design very pretty but it's also practical, making it easy for them to move without difficulty, especially with the high kicks and flips."
Lili nodded, looking over at the clock on the desk she and Bailey shared, a stack of brand new notebooks a reminder of school starting next week, "Bailey said if she had to wear a skirt in public, she would prefer wearing one designed by me."
Kicking off her sneakers, Emmie crossed her legs lotus style, the skinny jeans she wore inching up to reveal a braided anklet of colored threads double tied around her left ankle, "You should put together a prototype so they can actually see what it would look and fit like."
Letting out a sly chuckle as she got off the bed, Lili skipped across the floor to turn on her sister's docked iPod, "I did –she's wearing it right now –"
"And Coach loved it," Bailey exclaimed as she came into the room, Lili squealing as she threw herself into her older sister's arms, "Did she really?"
"Yes," Bailey easily spun her little sister around before setting her back, pulling off her jacket and tossing it on her unmade bed, long dark hair in a high ponytail.
She was wearing a long sleeved white turtle neck under the black, red and white top Lili had designed with the school colors in mind. The skirt was pleated, with white and red stripes at the hem and waistline, stretch red fabric between the pleats giving it a sense of modesty, "She said it was great. The way you put together all the angles and lines and colors are reminiscent to the tribal mantel."
"It should," Lili stepped back from her sister, giving her a critical once over, "I used it for inspiration."
Bailey laughed as she draped another skirt over the back of their desk chair, "The votes were half and half between the pleated skirt and the straight one. Coach is going to see if there's enough funding to do both."
Lili clapped her hands, jumping up and down in excitement, spinning around to give her cousin a gleeful look, "My first design –out there for everyone to see!"
Emmie and Bailey laughed, the older girl sitting at the edge of her bed to remove her white sneakers and socks, anxious to get the nude pantyhose required to be worn with cheerleading uniforms off, "And in October, it'll be your first runway show…of a sort."
First Day of School
La Push, WA
"Mama," Carlos sniffed as he sat on the edge of his big boy bed, a tear rolling down his pudgy cheek as he watched his mother tie the laces of his Lightning McQueen sneakers, "Yo no quiero ir. Quiero quedarme contigo." *I don't want to go. I want to stay with you*
"Oh, nene," Rose reached up to wipe his cheeks, pulling him off the bed and into her lap to snuggle him into her chest, "Me gustaria que te quedaras tambien. But you'll get to learn all sorts of new things at school." *I would like you to stay too*
He rubbed a fist under his nose, turning his face into her chest as she wrapped her arms around him, "I learn new things here, mama. I not wanna miss you and Daddy and Harry and Einstein and Marc and Vivi and Avy and Willie."
"But you'll get to make new friends."
He shook his head, blinking big hazel eyes up at her as his bottom lip poked out in a pout, "I not need new friends. I like ones I have."
Chuckling, she dropped kisses all over his little face, her reward sweet giggles as he tucked his chin into his chest in an attempt to escape the tickling sensation of her lips against his skin, "But don't you want more?"
"Na-ah," Carlos shook his head again, pushing her face away, small hands on her cheeks as he grinned up at her, "I too many already."
Turning her head to nibble on his little fingers, they both turned laughing faces towards the door as Seth walked in, ten month old Harry holding on to one of his legs, little bare feet planted on his father's bigger foot, "What's taking you two so long? Marc and Vivi have to get going soon and they want to wish Carlos good luck with school."
"I not going to school," Carlos stated as he scrambled out of his mother's arms, Harry letting go of his Daddy's pants' leg and landing on his bottom, "I stay with Harry and mama and Einstein and Daddy."
"Really," Seth crouched down to gently pull Carlos between his knees by his small shoulders, "Well, then, I guess if you don't go to school, you won't have to grow up but then, you won't get to have a cool yellow car like your cousin Marc."
Carlos' hazel eyes widened as he stared up at his father, "I go to school and get a car?"
"When you get older," Seth tousled his little boy's dark hair, giving him a wink and one sided smile, "But you can't get older if you don't go to school."
"No?"
"Nope," Seth shook his head, easily lifting him up as he stood to his full height; little Harry had already found his favorite snuggling spot –his mama's arms, "You get to stay little forever."
"I will?" Carlos turned to look at his mama, biting his bottom lip as she smiled up at him with a nod, turning to look at his Daddy again, "But I want yellow car."
"You need grow up for a yellow car," Seth tickled his son's stomach, his high pitched giggles having Harry let out a peal of giggles of his own as he looked up at his Daddy and older brother, "And to grow up, you have to go to school."
Looking at his mama then his Daddy, Carlos sucked on a finger as he thought over his dilemma, finally letting out a heavy sigh, "I go to school."
"Alright, then," Seth buzzed his cheek, Carlos giggling as they headed down the hall towards the stairs, Harry in his mama's arms, "Let's get you to school."
"I go with Vivi and Marc?"
"You get to go to a whole different school, buddy, right here on the reservation," Seth explained as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the aforementioned teens sitting on the couch while watching early morning cartoons, "We can walk you there and you'll get to see Marilynn and Skye, also Patrick, Ian, Nika, Lili, Brad and Bailey."
"No Gabe?"
"He goes to the high school at Forks," Seth placed Carlos down, the little four year old running to climb up onto the couch between his two cousins, giggling when Vivi tickled his sides, "With Marc, Vivi and Emmie."
"But wanna ride in the yellow car," Carlos whined, hazel eyes filling up with tears as he looked at his Daddy, his pouty lip trembling in warning of an approaching full out tantrum.
"Tell you what, kiddo," Marc picked his little cousin up and set him on his lap, "When I get home from school, you and I can go for a ride."
"Marc –"
"And," Marc interrupted his uncle, knowing Seth wasn't comfortable with the idea of the younger children in the car while Marc was behind the wheel without another adult in the car, "We'll even be nice and take your Daddy with us."
Carlos stared up at his cousin, sniffing as he looked over at his Daddy before he smiled up at Marc, "I like Daddy. We drive and get ice cream, yes?"
"Definitely."
Third Thursday of September
"So did you get to third base?"
Marc rolled his eyes as he rinsed his hair under the lukewarm water falling from the showerhead, the raucous laughter of his other teammates echoing in the boys' locker room as Carter –their second baseman –answered the question.
"Dude, I totally hit a home-run on that one."
"Tina's a slut," Harvey –their left fielder –joined the conversation as the sound of curtains a stall to the left of Marc's let him know he was done with his own shower, "Not much of a challenge there, if you ask me."
"Which I didn't," Carter tossed back, pulling on a t-shirt, the towel he had used to dry himself now serving to keep his bare feet from touching the locker room floor, "Besides, you're not getting any from what I hear."
"I'm selective on who I fuck," Harvey dropped his dirty clothes on the bench before opening his own locker, a towel wrapped around his waist, "Can't be too picky nowadays."
"Sounds like something your mom would say," Dean teased as he laced up his sneakers, his dark blond hair still damp as it hung in curls around his face, "Along with making sure to keep your Johnson covered."
Marc shut off the water, grabbing his towel as he stepped into the flip flops he used to keep from stepping on the disgusting floor as Dean –one of their pinch hitters –kept haggling Harvey.
Getting to his own locker, he ignored his other teammates as he proceeded in getting dressed –dark jeans, an opened long sleeve button up white shirt over a blue t-shirt and white Dockers was his outfit for the day. Running his fingers through his hair, he tossed everything into his gym bag before taking his black backpack from the locker, pushing the gym bag in with his foot. Being they had two practices a day –one before classes and the other after –he had no need to carry the gym bag around with him.
"Hey Marc."
Looking over at Harvey with a cocked eyebrow, he closed his locker and clicked the lock shut, "What?"
"Is your sister seeing that football player?"
"You mean Gabriel," Marc asked as he hitched his bag over his shoulder, checking his pockets to make sure he had his keys, wallet and cell phone, "They go on dates, so, yeah."
"But is it, like, a serious thing?"
"Not that I know of."
"So I can ask her out?"
Marc leveled dark eyes on Harvey as he walked across the locker room, stopping when he was toe to toe with him, "After what I heard you say –no. You go anywhere near my little sister, I'll kill you…right after Gabriel kicks your ass."
The other guys in the team laughed and hooted, Marc walking out once he saw his threat had been take seriously, letting out a sigh as he made his way across the grass towards the Biology building for his first period class.
Sometimes, it was just damn irritating having to deal with all the locker room crap that came with teenage boys.
Being sixteen could seriously suck at times.
October
Quileute Tribal School (QTS) Home Football Game against Forks High School
I got this feeling on the summer day when you were gone
I crashed my car into the bridge
I watched, I let it burn
I threw your shit into a bag and pushed it down the stairs
I crashed my car into the bridge
I don't care, I love it
I don't care
Brad laughed as he watched his sister down on the brand new football field flipping and twirling, the two flyers performing flips and splits in the air every time they were tossed up, "I had no idea my sister could do that."
Marc munched on a handful of popcorn as he attentively watched Bailey and two other girls simultaneously turn handsprings and cartwheels followed by several round offs and back flips, "She's definitely flexible."
Nodding as he bit down on his hot dog, he kept his attention on one of the flyers –he was certain it was Kaya, the girl Bailey had homicidal feelings towards –watching as she was tossed up high enough for her to do a tucked in front flip before being caught then pushed up to a standing position, "They all are. Bailey's been bitching and moaning about all the practicing last year and over the summer but it looks like it paid off…hell, even the Forks cheer team isn't this good."
"They don't have any drive," Marc tilted back his soda can, swallowing down half of it before letting out a burp that got lost in the crowd's noise.
They were currently sitting on the bleachers, Marc having joined Brad on the QTS side even though he attended Forks, the cheer teams currently performing the half-time show. The score was currently in favor of Forks, but the new Quileute football team was motivated to win their first ever game on their own home turf.
Everyone was present, from the reservation and Forks, the La Push families split among the QTS and Forks side, Vivi currently sitting on the bleachers across from the field with Uncle Seth and Aunt Rose, along with their Laskaris cousins.
The only reason why Marc was on the Quileute side was because he enjoyed football more whenever he watched it with Brad, his cousin-in-law having a funny way of pointing out the errors made during the game.
As for Gabe, he was on the field, playing corner-back for the Forks team, which was currently on defense. Whenever playing offense, he was one of the wide receivers.
"Man, that girl's hot."
Marc quickly looked over his shoulder at two QTS high school kids sitting on the bench behind theirs, turning his attention back to the field as the QTS cheer team finished with their routine, moving straight into a loud cheer, Marc trying not to choke on laughter at the strained smile on Bailey's face.
"She's got the longest legs I've ever seen," the other kid nudged his friend, Marc moving a bit forward when a knee hit him between his shoulder blades, "I'd sure like to hit that."
"Good luck with that. I've heard she's not into guys."
"Makes her even hotter."
"What with her bike racing and the skateboarding, not to mention all that kicking and flipping, she must be wild in the sack."
Marc grimaced as he realized they were talking about Bailey just about the same time Brad did, his cousin dropping his hot dog as he stood and turned around, fisting the guy's sweater and jerking him off the bench, "That's my sister you're talking about, you son of a bitch."
"What the fuck, man," he grabbed Brad's wrists, trying to get him to let go without success, "I was just talking smack, dude."
"Well, talk smack about somebody else," Brad growled before shoving the guy away hard enough for him to fall backwards into the people behind him, one of them dropping his soda all over the kid with a shout of dismay, "I ever hear you saying shit about my sister again, I'll shove your head up your ass."
"Fuck you," the kid stood up, anger marring his face as he swung a fist towards Brad's face, surprise evident when it didn't make contact with its target.
Marc kept his hand around the fist, squeezing a bit to make his point, "No need for you to do that. Just keep your mouth shut and enjoy the game."
Pulling his hand away, the kid shook it out as he glared at Marc, "Stay out of it, asshole. Why are you even on this side? You should be on the other side, with the other pale faces."
"I sit wherever the fuck I want," Marc stated calmly as he pushed the kid back to sit on the bench, "Just like you. So let's get back to the game, shall we?"
"Pretentious asshole," he muttered under his breath as he noticed some of the close by adults looking their way.
Marc didn't respond, simply nudging Brad's shoulder before sitting down himself, a bit surprised at the way Brad was trembling, "Dude, relax. He's just a big mouthed jackass."
"Yeah, well, he's not the only one," Brad let out a heavy breath as he ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to calm down, "All the guys at school are saying shit about my sister ever since she joined the cheer team. Tim Hayes told his friends he and Bales did it in the back of the field house."
"They're fucking liars, Brad," Marc set his popcorn container between his feet, wiping his fingers on the underside of his sweater's hem; "You can't go around beating up every guy that shoots his mouth off about your sister."
"Oh and I suppose you don't do anything whenever someone says something about Vivi?"
"Oh, I totally do," Marc leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees as the announcer began calling out the names for the homecoming court, "But you know very well Bailey can fight her own fights."
Brad laughed as he watched the activity down on the field, ready and willing to cheer for Nika when she got crowned homecoming queen, knowing without a doubt she had won the election, "Definitely. I know for a fact the reason Tim's telling everyone he fucked her is because she kneed him in the gonads when he tried to kiss her."
They both laughed, standing up as they let out simultaneous high pitched whistles when Nika's name was called out, no one in the QTS student body surprised she had won. Being one of the nicest girls in school, Nika was quite popular with everyone, having garnered majority of the votes without even trying, which had been the case because she hadn't even wanted to participate.
As she headed to the middle of the field, he could see the blush staining her cheeks all the way from where he was sitting as people cheered and clapped, the school principal placing the tiara on her head.
"Did you tell her you were the one who nominated her?"
Brad looked over at Marc with a wide grin, "And risk getting kneed in the gonads? I don't think so."
October 24
One year old Harry stared wide eyed at his family as they all sang, his mama placing a cupcake on his tray before kissing his nose.
Giving them a wide smile as they finished, he looked down at the frosted cupcake, studying it for a whole minute before grabbing it, giggling as blue frosting squished between his fingers.
Sucking at his blue fingers, he watched as mama placed a bigger cake on the kitchen table, lots of lights flickering and dancing on it as everyone started singing again, this time all of them looking at his Daddy.
Kicking his bare feet, he decimated his cupcake, leaning over the side to look down at Einstein who was licking his feet every time he kicked them out. Taking a piece of his cake, he dropped it on the floor, chortling in pleasure as Einstein gobbled it up, nosing the floor for crumbs.
Looking up at the sound of his name, Harry grinned at his Daddy, two bottom and top teeth front and center.
"This is the best birthday ever, right, Harry?"
Harry nodded with his whole body, everyone laughing as he turned his attention back to his crumbled cupcake, little fingers smearing blue frosting all over the tray before he bend down to lick it off just like Einstein.
It was indeed the best birthday ever.
Second Week of November
Gabe bounced his pen between his thumb and forefinger, his chin on his fist as the Spanish teacher droned on and on about the different past times in the language.
His blue eyes were trained on the back of Vivi's head –she sat a couple of seats in front and two rows to his left –watching with interest as wisps of red-gold fluttered against her pale neck, the rest of her waist length hair in a French braid down her back, a black headband keeping the small curls around her face away.
Shifting in his seat, he tilted his head to the side just as a ray of sunlight came in through the window, setting Vivi's hair on fire and causing her cheek to shimmer. She really was the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on, with her porcelain skin and hair so vibrant it seemed to be alive, not to mention those big gold-brown eyes of hers…more gold than brown, really and although others thought they were odd, Gabe could spend hours just staring into them.
Shifting in his seat as Señora Tisdale wrote across the white board with a black erase marker, he slouched back into his seat as his thoughts moved on to more important avenues, mainly one –how to ask Vivi to be his girlfriend.
He really had no idea how to ask or when, mostly because he still didn't see the point in asking –she had, after all, agreed to marry him –yeah, so they were, like, five, when that happened but to Gabe, it was legit. No changes –no take backs.
Evidently, though, Vivi didn't feel the same way because she never failed to point out he wasn't her boyfriend since he hadn't asked –that, in turn, left the door wide open for all the other jackasses in this school to ask Vivi out. She never said yes, mind you, but it still pissed him off to find out his friends were trying to get with his girl.
Oh, sorry –not his girl…how the fuck was he supposed to ask? The one time he did ask, she said no –told him to ask again with a little more humility…whatever the fuck that was.
He was a Laskaris, for fuck's sake –future Alpha of his pack, probably even Uncle Sam's pack unless Brad beat him to it. Humility was not in his vocabulary and quite frankly, he didn't want it to be.
"Mr. Laskaris," the teacher's voice broke through his thoughts, blue eyes swinging towards the front of the classroom where she stood staring at him with a cocked eyebrow.
"I'm listening."
She raised both eyebrows at him, pursing her mouth as he sat up straight in his seat, clearing his throat before answering, "Perdon. Si es-toy pon…iendo atencion." *Sorry. I am paying attention*
He noticed Vivi looking over her shoulder at him, the sweet smile on her face the same one he saw whenever he spoke Spanish, not matter how bad he slaughtered it.
"Very well. Please come up here and translate the sentence on the board."
Setting his pen down, he stood up and walked to the front of the class, taking the marker from the teacher as he studied the sentence on the board.
The little girl is five years old
Uncapping the red marker, he wrote his translation under the sentence: La niña tiene cinco años
"Very good Mr. Laskaris. Go back to your seat please."
He returned to his desk, two of the school's cheerleaders who sat in the row behind him smiling at him as they twirled their hair around their fingers. Giving them a tight smile in return, he sat back down, his smile more sincere when Vivi looked over her shoulder again to give him a subtle thumbs up.
"Mr. Henze, please come up here and translate the sentence into the preterit past tense."
Two seats down and to the right of Gabe, a blond haired boy stood up, the baseball jacket he wore labeling him as being part of the Forks baseball team, his feet dragging as he reached the front and took the marker handed to him.
La niña tuvo cinco años
"Very good, Mr. Henze. Since preterit is used for past actions seen as completed, to change tiene, which is present tense to tuvo labels the girl at having been five. Mr. Moore, please come up here and translate the sentence to imperfect past tense."
From the back of the classroom walked up one of his fellow football players, the dark t-shirt he wore with washed out jeans a size too small, which Gabe thought was a ridiculous attempt to show off muscles he didn't have.
Troy took the marker from the teacher, uncapping it and writing in a slightly slanted print:
La niña tener cinco años
Handing the marker back, he returned to his seat, Señora Tisdale staring at him for a few seconds before looking at the rest of the class, "Would somebody like to explain what's wrong with this sentence?"
Nobody raised their hands, the rest of the class studying the sentence in question and not seeing what she was referring too. After a minute passed, Vivi slowly raised her hand in the air.
"Yes Miss De Lune."
"Tener is a regular verb," Vivi softly explained, placing her hand back on the desk, "It isn't conjugated."
"Can you please conjugate the verb."
"Yo tengo, tu tienes, el tiene, nosotros tenemos, ustedes tienen."
"Very good," she held out the marker to Vivi, "Please come up here and write the correct imperfect past tense translation."
The rest of the hour went by fast as Señora Tisdale called up one after another, introducing them to preterit past tense, imperfect past tense, past participle, past perfect and on and on went the list.
When the bell rang to signal the end of class –and the school day since this was their last period – Señora Tisdale asked Vivi to stay behind, reminding everyone know she wanted the worksheets for chapter six done by the end of the week. Being a Wednesday, that meant only two more days to work on them.
Once outside the classroom, he decided to join his teammates while waiting for Vivi, reaching the small group of four just in time to hear Troy spit out, "Bloody know it all."
Gabe rolled his eyes, wondering if anyone was going to call him out on how ridiculous he sounded with that forced British accent he supposedly picked up –along with the vocabulary –during his summer break in London.
"Hey Gabe," Tony slapped his friend's shoulder to get his attention, "You coming to the party this Friday after the game?"
Gabe grimaced as he shook his head, knowing this week's party was going to be at Megan's place –her parents were out of town so she was on her own with her sister, who was a senior in high school and didn't care what her little sister did, "Nah. I've got a date."
"With Vivi Nerdlune?"
Gabe looked over at Troy as the other three snickered, "What did you just call her?"
"Oh, come on," Troy shrugged as he hitched the strap of his backpack higher up his shoulder, "She's a bloody nerd."
"And you're a fucking American," Gabe tossed back, his ice blue eyes going a shade darker, "Start talking like one."
"Oh, come on, Gabe," Dave gave him a slight shove on the shoulder, "Just because Troy pointed out the fact your girl is a total nerd doesn't mean you need to get all racist."
"Racist, my ass," Gabe shoved Dave back before turning his attention to a smirking Troy, "Don't ever call her that again."
"I don't see why you're offended," Troy cocked an eyebrow; he hated the fact he was at about two inches shorter than Gabe, "You think she's smart, right?"
Gabe narrowed his eyes at him as he gave a hesitant nod, "Yeah, she's smart."
Troy smirked as he looked over Gabe's shoulder for a second before looking back at him, "That translates to total nerd –or am I wrong?"
Gabe didn't know what to say or if there was anything to say, after all, Troy was right. Although nerd was a phrase used with the intention to insult, it still applied to smart people and really, it didn't need to be an insult.
His genius sister had early on learned to embrace the phrase which took away the sting whenever it was used by her fellow classmates whenever they talked to her or about her. So to him, despite never using it to describe Vivi, he didn't really see anything wrong with the word.
A soft sound behind him had him turn around, blue eyes growing wide at the sight of Vivi standing there, her gold-brown eyes bright with what he was sure were tears but they never escaped. Biting her lip, she turned to walk away, the cold November wind tugging at the loose curls at her neck.
"Vivi, hold on!"
She ignored him, his friends chuckling as Troy smirked at him, "Looks like your Friday night date just fell through."
Fighting between the urge to beat the shit out of Troy –the bastard had obviously done it on purpose –and going after Vivi to apologize, he finally decided beating the crap out of Troy could wait while Vivi's obviously hurt feelings couldn't.
Tossing a curse word at Troy, he ran after Vivi, his backpack bouncing against his back as she made her way across the parking lot, "Vivi! Wait up!"
She ignored him, holding the book Señora Tisdale had loaned her tight against her chest and working at taking deep breaths in an effort to keep the tears at bay. She yanked her arm away from Gabe when he reached her, finally stopping when he moved to stand in her way, "Leave me alone."
"You're walking home?"
"Yes," Vivi moved to go around him but he stepped in front of her again, forcing her to tighten her jaw as she looked up at him, "I don't want to talk to you."
"Vivi, I'm sorry. I –"
"Do you think I'm a nerd?"
"What?"
Vivi glared at him, drawing on the anger to keep the sadness and hurt from overwhelming her, "Do you think I'm a nerd?"
"I think you're very smart."
"That's not what I asked."
Gabe let out a long suffering sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair, "I wasn't the one who called you a nerd."
"You didn't say anything when Troy did."
Looking down at her over-bright eyes and red tipped nose, he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "Because…there's nothing wrong with being a nerd. Even Emmie's okay with the word."
"Well, I'm not," Vivi pushed him to the side, heading purposely down the road towards the reservation, "And I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Vivi," Gabe started after her, suddenly remembering his bike was still chained to the bike rack beside the library, "Come on! At least wait for Marc."
"Marc has a date with Melanie after baseball practice," Vivi's words were ripped out of her mouth by a strong gust of wind, "And I can get home fine by myself."
Stepping forward to go after her, he stopped, fisting his hands for a couple of seconds before turning back to the school to retrieve his BMX bike.
Vivi walked alongside the road, the cold wind stinging her cheeks as a tear slipped down. Reaching up to wipe it away, she told herself quite sternly that it didn't matter what Gabriel thought of her because he was a jerk anyway.
It wasn't even five minutes before Gabe pulled up beside her in his bike, "Come on, Vivi. Let me give you a ride."
She ignored him, continuing her walk down the road as he kept a slow pace beside her.
"You don't have to talk to me just…come on. With those boots, your feet will be hurting by the time you get to the rez."
She kept walking but she couldn't ignore what he had said –she did, after all, have a three hour ballet practice tomorrow after school and sore feet would not be conducive to performing at her best. Stopping without warning, she slipped her book into the messenger bag at her side as Gabe stopped a couple of feet ahead of her, his feet on the asphalt to keep the bike steady.
Without saying anything to him, she moved to the front of the bike, straddling the tire before pulling herself up to sit on the handlebars. Although not a genius like his little sister, Gabe was smart enough to know not to show any triumph over getting his way, instead keeping a steady pace down the one o one towards the reservation.
As soon as they arrived at the Clearwater place, Vivi hopped off the bike's handlebars and headed up the walkway towards the front door, not looking at Gabe once. Staying where he was for a few minutes as she closed the front door, Gabe finally kicked the stand in place, heading up the porch and into the house without knocking, still trying to figure out what to say.
Heading up the stairs, he stopped outside the pink and white door, smiling slightly at the silver star engraved with Vivi's name. Knocking on the door, he pushed in as soon as she opened it, dropping his backpack at the foot of her bed as he sat on the edge, "Look, Vivi, I'm sorry okay? I should have punched Troy in the face but I just…I don't see anything wrong with you being a nerd…a really cute nerd."
Vivi bit the inside of her cheek, wanting to stay mad at him but he was giving her those puppy dog eyes and she knew she wasn't going to last long.
"I promise," Gabe reached out to take her hand and pull her close enough to stand between his knees, knowing he was charming his way into being forgiven but was not quite there yet, "He won't enjoy the next football practice. I'll sack him...hard."
Unable to hold back her giggle, she reached up to run her fingers through his dark hair, lips blooming into a smile as he wrapped his arms around her thighs, "You don't need to sack him…or punch him in the face."
Smiling up at her, he moved his arms up to hug her narrow waist, pulling her along with him as he fell back onto the bed, her laughter as she landed on him making his smile stretch as he looked into her dancing gold-brown eyes, "Let's go get some ice cream."
"We have homework, Gabriel."
"Come on," he wheedled as he jiggled her against him, stopping when he realized it wasn't a smart thing to do if he didn't want to be embarrassed with the reaction of that one action, "Just one hour…I promise we'll get straight to homework when we come back."
Vivi bit her bottom lip, forearms against his chest to keep enough space between them so she could look down into his beautiful blue eyes, "It's kind of cold for ice cream."
"Then let's get hot chocolate at Aunt' Emily's bakery."
They made their way to the bakery after letting Uncle Seth –who had just gotten home from a council meeting at the center –know where they were going, promising to be back in time to do some homework before dinner.
After a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows each –and several chocolate chip cookies courtesy of their Aunt Emily –they returned to the house, Uncle Seth calling out from the kitchen, "Are you staying for dinner, Gabe?"
"If I can, sure," Gabe stopped at the foot of the stairs as Vivi continued up to her bedroom, "Do I need to call mom?"
"Nah, I'll call her," Seth didn't look away from what he was doing, humming under his breath as he prepared his famous cheesy potatoes to go with a new meatloaf recipe Vivi had printed from some food network internet site, "I gotta ask her about Thanksgiving plans, anyway. You two make sure your homework's done before dinner time."
"Sure Uncle Seth."
Once in Vivi's room, they got down to work, Vivi stretched out on her bed, socked feet towards the headboard of her twin sized bed, Gabe sitting on the floor with his back resting against the end of the bed, "Let's start with Spanish."
Vivi wrinkled her nose as she opened her notebook, "How many worksheets have you completed?"
Gabe opened his Spanish workbook, pulling a pen out of the front pocket of his book bag where he kept them along with pencils, erasers and highlighters, "None."
"Oh, I see," Vivi gently smacked Gabe on the side of his head, "You waited until now to get me and do it for you."
Gabe laughed as he leaned his head back against the mattress to look up at her, "You never do my homework for me. It's just...I prefer your explanation of Spanish grammar over Senora Tisdale's."
Vivi blushed, giggling when he kissed her cheek, "I've already finished the worksheets so let's go ahead and start yours then move on to Biology."
"Let's do history afterwards," Gabe suggested as he turned his attention back to his workbook, "Emmie can help us with the science stuff over the weekend –it's not due until next Tuesday."
Vivi laughed, always finding it amusing when Gabe went to his little sister for help with science and math homework, "Sounds good to me."
They worked together, laughing and joking as they finished one worksheet and moved on to the next, halfway through the fifth one when Gabe leaned his head back to kiss Vivi's lips, cutting off her explanation concerning the rules of accents in the Spanish language.
Vivi's face flushed a deep red, "You interrupted me."
Gabe grinned up at her, reaching back to touch her cheek with slightly rough fingers, "Couldn't help myself."
They stared into each others' eyes, Vivi's face growing hotter as Gabe moved his fingers over the upside down image of her face, a finger tracing her bottom lip before he quietly said, "Be my girlfriend."
Vivi bit her bottom lip, dipping her head away from his hand, "That's not asking."
"Last time I asked, you said no."
"That's because you asked with attitude."
Gabe chuckled, turning to rest his crossed arms against the mattress, their noses brushing lightly, "I've never asked, Vivi, because when guys ask…they sometimes do it in hopes the girl will say no…and I don't want you to say no."
Vivi bit her bottom lip, watching the way his blue eyes dropped before lifting up again, this time the pupils dilated and although she didn't know from experience, she knew through books and sex Ed class what that meant, "So you don't want me to have a choice."
Gabe shook his head as he lifted his hand to cup her face, moving forward as she moved back until they were both kneeling on her bed, "Not about this, no. After all, you already agreed to marry me so, technically, we're engaged which is past the whole girlfriend and boyfriend thing."
"We were five."
Gabe smiled as he moved forward, his mouth brushing against hers, "It still counts."
Vivi would have laughed but Gabriel had pressed his mouth against hers, taking away her breath and, by default, her laughter. Several seconds of them kissing, Gabe pulled back to look down into her eyes, "I want to kiss you."
"I thought we were kissing."
"No," Gabe shook his head, swallowing hard as he gently pulled at her bottom lip with his thumb, "I mean really really kiss you."
"Oh," Vivi got what he meant, a pink blush spreading over her high cheekbones, "I…I don't know how."
"Neither do I," Gabe dipped his thumb into the corner of her mouth, "I suppose…we can learn together."
Her blush deepened as she placed a trembling hand against his chest, the other one a fist resting against her thigh, "We're supposed to be studying."
Leaning in again, he touched his lips to her, the tip of his tongue touching her bottom lip briefly before pulling back, "We are studying."
In the kitchen, Seth slid the meatloaf pan into the oven, looking over at the clock to see there was still another hour before Rose came home with their boys –who had stayed at their grandmother's while they got their meetings done, hers with some gallery owner in Seattle –and Marc had called to let him know he would be home by nine after dropping Melanie off at her place.
Wiping his hands before setting the timer, he realized it had been too quiet upstairs for too long. Hanging the towel, he lowered the heat under the boiling green beans before heading out to the living room and up the stairs, Einstein close at his heels, "Wonder what those two are up too. What do you think, boy?"
Looking up at him with a doggy grin, Einstein stopped at the top of the stairwell to catch his breath before going after Seth who was knocking at Vivi's closed bedroom door.
A loud thump followed Vivi's soft voice as she called out for him to come in, Seth already knowing what had been going on and although Gabe was his nephew, Vivi was his Ladybug and there was no way in hell this was going to be happening right under his nose.
"Hey Ladybug," Seth leaned against the door frame holding the door opened, smiling at his niece sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, "Dinner's almost ready."
"Oh," Vivi's pink face sported a guilty look as she nodded, "I'll be right down to set the table."
"Good," Seth moved to close the door, opening it again at the last second, "I was thinking of making a pie for dessert –would you like strawberry or chocolate mousse pie?"
Fingering the elastic edge of her black tights –which she had worn to school along with a heavy dark purple sweater dress with a black belt and knee high suede boots the same shade as her dress –she nibbled on her bottom lip, "Uhm…chocolate mousse pie sounds good."
"Alright, then," Seth gave her the smile that always made her feel special –and at the moment, guilty because she was hiding something important from him, "Chocolate mousse pie it is."
Giving him a small smile as he began to close the door before opening it again, "Gabe, there's no point in hiding when I already know you're in here."
Gabe popped up from beside Vivi's bed as she buried her face in her hands, "We weren't doing anything!"
Seth cocked an eyebrow as he studied his nephew's face, "Right, that's why Vivi's got red lips even though she's not allowed to wear make up outside of ballet shows."
Vivi groaned, Gabe rubbing the back of his neck, not knowing what to say so he opted to say nothing at all.
"Grab your school work and come downstairs," Seth told them in a no nonsense tone, pushing the door wide opened, "I don't want you in this room –or any room –with the door closed. Understood?"
Vivi nodded, Gabe frowning but not disagreeing, afraid if he did, Uncle Seth would forbid him from seeing Vivi again…or tell his mama about this.
Definitely didn't want either of those things happening.
