A/N: So this is a bit longer than my other chapters, but in my own world it's not a bad thing with long chapters. A bit of ribbing from her friends and talks about magic with her mother and Auntie Gina. Oh yeah and a bit of beach fun with the hot men in their life. I'm going down the rabbit hole and inventing an adventure for the couple, it was not part of my initiate plan. But my imagination took me down a path that I can't unsee… so hope I'll be able to pull of the adventure ahead of them… still, some fluffy chapters to come.
Chapter 7: HopeHope leaned back against their front door, the kiss still lingering on her lips, her magic still going crazy inside her.
"Heeeey girl," Rose said from their kitchen island, her voice was far too chipper for this late hour.
Hope groaned when she spotted her friend grinning at her. "Don't look at me like that." She pushed away from the door and shuffled towards the kitchen. Finding a seat on one of the barstools she slumped over the table, resting her head in her hands.
"What's wrong girl?" Rose said and nudged her arm. "You guys seemed pretty chummy outside, though something fishy happened with your magic I imagine."
"Yup my magic went nuts outside," Hope groaned, "but that's nothing compared to what happened down at the ice cream place."
"Oh I smell a story here," Rose giggled, then turned towards the hallway and yelled, "Gloria get yourself out here. Hope is sharing all the dirty details of her date with Rueben."
Moments later Gloria came out to the kitchen, and found her seat, and clapped her hands, "so spill the beans."
"I hate you guys," Hope mumbled in her hands.
"Nah you love us," Rose said with a laugh. "Come on, was the date really so bad?"
Hope finally looked up at her friends and with a sigh, she relented and told them how her date had gone. They both gave the proper "uh's" and "ah's" at the first parts of the story, when she came to the busted lampposts both girls gasped, then Rose started to giggle and soon Gloria joined her.
Hope rolled her eyes at her friends, "bloody hell, it's not funny." She glared at the still giggling girls.
"Oh it's funny as shit," Rose grinned, "you finally have a guy who you kinda, sort of, maybe, like, and your magic goes bonkers when you get too close to him."
Gloria finally stopped giggling, "you need to sort out your magic."
"I know," Hope groaned, "I have no idea what is going on, all I know is that something new is happening. I have a session with Auntie Gina tomorrow, my mom might even make it too."
"Good," Rose said and jumped down from her chair, "you'll get your magic under control so you can keep smooching your hot football player" She wiggled her eyebrows at Hope.
"Fuck off," Hope got down from her seat too, it was getting late, "you can go smooch your own football player."
"Oh I will," Rose grinned, "He's taking me for brunch tomorrow, so don't expect me to be home."
"Have fun." Hope waved goodnight to her friends and got ready for bed. Her mind was reeling with what had happened on their date. She was surprised how much her magic seemed to be affected by the closeness she felt with Rueben. The new color her magic had shown had to mean something, but what?
—
Hope joined her Aunt Gina at the castle where she'd magic puff them to the training ground the next day. Spotting her mother next to their queen, Hope sighed, "hi mom."
"Hey Cygnet," Emma hugged her and pulled back a grin plastered all over her face.
"Whaaat?"
"So how was last night?" Her mother's voice was filled with anticipation and the glint in her eyes was enough for Hope to know that her mother wouldn't leave her alone until she shared at least something.
"Yeah it was great, fantastic really," Hope smirked, "that is until my magic blew up the lamp posts outside of the ice cream place."
Emma gasped in shock and stepped back with a worried look on her face, then her gaze found Regina and the two women shared a knowing look.
"Care to share what's going on here?" Hope glared at them.
"Your magic is clearly evolving, Hope," Regina explained with a small frown on her face. "Did anything happen when your magic did that crazy stunt?"
"I was… eh," Hope scratched behind her ear, looking much like her father right now.
"She was on a date last night," Emma said cheerfully and all but failed to clap her hands together.
"Mom!" Hope exclaimed.
"Oh, I see, and did you guys do anything in particular?" Regina began asking, and when Hope felt heat rise to her face when Regina asked with a knowing smirk, "Like touching or kissing?"
"Oh god I can't believe I have this conversation with you guys," Hope waved her hands between the two women. "So yeah what if I was on a date last night, a bloody fantastic date if you must know." When both women just kept looking at her knowingly she relented, "yeah we might have been kissing when the magic went bonkers. It's done it before, you know."
"True," Emma said and schooled her features in a serious expression, "but something big must have happened with your magic. In the past, it's only been small incidents your magic triggered."
"Yeah," Hope shrugged, then she remembered something, "at one point my magic turned blue, it swirled around our hands." She rolled her eyes when she spotted her mother smirking, "yeah I was holding his hand, god you're so nosy."
"I'm your mother, it's my job to be nosy, and report back to your father," Emma said calmly.
"Don't tell daddy about my magic going bonkers, he won't like it, not over a man." Hope sighed, she knew her father was a little touchy when it came to her dating. She only hoped that he would like Rue once they finally met.
"I'm sure Rue is a nice young man," Emma soothed and turned to Regina, "should we go to the practice field?"
Regina nodded and Hope took her hand and let her aunt poof them to an open meadow where they trained Hope in wielding her magic. Hope liked the open space around them and she shook off her jitters and dived into the drills Regina had prepared for her today. Her mother gave her thoughts of input along the way. Both women continued to prod for more clues on what might have happened when she had been with Rue, but no matter how hard she tried her blue streaks of magic just never showed up. Yet it was still a somewhat successful practice session and once Hope got back to her place she texted Rue and told him about her session.
They agreed to meet for lunch the next day in school. Hope looked down at her hands as she sat on her bed that night. Why couldn't she conjure that blue magic? Had it something to do with Rue? Closing her eyes she cautiously focused her magic and pictured Rue, on their date, his long black hair sweeping in the wind. He was so different from any other bloke she'd ever gone out with. The image of him so clear behind her eyes lids she focused her magic and once she dared to open her eyes she could see a small blue glowing ball of magic hovering over her hand.
"It's blue," She whispered in awe, then the next second it flickered away into nothing. But her picturing Rue had triggered something inside of her. It had to mean something?
—-
The next few weeks passed in a blur of school work, hanging out with Rue, her friends, or doing triple dates with her friends and their new boyfriends. Gloria and Damien's connection had been a surprise for everyone, despite his reputation of being the womanizer and bad-boy in school they had a great relationship. Hope knew Damien had had a rough life growing up alone with his father, who also struggled through life when he lost his wife when Damien had been very young. Somehow Gloria had managed to find a completely different man behind all the hard exterior.
Hope's time with Rue was always amazing and they did experience her magic going crazy a few times, but Rue all seemed to embrace it all without shying away from her. It was a relief for her, her biggest fear was him getting too scared of her magic.
On her next practice session with her Auntie Gina, she finally plucked up the courage to ask, "so Auntie Gina?" When Regina looked at her with a smile she continued, "so I might think my magic somehow is linked to my connection with Rueben?"
Regina tapped her chin in thought, "you like this man?"
"Hmm, I do." Hope tried to dampen the blush creeping up her neck, but the knowing smirk on Regina's face told her how much she failed.
"Magic being wielded when having such a strong connection to another person is very significant," Regina's voice was filled with wonderment and after a short pause she added thoughtfully, "it could even be true love." She looked pointedly at Hope, "and we all know how powerful such a thing is."
Hope nodded, too shocked to reply at first, then she mumbled, "but we haven't even… I mean I… he… never said those words?"
"The words don't need to be spoken if this is a love that's meant to be," Regina looked at the young princess, "but please don't freak out over this." She stepped up to Hope and placed a calming hand on her arm, "enjoy your time with your young man, let life pick how fast things will go between you."
Hope finally looked at her tutor, biting her lip and nodding in understanding. It was just friggin' hard to forget things like her magic being somehow connected to the man she was dating. This amazing and in so many ways perfect man. "Okay."
"Good," Regina wrapped her arm around the young girl, "let's go back to the city."
Hope nodded and held her breath as Regina poofed them to the castle grounds. She looked forward to being able to do this herself one day. But it was highly complex magic, and as long as she didn't have more control over her magic she would not learn it.
While saying goodbye her phone chirped indicating a text, smiling she swiped open her phone hoping it was Rue texting her. It was Rose.
Rose: Hey girl, get your cute butt to the beach ASAP. The water is nice. FYI your hot boyfriend is spotting some nice abs there. Dang girl.
Hope: stop ogling my man! Keep your eyes on the team captain. On my way.
Rose: aye aye, see ya girl. XOXO
Hope rushed home to get changed for an afternoon at the beach. In half an hour she was ready and headed for the beach, Rose had texted her where they were. Scanning the open area for her friends she soon spotted Rose waving at her. Weaving in and out of other beach guests she found her way to her friends. Rose and Gloria each lay in their bikinis on a lounge chair.
"Hey girl," Rose chippered, and nodded towards another lounge chair, "take a seat and enjoy the view." Grinning as a wolf Rose peaked over the rim of her sunglasses while she wiggled her eyebrows nodding towards the area in front of them.
Turning around Hope soon realized what her friend talked about, the three male specimens currently engaged in a game of frisbee were quite a view. All wearing beach shorts, and nothing else. "Dang," Hope whispered and plopped down on the lounge chair keeping her eyes on the 'view'.
"Yup," Gloria said with a grin, "well Damien might not be a sports jock, but he sure is fairly fit anyway." Hope took a few seconds to look at the man in question, and could only agree with her friend. Damien did have a lean and well-built body. Grinning, she turned to her friend, "lucky you." She winked and returned her gaze to her own man, who was currently leaning slightly forward getting ready to throw the frisbee to William. Both men were clearly doing some more workouts, as a visible six-pack flexed whenever they moved.
"Wipe the drool off your chin," Rose said with a chuckle.
"Shut up," Hope mumbled and scooted back in the lounge chair, getting comfortable. Biting her lip she looked back at Rose, "I mean come on, I knew they play football, but had no idea… I mean look at them… him."
"You mean to tell me you never had a little touchy-feely moment on any of your dates or lunch breaks?" Rose wiggled her eyebrows.
Hope rolled her eyes as she felt a blush spread over her face, she shrugged, "I might." Of course, she'd hugged him and there was no way she'd missed the hard planes of muscles rippling under his shirt. But she'd never seen him without a shirt, gazing at him now she knew she might want to touch a bit more than just over his shirt.
Rose was about to give another retort but was interrupted when the three men jogged up to the lounge chairs. Hope could feel a grin spread over her face as she watched Rue approach her, she hoped she didn't look too goofy or had a drool dripping down her chin. She didn't pay much attention to her friends or what they said to William and Damien.
"Hi, Hope," Rue's face split into a huge smile and he reached down to pick up a towel. Then he proceeded to wipe sand and sweat off his chest and arms.
"Hi," Hope managed to squeak out while her eyes followed every movement of his hands.
When he was done he pointed to the end of her lounge chair, "Mind if I sit down?"
Shaking her head she pulled her legs back and wrapped her arm around her knees, her heart was making a strange and loud tattoo inside her chest. Rue sat down sideways on the chair, stretching out his long legs.
"Good you could make it," Rue said and let his hands rest behind him so his body was now on full display in front of her. Then he looked at her, "Rose wasn't sure how long your practice session would be."
"Yeah, it's nice," shaking her head she smiled sheepishly and added, "I mean it didn't take that long today, so I wouldn't miss this." She tried to discreetly scan his body with her eyes, but when she reached his chocolate brown orbs she knew he'd noticed, as he gave her a mischievous wink.
"You like the beach?" Rue asked and rubbed his neck watching her from the corner of his eye. His darker skin tone made it slightly difficult to see if he was embarrassed or not. But given how he kept looking at her and fidgeting with his hands, running them through his hair several times, Hope imagined he was also a little nervous.
"Yeah I do," Hope took a deep breath trying to relax her breathing a little.
"So wanna hit the water?" Rue asked hopefully.
It took several seconds for Hope to reply, "sure—" She swung her legs to the side and sat up next to him, facing the opposite direction than him. She turned to look at him before she came to her feet, then she took the scrunchie she had around her wrist and easily secured her long blond hair in an unruly bun on top of her head.
Taking a few steps towards the water his voice stopped her, "you gonna swim in your clothes?"
She looked down at the oversized beach shirt she'd flung over her bikini. Turning around with a sheepish grin she replied with an eye roll, "of course not." She shimmied out of her shorts and pulled the shirt over her head. A gasp sounded from Rue and when she looked at him his mouth hung open a little. So her bikini with the boy shorts cut bottom was doing its magic. Something inside of her flipped and the tingling of her magic flickered down her spine as she took in his gaping expression.
"Oy," Damien yelled, "the lady is waiting Rue, get ye'r arse moving mate." Hope was suddenly reminded that they weren't alone. She turned her head to the rest of the group and she could see her two friends smirking at her, Rose giving her usual eyebrow waggle and Gloria winked. The two other males were grinning and both now goating Rue even more.
"Fuck off," Rue said in a low growl, he picked up his towel and flung it at his mates.
"Awe come on man," Damien said, his arms wrapped around Gloria's shoulder, "you can't leave a pretty lady waiting."
"Hey," Gloria said in a huff and smacked his arm. "stop ogling my friend you perv."
"Sorry, love," Damien said then leaned over and loudly whispered to Gloria, "everyone knows I got the prettiest lass of them all." His arms tightened around her and he gave her a big smooch on her cheek.
Hope laughed at their banter, it did seem as if Damien had found a woman who could deal with his weird manners.
Suddenly she realized Rue was standing right in front of her, she looked up, "so yeah, let's go in."
They walked to the water and when she felt his fingers brush against her hand she reached over and grabbed his hand. She gave him a small smile, the grin on his face widened as they reached the water.
It was one thing seeing a sweaty Rueben, but the wet version of her boyfriend was a whole different ball game. Her mind stopped working for several seconds once the man rose from the water. He'd dived right in the second the water reached his stomach. Swiping his long hair away from his face he grinned as wet droplets trickled down his face and over his sculpted chest and abbs.
"Okay," Hope whispered, mostly to herself, as she wrapped her arms around her torso. She was suddenly very aware of how close they were standing.
"Come on," Rue smiled, "the water is really nice."
"Yeah." Hope finally let her body glide through the water and she took a few swim strokes away from him. Then she turned around and let her body float in the now deeper water, Rue was watching her. Suddenly he plunged into the water and within a second he was right there in front of her again. Tentatively she tested if she could reach the bottom, just barely so she let herself just float in the water. Rue was much taller so he took a final step towards her and pulled her closer.
Trying to suppress the squeal escaping her lips she gulped down and let her hands rest on his chest trying not to focus on how hot his skin felt under her palms. "Hi." She whispered.
"Hi," he leaned closer, "wanted to do this since you removed that oversized shirt."
Her mouth formed a surprised 'O' and the next second she felt his lips brush over hers. Her fingers dug deeper into his shoulders, and when he let his tongue slip into the mix she shifted in the water and pulled herself closer to his body. His strong arms kept her floating in the water, but her hands still wrapped around his neck. Her fingers ran through his long black hair, she knew how silky it felt shifting between her fingers.
They kept kissing like this for several long minutes both forgetting the world around them. When he finally pulled back and looked down at her he smiled, "We should do this more often."
Raising a curious eyebrow she laughed, "we kiss all the time."
"Not like this, in the water," Rue shrugged, "makes it a bit more, I don't know—"
"Intense?"
"Yeah, and hot." He whispered against her lips before claiming her mouth again.
Hope could only agree to this, every nerve ending in her body fizzled with this hot sensation that wrapped her up in a cocoon.
When they both needed air again she let her fingers caress his ear and cheek, she watched her fingers dance over his wet skin. "My magic!"
"What?" Rue looked at her with curious eyes.
"It didn't go bonkers," She grinned, then her brow furrowed in puzzlement, "I wonder why?"
"Maybe you can harness it a bit better?" He shrugged, then a grin spread over his face, "or you didn't like kissing me."
"Shut up," She tapped his chest with her finger, "I like kissing you."
"I know." He winked.
Shaking her head she still held on to him with one arm as she inspected her other hand, "wonder if I could conjure some magic?"
"Try."
"You'll risk it?" She asked in surprise, "Who knows what my magic can do."
"Yup, but I'm not scared." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then he shifted in the water so he was behind her. She used her one arm to stay afloat, even if he did keep his arms wrapped around her middle. Trying to focus with his warm hands shifting over her stomach was proving to be a bit difficult. "You got this." He whispered into her ear.
"Stop distracting me." She giggled when she felt his lips nip at her earlobe.
"Sorry," His laughter rumbled through his chest, "Carry on."
She focused on her magic, picking at it inside her soul, her eyes closed and she took a deep breath and made a mental image of the blue fireball she'd managed to make not long ago. Her magic rushed through her veins and she felt heat wash through her.
"Look!" Rue's breath whispered across her cheek.
Finally opening her eyes she watched as a blue orb hovering over the palm of her hand. "I did it!?"
"You sure did," she felt him squeeze around her middle and he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, "I knew you could do it, love."
"Love?" The blue sphere sputtered and erupted in a cascade of shimmering blue magic. Her lungs suddenly felt without air, yet her pulse seemed to triple in speed.
"Hope?" Rue sounded worried, "what happened?"
"Love?" She whispered the word again, testing it flowing over her lips.
"Yeah," He moved in the water so he could look at her, his face was part worry and part open and honest. "I kinda said it as an endearment, but I really do care for you Hope." He tugged a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His palm resting over her cheek, a thumb under her chin gently encouraged her to look at him.
Her blue eyes searched his dark brown orbs and she knew they shared this special bond, a bond that could very well be love, even true love. Only time would tell.
"I care about you too Rue," She let her fingers slide over his face, taking in every little detail of his features. "I might even love you." She held her breath, her eyes kept focusing on his eyes.
Rueben gulped down at her words but he couldn't hide how ecstatic her words seemed to make him feel. His thumb whispered over her lips, "I might love you too, Hope." Her lips parted and she never got a chance to reply before his lips crashed against hers.
Forgetting how little clothes they wore she wrapped her arms and legs around his body and held on tightly, letting the kiss take them both on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. His arms wrapped around her as he deepened the kiss, he obviously didn't care either.
Gulping back air they finally pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers, his eyes never leaving her.
"Wow, that was intense." Hope finally whispered.
"Yup," Rue grinned. Hope couldn't blame him, this was beyond what either one of them had expected to happen today.
When she shifted in his arms she suddenly realized that the kiss might have affected him in more ways than one. The hardness pressing against the apex of her thighs told her just in what way. She blushed and suddenly felt awkward, sure she would want to go there with him one day. But right now might not be the best idea. "Eh, maybe we should, eh—"
Rueben looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, "yeah that might be a good idea." Reluctantly he let her slip out of his grasp and she floated backward in the water, her eyes still on him. He winked, "not helping when you keep looking at me like that. Give me a second and we can go join the others."
Lifting her eyebrow she smirked, "sure thing." She let her body float in the water but not moving too far away from him. When he finally started moving towards her she said, "ready?"
"Yup," he kept walking and when she was closer to the shore she rose in the water and she could hear him mutter, "that is not helping."
"Sorry," she grinned, not sorry.
"Okay I need to focus on something else," He rubbed his face in his hands and then swiped back his hair. He kept his hands wrapped around his neck as he looked at her. "So I've actually been meaning to ask you something."
"Oh yeah?"
"Hmm, well the thing is—" he paused, " — my parents sort of asked if they could meet you."
"Wow, really?"
He nodded and with a sort of apologetic smile he added, "yeah I might have mentioned I met this girl in College."
"Hmm."
"So are you ready to meet the parents?" Rueben asked.
Hope contemplated for a few moments, then she smirked, "only if you meet mine."
Raising an eyebrow while smirking, "I think I could manage that."
"Great," Hope walked a little closer to him, "so did you have a time planned with your parents?"
"No, not yet." He shook his head and smiled as he too walked closer.
"My parents come to visit this weekend," she stepped up to him and placed her hands on his chest, "they come each month, have dinner with me and my friends at the house."
"Ah, your friends will be there." He sounded a little off and shifted a look towards the beach.
"I bet I can convince them to skip dinner with my parents." She let her fingers travel up his torso, surprising even herself in how bold she was in touching him like this. She'd never been so forward with anyone she'd dated. This was a huge step to take, meeting the parents seemed so huge.
"Yeah?" He grinned as he placed his hand over hers, stopping her from doing any more explorations. With a wink, he said, "you're not helping me here." He took a deep shuddering breath while looking up at the sky, gulping down.
"Let me deal with the girls, and you can meet my parents this Saturday."
Rueben nodded in agreement, "I'll ask my mother when they think they have a day open after that."
"I'm looking forward to meeting them too," Hope said with a smile and turned to walk towards the beach.
"Don't worry, they are really cool," Rueben said and took her hand, they'd almost reached the shore.
"I'm sure." She winked, "you just need to prepare for the madness of the Swan-Jones family in a few days."
"I'm sure I can manage." Ruben wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they walked up to their friends, who didn't even notice them approaching. Rose and William were maybe violating a few PDA rules on the beach, and Gloria and Damien were in a heated debate over some school project. Hope rolled her eyes and settled down with Rueben on the lounge chair. This time letting her feet rest over his thighs.
The rest of the afternoon the six friends did join in on some more normal beach activities and had a great time together. Hope realized their friends had seen the blue fireworks show she'd made out in the water. She wasn't sure what all this meant, but she would have to investigate a bit more and read up in one of the books she'd gotten from Auntie Gina.