When Blaze found himself awake, he groaned and cursed the world. Even before his eyes were open, he knew it was too early to be alive, to talk to people, to do things in general. He hated early mornings and he hated them even more so when they occurred without reason.
He rolled on to his side and yanked the covers up over his head, hoping to fall back asleep. Leah would be arriving today and he would need all the energy he could scrounge up to deal with her particular brand of bat shit.
Leah. Leah Lovat. Leah Josephine Lovat. His girlfriend. His girlfriend Leah Lovat.
It had been months and it still sounded so new to him.
He'd dreamt about her every night since the school year had finished and honestly, it was starting to get annoying. More than once he had caught his brother hovering over his bed when he woke, a cruel smirk on his face as he asked 'Pleasant dreams, little brother? You must miss that girlfriend of yours an awful lot'. Beckett, the brother in question was six years his senior and a sleazy jerk. Blaze wondered who he had killed in another life to be cursed with such an ass of a sibling.
But...but he hadn't been entirely wrong. Blaze did miss Leah and it felt as irrational as it did annoying. Just about as annoying as somehow falling in love with her in the first place. It really didn't make any sense. Yes, she was excitable and funny and beautiful and creative but what did that have to do with anything? She was a first-grade spaz! She was difficult and loud and childish and that should have overridden everything else, right? So, why the hell did he miss her? Was it because he was so used to seeing her every day at school? But he saw Liam and Draco and Val every day as well and he didn't miss them half as much. It didn't make any damn sense!
Every time he thought about how he was going to get to see her again his heart did that stupid fluttering crap and he hated it. The first time it had happened he thought something had been seriously wrong with him and when he'd told Liam and Draco the jerks had laughed in his face! 'Ah, young love', Liam had said wistfully. 'That's disgusting', Draco had said without pause. Sometimes he wished he had no friends as much as he wished he was an only child. But if he hadn't had friends he wouldn't have met Leah and if he hadn't have met Leah he probably wouldn't have noticed how her left eye crinkled more than her right when she smiled or how her laugh seemed to change every day so every time he heard it, it was like the first time.
Blaze rolled onto his stomach to bury his face in the pillow. Being in love was the greatest, suckiest, most brilliant, most ridiculous thing he'd ever done. And he'd done a lot of things that could be considered such.
He finally gave in, shifting on to his back again and throwing off the blanket. The room was dark, only the faintest of light starting to breach through the curtains. Squinting and rubbing at his face, Blaze looked over to the left and paused. His bedroom door was wide open.
His mind immediately leapt to a horrifying monster and his heart stopped. Then he realised that it was more likely that Beckett had come in during the night to play a prank on him of some sort. But deciding it was far too early to deal with that crap, he started to get out of bed to close the door.
Then the voice chirped out from the right side of the bed.
"Good morning, my boy!"
"GAH!" Blaze tumbled out of the bed and hit the floor with a thud. He leapt up to his feet and glared across the bed at his father. "What the hell is wrong with you!"
"Don't be so rude, Blaze." His father, Nathaniel frowned. "I was just saying good morning."
"You can hardly call it morning! It's still dark out! Why are you in my room!"
"I really was just saying good morning." Nathaniel's frown turned into a pout. "And I have something to tell you."
"You had to scare the crap out of me in the process?"
"You really shouldn't be using that language."
"You really shouldn't be sneaking up on people in their beds! Did Beck put you up to this?"
"Beck? No, no. He hasn't even come home yet."
"Shank." Blaze scoffed under his breath. "Just get out so I can continue brooding, dad."
"But wait! I still have something to tell you, remember?"
"Then hurry it up, would you?"
"Oh, you are so much like your mother sometimes." Nathaniel sighed contently.
"HURRY. IT. UP."
"Sometimes a little too much like her...anyway, your mother and I have to leave for the day on...family...business." Nathaniel cleared his voice. "We really wish we could be here when your girlfriend arrives, but it can't be avoided, I'm afraid. I promise we'll be back into time for dinner though and we can meet her then!"
Blaze arched a brow. He really didn't care if his parents weren't around for Leah's arrival. It would actually probably be less chaotic that way. But that wasn't what had caught his attention. His parents rarely left the house, especially so early in the morning and for an entire day. He swallowed thickly. It was strange and coincidentally, it wasn't the first strange thing to happen recently.
"This...this doesn't have anything to do with You-Know-Who, does it?" Blaze curled his hands in the blanket. "Potter said he saw him during the tournament and that he was the one who-"
"No, no, no." Nathaniel rushed around the bed to his son. "It's not like that at all. It's really nothing for you to worry about.
"Right..." Blaze leered at his father.
"I'm serious. Don't give it another thought."
"I won't then."
"Good."
"Okay."
"Okay."
The two stared at each other, identical brown eyes trapped in the awkward moment as if it was hereditary.
"So, like...mum's probably waiting for you."
Nathaniel's eyes widened like he'd stepped on a porcupine.
"She definitely is."
"Might want to get on that."
"That would be wise, yes."
"So long, then." Blaze went to climb back into bed but his father grabbed his shoulders and planted a quick kiss on the top of his head before he could.
"I'll be seeing you and Leah tonight then. Make sure you tell her that we're excited to finally meet!"
"Okay, I will." Blaze nodded as he watched his father run for the door, tripping on the hall carpet as he did and having to brace himself against the wall.
"I'm alright!" Nathaniel sent a smile over his shoulder although Blaze hadn't asked.
He then scrambled down the hall, leaving Blaze's door wide open. Blaze sighed. Why did parents always do that?
He trudged over and closed it himself. Turning back to his room he leaned back against the door and pressed a hand to his head where his father had kissed him. He hadn't done that since Blaze had first gone off to school four years ago. He'd been a blubbering mess for a week according to Beckett and his mother. It was strange. Family business or not, something was definitely going on.
--A Day In the Life of Blaze Zambini--
"Ah, Leah?" Blaze poked her in the forehead. "You can let go of me now."
Leah giggled and hugged him tighter.
"I missed you! I haven't seen you in, like, forever!"
Blaze's heart fluttered like he'd swallowed an entire swarm of butterflies. He remembered back to their first goodbye. First year, the Easter Holidays. Leah had thrown a fit about being separated from Olivia and then another over Liam as well and when it had come time for Blaze to head off, Beck screaming for him somewhere on the platform, Leah showed no signs of being overly concerned with his departure. In fact, her exact words had been 'I don't think I'll miss you that much'. And now, she was saying the complete opposite.
"Well, it's nice to see you too." Blaze coughed awkwardly, attempting to pry her off from him. "If you squeeze any harder you'll probably rupture something important."
"No, I'm fine." said Leah, completely oblivious.
"Me idiot, not you." Blaze groaned as he finally managed to detach her.
"Oh." Leah laughed at herself with a 'oh, I'm such a silly billy' smile.
Blaze took in her big golden-brown eyes and impish grin. Her once flowing waves were now cut above her shoulders, pulled back from her face with a small purple bow. He'd thought her long hair was beautiful before but seeing how much she liked it short somehow made the new cut even better.
As usual her clothes were garish and colourful with all kinds of ridiculous sprinkled on top. Her silky dress was at least six different colours but somehow, just like with her hair, she made it work. She made it beautiful.
"Soooooo..." Leah rocked back and forth on her heels, looking about the sitting room.
"Right. Welcome. To my place. Well, my parents' place. Where I also live." Blaze cringed at his own words but couldn't stop them from spewing out. It was so surreal seeing her here.
"Oh, hey!" Leah abruptly perked up. "You live near the ocean right!"
Leah rushed over to the closest window, eyes scanning about frantically.
She looked like an excited puppy and Blaze had to laugh.
"The back of the house faces the ocean. We're in the front sitting room."
"Well, how am I supposed to know that!" Leah exclaimed. "Can we go to the beach? Can we? I haven't been to one in years!"
"Sure, but first you might want to get settled in." Blaze suggested with a roll of his eyes. He back pedaled into the open doorway and called down the long hall. "My guest is here! Her things need to be taken up to her room!"
Carson, the family's manservant or Tillnee, the family's house-elf, was sure to come promptly and have it covered. Two other maids tended the house as well but they only came three times a week and mostly to clean.
"You're allowed to shout inside?" Leah stared at him.
"Yes...?"
"Mama is always telling me to use my inside voice. I don't see what the big deal is." Leah grumbled and then suddenly perked up once more. "Hey, where's your family at? You have an older brother, right?"
"Yes, but they're out at the moment. My parents had an errand to run and my brother's out somewhere in the world. Either in someone's bed or face down drunk in a gutter. You can never tell with him. This works out perfectly though. The more time between my school life and home life colliding the better."
"That's dumb." Leah frowned. "I'm going to be here for a week, there's no way you'll be able to keep us completely separate so why not get it over with right away?."
"Look, the less time you all spend around each other the better."
"But why?"
"Just because."
"But why just because?"
"Because I said so."
"That's dumb!"
Then a middle-aged man, Carson, and a pointy chinned house-elf, Tillnee, stepped into the room. They both bowed their heads at the bickering two politely.
"Oh!" Leah smiled when she saw them. "Who's this Blaze?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's Carson. He's been with us practically forever. And that's Tillnee. I'm pretty sure he came with the house." Blaze turned to the two servants. "This is my guest, Le-"
"Hello, hello!" Leah beamed brightly and they both seemed a little taken aback. "I'm Leah Lovat but you can just call me Leah since that's my name!"
"Uh." Carson blinked. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Miss."
"And Tillnee's as well." The house-elf nodded.
"You can just ignore her. It'll honestly be for the best." Blaze sighed and shot them both an apologetic look. "Take her things up to the room that's been set up for her, please."
They immediately set to work. Leah, for some reason, had packed a total of five bags. Five very large bags.
"You know it's only a week, right?" Blaze arched a brow at her luggage. "You don't pack that much for ten months away at school."
"My mama says that a lady never knows what she may need." Leah replied in a low elegant tone, swooping her arms like some humanoid bird.
"Uh-huh." Blaze shook his head at her, trying to hide the smile that threatened to break on to his face.
"You wouldn't understand." Leah sighed wistfully.
"Yeah, real tragedy that is." Blaze rolled his eyes.
Leah didn't seem to hear his jab.
"Sooooo. Beach? Like now? Please?" She stared at him again, with those pretty golden-brown eyes and naturally, like the absolute sucker he was, he crumbled in an instant.
"Okay."
"Yay!" Leah cheered and attacked him in another hug.
Blaze laughed and hugged her back. Her enthusiasm was rather infectious when he didn't have Liam snickering at him and Draco and Valentine looking like they were about to vomit at any moment.
It was nice, he thought, to have her to himself for a while. It was something he certainly never imagined himself wanting just a few years ago but here they were. Embracing in the house he grew up in with no one to interfere or embarrass him.
"WHAT IMPROPRIETY IS THIS?"
The strangled gasp made the two jump apart.
They looked to the doorway where the voice had come from. A tall, handsome, dark-skinned man stood there, his lips twisted into a salacious smirk, eyes sparkling, ever so untrustworthy.
Now it was Blaze that wanted to vomit.
"Beck!" He growled. "What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you were busy out catching every disease that you could!"
"I am perfectly clean, thank you very much."
"Who was that you've been messing around with lately?" Blaze leered at his brother. "Evan? Eric? Or have you been mixing things up with Eric's friend Joshua again?"
"And if it's all three?" Beckett battered his lashes, not a speck of shame in sight.
"Whore." Blaze coughed in a closed fist.
"I heard that!"
"Good! Go back to Evan or Eric or Joshua or whoever and leave us alone!"
"What's a whore?" Leah frowned.
"Nothing!" Blaze squeaked. He almost forgot she was even there.
"It's not nothing! This is just like that time you wouldn't tell me what a hoe is!"
Blaze had never been more glad of his dark skin or he would have been visibly red from his hairline to his belly button.
Beckett burst out into a chorus of laughter.
"You must be the one and only Leah Lovat!" He jumped in between her and Blaze. He bowed dramatically and lifted his head slightly to wink. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Beckett Celestino Zambini, third of my name, second born to the current Zambini family heads and, without a doubt, my parent's favourite child."
"You're Blaze's big brother!" Leah clapped her hands, triumphantly as if she'd connected all the dots.
"Ah, yes." Beckett sighed, suddenly overcome by a pensive disposition. "It's been a stain on my memory since the day he was born...a true misfortune to all who must now bear witness."
"Knock it off, Beck." Blaze squeezed himself between Leah and his brother.
"Come now, youngest sibling." Beckett leaned down to sling his arm around his brother's neck. "Just making merry. No harm done."
"Oh, wow." Leah gaped. "You're so tall!"
"Can it." Blaze cast her a side glare.
"Tsk, tsk." Beckett shook his head disapprovingly. "That is no way to talk to a lady."
Blaze scoffed at that. Right. Leah. A lady. He didn't think she could have been a proper lady if she tried. She'd spent half the Yule Ball talking about shark attacks and the other half stuffing her face. Leah wasn't a lady. Leah was Leah.
"Uh-huh. Care to get lost now? I'm sure someone's bed is so cold without you." Blaze wriggled his way out from under Beckett.
"You're probably right, but you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Riper the berry, sweeter the fruit and such."
"Gross." Blaze made a face and grabbed Leah's arm. "I promised I'd take her down to the beach, so see you never."
"Not so fast, brother of mine. I wouldn't run off just yet, it'll make the whole situation worse if you have to be hunted down." Beckett's eyes twinkled mischievously and he tapped one high cheekbone all-knowingly. He leaned down towards Leah, speaking softly. "You see, our oldest sibling is something of a beast."
Blaze felt his entire body stop functioning for a moment as he properly took in Beckett's words.
"What! What are you talking about?" He exclaimed. "Why would that monster be here?"
"Monster?" asked Leah curiously.
Beckett leaned down ever further, whispering dramatically.
"A vicious demon with glowing red eyes and black hair so long, it'll seek you out even from a mile away."
"Yeah, and fangs so sharp they could rip you apart in a second!" Blaze added.
"You can't run, you can't hide." Beckett's eyes grew wide and terrified. "It can smell your fear."
Leah started growing honestly apprehensive at the idea of meeting this person and Blaze could see it. He might have felt bad about that if it wasn't a fair warning. And so, he continued.
"It watches your every move from the dark...then strikes!"
"Ah!" Leah jumped and slapped Blaze's shoulder. "Don't say it like that! You're freaking me out."
"You should be freaked out." Blaze nodded. "You'll be lucky if you survive."
"OH, EXCUSE ME FOR WANTING TO MEET MY LITTLE BROTHERS FIRST GIRLFRIEND!" A new voice shattered the tension in the room.
"GAH!" Both brothers leapt a foot into the air in fright.
'Oh, man we are so dead' was Blaze's first thought. His second was 'Maybe I should end this now myself and just get it over with'.
"You are both such little cretins!" The woman standing in the doorway planted a hand on each hip.
"W-what are you even doing here?" Blaze choked out.
"Are you deaf as well as stupid? I said I wanted to meet this girl you've brought home."
Leah peeked out around them both and was clearly surprised to see a beautiful, stern-looking woman standing in front of them. Like Blaze and Beckett, she had dark skin, black hair and black eyes. But unlike them, she seemed to be extremely enraged, whereas they were scared out of there wits.
"You there." The woman spotted Leah and motioned her forward. "Come on. Come here. Contrary to what my little brothers may have told you, I don't bite."
Leah glanced unsurely at Blaze.
Blaze's heart pounded against his ribs, mind racing. No, no, no. This couldn't be good.
Both he and Beckett shook their heads in earnest.
"She can't be trusted." Beckett hissed.
"I wasn't talking to you!" The woman snapped like an attacking viper and Beckett scrambled behind Blaze in response. The woman looked back to Leah. "Now, come on. We haven't got all day."
Leah swallowed nervously and stepped forward.
"Closer."
Leah took another two steps and paused. The woman smiled. Soft and simple, the creased lines of anger on her face vanishing like they'd never been there in the first place.
"You're very pretty." She said. "Far too pretty for my brother. What are you doing wasting your time with him?"
"H-hey!" Blaze shot back.
She pierced him with a seething glare and he immediately backed down. He knew when he was beaten and when it came to her, he was always beaten.
"My name's Bridget Takasu." She extended her hand to Leah. Leah took it tentatively, but the woman hardly noticed and shook it firmly. "These two bumbling fools are my baby brothers."
"I'm twenty-one." Beckett grumbled.
"Yes." Bridget turned her gaze on him next. "Twenty one, still living at home, useless, single and running around with every boy you'll take you."
"That's below the belt!" Beckett grasped his chest dramatically.
Now, Blaze wasn't going to defend his brother in this because everything Bridget had said was true, but he also couldn't just let her walk in and take over like she always did.
"Speaking of living at home," He cleared his voice. "you don't even live here anymore."
"Mum sent me an owl. She told me you would be bringing a girl home and I thought it only right that I visit."
"I suppose that means that slave of yours is around here somewhere then?" asked Beckett.
"You mean my husband. He should be." Bridget said. She leaned back and looked down the hall she was still half standing in. "Seiya!"
"Coming, dear!" A voice answered.
"Who's that?" asked Leah, sliding back over beside Blaze.
"Bridget's husband."
"More like a prisoner, the poor man." said Beckett.
"What was that?" Bridget was suddenly standing very close to him.
"Gah! Nothing, nothing!" Beckett practically whimpered, his impressive height shrinking away by the second.
Then a dark-haired Asian man entered and stood beside Bridget. But he wasn't what caught Leah's attention.
"A baby!" She cried.
The man, Seiya, was carrying a young child in his arms.
Bridget took the child from her husband, her gaze instantly softened as it had when she had greeted Leah.
"This is my daughter Willow." She straightened the green bow in the child's curls. "And of course this is Seiya, my husband."
"Ah, so you're Blaze's girlfriend." Seiya extended a hand to Leah, speaking in clear but heavily accented English.
But Leah wasn't beside Blaze anymore or paying any attention to Seiya. She was right in front of Bridget, peering at Willow curiously.
"Oh. My. Gosh. I have never seen anything so cute in my whole life!" Leah squealed. "Look at her chubby cheeks and little hands! I think I'm going to die!"
Willow blinked owlishly and then smiled at Leah, showing off two front teeth that hadn't been there when Blaze had last been home.
"Teeth! She's got tiny little teeth! Oh, my, god!"
"Planning on children?" Beckett nudged his brother.
"Shut it." Blaze snapped at him, embarrassed by the connotations.
He'd never known Leah liked babies so much, although it did fit her character. She was obsessed with anything small and cute so why would his niece, who was most certainly small and cute, be any different?
"And look! We even match!" Leah gestured to the bow in both the child's and her own hair.
"Would you like to hold her?" asked Bridget.
"Can I?" Leah beamed.
Blaze was struck by a sudden image of Leah dropping Willow on her head and jumped in to physically move her into an armchair.
"You might want to sit down first, Leah."
Leah hardly noticed. She was far too excited to hold a real live baby and when Bridget settled Willow in Leah's arms gently Blaze was impressed that she didn't scream in pure joy.
"She's so cute and so little and so, so cute." Leah whispered tightly like she was about to combust. "I can't believe babies are so damn soft."
"She's not really a baby, you know." Said Blaze. "She's nearly a year and a half."
Leah's eyes snapped over to him with a glare he wasn't expecting.
"You never even told me you were an uncle. Or that you had a sister. What else are you keeping from me?"
"Nothing. Now that you've met them you should see why I never wanted to talk about them at school! I get ten months of safety from them, I'm not going to ruin it by talking about them."
"Hey!" Beckett pouted.
"You're so rude." Bridget huffed.
"Look, just because I didn't have to go to school together like you guys did doesn't mean I should have to suffer too."
"...That's fair." Bridget decided.
"Um, excuse me?" Beckett crossed his arms over his chest but was ignored.
"Here, she likes to sit up." Seiya stepped forwards to rearrange his daughter on Willow's lap.
"Dadadadadadada." The baby babbled in confirmation that this was in fact her father.
"Uh oh." Leah's face drooped.
"Something wrong?" Asked Seiya.
"Yeah, she's so dang cute I think I'm going to cry."
Blaze snorted and rolled his eyes at her. He wasn't about to mention how he'd cried when he'd first met Willow and hoped to everything good in the world that neither of his evil siblings would bring it up.
"Where are your parents?" asked Seiya. "Usually Nathaniel is asking for a hug by now."
"Don't look at me." Beckett shrugged. "They were gone when I got back this morning."
Both Blaze and Bridget shared a look.
"I can see you, you know!"
"They left early this morning." Blaze continued to ignore his brother. "And I'm talking early. The sun wasn't even up yet. Dad said they had family business to take care of."
"Family business?" That sparked Bridget's interest.
"He didn't give me any details though. He just said that they'd be back in time for dinner."
"That's rather odd. They hardly ever go anywhere."
"I know. Dad said it was nothing to worry about."
"Hmm. Well, it can't be anything good then."
"Agreed."
--A Day in the Life of Blaze Zambini--
Blaze watched the waves lap around Leah's bare legs. When Bridget had announced that Willow needed to take her afternoon nap, Leah had no choice but to find another form of entertainment. Then Beckett had reminded Blaze about his promise to show Leah the beach. And so, he and Leah had changed into their swimwear and Blaze had led her down to the waterfront.
Leah had immediately complained about the rocky bank and shoreline and how much it was going to hurt her feet. Then Blaze had pointed out the trail his family had carved out years ago, that cut through the worst of the rocks and had smoothed over time. Leah pretended as though she hadn't just been carrying on over nothing.
Now he was staring at Leah's legs, trying to remind himself that it's perfectly acceptable for a female to wear a one-piece bathing suit. No matter how much skin is showing or how much leg she has. And it really was a lot of leg.
More often than not both the sky and water were grey but today the sun peaked its way through the thin cloud cover, painting the ocean light blues and greens.
Leah was splashing about, seemingly having the time of her life standing mid-calf depth in the water. Which for Blaze was more like knee-deep.
"Have I told you how cute Willow is?" She said.
"Only about twenty times."
"I honestly can't believe you didn't tell me." Leah kicked up the water about her. "You have a sister and an adorable niece and you never said a word. You're so lucky!"
"Well, you're welcome to them." He muttered. "I'll even gift wrap them."
Blaze supposed he could see the appeal of siblings to an only child. Liam had said before that he wished he'd had at least one sibling, or perhaps a cousin like Draco and Valentine. But he also knew that they didn't understand what it was like. Wanting brothers and sisters and having them is another thing entirely.
"Okay. I think your sister is cool."
"What! How?"
"She kind of reminds me of Val, you know." Leah walked her way over to him as fast as the water would allow her. "Like, all-powerful and intimidating and stuff. But they're not too similar. Like if you annoyed Val she might actually kill you but Bridget might just scream a bit."
"I don't know about that," said Blaze. "This one time Beck accidentally got water on Bridget's history project and I'm pretty sure he's scarred for life."
"I think he's funny." Leah grinned, completely ignoring his story.
"Yeah, he thinks so too."
"And he's so tall!"
"Hey, Leah?" said Blaze, irked at her goodwill towards his siblings.
"Yesssss?" She tilted her head as she extended the word.
"You know we're surrounded by water, right? We're standing in the ocean right now. I could drown you and push your body out to sea and they'd never find you."
"I'm too sweet and pretty to drown!" Leah exclaimed.
"But stupid enough to not see it coming."
"I'm not stupid!" Leah splashed water at him.
"Shit, that's cold!" Blaze cursed and immediately splashed water back at her.
"Hey!" Leah laughed and kicked back at him.
"You started it!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Fight me!"
"I will and I'll win!"
"Ha! Don't make me laugh!"
"You'll be laughing underwater when I'm done with you!"
The two bickered back and forth, water flying as they quickly became drenched.
Blaze laid back to kick his legs, sending up a storm of spray heading Leah's way.
She squealed and waded out further until she was in chest-deep.
"Coward!" He shouted after her and she turned to face him with a wide grin.
Warmth bloomed in his chest at the sight. He wanted her to always be able to smile like that. To be happy and free to only care about her ribbons and cute animals. He knew he couldn't control what happened to her when he wasn't around but he vowed to himself that as long as they were together, he was going to do everything he could to make sure she kept smiling.
He swam after her and she splashed water directly into his face, cackling the whole time. He returned fire with a vengeance, heaving the most water at her that he could.
"Wait!" Leah suddenly held out a hand over her face. "My eyes."
She turned away from him and rubbed at her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Blaze immediately apologized. "I didn't mean to be so rough. You okay?"
He put his hand on her shoulder, turning her back around to face him. Then he saw how puff up her cheeks were and knew he had made a mistake.
She spat out the water at him, quite like an elegant marble fountain with none of the elegance.
"Ew, you little cheat!" Blaze shoved her away in disgust.
Leah thought it was a complete riot and giggled to herself before ducking under the water and disappearing.
"What a brat." Blaze huffed, washing his face off.
He waited for her to come back up, preparing to attack. Several long moments passed and he could feel the worry start to bundle up inside him.
"Leah?" He called, looking around at the endless ocean around him.
Where had she gone? How long could she hold her breath? Valentine said she could swim, he had read the letter multiple times to be sure.
"Leah?" His voice cracked slightly but he didn't care. A feeling that was eerily similar came over him. He didn't want to feel it but it was there and quickly swallowed him whole. "Leah!"
"Got you!" Water slashed against his back accompanied by evil giggles.
"I should have known." He spun on her and tackled her back under the water before she could take a breath.
They were only under for a moment, he let her up quickly and she spluttered at the sudden submersion.
"That's playing dirty!" She choked out.
"You would know!" Blaze shot back.
Leah just stuck out her tongue at him and dived back under the water.
"One day she's going to give me a heart attack." Blaze sighed and let himself drift onto his back.
Leah was fine but that feeling still hadn't gone away. It had happened so long ago that he rarely even thought about it anymore.
If you swam out far enough you would come to a sudden drop in the ocean floor. He was fairly young at the time, but with living by the ocean, he could practically swim by the time he could walk. And Beckett and Bridget had already been teenagers by then. They both attended Hogwarts and were home for the summer break.
They made a game of seeing who could swim out the furthest past The Drop into the pitch-black abyss. As children, even the more responsible ones like Bridget were prone to doing reckless things.
Blaze had always been frightened by The Drop but didn't want to risk being mocked by his older siblings for it and so naturally played despite that fear. Bridget, always the overachiever, had been the one to reach the furthest and never missed an opportunity to hold it over her brother's heads. Beckett was a close second and likely would have surpassed his sister if it hadn't been for that one summer. The summer Beckett had almost drowned.
Six Years Ago-
"Since the beast isn't here, I'm in charge!" Beckett announced.
"As if!" Blaze scoffed at him.
Beckett was fifteen. Blaze was eight. It was summer and that was the only time he ever got to spend around his siblings with them at school most of the year. And as annoying and bossy as they were, he wasn't old enough to swim alone making them a necessary evil in his life- His mother wouldn't let him do anything fun if she was sure what he got up to on the beach and his father could hardly swim despite living here his entire life. So, once his siblings returned home from school he'd badger them mercilessly until someone would give in or their mother would force them. Today it was Beckett who had found himself with nothing better to do.
They were swimming out to The Drop. Blaze had been practising holding his breath in the bathtub for weeks now and he was so certain he'd finally have a chance at winning. As long as he could hold his breath for as long as he would need then even Beckett's long spidery limbs couldn't beat him. He thought he might even beat Bridget's record if he tried!
He forced himself to stay confident despite all already feeling the aches in his arms and legs as he tried to keep up with his big brother.
"Wait up!" He called after him.
"If you can't even make it to The Drop, then don't even bother coming!" Beckett shouted.
Blaze gritted his teeth and pushed on. He refused to admit defeat.
Beckett waited just before The Drop, grinning smugly. Out this far, they had several feet of water between them and the ocean floor. It was already especially deep for Blaze but he had never let that stop him. Stop him from swimming that is, not from letting his contempt be known.
"It's not fair!" He whined. "You're twice as tall as I am!"
"That's because I'm mum and dad's favourite." Beckett shrugged. "I don't make the rules."
"That makes zero sense."
"Yeah, it does! Don't question me!"
"Whatever. Now, shut up and take your turn."
"Why do I have to go first?"
"Because you're the favourite, remember?"
"Yes. But I'm in charge and I say if you don't go first then you're chicken."
"I am not!"
"You so are."
"Am not!"
"Then prove it."
Blaze grumbled under his breath, glared at his brother and made sure to splash extra hard as he passed.
He stopped at the very edge of The Drop where the ground curved up into a slope, giving Blaze something to stand on. He sucked in a breath, looking out at the stretch of never ending water. The sky was grey today and it left the ocean dark and drab beneath it.
"I'm waiting." Beckett huffed impatiently.
"Shut up."
His toes peeked out over the edge into the nothingness. His legs were tense. His basic instincts went against this but he easily battered them away. After years of standing here, gaze searching the neverending waters, he'd grown used to the voice in his head telling him that someday this exhilarating, dangerous game, would get someone hurt. Blaze drew in another deep breath and dived.
He squeezed his eyes shut as he powered forward as far as he could go in one breath. There was always a breeze coming in from the open sea. Some days the waves would lap at the shore, gently caressing the earth. Other days it crashed against the rocks, dragging up shells and seaweed and odd items from the Muggle world. Today it was almost completely flat, perfect weather for a game of endurance.
The real point of the game wasn't just about who could swim the furthest. It was a test of nerve. The estate the Zambini homestead was found on was already situated in an isolated place, but out there on the ocean, was true aloneness. You could already feel it in your gut, standing on the edge of The Drop. The further out you went the more cut off from the world you were. The further away from safety.
Eventually, you would reach a point where you knew you wouldn't be able to make it back, where you had hit your limit and that would be where you stopped. Then you'd gauge how far you'd gone by the six rocks peeking through the water's surface in the distance before them. Each of the rocks were at least thirty metres apart, the last two were almost fifty. Only Bridget ever made it to the fifth, and that was further than either Blaze or Beckett. None had ever gotten to the sixth.
Blaze stopped for a moment, taking in a breath and checking to see how far he'd gone. He was probably two feet from the first rock, which was only about fifteen metres from the edge of The Drop. He grabbed a hold of it. His personal best was halfway to the third.
"Haven't got all day!" Beckett called out through cupped hands.
They had a rule. You could only stay on a rock for ten seconds before you automatically lost. Otherwise, you could take your time at each rock, recuperating and getting your strength back, which really didn't make it much of a game.
"Jerk." Blaze muttered to himself and plunged his head back under the water.
Beckett had almost made it to the fourth rock once, that was his record. Today, Blaze was determined he would make it to the fourth and take second place out from under his brothers stupid, smug face.
He kept pushing through the water, comparing it today when the waves were dark and angry, this was nothing. He stopped again at the second rock. He looked over at Beckett in the distance, growing smaller and smaller. Then he looked out to the third rock. If he could get that far then he'd break his own record. He would be further than he'd have ever been before. His arms and legs were not impressed with his tenacity, but regardless he took another breath and pushed off.
He didn't let himself think about how dangerous the whole idea of the game was to begin with, or bad it could go. He was just as good as his brother and sister and he could go just as far as they could.
His arms and legs were really starting to burn now and the less energy he had, the slower he was moving. He knew this feeling. This was the spot he'd made it to last. His body was telling him it was time to give in but he ignored it. He had to make a decision. Still try and beat his brother's record or simply aim for beating his own. Beckett told him that when Bridget was his age she could only make it to the second, after all, which already made him better than her in a sense. If he could beat his own record and make it to the third rock and then he could work on beating Beckett.
Blaze pushed on and just as he thought that might have been the wrong decision and that he should have already turned back, the third rock was right in front of him. He grabbed it and, laughing in surprise at his own triumph, pulled himself up to sit on it.
He waved to Beckett in the distance. They knew from experience that shouting to each other from over sixty meters away usually tended to be not worth the throat strain, though he could see Beckett wave back.
He smiled up at the sky, breathing in the cool sea air. Everything was so still and silent. It was unnerving. Then he remembered the time limit and knew Beckett would be counting so he quickly dropped back into the water. He wouldn't let it all be for nothing.
He made the slow trip back, his muscles screaming at him fiercely. By the time he made it back to the first rock, he was ready for it all to be over. But he had one last stretch of nothing to go.
"Come on, just this last bit!" Beckett called out to him. "Keep going!"
It felt good to have his big brother's encouragement. No matter how big of a moron that brother might have been.
He pushed off the first rock, letting himself float onto his back and moving himself along with his arms, giving his burning legs a break. He knew he'd hadn't really been out there too long but his body protested regardless.
Eventually, he reached the edge of The Drop and Beckett pulled him back to where the ocean floor was only a few feet below and not what could have been a hundred. None of them had ever been able to swim deep enough to see just how far The Drop went.
"Well done, youngest sibling." Beckett slapped a little too hard on the back. "Now it's time for me to beat that beast sister of ours."
"What-"
Blaze was cut off by the spray Beckett sent into the air as he dived off the edge.
He was going to try and beat Bridget? That was completely insane. The swim for the sixth rock and back was over four hundred metres and Bridget almost vomited after she came back from the fifth from the sheer physical exertion. Living near the water might have blessed them all with the ability to swim well, but they were hardly trained for endurance. That was what had always made their game such a dangerously fun one.
All he could do was watch as his brother powered through the water, hitting the first in no time. He put one hand on the rock, sent a grin over his shoulder and then made for the second.
"Bloody show off." Blaze said as his brother became smaller and smaller again.
Before too long, he was going for the third rock. Blaze cursed Beckett's stupid, long limbs and glared down at his much short ones. He had been unlucky enough to take after his father in height as his siblings had taken after their mother. He wondered why life was always so unfair.
"Blaze!" A voice shouted for him and he turned to see his sister swimming towards him from the shore.
"Hey!" He shouted back and then glanced back over to Beckett, who was halfway to the third rock by now.
When Bridget made it to his side he couldn't control his smile.
"I made it to the third." He beamed.
"Well done." She replied unenthusiastically and tilted her chin out at the open water. "What's that idiot doing?"
"Beck? He's trying to beat you."
Bridget looked at him.
"He's going for the fifth?"
"That's what he said." Blaze shrugged. "Do you think he can get out that far?"
"Whether he can get there isn't the problem." She shook her head, watching Beckett in the distance. "It's whether he can get back."
Their brother was striking out for the fourth rock and all they could do was watch. Beckett's long limbs gave him speed, but didn't afford him any stamina.
"Bridget? When you hit the fifth...it hurt didn't it?" Blaze prodded carefully. "You looked sick and when we got back inside you slept four hours and even missed dinner."
"I was tired." She shot him a side glare.
Bridget strongly disliked showing any of her weaknesses. Blaze knew he wouldn't get anything else out of her after such a question.
"He's hit the fourth." She said, focus back on Beckett.
"One more and he's done it then."
They fell into silence until Beckett really did manage to reach the fifth rock.
"He did it!" Blaze cheered, impressed and a little annoyed if he was being honest. His siblings had many skills where he had many shortcomings.
"Well then." said Bridget. "I'll just have to make the sixth."
"No way..." Blaze gawked at her. "Bridget, that's really far. You got sick just getting to the fifth. It's not a big deal, you know"
"Shut up!" She snapped at him. "What would you know about making it to the fifth? You only just made it to the third."
Blaze's anger boiled inside him and he turned away from her to watch Beckett making it back to the fourth. She often wasn't worth arguing with when she got all high and mighty, which was pretty high for a seventeen-year-old.
Beckett was moving very slowly, Blaze noticed. It took him almost ten minutes to hit the third. Then another fifteen to hit the second.
"Is he okay?" Blaze squinted his eyes to see him. "I think he's getting slower."
Beckett clung to the second rock for a moment, catching his breath, then he let go and his body disappeared back into the gray bottomless water.
"He's not even going to rest longer after that?" Blaze asked aloud.
The two siblings waited for a long silent moment. They expected for him to break the surface of the water a few metres away from the second rock. Blaze counted the seconds that passed.
One...
Two...
Three...
"Bridget..." His voice shook slightly.
"Damn that idiot." Bridget cursed and sent to dive off the edge.
"I'll go too!" Blaze grabbed her arm but Bridget shoved him away from her.
"Stay here! I can't bring you both back!" She said.
Then Bridget sucked in a breath and dived below the surface.
She immediately struck out for the first rock. Blaze's heart hammered away in his chest, thudding against his ribs almost painfully. His stomach felt cold and empty, his mouth felt dry and tight.
This really was a stupid, childish, dangerous game.
Bridget passed the first rock without pausing. He'd never seen her move so fast. She hit the second in a matter of only seconds. Blaze watched her stop, sucked in another breath and dive again.
He waited.
And waited.
His insides grew colder and colder. He imagined himself stumbling up the house to tell his parents what happened. How they had been playing such a stupid, stupid game and when Beckett didn't come back Bridget went after him. Tears spilled from his eyes at the thought and he brushed them away.
He knew what Bridget had said made sense. He was both slower and weaker than his siblings and was still tired from his turn. If he ended up in Beckett's position, Bridget wouldn't be able to help the both of them. It was logical, it was the smart thing to do. But he wasn't smart. He wasn't tall. He wasn't really good at anything but they were his siblings and he couldn't just stand here. So, he shifted closer to the edge of The Drop, pulled in a deep breath and launched himself forwards with all his might.
His muscles hadn't had a proper rest, keeping him afloat while Beckett took his turn. He disregarded the quickly returning ache. He had to.
When he hit the first rock, he pulled himself out of the water, arms burning under his own weight. Sitting on the rock, he called out into the ocean.
"Bridget!" His voice croaked with exhaustion. "Beck!"
The tears returned and so did the image of him alone, walking back up to the house. He didn't want that. Anything but that. Then Bridget burst through the water's surface. She had Beckett in her arms, laying eerily still.
"Bridget!" He cried out.
"Blaze..." She huffed, looking over at him. He could barely hear her.
Blaze dived back in. His limbs screamed at him. His lungs burned like he'd breathed in fire but he didn't stop until he'd reached his siblings.
He gasped as he broke back to the surface, clinging to the second rock.
"Brid..get..." He choked out.
Bridget was holding her brother to the rock with her body, arms pinned around him, keeping his head above the water.
"We need...to get to shore..." He said between breaths.
"You idiot." Bridget was breathless herself. Her hair had come loose from her usual bun and stuck to her face.
Blaze had never seen her so distraught and it brought the coldness in his stomach back.
"You can't take him back alone." Blaze told her earnestly.
"I'm not swimming back." She shook her head. "I'm apparating."
"You can do that?" Blaze.
Bridget nodded.
"I need to calm down first."
"Okay. Just do it quickly." Blaze prompted her.
"Shut up." She sent him a glare. "Get over here. We need to have physical contact or you'll be left out here."
Blaze let go of the rock and swam over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, legs kicking furiously to keep himself in place.
"I'm ready when you are." He told her.
She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Then a moment later they disappeared from the water.
Blaze felt his body being pulled apart and put back together. He was stretched out and then compressed, all in a second. Then they were on the rocky shoreline of the beach.
Blaze gagged, immediately bile rose in his throat and he vomited on to the rocks.
Beside him, Bridget rolled Beckett on his back. She stuck two fingers under his chin. His skin was strangely ashen and his chest was unnaturally still.
"Is he dead?" Blaze wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Shut up." Bridget ordered him, speaking lowly.
Bridget pressed her ear to Beckett's chest.
Blaze crawled over to the other side of him hurriedly.
"He's still alive." Bridget sat up, She overlapped her hands on his chest and started pressing down hard and rhythmically, putting all her body weight into it.
After a few moments, Bridget put her ear back to his chest and listened again. She gritted her teeth. Then she sat back up and pounded on his chest with a closed fist, bringing it down with shocking force.
"What are you doing!" Blaze immediately reached to stop her. "You're going to hurt him!"
"He's already hurt!" Bridget slapped Blaze's hands away and started pressing on Beckett's chest again. "His heart is just barely beating. But he- he might have water in his lungs or something. We just need to get him breathing again, a cracked rib isn't exactly my first priority right now."
"But...but you used magic to get us out of the water." Blaze spoke rapidly. "Can't you do something to get him breathing?"
"I-I haven't even got my wand with me." Bridget shook her head.
"You have to do something!" Shouted Blaze.
"I know!" Bridget screamed back at him, still pressing on Beckett's chest with all she had. "There's a spell...there's a spell to clear someone's airways...What was it? What was it!"
Bridget pulled her hands to listen to Beckett's chest again. She growled lowly.
"What was that fucking spell?" She positioned herself to keep working on Beckett's chest when she paused and looked at Blaze. "That's it!"
"What is?"
She didn't answer and just slapped an open hand down on Beckett's chest and shouted;
"Anapneo!"
Immediately Beckett's eyes flew open and water erupted from his mouth. Bridget rolled him into his side as he coughed up water and sand out onto the rocks.
Beckett gave a loud, strangled gasp and Blaze was instantly filled with relief.
"That was amazing." Blaze stared at his sister in disbelief, tears beading in the corner of his eyes. "That..."
"That was the end of that stupid game." Bridget swallowed thickly.
Blaze nodded in agreement and looked down at his brother, still sputtering and gagging. He grabbed Beckett's hand and squeezed.
"We're here, Beck. You're okay. Bridget saved you. We're here."
Present Day-
Blaze shifted off his back and on to his feet again. His heart rummaged painfully inside his chest. The memory was something he'd forced himself not to think about for so long. Now it was all he could see, playing in the back of his mind, a haunting reminder of just how stupid children could be.
He looked out at the water around him and frowned. Leah hadn't come up yet. He turned in a circle twice, scanning the area but couldn't see any sign of her.
"Leah!" He practically screamed, panic tearing from his throat. "Leah! Please not again..."
"Blaze?" Leah answered with a frown, head just popping up from the water.
She was only a few metres away, staring at him in confusion.
He threw himself in her direction. He grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tightly to his chest.
"Woah!" Leah righted them when almost went under again. "What's your problem!"
He didn't answer, his arms tightening around her.
"Hey? What's with the hug attack?" She asked, voice softening and wrapping her arms around him. "Blaze?"
She pushed him away gently to look him in the eyes.
"I'm alright, okay? I'm an excellent swimmer."
Blaze nodded, eyes drifting to look somewhere off to the side.
Leah put a hand on either side of his face and directed his gaze back towards hers and held it there.
"What's gotten into you? You looked so scared."
Blaze didn't know how to answer that or even if he wanted to tell her, but she was so close and her eyes were so big and beautiful and her lips were right there...
He hadn't intended to kiss her, but he found himself doing it anyway. He pressed his lips chastely to hers and then hugged her again. Leah didn't even have time to react.
It was their first kiss. He worried for a moment that she was going to get mad. Leah seemed like the type of girl who might want more out of a first kiss, something more grand than this at least.
"Blaze." Leah just hugged him back. "What's wrong? You can tell me."
"There's..." Blaze swallowed the lump that rose in the back of his throat. "...there's a big drop if you swim out too far...it's really dangerous...so just be careful?"
"But what could happen to me? It's not like I'm not alone. What are you so afraid of?"
"...Just be careful?" He pulled away this time, wanting to see her face again. "It's just really dangerous so you have to be careful and not go too far."
"I don't think that's all that's bothering you..." Leah glanced down at his lips. "but...can I try and make it better?"
Without waiting for an answer, Leah leaned in and kissed him gently. Her lips were warm despite her being drenched from head to toe. The sensation filled Blaze's mind, the haunting memories all but disappearing.
--A Day in the Life of Blaze Zambini--
Blaze could hardly believe how well things were going thus far. Could they be better? Of course. But seeing as the house was in one piece and Leah had remained in a generally good mood, things were probably as good as they were going to get.
He wasn't entirely sure why he was lurking on the stairs like he was, but he hadn't moved in the last ten minutes. He'd been coming downstairs after changing out of his wet clothes and had caught a glimpse into the sitting room where Leah, Bridget, Seiya and Willow were.
Leah was on the floor playing with Willow while Bridget and Seiya asked her about school. It was all so normal and casual and yet so strange that Leah was here at all. Didn't she feel even a little awkward being in unfamiliar territory? Everyone there was a total stranger to her except for himself but she seemed to have no problem being left on her own. He doubted he could have been so comfortable in the Lovat Manor. He made a note to write to Draco and Valentine again, asking for some pointers on Leah's family.
Willow giggled loudly and Leah gave a squeal of joy.
Moving down one more step, Blaze could see even further into the room now. They were playing with what looked like a bundle of ribbon and lace that Blaze had never seen before. He assumed that Leah had bought it all with her for whatever asinine reason she had.
Leah really, really did like children, he could see that clear as day. Would she want kids of her own? With him? Would they be together that long? And what about marriage? Blaze knew his parents could be fairly lax when it came to tradition but Leah's family likely weren't. Would they be expected to get married? When? Where? Suddenly everything was going too fast for Blaze and he had to sit down.
"Bloody hell." He cursed to himself. "You're only fourteen. It's way too early to even think about that kind of stuff."
He heard Leah and Willow laughing again and had to smile.
But...would he want kids? So far he'd only thought about what Leah would want and of course, that was important, especially since Leah would be the one pregnant in this scenario. He found the immediate answer was yes. He had no reason that he could think of to not want any at all. Perhaps just one or two, though. One boy and one girl would be nice. Cover all the bases. He would have to take control of the naming though if he could. He didn't trust Leah to not name them something like Humphrey or Gertrude. They were decent names on their own but he felt that you probably shouldn't name our own children the same way you name animals and random objects. So, what would he call them then?
"Marcus...and David for boys?" He muttered out loud. "And maybe...Laura or...Stella? Those are pretty, I suppose...or should we pass down family names? Leah's parents are William and Rose and mine are Samantha and Nathaniel. We could do something with that..."
"Picking baby names?" A voice suddenly whispered right over his shoulder.
Blaze almost screamed, barely slapped a hand over his mouth in time. He turned to his grinning brother with a glare.
"Mind your own business." He shoved him with a scowl.
"Wait...you were thinking about baby names?" Beckett's grin somehow grew even wider and Blaze wanted to slap it off his face.
"Shut up."
"Awwwwww." Beckett pouted and dropped down on the stair beside him. "That's so cute, little brother...maybe a little soon what with you both still practically being fetuses, but cute all the same."
"We're not fetuses. Just get lost, would you?"
"By the way, Beckett could work just fine for both a boy or a girl."
Blaze made a face.
"Any child I may or may not have will never be named after a raging man whore like you."
"I'm going to tell mum and dad you said that."
"Go for it. You know they'll agree with me."
Before Beckett could snap back at him, their mother was walking down the hall towards them and the sitting room.
"What would we agree with?" asked their mother.
"That Beckett's got so many notches in his bedpost the thing is about to collapse."
"Well, of course."
"...I feel as though I should be offended by that but I'm just really not." Beckett shrugged at his mother's bluntness.
"Offended by what?" Their father approached.
"Oh, just by Beckett's promiscuity." replied his wife.
"Can't argue with the facts. Now, where is this girlfriend of yours, Blaze?"
"Um." Blaze suddenly felt overcome with anxiety.
"He's busy picking out the names of their future children," said Beckett. "She's in the sitting room with the beastly one."
"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Bridget's voice made both Blaze and Beckett jump.
"Ah. The sound of family." Nathaniel sighed.
"Let's meet her then." Samantha led the way into the sitting room.
Blaze was still rooted to the spot so Beckett slapped his arm.
"Ouch!"
"Are you really going to make her meet them alone? You should be the one doing the introducing!"
"Oh, crap." Blaze leapt up because unfortunately, his brother was right.
He hurried into the sitting room after his parents and gestured for Leah to stand up.
"Mum, dad. This is Leah Lovat. My, um..." Blaze cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I'm his girlfriend!" Leah declared without a hint of hesitation. "He's just being dumb and embarrassed."
"Oi!" Blaze gaped at her.
"Well, I like her." Samantha decided.
"You only just met her!" Blaze gaped at her as well. "You can't just say you like her because she insulted me!"
"Hush, now." Samantha hardly looked at him and extended a hand for Leah to shake. "I'm Samantha, Blaze's mother as you might know. And this is my husband, Nathaniel. I hope my family hasn't traumatised you too much in my absence."
"I've had a great time." Leah assured her, shaking her hand. "It's so cool that you live so close to the water and Willow is the cutest thing ever."
"Oh, isn't she though?" Nathaniel lit up. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I always hoped Blaze would manage to find someone."
"Excuse me?" Blaze bristled. "Manage?"
"You're not exactly a catch." Beckett hummed offhandedly.
"Yes, I am! Shut up!"
"Boys!" Samantha snapped and they fell silent. "If anyone should decide if Blaze is a catch or not it should be Leah."
Blaze wasn't even shocked and that just made him sad.
"Well, I didn't think he was at first." Leah answered without pause. "He was a jerk and picked on me for everything. Which is still kind of true but it's also kind of fun so, meh. I like him a lot more now. He thinks I'm pretty so that's great. My mama would say that he's a little like wine, you know? Gets better with age."
The family stared at her for a moment. Then Nathaniel burst in tears, clinging to his wife.
"Oh, that's so sweet!" He wept. "I think he's found the one, dear! I can't believe it happened so soon. My little boy! My little boy is like wine!"
Blaze blinked several times.
"I don't know which one of you to be more mad at right now so I think I'll just go into another room and scream for a while."
--A Day in the Life of Blaze Zambini--
After dinner, Bridget had returned to her own home with Seiya to put Willow to bed. Leah cried when they left, bringing out honest concern in everyone but Blaze. He figured it wouldn't be too long before they realised the difference between her crying for no good reason and her crying because something was actually wrong. For instance, a simple goodbye from people who promised to visit again in a few days was not a good reason to break down in uncontrollable tears as opposed to some kind of major, life-changing trauma which was generally the perfect time to break down.
They played cards in the sitting room until around nine when Blaze's parents had turned in for the night and told the children to be in bed by ten at least.
It was obviously directed more at Blaze and Leah than Beckett who was technically an adult but Blaze had little intention of following that anyway. His mother always tried to tell them that keeping a good sleep schedule over the summer would make going back to school easier and he knew she was absolutely correct. But if he had always listened to what his mother said, even if only when he knew she was right, he would have been living a very different life.
Beckett played with them for another hour and a half, most of which was spent either shouting at each other or threatening homicide. Not all that unusual for a game of cards in the Zambini household. Or for Blaze and his friends at school either. Which was most certainly all that cheating Liam Highcourt's fault!
Then Beckett had gotten a late-night owl from some guy named Rory that Blaze had never even heard of before. Beckett had immediately gotten that look on his face and Blaze tried not to gag at the sight of it.
Upon realizing that Beckett would be leaving too, Leah nearly started the waterworks all over again and it damn near almost convinced him to stay until Blaze intervened. He wouldn't pretend not to be irked at how attached she already was to his psycho family after only one day. Wasn't it enough that he was still here? What was so great about his family that them leaving warranted a temper tantrum? He was sure he'd never understand.
Finally, with his sister and her family, his parents and his brother gone, it was just them alone again. For the first time since they had been out on the beach early that day. Blaze was riddled with nerves like termites crawling through his veins but Leah seemed ever blissful in her ignorance.
The actual game of cards fell apart some time ago and they had been attempting to build a house from them instead for about the last half hour. They had tried to do this at school as well but there had been an incident back in second year in which Draco had purposely taken a card from the bottom and collapsed the whole thing, resulting in Leah chasing him around the common room with a poker from the fireplace screaming until they both ran smack right into Valentine who looked negative two seconds from murder and almost stabbed them both with the poker. It was only resolved because the dinner bell rang and both Leah and Draco ran for their lives. It was things like that that made Blaze wonder why he was surrounded by crazy on all sides.
"Hey, you remember that time Draco destroyed our card house and I tried to kill him?" Leah answered out of the blue, focusing on carefully placing the cards before her.
Blaze nearly choked.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Don't you remember? I was so mad! I had the poker and everything!"
"Yeah, I remember but that's not the problem. I was literally just thinking about that. Like, as you asked, I was literally thinking about when that happened!"
Leah looked up at him across the coffee table and the house of cards.
"Woah. Weird."
"Hell yeah, that's weird!"
"Maybe I'm a mind reader!" Leah's eyes lit up.
"I wouldn't get ahead of myself if I were you. It was just a weird coincidence. Why did you bring it up in the first place?"
"I don't know." Leah shrugged. "I kind of just remembered it out of nowhere since we're making a house right now and all. I swear, I can still feel Val's glare in my gut. I seriously thought we were both done for that day!"
"You weren't the only one. Liam and I were clearing out our schedules for your funeral."
"I want sunflowers at my funeral." said Leah decidedly. "And snapdragons."
"I'll make a note of it." Blaze snorted.
"What flowers do you want at yours?"
"I don't know. I haven't exactly given much thought to my funeral."
"Lammmeeeeeee. I want sunflowers, snapdragons and pink roses. I also want my coffin to be lined with pale blue silk and everyone has to wear the biggest hat they can find."
"You really have put a lot of thought in this."
"Yeah, me and Draco used to do it together when we were little. He wants violets for his funeral and emeralds encrusted on his headstone."
"That is an extremely morbid passtime for a child...also, emeralds? Really? I'm not that I'm surprised he would want that, being a boujee bitch and all, but still."
"Ugh, that's what Val said." Leah rolled her eyes.
"That would be because she's the one with all the sense."
"She said she didn't even care if there were flowers at her funeral or anything! She said that since she'd be dead she wouldn't know and that we could throw her off a cliff for all she cares!"
"Yeah, that sounds like something she'd say." Blaze couldn't not laugh at that.
"I should write to Liam about it. I'm sure he'd have some kind of worthy opinion."
"Not everyone is that keen to think about their own death, Leah."
"I'm not talking about death! I'm talking about leaving in style! My mama said it's never too early to be prepared!"
"I doubt she was considering this but sure."
"You need to learn to have more fun."
"I have plenty of fun! I just don't have to choose my coffin lining to do so!"
"Well, maybe you should!"
"Maybe you're a weirdo!"
"Oh, shut up! You know you lovvvveeeeeee me!"
Blaze was once more thankful for his dark complexion as he felt his face heat up. Why did she always have to say that kind of stuff loud out like that?
"Y-You shut up!"
"Never!"
"Whatever." Blaze scoffed, still embarrassed he stood. "I'm getting tired anyway."
"No, wait, wait!" Leah waved a hand for him to stay put. "I want to ask you something first!"
"What?"
"What happened down at the beach today?" He was struck by how oddly serious she looked. "Are you okay? It was like you thought I was going to die or something."
"I told you what it was. There's a big drop if you swim out far enough and it can be really dangerous to go past it."
"What's so dangerous about it?"
"It just goes really deep. So deep that we don't even know. If you get tired or something then it could be a problem." Blaze tried to walk away again but Leah stood up, offended.
"But I'm an excellent swimmer."
"That's not the point."
"Then what's the point?"
"I don't know, okay? I'm going to bed."
"No, wait!" Leah scrambled around the room like a demented spider to block his exit. "That can't be it! I saw the look on your face. You were so scared, Blaze. Did you get stuck out there once or something?"
Blaze tried his best to glare at her but his eyes were watering and he was too focused on trying to hide it. Seeing Leah acting so serious was even stranger than seeing her acting so at home with his family. Leah just wasn't a serious person and when she was being serious, it usually meant that something was horribly wrong.
"I do have ears, you know." Leah tugged on hers as if to prove her point. "Oliv...Olivia...was really good at listening. I don't think I'm as good as she was but I'll try if you tell me what happened."
Blaze forced a dry laugh and a weak smile.
"Come on, it really wasn't anything. You're just getting yourself worked up, you spaz."
"No." Leah didn't budge. "Even if you won't tell me, I don't believe for a second that there isn't more to this. You didn't see the look on your face, Blaze. I've never seen that face before and it scared me. So, I guess if you really don't want to tell me what happened, then okay. But don't act like nothing happened at all."
Leah stepped aside to let him leave if he wished but he was rooted to the spot. Had Leah just said that? Crazy, ridiculous, naive Leah? She'd even said Olivia's name despite the pain that came with it. She'd said it out loud just like she said everything. Why couldn't he do that? He hadn't spoken of that day since it had happened. Bridget and Beckett too had promised to keep it a secret so their parents wouldn't freak out and try to ban them from the water altogether. By not speaking about it, he could pretend that it had never happened, but now, after Leah had seen him, it didn't seem like there was any room to turn back. So, he scolded himself for being such a coward and he clenched his fists so hard they ached.
"When I was a kid we used to play this game." The words came out, brash and rushed. Leah looked at him in surprise, nodding for him to continue. "There are these rocks out past the drop that we use as markers and we would see who could swim out the furthest. We knew it was dangerous and that our parents would stop us if they found out but we did it anyway because I guess kids are just stupid like that and we did it for years before anything bad actually happened. And then...something bad did happen. Beck got tired and nearly died out there. And if Bridget hadn't been there too he would have died no doubt. She only just managed to bring him back and then get him breathing again. That was the last time we played and we just never told anyone because we didn't want to get in trouble. So, there. That's what happened and that's why you need to be careful, okay?"
Blaze didn't know what to expect after that but when Leah engulfed him in a hug it almost sent them over to the floor. Then he heard her sniffles and felt her shoulders shake.
"Why are you crying? How are you not dehydrated at this point?"
"Shut up." Leah just squeezed him tighter.
He could feel her tears on his cheek and neck and it made his chest tighten painfully.
He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed back.
"I'm fine, okay? It happened years ago."
"But-but-but-"
"Yeah, listen to me. I'm fine. Today was just the first time I'd thought about it in awhile. You don't have to worry about me."
"That...that must have been so scary." She whimpered.
"Yeah. But it doesn't matter now."
"It does though."
"Can we not argue for one second?"
"But it's fun."
"Yeah." Blaze had to laugh. "It is kind of fun. Even if you drive me nuts."