A/N: Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well. I know it's been long and an update has been overdue. So here you are!

Chapter 5: Save the popcorn

"Are we expecting someone?" Flora asked her technology loving friend who was scanning the room with an intense gaze as if searching for someone. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and Flora found herself in the downtown Magix multiplex all set to watch the movie with Tecna as she was dared to the other night. A part of her was thanking the starts that she got away easily, watching a boring movie couldn't be as bad as what Musa and Tecna had to endure. Which was worse, she contemplated – compelled into date with a guy hitting on you or an embarrassing call to your crush. Latter, definitely the latter. Although she wasn't as confident as Stella about Tecna's 'crush' on Timmy, but she was sure the two geniuses had developed a liking for each other.

"Not really." Tecna answered finally peeling her eyes from the crowd, turning to face her friend. This broke Flora's train of thoughts and as she proceeded to answer, an enthusiastic male voice interrupted her.

"Hello girls. What are you doing here? Small world huh..?" The orange haired boy said, adjusting his red rimmed glasses. It was a habit he picked up when he was young and turned to whenever he was nervous. Timmy felt like smacking himself internally for asking the obvious. They were standing in the movie theatre which implied they were here for a movie and the world by no stretch of imagination was small, in fact it was expanding by the minute.

"Hi Timmy, it's indeed a small world. We're here to watch this movie." Flora answered politely pointing towards the poster. Timmy noted that she didn't pass any snide remarks like Riven would have.

Tecna though relived to see Timmy, couldn't bring herself to start a conversation with him after last night's happening. Usually she wasn't as easily affected by some mild teasing as Timmy or Flora, but last night was certainly not mild. She was slightly surprised at how confident how Timmy's was being currently, unaware of the storm of emotions swirling in his stomach. The brief awkward silence that hung around between the teens was dispersed when Helia joined the trio, with a cheerful smile with a tub of popcorn in each of his hands.

"What a pleasant surprise!" he said eying Flora who instinctively shifted her gaze to the floor. Please, mother earth, swallow me now!

"Hello Helia how are you?" Tecna tried to sound polite.

"Great. I guess even you are here to watch this movie?" He asked gesturing towards the poster.

"Yes we are." She replied. "It's great we ran into you, we can watch it together now." Helia offered.

"Done." Timmy and Tecna said in unison, a slight smile creeping on both their faces.

"Why don't you guys get seated, Tecna and I will get the popcorn. Catch yaa later." Timmy announced before any of their friends could react leaving them alone.

"Take Helia's tickets." Tecna's faint voice could be heard from far away.

"Shall we." Helia gestured his hand towards the dimly lit theatre room which was responded by a meek nod from Flora. Relax Flora, you can do this, you just have to spend the next 2 hours less than 20 cms away from HIM in a dark room. No biggie. You can do this.

"There you go, here's your popcorn." The popcorn vendor said hurriedly as he handed 2 tubs of cheese popcorns to Timmy. Tecna was standing next to him, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Do you think it will work Timmy?"

"I don't know Tecna. But from what I've heard and read, couples do enjoy watching romantic movies together. So I guess this should work." He shrugged in uncertainty.

"Thanks again for taking care of the tickets and everything. We are sitting away from them, right?" Tecna realised that didn't come out well and rephrased it immediately. "W-What I meant was it is essential for them to be seated next to each other to initiate a communication and if we are near them they may be tempted to talk to us instead of each other which is counterproductive to our objective here." She said in a single breath. She didn't know why but sometimes, Timmy had that kind of effect on her which she did not like one bit. She prided herself in being calm and composed, not letting emotions take the better of her. But somehow Timmy had the capability to make her feel strange, which in turn made her act strangely.

"I understand. Let's hope they too get 'Lost at Island''. The pun was intended to be funny, well not all intentions are fruitful.

"I heard this is debut movie of the heroine." Helia tried to strike up a conversation.

"Ummm." Flora replied not trying to sound rude but again not knowing what to reply.

"I've read the reviews, it's about a girl and guy on a cruise ship who get stranded on an island and eventually fall in love. Many years later they get rescued and are hurled back into the normal world, which puts their love to test." Helia bragged, not completely sure if knowing movie plots would earn him any brownie points, but hey a guy can try!

"Well, seems like a good movie." Flora imagined just for an idle moment what if she and Helia were the main protagonists. Wouldn't it be amazing to be on an island surrounded by nature with the most handsome guy on the plant? Her short day dream ended when the introductory song began playing on the huge screen. The initial scenes depicted a lovely island, with clear blue water and white sand where 2 teenage boys are planning a party. Shortly they were joined by a girl their age having beautiful honey blond hair and a very generous bosom.

"You know, her hair is just like yours, only there is one difference." Helia remarked.

"What?"

"Yours are naturally effortlessly beautiful." Flora couldn't help but blush at this complement and Helia could sense that. He was determined in playing his cards right today. There was no sign of Tecna and Timmy so far for which he was secretly grateful.

The movie proceeded with the teenagers dancing at a party with about 50 others, dancing, drinking and smoking around them. After a few moments of loud music and dancing, the protagonists were headed towards a small cave where a shady looking guy was selling a white powdery thing.

"What is that?" Flora questioned.

"Well, we'll find out." Helia perfectly knew the answer but didn't feel comfortable telling Flora about it. She was too innocent, the movie was clearly not. This was supposed to be a cheesy dreamy rom-com, what's wrong with people now a days, he thought.

Unknown to them, the 2 tech geniuses seated 2 rows behind them were intently watching. In between munching pop-corn, they were casually discussing the 'test subjects', their attention focused on them rather than the movie. "They are making small talk, that's a progress." Timmy remarked.

"And I'm certain he said something to make her blush. Look at her cheeks."

They were seated diagonally behind the unsuspecting couple which gave them a better view of their friend's faces. But those were not the cheeks Timmy wanted to look at. As the movie progressed, they saw Flora and Helia continue their small talk. While Tecna was switching her focus back and forth from the 'test subjects' to the movie, Timmy was shifting his gaze back to an unsuspecting Tecna. Her pale skin illuminated in the light emitted by the screen. Her bright teal eyes focused ahead, her pink lips breaking into an innocent smile each time Helia whispered something into Flora's ears. The colour of her lips was faintly darker than usual, maybe she liked to wear the lip products while watching movies. Or maybe, maybe she dressed up coz he was coming? Or maybe not. Timmy could adore and analyse her features as much as he wanted, the darkness of the theatre serving as his protective veil. He looked at her soft hands and tried to imagine how they would feel into his own, while the sweet smell of lavender emanating from her was teasing him to find out. He couldn't peel off his eyes from her, even if he wanted to coz every time he tried his found himself aching for a few more minutes. And the best part of it? She was completely unaware.

That's was Timmy truly appreciated about Tecna, she was not conceited over her intellect or her effortless beauty. He was lost in his thoughts, looking at her affectionately when Tecna turned to face him and caught him in the act of staring shamelessly at her. He did not know how to react. Should he just turn away and act like nothing happened or stay frozen like a rock statue? Any sane guy would do the former, Timmy however did the latter. He did not know what came over him or was he thinking, or maybe not thinking but he did not feel like turning away and pretending like nothing happened.

She wanted to comment on the glaring mistake in the ongoing scene so she turned to Timmy to share her observations. What she observed is how his eyes were already on her, looking at her with a certain emotion she couldn't place a figure on. He was looking at her like she was a mystery, a puzzle which he was determined to solve. She did not know how to react. Should she ask him if he wanted something or should she gaze deep into his eyes decoding the emotions which burnt so brightly in those hazel orbs? Any sane girl would do the former, Tecna however did the latter. She could see him leaning towards her and reducing the distance between them, and in spite of her heart racing at 1000 beats per minute, she found her body leaning slightly towards him as well. It felt like a moment of weakness where her emotions were overriding her judgement of acceptable personal space between friends. Their close proximity was triggering foreign feelings for him too. The smell of lavender intensified, raiding his senses and luring him into doing something as stupid as bringing his lips closer to hers albeit hesitantly. A thousand emotions were storming through his mind, but he was too close to retreat now. Was this appropriate? Was he being too forward? He half expected her to turn away but she stood still, her teal eyes fixated in his hazel ones. Seeing his as a positive sign, he scooted closer with an intention of closing the distance between them with each passing second and 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' A loud scream echoed through the theatre and sent goosebumps on everyone's skin. That scream was followed by similar screams from the audiences.

The trance which had captured the attention of the geniuses faded away, leaving both of them uncomfortably self-ware and conscious of their actions. Timing is such a bitch. Timmy instinctively looked at screen where he saw a zombie devour a young girl, blood dripping from the side of his mouth as his shabby crooked teeth made contact with soft flesh on her breasts. That scene was disturbing in so many ways. Tecna momentarily shut her eyes as the scream of the victim got louder and shriller.

"I thought this was a love story." Between Tecna and Flora-Helia, Timmy was not following the movie which now looked more about zombies raiding an island and gulping humans in the grossest way possible than strangers stranded on an island falling in love. Speaking of Flora, he saw her burying her head in Helia's chest as her was trying to comfort her. She clearly looked disturbed. Who wouldn't be?

"I may not be an expert on the subject, but that certainly does not look romantic." Tecna remarked, opening her eyes momentarily only to see blood and gore on screen and shutting them tighter.

"Uh..ohh." He said looking at his phone's screen. He had wasted no time, in finding out the cause.

"What do you mean by "Uh..ohh.''

"There were two movies – Lost at Island and Barren Island. One is a love story and the other is a zombie apocalypse (1)."

"I take it we are watching the zombie chewing humans movie."

"AAAaaahhhhhhhh." More screams filled the air.

"When is the intermission?"

"Ahhh..ummm there isn't."

"What?" It came out louder than intended as Tecna witnessed a young boy being cut into pieces by zombies. She immediately covered her eyes, determined to not open them again for the balance duration of the movie.

Helia was making small talk with Flora about the movie and theatre whenever there was an opportunity. After some minutes of extreme nervousness and hesitation, Flora was finally opening up. Though her eyes were fixed on the screen, her ears were focused on the husky voice of raven haired pacifist. She too responded to him enthusiastically, even managing to get a chuckle out of him. So far, for Helia this was turning out a prefect date, he though he'd owe Timmy one. Helia wondered if he should put his arm around her shoulder - Isn't that what people do at movies? Or is it too soon? Would she like it? He decided to test the waters as he slowly shifted his left arm in an attempt to place it on her shoulder. Still not sure about his decision, he panicked midway and his arm was on the way to retreat when a ghastly scream filled the theatre. Before Helia could process what was going on, he found Flora leaning towards him, trying to look away from the screen. He took no time and closed the distance between them allowing her to bury her face into his strong chest and wrapped both his arms around her. A brief glance at disturbing scene being played on the screen, told him all he needed to know. Dammit Timmy, this is the zombie movie not the rom-com. Even though there wasn't any real danger, his instinct of protectiveness kicked in and he started patting her head gently with his other hand. Flora is an innocent delicate flower, she should not be exposure to such a blood bath. It could traumatise her.

"It's ok my flower, you don't have to be scared of anything as long as I'm with you" He said genuinely. All Flora could manage was gently nod as she was buried in his chest, inhaling the comforting aroma of sandalwood which eased her nerves.

"We can leave if you want." He suggested. Before she could respond, another deafening scream could be heard from the movie and the audience, causing her to tremble slightly. The sound system of the theatre was doing an incredible job of giving goose bumps to everyone. And it certainly did not help that the movie got gorier by the minute! All Helia knew was that he was holding on to her and would do everything possible to make her comfortable.

"I'm never watching another movie with you." Flora who was still holding Helia's hand, announced mostly to Tecna when they were reunited. For more than half of the movie, Flora was latched onto Helia, burying her eyes into his chest to avoid the gory scenes and squeezing his hand with hers when the screams got too much. They were still holding hands even after the movie was over, and Flora had no intention of letting go. She did feel bad about troubling Helia but right now being with him made her feel protected and she needed that. Helia on the other hand did not mind playing the knight in shining armour for his princess. Not because he wanted to impress her, which he wanted to, but her wellbeing was a bigger priority to him.

"Me neither." Tecna said eying Timmy.

"Uhh well we'll go for a comedy movie next time." Was all Timmy managed to say when the other three teenagers gave him a murderous look.

"Timmy." They all said in unison.

"Let's go home." Flora asked.

"We'll drop you girls home." Helia offered instantaneously. Flora still looked rattled and Helia didn't want to leave her that way.

"I, ummm cannot go home right now. Have some work in downtown Magix."

"I'll come with you Tecna, even I want to check out the store for memory chips. Helia can drop Flora." Tecna gave a quick glace to her friend who nodded in affirmation.

The guys headed for the bikes while the girls waited to be picked at the parking. Once the girls were out of gearing range, Helia asked the question he was dying to ask since a long time.

"So this is why you insisted we take 2 different bikes? You knew we'd run into them here? You planned this?"

He just smiled in response.

"You know when the movie started, I thought I'd owe you. But that butchery is was something else!"

"I saw you two from behind." He replied suggestively. "You do owe me. Big time."

A soft smile played on Helia's lips as recent memories of Flora huddled in his arms played back in his mind. That's one way of looking at it!.

A/N:

Huh...this was the longest chapter so far! What did you think of this one? Do let me know your thoughts in the review section. Next chapter has a bit of MxR so stay tuned! Any BloomxSky fans here? I'd love hear your ideas on how to get them together coz honestly I'm struggling with that couple.

(1): The guys were discussing this movie in chapter 4 in case you missed it.