It was the ungodly hour of 6am when Dominic's car was brought around to Camilla's manor. Dominic got out to ring the doorbell. The girls filed out not long after in short dresses, skirts, and tank tops. They looked ready to take on the unseasonably warm day ahead. Well, some looked more ready than others.

"Good morning, beautiful," Dominic said to Camilla. "And other ladies."

She did not look beautiful this morning. The bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep were visible under layers of concealer and big sunglasses and her waves had not recovered from the tossing and turning she did during the few hours of sleep she did get. "I don't need your false flattery," Camilla said.

Dominic took Camilla in his arms for a strong hug. "It's not flattery if it's true. You are beautiful every day in my eyes."

Camilla freed herself before getting into the car concealing her blushing smile from Dominic, "You can't just say stuff like that!"

"Why not? We are dating."

The other girls had already gotten into the car with perfunctory nods at Dominic where they found Loid and Frankie waiting.

Yor had crawled right into Loid's arms with no blushing, stuttering, or overly polite, unnecessary questions where she had almost immediately fallen back asleep. Loid blushed initially, but it faded as he watched how serene and lovely she was. The others would've noted an incredibly soft smile on his face had they been paying attention.

Ludmila sat a respectful distance from Frankie not wanting to scare him too much given his reaction to her last scheme. He scooted hip to hip with her of his own volition and offered her a travel mug.

"What's this?" she said.

"I figured you would need some real coffee, so I made some for you," he said.

She took the mug from him while eyeing him with suspicion.

"Oh, and I swung by your house and got your favorite blanket because I know how cold you get in the morning." He pulled a blanket out of a tote bag by his feet and wrapped it around her, letting his hands linger on the ends of the blanket afterwards. He put his hands back in his lap.

It was too thoughtful of behavior for the boy who just declared war on her the day before. "Did you learn that by research or observation?"

"More observation, but I've done plenty of research about you too."

"Does that mean you're warming up to being mi prometido?"

"I guess it does."

They looked away from each other. Him at his hands and her out in front of her as she took a sip of the coffee. The others would have noticed the pair blushing had they been paying attention. "It's very good coffee done in the Suraguay way. Keep this up, and you'll make a fine househusband, mi querido."

"What do you mean househusband? Isn't it wives who stay at home in Suraguay?" He turned his head sharply to her.

She smiled smugly at him. "Luckily this isn't Suraguay, so I can go run an intelligence organization while you stay at home with Graciela, Mariposa, Santiago, and Valente."

His face become redder than she'd seen before. "Four kids? You want four?"

"That won't be a problem, right mi querido?" She grinned wider.

"Four is great," he choked out. 'This is not going to plan. She's supposed to be the one getting spooked not me. And where the hell did she get those names?'

Camilla and Dominic sat quietly next to each other with his arm around the top of her seat and her body angled just even to slightly lean against his. Though they said nothing, they too were too wrapped up in each other to observe what was going on with the other two couples.

"What's should we do next?" Dominic said. He had asked the others to come with Camilla and him to the amusement park because Camilla wouldn't be seen out in public with him alone. (Which yes, did hurt his ego, and, yes, he did assure her multiple times that he didn't care what happened.) The least he could do was let them pick what the group did.

"The haunted house," Frankie said.

Ludmila saw the grin on his face and figured this was a scheme to get someone in someone else's arms, but who were the targets? And how was she supposed to help if she didn't know? "Mi querido, can I see you for a minute?" She led him far enough away for them not to be overheard if they spoke quietly. "Put your arms around my waist and keep your voice low. We don't want them thinking we're fighting." She wrapped her arms around his neck as he obeyed.

"What do you want, Mila?"

"You're scheming, but I don't know what about. How can I be a good prometida and help you if you don't tell me?" She batted her eyelashes purposely.

He sighed to hide a bit of pink that had reached the top of his cheeks. 'She has no right looking so pretty when she does that and calls herself that.' He leaned closer to whisper the plan in her ear. He guessed it would make the plan easier if she wasn't actively scheming against him. He lingered by her ear to say, "This alliance is just for today. Come Monday, the fight for Eden is on."

"We'll see."

He leaned back but not out of her hold. "What do you mean 'we'll see?'"

"I predict today is going to change things for us. By the way, I want you to kiss me again."

He kissed her cheek, wondering why she would have requested something like that.

She smiled genuinely at him before taking his hand to lead him back to the group where Camilla was arguing about how she didn't want to do the haunted house. "Who would want to go to a haunted house anyway? It's such plebeian entertainment. No one likes being scared," Camilla said.

Ludmila put on her best confused international student face. "Maybe it's a cultural thing, but Suraguayans love being scared."

"Fine, you can go and the rest of us can do something else."

"I'd like to do the haunted house with mi novia," Frankie said.

Yor and Loid smiled apologetically at Camilla. "We want to do the haunted house too," Loid said.

"Sorry, Camilla," Yor said.

"But that would leave…" she looked at Dominic. Her options appeared to be stay out here with Dominic and risk being seen alone together or go inside with the group and risk becoming a blubbering mess in his arms. "Fine," she went pulled Yor and Ludmila away from their partners. "If you two leave me, I'll never forgive you."

Yor frowned and looked back at Loid. She knew she had a strong constitution and wasn't going to be affected by the haunted house, but she was hoping to see Loid get frightened and grab her arm. Loid didn't seem like that type, but a girl could dream. Now she wouldn't get the chance to find out.

"We would never, Camilla." Ludmila winked at Frankie.

They entered the house in two groups: the girls first and then the boys followed.

The girls went into the parlor where a few scare actors spooked them. The next room was a maze of corridors where Ludmila conveniently 'got lost.' She found her way through an employee exit and up to the room with all the monitors where she was to meet Frankie. Camilla hugged Yor's arm like her life depended on it. The doors rattled, and some screams and moans rang out behind them as they passed. Camilla became more frightened when she looked around and didn't see Ludmila. "Where is she?"

Ludmila pressed the button on the walkie talkie, "It's all you, John."

Camilla sighed as she exited the maze and entered a brighter, wintery graveyard. "Now that's just ridiculous who would put an outdoor graveyard inside their house. Right, Yor?" She turned to see a bloodied zombie who's arm she was gripping. She screamed and tore through the graveyard as zombies ripped out of their graves.

When the scare actor had made the switch with Yor in the dark corridors, he had pushed Yor through another door onto another path through the house. She found herself in a creepy laboratory with cadavers and brains in jars. She inched along carefully with her hands in the resting position she learned in judo. She reached a room with an empty operating table.

"Lights and strobes in lab, mi querido," Ludmila's voice came over Frankie's walkie talkie. He pressed the switches and counted to 15 before pressing them again. "Roger, mi novia. I'm returning to you now."

The lights went out suddenly in the lab and strobes came on leaving Yor disoriented. She felt herself being dragged and tied down. When the lights came on, a mad scientist was over her with a bloody scalpel. 'They can't endanger people. That's unethical.' She released a primal scream and ripped herself out of her restraints. She squared up against the scientist who she had decided she would kick through a couple of the rooms.

The scientist dropped the scalpel and shouted, "Stop! Yor, it's me!"

"Loid?"

"Yes!" He pulled out a walkie talkie and pressed the button. "Loid to Ludmila. I've got Yor. We're moving on."

"Have fun, lovebirds," Ludmila said.

"Ludmila's behind this? And you're in on it?" Yor said.

"Ludmila's in on it with Dominic and me. Frankie's behind it. He wanted to prove to Camilla that she needs Dominic," Loid explained while taking off the mad scientist disguise. He was grateful for the dark lighting because the way Yor tearing out of the restraints affected him was still all over his face.

"That's harsh, but fair."

Loid offered her his hand. "Do you want to walk through the rest and laugh at how unscary it is?"

Yor smiled widely. "That's the whole reason I wanted to come!" She took his hand.

"Me too." He squeezed her hand.

Frankie made it up to the control booth where Ludmila was waiting in the security guard's chair with her chin resting on her joined hands as her elbows were on the desk in front of her. He put a hand on her shoulder as he approached her from behind. "Boo," he said.

She didn't even flinch. "You'll have to get much stealthier if you want to do that. I could hear you opening the exit door downstairs. And I saw you on the monitors from the control panels to when you opened the door."

He smiled. She wouldn't be easily scared.

They watched Camilla tear through the graveyard, cellar, chapel, and kitchen.

"Damn, she can run," Ludmila said.

"Only when the adrenaline kicks in," Frankie said.

"Mi querido, do you wish we were down there with them?"

"A little, but then I wouldn't get to be up here with you tormenting one of our friends off her high horse. I like this."

She blinked rapidly. "You like working together. With me?"

"I know. I was surprised too. We make a good team, mi prometida."

She stared up at him for a moment before taking his hand on her shoulder to give it a kiss. "I'm glad we are on the same page, mi querido."

He left his hand in her grasp but turned his attention back to the screen. They saw Camilla entering the séance room. Frankie and Ludmila shared a nod.

Ludmila got on the walkie, "On my count everyone, three, two, one, now."

Frankie hit the switch to stop all the effects in the séance room Six scare actors burst out of hiding spots and crowded Camilla. She screamed desperately and shielded her face with her arms as she crouched as far down as she physically could.

Dominic burst in from an exterior door at that moment, "Camilla!" He gathered her and escorted her out of the haunted house.

"Mission accomplished," Frankie said. "Thank you for being my eyes, mi nenita."

Dominic held Camilla as she shook and cried and felt increasingly like going along with this plan was a terrible idea. He kept repeating in her ear that she was safe, he was here, and he loved her.

She wiped her eyes eventually. "I hate haunted houses. I'm never going in one again."

"Why didn't you wait outside then? I would've waited with you."

"You just answered your own question."

"Would it really be so bad if people knew we were back together?"

"It would kill your reputation."

He tilted her chin up to make sure she was looking in his when he said, "Who told you I cared about that? Anyone who matters knows the truth, and everyone else is going to think whatever they want anyways."

She looked away from him and fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "Dominic?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for rescuing me."

He smiled at her and moved his hand to her cheek. "I will always be there for you."

"You're my hero," she said without a trace of sarcasm. She closed the distance to kiss him. "I'll go to the ball with you even if that means everyone knowing."

"Really?" He beamed.

"Yes. I don't want you thinking I'm ashamed of you. I wanted to go with you, but I didn't want you to get dragged down with me. That doesn't really matter because I need you too much to pretend that I'm not yours."

He hugged her tightly. "And until then?"

"For lack of a more delicate term, fuck it. If they find out, they find out."

He kissed her repeatedly muttering, "I love you," between kisses.

She laughed through the kisses.

They had done a lot that day to fill the time because Dominic had wanted to spend the whole day there from open to close and no one had the heart to tell him no. They had taken lots of pictures which proved that they weren't just a study group but actual friends. Camilla had taken a picture of Yor beating Dominic in an arm wrestle which featured Loid in the background watching Yor like he was simultaneously terrified of facing her and in awe of her strength. There was one of Loid and Ludmila's reactions when Loid beat her at a 'guess the number of fish in a tank' competition. Frankie had to hold her back as she reached out to claw at Loid while Loid grinned at the giant stuffed penguin he'd won. Another picture showed him giving it to Yor who hugged it so tightly Loid worried it would burst immediately. Another had Camilla and Frankie arguing over the last bit of funnel cake while Ludmila came behind Frankie with another one. Another showed the girls on the teacup ride: Camilla looked green while a smiling Yor cranked the wheel with her powerful biceps and Ludmila tilted her head back as she squealed in delight. Another showed the boys getting off a roller coaster: Loid and Frankie supporting a dizzy Dominic as all three laughed. Another showed Frankie and Ludmila on a bench with her leg up and her ankle in his lap. He held her ankle with one hand and waved the camera operator away with the other as his focus was solely on Ludmila. Another had a lipstick-covered Dominic helping an equally dazed Camilla off the Tunnel of Love. And the last Dominic took with himself in the foreground with a cheesy grin and Loid and Frankie standing to one side pointing to the map as they discussed what to do next while on the bench on the other side Ludmilla was tying Camilla's hair back while talking to Yor who was searching through her bag for an extra hair tie and chatting with Camilla.

As the last ride of the day, the gang decided to go on the Ferris wheel. The small two-person ride vehicles meant that they had to split into their couples (and Yor had to leave Mr. Penguin with the ride operator). No one could say they were displeased with the arrangement. Camilla and Dominic got in the first vehicle and were snuggling and whispering to each other like no one else was there before their vehicle moved. Frankie and Ludmila got in the second vehicle, and Loid and Yor got in the third.

The moment their vehicle began moving, Frankie got antsy.

"What's wrong, mi querido? I promise I'll play nice while we're stuck together," Ludmila said. She looked at him more closely.

His eyes were wide and darting around the landscape before them and his hands gripped the safety bar with his whole strength.

"Ah, I see." She took his face between her hands. "Look at me, mi querido. Look only at me." She edged her face closer to block out more of his vision.

He obeyed, looking into her eyes.

"Very good, mis ojitos," she said.

"No, you," he wheezed between panicked breaths.

She smiled. "You're sweet." She rested her forehead against his.

He felt his hands let go of the bar and desperately grasped her forearms.

"I'm right here. I'm always right here. It's just you and me and nothing else, okay?"

He took a deeper breath.

"That was good. You are safe. You are always safe when I'm here. And I will always be right here."

They were close enough that he could feel her words on his lips which was reassuring and something else. He felt safe and warm, very warm.

"Breathe with me, mi querido." She took a deep breath and released it slowly.

He did his best to keep up. By the time they reached the top, he wasn't panicking anymore. 'She's incredible.' He was startled by a firework going off and his eyes darted away.

"No, no, mi querido. Your eyes are only for me. Keep them on me."

His eyes returned to her. Now that he wasn't panicking, he could see that her eyes had more gold in them than he'd thought, some of her curls were touching him and probably tangling in his, and her plump lips were so close to his. 'I want to kiss her. Why do I want to kiss her? Oh, no. Dominic was right. I'm screwed.'

While that was going on above them, Loid and Yor were hyper-aware of their closeness. Despite all their time together, they were too nervous to speak. About halfway to the top, Yor said, "Loid?"

"Yes, Yor," Loid said.

This was it. She was going to take Camilla's advice. "I'm glad I'm dating you." Okay, so it wasn't as eloquent as she'd hoped, and probably wasn't as direct as Camilla had instructed, but it was how she truly felt.

Loid looked at her with his mouth open and eyes wide. Too many thoughts came at once, 'She's glad? Why? And why would she tell me? Does that mean that she feels that way too? Surely not. But then again she's so genuine. I need to kiss her, but I should ask first. That's the polite thing to do.' He couldn't figure out how to get his mouth to make words again or what words to say, but he could figure out how to bring their lips together and kiss her soundly. She kissed him back with equal enthusiasm. It suddenly didn't matter who was or wasn't watching or where they were or even that they were a 'fake' couple. They could hear the booms of fireworks distantly, but even that wasn't enough to separate them.

When their vehicle reached the ground, they were breathless. Their friends cheered for them, but Loid and Yor's heads were much too full of each other to care.

AN: Some more rough Spanish translations for you

mi nenita = my little baby

mis ojitos = my little eyes, functionally used in a romantic context for someone with beautiful eyes

xo Lolly