A/N: Y'all. This is my longest chapter yet. And also my second favorite so far.

What I may do is go ahead and finish the Road Trip AU chapters before moving on to anything else because I love writing them so much. I'm also always open to suggestions for future chapters! If you have any fun trip ideas for the Rampion crew, let me know!

Thanks again for reading and reviewing! You guys are the best 3

I'm not going to lie; the next chapter probably won't be up until winter break. I'll be writing a math paper while visiting my family in Chicago throughout all of fall break, so I won't really have time to write until then. It'll be my Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) present to all of you!

I do not own the Lunar Chronicles

^(Also I got some questions as to why I include that in all of my chapters, and it's because it's a disclaimer. I'm not Marissa Meyer, so sadly nothing I write is canon in the Lunar Chronicles universe.)

I hope y'all like this chapter, and I hope it's enough to hold you over until December! :D

Cinder couldn't remember a moment when she had felt so serene. A gentle breeze lifted strands of hair off her face as she lay on her stomach, feet crossed at the ankles, head resting on folded arms, eyes closed. The repair shop was constantly packed with a wide variety of customers, ranging from stressed teens that dropped their phones in toilets to frantic lawyers whose entire cases were lost due to laptop viruses. The list of clients was never-ending. At the end of the day she was so exhausted she'd slip into a sleep coma the moment her head touched the pillow. These summer trips were the only real break she had. For once she could close her eyes and simply be. No worrying about the list of customers. No concerns about paying the rent on time. No having to convince the landlord not to kick out Thorne for installing a stripper pole in his living room. Just peace and quiet, lying next to her favorite man in the entire world.

Kai lay next to her on his back, their fingers brushing together on the towel. His face was completely worry free, muscles relaxed.

But that was only because he had been trained to appear calm under tense circumstances.

As innocent and minimal as it was, he couldn't forget his accidental kiss with Cress. More than anything, he regretted not telling Cinder the morning after it happened. She would have been slightly flustered, but by showing how accidental and insignificant it was, the issue would be quickly forgotten. Thorne would've probably made some joke, asking Cress to determine who was the better kisser, they would've laughed, and it'd be over.

But instead Kai decided to keep it a secret. Now if Cinder found out it would seem like they had something to hide, some sort of affection towards each other. And now his bad judgement dragged Cress into this whole fiasco, so her relationship with Thorne was in danger.

Oh, stars. Thorne. Not even his trained mask of coolness could resist flinching at the thought of his reaction to the whole ordeal.

Thorne would never lay a single hand on Cress. She could've purposely thrown herself on Kai and mocked Thorne to his face about the whole ordeal and the thought wouldn't even cross his mind. But if Thorne got the idea that Kai purposely made a move on Cress, that would mean going after his girlfriend and betraying Cinder, affecting the two most important people in his life. And while he loved Cress too much to ever even consider hurting her, Kai and his magazine ready face wouldn't be so lucky.

Yeah, he really needed to fix this.

Kai rolled over to his side, taking in Cinder's peaceful form. For the first time this whole trip she appeared completely carefree, her face relaxed with a gently smile on her face. The sun warmed her tan skin, faint impressions of freckles beginning to sprinkle her shoulders and across her nose. She was absolutely stunning.

And he really didn't want to ruin this moment. But he had to.

"Hey, Cinder?" His voice was soft and laced with worry, which normally she would've picked up on, but she was currently teetering on the edge of sleep and sobriety.

"Mmm hmm?"

"I have to tell you something."

"Hmmm?" She opened her eyes and raised her head, propping herself onto her eyebrows.

He took a deep breath, mustered all of his courage, and opened his mouth to speak, but Cinder cut him off.

"What the hell are they doing?!" In an instant her eyes lost their half-lidded, drowsy look, and she sat up in alarm. Kai followed her troubled gaze over to one of the water slides. At first he saw no issue with the sight. Then he noticed the bright "no supervisor present" sign as well as two figures nearing the attraction. When he squinted, their identities were revealed.

It was Cress and Thorne.

Cinder, initially delayed from shock, leapt to her feet and started towards them. Kai sat up quickly and grabbed her hand, a dizziness settling in his head from the sudden movement. "Cinder, wait! What are you doing?"

"Preventing Thorne from screwing up this trip!"

"But you don't even know if he's going to go on that ride!"

"Have you met Thorne? He'd never pass up the opportunity to go on an unsupervised romance-themed ride with Cress, and then he'll get us all kicked out!" With that retort she shook him off and sprinted towards them, her years of high school sports clearly paying off as she flew through the crowds.

Kai groaned, pushed himself to his feet, and began jogging after her. A sense of nausea began to build in the pit of his stomach. He just couldn't tell if it was from his lack of exercise in the past few months or a dark sense of foreboding.

~o0o~

Cress was miserable.

At first she was terrified of the stupid rides. Part of it probably had to do with Sybil's constant lectures about "the dangers of the outside world," claiming that since she was her "mother" she knew best, and another part of it was definitely a result of late night internet searches of water park disasters, but she wouldn't come within twenty feet of the things a week ago. Then she had to listen to Thorne's besotted ramblings about the adrenaline rush and the thrill and the exhilarating descent into a huge pool and stars she couldn't wait to launch herself onto the death trap!

But, of course, she built up her hopes only to have them come tumbling down like a poorly constructed jenga tower.

"Hey, damsel, chin up!" Cress shifted her eyes upward to look at Thorne, who was squeezing her shoulder in a comforting gesture. They were walking side by side down the crowded sidewalk, dodging overenthusiastic kids and their sunburnt parents as they chased after them. "There are plenty of fun things to do her besides water slides. There's a wave pool, a lazy river, a concession stand-"

"Because nothing's more fun than dirty water and overpriced nachos," Cress muttered in an uncharacteristically pessimistic manner. She winced at the sound of her own voice. "I'm sorry, Captain. I just hate that I'm ruining this entire day for you. You were really looking forward to it, and now we can't go on any rides because of me."

"I already told you, Cress, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. It's the stupid park rules that should apologize."

A ghost of a smile graced her lips. "The rules should apologize?"

Thorne stopped mid-stride, causing Cress to crash into his side, as he pondered this question. "No, actually. The ugly ass cartoon alligator on the sign should apologize."

"Captain!" She was full-out laughing now, aware that this was Thorne's purpose all along but fine that she allowed herself to be so easily taken with him. He flashed his charming grin and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his side as they resumed walking at a slower speed.

"Hey, at least this place has no rules on PDA!"

"They do, Captain. Not as strict as Levana's, but they do."

He sighed loudly, shoulders slumping. "Darn. I was planning on making out with you on one of those picnic tables."

Cress laughed again, weakly smacking his chest with her hand. "If we get thrown out of this park, Cinder will kill us!"

"You mean me. Cinder will kill me. Everyone thinks you're innocent, Damsel, but I know better."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You kicked a man in the nuts, after all."

Now they were both laughing hysterically, attracting confused stares from surrounding people but ignoring them completely. Both had forgotten about their unfortunate situation until they realized they wandered straight towards another waterslide. Thorne, aware of the slight waver in his girlfriend's smile, scoffed at the sight of the contraption.

"The tower of love? Lame. As if we'd ever ride that."

Cress raised her eyebrows, the genuineness returning to her smile. "Are you sure? That's the perfect PDA opportunity, Captain."

"True. But even if it was open, there's no way I'd be seen on a pink slide covered in hearts." Thorne began gently guiding Cress away with him towards a different park attraction that they could actually participate in, but Cress planted her feet firmly in the ground. Thorne turned to her, concern etched on his face, but she was too deep in her thoughts to notice his worried scrutiny. After a beat, she spoke.

"Did you just say it isn't open?"

Thorne nodded hesitantly, still unsure of her motives. "Well, it's running, but that sign says there's no employee monitoring the ride so no one can go on."

"Huh. No employee. That's interesting." She shot him a sly grin.

Thorne's expression slowly morphed from one of confusion, then realization, and finally settling on pride. "Well, well, well. Looks like there is some evil in you after all."

Cress feigned an expression of innocence. "Whatever do you mean, Captain? I was just making an observation."

"Of course you were. But if we get caught, I'm telling Cinder it was your idea."

"Fair enough."

Thorne darted his eyes left and right, diving suddenly onto the ground into a clumsy ninja roll before landing back on his feet. Now beside the gate to the water slide, he effortlessly pushed it open. Cress, used to her boyfriend's antics, merely rolled her eyes with a smile and took his hand before starting up the long flight of stairs.

~o0o~

"Oh my stars, where is she!" Scarlet texted her fourteenth message to Iko while Wolf read over her shoulder. They were standing under the shade of a snow cone shop near the Tower of Love.

"Where are yu?" He raised an eyebrow. Scarlet scowled.

"My pinky finger never presses down enough on the letter. I swear it's like it's not there at all." She retyped the message, this time firmly pressing down on the "o," and sent it.

"She said she was going to the wave pool earlier," he commented, glancing around to scan for said attraction.

"Yeah, but that forever ago. There's no way she's still there. Odds are she found some guy and is too busy flirting to check her phone."

"It's our only lead. Do you have any other ideas?" Scarlet met his gaze. His tone wasn't sarcastic- it never was. He was honestly asking her. She sighed and shook her head.

"Alright. Let's find that wave pool."

Luckily enough they happened to be relatively close. Scarlet immediately spotted Iko's electric blue hair amongst the crowd. She tapped Wolf's back to get his attention and pointed in her direction. He winced at the contact, but Scarlet didn't notice.

"There she is. I'll grab her and then we'll have to sprint to the water slide to get there when Cinder and Kai do."

She dove into the water, swimming over to Iko with ease. She smoothed her wet, red locks back and tapped her on the shoulder. Iko shrieked, whirled around, and then let out a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.

"Scarlet! Thank the stars!"

"Iko, we have a crisis."'

"You're telling me? I lost my bikini bottoms!"

Scarlet blinked. "Uh… what?"

"I lost my bikini bottoms. And then this super cute guy came up and talked to me and he was nice and funny but then I made a total fool of myself when he offered to help me find whatever I was looking for cuz he saw I was looking for something and I said it was my bracelet and he was about to dive underwater and look and I totally freaked out-"

"Iko!" Scarlet gripped her shoulders, effectively calming her down. "Listen to me! That totally sucks and I'll listen to your story later, but right now I need to go potentially prevent something really bad from happening."

"Wait, what happened?"

Scarlet was already swimming away at this point. "No time to explain! I'll come back later to help you find your suit! I love you, but I don't have time to wait for you."

"Scarlet!" Iko waved her hands wildly to get her attention, but she had reached the end of the pool and was pulled out by Wolf. They began running in the other direction.

Iko sighed, abandoning her floaty and slipping under the water. Her eyes were closed, blue hair fanning out like a peacock spreading its feathers.

She opened her eyes. Two golden brown ones stared back.

Iko attempted to scream, but only managed to exhale a series of bubbles. She bolted to upward and the strange girl followed.

Iko spluttered and coughed up water when she resurfaced, clutching onto the closest empty floaty to catch her breath. The short shriek of a whistle caught her attention.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to get you out?" The life guard was standing from his perch above the pool, concern etched on his features. Iko scowled.

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me? Forget it, dude." She turned her attention to the girl in front of her. "Not to sound rude or anything, but who the heck are you?"

The girl was perhaps the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life. Her dark, smooth skin was completely flawless, save for an oddly compelling series of three scars on her cheek. The thick, black curls brushing her shoulders resembled those of a shampoo spokesmodel. And this was when her hair was wet.

She shrugged in response to Iko's question. "To you I'm a stranger. To some I'm called Winter, but others call me crazy. Or Trouble." She smiled wistfully at that comment. Iko cocked her head to the side.

"Oookaaay… was there something you needed to ask me?"

"Yes. Are these yours?" She presented a pair of bikini bottoms. Iko's eyes widened.

"Oh, thank the stars! I've been looking for those everywhere!" She snatched them from her hands and, after checking that no one was looking, discreetly put them on under the water. "Thank you so much! How did you know I was the one who lost them?"

"The birds told me." She gracefully gestured to the air above them, where birds were indeed gliding overhead. "That and I was swimming underwater and noticed you were the only one semi-skinny dipping."

Iko blushed, mouth agape. She couldn't tell if this girl was joking or not. "Uhh… well, I guess better you than Kinney."

"Who's Kinney?"

"Doesn't matter." Iko began swimming over to the edge of the pool, and Winter followed her. She pulled herself out. Winter did the same. Confused, she turned to face her. "Do you need something else?"

"I seem to have lost my guard."

Iko blinked. "You lost your guard? What are you, some kind of princess?"

Winter giggled and began wringing the water out of her curls. "Don't be silly! Jacin has saved me time and time again. It's only fitting that I call him my guard. I must've gotten lost in my thoughts and wandered off because one moment I'm with him and then next I can't find him anywhere."

Half of Iko wanted to abandon this loony chick at the lost and found, but another part of her found her oddly compelling. Perhaps it was her innocent, doe eyes or the genuineness in her smile, but she suddenly found herself tugging her along with her as she left the wave pool.

"Come on, Winter. Let's find this guard of yours. I'm sure Scarlet can handle whatever's going on by herself. And this guy better actually exist," she muttered under her breath.

~o0o~

The top of the water slide was much higher than Cress previously anticipated.

It wasn't the height that made her hesitant once they finally reached the peak, though. It was her train of thought while walking up the endless flights of stairs. The idea to get on the ride was stupid and impulsive, and she was nearly certain they'd get caught and everyone would be kicked out of the water park. That would mean a second part of their trip ruined and more of Cinder's planning wasted.

Stars, she already kissed her soon-to-be fiancé. The least she could do was not screw up her vacation.

Thorne could sense the unease radiating from Cress before she even spoke a word. He held her face in his hands, drawing her attention away from her thoughts. "Cress, we don't have to do this if you don't want to. We can just go back down the stairs and do something else." He attempted to look nonchalant, but the excitement in his eyes and his poorly suppressed smile showed how desperately he wanted to go down this slide.

Once he started dating Cress, Thorne knew he had to shape up. He ended his habit of bar hopping every weekend, choosing instead to spend quiet afternoons with his girlfriend. He stopped leering and flirting with every decent looking woman who walked by and committing petty crimes with his old group of buddies for sport after work. It was hard, but he even managed to send every single one of his Playboy magazines through the shredder, eyes squeezed shut as smoking hot photo shopped women were reduced to thin lines strips paper.

With her, he was happier. He woke up every morning with purpose. He was finally able to imagine a future for himself, and she was in it. Even so, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't occasionally tempted to revert to his old ways. And while going down a water slide that he technically wasn't allowed on was no major crime, he craved the adrenaline rush with all of his being.

Cress knew that. He tried to hide his little urges, but she never failed to notice the tightening in his jaw before refusing a second beer while they were out with friends or the quickening in his step when they walked past one of the shady places he used to hang out at. His devotion to her was so sweet she occasionally teared up just thinking about it. She knew it couldn't be easy to quit all his bad habits so suddenly for her.

It was that thought that made her say what she said next. "What are the odds of us getting caught?"

He scanned the area for staff members. "Honestly? Pretty likely. But if we get caught we can just say we're expert water slide testers."

"Okay. Let's do it."

He raised his eyebrows, grin breaking through his weak barrier. "Really?"

"Really. But if they catch us we shouldn't use the 'water slide tester' excuse. It's too obvious."

"Fair enough. Then we're a foreign couple from Germany who couldn't read the sign because we can't speak English."

"Do you know any German?"

"Nein."

"Perfect."

She grinned and leaned into kiss him when a yell sent her jerking back.

"What are you guys doing?!"

Thorne squeezed his eyes shut. "Shit."

He cautiously made his way to the railing and peered down. Sure enough, Cinder was climbing her way up there at an alarming pace. Much further down Kai was gradually pulling himself up, pausing every now and then to catch his breath. Thorne turned back to Cress.

"I guess we probably shouldn't just go down to escape them, should we?"

She shook her head, though she'd be lying if she said she wasn't half hoping she could grab his hand and pull him down so they could slide away from Cinder's wrath.

By the time she reached the top, they were both already hanging their heads. Cinder placed her hands on her hips and stared down at them.

"What were you thinking, Thorne? We already got kicked out of Levana's. Do you want us to get kicked out of the water park too?"

Thorne opened his mouth, prepared to accept all the blame, but Cress cut him off. "Actually, Cinder, it was my idea. The rules won't let me go down any of the water slides since I'm too short, and then I saw that this one had no supervision so I made a stupid, impulsive decision. I'm sorry."

Cress bit her lip, prepared to be chewed out the same way Thorne often was after doing something stupid. She placed this situation between the time he dropped Kai's birthday cake on Cinder's carpet and when he threw a football and accidentally knocked down the satellite, taking out the cable for the entire apartment complex.

Cinder raised her eyebrows at Cress's confession "Oh. Are you sure it wasn't Thorne influencing you?"

"Yes. It was all me."

Cinder nodded hesitantly. "Okay then. Well, don't beat yourself up. It's not that big of a deal."

Thorne guffawed, grabbing the attention of both of the girls. "Are you serious? I mean, I'm happy you're not mad at Cress, but if that was me I would be a red smear on the pavement!"

"That's because Cress shows remorse, Thorne! She actually apologized. When I get mad at you, you just point in some random direction and yell something incoherent while you try to escape."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"Uh… look! Kai's falling off the stairs!" He grabbed Cress's arm and started towards the mouth of the water slide, but Cinder blocked the exit, glaring. He turned back to face her with an expression of mock disbelief.

"Aces, Cinder. You would sacrifice your boyfriend just to keep me from leaving you on the tower of love? You know I can't reciprocate your feelings. You're like a sister to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Let's go down, guys, before an employee sees us up here."

"I made it!" Kai, now on his hands and knees, crawled up the final three steps and collapsed, gasping for air. "I'm here! What's happening?"

Thorne stepped over the politician and started down the stairs. "Cinder's being a killjoy and making us go back down."

Kai moaned, covering his eyes with his hands. "More stairs? Can we just all stay here for a second?"

Thorne hadn't made it down more than ten steps before he came face to face with a panting Scarlet and Wolf. "Wow. It's a party now, I guess."

Scarlet ignored him, looking over his shoulder. She saw Kai sprawled on the ground, Cinder's glare, and Cress's guilty countenance. The puzzle pieces began to fit together in her head.

"Wow. I missed it, didn't I?"

Thorne knit his eyebrows together. "Missed what?"

"You and Cinder found out about Cress and Kai didn't you?" Kai, his weariness suddenly gone, sat up with a jerk. Cress froze. Cinder's expression morphed into one of surprise, and she glanced between Kai and Cress.

Thorne still wore a mask of confusion. "Kai and Cress? What are you talking about, Scarlet?"

Now it was the redhead's turn to freeze. "Oh. Uh, nothing. We should probably all head down."

"No, wait-" he shot out his hand to grab her shoulder and prevent her descent, but Wolf flashed him a warning glare. He retracted his arm. Instead he went back up to the top of the water slide and faced Cress.

"What's she talking about?"

He didn't think it was anything bad. Not until Cress's big blue eyes widened, mouth open but no words coming out. Now he was nervous. "What's she talking about, Cress?"

Cinder caught on to the mood, and then turned to face Kai. He stood up. "Listen, guys. Don't worry. It's nothing. Cinder, it's nothing," he added when his statement only added to the concern on her face.

Thorne didn't turn to look at him. He was still staring at Cress. He thought he knew the answer to his question, but still he asked. "What's she talking about, Cress?" His voice cracked on her name. Never before had Cress wanted to disappear so much.

Scarlet, exasperated, finally exploded. "Iko saw Cress and Kai making out last night!"

It was silent.

Kai was staring at Scarlet in shock, and Cinder in turn was staring at him with an expression of utter heartbreak and betrayal.

Meanwhile, Cress and Thorne were still locked in their gaze. The statement hit him like a blow to his stomach, and he had to grip the railing for balance. His pained expression alone brought out her tears. She was the first to speak.

"Thorne…Thorne, it's not what you think…"

All he heard was the echo of the same words he had spoken to a million girls in the past. "C'mon, girl, it's not what you think! We were just… playing hide and seek! Under the covers…"

She didn't even call him Captain. She called him Thorne.

Cinder was in the eye of her own hurricane. Kai wouldn't meet her gaze. Kai, the only guy whose smile made her forget her own name. Kai, the first person to whom she said I love you back. Kai, the guy she had hoped for months upon months would eventually be her husband.

She was the next person to speak. "How… how long has this been going on?"

Kai finally looked her in the eyes, wincing at the glistening tears in her eyes. Cinder never cried. "It's not going on. It doesn't even exist, I swear-"

"Is this you speaking or the politician, Kai?" The words fell out of her mouth without hesitation, and their weight made his knees physically go weak. His jaw dropped open.

"Cinder… is that really what you think of me?"

She knew that any attempt to answer would result in her sobbing. She turned away.

Thorne shook his head, still gripping the railing. "No. There must be some sort of mistake. Cress, please, did Iko really see you and Kai kiss?"

All eyes were on her. She struggled to form the word, because she knew once it fell out of her mouth all hell would break loose. Thorne stared at her, his body trembling, eyes begging for her to end this whole thing.

"…Yes."

And just as she expected, all hell broke loose.

Thorne ripped his eyes away from her and set them on Kai, who swallowed nervously. He put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Now, Thorne, you don't understand what really happened-"

Thorne cut him off by lunging at him. Kai dodged, leaping out of the way just in time and landing right in front of the water slide exit. Thorne yelled and charged towards him a second time. This time Kai wasn't as fast. Thorne grabbed him by the middle, and they both went flying down, straight onto the water slide.

Cress shrieked and tried to grab either of them to hoist them back up to the platform, but the surging water whisked them downward. One hand was still outstretched towards them, the other covering her mouth in shock. Cinder was still frozen in shock, but she managed to speak.

"How could you, Cress?"

Cress tore her attention away from the two guys spiraling below to Cinder, who now had tears falling freely down her cheeks.

"You changed Thorne for the better. You made him, the biggest womanizer on the planet, fall in love with you. And I thought you loved him back. How could you betray him? And how could you betray me?"

Cress had to actively resist clasping her hands over her ears. The accusations were too much for her to bear.

I thought we were friends!"

"Kai's going to propose to you!"

For a second time, Cinder was rendered speechless. Scarlet and Wolf, who were watching the whole ordeal with open mouths, dropped their jaws down even further. Cress got up from her position by the exit of the water slide, cheeks flushed.

"I'm so sorry, Cinder, for telling you that, but you have to know that to understand everything that happened. I woke up late last night and kissed who I thought was Thorne, but it was actually Kai, who thought I was you. He told me he didn't want to upset you by telling you what happened because he was going to propose on this trip and that would ruin the whole thing. I love Thorne and would never cheat on him, and I consider you one of my closest friends. I would never, ever, betray either of you." She paused to catch her breath, not used to saying so much so quickly. "And Kai will probably be mad at me for ruining the surprise but I don't think it really matters anymore. You need to know how much he loves you. That's what counts."

Cinder, dizzy from the whirlwind of events, had to sit down. Earlier, she wanted to strangle Kai while sobbing endlessly. Now she wanted to kiss him passionately, probably still while sobbing endlessly. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples.

"So… you and Kai accidentally kissed… but Kai is actually going to propose?"

"Yes." Cress shuffled her feet, timidly playing with her short blonde locks.

Cinder looked up at her from her position on the floor, blinking slowly. A grin finally spread across her face. "Wow. I'm getting married."

That statement must've triggered the girliness in all of them, because Scarlet, Cress, and Cinder ended up all huddling up and squealing.

"Congratulations, Cinder!"

"Finally, am I right?"

"We have to come with you to pick out your wedding dress!"

"Of course! And I know you'll both be the best bridesmaids ever!"

"Oh my stars are you serious?!"

"Guys?" The three girls, still smiling goofily, turned to Wolf. "We should probably get down there. Thorne will honestly drown Kai."

Again, Wolf was never sarcastic.

They exchanged concerned looks. "Right. Let's go."

Cinder stopped them before going down the stairs. "Wait. The stairs will take too long. How are we going to get there in time?"

"Well we could always take the scenic route," Scarlet muttered, eyeing the mouth of the water slide. Cinder, Cress, and Wolf followed her gaze. Cinder sighed.

"We are definitely going to get kicked out.

~To be Continued