Update A/N

This update is just review replies. I forgot to do them last night and decided to do last chapter's and this chapter's.

A/N

There are two things I've thought about recently. One thing, something that I've thought about since before I started writing, actually, is lemons in FF about ExA. I have decided to leave it solely up to you guys. I will be content with the story either way. I could write a "separate" story that has an alternate chapter with the lemon, I could have it in the actual story, with warnings before and after, or I could just leave it out completely. Another thing, which was my other alternative to this story, was one about sports. The list was mainly soccer and football(which I know the best). I was wondering if I should alternate weeks, one week with this story and the following week with the sports story were I to do two stories. So, yeah. Those options are up to you, as the audience, for both. Were I to write another story and you guys don't like it as well, I could always refocus on this or vice versa if you think I developed the other better. Also, this is a shorter chapter that was mainly to prepare for the next one. I feared if I took this through what will be the next chapter, it would be forever long. Anyways, R&R please.

Chapter 10

Eragon

The afternoon was the same as every afternoon before. Islanzadí stayed late, again, Eragon cooked another of his many meals, and Arya talked with Eragon in the kitchen, occasionally working on homework. The only real change was the physical level of their relationship, with a hand hold here or a kiss there. Eragon had never had a serious girlfriend before, so it was an adjustment for him. There were middle school relationships, but he tried his hardest to wipe those years from his memory.

Following a goodnight kiss, they went to sleep in their respective rooms. As Eragon fell asleep, he was smiling. Every time he managed to stop smiling, it slowly crept back on his face. His mind was on Arya until sleep finally enveloped him.

Beep! Beep! Bee- was all it took for his alarm to wake him and for him to turn it off. Sleeping in was a very tempting offer, but he rolled out of bed, listening to his better judgement. He grabbed clothes to change into and headed for the door out of his room. Eragon opened the door and stepped outside, bumping into a half-asleep Arya. Both of them reached out to stop the other from falling. Eragon muttered "sorry" as he bent down to pick up his clothes.

Arya didn't reply for a moment, then said "it's fine" before heading off to get ready for school.

A creak came from the stairs, opposite of where Arya was walking. Islanzadí must still be home. Eragon watched Arya leave his sight before he resumed walking to the bathroom. As he reached the door, a familiar voice spoke, saying "so, it appears you two have developed feelings for each other." Eragon turned to see Islanzadí watching him as if she was attempting to decipher a puzzle. As what she said sank in, he became stunned and no words formed. She spoke before he could think of any words to say. "All I ask is that you be careful with her." She began to look where Arya walked towards. "She has been through a lot for such a short life, not that you have been spared of the twisted game that is fate."

By then, Eragon had developed a sentence to say. "Yes, ma'am. I would treat her no other way than with care."

Islanzadí smiled, then said "please call me Islanzadí. You are living in my house, after all." With that, she began to walk back towards the stairs she came from. "Oh, and Eragon?" Her smile remained unchanged as she continued. "Don't do anything...rash while the two of you are alone." Then she left him to his thoughts. Eragon watched as Islanzadí walked off as if no conversation happened. He shook his head. She is just being a rightfully protective mother, he thought as he began his morning routine to prepare for school.

Once he was ready, he went downstairs to find it was 7:25 still, giving them over thirty minutes before they had to leave. Arya was grabbing a box of cereal before he stopped her, saying "I can throw something together."

Arya put the box back, then said "okay." She stood by the stove and observed as he grabbed some ingredients for bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. Arya observed and occasionally offered assistance throughout as they went through.

It was a meal he has prepared over a thousand times, but, with Arya there, it seemed different. Better, he decided. They talked about a variety of topics before Eragon bumped his cast on the stove, turning the burners on. "I can't wait to get this stupid thing off," he muttered to himself as he turned the unneeded burners off, but Arya heard him.

Arya spoke, saying "You have your check up this Friday, so four days including today. They should tell you then, but there's also a chance you can get it taken off Friday as well." Eragon nodded as the final timer went off, indicating the meal just needed to be put together. Eragon pulled the food out as Arya grabbed plates and cups. Arya prepared her food first, as she had the plates, then Eragon followed her. They leaned on the island, as they did the day before, and silently ate their food.

After a couple of minutes, Eragon began to stare at Arya as she ate. She was watching the news, not paying attention to him. She is absolutely gorgeous, he thought to himself. Arya glanced over at him and realized he was staring at her. "What?" she asked as her voice was muffled by the bit of food in her mouth.

Eragon smile and said "nothing."

Arya swallowed then said, in a slightly more agitated tone, "what?"

"I need to go grab my stuff for school. I'll be back," was his excuse. Arya didn't say anything as he walked out of the room. He didn't really have to get his stuff, as his bag was on the way out of the house, but he didn't want to tell her his thought. It seems...cheesey. When he returned, Arya didn't acknowledge his "secret." Arya simply turned the tv off, then asked "are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready" was Eragon's reply as they headed for Arya's car and got in.

They pulled out of the driveway, then Arya asked "so what was that back in the kitchen?"

"It was stupid."

Arya smiled and looked over at him. "I'll be the judge of that."

"I was just thinking how gorgeous you are."

Arya was caught off guard a bit. She jokingly replied a moment later "and you think that's stupid?"

Eragon smiled before he replied. "Yeah, it's stupid in the sense that it's cheesey. As if they ripped it straight out of a chick-flick."

Arya laughed, then said "it sounds like your life is turning into a chick-flick." Eragon grimaced at the thought. Before Eragon could reply, Arya spoke in a more serious tone. "I don't think we should kiss at school because I don't want my mother to find out just yet."

Eragon smiled uncomfortably. "Uuhh, she already knows."

"What?" she exclaimed. "How do you know?" Eragon thought back to the conversation and explained what was said. Knowing Islanzadí was talking about sex, he watched Arya's reaction as he quoted Islanzadí's last sentence. Her expression didn't change, as if she was expecting him to say it.

For the minute or so remaining of the commute, they were silent. Eragon could tell Arya was contemplating what her mother said and he didn't want to intrude on her thoughts. When Arya pulled into her parking spot, they sat in silence because they were several minutes early. Arya spoke three minutes before they had to start walking towards the school with a slight joking tone. "I'm not entirely comfortable with make out sessions in public. It's j-"

"I completely understand." Eragon cut her off with an understanding tone, not needing her to explain. "It can be awkward for the...audience to witness."

They sat in silence for another minute before Arya broke the silence. "I guess we should head in."

Eragon nodded, then brushed her hair behind her ear before slowly leaning in to kiss her. Arya, prepared for it after he brushed her hair, immediately responded. As they broke away, there was a knock outside of Arya's window.

Eragon looked to see Saphira watching the interaction with interest. Eragon and Arya got out of the car, following Saphira to the school.

Saphira didn't talk about the kiss, again, but Eragon knew he would be bombarded with questions once Arya left.

They walked together until they reached a split in the hallway where Arya went to first period. Eragon gave Arya a quick hug before they split. As soon as Arya was out of sight, Saphira spoke. "What was that in the car?"

Eragon had already prepared a lie, unsure if Arya wanted others to know. "Arya had a black mark on her neck and I was trying to see if I could get it off." It was a terrible lie and Eragon knew it.

"First of all, that was terrible. You were obviously kissing her. Second, your tell a huge red flag." Saphira replied as they entered the classroom.

"Wait, what's my tell?" Eragon asked, genuinely curious.

Saphira replied, but, what he assumed was, her sapphire blue R8 was sitting on a lowered lift with the trunk popped in the connected garage. The 5.2 liter V10 was exposed to everyone looking. He admired the German engineering behind the engine and the appearance. He examined everything exposed, which wasn't much. Saphira's voice snapped him out of his drooling. "I got it a week or so before you moved here. I haven't done anything custom to it, which is why I brought it here. There are a couple of other minds than mine looking at it, and there's a lift here."

Eragon nodded, understanding both of her points. "Do you plan on adding aftermarket parts or just tuning it?" Eragon asked, wondering what she was planning.

"Mostly tuning, but I might change the AWD system to a 25 front, 75 back and maybe some sort of aspiration" was her reply. She added "we should probably check in before we get started."

"So, does Mr. Fredric allow students to bring in their cars?" Eragon asked.

"He does when we don't have any other vehicles in, like right now."

Eragon nodded, then the two of them what they would be doing, then Saphira called Fírnen and Orik over to help with the car. The four of them surrounded the car and Saphira listed off a series of things she wanted either checked or tweaked. They worked together and separately as various tasks required various amounts of cooperation. They worked on anything from fuel injection to the gear ratio to the suspension. Many things couldn't be changed due to the technology gap between the car and the tools they had to work with, but Sapira's laptop made up for the electrical side.

After almost three class periods of solid work, the four of them called it quits when the car was in stable condition. They didn't want to have the car run poorly and be unable to work on it.

As Saphira drove the car into the parking lot, the three guys returned to their seats for the last few minutes of class. Fírnen spoke in a different tone than he did when working on the car. "I need some advice on something."

Orik and Eragon looked at each other, unsure of where this was headed. Eragon spoke slowly and cautiously. "Okay, what do you need advice on?"

Fírnen spoke one word. "Saphira."

Orik spoke immediately. "You are asking the wrong guy. I stick with cars when it comes to advice."

Eragon spoke after Orik. "Yeah, relationships aren't my specialty either."

"Saphira said you and Arya were devouring each other in the car, so you have to have some advice." Fírnen countered.

Eragon froze as the words came from Fírnen's mouth. Arya is going to murder Saphira if she finds out she said something. "The only advice I have for you is the stereotypical 'be yourself and you'll be fine.'"

Fírnen's face fell after hearing this. What do I say? I don't know either of them well enough, Eragon thought to himself. Just then, Saphira walked into the classroom and the bell rang. Eragon and Orik began walking out and headed for the cafeteria. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Saphira and Fírnen in a conversation as they also headed for the cafeteria.

As Orik and Eragon walked, they talked about various cars and Eragon learned that Orik drove a yellow, 2017 Dodge Viper with black stripes. What's with all of these 2017 sports cars and muscle cars? Eragon thought to himself as they approached the line to get food. They walked to the line that Arya was in, as it was the shortest and Arya was there. "So, what kind of car are you going to get?" Orik asked. Arya looked intrigued by this question, as she hasn't heard the answer to this before.

"I'm not sure, to be completely honest. My dad drove a Mercedes and it was a great car, so I might look through Mercedes and McLaren cars. Anything is possible, though." was Eragon's reply. In truth, he hasn't done any research to compare to even begin buying a car. Nor has he looked at his budget, which would involve him looking at his inheritance from his parents.

They walked through the line and grabbed food from a selection of quesadillas, chicken or beef nachos, or a chicken or beef taco. While it sounds good in theory, the appearance and taste was anything except "good." He grabbed a bottle of water and some rice, paid, then headed for the lunch table behind Orik and Arya.

When they sat down, Orik was complaining about his math class and how useless it all was. While they talked, Eragon couldn't help but think about how insignificant school was. With gang violence, hit-and-runs, and a racing organization that corrupted the majority of the US government, how could high school be anything except insignificant?

His thoughts distracted him for the rest of lunch and he soon found himself sitting beside Arya in his next class. While the class was reading Hamlet, Eragon either distracted on Arya or distracted with his thoughts. When the class was about to end, he decided to talk to Ajihad about it at the start of the next class.

When the bell rang, he told Arya his plan. "I'm going to talk with Principal Ajihad. Can you tell Ms. Kessinger that I will be there?"

Arya just nodded and said "yeah, sure." With that said, Eragon thanked her and headed for the principal's office. After convincing the secretary that he needed to see him, he found himself outside of his office. Eragon knocked and said "Mr. Ajihad? It's Eragon. May I come in?"

After a moment's hesitation, he heard a voice from inside the office say "yes, come in."

Eragon walked in and stood behind a chair until Ajihad said, with a smile, "sit down, you don't have to be all respectful to me."

Eragon complied, then decided he might as well be blunt. "I've been thinking about...everything and I was thinking about how insignificant this is compared to what is going on with the URC."

Ajihad sighed as if he knew this conversation would occur eventually. "I know you're antsy, especially after what has happened to you, but we have a plan. At the moment, until you are fully healed, anyways, the plan is for you to be an average high school student. Once you get fully healed, we can start talking about...extracurricular activities for you."

Eragon realized Ajihad didn't want to speak completely free in case someone was listening. "So there is a plan to get me involved in extracurricular activities?" Eragon asked.

"Yes, but you will have to be patient. In the meantime, enjoy yourself. You won't always have this amount of free time." That was what Eragon feared. Knowing the cause of his parents' deaths, doing nothing for almost a week and a half was causing him to grow impatient.

Eragon stood and shook Ajihad's hand. "Sorry to take up your time. That was just something I couldn't get off my mind the last couple of hours."

Ajihad smiled before saying "it was no trouble, Eragon. If you need me, I should be here or you can get into contact with me through Arya."

After he left the office, he felt no different than when he entered.

He went through the motions of his classes and had many enjoyable conversations with Arya until they finally left school. Three more days, he told himself, three more days, then I can get this stupid cast off.

A/N

First, thank you Dragon Junkie74 and wwareham1 for the follows and favorites. They are much appreciated.

Asnari-I felt the slow chapters were necessary to develop characters and relationships a bit. Plus, now, I know where I want to take a couple of things that I hadn't nailed the details down to. Lemons definitely wouldn't be a regular thing. Plus, my experience is...shall we say, limited in that area. I might throw up a couple of chapters to the other one over the rest of May and June. As for the time skip, it would only be a few days. Maybe a week and a half, but I doubt it.

Dragon Junkie74-Thanks. I try to keep the quality vs quantity up. I know I've succeeded in quantity thus far.

I kinda understand why people abandon FF's after starting a ExA relationship. It can be a bit difficult to word things right sometimes.

Something I've thought about is Saphira and Eragon's bond. I think I know how I'm going to do it, but I won't be able to get into the deeper stuff until Eragon gets driving again, which I want to get back into soon. I might do a short time skip if that's okay.