Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.


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Thank you for the reviews…hopefully more people will sign the petition, and I'll be able to finish this story...!

Sorry to anyone if they think that Diego and Shira's relationship had developed too quickly, but it was a sort of vital point in the story, and I am terrible at these sort of developing romances.


Chapter 7:

Ellie forced a smile on her face as she takes her seat beside the hyperactive boy, who is scribbling something on the table. He looks up suspiciously as she sits down; she jumps as he suddenly slams his hands on the table.

"Listen up! We get the project done with, and then we forget each other for the rest of our lives, got it?"

Ellie blinks, then resists the urge to laugh. Zeke reminds her so painfully of her brothers, it's almost hilarious. Still, she thinks he would take offence to her laughing in his face for no apparent reason, so she nod along, humouring him. "Sure thing."

Zeke scowls at her smile but turns obediently to bring out his laptop. "Let's get this thing over with."


Sid gulps nervously as he feels an ominous presence next to him, and carefully looks up to see his partner glowering down at him. Oscar slams the chair beside him out and sits down, slamming his things onto the table.

Sid swallows and looks around for help, but everyone seems equally occupied by their choice in partner. Well, he might as well be friendly, right? Who knows - maybe Oscar was a nice person deep, deep, down.

"So. Um. I guess we're partners, huh? Should we meet up-"

"Shut up," Oscar growls, clearly unhappy at his partner.

"Okay." Sid agrees hastily and they sit in silence.


Manny glares at Soto, who does the same as he sits down next to Manny, stiff as clockwork. Both are tense, rigid, and in disbelief at this pick in partners. Just what was the teacher thinking, making them work together?

Even Ms Mitford had had enough insight to work in groups and ease the students into one another's social circles rather than throw them into a one-on-one group project.

Manny glances around the room: Ellie and Zeke looked like they were getting okay, and Oscar seems to be doing something on his laptop, throwing Sid a harsh comment every once in a while. Manny growls - Oscar better watch it. He didn't like Sid as much as anyone else, but the boy was still in his herd, and he'd protect him to his last breath.

Seeing Crash and Eddie settle down quickly with bright, mischievous grins, he turns back to the last pair that worries him, arching an eyebrow.


Shira tries not to turn red as Diego approaches and plops down in the empty seat beside her, setting his things on the table. They hadn't talked since lunch and the…kiss? Not kiss? What the hell was that?

"Hi."

"Hi."

They sat in some semblance of casualness, though anyone watching them - almost everyone, to be honest - could tell there was a tension between them. Some squealed quietly as they texted their friend group on how realistic the rumours were about them dating, while others merely grinned suggestively at them.

"Who do you want to do?" Diego asks, ignoring them.

"Franceso Cortez?" Shira responds, equally detached.

"Fine."

Diego lowers his voice as he pulls out his notebook and laptop. "You know the other students are staring, right?"

Shira rolls her eyes, settling into the familiar dynamic. "How stupid do you think I am?" She leans back and props her feet on the desk, ignoring the disapproving cluck from the teacher. A thought occurs to her as she glances at Gutt, red in the face with something like anger. "Work with me."

"What?" Diego asks, confused. "Aren't we kind of working together now?"

Shira rolls her eyes again. "No one expects us to work well together."

"Gee, I wonder how they can tell." Diego drawls.

Shira scowls. "We work together-"

"Go on…"

"We prove them wrong."

"Why do I sense an ulterior motive?" Diego asks.

Shira merely bats her eyelashes at him. Diego rolls his eyes but there is a grin tugging at his lips. "Why do you care? Besides, isn't pettiness the key motivator?"

"Point," Diego concedes. "Fine."

"Great." Shira snatches his laptop from him and whistles as she examines it. "Well, this is nice - how much did this cost?"

"More than it'll take me to break your limbs if you destroy this one," Diego warns.

"Fine, fine," Shira shrugs. "I'll do the research, and you'll translate."

"This feels very one-sided."

"You should be flattered I'm even giving you a role."

"Thank you, oh mighty one," Diego rolls his eyes, but he relaxes into his seat.


Shira sighs as she stares at the laptop, the cursed browser still loading even after twenty minutes. Why was this happening to her? And why now?! The laptop had worked well whenever Diego did something on it, but whenever she tried to do something, the laptop started to lag.

"Did you sabotage this?"

Diego rolls his eyes, lying on top of the spare desks. "Yes, I wasted my time on the laptop to sabotage my partner and chances of passing this assignment."

Shira sighs in exasperation as she shoves the laptop to the table beside her. "Why do we have to do this again?"

"Mix of history and languages," Diego answers, like he hadn't been giving this answer the last seventeen times Shira had asked. "Not the best combination, but I can work with it."

Shira sighs again. "And remind me why we're in a separate classroom?"

"Everyone gets their own space," Diego mocks the teacher. He sighs, rubbing his eyes. "And we're the lucky ones who got the long straw and got a whole classroom to ourselves."

"It's almost as if people think we'll either fight or make out," Shira muses thoughtfully.

"Well, either one will be legendary," Diego drawls. "I can bet you that."

Shira grins. "Is that a challenge?"

Diego shoots her an unamused look and waves his hand in the general vicinity of his laptop.

"Yeah, yeah, work." Shira huffs. "This place is so empty."

"Yeah, why do you guys have so many classrooms anyways?"

Shira suppresses a snort. "Oh right, you guys don't know about the incident."

"The incident?" Diego perks up.

"Some science thing. We blew up a couple of classrooms and had to have our lessons outside in tents. The school decided on a long-term investment, and made too many classrooms so we'd always be protected. Something about child safety."

Diego laughs brightly. "You guys have more fun than us."

Shira smirks. "Jealous?"

Diego rolls his eyes fondly then gets up, walking over to his laptop and bending over it. Shira watches his back, then turns and sees the door half-open. That is the reason she sees Gutt and Raz walking by, both smirking and ready to get them now that the teacher had mostly left them alone to their own decides.

Without thinking, she immediately does what her senses were screaming at her to do - and to be honest, what she's been wanting to do since that lunch - and grabs Diego by the front of his shirt. And then she kisses him.

Diego tenses, hands carefully resting on her shoulders, but Shira only breaks apart enough to murmur "Follow my lead."

"Why?"

"Because I told you so." And then she kisses him again. She gradually feels him relax, or, at least, force his body to relax, arms wrapping around her as she drapes her arms around his neck.

And does her best to ignore her mind screaming at her.

For now, she just relaxes against his warmth and inhales the forest smell that stubbornly clings to him. She buries her hands in his hair as he does the same, dropping one hand to wrap around her waist while the other presses her closer.

Eventually, when the need for air becomes too great, they break apart, flushed.

Shira turns to the door, and Diego follows her gaze, curious. "What was that?"

Shira is relieved to see Gutt and Raz gone, and then winces as she realised what she had just done. Valley isn't exactly a small school, and with the current rumours swirling around about her and Diego…

Well, Gutt would definitely try to turn it against her. He would save it for something ominous that he could use to blackmail her, meaning he'd probably keep his trap shut until she angered him again.

Raz though…

No matter how tough Raz was, she was still a girl, and she had spent long nights encouraging Shira to embrace her 'inner femininity', whatever that meant.

"Gutt," Shira answers, distracted.

"Gutt?" Diego chokes. "Are you crazy, Shira? The rumours are going to be a pain." Shira laughs suddenly, the situation striking her as funny. Maybe she has already lost her mind. Either way, Diego stares at her bemusedly. "What did I say?"

"Well, with the rumours swirling around, we might as well make them true, shouldn't we?"

Diego raises a questioning eyebrow, and Shira notices that his arm hasn't moved from her waist yet. And neither has her arm, wrapped securely around his neck. She leans her forehead against his. "Well, we shouldn't disappoint should we?"

Diego huffs a laugh against her mouth. "Soto is going to kill me."

Shira grins, then leans in to kiss him again.


The next day, Diego notices the others staring strangely at him in music. He frowns innocently, glancing down at his notebook. "What is it?"

"Nothing!" Sid hastily turns back to his work. The others follow his lead, though Ellie seems more ecstatic and Manny suspicious. Diego's frown deepens, though he knows exactly what was going on.

Shira hadn't been joking when she said the rumours spread fast.

He smirks internally as he meets Shira's eyes from the other end of the room. She shoots him a sickly sweet smirk in response, then turns back to her group.