chapter 3, ned and olive arrive at the cook off.
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"Nee-ed" Olive sang from the hallway the next morning as she knocked on his door.
Ned had not talked to chuck since she had left the night before, she had come back after Ned was asleep and had left before he woke up. He wondered briefly where she had gone as he pulled himself up out of the bed, but when he answered the door to Olives excited bouncing he forgot about Chuck's whereabouts and invited olive in to wait while he got ready.
"Coffee?" Ned asked as he turned on the coffee machine.
"You betchya!" Olive squealed as she got settled on the counter next to Ned.
"I see you've already had some today… how much?" He observed as Olive wiggled her way onto the counter still bouncing.
"Only four cups, but I'm mostly just excited… you know for the, cook off." This wasn't totally a lie, but she was most excited for the chance to spend three days alone with Ned.
"I see…" Ned sighed as he handed olive a large mug of coffee. "I'm going to go get dressed be back in a minute." He added gesturing to his pajama-clad legs, smiling and heading for his bedroom.
Olive sighed as she watched him round the corner, admiring his tall frame, and long legs from behind. She was so absorbed in her thoughts of Ned that when he suddenly reappeared at the door way she jumped.
"Cream is in the fridge and sugar is on top of it, I thought you might want some…be right back." He said again before disappearing again leaving Olive to find the cream and sugar by herself.
***
When Ned returned from the bedroom he was dressed in his regular grey T, black sweater, and dark jeans, and Olive thought he had never looked better.
"Are you all ready to go then?" Ned asked olive as she hopped off the counter, with her second cup of coffee in her hands, and sauntered over to Ned at the doorway.
"Just gotta head over to grab my bags, I'll meet you in the car?"
"Um, yea, my car? Or yours?" Ned asked knowing that the thick plastic separation in his car would be uncomfortable for olive.
"Mine has more trunk space… so, mine?" Olive answered, and with that the two set off to get their bags and meet at the car.
Finally when Olive made her way from the door to the car Ned realized that she had three large duffle bags, running up to her and taking two of the bags he shook his head at her.
"If I had known that you had so much luggage I would have offered to help Olive." Ned said as he weighed the bags in his hands trying to figure out what she had packed. "Anyways, get in the car, I'll put these in the trunk."
After a moment of readjusting his luggage so Olive's would fit Ned slid into the drivers seat beside Olive, and the pair quickly got on the road. Neither one of them talked as they pulled out of the parking spot, and began to make their way out of town.
Olive and Ned had been on the road for thirty minutes, when finally Olive broke the silence with an unexpected question.
"What did you mean when you said ' I wouldn't say never'?"
Ned was stunned into an even deeper silence by Olive's sudden inquisition.
"Ned, I just wanted to know, I mean, I don't really care what you meant, but I need to know Ned." Olive concluded while looking out the window.
"I'm not sure what I meant Olive. We were in a life or death situation…" his voice trailed off as he thought of why he had really said it. Why couldn't he just tell Olive the truth? Because he was with Chuck and no matter how much he liked Olive, he was supposed to love Chuck.
"I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer Olive." Ned finished lamely keeping his eyes on the road.
***
After another hour of silence occasionally interrupted by the humming of Olive the team arrived at the cook off.
In the middle of a large field a huge green and white tent was placed beneath the bright blue sky, people milled about the tent, in went large platters of food, and boxes of different supplies.
"Should we set up our spot, then head over to the lodging area to get unpacked?" Ned asked as walked around the car to stand beside Olive.
"Yes sir. Sounds like a plan." She chirped opening the car door to grab a box of fruit the piemaker had touched back to life the previous night. "Will you get the big box?" Olive asked making her way towards the information tent to find out where their spot was.
"I got it." Ned said picking up the other crate, shutting the door and following Olive.
When the two entered the large tent they were pleasantly surprised with the fantastic decorations and eccentric people wondering around. Each stand was unique, and perfectly painted according the what that booth was to prepare. When Olive and Ned reached their booth they were once again pleasantly surprised to see a well painted replica of the Pie Hole standing where their spot was.
Olive squealed when she saw it and ran to the door.
"Common Ned!" she yelled waiting for him at the circular doors so like the ones at the actual pie hole.
Ned still carrying the large crate made his way over to the small blonde waiting for him. As he approached her he thought about what he had meant by ' I wouldn't say never.' And by the time he reached her he realized that he had mean exactly what he said, she had been mistaken that he never looked at the same way he looked at Chuck. As a matter of fact he looked at her in the exact same way he looked at Chuck.
Olive wondered why Ned had began to smile as he approached her but when he put the crate down and carried her across the threshold of the miniature Pie Hole she knew that he possibly could have finally realized what exactly he had meant by, ' I wouldn't say never.'