Hey guys, it's been a while (I've just started uni and it's all been a bit hectic) but I'm back and I have loooooads of new chapters for you! Please review as they are highly appreciated! Thanks xoxo

CHAPTER 4

"Whoa, what happened to you?"

Jem dropped her bag on the floor by her feet and frowned at the room of people in front of her. The only sound she had the energy to let out was a sigh.

"Jem!" Victoria came bounding over to her and immediately started to tuck her arm around Jemima's back and guided her towards the sofa. Pouncival shifted to allow more room for the petite girl and gave a worried look towards Victoria. That was about as far as the sympathy went as the rest of the room was in fits of giggles.

"How did you manage that?" Quaxo tried to stifle his impending fits of laughter. "You've got to stop getting into bar fights, Jem."

"Stage combat." Jemima deadpanned. She had been paired with the infamously clumsy Coricopat in her stage combat class today and everything had been going surprisingly well until they began to prepare to present to the rest of the class. Needless to say, it hadn't gone well and Jemima had received a rather gruesome black eye.

"I'll go and get some ice or something!" Victoria rushed over to the kitchen and started rummaging in the freezer. The boys began to take their focus off of Jemima and started talking about some sort of sporting event that she had no interest in whatsoever. She felt very relieved that Tumblebrutus wasn't here to see her in this embarrassing moment. Last year the two had been seeing each other and it was all fine for a while until Tumble had confessed that he still had feelings for his ex, Tantomile. Ever since then the two had been a little awkward around each other and Jemima could tell that he would have had something sarcastic to say about the purple bulge on her face.

Victoria came rushing back with a bag of frozen peas in her hand.

"Sorry, Jem. It's all we had." Jemima took the bag from Victoria and pressed it gingerly against her throbbing eye. "You know it doesn't even look that bad." She stepped back and squinted at her as if she was trying to decipher the meaning of an abstract painting.

"Thanks, Vic." She appreciated her efforts to console her but she knew she was lying.

"It actually doesn't!" Pouncival said over his shoulder.

"You aren't even looking at me!" Jem snorted.

Pouncival turned his head, remote control in hand and nodded. "Yep, you look fine." He then returned his concentration to the TV on the wall. Jemima rolled her eyes as Victoria giggled slightly at Pounce's general silliness.

"Oh and Jem? I will need those peas back at some point so that I can make dinner. The boys are staying!" Victoria sang from the kitchen area. Great, her icepack was going to be taken away and eaten by her guests. Quaxo turned to her and gave her a mischievous smile and she poked her tongue out at him in response. She was just about to get up to take a shower when the door went and with a pleading look from Victoria who had her hands full of various plates and packages, she shuffled to the door, pea's still pressed against her face.

"Hi… Oh wow, what happened?" Munkustrap stared back at her from behind the door, his form still towering over her.

It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about, but suddenly she took the makeshift ice pack away from her face. "Oh, I had a little accident in my stage combat class today."

"You act?" He asked. Jemima was a little shocked that that was the first thing he asked instead of if she was okay.

"Uh, yeah, I do." She mumbled, wondering if he was going to show some compassion at all.

"I used to love acting! God, I wish I had continued with it all." He seemed distant for a little while before coming to his senses.

"That sucks, but you know it's never too late to start up again."

"Hmm, maybe." They shared a look for a few moments before he looked away in embarrassment again. "Um, yeah. I was just calling to ask if I could use your microwave. Tugger was meant to buy one today but he forgot." He held up a packaged ready meal in his hands. By this point, Victoria had bounded up behind her and, like always, became her kind self.

"Oh no, you can't eat that for dinner!"

"I can't? Why not?" He seemed genuinely confused, staring at it as if it contained some sort of ingredient that was forbidden by the British government.

"No, I mean you shouldn't have to eat that! You can stay if you'd like, we have plenty to go round and the boys are staying as it is." Victoria pointed over towards Quaxo and Pouncival on the sofas who gave a half-hearted wave, their eyes still trained on the football game on TV.

"Oh no, I couldn't." He put his hands in his pockets and shook his head a little too violently.

"It's too late, I've made up my mind! Come in! I'm Victoria by the way, Cettie told me all about you!" Victoria giggled and turned back towards the kitchen.

Munkustrap looked to Jemima and she smiled, stepping out of the way so he could get through the small door way. As he walked past her, she could smell what she could only imagine was his coconut shower gel. Whoa, okay. Don't get too carried away, Jem, he's like 5 years older than you, Jemima thought to herself as she found herself inhaling a little too much.

Dinner was pretty painless as they all sat round the small rickety table and ate. Jemima had sacrificed her peas for the group and had instead replaced it with a pack of frozen fruit. They spoke about Jemima's accident and Munkustrap's love of acting.

"You seem pretty well trained! Maybe you could give me a few tips sometime." He said as they were clearing away their dishes into the sink. The others were lounging on the sofa, laughing and making jokes. Jemima smiled to the floor. Was he asking her out? No of course not, Jemima thought. Or is he? He had been extra sweet to her all evening, she even caught him staring at her a few times. She composed herself before looking back up.

"Sure thing. I'd be happy too." She smiled sweetly, looking him in the eye. He was incredibly hard to read. His eyes were kind but she couldn't see any signs of flirtation. She had to admit that the way the dim light was hitting the side of his face made him seem almost god-like. His jaw bone looked sharper than most of the knives the girls owned and his eyes seemed even more green than usual. She found herself staring at him, mouth slightly ajar and eyes wide, like a child seeing snow for the first time.

"You okay?" He eyed her, confused and blatantly self-conscious.

"Sorry." Her eyed snapped to the dishes in front of her, the air around them suddenly feeling thick.

"Right." He laughed awkwardly. Jemima really didn't understand this guy. One minute he's asking her for one-on-one acting lessons and then he chastises her for staring at him? "Shall we do the dishes?"

"Yeah, good idea." She mumbled, trying desperately to hide her embarrassment.

The two worked in almost silence, breaking it occasionally to ask the other to pass the sponge. Jemima couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he no longer seemed interested in her. What had she done that was so wrong? She even tried to 'accidentally' bump into him a few times but he seemed not to notice. She was almost about to give up hope when he thanked Victoria for dinner, said his goodbye's and walked to the door.

"So… I'll see you around?" He asked as Jemima opened the door for him.

"Yeah, of course. Got to give you those acting tips, right?" She smiled at him, hoping that he would give her that warm look again that made her stomach fill with butterflies and other winged creatures. The one she received was lukewarm.

"See you!" He called as he turned to leave. Jemima bit her lip. She was getting a bit flustered. She was so sure that he had made a pass on her earlier, and she didn't want to let the moment go. She internally cringed at her desperation but decided to be brave and go with her gut.

"Hey, Munkustrap?" She called after him. He spun around to her, seeming almost happy that she had. "We're having a party on Saturday and I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

He smiled. The warm smile which made Jemima feel a bit dizzy. "Of course."

"Cool. Awesome." She grinned a little bit too much and he chuckled slightly before bowing his head and ducking into his apartment. Once Jemima was back in her own living room Victoria stared at her, an eyebrow raised.

"What?"

"You love him." She teased, a grin spread on her face.

"I don't!" Jemima replied a little too quickly. "I don't." She said with a little more composure.

"If you say so." Victoria winked before going into her own room, giggling.

Frankly, Jemima wasn't sure why she had turned into a giggling school girl in front of Munkustrap. She was sure that that's what had put him off. She never usually fawned over guys, either it worked or it didn't. But something about him made her feel all giddy and nervous, as if she was experiencing her first crush again. She wasn't sure whether it was the manly air about him or the fact that they were interested in the same things, but she turned into an idiot whenever he spoke to her. She was sure this could only end badly.