YES FINALLY IT'S SUMMER VACATION FOR ME! Friday was the LAST day thank goodness. I have successfully completed all of my exams for my freshman year. It was pretty much the worst year ever. Well, work-wise atleast. Social-wise, on the other hand, was fun though :) Whoo now I'm a sophmore! Not like it's really any better since the stuff next year will be harder -_- But whatever, it's finally summer!

Hmm...I think a good theme song for Adeline would definitely have to be Resistance by Muse...idk why really, but it that's what I was listening to while writing the last chapter. It was like an orchestra version of it and it just seemed to fit...uhh just find it on youtube if you're curious :P

xxxxx

I've Got You

Chapter 10: Puppy Love

As soon as Hope rang the door bell, he lightly squeezed my hand. I raised my eyebrows. "Nervous?"

He smiled at me. "I was...not anymore though." We both turned our heads to the door as we heard it open. A man in about his early forties appeared at the door. Brown hair gelled back, a little bit of stubble, glasses, and a serious look on his face. This man...was Hope's dad. The only thing that was the same about them was their green eyes. Other than that, they looked totally different.

His serious face turned into a surprised one the minute he saw Hope. "Hope!" he exclaimed. He then took notice of me. "Who's this?"

"Adeline...she's a friend."

"Uhh hi...Mr. ..." Oh gosh. I just realized I never exactly knew Hope's last name. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"Estheim." Hope coughed.

"Estheim! Mr. Estheim." I said a little louder than I should've. Way to make a great first impression, right?

"Um dad," Hope said while struggling to find a way to tell him, "I have to tell you something...important."

His dad was silent for a minute. He noticed the nervous expression that Hope had. Then, his eyes suddenly widened as he eyed us both holding hands. What was he thinking? Oh...oh no he couldn't possibly think that... "Hope, you didn't get her-"

"N-no!" We both said simultaneously while turning pink. Apparently, Hope was completely serious when he said his dad doesn't pay any attention to him whatsoever. Hope's not like other teenage boys who can't keep their hormones under control and wants to get into every girl's pants. He's different, in a good way! Like, a super good way.

"Dad, I-well, it's not easy to say..." he paused, unsure of how to explain to his dad that his mom died. I squeezed his hand to let him know everything would be fine. "...Mom's gone." he finally spoke.

A horrid expression appeared on Mr. Estheim's face. "Let's...talk inside." he said slowly, while gesturing us to come in. His eyes gazed over us spotting Light, Fang, and a still unconscious Snow. "They can come in too..."

We made our way into Hope's house. I wasn't going to say it out loud or anything, but his house was like amazing! I'd totally kill to live here...just saying. He directed Light and Fang to a guestroom so they could finally put Snow down (seriously Snow's huge, so Fang and Lightning must be super strong or something). Then, he took my hand again and lead me to his living room where his dad was waiting.

He told his dad everything. From how his mom died to becoming a l'Cie and everything else. I felt bad for him. Having to watch is mom fall to her own death must've been extrremely painful. I held his hand throughout the whole entire time as he explained everything. Mr. Estheim totally broke down in tears.

"Nora..." he said sadly while he continued to cried softly.

"Dad I-um...I know." said Hope. "I'll..be in my room." We both got up slowly and walked halfway out of the living room until he stopped in his tracks. "We're just going to rest up, then we'll leave. If they find out you're sheltering l'Cie, they'll-" he got cut off as a loud, forceful slam on the table was heard.

"You're my son." His dad said in a loud voice. "This is your home." Hope looked surprised by his dad's action. He looked at me, signaling that he wanted to have a moment with his dad. I smiled at him at him and gave his hand a quick squeeze before he hesistantly walked over to the couch Mr. Estheim was sitting on. His dad smiled at him and put his hand on Hope's shoulder in a fatherly way. "My son." he said proudly. Hope smiled back at him.

I quietly made my way out of the living room. I didn't want to ruin such a nice family kind of moment or anything. Right when I walked out I came face to face with Fang. I was about to scream out of surprise, but she quickly covered my mouth with her hand. "Shh.." she whispered while taking her hand back.

"Were you eavesdropping?" I whispered back.

"I wouldn't call it eavesdropping." she replied.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay then...let's go to some other room where we're not eavesdropping on them."

She gave me one of those smirks she always does. "Alright, fine. Always looking out for your boyfriend, huh?" I was about to open my mouth and say something, but I let it go. I decided to ignore her little comment. We walked down the long hallway until we finally made it to another room. I examined all of the expensive furniture in the room. How much money does Hope's dad have? Oh wait, that would be rude of me to ask. I should just drop it... Fang decided to turn on the television screen to see if there's any news about us.

The television was already on the news channel. "Now for an update on the situation in Palumpolum," one of the announcers said, "the l'Cie continue their desperate flight and the military has now launched an all-out campaign to eliminate them."

"Oh yeah, just what we needed." I muttered saracastically. I continued to listen to the announcer. "In the event you must leave your home, please follow the instructions broadcast on this channel." That's when I decided to stop listening. I looked at Fang to see her observing some pictures on a dresser.

"Must be the kid's family..." She said as I followed her gaze. It was a picture of Hope, his dad, and his mom. Hope definitely took after his mom more than his dad. Her face was exactly like his. "Heh, and I guess your future family in-law." she mumbled teasingly.

I glared at her. "For the last time he's not-" I stopped as I heard footsteps coming in. I turned around to see Hope with Lightning and Snow.

"My dad wants to see everyone." he said.

We all followed him to the living room, walking down the long hallway once again. I felt a big slam on my back. Like, the one I always got from Brice. I looked up to see Snow with that signature hero grin of his.

"So, how've you been?" he asked me.

"I've been good, you?"

"Perfect."

I smirked. "Yeah, you seemed perfectly fine unconscious and bandaged up while you had to have two girls carry you."

"...I have no clue what you're talking about." he said trying to pretend like he didn't know anything. I rolled my eyes and laughed. When we finally arrived in the living room, greetings and introductions were made to Hope's dad. I didn't really need to, since I kind of did that already. Everyone took a seat. There was kind of an awkward silence for a minute until Snow got one his knees and faced Mr. Estheim.

"The blame is all mine. I couldn't save her." he told him guiltily.

Mr. Estheim had a stunned look on his face. He was speechless and didn't know what to say. Then, Hope spoke up. "If it wasn't for Snow, I wouldn't be here right now."

He looked at Hope for a moment, than back at Snow. "Snow, did Nora...did she say anything to you?" he asked.

"Hope. Right before she died, she said to get him home."

Hope's dad nodded. "And that's exactly what you've done." Snow smiled and gave a big sigh of relief.

"So what happens now?" asked Lightning. "You working for the Sanctum and everything, there will be serious consequences if they find out what you're doing."

"I know I'm part of this." said his dad. "I'm on your side of the fence. Harborer of a l'Cie and a public enemy.

A distraught look appeared on Hope's face. "I got you dragged into this... Coming here was a bad idea."

His dad shook his head. "This is your home, remember?" he said reasurringly, getting Hope to smile a little bit.

"We're all here. Let's figure this out together." he said as he stood up. All of the sudden, the light's flickered until it was pitch black. Everyone automatically got up, taking out weapons.

"Everyone, stay quiet." Lightning commanded while pulling out her gunblade. Footsteps and engines of planes could be heard from outside and on top of the roof.

"Head's up!" she screamed as glass walls were shattered everywhere. To top it all of, sprays of smoke came coming right in, causing us to start coughing uncontrollably. PSICOM soldiers were already trying to corner us. Fang, Lightning, and I tried to get rid of all of them. I could faintly here Hope telling Snow to help his dad while he would stay here and help us out. I took a glance at Hope, only to find a PSICOM who had snuck up behind him. Thankfully, Lightning knocked him out just in time. The regular soldiers were a piece of cake, but the one's with the jetpack things were kind of tricky. Yeah, I bet they thought they were so cool flying around with their little jetpack things! Well, they're not. I proudly blasted the last one to his death with a huge ice shard trick I figured out how to do.

It was quiet once again as we were all ducked down, taking quick peaks outside of the shattered windows to see if there would be anymore soldiers coming in. A bright light began to shine on our faces. I squinted my eyes the closer the light came. Then, another group of soldiers surrounded the house. The light began dim away, only to see a huge airship right behind the PSICOM.

"Ugh, who ordered the battalion?" said Fang. Lightning looked back and gestured for Snow and Mr. Estheim to get over here.

"Dad!" Hope said in relief as he ran over to him.

"Hope. Thank goodness, are you hurt?" his dad asked while putting his hands on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, how about you?"

"Still in one piece." He said as the both beamed at each other. Snow then got up muttering something like "my turn" or whatever as he walked over to take a peak outside. He took of his coat and held it out and open through the window. Multiple shoots went towards the coat, but the coat stayed in perfect shape. What the...yeah fine I'll just ask about that later.

"Don't shoot!" he yelled. "I'll show you what a l'Cie looks like." he said bravely. The shooting stopped. He slowly walked outside while guns were still pointing at him. He tried to reason with them that he was flesh and blood just like them. That he was just an oridinary citizen and Cocoon was his home. That we want to protect Cocoon just as much as they do. They soldiers were completely baffled as they started to talk among each other. Things like "Is he on our side?" and "He's lying! This is just a trick." were heard from them. Their talking stopped, however, as someone else came out of the ship.

"So, you must be Snow Villiers." said the mysterious voice. Footsteps came closer as we got a better view of a man with gray hair tied back into a high ponytail. ...Ew. Sorry, but guys with ponytails have always bothered me. It's like, a huge pet peeve and exactly why I forbidded Brice to ever get one. No matter how much he tried to convince me.

"Yaag Rosch, PSICOM Division," he spoke, "I understand your plight. However, the Pulse threat is not easily dismissed. Do you think your life is worth more than the lives of millions of Cocoon citizens?" he questioned us. "I certainly do not. Without sacrifice, without Purge, Cocoon will die!" Before he could say anything else, a couple of smoke bombs were thrown out infront of him and his soldiers. The smoke began to spread around, making them cough and wheeze.

"Who fired?" Rosch said angrily. "I gave no order!" There were explosions and guns being fired that could be heard.

"We're leaving!" yelled Lightning. "Hope! Tie up your dad." She then directed her attention to his dad. "We threatened you and forced you to help us. Got it?"

He looked a little reluctant. "There must be somthing else-" he tried to reason until Hope cut him off.

"Do what she says! I can't let you get dragged into this." he told his dad who had gave in while he started to tie him up. "We'll find a way survive somehow. I promise you that." His dad nodded. Out of no where he gave his dad a big hug. Aww. Well that's good to know that there's finally an bond between both of them. I focused my attention to outside as I saw a huge skytank right infront of Snow. Yeah, yeah I definitely know where this is going. We all rushed over to Snow.

"Our turn now, hero." Lightning said as all of us went in for a fight while leaving Snow to regain his energy seeing that he hasn't fully recovered.

A skytank. A giant one. When's the last time I've fought one of these? Oh that's right, never. It was definitely not easy to take down. Lightning, Hope, and I all casted different magic stuff on it while Fang provoked it and made all of it's missles go straight towards her. She didn't even flinch once. We took a couple of hits from it, but it was all good since I learned that I could heal people. These l'Cie powers seem to become more fun to use everytime. Finally, the skytank crashed as we did one more hit. I was totally out of breathe. Then, another large airship was landing right infront of us. Seriously? Another one?

The door opened. Four soldiers marched out, but their guns were down. Then, one more came out and marched straight towards us as the others made way for him. What on earth was going on? I felt Hope put his arm around me protectively. I looked at him and smiled widely. He looked back and smiled nervously while his face started to heat up. I giggled quietly. Even though it was pretty dark outside, I could still see his face extremely red. Ugh, he's just unbearably sweet I could just kiss him. Whoa, wait, did I just seriously think that? Well...I guess I just did, and I guess I really do like Hope. As in like like him. I smiled to myself.

Ha, I so knew it.

...Yeah no shit of course you would know it! You're my concsious.

You didn't listen to me before when I tried to tell you...

Maybe because I didn't feel like it.

I stopped fighting with my concsious (I talked with my concsious, what the hell is wrong with me) when the soldier took of his helmet.

"Heya Fang." said the guy. He looked about Snow's age and had long shaggy brown hair. "Need a ride?" he winked at her.

She rolled her eyes as she drew back her spear. "Don't get cute. Right, let's move it." she said signaling to us that it was okay. Oh, I get it. He must be one of those Cavalry people Lightning mentioned earlier. We started to make our way to the airship, but Hope stopped for a minute and looked back at his dad.

"Take care, Dad." he said quietly before we walked in. He still looked a little uneasy leaving his dad. I pulled him into a tight hug. I heard him quickly take in a sharp breath before hugging me back. I pulled away and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, your dad will be fine." He smiled back at me and nodded. We let go of each other right when we heard a cough from behind. Fang stood their smirking at us. Of all people, it had to be her, didn't it?

"I'll just-I need to go ask Snow something." Hope muttered quickly as he walked towards Snow while trying to hide his pink cheeks.

I scowled at Fang while she was still smirking. "So, you don't like him?"

"Nope. I like like him." I admitted it. "...You're not going to tell him are you?"

She chuckled. "Nah, I'm just going to have to make you tell him...eventually." I groaned. Typical her.

xxxxx

Aw she finally admits it! Haha :)