A/N: Alright everybody-- I finally got the next chapter out. Sorry this took me longer than usual!! And just a head's up, I won't be updating again until New Years. I am very sorry for the long wait, but I go to school in a different country than where I live-- and I am going back home for winter holiday! International travel is never much fun and I don't think I will be able to update during that time. So hopefully this chapter will be enough to tide you over through the holidays!
Why, Why Love
Chapter 8
Sam followed Artemis back to the dorm in silence. The boy seemed to be brooding and Sam knew better then to bother him when he was like this. She had only been Artemis's roommate for a week, yet she already felt as though she was in sync with his frequent moods. It must be living with him, Sam thought lightly; I'm more receptive to his moods because I have to live with him.
The two finally returned to their room, where Butler was sitting at Sam's desk, flipping through her notebooks.
"Hey", Sam cried, walking over to him, "don't you know something called privacy?" Butler looked up at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
"They're just school notes" he said, "I don't think you would hide many secrets in maths equations"
"Still" Sam said, grabbing her notebook from the man. Butler stood up, towering over the girl. She quickly pushed the notebook back into is hands, "…or you can keep reading it. It's totally all right with me. Go ahead!"
"I am not going to hurt you," Butler said, amused by Sam's actions, "so you don't have to act like a nervous puppy"
"Who are you calling a puppy?" Sam muttered. Artemis just looked on the scene and sighed.
"Butler, how about you get on to the reason that you called for this meeting," he said. Butler just looked up at the boy. The only reason why he had even come here is because Artemis had called and asked him to hold a meeting with Sam.
"Why don't you start first, Artemis?" Butler said, looking at the boy, raising his eyebrows a fraction. The movement wouldn't have been noticeable to most people, but Artemis was more perceptive that the usual teenager. Plus, he had been with Butler long enough to know what an eyebrow raise meant. The man was curious as to Artemis's actions. And this time, unlike all the rest, Artemis had no good reason for his actions.
"Well," Artemis started, mind reeling. He was a genius. He should be able to come up with some type of excuse, "Butler informed me the other day that he would like to start giving you lessons"
"Lessons?" Sam asked, looking at Artemis, excited, "what type of lessons?"
"Fairy lessons" Artemis answered, "to teach you all you need to know about faeries before we go to meet Holly."
"Really?" Sam asked, rushing over to Artemis, "am I really going to learn about faeries? Like if they really love underground and if they really have an extensive police system and if…"
"It is not going to be a barrel of fun," Artemis said, cutting the girl off. "Dealing with the fairies extremely serious. You must treat it that way"
"Of course," Sam said, standing straight and putting on her best resolute expression, "I will take these lessons with the utmost seriousness"
"Good" the boy answered. Sam looked over at Butler and then leaned closer to Artemis.
"Are you going to be here for these lessons too?" she whispered, "I know he's not going to hurt me…but he's like a human mountain"
The corners of Artemis's mouth rose fractionally at Sam's comment. It was a slight, probably even subconscious movement, but it didn't escape the radar of Butler's hawk-like eyes. The man looked on the scene with an air of amusement and surprise.
"Don't worry about all the details," Artemis said, "just be content with the fact that Butler is willing to teach you".
"Oh! Of course," Sam said quickly, turning towards Butler, "thank you for thinking about me!" she said to him, "I was worried that I was going to go meet the faeries without knowing anything, but I am glad that you decided to teach me"
"My pleasure," Butler answered, casting a side-glance at Artemis, who shrugged slightly at the man. It seemed as though Butler duties had now expanded from being Artemis's bodyguard to being Sam's personal tutor.
"I will leave you two alone to get started," Artemis said, quickly, looking for a way to escape Butler's odd looks. Why did the man look so amused?
"Oh…okay," Sam said nervously, looking at Artemis with pleading eyes. He could almost hear her voice in his head. Please stay with me, Butler is way too scary. He just shook his head and walked out of the room. Why was it that he could now hear her voice even when she wasn't talking to him?
"This is getting to be really quite annoying," he mumbled, walking towards the stairs, "it is definitely for the best that I get far away from the room".
But back in the room, Sam was having problems of her own. She stood by the entrance of the room, trying not to make eye contact with the man sitting three feet away from her. She shot him a nervous smile and just stood there, fingers drumming against her thighs.
"Sam, there really is no reason for you to be afraid of me," Butler said finally, after about five minutes of tense silence.
"I know," Sam answered, "but you are just too intimidating." Butler chuckled a little bit and Sam loosened up slightly at the sound of it.
"Well it is going to be hard for me to teach you if you won't even look at me," Butler continued. His voice was very comforting, Sam decided. Maybe he wasn't so scary. She looked up at him slowly. Come on; buck up, she thought to herself, what kind of self respecting guy would let himself be intimidated by his roommates bodyguard?
"Ah, glad we are making progress," Butler said, the amused expression still on his face.
"Um…what are you going to teach me?" Sam asked, quickly. She scooted over to Artemis's bed and sat down on it. This way she was still a safe distance away from Butler, so she felt more comfortable looking up at him.
"Well I guess I can begin by telling you about Holly," Butler said, carefully looking at Sam's reactions.
Sam suddenly perked up, looking very interested, "I was meaning to ask about her. Is she another human that knows about faeries? Is she the one that is going to take us to them?"
"Holly is a faerie," Butler answered, "and one that Artemis just might fancy"
"FANCY?" Sam cried, surprised, "as in…like?"
"Yes, I do suppose that is what fancy means" Butler answered, growing steadily more amused.
"But…I thought Artemis hated girls," Sam said quickly, "how could he fancy Holly?"
"One wouldn't exactly classify Holly as a normal girl," Butler said, eyebrow slightly raised at the small figure in front of him.
"Just because she's a faerie?" Sam asked. Butler shook his head.
"Holly is more than a faerie. She is the strongest woman that Artemis has ever been around, I am sure. Wise, witty, and attractive. Plus she has courage, and a lot of it," he said. Sam gasped, could there even be a person with all those qualities? This girl sounded too good to be true, plus she was a faerie on top of that. No wonder Artemis liked her.
Sam sat on the bed, frowning slightly to herself. Why should she care if Artemis liked some faerie lady? It wasn't as though she personally liked him. She had made it a rule not to like him. But if that was the case, why did she suddenly have a very strong dislike for this Holly character?
"Sam, you seem to be troubled," Butler said lightly. Sam looked up and vehemently shook her head.
"No, not at all" she said forcefully, "who Artemis liked is his own prerogative"
"Then why do you have such a worried expression on your face?" Butler asked. Normally he was one to pry, but in this case he found it to be good fun.
"I'm his roommate," Sam said quickly, "of course I am going to be worried about him. A relationship between a human and a faerie seems a little…hard to maintain"
"Is that your only cause for concern?" Butler asked,, eyes boring holes into Sam. Once again, the girl felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Of course," she said chuckling nervously, "why else would I be concerned?"
Suddenly Jin burst into the room, a wide grin spread across his face. Sam almost fainted in relief.
"Jin!" she cried out happily. Jin, slightly taken aback by the thankfulness and joy in Sam's voice, turned towards her. He looked at her oddly for a few seconds before shaking his head and grinning once more.
"My mission has become a success!" he said happily.
"Do you mean that you've found a girlfriend?" Sam asked. Jin nodded his head triumphantly.
"SC's own beautiful, American flower. Charlotte from 3rd year. She is very cute, plus her American accent reminds me of…"
Jin suddenly trailed off, blushing deeply, "um…let's go celebrate!!" he said quickly.
Sam raised her eyebrows at Jin's odd behavior. But she caught a glance at Butler and decided that getting out the room for any reason would be the best thing for her at that moment.
"Yes" she said, getting up quickly and rushing over to Jin, "it is not everyday that you get a girlfriend. Let's go celebrate!"
"Really, you are willing to go now?" Jin asked, "aren't you having a meeting with Butler?"
"Oh, we were just finishing, right Butler?" Sam said, grabbing Jin by his sleeve and dragging him out of the room.
"You two have fun," Butler said, smiling slightly at the teens in front of him. Jin nodded dumbly, staring at Sam's hand where she was clutching his sleeve.
As soon as Sam managed to drag Jin away, Butler took out his phone and called a very familiar number.
"Artemis, Sam and I finished our lesson for today. But I would like to speak with you before I leave.
Artemis sat on his bed, looking up at Butler. Never before had the atmosphere between the two been tense or awkward, but Artemis could not think of any others words to describe their current situation, and he knew quite a number of words.
"Butler, what did you want to speak to me about?" Artemis asked. The large man just leaned back in his chair and looked at the boy.
"You know, don't you?" Butler asked. Artemis just looked up at him.
"I know a great number of things, Butler. What are you referring to in this situation?"
"You know Sam is a girl" Butler said flatly. Artemis cursed under his breath.
"Is she really that obvious?" he asked.
"I am just more observant than most," Butler said, "it is my job.
"Okay, well if that is all you were going to tell me, I think I am going to go out on a walk" Artemis said, getting up.
"Wait," Butler said. Artemis stopped and turned around slowly.
"Yes?"
"Do you fancy her?" Butler asked. Artemis nearly gaped at that question, not because it took him by surprise, but because it hit so close to home. Finally somebody had vocalized the dreaded question that had been floating through his mind.
"Why would you even ask such a thing?" Artemis questioned, his voice and expression as impassive as ever.
"You smiled when she whispered to you" Butler said simply, "you rarely smile around people and never smile around females that aren't Holly or Juliet. You called me to arrange a meeting with her, obviously to save her from some situation. You want me to giver her lessons, you..."
"Alright," Artemis said, cutting the man off, "you have made your point. Now give me a chance to refute it. I do not fancy Sam. She is naïve, impulsive, and overemotional—which are the exact three qualities that I hate in women. She isn't highly intelligent and her common sense is lacking. There is no way that I could fancy a girl like that"
"Then why are you so gentle with her?" Butler asked. Artemis shook his head.
"I am not gentle with her in the least. The only reason why I even care about her is because I am taking her to see Holly and I don't want her to mess up anything for me" he said, "now if you would excuse me, I am going out for a walk"
And with that, Artemis stormed out of the room. Butler just looked at the boy's receding figure and smiled. Ah, the boy had it bad…
It was late by the time that Artemis returned to the room. He had been mulling over Butler's words the whole day. Did he fancy Sam? Impossible. There was no way that could happen. If was ever to be with a women, she would have to be intelligent, brave and beautiful. Just like Holly. Not at all like his tiny, irrational roommate.
Opening the door, Artemis found himself stepping into what seemed to be an odd party. Sam, Jin, Liam, and three other classmates were all congregated on the floor near the beds. They were laughing and chatting in what seemed to be unusually loud voices. Artemis scanned the room and found an open wine bottle near the foot of his bed.
"They are drunk" he said to himself, looking at his classmates.
"Artemis!" Sam cried, waving largely, "come join us!"
"No way!" Jin interjected, "we can't let Artemis anywhere near alcohol"
"why is that?" Sam asked, eyes hooded.
"Because whenever Artemis has anything to drink he turns into a kissing monster" Jin answered, hiccupping.
"A kissing monster?" Sam cried. All the boys nodded.
"It's quite terrifying. Every one of us here has been victims to Artemis's kissing." Liam said. Once again the rest of the boys nodded.
"Stop talking so much," Artemis said shortly, walking up to the group. He held up the wine bottle.
"No, don't do that!" Jin cried, falling over Sam, "I must protect Sam's innocent kiss from being stolen by you"
"Stop speaking nonsense. I do not turn into some sort of kissing monster" Artemis said.
"You do!" all the boys yelled back.
"Scientifically impossible! Let me prove it" Artemis said, holding up the bottle and taking a swig. Everybody let out a collective groan.
Suddenly Artemis's mind went fuzzy. He plopped down to the ground.
"He only had a sip, and it has this much effect? Too weird" Jin said, shaking his head.
"Artemis! Are you okay?" Sam asked, going up to him.
"NO!" everyone else cried. But it was too late. Artemis's gazed eyes locked in on Sam, and as she came closer he suddenly grabbed her and drew her to him.
"Artemis!" she cried right before his lips descended on hers.
Sam sat there in shock, paralyzed. Artemis pressed against her mouth with greater force and her mind reeled. I am being kissed by Artemis Fowl. Oh gods! I am being kissed by Artemis Fowl!!
A/N: haha, okay-- a little bit of action finally =) Next chapter Sam is actually going to meet face to face with Holly. That is sure to be exciting!! As always, please review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. You guys rock and your feedback always brightens my day and encourages me to write more!! Hope everybody has a happy and safe holiday season. I love this time of year! Gracias y besos!!