Chapter 6 – A Day At the Beach

DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!

This chapter was actually written and planned out by Shan, and it was inspired by Mackinaw Weasel! (We'll continue Turn of the Tables -chapter 5- in the next chapter :3)

A le enjoy!

ooOoo

Everyone was at the beach.

It was a sunny day, and there was no school and no cases. Nothing to do but relax.

Skulduggery was lying on a towel, pointlessly trying to get a tan- In fact, he wasn't even sure himself why he was trying to get a tan. Could his bones even tan? If it were possible, he was clearly failing.

He had a lot of questions on his mind.

Why would Valkyrie save me on her own?

Why does she blush when I look at her?

What is this awkward and weird feeling I get when ever I'm near her? - No, wait, awkward and weird? It's actually quite a nice feeling.

Coming back out of the madness that was his mind, Skulduggery heard Tanith and Valkyrie playing. Ghastly and Fletcher were trying desperately to stay in the shade.

"Catch me if you can!" Tanith yelled playfully, who was being chased by Valkyrie in the shallow water near Skulduggery.

A spray of water fell on Skulduggery as they ran past, and he sat bolt upright, his trousers soaked. He would be glaring if he had eyes.

Sighing, he looked about, his gaze falling on Fletcher, who was watching the two girls with a smirk on his face. Skulduggery got up and wandered over to him.

"She's sweet, isn't she?" Fletcher said, nodding towards the two as Valkyrie tackled Tanith in to the water with a yell of triumph. Skulduggery shrugged his shoulders, and studied Fletcher as he continued to stare at them. Was that admiration in his gaze?

Skulduggery suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. He didn't like Fletcher looking at Valkyrie like that.

Valkyrie waded out of the water, leaving Tanith still flailing about in the water. She made her way towards them, and was about to say something when Skulduggery took her by the arm and began walking away, pulling her after him.

"Skulduggery-" she began, frowning. Skulduggery held up a finger to silence her and they continued along the beach until they came behind a rock face, alone.

"Have you noticed the way Fletcher has been looking at you?" He said, in a low, weird tone.

Valkyrie blinked, surprised, and was about to answer back with."Well, I -am- in a swim suit, so why wouldn't he be?" when she noticed the way he was holding his head. It wasn't tilted to the side, so he wasn't joking. When Skulduggery spoke again, his voice almost shook.

"-What- exactly does he think he's doing, looking at you like he does?" He clearly wasn't thinking straight. Why would Skulduggery be worried about something as meager as how someone looks at her?

"W-what do you mean, Skul?" She asked, a little intimidated by his sudden change of mood.

"You know what I mean, Valkyrie. I asked you that, nothing more, and nothing less."

Valkyrie raised her shoulders, not knowing how to answer him. She looked down at her feet and remained silent. What's wrong with him? she thought. Skulduggery let out a long, drawn out sigh.

Finally coming to his senses, he pulled Valkyrie close and wrapped a bony arm around her in a hug. With his other hand, he ran his fingers through her hair soothingly. "I'm sorry." he murmured.

Valkyrie sighed and softly hugged him back, burying her face in to his shirt. The strangely nice feeling returned.

Valkyrie felt warm, even though Skulduggery's bones were as cold as ice. (The tan-attempt hadn't worked at all.)

I could stand like this for ever.. they both thought in unison.

Unfortunately, Tanith broke the hug as she could be heard yelling for them both.

"GUUUUUUYS! GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU?"

They reluctantly came apart and went back to the others in silence. Valkyrie rubbed the back of the neck, feeling rather uncomfortable with the situation, but smiled.

As they came in to view of the others, who were looking around for them, Valkyrie called out, "Hey! Here we are, sorry!"

Tanith spun round to look at them, then began sprinting towards them. She collided with Valkyrie, tackle-hugging her to the ground.

"I WAS SO -WORRIED-!" she literally cried out in Val's ear as the others gathered around them.

"My bad, sorry." Skulduggery said, amusement in his voice.

"Can-.. Can someone please get her off me? I.. I can't breath." Valkyrie gasped.

Ghastly took a hold of Tanith and pulled her up and off of Val.

Valkyrie stood up and brushed the sand off of her. A few minutes later, Skulduggery walked to the Bentley and sat in there, alone, to think about his outburst. He confused himself. He couldn't quite pin down the word to describe how he felt about Valkyrie. Did he see her as a daughter?

Valkyrie noticed his absence and made her way to the Bentley, hoping to find him there.

When she did, she got in to the seat next to him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Skulduggery remained silent, thinking of a lie to tell her. But he couldn't bring himself to lie to Valkyrie, and it was getting late. So instead, he just wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she leant in to him. Valkyrie drifted off to sleep after some time, and Skulduggery moved her in to the back of the car so she could sleep peacefully as he drove her home with the others.

ooOoo

GUYZ. You know what to do ;3

- Shaniee!