A/N: So, I realize it's been forever since I've updated this, and I'm very sorry....the "House" and "Grey's Anatomy" fandoms drew me away for a while. Not to mention my job and starting school :) Feel free to flame/throw pies due to the lateness! As usual, the Narrator is in italics.
While Ned and his father were pondering new information and feeling slightly hopeful, Emerson, Olive and Chuck found themselves in a slightly less cheerful atmosphere.
Emerson and Chuck were staring straight ahead in Ned's car, and Olive, in the backseat, leaned forward to make another attempt at conversation.
"So," Olive tried. "How about this weather, huh?"
"It's nice," Chuck said simply. "Sunny."
They fell silent.
Emerson sighed. "We're almost there," he said, mostly for his own benefit.
"Thank God," Chuck mumbled to her window.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Olive asked indignantly.
Emerson quickly jabbed at the radio buttons, looking for a distraction, but no noise emitted from the speakers. "All those rewards we get, and Pie Boy doesn't even spring for a new system," he thought miserably, preparing for the upcoming argument.
"Nothing," Chuck sighed dramatically. "I'm just a little stressed out right now."
Olive leaned forward again. "Well, you don't see Ned getting all snippety with me, even after his dad shows up unexpectedly and after we talked about what he—"
She stopped suddenly.
"Oh, hell no," Emerson muttered.
Chuck twisted around in her seat. "'After we talked about what Ned'…what?"
"Nothing, it's nothing really," Olive explained lamely. "He just said some stuff…that I don't really think I should repeat—"
"Itty Bitty…" Emerson said warningly.
"You and Emerson know?" Chuck asked in disbelief. "Okay, now you have to tell me!"
Olive scowled. "So, I'm not allowed to keep a secret from you?" she asked bitterly. After Chuck failed to respond, looking guilty, Olive asked, "Think we should tell her, Emerson?"
"Why not?" Emerson grumbled, pulling the car into the museum's parking lot. "She's going to find out eventually, and you already told her half of it anyway."
"Please, Olive?"
Olive sighed. "Okay. Ned once had feelings for me!" she said quickly.
The car stopped short, and Emerson, instead of attempting a better parking job, decided to throw the car door open and announce loudly, "We're here!"
She seemed stunned. "He said that to you?" she asked softly.
Olive wanted to pat her on the shoulder but the Plexiglass enclosure prevented that. "Chuck, he said it while we were on the cliff—dangling from it. He just blurted it out without really thinking—we were both about to die!"
"But he said that."
Olive pressed her hand against the glass. "I'm sorry."
Chuck turned to the front slightly. "I'm going to stay in the car while you and Emerson go in, alright?"
She nodded. "Okay." She got out of the car, and stood in front of Chuck's window. "I'm sorry," she said again.
When there was no reply, she turned around and started walking towards the museum with Emerson.
"I probably could have lead up to that a little slower, couldn't I?" Olive said.
"Yeah," Emerson shrugged.
And as Olive pondered her slip-up with Chuck, Emerson made his own error mere seconds later.
"But, Dead Girl had to find out sooner or later."
Emerson Cod may not have realized his mistake, but Olive Snook noticed the odd nickname. She thought of it as another piece to the puzzle that the others were so eager to hide from her. It was a puzzle she planned to complete, and preferably soon.
A/N: It's a bit shorter than the other chapters, but I need it to bridge to the next chapter of events, and this was the best place to seperate them. Hopefully I'll update within two weeks this time... I'll try my best! Oh, and I was unsure if Emerson has ever said "Dead Girl" in Olive's presence.
Thanks for reading :)
