Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High.
The girls got back to the house in the late afternoon with a few shopping bags each. They decided that Sunday night they would have a nice, fancy dinner, mainly because they found nice, fancy dresses that they wanted to wear. They all agreed that Evelyn deserved a very large hug for giving the entire school Monday off for no apparent reason, since it gave them an extra night to spend in Florida having fun, relaxing, and pretending to be normal teenagers.
After they had settled down in the kitchen and had some cold water, Magenta made the executive decision that it was time to swim. During their afternoon shopping spree, they had all bought bathing suits for not only themselves, but the boys as well. What good was being near the beach if they didn't use it? Ivy had never been a fan of bathing suits; she always felt so exposed. And with Gambit being around, it didn't ease her stomach. But nonetheless, Magenta and Dara had forced her to buy a simple black halter bikini, with a white sarong.
She changed into her swim suit, and stared at herself in the mirror, groaning. Bathing suits. She shuddered at the idea of being seen in something so revealing. Then she remembered the suit Taylor bought, and instantly felt much better about herself. Taylor had bought a blue bikini, with the string ties. Ivy wasn't sure what people were thinking when they designed it, but she hoped they intended it for strippers, and not actual people. She had laughed hysterically, and annoyed Taylor about the lack of suit the entire day. Layla had bought a suit similar to Ivy's, but green and brown. Magenta had found a simple purple bikini, and black shorts, and Dara had gotten Magenta's same suit in yellow and brown, without the shorts.
The girls met in the central living room, and they all whined when Ivy showed up in a black tank top over her suit. She begged them to allow her to keep it on until they actually went in the water, and they all reluctantly agreed. The girls meandered outside and down the few steps until they hit the sand. Ivy stopped right below the stairs, and felt the warm sand between her toes, and tried to conceal a giggle of joy. She loved the beach. Dara called her to hurry up, and she jogged down to meet them, linking arms with the freshman as she did. The boys were halfway down the beach with their barbecue and tables they had set up. Will and Speed were in the process of helping to make a bonfire a little ways away, while Zach, Warren and Lash cooked. Gambit sat at one of the tables they had set up playing cards, and being beyond unhelpful.
Zach spotted the girls first, and stopped mid-sentence to stare at them. Lash and Warren looked up when he hadn't continued, and they, too, forgot what the conversation had been about.
"Hey there, our favorite boys." Magenta smiled and put her towel on the table, on top of Gambit's game.
"Dat considered rude--" Gambit looked up and smiled at the girls, who were all leaving their towels on the table to go swim.
He laughed softly to himself, until he noticed Ivy standing alone at the edge of the water, towel in hand, tank top on, sarong tied around her hips. She had left her hair down, and the soft breeze swept it up so it gently beat against her face. The others were already in the water, and they were all begging for her to join, but she just laughed and shook her head. She headed back towards the table and put her towel with the rest. She ignored Gambit watching her, and went to the barbecue.
"Mm, smells delicious." She stood on her tiptoes and leaned her head over Warrens shoulder, who tensed as she ran her hand down the center of his back. Warren, Lash and Will had long since taken their shirts off under the hot sun, and she saw small goosebumps rise on the back of his neck, as her fingers traced a light line. He shifted his head to look at her, and she gave him a small smile before whispering in his ear, "We need to talk later." He didn't get a chance to respond, as she moved on to help Zach move the cooked food to the table the girls' towels littered. "Where's Will and Tony?" She looked around but didn't see them.
"They're trying to build a bonfire a little ways down the beach." He pointed left and arranged the food on the table.
"I'm gonna go say hi. I'll be back soon, OK?" Zach nodded and told her to be careful; Will was having a clumsy day. She laughed and jogged down the sandy beach in the direction Zach pointed.
A few minutes later she came up on a massive bonfire with a tired Speed sleeping on the sand in his shorts and t-shirt. Will was putting a few finishing touches on the construction and laughing at Speeds snoring.
"Hey, Will." Ivy greeted him casually, and ran to help as he misplaced a log, causing another to fall. She caught it just in time before it brought the rest of the bonfire down with it.
"Oh, hey." He was careful not to look at her, and replaced the two logs in a position they'd stay in. "Dude, Tony. Wake up." Will shook the sleeping Speed, and after a few kicks to the side, he was up and running back to the rest so he could get back to sleep, leaving Will and Ivy to walk back alone.
"So, can we talk about, um, this morning?" Ivy wasn't sure what to call it, or what to say to him, but she couldn't just leave it the way it was.
"What about it?" Will gathered his sandals and shirt off the ground and started to walk away, back towards the house and the barbecue.
Ivy jogged a few feet to catch up, and gently grabbed Will's arm. "Will, please." He stopped and looked at her blankly. "I met Gambit after my mom--" She paused. She didn't want to say died, but she didn't want to say anything else either, so she settled for saying nothing. "He was new to the Institute, and I was only staying a few weeks before I left for Greece. I was already silent by then, but being silent didn't stop him from trying to be my –- uh -- friend. Within the first hour of meeting me, he decided that he liked me." She rolled her eyes and the two began to walk again. "He never did anything, or ever really tried to do anything; he mainly followed me around annoying me when he wasn't pretending to be gentleman-like. This morning was completely out of character." She stopped talking when Will looked at her confused as to what she was talking about.
She raised an eyebrow and his face dropped. "Oh. Uh, yeah. Go on." He shifted his shoes and shirt uncomfortably.
"Anyway, he grew on me." She shrugged, not sure of how else to explain it. "We ended up falling asleep outside one night, and when I woke up the next morning, I had burned him. We guess that he rolled over in his sleep and brushed my hand or something, but we don't really know. It didn't scar, but since then, he hasn't really cared about the fact that he can't touch me. He's going through the same thing with Rogue. He can't touch her either, but he still loves her. Or at least he did the last time I checked. I don't really know how to explain this morning. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish, and I'd rather not find out, but I didn't want you to think that Gambit is a past time of mine."
Will smiled a bit. "Did you like him, or was he just entertainment for you?"
Ivy was taken aback by his question and thought for a moment. "I guess so, yeah. He was charming and witty. Annoying, but still sweet. Or maybe that's just the player side of him that was coming out. It's been years since I've seen him, and the last time we exchanged anything was in an email while I was still in Greece. We had vaguely kept in touch, and actually gotten to be friends. But he hadn't told me that him and Rogue were together, and I don't know. It just kinda hurt, ya know?
"So I got really mad at him and asked why he didn't tell me. He accused me of being jealous, and then insisted on the fact that I liked him. Of course I denied it, but it was true. The last I heard from him, he told me I was selfish and pigheaded. Which are both true, but still not very nice to hear." They stopped a few feet out of earshot to continue the conversation.
"Is that why you were less than thrilled to see him?" Will wiped some sweat from his forehead.
"Among other things." She shrugged. "I never wanted to hurt Rogue." Ivy looked at the ground beneath her, before turning her head to look out at the ocean; anything but looking at Will.
"So you still like him, then?" Will tilted his head to the side.
"On some level yeah. But right now he's just too arrogant and annoying for me to even think about it." She almost growled in frustration just thinking about him.
"I thought you said you didn't talk? That excluded emails?" Will looked towards the ocean.
"He begged me, and Professor Xavier requested that I keep in contact so they would know I was safe. He didn't want to telepathically contact me, I'm not sure why. But either way I couldn't say no to the Professor. " Will looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Or him." Ivy blushed.
"I will never understand girls." Will shook his head baffled at Ivy's answer, and she laughed at him, and they wrapped their arms around each other and walked the last few feet until they reached the food table.
Sooo, I finished writing this story today, it's a total of 50 chapters, so I hope you guys can bare with me for another little bit.
Review, let me know what you're thinkin'!