BTW, I have never seen cat meat, let alone eat one 'roasted over a fire and glazed with freshly gotten honey'(I quote).

Chapter Nine

Cammie POV

"Damn." I said as I bit a juicy piece of cat meat roasted over a fire and glazed with honey from a nearby beehive."You don't have bad taste after all."

He smirked at me winningly. "Told ya."

"So," I said."Mind telling me why you brought me here?"

"That's only for me to know."

I gave him a suspicious look."You're not honey potting me, or anything, right?"

He gave me a dirty look."As if I would ever do that. I'm not like my mom you know."

I felt a bit guilty, but I didn't show it. I shrugged and rolled my eyes."Fine, calm down. Shouldn't we be enjoying the view?"

Zach had brought me to a tree, one of the tallest in the forest, by the looks of it. I was stupidly staring up, wondering how the heck was I supposed to go up that when he tapped me on the shoulder from a low branch of another tree nearby.

He smirked at me (nothing unusual) and asked me if I was planning to stand there all day long. Annoyed by his cocky attitude (possible after-effect of nightmares?) I swung myself on the branch and smirked back at his mildly surprised expression.

After regaining his composure, he challenged me to see who's the first one who can reach the top.

I'd asked where the finish line was and he pointed out a cleverly camouflaged tree house perched on the top branches.

Then, without warning, he took hold of the next branch and climbed up like he'd 'done this all the time'(I quote).

Fueled by the natural instinct to win, I raced after him.

When we reached the top (Zach won by seven seconds), breathing hard and laughing at the same time, he playfully smacked my shoulder and said,"Not bad for someone with an injured knee." Probably in more sarcastic wording, but something around that line.

Then, to make a long story short, we chit-chatted while eating cat barbecue (I chickened out at first but he kind of convinced me [double meaning: he, uh, {K-I-S-S-E-D} me. Or made out with me. And I kissed him back. But that is totally not the point!]). So after that was a very awkward silence (actually, it was me [seriously] calling him a molester, which he [jokingly] shoved off).

Then he smirked and waved his hands to the exquisite view of the silver river surrounded by the lush countryside and said,"Shouldn't we be enjoying the view?"

And now I threw his words back at him. Take that!

Back to the present.

x~x~x~x

BTW they already got down from the tree. Just so you know.

x~x~x~x

Chapter Eleven

With my hunger finally quenched, and the taste of the barbecue still lingering on my lips, I was in the mood to explore.

Not to mention, kicking some serious COC butts.

Unfortunately, all there was to kick were trees.

Zach snickered as I almost stepped into a pile of mud.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot there was somebody here who's ass I could kick. I think.

It was my turn to snicker as he slipped on the mud I'd just avoided and almost fell into the river.

He playfully pushed me from behind."That wasn't funny. For all you knew, I couldv'e really drowned in there."

"What, you don't know how to swim?"

He gave me an approving look."Now there's the comeback I was waiting for. I was wondering where your sense of humor went."

"Shut up."

"That's the second time you told me to shut up this day."

I glared at him."Either you shut up, or I will kick your ass and drown you in the river."

"Wow,"He smirked, obviously not taking me seriously and added in a singsong tone,"Just like I feared-"

I dug my heels into the ground and, taking him by surprise, turned quickly to face him.

"Yeah, Zach",I breathed sweetly to his lips, we were so close,"Just like you feared."

I gave him a soft enough kiss, just so he knew this was a joke (and also, to lower his guard. insert big smile here), and pushed him roughly to the sparkling water.

I waited for him to resurface before grinning, and then said,"Who's laughing now?"

To my surprise, he grinned back, gestured for me to come closer, and replied,"I am."

I stayed there confused for about a second, but it was enough.

Pulling me by the arms, he dragged me underwater, and did not let me go until I scratched his hands.

After being freed from his firm grip, I broke the surface, and took deep gasps of air. I found him sitting on a nearby rock with an amused expression on his face.

I didn't have the strength to glare at him."You asshole."

He ignored the statement."The world is crawling with COC agents, and you manage to find time for a manicure."He didn't bother to hide the gratification in his voice."Genius."

I crawled on the rock beside him, my clothes dripping. I probably looked like an half-drowned cat. Then I noticed I wasn't shivering like jell-o, like I expected."You-"I tried to push him off the rock, but he barely moved an inch-"are so dead to me. You could have drowned me, you jerk!"

There was his patronizing smirk again."Ditto, Gallagher Girl."

I hate that nickname. It gives me the shivers-the good kind- that I'd been trying to avoid for so long.

He smirked.

Damn the nickname 'Gallagher Girl'.

Damn him and his stupid smirk.

Damn everything about him that gets on my nerve.

Damn everything I find both annoying and appealing about him at the same time.

After that line of thought, I noticed I wasn't shivering at all, though the climate was cold. I swirled my hands in the water. It was warm. It didn't bother me though; there was probably some scientific explanation for it that I would've had more time to think about if my head wasn't filled with COC agents and...

I laid down on the rock and let the sun warm my clothes. It wasn't until I bothered to look that I catched him staring at me.

"You're staring at me." I accused.

He held up his hands."Who could blame me?"

I almost blushed. Almost.

I shrugged off my wet jacket."This was my favorite you know."

"I could say the same about my jacket."

I rolled my eyes. "I bet you're just saying that."

"Maybe. You never know."

My hair was starting to dry now. I sat up.

A bird -I don't know what kind- started singing in the trees. The river rushed on, as if there weren't two teenage spies sitting on a rock near it's shore.

The peacefulness of the moment seemed to wake my conscience.

This was the time for confessions.

It was now or never.

"Zach..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

Of course he was never unsure. "What?"

"I need to tell you something."

He nodded.

"I had a wierd dream last night."

"Okay...what about?"

I could tell he wasn't that concerned. It was only a dream right?

But I could also tell he would be pretty interested soon.

I pulled my knees out of the water and hugged them.

"Josh."

R&R!