A/N: Look how fast I got this up! Once again, if you like any of the current pairings, I'm sorry. This chapter has the beginning of the end for a lot of them and a complete ending for one of them. And you're going to have to wait a little bit more for Neddie too. I'm a terrible person, but you're the one reading the story :).
The mystery will begin in the next chapter. I understand there has been a lot of fluff, but there was a lot of set up stuff I really needed to get out of the way, this chapter wraps up all of that stuff so we can start to get to the part everyone loves!
When Sunday came around and Fabian still wasn't better-he was at the hospital for two nights-everyone at Anubis house was worried. Even Jerome, who usually couldn't care less about anyone but himself and Mara. They decided to help Trudy cook him a full meal that they would deliver to him later that night. All in all, it wasn't too bad for them; there were only two minor injures, one major injury, one fire and two fist fights.
The first minor injury hardly counted. Amber started flirting with Alfie while she was cooking something on the stove and got her hair just a little bit too close to the flame. She was fine, but the rest of the house wasn't when she spent the rest of the day complaining about her "major beauty issue" and how in the world would she be able to dress because her whole wardrobe was suited to someone with hair at least four centimeters longer.
The next minor injury was when Trudy forgot to remind Alfie to use an oven mitt when taking metal trays out of a 200 degree Celsius oven. He was put in charge of washing the dishes after that because there was no way for him to hurt himself or anyone else doing that.
The major injury happened when Eddie and Patricia were messing around feeding little bits of food to each other trying to make the most disgusting combination they could. Eddie was sure he won when he thought to mix peanut butter and vinegar together until the consistency wasn't like either.
"That's disgusting," Patricia complained. "I have no idea, what is it?" She struggled to swallow it, per the rules of the game.
When it was down, Eddie told her what it was, "peanut butter and vinegar. You didn't guess it so I win. Not as satisfying as I thought it would be."
"What?!" She screamed, pushing Alfie out of the way and putting her mouth under the running water.
"What's wrong, Yacker?" He asked.
"Trudy," she begged. "Epi-pen..." Eddie thought she sounded as if she was trying to talk with something stuck in her throat... then it dawned on him...
"You're allergic to peanuts... aren't you?" He said slowly. Trudy ran off to get Victor and the medicine and Patricia turned on him, her tongue starting to swell to a comical size.
"Yes, I'm allergic to peanuts! You idiot!" She struggled to say. Nina ran over to her and commanded her to sit down and take deep breaths.
"I had a friend who was really allergic to shellfish, but loved shrimp," Nina said, trying to tell a calming story to keep Patrica's mind off her throat that was beginning to close. It was good she was there or Patricia might have started having a panic attack. "Every once in a while she would decided to "test" her allergy and she would eat a few shrimp, but then her throat would start swelling, like it always did. She found the best thing to do was to sit calmly, focus on taking deep breaths and wait for her epi-pen injection."
Victor stormed in and, without any warning, jabbed the needle into her thigh. "Come on, Miss. Williamson. I'll take you to the hospital," he barked. Patrica violently grabbed her coat, not taking her eyes off of Eddie the whole time. Nobody wanted to be him when Patricia returned that night...
Alfie, surprisingly enough, didn't cause the fire. Trudy made sure to take him with her when she left for more ingredients, along with Nina, Eddie (those two hardly did anything separate anymore), Amber, and Lacie. Joy tried to go as well when she saw who she would be left with, but Trudy, oblivious to the love issues of the house, insisted she had more than enough people.
For the first ten minutes, it was mostly okay and Joy allowed herself to believe it would stay okay. Jerome and Mick glared, but Joy and Mara ignored them in favor of beginning to bake cookies. Then Mick had the audacity to look at Mara and Jerome turned the stove on too high in his fit of rage. Somehow, he managed to light the butter in his pan on fire and, before Mara could stop him with her superior cooking knowledge, he put it under the sink, effectively spraying flaming butter droplets all over the kitchen. Luckily he wasn't hit, but no less than four paper towels were. Which, in turn, caused no less than four small fires. Finally, the four small fires morphed into one big fire.
"Jerome!" Mara yelled. She ran for the fire extinguisher and only remembered Jerome telling her that he and Alfie replaced it with a false one after she set it off. Not only did this one spray whipped cream instead of the foam it was supposed to, but it sprayed it backwards, right into Mara's face. Jerome couldn't help but laughing as she struggled to get "that dreadful dairy product" out of her eyes. In the confusion, Mick chose to target Jerome, leaving only Joy to deal with the actual issue.
"You idiot! What were you thinking?" He yelled.
"Where did you put the real one?" Mara yelled even louder. Jerome couldn't figure out which one he should be paying attention to.
Joy thought she was the only one with any sense. She tried smothering the rising flame with a towel, unable to see anything amongst the mass confusion. The fire alarm was going off, Mick was yelling at Jerome, who was trying to fight with Mara and him at the same time. We're going to burn to death because they couldn't control their love triangle. Joy thought bitterly.
She did, however, manage to get it out just as Trudy and the rest returned home.
What a sight this must be, Joy thought. She was standing there holding a smoking towel, face covered in carbon while Mick and Jerome were inches from each other and Mara was standing between them covered in whipped cream, trying to stop them.
"I've known you since we were nine goddamn years old! You just don't date your mate's ex!" Mick argued, oblivious to their new audience.
"Well any decent boyfriend wouldn't date their ex's best mate in the first place." Jerome yelled. They were getting even closer to each other. It looked like Mick was snarling.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Mara was hysterical. Tears cleared paths down her dairy covered face.
Trudy looked from Joy and her smoking towel to Mara's tear streaked face and to Jerome and Mick practically growling at each other and yelled over the confusion, "What is going on in here?!"
That's when the first fist fight started.
Later, nobody could agree who swung first, but it was Mick. He didn't even land his punch before Jerome swung next. Both hit square in the jaw. They stumbled back a bit and for one second, nobody moved. Then they ran at each other throwing punch after punch. Joy dragged Mara out of the kitchen, to the dining room, where the rest of the house stood in shock.
Nina decided, for some reason, that she was the best person to go in and try to break up the fight. " Nina, don't you dare," Eddie hissed when he saw what she was going to do. She ignored him and calmly walked into the kitchen looking to sort everything out happily.
"You boys need to stop. Right now. You're-" She said, before getting hit in the eye by Jerome. If she was prepared for it, she easily could have blocked it or dodged it, but her mind was with Fabian at the hospital. Eddie went from amused and worried to pissed off in one heartbeat.
"Nina... I'm so sorry," Jerome stopped fighting to apologized. Mick got pissed and stormed out of the room, slamming every door he encountered on the way out of the house, even leaving behind Mara who was now more than willing to talk to him if it meant stopping that from happening again. She collapsed into a heap on one of the couches in the living room. As soon as he thought Nina was okay, he went to leave and check on her. Trudy had just allowed herself to hope the fight was over when the second fist fight started.
Only Amber's hold on his arm stopped Eddie from attacking Jerome as soon as he hit Nina, but he broke away from her and launched himself over the half wall straight at Jerome, who was taken completely off guard.
"How-" Punch. "-dare-" Punch. "-you-" Punch. "-hit-" Punch. "-Nina?!" He yelled, knocking him to the ground in a cheep trick. For one beat Nina stood paralyzed, for one more she admired Lacie's training, because she was pretty sure that he wasn't able to break someone's nose like that two weeks ago.
Then she came to her senses. "Eddie!" Nina shrieked. "Stop!" It was an accident!"
He regained himself only at he voice. He ignored everyone else, even Amber who was screaming. "Are you alright?" He asked, pulling himself up, leaving Jerome in a heap on the floor. Nina watched horrified as he walked towards her and held her face in his hand and brushed over the place she was hit with his thumb. She added it to the list of times they would have kissed if they were alone. Amber gave her a knowing look and Nina quickly pulled away.
"I'll be fine," she said harshly, still upset that he would attack Jerome like that.
"Can someone please tell me what is going on here?!" Trudy yelled.
"Well..."
"Nina," Lacie whispered, gaining the girl's attention. They were sitting at the dinner table. Everyone was talking to someone else, but them.
"What's up?" She responded. Nina was distracted, because it was Tuesday and Fabian wasn't doing any better in the hospital. She was beginning to think he was another time piece, or something. It was all Eddie could do to keep her from breaking into the hospital.
"I really think you, me and Eddie should talk tonight. I read something that might have to do with Fabian." Surprisingly, Lacie was more worried about him than everyone but Nina.
"Okay. Do you think you know what's wrong?" She begged. She needed to know that Fabian was safe. He was her best friend, her first love. In some ways, she still did love him. In the way he loved Joy or Jerome loved Alfie.
"Maybe... but this isn't a great place," Lacie replied with a smile. Nina looked around the room at everyone and nodded.
"Your room?"
"Sounds good." Nina could barely speak thought the rest of the meal. She could only think about what it might be that Lacie would tell her. If there was something wrong, she'd never forgive herself.
Nina had been waiting to hear what Lacie had to say for over a week and it was killing her and Eddie, who was more in the dark than she was. Fabian had insisted it would be okay for them to meet without him, but Nina refused. She made a promise and this time she wouldn't break it, like she had every other time.
"Nina, are you alright?" Eddie asked, finally noticing that she wasn't talking. She rolled her eyes. Obviously she wasn't, but didn't feel like talking about it, so she cunningly (or so she thought) dodged the question.
"Just because I'm a little stressed, doesn't mean you need to go all Buffy on me," She playfully replied. He laughed dryly. He didn't appreciate her calling him Buffy, but it was better than saying Osirian all the time.
"It's my job to go all Buffy on you." She nudged him with her elbow and he rolled his eyes then nudged her back. He couldn't stay mad at her for long.
"So, Eddie," Patricia said, seeing what they were doing. "What do you say we watch some football after supper?"
The rest of the room talked softer to hear Eddie's response. "How 'bout tomorrow?" Nina and I need to work on a project..." It wasn't a total lie, but it wasn't any project for school.
"I bet you a fiver they're shagging," Jerome whispered to Alfie.
Patricia heard, "belt up, slimeball."
Eddie laughed. "Your British is showing."
"What?" She said, getting angrier.
"Never mind... You'll have to watch your soccer with someone else." Nina failed to hold in her laugh. She would never understand why they liked each other.
"Football," She corrected, her eyes hard.
"Soccer." He didn't see how upset she really was.
"Football"
"Soccer."
"You two are horrid." Amber said. "You need major couple counseling." They mostly ignored her. So she shrugged them off and went back to actively ignoring Jerome taunting her and Alfie.
"So tell me, weasel. Would you have beat up Jerome if I were the one he accidentally hit in the eye?" Patricia asked. Eddie looked over to Jerome who's eye was swollen shut.
"Look, Yacker-" Eddie started.
"That's what I thought," she said before he had the chance to answer and stormed out of the room. Eddie looked around for advice.
"Bad luck, mate," Jerome laughed. Eddie was going to lean back and pretend nothing happened, but Nina gave him a disapproving look.
He rolled his eyes, "Patricia!" He called after her. "Talk to me?" Something about this whole situation was wrong. He shouldn't be the one chasing after her. That wasn't how his relationships worked, and he wasn't sure he liked it any more. He didn't want to have to try so hard to get her to speak to him like a normal couple did. She ran upstairs and Eddie trailed after her.
"Leave me alone," she whined, slamming her door shut. Patricia didn't lock it though, so Eddie took that as an invitation in. She sat on her bed with her arms crossed, ready to fight.
"Tell me what's bothering you," he said, trying to mimic something he saw his step-father doing for his mother. Eddie really did love Patricia, and if he didn't have this Osirian thing going on, he thought they would be very happy. They would go on punk dates, and hit clubs together. He would make man-sandwiches and she would make fun of him. Instead, he couldn't even feel for her the same anymore.
"You know what's bothering me," she said stubbornly. Eddie wondered why killing an evil spirit was easier than dating.
"Obviously, I don't. If I did I wouldn't be asking." He said sarcastically. She looked up at him, hurt but hiding it with anger.
"It's not like it's something you can change or fix." She said, pissed now.
"It you just tellme, I can try." He practically begged.
She took a deep breath. "It's still about you and Nina." His first thought was how could she have found out about our kisses?!, but he quickly remembered their conversation the night of the party, and realized that it was about the Osirian thing.
"Oh. We've been over this..." he said, somewhat annoyed that they had to fight about this again.
"Yeah yeah. I know. You're the Osirian. You chose me, whatever. It still sucks." Eddie hated this talk. It didn't fix anything and only made them mad. He made a point of looking at her lips and when she stopped talking he silently leaned down to kiss her. He wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her up to him. Somehow, he failed to notice her reluctance. Patricia wasn't one to kiss and make up. She fought it out, then fought some more. When he tried to part her lips gently, she clamped them shut.
He pulled away. "I can take a hint." said Eddie. "Look... there isn't anything else I can tell you. I love you, Patricia. I really fucking love you. I wish that was enough for you."
She looked like she was going to say something sympathetic and nice, but decided against it. "Well it isn't" Eddie had had enough.
"Then there's nothing left to say." He said. Then he stood up to leave, practically able to see his shield going up one last time.
"Eddie..." she called out, but it was too late and they both knew it. He turned back towards her quickly.
"No. I've said everything I fucking can, Patricia!" He yelled. She flinched back from him ever so slightly, he didn't notice. "I can't be with you like this forever... we're done."
"I'm sorry about Patricia," Lacie said later in that room. He was curled up on her bed, hugging a body pillow. Not pathetically, but as if he was very tired after a long day. It's going to be a long life. She thought, sympathetically.
"I think you know better than me it never would have worked out." He said, snippy, but still sad sounding. Her heart was breaking for him. This was the one of hardest thing a new Osirian went through. Second only to dealing with the personality changes.
"Doesn't mean it hurts less," she cooed, fairly confident in her ability to help someone over a breakup. She was the one her friends used to go to when they had love issues. Somehow, she was able to say the right things to make everything okay... she only wished she was able to do that for herself. Lacie wondered how they were now. Did they still think about her? Not in good ways, she was sure...
At least now he and the Paragon had no reason to not be together. "I'm here! Sorry!" Speak of the devil. Nina ran in. "Amber was crying, saying that every couple that was at her party is starting to break up. She's worried that Mara and Jerome are next. I had to console her over my breakup."
Lacie loved watching the way Eddie's eyes lit up when he saw Nina. She always was a sucker for soul mates. "Alright. I'm going to cut to the chase. I'm a chosen one too."
Eddie remained looking impartial. "Are you the Isiasus?"
Lacie laughed. "No. You and Nina think the same, don't you?" They looked at each other, then blushed. "Anyway, I think I know who he is, though." She said.
"What does this have to do with Fabian?" Nina questioned then a knowing look settled on her face. "Oh..."
Eddie took a little longer. "What?"
"Nina," Lacie said, knowing he would catch on eventually. "You told me that Fabian could read a book that you and Eddie only saw as hieroglyphics, right?"
"Yeah..." She looked terrified, yet hopeful at the same time.
"I think... can I see the book first?" Lacie asked, not wanting to say anything until she was sure. Nina pulled an old look out of her bag.
"When did you take that?" Eddie asked, still not totally understanding what was going on.
"Last night," she replied. "So... what do you think?" Lacie took Osirian and paged through it. She couldn't read it, but it was obviously written by Isis.
I didn't want to say anything until I was sure... but now I am. This book was written by Isis... Isis chose the Isiasus as a guardian of the chosen one..." She waited for him for him to catch on.
He was quiet for some time, and they watched the gears turn in his heads. "And you think Fabian is..."
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Could he get anything to himself? Not even his title of protector could be his own! Fabian couldn't ever leave them alone! Would he have to spend the rest of his life being tailed by him? The jealous ex boyfriend? Nina spoke next. "Does that mean he's okay right now?" She sounded hopeful.
"He should be fine. Right now he's getting a huge wash of magic. His body probably just cant handle it that well." When she explained it, everything sounded so logical. Nina could believe anything Lacie said.
"Where do you come into this?" Eddie couldn't. He was too cautious whenever Nina was involved.
"I don't. I just happened to be here at the right time."
"Who were you chosen by?" He pried.
"Set." She didn't miss a beat.
"The god of death and destruction?" He had obviously done his research.
Lacie used the line she used most often."I didn't chose to be chosen."
He tried to think of something else to say back, but Nina stopped him. "I trust her."
"Don't worry about it, Nina. He wont trust me no matter what you say. It's in his nature." She handed the book back to Nina and pulled out an almost identical one and handed it to Eddie. This one was titled Isiasus. "You'll be able to read this one. Funny how your gods thought. The only way to learn about yourself is to work with your counterpart. Helps ease your hatred of each other."
"I don't hate Fabian-"
"He hates Fabian," Nina cut him off.
"Once again, don't worry about it Nina. He's supposed to-" Lacie started before Eddie stopped her.
"Stop! Everyone stop telling me what I'm supposed to be!" He yelled. His tone softened slightly, "I don't want to just do what I'm meant to. I want to be Eddie."
He didn't need to say it. All of them felt the same way. Anyone who got chosen felt that way. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do about it. They didn't say anything, Lacie found his anger useless and Nina felt too bad for him.
And each of their reactions fit their Chosen personality perfectly.
"What do we do now?" Nina asked, referring to Fabian again.
"We wait for the hospital to discharge him... and we tell him." Lacie said. She wasn't entirely sure that was the right thing to do, but it seemed good enough. "You should read as much of the book as you can. Osirians are common as far as guardians go, their powers are always activated, but it's been generations since an Isiasus's have been.
"Why?" Nina asked.
"The world isn't like it used to be. Gods and monsters don't walk with us. A physical protector is usually the only one needed. Nothing left can attack you with magic." Lacie explained.
"So why has Fabian's powers been activated?" Eddie asked cockily.
Lacie took a deep breath before responding. "Because something is coming."
Plan Expose-Jerome-For-The-Arsehole-He-Really-Is, was, in a word, failing. Mick was trying every thing he could, and Mara hardly even noticed. Maybe he was going crazy, but it seemed Jerome had become genuinely nice. He stopped doing some of his worst pranks and he was so good to Mara. Better than Mick ever was.
"Maybe it's time to give up." Patricia said from across the room, reading his thoughts. They were the only ones in the common room that Wednesday afternoon. Day two of being single, and Patricia was miserable. Joy couldn't console her. She couldn't bring herself to even go to school that day. Instead, she wandered carelessly through the woods almost wishing that Rufus was still out there so he could take her away again. Feeling fear would be better than this empty loneliness she felt now. Why had she ever let herself get so worked up over a boy...?
"As if you know anything about relationships," he said harshly... and immediately regretted it. She was too defeated to give a snarky response.
"No, but I do know Mara. " She said softly, hugging her knees to her chest. "Jerome won her over, and that's it."
Mick looked at her carefully. Something made him think she wasn't talking about Mara and Jerome. Him, Patricia, and Fabian all had very similar situations, even if Nina and Eddie weren't an actual couple yet. With the amount of time they were spending together lately, they might as well have been. "But I still love her."
Patricia wished she was a little more like him. She completely gave up the moment he left her room the night before. "Yeah, well, maybe it's time to stop loving her."
"I flew back from Australia. My father made me promise to stay here until next semester, and even after that, I'm not guaranteed a position back at the sporting academy. I can't just get over her." Mick said. He sounded so defeated that she forgot about Eddie for a moment so she could pity Mick. That was the first time she was able to forget about Eddie yet.
"Well, there's no point in moping around pathetically for six months." She said, obnoxiously. He went to respond, but decided against it. Instead, he thought about what she said. Was Mara really worth being totally miserable for? No! Maybe Patricia was better with relationships than he thought.
"You should take your own advice," he offered after some time.
"Hey! I'm on day two of pathetically moping. Give me a week at least," she said, heavy with sarcasm. A year of moping seemed sufficient to her. Maybe more.
"Mara and I dated on and off for a year. I practically lived at her house last summer! You and Eddie were stepping out for three months." Even though she was utterly depressed, his comment managed to piss her off. Here she was actually starting to pity him. It was as if he was saying her pain wasn't valid because it wasn't as bad as his.
"You're an arse. He was the first boy I ever dated, you know that. How many girls did you have before Mara? Five? Ten?" She bitched defensively. He glared at her.
"None that I cared about nearly as much as her." Patricia knew that was true. He might be an annoying git, but he became a better person when Mara was around. Everyone did. There was something about that girl that even when she made mistake after mistake, she could improve those around her.
"Get over yourself. I'm just as hurt as you are." She grumbled. After a few moments she broke down. "How do you do it?" She said, dryly humorous. How low had she fallen that she was getting advice from Mick?
"Do what?"
"How do you see them together and not completely lose it?" She asked. He was a little taken aback at her humility.
"It's difficult..." He answered. "It also sucks not having many people around to support me anymore... I lost Fabian when I left and lost the rest of my friends back when I went after Mara in the first place. At least you have Joy, Nina, Amber, Mara, and Alfie" He said longingly.
"Hardly. I have Joy. Mara abandoned me for Jerome, Amber and Alfie don't talk to anyone else anymore, and I don't think I can look at Nina right now... not for a while. I don't blame her, but... I'm jealous." Patricia admitted.
"Jealous of Nina?" He said with a slight laugh. She glared at him
"It's a long story..." she said, trying to dodge his question. He wasn't the smartest, so it worked. "Maybe, we could be friends." She suggested shyly. He gave her a crazy look. "Just so we can deal with our issues, and never in public."
He paused, then smiled at her. "Deal."
"Fabian!" Nina exclaimed, when she saw him enter the kitchen Thursday morning. Everyone else looked up and shouted their happiness at his return. He looked stressed and like he really just wanted a shower.
"Hi," he said with a small wave. Nina was sure she saw him looking at Joy when he said it, and her suspicion was confirmed when Joy blushed and started whispering to Patricia, but, for the first time, she wasn't jealous. She felt nothing. Trudy lead him to his normal seat next to Nina.
"Now, are you sure you want to go to school today, Fabian?" Trudy asked. Amber rolled her eyes and mouthed, "nerd" to Alfie.
"I'm sure!" He said, and it sounded like he told her this a million times already. "I need to catch up." Trudy gave him one last motherly look before going into the kitchen to grab some more plates of food. Eddie and Lacie swarmed over to Fabian and Nina. Patricia thought she saw something going on between them, but fought really hard to ignore it and talk to Joy about how Fabian was totally looking at her, and maybe he's into her after all, and Fabina is over for good now anyway...
"Let me guess," Lacie whispered. "The doctors couldn't find a thing wrong, or maybe some hormonal imbalances?" Fabian was slightly shocked by her question. Sure she visited him in the hospital almost as often as Nina, but they hadn't talked much before then and he was still waiting to hear why she was a member of Sibuna and training Eddie now.
"Yeah, actually." He responded Nina and Eddie exchanged a worried look, and Fabian tried not to get insanely jealous.
"We need a Sibuna meeting. Today." Nina whispered. Eddie nodded approvingly and Lacie wouldn't stop looking at Fabian.
"Maybe we can go off campus for lunch today?" Eddie suggested. Lacie turned to him and raised her eyebrows.
"Are you trying to get out of our hand to hand combat training?" She said, amused. He frowned at her.
"Yes. I still have bruises from last time. And I played football back home." Eddie complained.
"What can I say? Twelve years of training on my end," she teased.
"You're still scrawny," he teased back.
"You two," Nina halfheartedly scolded, smiling. She obviously enjoyed their sibling like behavior.
"Don't worry Fabian, all will be revealed," she said, purposefully trying to sound mysterious, but broke out into giggles. Fabian couldn't help but laugh as well.
"So, lunch? The Monroe?" Eddie said, smirking.
"Alright. I approve," she faked her reluctance.
"Sorry," Nina said. "Scholarship girl! The Monroe is way out of my price range." She laughed, but was telling the truth.
"Forgot. You're poor." Eddie teased. "I'll get it."
"I'm not poor! You're just rich. You're a stupid rich kid." She teased back.
"Sorry to break it to ya, Neens, but you go to a fancy boarding school. We're all stupid rich kids." Eddie said. She looked around, shocked. As if she never realized it before.
"No way!" She said, looking to Fabian for support, but he offered none.
"My father owns a huge oil company." He explained.
"I can't be the only scholarship kid here!" She said loud enough for everyone to hear.
Patricia answered her. "Actually you are. My mum is a fashion designer."
"My dad's huge in real estate," Joy said too.
"Daddy owns a major magazine corporation." Amber answered next. Everyone went around saying what their parents did to earn money, making Nina go redder and redder with each response.
"Lacie?"
"Old money," she said sheepishly.
Nina comically groaned and put her head in her hands.
"So, I'll pay?" Eddie asked, failing to notice the sad glare he got from Patricia.
Nina offered to walk with Fabian to school, but he said he was going and would be going in late anyway. So she and Eddie walked together instead.
"Do you think I'm going to die on the way to school?" She asked when he insisted on joining her. He rolled his eyes.
"Can't I ever just want to be with you? Not everything in my life is about being the Osirian. You should try to apply that to your life." He responded casually. He held out her jacket for her to put her arms in. Nina shuddered when his warm hands brushed her neck as he pulled her hair out of her coat. "Besides, I can drive, and it's freezing." He held out a key chain with a single jingling key on it.
Nina laughed. "There's no way I'm getting in a car with you again. The last time you sped the whole time and smashed your mother's window off." He smiled at the memory. That was his first time out after he got his license the last week of winter break.
"What do you expect?" He asked, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I have a reputation to up hold." She pushed him away from her playfully.
"You don't need to pretend to be a bad ass around me." She said. He reminded himself they were in the entrance hallway of the house and therefore shouldn't push her against the wall and make out with her.
Instead, he linked arms with her, "but you like it."
"I wont deny it." She answered jokingly. She was pretty sure they were the only students left in the house (besides Fabian who was showering) so it didn't matter how loud they were.
"I know you wont. You love me," he teased, leading her out of the house. She stopped.
"Where's your coat?" She demanded. He rolled his eyes.
"I don't need one. I don't get cold," he explained. She frowned at him... he wasn't invincible like he thought.
"That excuse only worked back home because we live in L.A. I'm not leaving until you put your coat on." She insisted.
"Then I guess you'll have to walk." He teased and pretended to leave. Nina counted five seconds until he came back. "If you don't come I'll carry you."
"Then that's what you'll have to do." She said stubbornly. If he was going to act like a toddler, then she would too.
She didn't actually expect him to come over and scoop her up into his arms. "You asked for it." He said "I don't think I'll drive today. It'll be much more fun walking into History and placing you in your seat."
"Eddie Miller," Nina said in tandem with someone else. Victor.
They both froze. Victor appeared at the top of the steps. "Put Miss Martin down this instant!" He carefully set her back on her feet and Victor descended the stairs. "Don't think I don't know what is going on here. Remember, I was with Sarah and Rufus when they were your age." He circled them trying to menacing. Eddie grabbed Nina's hand tightly. "I will not tolerate you and your friends undermining my authority, Paragon or not. Do I make myself clear?"
Nina muttered a tiny, "yes." But Eddie was pissed.
"Look, Victor," he said, taking a step towards him. "You have no authority over us. And I don't think you know whats going on.
Victors voice got so quiet, he sounded like he was growling. "How dare you speak to me in this manner."
"I dare to, because it's my job to protect her from anyone who will hurt her, and you're pretty much at the top of the list. How many times have you endangered her?" Eddie growled back. They wouldn't break eye contact and Nina held Eddie's hand even tighter, hoping he wouldn't lunge at Victor.
"Miss Martin," Victor said without looking away from Eddie, "I would like to remind you that Rufus Zeno was Sarah's Osirian. I would not trust him above all else if that is your only reason." He turned away "And I never put any of the children in danger. They interfered where they shouldn't have." He turned away quickly and left to go back upstairs. They heard him slam his office door.
"Are you alright?" Eddie asked harshly. She nodded, kind of afraid of him when he got really angry like that. "Come on. Let's get going." They silently walked outside to Eddie's car, she didn't even mention his coat. He opened the door for her and then went to the driver's side. The car smelled strongly of smoke and was a total mess, despite only having the car a few weeks. Eddie sped off much faster than he should have.
"Did you try to make your car messy?" She asked. He smiled broadly, but it still seemed forced and tense.
"Yes."
"Why are you driving today anyway? It's a quarter of a mile. We always walk." Nina asked.
"Lunch today? Do you want to walk into Liverpool?" Eddie asked.
"Oh... sorry. I feel kinda out of it today." Nina explained. This morning when she woke up it wasn't so bad, but after her interaction with Victor, her head was pounding.
"Don't you dare get sick, Nina Martin." He jokingly commanded. They were at the school already.
"Sorry," she apologized. He smiled at her.
"If you still feel sick after lunch, I'll bring you back to the house," he promised. "We need to have our Sibuna meeting. Telling Fabian he has some magical power is important..." He came around and opened her door for her again. She wished he didn't mention Fabian and his powers. Whenever he did, he just got distant. It made her worry about him.
"Thank you," she said. They walked in a comfortable silence until they got to their first class and someone shouted.
"Nina!" The voice shouted. Eddie instinctively put himself between Nina and the the speaker. Nina didn't remember who he was at first, but when she saw him smirk, she recognized him immediately.
"Hey, Cory. What's up?" She asked, pushing Eddie behind her.
"Word around here is that you and Fabian are finished," he said carelessly. Nina tried to ignore Eddie who was staring Cory down.
"Yeah... Why?" She thought she knew where this was going.
"I was thinking... maybe we could go on a date?" Cory sounded so confident that it made Nina feel sick. She called it.
"You want to go on a date with me?"
"Of course," he said with a big, arrogant, smile. "You're beautiful and a total mystery. I'd love to figure you out." That was not okay. There would be no figuring her out. No one else could know about her than the people who already knew.
Nina had to think for a moment before she could answer. Sure she would love to go on a date, but her and Eddie were starting to become something (even if they hadn't kissed in weeks) and she just knew he would be upset if she said yes. She would regret it she said no, and Cory would regret it if she said yes, of that she was sure. But Victor's voice was still bouncing around in her head. I would not trust him above all else if that is your only reason. She wanted to think that Eddie would never become like Rufus, but maybe she was jumping into this too quickly. Nina knew she shouldn't commit herself to Eddie without being sure. So she took a risk and said, "Yes."
"You're fucking kidding me," Eddie said under his breath. Nina tried to ignore him and focus on Cory's sickeningly egotistical expression.
He eyed Eddie suspiciously. "What about tonight? I'll pick you up at six?" He asked. "We can see that new movie, Frozen?"
"It's a date." She smiled at him and he ran off to his first class. Maybe Cory wasn't the best person to use to make herself sure of Eddie... now she was stuck going on this date...
Eddie refused to speak. His face was read and his fists were clenched so tight, his hands were turning white.
"Is he alright?" Amber asked, walking up next to the pair.
"Walk and talk?" Nina suggested. Amber liked arms with her best friend and they went into the classroom and sat in their usual seat, leaving Eddie out in the hallway still. "Promise to keep this a secret, Amber?"
"Of course. I never tell a secret."
"Alright... He's angry I agreed to go on a date," Nina whispered.
"Ooh! A date?!" Amber yelled. Nina gave her a be-fucking-quiet look. "Oh. Sorry..." She lowered her voice to a level that Nina could hardly hear, "Ooh... A date..."
"Yes. With-" Pause. "Cory Colette." Nina whispered back. Mr. Parker, the new history teacher Amber was in love with, gave them a look so Amber didn't get to say anything back.
No way, Amber wrote on a sheet of pink notebook paper she took from her binder. Nina took it and rolled her eyes.
Yes way. We're going to see Frozen tonight, Nina wrote back.
That's a perfect first date movie! Alfie never does cute things anymore...
Have you tried talking to him about it? Nina wrote.
You're trying to get me off topic! One, Cina or Nory? Two, Why is Eddie so pissed anyway? Damn, Amber figured out what she was trying to do right away!
You caught me. One, Neither, you know how much I hate couple names. Two, well... we are fated to be lovers... Nina passed the note back.
"What!?" Amber yelled out loud when she read the paper. It was then Nina remembered that Amber wasn't in the Sibuna loop anymore.
"Miss Millington," Mr. Parker aid, walking towards their desk. "Would you like to share what you have written on that note there that is so interesting, you've decided to not pay attention in my class?"
Amber stared at him longingly so Nina answered for her, "we're sorry, Mr. Parker."
"I'm sure you are. Would you please stop discussing your personal life when we should be discussing World War Two," he commanded firmly.
"Of course, sir," Amber said sweetly. Behind her, Alfie rolled his eyes.
"Of course, sir." He mocked. She turned around and mouthed. What is wrong with you lately?
"Miss Millington!" Mr. Parker scolded. "Detention. After school today." Amber groaned, but secretly, Nina thought she looked excited.
She didn't talk any more in that class.
"Cory Colette!" Amber shrieked out in the hallway after class. "He's like so fit!" Nina rushed to hush her.
"I really don't want to bring it up to Fabian or Eddie." She hissed.
"Alright, but you obviously have some Sibuna info to share." Amber pried.
"We're having a meeting today during lunch, come with us?" Nina asked her.
"Of course! As long as there aren't any tattoos this time." Amber joked. Nina laughed at her best friend.
"Come on, we have to get to French." She said, leading her to their next class.
"But... CORY COLETTE!"
"Eddie... you alright?" Lacie asked him at the end of history class. She noticed he was... well pissed through the whole class, but it must be pretty bad if he was still bothered by it.
"No." Eddie answered tensely. He walked quickly out of the classroom, Lacie followed.
"What's wrong?" She asked, chasing after him. She was comically shorter than him, being only 5'2" while he was 5'10". He looked down at her and laughed, but his voice was devoid of any real humor. Instead he sounded masochistic and it sacred her.
"Nina. Cory. Date." Eddie grumbled.
"Come again, neanderthal?"
"Nina is going on a date with Cory. Tonight." He said. Lacie could feel his anger radiating off of him. This couldn't end well. What if he, the Osirian, used his powers against this regular boy?
"Oh..." It didn't even make sense to her. Why would Nina go on a date? These two tended to break every rule she ever learned. Maybe that was why she liked them so much.
Eddie said nothing for the rest of the walk to French class. Lacie was getting worried so she tried to appeal to him. "Pourquoi avons-nous de prendre Franxaise de toute facon? Nous sommes tous les deux couramment en elle (Why do we have to take French, anyway. We're both fluent in it)."
He looked at her funny before responding. "C'est une blague (It's a joke)."
"Toute l'ecole est une blague (The whole school is a joke)." She responded. "Je veux dire, regarde-nous. Nous choisi. Pourquoi devrions-nous l'apprentissage des mathematiques? (I mean, look at us. We're chosen. Why should we be learning math?)
Eddie stopped at the door of the classroom, looked around to see if anyone heard, then pulled her aside. "Be careful what you say. Lot's of kids speak French."
Lacie smiled at him. "People only listen to what they care about."
"I still don't like it." Eddie said. "Two months ago I'd have loved to never have to go to school again..."
Lacie understood. "And now you want to do anything to pretend you're normal." Eddie ran a hand through his hair.
"Not normal. Just me, the old me," he said laughing, but his laugh still wasn't his normal laugh. Lacie felt the sudden urge to help him through this, but wasn't sure what to say.
"We need to go to class..." She said. He smirked at her. They walk together and sit down where he and Nina usually sit together. "I could curse him for you, if you want."
"No. I'd rather beat him up myself." He responded stiffly.
"Load up," Eddie commanded when Sibuna reached his car. Amber ran ahead of them yelling, "Shotgun!" Nina groaned.
"Why is she here again?" Eddie asked her.
"I may have accidentally told her we are... you know, linked." She admitted. He rolled his eyes at her. "Sorry. I'm just so used to sharing everything with her."
"Its Amber. Not a big deal. Who's she going to tell, Mr. Parker?" He said with a wink.
Nina looked up at him and suddenly felt extremely guilty for agreeing to go on that date with Cory. That must have stung. They were fated to be together and now that they were both open to date, she agreed to go on a date with someone else. She piled into the back of the car between Lacie and Fabian, who wasn't talking and seemed really nervous. He must have been worried about what they were going to tell him. She didn't blame him.
Nina was nervous too. How would Fabian react when he found out that he was magical. Eddie blasted some obscure heavy metal band as soon as the car was on.
"Turn it off!" Amber screeched. Eddie, instead, turned it up.
"Want a smoke?" He asked Amber who was really regretting calling shotgun. She looked at the cigarettes distastefully.
"No." She said, turning away and looking out the window. He shrugged and placed one between his lips, lighted it, then speed off out of the school parking lot. Amber yelled at him to slow down, and he just turned up the music even more.
"When'd you start smoking anyway?" Nina yelled. He rolled his eyes.
"First week back at school. Patricia and I went to a club and hung out with these metal heads. They offered us some, she said no, I said yes." He explained, taking a long drag.
"Not going to be much use as a protector with lung cancer," Fabian muttered. Nina elbowed him in the ribs and tried to hide her giggle.
"Good thing there's two then," Eddie said just loud enough to be heard over the music. Fabian looked at Nina, confused at Eddie's coldness towards him. If only he knew...
"Be nice," Nina commanded.
"Nina, you can sit up front next time." Amber yelled when Eddie accidentally blew the smoke out in the car.
"I'm just as scared as him as you are, Ambs." Nina joked. Eddie purposefully sped up to an unreasonable speed for the back road they were driving on. They hit a pot hole so hard, she was sure they blew a tire. "You're the worst protector ever!" He laughed manically while Amber covered her eyes for the rest of the ride.
"You really need to look into a new protector," Amber yelled after she dove out of the car as soon as it stopped.
"Not how it works."
"Calm down. You're alive, aren't you?" Eddie said.
"I don't know why I continue to be in Sibuna, constantly risking my life." Amber said. Nina only laughed and followed Eddie into the fancy looking building. He flirted with the hostess until she agreed to find them a table somewhere even though they didn't have a reservation. Nina noticed her slip him her number and was even more amused when she saw him secretly slip it back to her without her seeing.
They all made small talk until the waitresses finally left them alone with their meals. "Okay," Amber said. She paused to take a sip of her Shirley Temple. "Start at the beginning."
Nina and Eddie alternated in telling various parts of the story. Fabian eventually quipped in with the the single chapter he read of the book he was able to read, then Lacie took over.
"... and finally, one day you were in the hospital, it dawned on me. If the doctors had no idea what was wrong, maybe nothing was."
"But there was something wrong. Hormonal imbalance." Fabian interrupted for the first time.
"That's the symptom. Not the disease." Lacie explained.
"Then what is?" Amber, who had been surprisingly quiet through the whole story, asked.
"Getting there." Lacie said. "Anyway, so I went to Nina and Eddie about a theory I had."
"What theory?!" Fabian yelled as loud as he could without getting us kicked out of the fancy restaurant.
"I'm trying to be suspenseful," she complained. "Fine. I think Fabian is the Isiasus." Amber actually spit out her drink.
"What?" Her and Fabian yelled at the same time. Nina giggled. She expected that response.
"You-you think that I-I'm the Isiasus?" Fabian spluttered.
"Yes."
"No. Way." Amber said.
"Why else do you think that you can read that book?" She asked, "or have your undeniable connection with Nina?"
"There's no way..."
"I can tell," she said, cutting him off. "I can feel it. The energy around you."
Fabian stared at some point on the wall. "You are being silly. There's no such thing as magic-"
"-Like there's no such thing as the elixir of life?" She said. Fabian fell silent. The "Elixir of Life" comment was a long shot, but the way he reacted, it seemed it worked and she was right about them knowing about Victor's use of it. "That's what I thought."
"This is insane." Amber was awestruck. She stared at Fabian and Lacie as if they were gods.
"Maybe you should show them something, it might make it easier to believe," Nina suggested. Lacie nodded and looked behind her before lighting the ice in her water on fire. Fabian cocked his head to the side and stared at the flame. Who was this girl? And why the hell was she here?
"What are you called?" Amber asked, fixated on the flame as well. "I mean, Nina's the Paragon, Eddie's the Osirian, Fabian's the I-Isiasus. Who are you?"
Lacie debated on telling the truth or not. Maybe telling them everything was the wrong idea. Something told her it was okay, though. She answered, "I'm the Setiah."
"Why?" Amber asked. "The three of them have a reason for existing. What's yours?"
"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I've been able to do this for as long as I can remember. All I know is I was told to find these three."
"By who? How do we know we can trust you?" Amber asked.
"Set. And I suppose you don't know you can trust me."
"Set?! The god of death and destruction!?" Amber yelled. Nina hushed her.
"Please don't fight," Nina said. They both stopped talking but they didn't take their eyes off the other. Lacie was so preoccupied with Amber that her flame extinguished.
"This is too weird," Fabian whispered.
"Now you don't have to worry. You're totally with us forever!" Nina said. He didn't look as excited as she did. Actually, he was terrified.
"Wouldn't get too excited yet." Lacie said, eyeing Fabian's terror. "I'm not finished. There's a reason that no Isiasus's powers have been activated in years and years. Usually they're unnecessary. The Osirian is more than enough protection, but something happened to make Isis think they need you."
"Maybe it's you," Amber said under her breath.
Fabian tried to cover up what she said with a fake cough. "What could it be?" He asked.
"Well, Nina told me that the Frobisher-Smythes left behind ancient artifacts in the house with mysteries to find them. Maybe they make a task that the Isiasus is needed for?" Lacie suggested. It was a shot in the dark and she didn't really believe it, but it was worth a try.
"Maybe. But we haven't found any clues for a new mystery yet this term," Nina added. They all sat in silence, everyone but Amber- who was sure she knew who set off Fabian's powers- tried to think of what it could be.
"We really need to get back to school." Eddie said after a few seconds. Eddie put an unfathomable-to Nina- amount of money on the table, and grabbed Nina possessively around the waist leading her out past the waitress that he flirted with.
He guided her all the way to the car outside and made sure she was in before getting into the car himself. "So am I taking you back to the house?" He asked once they were on the road.
"I think I'll stick it out. If I go home, I'll never get permission to go out tonight." Nina answered. At her comment, Eddie gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and drove a little faster.
"Do I really have to stay for detention, Mr. Parker?" Amber asked. She tried using her cutest look, but he nodded and handed her a paintbrush.
"For detention, you'll be helping paint the drama studio. We're going to be doing a real musical this year so we are going to make this whole room very nice." He explained.
"I don't think you understand, sir. I just got a really important manicure and if I-"
"That wall needs to be black." He cut her off. She sighed and beamed at him.
"If you insist, sir." She noticed he held another paintbrush. "Will you be helping me?" He smiled down at the blond haired teenager who was only a few inches shorter than himself. When he became a high school teacher he knew he'd have to deal with girls flirting with him, but he didn't remember how appealing some high school girls were. Amber Millington was one of those appealing girls.
"No, Miss Millington." He said, pretending to become occupied with something on his clip board.
"You don't have to call me Miss Millington. You're hardly six years older than me." Amber began taking her tie off as sexually as she could. He made the mistake of looking at her and knew he had to get away from her right away.
"Paint." He commanded. She sighed and took of her jacket next. He continued to ignore her as best he could.
Amber tried to arch her back as she painted as high as she could, but he focused solely on his work. About ten minutes in, someone else entered the room.
"Sorry I'm late, Elliot." Jerome said, casually strolling in.
Elliot,Amber thought. Cute name... Amiot? Elliber? He glared at Jerome.
"Thank you for allowing us the great pleasure of your presence, Jerome. You'll be helping her paint the drama studio, and tomorrow, because you couldn't bother to be here on time, you can join me here again." Elliot said.
Jerome groaned. "I was only a little bit late!" He complained. Elliot waved him off and Jerome crossed over to Amber who wished she wasn't trying to be so sexy now. His eyes trailed up and down her long body, making her shudder. This was Jerome. He had no business looking at her like that while he was dating Mara and she was dating his best friend. She tried to ignore him as she worked, and instead thought about what she learned that lunch. About Fabian and Lacie having some magical power. A lot of weird things tended to happen around Sibuna, but this was a new high. She lit her fucking ice on fire!
"Not very talkative today, are we?" Jerome said, dragging her from her thoughts. She shot him a dirty look and continued to ignore him. When he realized what she was doing, he chuckled lowly. "This wouldn't be so bad if you'd only talk." Beat. "Or not. I suppose I can talk to myself then." He started saying everything he could think of to try and get to her. She had been practicing, though, ever since Alfie asked her to at least try to get along with him, and had gotten pretty good at it. But Jerome was good too.
Eventually she couldn't take it anymore. "So who was better, Amber? Mick or Alfie?" Was the final straw. She spun on her heal and slapped him across the face with the paintbrush.
"Amber!" Mr. Parker scolded. Now you use my first name, she thought bitterly.
"No, it's fine, Elliot," Jerome assured. He drug his fingers through the tar colored liquid that coated his left cheek. Slowly, calculated, he flung the pain from his fingers on to her perfect little face. The look she gave him was priceless. It was a mix between hatred, fury... and amusement? "I can handle it."
Jerome watched her bring her dainty, manicured hands to her face and attempt to wipe away the sticky pigment. Instead she smeared the little black dots into staining streaks. She pulled her hands from her face and looked at them as if they were covered in blood, not paint.
Three... Two...One... Jerome counted, and as if on cue, she screeched in her soprano voice that, in that moment, was incredibly satisfying.
"I. Hate. You!" She screamed. He took the chance to hold his own paintbrush and ring it out over her head which he towered over. He counted out what happened next in heartbeats.
Beat. "You look better as a brunette anyway."
"Clarke!" Beat.
"My... Hair..." Beat. Beat. "I. Could. Kill. You." Beat. She lifted up her paintbrush again. Jerome watched her raise it up and bring it striking down across her school uniform in the same beat that Mr. Parker screamed, "Amber! Don't you dare!"
As slow as the last few moments went, the next went too fast to measure, and at the same time too slow to count out. He didn't know if I was half a second or half an hour until he grabbed a big, sloppy handful of paint and coated her torso. Her reaction time was just as uncertain, but at the end, he definitely saw a smirk on the blonde's face. Diving behind Mr. Parker, she grabbed her own bucket of paint as he picked up the one they had been using. She struggled to open hers as he came, towering over her on the floor, and poured the whole bucket on her cowering figure. Droplets sprayed up as far as the bottom of his blazer. He laughed loudly, but Amber was unable to hear anything over the paint rushing pas her ears, under her clothes, coating her completely. Not even their teacher screaming "Stop this right now."
She allotted herself five seconds in which she could worry about her hair, think about how much she hated Jerome, and try to remember how to breathe. Then it was war. She stood up slowly, dripping all over the tarp covered floor, holding the now open bucket of a terrible orange color that Elliot insisted was a "happy" color. We'll see how happy it looks in his ever so pampered hair. She thought. Jerome saw what she was about to do and stood still, ready to take it.
How satisfying it was to drown the boy who teased her since she was eight years old in paint. He stood still, eyes clamped shut as she poured the whole thing over his head. He reached around for something to clean out his eyes with and found nothing but Amber. Happily, she watched him feel around blind.
Mr. Parker, afraid of handling them by himself, fled the room in search of Mr. Sweet.
Amber took the few seconds Jerome's weakness gave her to take inventory of herself. She was completely and utterly covered in paint. The only things spared were her eyes, which she had the brains to cover.
By then, Jerome had located her tie and used it to wipe out his eyes. He blew a long breath out of his mouth, sending paint flying over her previously creamy white skin. Their battle was far from over. Each of them grabbed yet another container of paint; Amber's red, and Jerome's blue. Then they dove to opposite sides of the room.
"Black's a nice color on you, Millington." Jerome taunted, dodging a handful of red pain lobbed at him. "It blocks out all of the annoying features." He failed to dodge the next handful and was struck in the stomach by a color that looked a little too much like blood.
She opened her mouth to laugh, but Jerome threw some blue at her right at that moment, and instead, she got a mouthful of paint.
Fed up with throwing the paint, Jerome grabbed his bucket and another. Amber, understanding his plan, did the same. He counted out loud, "Three, Two, One." And they charged at each other just as Mr. Parker returned with Mr. Sweet.
When their two bodies collided, for different colors of paint flew up in the air and rained down on top of them... and their teachers.
"Clarke! Millington!"
They immediately stopped their laughter and turned towards the doorway where a very unhappy, and very black, Mr. Sweet stood. "My office. Now!"
Amber was terrified, she had never been in trouble before. Noticing her fear, Jerome wrapped an arm around her shoulders ans whispered, "don't worry, Millington. I've done loads worse and I'm still here." She smiled up at him with her painted blue lips and they followed their principal, dripping paint through the corridor. A few students- who stayed after class for one reason or another- gaped at them. Among them was Fabian.
"Jerome? Amber?" He asked. Jerome quickly let go of her.
"Hi, Fabian." She greeted cheerfully, pretending as if she wasn't covered in paint.
"Could you get a picture of us?" Jerome asked. Fabian looked at them again before pulling out his phone. Amber smiled with blue teeth as he snapped the picture. "Now run home and show everyone what I did to her."
Amber and Jerome looked at each other and laughed before walking away together towards their headmaster's office.
"Jerome Clarke!" He scolded, his face bright red. "I would expect this from you, but Amber?"
"Sorry, sir," she responded, giggling. Jerome elbowed her, leaving a pink circle on her yellow ribs.
"Sorry, sir? You simply apologize for wasting six buckets of paint and messing up the whole drama studio!?" He yelled, veins bulging in his temple. Amber grabbed Jerome's hand and squeezed it to try and stop herself from laughing to try and stop herself from laughing again. He squeezed her hand back and smirked at her. "What do you two have to say for yourselves?"
"In my defense, sir, Jerome started it."
"Miss Millington, there is a reason I don't teach primary school," he answered, massaging his temples. "You two will be in detention until you've cleaned up the entire school, top to bottom. And you'll also be involved in the school musical anyway Mr. Parker sees fit."
Amber couldn't see enough of Jerome's face to read his facial expressions, but knew he wasn't happy. "Sounds fair," said Amber.
"Now go back to your house and clean up." Mr. Sweet dismissed.
When they were safely in the hallway, they burst into laughter. "Never woulda thought you had it in ya, Amy." He said between fits of laughter.
"No one's ever called me Amy..." She said. He looked down at her and they started laughing again.
"I just realized I don't have a nickname for you. Patricia is Trixie, Nina is Mari, for America, Joy is Jay, Mara is Emmy... but you've always been Amber," he explained, then grabbed her hand and together they walked back to Anubis house, both feeling a little kinder towards the other.
"Where in the hell is Amber?" Nina said in the living room. Mick and Patricia looked over at her from where they were sitting on the couch bickering quietly.
"Can you tell Mick that Martha Jones was a way better companion than Rose ever was?" Patricia said back.
"Sorry, TenRose," Nina responded, "but seriously, I need Amber." She was happy to see Patricia was happy. She had yet to build up the courage to talk to her about Eddie but knew she was really broken because of it. Some friend Nina was.
"Didn't she get detention with Mr. Parker?" Mick asked. He wore a smug look because it seemed he won his argument. Patricia, however, was bitter.
"I thought she'd be back by now. I need her advice." Nina huffed, plopping down in her arm chair.
"You need Amber's advice. What could she possibly give you advice on?" Mick said, laughing. When he noticed the disproving looks each girl wore, he added, "calm down. It was a joke."
"Not a funny one. Amber's much smarter than you give her credit for," Patricia bitched. Bitching was what she was best at, being the bitchy girl of the house. That used to work for her, but now she'd gone soft for Eddie it was ruined. She was ruined.
"Nina!" All three of them turned towards the door where the voice came from. Standing there was Fabian who looked like he ran home. "Amber... Jerome... Paint..." He said between huffs.
"Slow down," Nina said standing and crossing towards him. "What happened?"
"I don't know! I have a picture!" He said pulling out his phone and holding it up. Mick and Patricia rushed over to see.
"Oh. My. God." Patricia said.
"That's why Amber's not here." Nina said, with a laugh.
"What the hell happened to all of you when I left?" Mick asked. "Amber's getting dirty, Jerome's being nice, Joy liking someone who isn't Fabian..."
"Joy likes someone?" Patricia asked. This was news to her and Joy was supposed to be her best mate.
"Totally. You see the way her and Lacie act." Mick replied, "she'll be coming out any day now."
"I'll believe it when it happens," Fabian said. He wasn't totally sure how he would feel if Joy decided to date a girl. It would be weird. They had been friends along with Cory since they were tiny.
"How is she supposed to help me if she's covered in paint?" Nina complained, wanting to change the topic.
"I can help you." Fabian said, sounding hopeful. He gave her a look that looked like he wanted to talk to her about something.
"Thanks." She said and lead him upstairs, giving on fearful glance back
As she left, she heard Mick and Patricia talking. "What was that about?" She asked.
"No idea." He responded.
"What do you want to talk about?" Nina asked. Fabian sat down on her bed and she sat next to him.
"I'm so confused..." He said. "How can I be... I mean I'm just... I'm not... magical." She wasn't sure what to say to him. When she discovered she was the Paragon it was slow... and a process. By the time she found out she was chosen, she had suspected it for some time. Eddie was so casual about everything, when he found out he was chosen, he just shrugged it off. Fabian wasn't laid back like Eddie, the opposite actually. He over analyzed everything and Nina could only imagine what he was going through. And this was just the beginning.
"I know it must be hard to take... but it gets easier. You just have to accept it and move forward." She explained tenderly.
He started laughing. "I guess it does..." They sat in silence for a few seconds. "I'm sorry we didn't work out."
He looked at her, then down at his lap. "Me too." She grabbed his hand and they stayed quiet, thinking about when they were happy together. "Shit! It's almost 5:30! I need to get ready!" Nina said, jumping up and running to her closet. "Will you be my Amber?" She joked.
"I can't promise you that my advice will be good advice... but I'll try." he was cheerful again, snapping out of the air of depression that was there moments before. Pause. "Where are you going anyway?"
"Um... A date."
Control yourself, Fabian, he commanded himself. "Oh?" He asked, hoping he sounded casual. "With who?" He spent so much time praying it wasn't Eddie, that when she answered, he was shocked beyond belief.
"Cory..."
"Cory!?"
"Cory."
He ran a hand through his hair and stood up, not sure what to do with himself. She couldn't go on a date with him. "Why?"
"He asked me, I said yes." She said as if it were simple.
"No!" He said strongly. "You cannot date him! You don't even know him."
Nina rolled her eyes and held up an outfit to her body in the mirror. "I'm not dating him. I'm just going on a date."
That answer wasn't good enough for him. Cory Colette was bad news. How many times had Fabian watched girls date him then come out broken beyond repair. And to think they used to be mates. Best mates. "He's dangerous, Neens. I don't want you hurt."
"It's one date!" She replied stubbornly. She wasn't sure if he was genuinely worried, or if he was just jealous. Either way, she didn't enjoy being treated like a child.
Maybe her stubbornness was why he loved her. "Please, Nina? I'm your protector, right?" The words felt new, but good on his tongue. They felt right.
Nina was sick of hearing that line. She didn't need them to protect her from normal things! She wasn't even exceptionally clumsy, if she were Patricia (who tripped over the air every week) she could maybe understand their constant presence. "It's just a date! I'll be home by nine, promise." She said sarcastically.
"Oh my goodness!" Trudy screamed downstairs. "Don't either of you take another step into this house!"
"I guess Amber's back," Fabian joked. Nina smiled at him. She didn't want to fight.
"I'm going to run this by her," She said, then left him standing in the middle of her room alone. There was no way he could let her go on that date, so he'd have to enlist the help of the one other person who would agree with him.
Eddie.
A/N: I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Peddie breakup... Maybe some Pick love sparking...? I don't know... Let me know what you think. Next chapter: Nina and Cory's date. Will Eddie and Fabian crash? And what will the mystery be this term? :) Review. I love them.
See you next chapter!