Later that evening, Greg was busy playing with the other kids out in their backyard, while Wirt and Beatrice were sharing a pot of tea in the living room.

They decided it was best to leave the exploring for tomorrow morning since it was getting late already and they were both too exhausted to watch over Gregory's every move.

Wirt hasn't felt so content in the past few weeks than he is now, sipping at his orange pekoe with Beatrice.

"My parents are taking longer than usual...They should have been back an hour ago, you think their okay?" Beatrice asked him, concern evident in her voice.

"O-oh...I wouldn't know Beatrice, you know them better than I do, I'm sure everything is fine though!"

Wirt smiled in an awkward attempt to calm her, to which she smiled back a bit but he could still see the worry in her face.

"I'm sure they are; they couldn't have gone too far. Besides, Harold and Li-"

Just then, Beatrice was cut off with the sound of keys jingling at the door. Wirt was glad to see her shoulders slump signaling her relief.

The door opened revealing a stout lady with a white bonnet on her head, a tall lanky man with a curly moustache, and two teens who looked older then Beatrice and Wirt, their hair a couple shades lighter than hers as well, they looked like they could be fraternal twins; all holding full bags of what Wirt assumed was their groceries.

Beatrice shuffled to the door to help carry the grocery bags. Wirt stood too, aiming to help as well but was stopped when Beatrice's mother placed her bags down and ran over to him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Wirt! I'm so glad you're safe! Will you be staying with us?"

This caught him off guard.

'Were they really that concerned for me and Greg...?' Wirt thought.

"Wirt my boy, it's been quite a while hasn't it?" Beatrice's father came beside his wife before he could answer, ruffling up Wirt's hair as he spoke.

Wirt let it go, he was just glad he brought a comb with him.

"Y-yes, it has...I really don't know what happened when we left, I'm really sorry for worrying you all...oh and, yeah Beatrice invited me and Greg to stay, if that's alright." He reached his hand to scratch the back of his neck.

He felt really guilty, knowing that all this time Beatrice and her family had been worried about his and Greg's well being, while he was too busy concerned with his own feelings and with Sarah.

Beatrice's mother clasped her hands on his cheeks, squishing them together.

"Goodness gracious of course it's fine! And don't you worry my dear, we're just happy to see you're okay."

"That, and Beatrice wouldn't stop talking about you since that time, hopefully now she can relax."

Wirt's cheeks went bright red and his eyes went wide.

"Dad! That's not true at all..."

Beatrice yelled as she emerged from the kitchen where her and her siblings were putting away the groceries, Wirt noticed she has a dusting of pink on her cheeks as well.

Her father smirked before deciding he embarrassed his daughter enough and changed the subject.

"Well, anyhow, I'm glad you came Wirt, because we had passed by the Tavern on the way home and they seemed to have renovated! Even the tavern keeper looks much snappier than usual, don't you think, Helen?"

"Oh yes! We're heading back in about an hour, why don't you two come along with us this evening? It'll be lots of fun."

Wirt smiled at them before turning to Beatrice, waiting for her to answer for the both of them.

"So that's why you guys were so late, but...that sounds nice, what do you say Wirt?"

"Y-yeah, Sure!" he replied with a chuckle.

"Are we getting Ms. Langtree to babysit, then?" Lillian asked, appearing from the kitchen with her brother by her side.

"I suppose, the kids seem to like her." Helen said.

"They like teasing her; hopefully she hasn't got a problem coming by." Harold spoke up with an amused tone.

"Oh my...well I'm sure it'll be fine, Harold can you ring her please? We'll leave when she gets here." Helen said with a smile on her chubby face.

Beatrice walked to Wirt's side as her family continued on with their duties.

"Do you want to take the tea upstairs while we wait? My parents are going to let the little runts inside soon and it'll be really noisy."

Wirt smiled and nodded as he helped her pick up the tea pot and sugar bowl.

Once they were upstairs and settled in a small table with two stools that stood in the corner of her room, which was quite spacious much like the one she gave Wirt and Greg, Beatrice cleared her throat signaling she wanted to talk. Wirt looked up to her in waiting.

"So...who's the girl?"

She saw his shoulders tense up as he stared intently at the teacup resting in both his hands.

"I uh...I didn't think you were paying attention..."

"Well duh...I couldn't help but notice her when I served you both, and she showed up the next day with another dude, besides; I like to dig my pecker in your business."

Beatrice smiled as she said this, hoping to get a reaction out of him, which she did get a small scoff and smile.

"Well...I've had a crush on Sarah for a really long time...I kept trying to ask her out."

Beatrice hoped Wirt didn't notice her face become red with jealousy.

'Jealousy..? Why the hell am I jealous for..?' she thought while Wirt was busy listing off the ways he tried getting this girl to like him in the past month.

"...and, well, it didn't end up happening properly until that day in the cafe...then she got really upset with me because she just wanted a friendship and left..."

Beatrice's attention shot back to him.

"If she was that upset about dating then why would she be back the next day with another guy? Also...I think you mentioned her to me before..."

"W-well...you see...she was s-sort of drunk the night before, I'm not really sure if...if that had anything to do with it, and yeah...briefly."

Her eyebrows furrowed at this.

"How did you know she was drunk? I mean you looked pretty down and out, so I figured you went straight home after we talked."

Wirt was getting hot and nervous now. He was looking everywhere around the room and pulling at his shirt collar.

"Wirt...if you don't feel comfortable telling me everything that's fine...I just wanted to take some weight off your shoulders."

She thankfully saw him relax at this.

"No it's okay...she uhm...she showed up at my door last night from a friend's party, asking why I didn't show up there. Then..ahem uhm...one thing lead to another, ya know?"

Her eyes went wide and Wirt saw her ears become bright red.

"N-no! We only kissed...and uhm...she had her hand kind of-"

"I don't need to know the rest..."

"r-right...sorry...but I didn't let it go on, I couldn't...she was only with me for a few minutes before I sent her home and I guess she ran into Funderberker on her way."

'isnt that the frogs name...?' She thought with a quirked brow, before getting back to the point.

"Wirt...I'm not going to judge her or anything, that's not my place, but..."

Beatrice placed her hand softly over Wirt's on his teacup.

"You're a really passionate guy, and I don't think having her around is the best idea...Especially if she wants to take advantage of your feelings like that, knowing you have a lot of them."

Wirt would usually struggle to breathe at any contact from a girl, but Beatrice really made him feel at ease.

"Well...thing is, I never saw her as the type to do anything like that. She's always so kind and reasonable and level headed, that's what I really liked about her...and she's not the type to get drunk, it was completely out of character for her..."

Beatrice kept her hand in place, afraid he might catch on to her feelings if she took away the contact.

"Maybe she really did like you back, if she ended up that way after you asked her out...she must have had some kind of pent up feelings to let that happen, right?"

Wirt looked up to her, realizing that if it was any other time he would have been ecstatic at hearing that Sarah liked him back, but he wasn't.

"It doesn't matter if she does or not...I told her we shouldn't be together."

"Why would you tell her that? Things could have worked out when she was more sober."

To her surprise, Wirt smiled.

"I didn't want too...I learned that I was just really obsessed. I was so busy trying to get her to like me that I never thought about what it would be like to be serious with her..."

Beatrice smiled back, stroking her thumb comfortingly over the top of Wirt's knuckles.

"Well, I'm happy you found the answers for yourself Wirt, maybe you aren't such a flaky dork after all."

He rolled his eyes and picking up his teacup to finish it off, leaving just his and Beatrice's hands on the table. Wirt froze realizing what he had done and glanced down at their hands before looking away.

Both decided to ignore it, secretly not wanting to separate but too afraid to admit it. Beatrice picked up her tea and didn't put it back down until she was done drinking it as well.

Just as their cups hit the table, her mother called from downstairs.

"We're ready to get going you two!"

They shot their hands back to their sides.

"Uh, help me carry the stuff..." Beatrice told Wirt, not daring to make eye contact.

He nodded, not even knowing if she noticed.

They both carried the tea set downstairs to the kitchen, noticing all the kids back inside the house talking to Ms. Langtree.

'So that's why I recognized the name...it's that crazy hoot that teaches in that animal pre-school, no wonder the kids tease her.' Wirt thought as he caught a glimpse of her on his way to the kitchen.

"Wirt!" Greg yelled as he followed his brother.

"Hey, Greg, are you having fun?" He turned his attention from putting the dishes into the sink.

"Absolodutely! Maria made her own doll collection, it was really cool but it gave me the creeps a little. Also, Theodore and Sebastian showed me the river just down the way, and guess what Wirt! It was full...of cute...little... turts!"

Wirt smiled and smoothed down Greg's hair, seeing as it got messy from playing all day.

"That's awesome squirt. By the way, I'm heading out tonight; you'll be okay here without me?"

Wirt knew he would, Greg could always hold his own, and he knew he was safe here.

"Yes yes, besides, Ms. Langtree is here to write some jammin' new tunes! I'll sing for you when you get back, that's a promise." Greg closed his eyes and nodded before running off again with his grin plastered on his face.

Wirt smiled and watched Greg join the rest of Beatrice's siblings once again.

Beatrice walked passed him and was heading out the kitchen.

"Let's go?"She looked at him as she asked, to which he agreed and followed her out.

It was close to 10 pm when they reached the tavern. It seemed like a lot longer journey the last time he was here, but Beatrice noted that her family chose a house that was a lot closer to civilization.

They found a round table to seat the six of them.

"So, Wirt; what kind of stuff do you do back where you're from?" Harold turned and asked the shorter boy.

"W-well, not much."

Wirt was embarrassed to talk about his hobbies in front of Beatrice's older brother. He wanted to make a cool impression on him.

"Just...hang out with friends and stuff...Uhm, sometimes in a graveyard!"

Beatrice was struggling to hold in her laughter.

"Really? Are the graveyards there big like ours? We have huge graveyards, with tons of statues and for some reason the bears really like it there."

Wirt gulped. He knew he couldn't lie about anything with Beatrice sitting right beside him.

"N-no, your graveyards seem a lot cooler than ours..."

Harold nodded before replying.

"We should go while you're here."

Wirt chuckled nervously before looking at the table beneath him. Beatrice looked beside her at Wirt, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"Great first impression mister 'too cool for poetry." She giggled and sat back up.

Wirt sighed and hung his head down.

"Hey, cheer up. The legal drinking age here is 16 so you better loosen up tonight." Lillian leaned over from beside Beatrice and spoke to Wirt, noticing his mood.

His head shot up and his eyes went wide.

"W-we're drinking? I didn't know we were drinking..." He looked at Beatrice for some sort of answer.

"Uhm, yeah dummy we're drinking. What fun would we have just sitting in a tavern? Have a milk chugging contest?" Beatrice laughed at her own response.

Wirt awkwardly laughed along with her.

"Oh, r-right of course! Why wouldn't we drink..."

"Besides, I want to see you wasted, without that stick up your a-"

"So! What'll it be?" The tavern keeper approached Wirt and Beatrice's side of the table with a notepad in hand, thankfully interrupting Beatrice.

"Uh...u-uhm..." Wirt had no idea what drinks existed in his own dimension, let alone a totally different one.

"We'll have Salty Dogs please." Beatrice ordered for them.

"Oh, good choice! We just got brand new Vodka's on the shelf! Anything else?"

Helen spoke up asking for a round of shots and ales.

The tavern keeper nodded before heading to the bar.

"Have you never had a drink before, Wirt?" Beatrice asked while nudging his arm.

"I had a sip of beer once at a friend's birthday...it was pretty gross."

"Oh...yeah beer isn't the best first drink to have, but I'm sure you'll like this one."

Wirt looked at her with a confused expression.

"A salty dog doesn't sound very tasty..."

Beatrice laughed at this, again causing Wirt to smile and forget about his doubts.

'Does she know her nose crinkles like that when she laughs? It's adorable...'

She looked up and noticed the way Wirt was staring at her. He realized as well and shook his head embarrassed of his own thoughts.

"I told you to stop looking at my freckles...Do they bother you that much?" She looked at him a little annoyed.

Wirt furrowed his brows and was surprised by what she said.

'Nothing about you bothers me; I like everything about you...I can't tell her that!...Do I really like her? Wait no, quickly Wirt say something before she gets really mad!'

"No! I love your freckles!" he blurted out.

Everyone at the table looked at him, amused smirks slowly creeping on to their faces, except Beatrice; who shook her head slightly with a bright blush on her cheeks.

"Uh...okay, hey look our drinks!"

She said, succeeding in getting her family distracted.

Wirt felt extremely embarrassed, and guilty. He didn't mean to put her on the spot in front of her family like he did.

"Beatrice...?"

She was busy sipping at her light pink drink placed in front of her, Wirt noticing his was placed down as well.

"Hm?" She didn't seem to want to stop drinking to give him her full attention at the moment.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that..."

She finally let her lips go of her glass and hesitantly turned to him.

"You didn't mean it...?"

"N-no! Of course I t-think you're cu-...your freckles... are c-cute..."

"Thanks, Wirt...now can you please start drinking?" She really wanted to get passed this tension, scared of admitting her own growing feelings.

Wirt noticed she started to relax quickly, still sipping at her drink between talking.

He looked down at the glass in front of him, picking it up and taking a tentative sniff.

"What is this mixed with? All I smell is rubbing alcohol."

Harold and Beatrice laughed at Wirt's comment, the others conversing among themselves.

"It's mixed with grapefruit, looks pretty strong though."

"Shush Harold, just drink it Wirt, it's not going to kill you."

Wirt was wary of her last comment, thinking that it smelled pretty dangerous. Either way, he still lifted the glass and took a large gulp.

'Like ripping off a band-aid...'

His face screwed up into one of disgust as he felt the burning in his throat and the acidic flavour of grapefruit around his mouth.

'not like ripping off a band-aid.' Wirt thought as the burning travelled down to his stomach.

Beatrice giggled at Wirt's reaction.

"Woah...You could have started off with a sip silly. We haven't even taken shots yet."

"Wha-...shots? We're taking shots, too?"

Beatrice pushed the tiny glass down the table beside Wirt's drink.

"And beers for later, they'll taste better when you're not so sober."

It was 12:30am, Wirt's salty dog was long gone, followed by two other shots and he was on his second beer, Beatrice on her third. Beatrice's parents decided to head home half an hour ago and Lillian's girlfriend had showed up a little while after, to which they decided to separate from the group. Harold joined himself in a poker game in the new room that was added to the tavern, leaving Wirt and Beatrice alone talking at the table.

"...and that's when Greg named his frog Jason Fun...Funderburger..." Wirt tripping over his pronunciations while talking to Beatrice.

They both burst out laughing when he finished telling his story.

"So...So Greg saw this Funderberkey dude, and was like...thats my frog, right there...?" Beatrice said as she was laughing, tears brimming her eyes.

Wirt started a whole new set of laughter while nodding in agreement. Beatrice had let her forehead fall onto Wirt's shoulder mid laughter, not that he minded.

Once they calmed down Beatrice lifted her hand to play with the wooden buttons adorning Wirt's coat.

"Aren't you hot in that?"

He looked down at himself, now aware of how sweaty he was getting. He started unbuttoning his coat and taking it off in answer to her.

"Ain't that better?" She said as she patted his cardigan clad chest gently.

"Just a bit, this cardigan is like...really stuffy..."

"You wanna step outside?"

"Yeah! Outside...outside is cool."

Beatrice nodded, standing up and smoothing out her dress before reaching her hand out for Wirt to take, which he gladly did.

Harold glanced away from his cards and saw his little sister leave with Wirt, a small smile on his face.

Beatrice led him around to the side of the tavern where the horse stables were.

"Let's climb on top! It's easy I pro-promise." Beatrice slurred as she wobbly made her way up to one of the post, lifting her skirt up to her thighs to make it easier to move.

"A-are you sure?" He asked, wringing his hands together.

"Come on wimp! I got you drunk for a reason!" she spoke down to him, already half way up.

Wirt shrugged his shoulders and followed her steps; not thinking too much about what he was doing, making it a lot easier. He propped his foot up on the middle ledge of the post and pulling up to the top, swinging himself over onto the roof.

Wirt sat there wide eyed and face beet red at the sight of Beatrice bent over with her dress hoisted over her hips.

She was still crawling over to the middle of the roof, completely oblivious to her exposure.

"cough uh...Beatrice..?"

"Yeaaaah?"

"Y-you're uh..." Wirt crawled over behind her, grabbing her dress and pulling it down over her. She gasped and held her hands over her now covered behind.

"Yeah..." Wirt said as he sighed and sat down, looking away.

'Even her butt is cute...god what am I even thinking...?'

Beatrice slowly sat beside him.

"Thanks, I was wondering why I felt a draft..." she giggled when she said this, lightening the tension.

Wirt looked back in her direction.

"I'm reeaallyy glad you brought me and Greg here with you..."

Beatrice turned herself to completely face Wirt before she spoke.

"Yeah...I...I really missed you. My dad wasn't lying, heh. I spent my entire free time try...trying to f-find you...I almost lost h-hope."

Wirt saw Beatrice begin to tear up at her own words.

"Wait no! C'mere..."Wirt attempted to pull her into a hug, instead ended up clumsily pulling her on top of him, falling back and landing roughly. Thought neither seemed to mind.

Beatrice lifted off slightly, her face a few inches from his. Wirt smiled wistfully while watching the gleam in her bright blue eyes.

"I'm here now...that's what counts."

Beatrice smiled back, closing her eyes and nodding in agreement. They started to sober up a little by now.

Wirt reached his hand up to wipe the small tears at the corner of her eyes, and then rested his palm on her cheek.

"You really love my freckles that much?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

'how cute...'

"Yes...and your eyes." He said quietly as he was drowning in her oceanic orbs. She blinked and scrunched her nose in embarrassment.

"...and your cute nose..." Wirt gently guided her face closer so he could brush the tip of his nose to her, as if emphasizing his point.

Beatrice's eyes began to close at his soft pretty words. Blushing and relaxing into his touch.

"...I have yet to admire your lips..."

Before Beatrice completely closed her eyes, she looked directly into his doey brown pair.

"Write me a poem about them..."

Then they simultaneously closed the space between them in a clumsy, messy, wonderful kiss.