Author's note: Sap

Ages: Soren - 17, Ronan - 15, Kai - 18, Eli - 16, 'Jem - 13

Soren hadn't slept much after he'd gotten back to his uncle's house; he'd kept thinking about how hurt Ronan had been, and it was driving him crazy. What he'd said to Kai hadn't been that bad, right?

...Yeah, it had.

So as soon as the shops were open he was out the door, intent on finding something special to go with the flowers he'd be bringing. He'd finally settled on a round, silver-backed pendant with a spark of fire encased in glass. It cost him a ton, but he hoped Ronan would get the meaning.

He was knocking on the front door of Rainbow's End by ten-thirty, hoping Kai didn't answer. Instead he was greeted by 'Jem, looking a little like she hadn't slept very well either. He wasn't sure if this was any better.

"...Hey."

"Hi." She gave him the once over, a little smile appearing as she noticed his deathgrip on the bunch of little blue flowers he'd picked.

"You're not going to hit me for earlier, are you?"

The smile faded as 'Jem shook her head. "I kind of want to for what you said to Kai, but...I guess you're beating yourself up enough." She took a step back, opening the door wider. "Ronan's in the kitchen, Kai's making breakfast."

Crap. This wasn't going to end well.

"Can you just go get him, maybe? Tell him there's something you want to show him, I don't know."

The blonde shook her head, reaching out to pull Soren in by his sleeve. "You weren't scared of Kai last night, it's too late now."

"I'm not scared." He grumbled, letting her tug him into the house. "I just don't feel like taking a one way trip via Corridor."

"I already talked to him about that." 'Jem sighed, and Soren figured that was probably why she seemed as if she'd been up too long.

"Let me guess, he was being a stubborn little sh-" He caught himself and cleared his throat. "Uh, so kitchen. Right. Thanks 'Jem."

She gave him a pat on the arm, closing the door as he headed off to what was almost certain doom. Or the end of a perfectly good relationship.

Yep, doom.

When he walked into the kitchen, Kai was yanking waffles out of the toaster and dumping them on a plate. Well, that explained why 'Jem hadn't seemed concerned that Kai was making breakfast. Hard to mess up something like that when there was no skill involved. Ronan was seated at the table, absently tapping on the side of his orange juice glass with his finger. Soren coughed, and both boys glanced at him - Ronan for all of three seconds before he turned away, and Kai for a lot longer than that, hand poised to reach for the syrup. He obviously wasn't happy to see him either.

"Who let you in?"

"'Jem."

Kai heaved a sigh, grabbing the syrup. "Of course. I told her not to answer if it was you, but no, when does she listen to me?"

Soren suspected she did when it concerned shit that actually mattered, but he kept his mouth shut. His gaze drifted over to Ronan, who was still sitting quietly, tapping on the glass again. Soren loosened his grip on the flowers a little; his fingers felt like they were going numb.

"Ronan, can we talk?"

"No."

"I wanted to apologize."

"Kai's right there."

Great, he was going to be difficult. He supposed he deserved it.

"Yeah, but I don't think he's in the mood for it."

"Damn straight I'm not." There was a clatter as Kai dug around for silverware. "I'm going to take this up to Eli, hope you'll be gone when I come back."

Soren stuck his tongue out at Kai as he left, then remembered he was trying to be slightly more mature than earlier that morning. Thankfully Ronan still had his back to him and hadn't noticed.

"Look, Ronan-"

"That was really mean, you know."

He winced, moving to stand next to him. Ronan's rhythmic tapping on the glass paused for a second before resuming.

"I know. I shouldn't have taunted him like that, and I didn't mean the last of it."

He had meant the part about not being scared. Probably a stupid move, but there it was. Ronan glanced up at him, then quickly away, his cheeks reddening.

"I might not have minded the first part so much..."

He trailed off as Soren stood there blinking in confusion for a moment. Boy, could that ever be taken the wrong way. Instead of teasing him with it like he usually would, he held out the already wilting flowers. They were little star-shaped things with yellow centers; Nothing fancy, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Besides, that pendant had broken him. Magic was expensive as hell.

"I'm sorry."

Ronan looked back over, biting his lip before taking the flowers. "Thanks."

Okay, that wasn't the reaction he wanted. He drifted over to a cupboard to get a glass, filling it with water before bringing it back. Ronan took it wordlessly, settling the flowers.

"Was there something else?"

Just the tone he used stung; like he didn't care whether Soren had anything else to say or not. Damn, he'd really screwed up, hadn't he? His hand went to his pocket, and he pulled out the pendant, laying it gently on the table in front of Ronan. The silver chain made a soft clinking sound as it spilled onto the wood.

"Just that. All it takes is a spark, right?"

Ronan had gone very still, staring at the tiny flame trapped behind the glass. Soren shifted uncomfortably, watching him. He was a little surprised that Kai hadn't returned yet; how long did it take to deliver a plate of waffles to the second floor, anyway?

"I'll apologize to Kai in a couple days, when he's not so pissed."

Well, hopefully not so pissed. Soren headed for the door, then stopped as he heard Ronan's chair scrape across the floor. He'd barely turned to face him before he was tackled so hard he stumbled and lost his footing. He and Ronan went crashing down, the other boy looking as surprised as he felt.

"The hell, Ronan."

"Umm. I didn't think you'd go over so easy. Oops?"

Soren couldn't help it; he started laughing, which was abruptly cut off as Ronan threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.

Well, he guessed he was forgiven, then.