Chapter 45 – Party at Number One Castle Drive Part 4

Koga's eyes widened as Bean's lips touched his. He was in complete shock at what was happening. He stared down at Bean, seeing her eyes closed as she continued kissing Koga. Koga's eyes darted from the left and right as this continued momentarily before Bean slowly broke away from him. Bean stared into Koga's green eyes. Bean closed her eyes again to kiss Koga, but he stopped her. "

"B-Bean, hold on a second…" He said.

Bean opens her eyes and looks at him. "W-What is it?"

"Uh…let's get you back inside. You're pretty drunk right now, okay?"

Bean looked at Koga worriedly. "D-Did I do something wrong? Oh my god, was I too fast? Here, you can kiss me instead!" She puckered her lips out to him and leaned closer, but Koga would stop her again.

"Bean, no, it's not that," He said.

Bean and Koga looked at each other for a moment. Bean frowned. "I…Koga I…" She looked away from him and rubbed her arm.

Koga sighed and looked away from Bean for a moment, and he glided his hand through his hair. He placed his eyes on Bean and said, "Bean…I…I like you, and I think that you're cool, but…I don't feel…that way about you…"

Bean placed her eyes back on Koga. "I…I…I thought…I mean, I…" She covers her face with her hands. "Oh my god…Oh my god, I just…I just kissed you so suddenly and…" She glided both her hands through her hair. "I…I wasn't thinking I…" She turned away from Koga and walked to the stone railing. She placed her arms on the stone railing and buried her face in her arms. Koga stared at Bean. He stood there as he tried to think of what to say. The sound of cicadas drowned the silence between the two. Koga walks over to Bean and stands beside her. He taps his fingers on the stone railing, still searching for what he wants to say.

"Bean-"

"You were the only guy I ever met who treated me like a person," said Bean. Koga placed his eyes on her. "You didn't try to sleep, flirt with me, or think I'm a helpless little girl they can win over." She lifted her head from her arms and stared at the full moon. She held herself, and she continued to speak. "You aren't afraid to tell my dad off when he deserves it. You're always so cool-headed, and you're just so damn sweet…" She lowered her eyes to the forest below them and softly sighed.

"I didn't know you thought so much of me like that…" said Koga.

"How could I not?" Bean looks over at him. "But…I get it…loving someone like me is too much work…" She looked away from him and focused her eyes on the forest below them. "I'm just a mess…"

Koga takes a deep breath and then exhales. "I'm not good at this stuff. When it comes to situations like this, it's hard for me to talk about how I feel or what's on my mind, but," He stepped closer to Bean and gently placed his hands on her shoulder. "Look…just because I don't feel the same way about you romantically doesn't mean I don't care about you, Bean. It doesn't mean I won't be here for you when you need me or when you need a shoulder to lean on." He placed his hand on her cheek and wiped the tear from her left eye with his thumb. "You might be a lot to put up with at times…but that doesn't stop me from having your back, Bean…" He said to her while smiling warmly at her.

Bean placed her hand on his and softly asked with her voice slightly quivering. "You won't ever leave me, right?"

"I'm not going anywhere…" Koga whispered.

Bean wrapped her arms around Koga's waist tightly and hugged him. She buried her face into his chest, and Koga wrapped his arms around her. Bean chuckles and says, "You say you can't express yourself too well…and yet you have such a way with words. You see why I fell for you so hard?"

Koga replies, "I guess…but you can do better than me…" He gently caressed Bean's head softly.

Bean frowned a bit. "I hope so…"

"You will…trust me…" said Koga, placing his chin on the top of Bean's head as he gently swayed back and forth in the hug.

"K-Koga, Bean!" said Elfo, coming up the balcony. "We got trou-" He paused. Elfo stood there staring at Bean, and Koga embraced. "I…"

Koga looks over at him. "Elfo?"

Bean opens her eyes, and she looks over at Elfo. She steps away from Koga a bit while holding onto his hands. "Elfo, what is it?"

"I…" Elfo looked at Koga and then at Bean. He placed his eyes on Bean's hands, which held Koga's. Elfo shook his head. "W-We got trouble! Vikings are attacking the castle, and they got Hilda!"

"WHAT?" shouted both Bean and Koga.

They wasted no time leaving the balcony and hurried back inside. The three of them returned to the ballroom and saw the gruesome sight of Dreamlanders dead on the ballroom floor. "HEY BEAN! AWESOME PARTY!" said Luci, sitting on a chandelier above them. Bean looked forward and saw Hilda seated on the lap of a blond Viking sitting on her father's throne. "Hilda, what the hell?" She asked, staring at her perplexed. Hilda would retort, "It's not what you think! I didn't have much of a choice!"

"Hey Koga!" said Turbish happily. He, Pendergast, and Mertz were on the ground with two Vikings standing over them with axes. "You missed the Viking fight! We lost!"

The Viking's raise their axes, readying to chop their heads off. Koga kicks a sword off the ground by the handle and sends the blade flying towards Viking, chopping his head off. Pendergast would grab the axe the beheaded Viking dropped and slice the other Viking's head off.

Sphin, the blond Viking, would point his sword at Bean, Koga and Elfo. "SEEZE THEM!" He ordered.

The Viking's charged at the trio. Bean grabbed a sword off the ground and began fighting against the Vikings. Koga was easily dodging the Vikings swings. He clasped his hands around the blade of one Viking and disarmed him. He takes the sword, slices the metal axe in two, and follows up with a downward slash across the Viking's chest. Koga would go on to make quick work of following four Vikings that came his way. Luci would cut the chandelier chain above and drop it onto a group of Vikings. Bean would take care of the last Viking, making Sphin the last one.

"Alright, you dirty Viking, let go of my friend right now! You're way out of her league!" said Bean, pointing her sword at him.

"BAH! If you want her, you'll have to duel me for her!" said Sphin as he rose from the throne. "Also…I take offence to being called dirty. We Vikings are very hygienic. We even have our homemade shampoo!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Bring it on!" said Bean, gripping her sword tightly.

Koga would place his hand on Bean's shoulder. "He's mine…" He said in a deep tone. "There's a few things I hate in the world. Tarantula hawks, haircuts, and, most of all…VIKING'S!" He said as he glared at Sphin.

"What the hell is a tarantula hawk?" Elfo asked, confused.

"One of the many things we use to torture people in hell," Luci replied.

"You dare challenge me? Fine! I will seek revenge for my fallen comrades!" said Sphin.

Sphin would charge at Koga, and their blades met. Koga would sniff and stare at Sphin in surprise. "Wow, that is a nice smell! And you say that you make it yourself?" He asked curiously.

Sphin would smile and nod, "Why yes! We use the natural ingredients of the forest. We do the same thing for our soap!"

"Get out of here! Are you serious? You have to give me the ingredients!" said Koga excitedly.

"Well, for our soap, we use oils, sea salt, oatmeal and-" Sphin looked up at his decapitated body. His body would fall forward and go stiff.

"Thanks for the info. I can take care of the rest," said Koga.

Bean would rush over to Hilda and wrap her arms around her. "Oh my god, Hilda, are you okay? Did they do anything weird to you?" She asked frantically.

"I'm fine, Bean, I'm fine," Hilda reassured her. "It was more awkward than anything. That blond-haired Viking went on and on about his journey in becoming regional manager of the lawn Vikings or something…it was so stupid,"

"Yaaay, we won!" said Turbish. "We rescued everyone in the ballroom!"

"Except for these people dead on the floor…" said Mertz.

"Yes, it was a brutal and vicious battle, but all that matters is that we were able to-. " Pendergast was cut off by Koga, who taps him on the shoulders.

"Come on, Pen, time to clean up," said Koga.

And so, Koga, Pendergast, turbish, Mertz, and a few other knights began cleaning up around the ballroom. While this happened, Bean and Hilda talked outside the ballroom door.

"I'm sorry…" said Bean. "I'm so so sorry for what I said…I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I…"

"Bean, it's fin-"

"I was such an idiot for saying that! You're one of my best friends, and I said something so horrible to you! I'm so sorry, Hilda!"

Hilda stared at Bean and then said, "Well…it wasn't a lie, wasn't it?" She asked.

Bean opened her mouth to reply but paused. She sighed and rubbed her head. "Hilda…Tavish isn't the same as he was back then…I honestly don't know what's going through his head…or mind for that matter…"

"I see," said Hilda. "Well…I'm just glad I at least have you…" She smiled at Bean.

Bean looked at Hilda, and a few tears formed in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Hilda and brought her into a tight hug. Bean would continue apologising to Hilda, and Hilda would continue telling her it was ok.

"I have to go…" said Hilda, letting go of Bean.

"Ok…" said Bean, wiping her eyes. "If I ever have another party…I swear it'll be better than this one…"

Hilda smiled. "Let's try not to have Viking's this time," She giggled.

Bean smiled. "Right…"

And with that, Hilda left. Bean's smile turns into a frown, and she wipes her eyes walks over to Bean and places his arms around her. "You ok?" He asked. Bean smiles at him, "Yeah…a little bit…" She put her hand on his.

Elfo watched the two from afar. He placed his back against the wall and slowly slid down. "Oh, man…"

And so, the party at Dreamland Castle would come to an end.