Gen Two- Chapter Twenty Eight

I sighed when I felt a light breeze ruffle the air. A few of the many fall leaves scattered on the ground moved ever so slightly, and the branches on the trees rustled almost inaudibly. The wind was wholly insignificant, but it was going to make Azure do what he had been doing nonstop during the game of horseshoes he was playing with Midas. Putting it simply, Azure was sucking big time. He had always been horrible at horseshoes, but his throws were all over the place today. Thus, Azure had come to the bright conclusion that it was the wind messing him up. At even the slightest trickle of air running past him, he would stop, wait until there was no breeze, prep his throw for way longer than necessary, and finally make his toss unless another gentle huff of air caused him to repeat the process.

The repetition drove me crazy, but Midas apparently had no problem with it. I think him being the very obvious winner had a lot to do with that. He merely folded his arms, waited, and chuckled at Azure's desperate attempts to make it seem as if he still had a chance.

     "I can hear you laughing back there," Azure lightly scolded Midas, "You'd better be careful not to break my concentration, or I'll never make this throw."

     "Maybe you should stop trying to concentrate then. It hasn't been doing you any favors so far. Just wing it." Midas instantly teased back.
     "I'd bet you'd like that, huh? You're so afraid of me catching up that cheap taunting is the only tactic you have left."
     "Are we watching the same game of horseshoes as he is? Maybe he's gone blind?" Midas asked me with a raised brow and big grin, "Or has college snapped his brain in half faster than it should have?"
     "His brain was a bit snapped to begin with, so who knows?" I joked along.
     "Haha. Now, seriously. Shut up." Azure laughed sardonically before lining his toss again.

To be fair, we did keep our mouths closed while he focused.

Keeping them closed and not letting out loud bursts of laughter when poor Azure absolutely failed that toss was another thing entirely. Seeing him fail that badly was actually quite heart wrenching. I managed to stay composed, but Midas lost his head. He quickly hit that point where he couldn't breathe because he was laughing so hard. That was what made me chuckle as Azure failing wasn't that funny, but Midas just having such a hard job with it was highly amusing. Thankfully, Azure wasn't insulted. He wasn't the type to be though.

     "You absolute ass," he chided, smacking Midas on the arm after walking to him with an exasperated laugh, "And you say I'm the one who's snapped."

Midas was quick to retaliate the friendly hit. Seconds later, they were lightly hitting each other back and forth in amusement with such eagerness I wondered if they were going to start wrestling right then and there.

Rosemary, who suddenly walked over, shook her head.

     "They look like they've grown up so much, but they haven't at all." she noted merrily.
     "I wouldn't mind if they didn't. It'd be boring as hell if everyone became all stuffy."
     "True," she agreed, "I don't think any of us have to worry about you becoming stuffy though. From what I've heard, your group events have become quite the hit ever since that beach party. It seems like you're doing something amazing every other night."
     "There have been a lot more successes than I thought I'd ever see, yes." I had to accept happily.
     "I'm a bit disappointed you didn't plan anything for this week though. I was looking forward to attending one." Rosemary admitted with a playful pout.
     "You all are only here for your one week fall vacation. I want to spend time with you guys, not everyone else."
     "If you love our presence that much, you should come into the haunted house with me. We need something to do while these two lovebirds go at it." she suggested.
     "You hate haunted houses." I reminded her.
     "Well, maybe I won't mind this one. It probably won't be as scary now that I've gotten older."

She said that, but Rosemary was already cutting off the circulation in my arm by holding onto it so tightly before we even reached the entrance. That was nothing to say of her grip when we did journey into the darkness. Honestly, I should have thought to ask her if she wanted to change her mind. Rosemary was probably waiting for me to give her that out. I blindly led us in though, and I was rewarded by having her high-pitched shrieks deafen me as we sped down the dark hallways and around the tight corners. Then, for some bright reason, I decided it would be super funny to speed ahead of my cousin during the last little stretch. I wasn't too much of a jerk about it. The distance was only ten feet, and you could see the light from the exit. Rosemary looked like death when she stumbled out after rushing like mad to catch up.

     "I think this is one activity you're never going to grow into." I pointed out.

Rosemary could only nod.

     "Aww, you poor thing. C'mon. Let's join Holly and Mimosa on the swings. I think you'll like that better." I offered.

Rosemary nodded once more, and she attached herself to my arm again as we returned to the other side of the park.

Unfortunately, things weren't going so well with the twins. Rosemary and I only caught the last portion of whatever debate they were having, and I would soon wish I had heard the first portion. It would have saved me some trouble.

     "You just don't like the idea because you wouldn't be able to pull it off." Mimosa taunted her sister, and I was surprised to hear such genuine haughtiness in her voice.
     "It has nothing to do with that, and it has everything to do with the fact that it's a horrible mindset, Mimi," Holly frowned at her, "You're not going to be doing yourself any favors trying to make progress that way. Any decent person will reject you, and any person that does accept what you're doing will be someone you shouldn't be around. You'd be asking for trouble either way."
     "And how can you be so sure? Have you ever actually tried, or are you just making assumptions because you're scared?"
     "I haven't tried and I won't try because I'm not an idiot!" Holly snapped back.
     "So you're calling me an idiot?" Mimosa questioned back instantly.
     "You're certainly acting idiotic." Holly mumbled.

Mimosa's smug smile turned into a mild glare. She huffed dramatically and turned away from Holly. The two were drenched in complete silence when Rosemary and I reached them. We both hesitated and wondered if we should address the issue, but the chance was soon taken away. Mimosa had spotted me.

     "Coal, let's go on a bit of a walk!" she suggested brightly as she flew off her swing to latch onto my arm.
     "Uh, o-okay." I agreed, stumbling slightly from the impact.
     "I wouldn't go off with her if I were you." Holly warned.
     "Hush!" Mimosa barked at her, "It's just a walk. Stop being so mean."
     "I'm not being mean," Holly sighed before looking at me, "Just watch yourself."
     "I don't get what you're so worried about. I can handle a walk around the park with Mimosa." I answered in confusion.
     "Can you?"

The expression on Holly's face was unreadable. I would be lying if I said I wasn't suspicious. It was clear Mimosa had gotten some weird idea in her head again, but I had known her for twenty years. Whatever she wanted to talk about or whatever would be a breeze for me to handle. No one said anything further, so Rosemary was left to take Mimosa's spot on the swing while Mimosa tightened her grip on my arm to get us on our way.

It didn't take long for me to understand I should have thought more deeply about what was going on. I had just figured Mimosa would go off on one of her rants about some bizarre trail of logic like she had done often in the past. While it was true she had latched onto some out there mindset exactly like Holly mentioned, there was much more to it than words. Actions accompanied the belief. They started out simply enough. Mimosa refused to let go of my arm. That didn't bother me too much as she'd always done stuff like that. Then we stopped in the northeast corner of the park.

     "Mimosa, you're a little too close." I spoke more softly than I should have.

As soon as we stopped walking, she pressed herself against mine. My thoughts were thrown back to that one date we had were she'd done something similar. Back then it had been relatively subtle- connecting the curve of her body along with mine. Now there was nothing subtle about it at all. Mimosa attached herself too me so tightly there was nothing left to the imagination.

     "I don't mind." she giggled in response.

That naturally wasn't the problem, and the problem rapidly grew worse. My mind ran blank when she abruptly caught me in an embrace from behind and nuzzled her head into the crook of my neck.

     "What are you doing?" I asked with a sigh, for I feared we'd come back full circle just like Holly had also warned me of forever ago.

There was no response. Mimosa merely kept her grip on me even as I squirmed lightly to try and break free. I didn't realize her one hand was steadily getting lower and lower until it was uncomfortably close to where it shouldn't be.

     "Mimosa, get off." I demanded when it sank into my thick skull what her plan was.

The command wasn't enough, and I apparently wasn't clear enough with what my struggling to get away meant. Mimosa boldly continued on until one brief second later when I had to toss her off away when she got too bold indeed.

     "What do you think you're doing?!" I half yelled at her, still aware despite my anger that there were people all around us.
     "Coal, you don't have to pretend to be mad." Mimosa immediately comforted with a smile.
     "I'm not pretending! I'm pissed! You know I don't like you like that- I've told you a million times!"
     "But you're a boy," Mimosa pressed on, unfazed, as if I didn't already know that particular fact, "And all boys like that kind of stuff. If it feels good, why does it matter who does it?"
     "What the-? That is absolute nonsense, and that is not how it works! If you were thinking it would and that I would suddenly desire you like you want me to, then you are horribly mistaken!" I rebuked coldly.
     "If we gave it a try though-"
     "No!" I interrupted instantly, "No, no, no! A hundred times no, Mimosa Charm! I do not like you like that, I will never like you like that, and I'm not going to be persuaded by uncalled for acts of seduction!"

Mimosa simply stared at me, which did slightly relieve me. The last thing I wanted to deal with was her having a breakdown due to being rejected once again. However, she truly showed no signs of that. All she did was stand there looking hardly convinced in the slightest.

I left her there in that spot. Letting myself get more angry by trying to reason with her didn't felt like the best idea. Instead, I stomped back over to where Holly and Rosemary were. Well, Holly was the only one there now. Rosemary had returned to Midas and Azure, who decided to start another game of horseshoes.

     "Is it too dangerous to say 'I told you so'?" Holly wondered upon seeing my expression.
     "What in the world is going on with her? She's been acting stranger than normal since the last time I saw her."
     "She hasn't been taking her medicine," Holly revealed grimly, "She's...made some new 'friends' at school. They're pretty out there themselves. They're basically the kind of people who believe that everything the government does is one big conspiracy. In short, they've convinced Mimosa that her medicine is poison, and that it traps the person she really is. She now thinks there's nothing wrong with her. Everyone who determines that to be a problem is a brainwashed sheep."
     "Can't your parents force her to take her medicine or something?"
     "I wish, but she's an adult. If she doesn't want to take her medicine, then she doesn't have to take it. The only way to force it on her is if there's some sort of court order made, and that would have to be after a point where she gets so bad where she becomes a danger to other people. However, I don't think Mimosa would ever really get to that point."
     "Does being extremely, inappropriately grabby count as a danger?" I asked bitterly.
     "Coal, I'm so sorry. I should have been more adamant about not letting you go with her. I didn't think she would actually do anything." Holly apologized sympathetically.
     "It's fine." I shook my head and sighed.
     "I'll talk to mom and dad about her again," she promised, "I don't know how much good it will do though. Taking her medicine was their condition for allowing Mimosa to go to school, and now that she's gone back on her promise they've been talking about taking her out if something doesn't change. Naturally, that's not putting them and her in the best of moods with each other. It's been ruining my vacation as well."
     "Anything I can do to help?"
     "Not saying another word about my sister for the time being would be good."
     "I can do that." I chuckled.

I steered clear of Mimosa for a while. Most of that was due to my hope that the bargain I made that I would hang out with only her for an afternoon if she started taking her medicine again would work. I'll just tell you right now that that didn't work. Mimosa had grown more stubborn than I'd ever seen her before in my life. It got to the point where she didn't want to hang out with me, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of that. However, it would soon become a problem to be put on the back burner. My friends were indeed only home for a week. It didn't take long before it was almost time for them to head back to school. Two days before their departure, Holly, Rosemary, and I decided to spend the evening at one of the calmer restaurant and bar combos.

     "I'm a little disappointed it won't be a girl, just because I really wanted to see Mal's reaction when he'd hear he was having a daughter. That they're having a boy is exciting news though. It's about time I had a younger male family member." I said after Rosemary revealed the news of Lavender's most recent ultrasound.
     "Mal has been jumping off the walls all day. It's been driving Lavender absolutely mad," Rosemary giggled, "But she's super excited too . You should have seen the long list of names she has prepared for her and Mal to go through."
     "I've made a few of those over the years." Holly admitted.
     "Really?" I wondered curiously, "Girls seriously do that kind of stuff, huh?"
     "Don't tell me you've never thought once about what you want to name your kids." Holly questioned back with a raised brow.
     "I mean, not really. The only thing I've ever thought of is naming my daughter Snowbell on the extremely, extremely low chance she comes out albino. Mom says that would have been Wisp or Prism's names if they had been girls."
     "Your mom is way too obsessed with that ghost tale." Rosemary grinned.
     "You don't need to tell me that." I laughed along.

Rosemary and I got to talking about various other ghost stories we'd heard, but our conversation was soon interrupted by Holly. She dug out a piece of paper and a pen from her purse- determined to have me make a list of baby names simply because I hadn't ever done it. The list turned out to be ridiculously long because, to tell you the truth, I didn't really care. Unless it was one of the few names I just didn't like for whatever reason, every single one Holly and Rosemary suggested got added to it. Not very helpful, huh? It was slightly later in the evening but not too late by the time we left the restaurant.

     "Mimosa and I had taken baths with dad when we were super little, of course, but I didn't think anything of it until Coal pulled his little stunt."
     "I can't believe no one's ever told me this story before!"

Holly and Rosemary giggled at me behind my back. Coming up with baby names had led to tales about our times as youngsters being told, and Holly so wonderfully decided to divulge to my cousin about the time I wandered over to Holly's house completely naked when I was four. I had recently learned about nudists, and a ridiculously hot summer and an extremely uncomfortable four-year-old Coal thought going about wearing no clothes was the best idea he'd ever heard. It was apparently the event that opened Holly's eyes to the fact that there's a huge difference between girls and boys, and she and Rosemary were having the time of their lives bringing it up now.

I firmly ignored them. It was the only way to prevent my cheeks from burning. My stare remained resolutely stuck forward, but it was doing that which caused me to notice something strange.

     "Is that...?" I spoke mostly to myself.
     "Look at him, trying to change the subject. Poor thing." Holly giggled at me once more.

I truly ignored her now. The scene in front of me was difficult to see what with all the shadows and someone's fascination with dark colored clothes.

     "I think that's Raze," I spoke again, squinting harder, "Yeah, that's definitely her."
     "The one you mentioned who wears a ton of black?" Holly instantly snapped out of her giggling to come and stare with me.
     "Who's the guy with her?" Rosemary asked.
     "Dunno. Never seen him before. Maybe he's one of her friends." I shrugged.
     "Probably," Holly agreed, "Looks like she's had a bit too much to drink with the way she keeps stumbling. He seems to be helping her along."

That's what I thought too...until I kept watching. Raze had definitely been drinking with the staggered way she walked, but I grew suspicious as to whether the unknown guy was helping her or not. It looked more like the majority of the stumbling actually came about as Raze tried to squirm out of his grip and yet he kept holding on.

     "I'm...I'm going to go see if everything is alright." I announced, quickly checking that there were no cars coming before dashing across the street.

I was only dimly aware that Holly and Rosemary chose to follow after hesitating. My instincts screaming at me only screamed louder as I approached the two, especially when I got close enough to hear what they were saying.

     "I don't...want..." Raze mumbled in a slur, failing to slip out of the guy's grasp once more.
     "Would you just come on?" he mumbled at her furiously, tightening his grip while yanking her forward.

That was naturally not a good sign. I figured Raze's friends weren't exactly kids who had been on the honor roll, but I couldn't get myself to believe that they would act how the guy was acting. My heart began to beat hard when the guy suddenly changed their course to take them down a small alley.

     "Hey." I called out.

Despite the clear warning signs, I kept my voice neutral thinking whatever matter was going on could be resolved calmly. How little did I know how things would instantly spiral out of control. No sooner did that syllable leave my mouth than did the guy look over his shoulder at me with a furious but startled glare. Before I could even take my next breath he rapidly attempted to drag Raze down the alley with him as he ran. When her weight quickly proved too cumbersome, he dumped her on the ground where Raze immediately burst into tears, clenched herself onto Holly when she went to her, and sobbed out 'I'm sorry' after 'I'm sorry'. The concrete under the guy's feet screeched as he turned with a start to bolt away. He was clearly no saint, and just letting him leave to give him free rein to do whatever he was trying to do again was something that couldn't happen. Perhaps the smart thing would have been to just make a police report, but I chose to take matters into my own hands.

     "COAL!"

Rosemary's terrified shout mirrored my own dread when the flow of the situation changed in a heartbeat. My first glimpse at the knife the guy unexpectedly whipped out when he spun at me after realizing he wasn't getting away was nothing more than a glint of reflection from the moonlight. Fearing it was a gun, my dodging jump to the side prevented me not from getting shot, but from getting a huge slash in my chest.

I can't tell you if it was fast reflexes, skill, or pure luck that kept me dodging the furious swipes the guy kept coming. It was most likely a combination of all three. We danced in a dangerous circle as we fought for dominance, and I, unfortunately, had the handicap of not also having a sharp blade to counter with. Avoiding the knife and failing horribly at trying to get it out of his hand was the best I could do.

Then Rosemary tried to jump in, and that at least changed something. I swore my heart stopped when even her coming at the guy from behind was a failed tactic. He noticed her in an instant, and the tip of his weapon only just missed slicing up her face. Rosemary immediately dove back out of the fight, but she distracted the guy long enough for me to tackle him and bring him to the ground. If only I knew more of what to do. Sure, he was confused and struggling for a second, but it was me who ended up with my back on the ground and a dangerous person straddling me, pinning me, and bringing that knife high above his head.

To be honest, I can't describe in depth what happened next. Pure adrenaline took over, and nothing about what my body did felt controlled by me. It got me a good cut on the palm on my hand, but I stopped the blade before it could gain momentum. A wrestling match followed with several more swipes forcing me to wonder if I was going to make it home. Perhaps that thought was where my increased ability came from. I thought of my bloody body being brought to the hospital where the nurses would only have to go up several floors to tell mom of my end. I thought of the promise I made to Uncle Blaze and how heartbroken he'd be if I broke it. I remembered Cerise's tears when she thought I'd been hit by a car that winter day.

I was not going to be another Vivid who met his fate before it was time. My dodges grew more effective, and the idiot with a knife went on the defensive. Rosemary jumped in again to help, and that second distraction allowed me to grab the knife and toss it far away. Rosemary scrambled after it, and I slammed punch after punch into the guy's face unless the last of his fight left him. The alley grew scarily silent when I finished. There were only his quiet moans of pains, Raze's frightened sobbing, and Holly's trembling voice as she spoke with the police on her phone.

It was a long night after that. The police came, I had to give a long explanation of everything ranging from how I met Raze to the fight that just happened, the guy was detained, Raze's mother was called, and all of us were taken to the hospital. Thankfully, the cut on my hand was superficial. I was quickly bandaged before I sat with Holly, Rosemary, and Raze's mother until we got the news that Raze's drink had been spiked. That was about the time mom showed up. Having been taken a quick walk before bed, she spotted the commotion. She became more shaken up regarding the situation than expected, so I was allowed to sit with her in her room for a while until she calmed down. Both Uncle Eden and Uncle Allium came to the hospital to drive us home, and all the questions were repeated by concerned family members upon walking through our respective front doors.

Needless to say, I slept in the next morning. Umber was also gracious enough to get one of the other part-timers to come in so I could have the day off. Planning at first to push the fight out of my mind, it became the topic of conversation when Holly and Rosemary came over to break it all down now that we were calm.

     "You were seriously impressive, Coal," Rosemary complimented, "That was truly a brave thing."
     "Hey, you did help me out incredibly as well," I smiled before chuckling quietly, "But, I just fought as I had to. All I wanted to do was see if Raze is alright. Never did I expect I'd get a knife pulled on me."
     "I jumped back and let you be in all the danger the instant it turned towards me though. You didn't run away from the challenge."
     "Because if I had, he probably would have gone after the rest of you."
     "Exactly why you're brave," Rosemary pointed out, "It was a huge risk to you, but you fought because you wanted to protect us."
     "If...if you say so." I spoke softly, scratching the back of my neck as some heat rose to my cheeks.
     "You don't need to act humble," Holly laughed at me, "You've always been like this. Helping everyone out and leaping in when someone needs a hero. You've always liked sneaking around and solving mysteries too. Maybe you need to become a police officer."

It was clear by the way she spoke that Holly wasn't being too serious with that suggestion, but my world stopped for a moment. Those last two words of hers dominated my thoughts. I had heard them be spoke of before, of course, but it was only now when they worked their magic on me. Without knowing it was coming, I finally got my answer. There would be no more brainstorming. There would be no more lists. Mom could stop bugging me. This was the direction I would take my life.

     "That's it!" I exclaimed so loudly it made Holly and Rosemary jerk, "That's seriously it! A police officer...I don't know why I didn't ever think of it before. It's clicking with me now though. I'm totally going to do it."

Holly and Rosemary glanced at each other before smiling.

     "Well, I was simply joking around, but I'm glad my words gave you something you needed. It's relieving to finally see you excited like this." Holly said.

Rosemary nodded.

     "I think being a cop is a perfect fit for you," she agreed before wearing a mischievous smirk, "You know, you don't want to admit that you're brave, but I bet if there were three guys twice your size with one of them having a gun and you having nothing you would still charge at them if it prevented someone else from getting hurt."

Holly was quite confused as to why I laughed heartily at that, and I was most glad she didn't grow suspicious at the looks my cousin and I exchanged.

     "I guess you have a point," I accepted, quelling my chuckles, "But, oh boy, where to go from here? Where do I even start?"
     "Pfft, that's silly. The internet, of course." Holly answered.

Rosemary couldn't stay long into the research session as she was due to hang out with Malachite and Lavender for a while before the whole family got together for the rest of the day. Holly, on the other hand, had all the time in the world to stay around. Uncle Al and Aunt Dahlia were taking Mimosa around town to butter her up in hopes she would be receptive to their encouragement that she needed to start using her medicine again.

     "Well, I guess I shouldn't get too excited just yet," I relayed when I pulled up several sites of information, "I can't even start applying until I turn twenty-one. That's almost a year away."
     "You could turn that into a good thing though. Didn't you just read off that they prefer some law education background even if they don't require a college degree? You should use the upcoming months to take some crime and law classes from online universities or the like. That way you'd get the knowledge they're looking for while using your waiting time effectively." Holly proposed.
     "Good point. Very good point." I agreed.
     "Might be worth it to prepare physically as well. I mean, you're already in good shape, but I don't know what their requirements are like."
     "From what I'm seeing, they don't go too into detail. They simply say good health is a must, and there's a list of various exercises like push-ups and crunches that will be part of the physical text I'll have to take. Other than that, they mention things like having to have 20-20 vision with normal color perception, having to have proper hearing, and basics like that. All of which are no problem. I certainly don't think making good use out of the old workout bar in Prism's room will do me any harm though, you're right."
     "Sounds like you're well on your way." Holly smiled.

I bookmarked a dozen pages, wrote down a few contact numbers I could call with questions, and Holly and I watched several videos from various districts about their physical tests. A few made me feel quite tired. It was true I was healthy, but I did spend a great deal of time just sitting around. That I had so much time to prepare made me feel a great deal better. When Holly and I compiled as much as could be useful, I dashed my laptop inside so we could take a break by the fountain nook.

     "I can't believe it's all falling into place so easily," I continued to gush in excitement, "It amuses me too. I've been the one who looked like he'd be left behind, but I'll be starting my career before any of you even finish college."
     "Just remember who gave you the idea. You'd be in that bookstore all your life otherwise." Holly teased, pushing my shoulder playfully.
     "Speaking of that, I'm probably going to break poor Daffodil and Umber's hearts when they hear of this. They were so determined to have me take over the place. Umber is going to regret giving me the day off." I laughed.
     "I'll have to make sure to apologize to them later on for destroying their hopes." Holly chuckled along.

The pleasant conversation and joking around continued. It was a beautiful day, and, to be quite honest, I didn't want the moment to end. Citrine, Pastel, and I had become close friends. Coconut still couldn't come to outings often, but we texted everyday and often played video games online together. There was a decent number of other group members I was beginning to see outside of scheduled meetings. Still, there was nothing like spending time with the people I grew up with. It was going to be difficult having everyone going back to school the following morning. At least the time until winter break was a lot shorter than the time between the end of summer vacation and fall vacation.

So absorbed in those kind of thoughts, the fact that Holly was doing little talking and a whole lot of staring didn't register to me. Neither did her subtly sliding slightly closer as the minutes passed either. Well, it's not that I didn't notice entirely, but I simply didn't think anything of it.

Then Holly gave me no choice of what I thought of. I had been talking about something. I can't recall what. When she did what she did I completely forgot it. My talking finally ceased when her leg bumped against mine as if she'd considered randomly sitting herself on my lap but decided against it. Holly's arm smoothly wrapped around my shoulder as I turned my head in confusion at what she was getting up to. That confusion was nothing compared to the swarming blankness in my head when her lips connected firmly with mine the second my head was facing hers.

There was an instinct to pull away, and yet I didn't. There were a myriad of reasons, I suppose. Shock and surprise was part of it. It's hard to move when they pin you frozen. However, the more important reason was that I wasn't really sure if I wanted to move back. Kissing Holly out of nowhere was crazy and weird as hell, but as several seconds passed the desire to keep kissing her to know what it would be like if we did blossomed immensely.

Enough time to see what that would be like didn't come. At least not right then. Holly's lips slid off of mine almost as abruptly as they connected, and the space between us grew.

     "Um..." I mumbled almost inaudibly, not having a single clue where to start.

I still remained partly frozen and stunned from shock. Holly, seeming to get a grasp on whatever surge of emotions caused her to act so boldly, scooted away more. She stared at me sheepishly while gently biting her lower lip, which didn't help me any. The sweet taste of her apple lip gloss lingering in my mouth was already giving me problems.

     "S-sorry," Holly worked up the courage to say before taking a deep breathe, "I wasn't planning on doing that, and I'm sorry if...I've just majorly messed up our friendship or made it super awkward."
     "With what you just did, I don't think mere friendship is all you have on your mind." I responded, adding what humor I could to show her the situation wasn't as chaotic as I'm sure she believed she'd made it.

Holly looked at the ground and rubbed at her knees nervously.

     "It..it happened all of a sudden. Like, 'last night' sudden," she laughed softly, "Seeing you be attacked and thinking I could be about to watch your draw your last breath, well, it was the most terrifying thing that's ever happened in my life. If Raze hadn't been there crying in my arms, I would have cried from relief myself. I barely slept last night because all I could think about was you. How brave you were, how strong you were, and just how you've always been this amazing person that I've loved to have in my life. I thought about how lucky I've been to have you as a friend. Then I got sad thinking we could only ever be friends, until it hit me that that wasn't true. I've grown up often thinking of you as my brother, but you're not my brother. Our families treat each other like family, but we're not family. That sort of thing..."

She trailed off. When Holly glanced up at me with faint hope from under lowered lashes, I had trouble believing she didn't know exactly what she was doing.

I sighed quietly before letting out a scoffing chuckle of amusement.

     "I get exactly what you mean. You've always just been my friend. If you hadn't kissed me, that probably would have never changed. But, I'm sitting here staring at you, and all I can think is how I haven't noticed how beautiful you are. Well, that, and the fact that I'm pretty damn unsatisfied. You pulled away too quickly."

Holly withdrew in embarrassment, but a smile returned to her face. Now it was my turn to scoot closer.

     "Candy and I didn't work out. There's still a lot I have to learn about what's love and what's not. Maybe what I'm seeing in you, maybe what we're seeing in each other, is simple physical attraction as well," I felt the need to say, "But, we'll never learn if we don't try. So...why don't we try?"
     "I would love to try." Holly's smile grew twice as wide.

Trying sure felt like doing. Holly and I completely forgot that Blaze, Cerise, and Glade were about somewhere and could easily stumble upon us at any second as well as that Wisp, Papaya, and Tangerine were coming over soon. The space between Holly and me lessened to nothing, and I became trapped in a surge of relief at getting what I wanted and that continued dissatisfaction because even too much was not enough.

I loved every moment of it.