Alice POV

"Is my big sister a woman now?" Sky teased his older twin as soon as he entered the suite.

"Skyler!" Beth shouted at him and her cheeks turned red.

"What?" The boy asked innocently. "He and Caden already left, right?"

"Yes, Asher and Caden left," she responded. "And I have no idea what you meant by your previous remark."

"Oh, come on, sis! It’s pretty obvious you like the guy," the boy kept on jesting.

"No, I don’t!" She protested. "But even if I did… Which I don’t… Even if I did, that doesn’t mean I’d sleep with him."

"Just so you know…" Sky grinned at her, "the boy is pretty decent and I approve."

"None of your business, Skyler!"

"Oh, so now it’s none of his business!" I intervened irritated. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. "When I told you I haven’t slept with Caden both of you…" I pointed accusingly at the twins, " … were on my case! You just wouldn’t let it go."

"Well… I… I…" she stuttered, trying to justify her actions. "That’s because we… Okay! Okay! We shouldn’t have meddled in your business."

"Ha!" I gave a victory shout. It was a rare occasion to make Bethany Miller admit she was wrong about something.

"Don’t change the subject!" Sky said. "We were talking about my sister’s crush."

"I’m not crushing on Asher!" Beth shouted.

"Then how did you know who I was talking about?" Her brother grinned again and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Beth…" I butted in as well. "As Sky said: it’s pretty obvious you like Ash. So why deny it?"

"Because it doesn’t matter!" She threw her hands in the air. "My brother and I are leaving today and Asher lives here. So even if there was a spark between us… or even a few sparks… it just won’t work out."

I didn’t have to know the girl to be able to notice she was upset; it was written all over her beautiful face. I really hated seeing my best friend like that.

"Oh, Beth…" I went to give her a hug.

"Come to think of it…" Sky approached us and joined in the hug as well "… he wasn’t… uh…" I was sure he was trying to think of something negative to say about Asher; it was his way of calming his twin. "He was…" the boy was slightly frowning, still trying to think of some flaw that Ash had.

"He was too quiet for you," he finally said. "Definitely not someone you’d want to be with."

"Too quiet?" I mouthed at him. Was that the worst thing he could say about Asher?

Sky just gave me an apologetic look and shrugged.

"Thanks!" Beth smiled weakly at us, untangling from our comforting embrace.

"I know what will cheer you up," I exclaimed enthusiastically. "Food!"

They both laughed at my words.

"No, that’s what cheers you up!" She nudged me. "But I’m in."

"Me too!" Sky exclaimed. "I haven’t had breakfast yet."

"Didn’t those girls you were with last night make you and Keegan something to eat?" I asked him.

"They might’ve wanted to but their parents came home earlier than expected…" Sky started explaining, "… and they weren’t happy to see us there. Especially their father. He ended up chasing us around the house with a baseball bat…"

Both Beth and I giggled imagining the scene the boy was describing. It wasn’t the first time he got in trouble because of a girl.

"Were they worth it?" Bethany queried.

"I don’t know about Keegan’s girl but mine…" he smirked deviously, "...definitely! You should’ve seen the things that girl did with her mouth…"

"Okay, let’s not get into details here!" His sister interrupted with a disgusted look on her face. "Or I won’t be able to eat anything for days!"

I burst out laughing once again with Skyler following my lead.

*****

It was Sunday late in the afternoon and Beth and Sky had already left for their home town. I was in my room, lying on my bed, bored out of my mind. I should probably be studying; with the twins visiting for the weekend I had no time to do so. But I was too lazy for that. Plus, I had already done most of my homework Friday afternoon.

My mobile rang. I answered without looking at the ID.

"Yeah?" I yawned into the phone.

"Did I wake you up?" Caden asked.

"Nah, I’m just sleepy," I answered, smiling at the sound of his voice.

"Then maybe another time…" he muttered.

"Another time what?" I asked as curiosity got the best of me and I sat up.

"Doesn’t matter; you’re sleepy."

"I’m sleepy ‘cause I’ve got nothing to do and I’m bored," I explained. "Give me something to do and I won’t be sleepy."

"Okay then; I’ll come pick you up. Wear something comfortable and sporty!"

And he hung up.

*****

"You know, Cade, you could’ve given me more details on where we are going and what we’ll be doing so that I would know what I should wear apart from 'something comfortable and sporty'." I remarked from the passenger seat of my friend’s car.

"What you’re wearing now will do," he referred to my black stretch pants and dark blue singlet.

"So you’re not telling me where we’re going?"

"You’ll see when we get there," he responded with irritation by me asking questions.

How come he was irritated? I was the one who wasn’t getting decent answers to my queries.

"Are we picking up Ash and Keegan or are they going to meet us there?"

"Wherever there is," I added in my mind.

"It will be just the two of us," he responded.

Just the two of us. Then maybe we’ll get to talk about him again…

"When did you last eat?" He questioned.

"A couple of hours ago."

"Good." Caden nodded. "Do you work out?"

"Yeah…"

"What do you do?"

Okay… Not the kind of conversation I was hoping for…

"I do an exercise routine at home three days a week and I jog at least twice a week."

"Good," he repeated, turning the engine off. "That will help."

"Help with what?" I asked, unbuckling the seatbelt and getting out of the car.

"With what we’ll be doing here," he explained.

I looked at where we were: an out of town meadow. There was nothing here; just trees and grass. Why did we travel all this way only to end up in the middle of nowhere?

"Cade… What exactly are we doing here?" I questioned cautiously.

"Remember that time at the diner?" I nodded; I recalled going there but that still did not explain why we were here. "I promised to show you sometime how to punch properly. Well, now is that time. But first… Show me your workout routine!"

*****

Caden POV

Alice was slightly panting once she was finished with her routine. I expected her to make some mistakes but she’d done all of the exercises correctly.

"Who showed you how to do these?" I asked her.

"Elanor got me a personal trainer a few years ago. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, you’re doing just fine. Actually, you are more enduring than I thought you’d be," I admitted and immediately a self-satisfied smile formed on her lips. "Show me how you clench your fist!"

She demonstrated just that. This time it was my turn to smile as she did it properly, just the way I’d shown her at the diner.

"Very good, little Alice! Now… I’m going to show you a few basic moves. I expect you to learn them by the end of the night."

She nodded her head eagerly excepting the challenge.

*****

I was surprised. No, make that astonished! Not only did Alice do all the moves I planed on showing her tonight, but she memorized them so quickly that I taught her a few more. The girl seemed determined to learn but it was obvious she was also having fun with the whole thing. I noticed that she was still a bit unsure when she repeated my moves but she picked them up at an enviable pace.

All in all, I was pretty proud of the kid!

Huh! "The kid". Haven’t called her that in the past couple of days.

It was good to realize I once again viewed her as little Alice – my friend, and not as sexy Alice – the one that made me want to have a make out session with her… or go even further…

Anyway... I’m not thinking about that again!

I turned to her and saw her looking a bit nervous. What was that for?

"What?" I questioned.

"Did you really mean it a while ago when you said I was doing well or were you just trying to motivate me?"

"I really meant it, Alice."

As the tension left her face, I realized she was relieved to hear my answer. I smirked inwardly at the thought that my opinion mattered so much to her.

"So… what now?" She asked. "I mean, was that it or are you going to teach me more?"

"I’m going to show you more but not tonight. We’ve been here for almost three hours."

"Only three hours? They feel like days if you ask me. I bet my body’s gonna ache all over when I wake up tomorrow… Which reminds me; we better get going." She frowned slightly before carrying on. "I hope my aunts won’t catch me sneaking in ‘cause I’ll have one hell of a time explaining why I’m coming home in the middle of the night all wet and sweaty…"

"Or you could just come to my place and tomorrow when you get back you’ll simply tell them you were out for a jog; just like you did when you came home from Ash’s place," I proposed.

"Wait… You’re actually inviting me over to your place? That’s a first. But what about your father?" She added as an afterthought. "I know Asher’s parents often work night shifts so it’s okay to sleep there but won’t your dad…"

"Not at home," I cut her off sharply. "Sorry! It’s just that we don’t get on well… I prefer not talking about him."

"Hey, I can relate to that!"

I knew she had Elanor in mind when she said it.

I gave Alice a sideways hug. I seemed to be doing that often when she’d mention her mother; it was my way of soothing her. And I wished to snuggle her for one more reason - that helped me calm down. Something I needed to do now because as soon as she thought of Elanor and I saw her getting that hurt expression (although she was trying to hide it), I felt anger pulse through me.

I heard Alice yawn and looked down at her.

"Come on, kid, let’s get you to bed!"

*****

Alice POV

Caden’s place was pretty much like Asher’s – a two-storey house, small and with a porch. On the first floor were the kitchen and living room and the bedrooms were on the second. But unlike at Ash’s, this place lacked a woman’s touch; it didn’t possess the warmth of a home, it was just a place where you lived in.

We went upstairs to Cade’s bedroom. It was smaller than mine and with less furniture – only a single bed, wardrobe, bookshelf, desk and a chair. What surprised me was the fact that it was terribly tidy; I expected more of a mess in a guy’s room. Especially since this was a man-only household.

"Isn’t your brother around?" I had to queried, although I knew Caden didn’t like talking about his sibling.

"He doesn’t live with us."

I nodded showing him I heard his answer. I didn’t miss the sullen tone with which he replied.

"Here!" He gave me a t-shirt. "To sleep in. You can take a shower before you go to bed if you’d like. I have some clean towels."

"Oh, a shower would be heaven right now!" I admitted. "I don’t think anyone have ever made me sweat like you did tonight."

He smirked at my words as playful twinkles danced in his gorgeous bluish-grey eyes.

"What’s so funny?"

"If anybody heard what you just said, little Alice, they might’ve thought we did something else than just exercise," he clarified in a teasing voice and handed me a towel.

"Well, sex is a form of exercise." I winked, taking the towel from him. "So where’s the bathroom?"

"The first room on the opposite side of the hallway."

" ‘K. Be right back."

"No, take your time; you deserve a long shower."

"Thanks!" I smiled on my way to the bathroom.

The first thing I did after I got undressed was to wash my clothes; no point in taking a shower and getting dressed in dirty clothing afterwards. I hung them to dry in the bathroom. It was warm so the black stretch pants and the blue singlet would be dry by the morning. As for the panties – because of the fabric they’d be good to wear even sooner.

I was right: the shower felt like heaven! The water washed away all the sweat and relaxed my muscles. I’d told Caden I was tired but the truth was I was much more exhausted that I let it show. I just didn’t want to admit that in front of him; I was afraid he’ll think I was a weakling.

I got out of the shower and draped myself with the towel. Next thing I did was to check my undies; just as I expected, they were already dry. I put them on and got dressed in Cade’s t-shirt before I headed to his bedroom.

"Your turn," I announced as I got in. "The shower’s all yours!"

Caden grabbed another towel and got out of the room. I lay on the bed and immediately drifted off to sleep.

*****

I woke up to the sound of light snoring. I’d never heard Caden snore before.

His hair was messy and he was lying on his stomach in bed with one hand wrapped around my waist. As usual.

This was becoming a habit: the two of us sleeping together. How many times have we done that? I furrowed my eyebrows trying to remember.

"What’s wrong?" The snoring had stopped and was replaced by Caden’s sleep-filled voice.

"I’m trying to recall how often this has happened… Sharing a bed, I mean."

"Let’s see…" he started with a thoughtful expression and I could see he was counting in his mind. "This is the fifth, I think; first it was at Asher’s, then twice at your place, one time at Sky’s room and now at my house."

"It’s twice in a row now. It’s becoming a habit."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not really," I answered. "But I guess if I get used to falling asleep when someone else is with me, I won’t be able to when I’m alone. It was like that when I was a kid. One of my stepfathers got me a puppy. Elanor doesn’t like animals so as soon as the divorce papers were signed, the dog was out of our house. By the time that happened I was so accustomed to the little fella sleeping on my bed that it took me weeks to get back to my normal sleeping routine."

"What kind of dog was it?"

"Maltese."

"Was that the only pet you’ve had?"

"Yeah. I wanted to have another but Elanor was against it."

I saw Caden grimace.

"What is it, Cade?"

"Elanor. I don’t like her."

"You’ve never even met her."

"I’ve heard enough about her from you. It’s not fair not to let you have a pet – you love animals." He raised his voice slightly. "You even want to be a vet because of that!"

"Well, maybe I’ll get one when I go to Uni."

"Why not now?" He questioned. "Or are your aunts against it as well?"

"Rose and Flora will be fine with it but Azalea… She thinks pets are useless creatures that just cause a mess and dirty the house. Apart from cats that is; she says they are clean animals."

"Then maybe you could get a cat."

"Yeah, I’ll ask them about it!" I smiled at the though of having a pet again. A little furry ball, all of my own. And I liked cats. "I’ll ask them as soon as I get home… Which reminds me: I better get home."

With that I got off the bed and headed for the bathroom where I changed into the clothes I came here with. The sporty attire would be useful if I had to lie about having been out to jog again. Now all I needed to do was find my purse…

"Cade, have you seen my purse anywhere?" I questioned, entering his bedroom.

"I moved it to the desk," he explained, buttoning his jeans.

I went to said desk; it was the only relatively messy part of the room with pieces of paper, pens and pencils scattered all over it. As I was getting my purse, I pushed a few of the papers to the floor.

"Oops! Sorry!" I apologized and bent down to pick them up.

It turned out all of them were sketches… really, really good sketches.

"Caden, did you draw these?" I queried, getting up but didn’t put the drawings on the desk just yet.

"Yeah," he shrugged nonchalantly. "I sometimes do it when I’m bored. It’s no big deal."

"No big deal?" I asked astonished, looking at the pictures; there were animals, buildings and landscapes on them. I even recognized the meadow we were training at last night. "These are amazing! You’ve got real talent!"

He didn’t say anything and just kept getting dressed.

"Have you ever thought to study art or something like that?" I went on.

"Alice, it’s just a few drawings. I don’t have talent; I’ve got practice. That’s why I’m good at it. It’s not like I’ll make a career out of it."

"Maybe you should," I wasn’t giving up. "I bet that all you need is a few classes and…"

"Alice, just drop it!" He shouted and startled me, making me jump up in the air. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. When he opened them again I could clearly see the remorse that filled his bluish-grays.

"I’m sorry Alice… I just…"

"Don’t like talking about it?" I cut him off a bit more sardonically than I intended. "I forgot you don’t like talking about… well, pretty much anything."

I watched his bare chest raising and falling as he took yet another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Drawing is… personal to me, okay?" He asked, trying to sound normal. "And I don’t mind talking as long as it’s not…"

"It’s not about you," I interrupted him again, this time with an even tone.

"As long as it’s not about my family or my drawings or my…" This time he stopped on his own. "… my record," he finished but I had a feeling that wasn’t what he was about to say at first.

I sighed and placed the sketches back on his desk. I knew there was no point in pressing the matter. Not now anyway.

"I’m going home now." I headed for the door. "See you tonight at the celebrations?"

The town had three days of yearly festivities to memorialize a certain important battle that happened near by. Which was why this week we had no school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Apparently every year the event had pretty much the same schedule. Day one: gathering at the town hall in the evening so the current mayor will remind us what happened during the glorious battle. That was followed by buffet and free drinks. Day two: a historical reconstruction of the battle with volunteers playing the two opposing armies. Followed by food and drinks. Day three: an evening carnival of sort. It used to have a historic theme depicting the time period of the battle but Aunt Rose told me that nowadays people just dressed up as whatever they liked; pretty much like Halloween without trick or treating.

Today was Monday a.k.a. day one.

"Not coming," Caden responded bored. "It’s the same lame thing every year."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Then see you when I see you, I guess…"

I exited the bedroom and the boy followed.

"I’ll walk you to the door. You seem disappointed I’m not coming."

"Well, I am disappointed you’re not coming."

"Are you going to miss me, little Alice?" He smirked. "Didn’t know you cared so much!"

His voice was teasing but I decided to ignore that and to respond anyway.

"Of course I care. I think I’ve told you and showed you before."

"That you have," he said softly, opening the front door for me. "Bye-bye, little Alice."

"See ya, Cade!"

"Don’t forget to ask about the cat!" He yelled after me.

"I won’t!" I shouted back and heard him closing the door behind me.