Chapter 5:

                I woke up in his arms, feeling each of his light breaths as his chest pressed against my back with every exhale. His skin was soft and I could feel the strength beneath it, protecting over my own. I sighed and cuddled up closer into his embrace. His heartbeat was in time to mine and I started counting them. I whispered the numbers, not wanting to wake him. A voice tickled my ear, ‘eleven, twelve, thirteen...’. With a smile, I turned over, resting my head in the crook of his neck.

                “Good morning,” I kissed his lips with only a few seconds hesitation.

                Chuck placed a hand on my bare chest, right over my heart. I could feel it racing, and so could he.

                “Good morning, love,” he brought his hand to stroke my face.

                I tried to steady the rhythm of my heart, but it kept beating faster and faster. His touch sent thrills all through my body, and I could feel butterflies take flight in my stomach. It wasn’t a bad feeling- almost like falling when you know there’s someone below to catch you. I was just glad that he was my someone.

                “Pi! Pi! Watch the road!” I snapped back into reality, panicking as a car headed straight towards us. Taking control of the wheel, I swerved back into the proper laneway as the driver in the other car swore loudly through his window and gave me the finger.

                “What’s up with you? You’re going to get us into an accident!” Chuck’s eyes were wide and he was gripping his seat in fear. “At this rate, maybe I should be the one driving.”

                “Well, you could, if you had your license,” I snapped. My fingers tightened on the steering wheel and I looked quickly over at Chuck. He was staring out his window with a strange expression on his face. My stomach clenched and I regretted how I spoke to him. How could I be such a jerk?

                “Look, I’m sorry,” I said, “I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that. It’s my fault anyway. You asked if I could drive you, I should at least make the effort to get you there in one piece. I’ve just got a lot on my mind right now.”

                “Like what?” he asked, only half sullen.

                “You...you know...stuff,” I quickly covered.

                “Like what?” he smirked now, teasing. I peeked at him again just to see the glow in his eyes, then turned back to the road.

                “Um...well...”

                “This is about that person you fell in love with, isn’t it?” Chuck shook his head with a grin. I jerked my hands nervously, swerving the car again. “You’re really wound up about them, aren’t you? I know you’re a bad driver, but you aren’t usually this crazy.”

                I sent him a teasing scowl. “Hey, what do you know? Huh?” I shook my head and pretended to be in a huff.

                “So who is it, Pi?” he asked, “Do I know them?”

                “Ye- No.” ‘You idiot, Pierre,’ I thought, ‘Just shut up!’

                “I know them, then,” Chuck nodded, “Come on. You know you can tell me.”

                “No I can’t,” I said a little too quickly.

                “Why not?” It was hard to tell whether he was concerned or teasing.

                “Because-“

                “I think I know.” My breath caught in my throat and I tried to choke it down. He knew?

                “Wh-what?” I stammered.

                “Oh, you know, with all that time you’ve been spending alone with David,” he rolled his eyes, “You guys act like a married couple.”

                “What?! NO!” I glared and slapped him on the shoulder. “How could you even think like that? Me and David- yeah right!”

                “Hey- calm down, man!” Chuck laughed, “I was just kidding.”

                I muttered something and stared angrily at the road.

                “What was that?” he asked.

                “How could you possibly think that I liked David that way?” I fiddled with the stereo buttons, but couldn’t settle for a station. Silence filled the car for a few seconds. “I mean, of all people- David?”

                “Don’t be so serious, Pierre! I was joking with you,” putting a hand on my arm, he tried to sooth me. I could feel my cheeks get warm and a smile couldn’t be hidden on my face. “Come on, let’s stop here.”

                “Here?” looking around, all there was for miles was farm country.

                “Yeah, there’s some kind of animal petting farm up at the next turn,” he grinned.

                “Animal petting farm? Isn’t that for, like, little kids and families and stuff?” I laughed, but took the turn anyway.

                “Not like there’s anything better to do anyway,” Chuck hopped out of the car when I stopped in front of the farm.

                The farm wasn’t quite as empty as I thought it would be. There were about five families with their kids. A chicken scuttled by as it was chased by a screaming four year old. It seemed like there was every farm animal imaginable- chickens, cows, horses, goats, a dog, some cats, ducks, a rooster, pigs, sheep- even  llamas. There were too many to count. A few farmers were going around giving hay rides, horse rides, or showing people how to milk a cow.

                “’Afternoon, fellas,” a stereotypical farmer wearing overalls approached us, “Welcome to Meadowview Farms. Admission is three bucks a person, horse riding is five bucks each.”

                “I don’t think we’ll be riding,” Chuck said, dishing out 6 dollars for the farmer. He walked away pocketing the money.

                “I could have payed my own way,” I told Chuck, “You didn’t have to do that.”

                “It was six dollars, Pi. Forget it,” he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the llamas.

                I’d never payed that much attention to llamas before. They looked like a shaggy cross between a horse and a camel. There were seven in the pen, all of them different shades of brown, grey, white, black and some golden colour that looked way better when I saw it in Chuck’s eyes. Chuck leaned on the fence, petting one llama as another chewed on his shirt.

                “That one likes you,” I pointed to the one slobbering on his shirt and laughed.

                “What- you jealous?” he grinned and messed up the fur on the head of the llama he was petting. It stared at him with big black eyes, loving the attention.

                “N-no,” I stammered, walking over to a black llama a few feet away from the ones Chuck was petting. It’s fur was thick and fluffy, and it’s eyes were near impossible to see against the colour of the fur.

                “Hey, Chuck!” I called him over, “Look here! This one has a fringe.”

                I pointed to the fur on its head, which was indeed covering one eye.

                “Cool,” he came over to see, standing so close, our bodies were almost touching. “Nice! An emo llama!”

                Chuck’s hand bumped mine as we both reached to pet the llama. I could feel my face turn red and I quickly moved out of his way.

                “Inneresting creatures, them llamas,” a farmer came up behind us and I jumped in surprise.

                “Uh, yeah,” I said, regretting how dumb I sounded.

                “Pretty strange,” Chuck agreed, “Are these the most exotic animals you’ve got?”

                “Well, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you a stranger ‘un,” he beckoned us to one of the barns.

                I wasn’t as fast as Chuck to follow the man.

                “What’s up?” he asked, coming back to where I stood.

                “He seems like a creepy guy to me,” I said, “I don’t really like the look of him.”

                “He’s a farmer, Pi! They all look the same.” With that, he put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me towards the barn after the man. After that, I couldn’t resist.

There was a squabbling nose from inside the barn. It wasn’t as bright inside as out in the fields, but some light shone through the open barn doors and windows. It smelled funny, different from a regular farm animal smell. Something rustled from the corner of the room.

                “Oh-my-god. Is that-?”

Chapter 6:

                I was shaking with excitement and I wanted nothing more than to run up to the two tall creatures inside the pen.

                “Holycrapholycrapholycrapholycrap!” I nearly squeeled, “You have EMUS?! Where did you get them?!”

                The farmer laughed and waved us over to the emu enclosure. “Got ‘em last month. This one is June and the one sitting over there is Jacky.”

                “They’re amazing! C-can I pet them?” I asked tentatively.

                “I dun’ think that’s a good idea,” the farmer shook his head and pointed to the emu that was sitting. “Very protective. Norm’ly they don’t let people close this soon to hatching.”

                “Hatching?” my hands were shaking, I was so excited.

                “Too bad we didn’t come later then, huh, Pi?” Chuck asked nudging my shoulder, “We could have seen some baby emus.”

                “We have  to come back, Chuck!” turning to him, I looked into his eyes, “Please? We need to see them!”

                “Hey, you’re the one with the car,” he smiled, “Drive out as much as you like.”

                “They’ll be hatching pretty soon,” the farmer said, “Few days maybe.”

                I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the giant birds. The one standing closest to us was nearly my height and the two of us were staring each other down in a staring contest. The emu was first to look away. When I turned to Chuck, I realized both him and the farmer had disappeared. Being so taken by the birds, I hadn’t heard them leave. I slumped into a sitting position next to the enclosure and imagined what it would be like to touch those feathers. Smiling, I thought it would be something like touching Chuck’s hair. Both seemed out of bounds, but looked so smooth and soft. I rested my chin on my hand and sighed. The other bird- Jacky- brought his head down to peak through the posts at me.

                “Hey there, fella,” I said, holding my hand close, but not pasing my fingers through the bars. The bird made a funny noise at me and jerked away.

                “Pierre!” Chuck called from the barn door, “Let’s check out the goats or something.”

                Taking one more look at the emus, I waved goodbye.

                “See you around, guys,” I whispered.

                “Those were quite the birds,” Chuck said at lunch, “Huge! And that goat wouldn’t stop bashing into me- I still don’t understand what his problem was.”

                “Amazing,” was all I could say.

                “You going to eat those?” he pointed to the heap of fries on my plate. I wasn’t really hungry, so I held one up for him.

                “Go ahead,” I grinned, “Take it.”

                “If you say so,” Chuck leaned over the table and snatched the fry into his mouth from my fingers. His lips only touched my fingers for under a second, but it still sent shivers down my body.

                “What’s with that look,” he said after he swallowed, “You’re looking at me funny.”

                “Oh-nothing,” I grabbed a menu and opened it, covering my red face. Sometimes I worried that I made my feelings too obvious- but, then again, Chuck still didn’t know how I felt about him.

                “Are you turning red?” Chuck laughed, “My gosh, Pi, you’re blushing like crazy!”

                “Am not!” I sunk low in my seat, pulling the menu closer to my face.

                “Are too.” The menu was yanked out of my hands and tossed to the side.

                I did the first thing that came to mind. Throwing down some money for lunch, I got up and ran out of the restaurant. Twice in one day- that had to be a record for me. We were in one of those lunch places just off the highway- the ones that are the only thing around for miles. I ditched the car and the restaurant and started walking along the path next to the road. A few cars honked at me to get out of the way, but other than that, it was pretty quiet. Kicking a rock, I followed it off the path and into the forested area next to the highway.

                “Why do you have to be so fucking stupid?” I asked myself, kicking the rock harder and further. “Why can’t you just tell him? Why don’t you just stop being a coward? Why don’t you just stop running and start letting other people in on how you’re feeling? I’m an ass. He doesn’t deserve me.”

                “You-damn-IDIOT!” someone panted behind me, “Do you know you just tossed forty bucks down for a plate of fries? Jeez, Pi, calm down! Why do you keep running away?”

                “What do you mean?” I stopped in my tracks, trying to remember whether Chuck was around when I ran in the morning. “You were asleep! How do you know-“

                “I’m not as much as a dumbass as you think I am,” he said, slowing down to a walk beside me.

                “I don’t think you’re a dumbass,” I mumbled, staring at the ground.

                “Then why won’t you just look at me!” Chuck grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. “I’ve known you for how long, Pierre Bouvier? How long? You think you can hide things like this from me? Come on.”

                “I’m not hid-“ I started.

                “I know you’re lying,” he shook his head, disappointment clear in his eyes. “Just tell me.”

                “What do you want me to say?” tears were pricking the backs of my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall.

                Gripping my arms tight, Chuck pulled me so close our bodies were pressed together and I could feel his breath on my face. His lips crashed against mine, warm and sweet. I sighed and kissed him back, allowing him to hold me even closer.

                “I love you, Pi,” he said when we parted.

                “I-I love you too.”

                We stared at each other awkwardly for a while, neither one of us knowing what to say after that. I think it was Chuck who moved first. Taking my hand, he led me further into the semi-wooded area. There was a little pond up ahead and we sat on the grassy bank beside it. I threw a pebble into the pond, watching the ripples pool outwards and a frog jump below the surface.

                “How long?” I asked. “How long have you known how I’ve felt?”

                “Before you started drinking,” Chuck pulled at the grass around him, “Quite a while, actually. Few months. I guess around the time I borrowed your laptop. Went through a few pages from your history out of curiosity. Started noticing small signs after that.”

                “Oh God,” I banged my head on my knees a few times, “You read those? Oh crap oh crap oh crap.”

                He laughed a bit then, stroking his fingers through my hair. “They were pretty creative, if you ask me. You’re not a bad writer.”

                “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I hit my head against my knees some more, closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see the look on Chuck’s face. I finally stopped, resting my head between my knees instead. “How much did you read?” I mumbled.

                “Kept myself posted,” he answered. ‘Every single one’ was what I translated.

                I wasn’t sure whether to be frustrated out of my mind, calm because now Chuck knew exactly how I felt, or go into a complete breakdown.

                “Look, Pi, you don’t need to worry about it,” he wrapped an arm around me, “Really, okay? It doesn’t matter.”

                I snuffled something incoherent and shook my head. I didn’t know that tears were leaking out of my eyes until they started dripping down my nose and chin. Rubbing my face on my knee, I tried to wipe it all away, tried to cover up how I felt. Chuck had no idea how much I’d written was actually how I felt about him- even how I’d dreamed of us being together. He couldn’t possibly know all that. He probably didn’t even take it seriously.

                “You know, I was nearly thinking of writing one of those fictions too,” Chuck moved to sit closer to me, until our legs were touching. “It would have made it so much easier to tell you how much you mean to me. But you probably would have thought it was just some 16-year-old girl with nothing better to do. There wouldn’t have been a point.”

                I shrugged. “Why didn’t I see it?” I mumbled, “Why couldn’t I tell you liked me? I’m such an idiot.”

                “I wouldn’t have been able to notice either if I hadn’t found your story,” Chuck laughed, “I was completely blind before then. But I had to snap out of it and do something after you started drinking all the time. And when you said you were in love, I knew it was my fault.”

                I finally raised my head and looked at him. “It wasn’t your fault!” I said after wiping away my tears.

                “Whoever’s fault it was, it doesn’t matter anymore, right?” Chuck kissed my wet cheek, “Now I know how you feel and you know how I feel. Everything should be better now. You’re my Pierre and I don’t need to be ashamed to say it anymore.”

                I kissed him back, still hesitant, but feeling better than I ever had before. It was like I just dropped into a fan fiction, dragging Chuck in behind me. It wasn’t a bad feeling, though- it could nearly have been the best feeling in the world. Actually being in his arms- that was the best feeling.

Chapter 7:

SimpleGurl: Post more! Post more! Come on... : ( You haven’t even written about them having s*x yet!!!

UntitledLover: Where are you? Why aren’t you updating?

SPFAN: UPDATE!!!! PLEASE????

RoleLedoM: I’m not going to post anymore.

SimpleGurl: Why? Come on! This is a great story!

RoleLedoM: I’ve found something better.

SPFAN: WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THIS? DON’T DITCH US!

UntitledLover: ^ Can you write in something other than caps, plz?

RoleLedoM: Real life is better. I don’t feel like faking anymore.

SimpleGurl: Faking? It’s just a ffic. And we’re waiting! Updates soon?

RoleLedoM: We’ll see.

                “When did you tell him?” David was plucking at his bass, tuning the strings with one hand. He flicked the loose strands of hair out of his face and stood up, stretching his arms into the air.

                “What are you talking about?” I played dumb, striking a few chords on my acoustic to the tune of ‘When I’m Gone’.

                “You told Chuck about your stupid stories. You know the ones I’m talking about,” David played a few notes along with me and then fell silent. I just ignored him some more, playing my guitar and singing softly. It was none of his business after all.

                “Don’t leave me hanging here, Pi,” David grabbed my hat off of my head and danced away as I tried to snatch it back.

                “Is that the only thing you know how to do?” I rolled my eyes, “Take things from me and then expect something meaningful in return? Jeez...”

                He sighed and threw it back, watching it hit my turned head and plunk to the ground. In less than a moment he was nearly on the floor in a fit of laughter. I looked at him and then at the hat, a smile tugging the corners of my mouth.

                “I’m going to get you for that, Desrosiers,” I growled. It was hard to seem pissed off when you couldn’t help grinning yourself. It didn’t take long for me to start laughing along with him. That was the thing with David, he could make you want to kill him and then have you smiling within moments of each other.

                “Now when did you tell him?” he sidled up next to me on the couch, leaning his bass one the edge of the seat.

                ‘Very manipulative,’ I noted. Though, I had to admit, he was trying really hard to get me to talk to him.

                “Come on.” There was a hint of a whine in his voice now, and he was pouting slightly.

                “You always need to be first to know, don’t you?” I joked, “Figure it out on your own.”

                “Don’t be so mean. Please tell me?”

                “I’m not going to crack so easy, David,” I attempted, and failed, at keeping my face stone cold. “Try harder.”

                He made some humming noises to himself, a look of complete pensiveness on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed up and he tapped a thoughtful finger.

                I laughed at his ridiculous expression. “I should get a picture of this!” I joked. “David Desrosiers stumped. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

                If I hadn’t turned back to my guitar at that very moment, I wouldn’t have missed the sly glance he shot my way. I could feel him fumble a bit on the couch beside me, but I took it as nothing more than David being David. He was always moving around, hyperactive chipmunk that he was.

                “Hey, Pierre?” he asked, pushing even closer to me on the couch.

                “What do you want now?” My voice was filled with irritation as I turned to him.

                “Smile.”

                With that, he pulled my face to his with one hand, pressing his lips harshly to mine. There was a series of clicks and flashes and then he jumped away, giggling like a little girl. David had his camera phone clenched tightly in his hand as he stepped further away from me. I yanked the guitar strap off from around my shoulder, and advanced on him. My face was burning, and I wasn’t quite sure whether it was from embarassment or anger.

                “Get rid of those NOW!” I glared at him.

                “Get rid of what?” he kidded.

                “Those pictures! Get rid of them!” There was a table in between us and when I tried to go around one way, he’d move the other. I took a frustrated step onto the table, scattering the things on it in all directions. David skipped away with a laugh.

                “I’ll get rid of them if you tell me when you told Chuck about your stories,” he back away quickly as I jumped from the table.

                “I didn’t tell him about them!” I growled. “Now delete those pictures!”

                “I don’t believe you,” there was a puzzled look on his face now. “If you didn’t and the rest of us didn’t, then how did he find out?”

                My mouth was open to answer when Seb shoved through the door.

                “Hey, guys, what’s up?” he said, ignorant of the scene playing out in front of him. He grabbed his own guitar and strummed some completely out of tune chords.

                “Nothing,” I answered, “Just David being a dick.”

                Seb laughed like I was joking around. I was surprised that he was so oblivious to my majorly pissed off expression, but I guess he just took it as David acting like an idiot. He did that all the time, that was no surprise.

                David took the opportunity to edge over to the door and dash out. I ran after him, dashing out the door and bashing hard into someone trying to enter. I fell back onto my ass with my head crashing against the doorframe with a loud ‘whack’. Pain split through my head like a bad migraine.

                “Fuck, that hurts! Ow, ow,ow,” I touched the back of my head lightly and grimaced. “Dumb little shit, I’m going to get him for that. Ow.”

                “Hey, you okay, Pierre?” Chuck knelt beside me, concern evident in his eyes. He’d gotten the better end of the fall, not having anything behind him to hit against.

                “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just fine,” I closed my eyes in pain. It felt worse than any headache I’d gotten when I had a hangover, and I’d experienced some pretty bad ones. “But I swear I will kick David’s scrawny little ass when I find him.”