Getting Carried Away With It (Finished)

It's a warm night out, a cool summer breeze compliments the clear skies.

	A night that, if not under parental house arrest, Kris would certainly already be out instead of pacing about his room. But as it turns out if you don't hand in most of your work until the last week of classes and do poorly on most of the actual class as well you end up in arguments. Arguments with lines like "What did you think was going to happen?", "I know you can do better", and the occasional reference to how your Brother never had this much trouble. Arguments that end with being grounded for just about the first three weeks of Summer break. To Kris, his grade wasn't that big of a deal anymore. He got most of the work in before the deadline and he didn't fail, what more did it matter really if he got a C- or a B in Geography. Toriel wasn't known to be very lenient when it came to school related punishments however, so as long as she was able to enforce it Kris wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He was sure that she wouldn't be able to enforce it tonight though, tonight was the night she was hosting a party for the school faculty, a party Kris knew from experience always went later than anticipated. Late enough that she would forget to check on him that night.
	So with the conviction that it was tonight or never, Kris paced. He could hear his mother entertaining the guests, so that was a good sign. It did little to calm his nerves as he went to go double check his backpack for the fourth time. He had to have everything before he left as there would be no going back. Not that Kris could leave yet anyway, he had to wait for Susie to get here before he could peel out. More pacing after more pacing he tried to psyche himself up for the night. It'll be perfect and nothing will go wrong. He was about to go back for a quintuple check when he heard the familiar plink of pebble of glass. Susie was here. He rushed to the window, taking a deep breath as he slowly and carefully opened the window, trying to make as little noise as he could. His cautious and meticulous efforts were rewarded with a pebble striking him on the cheek.
	The pebble was the kick Kris needed, making him jump before he looked down at the purple assailant waiting hidden in the yard. She looked nearly as nervous as he did as she called up to him quietly.
"Do you have everything?"
	Kris nodded, holding up his bag to the window. Susie took this as her cue, creeping up to the wall beneath the window and reaching up to catch the bag as Kris dropped it to her. An easy catch, just a story down. She slung his bag over her free shoulder and took a step back, bracing herself. Now for the part that worried Kris as much as the idea of his mother catching them did.
	Susie stood there looking up at him, gesturing him along and hissing up to him.
"C'mon wimp, I'm right here to catch you."
	The two of them had done this before, Kris knew that Susie could catch him. It still didn't make it any easier to jump. He tossed out a piece of twine to pull the window shut after him and took a deep breath as he dangled himself out the window, running himself through his pre-jump checklist. 1) Close your eyes. Done, but all that did was make Kris start to imagine the ground below instead of just seeing it. He wasn't sure which one was worse. 2) Let go of the windowsill. It was honestly impressive to him he still had a grip on it given how sweaty his hands were. He could hear Susie below him goading him off the ledge like she was a really fucked up fireman talking him off the ledge. He let out a nervous chuckle and reached the end of his list. 3) Trust in your friend and drop. A final deep breath and then...
	Kris lands with an "Oumph" in Susie's arms as she buckles alittle under the impact. Dangerous tricks they saw in movies - 6, Toriel - 0. He was thankful Susie was as strong as she looked. Outside and close to one another, they could talk quietly now
"You were supposed to dodge the second pebble, spaz."
	He feigned offense, scoffing quietly.
"Sorry, I was trying to work up the nerve to try and jump at the creepy lizard beast."
	Susie started creeping away from the wall, Kris and both bags still in tow.
"Took your sweet time with it, what's wrong, scared I wouldn't catch you weenie?"
"You try to jump a floor down into someones arms and see how it goes."
	She stifles a chuckle, making a big gesture of pinching Kris' arm.
"Your twiggly lil arms? You'd break my fall, atleast."
	It dawned on the two of them that Susie was still holding Kris from the jump. In a moment that stretched on for an awful awkward eternity Kris scrambled out of her arms and took his bag back from her. Neither of them had the composure needed to make a quip about it, each having enjoyed it much too much to even look the other in the eye as they trekked through the woods towards town. The silence between the two was heavy as they got through the woods and back onto the main road heading into town. It took them getting to the store before they could talk to each other, mulling and debating over snacks as the last employee sitting at the register waited desperately for the last few hours of their shift to end so they could close up the store and go home. A venture fueled with money scavenged from lunches and change they "forgot" to return to their parents after errands, funds were usually scarce enough that they rationed themselves but they had been planning tonight for awhile, so they're both prepared to splurge. Kris stood at the soda cooler as Susie approached, four pieces of jerky and a bag of extra large marshmallows in their arms.
"What's on the menu for tonight?"
	Kris turns to face her, pointing his thumb at the display.
"We got the question of store or name brand yet again. Also, do you want normal or cherry coke tonight?"
	Susie furrowed her brow. This was a conundrum school could never have prepared them for.
"Get name brand, bottle looks bigger. And cherry, 'cause its like you're getting both Cherry soda and coke at the same time. Better value that way"
	Truly blessed he was to be in the presence of such a genius.
"Grab two bottles of Mountain Dew too, but make one of them like a small diet bottle"
	Kris was taken aback. THE Susie: drinking diet soda? Small diet soda?! That went against everything they stood for, a mockery of their very core beliefs. His shock showed on his face as Susie grinned back at him.
"I don't want to drink it I just want to pour it out. What kind of monster do you take me for freak."
	Truly a genius, truly blessed. Kris overacted a sigh of relief and grabbed the bottles, handing the Mountain Dews to Susie as he bent over and grabbed the two "Fun-Size!" bags of chips he left on the floor. One Barbeque and one Salt and Vinegar. Susie was probably going to scarf down the Salt and Vinegar and then sample from his Barbecue, a fate he was willing to suffer through. The two pay together and pack their loot away in their bags, walking out of the store back to their usual back and forth, cracking jokes about the cashier as they pilfer two plastic milkcrates from where they laid abandoned and unsecure behind the store. Didn't they know that teenage hooligans would be about tonight?
	Regardless of whether or not lazy store employees protect plastic crates, the two carry on through town, Susie slowing creeping further and further ahead of Kris. She turns back to Kris, impatiently egging him on, they have places to be.
"Can you actually not keep up? Did you get some weird snail sickness from too much of your mom's cooking?"
	Susie walked backwards, exaggerated slow backpedalling to keep Kris' pace matching up to his exaggerated strain under the weight of his backpack. He feigns panting in exhaustion.
"You know, wheeze, not all of us have three arms worth of arm in each arm."
	A weak comeback, it rolled off his tongue with all the grace of something really fucking clumsy. Kris probably would've regarded it as the most stupid thing that had happened all night if Susie wasn't as dedicated to one-upsmanship, even in the category of 'shooting oneself in their foot.' She struck a pose, flexing at him.
"Want my six arms to carry ya there, nerd?"
	It's easy to imagine that with a mouth as big as Susie's that things tended to slip out, careless comments that one or both of them would end up cringing about. Rarely was it quite this bad, the two stopped dead in their tracks in mutual awkward remembrance. Susie remembered exactly how warm he was in her arms and the short rare look she got under his bangs, his bright red eyes. Kris recalled his adrenaline rush from the jump and how quickly he calmed in her firm arms. Neither of them particularly disliked the sensation outside of the crippling shame and embarrassment they felt remembering it. They stood there, each waiting for the other to break the silence. Luckily for the two of them, Susie's reaction to nerves was to shout.
"YOUR BAG."
	Neither of them were quite ready for just how loud her shout was. With the awkward silence firmly dead, she cleared her throat and stretched out her arm
"Want me to carry ya bag. Like I said. What did you think I meant weirdo?"
	Kris handed her his bag, wracking his brain for something to say back in response. He shoved his hands deep enough into his pockets that they nearly popped straight out of the bottom.
"Yeah, I uhm-"
	He followed her example, clearing his throat.
"I figured you meant that. Definitely, of course."
	Backpack offloaded and now back to being awkward again, they kept a better pace with each other with eyes trained on everything but each other as they passed from what little Hometown could call downtown into homes and houses. Kris followed Susie as she lead, he didn't actually know where exactly she was taking him. Susie didn't keep many secrets but she was adamant about this being a surprise. Eventually her path led them into woods, brush thick enough that he stuck close to her back as to follow in her wake of stomped down branches. It was quiet in the woods besides what noise they made in forging their path. With Susie ahead of him focused on navigating the two of them through the dark, Kris was more or less alone with his thoughts. His mind wandered, worried predictions of what his mother would do if she found him missing after all peppered with flustered thoughts of Susie and her dumb strong arms. He had just started to think about what it would feel like if she just threw him over her shoulder when he brought himself to an abrupt stop, absentmindedly walking straight into her back. He stumbled backwards and looked around, Susie turning to face him.
"We're here, klutz."
	She had led the two into a pretty alrightly sized clearing, a small space where the forest just forgot to grow. There were signs of people, empty bottles and litter clung around, but none of it seemed recent at all. Bottles for drinks they didn't make anymore, wrappers faded beyond recognition. An old tire sat recessed most of the way into the ground, a makeshift firepit. Near it an old derelict shed stood despite all of natures best efforts to topple it, the door and it's rusted padlock made obsolete by the gaping hole in its wall. It looked like there was some wood piled up inside. Kris wondered just how long she had know about this place. It was grizzled and rough around the edges, lit dimly by the moon overhead. To the two of them though it was perfect. Hidden, out of the way, a place just the two of them would know. Susie tossed their backpacks over towards the tire, sitting down on the milk crate she brought out. An excited grin beamed across her face as she watched Kris follow suit. She had him in awe, well worth the poison ivy rash she got on her ankles when she came out last week to check if the spot was as good as she remembered when her dad took her camping out here. She got up from her seat to grab the wood, chucking it from the shed over towards the tire-firepit. Kris stepped over to help but she shoo'd him off to get some kindling, plenty logs held in her arms.
	It wasn't hard to get the fire put together. They stood admiring their unlit handiwork, Susie holding a matchbook in one hand and the bottle of diet soda in the other. She cracked open the bottle and put on a show of taking a smell of it and scrunching up her face in disgust. Lighting the newspaper and dead leaf beneath the fire Susie overturned the bottle with her arm outstretched, holding it as far from the fire as she could. She blew alittle on the flame to get it going, a motion Kris likened to a Dragon breathing fire. The bottle was finally empty as she backed away, giving it a chuck out to join all of the other abandoned bottles and litter in their clearing. They sat besides eachother on their crates as their campfire grew, fishing their snacks from their bags. Kris ripped open the bag of marshmallows and took two out, stuffing one immediately in his mouth and poking one onto the end of a stick he found. Susie set her snacks down though, pulling from her bag a dark purple folder, well beaten and overstuffed with schoolwork. Kris recognized the dark red ink Alphys used to grade bad assignments with on alot of the pages. He didn't expect they would get right on into it, grabbing the marshmallow off the top of the stick and shoved it in his mouth with its brother.
"You got yours, right?"
	Kris tried to muffle out a response past his stuffed mouth, failed, and decided to just nod vigorously as he pulled out his school binder to show. The difference was night and day. Toriel may not have instilled a proper work ethic in her son but she would make sure he was at the very least organized, plastic dividers for different classes and handouts properly hole-punched. It didn't do much for his grades, there was nearly as much red ink across his work as Susie's. It was just presented nicely. Susie was snickering at it.
"Oooh wow: a neat freak and a dumbass, huh"
	He swallows hard, barely having chewed the marshmallows, coughing up afew words as he pounds his chest to help 'em go down
"Like you're - eugh - Like you're any better. You wanna go first?"
	Susie flipped the folder open in her lap, opening her real bottle of soda. She fingered through the pages and papers, tossing most of them into the fire and looking for one with something funny written on it.
"I thought you'd never ask, let's see what we can find here..."
	Kris joined her academic arson, looking through his own binder for something good: a dumb answer to an easy question or some comment their teacher left that they could mock and throwing the rest to burn in the fire. Susie perked up, finding something she liked. She looked over at Kris with a menacing grin, hunching over and faking their teacher's nervous wheeze while pushing up imaginary glasses.
"Susie, drawing a line over to and circling where it says 'x' on the diagram is not 'finding x.' You have done this six times now."
	Kris cracked a laugh at her impression of their perpetually anxious teacher. Susie put on a faux serious air and sat back up abit.
"Alphys, telling me not to do that will not get me to stop. We have done this eleven times now."
	He looked at her incredulously, mouthing an Eleven at her.
"When have you ever known me to give up partway in, I even did it on the final."
	She pointed at what he had found
"Now its your turn bud"
	Kris showed Susie his assignment, what was supposed to be a three page essay about an animal they researched was just about two thirds of a page long. He cleared his throat and put on a nasally voice, choosing what he thought was the best part of her criticism.
"Stop putting bullet points at the start of lines and write full sentences for your essays from now on."
	He balled the paper up and tossed it into the fire, facing Susie with a grim conviction on his face.
"• No."

	The two continued to read off and burn the years schoolwork, laughing and snacking all the while. Pretty often the two would come across something they had doodled instead of taking notes and share it before tossing the page into the fire. Susie had a tendency to draw huge knights with even more huge weapons. That or a crude drawing of whatever boring dude they were learning about that day getting absolutely decimated. She had a drawing of one of the Wright brothers falling onto and crushing the other, and now it was ash along with the notes it shared the paper it was on. Kris' doodles were considerably tamer, copied pictures out of textbooks or sketches of stuff or classmates he could see from his seat. He got alittle nervous partway through, had he really drawn Susie so much? Kris hoped she wouldn't notice how often he found one of her drawn not from the perspective of where he was sitting like everything else but just drawn straight on as he thought about her. He was so quick to dismiss them that he didn't notice Susie pocket just afew of the drawings he showed her rather than throwing them into the fire.
	The two went on like this for awhile, roasting marshmallows and exchanging snide quips about their teacher and classmates by the fire's light while making plans for the rest of the Summer. Kris was going to be grounded for awhile longer that wasn't something they could do much about but they could plan for after it, certainly. Plans made to come back here and camp out a full night, to hang out and spend a weekend doing nothing but marathoning movies, to haul the old tire in Susie's back yard to the lake and tie it up as a big 'ol swing to jump in off of. The lake sounded especially good to them right that second in the humid night. There was a nice breeze while they walked over but it either had stopped blowing altogether or simply didn't run through the woods. If either of them had something to swim in they'd probably be down there right now, it wasn't far, but going back for them was out of the question. Too far and too much risk of waking up Toriel. He took a swig of Susie's soda and looked at a drawing of an old battle he traced when Susie called out to him with just a twinge of nervousness in her voice.
"Hey Kris, I got something you might wanna take a look at."
	He turned to see Susie holding a mostly empty whiskey bottle, just about of tenth of it left. She looks more nervous than he's seen her in awhile, an excited spark in her eye.
"My dad had it with the other bottles he was throwing away so he's not gonna miss it."
	Neither of them have ever drank. Kris lets Susie talk and seeing where she's going with this, as if it's not entirely obvious. She sets the bottle down on the ground next to her and wrings her hands
"If you want we could, uh, you know..."
	Kris knows how incredibly un-Susielike how she's acting, they we're both really nervous about this. It was a surprise to him. He knew her dad drank a fair bit and she had been around it a fair bit. The most alcohol he had encountered was the church wine. She shouted, breaking her nerves, and grabbed the bottle, taking off the cap.
"What I mean. Is."
	She takes a deep breath and flashes him a menacing grin.
"I'm having some. I don't care about alcohol at all, s'all cool. If you wanna be a loser you can watch me or leave, but I've got enough for two."
	She carefully poured the bottle's cap full, setting the bottle down and taking her soda back from Kris. He watched her, imagining how she'd react if he said he wasn't gonna drink with her. Equally as nervous as she was, he nodded his head
"I'll have some with you, yeah."
	Kris watched just abit of the tension leave her shoulders when she heard that. It was time to put money where her mouth was though. Well, whiskey where her mouth was. She tried to take the shot as fast as she could and was mostly successful. Still didn't stop her from scrunching her face up when she got a taste of the whiskey, or from coughing and hacking up a lung as it burnt down her throat, or from nearly crushing the bottle's cap in her hands. She chased it with her soda, still coughing alittle afterwards as she tried to regain some of her composure. Susie attempted to muster up some of that cool bully atmosphere she exuded, alittle bit of hoarseness in her voice giving away her acting.
"See? No big deal. Just some whiskey, like drinking water. But it's your turn now."
	She poured their cap-glass full again and handed it off to Kris. He was less enthusiastic than her from the get go, seeing how she held down the drink exemplified it. A deep breath and holding his other drink tight, ready to go, he let out a deep breath and tried to knock it back like she did. He was less successful, didn't get all of it down before he retched forward in disgust. Struggling to keep from spitting it up, he put his soda to his lips and started chugging. After a gulp or two he pulled himself away, sputtering. Susie laughed at him as he stuffed a marshmallow in his mouth to wipe away any of it left. He tossed one at her in revenge but she just batted it into the fire. They tried to drink again, equipped with just how gross it was, and braced themselves this time: chasing it with less hesitation than before. They made their shots smaller too, for good measure. The drink still didn't last long, they got maybe another two rounds after their first before Kris had the rest of his soda and didn't want to go on with it. Susie, still having some of hers left, took this as a sign to stand up and try drinking straight from the bottle.
"I'll show you what real drinking is like, loser."
	Overconfidence, a slow and insidious killer. Susie didn't quite get the whiskey down on her last pass and just ended up doubling over and spitting it out on the ground. She shot a glare at Kris, now laughing at how fast her bravado fell apart. She sat back down on her crate and dumped whatever was left in Kris' bag of chips in her maw to get rid of the taste of the whiskey. They were running out of things to do but neither of them wanted the night to end anytime soon. She tossed away her seat, letting it bounce off the shed, and laid down to look up at the night sky. Kris tossed his last few notes about what the difference between a creek and a river was into the fire and laid down next to her in their stargazing. They could feel the whiskey in 'em and were curious what being drunk was actually like, resolved to wait it out. The cool ground was a blessing in the humidity and Kris turned his head to feel it to his cheek, leaving him staring at his friend. He was as captivated with her as he was when he first saw the little clearing. Her eyes and the freckles beneath them, the way her hair covered her eyes normally, and the way it parted away now. Her warm arms. He couldn't get away from how hot it was. Like actual temperature wise. His time spent staring at her had just made his face more red instead of helping him cool off. An idea came back to him, the alcohol dimming the part of him that told him it wouldn't work out.
"Hey Susie, do you wanna go swim in the lake, it shouldn't be far from here right?"
	She turned to him, unaware just how long he had been staring at her, alittle puzzled at his suggestion.
"It sounds nice, it's real fuckin hot out. I think you're forgetting that neither of us have anything to swim in though, dumbass. Can't really go back for 'em neither."
	Her protest mirrored his earlier ones. Neither of them had brought bathing suits or even thought to. But Kris had come up with something, an idea he could only have waited for here and now to think up, let alone suggest.
"We could always go skinny dipping."
	That got her to sit up. She looked at him funny only getting back genuine, perhaps alittle tipsy or drunk, interest looking back at her.
"You serious about that freak?"
	It wasn't something she was too far against if she had to be honest. It was stuffy and hot as all hell in their little clearing that night. A dip might not be that bad. He wasn't answering her though, just giving her a confident stare and a firm nod. The drinks had mixed with their earlier awkwardness and gave them the confidence to push past it and not just fall apart for a fourth time that night. She stood up, grabbing Kris' collar and pulling him to his feet with her. She grabbed her soda and poured what little was left in it to douse what little was left of their fire. She thought for a second, placing where they were mentally and where the lake was. When she put it together she turned, looking at Kris.
"Alright, I'm in. Let's get going."
	They grabbed their backpacks and left the dying embers of their campfire behind, a nervous fire burning off of the alcohol in them. Kris stuck so close to Susie as she navigated them from their clearing towards the lake that they could've been holding hands. He wondered if it was alcohol or nerves that made his gut hurt like it was. It was such a calm simple suggestion when they were laying together but walking there got the blood flowing back to his head. It was the second time that night that he followed her woodland warpath and her kept his eyes on her this time, determined not to bumble right into her back again after having the courage to come out here. When they finally reached the lake they felt that breeze again. They couldn't see anyone around but given the residents of Hometown it would've been more of a surprise to see anyone hanging around in the wee hours.
	Serene waters awaited them and the cool breeze returned as they stood there. They dropped their bags under a tree and looked out across its admittedly small surface, trying to think up something to say now that they were actually here. Susie moved first, dropping her jacket to the ground to sit on as she took off her shoes. She got one shoe off before she looked over at Kris, still standing and staring at her. She snapped at him.
"C'mon pervert, this was your idea wasn't it? I'm not gonna peak, so you better not either! Or I WILL eat your face off."
	Kris turnt away and crouched, fumbling with his shoelaces trying to get them untied. With his feet now on the bare ground, he took his shirt off, desperately trying to listen for anything that wasn't his own heart beating in his ears or the sounds of Susie disrobing near him. For afew moments the sound of cloth on cloth was deafening, then silence. He tossed his shirt towards their bags and heard Susie start to wade into the water. He had to hurry and tried to pull his underwear off with his pants, nearly falling onto his face as he did. Susie had turned to face him, his uncoordinated struggles making her laugh. He steadied himself and pulled his pants off, covering himself with his hands as he ran towards the water. The lake was pretty damn cold still but it was better than standing around nude. He slowed once he was in up to his waist, shivering as he waded further towards Susie.
"You could've fucking said it was this cold, good Angel this sucks."
	He crouched into the water, biting the bullet and hoping that by submerging himself completely it would desensitize him to the cold. He emerged a moment later soaked and groaning through gritted teeth. Susie laughed at the display, she was totally fine with the water.
"You just need to take more cold showers, weenie."
	She laid back and let herself float, grinning through Kris' grumbled concessions. She felt plenty cold herself, she just didn't show it as much. Embarrassment kept her plenty warm too, she hoped Kris would stay distracted by the cold for awhile longer. It was hard to see anything far beneath the waters surface but the moonlight reflecting off the water was enough light for them to see each other in the dark. As he got used to the water she pleaded to any higher power that could listen that he couldn't make out much below the water's surface.
	Kris could make out a fair bit of his floating friend however. He tried his best not to stare despite the hormonal part of his brain screaming out at him to take in all that he could. He'd gotten a pretty good look when he fumbled about on the shore. It was hard for either of them to see, they were mostly silhouettes in the dark, but for the two awkward teens it was more than either of them could handle before normally shutting down and reverting to stammering. Kris could make out the shape of her chest. She was strong and powerful but also slightly pudgy, small breasts and abit of a belly. She may have in the moment been embarrassed about her physique but Kris was enamored with it, even if shame kept him from admiring it directly. He ought not to feel too bad about staring, Susie had done her fair share before he had gotten in the water. She couldn't bring herself to watch him while he was entirely naked for fear that her heart would go out, but she liked what she saw despite his less than smooth stripping. He was wiry but that only stirred her on, his awkward shivering in the cold water brought a smile to her face. They floated together: acclimated to the water but still acclimating to skinny dipping. Susie stretched out her arms in the water as she floated and, on instinct, Kris did the same and took her hand in his. An embarrassed flush on sat both of their faces, as if the act was any more scandalous than the already nude swimming. In the cool waters where neither of them could bear to look at the other head-on for too long, their hands were warm together.
	Eventually, the two found the courage to float shoulder to shoulder, Kris relying upon Susie's outstretched arm to keep from drifting away. The two relaxed there, looking up to the starry sky from the lake's surface, a clearer view than the one they had at their clearing. When the time came, and the two knew they couldn't stay much longer at the lake before risking Toriel waking and finding a Kris-less bedroom, they had huddled into an embrace in the water. They reluctantly broke it, wading slowly back to shore and their clothes. Neither of them had brought any sort of towel, they didn't think they'd need them, so they dried off with their shirts and just resolved to wear them wet as they walked back. They held hands again as they went, too tired to be nervous about it. Kris reflected on the night and all that they did, coming to the grim reminder that when he woke up in afew hours he would be grounded still and without a good way to escape his mother's watchful eye he probably wouldn't see Susie again for another week or two. His stomach churned when they stopped in front of Susie's house. She was exhausted and wanted to lay down and he wasn't about to make her walk all the way to his place and back. As she turned away it was now or never, or atleast now or in two week's time. He chose the rash option, calling out to her one last time.
"What is it, Kris, can't it wai-"
	He interrupted her, jumping up to land a quick kiss on the side of her snout but missing and kissing her on the lips. He had rationalized it in the moment, they had just spent so long naked together that what did one little kiss matter, but as she stood there shocked it's weight struck him. They stood there for a moment, neither saying anything, faces red as an apple, before Kris muttered a goodbye and ran off. Susie yelled a goodbye back as her friend ran off, resolving to text him about it in the morning.
	Kris crept back into his house just before sunrise as silent as he could, finding a living room that certainly looked lived in after the party his mother had last night. If it went late enough that she didn't bother to clean it up afterwards she definitely didn't check up on him. He snuck quietly into his room, putting his wet clothes beneath all other dirty laundry, hiding the evidence. Laying in bed, he remembered the kiss and kicked himself. It was going to be weeks before he saw her again, weeks spent thinking about swimming, and kisses, and fires, and carrying. Maybe he'd just have to risk sneaking out without something to distract his mother. The two had been eyeing afew movies at the rental joint a town over and they were about to have a sale for the start of Summer, afterall...