Our Life Together

Chapter Twenty Seven

"You have no clue how much I've missed doing that," he whispers after pulling back. I giggle and place a whisper of a kiss on his cheek before taking his hand in mine so we can go find the rest of my family.

"Come on. Your siblings are dying to see you," I whisper. He begins to lead me in the direction of the parlor where we all planned to meet. I manage to walk with just one crutch. Every now and then Flynn bumps into my crutchless side "If you don't behave," I comment in a playful tone. He smirks down at me.

"You know, we could always ditch seeing our families and get to that back rub," he whispers as the parlor comes into sight. In addition to the lights peeking out from under the door, laughter flows out of it and runs down the hallway. I shake my head in response.

"You know we can't. Everyone wants to see you and I kind of would like to see my father," I say. He sighs in a playful way and we walk to the parlor together.

"There they are!" my father announces as soon as we push the door open. Everyone laughs at my father's comment, sending a blush to not only my face, but Flynn's as well. I look over at my mother and, even though she is smiling, her eyebrows are arched in a questioning way. I run over to my father and wrap my arms around his torso.

"Hi, daddy," I whisper into my father's chest as he wraps his arms over mine. He kisses my forehead lightly like he and my mother used to do when Charles and I were younger.

"Hi, baby girl," he says. His grip on me tightens for a few seconds before he lets go of me. As I'm about to step back, he leans down and whispers, "It would have been okay to disappear. The first time I left your mother we weren't seen again for at least a day." I blush again and he just chuckles.

I stand and watch quietly as Flynn and my father make their way around the rest of the group who were waiting for their arrival. I pay extra close attention to Coen and Flynn's reunion. They exchange a few words, laughing every now and then, nothing close to what Flynn's reaction would be if he found out. Finally, Flynn drifts back over to me and we all stand in silence.

"Celia, can come back to the great room in about an hour to help me with the final details of the Easter ball?" my mother asks. I nod. She and my father walk out, busy in a sudden conversation. Flynn holds his hand out to me and I immediately take it. We walk out of the parlor and head in the direction of the field where all of the willow trees were.

"So, how long until that cast is removed?" Flynn asks. I pick up his arm and look at his watch. It reads 1:53. He still doesn't know how soon it will be removed.

"Approximately, 23 hours and 3 minutes," I inform him. He looks down at me and smiles.

"Well, I will be sure to be there. You'll even get a special souveigneer for being such a trooper," he replies. I laugh and roll my eyes. When we reach the doors to the meadow, Flynn opens it up for me. I flinch at the sound of the crowds that are still surrounding the palace because they were waiting for my father and Flynn's return. We wave at them but are quick to hide under a large weeping willow.

"Did anything exciting happen in New Asia?" I ask Flynn. He shakes his head.

"Not unless you consider being held at gun point exciting. We mostly spent our time in the New Asian palace working with their leaders. We were only allowed one afternoon to explore New Asia. All we really did then was go to a few shops," he says. I nod.

"How about their leader? My mother said that you two seemed to work well together," I say. Flynn just shrugs.

"He definitely knew what he wanted. The only reason we were able to come to an agreement so quick was because both of us had new ideas that the old leaders, including your father, never thought about," he explains. I nod again and sit down with my back against the tree. "How about here?" he questions.

"Nothing exciting really happened here. I spent my days like I normally would. Your siblings, Astra, and Emily definitely helped pass the time quickly," I say. He looks off to the crowd and nods.

"Any hot dates I should know about?" he asks with a playful grin on his face. I inwardly flinch at his playful question. I can't help but feel like he knows something about that day in tthe garden. I quickly shake my head and deny it much quicker than I should have.

"No. Of course not," I say. He chuckles and sits down next to me. He places a kiss on my temple.

"Well, I am glad for that," he jokes. We both laugh but mine feels more forced than it should. "So, how is that ball coming along?" he asks. I shrug a little.

"It's coming. I'm excited for it. I'm really excited for the egg hunt on Saturday, too. I think Quinn and Teegan's families will enjoy it," I say. He smiles at me.

"I'm sure they will," he says. We say nothing more and, even though I doubt he can feel it, an uneasy silence sets over us. There is no way he would be able to feel it because he doesn't know what happened. He doesn't know that his brother kissed me and that we have agreed to keep it a secret from him. He doesn't know.

So, this was just kind of like a filler chapter because I wasn't really sure what should happen in this chapter. So, yeah... Please comment and vote!

Disclaimer: I have ran out of creative disclaimers to tell you that Kiera Cass owns The Selection.