Flame Inside ✿ Damien and Matthew

Bonus Chapter: Beach Adventure

Chicago is, to Thalia and Emma, the greatest city in the world. It isn't crazy crowded and has the sights of New York and Los Angelesin a wonderful package. The historic buildings and events that are peppered through Chicago are to die for. There is only one problem with Chicago. They don't have a beach, they only have a lake.

If you're the type that loves to surf, swim, or do anything remotely related to a beach, you would not find that kind of fun there. While you could do all of those things in the lake, it's not suggested. The water is either too cold or too filled with questionable pollution to even dare try. At least you could walk around it and hang out with friends.

So when the boys suggested that they go to the beach during dinner cleanup, the girls were completely dumbfounded. Emma furrowed her brows at the boys, asking, "Wait, what? Guys, you mean the lake, right?"

James shook his head, "No, miss, we mean the beach."

Matthew cheered excitedly, making Emma smile before he exclaimed, "We haven't gone to the beach in ages! Can we go now?"

"Which one are we going to?" Erik inquired.

"Guys." Emma said, trying to get their attention.

"Do we have to? I got shit to do, you know." Sam grumbled, none of them really paying attention to the blonde's attempts.

"You want a vacation too, Sam." Damien teased.

"Get out of my head!" He shouted at his mind-reading brother.

Emma and Thalia shared a look, the former gesturing for the latter to get the boys' attention since she was far louder. Thalia rolled her eyes before shouting, "Guys!" The boys all looked at her as she exploded, catching their attention. Thalia sighed, Why was it that every time I demanded their attention, I had to yell to get it?

Nevertheless, she narrowed her eyes at the boys, not understanding where the idea for a beach trip came from. They were in the suburbs of Chicago, and there was no beach in any of the four corners of Illinois. Thalia pinched her nose as she explained, "We have a lake, not a beach."

Emma looked at them curiously before adding, "Where is this beach idea coming from?"

The boys stared at them for a long moment before James cleared his throat with an obvious smile behind his fist, "Miss, I'm suggesting a trip out of state to an actual beach."

"Wait, what? How would we get there?" Emma inquired.

James adjusted his glasses with a smirk before walking around the dining room table and towards the lobby, "I can have the jet scheduled for us with a non-stop flight. Hawaii has good weather today, the last time I checked." Emma had almost forgotten that James was a CEO now, so he had plenty of assists available to him.

Thalia raised a brow, "Hawaii? That's still a nine hour flight."

"We'd sleep on the plane, duh!" Matthew exclaimed.

Thalia stared at all of them incredulously before sighing, conceding and asking, "When are we leaving?"

"It would be best to leave sometime very early. Remember time zones." Erik rationalized.

"I can schedule our flight for 7AM. We'd arrive around noon in their time zone." James suggested.

"Excellent! I'll pack some food for us." Erik replied.

Matthew cheered with excitement before realizing, "Man, I gotta find my swim trunks." Emma shook her head at her husband fondly.

"I'll pack the sunscreen." Damien told them with one of his rare smiles, "This will be fun!"