Posters and Polaroids

Mutualism & Surprises

-Tillie's POV-

I groaned in exasperation at the loud grumble my stomach made. "All these deep revelations have made me hungry." At my admission, I felt the vibrations of Fern's laughter, and smiled. "So get food, Dragon." Fern tweaked my side, drawing a 'Flehflehfleh!' out of me. I rolled off the bed to escape, landing on the pile of pillows. When I looked up, Fern had fallen on her side and was still laughing at me. I poked her swiftly in the side before rolling away. She squeaked, then rolled after me. I knew I had better escape before she could pin me down, otherwise my sides would be sore tomorrow.

In my haste to get away, I bumped into the closet door. "Ow.." I rubbed my head where I'd hit it, curling in a ball. "Are you okay?" Fern asked, kneeling beside me. "Yeah, I'm good." I pushed myself up on one elbow, still rubbing my head. Fern offered her hand, apologizing for being the cause of my pain. I grinned. "Aren't you always the cause of my pain?" I asked cheekily. She gasped, offended. "Who always brings you ice packs when you work out too hard? Who puts antibiotic ointment on your scrapes and cuts? Who has food waiting for you when you stay out late?"

I grinned, having gotten a rise out of her. "You do, Fern." She pointed her index at me, the other hand resting on her hip. "Exactly. So I don't want to hear about how I'm the cause of your pain." She lectured, indignant. "Okay, Fern." She nodded at my surrender and started to get up. I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed myself up, rising easily. "But you know I do that stuff for you too. This is a mutualistic relationship." She didn't look back as she headed to the kitchen, only waved her fingers.

"I know. But I wasn't blaming you for my pain, so my points are still valid." She threw over her shoulder, disappearing into the other room. I snorted, then opened the closet to find something to wear to bed. "Don't forget, we have dinner with Father John next week!" I called over my shoulder. "Okay!" Fern yelled from the kitchen. I started rifling through my nightclothes.

-Michael's POV-

When we got home from the water park, I snuck the laptop into my room before Luke could take it again to spy on Fern and Tillie. Honestly, he was getting obsessed with them. It was almost creepy.

Climbing into bed, I logged on and opened YouTube, scrolling through my recent log. I'd found a funny British guy the other day, a gamer. His channel was chock full of game hacks and commentary. Snuggling deep into my bed, I hit play on his latest video.

An hour and a half later or so, I was still wide awake, but exceedingly bored. I clicked out of YouTube, heaving a sigh. I gazed at the screen absently, not feeling like pulling up a PC game or doing much of anything. Suddenly my eyes focused-- on the tiny camera icon on the corner of the screen. Curiosity overwhelmed me. What could be so special about these girls?

I sighed in defeat and clicked the icon, watching the feed load with disinterest. Sure, it had been my idea, this whole thing, but now it had gotten weird. Luke and Calum had gotten.. attached. They didn't even know these girls! They barely even knew their names! I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the screen once it had loaded.

Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the brunette, Fern I think it was, twirling around in yoga pants and a loose crop top. It looked like she was doing ballet, except she staying on the balls of her feet instead of en pointe. My heart started to ache as I watched her pirouette, a small smile on her face. Lily used to love watching ballet movies. She was too frail to take professional classes, not that we could afford them anyways. But she would twirl around the living room, humming to the music from whatever movie she'd been watching, smiling happily.

Sometimes I would dance with her, purely for the joy of her bright smile. Tears started to prick my eyes as I remembered Lily, but they were happy tears, from happy memories. Fern started to sing, and the tears fell as I realized that it was the main song from a ballet movie Lily had loved.

I fell asleep listening to Fern sing, and dreamed of Lily and I dancing in the clouds.

-Ashton's POV-

I peaked into the guys' rooms as I passed on my way to bed. Today had been lots of fun, but very exhausting. Luke had fallen asleep on the way back, and was now sleeping snuggled up in his onesie. Calum was asleep too, with lots of blankets piled atop him and the fan on. I shook my head; he was so weird about that. When I made it to Michael's room, I was surprised to find the laptop sitting atop his chest.

What was more surprising was that the feed of the two girls was open. After checking that he was sound asleep, I lifted the computer off his chest. I watched for a moment, curious. Fern, the brunette, was doing ballet it seemed, and Tillie, the blonde, was singing. It wasn't a language I recognized, however. Curious, I carried the laptop to my room and set it on the bed. As I got ready for bed, I tried to decipher the words or at least the melody.

It was as I was brushing my teeth that I finally figured it out: it was called You Raise Me Up. It was an American song, one I'd heard at a cafe. But, if it was an American song, why wasn't she singing in English? I pondered this as I brushed my curly hair. Honestly, I had no clue.

Climbing into bed, I pulled the laptop onto my lap and opened Google translate. I jotted down the sounds Tillie was making, fingers crossed that I was spelling them correctly. I probably wasn't, but oh well. Once I'd typed a full verse, I hit translate.

I sat there, wide-eyed. Japanese? How did an American girl know Japanese? And why? I shook my head and clicked out of the feed, cutting off Tillie mid-verse, and exited Google translate as well. I needed to sleep, not ponder the life choices of two random girls.

Well, I thought as I set the laptop on my bedside table and pulled the covers up, at least I knew why the guys seemed to be so fascinated with those girls. They were full of surprises.