Daughter of gods

Tommy? He has a nickname?

          I opened my eyes slowly to see myself in a van. As I tried to sit up, a wave of drowsiness overcame me and I laid down once more. That battle had really drained me almost completely, and all I could think of was how was I supposed to fight beings way more powerful than the ones I just had beaten? It was almost impossible.

- Hey, I see you have woken up. - Maggie was kneeled down next to me, pressing a wet cold cloth in my sweat-drenched forehead. - How are you feeling?

- Terrible. What happened? Where are we? - Maggie fed me some ambrosia and handed me a canteen full of nectar.

- We won, but our plans had to be completely changed. Kath, I almost had a heart attack because of you. What were you thinking? That if you fought the monsters alone you'd have all the credit? No, you're not that kind of person. You probably did it to protect us or some crap like that. - Her face was red and she was clutching the cloth. - But that was incredibly stupid. I mean, it worked, but are destroyed. You could've died, Kath! And I actually thought you had!

- Hey, Maggie, take it easy with her. - Thomas head was on the empty side of the van, heading to where I was. Meanwhile, his body had stayed at the front, with Toph. - So, she's stupid. Nothing we can do about it.

- Jackass. You don't even know me enough to insult me that way, dude. - I snapped.

- Tommy, chill out. Help Toph follow the right path. - he mumbled a little but did what she asked. - Kath, he only insults the people he likes. Don't take it too personally.

- I don't. I actually think he's a great friend to have. But...Tommy? You guys are that close? Nickname close? - she blushed a little. To be honest, I had been kind of stupid for not having realized what had been going on with them. I had noticed, though, that they spent a lot of time together, but it didn't seem much, because they were always fighting.

- Uhh... Kind of? I mean, for me, we were just friends, but remember the motel? - I nodded and she continued - Late at night he came to my room and we talked. Like a lot. And I think he has a crush on me or something.

- Maggie. Please. Every boy has a crush on you, of course Thomas does too. - she made an angry face, then laughed. - The only factor here is if you like him. Well, do you?

- No! - she got even redder - I... I don't know, ok? Just forget about it.

- Already forgotten. - she smiled and put the cloth once more in my head - Where are we going? 

- We are going to Melbourne, of course. We thought about just doing one big trip by bus, but the possibilities of monsters finding and fighting us is way bigger if we stay in the same place for long. So we rented this van, and every 200 miles or so we'll make a stop and change vehicle. But first, we're going to have some food. Any requests?

After my denial, Maggie took out a little sketchbook from her pocket and started writing in it. I closed my eyes and waited until we arrived at a small pasta place near the road. Toph helped me out and, as we came in, we discovered that there were only two tables for two available. Everyone was a little bothered by this, except Thomas, who immediately said he'd sit with Maggie. We all agreed and sat down. Even a couple of tables away from me, I could see Maggie's blushed face. It was really weird that an Aphrodite's daughter was having trouble with a "date", but I had already gotten used to Maggie doing things that weren't very Aphrodite-like.

Toph and I were both extremely tired, and there was a non-verbal agreement of general silence. Also, we were both too interested in Maggie and Thomas to pay attention to each other. 

I'm not a master lip reader or anything, but I understood some part of their conversation, and it went like this:

- So, you fought very well there today. - said Thomas, after ordering three entrance breadsticks.

- Don't I always? - she answered.

- Yeah, of course. What I meant was that you left without major injuries. - he then said something like - Did you loathe a boot what iced in demo tall? (which probably wasn't what he had said).

She hesitated for a while, then nodded slowly. A little smile rushed through her face as he moved his chair closer to hers. Both Toph and I stopped eating at the same moment, when Thomas put his hand behind her ear. He came closer, eyes closed, and she hesitated for a moment.

But a moment later, she had gone forward too, and they were now kissing. After a small while, she drew back, blushed madly. But the most noticeable thing about her was her smile. It was huge, and it seemed to actually shine. He was smiling too, and a second later, he blinked over to Toph.

- What was that? - I asked him.

- Oh, in the motel, he asked me what he should do if he liked a girl. He made a big fuss about not telling me who it was even after I said that he needn't. Anyway, he ended up telling me it was Maggie and I told him to just go talk to her and ask if she wanted to be with him. -  he took a sip of his soda. - He said that this was stupid and useless, and said that he would try it just for the purpose of teasing me. But it actually worked.

- That's so sweet of you, helping other people with their love problems. - he smiled and grinned lightly.

The evening went on like this, and it was already dark when we got to the van. Thomas was driving, and Maggie would stay with him in front. Toph, as soon as he laid down, slept. For me it wasn't that easy. After trying every sleeping technique that I knew, I finally fell asleep of pure tiredness.