The Secrets of the Aorta Ruins

Chapter Twenty Four

Becca and Dare headed down the stairs, holding hands. They had been hoping to slip out the front door without too much notice and a scene but they instantly knew that wasn't about to happen. Gwen was in the living room waiting for them, her camera and phone in hand, ready for them to appear. As soon as they appeared at the bottom of the stairs, she ran over to them, quickly snapping pictures. Becca faked the best smile she could while Dare attempted to hide.

"Mom! Stop!" Dare complained.

"But its your first date! I must get pictures. And you both look so nice!" She said, finally taking a break from snapping pictures to give them both a hug. A few moments later, the rest of the kids joined them at the bottom of the stairs too. They must have been ready for ambush too and waited to hear talking. Becca and Dare quickly moved out of the way from the three rushing down the stairs. The pair were instantly swarmed with hugs. Becca was quickly seeing this was a very hug-y family. She guessed that was normal; it used to be for her and Zack...maybe she was just missing him. But this wasn't the time for that really either.

"Woah, who would have guessed Dare cleans up so nice," Kyren said, genuinely seeming shocked.

"Becca's pretty too," Barrak said, smiling. While she appreciated the compliment, she hadn't thought it would be a surprise either. She had picked her outfit for the previous day carefully.

"Not nice! Of course Becca is pretty!" Dora piped up.

"Well I suppose but they were pretty covered in dirt yesterday," Kyren said, chuckling.

"They had to climb the mountain!" Dora reminded them.

"Enough kids," Gwen said, though she was chuckling now too. She gave Becca and Dare one more hug before she went back to stealing more pictures of them, Dare quickly leading her to the front door to escape.

"Have fun you two, but not too much fun either," Becca heard Gwen say as Dare shut the front door. Becca looked at Dare to once again see he looked rather embarrassed by his family's behavior. But much to his relief she was laughing.

"Don't say it," Becca warned.

"Don't say what?" Dare asked innocently.

"Don't apologize for them. Like I said, they're cute," Becca said smiling as he began to lead her down the road. She thought about asking where they were going, reminding herself how excited he was to be surprising her. They walked along in comfortable quiet, their destination becoming somewhat more obvious as the road narrowed. It looked like it was coming to an end with the only thing in front of them an entrance into another giant mountain.

Becca quickly noticed that entire side of the mountain they were already on had several more hills and mountains along the edge. She couldn't help wonder what the drop would be like from the very tops of the higher peaks, knowing it was likely a rather grim answer. But she wasn't planning on jumping off them either. She was just curious for curiosity's sake. She also began to wonder if she was begin led to mine where Dare's father was when the cave-in happened. She quickly looked over. No, he looked much too cheerful for that.

"What's up? Is this ok?" He worried out loud.

"Yeah, was just making sure you were ok too," she said, squeezing his hand with reassurance.

"After you then," he said with another of his famously cheerful smiles. Becca went inside the cave and right away saw that this wasn't one of the many mining spots the Dwarven Island was famous for. This must have been a tourist attraction she hadn't yet heard of. A few steps in and Becca was lost in a round cave of glittering rocks and walls.

"Woah!" she exclaimed, quickly going to examine everything she could despite the limited amount of light. Although, she supposed that was party of the beauty here too. She realized she had come full circle when her eyes met Dare's now purple reflecting hues staring at her. He had been watching her with delight this entire time.