Child of Fire and Night

Chapter Three

"Nyx. Nyx, wake up. You still want to go swimming don't you?" A voice said in my ear.

I pressed my face in the pillow and groaned. This was the first time in the past few days that I had been able to sleep soundly. I didn't want to wake up.

"If you don't wake up we won't go swimming."

There was something warm pressed up against my back and the blanket felt heavier than it had before I fell asleep. "Leave me alone." I grumbled.

Someone threw a pillow at me and I opened my eyes, glaring across the room. Ivan was grinning from ear to ear and there was a pillow missing from his bed. "Just because you're all snuggled up with Viktor doesn't mean you don't have to wake up."

"Hmm?" Whatever it was that was pressed up against me shifted, and I turned to look behind me.

VIktor sat up and I gasped softly. Before I could say anything Ivan laughed and said, "You grabbed his arm while you were sleeping and wouldn't let go."

"Ah." I sat up awkwardly and ran a hand through my sleep tousled hair. "Sorry."

He shrugged and looked away. "It's fine. You used to do that all the time when we were younger."

"Yeah. But it's different for you now isn't it?" I asked.

Ivan rolled his eyes and threw a bundle at me. "If you thought it was any different from how it used to be, you wouldn't have fallen asleep in the same room with two men."

I looked down at the bundle Ivan had thrown. It was actually a towel and as I unrolled it, my swimsuit fell out. "You went through my stuff again, didn't you." It was phrased as a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah, well, Viktor fell asleep for a bit too, so I got bored." He pointed to a corner of the room. "I grabbed your bag too. Now you don't have to worry about anything before you leave tonight. We can have fun for the rest of the day."

Viktor pushed me gently off the bed. "Go get changed. There's no fun staying cooped up in here on your last day."

I stood and grabbed my swimsuit. "Alright." I walked to the bathroom and locked the door behind me, sighing. I undid the laces from the front of my dress, and let it fall to the ground. I stared at my swimsuit. It was a black and gold two piece. Sighing again, I put it on. Thankfully, Ivan had also grabbed the red, mesh cover up that I usually wore as well, and I pulled it on over my swimsuit. I picked up my dress and folded it neatly, the opened the door.

Viktor and Ivan were standing next to their beds. They had changed into their swim shorts and were in the process of pulling on tank tops. Both of them were, in no doubt, excellent shape. The muscles in Ivan's back flexed as he pulled his shirt over his head and stretched. He and Viktor turned as they heard the door open and I caught a glimpse of a six pack before Viktor pulled his shirt all the way down.

"Admiring the view?" Ivan asked, crossing his arms.

"Maybe a little. I always forget that you guys are actually in really good shape. Especially you, Viktor." I smiled, remembering when we were younger. "You were always a chubby kid when we were growing up."

"Chubby?" Ivan laughed. "He was more than chubby!"

Viktor crossed his arms and glared at Ivan. "And you were always that scrawny kid who cried over everything."

Ivan stopped laughing. "I did not cry over everything."

"Yes you did." Viktor said.

I held back a laugh as the two bickered. "I suppose no one would believe me if I told them you were a crybaby growing up, Ivan, or that Viktor used to be extremely chubby."

"Hey!" The said in unison, turning on me.

"What? It's true!" I laughed. "Come on. Let's go. I didn't changed into this just so we could argue about what we looked like when we were kids."

The boys grabbed their towels and we headed towards the lake. As we walked down the halls and down to the lake, the boys continued to bicker about what they were like when we were younger. I smiled sadly as I listened to them. This would be something I would miss the most. Hanging out with and talking to my two best friends.

We set our towels down on a low tree branch when we reached the lake and I set my mesh cover up next to them. I turned around to face the two boys who had gone quiet. "What?"

"Nothing." Ivan said as he looked away and pulled off his shirt.

"We're not the only ones who look different from when we were younger. You're not exactly soft anymore either, Nyx." Viktor said, looking me up and down. He had taken his shirt off already.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

He smiled. "Nothing."

I raised an eyebrow. "Liar."

"Maybe." He and Ivan took a step closer to me and nodded at each other.

I backed away from them. "Oh no you don't. You're not-" Viktor grabbed me by the waist and put me over his shoulder. "Hey! Put me down! Don't you dare -" My sentence was cut short and I screamed as he threw me in the lake.

The water rushed over my head and I pushed my hair away from my face and let my feet touch the sandy bottom. I glared at them, but before I could say anything, they both jumped in laughing.