The Reckless And The Brave

The Cooties Test Came Up Negative

Camille's POV

We'd made it to the building we were supposed to head for. I was too shocked to even think about why our parents were involved in this. Malakai and I hadn't spoken in hours. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, as I had gone many hours without speaking to him before. But this was different, since we were stuck in the middle of nowhere together.

Still, we hadn't really said a word to each other since the kiss. Which was a really good kiss. And I wanted to do it again, a lot. But I couldn't say that to him. He was the one that kissed me originally but I wasn't sure if—

"Camille." Malakai's voice drew me out of my thoughts. I just looked up at him, eyes wide. "I can't do this anymore. The silence is killing me."

"Yeah, me too," I whispered.

"Did you... want that?" he asked awkwardly. I saw him cringe at himself when he thought I wasn't looking.

"Yeah..." I admitted, dragging out the word. "You?"

"Well, I was the one that initiated it, and I don't regret it, so..."

"Do you want it to happen again?" I asked slowly, not sure of the words or what they would mean. But maybe he wasn't either.

"I think so," he said, looking over me. "Would we be—"

"I don't know," I said, perhaps too quickly. "I'm not good at that kind of thing. I know I've helped you get a few girls before but you've steered every guy away from me. So I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I've never... been with someone that meant that much to me," he said softly. He sat down on a bench in what looked like an armoury, and I joined him. "That sounds really bad, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do," I assured him. Malakai wasn't a man whore or anything. His mother raised him better than that. He'd had a few girlfriends, but to my surprise it was never anything serious. Everyone usually was interested in him, though.

"Do you want to know why they never lasted long?" he asked tentatively.

"There's a reason?"

"Well, yeah," he chuckled. "Anyway. It's because they weren't what I really wanted."

"That's usually how it works—"

"Do you know what I really wanted?" He wasn't having any of my comments, it seemed. But I was scared his answer, so I didn't say anything. "You. I wanted you."

I was silent for a moment, simply because I was in shock and couldn't come up with anything decent to say. Until I did. "For how long?" I asked softly.

"Long time," he told me, looking at the ground.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Courage," he admitted. "Or lack thereof, I suppose. But after going on this adventure with you, maybe it just seems like the only thing I have to lose anymore is you. But I don't want to lose you, especially after you were never mine." He was quiet for a moment. "Do you want to be?"

I had to think for a moment. I knew the answer was yes, I just had to think of a nice, romantic movie way to say it. "Sure," was what came out of my mouth. I would have smacked myself, but decided not to. "I mean... yes. Yes I do."

"Cool," he laughed awkwardly. "Do you wanna kiss again or something—" I saved him from himself and pressed my lips to his.

"Oooh, maybe we can hold hands like those people in movies," I said excitedly. "You know, the way only couples do." I didn't feel as bad about calling us a couple as I thought I would. Probably because he didn't say anything about it.

"Like this?" he asked softly, taking my hand and matching it with his. We held it that way for a brief second, before he laced his fingers with mine.

"Yeah," I whispered, "like that."

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When we decided that we were over the embarrassment, Malakai and I went back out their to see my parents and their... entourage. Although when we got there, there were a few more people than before.

"Camille? Malakai?"

My eyes went wide, and so did Malakai's. "Grandma?" I asked. "Grandpa... what are you doing here?" They enveloped us in hugs that were way too tight for breathing, and conveniently did not answer my question.

"Spencer," Grandma scolded, smacking him upside the head. "What are you doing, bringing the kids into this?"

"We didn't—" Dad started, but never got to finish.

"We'll explain later," Asher said. "For now, you all need to stay here. Alastair, you too."

"What?" he cried.

"Yeah, I'm with the old guy on this one," Malakai said. "Why exactly do we have to stay here?"

"Because... it's dangerous," Emily told us. "We don't want you to get hurt."

"Get hurt?" His voice was rising. "Doing what? Why is no one answering any of our questions as to what the hell is going on?"

"The reason everyone is here is because there was an attack planned on the palace and we didn't want anyone to die," Dad said. What palace was he talking about? And what did it have to do with all these people—including my grandparents.

"They're here," Mom announced. "They must have figured it out. Kids, don't move."

"Um—you're too old to fight!" I protested.

"Bitch," Mom shot back, holding up her middle finger at me. Asher grabbed her hand, and hid any of the evidence that she'd done that.

"We'll probably have a better chance at defeating these people than you do!" I cried

"Remember that family discussion I was talking about?" Asher asked. "Yeah, we're gonna do that later and you're gonna find out a lot of stuff that you're not supposed to. Bye!" And with that, our parents and two of the men they were with booked it outside.