Protectors

Chapter 18: Smoke and Mirrors

"Come on! We've got to go!" Amber called out through the house. "We're going to be late."

"Coming!" She heard Faith's voice as she stepped into the sitting room, pulling on a jacket.

"Where are the boys?" Amber said, an amused look on her face.

"No idea." Faith chuckled, shaking her head. "I'll go look." She said, beginning to knock on the doors.

"Christopher?" She called, knocking on the door, opening it to find him sleeping. "Oh." She smiled, walking over to the bed, lightly pressing a kiss to his lips.

He stirred, slowly blinking his eyes as he was met with Faith's smile, her hand resting on his shoulder.

"Rise and shine." She laughed. "We've got to go. We're meeting everyone for dinner."

"Ah that's right." He said, voice raspy from sleep as he got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I'll be ready in a sec."

"Okay, be fast." She said, giving him another peck as she moved onto Luke's room, knocking lightly on the door. Knocking again, she still got no answer and she slowly slid the door open to find him on the bed sleeping. "Oh my goodness." She laughed walking over to the bed and lightly shaking him, murmuring to herself "They are exactly the same."

"Just a few minutes." Luke mumbled, rolling away from her as she chuckled, lightly whacking him with a pillow.

"We've got to go." She laughed, "We're going to Amber's for dinner."

Luke sat up abruptly. "Okay. Dinner sounds lovely." He grinned. "I'm famished."

"Hurry up." She called over her shoulder as she reached Rory's door. Lightly knocking she heard a faint 'Come in' as she entered, seeing Rory shirtless and holding up two different shirts. "Oh! Sorry." She blushed, covering her eyes as she backed out into the doorway. "I thought I heard a 'come in'."

"You did." Rory chuckled, "I need your help."

"With what?" She said, uncovering her eyes and walking back into the room, cheeks still pink from the encounter.

He laughed, seeing her face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take you by surprise."

"You're good." She laughed, "We'll just pretend it didn't happen."

"Whatever you'd like." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"What do you need help with?" She asked curiously. "And why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"I thought you said you didn't want to talk about it." He teased, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"You are impossible." Faith laughed, shaking her head.

"Okay in all seriousness, what shirt do I wear?" He said, holding up two button up shirts, one in black and one in royal blue.

"That's rather fancy." Faith chuckled. "Who are you trying to impress?" She teased.

"I mean, we're going to Amber's house..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Aww cute." Faith teased.

"You're not helping." Rory whined, throwing a shirt at her with a laugh.

"Okay, okay." Faith laughed. "Wear the blue one." She smiled, "That's Amber's favorite color."

"Thank you!" He called out as she walked back into the hallway, meeting Amber at the front door.

"They're coming." She laughed, as Christopher and Luke walked into the room.