Unlike Jordan, others were able to talk to their crushes. And other others were making the opposite of progress, whatever that is.

The girls were standing by their lockers, conveniently located on the other side of the Musketeers lockers. Tessa was putting her books away, Arya was pulling books out, and Davina was trying to remember the combination to her locker. She eventually gave up and slammed her hand against her locker, forcing it open. The others looked at her disapprovingly and chuckled, to which she just shrugged.

Naomi was trying to teach the boys all about the fall of the Tsar's for their upcoming history test when she spotted Dominic.

"Hey, Dom-"

He walked straight past her, urgency written all over his face. They watched as he went over to the girls on the other side and grabbed Davina by the elbow.

"We need to have a talk," He said to her, not bothering with hellos.

Davina rolled her eyes, unbothered by his actions. "I already know where babies come from."

Dominic didn't have his usual quip to counter her. Instead, he leaned down and whispered something in her ear.

This certainly had the Musketeers attention as they all unconsciously leaned in to hear what was being said.

Dominic stood back up to his full height, a small smile playing on his face when Davina didn't do anything but nod at him.

She then gave the other two a look they must have gotten since they closed their lockers and went to their classes. Davina and Dominic, on the other hand, walked together in the opposite direction towards the exit of the school.

The others looked at Bennett in anticipation. As usual, they found it very difficult to read his reaction. They got it this time, though, when he slammed his locker shut and stalked off.

*******

Lunch had rolled around, and there was still no sign of Davina or Dominic. Bennett felt uptight. He could only wonder what those two had gone to talk about—something they couldn't discuss at school in front of others. It didn't help the Musketeers had theorised Dominic was related to the Lost Boys, even being Nicotine himself.

There was also this unjustified feeling of rage. He wasn't sure where it was coming from, but Jordan would call it jealousy if you asked him.

Bennett let out a frustrated sigh. He wanted to hit something, anything. At the moment, mainly Jordan. It didn't help he was receiving pitying looks from his friends. No matter how many times he told them he was okay, that he didn't care, that they didn't need to be together right away, he couldn't shake their pity off. He should probably tell him what happened at the raid, but he couldn't bring himself to let them know.

Part of him theorised it was because he wasn't ready to villainise her. That small part of him wanted to hold out hope that she and the others weren't part of anything malicious, that they had just found themselves on the wrong side of the war. That they didn't know any better. But he didn't know them well enough.

Davina - she was a puzzle he couldn't quite figure out. For the first time in his life, he didn't have someone wholly figured out. He wanted to know more about her but couldn't differentiate between want and need. Was he only intrigued by her because he knows their future together? Would it have been different if he didn't she was his future wife? Would it have been easier to confront her?

Arya - seemed as if she had nothing to do with it, but with the way they had just understood Davina's look, tells Bennett she knows more than she's letting on. Bennett gathered that she was someone with a darker side. No one was utterly sunshine and rainbows.

"Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset babe, red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again, even if it's just in your wildest dreams."

She sang at the top of her lungs. She had stolen her mother's red lipstick and wore her too-high heels, using her hairbrush as a makeshift microphone singing into the full-length mirror of her room. The evening dusk was settling, giving her a golden aura. She turned around. He was lounging on her bed, watching her in amusement as she sang to him.

"Someday, when you leave me, I'd bet these memories follow you around."

Bennett snapped out of his thoughts. He had no idea where that memory of her had come from, but the eery words echoed in his head. Tessa to him was everything but complex, he could read her like a book, and if he was correct about her, this was not the type of stuff she got herself involved in. She wouldn't, not after what happened to her.

Then why did it seem like she already was involved? It's an uncomfortable awareness when realising you don't know someone as well as you thought. The sense of security pulled out from under you. Bennett knew even if he called her his friend, he couldn't fully trust her.

He knew she wasn't easily trusting of him anyway.

They were headed to their afternoon lessons, lunch was over, and Declan mentioned he needed to pick up his books for the next class. Naturally, they all assembled around their lockers once more.

"Well, well well, look what we have here,"

The Musketeers looked up towards the balcony. Tessa and Arya were standing there looking down towards the figures who had just walked into the building.

Davina and Dominic also looked up towards the girls, Dominic's face questioning what the girls were doing there.

"Davina Carter, I expected better of you, missing most of the school day. What have you got to say for yourself?" Arya chastised her mockingly.

Other kids in the corridor had stopped and watched.

Davina gritted her teeth, not liking the attention.

"I expected more from you, but here you are, running around the town with a boy," Tessa nodded solemnly.

If Davina's face weren't already flushed from rage, she would have been blushing. Done with her friends' antics, she went up to a football player- Derek and grabbed the football in his hand.

"Give me that," She growled.

She aimed it at them and launched it across the corridor. The football flew flawlessly, hitting Tessa in the stomach. She went down with a grunt. Davina was only partially satisfied. She grabbed another football from the jocks and launched it, hitting Arya, who had been too busy laughing at Tessa to notice, square in the head.

Fully satisfied and with a slight smirk playing on her face, she fixed her jacket and walked away. Dominic watched her walk away in awe. He walked after her. "We need to get you on the team,"

Naomi laughed to herself, watching the antics. The boys looked at her questioningly.

"What's funny?"

"They're exactly like you,"

*******

Declan waited for Tessa to come into the class following the incident. Davina was already sitting in her usual spot, one table away from Bennett. Arya came in, rubbing her head and whining about the ringing in her head. She went to Davina's table, and two whispered about something, any animosity that would have been held was utterly absent.

As Arya went and sat on her desk in front of Jordan and Naomi, Tessa came in groaning about her stomach.

"Nice throw Carter," She said, turning to Davina, her usual eyes shining with mischief. Davina just flipped her off.

"Are you okay?" Declan asked, still wanting to make sure she wasn't too hurt.

"Yeah, thanks for asking," She then turned back to Davina, grinning. "I taught her how to do that. They grow up so fast," She faked, wiping a tear away.

"Shut it," Davina told her halfheartedly.

Ignoring Davina, Tessa watched Declan for a moment before asking. "Hey, aren't you on the football team?"

Declan snorted. "As if,"

Tessa's eyes shone. "What? You think you're too good for them?"

Declan wanted to know her reasoning for asking. "What makes you think I play?"

Tessa's eyes widened. Declan had a slight feeling he knew why she asked. He did wear this shirt on purpose.

Tessa cleared her throat. It was amusing seeing her anything but confident. Declan raised an eyebrow waiting for her to go on. This was flirting, right? They were flirting.

"It just seemed you played because well-" She broke down, motioning towards his well-defined arms.

Bingo.

Declan leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. Tessa rolled her eyes, smiling at the situation.

"Because what?" He mused, enjoying this way too much.

"Okay, Lynch, pack it up," She waved him off, turning away from him.

He laughed, letting her know he was kidding. "No, I don't play football. I play basketball but not for the school team,"

She turned back to him, intrigued by the conversation. She couldn't tell then, but fireworks were going off in Declan's stomach.

"Is it because you're not very good?"

Declan laughed out loud, not expecting that. "Yeah, probably,"

"Don't worry. There's no shame in that," She told him. "What team do you support?"

"Berserkers,"

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a guy,"

"Why? What about you?"

"Paladins obviously,"

"They're Naomi's favourite team too,"

"She's got good taste then,"

"What about you? Any interests in sports?"

Tessa faced the front of the classroom. "I dabble in ice hockey,"

Ahhh, so that's where Gabrielle gets her love of the sport from, he guessed it, when he couldn't sleep one night and stayed up thinking about what his future wife would be like. She was more than anything his imagination could come up with.

"Don't worry. There's no shame in not being very good at it,"

Tessa snorted and turned back to face him. "Have you played before?"

"Not really. I skated a couple of times, and I barely managed to stay up,"

She smiled a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You want to go sometime?"

Declan's heart started pounding. Was this really happening? Was she asking him out? Trying to play it cool, he slowly spoke. "Yeah, maybe I could teach you a thing or two,"

Tessa's apprehension turned into a smirk. She chuckled at his comment before facing the clock. The teacher still hadn't arrived to their class yet. "How about we go now?" She titled her head towards him.

It was as if Declan's heart was about to beat out of his chest. He could feel the sweat on his forehead. Was the room spinning? Was she for real? Wait, was this a dream?

"Come on," She tugged on his hand before he even had a chance to answer her. He barely managed to glance back at his friends' confused faces as they ducked out of their class and out of the school.

*******

Sitting in Tessa's Maserati, yes, a black Maserati, they stopped to get milkshakes. Tessa got them to and, in her words, "to shut Declan up about missing three classes."

They arrived at the skating rink, which wasn't busy around this time in the early afternoon since the skaters were all at school.

"Come on. We have a couple of hours in the rink by ourselves before the skating classes begin," Tessa explained, walking up to the receptionist.

They picked up skates for themselves. Tessa moved to pick up hockey equipment before changing her mind. Declan looked up, questioning her. "Aren't we playing hockey?"

She chuckled. "You said it yourself. You can barely stay up. Let's just skate today,"

Declan quirked his eyebrows up, something Tessa had come to love about him. It meant he had a snarky comment to make. "Oh yeah, just skating that's much more intimate,"

She laughed. "Yeah, whatever, let's see if you can keep up Lynch,"

Tessa had to admit. He wasn't totally hopeless on the ice. They were skating at a pretty good pace, talking about everything and anything on their minds. Conversation flowed effortlessly. It was like they'd been missing from each other's lives and only now found out what it felt to be truly living.

Declan wished he could say what he really wanted, words that played in his head relentlessly. I'm looking at you, and my heart loves the view.

Abruptly Tessa grabbed his hand, and other than barely registering the shock of electricity going up from his hand, he was pulled forward by her.

She picked up the pace, skating faster, forcing him to skate faster, his legs were almost burning, and he worried they'd crash.

Then she let go.

Panic rose inside of him. He was going too fast. She was nowhere near him anymore. The walls on the opposite side of the rink were coming in quick. He was going to crash.

She was in front of him, pulling on both of his hands and manoeuvring him away from the walls. She was laughing. It was as if she was the only one in focus for him.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let you fall," She said, smiling wider than the sky.

Too late, I already have.

They began spinning, Tessa effortlessly rotating them round and round, with Declan having nothing to do but follow. Their laughs intertwined with the melody in Declan's head, creating the perfect memory of their first date.

Declan only hoped the rest of his life was like this.

They sat at the bleachers for a water break after skating for what felt like minutes turned out to be a couple of hours. Tessa watched Declan panting, the sweat slightly dampening his hair, the way his chest rose and fell as he caught his breath. He turned to find her staring and smiled at her, a genuine boyish smile completely betraying the hard exterior his face usually rested in.

"What?"

"Nothing," She took another sip of water. It was hot in here.

Declan built up the courage to ask. "So, what did I do to have the honour of being here with you?"

Tessa looked slightly taken back. Another blush rose in her already flushed cheeks. "I don't know, I guess... you seem like you know what you want in life," She looked at him and then away. "It's kinda cool. Not everyone's so sure of who they are."

Declan's whole body warmed at her sentiment. "Thank you."

She looked back at him, a smaller, more sincere smile playing on her lips. "You're welcome,"

"Would you believe me if I said it's because I've seen the future?" He quirked up, playing with her.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Woah, such a poet, you should write that down and recite it some time,"

"Actually, I think I'd prefer to sing it," He took another swig of his water bottle.

She looked mildly surprised. "Ah, a musician?"

He nodded in affirmation. Only wishing to serenade her some time.

She looked out to nothing, deep in thought. "Hmm, an artist, a musician, a chef and a bookworm,"

"Huh?'

"Your group, you have one of each,"

"How do you know?" He asked, intrigued at how closely she's paid attention.

"Jordan's in my art class. I've seen Naomi read pretty much between every class, and well, who do you think used to sneak into the kitchen with Bennett when he cooked?"

"He cooked for you?" He asked. Something struck his heart. He hoped he didn't sound deflated.

Tessa snorted. "Well, not for me specifically, but I used to keep him company sometimes. The food was a bonus,"

Something in her eye glinted as if she recalled a memory. She chuckled to herself before sharing. "You know sometimes I wouldn't want to go, but he'd bribe me saying I could help him cook,"

Declan leaned in, intrigued.

"Turned out, he just wanted someone to wash the dishes," She explained.

Declan sat back laughing. Bennett still did that to them sometimes.

"I hope you got him back,"

She nodded eagerly. "Oh, I did. I had him put hockey equipment on and stand in goal as I took shots at the net," She laughed, her eyes shining, remembering.

"No way!" Declan laughed at the image of Bennett getting hit by hockey pucks.

Suddenly Tessa stopped, a smirk formed on her lips. "You play basketball and play music,"

"Uh, huh,"

"That would make you Troy Bolton," She waggled her eyebrows at him.

"No way!"

She laughed, teasing him. "Yes, way!" She mocked, moving to get back onto the ice, skating away from him.

Declan got to his feet, transitioning onto the ice. He skated after her, mounting at a steady pace. He was gaining on her. She let out a squeal as he grabbed her from behind, the two playfighting on the ice. Her squirming to get out of his grip, the both of them laughing breathlessly, spinning with this wild desire to hold onto one another.

He must have stuck his foot out because she tripped over it, and they both went tumbling over the ice.

"Tessa!"

Declan grabbed the back of her head before it made contact with the ice. They crashed with a thud, her head cupped in his hand, taking most of the damage, him falling on top of her.

They both grunted before opening their eyes and finding themselves staring at each other's faces. He could see himself in her eyes, and she could see the universe in his.

Neither of them moved.

"Well, well well, look what we have here," a voice called out from above them.

They both snapped their heads upwards. Davina was leaning over the gate, looking down at them. They managed to crash where the ring started.

She smirked at them.