"Uh..." Ashley stuck his head out to the balcony the boy was talking at. "Do I know you?"
"Who are you, and what are you doing in Zoe's house?!"
"Kevin? What are you doing?" Zoe walked up the driveway into sight.
"Zoe!" The boy rushed at her looking ecstati. But then he stopped to look back at the house. "Wait here, my dear. There is an intruder in your house."
"What?!" Zoe ran to the front door.
"No! I will get the intruder out!" He tried to look brave, and stepped inside.
"Zoe!" Ashley called from above. She moved back to see him.
"Ash! Watch it! There's a burgalar in the house!" She yelled up to him. He turned white and looked around behind him into the dark house.
Ashley started creeping into the house, and then Zoe heard a loud "AHHHH!!!!" and a crash. They got it! She thought wildly.
Zoe ran to the door, and took the stairs two at a time. She ran into the hallway, and flicked the lights on. The sight she found there, was, truly amazing.
"Ashley? Kevin?" Ashley was lying still on the floor, face down, with a huge lump forming on the back of his head. Kevin was lying nearby. No bumps or bleeding, he was just lying there, with a saucepan in his hand.
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An hour later, after Zoe had revived both boys, and Ashley had thrown Kevin out of the house, Zoe and Ashley were sitting at the dining room table.
"So, let me get this straight, Kevin came here looking for you, right?" Ashley looked at Zoe while holding an ice-pack to the back of his head.
"Right." Zoe looked at the table.
"And then, when he started talking at the balcony, I came out, and he thought I was an intruder?"
"Right."
"And then, you come home, and he decides to impress you by getting this intruder out of the house."
"Right."
"And then, you tell me that there's an intruder, so I also go after it."
"Right."
"And then, Kevin, wacks me over the head with a saucepan, and faints."
"Right."
"And you see nothing wrong with this whole thing?" Ashley looked at Zoe beseechingly. Zoe, started laughing.
******************************************************************
Airay watched Declan's back as they rode through the forest.
"How much further before we stop?" She called hopefully. Airay was not used to being on a horse for so long and she was aching all over.
"I'm not sure..." Came the slow soft answer from Declan. Airay frowned. Declan sounded way too weak. Even being a little weak was unusual for him.
"Dec..." She called out tentatively. Suddenly, his head bobbed forward, and he toppled right off his horse.
"Declan!" Airay slid down her horse's side, and ran to where Declan lay on the soft leafy ground.
"Declan?" She sat beside him and pulled his head onto her lap. Airay patted his face gently to get him to stay conscious.
"Airay..." He whispered before shutting his eyes again.
"No! Keep your eyes open!" Airay slapped him. Hard.
"What?! Ahhh! Don't hit me!" He tried putting his arms up to fend her off, but he was too weak.
"Stay awake!" She gave him one last slap and then leaned down and gave him a long hard kiss.
"Wow. I should fall off my horse more often." He grinned slightly. He reached up and put his hand on the back of her neck. Airay bent at his insistence and kissed him again.
*********************************************************************
"I call upon the power Earth, North." Zoe set the candle down on the North corner of the table.
"Shut up!" Ashley's voice could be heard from the floor below.
"No!" Zoe went back to casting the circle.
Below, Ashley grimaced. The girl was crazy. It was four in the morning, and she had music blasting from her room.
Ashley sighed. A year earlier, when his mother had died, Ashley fulfilled her last wishes and stepped up as Zoe's guardian.
His mother had been diagnosed with cancer almost a year befored she died.
Zoe had taken her death terribly. Ashley missed her, but he kept up a brave front for Zoe. She still woke up at night, crying. When she actually slept at home. She had quit smoking though. Ashley considered that progress.
He wasn't sure exactly what Zoe did, but guys would show up neayl every night saying that they couldn't live without her. It was a different guy each time. It was like a bad romance novel.
Ashley groaned as he heard the front door bell ring. He got out of bed, clad only in huis boxers, and went to answer it.
"Hullo?" He looked blankly at the door.
"Zoe?" A teenaged boy stared back. Ashley closed the door, and settled back to bed.
* * *
