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| Chapter Five | ||||||
| A few days went by with no word from Damon and they were beginning to cautiously assume he had left town. Ocean and Lance went out for a walk on the beach one afternoon. They were strolling along hand in hand when a little girl with a green sand pail ran up to them. She tripped on a piece of kelp and went flying forward on her face. �A monster�s got me, a monster�s got me!� the little girl shrieked, crying and trying to shake the kelp off her foot. Ocean let go of Lance�s hand and bent down to pick the little girl up and set her on her feet again. �It�s okay.� �The monster won�t let go!� the girl screamed, tears streaming down her face. Ocean unwrapped the strand of kelp from the girl�s ankle. �I got him!� �He�s got you too!� the girl yelled. �This big, strong guy over here can take care of that,� Ocean said, handing the slimy green plant to Lance, who pretended to wrestle with it. �Are you okay?� The girl nodded. �I think so.� �Ohhkay, that�s good,� Ocean replied. �Uh oh � you�ve got a scrape right there.� The girl began to cry again at the sight of blood. �Owie, owie, owie! That hurts!� �Oh, it�s okay.� Ocean hugged the little girl. �Hugs make everything better.� �I got it!� Lance exclaimed, tossing the kelp on the ground. �Good for you, Lance,� Ocean said. �Hey, check this out � it�s a sand dollar.� The girl carefully inspected the white disk. �Can I buy candy with it?� Ocean shook her head. �No, I don�t think you can buy stuff with this kind of dollar.� �Why not?� �Well, because these dollars belong to the ocean � not us,� Ocean explained. �But I think the ocean wants you to have this one.� The little girl looked at the sand dollar in awe. �Really?� Ocean nodded. �Yup. Whenever you feel sad, just take out this sand dollar and remember how the ocean chose you to keep one of its dollars.� �Okay.� The little girl squinted up at Lance. �Is he your husband?� Ocean laughed. �No.� �Oh. Is he your boyfriend?� the girl asked. �Yes, he is,� Ocean answered with a smile. �Oh � he�s cute,� the girl said and Ocean laughed as Lance blushed. �Yes, he is, isn�t he?� The girl beckoned Ocean closer and said softly in her ear, �I think he wants to marry you.� �How do you know that?� Ocean whispered. �Because every time he looks at you, his eyes say that he loves you,� the girl replied. �Really?� Ocean asked. The girl nodded her head earnestly, some locks of sun-bleached hair covering her eyes. �Yup. And your eyes say that you love him too.� �Wow, I guess our eyes talk a lot, huh?� Ocean said. �Annie! There you are! Are you bothering these nice people?� a woman asked, approaching the three. �No,� Ocean said, straightening up. �She�s been very sweet.� �She hasn�t asked any nosy questions, has she?� the woman asked. Lance shook his head. �Nope. The nosy question of the day was, �Is he your husband?�� �Oh no!� the woman exclaimed. �I�m sorry about that!� Ocean and Lance laughed. �It�s okay. Normal question.� �Well, thank you for taking care of her � sorry for the trouble,� the woman said, taking the girl�s hand. �You�re very welcome. It was nice talking to you,� Ocean said to the girl. �I hope you guys get married someday!� the little girl called. �Annie!� Ocean and Lance laughed and watched the two walk away. �Osh, you are so good with little kids,� Lance said, taking her hand. �No�� �Yeah, seriously. You�d be a great mom,� Lance said as they continued their stroll down the beach. �What�s that supposed to mean?� Ocean asked. �It means that if we were ever to have kids, you�d be an awesome mom,� Lance said. �Lance�you know how I am about having kids and any of that stuff before marriage�� �Yes, I know that, honey. But I�m just saying that if we were to get married and have kids�� �Just what are you implying, Mr. James Lance Bass?� Ocean asked with a teasing smile. �I�m not implying anything�� �You know what that little girl said to me?� �What?� �She said that you wanted to marry me.� �Why�d she say that?� �I asked her why, and she said that every time you look at me your eyes say that you love me.� �How profound.� �And every time I look at you, my eyes say that I love you.� �Is that the truth?� Lance asked. �Ain�t no lie, baby,� Ocean quoted with a smile. �Hope there aren�t any bye bye byes in there.� Lance smiled and kissed Ocean. �Mmm, no bye bye byes,� Ocean replied. �Rainbow�� Bridget said. �Hmm?� �You want to come with me and fix some dinner?� Bridget asked. Rainbow jumped up from her spot on a snoozing JC�s lap. �Yeah, let�s go. Your house or Justin�s?� �Here,� Bridget said, referring to her house. �Okay, good. I don�t feel like going all the way to Justin�s house,� Rainbow replied with a grin. �Oh, I know! That whole hundred yards is too far away for me.� Bridget laughed as they climbed up the stairs to the kitchen. Chris and Joey were sprawled out on the couch facing the ocean. �Bridget, this is a really awesome view.� �I know � I love it.� Bridget sighed. �What do you guys want for dinner?� �Spaghetti!� Joey and Chris yelled. �Okay then, spaghetti it is,� Bridget said with a smile. �Hey, look! Check it out!� Joey exclaimed. �There�s Osh and Lance!� �Aww, isn�t that romantic�a walk on the beach at sunset,� Chris said. �Couldn�t have planned it better myself.� �Rainbow looked at Chris strangely as she opened a cupboard and pulled out a couple bags of spaghetti. �Planned what?� �Planned a romantic walk on the beach,� Chris replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Bridget put some water in a pot and placed it on the stove to boil. �How long have you and JC been going out?� �Umm�about a year and two months,� Rainbow said, opening a can of spaghetti sauce. �Wow, that�s a long time,� Bridget replied. �Yeah, it is, but it doesn�t seem like it�s been that long.� Rainbow smiled. �It�s like, why don�t you just get married already?� Joey said. Rainbow faked a laugh. �Funny. You know, marriage changes everything � � �Who�s marrying who?� JC asked sleepily as he came up the stairs. �I�m marrying Rain, JC. Sorry about that, man,� Joey joked. �I knew I shoulda struck while the iron was hot!� JC exclaimed, approaching Rainbow who was leaning against the counter. �Good afternoon, Miss Rainbow.� Rainbow smiled. �Good afternoon, Mr. Chasez.� JC kissed Rainbow lightly, and though it was a small kiss, it still made Rainbow�s knees tremble and her heartbeat up a few beats. Rainbow heard the bubbling of water behind her. �Oh! The water�s boiling. Watch out, JC.� JC hoisted himself up on the counter and took a seat, watching Rainbow pour the noodles into the water. �Actually, I think the first couple to be married out of all of us will be Lance and Osh,� Chris speculated. �Why?� Bridget asked, stirring the spaghetti sauce. �Umm�I don�t know�just a feeling I guess,� Chris said. �Although I don�t see why JC and Rain over here couldn�t be married first.� �What?� Ocean asked with wide eyes as she went up the stairs. �Who�s getting married?� �No one,� Rainbow answered, stirring the noodles. �Where�s Lance?� �He went over to Justin�s.� Ocean plopped down in a recliner. �There was this little girl on the beach who said the cutest thing.� �Lemme guess � she said �N Sync is the coolest band ever,� Chris said. �Yeah, right � I doubt a little girl would know who we are,� JC replied. �You never know�� �So anyway, this girl said that Lance wanted to marry me, so I asked her why she thought that. She told me it was because every time Lance looks at me his eyes say that he loves me,� Ocean said. �How sweet!� Bridget exclaimed. �It was the cutest thing. And as she was leaving with her mom, she yelled, �I hope you guys get married someday!�� Ocean smiled. �Why are we talking about marriage all of a sudden?� Joey asked. �Hey, man, you brought it up,� Chris said. Lance climbed the stairs to his room in Justin�s house and flopped onto the bed. He reached over to the bedside table and picked up a small blue velvet box. His fingers ran over the soft velvet for a minute before he opened the box. Inside rested a simple gold ring with a single diamond on it. It wasn�t fancy, but that was because he knew Ocean hated fancy jewelry. �My mom may go for that kinda thing, but not me,� she had said once. Lance smiled, remembering when Ocean had said that with that light laugh of hers. They had been at the mall, both in disguise � Lance had been wearing a black baseball cap and Ocean wore her favorite beanie with sunglasses. She suggested that they just look around the jewelry store for fun, so in they went. Lance had pointed out a gaudy ring, filled with diamonds. That was when Ocean had clarified her taste in jewelry. �Hey man � what�s that?� Justin asked, entering Lance�s room. Wordlessly, Lance turned the box to Justin, displaying its contents to him. Justin�s eyes widened. �Whoa � is that what I think it is?� Lance nodded. �Yup.� �That is so great man!� Justin exclaimed. �When are you going to ask her?� Rainbow was carefully draining the water out of the noodle pot when the phone rang. �JC, can you get that please?� Bridget asked as she emerged from the refrigerator with full arms. �Of course. Hello? Hey Justin�why?� JC�s eyes widened. �Are you serious? I�ve been thinking about doing that too!�yeah, we�ll be right over.� JC hung up the phone. �Chris, Joey, we�re going to Justin�s.� �Why?� Chris asked as he and Joey stood up. �Don�t ask questions, let�s just get over there,� JC said sternly, but then kissed Rainbow softly. �I love you.� Rainbow looked suspiciously into JC�s serious blue eyes, which were no longer serious. They were filled with extreme, almost boyish, excitement. �I love you too.� JC smiled. �I�ll see you later.� Ocean, Rainbow and Bridget watched all three guys bolt out of the house with curiosity. �What�s gotten into them?� Ocean wondered. Bridget shook her head and began chopping the lettuce. �Beats me.� |
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| Chapter Six You Don't Have To Be Afraid index Back to that sweet, sweet gravy |
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