Siamese712 wrote:

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Another great Chapter,like all your chapters, but D@me there long!

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 Sorry...

The length bugs me too, I don't want to lose readers because they are daunted by the chapter's length, or they get bored before they finish it....

Sorry they're so long, but I try and put as much detail and excitement in them as possible to make up for the amount of time it takes me to write them; so that the readers will spend more time enjoying it, rather than reading something really short after a long wait.

Plus, I get carried away...I start writing it according to how the story is going, and then I start listening to music, and the music gives me inspiration to add things in, like action, arguments or soppy love moments   XD

Music really helps me to write according to the mood of it, for example, the next chapter (Which will hopefully be up soon), is full of....wait no, I can't give it away...umm....it's....it's very emotional.

And I've put a...damn, I can't give it away....I've put in a....big interesting bit at the end, after something happens, and I wrote it all having watched 'Twilight' on DVD('Cause I loved the film and the books, so I had to get in on DVD!)  And I adapted it from a certain scene in the film, as well as listening to;

'Let Me Sign' By Robert Pattinson (Who Plays Edward Cullen, in 'Twilight')

and, 'Phasination Phase' (Which is a song [instrumental piece] from the film)

Both of the songs can be found on www.youtube.com if anyone wants to listen to them, I'll find them and put the links to the song up at the start of the chapter.

But yeah, the next one is quite long, and for that I'm really sorry, but when you read it you'll understand why I had to make it so long, I couldn't just stop, otherwise it would stop/interrupt the flow of the chapter.  And that would dissapoint reders, and me!

So yeah, be prepared for a long'n, but trust me; it'll be worth it!

Well, the chapter is finally done!

Once again, there will be a delay before the next one is published, with homework and all of that annoying stuff being at the top of my priority list...

If anyone is interested, the following chapter (expecially the end of it) I wrote whilst listening to music, which inspired most of what is written towards the end. It turns out, for me anyway, that music really helps the writer to write according to the mood of the music that he/she is listening to, and I found that that has helped me to write this chapter.

The songs that inspired me so much, are actually songs that were featured in the film 'Twilight'. The Songs are easy to find on www.youtube.com I recommend listening to the two songs when reading the chapter.

'Phasination Phase' - Twilight: The Score (The instrumental music from the film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dutQeqaR-vI

'Let Me Sign' - Robert Pattinson (The actor who play s'Edward Cullen', in 'Twilight')

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u41N2EaNDsI

I found that 'Let Me Sign' was mainly the song that gave me the inspiration, but 'Phasination Phase' is still quite a...I'm not sure how to describe it...powerful/emotional piece.

This chapter does come with a warning, however. As some people may find the ending of the chapter somewhat...inappropriate....but personally I really like it, but y'know....

Anyway, I think that is all I have to say...On with the story…

BTW, This chapter is the longest…tis 30 pages long…with….7721 words in it!

Which is well over my usual limit of about 23-24 (Pages)….but, when you read it you’ll understand why I couldn’t stop it at any particular point, other than where I have stopped it….

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'Love, Lust and Misplaced Faith'
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Ace awoke feeling as though he wouldn’t get back to sleep even if he tried.  He got up, and left the room, taking a glance at Lexi before he left, she looked so peaceful, her eyes shut in slumber, and her chest rising and falling with every breath; the warmth she gave him when they slept.  He had hardly felt her move all night, so at least she wasn’t vomiting any more, to Ace’s relief.

He entered his room; there was no need to make the bed this morning.  Strangely, it felt weird for the rabbit.  After being so used to his own bed, and then suddenly not sleeping in it.   But, he figured that’s how Lexi must’ve felt when she started sleeping in his bed, rather than her hammock.  He retrieved his uniform and took a shower before getting dressed and going to leave his room, naturally, opening the curtains in his room before he left.

The new light that entered his room calmed him.  And he could almost feel the room warming up already; the summer heat relaxed him, even in the morning – the coldest part of the day.  He sighed happily, today was going to be great, that was, if Lexi was okay and they didn’t have and missions…but somehow it seemed unlikely. 

Not that the bunny was being pessimistic, but somehow, with his luck, he knew that today wouldn’t be a good one.  He knew that even if Lexi was okay, what was to say that she would be okay again tomorrow? What was wrong with her? 

Is it life threatening?

Ace sighed, this time in melancholy.  He didn’t want to think that Lexi, his girlfriend.  The one person he loved more than life itself was sick, and they didn’t know what was wrong with her.  It saddened him, but the sadness only seemed to turn itself into frustration, and the frustration would turned into determination.  Determination to make Lexi better again, but thinking of that only made him sad again. 

It was an annoying cycle for the rabbit.   And he decided to do his best to keep his head up, and think positive.  He couldn’t afford to have his mind plagued with doubt, that cycle would most likely make him depressed, and then he wouldn’t be able to think straight…and logically. 

He needed to be happy.

Leaving his room, Ace decided to check up on Tech, and see if he had any news about Lexi’s condition.  But instead of finding him in his Lab, Tech was seated in the kitchen with an annoyed look on his face as he stirred his coffee with a small silver tea spoon. 

“Hey Tech, umm…are you okay?”  Ace asked, through some hesitation; he was concerned that Tech seemed oddly sour.  Usually if he had had a late night in his lab he was just tired in the morning until he had some coffee to wake him up, after which he’d be back to his normal self.  But something seemed different; and going on the amount of coffee that was still in his cup, he had already drunk some - ‘so why would he be in such a foul mood?’ Ace thought to himself as he sat down opposite to the Coyote.

“…Yeah. Yeah I’m fine.”  Tech seemed to snap out of his ‘trance-like’ state and he now looked down at his coffee and sighed.  “I still don’t now what’s wrong with Lex.  And I’m worried about her.  Something serious could be wrong with her and I’m at my wit’s end.  I’ve never really felt this way before, I mean, not being able to work out what’s wrong with a machine or an experiment is one thing, but a living, breathing person who’s life could be at stake - who happens to be one of our closest friends…it...it’s scaring me.”  Tech sighed.

“Hey, don’t worry Tech.”  Ace tried to comfort him, or whether it was himself too Ace wasn’t sure, but he continued anyway.  “Lexi’s asleep, and she hasn’t vomited since last night, plus I t’ink her temperature has gone down… a little bit.”  Now Ace was the one who sighed in frustration.  “I know how you feel, but at least you’re doing somet’in’ to work out what’s wrong with her.  I’m just hoping dat she’ll be okay, and dat’s not really gonna make any improvements to her condition.”  Ace looked down at the floor for a moment, before turning back to Tech.  “She’s my best friend and my girlfriend - of course I’d do anything to help her, and I just want her to be okay.”  Ace’s voice broke as he said the last of his ‘speech’. 

“I’ll do everything I can.”  Tech sounded determined.

There was an awkward pause between the two males as they say sat, each staring off into space, deeply submerged in their own thoughts.  The two simultaneously sighed, before a reddish blur whizzed past their table and headed to the cupboard.  “Morning Rev.” The two greeted the bird glumly.

Rev looked puzzled and set the blender and the fruit he was carrying down on the bench by the cupboard and stood aloof at the end of the table, his stance was rigid.  He felt uncomfortable, but he couldn’t quite place why that was - maybe it was the fact that he felt very concerned for Lexi last night and hardly slept at all.  All he had wanted to do was to go into her room and hold her - she was like a mother figure to him, even though she was younger than him, (Only by a month or so) he still felt comfortable around her. And knowing that there was something wrong with her just made him feel depressed.  He had never really considered how she affected all of them.  Ace and Tech both looked terrible, and probably weren’t in the best of moods.  Rev became tense, and slightly annoyed.   “Look guys, umm…so is…Lexi...still…sick?”  He flinched as he said the last word.  ‘Sick’ just made him feel sick himself. 

It wasn’t often that any of the Loonatics were sick, they were all perfectly healthy - no one really seemed to think that superheroes could get sick because they were supposed to be able to defend themselves against threats that could potentially make them history.  The Loonatics did get the flu once, but there seemed to be an epidemic around Acmetropolis at the time and so many civilians were so absorbed in making themselves and their loved ones better; that no one really thought about what Acmetropolis’ heroes would be doing. 

But no, they were just as much under the weather as everyone else.  No-one wanted to do anything.  Rev smiled to himself as he remembered how they had all been sitting in the main room feeling like hell, and Lexi was the only one doing anything.  He remembered how even when Ace had told her to just sit down and stop trying to make them feel better, she still carried on – trying to make them feel better, even though she was just as sick as they were. 

Rev didn’t dare chuckle out loud, Ace and Tech would probably strangle him, but Rev recalled what Lexi had answered with; in response to Ace “I’m sorry Ace, I can’t.  For some reason I have this over-powering urge to make sure you guys are okay, and I’m sick of sitting around and doing nothing, and I can’t bare to see you guys like that.” 

That was one of the many things Rev loved about Lexi.  She had such an over-powering maternal instinct to nurture them, even though they were all older than her, and the guys are more than capable of looking after themselves.  So maybe that was why they all seemed glum, and maybe that’s why Rev thought of her as more of a mother figure.   

Rev sat down with the two of them. He had never really considered who he thought the ‘father figure’ of the team was.  He knew it was most likely Ace.  Probably because he was the leader, and had to look after them; their safety, health, that and he was the one in charge.  He was the one who would sort out conflicts and would be the one to make them smile and laugh and joke, like one big happy family.  ‘How incongruous,’ Rev thought.  ‘Lexi and Ace are dating, and I think of them as the parental figures in the group.’

 Rev couldn’t help but smile.  He didn’t care if Tech and Ace saw, and wondered why; Rev had always been more childish.  It was almost as though Lexi and Ace were the Parents, Rev was the little kid that was always happy and didn’t always know what was going on.  Slam was like the big brother, who kept to his own but was willing to do what ever he could to help his ‘family’.  Tech was like the uncle, wise and strong, but still had some youthfulness in him.  And lastly there was Duck.  He was almost like the big ignorant brother, constantly being scolded by the ones in charge, but belittling people whenever he got the chance.

Rev sighed too and slumped in posture.  He didn’t feel like getting breakfast anymore, he just felt sad.  He knew, and had always been the one to remind everyone else, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  But his sadness made him forget about his hunger.

Tech noticed this and tried to smile.  “Don’t worry Rev; she’ll be fine, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“You’re sure what’s nothing?” Duck asked as he walked into the room.  “You had better not be talking about Danger Du…Ahh!”Duck was interrupted as Tech threw the morning newspaper at the water fowl to make him be quiet.

 It worked.

“What was that for?”  Duck asked grumpily, as he stared at the tired and annoyed expressions that the three were giving him.  “This isn’t about Lexi, still…is it?”

There wasn’t an answer.  This put Duck on edge.  “Wha, what’s wrong with her?”

“We don’t know Duck.”  Ace sighed.  He got up and got himself, Duck and Rev a mug.  “Hey, Tech, Do you want a top up?”  Ace asked looking back over his shoulder.

“Yeah, please.”  Tech passed his cup over to the side and Ace started up the coffee maker.  He turned around, facing the group, and leant against the counter.  “So… where’s Slam?”  He asked.

--

Lexi took a deep breath, and sat herself down on the toilet.  She sifted through the small pieces of paper that came inside the small rectangular box, trying to find the set of instructions that was written in English.

After sifting through the strips of paper, for what felt like hours, she finally found one that she could understand…okay, so it was in Spanish, she could still understand it.  She knew how to speak the language.

But no, it wasn’t good enough.  She decided that despite her being bilingual and the fact that she was perfectly capable to understand most of the languages on the strips of paper, she wanted, no, needed to find one in English.  This was important; she needed to make sure she read the instructions correctly.

Eventually, she did find the set of instructions that were in English, discarding the other pieces of paper; she carefully studied the information that was written on the paper. 

Satisfied that she knew what to do, she took another deep breath, picked up the white stick that was in her lap, positioned it rightly, and waited.

‘Everything’s gonna be fine.’ She told herself.  ‘It’ll be a false alarm, and everything will be okay and I would’ve gotton myself all worked up for nothing...’

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“Everything’s gonna be fine…”

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“Okay Ma’am, you’ll be fine.  You just need to have a check up.  The doctors just need to make sure dat everythin’ is okay…”  Ace stood, talking to an injured woman who had a large cut running up the length of her arm.  But the woman was apprehensive about being taken to the hospital to have the cut treated, not wanting to be separated from her young children, “They’ll be fine.  I promise.” Ace assured her, “Dey can be taken up with you, and you’ll be with dem.”  He sealed his promise with a reassuring smile. 

The woman returned it and was loaded into an ambulance, where her two children followed.  Ace stood up and watched them leave, waving to the boy in the ambulance who looked out of the window as he was driven away.

“So how come you’re so good with people?”  Duck asked sourly, massaging the newly forming bruise on his arm as the two Loonatics walked back along the street to meet up with the rest of their team.

Ace couldn’t help but laugh at the mallard’s question, “Duck…I approach situations calmly…not forcefully…”

Duck looked up at his leader with a scowl, “Are you saying that I didn’t approach that situation calmly?”  He pointed behind him, causing the two to turn their heads and notice the large group of ambulance crew who were gathered around an injured woman.

“Yeah Duck…”  Ace looked back at the mallard as they continued to walk, “Dat woman hit you with a high heeled shoe…I t’ink there’s something to be said there about how you handled da situation…”

Duck crossed his arms, “Situation…umm…situ...oh forget it.  There’s no word that rhymes with situation…”

Ace looked at the bird, smirking, “You know Duck, I worry about you sometimes…”

Once they had returned to where Slam, Tech and Rev were, the two stopped talking as Tech came over to speak with his leader.

“Well, everything’s okay here.  Spider’s all tied up, good plan chief.”

“T’anks, Tech.”  Ace smiled.  “Well, should we get goin’, leave da authorities to sort out their big present.”

“Are you sure we should just…leave it there..?”  Duck asked, sceptical over whether not making sure it would be contained properly was such a good idea.

“Trust me Duck, it’s not going anywhere.”

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“Trust me.”

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Those were the two words that Lexi had heard Ace say a lot.

But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that if she told Ace what had happened to her he would be mad…the same with the others.  They’d be furious with her, and she wouldn’t know what to do.  She wouldn’t be able to speak to her parents about it; they would most likely strangle Ace and the others.  

She couldn’t speak to Zadavia about it, because she was back ruling her home planet, Freleng, that and she’d be mad and disappointed with her.

‘So what am I supposed to do?’  Lexi thought as she cried into her pillow.  Sure she had only taken one test, so it wasn’t necessarily accurate, but just seeing the result of it made her almost fall over when she found out.

For the last ten minutes she had been crying.  Contemplating what she could do.  She couldn’t just get rid of it without Ace knowing, that and it would be beneath her.  But she couldn’t keep it, could she?  Not without telling Ace and the guys…they’d notice eventually…

Suddenly she sat up, hearing the sound of the hanger doors opening.  The guys had returned from their mission. 

‘Oh Crap’

She immediately jump off of her hammock, and was about to leave and act as though she was fine, when a sudden thought made her stop in her tracks.

She quickly turned around, eyeing the white stick-like item that was on her bedside table, dashing into her bathroom, and dumping it in the bin.

She quickly ran out of the wash-room, stopping when she reached her door and remembering her composure.  She had to act calm and act natural when she opened her door.  ‘Here goes nothing’

She opened the door and stepped out, walking the few short steps at the pace that she normally would, looking to her right, along the corridor where the other team member’s rooms were, as well as spare rooms, cleaning cupboards and Tech’s lab; was the hanger.  That’s where the rest of the team were walking from when they saw her emerge from her room.

To their surprise, she looked fine, already dressed in her uniform, after taking a shower, they assumed.  She was perfectly healthy, as if nothing was wrong.  Her ears were perky, her stance was relaxed and poised, and she seemed cheerful and was walking normally. 

She seemed…fine.

Ace, immediately noticing his girlfriend walk out of her room, cheered up instantly, and he immediately quickened his pace to a fast walk so that he could get to her quickly.

“Lexi!”  He smiled as he embraced her, picking her up as he did so, but he was unaware of it due to how happy he was.  Lexi simply rested her hands on his shoulders, while his were around her waist.  She wasn’t stunned by his actions in the slightest, she had been expecting him to act…something like that…besides, she was happy to see him too…

…kind of…

The grey bunny gave his partner a kiss before speaking, “Lexi…you, you…you look...great, you…you were terrible last night…”

Lexi gave him a look of mock annoyance before answering him sarcastically, “Wow, thanks.  Every girl wants to be told that.”

Ace blushed, “Sorry…”

Lexi smiled at him, “oh, I was kidding…kinda, anyway….can you put me down now?”

Ace looked at her, he was momentarily confused.  He hadn’t even realised that he was holding her in the air.  Looking down, he saw a distance, between her feet and the ground, of about a foot.  “Oh, right.”  He smiled as he put her down, gently.

The others soon approached the bunny couple and smiled at Lexi, “Wow Lexi, you...look…wait, have you been crying?”  Tech’s words were joyous at first, but noticing the reddish marks underneath her eyes suddenly alerted the coyote to the fact that some form of irritable substance, salty tears, had caused her eyes to look how they did.

Ace immediately looked at her; he too noticed what Tech had done just seconds ago, even now that her fur was a light pink because of her uniform.

Realising that she hadn’t removed all of the evidence of her discovery, Lexi immediately raised a hand to cover her eye (the one which wasn’t being blocked by her hair) and turned away.  “Umm…I, I took…a shower…”  She blurted out quickly.  Out of their view she shut her eyes tightly in annoyance, realising that they wouldn’t believe that excuse.

“But how did your eyes get red….you get shampoo in them or something?”  Duck asked, as he shrugged his shoulders.

“…I...umm…yeah...”

“But I thought dat you washed your hair yesterday?”  Ace asked, both he and Tech glanced at each other.  They each knew that she wasn’t telling the truth.

Lexi turned back around to face them, slowly backing herself against her door, “Yeah…well, I was puking last night, I didn’t want anything to be in my hair…it hangs down remember..?”

“Right…but…”  Ace started, he sound unconvinced at her answers.  But his next question was interrupted by Lexi.

“Jeez guys, I don’t have time for twenty questions!”  She quickly lashed out at them, earning strange looks from them all.  She hastily pressed a button on her door to open it, slipped through the opening doors when there was a wide enough gap for her to fit through, and quickly shut them, pressing herself against them once she was inside her room.

She panted, almost with anxiety, realising that they would most likely continue to ask her questions, wanting to know about her ‘miraculous recovery’  She slid down her door, her legs folding up against her stomach and chest, as she rested her crossed arms on them and cried.

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Siamese712 wrote:

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FINALLY! The secret is reveald!

That was such an amasing chapter! So many emotions and feelings!

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Yey, that was the reaction I was going for!

I was hoping it would be like that!!!!

Thanks!

“I don’t know…”  Ace sighed and looked down at her as he slowly placed a hand on the left hand side of her chest, above her breast, and he looked at his hand for a moment, deep in thought before he spoke softly “I…guess that heart’s gonna be beating for two soon.”  He looked at her eyes again, but she turned her head away from him, he could see that she was scared. 
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Well, personally I think this chapter isn’t one of my best, especially looking back on the previous one, but, I’ll let you guys be the judge of that!

This chapter isn’t very exciting, there isn’t much action or anything in it *Sigh*, but I’ll be able to make up for that in the chapters to come. 

BUT!   I strongly advise that, although I have just said that I personally don’t think it is very good, you must read it; as this is quite an important chapter…stuff happens.

So anyway, now that I’ve finished my rant, I shall let you read!

(Also, the song that is featured at the end of the chapter is ‘Rooftops’ by a welsh band – ‘LostProphets’   I included the song in the chapter because it fit in well with the situation, and the lyrics are meaningful and really fit in with the theme.  I strongly suggest to listen to the song, it is one of my favourites!)

Enjoy!

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 CHAPTER 23- 'TENSION'
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Her voice trembled.

It trembled with every breath she drew into her lungs.

It trembled as she tried to speak.

As she tried to find the right words.

As she tried to understand.

As she tried to believe him.

Believe every word that had come from the rabbit’s lips.

He knew it.  And she knew it.

But somehow, she didn’t want him to know.

She wanted to tell him herself…when she had the courage.

When he was happy, when she was sure that he wouldn’t get too angry with her.

But he worked it out.

Everything.

Everything that she tried to hide from him.

Everything that she didn’t want him to know.

Everything.

They sat, opposite each other, never taking their eyes off of the other as they tried to process the information into their brains.

For Ace, it was harder.

Realisation hit him like a shovel.  His girlfriend, Lexi, his best friend, who he had loved since the first moment he saw her, who he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with; was pregnant.

With his child.

He looked at her, straight in the eyes.  He didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed so obvious now; the puking, the temperature, the dizziness, the fatigue….the fainting.  How could he let himself be so stupid? It was obvious that it could have easily happened to her, and he could’ve at least done something to make sure that this didn’t happen.

He wanted to question her, ask her if she was sure, and ask her if the test was accurate.  But he couldn’t.  He knew it would be too painful for her, he had to accept it, but what were they to do?

How could they cope?

Should they get rid of it?

How would they tell the others?

What would their parents….their siblings, and their friends think?

Ace sighed and shut his eyes tightly, believing the facts was hard enough, but to know that he had to support her; and that they would be having a child was difficult to believe.

It reminded him of when he decided to live with his uncle; it was strange to wake up in a different room, a different house.  And grasping the fact that he would be living there for a while was strange to him…but this, this was too…difficult.

“What do we do?”  Lexi spoke quietly, and redirected her stare to the hammock underneath her, she didn’t need to see his furious expression, she knew that he was livid with her, and she tensed up and shut her eyes, bracing herself for the laments and shouts of protest that would come from her partner.

But it never happened.

Instead she felt his lips against hers, not even realising how he had gotten so close to her without her feeling or hearing him, she opened her eyes in surprise.

“I don’t know…”  He replied as he looked at her in the eyes, she looked back.  He placed a hand on her chin, his thumb gently stroking the soft fur on her cheek.

“I don’t know…”  He sighed and looked down at her as he slowly placed a hand on the left hand side of her chest, above her breast, and he looked at his hand for a moment, deep in thought before he spoke softly “I…guess that heart’s gonna be beating for two soon.”  He looked at her eyes again, but she turned her head away from him, he could see that she was scared. 

“Lexi…”

“Ace…I…I don’t want this…I don’t want to be…I’m not ready to…be…Ace, I can’t be a mother…not yet.”

Ace could see tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke, and he, once again, pressed his lips against hers, he continued several times before she finally kissed him back.  He broke away after some moments, his face close to hers as he spoke, “I know, Lexi.  But I’m gonna help, I’ll do everyt’in’ dat I can to help you…”

“No!”  Lexi interrupted him, her voice quiet but frantic, “Ace, I don’t want you to throw away everything for this…just…just don’t worry about it, okay.  I’ll look after it…I don’t want you to give up everything that you’ve got, everything that you’ve worked for.”

“Lexi, dis is my fault, dis couldn’t have happened to you on your own, dis is my mistake too.”

“But Ace!”  He voice trembled as she spoke, “This’ll mean throwing away your life for me…for…you know…and I don’t want you to.”  She could see that he was about to say something, to contradict her, most likely, so she continued, “This is your future that you’re destroying!”

“Lexi, I’m not gonna be destroyin’ anyt’in’” He spoke soothingly as he ran a hand through her hair, “Da baby’s my future, and so are you.  Dis is my problem too, and don’t you even try to t’ink that I’m just gonna leave you to handle dis on your own, I won’t let you, I’ll help – in every way dat I possibly can, I’ll help you.”

And again he pressed his lips to hers; she gave in immediately as he did so, finding comfort in his words and his proximity.  She felt safe, secure, like she always did when she was with him.

“What…about-the…guys?” She whispered.  Her sentence was continually interrupted as she tried to draw in air as they kissed.

“Forget about da guys…for now…”  This time they both felt the same way as Ace had done previously, that something was about to happen that they would prefer not to, “wait, wait wait wait wait!”  Ace backed away from her, “Not dat again…”  He smiled at her, while she did the same. 

The two got off of the hammock and walked towards the door to Lexi’s room, but she stopped them both, quickly placing a hand on his chest to make him stop, she lent her back against the wall and looked up at him.  “What do we tell the guys…I mean, we’ve been in here for a while now…and they…might…”

Ace thought for some time, “Well…dey didn’t see me go in here…”

“Yeah, but they might get suspicious when they realise that you and I have been together and away from them for a while…”

“True…”

Lexi kept her eyes focused on his as he thought about their options.

 “Okay, here’s what we do…”

--

“You know…”  Duck started as he sat down at the table beside Tech.  The rest of the team gave him confused looks as they turned their attention from their dinner, to the waterfowl, “What’s up with Lexi lately, I mean she was really moody, and then she was sick…she was happy….and then she had cried….and now Ace is missing…I think he knows something…”

--

Ace had left the tower roughly an hour after Lexi had done so.  He hadn’t spoken to anyone but when he left the training room he was tired, and he looked angry.  He still had the blank look on his face, which made the other’s feel numb whenever they looked at him.

He went without a jacket, it was summer anyway that and he really didn’t care about his feelings at that point.

He walked along the pathway which led to the park, the sun was beginning to set which gave everywhere a summery vibe to it, there was a gentle breeze which was warm and comforting, like how he felt when he held… her.

He didn’t feel like smiling to the children that ran past him, several metres away from their parents as they left the park for the day and retreated to their home for their dinner.

He didn’t feel like eating anything, he had missed out on lunch and dinner and he had eaten very little for breakfast, but despite his grumbling belly, and the aromas of food that swept out of the nearby restaurants which bordered the park, he continued to walk.  Musing and sulking over the situation.

As he walked, he passed through an arch way of trees; he walked along a gravel path where the rows of trees met up with three that were planted in the same way.  At the centre, more trees were planted in the shape of a large circle, where a ‘North, South, East, West’ pillar was, each row of trees was aligned with the four different directions on the pillar.

There were several benches around the circle, and ahead of him, Ace recognised a familiar pair of ears which he could see over the benches.  He quickened his pace, before jumping over the bench and sitting beside Lexi.  He greeted her with a kiss and a smile before speaking.

“So…are you okay?  Nothin’ bad happened to you on your way here, did it?”

Lexi smiled back at him, “No…I mean…yes…wait, I mean…I’m okay, and nothing bad happened.  Yeah, that makes sense.”  She smiled at him.

“Dat’s good.”

“Ace,” Lexi spoke softly, but he could tell that she had an essence of worry, pity and guilt in her voice.  “I’m…not too comfortable with lying to the guys…”

“Lexi…”  Ace interrupted her, he sighed, “Look, Pretending dat we were both angry and showing signs that we wanted to be alone…separately meant dat we had da opportunity to leave without da others bombarding us with accusing questions.  It was da only way…”

Lexi sighed and slumped in posture, “I know…but still…”

Ace interrupted her again, “Lex, we’ve been lying to them for da past week or so about us.  Sure they no that we’re dating but dey don’t know about da whole…t’ing t’ing…and us sharing a bed for da past week…and-a-bit.”

Lexi looked puzzled, “Wait, I’m confused; what thing thing.

“You know…the big thing…big problem...mistake…”  He sighed, “Night.  Of.  Conception…”

It finally clicked with Lexi, “Oh…right, yeah…that.”

“Yeah…”

“So...it’s getting a bit cold, you wanna head home?”  Ace asked, standing up and holding out a hand for his girlfriend.

“Yep.”  She replied as she put her hand in his and they began to walk towards the arch way of trees which led to their headquarters.

But before leaving, the two simultaneously stopped, turned around, and checked their pockets.

The both walked to a fountain at the centre of the circle of trees.   A stone engraved plaque read: ‘In Memory of Acmetropolis’ citizens’    Underneath the plaque was a smaller sign, the Loonatics had already read it though, and the two bunnies tossed their spare change into the fountain, and began to walk home.

***

‘In Memory of Acmetropolis’ citizens’

‘This fountain is dedicated to the men, women and children who were lost to us during, and in the aftermath of the 2772 meteor.  Though the city-planet was gifted with our loving heroes, the Loonatics, we will never forget the terrible loss of life that has scarred our memories forever.  But we will always love all those who have passed on from this world to the next, and we will be with them one day, but until then; we will continue to live our lives as the good-hearted and helpful citizens of Acmetropolis, and know that our loved ones are watching over us, wherever we are.’

***

--

When our time is up
When our lives are done
Will we say, we've had our fun

“You done starin’ yet?”

Will we make a mark this time
Will we always say we tried

Truthfully she wasn’t, Lexi wanted to just sit there, Ace’s arm wrapped tenderly around her waist, gazing up at the billions of stars over head; just the two of them together.

Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out

The two sat in the hanger of their headquarters, they sat together, watching the stars together as they thought about the situation at hand, and what they were going to do about it.

Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out
This is all we got now
Everybody scream your heart out

“Hmm?”

All the love I've met
I have no regrets
If it all ends now, I'm set

“I said, are you done starin’ yet.  You’ve been sitting there starin’ into space for over five minutes.  You okay?”  Ace asked, with a slightly concerned look on his face, he was becoming very worried for Lexi.  She was obviously upset about everything, and the fact that she continued to space out, look upset, and act as though she had forgotten how to talk made him worry.  Sure he was upset about it, he was terrified!  But she was dreadfully worried.

Will we make a mark this time
Will we always say we tried

“Yeah, I’m fine.  I guess, I just wasn’t expecting this, that’s all.”  Lexi half smiled, sighed, and dropped her gaze to the floor.  Lexi watched as her hand played with a small stone that rested by her crossed legs.  She gently pushed it, causing it to roll to her feet, where she would gently nudge it back.  She continued with the process, Ace, who eventually noticed that she was unusually distracted by something, watched it; but not with the same curiosity as his partner.

Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out

Ace frowned, he looked back up at her, and she did the same when he spoke, “What do you mean?”

“I guess....Maybe what we did was a bad idea.  What are we gonna do?   I would’ve thought if anything you would’ve been slightly...I don’t know, Stressed, disappointed, Angry....?”  She flinched, wondering if the anger she had expected would come from him would suddenly come now, now that she had mentioned it.

Standing on the rooftops
Wait until the bombs drop

“....Now hold up for a minute,  Sure this isn’t,  at all what I was expecting, and definitely not what I really wanted to happen to you, but why would I be angry?”  He pleaded, he looked straight into her eyes and his voice broke as e spoke, obviously upset that she thought that he would be angry with her.

This is all we got now
Scream until your heart stops

“I don’t know, it’s a big shock, and right now...I don’t think there is anything I can do about it...” Lexi roughly turned her head away; she didn’t want him to see the tears streaming down her face.

Never gonna regret
Watching every sunset

“Hey.” Ace said softly. He put his hand under her chin, so she would look at him; her eyes sparkled with the salty tears that had now moistened them more, he liked it when her eyes sparkled…but not with tears...

Listen to your heartbeat
All the love that we found

 “Lexi, this isn’t your fault.  If anything...It’s mine!”  He blurted out the last part, in an attempt to allow the blame to somehow shift to him, and of course, to try and make her smile.

Standing on the rooftops
Wait until the bombs drop

Lexi started to battle with her own conscience, trying to make sense of the whole situation was becoming difficult, like fighting with an exact replica of yourself, no matter how many punches you throw, somehow they only hurt you.  ‘It hasn’t worked.  I feel sick and humiliate.  How can I even look at him? He’s caring at least, and he’s trying to help, but he has, and never will, know what I’m going through.’

This is all we got now
Scream until your heart stops

“Lex, obviously, I have no idea how you feel right now, but I can promise you I’ll help.  So don’t think I’m just gonna bail on you just because this is mainly concerning you.” 

Never gonna regret
Watching every sunset

Lexi knew that he meant what he said, but she couldn’t help but feel somewhat…apprehensive of his answer.

Listen to your heartbeat
All the love that we found

She looked at him, her expression mixed between gratefulness, hope and disbelief. “Thank you.” She whispered before throwing her arms round his neck, she wasn’t sure whether she was happy or dismal but suddenly it felt as though all the emotions that had been bottled up inside her were pouring out.  She didn’t care if anyone else saw them, she didn’t care that Ace could see, hear and feel her crying into his chest.  All Lexi knew was throughout the period of time she was crying, He was there. 

Scream your heart out

Lexi pulled away sharply, suddenly remembering a thought that had crossed her mind earlier, a thought that she wanted…needed to share with him, “I guess deep down; that was what I was afraid of most...  whether you would be here for me or not.”  Ashamed of her own thoughts, Lexi turned her head away from him.    “I don’t even know how I could let myself think you wouldn’t be.  You’ve always cared, for as long as I’ve known you.  Since the day we were all brought together as a team, and you were chosen to be our leader, you’ve looked after us.  And you’ve looked after me.” 

Scream your heart out

Ace smiled and pulled her into a hug.

Scream your heart out

“I’ll always be here for you, you can tell me anything...and don’t you forget that.” He whispered.  “You’re the one person I’ve loved this much.  I would lay my own life down for you, happy just to know you’ll be safe.”

Scream your

Lexi looked up at him, her arms still wrapped around his middle, staring into his eyes.  He smiled when he noticed, before leaning in and passionately kissing her.

Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out

Lexi smiled happily and let him continue.

Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your…

The two sat there for hours, Ace still lovingly embracing Lexi, he was about to speak to her again, because she hadn’t said anything for while, but looking down, he realised that she was asleep, readjusting his position; he picked her up, bridal style and walked to his room with her in his arms.  He didn’t need to be careful about the others seeing him carry her to his room, it was past 11:00, the others were probably asleep, and Tech was most likely still in his lab.

Ace slowly and carefully carried her into his room, he didn’t bother with turning on his bedroom light, he knew his room, and he could easily find his bed without the aid of a light.  When he did find it, he carefully laid her down, pulling back the covers with one hand, and laying her in his bed.  Before he had tucked her feet underneath the sheets, he removed her shoes and wrist cuffs, at least that way her night sleep wouldn’t be too uncomfortable. 

She stirred when he was about to change into his sleep wear and clean his teeth, and turned around, noticing that she was awake.

He smiled and walked back to her side, “You fell asleep.”

“Yeah, I figured.”  She yawned, “I’ll be right back I’ll get into my pyjamas…”  She spoke groggily, obviously tired and annoyed that she had awoken from her slumber, and she left the room.

Ace smiled as he watched her leave, before resuming with his previous task of changing into his pyjamas and cleaning his teeth.

--

Once Lexi had returned after getting herself ready for bed, she climbed in next to Ace, who was waiting for her, she sighed with relaxation, happy that she finally had the opportunity to sleep and calm herself down after the long day.

She rested her head on his chest, as she always did, and closed her eyes.  But a sudden thought made her open her jade orbs once more and she spoke drowsily, “I think we should tell the guys what’s been going on.” She announced, half asleep.

“Are you sure?” Ace said, he leaned up on his arms carefully, so that he wouldn’t hurt her, and looked down at her.  He was concerned over how the others would react, but he also knew that they needed to know, despite how awkward things would get afterwards.

“Yes.” Lexi answered briefly before drifting off to sleep again.

‘Well this is gonna go down well’ Ace thought sarcastically before, too drifting into a deep slumber.

***

End of Flashback

Thanks guys!

I’m really sorry, guys!

This chapter has taken forever, but I’ve had so much homework to do, and I haven’t been feeling well lately, plus it’s been the hottest it’s been so far this year over here in England, so I’ve spent some time outside so enjoy it before it rains…tomorrow  L

But I have a new chapter!

I entitled it ‘Run’ because it is the name of the song that I used, and not because there is a big dramatic bit!

Seriously, this story could become a musical with the amount of music I’ve put in it, the song featured in this chapter is:

 ‘Run’ by Snow Patrol

I saw it live,  twas awesome, I recommend anyone to take the opportunity to see Snow Patrol live, they are amazing in concert!

Anyway…I’m getting of track…

…Oh yeah, there is a cliff hanger at the end of this chapter, but I figured that it would be a fitting ending to the chapter, plus I love leaving you guys in suspense!

__________________

CHAPTER 24 – ‘Run’

__________________

“So, are you ready, Lex?”  Ace asked as he stood up, he offered a hand to Lexi as she sat on his bed before him.  A blank gaze spread itself across her face after what he had just said.

They had recently been reminiscing everything that had happened to them before this moment.

The moment.

The moment where they had to tell their friends of what was going on between them, and what had happened because of just one night…

One mistake.

One impulsive action.

One thing.

Lexi sighed.  “Yeah, let’s go.”  She held Ace’s hand as she stood up, and clutched it tightly as they walked out of his room.

Neither spoke as they opened Ace’s door.  Both were amazed at how difficult the action actually was, as they took their first few steps out of his room, they heard the chatter of their friends from the kitchen.

With a sigh, the two began to walk.

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

It was like walking from a dark tunnel, and into the light of day.  It felt all so relieving to the bunny couple, but they were afraid.  Afraid of what lay in wait ahead of them.

A tunnel is a blind, deadly thing.

If there is no caution when walking through one, one could easily be overcome in the darkened mass of stale aromas and unknown dangers.

To pass through the end of the tunnel, one must be ever more cautious.

Anything could be waiting at the end.

Anything could easily ambush and overcome you.

Anything could kill you.

Or lay blame on you….

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

They each took a deep breath as they walked into the kitchen.  Their chests feeling like they were compressed with lead, it felt difficult for them to breathe.

But it was harder to look at their accusing team mate’s stares; as they all turned their attention, their glares, to Ace and Lexi as they entered the kitchen.

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder, louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

“Guys,” Ace spoke with a tone of authority in his voice.  Lexi looked up at him anxiously, clutching his hand ever more tightly through her anticipation. “We need to talk.”

The rest of the team eyed each other suspiciously, they were all confused and annoyed at the bunny duo after their actions yesterday, and were hoping that they would receive an apology, and an explanation about their behaviour. 

Tech and Duck exchanged glances as they pulled up a chair for themselves and sat down.  Their eyes never straying from the two bunnies as they sat down slowly and shakily, the weight of the stares that came from their team mates made them ever more nervous.

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

“So…”  Duck started smugly, fiddling with his thumbs as he glanced at the table in front of him, “I see that the two of you are back together then?”  He quickly turned his stare to them.

Ace and Lexi both stared at the floor in shame, “Duck…”  Lexi turned back to the group and shut her eyes tightly as she spoke, “We hadn’t fallen out…”

“It…was a…diversion…”  Ace said quietly, he stared at the table.  He wanted to be able to look at his friends’ eyes when he spoke to them, but suddenly his neck felt heavy, and he couldn’t raise his head up to speak to them properly.  Instead he fixed his gaze on the faint reflection of himself on the table.

“Diversion?”  Tech clarified, not entirely sure what he was talking about.  “Explain…”

“Umm…we…we had something…on our minds….something important…”  Lexi started, doing her best to look at Tech in the eyes as she spoke to him.  It half worked, but she kept switching her gaze from him, to her hands that rested in front of her on the table.

“Like what?”

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Lexi couldn’t answer that.  She couldn’t think of what to say in response to him.  Instead she shook her head slowly, resisting the urge to run out of the room.

Louder, louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

Ace continued.  “It was important…and personal…really personal…umm…and actin’ as though we were annoyed was da only way dat we would’ve been able to talk together without you guys getting’ any more suspicious….but I guess dat didn’t work.”

Slower, Slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

“Ya got that right, bunny.”  Duck scoffed, he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.  “So you lied to us.”

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess

“Yeah Duck.  Yeah, we did.”  Ace said quietly.  “In fact we’ve been lying to you guys about a lot of t’ings lately.

No-one spoke, the rest of the team simply looked at Ace and Lexi more intently than they had previously done.

“Umm…”  Lexi took a deep breath, not entirely sure how to say it, and she definitely didn’t want to have to look at them when she did say it.”