Author's note: Apologies all the errors. I posted this as soon as the draft was done as it's been so long since I updated. For those of you who are still here a year later, thanks for sticking around!

Whether the ECHO agent liked it or not, he was on strict bed rest for a few more days. Interestingly, it was always Patch, Brian, or Nathan in the room to keep him company.

The boy was barely left alone, and Lucas couldn't help but chuckle at how well the bait was being treated. He dumped the painkillers pretty soon, never having been one for sticking long-term with those types of meds. He'd seen firsthand what a dependency on them could lead to.

However, since there was usually someone around and he was meant to stay in bed, he turned to the sleeping meds. What followed was quite a few nights of deep sleep and no nightmares.

Within days he felt more rested than he had in a long time and, though his shoulder was still somewhat tender, he was brimming with energy. Thus, he gave up the bedrest. As fun as it was to simply chill and have the football and hockey team compete for his affections, he could feel time ticking.

Strangely enough, during the time he was recuperating, the attacker didn't strike again. It both arose Lucas' curiosity but also made his suspicions soar. Something told him the attacker was simply taking time to plot their next move.

He attended class, receiving a hero's welcome. However, the hero was soon forgotten as the excited chatter turned to the sports festival happening on the weekend.

"My bet is on dorm 4," a guy announced as he leaned back in his chair, balancing it on just two legs. "They have the highest balance of sports."

"Dorm 2 has won it back-to-back, they'll get it."

"Nah, dorm 1 has it in the bag this year, I heard they have a secret strategy."

"What about you?" Lucas was asked.

"Dorm 3," the agent had no shame in putting his own dorm's name out there.

"Dorm 3 is strong," someone agreed. "But they've come last the last four years."

"Why?"

"They're the kings of getting disqualified at the sports festival," he was told.

"Oh?" Lucas' interest was perked. "How so?"

"They have the crazy guy, Jamie. Heard he had the headmaster running for his life one year claiming he was a humanoid sent to kill us. He didn't take too well to it and disqualified the whole dorm. They would have probably won that year too."

"Oh yeah!" another jumped in, laughing at the memory. "The next year they locked him in his room, they were actually in the lead. I remember their motto for that one was for the dorm head's love life. Everyone thought they would win...but then he found out that his love interest was already dating someone else. So, the motto turned revenge for the dorm head. Apparently losing was the best way to deliver that revenge. Remember their runners running the wrong way for the eight hundred meters?"

"And they were the fastest too. Would have won if they didn't reverse every competition and score in their own goals."

Laughter sounded all around.

"Hey, we had a point to prove!" a member of dorm three came to his dorm's defense.

"Yeah, did you have a point to prove the same year you partnered with dorm 1 all to beat dorm 2, only to be fooled into going to Bel High for the competition when it was here?"

"We got back and did very well in the remaining events."

"Would have won too if you hadn't missed the first hour."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. Why did it feel like dorm three was filled with idiots?

"Point is, dorm 3 is strong, but they're stuck with the curse of getting disqualified."

"Guess I won't have to worry about them in basketball this time. Even if they win, they're bound to mess up somehow to not get the overall first place." The guy leaning back in his chair let out a yell. He only managed to save himself from falling last minute when another graciously caught his flailing arm and pulled him back up.

"Did you get signed up for anything?" Lucas was asked.

"Football!" the guy from dorm 3 encouraged.

"Can't do a sport you are or were on a team for," another wagged his finger.

"Who cares about the sports?" a voice jumped on. "Bel High is coming; hope is on the horizon!"

Lucas propped an arm on his desk, listening to the excited ramblings around him.

Bel High...huh? A smile made it to his lips. It was quite possible that he would be seeing his ex-girlfriend quite soon, and this time under more 'normal' circumstances too. Well, as close to normal as he could get to.

The teacher came in and thumped his books on the table, demanding the attention of the students. They momentarily ignored him. Without missing a beat, he reached for an eraser and used it as a projectile.

A student was hit right in the forehead.

Everyone froze.

Applause sounded, with the victim joining in.

The boys sat down.

Dominance had been asserted and the teacher experienced smooth sailing for the rest of his class as the students turned into the young, behaved aristocrats they all were.

Lucas only half listened. He wasn't surprised by the carefree attitude of the students while here. Being sons of the richest out there, this was a brief period of their lives before they would be pulled in to take over fortunes and be expected to keep them going.

The period ended and the rowdy boys returned to horsing around. Someone had snuck in a phone, and they were busy going through as many profiles of Bel High girls that they could before the device would be confiscated.

"I'm telling you. Last time she winked at me!" someone protested.

"You sure she wasn't having an eye spasm?"

Laughter bellowed.

With a smile, Lucas grabbed his things and headed for the door.

"Lu-c-aaaaaa-ssss!" his name was bellowed through the hallways.

He turned to see Nathan charging at him, pushing people left and right.

Lucas graciously waited for him.

"Forgive me, for I have sinned," Nathan panted as he skidded to a stop beside him.

The ECHO agent raised his eyebrows.

"I know you're a recovering patient, but we were one short for the competition since Frank claims athletes foot means he can't walk. I didn't sign you up for contact sport but..."

"Just say it."

"How good are you at running?" Nathan leaned closer to whisper, "with your line of work I thought you might do a lot of that."

"..."

"I signed you up for the 800-meter race."

"..."

"We just need someone to enter. You don't even have to run. In fact, just cross the finish line, that's all I ask...and don't run the wrong way."

Lucas' lips twitched. "Sure."

Nathan let out his breath. "You're a lifesaver." He paused. "I also signed you up for basketball."

"I'll do it," Brian butted in. He scowled. "No contact sports. He's still not one hundred percent from the flu."

Nathan blinked innocently. "He was just a sub, not even going to go in."

"I'll do it," Brian repeated.

Nathan saluted. He shot Lucas a wink before someone caught his eye. "Frank!" he bounded after another boy, chasing him down as the other seemed to try to scurry away as fast as possible with a limp that didn't quite look like a limp. Eventually, he gave up and straight on sprinted.

"I thought you weren't able to walk!" Nathan gave chase.

Lucas watched him before turning to where Brian was standing, gaze lowered.

"Thanks," he told the boy simply. "But you don't need to be worried. I recover quite fast."

"I'm not worried," Brian muttered before melting into the crowd.

With a shrug, Lucas headed back for the dorms.

The days before the weekend were uneventful for the agent. There wasn't so much as a glimpse from the attacker, and things continued quite peacefully. The boys at school, however, couldn't contain their excitement.

By the morning of the sports festival, the entire campus has changed. Decorations were put up everywhere. As dorms would collect points not just through sports but the popularity of booths as well, they set up various entertainment spots. A face paint booth, a microwaved hot dog one, a dunking booth were among the many different ones. Originally, dorm 1 had come up with the ingenious idea to have a kissing booth. However, it had so many boys volunteering, even from other dorms, that when they got turned away, they simply opened their own.

Names ranged from "Kissing Booth", "The Only Authentic Kissing Booth", "Lips Smoother Than Butter" to "Don't Trust The Other Booths". Finally, the uproar and attempted sabotaging during setup called for a quick and swift ban of all kissing booths.

There was one sneaky attempt to open an "Underground" kissing booth, but the cover name of "Lip Fight Club" had it busted before it could take off.

Thus, attention was turned to making the best of what the boys had to work with.

Booths were set up and the air buzzed with excitement.

The boys waited with baited breaths, cheers breaking out as the first bus carrying the long-awaited esteemed guests of the day came into sight.

The bus pulled up, windows open as the fairies within waved much like royalty to the excited crowd.

The doors opened and the first girls stepped out. They were immediately swarmed, flower necklaces placed around their necks, fliers for booths, shirts, foam fingers, and items with dorm names plastered on them handed over, those that should have initially been sold at booths. A few love letters made it into the mix as well.

Those who had girlfriends fought tooth and nail to rescue them, chasing off the hungry wolves around them.

The girls seemed surprisingly calm, as though used to the primitive group.

Nathan had grabbed the hand of a familiar-looking girl and pulled her from the crowd. Lucas saw him scurry off the side, excitedly pulling her along to the sports field as though afraid someone would have taken the spot, he'd specially reserved.

Enjoying the chaos, Lucas hung back, watching.

More buses joined the first and teachers ran around, faces red from their attempts to make the boys back off. It only worked once threats of confining them to the dorm to miss the entire day were thrown out. Grudgingly, the male population made space, slowing dispersing to man the booths or begin preparing for the competitions.

Lucas' eyes lit up when a familiar figure stepped from the bus.

She tucked a strand of her black hair behind an ear, turning so that a love letter in the form of a paper airplane brushed by without touching her. The turn made her eyes move in the direction where Lucas stood.

As their gazes met, she froze.

Lucas' lips hooked up lazily.

Amber pressed her lips in a line and followed another girl that was excitedly pulling her toward one of the booths.

Having confirmed a certain someone was present; Lucas casually made his way to the booth he'd been assigned to help with. As the first half of the day was focused on the booths before the sports competition itself, everyone was helping out in some form.

The moment he arrived, another boy from dorm three pushed a blown-up balloon in his hands.

"I don't know how to tie this. Help me."

Lucas glanced down at the balloon before raising an eyebrow. "Weren't you the one who suggested the balloon animal booth?" he asked cautiously.

The other nodded.

"But you don't know how to tie a balloon?"

Another nod.

"Do..." Lucas hesitated. "Do you know how to make balloon animals?"

"Of course!" The other thumped his own chest in enthusiasm. "I watched someone do it at my sixth birthday party."

He took back the balloon Lucas had graciously tied for him.

"How hard can it be?" the other continued.

Pop.

Both boys froze, eyes going down to the balloon...or what was left of it.

"Ha, ha." The guy let out a nervous laugh, glancing at the girl that had wandered over. "I got a little overenthusiastic. Let me try again." He blew up a balloon, handed it to Lucas who faithfully tied it, and then took it back.

Clearing his throat, and with great galore, he began his task.

Pop.

The girl watched, expression blank.

Lucas tried to keep his lips from twitching.

The other guy looked up. "I think we have a problem."

"Let me try." Lucas blew another balloon up and tied it. He'd once worked at a carnival for a cover. Though it had been a while ago...

He held out a balloon giraffe.

"Amazing!"

Both the girl and the other guy clapped in excitement.

"Giraffes aren't real," someone called from another booth, perhaps out of bitterness for the fact that their booth had no girls and suddenly several were crowding to the booth with Lucas who was making more giraffes.

A few girls watched, whispering and nudging each other as they watched the boy. Every now and then, one would step forward to accept the balloon animal.

Lucas was on his sixth when a girl gave him a shy smile. "Can you make me a heart?" she asked.

Lucas' hands paused mid-creation.

The guy who didn't know how to tie balloons yet wanted to man a balloon art booth, nudged Lucas. "Make her a heart," he hissed.

Lucas blinked. He'd only been at that festival for a few hours.

Focusing, he tried to make the requested creation.

The finished result – a giraffe.

The onlookers and he all stared at the product.

"It seems," Lucas spoke slowly to highlight the problem, "I only know how to make giraffes."

"Doooooomed!" the guy beside him wailed.

A few girls giggled and the crowd thinned as they realized they could only get one thing made here.

"Quick, do something!" the other guy wailed.

Lucas sighed as he made another giraffe. "Why don't you find someone that can actually do this?"

"Now that's an idea!" His partner hurried off, yelling at the top of his lungs.

With nothing else to do, Lucas simply continued in his task. He made giraffes of all sizes and at first, several girls came to carry them off. However, as time went by and fewer clients came, the pile of balloon giraffes increased more and more. They covered the surface of the booth, they covered the floor around him, they hung from his arms and neck.

To one side, a booth where portraits were drawn erupted in chaos when it came out that the artist was only able to draw stick figures. A temporary tattoo booth was filled with a mix of laughter and outrage when it was discovered that someone had mixed the tattoo markers with permanent markers.

Teachers ran around, trying to keep any sort of order, but with every success, they faced equal failure.

And all this time, Lucas continued to faithfully make his balloon giraffes, having long given up on his partner that went out to find another artist but most likely got distracted.

"Looks like with everything they taught you, variety isn't one of them," a familiar voice spoke.

The corners of Lucas' lips rose.

With the number of balloon giraffes, the booth had been getting some attention, but the one he was waiting for had finally come.

"Why not give it a try to see if you can do a better job?" Lucas asked.

Amber eyed him for a moment. To his surprise, she actually took up his offer.

She walked over and Lucas cleared a spot among all the giraffes before handing her a balloon.

Amber blew it up and tied it.

Lucas finished another giraffe. "You look pretty in a skirt," he complimented her, eyes curving.

Amber didn't respond to the compliment. "Why are you here?" she asked.

Lucas reached for another balloon. "Living out my high school life?"

Amber rolled her eyes. Her focus turned to the balloon as she worked on making something.

"You're on a break?" Lucas asked, watching her.

"We both know you're not getting an answer to that."

Lucas nodded. "Right. Work doesn't mix well with casual chatting."

"Done." Amber held out her finished product.

Lucas' eyes drifted to the somewhat lopsided shape. He hesitated. "That's a really nice..." he paused. "Dachshun–"

"Giraffe," Amber corrected him.

"Right, giraffe." Lucas nodded. He carefully took the balloon shape and looked it over.

Amber was already blowing up the next one.

"Isn't the long part supposed to be only the neck and not both the neck and body?" Lucas asked.

A balloon smacked him.

Laughing, he added the dachshund to the pile of giraffes.

Amber was working on her next creation. "Just answer me this, for old times sakes." She paused as she focused before continuing, "My brother isn't in any danger with you being around here, is he?"

"Not concerned about me?" Lucas asked casually.

"You can handle yourself." Amber put the balloon down. "There's no way you're here for a break. Whatever it is, make sure you don't drag my brother in. This isn't his world."

Lucas eyed her. "I won't let anything happen to either of you," he spoke sincerely.

Amber quickly turned her eyes away, humming in agreement.

With a smile, Lucas grabbed a red balloon. He worked for a moment before holding it out to the girl beside him.

A balloon heart entered Amber's eyes.

"Be my girlfriend," Lucas spoke softly.

Eyes narrowed and Amber looked up. "If you know how to make other things, why have you been making giraffes for the last hour?"

"I hear giraffes can call those over who are searching for love." He winked.

Amber put down the balloon she was working on. "Shameless!" she exclaimed.

Lucas laughed. "Only for you." The laugh dropped. "What's your answer?"

"We already ..." Amber dropped her voice. "I told you, I'm serious this time. This can't work."

"What relationship doesn't go through some rocky patches?"

"You killed my target," she hissed.

"You stole my diamond before that," Lucas pointed out.

"You took it right back after I delivered it! And then you somehow magically lead my client to ruin when his company went bankrupt..."

"Oh, come on," Lucas put the heart down. "There's no proof that was me."

Amber ground her teeth. "You just so happened to be there to take me to dinner after?"

"So, what, I was in the area? Can't a man ask his girl out to eat?"

"In Dubai?"

"It's a nice city."

Amber folded her arms. "Who was it that switched the painting in Mr. Lane's penthouse?"

"Could have been anyone."

"Oh, we just so happened to be in London at the same time?"

"Ok. So maybe I was there because I heard you were and really wanted to ask you to dinner."

"Laos?"

"Coincidence. But we had a great dinner."

"Durban?"

"Again, coincidence but great dinner."

"It was literally the next day," Amber told him dryly.

"You stole the Blue Pearl," Lucas pointed out.

"Which you weren't after," Amber told him.

"You also stole my heart."

"Well you..." Amber trailed off.

Lucas grinned as he'd finally made her at a loss for words. "Ok. So, we happened to have some of the same jobs, but I can promise that I wasn't doing them on purpose. I would never go out of my way to try and bother you at work.

Amber pinched her nose. "This just won't work."

"You want to win?" Lucas asked. "I can solemnly swear to let you win every job we ever meet on." The words were spoken with no thought given to the consequences. He hasn't failed a job at ECHO yet. Failure wasn't an option...but he was also in high pursuit of a beautiful woman who would not leave his mind.

Amber dropped her hand to glare at him. "You're ridiculous."

"Anything for you," Lucas replied.

A short laugh escaped the girl. "Just admit it, we were doomed from the start."

"Hmm." Lucas had absentmindedly made a balloon dog.

Amber eyed it. "So, you can make other things."

Lucas held it up. "It's a baby giraffe."

"Unbelievable." Amber put down the balloon she'd been holding. "I'm going to find my brother."

"See you around!" Lucas called after her. He smiled as he watched her disappear into the crowd without so much as a glance back. The smile dropped somewhat when she was gone. He put down the dog he'd claimed was a baby giraffe and let out a sigh.

Being in a relationship was too good to be true. It was a miracle ECHO had accepted that the reason he'd been around her so much was to get information for jobs. They had no idea that not once had he extracted anything from her. He really had gone into every job blind as to her plans and with his own information.

If ECHO caught so much as a whiff of his real emotions, that he really liked this girl. His fingers curled. Them putting a hit on her was not something they would hesitate to do, sending him to do it would probably be right up their alley too.

He sighed, eyes drifting back in the direction Nathan's sister had disappeared into.

"Maybe it is for the better," he murmured.

"I found someone!" a familiar voice exclaimed. His partner was back, dragging along Stefan, the lacrosse player, from dorm 3.

The boys froze when they reached the booth.

"What's with all the giraffes?" Stefan asked.

"You used up all the balloons!" the other wailed.

And thus, Lucas was fired from the balloon booth while the other two tried to find creative ways to get rid of all the giraffes.

Lucas wasn't too torn up about it. He stood back, eyes drifting back in the direction Amber had gone in. Her back flashed through his mind, in particular, how as she's stormed off she'd been holding one particular balloon in her hand – a red balloon heart.

Options:

A) Give up on Amber. It's too dangerous for all parties involved to pursue a romantic relationship

B) Don't let her be the one that got away. Win her back. They're destined to be together and just imagine the possibility of having Nathan as a brother-in-law 😉

C) Leave things as they are for now. Let things play out. If they're meant to be, things will work out in the end...maybe