c h a p t e r | 18
MAKING HEADWAY
'Is it the STD? The small testicle thing.'
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"I'M READY!" A happy Noah peeped up, just as the door swung open before Tessa had the chance to knock.

"Noah, really. Go put your iPad away. Penguins don't play Candy Crush," Hale spoke in a duh tone, and placed a hand on his brother's head, turning him around. Noah quickly sped off to hide away the iPad that was previously tugged firmly under his arm.

"Penguins?" Tessa uttered stupefied, and Hale halted, inches away from walking straight into her, a lopsided smile evident on his face. As his gaze wandered over hers m, the playfulness was replaced by a more somber look. Clearly, both of them vividly recalled their last talk.

"Um, look Tessa." He scratched the back of his head rather uncomfortably, which was amusing to Tessa since his once so confident gaze kept flickering.

"Hi Tessa, you coming with us to the Zoo?!" Noah showed up again almost jumping with excitement and Tessa furrowed her brows.

"The Zoo?" She repeated, trying to contain her confusion and glanced at Hale, who hid his face in his hands in realization.

"Shit."

"Do you love penguins? I love penguins. Don't you think they walk funny? Oh, and have you ever seen a lion? Or a Tiger? And not on TV, but the real thing. They are freaking huge! I bet they could swallow you in one go, don't you think?" Noah prattled, his bouncing more evident the more he talked and Tessa couldn't help a smile of endearment.

"Did you remember to close the window in your room?" Hale suddenly interrupted Noah's rendition of how true he thought The Lion King was.

"I did," Noah waved him off, "You think we're gonna see Simba? Anyways, I really wanna see Pumba. I've never seen a Pumba before, have you?" He asked Tessa, completely ignoring his exasperated and uncomfortable brother.

"Go check it again."

"But I—"

"Check it again," he persisted this time more firmly and Noah let out an annoyed sigh, but nevertheless hurried to do as told, giving the two another minute.

"I promised him a trip to the zoo..." Hale admitted, his eyes still flickering slightly in discomfort. Tessa stayed silent just looking at him in astonishment.

He actually listened.

"I totally forgot the fitting was today... I just... Will you stop looking at me like that?" His jaw tensed even more as Tessa's features cracked into an entertained grin by Hale's uneasy and peevish demeanor.

"Look, I'll postpone it, okay? I'll just go tell Noah—"

"No, I'll handle it," Tessa quickly brushed him off and walked past him, "I just can't believe you actually listened." She tried containing the grin that eagerly tried to take residence on her features. Obviously, she failed as Hale still seemed to struggle.

"I just thought—... You know with everything..."

Tessa bit firmly down on her lip to prevent herself from prodding him. Instead, she enjoyed the slight tinge that seemed stretched over his cheekbones.

"It's closed! I triple checked. Now, are you happy?" Noah huffed, his chin pushed forward in defiance of possibly being shooed away again, and Hale shoot Tessa a cautious look.

"You go have fun, I'll call Parker," Tessa smiled, wriggling her phone, thoroughly amused by how Hale seemed to visibly exhale in relief. This was definitely a way more entertaining Hale than the overly confident one.

"You—" Noah's voice faltered as he looked between the two of them, before resting his gaze on his brother, his features already morphing into a frown.

Noah was a bright kid, and Hale not masking his guilt well either didn't contribute to the situation. Though to Tessa, she found comfort in the fact that he wasn't being standoffish around his little brother.

"Make sure to get lots of pictures of the penguins, okay? I think they make a splendid source of inspiration for Hale's next appearance." She came to the rescue, her face contorting into a funny face and Noah grinned.

"Come with us!"

"Come on!" Noah yelled already running ahead of them, to make sure he got the perfect spot for them to watch the monkeys.

"You know we really should talk about—" Tessa started as they made their way towards the eight year old, who had difficulty containing his excitement.

"Look, I forgot. That's it. What's done is done. It all worked out—" Hale quickly dismissed her.

"Because I saved your sorry ass," Tessa sent him a sour look from being interrupted. "Maybe you should put more effort in making notifications on your phone," Tessa stated more seriously and Hale rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Excuse me for having a life outside of work," he muttered and leaned up against the fence, busying himself with watching the monkeys.

"Well, the other day it certainly didn't include your brother," Tessa argued silently enough for Noah not to hear.

"Look, at those butts. They're huge!" He laughed and pointed.

"Yeah, that one has remarkable likings to Hale," Tessa gestured at one with a particular large rear, and Noah snickered in enjoyment.

"Oh, I see. If so, then you're the aggressive shrieking one on the branch," Hale nodded towards the nosiest one of the species and Tessa scowled.

"At least, I don't have my fingers in every single fruit bowl," she retorted as Hale, the baboon, seemed to be swarmed by all the others which only made Hale smirk.

"Survival of the fittest, you know. One always goes for the strongest and judged by this race..." Hale trailed off as she started coughing prematurely and clawed at her throat.

"I can't breathe. Your ego is sucking all the air," she croaked, earning a stink eye.

"Hey look, monkey Hale and monkey Tessa are—" Hale quickly pulled a laughing Noah off the fence and away from the baboon enclosure, while Tessa genuinely got her spit stuck in her throat, eyeing the action-driven animals with disbelief.

"Surely, that can't be what they meant by saying zoos are educational."

"Orh, cool! Polar bears! Hale, that way!" Noah pounded Hale on the back, urging him in the wanted direction, already onto the next animal.

Hale quickly put him down as Noah ran to the next enclosure and glanced at Tessa with a knowing smirk.

"Don't you dare say anything," She hit him roughly on the arm, feeling her cheeks burn and Hale chuckled running his hands through his hair.

"Well, if it's any comfort, I take it back," he said slowly as the silence settled over them going from exhibit to exhibit, as Noah was distracted with watching the animals.

"What?"

"You're not that needy," He quirked with a response, an entertained smile lingering at the corners.

"Thanks, but I'm still not taking back my words about you being an ass. I still think the resemblance is uncanny," she shot back, barely able to contain her laugh which made Hale chuckle too.

"Tessa is not a monkey. She's too pretty for that, right Hale?" Noah shot in, "Like a bird!"

"A bird? She's too intrusive. Try a tiger or something," Hale offered and rocked on his feet.

"Tessa, the tiger. I like it," Noah concluded after thinking about it for a brief moment and Tessa shook her head with a smile.

"Nah, apparently I'm more of a hippo," she offered and Hale laughed.

"Can we go look at the giraffes?" Noah asked not waiting for a response as he already ran along the arrows pointing him in the right direction.

"A hippo, really?" He inquired, the interest in the topic genuine, which made Tessa look up at him.

"It's just something Parker said. He would kill me if he knew I went to the Zoo without him."

"A hippo," Hale voiced again, seemingly in thought, "You know, maybe he is right. They are the most dangerous animal in Africa after all. Singlehandedly responsible for most human casualties."

Again Tessa slammed her fist into his arm. "I stand by that observation," he uttered with a grin and rubbed his arm, which caused her to roll her eyes, feeling him teasingly bump into her.

"Hale, Hale, Hale! They're about to feed the giraffes! Come on!" Noah appeared by his elbow. Not hesitating, he grabbed his arm and pulled him after him, leaving Tessa to keep up.

"Arh, man. I can't see anything," Noah groaned in annoyance by the mob that had already gathered to watch.

"Hold on," Hale tried to reassure a pouting Noah, motioning Tessa over, "Give him a boost," he nodded before crouching down, letting her help him up on his shoulders.

"Benefits of having a tall brother, huh, Noah?"

"I aim at being at least 6'5," Noah stated seriously and Hale snickered.

"Dream on, kid," he chuckled, keeping a firm grip on his littler brother's ankles.

"Can you even see, Tessa?" Noah looked down at her from his position and she gave him a one shouldered shrug, not really bothered with her poor view.

"It's cool. Don't worry about it."

"Hale, help her up too!" Noah tugged at Hale's hair.

"Do I look like a jungle gym to you?" He grunted and sent Tessa a sideways glance when she snorted.

"Only around gymnasts," she muffled in her hands, however Hale heard her and the usual smug smirk was therefore once again tugging at the corners.

"Ugh, I can't see anything anyway. They're too far away," the eight year old complained and rocked back and forth, making Hale grimace.

"Yo, sit still, or I might pull something."

"But I can't see! I want to see the giraffes!"

"Just look after one with a slightly shorter neck than Mrs. Griffith," Hale rolled his eyes, only to wince when Noah hit him in the head.

Noah's features darkened, "I know what a giraffe looks like."

"Then you see the resemblance," Hale said just as seriously, making them both laugh by their inside joke.

Tessa not wanting to disturb their moment, slowly slipped away, making her way towards a zookeeper with a walkie talkie.

Hale watched her leave, but stayed put for a minute, while still trying to entertain a disappointed Noah.

"Ah man, now I definitely cannot see anything," Noah complained, while keeping a firmer grip on Hale's hair, as he gave up and walked after Tessa.

"Dude, stop pulling at my hair. It's gonna fall out."

"It'll only make your prettier," Noah scoffed in response.

Hale let out a groan, twisting him, so he slowly slid down his back to carry him piggyback style instead.

"Woah, is that a real zookeeper?" Noah questioned, the minute he noticed Tessa talking to the man. "I bet he can see the giraffes every time he wants," he muttered with envy.

"Didn't you just say you knew what a giraffe looked like?" Hale tried reasoning, catching a glimpse of Noah over his shoulder.

"So?" Noah voiced back incredulously, waiting for Hale to get to the point.

"Guess what?" She smiled and clapped her hands, before gesturing at the Zookeeper. "Seems like they're short of staff today, and they could need an extra hand feeding the giraffes," Tessa informed and Noah light up.

"For real?!"

"What do you say to being a zookeeper for a day?" The man asked, and Noah flailed his arms, making Hale let go of him so he could run over to him.

"Are you crazy! Yes!" He beamed, "That's so awesome! Hale, we get to feed the giraffes! Wait till I tell Sean."

Noah jumped around, eagerly following the zookeeper into the habitat asking him thousands of questions.

"You know, you're making me look bad," Hale voiced slowly.

"Oh, nothing your ego can't handle, I'm sure. About time we get it knocked down to the size of Texas. Now go feed the giraffes. Be a zookeeper for a day. Feel what manual labor feels like," She teased as Hale squared his shoulders, scowling at the zookeeper who was coaxing the giraffes.

"Look, Hale, the tongue is blue!" Noah squealed merrily, as one of the giraffes bent down to retrieve the apple the zookeeper was holding out. "It's blue!" He iterated for emphasis.

"I can see that," Hale returned with a dazzling smile that lit up his eyes. Noah squirmed as another giraffe bent down to take the carrot he was holding out, "And long too, huh?" he observed, with a knowing wink at Tessa who pushed him forward.

"I dare ya to touch it," he added when he joined his brother, grabbing another apple, trying to persuade the giraffe into taking it, and urged Noah to be ready.

"Nah, no!" Noah squealed when Hale teased the giraffe with the apple, sneaking his own opportunity to touch the tongue before letting its fruit. Noah held firmly onto Hale while laughing like crazy, when it was his turn to touch it.

Tessa hung back, watching the bonding moment between the brothers, and could not help but whip out her phone.

She smiled at the picture. Both of them were genuinely laughing and smiling.

Looking at the picture, she felt a confirmative tug in her stomach reassuring her that she hadn't overstepped any boundaries last night, when she blew up at Hale for brushing off Noah like that.

Well, she did overstep in a way, seeing the picture proved to her just why Noah was so fond of his older brother.

Gazing up from the photo, she noticed Hale studying her. There was a certain tenseness to his figure for a second, shown by his popping jaw muscles, before he returned to the fun.

Too soon for Noah's liking the day was over, and he persisted in keeping the fun going. "Tessa, let's ride in the back!" Noah exclaimed as they were got to the car, and moved to open the cargo bed.

"You sure that's a good thing?" Tessa hesitated, not really seeing the appeal in sitting out in the open like that with no seat belt or other safety precautions.

"We use to do it all the time at home," Noah shrugged it off, and hopped up on the cargo bed, but fell short with his legs dangling aimlessly for a minute before he managed to pull his leg up to push him the rest of the way.

Tessa looked at Hale briefly who had been abnormally quiet for the remainder of the trip, and decided the cargo bed might be safer after all.

"Just until we're out of the area, then back in the truck, okay, Noah?" Hale said and jumped into the driver's seat. Noah nodded indifferently, before recounting the animal to Tessa while Hale veered out of the parking lot, only to wait in line with the rest of the cars that was trying to leave.

Tessa skewed a glance forward, catching Hale's gaze in the side mirror. His features taunt as if he was trying to keep himself from speaking, before they both broke eye contact again.

"The best part was definitely the giraffes, right? Right, Hale?" Noah turned around on his knees opening the back window to catch Hale's attention. His and Tessa gaze once again locked in the rearview mirror before his flitted to Noah and then back onto the road.

"Right," he answered curtly which made Tessa frown.

They both stayed silent after that, and only reaffirmed Noah every once in a while when needed.

Tessa tried to make sense of the sudden coolness between them, as it seemed Hale actively tried ignoring her except for a few scowls here and there. Her brows creased in disappointment as she for a brief minute today thought they were going places, and not taking a hundred steps backwards.

"Can we get pizza?" Noah asked when they got back to the house.

"Sure, go order," Hale said throwing the keys to Noah who headed for the door to vanish inside.

"So, yeah, I think I should go. Thanks for today, though," Tessa mumbled into the intolerable silence that immediately erupted and moved towards her own car.

"I'm not letting you use that," Hale spoke up warningly, confusing her even more.

She let out a hollow breath, "What?"

"The photo. I saw you taking it," Hale quickly answered with a clipped voice. "I'm not letting you use it. So don't try to convince me of how it will further my career."

"I'm sorry, Hale, I'm not sure, I—" Tessa stood there frozen, only to have Hale inclose the distance between them, and grab her wrist before pulling out her phone.

"I don't care if it's the perfect opportunity to show the mature and responsible Hale that you're so committed to turning me into," he spoke indignantly, making Tessa flabbergasted by his sudden attack. "I've been okay with you trying to change my image, but I will not let you use my brother for you to get what you want. That's where I draw the line."

"What I want?" She breathed cynically, "This isn't about me."

"Of course it's about you. The deal you made with John," Hale let out a short hollow laugh, "Get me Deluca and you get your money-"

"Look... Hale," Tessa pulled her arm from his tight grip, taking a step back to better scrutinize his towering figure, "Yes, there's a deal."

She took another breath, calming herself when Hale's nostrils flared, "The deal is that if I get you where you wanna be, then I too get a shot at where I wanna be. But this," she flung out her arm, gesturing to him and the door Noah slipped through, "This day is not about work. It's about you being and spending time with your brother, because that's all he wants."

"While rubbing your back to—-" Hale intercepted cooly.

"No!" She exclaimed, appalled by his hostility and insinuations, "I'm offended that you even dare to accuse me of that. I have plenty of trust in my work, thank you very much. I know what I am doing and I don't need to stoop to those low levels you're so persistent of placing me in." Her eyes was ablaze with fury as her voice rose.

"Really, if you weren't so fucking impossible and shortsighted you might see that I want what's best for you. For you and Noah. Especially Noah. Noah is a great kid, and he deserves the attention. Even if he craves it from an obnoxious person like you," she gritted out through her teeth, genuinely pissed that he compared her to those vultures that signified everything wrong with the industry.

"Hale! Can we get pepperoni and pineapples?" Noah appeared in the door, waving the phone.

"Sure, whatever. Just order what you want," Hale quickly answered with a fleeting look at Tessa who tried for a smile, but rather ended up looking constipated, and therefore looked away altogether.

"But you hate pineapples."

"Just go order," he clipped him off, which had Noah stare at him for a moment, obviously not used to Hale's approval of pineapples.

"Is it the STD?" He uttered after a while, studying the two of them.

"Excuse me?" Hale whirled around this time looking directly at Noah, a look of surprise evident on his face, and Tessa quickly sucked in her lips.

"The small testicle thing?" Noah spoke slowly.

"What, no I— Where did you hear tha—" He shot a glance back over his shoulder at Tessa.

"Hey, you bother me with sexual innuendos and I keep attacking your masculinity, isn't that how it works?" Tessa squeaked under her breath, confirming his speculations.

"So, you do have small testicles," Noah concluded, "What is it? Tessa says it's like cooties—"

"I didn—"

"If you don't go order the pizza in two seconds you're heading to bed on an empty stomach," Hale threatened.

"But do—"

"Now, Noah!" Hale spluttered and Noah retreated, but quickly turned around seeking Tessa's attention.

"Is that a side-effect?"

"NOAH!" A short tempered Hale thundered, causing Noah to quickly shut the door with a grin, while Tessa bit down hard on her cheek not to laugh out loud by the absurd situation they were finding themselves in.

"So, I won't find the picture in the news tomorrow," Hale asked slowly, still unsure about what to say and what to do after that interruption.

"No shit, Sherlock," Tessa snappily replied and crossed her arms, "Like I would ever be the person to officially tie Noah to you—"

"Hey, you're the one lecturing him about genitals!"

This time it was Tessa turn to fidget, "What, no. I—-..." she failed to express herself, "I'm surprised you haven't already!"

"Look," Hale let out a heavy sigh, trying to get back on track, earning both of them a pause. "You're really not gonna share the photo with anyone?" He tried again and Tessa felt nauseas about him still doubting her motives.

"The hell I won't. He deserves better than be put in the spotlight with you," she spat, stomping towards her car.

Hale was quick to inclose the space between them again and shut the car door just as she managed to open it. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Tessa not able to move as she was utterly surprised by him actually apologizing, furthermore looking sincere when doing it.

"It's just..." He looked away guiltily, running his hands through his hair again.

"Everyone wants something from someone," she quoted him with a softening gaze, waiting for him to look at her again.

"Right."

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A/N: Yeah, I don't know if I should apologize for the title. hah. Oh, who am I kidding, I won't, because I'm pretty sure it caught your attention. xD

And to everyone who wants to throw something at Hale for blowing up like that, here he is being hit in the face by a teddy.

Honestly though, I think it was healthy for him finally uncapping the lid on some of his thoughts. Even if he's completely wrong. Tessa exploiting him, really? *shakes head*

What is it with that guy? Anyways, about next chapter.... Ironically, you'll find that Hale does need something, but just what it is - You'll have to wait to find out. *wink wink* It's gonna get good! I'm so excited for the next few chapters and I'm sure you're gonna love them too!

So stay tuned and thank you for reading. Please make sure to let me know what you think of this chap. I really love hearing from you guys. You make my day!

Toodles noodles !