"When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them." ~Edmund Hillary

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Chapter 13

Aria

As we were walking across the hallway, with Lee's hand draped over my shoulder, none of us spoke anything. It was a kind of comfortable silence which surrounded us. But then, all of a sudden, it became awkward.

I really don't know why.

Maybe it was because the last time we were alone, we ended up making out, or maybe because Lee took his hand off my shoulder and started rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Or maybe... I can't think of any possible reason right now.

"Hey, Ria, so... er... I wanted to ask you something." 

"Shoot." I looked up at him and tilted my head in confusion. Lee never asked for permission to do anything. If he had to do something, then he would bluntly just do it. Like when we were seven and I was dressing myself to go out with my Mom, Lee barged into my room dragging me out to play, not caring if my Hello Kitty top was halfway through my head or not. If you want recent events, then it would be about last night, when he just put his lips on mine, just because I was jealous. Just the thought of that had me blushing like a beetroot.

He became even more nervous now that all my attention was on him. His cheeks tinted with color, an adorable sight I would kill to see. It's not every day that you see a man blushing just to ask a question.

"Um, will you go on -"

"Aria Ellen Bronte! Where the fuck are you?"

I winced when I hear Kate yelling out my full name. She did that only when she was angry. And judging by the tone of her voice, she's livid. I shivered when I thought of what she could do when she's pissed. Damn, that girl was like an erupting volcano! I clearly remember the time when I didn't get dressed for some stupid frat party which she wanted to go to. I was lying on the couch, munching on some Doritos while watching Netflix. She sneaked into my dorm room - oh, what am I saying? She was my roommate - and scared the living daylights out of me by yelling at me for not getting ready. And you know what the worst part was? She decided to pick my outfit for the party. She wanted it to be as slutty and revealing as possible so that I regret not listening to her when I had to. And then I had to undergo the silent treatment for almost two weeks from Alex for going to the party in that dress. Seriously, how many people can I listen to at a time? I shuddered at the memory.

"Why are you not in a swimsuit?"

Oh dear Lord, please let me stay alive today. I want to live until I see the babies I would have with Lee.

Which would be near to impossible.

But I'll take my chances.

I nervously shifted my weight from one leg to another while biting my lip nervously, like a naughty child being scolded for stealing a cookie. I didn't notice Lee walk away from behind me, looking upset. "I-I dunno." I replied stupidly and grimaced. Kate simply flashed me her infamous glare, which I'm almost used to, before handing me a bag containing some fabric.

"What's this?"

"A swimsuit, duh." I rolled my eyes at her flat reply, but walked begrudgingly to the bathroom. It was a dark grey one piece suit, with stripes of pink and yellow, which fitted me perfectly.

Once I had fully dressed up, I silently followed behind Kate and sat near the fire which was lit by the boys and cringed at Logan and Rose who were literally dry humping each other. Gross. 

"Hey, you two, you can separate now, we're too young to watch porn!" I chirped as I sat next to them. The said couple separated their connected mouths, startled by my interruption. Logan scowled at me, "What do you want?"

"Aw, is wittle Logan upset?" Lee came and sat next to me, teasing Logan in a baby voice. I bit my lip from awwing at Lee and pinching his cheeks, while Logan scowled even more and Rose's face turned red.

After teasing the two for a little while, we decided to roast marshmallows and eat them, along with the s'mores. We continued joking and teasing each other until loud cheering of people interrupted us.

"I didn't know there was some party going on." We turned to Alex in confusion who just shrugged and continued nibbling on his marshmallow.

"Let's go there."

We all got up and walked towards the place causing the commotion. It was more than a mile away, so most of us, including me, were panting by the time we reached. I cringed at the volume of the noise. How loud can these people get?

"Ooh, a swimming competition." Logan smiled excitedly. I returned my gaze to the pool, where a few boys were swimming across it.

"C'mon, let's go participate!" Rose ushered while beaming. She loved swimming as much as she loved Logan. I think I should say it's right the opposite. Or-

"I don't think Aria will participate." I turned to Lee who had pursed his lips. "And why is that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. The others faded into the background as the both of us were in an intense stare down.

"You hate water, don't you?"

"Nope, I will win this. Just watch." I challenged him with my eyes. He smirked with confidence that he would win. Taking my dress off after sauntering to some private bathroom, I came back to where the others were standing. I could feel his gaze on my back, which sent shivers of pleasure down my spine. 

The host hollered, "Okay now, we have have a group of friends competing right now!"

No one except Kate, Rose and Alex knew about my swimming. I had taken classes before, and it was the only good thing I had acquired from my father. I had never learnt swimming before; hell, I had a fear of water, so that was what made Lee assume that I couldn't swim. Later on, I overcame it and started swimming in our backyard pool.

"Kick ass, baby." Kate winked at me. She decided not to swim, since she knew she would lose. And she wanted to just show her body to the world and to make Alex jealous. Oh, and not to mention drooling over Alex's body, which made me cringe in disgust. I'm sure Alex wouldn't mind being Kate's bodyguard. I'm not bragging or anything, but I swim faster than others.

I didn't get time to ogle at Lee's perfect body as we made way to the pool. The seven of us, me, Lee, Ethan, Logan, Rose, Alex and Sid stood on the diving block. I narrowed my eyes at the finishing line, which was roughly fifty meters away.

"Ready?"

None of us replied, just bent in position. 

"Set," The host lifted the whistle around his neck and put it near his lips, ready to whistle. Kate had already begun cheering for us.

"Go!" The whistle was blown and none of us wasted any time before diving into the clear blue water beneath us.

I focused on reaching the finishing line, and nothing else mattered to me now. My simple aim was to finish the competition whether or not I won. I felt the adrenaline pump in my veins and the familiar feeling of calmness seep into me.  All the noise of cheering and splashing of water faded to the background as I took a deep breath, put my head under the water and hit my legs with full force, but not enough to cause too much of water to splash around. Putting all my energy onto my hands, especially my cupped palms, I started to swim faster. 

I lifted my head to the side to take in some air for my lungs before dipping it in the water again. 

Soon, I had reached the ending line and gasped for a lungful of air. The adrenaline left my body and I was able to look at my surroundings clearly. Puffing out my cheeks with air, I looked at the host who looked at me in wonder and awe. It was only then I realized that I had won the competition. Ethan and Logan had their jaws dropped and Lee's face almost made me faint. His face was a mixture of awe, pride and a little bit of anger that he had lost.

We lifted ourselves from the water and the host practically shoved a wad of cash into my hands. "Congratulations! This young lady here has won a total of a thousand dollars! Would you like to share your name with us, miss?"

A thousand dollars? Who on Earth would give a thousand dollars for a measly competition? Unless...

Kate, I and the others shared a look of pure and utter horror before sprinting off the swimming arena back to the mansion, ignoring the hosts protests and calls.

Ethan panted, "Did we just run into an illegal swimming pool?" 

"Is there even an illegal swimming pool?" Logan wondered out loud. I grabbed Lee's t-shirt and wore it. Kate breathed out an incredulous laugh. I looked for Alex who was walking into the house with a crestfallen expression on his face. I frowned. Did Alex get reminded again of Olivia in some way?

My eyes widened.

Oh no.

I immediately ran, following Alex into the house. Grabbing his arm, I led him to his room before closing it behind me.

"What's wrong, Xander?" I asked softly. His attention snapped towards me, surprised that I called his childhood nickname. Tears shone in his eyes as he tried to hold in a sob.

I brought him into an embrace and softly said, "Let it all out."

He broke down into sobs as soon as I said the words. He buried his face in my shoulder and cried his heart out. Big, fat tears rolled down his cheeks and made my shirt damp, while his body shook in pain and sadness. I sat there for some time, rubbing his back and running my hands in his hair. Soon, he feel asleep in my arms.

I gently got up and replaced my lap with a pillow, not wanting to wake him up. Covering him with a blanket, I kissed his forehead softly before going out of the room.

As I made way to my assigned room, I got lost in thoughts. About the trip, Lee, his past, Alex, Olivia, Kate, Logan, Rose, Sid and even Ethan, on who to pair him with. 

But I failed to notice the person following behind me.

Immediately as I entered the room, the door was locked and the person had me pressed up between him and the wall. My eyes widened when I felt his abs against my stomach. He wasn't wearing a shirt. I looked up to see his face just inches away from mine. His cool, minty breath fanned my face as his beautiful eyes studied my face.

"I want to ask you something."

"You said the same thing before. What's going on?" I asked in confusion.

"Will you say no?" He asked timidly.

"What for?" I sigh in frustration, "Just tell me already, Lee."

"Become my girlfriend. Go out with me, please?" He asked with hopeful eyes. I gaped at him. Was he really asking me this or was I dreaming?

"No." I replied and his face fell. He took a few steps backward to leave, but I didn't let him. I grabbed his wrists and pulled him towards me and whispered, "You didn't let me finish. I will be your girlfriend only if you give me loads of Skittles and Nutella. Deal?"

He beamed in happiness and nodded eagerly, "So you want to be my girlfriend only for chocolate?"

Nodding childishly, I grabbed him by his collar and connected my lips to his. It was nothing like the last kiss. This one was full of hunger. Lee's hands traveled from my waist to my ass and back. Instinctively, my legs wrapped themselves around his waist. I slowly ground my hips to his growing manhood and he groaned. 

"I will not be able to hold myself back if you do that again." He whispered against my lips.

"And what's stopping you?" I say seductively, grinding my hips once again against his. He groaned again and threw me on the bed. 

Let's just say that it was the best night for the both of us.

⭐

Hello!

Wait, wait! Before you kill me for going AWOL all of a sudden, just listen out. I was going through writer's block, and I was just... blank. I didn't know what to write, and don't forget my final exams! Those were the harshest of all.

You must be thinking why I'm ranting about exams the whole year and not updating my story. I was writing the ICSE Board examinations, and there are ten subjects in all; three in Science(Chemistry, Physics and Biology), two in English(Literature and Language), Computers, Hindi(or any second language the student took) Mathematics, two in Social(History & Civics and Geography). That's ten in all. Poor me. Consider this as a treat before my results come. I will make sure to post the results on my feed.

And just think of this chapter as me making up to y'all. And if you didn't notice, I made the chapter extra long, only for you guys. Enjoy!

I'm sure there are more Wattpaders who are like me. Comment so that we all know who have undergone the same torture as mine.

So, your favorite ship is sailing finally, eh? But the story is far from over. There are approximately fifteen to twenty more chapters left.

Anywho, how did you feel when Alex broke down? I need an honest answer, or I'm not telling you why he is like that. But c'mon, you should know by now that there is a past haunting Alex and Aria.

If you want to rant about anything, feel free to comment, or PM me.

Love,
_born_sarcastic__

[Teaser: "I had really wanted to tell you, you know," I cleared my throat, before continuing.]