Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Thirteen's POV

Devin shoves Zack face first into the floor as soon as we make it back into my house. And then he proceeds to walk over him like he's a carpet.

Zack then goes on to trip Devin and tackle him to the floor. Both of them bickering back and forth.

Lily looks desperately like she wants to join in, Chase looks like an exasperated parent, Cody looks as if he's perfectly content letting them beat the crap out of each other, and Lydia just rolls her eyes and walks over them and into the kitchen where everyone else is.

I glare down at them. I've just about had enough of those two. I look over at Chase who just shrugs as if asking me what I want him to do about it. Guess it's up to me.

"Enough! Both of you!" I shout and they both freeze where they are. Zack with his arm swung back to punch Devin, and Devin biting into Zack's leg.

Children. The both of them.

"My office now." I growl out and spin on my heel, walking off.

"She was talking to you." I hear Devin telling Zack.

"No, she was talking to you."

"Both of you shut up and get in my office now!" I shout.

Lily starts to cackle, "You're in trouble." She says in a sing-song voice.

"If you don't stay out of it you're next." I tell her. She makes the motion of zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. A wide grin is spread across her face. "You're not helping." I say and she just shrugs, her smile widening.

I walk into my office and close the door behind Zack and Devin as they enter. I lock the door and Devin audibly swallows.

"You know," He starts. "I really need to go. I have, uh...important business to attend to."

Zack snickers. "Aww, are you afraid of her?" He mocks Devin.

I shoot Zack a glare and he shuts right up and sits down in one of the chairs, his face paling slightly.

Devin starts laughing. "Who's scared now?"

I turn my glare on him and he does the exact same thing Zack did. He folds his hands in his lap and looks up at me. Both look like two guilty little children who are about to get scolded.

"Look," I say as I run a hand through my hair. "I really don't care what you two do to each other while we're at my house," Both their faces visibly brighten and evil looks appear. "but while we're out doing anything for the mission, I expect both of you to behave completely. One slip up from either one of you and someone could seriously get injured or killed. Do you both understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Zack mutters.

I turn to Devin who's raising his hand. "What, Devin?"

"If he's the one getting killed is it ok then?"

Zack glares at him and I rub my hand over my face. Why did I ever think this was a good idea?

"Devin." I growl out.

"Ok, ok." He grumbles. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. In that case, I have something else I need to talk to both of you about."

"What is it?" Both of them ask at the same time and then turn to glare at each other. I roll my eyes.

"I need your help." I tell them and their interest seems to peak. "Don't make me regret this."

***

"Soda."

"Coffee."

"Soda!"

"Coffee!"

"What on earth are you two arguing about now?" I ask as I step into the living room. Ryder's sprawled out across one of the couches and Lily's perched up on the arm of the couch by Ryder's feet.

"Just agree with me," Lily says immediately instead of answering the question. "Soda is by far the superior drink to coffee." When she says coffee she visibly shudders.

Ryder kicks her off the arm of the couch. She lets out a yelp as she hits the floor. She glares at him. "Not cool bro."

"You're arguing over whether coffee or soda is better?" I question in disbelief. "Where do you come up with these arguments?"

"Just agree with me!" Lily pleads.

"Obviously she prefers coffee to sodas." Ryder says. "So she agrees with me." He sticks his tongue out at Lily.

I just look at him. "I don't like coffee. You know this." I tell him. So in this case, I agree with Lily."

Lily gets the most sly and gleeful look on her face that I've ever seen. I look at her suspiciously.

"You hear that Ryder?" She asks him, her tone of voice rather smug. "She likes soda more."

"She doesn't know what she's talking about. She likes coffee more, obviously. She's giving away faulty information."

"You two are making absolutely no sense." Both seem to be in their own little world and ignore me, going back to their argument.

"Soda is sweet."

"Have you ever heard of adding sugar and creamer to coffee?"

"Coffee is just naturally bitter. You add too much sugar and it just tastes wrong."

"But at least you can improve on coffee."

"So? Soda comes in all kinds of flavors. You pick which one you want."

"So does coffee."

"Soda is bubbly and prettier."

"Prettier? That's not even a valid argument. Besides, coffee warms you up. Soda doesn't."

"Soda cools people down."

"Coffee was here first."

"You don't know that!"

"In this case it was."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I finally interject. "What did you just say?" I question Ryder. He looks genuinely confused.

"What?" He asks.

"You said 'in this case it was,' what is that supposed to mean?"

Ryder looks like a deer caught in headlights. He laughs nervously. "Did I say that? I didn't say that. You heard wrong. What I said was, uh..." he turns to Lily. "help me out here."

Lily shakes her head. "He didn't say that. I didn't hear it."

I narrow my eyes at both of them. Ryder fidgets and avoids looking at me. Lily still looks pretty darn smug, but she makes a point to stare at her nails and avoid my gaze.

She turns to look at Ryder. "She totally said soda."

Ryder glares at her. "She didn't mean it."

I let out a groan and glare at them. I'm going to murder them. "Coffee and soda?" I finally say. "Those two things wouldn't happen to stand for something else in your minds, would they?"

Ryder shoves his fist in his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Lily leans over to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. "I think she's caught on."

"Please," Ryder starts, finally turning back to look at me. "we were having a very important discussion-"

"And you totally chose soda, by the way"

"-and we didn't want anyone else to pick up on what said conversation was about. We didn't need anyone getting mad at us." Ryder finishes, ignoring Lily's input.

I glare at them. "My love life is none of your concern."

Ryder feigns confusion. "Love life? Who said that was what the conversation was about? Coffee and Soda, that's it. C and S. Now if those two letters also happen to stand for something else, I'd like to say that was purely coincidental."

I look over at Lily who's still smiling widely. "You chose soda." She repeats in a sing-song voice.

"I didn't know what you two were actually talking about." I hiss.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We were discussing whether coffee or soda was better."

I shoot them one last glare before turning to leave the room, only to crash right into Cody. His arms wrap around my waist to steady me.

"Careful." He says, a small smile on his face as he looks down at me.

"Hey, Cody!" Lily shouts and I groan. I shoot her a look to keep her mouth shut but she ignores it. "Which is better," Ryder looks like he's trying so hard not to laugh. "coffee, or soda?"

Cody looks at her in confusion. "Is this a trick question?"

"No." Lily replies at the same time Ryder and I both say, "Yes."

"What are we voting for?" Devin questions as he pokes his head into the room. Lily grins widely.

"Coffee, or soda?" She asks him.

Devin seems to take a long time to consider this. "I think I prefer coffee." He finally says.

Lily's smile fades and she's glaring at him, Devin takes a step back. Ryder throws his hands up in victory.

"Yes!" He shouts. "That's two for team coffee."

"Not like it matters." Lily retorts. "Team soda has the only vote that really matters." She looks smugly over at me and I glare at her.

"I didn't mean that." I hiss.

"What's going on?" Olivia, Kate, and Hayden come walking into the room.

"We're voting on whether coffee, or soda is better." Lily tells them cheerfully.

From then on it becomes a shouting match. All of them getting into a big argument over which is better. Ryder and Lily being the biggest instigators. They even rope Henri into it. And I'm fairly certain Henri knows exactly what they're really talking about, so he wisely, stays out of it.

Ryder and Lily keep swaying people from one side to the over with their arguments for why one is better than the other. I stay standing in the corner of the room, my back pressed into Cody's chest and his arms around my waist.

"Cody!" Lily suddenly shouts and everything gets quiet. "You never gave us your choice. Which one do you think is better?"

I dread his answer because I honestly don't know which one it will be, and Lily does not need any more ammunition. He opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, there's a light knock on the wall by the door.

Saved by the bell.

Everyone turns to look. Sam's leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. He looks around the room.

"Is this a bad time?" He questions.

"Nope, not at all." Lily says. "You can vote too. Coffee, or soda?"

Sam looks at her curiously. His eyes then drift to me and Cody. He looks back at her. "Coffee."

Lily's face falls, Ryder looks smug. "You were supposed to pick soda." She grumbles.

He shrugs absent-mindedly. His eyes lock onto mine. "Coffee was here first." He says, and I suck in a breath of air. He knows exactly what this conversation's about. "But it's nice to know there's a voting going for soda."

Ryder looks even more smug as he smiles at his sister. "See?" She smacks him. And the next thing you know, it's become a wrestling match between the two.

Sam walks over to me and Cody. "Can I talk to you real quick?" He asks me.

Before I even answer, Cody removes his arms from around my waist and seems to push me forward a little. He turns back to Lily and Ryder who are still wrestling on the floor.

I just nod to Sam and make a move to leave the room, motioning for him to follow.

"Lily," I hear Cody call out as I walk away with Sam in tow. "I think I prefer soda."

I let out a groan. This is going to spur Lily on forever. I sneak a look at Sam who's trying hard to suppress a smile.

I walk into my office and close the door behind us. Sam stands and seems to be searching for what he wanted to say. He runs his hands through his hair. I wait patiently for him to talk.

"How'd you do it?" He finally asks, taking a step towards me. There's an expression on his face that I've never seen before.

"Do what?"

He lets out a little disbelieving laugh. "Zero called me. Said I could walk away whenever I wanted. The original terms of the mission no longer apply." I look at his face and suddenly I recognize the expression for what it is. Hopeful. He takes another step towards me. "How'd you do it?"

I shake my head. "I didn't." I reply, turning away from him and staring at the wall. "That was Devin. I just told him about...well, mostly everything."

I don't hear him move, but I feel the warmth of his body right behind me. I turn to look at him and he wraps his arms around me. I stiffen for a second before relaxing.

"Thank you." He says, his voice so low I almost didn't hear it. His breath fanning over my ear. I rest my head on his chest. His arms tighten around me. "Thank you." He repeats. He lets go of me and takes a few steps back, running his hand through his hair again.

"I really didn't do anything." I tell him. He shakes his head and lets out a laugh.

"I don't believe that." He gives me a calculating look and walks up to me again. Something shines in his eyes. Something I'm familiar with because I've seen it before. First in Garrett's eyes, and then in Cody's.

His hand reaches up and he brushes a strand of hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear. His hand lingers on my cheek.

"What are you doing?" My voice coming out softer than I'd intended. I know what's happening. I know I should stop it. I know I should leave, but my legs are rooted to the spot.

"What I've wanted to do for a long time." He brings his forehead down and rests it against mine, his breath mixes with mine.

"This is a bad idea." I tell him.

He lets out a little breathless laugh. "Yeah, probably." He whispers. "So, stop me."

I open my mouth to do just that, but I can't seem to find the words. Instead, my hands reach up and wind themselves around his neck. His hands brush the skin between my shirt and my pants.

He takes that as an answer. And then his lips are on mine and he's kissing me. His hands wrapping around me tightly and pulling me into him. My hands running through his hair.

He pulls away, keeping me in his arms. His forehead resting against mine. My hands fisted in his shirt. His lips barely brush against mine again. "You planning on stopping me?" He whispers. I shake my head. And that's the only answer he needs before his lips are on mine again.