CJ smiled slightly as she walked around Auradon Prep's grounds with Ryan. It was a good way to destress after that execution. She was kinda surprised Harriet had let her go but CJ had stood her ground—after all she'd finally found out what that comment was that Freddy had made regarding her.
Let's just said if Mal hadn't killed Freddy, CJ would have.
Though I can't blame Harriet for her protectiveness when I was growing up or today, CJ thought with a small sigh. The whole reason I had to be in the back was because she didn't want to risk Freddy escaping and somehow getting at me. Not like he'd be able to—what with the barrier and with Harry, Harriet, Henry, Jay, and Ryan all there. Plus you know I am rather skilled with a sword.
"Your hair's not braided," Ryan said, his voice soft yet loud enough to break the silence.
CJ shrugged, brushing a hit of hair behind her ear. She'd taken to wearing her hair in a ponytail since she got to Auradon. "I haven't had braids in a while. No one here does them as well as you do. Harry offered once but the end result just wasn't the same. Evie offered after that but...like I said, no one here does them as well as you."
"Well if you want your braids back...let me know while I get used to the fact that we are apparently allies with Evie. Mal had mentioned it earlier but it's still strange to think about," Ryan said, giving her a small smile. "For you, I'd be more than happy to do them...in fact, come on. We can sit under that tree there and I'll get it done for you."
CJ smiled as they walked over to said tree; Ryan sitting down so that he was between CJ and the tree before quickly getting to work braiding her hair. He was still rather well practiced at them so it took no time at all.
"Thanks," CJ said with a grin as she turned around. Taking a chance, she placed a small kiss on Ryan's lips. She wasn't going to lie, she'd always dreamed a little of having Ryan be her first kiss; something about the way his green eyes almost glowed with amusement whenever they did something they weren't supposed to drew her to him. She felt him stiffen in shock but it lasted for maybe a minute before he returned the kiss, smiling into it.
"It...it doesn't have to mean anything," CJ said as she pulled back. "We can put it in the 'never speak of this again' drawer if you want but I...I wanted that to happen just once."
"You've no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Ryan said, his voice no higher than a whisper. "It's just...you're a Hook after all. Plus you're my best friend. I...I didn't think it'd be right..."
CJ shook her head. "Why wouldn't it be right? You'd rather be kissing strangers?"
"Like I said, you're a Hook," Ryan said with a sigh and a slight shrug. "But I'd much rather kiss you than a stranger."
CJ shook her head once more, trying not to think about the fact that Ryan and Ginny had once kissed back on the Isle. "Ry...being a Hook doesn't make me any different from you. Just means I'm a bit better with a sword than most..."
"Ceej, you're practically pirate royalty. You'll be the captain of any crew you choose to be..." Ryan sighed. "But like I said, you're also my best friend. It might not have been my first kiss...but it's the one that counts in my book..."
"Ry, the Isle doesn't have royalty and if it did, then it's Mal, Hadie, and Uma. Not me. Yeah I mean the Hooks are well known in pirate circles and sure I could probably walk into a pirate meeting and the room would stop talking once they knew. But that doesn't mean you're nothing. And it counts in my book too...it was my first kiss...even if I do have to now restrain myself from going off and maiming Ginny..."
"Hey, hey CJ, that 'kiss' wasn't even a proper kiss," Ryan told her, giving her a small smile. "It was maybe ten seconds and it wasn't even meant to happen. Our heads banged together as she was getting up. As for the pirate royalty...your father's the most feared pirate captain on the Isle. Probably the only one more feared would be Long John Silver but no one's seen him on the Isle so he's probably somewhere in Auradon. Trust me CJ, I might not be 'nothing' but I'm not exactly the same social level either. And Ginny was just doing it to get food after Henry turned her down for a fling for food, and like I said, it wasn't even meant to happen. It didn't mean anything okay?"
"You were fourteen when it happened, I'm not even sure that's legal even by Isle standards," CJ muttered and then shook her head. "No matter though, she heeded my warning considering she never went near you again...you know she's with an AK now? Actually she's with a royal from what Mal's said. Cinderella's son."
"You're joking! Who'd have thought of that?"
"No one really...but from what Mal and Uma have said, they're happy together."
Ryan smiled. "Well good for her I guess. But really CJ, what happened meant nothing. In fact...the entire time I was kissing her, I was wishing she was you..."
"...really?" CJ asked, her voice slightly soft as she looked into his green eyes that lately had a way of making her feel like she was both melting into goo and floating on a cloud when she thought about them.
"Yes really. I mean, she wasn't forceful or anything with it, like I said it was an accident anyway, but...honestly it was like a rock in my stomach because I kept thinking that now I couldn't honestly say that the girl I wanted would get my first kiss..."
"Well, and trust me I'm not exactly thrilled that Ginny Gothel got your first kiss either Ry, but at least you got my first kiss? Does that at least count for something? Cause it does to me..."
"Of course it does. It means everything to me," Ryan said, gazing into her brown eyes.
CJ smiled at him and cupped his cheek with her hand. "Good. You're my best friend, my first mate if I ever become Captain. In all honesty, you're the only one I'd want as my first kiss."
Ryan smiled, leaning into her touch. "You know I'll probably need to hide from your siblings now?"
"No you won't."
"You're sure? It's just they're more than likely very skilled at hiding my body, not to mention Mal and Uma would probably help them if Mal didn't incinerate me. As she proved today, she's quite good at that."
"I kissed you. If they have a problem with it, they'll have to blame me. You didn't do anything I didn't want. Besides, they're busy with their own love lives or celebrating the fact that Freddy's gone. Speaking of Freddy, how're your knuckles?"
Ryan rubbed his hand. "Sore but it's worth it."
He was just glad Mal took him to wash the blood off his hands before the execution. There was no way he'd have wanted to touch CJ with blood on his hands.
Thank Gods for Mal and her quick thinking, he thought.
CJ smiled, giving the bruises a small kiss. "There. That always made me feel better when Harriet would do it when I was a kid. She claimed our mom would do it for her whenever she or Harry got hurt."
"Thanks Ceej," Ryan said with a slight smile. "You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah but I wanted to."
Ryan gave her another small smile. "Is this real?"
"It's real if you want it to be," CJ said, her voice no higher than a whisper. "I'm not asking for anything Ryan. Like I said, if you want the kiss to be a 'once and then never talk about it again' moment, we can."
"CJ," Ryan said causing CJ to stop with her rambles and look at him. "I've wanted that kiss to happen for years. I just...I didn't think you...I didn't want to mess up our friendship."
CJ smiled as she heard that. "Then it's real Ry. Just as real as you or me. Relax, we can take this slow if you want. I'm not expecting you to suddenly pin me to a wall and kiss me senseless...not that I'd totally object if you did...but I know you probably won't and that's okay."
"Hey, as tempting as that sounds, I'm not exactly in the mood to be killed by your siblings or Henry and Derek if I moved too fast. You know, despite the fact Derek's still on the Isle and all. Besides, with how emotional today was...I think taking it slow would be the best approach."
"Freddy dying is emotional?"
"Excitement is an emotion!"
CJ nodded and wrapped Ryan's arm around her shoulder. She'd do slow but she wouldn't hide. "Come on."
"Where're we going?" Ryan asked as they stood up and resumed their walk.
"Well how much of this place have you actually seen?"
"Not much honestly. Just Honeymoon Castle, Freddy's cell and then the trial room."
CJ grinned. "Come on then. I've got something to show you that I think you'll like!"
She grabbed his hand and the two of them ran toward the Auradon Prep pool.
"Holy Poseidon!"
"You think this is good? Wait until you see the size of the gym they've got...or as Harry's named it, the 'sparring room'," CJ said with a chuckle
Ryan smiled. "I'm glad you guys are good," he said. "You and Harry I mean."
"Me too," CJ nodded, resting a hand on Ryan's shoulder as she saw a bit of grief cloud his eyes. She wasn't going to flaunt her new relationship with her brother in his face. Not when she knew he was still missing his sister. Yeah it'd been months but CJ knew no amount of time could ease the pain of grief.
Harry showed her that—no matter how old they got, CJ knew he'd always miss their mother.
"You know, I'm pretty sure this could fit the whole Cove and still have room for the docks," Ryan said, shaking his head as if to push back the grief.
"Probably," CJ nodded.
"Is this a hint that you want to go swimming?" Ryan asked, turning to look at her.
"I'm mean, I'm always down for swimming if you want to. I don't have my swim clothes but who cares? We're swimming Isle style," she said, grinning as she slipped off her shoes and jumped in. "Last one in is a codfish!"
"No fair!" Ryan exclaimed as he chuckled, jumping in as well.
"I'm a pirate, Ry. Since when do we do fair?"
Ryan shook his head before his eyes widened in shock. "Whoa! This is warm!"
"Yep, sure is!" CJ nodded.
"How do people ever leave this pool to get anything done?" Ryan asked, floating on his back.
"Dunno but it's perfect!" CJ said with a grin. The two of them smiled as they passed the time swimming, content to laugh and tease each other. It'd been too long since they'd seen the other and they were loathed to leave the other's side.
Though in their glee, they didn't notice that they'd attracted the attention of two particularly attentive siblings.
"What is he doing?" Harry muttered to Harriet.
"It appears that he and CJ have gone swimming," Harriet said with a shrug. "Really Harry? You dragged me to the pool because our sister's on a date? How'd you even find out about this?"
"Celia told me," Harry shrugged.
"How'd she know?"
"CJ told her she'd be with Ryan."
Harriet shook her head. "I was with Sammy you know. Besides Ryan was practically raised by Henry! You know perfectly well he won't do anything to CJ and even if he tries, our sister will turn him into a skewer with her sword so fast, we wouldn't have time to blink."
"She's too young."
"Didn't she just turn sixteen back in December?"
"Exactly my point."
"Weren't you in love with Uma as young as nine? I think sixteen is perfectly old enough to be with a boy."
"Harriet!"
"Not in that way! Get your mind out of the gutter Harry. I just mean...look Ryan's one of Henry's best friends. Meaning he's not going to jump from girl to girl just cause he can like Dustin does with his flings,"Harriet said, shaking her head. "You are definitely insane you know that? I'm going back to see Sammy, don't you dare interrupt them."
Just then, as if knowing that her siblings were watching, CJ swam over to Ryan and kissed his cheek.
"That's it," Harry muttered and started walking to the edge.
"Stubborn idiot. He could be spending time with Uma and yet he'd rather try to make sure his little sister's a spinster or something," Harriet sighed and tackled Harry. Unfortunately, this resulted in the two older Hook siblings landing in the pool.
"For Hades' sake Harriet! If you wanted to go swimming, you didn't need to bring me with you!" Harry exclaimed.
"You know perfectly well why I did it Harrison! You were going to interrupt CJ and Ryan after seeing that kiss on the cheek! Don't even try to deny it! I think I know my own brother at this point!"
CJ shook her head. "Come on," she muttered to Ryan. "Before my suddenly overprotective brother decides to interrogate you."
"You know he did that the day you left for Auradon?" Ryan said. "Asked me about my intentions with you."
"Oh for the love of...come on, I'm going to show you the gym before I murder my brother," CJ said, rolling her eyes before taking Ryan by the hand and the two of them walking off to get some sparring in.
Neither one of CJ's older siblings noticing as their slight argument had turned into a splash fest.
Good, CJ thought. I mean I appreciate it Harry. I really do but I can take care of myself. Besides, out of all the people in Auradon, Ryan's the last person you need to worry about hurting me. He's my best mate after all who I'm now in a flirtationship with.
Though she couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought that after all of this, there was a strong likelihood they'd be something more.