"Hey, Cori!" Kole shot a smirk towards Nicky when Cori finally left her hiding place to join them in the kitchen.
"I saved you some cereal," Nicky smiled, quickly stashing the weathered magazine under the table.
"Thanks," Cori accepted the bowl of flakes from Nicky.
"Is she blushing?" Kole blurted suddenly, grinning again at Nicky.
"No, it's just a little sunburn," Nicky frowned at Kole, then turned apologetically back to Cori. "There's no milk, but it's still good," he told her.
Cori sat down and quickly eyed Tanner. After overhearing Miracle 10's discussion and Kole's continuous taunts at Nicky, dry cereal was the least of her concerns.
"So, Cori," Kole began again. "I have to ask you a question!"
Cori raised her brows anxiously and Kole cracked a grin.
"You like Miracle 10, right?" he asked, causing Cori to take a nervous gulp. "So... who's your favorite member?" he finished, eyes twinkling mischievously. However, before Cori could even awkwardly say 'umm', Nicky interrupted.
"Hey, does anyone know where the tents are?" he changed the subject, looking almost as uncomfortable as Cori.
"The tents?" Axel looked at him curiously. "What do you need the tents for?"
Nicky hesitated for a moment, shooting Tanner a glance.
"Cori and I are camping tonight," he answered at last. "Since nobody else ever wants to."
"What?!" shouted Kole. "What do you mean we don't want to?!"
"Yeah, man, I can't believe you weren't going to invite us!" laughed JM.
"You want to camp?" Nicky looked at them incredulously. "Outside?"
"Of course we do! We're not gonna let you and Cori have all the fun!" Kole laughed and elbowed Cori lightly. "Right, guys?" he looked around the kitchen.
"Right!" JM nodded in approval.
"What else is there to do?" shrugged Axel.
Now there was only one person left to agree. Curiously awaiting a response, the entire room turned to Tanner who lowered his coffee mug and stared back.
"I'm in," he said at last.
"Okay, then great," Nicky smiled, although his eyes didn't quite seem to match the expression.
~~~
"I can't believe we've never used these tents even once!" JM helped Nicky heft the tent storage bags out of the closet under the stairs.
"I can," Nicky paused to look up at the balcony.
"Hey, guys! Help me get this mattress down the steps!" Kole was straining to push his twin bed through the bedroom door.
"What are you doing?!" JM shouted, dropping the tent carrying case and leaping up the stairs. "Hey! This is my mattress! Put it back!"
"Do they know we have an air mattress?" Tanner tugged a deflated mat out of the vast closet and took a seat on the couch next to Cori. "They're idiots," he whispered, an amused twinkle in his eyes.
Cori giggled and her stomach gave a little flip.
"You know, you do look like you're blushing," he added lowly.
"It's honestly just a sunburn," Cori told him quickly, though she could feel the real thing beginning to heat up her already warm cheeks.
"It's okay," Tanner went on. "It looks kind of-"
"What the?! KOLE!" Axel yelled from above, cutting off the rest of Tanner's sentence. He had walked out of his room and tripped over the mattress which was now lodged in the doorway.
Cori let out a breath and turned to see the commotion, though totally dying to know what Tanner had been about to say. It looks kind of what??? Cori sighed as the chaos upstairs continued.
"Guys! There's an air mattress down here!" Nicky calmly called to them.
"There is?!" abandoning the jammed mattress, Kole came rushing downstairs.
"I want it!" Axel was right behind him.
"Hey! Aren't you gonna help me put this mattress back???" groaned JM, as he struggled to push it back into his room.
"How many of these things do we have?" Kole picked up the mattress, ignoring JM.
"Just the one mattress. And two tents," said Nicky. "But that's okay. I was planning on going old school and just using a sleeping bag. We have plenty of those."
"Well, we get the mattress!" Kole claimed the inflatable bed.
"That's fine," Nicky extracted a red, rolled up sleeping bag, then turned to Cori. "You're not like these prissy guys, right? You won't mind roughing it in a sleeping bag?" He grinned. "You can even pick which color you want," he pulled another yellow bag from the closet.
"Any color is good," Cori told him gratefully.
"How do you know Cori doesn't want to stay in our tent on the mattress?" Kole crossed his arms. "Not everyone likes sleeping on the hard ground!"
"It's okay. I don't mind," said Cori quickly.
"Are you sure? You're welcome to camp with us," offered Kole.
"Who is us?" JM had finally joined them downstairs. "Why do you guys get the air mattress?"
"Because we got to it first," Kole stuck out his tongue.
"Only because I was upstairs putting back the bed you moved!" argued JM.
"Sorry, man," smirked Axel.
"JM does have a point," said Tanner suddenly.
"Thank you!" JM smiled, but Tanner slyly continued.
"Maybe I want to sleep on the mattress," he finished.
"Well we can't all fit on it!" frowned Kole, examining the shapeless mat. "How many do you think could fit?"
"Well, there's two tents and six of us, so I wouldn't try for more than three," said Nicky.
"But even if you and Cori don't want the air mattress, that still leaves four of us who do!" Kole knit his brows.
"You could always play for it," grinned Nicky.
"How?" Axel narrowed his eyes, but Nicky only smiled, pulling a pack of water balloons from the closet.
~~~
"Okay!" Nicky carefully sat down the bucket of overfull water balloons. "First person to get hit loses mattress privileges," he told his band mates. "Cori and I will be judges," he added, offering Cori a lawn chair in front of the cabin and taking a seat beside her.
"There is no way I'm gonna lose!" Kole had already grabbed a balloon. "Let's all gang up on JM!"
"What?!" JM shouted.
"Hey! We didn't even say go yet-" Nicky began, but at that moment Kole threw the bulging balloon straight at JM.
"Whoa!" JM ducked, and the rogue water balloon whizzed over his head, directly towards Cori.
Cori covered her face, expecting to be soaked, but surprisingly never felt the impact. Lowering her arms, she saw Nicky standing in front of her, dripping wet; the busted balloon lying at his feet.
"You didn't have to do that!" Cori gasped, jumping up and looking for a towel.
"It's okay," chuckled Nicky, taking off his wet shirt and sitting back down. "It's hot out so it was refreshing."
Cori frowned sympathetically and returned to her own lawn chair, though Nicky's shirtless appearance made her do a double-take. The memory of her weird dream was returning.
"He keeps taking his shirt off," she thought. "That's probably why he did that in the dream, too," she decided. But still, that didn't explain the hug...
"Man, that was supposed to be you who got drenched, JM!" Kole pouted at JM, snapping Cori from her contemplation.
"You have terrible aim!" JM teased. "Cori isn't even playing!"
"Well, she didn't get hit, did she?" defended Kole.
"Yeah, Nicky, you're so sweet," laughed JM.
"A real hero," said Tanner sarcastically, and Cori turned to see him watching them sourly.
"Why does he keep looking so mad at Nicky?" she wondered. "Or is it me he's annoyed with?" Cori's hope for a jealous Tanner was instantly dashed by worry.
"Can we play now?" Kole was getting antsy and had picked up another balloon. "I'm ready to win the mattress already!"
"Alright," Nicky shook his head. "Everyone grab your ammo," he instructed, turning to Cori. "Cori, do you wanna give the countdown?"
"Sure," Cori agreed, trying not to let her eyes stray to Nicky's well-built arms.
"Okay, guys," he looked at the rest of Miracle 10. "First one to get wet loses the air mattress and has to stay in our tent. You ready?" he asked Cori and she nodded.
"Three... two..." she began to count, "one... GO!"
At the signal, the boys started to run, dodge and attack- except for Tanner.
"This is stupid," he said, remaining where he stood and making no attempt to throw his balloon or even evade the one Kole had just sent flying towards him.
"You're out!" Kole shouted victoriously! "HA HA! We get the mattress!"
"YES!" JM rushed him and lifted him into the air like a champion.
"He didn't even try, though," Axel arched his brow suspiciously.
"Maybe he wants to share a tent with Cori," JM joked, making everyone suddenly stare at Tanner.
Cori's heart thumped as she, too, waited to learn his reasoning.
"No, I just remembered how bad Kole snores," said Tanner simply, and Cori's excitement was once again extinguished. "No thanks."
"Ugh!" groaned Axel. "I'll trade you! I don't care about the mattress!"
"Nope," grinned Tanner evilly. "Enjoy your night with the Snore King."
"Whatever! You're still the LOSER!" Kole continued to taunt Tanner from his seat on JM's shoulders.
"Oh well," Tanner shrugged, looking surprisingly unfazed. "Guess I need to go find a sleeping bag," he said, suddenly turned to Cori. "Come help me pick," he added decidedly, before disappearing into the cabin.
"Oh! Okay," Cori was more than happy to accompany him, instantly abandoning her chair and following after him, her hopefulness renewed.
"What do you think?" Tanner held up the red sleeping bag when Cori entered the living room.
"Red's good," she answered shyly.
"What color do you want?" he asked, stepping inside the giant closet.
"It doesn't matter," Cori said politely.
"There's a ton in here," Tanner told her. "Come look."
Cori hesitated, but with a wave from Tanner, finally joined him in the closet.
It looked roomier from the outside, and Cori awkwardly shifted, accidentally grazing Tanner's leg with her hand.
"Sorry!" she gasped quickly, staring up at him.
"Do you see something you like?" he asked her.
"Huh?" Cori felt her sunburnt look increase.
"The sleeping bags," Tanner smirked, nodding towards a top shelf.
"Oh, umm," Cori turned her gaze to the shelf. "That blue one's fine," she told him, backing against the other side of the closet and out of his way as he pulled the sleeping bag down.
However, tossing the bundle out onto the floor, Tanner took a step towards Cori.
"I almost forgot," he smiled, leaning in and stretching a hand past her head.
"What is he doing?" Cori shrunk nervously into the shelving behind her and closed her eyes as Tanner continued to lean in. Opening her eyes at last, she saw Tanner smiling down, just inches from her face.
"Extra blanket," he said, suddenly pulling back with a folded quilt in his hand.
"Oh," Cori let out a breath, but Tanner spoke again.
"Why were you closing your eyes?" he asked. "Do blankies scare you?" he laughed before turning away and exiting the closet.
Cori stood locked in place and her heart pounded as Tanner's footsteps pounded on the stairs above.
"Whew," she exhaled again, stepping out of the closet, but the presence of someone near the couch made her jump.
"Blue's a nice choice," Nicky had pulled on a fresh shirt and was now standing there, surveying the sleeping bags. "But Tanner took the one I wanted," he frowned, noting the red roll beside Cori's.
"At least he's being a good sport about staying in our tent without the air mattress," offered Cori, when she had finally regained her composure.
"Yeah, but I know Tanner... and I think he lost on purpose," Nicky smiled somberly. "And not because of Kole's snoring."