We got settled into the car for the four hour drive, all except for Wally, who decided to run, and I instantly grabbed my phone, calling my Mom.
"Hello?"
"Mom, hey. It's me."
"Hi, honey. What's up?"
"We still own that little house, right? Dad's writing cabin?"
"Last time we checked, yeah. Why?"
"I'm actually, in a car, on my way there. Some friends and I need to use it for a little while."
"Oh, ok. How long do you need it?"
"Um...I'm not entirely sure." I replied.
"Laura...is everything alright?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. Some of us just had some stressful work stuff and just needed a break. That's all. So we can use the cabin?"
"Yeah, of course. I think your Dad just restocked the food and stuff so help yourselves."
"Thanks, Mom. I gotta go."
"Ok. Love you."
"Love you too." I hung up, putting my phone in Ralph's jacket pocket.
"What is this place we're going to?" Joe questioned.
"Well, my dad is a writer, and has a tendency to go for days on end writing books, so he wanted a place free of distractions that he could write in, so they found this little cabin and fixed it up for him."
"But it's safe you think?" Cecile asked. I nodded.
"I think so. I mean, we've never told anyone about it, so I don't know how the Nazis would be able to find it." I looked out the window, feeling the exhaustion from the prolonged force field starting to kick in.
"You should get some rest while you can." Ralph whispered in my ear. "Wally will let us know if he sees anything strange." I nodded, laying my head on his shoulder. He put his hand down on my knee, rubbing his thumb back and forth. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.
~~~
We finally got to the cabin to find Wally waiting us, sitting on the porch swing.
"This place is sweet." He said, spinning the spare key ring around on his finger. He threw it to me and I caught it, also putting the key in Ralph's jacket pocket.
"So, I think we should keep watch." I told Wally. "I've got the first one, because I got some sleep in the car. Everyone else should go and get settled in. Joe lead Cecile inside, followed by Wally, and I sat down on the porch swing. My ribs were throbbing, probably from all of the moving around. Ralph gently sat down beside me. "You handled that whole thing really well, by the way." He shrugged.
"What can I say, I learned from the best." I smiled. "it's a shame you couldn't make it that day."
"Shut up." I shoved his shoulder. He smiled, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers.
"So, it's starting to look like our date won't happen as soon as we planned." He told me. I shrugged.
"That's ok. I kind of like what we have going on right now." I used my other hand to hold onto Ralph's arm and I leaned my hear on his shoulder again. "I'm even starting to consider that we just do this elementary school style. Don't worry about the first date, second date, all that jazz, and just say you're my boyfriend now."
"You really want that?" He asked. I sat up, doing a quick scan of the property.
"Kind of. I mean, it would take off all of the pressure. I mean, we know that we like each other, and even though we just became friends recently, we've known each other for years. Why not just skip a few steps."
"I'm down if you are." He said. I looked back at him.
"Seriously?" He nodded.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Ok then. Boyfriend-girlfriend it is."
"Boyfriend-girlfriend it is." I nodded.
"Ok, I'm actually going to do a quick fly around, maybe if you could stretch your neck, get a good view-" I turned to face him only to have him press his mouth firmly against mine. One of his hands came down to rest on my leg, over my skirt, and the other went to my face. I held onto his wrist, kissing him back. It was strange, it was my third time kissing him, and it felt just as strange, just as electric and intoxicating as it had the first time. I pulled away, remembering that we were out here for a reason. "We're supposed to be keeping watch, not...getting distracted."
"Sorry. It's just, I feel like we haven't been alone in a while, so I hadn't had a chance to kiss you like that since the first time." He replied, skimming his thumb over my ear.
"Well...if it helps, every time has felt the same to me."
"Like...in a good way, or-"
"Oh, yeah. Definitely in a good way." I smiled, pressing my lips briefly to his before walking off of the porch and floating up above the roof. I scanned the premises, and didn't see anything strange. I bit my lip, smiling before landing on the ground again. "Looks fine from my end."
The Front door opened and Cecile came outside, holding some folded clothes.
"Laura, I found these in one of the drawers. I'm pretty sure they're yours, and I thought they'd be more comfortable than that dress." I smiled at her, taking the clothes from her. It was a pull-over sweatshirt with the Hufflepuff emblem on it and a pair of black and white polka-dot pajama shorts.
"Thank you, Cecile." She nodded and I turned to Ralph. "I'm gonna go change real quick. I'll be back." He nodded and I stepped inside, heading to the bathroom and quickly changing, hanging my dress up in the hall closet. I went to the room that was mine when I stay here and found some socks and an old pair of low-top converse, so I put those on and went back outside. It was beginning to get dark. I handed Ralph his suit jacket and sat back down beside him.
"Polka-dot pajama shorts, huh?" He asked, looking down at them.
"Not a word, Ralph. Not one word."
"How do you know where I'm going with this?" He asked.
"Because I know you, and I guarantee what you're going to say is at the very least, mildly suggestive." He laughed.
"Ok, maybe you did know where I was going with it." I shook my head, chuckling.