THIRD P.O.V.
"Hm? You look happy" Lance said upon seeing his sister who was sitting on the couch. He could clearly see that she was happy about something in the way she was smiling and the excited twinkle in her eyes as she looked up from her phone.
Ceres simply nodded her head before showing Lance the email she had been sent.
"I got a B+ on the exams we took before school ended" she said and Lance smiled before ruffling her hair.
"That's very good. After seeing your other grades, I was wondering when you were going to fix those. I didn't want to have to come to the school myself, y'know?" Ceres let out a nervous chuckle at Lance's words.
Of course he knew that she was failing, after all, there wasn't much she could hide from him. There wasn't much any of the Spencer siblings were able to hide from Lance.
"Say, how about we do something tomorrow? Just the two of us. I have the weekend off so I'm up for anything" Lance offered. Ceres was about to nod her head but then she remembered that she already had plans.
Plans that she couldn't tell any of her other brothers.
"Sorry...I have plans tomorrow" Lance gained a surprised expression as he stared down at Ceres.
"What plans? I haven't heard anything about this" Lance asked and Ceres mentally scolded herself as she had forgotten that she was supposed to ask before agreeing to any kind of plans. But then again she herself wasn't even sure of what the plans were.
See, the thing was that Hayden had asked Ceres to accompany him on another date.
Seeing as she had fun the last time, Ceres wasn't opposed to going on another one and when asking, Hayden had told her it was a surprise. Which is why Ceres was struggling to find a suitable answer to tell Lance.
"S-Sorry...I forgot to ask" Ceres said and Lance nodded.
"It's fine, but you can ask me now" Lance said and Ceres fidgeted with the ringer switch on her phone as she flipped it up and down.
"I don't really know where we're going...he said it was a surprise" Ceres said.
"And who is he?" Lance asked while giving a sickeningly sweet smile. Ceres glanced over at Lance when hearing the sugary tone in his voice, he often used that tone to express that he was far from amused.
"Hayden...." She muttered and Lance gave a deep frown.
Had this boy asked her out on another date, or was it just a friendly hang out? Lance was quick to answer his own question as he thought about it. Hayden liked Ceres, that was clear to anyone with working eyes, so any kind of hang out where it's just the two of them alone would never be considered 'friendly' to him. Especially if he was the one that invited her.
Then a thought occurred to Lance.
If he allowed them to continue to spend time together, then that means they would no doubt eventually end up getting close. And when you get close to someone, you get to see them for who they really are.
And hopefully, Hayden's true colors didn't change from what Lance had previously witnessed.
"I...see. How about Sunday then?" Lance asked and Ceres gave him a small smile before nodding.
"Okay"
Lance walked away from Ceres with a completely vexed feeling filling his heart. He was debating on whether or not he should just go back there and take back his words but decided against it. Ceres has yet to get truly upset with any of her brothers and he refused to let himself be the first one she does get angry with.
~ Saturday, with Hayden and Ceres ~
Ceres' eyes were wide and her lips were parted in surprise as her and Hayden had finally arrived to the secret destination.
'A-An aquarium...' Ceres thought to herself as she read the words on the entrance. She had always settled for gazing at a TV or books to catch a glimpse of the gorgeous underwater beings, but now she would get to see them up close and personal.
To say she was excited was an understatement.
"The actual fun is inside so let's go, shall we?" Hayden said as he held out his hand to Ceres. Not even thinking about it, Ceres grabbed his hand excitedly and the two began to venture into the aquarium.
Once the two were finally in the aquarium, Ceres internally squealed as she saw all the different fishes. So many different shapes, colors, and sizes yet Ceres was able to recognize each and every one from her countless books, documentaries, and online research.
"Synchiropus splendidus... Zebrasoma flavescens... Pterapogon kauderni"
Hayden could only listen as Ceres had begun to name several of the fishes that swam past her but at some point, he had begun to pay attention to more than just the words she uttered. He couldn't erase the sight of the soft smile and excited twinkle in her eyes that she was now presenting to him. It was such an unusual but pleasing sight to see.
As the two walked through out the aquarium, Hayden had continued to wonder about the girl holding his hand. Well, it was really him holding her hand since at any given moment Ceres would run off and probably get lost.
What kind of dreams for the future did Ceres have? She had never expressed any real interest in anything other than bagel bites and aquatic creatures. Everyone has their own dreams and ambitions, so what were Ceres'? Hayden figured that maybe he could ask her a little later, maybe when they were older.
Hayden was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down at Ceres who was pointing at a fish with a small smile.
"This one kind of looks like you..." Ceres said innocently and Hayden raised an eyebrow before looking at the fish that 'looked like him' and he deadpanned at the ugly fish that stared back at him. It's eyes were practically bulging out of it's head, is that what Hayden looked like to her?
Hayden's eyebrow twitched and he looked to Ceres with a weary smile.
"I don't think so" he kindly disagreed and Ceres frowned a little.
"I think so..." she muttered before moving on to look at the next fish.
The entire day Ceres was happy that she got to see all of the different fish. They even got to watch the workers feed the dolphins! However, they didn't get to sit up close since those seats were already taken.
Her favorite part however, was the seals. They were so energetic when seeing all the people that came to visit them and Ceres couldn't help but feel happy for them as well.
A little later, Ceres' eyes caught on to a souvenir shop and she stopped walking. Hayden had also stopped walking when she had and when he saw her that her eyes were fixated on the souvenir shop, he spoke up.
"Do you want to go in there?" He asked and Ceres turned to him with sparkling eyes and nodded. Hayden let out a little laugh before nodding and leading the way into the souvenir shop but he was confused when Ceres stopped him.
She shook her head at him before asking him to wait there and quickly walked into the shop. Hayden was confused but respected Ceres' silent wish and stayed out. A few moments later, Ceres emerged with a bag in hand and two more than medium sized plushies in her arms.
"It seems you got more than you can carry" Hayden said amusedly.
Ceres' cheeks tinted a faint pink as she placed her bags on the floor and the turtle plush on top of one of the bags. Hayden noticed that the other plush in her arms was the fish that Ceres said looked like him but it was now a bit cuter thanks to it being a plush.
Ceres held the plush out towards him and Hayden's eyes widened. Was she giving it to him?
"Thank you for taking me here today. I had lots of fun" she said with a smile.
"You're welcome" Hayden said before taking the plush from her hands. He stared at the plush for a moment trying to see if it actually looked like him and once again, he saw no resemblance. So why did Ceres think they looked like each other?
Another mystery that would go unsolved.
"You got quite a bit. Whose the other stuff for?" Hayden asked as the two had now exited the aquarium and were just walking.
"The turtle plush is for me and the key chains are for Lucas, Ares, and Kade. The bookmarks are for Roman, stickers for Max, and these magnets are for Lance" Ceres explained.
Hayden hummed in understanding and just continued to walk. The rest of their walk was pleasant as Hayden had listened to Ceres explaining all her favorite parts of their time at the aquarium and it made him immensely happy to hear just how much she had enjoyed herself.
For Hayden, even if he wasn't as excited about the fish as Ceres was, just seeing her smile was enough for him.
When they had arrived at Ceres' house, Hayden decided to walk her up to the door before officially parting ways but before he could walk off, Ceres had called out his name.
"Yes?" Hayden said turning back to the girl. Ceres shuffled a bit before asking what was on her mind.
"Did you have fun today? I know that I got carried away a lot...and if you didn't have fun, I'm really sorry" Ceres said and this time, Hayden couldn't but let out a small chuckle.
Ceres looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and Hayden's laughter ceased as he stared at her with serious eyes.
"Ceres, no matter where we go, I'll always have fun. Just being with you is all the fun I could ever ask for" Hayden asked and Ceres' heart skipped several beats as she nodded slowly.
Surely he had to be lying...she wasn't a fun person at all and if anything, Ceres thought of herself as the complete opposite of fun. But, regardless of what she thought, Ceres was just glad to hear that he had fun as well.
"Okay then. Goodbye, Hayden" Ceres said before heading off into her home.
As the door closed, Hayden let out a relieved sigh. He felt embarrassed saying such sappy words but that was the only way he would be able to get his point across to Ceres and by the blush on her face after he said those words, he could tell his message had reached her.
Hayden didn't miss the snooping green eyes that were watching the two from the window and he turned his head before waving at them.
He chuckled when seeing them widen and vanish almost instantly. Hayden then started heading off to his own home and as he was walking, his eyes drifted down to the plush in his arms.
Hayden didn't tell Ceres, but it was also his first time being at an aquarium himself. He had gotten advice from Diana on how to go about purchasing tickets and whatnot and looked up the directions on his own.
So, yes. He did have fun today, that was for sure.
[A/N: Hello, everyone, Andromeda_ here! Last chapter was kinda short so I made up for it by writing another chapter about the same length! I am slowly coming out of my writer's block thankfully. As it has once again been quite a few chapters, I will now ask everyone who their favorite Spencer sibling is and remember, if your answer changed please feel free to leave the reason why! As always, thank you for reading, voting, and commenting. I will see you guys in the next chapter!]
Lancelot Spencer
Kadence Spencer
Roman Spencer
Ares Spencer
Lucas Spencer
Maximilian Spencer
Ceres Spencer