For a moment, Adrian only stares at Cassidy - with him looking dumbfounded, and her smiling a little too brightly.

He blushes a bit at the realization that she really is trying to flirt with him. That's until she roars with laughter all of the sudden. Thrown off guard, he can only raise his brows and watch her flip over laughing.

​​

"I'm joking, I'm joking! As if I'll ever be distracted by something like that! I'm gorgeous myself!" she teased and guffawed like there was no tomorrow, amused by her own quip.

"Well, you may not be distracted by my beauty..." he retorted before smirking out of nowhere, not at all offended.

"I certainly am distracted by yours. Indeed, you're very gorgeous."

That's when she drains out all the laughter at once, coming to a still for a second.

Satisfied with the sudden silence, Adrian can't help but smirk wider. Cassidy keeps quiet from that point on, finding it hard to believe that her feigned pleasantry has backfired. She waited for him to take it back and say he was only kidding around, but that did not happen.

Instead, he only continues staring at her with that luscious and ravishing look.

"E-Enough with the jokes! Let's get to where the kids are!" she then exclaimed before turning around and resuming the walk.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Adrian breezily trails after Cassidy from behind. He is still smiling even then while observing her in silence. With her drawing her distance like this, he can't tell if she's embarrassed or displeased by what he said.

'Perhaps, that's a bit too much?' he thought to himself and sighed a little.

Starting from that moment on, Adrian restrained himself from trying to flatter Cassidy for the rest of that day.

---

"Oh, what do you know~? Things are actually going great~!"

Irish stood under a tent from a distance, spectating the ongoing game at the field.

She got a special reservation from the head of the resort where the school event was being held. That allowed her to be part of the audience - along with an undesired companion who also happened to share a connection with the owner of the establishment.

Unlike Irish, Asher appears to be not seeing the present happenings as anywhere near great.

"Shade probably made those little Shades invite Cassie or something..." he muttered to himself, scowling all grumpily.

"What an insufferable dude."

"Ummm... Must we share the same tent, though?" she chimed in a complaint, not catching on what he said.

"Bear with it as I am bearing with you."

"What is it really that you wanna do here?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself with."

Irish chooses to settle with a huff at this, thinking that it is a waste of time to try to hold a proper conversation with Asher. It's a good thing that what they're watching at that moment is more than enough to avenge her, though. She does not need to exasperate him like he does to her -

Her brother can do all the work.

"Cassidy, you sure you're alright doing this with me?"

"It's alright, Adrian. We have to win this round, remember?"

Apparently, the couple is participating in a relay race with a rule that requires both players to be tied together.

With their arms and ankles bound to each other, the skinship is out in the open for everyone there to see. The audience is a sea of smiles and noises that entire time - a chorus of cheers rising to the air and falling upon the sun-warmed field. As the competitors prepared for the thrill, the crowd readied themselves for an exhilarating spectacle.

In its time of commencement, the couple takes on their competitive spirits and starts to gather attention more than ever.

"Woah! Those two are pretty athletic, huh?" Irish thought out loud, astonished by how her brother and sister-in-law were outrunning the other challengers with ease.

"Hmph... Show-off..." Asher snorted with his arms crossed in annoyance.

"If he dares to touch her anywhere other than there, I'll definitely-"

Right then, he was cut off by an unprecedented turn.

Cassidy tripped all of the sudden, but Adrian caught her on time. He ended up embracing her in the process, and from that point on, he only kept her in his arms - keeping her steady and protected. Only when the two looked away from each other and stared ahead again did they finally show their reaction from that sudden physical contact -

They blush.

"The hell?" Asher blurted out.

"Oh my~ They're being shy," Irish cooed.

"Shy my ass! I knew it! This whole thing is only a set-up for him to take advantage of her like that-"

"Shut up, you party-pooper! She's blushing too!"

"Shade's handsome! Who wouldn't blush at being hugged by a guy like that?!"

"What does that even have to do with this?!"

Starting from that moment on, Irish had no choice but to deal with Asher for the rest of that day - deal with his short temper and anger outbursts, that is.

---

Later in the night, a bonfire would be lit.

For their first evening there, they will be camping out at the mountainside. Since the area reserved there is only exclusive for the registered members in the school event, Irish and Asher have to stay back at the resort and wait for tomorrow again.

With that, the children are left in the care of the couple.

Everyone is now heading to their camping location, treading a dim-lit path while doing some sightseeing at the same time. They walk in groups alongside several tour guides who will make sure that they are all on track.

"Hey, isn't this the perfect opportunity we'd been waiting for?" Joshua told his companions, keeping his voice down a little to avoid being heard.

"Opportunity for what?" Hugo asked in puzzlement.

"For Uncle and Aunt to be alone."

"Oh, I get what you mean..." Damien chimed in with an amused smile.

"It's interesting to watch them earlier in the field. However, I do understand the importance of privacy among couples. This chance can get them much, much closer than before!"

"I see that you're pretty hyped up about this..." Aira giggled, feeling excited herself.

"Well then, shall we form a plan now? Or let's just lose them in the woods?"

Little did these children know that they neither need to come up with a plan nor part from them.

At the moment, Adrian and Cassidy are in it again.

After a series of physical contacts, touchings and intimate positions earlier that day, the awkwardness is back to rule once more. Being the most athletic pair among the guardians, they had to carry the whole team and join as many games as they could. At one point, they got so carried away with it that they forgot about how messed up their relationship was.

And because of their awkwardness, distance has been drawn again.

'I'm such an indecisive scatterbrain. Why do I have to be this affected when I'm supposed to be moving on already?' Cassidy asked herself and drawled out a sigh.

'That's enough for today. This is enough. I can't get too greedy. Otherwise, she'll push me away again,' Adrian brooded in silence, feeling like things were bound to go wrong if this continued.

She is walking ahead of him that whole time, making sure they have enough spaces.

Soon enough, the path they are treading has become dimmer. The ground is also starting to become a little steep, but because the trail ahead of them is clear and the coast is visible enough, there isn't any trouble on the way - at least within that time of the night, there isn't.

However, as soon as Cassidy looked up, a premonition began to form.

There are no stars to brighten up the evening sky. There is only the looming lack of light that cradles the mountain peak. These are usually the signs that things are about to go downhill for her. This is when her sense of awareness strengthens - alarmed and alert.

'Was the weather forecast lying again? I thought it was going to be a clear evening.'

Cassidy thought wrong, though.

From a distance, she can already hear the roaring thunder. She still can't see the streaks of lights that come along with it, and she kind of blames it to all the trees that are towering over her. Regardless, she needs to make haste and find shelter at once. Otherwise, she will be too thunderstruck to take another step.

'Hurry. I've got to hurry.'

Cassidy picks up her pace right then, but with her fear and trepidation taking over the focus of her attention, she fails to realize that she is unconsciously trying to get nearer to the side of the track - nearer to anything she can hold onto. What she doesn't know is that there's nothing there in the first place. There is only but the edge that hides beneath the bushes and hedges.

Then, out of nowhere, Cassidy finally finds out what the premonition is all about - she loses her footing and falls from there.

"Cassidy!"