Doctor : Do you know why you were brought to this mental institute??

Me : Because I have a God-like syndrome and I think my scheme to rule the world is the only reasonable hope for our species survival which roughly resume includes a lot of slaughtering and the death of Zach Efron???

Doctor : No this isn't it...

Me : Because I seriously consider cannibalism as a way to save myself from starving??

Doctor : You are here because you took off your clothes, dipped yourself in honey and went running down Ventura Boulevard yelling, "Look at me! I'm a Golden Globe!"

(Chuck Lorre, my model ;P)

Alright so this is freaking long and I have no idea how I managed to pull it off but I did... I must be crazy.. lol

Oh and ya.. so Blake secrets TECHNICALLY it should be out.. and I emphasize on the TECHNICALLY, in the 49th chapter.. not 100% sure though.. and I have no idea when I upload again.. but not tomorrow for sure..

Alright so I hope you guys like this one... I haven't read it again, so it could be awful but I gotta go sleep, I have a dissertation to write on Chateaubriand's René tomorrow -_-

So read enjoy, comment and vote!!!! :D

Oh and little notice ****I do not own the rights to Victor Hugo's Hernani's play nor to Pierre Bedard's translation of it, the version used in this chapter. It is strickly used as way of entertainment and no copyrights infringements were intended.****

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If I just kept staring at him like this, things wouldn't go down smoothly. That much was freaking obvious.

He was too damn irresistible for his own good... there I said it! Blake was freaking irresistible and right now I wanted to kiss him! There you go! I admitted it! So what? It was only my hormones speaking! That was it. End of it! Period!

And I as much as I wanted to just tackle him to the ground right now, yes admitting it too, I didn't really want that.

I mean, it had been just a little over a week since we had really started speaking and being "friends" and as much as we had already been through, I didn't know how strong this friendship was. And I didn't want to ruin things. I didn't want to loose him because of some stupid move!

Alex had been a good example enough! If our friendship hadn't been so strong, we would never have been still as close after our break-up, because coupley-things did that to friends... and I didn't know how strong my friendship with Blake was and I didn't want to jeopardize anything.

Because I needed it. I needed this friendship... and I needed him...

"Come on Pumpkin, just ask me to take my sword out..." Blake said quietly, smirking just a tiny bit.

And just like that, Blake had made things go back to normal, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm asking you to give me your sword, not to take it out!!" I sighed.

"Just as bad!" Blake chuckled.

"You're freaking unbelievable"

"Thanks... alright go on! Read!"

"Come now, give me your coat... and the sword..." I sighed deeply rolling my eyes and Blake burst laughing.

"I just love this! You know there's at least three jokes I can make with this line?"

"Please don't..."

"Fine..." Blake pouted and then continued "No. This is my other friend, innocent and true. Your uncle, Dona Sol, the old Duke, your future husband, is he here" Blake read and then lowered the script "Now Pumpkin... tss tss tss! What is that? Incest? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Why the hell would you marry your uncle when you have sexy Hernani aka me in front of you?"

"This is just a play Blake!" I told him rolling my eyes.

Yes... it was just a play... that was all it was...

"Still not proud of you..." Blake smirked.

"Alright shut up so I can read this!" I warned him and then continued "No, he is not. This hour is ours"

"This hour and that is all. For us, no more than an hour. After that, what does it matter? We must forget or die. Angel, an hour with you is worth a lifetime, an eternity..." Blake said... and god he sounded convincing and god I wanted to jump him again...

Keep your hormones in check Lexi!!

I mean this was ridiculous! It was just a play! I mean usually I was so unaffected by things like this. Like someone serenading just made me uncomfortable, you know like a guy coming with his guitar and saying "I wrote this song for you" and then he'd sing and play... well if a guy ever did that for me, I would be fighting really hard to not burst laughing in his face...

But right now... this, this was beautiful... I mean surely I wasn't the only one thinking that... I wasn't the only one who'd be affected by this?

Of course I wasn't... all the girls Blake had, all the time... all those girls were pretty affected...

The freaking bimbos... I mean... who was to tell he wasn't reading things like that to the girl he cornered in a bathroom stall this morning? Alright that might be over dramatic but wasn't that true?

Blake was still the school jock after all... the guy every boy wanted to be, that every girl wanted to be with... oh and some dudes too...

Everyone wanted Blake... I was just another number on the list, an insignificant one, because I knew this wasn't really true, it was just his hot look and nice smell, and voice, and way to read those lines... because in an hour, I'd want to kill him again... right?

"You're supposed to say something Lexi" Blake said, smiling a little, that genuine smile of his that made dimple appear on his cheek and made him even hotter...

"Hernani!!"

"The old man's absence brings joy to my heart. Like a trembling thief, kicking down your door, I steal you for an hour and listen to your song, for only one hour. But I am happy, envied for losing my life for the theft of one hour..."

Okay! Please! Seriously! That was like way too much... in the good sense, which was kinda bad for me but ya...

Oh god, oh god, oh god...

Could I drop English Literature... destroy my vocal chords so I don't have to do this presentation and read this text again?

"Calm yourself, Hernani." And calm yourself Lexi... "Josefa, please go dry his coat" I said and then it was written "Exit DONA JOSEFA" and Blake got up from the couch and walked away a little, taking little steps, swaying his hip from one side to another, like a girl model... making me burst with laugher.

And then Blake turned around and came back to sit on the couch but just tiny bit closer to the recliner where I sat this time.

Or so I thought. I could easily be imagining things...

"Come here" I read, and then Blake really slid a little closer to me.

I swallowed loudly.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap...

I'm really not going to be able to practice this play with him... we'll have to do it separately... for my own mental health.

"So, the Duke is not here?" Blake asked and smirked hugely.

I read in my head my next line and understood.

"Oh hell NO!"

"Hell yeah! Read it!! Come on Pumpkin! You can do it, I know you want to say this!!"

"No! I'm not reading this now, and I sure as hell ain't reading this in front of the entire class!!"

"It's just a play" Blake pouted playfully.

"I hate you... And I hate this play!" I mumbled and then read the freaking line "Oh! Howbigyouare" I spat in a rush.

"What? Say that again!" Blake frowned.

"Howbigyouare!"

This is ridiculous, simply ridiculous!

"Come on Pumpkin!"

"How big you are!" I said, still fast.

"What? Sorry didn't catch that"

"HOW BIG YOU ARE!!" I exclaimed.

"What?"

"Oh for Christ sake you heard that!!!" I hissed at him.

"Ya... I heard it the first time actually, I just wanted to know how many times I could make you repeat it" Blake smirked and then I rolled the script in my hand and hit him on the top of the head with it.

"You idiot!!" I hissed.

That was the thing with him I guess... there was always a really thin line between wanting to tear his head off and wanting to tear his clothes off...

"Can we just go on with our reading please? I think you had your fun!" I scowled, my eyes narrowing.

"Indeed I did" Blake chuckled and then his eyes lowered on the script again "He is not here."

"Let's forget the Duke" I read.

See this one was easy!

"Think of him madam. You are to marry the old man. He loves you. Didn't he steal a kiss from you the other day? And you ask me not to think about him?" Blake read, his voice getting just the perfect amount of angry to make it believable.

I hated him for that.

"Is that what's depressing you? An uncle's kiss? On the forehead? A kiss from my father couldn't have been more harmless." I read.

"NO. It was a lover's kiss, from a husband-to-be, a jealous man. Soon you'll be his. Have you thought about that? He's senile. He thinks he needs a wife to lead him to the end of the road. He doesn't see himself marrying death soon while he holds your hand. The fool throws himself between us without fear. I wish he'd see a gravedigger and show what he's made of. Who arranged this marriage, anyway? I hope you're being forced into it!" Blake said and I almost wanted to laugh.

The way he said "I hope you're being forced into this" I don't know, just felt like something Blake would actually say.

"Some say the King wants it" I said, nonchalantly.

"The King! My father died, condemned by his father. And though we have all aged since the day he hung, my hate, for the now dead King, and for his son, for his widow, for all his blood, is fresher than ever. My father is no longer of this world, but still, as a child, I swore to avenge his death by killing his son. I search for you everywhere, Carlos, King of the Castilles. Hate rules between our two families. My father fought for thirty years. Thirty years, only to lie dead in vain. Peace shall never come. So it is you, Carlos, who wants to violate my love. All the better. Another reason to number your days!" Blake read.

He was good! Damn freaking good.

And believable, damn freaking believable.

Just the perfect amount of everything in his act.

"You frighten me!"

"Now that I am banished from the kingdom, it is time that I frighten myself. The man you are to marry, your uncle, Ruy de Silva, the Duke of Pastrana, a count and a cousin of the Castillian kings, is a very old man. His gold and his jewelry will make up for his lack of youth. You will shine with the best of royalty. You may even be envied. Your rank, your pride, glory and riches may even put to shame the greatest of queens. So that, my love, is the present situation. I, Hernani, have nothing! As a child, I ran through the woods barefoot, foraging for my food. Maybe the past casts a shadow of some illustrious coat-of-arms, dulled by split blood or some other dishonor. While I've waited for the day that my family will rise again from the grave, the jealous heavens have yielded nothing, nothing but air, light and water... a dowry that is man's natural right. Now you choose between the Duke and me. One of us must deliver you. Either you marry him... or you follow me." Blake read, his voice getting almost intense, making my breath stuck in my throat.

If this was real, if I was really Dona Sol, I would have answered the same as her.

"I shall follow you"

Blake smirked a little, just a little at that answer, but I saw it and rolled my eyes.

"So you can live with me and my rude companions? Men so condemned that the executioner knows them by name? Men whose hearts and steel never dull? Men who have unavenged blood as their reason for being? Will you command them? How well do you know me?" Blake said, his voice getting just a little lower, actually making me question myself.

How well did I know Blake?

Not really well...

I thought I knew something but I really knew nothing, and it sadden me a little...

Blake kept on reading "I am hunted throughout Spain. Old Catalonia, my mother, receives me alone in her forests, cliffs and summits, where only an eagle can find me. I grew up with her hill people, a free and serious people, though poor in the material sense of trinkets and baubles. Tomorrow, if I were to sound my horn in their mountains, three thousand of their brave would come to my call, and you would shudder, dear." Blake raised his head, and smirked at me "Did you hear that, three thousand men. Hernani rocks and Dona Sol would be pretty silly if she didn't choose him" he slipt in and then kept on reading.

"Think again. Do you want to follow me into the woods, to the mountains, roving from coast to coast with a mob of men, aware of the lot of them at all times? Their eyes, their voices, their every step... their smell?" he said slowly, his eyes shining evilly. "Sleeping on the grass, drinking from streams and listening to bullets whistle past while nursing our child?" when he read that one his smirk widen "Is this the life you want to live? Do you want to be always on the move, hunted and banished from your land? Are you willing to follow me to my father's fate at the hands of an executioner?"

"I will follow" I said again, reading my text.

"You know this is totally unfair, I got way more text than you" Blake said, shaking his head.

"Ah but the way I say my "I will follow you" kicks your little monologue" I smiked a little at him.

Blake chuckled and continued. "The old Duke is rich and prosperous. There is no stain on his father's name. He offers you treasures, titles, happiness."

"We'll leave tomorrow. Please Hernani. Don't blame me for my audacity. Are you my downfall or my savior? It does not matter, I am your slave." I read and Blake chuckled.

"My slave" he repeated, smirking evilly but I ignored him.

"Listen. Go where you will, I will follow. Whether you stay or leave, I am yours. Why? I only wish I knew. I need to see you again and again. I need to have you all the time. When you leave, and the sound of your step disappears into the night, my heart stops. When you leave me, I sense something missing. But, when the footsteps I long for ring in my ears, they remind me that I am alive. My soul lives again." I read, but I had a hard time doing this.

This play was wrong!

Way way wrong!!

People would think things!!

I raised my head from my text and saw Blake staring at me, and then he said his line without looking at his text

"Angel..." he smiled a little.

Oh god...

"At midnight, tomorrow, bring your escort. Knock three times beneath my window. Go. I'll stay brave." I continued.

Blake laughed.

"What?" I frowned.

"I'll knock three times... naked under your window." He smirked.

"Stick with your text" I scowled.

Blake rolled his eyes and then set them on the script again "Now, do you know who I am? Do you realize..."

"My lord, what does it matter? I will follow." I read.

"I just love how you keep calling me your lord and saying you'll follow me" Blake laughed a little but then rolled his eyes at my glaring "Fine fine, text!! No! Since you wish to follow me, woman," Blake stopped "Woman... Ha ha.. alright alright I know, text!!" he said without even looking my way "you must know what name, what station in life, what soul, what destiny is hidden in Hernani, the shepherd. Do you really want a criminal? Do you want a marked man?" Blake read an then dropped his text on his lap "Alright I think that's enough for tonight, Carlos is going to come ruin all the fun anyway" he laughed and stretched his arm over his head, making his joints pop.

"Just because Carlos nags you!" I laughed and put the script beside me too.

Thank god it was over... for now...

"You are not to judge my decision woman!" Blake said ceremonially and then laughed a little, leaning deeper in his couch "So that's a wrap..." he yawned.

"Yope!" I answered him and got up. "So we do the lab report now or that's it for tonight?"

"I guess we could get rid of it" Blake sighed, and then pushed himself up.

Alright, total zero awkwardness, this is good...

"Are you staying over for dinner?" Blake asked me, as he opened the computer, in a total normal voice, like this was a usual thing, like I stayed over all the time... like in a nice "you're a part of my life" way... I smiled at that.

"No I'd better go home with the boys, I haven't seen them that much last weekend" I answered him.

"Why? What'd you do?" Blake asked, frowning a little.

"Went shopping with Daph and Alex and then watched a football game over at Alex's with the twins and Connor" I explained.

"Hmm, nice..." Blake mumbled and then sat in front of the computer.

I looked around me, to find something to sit on but I wasn't seeing anything "Where am I supposed to sit?" I frowned.

"Oh just grab a chair... oh ya right..." Blake said looking around and seeing nothing like me "Guess you're stuck sitting on my lap" he smirked.

"Thanks, I think I'll pass" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Your lost" Blake chuckled and then opened the file I had sent him with the beginning of our report and we worked quickly on that, done with it in less than fifteen minutes, with me, up behind him.

"Alright we're done with that crap" Blake said, and had a huge fake kind of grin on his face that made me laugh.

"Yope we are... even though this is just the first part"

Blake scowled a little and I laughed again.

"Well, time to go now!" I said and picked my script up and then headed for the stairs.

"Aww already!?" Blake said, fake pouting and then smirked just a little.

"You'll survive without me" I snorted.

"Ya probably... and worst case scenario I'll call you at two in the morning if I miss you too much!" he smirked, as usual.

"Oh no! Not tonight, tonight we BOTH get some sleep alright?" I warned him.

"Fine Miss Bossy" he rolled his eyes a little but smiled nevertheless.

Blake walked me to the front door and then after telling him to say "Hi" to everyone for me, I left and drove away, back home, not so sure on what feeling settling...

Was I seeing things, or making up things with my mind? Did Blake seemed like he kinda "cared" about me sometimes or was he always like that with every girl? It was probably the latter, but it was nice to believe it could be the former...

When I got home, dad had taken all the stuff out to make spaghetti sauce, but he was holding the cans of diced tomatoes and tomato paste in his hands, staring at it like it was alien food.

"Need help with that dad?" I laughed.

"Yes I would" he laughed too and put the cans down.

Mom was always the one making spaghetti sauce, she had her own recipe. It was a super simple one, but it was the best spaghetti sauce, hands down.

Mom had showed me how to do it, along with sugar pies, which I mastered now, both actually...

It brought nice memories back... from when I was little, and today I didn't feel sour about them, they actually made me smile.

So I took my father's place behind the counter and then put ground beef in the big casserole, cooking it with diced onions and green peppers.

"You always liked to cook that, didn't you?" my father smiled, sitting at the counter, a beer in his hands.