Chapter twenty four.

'What to pack... What to pack...'

Blair watched Hailey muse over her open suitcase. A gigantic, bright pink suitcase that someone might take on a five week international holiday. Not exactly the type of luggage one would bring on a weekend away.

'Shall I put my clothes in with yours Hailey?' Blair asked with a wry smile. 'I think you have enough room.'

Hailey frowned, 'No way I'm not even finished packing, bring your own bag.'

Blair laughed and picked up her overnight bag off the floor. She rummaged through her drawers and picked out some sundresses and threw in a pair of flip flops.

'There, done!'

Hailey peered over at her from underneath a massive pile of clothes, 'Good effort. I take it your not planning on seducing Dean in any of those outfits?'

Blair grinned, 'Yeah Hailey I'm planning on seducing Dean on our family holiday with your parents in the next room. What a fantastic plan.'

She rolled her eyes, 'We're going away with our boyfriends B, there will be plenty of opportunities to sneak away with them. When are you and Dean going to take the next step by the way? It's not such a big deal now you're not a virgin is it?'

Blair shrugged, 'I don't know Hails.' To be honest the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. She was pretty content doing what they were doing. Having cute little dates and actual conversations – she wasn't used to it. Taking the next step seemed to be a bit too serious. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about their relationship yet.

'Ok,' Hailey nodded. 'Don't feel pressured or anything. I know you just finished a pretty intense relationship with Cade of that nature. Which brings me to my next question... Are you going to tell Dean about you and Cade?'

Blair shrugged again, 'I'm not sure, what do you think? I know Dean won't care so I probably should let him know... It just might be weird with Cade around all the time.'

'He might have an issue with you living in the same house as him, seeing as it was the reason you two first started hooking up,' Hailey offered as she stuffed another dress into her suitcase. She sat on top of it and closed it smiling triumphantly. 'Done!'

'Girls?' Jane called out from downstairs. 'We're hitting the road now, hurry up.'

The two best friends headed downstairs, Blair was surprised to see Dean was here already sitting at the dining table talking to Jacob and Cade. The three of them seemed to be laughing at something Cade had said and she exchanged a surprised look with Hailey before heading over to say hi.

'So Dean is driving his own car because we won't all fit in mine,' Hailey's Dad said trying to sound organized but Blair knew he'd only discovered this fact that morning when she pointed it out to him. 'Dean, Blair, Cade and Lacy will go in that car and we'll take Jake and Hails,' he decided.

Blair had been sipping a glass of water and almost spat it out over Dean. She was just getting used to the idea of sharing a holiday house with Lacy and Cade as a couple, driving the two-hour trip down south stuck in a car with them sounded horrible.

As everyone headed out the front door loading up the two cars Blair caught Cade's eye, he was grinning at her.

She shrugged her shoulders and mouthed 'what' at him, curious to know why he was so amused.

'You have to laugh,' he whispered into her ear as he passed by her to load Lacy's bag into the car.

'Why?' Blair responded shaking at her head at him.

'Because it's kind of funny... Us going down south together with our partners. Having to travel in the same car, next thing you know we'll be all sharing a room.' Cade chuckled again. 'It's like something out of a movie.'

Blair let a small smile pass her lips and found herself laughing along with him. She liked this side of Cade, when he was messing around and laughing with her. She felt a light tug at her chest as he caught her eye again. She frowned suddenly and headed for the car ignoring it.

...

After a fairly uneventful two hours which included Lacy taking three annoyingly loud phone calls to discuss the many issues her cheerleading team were facing, they were finally pulling up in the driveway to the holiday house. Blair grinned up at the house with memories flooding back of family breaks down here.

'Oh I remember this place,' Blair squealed in excitement as Dean parked his car behind the others in the driveway.

She practically leapt out of the car ignoring the bitchy laughter coming from Lacy and ran over to Hailey who was also looking pretty damn excited.

'Brings back memories doesn't it girls,' Jane smiled down at them. 'We holidayed here every summer for as long as I can remember,' Jane told the boys and Lacy. 'Hailey and Blair definitely gave us some scares here too.'

'Oh Mum, don't go into all that again,' Hailey argued sounding embarrassed.

Blair nodded in hopes some stories would stay hidden within the walls of this house. Her and Hailey had done a few stupid things during the daring teenage years of 14-15 where they had discovered boys and alcohol. Jane knew all about it too, and forever brought it up as one of those funny stories.

'Oh yeah, what's this?' Jacob smirked coming up behind Hailey hugging her around the waist. 'I definitely want to hear embarrassing stories about little miss perfect here.'

'Nothing to hear Jake,' Hailey giggled as he tickled her stomach and tried to escape. 'I was the perfect child.'

Now it was Jane's turn to burst out laughing.

'Alright people let's move inside,' Jane said between laughter. 'There's four bedrooms so I put the three girls in one room, Cade and Jacob can share one room and Dean can have his own room seeing as he's the newest guest. I am not having couples sharing rooms, that's one of my conditions for everyone being allowed to bring their partners.'

Blair's eyes snapped over to Dean's who offered up a small grin. Having his own room meant she could sneak into it after everyone was asleep, she had kind of relied on him sharing a room and sneaking in to see him at night being out of the question. This changed things.

'Bloody great,' Hailey whispered into her ear. 'We have to share with the queen Bitch.'

'I'm not exactly stoked either Hailey,' Lacy said from behind the girls.

Hailey and Blair jumped slightly feeling a little guilty she had heard them. 'When I thought about taking a vacation with my boyfriend, sharing a room with you two freaks wasn't exactly what I pictured.'

The guilt evaporated and they rolled their eyes at her.

She was definitely the worst part about this holiday.

'Dump your bags and be ready for the beach in ten minutes,' they heard Jacob holler down the hallway as the three girls entered their room for the next four days.

'Oh my God!'

Hailey and Lacy looked over at a stricken looking Blair. She had dumped the contents of her tiny bag onto the double bed she was sharing with Hailey and was rooting through it fervently.

'What? What is it?' Hailey shook her head.

'I forgot to pack my bathers!'

'You forgot bathers? On a beach holiday? So smart,' Lacy rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag heading into the small adjoining bathroom.

Hailey let out a small laugh, 'And you were making fun of me for packing too much?' She teased, 'Aren't you glad I brought four bikinis with me?'

Blair sunk onto the bed in half relief, 'I only wear one-pieces Hails you know that.'

'I know,' Hailey grinned in delight. 'Finally you have no choice and get to show off your body! I've been begging you for years to buy one!'

Hailey found a simple black bikini and threw it over to the wary Blair.

Suddenly the bathroom door flew open and Lacy sauntered out dressed in a skimpy see through beach dress that barely skimmed her backside. Underneath you could see plain as day she was wearing the smallest triangle pink bikini that barely covered her private areas let along provide any sort of support. Unfortunately for Blair she pulled it off looking fantastic. Her confidence was through the roof and she barely looked at the girls before heading out to find the boys.

Blair exchanged a sigh with Hailey, 'Like I can wear a bikini with her around. I'll look horrible!'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Hailey said shaking her head firmly. 'You are very different to her. You have class, she does not.'

'Cade doesn't think so.'

Blair clamped her mouth shut. Where had that comment come from?

Hailey raised an eyebrow at her friend, 'Cade is an idiot, I thought we'd already discussed this.'

'I know,' Blair stood up and went to get changed. It wasn't like she had another choice if she wanted to go swimming. She slipped on one of the sundresses she'd brought and met Hailey in the hallway as they walked together to meet the others. Everyone was sitting in the living room when they arrived.

'About time,' Jacob joked with a grin as he jumped up and took Hailey's hand in his own. 'Let's go!'

Blair looked around the room for Dean and spotted him standing in the corner with Lacy seemingly in a deep conversation.

Cade moved to stand next to her bumping her shoulder slightly in a friendly gesture, 'They look pretty cosy don't they?'

Blair rolled her eyes at him, 'Shut up.'

'Maybe they'll hook up and we can go back to our fun arrangement..' He suggested with a wicked grin. He could practically see her head explode in his mind as he said the words.

Surprisingly instead of exploding Blair shook her head at him in confusion and wandered over to Hailey deciding to walk to the beach together hanging back from the group.

The six of them headed down the sandy path from the house down to the beach dumping their towels in a massive pile before sprinting towards the ocean. Hailey and Blair arrived and quickly removed their sundresses, popping their sunnies back on and slowly making their way down to the water. Blair would have preferred to race in with the group so no one would actually see her in Hailey's bathers, but now they were walking well behind the others and Blair could see Dean's eyes trained in on her. They reached the edge wading straight into the beautiful, crystal clear warm water. There weren't too many people around either which was a nice change. Usually this beach was packed with families and vendors.

'Hey,' Dean smiled at her as he swam over lazing on his back in the shallow water. 'You look amazing by the way.'

'Thank you,' she smiled at him shyly ducking under the water to wet her hair.

'Yo, Dean Frisbee?' Jacob called out and Dean immediately scrambled up and over to Jacob where the boys started playing the game making sure to do some impressive dives wherever they could.

Blair and Hailey moved to the shallow waters edge, sitting just at the right spot that the waves would crash over them but not forceful enough to move them from their seats.

'This is exactly what we needed,' Hailey commented as she watched Jacob with a smile. 'Some fun, sun and relaxation. Distraction from school is always nice too.'

'Yeah although I feel a little bad just chilling out when there's so much study to do when I get home, but...' Blair smiled. 'Screw it!' She contemplated telling Hailey about the weird day she'd had with Cade but decided against it. It wasn't lying anyway, because there was nothing in it worth lying. A few odd comments here and there, it was probably her over active imagination.

'That looks fun,' Hailey grinned as Jacob took a huge dive crashing into the water and surfacing with the Frisbee in his hand like a warrior.

'Did you see that babe?' He called out extremely proud of himself.

Hailey jumped up and headed over to play with the boys leaving Blair to sit back as the waves washed over her. Her sun was suddenly blocked by a large figure in front of her and Blair popped an eye open to see Cade standing next to her. He was dressed in a pair of bright green board shorts and she noticed he was bone dry.

'Not going swimming?' She asked as he tore his eyes away from the game of Frisbee to peer down at Blair sitting in the sand. His bare chest was a little distracting as Blair eyed the muscles lining his stomach with brief flashbacks of him lying over her in his bed, holding himself up with his strong arms wearing nothing but that cheeky smile.

Blair blushed madly, glad the bright sun would make it not very noticeable.

'Nah, I'm going to work on my tan,' he replied with a smile. She wasn't quite sure if he was joking or not but suddenly had a brilliant idea.

'That's a good idea Cade, you're looking a little pasty,' she replied standing up next to him innocently.

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow, 'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah I think so anyway,' she replied trying to sound normal. Holding in a giggle she waited until he turned to look back out at the game before taking a deep breath and pushing Cade, her hands on his back with as much force as she could muster sending him head first into the water. The element of surprise was her best friend because she definitely couldn't push him over if he was pushing back at her – he was too strong.

He surfaced spluttering into the water, rubbing his eyes from the stinging salt to the face of an amused Blair. She was doubled over with laughter, the type of laughter that make your belly hurt and felt like you had just done a million sit ups.

He sat in the surf, a huge glare now perched on his face.

'You will regret that.'

Blair paused in her laughter, 'No way, that felt way too good!'

He jumped up suddenly and Blair only had seconds to react as he reached for her she darted to the side squealing as she ran along the beach in the shallow surf. She could feel him right behind her and just as suddenly his arms were around her bare waist closing tightly he was hugging her from behind. Blair cursed her lack of athletic ability as Cade swung her easily over his shoulder and started wading into the water. She was screaming at him to put her down and he was laughing at her shaking his head, heading deeper into the water. Just as suddenly as he had lunged for her, he dropped her head first into the ocean.

Blair surfaced half laughing, half choking on the water. Bad idea to scream as you're dropped into water, she made a mental note for next time.

She splashed him with water and laughed, 'Asshole.'

'Hey you started it,' but he was smiling at her now.

'Holidays suit you Cade. You're not so grumpy all the time,' Blair grinned at him. 'In fact I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much.'

'Oh shut up,' he retorted rolling his eyes. But she could still see the smile behind them. 'You're so lame.'

'I...' Blair trailed off as she spotted Dean in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and Dean, Jacob and Hailer were all staring at the two of them looking slightly shocked. Blair looked back at Cade who was treading water right next to her and frowned, 'I should get out.' She knew it looked bad, her and Cade fooling around in the water together when all anyone knew was they hated each other. Everyone except Hailey who was now staring at her in a confused way. She could see the question plastered on Hailey's face, are you two hooking up again?

Cade followed her gaze over to Dean and frowned, 'Whatever.'

Blair swam with a few even stroked to the beach and headed over to the towels. She dried off quickly and lay down on her towel plucking out a magazine from her bag to pretend to scan.

'Hey.'

Blair looked up at the open, honest face of Dean and felt a pang of guilt. She didn't feel like she did anything wrong, but she knew the fun and tiny feeling of longing she experienced when playing around with Cade in the surf was a little bad of her.

'Hi,' she squeaked back.

'So I'm probably being ridiculous but I was a little jealous watching you with Cade earlier,' he confessed with a wry smile on his face falling onto the towel laid out next to Blair's.

'Oh yeah?' she replied not sure what else to say.

'I have to ask you something, have you and...him ever...?' Dean trailed off.

Blair focused on the ocean, watching Jacob and Hailey finishing the game of Frisbee still in the water. 'Ever what?' She played dumb stalling for time.

'Ever hooked up,' he replied with a slight role of the eyes.

'Oh, well um yes we have.'

She had lied before and look where that got her.

'Just a few times, it didn't mean anything,' she continued quickly reaching out to grab his hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.

He smiled at her, 'Cool, I appreciate the honesty. Wish you would have said something before I came on this family holiday thing, but it's all good.'

They sat in a slightly awkward silence soaking up the suns rays, Blair focused on the scene before her. Cade was now chasing Lacy down the beach, only when he caught up with her he didn't drop her head first into the ocean. He slowly lowered her to the ground dipping down, kissing her on the beach. Blair bit her lip and couldn't help the annoyed sigh that escaped her mouth.

'Seriously?'

Blair's head snapped over to Dean whom she may or may not have forgotten he was sitting right next to her.

For the first time ever he looked extremely angry. His whole face had darkened, 'It sure doesn't seem like he means nothing to you Blair.' Dean stood up and collected his belongings in a rush, 'I'm going back to the house, do not follow me.' His voice was angry and warning and Blair just nodded in shock, watching Dean storm off the beach.

What just happened?

...