H i d e a n d s e e k

"Hide and seek," is the first thing that comes to my mind, and the first thing that comes out of my mouth. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's a pretty childish game. However, looking around, I see everyone nodding.

"Good idea. I mean, I know it's a preschooler game but still. Hide and seek in this old manor will be epic," Damon supports my idea.

"Let's do it."

We play a quick counting game to figure out who is in, and Casper gets it. Just as we are about to leave, someone starts complaining. Guess who? You got it, Matthew.

"I don't wanna play this. I'm not a little kid," he whines.

"You sure act like a little kid," Mia mutters, and I stifle a laugh. "We're playing, whether you like it or not."

When we start to move off, Lucas calls "If a door is locked, don't try to force it open. If you get the feeling you shouldn't be somewhere, leave. We don't exactly have any off-limits rooms, but if you walk into a bedroom or study or something and see it's being used, then leave. And don't look through any papers. Keep your phones on, if you get lost then text."

I turn right when I walk out of the room, and walk for a while then turn left, then right, and then I get lost, so I just wander the halls. I hear footsteps behind me so I quickly duck behind one of the many banners draped on the walls. The footsteps pass, but I discover that there is no wall behind me, instead a set of stairs leading downwards. I follow them down into the gloom, and finally they emerge into a room, around the size of the main room where we're staying. It looks like a study, but there is a thick layer of dust coating everything so I don't think it's been used in a while. Strangely, I can see easily here even though there are no windows or lights around. In the wall opposite the stairs stands a large wooden desk, tall stacks of books and paper standing high on it. There are a few odd pens - no, quills - and an old inkpot half-filled with dried up ink. On the left is a bookcase lining the left wall, there are a lot of books on it but also a few globes, scrolls, charts, and other things I don't recognise. On the right wall is a huge map hanging above old armchairs, with a coffee table between them.

I sit down on the floor with my back against the wall behind me, it is bare. I don't trust the rickety old chair behind the desk or the creaking armchairs not to break, they look well used and worn out. Now I just gotta wait until someone finds me.

I sit for a while, I really wanna look at the books, the papers. But it would feel wrong, disturbing the quietness of the room. Everything looks so peaceful. I don't even know if I'm meant to be here.

As I wonder what could be hidden within the pages, a sudden vibration in my pocket distracts me. I pull out my phone and see a text from our group chat, 'guys its been an hour. Lucas and Charlotte, u have not been found, we give up. come back to our rooms.'

I grin and get up, dusting the gust off myself. I head back up the stairs, and up into the hallways of the manor.

Oh yeah. I'm lost. I wander around for a while in the direction I thought I came from, and then I spot Lucas also making his way back.

"Hey, Lucas!" I yell. He turns around.

"Hey." We walk back to the room in silence, and when we get there, Casper says,

"You sure took your time coming back. Where'd you guys hide?"

Lucas and I both grin. "Not saying," I tell him.

"Neither," Lucas agrees.

"Did you hide together?"

"No."

It's getting late now, so we go downstairs for dinner, eat another amazing meal, then with our stomachs full we settle down in the tv room to watch a movie.

"Okay guys, this is all-nighter night number 1. Lets see how long everyone lasts," Alexa says.

We watch movies and gossip, snack and then some people start falling asleep.

"Matthew! It's only nine thirty. Are you really already asleep?" He doesn't respond, so we take it as a yes. Good, no more of his complaining.

Next to fall asleep are Amelia and Cecilia, but we are now on our second movie and it's around eleven thirty, so we'd be asleep at this time anyway.

By one in the morning, those still awake - Me, Lucas and Casper - are exhausted, and I'm getting a headache, but I've done this before so I'm fine. Minutes later, Casper falls asleep, leaving me and Lucas the only two still awake.

"So," I say, to break the awkward silence. When did it become like this? We were close friends, the silence shouldn't be awkward.

"So," Lucas repeats. "Why's it so awkward?"

"I dunno, but I was just thinking the same thing," I tell him. We are sitting next to each other, his hand accidentally brushes against mine and I jump.

"Where'd you hide?" he asks.

"Huh? Oh, I honestly have no clue. I got lost," I admit.

He chuckles, and runs his hand through his hair. I catch myself staring at the way his hair falls back down perfectly, and I look away and blush, grateful for the dark.

"Where did you hide?" I ask him.

"Eh, some old room I found," he yawns.

"Ooh, getting tired," I laugh, then I yawn too.

"You too," he teases. "You know what, lets go to sleep, and we'll wake up before everyone else in the morning, and say we didn't fall asleep."

"'Kay," I say.

-------------------------

I wake up, to find that Lucas and I fell asleep together on the couch, him against the pillows, my back against the room. I am snuggled into his chest, his arm around my waist. I look back at everyone else with alarm, to find that they are all still asleep. Lucas feels my movement and wakes up, and jerks away from me just as Casper wakes up too.

"You good?" he asks, looking at Lucas' and I flushed faces. "Oooh, what happened here?" he winks.

"Nothing," I stammer.

"Nothing," Lucas mutters.

"Double negative. That means something did happen," Mia is now awake too and is joining Casper's interrogation.

"No it didn't. Seriously guys, we're friends," Lucas says, his voice sharp. By now everyone except for Matthew is awake.

"You sure?" Casper teases.

"Yes," Lucas growls, and the conversation ends.

After an awkward pause, Matthew wakes up and looks at us, Mia and Casper sitting eagerly and a bit ashamedly on the floor, Lucas and I sitting purposely far apart on the couch, and everyone else watching.

"What happened?" he asks groggily.

"Nothing," everyone says.

"Oh. Can we have breakfast?" the tension disappears from the air as we all turn to tease Matthew.

"You just woke up. Breakfast already?" Lucas asks. "Charlotte and I woke up first and we're not hungry yet, and we stayed awake for the longest last night."

"Oh, so did you fall asleep?" Aviania asks.

"Umm... no?" Lucas says, realising his mistake.

"Yes we did," I say exasperatedly.

"We are so bad guys. Try harder tonight," Alexa says. We head downstairs for breakfast, regardless of just teasing Matthew for it.

As we walk down, I hear Mia whisper to Casper, Alexa and Aviania.

"There is so something between them, and we are going to find out what. The conversation isn't over."