Olivier-Land

Leave it to Landon to find a heart in the clouds. Natalie thought hers was beating so fast he could probably hear it. She let her head fall onto his shoulder. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, they'd done so much running around that she was completely exhausted.

"You're a good best friend, you know that Lando," she said sleepily, her eyes closing as she spoke. Maybe if she just rested them for a minute...

It took mere moments for Natalie to drift completely to sleep, dreaming of cupcakes and unicorns and Frazzlegorps, but not Landon. Definitely not Landon. Or his kisses. His nice, gentle, kis-

"Natalie! Landon!" an older female voice called out from the trees, disturbing Natalie from her nice dream. She would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Gabi, five more minutes," she grumbled, cuddling closer to Landon. She wasn't quite ready to get up yet.

-Gabi's POV-

It was a strange sight when Gabi finally found her little sister and her friend. They were by the "haunted" house that Natalie had been so taken by, which wasn't surprising at all, but she certainly hadn't expected to see the two of them fast asleep on the grass in front of the house, hugging each other as if their lives depended on it.

She wondered if they new that what they were doing crossed the threshold of "best friend" by about ten miles. Still, they were young enough that it didn't matter yet, but in another year or so...

She sighed. It was almost a shame to disturb them, but she was on a mission. "Natalie! Landon! Wake up!" she shouted from a few feet away from them at a volume that would make even a deaf man cover his ears.

-Natalie's POV-

A loud shout woke Natalie completely. She jostled awake and realized that she was in Landon's arms, which made her smile. Then, she remembered her sister standing nearby. "Landon," she whispered to him, giving him a little poke.

Gabi looked away for a moment, probably feeling a little odd about seeing her little sister in some boy's arms, a moment which Natalie took give Landon a light kiss. "Gabi's here, I think she's been sent to collect us," she explained quietly. She didn't want to get up yet, but her sister wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

She halfheartedly tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"It's time for dinner, Maman asked me to come get you. Landon, are you staying to eat with us?" Gabi asked still looking away from them.

Natalie smiled at Landon. "You should stay," she whispered, "Then I can take you on a tour of the house."

Once she was on her feet, Natalie yawned. "I'm too tired to walk..." she complained. She glanced at Landon, who was quickly becoming one of her favorite modes of transportation. Normally she didn't hesitate to hop onto Landon's back, but she didn't know how tired he was, so she didn't want to surprise him like that.

"Can I have a piggy back ride?" she asked him quietly while her sister politely looked off at the trees and pretended not to be listening.

The amount of effort it took to actually hop onto Landon's back made Natalie even more tired. Once she was safely on his back, with her arms wrapped loosely around his neck (she didn't want to choke him, after all), and him helping to hold her up, Gabi looked back at them. She turned and started to walk back to the house without a word, only a small smile plastered on her face that Natalie knew would mean relentless teasing after Landon left.

"She's evil, I swear it," Natalie whispered in Landon's ear as he carried her behind Gabi.

"What?" Natalie said, a little louder than she probably should have. "Sorry, I mean, what?" she whispered. "How am I evil?" She would have stuck her tongue out at him, but he wouldn't have been able to see it.

Gabi walked slightly further away from them, though Natalie wasn't quite sure why. Not that she minded, it gave them an opportunity to talk in peace while they returned to the house.

Natalie pretended to be offended. "I do no such thing," she said in a hushed voice so as not to attract Gabi's attention.

"If one of us is evil, it's definitely you. You go around sweeping girls off their feet and being really sweet and kissing them..." her voice started to trail off at the end of her mini-rant as her face started to heat up. She was glad he couldn't see the fierce blush that spread across her cheeks.

Natalie wasn't sure how closely Gabi was trying to listen, but she must have had some sort of tact (either that or she was uncomfortable seeing his little sister be so affectionate), and she started to walk a bit faster, informing Natalie and Landon that she was going to run ahead and let their mother know that they were coming, after which she ramped up into a jog that quickly resulted in her being out of sight.

She silently agreed with what Landon had said, although she wouldn't admit it out loud. "No, you're the one who loves my kisses," she said, sliding down off his back.

They were getting a little closer to the house, but Natalie had other plans for the moment. She took Landon by the hand and tugged him gently in another direction, away from both the direction they had been coming from and the direction that Gabi had run off in. "We'll be there soon enough, but they can wait a little while longer," she laughed.

It took only a few minutes to get to Natalie's intended destination. The lake was clear blue and the water was seasonably warm. She kicked off her shoes and left them at the base of a tree by the edge of the water. Some of the strong, thick branches hung out over the lake, which gave Natalie only one idea. Without question, she started to climb to one of the lower branches over the water- perfect for jumping from. "Coming?" she asked, looking back at Landon.

Natalie gave her eyes a small roll as she climbed up onto one of the low branches that was still high enough to make jumping fun. She stood on the branch, using other ones to keep herself steady as she slowly inched toward the edge. She glanced at Landon, then looked back at the water. She leaned backward slightly so she could gain some momentum, then launched herself off the tree branch into the warm water with a delighted scream.

She was under for a short amount of time, then kicked back to the surface. She took a few shallow breaths and blinked the water away from her eyes, then searched for Landon back on dry land. "Come on, Lando! Jump!" she encouraged, swimming to the side so that he wouldn't hit her.

Natalie was glad that she was far away in the water when Landon took his shirt off, otherwise he would have seen her immediate blush; she was pretty sure that it wasn't a common thing to have friends taking their clothes off right in front of you. She averted her eyes for a moment, just to give him a little privacy, although her gaze snapped back when he told her that he couldn't swim.

"What do you mean you can't-" her question was cut off by him jumping into the water.

When he swam over to her, she splashed him. "You cheeky bugger! You're a liar," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"How do you keep figuring out my plans?" Natalie pretended to be exasperated.

She took off after Landon as he swam to the other side of the relatively small lake. She kept pace with him, not straying more than a few feet behind him. When they made it to the other side, she finally caught up, locking her arms around his neck from behind and pulling herself closer to him.

"Got you again," she whispered into his ear, then leaning a smidge further forward and kissing his cheek.

Natalie laughed and released her grip on Landon, opting to lay back in the water and just float. "We're going back to France next week," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "We'll be gone for a month."

If it had been a year prior, nothing would have made her happier than returning to France. She'd been devastated to move to England, but now that she had a friend here, she didn't want to leave him behind. "I wish you could come with us. How do you feel about stowing away in my suitcase?" she asked.