*~*Kamalei’s POV*~*

I woke up to bright sunshine and two big blue eyes in my face.

“Jimmy? What are you doing?” I said sleepily shielding my eyes from the sun as I sat up.

“Waking you up little one. Why are you outside?” He asked.

“Where’s Zacky?” I asked looking around for him, ignoring Jimmy’s question.

“Helping make breakfast with Brian.” Jimmy said crawling onto the bed, sitting with me.

“Ugh my head hurts… Why does it hurt so much?” I said as my head pounded.

Jimmy poked my forehead as I winced, “Looks like you have a bruise little Lei-Lei. You and Zacky stayed up and drank a lot more than the rest of us too.”

As the words left his mouth, last night came flooding back to me. I squeezed my eyes shut as I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking.

I remember us drinking so much around the fire. I fell and Zacky carried me up the stairs to the bed. I remember him falling down the stairs and us laughing. We bumped heads and then… Oh God! He kissed me. I kissed him. Oh I don’t remember who did what but I remember we kissed…

I panicked in my head a little.

Does he remember? Oh my God! Is this going to be weird now?

“Lei-Lei? You ok? How did you get the bump?” Jimmy asked.

“Zacky.” I said absentmindedly.

Jimmy’s face turned sour and he jumped up and ran into the kitchen.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?!” I heard Jimmy scream.

“What?!” a confused sounding Zacky yelled back as I came rushing into the kitchen.

I got between Jimmy and Zacky putting my hands on Jimmy’s chest pushing him back, “No Jimmy. No it wasn’t like that. It was an accident.”

“That’s what you used to tell us before!” Jimmy yelled.

“No. It really was Jimmy I swear. Zacky would never hurt me! We bumped heads on accident!” I shouted back trying to push him back.

He stepped back a step with a frown on his face, still not believing my story.

I went to Zacky’s forehead and pushed his messy bed hair from his face to show Jimmy a similar bruise to mine, “See, look Jimmy.”

Jimmy’s tense expression lightened, “Sorry Zee. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“It’s alright man. What did you say to him Lei?” Zacky asked me.

I felt myself blush some before Jimmy answered for me.

“I asked her how she got the bump and she said you. I kind of flipped out before getting the whole story. Sorry bro.” he said putting a hand on Zacky’s shoulder.

“I’m going to go get dressed.” I mumbled as I walked into the bedroom to get my clothes.

I jumped at the sound of his sweet voice behind me, “Hey, you ok?”

“Oh…uh…yeah. I was just thinking about some stuff from last night.” I paused to look at him as I continued, “I’m sorry I laughed at you when you fell down the stairs. That was kind of mean.”

I held off on saying anything about the kiss. I wanted to see if he remembered and would mention it.

“That’s ok. It was pretty funny and I’m fine. I’m sure it was funnier from where you were.” He smirked at me.

“I’m gonna get dressed now ok?” I told him and he nodded and walked back to the kitchen.

Maybe he doesn’t remember? I remember and it was so special. I kissed my crush and it was amazing.

*~*Zacky’s POV*~*

I walked back into the kitchen to finish helping Brian with breakfast. He was almost done cooking the bacon while I was finishing up the pancakes. I looked down at the pan and watched the batter pool.

The kiss. Maybe she doesn’t remember. I thought she was going to say something about it just now. Maybe it wasn’t special for her like it was for me. I wish I could have kissed her all night long. Her lips were so soft and…

“That’s going to burn you idiot.” Brian nudged me.

“Shit. Sorry.” I replied flipping the pancake.

“You alright there man?”

“Yeah.”

“Daydreaming? What did you two do when everyone crashed out?” Brian asked.

As much as I wanted to tell him, I held off thinking of what Kamalei had said last night.

“Maybe we shouldn’t say anything about that.”

“We just drank ourselves stupid. You did miss out on me falling down the stairs though.” I told him laughing a little.

“Damn. I would have really enjoyed that.” Brian chuckled, “What else?”

“Nothing.” I replied.

“You sure about that Vengeance?” he hinted.

“Yup.” I said popping the ‘p’.

“Sure... I totally believe you…” Brian said sarcastically taking the last piece of bacon out of the pan.

Brian started making a giant pan of scrambled eggs, while I made the last pancake with the last of the batter. Kamalei came out of the bedroom and walked past me and I could have sworn she batted her long black eyelashes at me.

DOES she remember?

“My little Lei girl can you rally the troops? Breakfast will be done in a minute.” I asked her as she sat down outside on the beds before yelling off the patio to everyone.

“Oh yeah nothing happened huh?” Brian mocked me.

“Nothing happened, Bri. Move on.” I said coldly.

We all gathered down at the picnic table and ate breakfast. I was a little surprised when Kamalei sat next to her brother and Kelly across from me, instead of next to me. Again she looked into my eyes with a questioning look like she was trying to figure something out. We all discussed what the plans for today would be; resulting in going out to a hidden waterfall for the day and on our way back we would start scoping out Micah’s territory. I watched Kamalei’s happiness seem to fade as the topic of finding Micah came up. I know she was worried about us but she knew there was no stopping us so she might as well help.

“We need to pack up everything before we leave this morning. If we need to run after this, I want it to be an easy load up and go. Leave no evidence for us. We have already booked these cabins under a false name just in case.” Kelly stated.

After breakfast everyone was in full force in packing everything up into the containers leaving it all at the entranceway of the cabin. We packed the blankets and some towels into Kelly’s truck just in case we needed them on our journey. After everything was packed and by the doorway, Kamalei came in with rubber gloves and bleach, handing everyone a sponge and gloves.

“We have to erase all fingerprints on everything. Beds, toilets, bathroom, kitchen, refrigerator, everything. Don’t forget doorways and doorknobs.” Kamalei told everyone.

“Seems like you’ve done this before Kamalei.” I asked her raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe I have my Zacky boy.” She smirked but with a little bit too much knowledge behind it.

“Shit. Scary as shit. You sure about this girl Zee?” Brian leaned over and whispered.

“Yeah I am. It’s kinda hot actually.” I replied quietly.

Brian shook his head as we all separated and cleaned everything. The whole cabin smelled of bleach and chemicals but it was spotless. We grabbed everything we needed for the mission and the waterfalls and headed out jumping into Kelly’s truck.

~~~~Later~~~~

“That was awesome my little Lei girl. I’m surprised you didn’t want to jump too.” I said to Kamalei as we toweled off at the truck.

“I’m terrified of heights Zee. Like really terrified.” She replied.

“She literally will piss herself. I’ve seen it happen.” Kelly said laying her towel over the edge of the truck bed.

“That bad?” I asked Kamalei.

“Yeah. Thanks blabbermouth. Geez way to embarrass me.” She sarcastically said to Kelly as her cheeks flushed.

“Hey we all have our things. Now I know.” I told her as I lifted her up and into the truck.

“Oh no girlie. You’re with me in the cab. This mission is starting right now.” Kelly said pointing to Kamalei.

I saw Kamalei’s face drop into disappointment, and I wasn’t sure if it was because she wasn’t going to get to ride with all of us in the back or if it was because we were really going after Micah and she was leading the way.

I held my arms out to her again as she jumped down into them. Her hazel green eyes locked onto mine as I held her by her waist, setting her down gently but still holding her close to me. The closeness reminding me of last night and causing me to smile before she gently separated from me, breaking eye contact.

“Zacky can you pass me my sweatshirt please?” she asked.

I handed it to her as Kelly and her walked to the other side of the truck putting dry towels down onto the seats.

I got into the truck bed and heard Kelly quietly ask, “What the fuck was that?”

I peeked around to look at Kamalei’s reaction as she spoke, “What? Nothing.”

*~*Kamalei’s POV*~*

“Really?” Kelly asked me with a raised eyebrow.

Zacky was sitting right there with my brother and the rest of the guys in the back of the truck, there was no way I was going to tell her then and there. Val got into the backseat of the truck as I got into the passenger side. Kelly started the truck up and started to drive out of the trail from the waterfalls.

“Ok, so spill it.” Kelly demanded.

“Spill what? Did something happen last night after we all went to bed?” Val asked excitedly.

“Nothing happened guys. Well…” I said trailing off for dramatics.

“Well what?!” Val said clapping her hands together.

“Zacky fell down the stairs.” I replied laughing at the disappointment on both of their faces.

“Oh you’re no fun. Something happened Kamalei and I know it. I saw you lock eyes with him back there. You’ll tell me eventually because I know you and you can’t just tell no one.” Kelly responded as she kept driving.

As we headed to the spot I believed Micah would be hiding, Val told us stories of the guys and what we were getting into by going on tour with them in a few weeks. Honestly, it sounded like a big, crazy, forever moving party with a lot of gross parts that are only to be expected with 5 guys on a bus.

We passed a mile marker sign that had bullet holes shot right thru it and I knew we were in the right place.

“Kelly, turn down this road. The house is down here somewhere. Go slow because there’s a trail we have to find first to get back there. We can’t take the truck all the way in there.” I told her as she slowly went down the road.

I rolled down the window and Matt peeked around the cab.

“You guys keep it down. We have to find the trail. It’s small and hard to find. His family has a house out here that they use when they go hunting. Be really quiet so we can find it without him knowing.” I told Matt.

He nodded and told the other guys and they all started to look thru the low-lying branches and jungle-like leaves for a path on the ground as we slowly rolled thru. Kelly and Val both had their windows down, hanging out of the sides looking as well.

“Do you know what side it’s on?” Val asked.

“No. I don’t remember. I just know that it’s a small path. I haven’t been out here in at least a year.” I replied keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of entryway.

“There!” Johnny called out from the back pointing to a small opening in the forest.

It was barely visible, maybe a foot wide path where the trees and grasses had been flattened. The vines that hung from the trees had been cut just short enough for a person to walk thru and the tree branches near the opening had been broken back. I opened the glove compartment, knowing Kelly would have florescent tie down tags, grabbing one out and jumping out of the truck and tying it to a tree branch near the opening.

“Come on. Quietly let’s go take a peek. Just so you know what it looks like a little bit when we come back at night.” I hesitantly told the guys.

They all got out of the truck, Val and Kelly staying behind in case we needed to get out fast.

“You’re not going first. I won’t let anything happen to you by having you walk right into there.” Matt said stopping me from walking the trail in front of him.

“But Matt I’m the only….” I started.

“No Kamalei.” Zacky sternly said to me.

I was a little taken aback at the tone Zacky used towards me. He never spoke so harshly to me. The look on my face must have said it all as he reached out and held my hand.

“You’re not going in first.” He repeated my brother’s statement.

I nodded and held onto his hand as we started to walk as quietly as possible down the path. Jimmy and Brian were in front of Zacky, behind Matt and Johnny was behind me, constantly looking behind him to check out the area. Lots of the brush along the ground had been cleared which I noted would be helpful later when we snuck back in. I didn’t care what they said, I would be coming back tonight with them. After about 10 minutes of careful, quiet steps the trees started to thin out slightly.

“Is that it?” Matt said quietly as he stopped and looked over to the house surrounded by trees and plants.

“Yeah. That’s it.” I replied, the house coming into my view.

There was no clear path directly to the house but I didn’t think that would be too much of a problem. There were enough surrounding trees to move closer to the house without being noticed. I pulled Zacky with me and we walked a few more steps into the forest to see the other side of the house. The sound of a car door slamming caused me to jump.

That was when I saw him. Micah. His red truck was parked on the further side of the house and I watched him grab a large cooler out of the back. I watched as his friends, David and Stephen, got out of the truck and helped him haul it towards the house. My hands started to involuntarily shake and Zacky gave it a light squeeze.

“You alright?” Jimmy leaned down and asked me.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” I replied looking over to Matt and Zacky.

Both Matt and Zacky’s eyes were both locked on Micah as he moved from the truck to the front of the house. They looked like lions stalking their prey. I leaned forward, tilting my head to look in Zacky’s face and saw his eyes were almost black.

I squeezed his hand back this time, “Zee. Come on. Tonight ok? Not now.”

He simply nodded in agreement as I tugged him back down our path. I stopped in front of Matt, releasing my hold on Zacky’s hand and putting my hands on Matt’s chest.

“Brother. Come on. We have to come at night. Not in the day, we want to play by our rules, not his.” I told him looking into his intense eyes.

“Alright. You’re right. Let’s go. Now that we know what it all looks like we can plan this out.” He said quietly as he grabbed my hand and led us out of the forest to the truck.

Val and Kelly looked like they were on edge when we got back to the truck, both of them leaning out the open windows.

“Everything ok? Did you find him?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah. We come back at night.” Brian said darkly before kissing her quickly.

I walked around the truck to make it back into the passenger seat when someone tugged on my wrist, pulling me into their hard body. I looked up to see Matt hugging me tightly with his eyes closed.

“I love you so much. Do you know that?” he asked as he kissed the top of my head.

“I love you too Matt.” I replied as I hugged him back squeezing.

“We’re going to get him. He’s going to pay.” He said stroking my hair.

“I know brother. I know.” I said as he released me and we all got in the truck.

Notes

Ok my little lovelys! We are here... just on the verge... so close yet so far... muahaha! Hope you guys enjoy it! Stay tuned! Mahalo for all your wonderful comments! They mean a lot! Much love and Aloha <3 <3 <3