Wheeeee!

"It's so hot here," Nym complained, panting. "Why did she ask you to meet her in such a hot place? Why not a nice place? Like the city?"

Rowan didn't reply at first. Sure, he thought it was too hot and dry and overall just not an enjoyable place to be, but obviously Charlie would like it, being able to have total control of her surroundings and all that.

The previous day Charlie had sent him a message in secret asking him to meet her there. If it had been anyone else, Rowan probably would have ignored them. Yet here he was, going completely against his better judgment. Something about Charlie made him do things he wouldn't normally do. Maybe it was just the intense desire to see her again, despite how irrational it all seemed.

It seemed like they'd been waiting for too long. "Maybe she stood you up," Nym said in a joking voice.

Rowan frowned. "That is not funny."

Charlie wouldn't do that, would she? Of course, Rowan didn't really know her well enough to say that with complete confidence, but he felt he did. She would show up. She was just a little late.

Hopefully.

"Okay, you have to give us some alone time," Charlie said as she walked with Wesley Lucas, her bodyguard. Mae was on her shoulder, nodding in agreement with her as she talked. Wes just shrugged.

"Just make sure you don't get yourself hurt. I'll be over here doing...whatever it is we do while you have fun," he said in his soothingly deep voice. Charlie had taken quite a liking to him.

"Thank you so much!" she said, and she started running much faster than normal, the sand beneath her moving with her to accelerate. Mae flew into the air, both of them looking around and searching for a certain someone...who she found. Mae spotted him at the same time, and they both rushed over to him. Suddenly, when they were close enough, Charlie dug her foot into the sand and jumped, spinning on her way there. Sand spun around her and she landed perfectly in front of him, sand settling softly and Mae landing on her shoulder.

"I am so sorry!" she said, breaking the smile she had held on her face for her landing. She hunched over and frowned. "Harrison kept me doing work all day, and I obviously couldn't tell him that we were meeting. Wes is the only one who knows," she said, pointing her thumb behind her at the far away blur, which was Wes. "But he's cool, you can trust him."

She stopped talking a second to take a look at Rowan, and she almost couldn't believe it. "Wow," she said, starting to smile again. "I can't believe you really showed. That's amazing."

Rowan was totally not prepared for Charlie to suddenly land in front of him out of nowhere in a cloud of...sand. He nearly fell backwards, but quite thankfully didn't. He quickly recomposed himself and listened to what Charlie had to say.

He didn't have time to assure her that it was alright that she was late because she just kept talking without even taking a breath. So she had told one of her bodyguards what she was there for. Rowan hoped that she was right, and that this "Wes" guy truly was trustworthy. He wasn't altogether convinced, but let it go for the time being.

Finally she paused for a moment and then expressed her surprise at him actually showing up. "Of course I showed up," he said, a little surprised himself. "I really wanted to see you again..." he added subconsciously.

Charlie couldn't help but smile and blush at what he said. "Well, you see, that's why I asked you to come here, actually," she said, looking down to the sand for a quick second before looking back up to him. Now she was stuck, there was no way she was looking away now.

"I uhm," she started, unsure how to say this. She'd had serious relationships before, but the guy had always started them. She wanted to get this part over with, and to do that she needed to start it. "I really missed you and wanted to see you again. You see, I really...I really like you." There, it was out and she couldn't take it back. He could do with it what he wanted, it was his burden now, not hers. He could always throw it back in her face, and then it would be her problem again, but she hoped he would take it in a good way and accept it...and maybe give it back in a positive way. She really, really, really hoped he liked her back, it sure felt like it at Theodore Lane...

'Stop worrying,' Mae said, though she was feeling the same things.

'You're not much help, Mae, we have the same feelings,' Charlie replied, eyes glued to Rowan, though she wasn't sure what she'd do if he didn't like her...that would suck.

Rowan's heart started to beat a little bit faster. Of course he had known that Charlie liked him. Yet he still reacted as if this were news to him. It made him feel so elated to hear...Unfortunately, now came the hard part. The part he wasn't looking foreword to.

"I really like you too, Charlie," he said honestly. That wasn't the hard part. That part was relatively easy. "But..."

'No!' Nym exclaimed. 'No 'but'! Please, Rowan, just leave it at that!'

Rowan couldn't do that. "Do you remember what Alecis said on Taigar Island about how Adhbhar would react if they found out anything? She was right. And Charlie, I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize the life you have now."

'Why do you always have to think about the consequences?' Nym groaned. 'Why can't you just go for it for once?'

Charlie's mouth almost dropped. Not from surprise but from confusion. She shook her head, a bit disheartened now. "No, Rowan, I don't think you understand. I would throw away the life that I have in Adhbhar for you right now," and she meant it...at the moment. She most likely wouldn't stop being Overloridian for him, as she figured that he wouldn't stop for her, but she was in the moment and it felt right to say that.

"Look, I don't have anything holding me back in Adhbhar other than my father and my position as Overloridian. I know those are two really important things, but you're an important thing, too. You should count." She wasn't making much sense, even to herself, because of all the other factors going into this. Such as how long they'd known each other...which was actually a very short time. "I want you to count."

She took a bit of a breath, finally looking away from Rowan and to the sand, which twirled around in little circles around them. She didn't mean to do it, it just kind of...happened.

"I have no excitement in my life, Rowan," she said, though she didn't look back up to him. "And I think you're my chance to have that excitement and rush that I'm looking for. Being Overloridian is mostly work, it's not much fun. I want to have fun, I want to be a teenager. And I want to have that fun with you."

Rowan couldn't help but take what she said to heart. After all, in a weird way, he knew just how she felt. Maybe if he had been able to have some fun and 'be a teenager' when he first became Overloridian he wouldn't be the mess he was now.

'See, Rowan, you owe it to this girl,' Nym advised teasingly. 'If you don't date her, she'll turn into you.'

'Ha ha,' Rowan replied dryly. Maybe he did sort of owe something to Charlie. He liked her, she liked him, she obviously was willing to take the risks. What was holding them back?

'Though I can't figure out why she's turning to you of all people for excitement,' Nym continued to tease, trying to lighten the mood. She knew that Rowan owed this to himself just as much as he owed it to Charlie.

"Charlie..." Rowan said, still somewhat uncertain. "If you're really one-hundred percent positive...that this is what you want..." He trailed off, waiting for the answer that he probably should have already known.

"I am," she replied, looking back up to him. "I really am." And she was, she wasn't pretending to get him to date her or anything. She wanted to be with Rowan since the day they kissed. That had pretty much proven to her that he was willing to take risks and be fun, and she hoped that didn't change after this. If they started dating, that is.

'I'm pretty sure that means he wants to date you,' Mae said.

'Yeah, me too, but I want to hear him say it. I don't wanna go around thinking we're dating when we're not, can you imagine how embarrasing that would be?' Charlie replied, and Mae agreed. That would be incredibly embarrasing.

"Are you?" She just wanted to make sure, though she figured that he was if he'd said that. She just needed to know that they were both in it one-hundred percent, she couldn't have it any other way.

Charlie certainly was a unique girl. Her presence brought out a side of Rowan that he himself hadn't even been aware of. An impulsive side. And so without thinking he did something completely impulsive.

He put his arms around Charlie and kissed her passionately. Much more passionately than when they'd been in the forest together by Theodore Lane. It was exhilarating.

After a short moment he released her and looked her in the eyes. "That's a yes," he confirmed, smiling.

Charlie was so surprised by the kiss that she barely had enough thoughts in her mind to think of closing her eyes, but she managed to before the kiss was over. She couldn't help but smile when the kiss broke, since she had a chance to now, and she just looked into his eyes.

"I'm glad," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him softly on the lips. Sand rose around them, spiraling in a very pretty way, since the sun shone off of the shiny pieces. "It's gonna be hard not telling anyone, but we'll manage. And it'll be fun," she said, looking him in the eyes, barely even a few inches from his face. Mae was hanging out with Nym, wherever she was, and the four of them seemed to be blocked off from the world with the sand dome around them, and that was how it was going to be. They'd have to block themselves off from the world to be together, but she knew it was worth it now. She had hoped before, but she was all his now, and proud of it.

Not proud enough to go and tell people, though.

Rowan agreed, it was going to be hard to hide their relationship from everyone. Especially since one person already sort of knew. Not to mention the supposedly "cool" bodyguard. Wow, they were pretty bad at keeping it a secret already.

"A secret relationship does seem somehow more romantic," Rowan replied thoughtfully. "But I have to ask...What do you think your family would do if they found out?"

Charlie nodded. Much more romantic and fun, but it sucked because they couldn't go to each other's Eilemaiden places...or could they? It was too early to be thinking of that anyways, so she just listened to him.

"They'd probably hire a hitman to kill you or something," she said casually, as if it were nothing. "But no worries, they won't find out. We always have the Overloridian thing as a cover-up, especially with those weird star piece things." She couldn't stop smiling, and with her smile the dome continued to grow. She actually hadn't thought twice about what she'd said about them hiring a hitman, which was a bit strange considering she was talking about her new boyfriend...hm. Oh well, she wasn't too worried about anything, I guess.

"Oh. Wonderful," Rowan replied tensely, feeling way more worried than Charlie looked. He wished he could be as confident as she was that they wouldn't be found out. After all, these were their lives she was talking about so lightly! Well, his life, to be more accurate. Either way, it didn't seem like something to take lightly.

Charlie hugged him tighter, looking right into his eyes. "Really, I believe we can do this. I mean, you were really good at acting like you didn't like me at all around Alecis, so I don't see why you can't do it all the time. I might have some trouble, but I'm just a confused teenage girl who hasn't gotten used to her power over clio just yet and I haven't found anyone who understands my situation other than you. I'd say it's an okay excuse for now. And with time we'll come up with better ones, I'm sure."

She was so into him, it was crazy. She'd never really believed in anyone so much...I mean, she was normally a happy girl and all, but with him she was EXTRA happy. And she liked being extra happy.

"I think the hardest part will be not kissing you or touching you in public," she said softly, kissing him. She pressed her entire body against him, though not in a sexual way. In a sort of you-make-me-wanna-touch-you-all-over way, which I guess is a sexual way. (xD I'm so bad at writing sometimes.)

Rowan put his hands on Charlie's shoulders and pushed her back a little bit. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Charlie being all over him, but he didn't want to take things too fast.

"Slow down, Charlie," he said. "We only just started dating...about five seconds ago."

Charlie blushed a bit. She hadn't done anything sexual in a long time, and she was getting a bit carried away already. "You're right," she said slipping her hands behind her back.

'Stupid Charlie,' she said to herself for once.

'You're not stupid, you're just overwelmed,' Mae replied from...wherever she was with Nym.

'I guess so...it's embarrasing, though,' Charlie said, looking at Rowan's shirt. The color was uhm...nice. She was just trying to think of something other than her pushing her body against him...

"Oh jeez," she said aloud. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to do that. I'm not a slut, I swear," she said with a light laugh. "Maybe we should get back onto the subject of covering this up. I mean, we're obviously going to have to be in public with each other, it's not like you can come over to my place or anything," she said with another laugh. She was obviously trying to lighten the mood a bit. "How do you wanna do this?"

Rowan blinked. Wow, Charlie sure did like to talk. Not that it was an issue or anything, it would just be kind of hard to keep up with her. Before even giving him a chance to tell her it was okay she was already onto a new topic.

"Well..." he said slowly, deciding it was best just to let the old subject go and answer her question. "I suppose if anyone did see us together, as long as we weren't, you know, doing anything, they'd probably just think we were having a little Overloridian talk. Because of the whole star piece thing, the Overloridians have been seeing a lot more of each other than usual, so no one should get suspicious. Hopefully. As for, um, displaying affection, we'll just have to be careful."

'Wow. Why am I such a bad talker?' Rowan half thought, half asked Nym.

'Who knows,' Nym replied, and she would have shrugged if she could, from...wherever she was with Mae.

Charlie nodded in agreement with his plan. "Sounds good," she said, smiling. "I knew we could do this. It'll be fine, and it'll be fun, yeah?" She smiled, keeping her hands behind her back. She was still a bit embarrased by what had just happened, but she was getting over it.

"We should probably get going," she said, looking at the ground. She didn't want to, but it would be best if they did. She wrapped her arms around him again in a hug, her mouth automatically by his ear. "I forgot to mention that Wes doesn't know about us," she said, holding him in the hug. "He just knows that we met up. I don't plan on telling him about us, I don't plan on telling anyone. So we'll be okay."