I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE

"I spy with my little eye." Fluffy said when it looked like we were going to be stuck in line for at least another 10 minutes.

We were so close to the porch, there were kids just getting off from the cars behind us, but I felt bad about leaving Fluffy in the line alone. There was no way for the car to turn out, so even if I left now, Fluffy would have to be stuck in the line all they say till he got to the porch anyway.

It just seemed rude to abandon him to see through the queue of cars on his own.

"Something red." Fluffy smiled thoroughly satisfied at his clue.

I checked his line of sight hoping to catch a clue, but of course Fluffy's eyes were suddenly very properly on the road.

"The stop sign?" I tried.

Fluffy's smile widened, "Not quite."

"So some other sign?" I looked about for a red one.

"When I said not quite, I meant, not at all." Fluffy amended.

Fluffy was all kinds of infuriating to talk to in both timelines.

"Give me a clue." I said.

"Its something I'm thinking of." Fluffy answered.

Which was NOT how to play I spy!

And then Fluffy laughed again. So his game wasn't actually, I Spy but Provoke Lala.

"Why do you have to do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" Fluffy asked.

"You know!" I accused, "You're always messing with me!"

He never messed with Kenna.

"Oh. I wonder..." Fluffy gave it some thought, "How should I put this?"

"Just put it like it is." I swear, if Fluffy pulled another fast one on me, one of us would die in this car before we reached the porch.

"It's your fault." Fluffy answered.

What?

"You're not allowed to blame the victim!" I protested.

Fluffy laughed again, "It's because you're like that."

"Like what? Because I'm stupid?" I mean, that was just plain mean!

Fluffy laughed some more. He was truly enjoying himself, "Not at all."

"Then what?" I demanded.

"You're cute." Fluffy said so quietly, I almost didn't hear him, but I did.

"What?" I said anyway.

"You..." Fluffy adverted his gaze, and cleared his throat, "You amuse me."

"What???" I distinctly heard him say cute. Wth! How dare he change his answer.

"I'm not for your amusement." I crossed my arms informed him huffily, which only made him laugh again.

Fluffy's laughter was like the stars dancing on the lake. It made me feel like anything was possible. No matter what kind of mess we had made of our timeline, we could still rebuild our lives, save our friends, and make Night Leaf magical again.

And one day, we would have our own Ball of the Full Moon.

And for some reason, in my mind, I would be dancing with Fluffy. I stopped myself when I realized it hated myself for it.

I had a soul mate waiting for me back in our original timeline. There was no future for us because by tomorrow our past would no longer exist.

And dancing together in the light of the full moon would be just my own secret guilty fantasy. He wasn't my soul mate. I mean he was, but Bell... Oh I don't know anymore.

Surely, my relationship with Bell was more than just a mating bond!

"I spy with my little eye." Fluffy tried again.

"I'm not playing." My arms were still crossed.

"Just one more." Fluffy coaxed, "I promise this one would be good."

How good can "I spy with my little eye be"?

"Alright, fine." I relented, because I was a little bit curious.

"I spy with my little eye," Fluffy repeated, "Something red, in my head..."

"Blood." I answered.

Fluffy laughed, "Wait for all the clues, La."

Then he amended, "Something red, that I'm picturing in my mind, and my lovely beta would cut out his heart for."

Oh.

"Blood?" Because you know, that was red, Fluffy could be imagining it, and Ben... Well, there would be blood if he cut out his heart.

Fluffy laughed again, "Alright. You win."

"No, I didn't." I didn't even need my alpha sense to know Fluffy was lying.

"But I want you to win." Fluffy argued.

This was not how to play I spy either!

"What's the right answer?" I asked. Our car was creeping up the porch so I didn't have any more time to argue with him.

Fluffy beamed, which was bad news, "Guess. If you can tell me the answer by the time I come pick you up, I'll give it to you."

We pulled up at the porch, and I let myself out.

"What time should I be here?" Fluffy called after me.

"Three." I answered automatically.

"Okay! See you at three, Lala!" Fluffy agreed cheerfully.

I slammed the car door before realizing I just agreed to riding with Fluffy again.

Arugh! I was supposed to be avoiding him! I thought he was avoiding me too! WTH was happening?

And why was I feeling so happy?

No, calm down Sam. Fluffy was just driving me around as my brother. Yeah... Even though he had never done it before. (Kev was usually the secondary driver in our family.)

Oh! And it's not like we were going on an ice-cream date! Wolfgang would be joining us too. Yeah, don't overthink it, Sam.

Fluffy was just being my brother. Kev wasn't at home so he had to drive. And he wanted to thank me for getting the car for a day and take me to meet Wolfgang together. Yeah. That's all.

That's way was better too. Let's just stay as good siblings till we get back to our original timeline and forget about the dream ever took place, forget the lake, forget the way the stars had danced.

The best thing Fluffy could do was forget me. And I should forget him too - except I kept thinking about him. I replayed the time we were together in the car. He... he was very nice to me.

What was red, in his head, and Ben would cut his heart out for? Oh, and he said he would give it to me if I guessed right. (And the answer wasn't blood.)

Something that he might give me that's red: Skittles. But Ben wouldn't cut his heart out for it.

Something that Ben would cut his heart out for that's red: A red Lambo? Hahaha, I was just going out on a limb here. There was no way Fluffy would buy me a Lamborghini.

I really couldn't think of it, something red, that Fluffy could give me, that Ben would cut his heart out for, that wasn't blood, and wasn't present when we were playing the I spy game.

After thinking about it all the way to class, this was all I managed shift out from our exchange.

I was going to spend the whole day noticing red things now. So much for not thinking about Fluffy. He better not have done this on purpose! (He probably did though.)

I don't understand it, I thought he wanted to be my soul mate, but then he was making effort to bring back Wolfgang early so we could time travel again.

I thought he wanted to avoid me (that was certainly my plan), but he not only sent me to school, he volunteered to pick me up for ice-cream after school.

I thought he would be angry and hate me, but he was really nice.

I thought it would be better to forget him but here I was thinking about him like he was some kind of puzzle I couldn't unravel.

Then again, when was anything about Fluffy straightforward in any timeline?

Maybe this was an entire overcomplicated convoluted Fluffy plot to... Actually, I had no idea, but if his plan was to keep me guessing and confused, he was totally hitting the nail on the head.

What was red? Besides blood, skittles, and a lambo, I noticed lots of red things all the way back to class: School bag, lipstick, phone cover, red pen, water bottle...

But I highly doubt Ben would cut his heart out over a water bottle. So maybe I should work on what Ben would be willing to cut his heart out for. This should help narrow down my options.

Ben might possibly cut his heart out for: a lambo, his phone, a supercomputer, maybe his guitar. None of these things were red, or anything I could imagine Fluffy giving me.

Maybe a can of coke. Like if Ben was dying of thirst, and it was the last drinkable source of water left in the world, Ben might possibly cut his heart out for that. Yeah. If I don't think of anything else, a can of coke would be my final answer.

This should have solved my dilemma, it was a stupid game to begin with. But I couldn't help myself. For the rest of the day, I kept noticing red things everywhere.

I waved to a few girls as I meandered through the crowded hallways to my locker. It was a weird feeling to be walking down these halls, smiling widely and waving to passing girls while pretending I was in a hurry somewhere because I was too busy taking it all in. Technically, this was the first time I was in the Lorent's Girls School, but for some reason, I knew this place like the back of my hand.

Red things: File, jacket, poster, fire extinguisher…

"Hi, La." Someone would wave from one of the benches.

"Hi." I'd say and smile. [She sat next to me during the Princess Club Introductory Tea Party.]

I'd have to borrow information from Lala's life to navigate through this. Every where around me were girls in white skirts… Right, I was in a girls school now.

"Looking good, La." Someone in a passing group of girls called out.

"You too!" I'd call back in my cheerfully. [They're from theatre, I think she wants me to join them.]

I meant to keep walking, but the group of girls stopped and blocked my way.

More red things: fire hose box (I guess fire safety was a serious thing in this school), door mat outside the teacher's room doorway, flag… but not a physical one, more like a red flag in my head. Oh! Was that the answer? Would Ben cut out his heart for a red flag? I guess it depended on the severity of the situation? But how was Fluffy supposed to give me a red flag? Actually, Fluffy was technically a walking red flag… why was I thinking about him again? (Internal face palm. Goddess, I'm hopeless!)