"IT'S okay Mary." Korn said in a low tone.

"It's not okay Korn!" You heard Mary argue back firmly from the kitchen as you and Ignis both tried to eat your breakfast at the dinning room table. "She never should have been in his room."

"You heard what they said about the storm last night and what happened." Korn argue back as he tried to get Mary to calm down again. "It's a lot to handle being this high up during severe weather like that. Even you had struggled with it the first time you experienced it."

"But that was different." Mary argue back in a lower tone. "That had been right after we had been shot at."

"Mary, try to understand." Korn said in a pleading tone. "They were both here for that incident too. Hell, if it wasn't for them, we both would have drowned. And these two aren't your average kids. The things that they have seen and done already...."

"It doesn't matter Korn. And above average or not, it doesn't change the fact that she's underage. Do you know what that means Korn? It's statutory rape if those two have sex." You heard her say and you felt your heart stop.

Rape? You thought as you lost your breath.

"Do you really want to take a chance of Ignis ending up in jail? Do you really want that to happen?" Mary continued in a pleading tone.

Jail? You thought as your eyes got big as you pictured Ignis in a jailcell.

"Mary, please..." Korn tried to argue back.

Could he really end up in jail? Your body trembled from the thought.

"If you don't agree with me on this, what else are you going to argue with me about?" You barely heard Mary ask as you tried to stay calm.

"Now darling let's not...." Korn tried to plead again.

"Next your going to tell me that you don't like the colors for our wedding. Or that you want to have it outside now." Mary started to say, which told you that it was about to get very heated again.

"Now why would I...?"

"Or perhaps that you want to go with more groomsman or no groomsmen." She continued.

"No. If you would just...." Korn started to say.

"It's the dress isn't it? You don't like. It costs to much. Is that it?"

"Mary....."

"Perhaps it's me....." You heard her say in a hurt tone. "You've changed your mind about me. Haven't you?"

"For the love of six...." Korn replied in an exasperated tone. "Will you stop?!"

"Stop?! Fine." She said firmly. "I'll stop. I'll stop everything!"

Next thing you knew, Mary came storming out of the kitchen with Korn right on her heels. "Mary, wait."

"No, Korn. I'm done. I'm tired of being in the tabloids all the time." She said and quickly made her way to the front door. "I'm going to my mother's. I need a break from you."

"Stop! Damnit!" Korn said as he grabbed her wrist and whipped her around so that she was looking right at him. "This has nothing to do with us!"

"The hell it doesn't." She said in a low menacing tone. "Everything that you and Ignis do, direct affects me. You don't think that all of Insomnia isn't watching you and everything that's going on around you? Your stupid and naive if you don't see that."

"I know everyone is watching us." Korn said in a low tone as he moved her hair behind her ear as he slowly moved up closer to her. "I also know that you are really stressed out about the wedding."

Mary dropped her head as she tried to look away from him. He slightly sighed as he pulled her close to his chest. Mary loosely put her hands on his sides.

"How about we take today off from work and do something together?" Korn quietly asked as he slowly rubbed her back. "What do you say?"

Mary's fingers trembled. Then she slowly balled up both hands as she closed her eyes. She felt her whole body tense up as she took a slow breath as she prepared herself.

"I can't today. Or ever. The wedding is off." She quietly replied as she pushed away from him and turned back to the door.

Korn stood there in shock for a moment as she walked away and entered the front foyer. Then you heard the elevator bell chime and Korn quickly ran to the entryway.

"Mary....wait!" Korn called after her as he disappeared around the door frame.

You dropped your head and placed your fork on the plate. Then you stood up and grabbed your half eaten breakfast of scrambled eggs with biscuits and sausage gravy. Suddenly you didn't feel like eating anymore. It was just like when your parents use to fight when you were little. Except now it was definitely your fault.

You kept your head down as you quietly made your way to the kitchen so that you could clean up. That certainly wasn't what you wanted to happen. Sure you didn't see it going well when Mary walked in and practically lost her mind when she saw the two of you asleep in the same bed. But never did you expect her to lash out at Korn and Ignis like she had that morning.

"Don't worry about her." Ignis said in a soft tone as he walked into the kitchen and made his way over to you. "My uncle knows how to calm down a ragging Garuda. And I know he can handle his fiancé."

"I know. It's just...." You said as you slightly shook your head as you dumped your food in the trash before placing your dishes in the sink.

Ignis came up and placed his dishes on top of yours. Then he grabbed your hips and slowly turned you around to face him. Then he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you up against him. You couldn't help but place your head against his chest as you wrapped your arms around to him in response.

"If your worried about what she said about us, we can always wait until your older." He quietly said as he ran his hand up and down your back as he tried to comfort you.

"But I don't want to wait." You said in a low tone as you tightened up your grip on him. "I love to make love to you. But at the same time, I don't want you getting into trouble for it."

"Are you planning on reporting me?" He asked as he moved your hair behind your ears.

"No. Of course not." You quickly responded and you slightly squeezed him.

"Is your dad planning on reporting me?" Ignis asked as he moved his head so that he could see your face.

"He better not! You quickly said as you gave him a horrified look.

"Well I know that my uncle isn't about to do an investigation into it. Especially since I think he already knows the truth." He said with a smile as he scanned your face. "So I think that we're pretty safe if you ask me."

You tried to relax as you smiled back at him. Everything told you that he was telling you the truth. But you just couldn't seem to shake her words out of your head. And what if someone else reported it? Could he be sent to jail then?

"Let's just finish up these dishes and head to the college. Both of us have a class to get to." Ignis said with a slight smile as he pulled you closer.

"Okay." You replied as he kissed your hair.

You could see the smile on Jason's face long before Ignis pulled up to park right beside his car. Brady wasn't quite as obvious, but you could tell that he was smiling as well as the two of them stood by Jason's car. They only slightly shifted as Ignis smoothly parked before turning off the car.

"Ready?" Ignis asked as he glanced over at you after removing his seatbelt.

"For you? Always." You replied with a huge smile as yours slid off to the side.

Ignis gave you a huge grin back as he leaned over and gave you a quick kiss. "Best words I've heard all day."

You slightly giggled at him as he sat back.

"Are you coming?" You heard a muffled Jason say.

You both slightly laughed before climbing out of the car. Jason and Brady greeted the two of you with smiles, before the four of you turned and started to head to your first class. And this time, there wasn't a phone call to interrupt you. Which you were both grateful for.  Yet at the same time it concerned you since it made you worry about Mary and Korn.

The walk across the campus felt different. But then again, it was different. Because for the first time in a long time, you were the only one holding someone's hand. And you loved every head that turned as the four of you walked along the sidewalk as you made your way to class. And for once you didn't feel awkward walking with nothing but guys as you casually strolled along the sidewalk.

Once you reached your English class, you stood outside with Ignis for a moment as Jason and Brady went in to take their seats. Brady gave Ignis a sly smile as he walked away. While Jason almost looked hurt as Brady dragged him away. Which made you smile at both of them before you looked at Ignis again.

"I'll see you after class, love." Ignis said to you as he moved your hair behind your ears.

"Okay." You said with a huge smile as you closed your eyes as he kissed your head.

But then as Ignis turned away from you to head back out of the building, you quickly grabbed his arm. "Are you heading to the library?"

"Indeed. They have private rooms over there that I can use for my online session." Ignis said with a gentle smile back at you. "It's kind of like the study rooms at the middle school."

"Their quiet and out of sight of everyone." He said in a deep voice as he gave you slight smirk.

"Really?" You barely asked as your heart started to race from seeing his eyes start to get dark again as he turned back towards you "I don't remember seeing them on the second floor."

"That's because their not up there." Ignis continued as he ran his thumb across your bottom lip as he slowly tilted your chin up more.

"Where are they?" You asked breathlessly.

"Their deep in the basement." Ignis said in a deep voice that sent a chill through you as he slowly started to lean down to you. "Where it's nice and quiet. The perfect place to avoid interruptions."

"Ignis?" You heard a familiar male's voice ask which shatter the tension between the two of you. "Is that you? I thought that you were in Cartanica."

You both turned and saw Coach Rick come walking up to the two of you. You couldn't believe your eyes that Coach Rick was at the college. You started to wonder if he had to be staking Ignis or something. Why else would he be there.

"Coach Rick. I'm surprised that your here. How are you doing?" Ignis said with polite tone, despite his frustration with being interrupted, again.

"Better, if your coming back." Rick said with a hopefully grin.

"I'm not enrolled here anymore I'm afraid." Ignis replied as he slightly shook his head. "Just visiting for my uncle's wedding."

"Ahh yes." Rick replied as he nodded his head with a smile on his face. "The wedding. It's been the talk of the town lately."

"So we've heard." Ignis replied in lower tone. "But what brings you here?"

"Oh, I work here during the summer months." Rick replied with a smile and the wave of a hand. "And of course I knew that at least one of my divers would be here. So I naturally asked to be an assistant diving coach for the summer."

"Of course." You both said under in a low tone.

"I wouldn't happen to be able to talk you into stopping by the pool today for a demo would I?" Rick asked Ignis with a smile. "I'm sure the freshman could learn a few things from you."

"I didn't bring any gear with me today I'm afraid." Ignis said as he shifted his feet.

You could tell that Ignis wasn't really in the mood to be showed off like some prized trick chocobo. But Rick didn't seem to agree with him as he continued to pressure him.

"Not a problem. You know that I always have extras in my office." Rick replied with a slight smile. "And I'm sure that one of the new team suits will fit you perfectly."

Pushy much? You thought as you gave Rick a weary look.

"Heck, if your both willing, I would love for the two of you to show them how to properly do synchronized diving." Rick continued as he gave you a slight smirk.

"I certainly don't have my suit here." You quickly replied as you dropped your head. And I'm certainly not in the mood to be gawked at either.

"Not a problem." Rick replied with a smile. "I have tons of girl suits. No matter what size you are."

You looked over at Ignis and gave him a nervous look. He glanced over at you and gave you perplexed look. You could see that he didn't want to disappoint his old coach. But neither of you were even remotely ready to dive like that. Especially since neither of you had ever started your fall conditioning for the swim season. And you didn't think that Ignis would even be looking into doing it at his new college.

"I promise to make it worth your wild." Rick said with a smirk. "I know a certain person has been trying to challenge both of you for a while now. And this would be the perfect time for them to really see what your both capable of."

"But what about my classes and work?" You asked as you thought of your hectic schedule.

"What's your next class?"

"College Algebra."

"Perfect.  I just happen to know the Professor teaching that class.  And I'm certain that it won't be a problem if we meet up right after class.  " Rick answered nonchalantly.

"And if your worried about work, don't." Rick said with a smile. "I can talk to Brian about that."

You gave Rick a stunned look. "How do you know about Brian?"

Rick smiled. "Your not the only one who goes here that works for him you know."

That's right. You thought as you dropped your head. I hadn't even thought about Loqi.

"Are you talking about the guy that works there now?" Ignis asked as he gave you a quick glance.

"One in the same." Rick said as he smiled back. "Loqi's one of our best breaststrokers. You should see he fly. Let alone he does amazing on the 3-meter spring."

You looked at Coach Rick in shock. Seriously? Since when does Loqi swim? 

"He's nothing compared to you of course." Rick said to Ignis as if he totally missed your stunned expression. "You should really see for yourself though. Then perhaps show all of them how it's suppose to be done."

Ignis looked at you and searched your face. He could tell that you were shocked to hear about the guy from the café. Of course he wasn't quite sure why it would bother you. But then he thought that perhaps there was more to this guy then just another worker at the café.

Maybe I can learn a bit more about this Loqi guy during practice. Ignis thought as he watched you slightly space out in deep thought.

"What do you think?" Ignis asked as he gave you straight look. "Are you up for some pool time?"

You nervously gapped as him. Is he seriously considering this? "But what about your uncle? And Mary? You know...the wedding plans and everything?"

"Well, they didn't exactly tell me about anything that they needed me to do today before they walked out this morning." Ignis said as he moved his glasses up on his face with his middle finger.

"Oh....right." You said as you dropped your gaze as you felt your heart fall again as you remember them walking out of the condo.

"Then is that a yes?" Rick asked with a hopeful tone as he beamed at both of you.

"Yes." Ignis said as he gave his old coach a slight nod. "It's the least we can do for you after all."

"(Y/N)? Don't you agree?" Ignis asked as he turned back to you.

"Yes of course." You nervously replied before you looked at Coach Rick. "We can stop by for a bit this morning."

"Perfect." Rick beamed as he looked at both of you. "I'll let the other coaches know and we'll see you two in a couple hours."

Ignis watched you as you simply nodded at Rick with a forced smile. Now I certain that there's more to this Loqi guy then (y/n) is letting on. I'll ask my uncle while she's in class. Maybe he knows something that she's not telling me.

You felt your heart start to pound as you stepped out onto the pool deck. You hadn't expected to see this large of a pool. Sure the pool at Districts last year had been huge. But nothing like this one. This one was twice as loud and almost suffocating without the windows so that you could look outside.

Then as you looked around at the other swimmers as they were going through their workout, you suddenly felt really out of place. Gwen hadn't been lying when she had told you that the guys were totally hot. But it intimidated you more than anything. Most of them looked much larger then Ignis, even though they were just as well defined. Well most of them anyway.

"Holy shit. Look who finally decided to join us." You heard a familiar sassy voice say as several people approached you.

You glanced over and saw Gwen, Trish, Jason, and Brady walk over to you. Gwen and Trish both gave you a smile. While Brady and Jason seemed to be in a bit of shock as you stood there in a brand new, one-piece, cross-back, team suit and with a matching body shammy in your hand. Rick had insisted that you use them for the demo. He said something about it making it easier for the other team members to focus if you were wearing something similar to what they were wearing. Or something like that. But you had a feeling that he was more or less trying to recruit you to the team.

"Hey." You nervously replied as clasped your hands in front of you.

"That looks stunning on you." You heard Ignis say in a deep tone from behind you.

You quickly turned around and watched him walk up to you wearing the team swim jammer shorts that Rick had given him as well as his own matching shammy. You beamed at him as he walked up to you. He smiled back as he did a quick full scan of your suit. Which made your heart start to race.

Then he stopped in front of you, grabbed your hand and raised it to his lips. "You look as stunning as ever."

"Not nearly as handsome as you." You replied with a smile as he kissed your hand.

"Careful, love." Ignis began as he gave you a heated look. "You know what flattery does to me."

Your breath caught for a moment as you watched his eyes darken as he slightly narrowed them at you. And suddenly your heart started to pound even harder as you felt a thrill run through your whole body under his gaze.

"Ahh, perfect. Everyone's here." You heard Rick suddenly say off to the side as a fairly large crowd of people followed him. "Now we can get started."

Ignis gave you a half smile as he lowered your hand. You beamed back and interlaced your fingers with his. You really didn't care anymore about anyone around you. The only person you cared about at that moment was holding your hand.

"Are you ready love?" Ignis asked as he searched your eyes.

"For you? Always." You said as his eyes started to get dark again.

"Excellent." Rick said and walked up to the two of you as he placed his hands on your backs.

"Let's get you two warmed up then."  He beamed as he started to gently push both of you towards the boards.

After a few stretches and practice dives to get use to the board, you finally started to relax a bit. And after a near perfect pike dive, you were finally ready to start the real demo. So far everyone had just been taking turns as they simply practiced each basic dive. Which you were grateful for since you hadn't really started training for swim season yet.

But it was apparent that they had been, as you watched the college students taking their turns off of the boards. A lot of them were really good. In fact they were better then you expected. Their form was good and strong. And they hardly had any flaws in their dives. Which made you wonder what the problem was.

Even Loqi looked like he knew what he was doing on the board. Which totally surprised you. He didn't appear to be the kind of guy who even liked to swim, let alone dive. Yet here he was, making his dives look like child's play.

"Okay, now that everyone is warmed up, let's brake up into our teams now." Rick said as he stood in between the two 3-meter boards with his clip board in hand and a remote around his neck. "To start us off, I want to introduce you to two of the youngest divers that I have ever worked with. They are both very talented and one of them had won first place at the high school districts for diving 3 years running. "Ignis and (y/n), would you care to start us off please."

You nervously followed Ignis as he held your hand and led you to the boards. You felt your heart pounding as everyone seemed to be staring at you. Which included Loqi as he stood towards the back. Neither of you had said anything to each other since he arrived a bit late for practice. But you were secretly grateful for that. You really didn't want anything distracting you from Ignis. Especially him.

"I want you two to do a simple pike to start off." Rick said to the two of you.

You nervously nodded. But then Ignis slightly squeezed your hand. You looked at him and saw his eyes sparkle at you as he smiled at you. You grinned back at him and squeezed back.

Then without a word, the two of you each took a board. And after adjusted the fulcrums, you each walked out to the end of the board and dropped your shammies into the water so that they would be waiting for you when you entered the water. Then you walked back to the start of the board and took your positions. You slightly bit your lip as you got ready for your approach.

You then glanced to your right and saw that Ignis was ready to go. You smiled at him and nodded to let him know that you were ready. Ignis slightly smiled back with a nod before he looked straight ahead again. Which made you do the same.

Then Ignis slightly swung both of his arms out in front of him. "On three."

"One." He said in a calm tone.

You moved your arms out to match his.

"Two." He said and both of you were on your toes.

"Three." He said and both of you took a step forward.

Then in unison, you both swung your hands backwards as you took a second step as you forced the board down as you did. Next you swung your arms back in front of you and straight up to the ceiling as you bend your knee and and pushed off from the board and into your approach. Both of you were then thrown into the air as you swing your back knee back up to your chest as you pushed off from the board. This sent both of you flying up into the air in a prone position.

Then as you came back down near the end of the board, you both bent your knees and quickly swung your arms back down to your legs. Then you pushing off of the board as you threw your arms above your head which sent both of you flying off the board again, but much higher then your practice dives. And in one smooth motion, you both bend at your waist as you moved your arms out to the side as you pointed your toes straight down.

You both grabbed your legs and slowly started to rotate on the air. Then as your head dropped below your legs, you both released your legs. Next you both dropped your hands straight down to the pool and locked them together so that your palms were flat. And you moved your legs straight up to the ceiling as you straightened back out into a straight dive before entering the water.

The water felt hard as it hit your hands before you entered. But then the cold water made you forget about that as it enveloped around you. You quickly did a summersault with your arms out to the side to stop yourself from going down to far. Then you looked up and swam back up to the surface.

The moment your head was out of the water, you could hear the faint sound of clapping before you heard Rick's faint voice again. "Now that you know what it should look like, let's begin."

You glanced over and watched Ignis surface. When you saw a smile on his face, you couldn't help but to smile back. Then the two of you grabbed your shammies and headed to the pool's edge. But just as you reached the pool wall, Ignis grabbed you around the waist and pulled you back to him.

"Not so fast, love." Ignis said before he turned you around so that you were facing him.

You giggled at him as you turned around and placed your hands on your shoulders. "I thought you didn't like to make out in front of everyone?"

"I think I'll make an exception this time." He said before he hungrily leaned into you and kissed you.

You tightened up your grip on him and eagerly kissed him back. Your heart started to pound again as he slipped his hand down to your waist as he pushed you closer to him. This was something that you hadn't expected from him. But then again, you had been surprised at how eager he had been the night before as well. Not that you were complaining. It just seemed to be a bit out of character for him.

But you were quickly interrupted as the next couple landed in the water. Which made both of you laugh before you released each other. Then you climbed back out of the pool and headed back up to the diving boards. Which made you smile at him as the two of you stood in line to dive again.

The next hour or so was nothing but everyone showing off their skills as they worked hard with their partner. And you were very impressed with each dive as you watched. But then you weren't surprised when you watched Trish and Gwen dive as a team. For both of them were in perfect unison. In fact it was hard for you to figure out who was actually calling the moves with how smoothly that they worked together.

But then again, Brady and Jason were just as impressive with their reverse pike dive. You were blown away with how good that they were. And they definitely showed you just how talented that they really were. And that they really did take their diving very serious. No one could dive that good and not be.

By the end of the practice you and Ignis were both just as tired as the rest of the team. But still both smiling as you cheered for each couple as they became more and more in-sync with their partner. The only one who seemed to be struggling was Loqi. Which was obvious as he seemed to be more focused on you then on his actual team member.

But you tried to brush this off as you chatted with the others before everyone started to head to the locker room. It did make you nervous though that he was going to be in the same locker room as Ignis and the others. Even though the only thing that you could do was watch as they disappeared through the door as Gwen and Trish walked with you into the girl's locker room.

"See, didn't I tell you that the eye candy was amazing?" Gwen said with a smirk as you headed to the showers. "These guys are totally hot."

"They are amazing." You calmly agreed as the three of you stepped into your showers that were right beside each other. "But I really don't care if their hot or not."

"Of course you don't." Trish said with a sarcastic tone. "You do have Ignis to look at."

"And you have Brady." Gwen chimed in.

"And you have Jason." Trish said right as you turned on the shower.

The rest of their conversation seemed to die down as the hot water started to rinse off your suit as you started to wash your hair. But it was fine with you. You really didn't want to talk about it at the moment. Not with your mind starting to wonder over to Loqi and the glances that he kept giving you. But the more you thought about it, you were still baffled that he was even there to begin with.

Perhaps I can talk to him about it at work tonight. You thought as you stared at the wall for a moment.

But then you recalled Ignis' heated exchange after your first dive with him and you suddenly didn't really care about Loqi being on the team or not. After all, he wasn't your boyfriend or anything. So why should it matter. Right?

******Author Note******

As you might have seen, I had finished another book while I was writing this chapter. It's called The King's Protector. It's this story, but with the main focus being on Noctis. Be sure to check it out when you get the chance.

And now as one thing seems to be better for a daring heroin, another is falling apart at the seams. And one person has to make a tough decision that will open a old wound that hasn't been open in years. Will they be able to push past the grief for a new? And will they be able to mend those wounds before it's too late? Be sure to keep an eye out for the next chapter and find out.

Thanks for reading. :)

***********************