A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

This is a continuation of Chapter 31

Pluem's POV

"... ehrm... okay, thanks for inviting me," I replied to Mean.

"It's going to be a horror movie," Chimmon spoke up, "are you into horror movies?"

Actually I wasn't, but because I really wanted to watch a movie with Chimmon I lied and said that I liked watching horror movies.

Mean looked at Chimmon in surprise.

"Did I say that we were gonna watch a horror movie?" Mean asked him.

Chimmon had the grace to blush. It was obvious that he was just trying to discourage me from joining them.

"Oh, I ... I ..." Chimmon was trying to search for words.

"That's fine," Mean did not wait for him to finish his sentence, "if it's a horror movie that you guys want to watch, I'm not against it."

"It's settled then!" I exclaimed with a bright smile and started digging into my bowl of pasta.

Suddenly my lunch tasted very good whereas Chimmon didn't look happy at all.

After lunch we all went two decks higher to the cinema area where we all bought and paid for our own movie tickets.

I noticed Chimmon hesitating at the entrance of the movie house.

"What's wrong?" I asked, touching his elbow.

"I need time to adjust to the darkness," he said.

"Here, let me guide you," I said, taking his hand. It felt so soft that I wanted to squeeze it.

I slowly walked to the row where our ticket seats were assigned.

Without letting go of his hand, I walked ahead into the row of seats and pointed to him the seat corresponding to his ticket.

"Thank you," he said, sinking into the soft velvet surface of the seat.

I sat beside him while Mean sat on the other side of him.

When the movie started with the ear piercing scream of the victim, I felt Chimmon jerk in his seat and I noticed that he had grabbed Mean's arm instead of mine.

I leaned towards him and whispered, "Don't be scared, I'm right here" and with those words I took hold of his hand that was closest to me.

Thankfully he did not try to pull his hand away, but I noticed that he was still holding on to Mean's arms.

If I had been a genie, I would have whisked Mean away with some magic powers.

Several times during the movie, there were more startling scenes that made even myself move to the edge of my seat.

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Chimmon's POV

My heart was racing in my chest when I felt Mean settle in his seat beside me.

The manly scent of his cologne reached my nose as the cool air of the movie house's central air conditioning wafted it to me.

I really wanted to watch a horror movie with him in order to have an excuse to have some more physical contact with him because the brief tight hug that he gave me in the open deck was not enough for me.

It was such a bummer that he had to go and invite Pluem to join us. I really would have wanted to have an alone time with Mean in the dim and conducive atmosphere of a movie house.

There was a really scary part during the movie, though, that made me grateful that Pluem was also on my other side and I was thankful that he took hold of my other hand to make me feel secure.

Mean had not made any moves to reassure me during the scary scenes although he did allow me to hold on to his arm.

I felt thankful to Pluem when he leaned close to me to whisper, "It always gets sorted in the end", while at the same time putting his arm around my shoulder.

I guess his arm was too long so much so that when he tried to put his arm around my shoulder his hand touched Mean's shoulder as well, which made Mean jump and look behind him.

"Sorry, sorry, it was me," said Pluem with a short embarrassed chuckle.

When the movie was over, we all filed out of the movie house and when we reached the foyer, Mean turned to us and asked, "Was there anything else that you guys wanted to do before dinner?"

"I was thinking of taking a dip in the pool," I said, looking at Mean directly and waiting for his reaction.

I held my breath, hoping that he would say that he would like to join me.

"I would like to take a short nap," Mean announced, "I usually take afternoon naps."

Pluem turned to me.

"Can I join you?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied, and I meant it. I was starting to realize that Pluem was a better and more attentive companion than Mean was. I guess Mean was never really interested in being more than just a friend to me.

"Let me go to my cabin to change into swim gear," he said.

"I'm gonna do the same," I told him.

Even as we were talking, Mean had already pressed the service button for elevator service.

When the elevator doors opened we all filed in and pressed for our individual decks.

"Mean!" Plan was just about to walk out of the elevator that we were trying to walk into, "I was trying to reach you all afternoon but you weren't responding!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Mean, staying behind to talk to Plan and allowing us to go ahead of him.

I heard Mean continue to say, "I had to mute my phone because I was inside the movie house," I heard him say to Plan just as the elevator doors closed on us.

Pluem turned to me before we parted ways at the corridor. It turned out that our cabins were on the same deck so we were going towards the same corridor.

"Meet you at the pool in fifteen minutes?" he asked.

"Sure," I said as I hurried to my cabin.

He was already sitting by the poolside, sipping a drink when I found him.

Damn, he looked good in his swimming trunks. I tried not to stare at his bare chest.

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

"What drink are you having?" I asked as I approached him."Oh this?" he raised his glass that had a pinkish liquid with a small thin triangular shaped pineapple stuck on one side of the rim of his glass, "this is a Mai Tai."

I started to feel thirsty just looking at the iced drink, especially when I heard the ice cubes clinking against the side of the glass.

"You wanna take a sip from it?" he offered.

"No, thanks," I said, "I'm gonna get my own glass."

He was smiling at me as I walked back to him with my own glass in my hand.

We sipped our drinks in silence, watching the other passengers as they swam about in the swimming pool.

"Hey, you're staring too long at that girl in the midnight blue bikini and she's not even all that pretty," I almost jumped when I heard him remark to me.

Shit, I didn't notice that he had been observing me.

"Race you to the end of the pool," he declared, setting down his empty glass on the table beside the lounging chair.

I took one last sip from my Mai Tai and stood up.

Whoa, why was I feeling a little dizzy.

He sliced cleanly into the pool whereas I found myself doing a belly flop.

He easily reached the other end of the pool while I struggled to get there.

"Are you okay?" he asked when I reached him.

"I'm not sure," I said, "my head feels a little woozy."

"Have you had a Mai Tai before?" his face was already looking a little blurry as I listened to him questioning me.

"No," I replied.

After a very brief pause, I held on to his upper arm, "Pluem, can you please take me back to my cabin?"

"Of course," he responded without hesitation, his face full of concern.

He held my elbow as I climbed out of the pool.

Together we went back to the foyer and up to our deck where his and my cabins were located.

"Let me be the one to unlock your door," he offered when he noticed me fumbling with the key.

After he unlocked the door, he pushed it open and stepped aside to let me in.

"I don't think it would be good for you to be alone in the condition you're in," I heard him say, stepping inside my cabin without waiting for my invitation.