She was hiding something but I couldn't tell what, the way Ilyse looks at a person when she's focused...there's something about it that I can't explain. It's like she's looking through you without meaning to, the moment she began studying me I watched her facial expression. The way her eyes took on that far away look, the way she nibbled on her bottom lip or the small crease that formed when she frowned a little or the crinkle at the corner of her eye when she smiled.

It was fascinating to watch, I'd never really seen that many expressions flutter across a girls face in such a small amount of time. I'd never been close enough to see it and had never actually been the focus of attention, it was weird, humbling and made me more curious to know about her.

But when I spoke it seemed to snap her out of her trance and brought her back to reality, which I regretted as soon as she brushed her thoughts aside and began avoiding me again.

Our picnic was pretty normal, we stuck to talking about the 'safe' subjects. Which included summer school, going back to school, Cal starting at school and other school related topics. When we were done eating we packed our basket up and I drove the both of us down to the cinema to where Cal and Nat were already waiting for us.

As I pulled up I could see that both Cal and Nat were happy, so they had manged to work things out. I just wish that Ilyse and I could have come down from the cinema with the same outcome but I hadn't even managed to broach the topic of dating.

Cal looked at me expectantly but I shook my head, he understood and slung an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry about it man, don't let it get you down. There's always tomorrow, right?" That put a smile on my face, that's what I liked about Cal. He was persistent and always encouraged me to try again even if I failed miserably.

The girls were walking in front of us, Nat was chatting excitedly with Ilyse and Ilyse seemed like she was as equally excited as Nat about the movie we were going to watch.

"There's always tomorrow and next week...and the week after that." Cal laughed but gave my shoulders a squeeze before pulling away, yeah typical Cal.

"Here, we're going to watch this. Nat picked it, said it would be full of action with just enough girly stuff to keep her and Ilyse occupied." Cal handed my ticket to me, seeing the movie title I was really glad it wasn't some loved up fluffy movie. It was actually one of the Avenger movies, which was cool and all because I'd been wanting to watch it for some time.

We grabbed whatever snacks we wanted before heading up to our cinema, Cal and Nat sort of paired up. That left Ilyse and I being awkward...that was until Maggie and her boy-toy boyfriend come strolling around the corner. I don't know what I was thinking but I slung an arm around Ilyse's shoulder, pulling her closer before Maggie and whats-his-name could see.

"Oh my god Keelan, did you lower your standards that much?" Maggie said with much disgust, I felt Ilyse stiffen beside me and try to pull away. But I kept her there, tightening my hold just a little bit while my full attention was on Maggie and Peter.

"Not as much as Peter had to lower his standards for you Maggie, still sneaking off to Owen's place when Pete's busy?" I think I could have knocked Maggie over with a feather when I said that, I left her standing there slack jawed as I pulled Ilyse along with me.

"Seriously Keelan?" Ilyse asked in a hushed whisper. I nodded, I'd known about it for a long time but had never really said anything. Not because it wasn't my news to spread but because I'd never had need of it, I mean I wasn't going to tell the world about Brock being gay but Maggie being the town bike was common knowledge. She would happily throw herself at whichever guy looked her way...especially if Pete was busy.

We walked into the cinema, I sat next to Ilyse while Cal and Nat sat together in the row in front of us.

I envied Cal for being able to pull Nat in beside him, she went willingly and I realized in that moment that she was probably the happiest I had seen her in a long time. The movie was boring, I think I fell to sleep a couple times but Ilyse always nudged me awake until I nodded off again.

When we exited the theater the sun looked like it was just starting to set and everyone was pretty tired, "Keelan can you take me home? I think I want to talk to Martin now rather than later." I was kind of surprised by the request but nodded and watched as Ilyse went to say bye to Nat and Cal. We would all probably be together next weekend anyway so it wasn't the end of the world.

I drove Ilyse to her home in total silence, she was so focused on whatever was going on in her mind that she didn't seem to notice where we were going. I had to nudge her when we pulled up at her dad's house, she startled at that and gave me a confused look before blushing.

"Thank you for today Keelan, like really REALLY thank you." Before I could say anything Ilyse leaned in to give me a quick kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car and running inside.

God, I wanted more than anything for that kiss to have been on the lips.

Her lips felt soft against the stubble that was growing on my cheek, I was going to make it my summer mission to get Ilyse Thorlan to willingly kiss me on the lips...even if it killed me, I was going to get that kiss.

Watching her run towards the front door though, I knew it would be a challenge. Because even though I'd overheard the conversation between Ilyse and Nat the first time she spent the night, I hadn't gotten a single 'good' vibe off Ilyse. Like she'd gone completely cold turkey on me, maybe the tables had turned and I was the only one feeling anything towards the other person?

Driving back home, I pulled into the driveway and parked up. Nat and Cal were already home, his car was parked just ahead of mine and they were both standing on the porch talking to mom and dad. When mom hugged Cal and dad shook his hand I knew that they'd just revealed the good news, if only I could give as good news to them.

Getting out of the car alone was like the first day at a new school, everyone turned to watch me walk up the footpath towards the house. Quietly, awkwardly and without much noise.

"Oh Keelan, What happened? Your plan sounded perfect!" Mom asked, despair plainly obvious in her voice.

"She's got things to sort out with her dad, so I'm going to let her sort them out mom. But once the dust is clear and settled I'm going to win her over," Mom hugged me, like actually hugged me like a mom should. She wasn't standing there stiff and distant, it was odd but also exactly what I needed at that moment.

I felt another pair of arms wrap around, looking up I saw that dad had joined in the huddle, Cal and Nat weren't too far away. "Guys," I said laughingly, this was the first time in ages that I could remember everyone being like this.

"Shut up, we're your support team too." Nat said with a laugh, I had been so wrapped up in myself that I had forgotten that too. They were my biggest support team and I know that mom could be hard sometimes but she was probably the biggest support of all of us.

"Okay come on inside, Cal you're still sleeping in Keelan's room." Cal and I laughed, Nat turned a bright red as mom gave her orders to the newest member of the family. I had to admit though, it was going to be nice having my best mate around again and Corlan thought the sun shone out of Cal's ass so there was no doubt he was going to be happy too.

"Okay Mrs. Poller." Cal was good enough to know that mom was serious and joking at the same time.

Later that night as Cal lay in his bed and I in mine, we talked. "Man, you looked like you were gonna cry when you got out of your car before. Was it that bad? Is there no hope or what?" I felt like I was going to cry too when I got out of the car and saw all those smiling people standing there.

"There's hope, she kissed me on the cheek so there's hope there and I'm gonna cling to it for all that I'm worth. It's gonna take a bit of wooing to get her though, her family history is as messed up as mine." Yep, my mind kept replaying everything that happened earlier that day at the picnic. The way Ilyse had cried, the way she'd let me hold her...the way she had more or less shut down afterward.

"Let me know if you need help, I wooed my gal in lightning speed so maybe I can give you pointers." Cal was gloating and joking, I threw one of my pillows at him as answer. I more or less fell to sleep soon after with a smile on my face and Ilyse on my mind.

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Yeah there's the basic cast list, I'm in love with Owen Devalk...De Valk? I don't know how to spell it, but really loving the look of that guy right now.

And yah they're perfect looking models but...they're not how I exactly imagine Keelan and the gang looking. They're just better looking versions, cause lets face it I'm not gonna trawl the internet for 'normal' looking people.