A/N

I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE --- forever

im so sorry ;w; i am literally updating slower than mystreet and mystreet has animations n stuff,,,

long story short: i am dumb and i will try to update more

✈ 

Blaze's P.O.V

"You can't stay in the hot tub forever."

"I can try!"

I'm currently trying to coax Dottie out of the hot tub that came with our resort house, like getting a dog out of a dangerous area with a bone. It's not working.

"If you stay in too long, you'll overheat." I warn. "And if you do, it won't be my problem." Dottie's stubborn expression wavers, like I'm getting to her.

"F....Fine." She whines before getting out.

"I can see where you're coming from though, it is a really cool hot tub." I joke as Dottie wraps her towel around her.

"Don't you mean, hot?" Dottie grins, twitching her right ear. I facepalm.

"D-Dottie, I don't even know if that counts as a pun."

"Whatever, I'm staying here." Dottie sinks even further into the water jets. She's going to die, of... hot tub sickness? I guess there's only one way to fix this.

I reach into the hot tub and pull her out so I'm carrying her. "You're red in the face." I point out. "You've been in there for way too long." Dottie nods, red in the face and shaking. I sigh. Side effects of a hot tub can be cruel.

It's hard to open the door to our resort house while carrying a grown woman, (even if she's mentally five and I'm a werewolf with super strength) but I manage to do it anyway. I close the door behind me and look around. I can't place her on nearby furniture since she'll get hot tub water everywhere. She'll need to run to the shower or a towel or to change or something.

I smirk. "Hey, I'm gonna let you down, okay?" I say quickly and quietly so it's purposefully hard for Dottie to understand what I said.

She twitches an ear in my direction. "Wha--"

I reach my arms out and drop her on the floor. 

"Uwah!" Dottie squeals before making impact with the ground, her eyes wide. I let out a hearty laugh as she gives me a shocked glare. "What was that for, dimwit?" Dottie rubs her head as she gets up.

"I told you to get out of the hot tub and you didn't~" I manage to say after I finish my laughing fit. Dottie puts her hands on her hips.

"I don't have to listen to you." She says all sassy-like.

"You don't have to listen to me, but you can listen to the health concerns of staying in a hot tub too long. Like dizziness, nausea, overheating, fainting, blood pressure drop, possible disea--" I start to enlighten Dottie before she cuts me off.

"Okay, okay! I get it." She runs her fingers through her wet hair. "How do you even know all this stuff anyway?"

I chuckle. "Health and science are really connected, you know." She doesn't need any further explanation. She knows I love science, but she still rolls her eyes.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Dottie replies, walking towards the bathroom. When she's halfway there, however, she runs back and playfully punches me in the arm. "And don't do that again!"

When she's gone, I collapse on the couch when my phone dings. An eyebrow raised, I pick it up. It's an email from Aaron... wait. I open it up and the first thing that catches my eye is Mrs. Lycan's name. Butterflies start rippling through my stomach. Aaron said Mrs. Lycan would email me through him. I might finally be going to Starlight.

But then I read the email.

It basically says that Mrs. Lycan looked through everything, tried everything, and there wasn't anything she could find. She's rich, and she said even she couldn't buy us out of this situation. She ends it with an apology and tells me to email her if I find anything that might be useful.

Dottie's still in the shower. I hear the water running and the faint sound of her singing voice. Normally, I'd be rolling my eyes with a smile on my face and calling her a goofball, but today...

The gym is open at all hours for VIPs like me and Dottie. With the bubbling frustration inside of me, I know what I have to do.

- - -

This can't be happening.

I punch the punching bag.

This isn't even about me having fun at the #1 resort. I could care less about my own happiness in this situation. I wanted to be there for Aaron. Yes, he's secretive, but I know he's been through a lot. He's reuniting with Aph, and he's closer to me than Daniel or Rylan. He doesn't have that many friends.

I punch the punching bag.

And what about Dottie? She works just as hard as any of us. She deserves to spend the summer at a tropical paradise with her best friends, or at least to be able to go home. She's trying so hard to stay positive. She's like the glue that's keeping me together.

I punch the punching bag.

Should I even be this mad? The thought crosses my mind for just a second, but I consider it intrusive and I push it away. The rules that Love~Love Paradise has are stupid. It just makes it sound like a scam. None of the employees are being helpful, so I just have to take this out on this punching bag. This stupid-- This damn punching bag--

I punch the punching bag. I loose control and I break it.

Huffing and sweating, I watch as the stuffing falls out of the rip. Maybe I'll get in trouble. Right now, I don't care. It's all dumb. Everything is dumb.

"Blaze."

I don't hear her at first. She repeats herself, more desperation in her voice.

"Blaze."

I look up at the voice calling my name. When I see who it is, I give an exhausted smile. I sneak her name in through my heavy breaths.

"Dottie."

We just stand there for a moment, the moonlight sneaking into the windows of the gym. Dottie glances at the broken punching bag before looking me up and down. My bewildered expression, my fists, my bare chest rising and lowering with every single breath. She gets red in the face and looks away. I don't blame her. She must be angry, I look like a mess and I left with no warning.

Dottie outstreches her arms. "Let's go home." I hear the softness in her voice and I know she's not angry. I feel a sinking feeling in my chest. She should feel angry. I left without a warning and we won't be able to leave Love~Love. I don't deserve all this positivity.

"Blaze." Dottie repeats herself, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry." I mumble. There's a lot more I want to say. Sorry that I zoned out on her just now. Sorry that the two of us stuck on Love~Love, without her best friends.

Most importantly, sorry that she's stuck here with me.

She takes my hand. I don't resist. They're so soft compared to how rough and calloused mine are from punching.

We start walking back to the resort house without saying a word. There are things we need to say to each other. About this whole situation. I know we'll say it in the morning.

Suddenly, as her soft hands lead us to the resort house I have this weird thought.

If anybody hurts her, they're going to end up a lot worse than that punching bag.

That was unsettling... There's no reason for me to think that. I tell myself we're not in danger. For some reason, I don't believe it. I almost scoff. I'm being irrational. Dottie would call it Spidey Senses.

As we enter the resort house, I have one last weird, unsettling thought.

Why do I want to protect her so much?