leaf peeping for the masses

[Emmeline]

Lina was bundled up in a fashionable coat, cute little scarf, fuzzy little hat, and some cute gloves. We all know Lina is all about the fashion, and even when she's all alone she's got to look nice.

She was out in the woods of Happy today, leaf peeping. Fall was one of her favorite seasons, and she always came out to these woods to look at all the pretty leaves.

She also was thinking, thinking about Lane and Elliot. She knew they both liked her, and she thought it was possible that she liked them both back. It was very confusing for her. Both boys had their good qualities. Lane was adorable, sweet, and friendly, but he was so immature. Elliot was also adorable, sweet, and friendly, but she knew that he tried to act like some one else when he was around his friends. (I figured since they've known each other for so long, she knows about him with his friends. She doesn't know about him being mean to Lane sometimes though, because he probably always tried to hide that whenever they were around Lane together.)

After a while of walking and thinking, she finally decided on who she really liked. She smiled to herself, and continued her walk.

[Elliot]

Elliot was out in the woods today stalking Lina. Not really. It was just a really crazy coincidence that he was in the woods at the same time as her, just when she had decided whether she liked him or Lane. I guess he was just taking a walk through the woods, enjoying some alone time. Alone time was a luxury when you had a brother like Lane.

I bet Elliot is into fashion too, so he was wearing some kind of fashionable fall attire. Something with a scarf. It wasn't a cute scarf like Lina's; it was a manly scarf.

He was walking from the opposite direction as her, so they both saw each other coming and stopped. Lina was the one person Elliot was happy to see during his alone time. "Hi Lina," he greeted after a pause, pleasantly surprised.

[Emmeline]

Just the guy she was thinking about. Lina smiled, "Hi Elliot!" She walked a little bit more until they were close enough to touch, which she stood on her tippy toes to give him a hug around his neck. "Did you come here to leaf peep too?"

[Elliot]

Elliot hugged her back, feeling all fuzzy inside.

"Leaf peep?" he repeated blankly. He shook his head. "No, I came to take a walk. What's leaf peeping?"

[Emmeline]

Lina giggled, "Leaf peeping is when you look at all the leaves." She looked around smiling, "Look at them all, they're so pretty." She looked back at him, "Fall is my favorite season."

[Elliot]

"Really? Mine too," Elliot agreed quickly. To be honest, fall wasn't really his favorite season. He actually didn't have a favorite season. But hey, he does now thanks to Lina, and apparently it's fall

[Emmeline]

"Really?" Lina asked. "Then we should leaf peep together." She took one of his hands in both of hers and pulled him until they were both turned and facing the oposite way they were originally facing. "Let's take a walk together."

[Elliot]

"Okay," Elliot replied, smiling. He knew Lina had told him she just wanted to be friends, but he couldn't help but get the impression that there was some affection in her voice. Like, real affection. Okay, Elliot, just be smooth, he told himself.

"I like your scarf," he told Lina. Then he mentally smacked himself.

[Emmeline]

Lina smiled, and moved a little closer to him. She was glad that the trail was sort of small, so if two clio were walking together, they had to be pretty close. "Thanks Elliot," she said. "I like your scarf too."

[Elliot]

"Oh this?" Elliot asked with sort of a cute, awkward smile, absentmindly tugging his scarf a little. "It's nothing, just something I picked up on sale the other day..."

[Emmeline]

Lina smiled again, or she might have already been smiling, she smiles in like every post. As they kept walking they were coming up on a bench, maybe this would be the perfect time. "Hey Elliot," she said. "Let's sit."

[Elliot]

"Okay," Elliot replied, and they sat down next to each other. He didn't know why she wanted to sit. Maybe she was tired or something and wanted to rest. He looked all around, and occasionally he'd look at Lina and their eyes would meet, and he'd look away quickly.

[Emmeline]

Lina scooted a little closer to Elliot, and smiled at her hands in her lap. "So Elliot," she said. "What's your favorite part about fall?"

[Elliot]

"Um," Elliot replied. Since he didn't actually feel all that strongly about Fall, he didn't have an immediate answer. He looked at her as he came up with some random Fall stuff. "I guess the cool weather, and the fact that all my nieces and nephews are back at school and stuff..."

[Emmeline]

Lina looked back at him and listened to him talk. While he talked she started leaning in closer, very slowly. As soon as he was finished, she kissed him on the lips.

[Elliot]

Elliot's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He would have kissed her back, but he was too confused. When she pulled away he looked at her, and couldn't help but have the corners of his mouth turn up slightly in an almost-smile. "What was that for?"

[Emmeline]

"Well I," Lina replied, looking down at her hands and tugging at a finger of her gloves. "I like you..." She was also blushing.

[Elliot]

Elliot looked closer at her, both incredibly surprised and happy. "You...you do? Really?" he asked, unable to keep himself from smiling.

[Emmeline]

"Yeah," Lina replied, while looking up at him and biting her bottom lip while smiling. "After that day on the beach, I started thinking about it, and I realized that I do." She wasn't going to mention that Lane liked her too, and that she liked Lane a little bit back, because she didn't want the brothers to fight or anything. "I guess I just didn't want to say anything before because I was afraid it would mess up our friendship." That is true.

[Elliot]

"Lina, trust me, nothing could ruin our friendship," Elliot told her. Unless like, they cheated on each other or something. But he knew he would never do that, and he was sure Lina wouldn't either. Even if they broke up, he would still want to be friends with her, even though he'd be so terribly sad.

Why was he thinking all these thoughts? All she said was that she liked him, that didn't mean they were dating. Well, she did kiss him...

"Just think of it as...a different kind of friendship," he smiled. "A kind of friendship where I'm allowed to do this." He leaned in and kissed her.

[Emmeline]

Lina kissed him back, and took his hands into hers. She felt like she made the right decision, but in the back of her mind she still felt bad about Lane. She hoped that he'd find somebody else. After they pulled away she smiled, "I like this kind of friendship."

[Elliot]

"Me too," Elliot replied with a smile. He was so colossally happy right now, words couldn't even describe it. So I'm not gonna try. "I'm glad you decided to give it a shot."

[Emmeline]

"I'm glad too," Lina replied. "It's a good thing we ran into each other," she told him. "Because I was thinking about how I would tell you during my walk."

[Elliot]

"Yeah," Elliot responded. "God Lina, you have no idea how happy I am right now."

[Emmeline]

"Really?" Lina asked, "Why?" For some reason, she had been oblivious to the fact that Elliot liked her all these years. Well, maybe she knew a little bit, but she didn't think he would like her so she convinced herself that he didn't. Or something stupid like that.

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