Ryan stared blankly as he thought he saw something little and fast passed by (Niffler) for a second. That might have been what Josh had seen before and he did not even bother to pay attention to the kid. Anyway, there were no screams or else so the little fast thing should not be much of a problem. He had much more important things to pay attention now, like leading Lilah to his tent.

''We are pretty close'' he said scanning around with his light blue eyes to see if the kid was around and there was hopefully no sign of him. Probably still enjoying himself with his friends or girls maybe. ''The ugliest one is mine'' he said stopping right before a brown tent ''Found it in the last minute in a hurry. You know...and there's unfortunately no cats inside'' he turned to face her smiling ''Welcome to my tent'' then stepped inside.

Okay, good so they weren't lost like she thought they were. And now they stopped in front of a rather large tent compared to some of the others she saw. "Oh it's not that ugly. Better than some I spotted here." she said in a quiet whisper, looking around to see if anyone heard and were scowling at her. Nope, no one. Another good thing too. She didn't like when someone didn't like her.

"Aw, no cats?" she pretended to pout, though a small smile was clearly visible on her lips. Laughing a little, she walked in after Ryan and stopped for a moment to take everything in. Wow. "This...is amazing." she finally said after a few minutes or so. Heck, it even looked better than her own home! But then again, it might be okay looking if she cleaned the place up a little, but she was never one for 'tidy' things when it came to her possessions. She knew where everything was and that was exactly how she liked it.

But everything else...this was...wow! She probably should get one of these... just for the heck of it.

'Phew!' The inside was not a mess as he had expected. He could not remember when he cleaned up the scattered stuff around, by Joshua of course, but who cares while everything was in order. He nodded kindly at Lilah's reaction ''Thanks. But i am actually annoyed by all the white but it is bearable for a two or three days, i suppose. Now make yourself comfortable while i get us tea'' Acting slow, since he was buying time to think over how to dig into her, he walked to the counter to prepare two cups of tea.

Tea made conversations easier and more sincere which was what Ryan was looking for now. There was something different with this woman, especially he got this impression when he seemed to understand nothing from her eyes and the colour was kinda scary. Could make one shiver if you look into them too much. But on the other hand, at the outside she was quite sympathetic and warm. How come the eyes and the impression were different? Exactly that was the riddle the blond man was aiming to find out, if the eyes were not a visual fallacy of himself though. He was going to find out. ''So..'' he adressed her from the counter ''Why don't you tell me more about the relation between you and cats?''

"Really?" she asked surprised. "But white makes it look so...clean. And open, you know?" Well that was probably obvious since he was the one 'living' in the tent. She found that she actually quite liked the white instead of the brown she had in her own home. 'Guess it's time for another redecorating.' she thought, taking a seat on one of the white chairs and crossing her legs. Would probably make her place look a little more presentable too if she ever wanted to sell it.

Hmm, so he was offering tea? That was good, since that's what she pretty much drank all the time. Other than water that is. "I'll tell only if you tell me about you and your dog." she said back jokingly, tracing small circles on the small table counter top next to her. "I actually remember my first cat. Kitten actually. I was four and found the little guy wandering around near our home in the States. Cute little thing, though terribly sick and hurt. My mother helped me nurse him back to health." She would always remember the orange and white cat. "I called him Pops for some reason, I don't exactly remember why. He was a good cat. But ever since then he's had me hooked on learning more about animals." Which was true in a sense. When Pops died at the age of three, still from an unknown reason, she started taking notice in all the other animals around the world, fascinated with the different looks and personalities...habits and way of living. But she was most interested in the feline species. Apart from dragons that is.

Hmm, well now it was his turn. She spoke about cats, and now he had to speak about his dog. Even if she did only say that as a joke, she would find it amusing and she needed more information about him before she took any more...steps.

''Yes, it looks too clean'' Ryan said from the counter laughing some and he went on as he brought the cups on the table putting one of them before Lilah. ''Here you are...This...'' he indicated around right after placing his cup on the table as well ''...makes me feel like i am sleeping in a hospital, much likely a mental hospital so it is annoying''. If she liked white or white decoration then some information could be concluded from this. Not enough to explain anything though.

He listened silenty taking in every detail as she told about her very first kitten ''That's touching'' he commented taking a sip from his tea ''Ow...hot!'' That hurt a lot. 'Must be more careful!' ''Sorry what i was saying?'' he clapped his hands when he remebered it the next second ''Ah yes! Your first cat. So you used to be a kind hearted, caring little girl who has experienced the emotionally intense feeling of having the responsibility for something alive. '' 'Were you?' ''Pops is a weird name to call a kitten though. Unless you thought of the time when he would get older'' So this was the story of her how she ended up being interested in animals which led her to a work in the Magical Creatures Department. Now, as it was apparent from Lilah's expecting eyes, the turn to tell stories about lovely pets was his ''Well...'' he took the cup but placed it back again ''I did not have any pets when i was a kid because my mother never let any inside our home. She believed pets caused serious illnesses on humans and she was always worrying about my health. Nearly obsessed with my health. And i cannot blame her for that, i still easily get sick every winter'' clearing his throat he finally could take a safe sip from his tea ''Therefore i did not have any pets, it became a habit, until the last summer when i met Red in a street in LA. I was coming back to my home from a meeting and did not realise her following me. She walked about 5kms with me home. She looked all clean and well cared for, there was even a collar around her neck on which her name Red and the adress to her home were written. So the next morning, that night she was a guest in my flat, the first thing i did was to go there and give their dog back but the guy, surprisingly, said he did not want her'' he tapped on the table unconsciously as he spoke...weird memories ''He said that he had had a hard time tricking her in the street making her lose his track and he was angry with me for bringing her back. Then, you may guess, we argued and i decided to take her because the man was quite stubborn about not to have her back, he even threatened putting her in sleep. You know what this does mean.'' Definitely she knew. She was working in an animals-creatures department. ''So that's my short story of her. Coming to the breed to be frank i dont know what breed she is. She looks like a German Shepherd but the colour is all black. Maybe you know''

"Thank you." she said, scooting the hot cup of tea, and laughing when he said he was reminded of the hospital. "I guess that is true." She noted, looking around and agreeing that it actually did look like a room of a hospital. 'Better not to paint my place white then.' But maybe if he added a few color pillows here and there on the couch and bed, and maybe a plant? Or maybe replacing those pictures on the wall with something more...vibrant...than it would actually be great. A little color can go a long way. But of course, she wouldn't want to bore him with a topic of interior designing so she just nodded and blew gently on her tea, taking a small sip. Nice to feel the warmth of the tea envelope her.

Taking a deep breathe, she turned to Ryan he burned his mouth, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Best be careful." she laughed, placing her cup back down on the table. Lilah smiled as she listened to his story about Red the dog, taking a few sips of tea every now and then. Red was a cute name. Probably for a cute dog as well. She? So it was a girl then. 'Aw the owner was going to put her to sleep? That should never happen!' she thought, not being able to believe that someone would want to do that to a precious little life. Laughing though, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but i would need to see your dog. There are too many dogs around that look like German shepherds and are black." A picture maybe?

"Well done Kat!" Jake grinned at his girlfriend, "You did it all without magic!" Then she went off to get water and what not. "You are amazing." he murmed and put his hands around her, "And you are freezing!" he chuckled and picked up her jumper from the suitcase and passed it to her, "Don't want you ill before the game right? And we were going to get some autogrpahs from the players? Blaze perhaps?"

Ryan smiled when she thanked for the tea. He was glad she was happy with it since he doubted if there was something else to serve a guest in his tent. Probably the kid ate up everything in sight which explained the source for his infinite energy. Even in this hospital like tent, everybody seemed to agree at this point as Lilah did too. ''I did not have enough time to pay attention to the colours'' he said glancing at the white stuff for a second, even the bed! Whatever...

He joined her, too, when Lilah laughed at his not being careful with the hot drink. ''Right. I always happen to do that for no reason'' Who had ever tried to drink a hot tea down like a soda or fruit juice? The impatient? Okay, now there was not need to philosophize over a cup of tea and a burned mouth. Getting back to the case of the dog ''After that i have become more a dog person and so i cannot say i favour cats much. Red is currently at my flat in London and i bring her out everyday, sometimes to the Diagon Alley. Once i am back i can show you...''

''SHOW WHAT? SHOW WHAT?'' Josh rushed inside the tent with a broad smirt on his face as he stared at the Ryan and the woman. ''I wanted to show you something too'' he said cheerfully, shaking the omnioculars he was holding in one hand till he fully comprehended the scene, at his point of view of course. There was Ryan, which was natural and woman but the woman was not Birce who they had arrived here together. Merlin, Ryan was some guy! ''Oooooo... sorry for interrupting the romantic moment'' he said laughing ''All right i am getting out now you don't need to say anything. I don't want to be the reason that he is 40 and still not married but but but...'' he pointed at a bag which seemed to be full of books ''...these are definitely one reason'' then approaching the lady he whispered ''He is booring...'' and left the tent running out immediately while still keep laughing.

'No, no, no. Not again' First at the security check not this. The boy was determined to humiliate him everywhere and Ryan knew he did this on purpose. A kind of revenge for his boring summer vacation days in his flat. But that was what Amelia told Ryan to do so he had nothing else to do. He was not his son anyway. And felt quite lucky that he was not. It looked like he needed immediate act of learning about manners Amelia was a good mother but that Detective Carter, as far as Ryan was concerned, always tolerated his behaviour. Okay now he had to solve out this embarrassing moment happened right before someone he was just getting to know. ''This was not a romantic scene. I am not 40'' he said firmly ''And you are not 5, so stop doing...hey!'' but the boy was gone. Ryan sighed.

Birce skipped towards her and Ryan's tent in a somehow happy mood. She didn't know why, but she felt happier than usual. Maybe it was because England had won -it wasn't that much of a deal as long as it wasn't Turkiye- or maybe she had just got a letter from her parents that said everything was fine, and that they enjoyed her very long letter which included every single detail about the World Cup -so unlucky that they had missed it! She smiled to herself as Josh came out of their tent while laughing and running. She caught him in a playful manner. "What's so funny?" she asked as she offered him the special chocolate from Turkiye which had Turkish coffee flavour. "It's a Turkish chocolate." she said, just to open up a conversation. Josh was someone everyone couldn't help but want to talk. He saw everything from a different angle.

Teheee!! This was surely enough going to make him mad and regret the moment he said any NO's to Joshua the recent master of good revenge. But he was not satisfied with this one yet because Ryan was a smart man and there was possibility that he could make things up for that. He'd say that Josh was a crazy kid who liked teasing and joking around, which was true, and that woman would not take a kid of that kind seriously, would she? He looked up, surprised when he was stopped by an outer force. ''Whoa...'' It was Birce. His face enlightened with a grin at the sight of her ''HI, Birce!'' and she was asking for what was funny. 'Hold on!' There was the opportunity to torture Ryan even more but at first place he attacked the chocolates she offered him ''Why thanks!!!!!!'' after gulping two or three pieces he started write his own story of what was funny. ''I caught Ryan having lovely romantic time with a lady inside'' he said laughing ''So you better not disturb them'' then the little boy winked at her and continued his way. Of course she was going to disturb them, right?

Birce smiled widely when Josh attacked to the chocolate. She winked at him to show that there was more in her tent. She was still smiling when Josh said he had caught Ryan with a woman. The smile turned into a crooked one, the one that haunted a happy one after a moment of shock. She didn't even feel Josh slip out of her hand, nor did she see the wink. She stood there, frozen, evaluating it. Ryan was with a woman again. WITH. A. WOMAN! Something kicked in her, she took a step but then halted. She was his friend. They were friends. But she just couldn't wait for him to get out holding hands with his girlfriend who he had never told to her, could she? The brunette took another step. What if they were kissing, though? Wouldn't that be awkward? Then she shrugged. How could she know? Something evil took her reins as she stepped in the tent without even knocking the door.

She stopped at the entrance to show her victim. So the hidden girlfriend was Lilah? Birce didn't even notice they weren't kissing, or even holding hands. Her brain was too busy to notice small details.

"Hey Lilah. Ryan." she greeted very coldly as she glared like she wanted them to die. She made herself busy with biting her piece of chocolate as she thought of something wise to say. "I wouldn't have interrupted your... *cold and humiliating, disapproving look* scene, if you had told me you had your girlfriend here, Ryan Chambers." she said in an even colder and formal voice. "I'd like to reassure you, Lilah--" What was her surname? "I've only brought chocolate." she ended her sentence as she half threw the box to Ryan's face. "Sorry for interrupting." she said and gave another cold glare, and an angry one to Ryan, as she turned back and walked out slowly. Just in case Ryan tried to 'explain' or anything.

Kat laughed and put the jumper on, "I am pretty amazing...I'll admit! And yes, I'd love to go get some Autographs!!" She squealed. Kat had never been any good at Quidditch at school so she found it quite hard to understand how people played like they did, it was all confusing and interesting to her.

Bella looked away as the two embraced. Eurgh. Why on earth had Mom and Dad sent her here with the love birds? Cause they couldn't be bothered....obviously. But she perked up as they mentioned Quidditch and autoogrphs. "Yes! Please! Can we??" She asked, she loved seeing the famous ones!!
Kat laughed again at her niece as she was in Jake's arms. "Of course darling. We should go now since we've got the tent set up right??"

What was he going to say? Was he going to show her his dog? *squee* But she couldn't find out because a little boy, who seemed to be on a sugar rush or something, came hauling into the tent. He was cute, and she laughed a little at his enthusiasm. Wait, so Ryan wasn't married?

Once the little boy left though, she sat and let his words sink in. Romantic moment? Is that what this looked like? Hopefully not. For the moment, she wanted nothing romantic to do with this guy, but she smiled politely anyways, a little embarrassed as well. "Well isn't he something." she said, tracing the top of her cup of tea with her finger. Shaking her head, Lilah looked back to Ryan, a curious expression on her face. "So you aren't married?"

But it seemed like that answer would have to wait. She had exceptional hearing, and it seemed like the little boy that just came was blabbering something about them to someone else outside. Oh dear... Hearing her name, she turned around to find Birce standing there, looking not too happy. "Birce. Hello, it's wonderful to see you again." she said, standing up and moving a tiny step away from Ryan, which was a good thing too so she didn't have to dodge the flying chocolate. Hey, wait, what? "Girlfriend?" she muttered, watching Birce leave.

"Oh." Why couldn't she get any words out? She was becoming flustered and a bit amused by the situation really. "Oh, no no. No." she shook her head. "We aren't...I'm not...I'm not his girlfriend." she finally got out, pointing to him and herself. "We're not really friends either technically. Acquaintances. We were just talking, about cats and dogs actually." Birce seemed a little, protective?, of Ryan and she didn't want to step in someone elses 'territory' if she could help it. But she didn't want to anger Ryan either. It would be so nice to become one of Ryan's friends, maybe close friend. Would make everything so much easier. "Please, don't leave."

Ryan stared at Lilah expecting her to say something then he could ease the embarrassing air a little. But before any words could be exchanged between them, Birce's voice hit him like cold shower. He quickly turned to see...how many angry couple of eyes he was going to deal with in this country? 'What girlfriend?' ''Birce...'' he started. ''Lilah is not my girlfriend. We were only having a conversation''. Plus he thought Birce and him were friends so what was wrong with him having a girlfriend? No matter what everything he did was another fault when it was about the ladies here. He oepend his mouth to explain the situation further. This was surely the little monster Joshua's masterpiece determined to torture him. He was good at starting a fuss. However before he could even mention the 'J' of Joshua he was hit by a box of chocolates on his forehead. ''Oww...!''

At least Lilah was trying to help him. Thank Merlin! Finally someone was at his side when a crisis had sprouted. It was gradually getting hard to handle all the chaos by himself. Once he opened his eyes rubbing his forehead, he saw Birce was not in the room anymore. ''Where did she go?'' he asked Lilah blankly then stood up to get her before she could vanish among the crowd outside. He tripped some when he stepped on some of the chocolates that were scattered around but luckily did not fall down and more luckily Birce was not out yet. ''Stop!'' Ryan called her ''You are not listening''

It's NOT wonderful to see you! Birce thought as she halted, her hand resting on the door handle. She took some undescribable pleasure as she heard that noise when the box hit Ryan's head, and as she imagined him rubbing his head. Mwahahaha! Let him suffer some pain too! She even smiled to herself as she figured out Ryan had just tripped over HER scattered chocolate. It was a shame that the best quality chcolate was ruined. She could as well eat them to soothe herself. Maybe there was still some left in the box. Turkish coffeed chocolate was yummy, and it was the last thing she'd want to do to ruin them for Ryan and his girlfriend.

Even though they couldn't see her, she raised an eyebrow at the immediate denial of relationship. She was still frozen, listening to their further explanations. Should she buy it? She didn't feel like it. If they were only talking, why would Josh tell it like it was a horrible, disgusting, nauseatic romance scene? Nah, she believed to Josh, considering how different Ryan might make a topic sound. Cats and dogs? C'mon. Did Lilah seriously think Birce would believe into that? If you're lying, at least lie reasonably. At last she spoke to the door, but still they could hear her quite clear. "If you are only aquaintances, what were you doing here all ALONE?" She couldn't stop herself and turned to face Lilah while shouting that last word. She then switched to Ryan. "I'm listening." she said calmly but still keeping her cool voice, as if she hadn't just shouted. Let's see how he would get out of it now.

Lilah pointed to where Birce was, but it wasn't really necessary since Ryan already spotted her...and tripped. Covering her mouth, holding back a laugh that seemed to almost appear, and was highly unnappropiate in a situation like this one, she turned back to Birce who seemed to be yelling now. At her! Oh no. What did she do? They really were talking about cats and dogs. Should she just explain how they got here? It's not like they were doing anything and it seemed like the woman was still sure that something was going on between them. Maybe she would just have Ryan explain everything since she tended to become jumbled over her words when nervous. And yes, this woman was making her nervous. If looks could kill...

"If you want, we could ask a few more people to join us here if you like." she said, trying to lighten the mood. It probably wasn't the best thing to say, but it made herself feel better. "Or, I could just...leave...It seems like you two need to talk." That part, she wasn't oblivious on. She could always catch up with Ryan on a later time. And maybe next time she could meet Red too.

Ryan wished Birce was not doing that, freaking out everytime she saw him alone with a woman. Lately there had been too much stress on him and he doubted his tired habit of body could take even more on his already troubled state. It was feeling like you could suffer a heart attack anytime out of stress. His body, mind and soul had been exposed to stress during most of the times in his life. But he had to be strong and find a way out of this case as well.

He stared at Lilah when she replied Birce's question on what they were doing here alone which was a good enough answer. ''Better you stay here till we solve this...issue out.'' Ryan said with a tone as if he was ordering her to stay here and he was even surprised that he actually sounded like that. He had no intention to give orders. This might have been an outcome of his overly stressed state. Turning back to Birce he opened his lips. He knew he was needed to talk here and she was expecting it. ''We, Lilah and I are truly aquaintances as she has stated and we were lately talking about my dog; Red. Nothing else. We could not just get out the tent and invite random people to our pets talk, could we?'' keep staring at Birce's dark eyes he went on ''And do you think i lack wits enough to leave the door unlocked or unprotected by charms, without making the room private enough while there was some monster called Joshua running around, if i have been planning nice romantic moments?'' now that was some question.

Birce had to bite her tongue in order not to growl at Lilah. A part of her said she just wanted to lighten the mood, but the bigger proportion was angry like mad, and it ordered her that she cannot have any good intentions here all ALONE with HER Ryan. Not HER Ryan but-- Ryan was hers!

She had just opened her mouth to agree with Lilah on her leaving when Ryan practically ordered her to stay. If it wasn't for seven years of magical education, she would have really set him on fire. Her nostrils grew bigger as she took deep breaths to surpass the urge to snap him. Eye roll. Major eye roll. They didn't need Lilah to solve their issues, it wasn't just her. It was more of their private issue.

"We need to talk it alone." she said as she narrowed her eyes. She had no intention to threaten them, but it was like an instinct. Ryan had made some good points, she realised, but she could put off answering them. If you cannot win it, prolong it. And she didn't think Josh was a monster. He was her cheerfulness. If she could be cheerful under such circumstances.

Okay, yes that definitely wasn't the right thing to say and she was just about to take a step towards the door when Ryan said for her to stay. Well it sounded more like an order, surprising her actually to the point when she sat down immediately in the chair she was previously sitting in before.

Ryan did have a point. A good one too, on all the 'how this place practically wasn't made for anything romantic at the moment' thing, and...huh. So the young boy's name is Joshua? Definitely sounds like a mischief maker's name. Smiling at the thought, she leaned against the chair, suddenly deep in thought about children in general. It was a shame that she...No, she wouldn't think about that. Shouldn't think about that more likely, and she was finally brought back to the conversation at hand when Birce spoke up.

So one was saying for her to leave, and the other wanted her to stay. One, was really scary at the moment and wanted the conversation private while the other, well she didn't want to disappoint him for any reason right now. How to make it so both people agreed? "You could always muffliato me." she suggested quietly, raising up her hands in defense and laughing just the tiniest bit. Or she really could just leave. It was no big deal and she felt more like a 'shield' than anything...

Ben was far too wrapped up in the tent to even notice Cale's small efforts at helping him with the tent, so after ten minutes or so of sitting around, holding the poles lamely in his hand as he watched his uncle go to work, he gave up and walked back to where his wife sat, grinning ear to ear. "He'll never even notice I'm gone," he said with a chuckle as he sat down on the grass near her feet.

"Why do muggles go camping anyways?" he wondered aloud. "With all those bears and stuff?! Plus, their tents aren't nearly as roomy as ours," he added, knowing full well that once it was up, the inside would magically be ten times bigger than it appeared from the outside. "Muggles puzzle me," he said with a sigh, even though he knew that he WAS part muggle. They still confused him, though.

Ryan simply stared at Birce when she said they needed to talk alone strongly emphasizing the last word. It felt like she ruled around here and there so the man decided to drop it. If she wanted to talk to him alone in anyway that meant she had things to say ''All right. Okay...'' he said slowly with a tone that declares his giving up. ''We will discuss it alone, as you wish. Just calm down...please''

She needed to calm down because anger was always corrupting minds so spoken words just like extreme happiness did. Because of that Ryan never took angry words seriously. Then if Birce was not going to calm down, he was going to find a way. He turned to face Lilah when she spoke. He truly was not eager to ask her to leave because this would have been extremely rude. She was his guest there therefore he pointed at her when she suggested the muffliato ''Yeah muffliato. That's a good idea. What do you think Birce?''

Bored out of her mind, Anna Newell simply sat on the stump waiting impatiently for her husband to return. She really could go off exploring without him, but honestly, since they'd first started dating so many years ago, she hadn't gone too many places or done too many things without him. It'd almost seem foreign to stroll off without him now. Lucky for her, she didn't have to consider that option too much longer. The corners of her lips tugged up into a smile when she happened to glance over and see Cale heading her way. "It's already up? That was fast," she commented. She shrugged when he asked her about muggles. She was pureblood and actually had very little experience with muggles or the way they acted. "Who knows, but I..."

Anna stopped talking and her eyes grew really wide. She was staring at a couple---with a baby---just a few tents down. The baby was red-faced and screaming and crying at the top of its lungs. Both the mother and the father together couldn't even get it to stop. The father was shaking a rattle in front of its face while the mother spoke softly to it. Still, on and on...and on and on and on it cried. "Cale, look," she said, wagging her finger in the direction of the baby. "We're gonna have two of those!" A second later, Anna's face was in the palm of her hands. Little sobs could occasionally be heard despite being muffled by her hands.

Finally Ryan surrendered. Birce smiled mentally, though she knew the harder part had come. She had just made her decision actually, when she had shouted. But she just couldn't hold it anymore. She was alone here, and she needed to tell someone. Someone related to the issue. She immediately calmed down, now more relaxed that Ryan had accepted to talk alone. But what was muffliato? What were they talking about? She frowned. Maybe some deafening charm? Must be. She didn't want to admit she didn't know how to do that spell, so she nodded. Taking her wand slowly order to show that she wanted to perform the spell, she whispered the spell. It was in Turkish, but they probably wouldn't hear it anyway. When she was sure Lilah heard nothing -well she wasn't that sure, of course, but she didn't think the spell was wrongly casted. Not to give anything away at all, she said "Have you ever given a thought to why I react so much when I see you with a woman?" she asked pretty calmly compared to a few minutes before. Her heart was beating like mad, but Ryan wouldn't hear it either. Hopefully.

Ryan watched the two women and then speciafically Birce while she casted a spell on Lilah which he had not heard before, much likely something to block her hearing since they were talking about muffliato. ''Don't you this this was a little bit rude'' he said with a little smile. For him it was, but he was wondering what would come after this a lot. Many thoughts, ideas, interpretations, guessing started to duplicate themselves inside his mind but he did not let them to take the control over and just focused on what Birce was going to say. A moment later once she spoke they were all going to vanish.

And when she spoke, once her long question was finished and she uttered the last word, his expression changed and became a serious one. That was a good question, indeed. And easy to answer, of course, for a man who could make up many things over even a very little detail. But at first he had to find out Birce's ideas on the case so he took a step closer to her, looked at Lilah than back at Birce ''Do you think i have?''

Birce shrugged. She didn't want Lilah to hear any of it, and she didn't think Lilah would like to hear anyway. She wondered if Ryan guessed. Ryan was a clever man, after all. And he had kissed her. She still hadn't forgotten that wonderful moment.

She pursed her lips as she thought how to answer. "Yes, I think you have thought. But you're avoiding it." Her honesty surprised even herself. She smiled mentally. If it had been 'old Birce', she would never have confessed it unless she was sure of him. But this Birce wanted to be crystal clear, and she'd be.