Rachel reached the second story of the house and saw that the stairs that led to the attic had been pulled down. Obviously a room was up there and she decided to check it out. As she walked up the stairs and into the attic she saw that it was the perfect place for her best friend, Damien. It was semi-dark with lots of old trunks and chests and boxes to dig through looking for treasures. As she walked further into the room she stopped short when she saw that Damien was in fact the boy she'd be spending the weekend with and he was currently hard at work snooping through other people's stuff. Rachel snuck up behind him and poked him between his shoulder blades; he jumped about a foot in the air.

"Oh," he panted. "Rachel, isn't this the coolest room in the whole house?" She couldn't help but smile as she nodded and sank down beside him to continue riffling through the contents of the box. He bent down next to her and pulled a scrape of white fabric covered in red rosebuds out of the box.

"Wouldn't this make the PERFECT new shirt?" he asked sarcastically.

Rachel nodded and laughed hysterically as he started to perform a strip-tease and then pretended to cover himself up with his new "shirt" like a prim and proper young miss would if she had been caught doing something so scandalous.

She couldn't help but gawk at the 6 pack he had let her glimpse though. She definitely didn't remember Damien looking like that the last time she'd seen him with his shirt off. He continued to dig through the box and every time he moved his new "shirt" hiked up a little more showing off the defined muscles of his abdomen. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Rachel to think straight because of the fantasies that were running through her head, the most prominent ones being of jumping on him and running her tongue down those delectable abs, until she got to something even better.

"Hello! Rachel! Is anyone home?" he asked her a few minutes later. She quickly shook your head trying to clear out some of those very graphic images and then said, "Oh… sorry. I'm just really tired I guess."

A look of concern quickly flashed across his face and he said, "If you want we can just talk or something…. I mean we don't have to keep making a mess of the lake house."

Rachel nodded her head yes and figured this way she'd actually be able to think if she wasn't constantly getting glimpses of his gorgeous, flexing body. She then sat up and crawled over to the huge pile of pillows that would be her bed for the weekend and plunked herself down. Damien maneuvered over to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders as a way to pull her close to him. She cuddled into his side with her head pillowed on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, and sighed in contentment. Eventually, the stress from the day took its toll and Rachel slipped into unconsciousness without even uttering a word, secure in one of her best friend's arms.

%~%~%~%

Rachel and Damien awoke to the sun streaming in through the windows located just under the rafters of the attic. With a groan, they both pushed themselves off the pillows and stood up. Damien then stretched, and his back cracked loudly as he arched backwards. With extreme difficulty, Rachel was able to pull her eyes off of Damien's twisting body, but she was starting to get the feeling that he was purposefully moving in ways that would entice her.

As he finished moving, she turned towards her bag of clothes to hide the fact that she had been staring. Like that would stop him from assuming though. Despite the fact that they had been the best of friends since they were just teeny tiny tots, as he had aged, their relationship had changed. They were no longer just friends that went hunting for lizards and played cops and robbers late into the summer nights. No, they'd become something different, something weird. They're relationship had added a whole new level as the both of them had matured. With Rachel starting to take notice of Damien's body and Damien noticing her noticing... well, at times the sexual tension between the two of them become unbearable even for their families. But that was when they were teenagers, and Rachel had gotten better at hiding her feelings. Dating scores of men that weren't anything like Damien didn't hurt matters either, but at times his playful teasing would come out when she dropped her guard.

"So..." Damien started as Rachel turned back to face him, her cheeks no longer tinged red, "what're we gonna do today, I mean I know there's still plenty of exploring that could be done in this attic, but I think all this dust has finally gotten to me." He then proceeded to give a fake sniffle and lightly rub at his eyes.

Rachel smiled to herself and slightly shook her head. "I don't know about you," she answered, "but I'm definitely up for getting some food. I'm sure we can think of something while we're down there."

Damien clapped his hands, threw on a clean shirt and rushed down the stairs as if he had just been rescued from a deserted island and was getting his first sip of water. Rachel followed at a more sedate pace. When she reached the kitchen she saw Damien chowing down on a pop-tart as he dug through the fridge looking for ingredients for what he would no doubt call a "breakfast of champions". So far, he'd grabbed a carton of eggs, some cheese, and a little onions, tomatoes and ham. "I'm making an omelet" he said, looking up at her as she walked through the door. "Want to split it with me?"

She nodded her head in agreement and sat down at the island, ready to see him work his magic. Of course, as he worked, she drifted off into her own little world of fantasy, where she pictured herself in her apartment back home, coming home from a long day at the office only to find Damien, her boyfriend, cooking her a delicious dinner. And after he was done, he'd pile the dishes in the sink to be done later and pull her to the living room couch, where he'd sit down and pull her down next to him. He'd place her feet in his lap and he'd slowly start to massage the aching appendages. Then of course, out of gratitude for his kindness, she'd place a chaste kiss on his lips. But it was Damien and no matter what she did, it would never stay innocent for long... and well... the night ended with two naked, straining and out of breath people.

Rachel came back to reality when Damien placed a hot plate of food in front of her and their friend Liz was forcefully dragged out of the room by a very irate looking Isabelle. "Looks like someone didn't like who they ended up with as a roommate" Rachel said, the fork halfway to her mouth, before she took that first magnificent bite. "Apparently not", Damien agreed, "I wonder who she got though."

"Wait a minute" Rachel said, "You guys didn't know who you were getting paired up with? I mean I know that the girls didn't because most of us would have never agreed to this silly little vacation of Liz's if we had even known that it was going to be anyone but us."

Damien shook his head in a negative fashion and then said, "No, we had no idea what was happening. All of us just got a call from Liz one day looking to see if we were going to be free this weekend. Hell some of us hadn't even met one another until we all showed up here. Sounds like she's up to something if you ask me..."

While they finished their breakfast, Ryan strutted into the room. He grabbed a bagel and a banana while looking longingly at Rachel's almost clean plate before asking if either of them had seen Isabelle come by. Damien nodded his head and pointed his thumb towards the door leading to the deck as he started to clear up the dishes from breakfast. Ryan mumbled a "thanks" and then headed out the door, while Rachel continued to sit and watch Damien as he went about his domestic duties.

"I have an idea," Rachel said, as Damien wiped down the counter. "Why don't we go for a walk today? I mean, we're out on this beautiful lake, there's nature all around us... we could go explore the hills, or take a stroll around the lake. Anything had to be good to get you away from your dreaded "allergies"."

Damien smiled at her use of air-quote when she referred to his sniffling this morning and then he hummed his consent and started to head back up to their make shift room. Once the two of them had changed into some hiking clothes, they set off for the wooded hills surrounding the lake. While there they had a great time exploring the caves, climbing some of the trees, and trying to spot and get pictures of the native wild life. Both of them had the problem of getting too close for just friends at times though, their hands brushing as they walked, their bodies touching as stumbled over logs and roots, standing just a little too close to each other when they were taking pictures. It seemed as if they had entered into their own little wonderland because it felt as if there was no one there but each other. Then they came back from their jaunt into the wilderness for lunch, and all hell seemed to break loose after that.

When Rachel reached the house, she was immediately dragged away by Isabelle, Liz and the other girls. It seemed like something major had happened while she and Damien were out exploring, and Isabelle was anything but calm. As she explained what had been happening to her all day, Rachel couldn't help but feel empathy towards her. The poor girl didn't even know which way was up thanks to the mind games Ryan had been playing on her so far this weekend. Although Rachel always knew there was something funny between the two, she didn't know if she could trust Ryan. His attention to Isabelle seemed too suspicious at the moment and she was gung-ho to try and figure out his motives to her dear friend.

As the girls talked about their plans for Ryan though, Rachel drifted off once more to her fantasies. She couldn't help but picture what it would be like to have Damien acting towards her the way Ryan was with Isabelle... showing interest in her. She couldn't stand the fact that every time the idea popped into her head she felt her stomach twist with excitement and soon she was once more ensconced in her desires.

It was a familiar scene that started out with Rachel home alone, simply curled up on the couch with a new book and her dog at her feet. Then the doorbell would ring, and she'd sigh as she put down her book, expecting nothing more than a religious zealot or a kid trying to sell magazines at her door. Instead, as soon as she opened the door she'd come face to shoulder with Damien, who would of course be soaking wet due to the torrential downpour that was happening , and so, to her delight, his clothes would be plastered to him as he shook with some barely contained force. She, being the caring friend that she was would of course invite him in, to try to get him warm and make sure he didn't catch a cold. As soon as she'd step aside and usher him in though, Damien would suddenly grab her by the wrists and spin her around and into his hard chest. Her gasp of surprise would soon be silenced as his mouth descended down to hers, his teeth gently nipping at her lips to make her open up for him. Rachel would of course eventually give in to his persistent yet silent demands and allow him to kiss her like she'd always wanted. Her breath would come in short pants as he forcefully took possession of her mouth, telling her in no uncertain terms that she was his for the taking.

Of course right before it got to the really good part, Liz had to bring her back to their conversation with a well-placed jab to the ribs.

"Are you even paying attention to us?" she screeched at Rachel, her voice reaching an octave only Liz could reach. Rachel gave a short shake of her head to clear the images that were still burning into the back of her mind and made a noncommittal "hmm" as an answer. She quickly refocused on the conversation and found out that what she had missed was a plan to get Ryan to admit exactly what his intentions were when it came to Isabelle. Of course it wasn't a very well thought out plan, as all it amounted to was getting Ryan wasted and praying that he was a very talkative drunk.

As the girls continued to finalize the plan, figuring out what games to play and what and how much liquor would be required tonight, Rachel silently slipped away and headed back up to the attic room she and Damien had been sharing. She didn't want to be around anyone right now as her head buzzed with questions and made her even more spacey than she already was. She knew that Liz had been up to something as each of them got paired up with a guy, but why did it have to be Damien for her? She liked him yes, hell she probably could even call it love by now, but Damien didn't feel that way towards her. He was always so playful yes, but he was like that with everyone he met, it was just his personality. But having been his best friend for so long she knew what he acted like when he was interested in someone and that was not how he acted towards Rachel. It didn't help matters that all his previous girlfriends looked nothing like her. They'd been of the ethereal variety; short, petite, dark coloring and sharp features. Rachel's willowy build and light coloring were the complete opposite of them. Her light brown hair and piercing green eyes were often compared to a warm spring afternoon, and her oval face was the perfect setting for her big and expressive eyes.

She knew she didn't stand a chance, and yet it didn't stop her from wanting it to happen.

As the night progressed and all of the guests came back to the house from their individual adventures, the party began to get into the swing of things. Some of the men grilled burgers and hot dogs, the women worked on the side dishes, and everyone else got the bonfire started and set the alcohol, because really that's what this was all about.

The food was eaten, the drinks dispensed, and the laughter shared, but as Rachel moved through her friends, a margarita in her hands, she couldn't help but be on the lookout for Damien. She hadn't seen him for most of the night since he had been doing shots with the rest of the guys but she was getting really worried. He was such a lightweight when it came to his alcohol and she didn't want him getting sick tonight, especially since she would be the one sharing some pillows with him. Vomit in her hair was not something she was looking forward too.

She finally spotted him alone by the bonfire, his head in hands and a beer by his foot. As she headed over to him, she started to get a little nervous. What would she say to him? Rachel knew that she was one of his best friends, but he had never ever seemed so dejected before, and if he was acting like this it can only mean one thing, he'd already had a little too much to drink. Poor Damien. Despite the fact that he was such a happy go lucky person in general that whenever he'd had a little too much, well... he became such a downer.

"Come on Damien, I think the party is over for the two of us," Rachel said as she walked up behind the slumped figure. He looked up at her, his head cocked at a funny angle and a string of mumbles spilling forth from his mouth. As he tried to stand though, he stumbled and Rachel had to catch him against her side in an attempt to keep him from face planting into the sand. As they stumbled their way up the incline to the house, Rachel pulled Liz aside from her game and explained the situation. Liz gave her a sympathetic smile... it seems someone didn't envy Rachel the position of nurse for the night.

When she finally got Damien up the stairs, all the movement had upset his stomach, and he was starting to turn a sickly shade of green. With the condition of her clothes on her mind, Rachel swiftly steered the tottering Damien into the restroom where he proceeded to empty out the contents of his stomach into the porcelain bowl. At least she knew that the rest of the night would be better since he had nothing left in his stomach. With the quick forethought to make him swish some mouth wash around to kill all the bacteria and probably reduce the need to vomit again they headed up the attic stairs to their room.

She helped Damien lay down, and pulled the covers up over him, but he grabbed her hand as she tried to leave him to his sleep. "Don't go" he whispered, "I want you to stay with me". So Rachel sat down and positioned his head into her lap. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, trying to ease the headache that he probably had. They feel asleep that way, her hands in his hair, his head turned into the curve of her body.

Damien woke up first and smiled as he saw the slight frown on Rachel's face while she slept. She'd fallen during the night, and had ended up curled around Damien, her arm wrapped around her waist. In fact, she was idly drawling circles on his stomach while she slept, which is what woke him up in the first place.

"Rachel" he called softly, trying to wake her up without having to move her, because quite frankly, he was happy with her position.

"Hmmm…" she replied still a little asleep.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked hesitantly.

It took her a little while but finally she whispered "Yes". He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. When he started to pull away she followed and ended up rolling on top of him. Rachel deepened the kiss, becoming the aggressor as she moaned low in your throat, his hands running up and down her body. He started to tug at her shirt as she reached down to unbuckle his belt. He unfastened her bra and slowly nibbled down the column of her throat until he reached her breasts.

Rachel pushed her body against his, straining for more contact; getting what she silently asked for. She straddled his hips and trailed her fingers from his neck down to his waist, where she slipped them into his jeans. She then proceeded to touch and to stroke him until he was completely out of breath. Smiling at the control she had over him she leaned down and kissed him again. He rolled over on top of her and took off the rest of her clothes. Rachel slowly pulled down his pants, admiring the fact that he went commando, and pulled him back down for a searing kiss. Damien reached for his bag that was beside their makeshift bed and grabbed a condom and put it on as his body screamed to be in her. With a quick push he was deep within and she was calling out his name in pleasure as she met him thrust for thrust, telling him to go harder and deeper. He complied and soon they were both climaxing at the same time. He rolled off of her and kissed her again. With a quite yawn they snuggled into each other and held on as they let the feelings fade. Not too much later and they were at it again.

After they had decided to actually wake up for the day Rachel had too many questions running through her head. What the hell had happened! It had started out as a sleepy good morning kiss, and turned into the best sex she'd ever had. Rachel figured the strong feelings that she had for Damien were one of the reasons that the sex was so much better; the fact that he was a VERY skilled love maker couldn't hurt either. But still, she had to figure out what it all meant, because she was pretty sure it was going to change their friendship no matter what.

With that all in mind, Rachel turned to look at Damien, and decided to just come out and ask "So, where does this leave us now?" Damien froze at her question, his hands stilling in his endeavor to pack up his bag. With a sigh he turned to face her.

"It leaves us where ever you want it to Rachel," he said. "I don't know if you've realized it but pretty much since the day I met you I wanted to be with you. You're spacey quirky, but it just endears you to me more. You care deeply for your friends and you're probably one of the most sincere people I've ever met, and I just don't know why it ever took me so long to make a move! Ugh, if I had known that I ever even had a shot I would've tried so much sooner. I don't think I can go back to how we were before. I need you in my life as something more than just my best friend. You can be that too, but I'd love it even more if you were my girlfriend as well. Please just think about it at least..." he trailed off, his face looking crestfallen.

"Why would you assume that I would like to go back to how we were before?" she asked quietly, Damien's eyes shooting up at her words, connecting with hers. She continued, her lips softly forming the words, "I can't deny that I love you, not anymore. You've become too important to me, and I would literally feel like I was missing something if you weren't in my life, by my side as much as you possibly could be. Of course I'll be your girlfriend, you silly man. There is no other possible answer."

With a smile on her face, she pulled leaned over and grabbed his face, her mouth meeting his in a kiss as she thought that there could be no better end to such a perfect weekend.

A/N: Please don't hate me and my lack of updating! At least it's a new chapter, and in my opinion it's relatively long coming in at just shy of 4,000 words. Anyways, I know I promised something up a LOOOOONG time ago and I really have no excuse except I am a failure and that college hates me and likes to assign lots of work, and I have a job and a semi decent social life! And yes I kind of had most of this already written a while ago, but I didn't know how I wanted to end it. I hope you liked it though and to those of you wondering I do have the next chapter partially written. For some reason I think this next chapter will be on the long side since I'm almost to 3,000 words and it's only the 1st morning. ANYWHORES! Umm... just as a warning that chapter is going to be a slash chapter. I know a lot of you guys out there read that stuff but if you don't like it then just don't read that chapter, the chapter after will probably go back to m/f relations. PLEASE review though... I see a lot of people reading it but there's like no reviews. It really only takes a few minutes guys.