Secrets

Chapter 15

Reece laughed, walking in to see Seth attempting to make dinner. "What are you doing?"
"You're early!" Seth said, smiling sheepishly. "I hoped you would just see the finished product... Not this mess of a process."
A timer went off and he hurried over to a pot. Reece walked in, leaning against the wall and watching in amusement.
"No, no... I'm glad I was early," Reece disagreed with a smile.
Seth laughed, shaking his head. "Are teenagers always like this?"
Reece smiled and walked over, helping him with a shrug. "Maybe. What got you in a cooking mood?"
"Grace thought I should try to make us dinner... It's some family thing. But now you're helping, so I must be doing this pretty badly," Seth admitted with a sheepish smile.
Reece laughed. "Not badly... You just looked like you needed some help. Thanks for making this."
Seth blinked, surprised. "I-um-...y-yeah, totally! Of course. I'm sure you're hungry after being out all day..."
Reece nodded. "Definitely... It smells really good."
Seth smiled. "Well, it's almost ready, so..."

Reece and Seth sat at the table, taking a bite.
"This is...awful..." Seth coughed. "Grace makes it look so easy..."
Reece coughed too. "To be honest, I'm not the best cook either... Cooking makes chemistry look easy."
"Right?!" Seth agreed, pushing his plate away. "...so, pizza?"
Reece smiled, nodding. "Pizza."
Seth smiled and pulled out his phone, ordering a pizza.

- - - - -

With the team's plans to rescue Leo the next day, the monster attack that night was really inconvenient...
Reece sat up abruptly, looking around in panic as she heard the loud roaring and footsteps outside her window. She ran over and looked out the window, seeing a giant monster... It seemed part giant lizard and part crab, with aggressive claws that it snapped. With every snap of its claws, the monster seemed like it was both issuing a challenge and threat at the same time.
Seth ran in. "Reece, we have to get down to the basement... There's a monster!"
Reece nodded, looking out the window with a frown. "I see it..."
The monster turned and locked its eyes on her and she jumped, stumbling back as the curtains fell back into place.
"I think it saw me too," Reece whispered, panicked as she looked over at Seth.
Seth sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Reece, I need to get you somewhere safe until the monster is gone. Please hurry. We don't have much time."
Reece hesitated then nodded, following him as he quickly walked over to a wall, typing in a code. A door slid open, revealing a staircase. The ground shook as the monster got closer.
"Come on!" Seth urged, gesturing to the staircase.
Reece nodded hesitantly and hurried down the staircase. "Okay, let's go!"
Seth nodded, entering and closing the door behind them. They hurried down the long staircase as the monster got closer. Seth was texting on his phone during the descent, but Reece didn't notice. The ground shook so hard that she lost her balance and fell, rolling down the steps. She passed out after hitting her head a few times. Seth grimanced and caught her from falling anymore, picking her up gently and finally making his way down the stairs. He typed in a code and scanned his thumb, getting in an elevator that went far underground. She would be safe there...
Seth had told Gray to leave Reece alone, yet she thought if she disobeyed him and got her, she could earn his favor. He glared ahead as he exited the elevator, carefully setting Reece down on a couch and covering her with a blanket. They better give that monster a new target soon, or someone was getting fired tonight... He put an icepack on her head, hoping it would soothe the swelling he expected to come. She had fallen and hit her head pretty hard... He wouldn't be surprised if she had other injuries from falling too.
He sighed, glancing at the news. Mech-X4 had shown up... For once, he was glad. He didn't want his house completely destroyed... Not that he didn't have others. He watched the fight carefully. After what felt like forever, the robot won. He sighed in relief, glancing at Reece. She was safe now... He just hoped that she hadn't hit her head too hard.