Dragon Quest XI: Partners Until the End

[Chapter 15]

"Geez! You look awful!"

"Gee—Thanks, Veronica,"

Despite the sarcasm seeping into her words, Freya couldn't blame the grimaces that her friends held. Even without looking into a mirror, she knew that she wasn't exactly at her prettiest. The bags under her eyes felt heavy and the exhaustion made her body feel like lead. She didn't feel the best, and it surely showed in her disheveled appearance.

"Did you not get any good rest last night, Freya?" Serena asked, worry flickered in her purple eyes as her gaze raked over Freya's fatigued form. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as the brunette gave a shaky laugh, the sound coming out hollow and forced.

 

"Admittedly, no," Freya warbled. Her hand drifted to rub the back of her head as she forced her eyes to stay open. Her mouth pulled back into a wavering grin as she tried her best to wave off the concern her friends held. "I had a lot on my mind, and I think I only got a few hours of sleep, if even,"

And it was true. After the realization of her newfound feelings for the thief, Freya had tossed and turned all night with a trembling heart. It was something she never dealt with before, and she somehow found herself stuck in a loop of thoughts. At first, it was whether or not she really did like the boy, which made her recall their first meeting and every step along the way. It was safe to say, she did like the thief—for a while it seemed. When or how it started, Freya couldn't say, though she did feel silly about not realizing it after so long. What she did know was that her mind wasn't set on whether or not she should pursue the boy that tenderly held her heart.

Freya knew it was a ridiculous ordeal, but that didn't stop her mind from creating scenarios that made her heart throb in pain. She imagined situations where Erik doesn't feel the same or rejected her so harshly that it ruined their friendship. Granted, Freya knew that Erik would never treat her that way, yet each scene left a bitter taste in her mouth and it had Freya wanting to keep it a secret to save her brittle heart.

She heard it all the time before from her mother and grandad: Love makes you do stupid things. And she believed it. Well that and the full day's worth of exhaustion on her body had muddled her mind to make her choose rather poor decisions. Like right now...

"Will you be alright today?" Erik questioned, taking a step forward. He reached a hand out to cup the girl's chin, moving her head from side to side. He was unaware of the growing heat building up in her cheeks as he scrutinized the dark circles around her dimmed blue hues. "Maybe we should tell the prince that you're backing out,"

"No, we can't do that! We need that Rainbough," Freya exclaimed, yanking her face away from Erik's grasp. She released a sheepish laugh as she averted her eyes towards the side, desperately trying not to look at the boy. "I'll be fine. I just need to wake up is all,"

Freya cringed internally as she was well aware of how she was treating the boy. All morning, she had ignored his presence unless he directly spoke to her. And every time they did speak, it was awkward and choppy. She was sure it was apparent to everyone, but her tiredness made it hard for her to be confident in that fact. All she could hope was that they all pegged it as her just being restless.

"If you say so..." He mumbled, a shadow of hurt covering his masculine features. Erik wasn't dumb or blind. He could feel the odd energy surrounding the brunette, and it seemingly had to do with him just based on how adamant she was in avoiding his gaze. His mind went through the events of last night to find what caused the teen to act differently, but he came up empty. Sure, there had been that, but by the time they went to bed, Freya appeared fine and he thought he played it off rather well.