Spindle Wood (COMPLETED)

Chapter 54

"Lo?" Pat caught sight of the prince, just making his way over the river. Logan looked up at the sound of his name and his face broke into a smile.

"Pat! One second, I just need to get over..." Logan stepped around carefully, trying to find the few dry stones left. With all the rain, the river had risen a lot.

No sooner was Logan on the bank, Pat ran over to him and tackled him in a hug. Logan laughed in surprise.

"Careful, you'll topple us both into the river." Pat didn't reply, just hugged Logan tighter. Logan laughed again, fondly, and hugged him back. "Are you alright?"

"Mhm." Pat mumbled. It wasn't exactly a lie, seeing Logan had made a lot of things in his mind alright again.

"You're sure?" Pat nodded again. Logan bent his head. "Because usually you would be too worried about messing up my clothes to give me a proper hug." He whispered in Pat's ear. "Not that I'm exactly complaining."

Pat let out a small squeak of surprise. "Sorry." He mumbled. He could feel Logan grinning against his hair.

"I don't mind." He repeated. "But what's on your mind?"

Pat let go of Logan slowly. Logan straightened his waistcoat and smoothed all the rumples out of his shirt. Pat opened his mouth to apologise but the look Logan gave him told him it was alright. He sighed and slumped down with his back against a tree.

Logan sat next to him carefully. "What is it?" He asked. "You're not yourself. You look stressed, you're all tense."

Pat hugged his knees to his chest. "I dunno..." He mumbled. "Just worried, I guess."

"About what?" Logan pushed his glasses up his nose. "Anything I can help with?"

Pat shrugged. "I'm sorry I couldn't see you last week." He blurted out. "I wanted to and I was gonna but my dad stopped me and I probably wouldn't've been able to make it out anyway because it was really rainy but I don't know if you were gonna be there or not and I was really worried that you were gonna-" Pat cut himself off.

"I was going to what?"

Pat shook his head. "It's stupid." He muttered.

"I'm really not going to judge." Logan said. "Promise."

Pat stared down at the grass. "I was worried you were gonna hate me." He mumbled. Logan's posture relaxed and he took Pat's hand gently.

"Pat, I could never hate you." He said. Pat glanced at him.

"Sure?"

"Completely. Besides," Logan leaned back against the tree, "I couldn't leave either. I was down at the stables when the rain started in earnest and my brother and about three servants came out to insist I come back. I don't think they were above getting the footmen to haul me back inside." He laughed a little. "I was worried about you too. I don't honestly know what I thought but it certainly wasn't anything good. I couldn't even get lost in a book to try think of something else."

Pat giggled weakly. "Ooh, am I that distracting?" He teased, nudging Logan with his shoulder.

Logan shook his head fondly. "If I said 'no', I would be lying." Pat blinked, at a loss for words.

"The only way I could convince myself to sit still was if I imagined you inside some cottage or other, perfectly happy in my absence, watching the rain go by." Logan admitted. "It made my heart ache a little but it got me through the week. I... Well, I hoped I'd see you again."

By God, was all royalty this wonderful and this sweet with their words? Pat shuffled a little closer and hesitantly leaned his head on Logan's shoulder. Logan sucked in a short breath but when it was clear he wasn't going to push Pat away, Pat relaxed slightly.

"I'm glad you're not mad at me." He said quietly. He didn't need to be quiet in a forest this large and deserted but it felt normal when sharing a secret. "I'm not mad at you either. And I missed you."

Logan gave his hand a small squeeze. "The feeling is very much mutual."

Well, after a week or something, I wrote a chapter. Sorry to disappoint you but it's pretty bad.
Bye,
Blaize