MOVE ON | IVAR THE BONELESS X OC |

CHAPTER TWO

Alfred put the cup of hot tea on the table in front of her. He had a small smile on his lips, and sat next to her. His hand massaged her back as she managed to thank him softly.

"Do you feel better?"

Stella sighed. Taking a sip from the cup of tea as she shrugged.

"I don't know how I feel, to be honest"
She muttered, and Alfred nodded.

"I understand" he said "Do you want me to leave?"

She shook her head, looking at him with a small smile.

"No, stay" she asked "If you don't have anything to do..."

"My brother can take care of everything while I'm here, don't worry about that" he shrugged " I'll stay for as long as you need me"

She smiled at him, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Stella knew she could always count on Alfred. He had been her friend since the two of them met, on her first day of university, when the both of them were late for they're first Medieval History class. She was already seeing Ivar when that happened, and when he picked her up that afternoon, Alfred had greeted him with a polite smile while Ivar just glared at him. The both of them had been friends, but now there was this weird rivalry between them that confused stella. Now Alfred was close friends with Ubbe and had business with Björn, but Ivar couldn't stand him.

"Thank you" she muttered "I really appreciate that you stay here with me, especially now that I'm an awful company"
Alfred smiled at her, shaking his head softly.

"Ella, you're my favorite person to spend time with, even if you're all heartbroken and sad"
She took a sip of the tea he had prepared for her and sighed again. It would get better, with time.

*

Stella found herself trying to keep as busy as she could. Instead of staying at home, crying and feeling miserable, she went to class, studied at the library with Alfred and then left for work. She extended her shift a few more hours, tiring herself out enough to get home, eat a bit as she watched some random tv show and then going directly to bed, too tired to even think about Ivar.

It wasn't the smartest thing, probably, as she knew that running from it wouldn't change the fact that Ivar had broken up with her and someday she'd have to learn to live with it without tiring herself until she literally passed out. It wasn't healthy either; but running from the problem instead to actually confronting it, at least for a while, seemed like the best thing to do.

Even during work, in the small cafeteria near campus, she couldn't stay still. She covered for her coworkers when they had their break, and ignoring her own.
That day was being even harder. She had to finish a paper for class and stood awake until four am, and just after class she had left for work, eating a sandwich on her way.

When she arrived, five minutes late and already feeling dizzy from exhaustion. Thora, her coworker and one of her best friends, frowned when she saw stella hurrying inside, taking her small apron as she left her things behind the bar and quickly put her hair up in a ponytail.

"Elle...Didn't we agreed that you'd take today off?"

"Did we? I don't remember" she said playfully.

Thora sighed, shaking her head.
"Anyway, you have a visitor" she pointed at one of the tables at the end of the local, and her heart stopped briefly until she spotted Hvitserk, drinking a beer and scrolling down his phone.

"Oh..." She bit her lip, not sure if she was ready to confront a Lothbrok again.

"He literally flirted with every single woman in here" Thora rolled her eyes
"Who is he?"