The Little Crow

Chapter Forty Eight - [Ilia]

 Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for your patience! I was on vacation in Japan for the last 3ish weeks and I thought I'd have time to post there but it ended up being super busy! Whatever the case, I had a fantastic time but I'm glad to be back to post again, LOL!

Enjoy the new update!

Love,
Luckycharms <3

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Thea wanted to speak to Rue before they headed out, but when she went to visit him, he was fast asleep and she didn't have the heart to wake him up, not when he was so incredibly weak and rest was much needed. So instead, as she sat on the train heading to Kal, Aaryan sitting across from her with a table between them, she just hoped that the next time she saw Rue, she would be bringing good news.

The train ride up to Kal was of course a long one, seeing as they were going from nearly the bottom of the State all the way to the top, and though Thea had hoped she and Aaryan would spend most of the train ride silent and to themselves, that wasn't the case.

Instead, most of the ride was spent with the two of them bickering about one thing or another. Once it was because Aaryan suggested that Thea lie down when she began to doze off and Thea got annoyed with him for telling her what to do. Another time it was because Thea wanted to stretch her legs and Aaryan said no because it'd be safer for her to stay near him. And another time it was when they reached a checkpoint and Thea momentarily misplaced the piece of paper that had the phone number they were meant to call. Thankfully, she found it.

The last thing they needed was Niall and the backups charging in because they thought Thea and Aaryan were in danger when really, Thea was just a little careless.

In addition to the bickering though, Aaryan seemed to have no qualms with trying to pester Thea, even when she would try and ignore him, working hard to properly edit what would soon become the second volume of Rue's poems. Since the first one was on its way to being published, she knew the second would be following soon enough. Whatever the case, Aaryan didn't seem bothered by her coldness, trying to break through to her... to get her to be normal with him again.

Though Thea was annoyed by his persistence, she was grateful that he was sitting on the other side of the table between their benches. It gave her the perfect amount of space to keep her head down and avoid the sight of him.

However, it was when they were about an hour away from Ilia that even that changed.

Thea jumped a little at the sound of the door between their car and the one in front of them slamming shut behind the two men who had just crossed over and walked in. She glanced at them, frowning a little for not having any common decency and trying to prevent the slamming, before she looked back down at the poems.

Aaryan, who was still across from her, had his arms crossed as he leaned back against the bench he was on, glancing lazily at the others who sat with them in their car. After a moment, Aaryan spoke up once more. "Are you seriously going to keep acting like this, Thi?"

He said it louder than he usually spoke, startling Thea into looking up at him.

"You can't be mad at me forever."

Thea frowned, pushing her hair behind her ear. One of the most annoying parts of having short hair now was the fact that she couldn't easily tie it back away from her face. There were always strands falling forward, being a bother to her. "I can do whatever I want," she muttered.