Awakening

Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Rose ran with everything she had. Her feet pounding on the road beneath her. Each step bringing her closer to where she wanted, needed, to be.

She ran for about three kilometers and sighed in relief when she saw the woods looming in front of her. A green fortress, beckoning her to safety. Two minutes later she broke through the first trees and it was like she was home. The smell of pine tickled her nose. It was her favorite smell in the whole world. The trees whispered in their own language, powered by the cool breeze.

She decided to make her way to her favorite part of the woods, a small meadow where the river crossed. She longed for a drink of its ice cold water or to just lay in the grass and let the sounds of the forest wash over her.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the shadow up in a tree to her left, until a deep voice cut through the forest.

"Well, fancy meeting you here!"

She was so startled by the sudden sound that she missed a tree root sticking out from under the ground. Before she knew it, she was lying face down on the ground, the smell of dirt assaulting her nostrils.

An almost silent thump sounded next to her head as the shadow jumped out of the tree.

"Hey! Are you ok?" Max asked, his voice full of concern. She could feel his shadow as he stood over her. "Need some help?"

"If you don't mind," she began. "I think I'll just stay here for a while."

"Any particular reason why you feel the need to lay in the dirt?" he asked, his voice laced with curiosity.

She sighed loudly. "I think it's safer here on the ground. Much less can go wrong."

At this he chuckled softly. "You're forgetting about snakes and bugs and other forest predators."

"Let them come. Who cares?" she replied, despondently. This day was not getting any better.

She felt him crouch before her. Softly he said: "How about we get you up and then we talk about why you seem to like dirt and critters so much today?" He didn't wait for her answer. Before she knew it strong hands were on her sides and without breaking a sweat he lifted her up and placed her on her feet.

He gave her a once over, making sure she wasn't hurt. She snorted in her head at the thought. Like that fall could actually do anything to her. Then she suddenly remembered her manners. "Thanks."

She wondered what on earth he was doing in the forest in the middle of the week. She was pretty sure he had tons of patients to attend to. Not that they were all that sick, to be honest. Max was quite the talk of the town. A handsome, young doctor. And since he had arrived, almost every female in town suddenly started going for regular checkups.

She noticed that he was staring at her expectantly. He must have asked a question.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

He looked amused at her question. "I asked if you wanted to talk about what's got you so frazzled."

She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not frazzled. You just came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting you here. I don't get 'frazzled'"

His face spoke of his unbelief. "Oh, yeah. You're fine. It's not like your heart is beating a mile a minute or your breathing is irregular or anything."

She almost denied it, but then realized there was no point. His hearing would be on point with hers.

She crossed her arms. "Fine. Maybe I am a little on edge."

"You want to talk about it?"

She thought about it for a second. This was the whole point of the truce. Who would understand her current mood better? She sure as hell couldn't talk to Emily about it. And maybe it would help to get it off her chest. Then the doubts crossed her mind again. Was he really just a good person or was he hiding some agenda? It wouldn't be the first time someone fooled her. She liked to think that she would catch it early if someone tried it again but...

Suddenly he grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the meadow. His hand was warm and surprisingly soft and although hear head was shouting at her to not trust him, she let him lead her anyway.

He led her to the river and let go of her hand. As he sat down on a fallen tree stump, she noticed that her hand now felt almost cold. Strange. She mentally shrugged it off. He gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that. But you were taking way too long to decide if you can trust me or not. I got impatient. A bad habit. But I'm working on it."

She was surprised at his comment. "I was not..." she stopped when she saw the teasing in his eyes.

"You were. I don't blame you. If you've been around long enough, you learn it's better to build up walls. People can't hurt you if you don't let them in. A more than natural response in our world. Though, you seem to do it more than others."

A pair of blue eyes flashed in her mind. "Force of habit, I guess."

She sat down next to him and put her head in her hands, rubbing her temples.

"Headache?" he asked softly.

She looked up and nodded at his question. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Add disrespectful children to the mix and you've got yourself a headache. Then add an asshole of a boss and you've got a migraine."

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples again. Damn headache. She heard him move next to her. Suddenly her hands were pushed away and a pair of warm hands were now resting on her temples. Her eyes shot open and she let out a small gasp as she found herself staring directly into his dark, almost black eyes.

He quickly removed his hands. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. But with the way you were doing it, you would only make it worse. Let me help? I did study for this stuff after all."

She searched his face for any sign of deception, and finding none, nodded. She was just so tired of that damn migraine.

She closed her eyes and felt his warm hands gently start to rub her temples. Events of the day flashed through her mind and she could feel her heart speeding up.

"You know, this doesn't help if you just keep focusing on what gave you a headache in the first place."

She knew he was right, that she needed to relax. So she shut out the thoughts of Principle Wesselton. Shut out the unruly students. Shut out those damn arctic eyes that would not leave her be... Instead she focused on the warm hands on her temples. She concentrated on the circles they rubbed. Listened to their owner's steady, strong heartbeat. She smelled his scent, which she found she rather enjoyed. It was unique, like a concentration of pine trees and the way the earth smelled after the rain. Her body started to feel heavy and her breathing became more relaxed.

"Feeling better?" his deep voice boomed over her.

She sighed contently, her migraine having faded to just a dull headache. "Yes, thank you."

His hands left her temples and she opened her eyes. He was still sitting close to her. She looked into his eyes and were surprised to see tiny flecks of brown between the black. He looked at her intently, as if he were assessing her.

"Heart beat and breathing is steady, temperature back to normal." he leaned in closer, examining her eyes. "Pupils no longer dilated. I think it's safe to say that you're nice and calm now. No risk of you ripping me to shreds anymore."

She smiled. "Well, that's good news. I don't think it would be good for the truce if I maimed you one week in."

He laughed. "Probably not. So what got you so riled up?" he asked curiously.

She thought about her earlier worries for a moment and decided it probably couldn't hurt to tell him what had, almost, set her off. So she shifted her body towards him, ready to tell him everything. Except about those blue eyes. That was her burden to bare.