Fairytale?

Chapter 16- Seashells Were Bittersweet

We're outward bound on a long, long round,
And it's time to be up and away:
If worry and sorrow come back with the morrow,
At least we'll be happy to-day.
-

"Will you please tell me where we're going?"

"It's a surprise." Edmund answered, as they walked into the train station. "You like surprises."
She wouldn't like the surprise that he was- most likely, his parents had yet to bring it up again- going to Cambridge, but she would like this one, he was sure.

"Depends completely on the surprise." Sanya shot back. "Ed- tell me-"

"Will you stop nagging-"

She wanted Pax back.
"I'm being taken away to somewhere I don't know-"

"Yes, by me, your-" He stopped abruptly, looking around at the crowd, "by someone you trust."
Then he swallowed, looking at her.
"You do trust me?"

"Of course." She said quickly.
They kept walking- oh, she would see the train, wouldn't she? She would figure out where they were going- but then, she knew practically no towns or places, so that would be moot.
"Of course I do, darling- but I don't trust that your surprise is not you taking me to a chess convention or something."

He looked thoughtful, "Do chess conventions happen?"

"You should know." She rolled her eyes. "It's your world."

"I'll have to look that up." Edmund decided, before leading Sanya to an empty bench. "Sit here."

"Where are you going?" She asked, immediately feeling panicked.

It was New Year's, and the train station was packed- on account of everyone leaving home or coming home. There were so many people, and Sanya could already feel anxiety start covering her like a shell.

She had no idea what Edmund had planned- she could guess at the why,, though- but whatever it was, she wished he hadn't. She would've been completely happy just sleeping in till the late afternoon, cuddling with her puppy plushie.
Or with Edmund. But telling him this would probably irritate him, especially since he clearly had something up his sleeve.

"Just to get the tickets."

"I'll come with you."

"No." His voice came out too sharp, and her brows rose dangerously. "No, wait here."

Her temper flared up, "I do not obey you-"

"If you come with me, it'll spoil the surprise!" He explained, before he tightened his hold on her hand, not wanting to lose her in the crowd.

He had held her hand the entire way- as soon as she had come down, dressed and complaining that eleven was too early to do anything away from a bed, and then he had let it go only once, when Sanya had pranced off to pet a litter of puppies at the side of the street.
(He had petted them as well, obviously.)

He liked holding her hand. Surely, that counted for something? Perhaps they didn't really need this trip- something he had planned because things were going badly, because he and Sanya were becoming so distant it might as well have been the first year of their marriage, and he was desperate.

If he could delay- if he could stop what was starting to seem inevitable- he'd do it, no matter what.

He knew she noticed it, too- the aloofness, the restraint. She was desperate, too- she knew something was wrong- which was the true reason he had decided on this little day trip. He would do whatever it took to make sure that their relationship did not cause Sanya pain yet again.