Nirrin (Forestfolk, Book 3)

Chapter 31b

I decided to go find Tessia. I hadn't seen her all morning. Maybe she'd already learned what her fate was.

She wasn't at the stream where we sat on rocks before.

But Fen was.

I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to talk to him just yet. Our last conversation had gone horribly wrong. What if I made it worse?

I watched him sitting there, shoulders slumped in defeat, head hanging glumly while he stared at the water. It broke my heart to see him like that. All my grievances at being wronged seemed to float away. I needed to fix this. I couldn't possibly make things worse than they already were.

I stepped closer.

When he didn't look up, I cleared my throat.

Sad eyes glanced up at me before drifting back to the water. I couldn't tell if he wanted me there or not. But when he scooted to one side on the rock to make room for me, I wasted no time getting over there and sitting next to him.

Neither of us spoke. It was as if we had a tense truce, and words might destroy it. Maybe he regretted how that conversation ended as much as I did.

The silence stretched on. I resisted the desire to fill it with words.

"When do you go?" he finally asked without looking at me.

This made me prickle. "Why do you assume I'm going?"

He turned to me. "Aren't you?"

"No!" All my previous thoughts about going home withered away in that moment of clarity. "Why would you assume that?"

"Because that's what Normals do!" He hopped off the rock and faced me, his arms rigid. "When things get hard, they pack you up with a blanket and some food and leave you in the middle of the woods." His eyes were hard, not quite focused on me. "They don't come back, no matter how much you beg. No matter how much you love them."

He closed his eyes against the memory. "Niralessa warned me not to get close to you. That anything involving Normals would end in heartbreak." He focused a warm gaze on me then. "But you were different. From the very beginning, you looked past all this." He waved his hand around the thick bands covering his chest.

All I could do was nod, hoping with all my might that this was headed where I thought it was.

The warmth in his eyes cooled. "But it was just a matter of time until your curiosity ran out. Until you realized what a life with me truly meant."

My lips pursed. "Let me guess. I'll suddenly freak out once I realize I'm living with a bunch of oddballs?"

He didn't answer, but he didn't have to.

"Fen, it's the same pity party all over again. You're telling yourself you're not good enough and blah blah blah. Did you know Niralessa thinks I'm not good enough for you? That I can't make you happy? She says I'll just remind you that you'll never be normal." I threw my hands into the air. "As if I ever wanted that! You're different, yes, but I like that about you. No, I love that about you." I paused, a tender feeling flowing through my veins like warm honey.

"I love you," I said in a quieter voice.

The light returned to his eyes. "I want to believe that."

I frowned. "Why don't you?"

"No, I do! I just mean that . . ." He looked away and rubbed his elbow. "You might . . ."

I understood. He was afraid I'd change my mind and break his squishy little heart.

"Fen, all relationships are risky. We can never know what's going to happen later. But I can tell you this: I do not abandon people. When things get hard, I get stubborn." I made a vague gesture with one hand. "A lot of people will tell you that it's annoying, and they probably wish I would go away, but there it is. I'll stick to you like tree sap."

He stared at me, his face a mixture of indecision and awe. "I can never get tree sap out of my clothes."

"You see?"

He took a few breaths. And made a decision.

Before I could even blink, he stepped in, wrapped his arms around me, and hauled me off the rock. He crushed me to his chest so hard my feet barely touched the ground. "You're the best kind of tree sap," he murmured into my hair.

"You really know how to flatter a girl."

He chuckled and set me down. "I'm sorry about earlier. It's just, you had said you'd stay with me, and then you seemed to be changing your mind. And I couldn't—" He shook his head. "I just love you so much."

I got that warm honey feeling again. He loves me. Loves me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hovered close to his lips. "Say that again."

"I love yrmph . . ." The last part got muffled as he closed the gap for a deep kiss.

When we broke apart, I said. "No matter what happens, no matter what Niralessa says, we'll figure it out, okay?"

His broad grin told me everything I needed to know.

Are you grinning? I'm grinning. Are you voting too?