Seeing You Not Seeing Me (COMPLETE)

XIII.finally, after a year

Mari cannot help but smile as she stared up at Jude, her arm resting on him. The couple walking slowly in the moor, the cold breeze messing their hair up.

The weather's not perfect, she is certain it'll rain but Jude insisted they'll go out now, and so, they did. Mari fetched the intricate cane his brother gave him a few months prior.

"This isn't so bad," she blurted out, leaning closer to him, a satisfied grim still plastered on her face.

Jude answered with a curt nod, leading the way to the unknown though every now and then, Mari would maneuver them to another direction without saying anything.

They were walking and talking for half an hour now when the rain began to drop. Mari bit her lower lip, fearing that Jude would get angry - insisting that this is one of the reasons why he prefers to stay indoors.

She eyed the raindrops falling down on their shoulders wearily.

"Stupid me, we should've gone tomorrow," uttered Mari, and before he could reply, she leads him to the nearest oak tree but when they reached it, they're already half-drenched, their hair soaked.

Their back against the trunk, Mari frowning at the now hard downpour. Wincing how far away they are already  from the manor, and by the time they returned, they are already long drenched in rain.

Her eyes shifted from the rain to her companion, their bodies pressing against each other, squeezing as they tried to avoid the rain, his arm around her shoulder to keep her from slipping.

To her surprise, her ears picked up his soft chuckle, confused, her brows knitting, and said, "Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, Master Jude,"

His grip around hers tightened, her cheek only a few inches from his chest, "You know, I've never experienced playing in the rain, or getting soaked in one intentionally," he responded with a hoarse voice, his beard and his long hair soaked to the fullest, dripping into hers which he seems not to notice but she decided not to comment about.

"Really? Even as a child?"

"Really. My father, well, let's just say he opposed such acts as this, confining me and Charles in the house, forcing us to dedicate our time studying," he replied, his voice far-away as if in his head, he is reliving those moments.

Looking up at him, Mari felt a tug in her heart. Oh, she cannot imagine this man being deprived of such mundane things as this. When going back to her childhood, playing in the rain, whether alone or with kids back in Eyam always comes to her mind.

No clue what to reply, she just rested her cheek against his bosom, his arm still wrapped around hers.

"He was so damn scared, my father, despite how my mother always reassures him. Thinking a little rain would kill his delicate little heirs," he added, followed by a frustrated chuckle.

She looked up at him, still, her cheek against his chest, gently brushed the rain from his temple with the back of her hand, before saying, "it's not too late. How old are you? 38? 39? We could still play in the rain like we're little kids,"

Instead of smiling as she expected him to, he frowned, "I'm only 34, Mari. Do I look like a man at that age? A man almost half your age?"

Wincing at her honest mistake, "The point is, we are never too old to play, so come on now, please," she replied, not answering him, flashing him a faint smile despite knowing he won't see it.

Still, he did not drop the subject. "But really, do I look like that age? Damn, you must've looked like my daughter all this time," he looked so frustrated as if it's the end of the world. Then shortly apologizing for cursing in front of her to which she only nodded, forgetting his blindness.