Into the Darkness (OCXOBI)

Part 11

When we began our week-long ride to Clarines, I didn't think that I would have had this much fun, and it's only two days into the trip.

Obi and Shirayuki have been very kind to me ever since we met, but something was still bothering me about it.

"Alright, I think we should find somewhere to crash for the night," Obi said getting off of his horse then turning to help Shirayuki down.

"Yeah, I agree. We've been going non-stop for hours. I'm so tired." Shirayuki said yawning.

After about twenty minutes, Obi had found a spot in the woods to camp and set everything up for us while we ate some of the food that Shirayuki got when she was in town. I put some aside for him to have once he was able to sit down and rest.

"Thanks, Obi," I said sitting down in front of the fire taking off my boots. "You're pretty good at stuff like this aren't you."

"Don't mention it." He gave a wide grin waving me off. "And I guess I am, I was on my own when I was young too."

Before I knew it, Shirayuki had already fallen asleep leaving Obi and I alone together.

"Hey, Obi. Can I ask you something?" I asked looking into the fire.

"Sure." He sat down next to me leaning back using his arms for support.

"Why did you guys invite me to come with you to Clarnies?"

He sat for a moment in thought before speaking.

"Well. Honestly, we were worried about you after your house was burnt down. So the best option we could come up with was to bring you along with us." He said looking over at me.

"So you did it out of pity?" I turned my attention away from the fire, looking him in the eyes. "Because I can't think of any other reason that you would bring someone like me back with you."

He froze. The question caught him off guard because he wasn't really sure why they decided to bring you along either.

"Of course it's not because we pity you! Why would you think that!?" He said in a slightly irritated tone. "And what do you mean someone like you?

"I didn't mean it to come off as offensive..." My voice lowered and I pulled my knees to my chest. "I'm just trying to understand because I'm not good with people, so it's hard for me to figure out why you two have been so nice to me." I was trying to avoid the last part of what he said.

His eyes softened at me, realizing that he may have come off too harsh. He turned to face me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I didn't mean to snap at you, I wasn't thinking about the fact that it's been a long time since you've really been around anyone. I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay. Trusting people isn't something I do often, so I was just thinking about it." I looked to the ground.

"I understand, I just don't want you to think I'm mad at you. We brought you with us because we're friends now, and friends look out for each other, Miss Ruby." He smiled.

After I returned that smile, he realized that his hand was still on my shoulder so he pulled it away like it was on fire. His face turned pink and he turned his eyes away from mine.

Although, I kind of wished he didn't pull away. His touch lingered on my skin, and he was warm.

"What does that mean to have a friend?" I asked. "I know what the definion is but I'm not sure what it really means be be friends with anyone.

"Um... that's a little hard to explain." He paused pulling his hand on his chin in thought. "It means that we will always be there for each other no matter what, and we care about each other."

"Do you care about me Obi?" I asked in a casual tone.

"I um... well, I mean I do. In a friend way, ya know." He was clearly embarrassed about the question.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" I got a little uneasy. "Do you love Shirayuki?"

"No. I don't." His tone lowered. "I can't."

"But I can see the way you look at her, you know you have feelings for her," I asked giggling a little.

"Please, don't bring this up again." His voice turned cold to show how serious he was.

"Okay, I'm sorry." I dropped my head in defeat.

I left the conversation at that because I didn't want to make him more upset than he already was. I laid my head down on my cloak that was neatly folded staring off into space.

I started to drift off to sleep thinking how quickly his demeanor changed when I brought Shirayuki up, I wondered why that was. I also wondered why it made my heart hurt thinking about him loving her.

I'm not sure what this feeling is in my chest, but I don't like it. It kind of makes it harder to breathe.

After a minute I fell asleep, and Obi laid on his back with his hands behind his head looking up at the stars.

"It's complicated. I'm not really sure how I feel anymore." He laid back pulling his hands behind his head. "But I'm not in love with her."

He didn't realize that I was sleeping, so when we looked over to see that I didn't hear anything he just said he sighed and continued talking as if I could hear him.

"When I met you, I figured that out pretty quickly. But I'm still not sure what it is about you that makes my heart beat a little faster when you're around. I would like to know more about you, I want to know everything about you. Maybe I will tell you everything about me one day too, I just hope it does make you feel differently about me."

He smiled slightly and turned to face me, looking over the features of my face. He reached out to run his fingertips gently down my face. He froze for a moment as I stirred under his touch, and pulled his hand away.

"Good night."

With that, he too fell asleep.