From The Moment We Met, It Was You

「※」Chapter 3「※」

Claire's POV
I woke up from the sound of a pigeon. I opened one eye and saw a pigeon sitting on the edge of my window. It has something in his beak. I got up and walked over to the bird. He had a letter with him. I took it from him. "Thank you little bird.", I smiled and the bird flew away. There was no name on the envelope. I opened it and found a card inside. I started reading it.

Dearest Claire,

I couldn't think of a different way to reach you so I'm sending you this letter. I would like to meet again, how about you meet me at the lake when the sun sets?

Kind regards,
Owen

Owen wrote me a letter! That is so sweet of him. I shouldn't be so excited about it but I just can't help myself. There's something about him that gives me this weird feeling.

**** That Evening ****

It was too risky to take Lillith with me since she isn't exactly the smallest animal so instead I tried to sneak out alone. I snuck through the hallways. I heard the guards talking and coming up the stairs. I gasped and quickly hid. "Did you hear something too?", one guard asked the other. "No, I didn't hear anything.", the other one answered. "I guess I'm starting to imagine things then.", the first guard joked and they both laughed. They continued with their patrol and I got out of my hiding spot. I went downstairs and took the back door. I climbed on the side of the bridge to the main gate. I had to be careful because at least 24 feet under me, there was a river with wild streaming water and sharp rocks in it. If I fell, I would die. I was almost at the end when my right foot slipped off the ledge. I had to swallow a scream. My heart was pounding in my chest. I adjusted my foot back onto the ledge. I carefully climbed further. I reached the end and started running into the dark forest. I barely saw anything and tripped over a rock. I cried out in pain. I must've sprained my ankle.

Owen's POV
I heard a scream in the distance. It sounded like a woman. I gasped, what if it was Claire. I started running towards where the scream came from. Not much later I saw someone on the ground, almost immediately I recognized her. "Claire! Are you okay?", I rushed towards her and kneeled next to her. I lit up my lantern. A pair of emerald green eyes full of pain and filled with tears looked up at me. "Hey hey it's okay.", I soothed her. She crawled into my lap and started crying. Her small body was shaking and I held her tight. I hated to see her like this. "Come on..", I muttered and carried her in bridal style.

We arrived at the lake and I put Claire down on a rock. "Can you stand?", I asked and she tried to get up. But almost immediately she fell back. I quickly grabbed her arms so she didn't fell. "It hurts.", she whined. "Come here..", I pulled her into a hug. I broke the hug and settled the lantern next to her foot. "Let me take a look.", I gently held her ankle. "Is it broken, doctor?", Claire half joked. "No just sprained I think.", I looked up at her. I took off my coat and undershirt.

Claire's POV
Owen suddenly took off his tops and my eyes grew big. "W-What are you doing?", I stuttered. I couldn't help staring at his abs for a brief moment. Owen ripped his undershirt apart and kneeled back down. "I'm helping you.", he said while wrapping the shreds of shirt around my ankle, using it as bandages. When he finished he put his coat back on. "Thank you.", I smiled softly. "Any time, now let's bring you back home.", he helped me get up. He took my hand and we started walking home. I had to use him as mainstay.

When I got home, my mom immediately ran over to me with tears in her eyes. "Where were you? I was so worried.", she sniffled while hugging me. "I-I'm sorry for sneaking out, mother.", I said, feeling quite guilty. She gasped when she noticed my ankle. "What happened? Are you okay?", she started checking my ankle. "It's just sprained, don't worry.", I assured her I was fine. I saw my older sister running towards us. "Claire! Where were you? Oh god your entire dress is dirty and ruined!", she squealed hysterically. "I'm totally okay.", I told her. "I'm going to take a shower and go to bed..", I sighed exhausted.