𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 ۞ 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚

8

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After finding out where the Ancient One had sent Stephen, Lenore rushed back to the temple and grabbed a warm blanket. A lot of thoughts ran through her mind as she sprinted back to where the Ancient One was. She was worried for Stephen, she knew it was a test but seeing what Stephen could only manage right now worried her.

When she arrived, Mordo was there, standing beside the Ancient One. She noticed the way she was fidgeting with her fan, she was worried as well.

"Any second now..."

"What if he doesn't come back?" Lenore clutched the blanket close to her chest, biting her bottom lip in worry while looking in front of them, waiting for Stephen to come back. After a few minutes, a portal suddenly freezes in front of them, coming from the other side, Stephen fell through to the ground, shivering from the cold as the portal quickly close behind him.

The three sorcerers heaved a relieved sigh before Lenore rushed towards Stephen, helping him up to his knees. Looking up at the sorceress in front of him, Lenore flashed her a proud smile while she wrapped the blanket around his shoulders.

"You had me worried there, Strange." She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his feet, "Well done."

"Well done indeed, Mister Strange." The Ancient one declared, rearing what she had heard from Lenore as they walked closer to her and Mordo.

"Th...Thank you.." Stephen stammered, pulling the blanket closer to himself. The Ancient One then gestured for Lenore to bring Stephen back to his room and she obliged.

"Did she ever put you in that place?" Stephen asked, looking down at the shorter woman beside him.

"Yes," she grimaced at the memory, "I got a fever for three days after that."

When they arrived in Stephen's room, she faced him, studied his whole body to make sure nothing happened to him during his rather long time in the cold weather.

"I'll go make some tea for you," she turned around and opened his closet, grabbing another set of robes for him. Stephen meekly watched her work.

"There. All set" Lenore looked up at Stephen, quickly blushing when she met his gaze. "I'll–I'll make you some tea."

"Sure." Stephen flashed her another smile, making her cheeks warm again and her heart race, "Thank you."

Lenore nodded and turned around, almost crashing onto a wall when she thought the door was there. Stephen chuckled softly as he watched her leave the room. As Stephen disappeared into the bathroom, Lenore went to the kitchen, greeting the sorcerers working there as she brewed some tea. When it was done, she walked back to Stephen's room.

"Stephen?" She knocked on the door a couple of times, "I'm back."

"Come in." His voice was faint, indicating that he was still inside the bathroom. Entering the bedroom, she noticed a soft flint coming from the window, drawing her attention to it. She set the tray on his desk walked to it.

"You there?" Stephen asked from the bathroom.

"Yeah." She shouted back.

"Great, I want your insight on this."

Lenore chuckled softly as she looked at the silver watch that was beside the lamp, she picked it up, remembering that it was the ring that Stephen begged not to be stolen the day she first met him. The glass was broken but the watch still worked, when she turned the watch, she saw something engraved on the back that said;

Time will tell how much I love you.

Christine.

She quickly but carefully brought the watch back on the desk as the doors on the bathroom swung open and Stephen walked out. She gasped, seeing only that a towel was wrapped around his hips.

"Woah! You are—" she turned around, her cheeks growing warm as she directed her gaze somewhere other than the man in front of her.

"What do you think?" Asked Stephen, trying to get the woman to look at him. She hesitated at first but now that she was facing him, Stephen saw how red she was, making him chuckle softly.

Lenore's eyes looked up, meeting Stephen's eyes first before noticing how different he looked. His hair and beaded were cut short. As she scrutinized him, her hands moved to his hair, letting one fringe of his hair loose in front.

"You...look good." She answered as she lowered her arm. Stephen and Lenore stared at each other as Stephen took her hand and took one step forward. Her heart skipped a beat and gasped when she hit the desk behind her.

"Stephen." Her stare at the man in front of her never wavered as her cheeks heated up. Stephen was growing closer and closer to her until there was barely any space between them, she was frozen in place.

She flinched when Stephen cupped her cheek and slowly brought their lips together in a soft kiss. Lenore didn't hesitate and quickly kissed him back, loving the feel of his lips against hers. Stephen inched more closer that their bodies were now pressed to one another. As if that wasn't enough, Stephen wrapped his arm over the small of her back.

Though she wanted this to last long, her mind drifted off to the watch and the words engraved on the back of it. Lenore pulled herself away from Stephen and saw the surprised look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Stephen." Lenore moved away from Stephen and headed straight for the door with her hand clamped over her mouth.

"Wait." Stephen quickly grabbed her hand, making her turn around and see the hurt look in Stephen's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I..." she trailed off, feeling the tears welling her eyes and were now starting to blur her vision, "I can't, Stephen. I'm sorry."

She pulled her arm from his grasp and rushed out of the room. When she came out, so did her tears. Meanwhile, Stephen stared at his ajar door, sighing dejectedly.