Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter VI - Time

Author's Note:

It's been a long night :D (and the day after), sorry about that. But adventures are coming ;) I hope you're all enjoying the second book, despite the plot being a bit heavy on the angst and awkwardness so far O:) But that was probably to be expected :D
In any case, I hope you'll enjoy the read. This chapter is very short, but it's a necessary setup.

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"Princess... come on, don't go."

Bishop's words made her stop in her tracks for a spell, but she had no intention of staying again.

"I want to. I don't wanna fight," she sighed. She didn't want to talk at all, even if they weren't arguing. Even when they tried to talk casually, it always led to something uncomfortable and exasperating.

"So? We don't have to. We don't have to talk at all. Sweetness this is stupid. Let's just... go to Morthal together. Not like we never fought before and we could still stand to at least walk the same way," he scoffed. Whenever she got so adamant about leaving, it broke him down a little. He understood if she didn't want to deal with their problems or the past yet, but it always felt like she couldn't even stand the sight of him. He dreaded that being the truth.

"Things are different now..." she mumbled in response. Everything felt different now.

"Yeah, no shit," he scoffed. "Fuck. I feel like I can't say anything and get a response I would actually expect," he shook his head in exasperation.

"Oh, sorry I'm making it impossible for you to assume my reactions. Is it harder to lie to me and manipulate me that way?!" she spat at him as a scowl decorated her face instantly. Why would he need to know how she would react? To just pick and choose what to tell her so that she'd take him back. Did he not realize that he was doing the exact same thing that he had done before? He just assumed she would go after Thorn, disregard all his warnings and that was why he hid everything from her. He decided her reaction before she could! It made her oddly happy that he was so frustrated now, unable to do that again.

It was a little nerve-racking for her too though, she never knew what words would suddenly make her feel this way again. Angry and overwhelmed. Or just confused and scared of dealing with her thoughts.

"What?! That's not what I..." Bishop stared at her in initial shock before a desperate look took over his face. "Fuck." He looked both guilty and hurt at the same time.

Aeyrin could see that he was at the end of his rope there. She could see how desperately he didn't want things to leave off like this, how frustrated he got with the direction their talk took again.

It made her feel a little guilty too.

Now she felt like she was the one toying with his reactions. Although she never intended to.

She was right all along, this was a bad idea.

They ended on a good note back at the cabin. And she ruined it by chasing him down. Now things were only getting worse.

"Bishop, I... I should really go. Let's just... give it some time, please?" she gave him a regretful look. She wasn't sure if more time apart would fix anything, but she knew that she needed to get away from him before things got even worse again.

He didn't look very thrilled about that.

In fact, he looked almost heartbroken.

Divines, that just made her feel more awful.

This time, however, he didn't protest.

He still stood there in the middle of the road as she turned his back to him and headed towards Morthal in quick strides.