Heart Like a Machine

Chapter 13

"Is Y/N here, Erend?" I asked walking in.

"Yeah, she's passed out on the floor. She said that you should get the spare bed."

I looked over at the medium size bed that was there, "I think we can share it."

"Do you need help lifting her?"

"I got it," I said and walked over to her, carefully picking her up.

I set her down on the bed and made sure she was comfortable. I pulled the fur blanket over her before walking over to Erend.

"What happened when you found her?" he asked.

"It's a long and complicated story, but when we were coming here, we were talking about relationships and such. Her parents mentioned it before we left the tribe. Her dad thought that she could possibly have feelings for me and I told her now is not the best time to get into a relationship. And I basically repeated that conversation tonight."

"What did she do before she ran off?"

"Her and I were talking, having a heart to heart. And she got really close to me."

"How close?"

"Like maybe a few inches from me."

"That's pretty close, Aloy."

"I know it is. She said something and then left. I was trying to process what just happened, but by the time I wanted to catch her, she was already long gone from the house. That's when you got back and we started to look for her."

"She really does seem to like you," he said and looked over at her.

"We've known each other since we were younger. She was my first friend. And I hope to keep it that way, her being my friend."

"If there's one thing I need to tell you, Aloy, don't push people away. I know it might be hard since you were raised alone and people pushed you out of their lives and out of the tribe, but she's something special. You hold a special place for her in your heart, don't you?"

"I guess you could say something like that."

"You should at least give her a chance. Let down your guard and let her in. If you two do end up in a relationship, be there for one another and support each other. She's probably one of your biggest supporters right now. You don't want to lose her."

I nodded, "Y-You're right."

Erend yawned before stretching, "I'm going to head to bed. You should too. We had a long day today with fighting and everything."

"Goodnight, Erend," I said and walked over to the empty space beside Y/N.

She was laying facing the wall and I crawled in beside her, getting close to her like how she had gotten close to me earlier in the night. I carefully reached over and put a strand of her H/C hair behind her ear, really admiring her from this angle. I smiled to myself before reaching over and extinguishing the torch that was nearby. I got comfortable in bed before I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep. 

My eyes fluttered open to see I was sleeping beside Aloy. The last thing I remembered was drinking until I passed out on the floor. I had such a pounding headache now from the hangover. I slowly got out of the bed, grabbed my bow and spear, and walked out of the house. I quietly closed the door behind me and walked out of Meridian. I walked over to a nearby creek to see there were fish swimming about. Before catching one, I made a small fire nearby so I could cook it. I readied my arrow and shot a fish in the head. Grabbing the arrow and pulling the fish out, I placed the arrow above the fire and started turning it so it could evenly cook on all sides. 

When it was all finished and cooked, I picked it up and began to eat it while it was still on the arrow. Everything came flooding back to me as I was eating. The conversation I had with Aloy before running off and then the conversation we had before I went back to Erend's. I stopped eating since remembering everything was making me more and more upset. I took the fish off of the arrow and looked around, seeing if there was anything nearby that would eat it. Emerging from a bush nearby was a fox. I tossed the fish to it and it first backed away, but started to eat it once it knew what it was. I slowly reached over and ran my hand through its fur, feeling how soft it was.

"I wish I was like you, you know. Wild and free, not having to deal with emotions."

"But it's what makes you human."

I turned to see Aloy was behind me.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

"N-Not at all."

She sat down beside me and watched the fish swim by.

"Early morning fishing?"

"Yeah."

"About last night," she said.

"I know you mean well, Aloy. So let's not talk about this subject unless it comes up once more."

She nodded her head, "Understood."

We both sat in silence for a bit before Aloy stood up and held out her hand. I looked up and took her hand, in which she pulled me up.

"Come on," she said and took off her shoes.

"Where are we going?"

She walked into the creek and began to walk around in the water. I slipped my shoes off and followed in after her. We at first didn't do much, until Aloy kicked some water at my legs, getting my pants wet.

"Aloy," I laughed, trying to splash her back, but she moved back only to splash me more.

"That does is," I said and bent down, bringing some water up to splash her.

She laughed and did the same as well, splashing me in the face. I shook the water droplets from my face and let out a laugh. I splashed water into her face, causing her to step back and wipe her face. We both stood up and wiped our faces off. I looked over at her and with the right direction of the sun, the water droplets reflected the light and it made Aloy's face appear a lot brighter. I smiled, feeling my face grow a bit warmer than before and feeling my heart race faster. I was doomed.