Discoveries | TMR | Three

2:1

The next afternoon, none of the travellers have returned from their trip, Adeline has still yet to be allowed to venture from her cabin, and her mind continues to reel from Nick's confession.

Was it a confession? She is not sure. It certainly sounded like one, yet it could have also stemmed from a place of reassurance; from him wanting to show her that not every person in this goddamn Harbour did not think so lowly of her. A mere attempt at persuasion to make her believe that she is not the raging bitch she thinks she is.

Whatever it is, Adeline had not expected his comment, and she had certainly not expected for his finger to interlock with hers. It was only in that moment did she even realise they were lying on the same bed. Barely a foot apart, facing each other; staring at each other. It was odd, for whilst the first reaction in her brain was to pull away and create some distance, her body had not adhered to those signals.

Instead, she remained rooted to the spot, allowing his finger to intertwine with hers; allowing their skin to make contact in a manner in which she would otherwise reject. All she could do was gaze into his eyes, and how, in the flickering hue of her lamp, they seemed to perfectly mirror the soft flames from within. A dark, rich hazel, with sprinklings of citrine that made them appear bright and blinding.

She had never noticed how... intriguing they are, but then again, she also does not believe that she has ever been in such close proximity to him as she was last night. Close enough to see the kaleidoscope of warm, autumn colours, all mixed and molded into one pair of striking eyes.

And in the moment, she felt something simmer within her mind. Nostalgia, perhaps? No, it could not possibly be. One cannot feel nostalgic over something one has never experienced.

No, it certainly was not nostalgia, but rather...

"Adeline, dearest." Lily's voice overrides her thoughts. "Are you listening?"

"What?" Adeline flinches, her vision gawking wide-eyed at the woman's reflection in the mirror behind her.

She had, in fact, not been listening to the woman. Had not heard a single word uttered for at least the last ten minutes; her mind trapped elsewhere, in a little world of its own.

"I think the word you seek is 'pardon'," Lily gently reminds her, stood with her hands on Adeline's shoulders and giving her a soft warning glare. "And I can presume from your response that you were not listening?"

"Sorry, I didn't hear what you said," she mumbles, only half paying attention as her entire thoughts are consumed by that tiny moment.

It is all she can concentrate on; like a dead bug on a windscreen.

"I asked you what you would like to do with your hair," Lily repeats.

"Oh. Uh... just do whatever, I suppose."

"Shave it off," Daniel pipes up from the corner of the room.

The older woman shushes him, turning her head to glower at him for a mere second before directing her attention back to the redheaded girl. "It is your hair, my dear," she says. "I cannot be the one to tell you what you must do with it."

Adeline sighs. Honestly, she could not care less about her hair right now. "I don't know. I think it's too long though. Could you cut it to here?" She uses the length of her index finger to stretch across the hair just beneath her shoulders; the very same finger Nick held the night before. "You think that'll be fine?"

Lily takes a second or two, peeling the young girls hair from her shoulders and resting it down her spine. "I believe that will work," she comments. "I should be capable of salvaging it, though I must advise, it will hurt."