Silent Storm [ManxMan]

Chapter 33 ~ Surprise

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

- J.K. Rowling

[River's POV]

Okay, I'll admit. I really did think Midas mother would be a very scary lady. Don't get me wrong, I'm relived that she wasn't but you know I kind of felt pretty stupid about worrying about it before. A person who could make such heavenly cookies simply couldn't be a bad person.

"You're mother is a very nice person Midas." I said as we walked through the house, Midas giving me a tour of the place where he grew up. I liked the cozy feeling I got when walking around in here and I understood why his mother never moved away from here even after her son left home.

"Thank you, I like to think that she is." He answered but I could tell that he was distracted for some reason. Truth be told I had noticed his strange behavior a long time ago and I suspected that I knew exactly what he was thinking about.

He planned on leaving me in the dust.

Too bad I wasn't about to just roll over and let him have all the fun himself. I would never let him search for Mei himself and he was taking me for a fool if he thought that I would.

The League of Assassins weren't just a bunch of skilled people, they were seriously fantastic at what they did and I knew getting Mei back wasn't exactly going to be easy. People would end up getting hurt or even killed in the process and letting Midas go in my place didn't sit right with me.

I had planned on taking him with me because I knew he would never let me go by myself but the same should apply to him too. He couldn't simply decide to leave me in the dark while he went and cleared my business for me. I wouldn't allow it. Even though I would be happy staying here, eating cookies with his mother I knew that wasn't possible and I didn't even bother trying to imagine a scenario where I would.

"This was my room before I moved out." Midas suddenly said and I took in the room where we had just entered. The walls were light green and the furniture were all dark brown, giving the room a very nice feeling to it. I liked it because the soothing colors seemed fitting for some reason.

"Well it's nicer then I thought it would be..." I said teasingly as I gave Midas a smirk and I could see him send me an amused smirk back.

"Of course it is." He answered and I noticed that he had turned towards me and now he regarded me with a serious expression on his face. Was he thinking of how to best apprehend me? How to best render me unconscious? Was he...

When Midas moved I prepared myself for the worst but I was surprised to realize that he wasn't moving to hurt me he simply took a step closer and sent me a warm smile.

"I like you River. I really do." He said and I could feel my eyes widen when I registered the serious tone in his voice. I could feel my heart speed up and I took a step back while raising my hands and laughing slightly.

"Haha yeah... of course. Many people do hahah..." I began to ramble, trying to cover up the fact that I was suddenly feeling very cornered.

He looked at me for a few seconds, his gaze steady and then he reached his hand out and took a careful hold of mine. He intertwined our fingers and I stared at him in slight panic as he lent down closer to my face. When he stopped a couple of inches from touching my lips I blinked stupidly at him and I wondered what the hell he was thinking.

"I said I really like you and I mean it River." He breathed and I could feel the air leave my lungs as I looked into his honest eyes. He held my gaze as I searched for any traces of a lie but all I saw was a painfully obvious truth. I didn't know how I felt about that but I could feel my panic slightly subside as I stared at his calm face.