Informing You

Chapter Four: The Days Spent Together

Arthur walked to his kitchen and gripped the countertop, he breathed heavily. "Bloody heck..." he muttered, "What's wrong with me?"

All this time, since the first moment he saw her barely two days ago, he's had this odd feeling in his chest he couldn't properly place. One that made him feel sick, but in a good way. It confused him; frustrated him. Why couldn't things make sense? Be easy? He straightened back up and looked at himself in the reflexion of a hanging pot. He was blushing and his hair was all messed up. He grunted in annoyance as he fixed his hair quickly, then grabbed a glass of water and a bottle of Ibuprofen.

When he got back to the room she was sitting up, a pained look on her face. He set the glass down and poured four pills into his hand before sitting down and handing them to her. Anna took the pills and popped them into her mouth, then drank the water that he gave her. "Thank you, Arthur." she said, handing him back the glass.

He smiled as he placed the glass back down, "It's nothing." he looked back up to her, then hesitantly brushed a lock of hair from her face. "You wanted to ask me something?"

"What happened?" Anna said, hoarsely, "What happened with those guys?"

Arthur looked away, finding the glass on the table more interesting now than the conversation. "I..." he couldn't say what had happened, not to her. There were too many fears in his head, what if it would scare her? What if he scared her? No, he wouldn't risk it. "I knocked them off of you." He would not say the details, he decided.

"You look fine." she mumbled, now fiddling with the hem of the bedsheet.

"Countries heal really quick." he smiled. It was a lie of a sort, but he wouldn't let her on to that. He grasped her small hand in his and squeezed it, reassuringly.

"Can I call you Artie?" she asked, half asleep now. She had this feeling in her chest when he touched her, like an electric shock through her body.

"Sure." he shrugged. He didn't know why he didn't mind her calling him that. He liked it, for some reason, he seemed to feel....fluffy...inside when she said it.

She huffed a breath of air and closed her eyes gently before jerking them open again, "Did you sleep in that chair all night?"

Arthur puffed his cheeks out slightly, not wanting to admit that he was there the whole night. But, he had already sort of lied to her so far... he decided not to do it again. "Yes." he responded.

Anna patted the empty side of the bed next to her, "Get some good rest, then."

"I...uhm...." he blushed furiously, "Uh....hemm..." he was totally flustered, reduced to a mumbling mess.

"Don't argue." Anna warned, "I don't want you misreading a label and giving me the wrong pills..." She slowly drifted off, when her breathing became even, he grabbed his teddy bear from the top of his cedar chest and curled up with it on the open side of the bed, his back facing her. He felt at ease with her by his side, yet awkward at the same time.

The following weeks were interesting for them both, as they found themselves going out pretty much every night, even after Anna went back to her place; it made her sister very suspicious, and her general family quite shocked. She never used to like even the thought of going outside. They went to dinners, movies, lunch dates, museum tours, and today, they found themselves in Hyde Park, smiling and laughing as they spoke to one another, relishing each other's voices.

"So, tomorrow night, can you come over to my place?" Arthur asked, blushing as he did.

The British girl smiled and nodded, "Sure, love. What time?"