Old Friends (Wirt x Reader)

Chapter 18

The woman bombarded poor Wirt with questions. "Where might your brother be?" "How have your journeys been?" "What brings you to our tavern?" on and on. You would have offered some help in answering them, but the longer it took her to notice you again, the better. Eventually though, she did take note of you once more, and the smile that fell upon her made your stomach drop.

Don't do something stupid, you thought.

"Who is the young lady?" she asked Wirt.

"She's uh- She's my friend," Wirt spoke quickly.

"A special friend?" she hinted.

"No!" Wirt exclaimed. He almost said more, but took it back.

Even though you two had been on a date, you knew it was wise to try leaving it at friends in the eyes of these people. The woman kept her smile all the same.

"Just friends," you assured her.

She leaned over to you and whispered, "He hasn't made his move yet? Don't worry, he's just shy."

You resented the fact that your cheeks reddened at her statement. You weren't embarrassed, why blush? The woman chuckled at your reaction. Wirt then glanced at you inquiringly. You shook your head slightly, trying to tell him not to worry about it.

"You two are welcome to stay as long as you'd like," she said to both of you, handing Wirt a key.

"Thank you," Wirt smiled slightly. He turned to you and whispered quickly. "The sooner we can get away from these people, the better."

You nodded, and you both stood quietly. The key Wirt had been given had a piece of wood dangling from a string; the wood had a big 3 painted on it. It was pretty self explanatory. It wasn't long before you'd come to a door marked 3. Wirt stuck the key in and opened the door. You both stepped into the dark room.

Wirt borrowed a candle from the hall to light the one in the room. In the soft light you took in some of the details of the room. A window sat in the middle of the wall opposite the door. Wood made up most of the room, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. The bed had coarse, thick blankets. Then it dawned on you that only one bed was in the room.

Wirt noticed, as well. He gathered one of the pillows and one of the blankets.

"I'll uh, I can take the floor," he said.

You felt weird about him being on the floor and you in the bed, but your dad always said to let the boy be the gentleman, and you didn't want to share the bed. And confronting the people outside again? too risky; you both knew that. You nodded slightly.

You helped him construct a makeshift bed on the floor out of blankets and the pillow. It didn't appear uncomfortable.

After all the walking, you thought you would be more tired, but you felt surprisingly awake.

"Will the Woodsman be able to help?" you asked, sitting on the floor next to Wirt.

"I think so," he thought. "I mean, he meant us well last time."

You nodded. The debate in your mind stirred again. At this point, you found yourself dreading the return home. Your mind knew what was most likely going to happen and what you needed to do, but you still found yourself fighting it. The thought seemed to always make you sigh, but you tried not to this time. You didn't want to bring it up with Wirt.

"At least the people here didn't go crazy," you noted.

"That's surely a good thing," Wirt smiled. "I expected much worse."

"From your stories, I did, too," you smiled back. "We covered our story well."

You two attempted at conversation for a while longer before deciding rest was needed for the next day. You both made yourselves comfortable for sleeping.

"Goodnight, Wirt," you said softly, blowing out the candle.

"Goodnight, (y/n)," Wirt said back.