Begin Again

Chapter 11

(RYAH)

I walked out into the meadow and saw that Torin had already arrived. He was sitting up on the beam that would be the roof of my new home. I stood there for a moment watching as he secured the beams into their places. I had told him to wait for me but he typically didn't wait for me to get there before he started working. He wasn't very good at listening. 

"I know you're over there." He said just loud enough that I could hear him. I sighed and hurried over to where he was working. "Good morning!" He called. 

"I thought you were going to wait for me today!" I said. 

"I thought that I'd get an early start," He shrugged. 

I looked around at what was the start of my home. We had been working together for a few days and had made a lot of progress. There were four large beams that had been buried deep in the ground. Smaller beams would be secured between them to make up the walls of my home. I looked down at all of our progress and realized just how much time we had spent together. Slowly I began to realize what day it was. 

It had been three months since the day that Torin had returned from the first raid. It was three months ago today that I found out that Eric had died. I felt immensely guilty for letting the days get away from me. How could I have forgotten something as important as that?

"Ryah?" Torin called and I looked up at him. He jumped off the beam and hurried down to stand in front of me. "What's wrong?" He asked and I realized that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I sniffed and wiped at them with my sleeve. 

"It's nothing." I whispered and moved away from him. He reached out and grabbed my wrist so I couldn't get away. "Let go of me!" I practically yelled at him and jerked my arm out of his grasp.I took a few steps away from him and wiped at my eyes. I felt foolish for letting him see me cry. I didn't want to let him see me break down. Torin walked around to stand in front of me. 

"Talk to me, Ryah," He said reaching forward to put his hands on my shoulders. I didn't pull away from him even though I wanted to. 

"It's been three months," I whispered.   

"What?"

"It's been three months since you came back," I said a bit louder as I looked up at him.

His eyes softened as he realized what I was talking about and he pulled me close. His arms wrapped around my back and I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. I didn't want to think about how right his hug felt. 

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(TORIN)

"I haven't seen you for awhile, where have you been hiding yourself?" Rollo asked.

"I've been busy," Torin said as he bit into a hunk of bread. 

Rollo waited expectantly for Torin to give him a real answer. Torin just grinned as he took another huge bite of the bread. 

"You're not going to give me a real answer are you?"

"Nope!" Torin replied.

"Maybe I'll just go and ask Ryah what you've been up to." 

Torin paused his chewing for a split second then continued and took another bite. Rollo pushed himself away from the table. 

"Which direction is her family's farm? East or West? I can't ever remember..." Rollo trailed off as he walked away from the table. 

"Fine!" Torin said as he took a big gulp from the cup in front of him. "I have been spending time with Ryah, if you must know."

"What have you been doing all this time?"