Revolution

Chapter 6: Presents

She woke up small feet padding across her face and a furry tail tickling her nose. Laughing sleepily, she grabbed Chip off her face and cuddled him against her chest.

"So you'll wake up for him and not for me." Althea's smile grew wider when a pair of blue eyes met hers. She quickly kicked off the blanket and sat up on the edge of the bed with him, patting down his hair which was sticking up in all different directions.  

"You're just simply not as cute." She replied, stroking Chip's fur and placing him on the bedside table before picking up a hair tie and pulling her hair into a high ponytail. Honestly, Althea had always been insecure about her features, ever since she was a child. She had jet black hair that ended halfway down her back, arched eyebrows and full lips. Not that there was anything wrong with any of these things, the problem was that they just didn't work with her eyes. Golden eyes. Who even has golden eyes? Her whole face just seemed like an offensive combination.

"You're doing that thing again." Tate warned, standing up and moving behind her so he could be seen in the mirror.

"What thing?" She asked, dividing her hair into two parts and pulling on the strands to tighten the ponytail.

"You're looking at yourself like you're not beautiful." His words were so soft, Althea had to crane her neck to hear him. She dropped her hands down to her side and looked at him from the mirror. His eyes were kind and gentle, but there was also something there that she had never seen before.

"I assure you, I am nothing of the sort." Althea huffed, nudging him gently with her elbow like he had told her a humorous joke, but she couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. Eager to get out of the situation, she hastily picked up her day clothes from her chair and made her way towards the door. But before she could walk out, Tate caught her hand and spun her around to face him. "What-"

"Happy 15th Birthday, Thea."

Althea blinked at him, mouth agape in shock.

"Thea, tell me you did not forget about your birthday again."

"I-uh... Actually, it feels like I had it not long ago."

"That's the thing about birthdays Thea, they come every year." Tate said, looking thoroughly amused.

"And every year, you're here to remind me," Althea smiled, gently tapping his nose with her finger, "now let me go or I'm going to have to forcibly shove you to one side." Reluctantly, he let go of her hand and she playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"Wait," Tate blurted as Althea was almost out the door, "don't you want to know what your birthday present is?"

"What?" She asked curiously as she made her way back into the room. The scene she saw next made her drop her bundle of clothes in shock. Tate was laying on the bed, leaning his head on one hand and the other bent at his waist. His brown hair was pushed to one side and his eyes were filled with mischief. Althea decided that his pose resembled a sea cow she had seen lying on the rocks while she was on her morning run. It took all of her willpower not to laugh at him. Tate's lips bent up into a lopsided grin and parted again to form one word.

"Me."

She had never walked away so fast in her entire life.

***

Althea sharply inhaled the crisp morning air. Due to her hasty exit, she was still wearing her nightgown. But there was no way she was going back into her room to pick up her clothes. A small blush crept up onto her skin as she replayed Tate's 'present' in her mind. She shook off the fluttering feeling and told herself that she was just embarrassed for him. All the same, it had been endearing to know that he had remembered her birthday. Again. She was grateful to have Tate in her life, even though he seemed to have a habit of causing trouble, he was really popular with people. Especially the villagers. He cracked jokes, charmed them, made them laugh, even when it seemed almost impossible to remain positive.

Seven years ago, the leaders of the villagers had collectively decided to evacuate the hideout because too many people were residing there and the Royals were noticing the lack of people in each of the villages. The leaders decided the hideout would only be used to shelter from predicted attacks. Of course, the people weren't happy and lashed out towards the leaders for being too slow to bring them freedom. But Althea had felt that the harshest blows were directed at her personally. They hurled words at her that made her want to block her ears and scream. But even back then, it was Tate that had calmed them down. It was Tate that had grabbed her hand and reassured her with the gentle strokes of his thumb. He was the roots to her tree and she'd be lost without him by her side.

"Watch where you're going, young lady."

While lost in thought, Althea had accidentally bumped into someone. She turned her head around and to her shock, it was the old man who was in charge of the library. She went there at once every two days and even though he didn't talk much, Althea considered him as a close friend.

"Zeb!" She beamed happily.

"That's 'sir' to you. And I'm still waiting on my apology."

"Sorry sir, I was too careless."

He looked her up and down and shook his head disapprovingly. Prodding her with his walking stick.

"You must have been if you didn't even change today."

"Um... That-" Then as if on queue, she saw Tate running towards her, with her coat in his hand, waving it around and earning some strange looks from the people walking by. Zeb grunted at the scene and quickly shoved a package into Althea's hand before making an exit out of the streets.

"What were you doing with Grumps?" Tate asked a second later, draping the coat over her shoulders and leaning his chin against her shoulder.

"Don't call him that! No wonder he doesn't like you."

"Ahhh... That may be true," he smirked, "but as long as you like me, I'm willing to ignore everyone else's opinions."

"Very charming, I'm sure," Althea rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the package. She carefully tore it open and her eyes lit up when she saw the contents. "A book!" She waved it excitedly in Tate's face. "Remind me to thank Zeb when I next see him."

"Can you read it to me?" Tate asked, still peering over her shoulder.

"Yes, but I have to speak to papa, he made it sound really serious. So maybe later."

"Meet me by the river then?" He asked, turning her around so they were looking each other in the eye.

"Yeah," she replied, giving him a warm smile, "and thanks for the coat."

"Anytime, sweetie," he gave her a cheeky wink, "and by the way..."

"Hmm?"

"My present was way better.