The return of the Dark

4

Robin and I talked. A lot. About... everything. About the things that changed in Moonacre. How he lived those four years without his best friend. About my study - even if I didn't want to talk about it, but Robin was almost begging me to talk about it. His curiosity was almost killing him.
    He was desperate to know what was going on in the great, big world he almost never went to. The only times he had been there was when my Father died - the first time I saw him. I didn't know what would happen then.
    The other times he went out of Moonacre... he actually didn't tell me. And I didn't ask it. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it, or he thought I wasn't interested in it.
    But when we walked down the stone stairs Robin became a bit... awkward? Well, the tension between us became awkward and I had no idea why. We talked for so long that the sun started to make her way down to the land and the sea.
    'Why are you looking so... nervous?' I asked when I got tired of him. Robin looked at me and raised his eyebrows.
    'There's nothing.'
    I gave him "the look". He knew what I meant and sighed. 'Okay, fine,' he said. We stopped a few stairs above the main corridor. 'There is something I didn't tell you yet.'
    'So, what it is?' I smiled at him, letting him know that he could tell me. 'You can tell me everything, right?' He nodded and seemed like to relax a little.
    He opened his mouth, but a voice that didn't belong to him shouted his name. He closed his mouth and we both looked at the end of the corridor.
    A girl - a tough, dressed in cool black clothes girl - walked in with a big, broad smile. She was very, very pretty with twinkling, green eyes and pinkish-red lips. Her skin was kissed by the sun and her dark, long curls lied over her small shoulders.
    Robin was all nerves again and I looked at the girl. Then at Robin. I started to figure it out a little.
    'Where have you been all this time?' she asked with a voice that sounded like silver bells in the wind. She stopped next to him and put an arm around his middle.
    I raised my eyebrows and looked at them.
    'Er... Maria, this is Jesse,' he said, obviously not relaxed and nerves from tip to toe. Jesse looked at me with kind and happy eyes. She offered me her hand.
    'Hi, I'm Jesse Miller,' she said. I tried not to swallow. I shook her hand and forced a smile on my face - it felt fake and forced.
    'Maria Merryweather, nice to meet you,' I said politely. She raised an eyebrow.
    'A Merryweather, huh?' I frowned for a second, but then I forced the smile back in my face again.
Who is she? I thought.
    'Yes,' Robin said quick. 'Maria, I'd like you to meet Jesse.' A shimmering smile. 'My girlfriend.'
    I needed to process this. He had a girlfriend? A relationship?
    'Ah, I see,' I said then, Robin putting and arm around Jesse's middle, a bit hesitating. 'You're a couple.'
    Jesse nodded with enthusiasm. 'Yeah, we are! Almost a year and a half.'
    I raised my eyebrows again and gave Robin a look. He still looked a bit nervous. 'So long?' My voices trembled a bit. A year and a half. And he didn't tell me?
    'Wow.' More I couldn't say. I looked at them again.
    A perfect match, I immediately thought. How she looked and how he looked. The clothing and their appearance. Their heritage. I smiled again.
    'You guys look like a happy couple,' I said, more kind.
    'We are,' Jesse said. I nodded and looked out the window.
    'Oh dear,' I said. 'I have to go.' I already started walking to the front entrance. But Robin was faster. Within three steps he stood next to me, grabbing my arm.
'Wait a second. What do you mean "you have to go"?' he asked with a frown.
I wriggled myself out of his firm grip and took a deep breath. The smile had flew away from my face and now a difficult looking gaze settled down on my facial features. Robins jaw strained and Jesse raised an eyebrow.
'The sun is going down,' I said to him. 'It's time for me to go home. My Uncle will worry if I stay out so late. And I don't want to imagine Mrs. Heliotrope if don't come home in time.' I got an nasty taste in my mouth when I thought about that. She would get a heart attack'.
Robin nodded, still wait strained jaws. He gave me a smile - a stiff smile and his eyes didn't join in. I felt a little pain in my heart, and I didn't care about Jesse when I gave him a hug. He lied his arm around me and I felt his hot breath on my crown.
'When do I see you again?' he asked quietly. I raised my shoulders.
'I don't know,' I said honestly. 'When I have time, I guess.'
He sniffed. 'Have you ever these days?' I sniffed too. 'I have no idea.'