daughter of esmund

Eighteen

A/N: Hey y'all! Welcome back! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and if you do please leave a vote and comment any feedback you may have, it would be greatly appreciated! Also, I'm just going to state this in case you didn't see the community post, don't kill me. Also, there is another question for y'all to think about at the end of the chapter again! Anyways, enjoy! - Joya

Word Count: 1672 (I promise there are some longer ones coming)

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The next day...

Annie's POV

I didn't really talk to Laurence after we got back to Meteli. Once we arrived at the gate we almost immediately went separate ways. He went to find Aphmau and I went to find, anyone really. I haven't talked to him at all today either, even before we left Meteli. We only have made some quick, awkward eye contact every once in a while. Something told me that what happened the day before ended up being a bit much for both of us. Not just the kiss but...the context surrounding it. I really hope I didn't freak him out about the whole 'Princess' thing. I want to talk to him about it, but I'm also nervous to do so. I don't want to have given him the wrong idea or have him think that I got the wrong idea, but I also don't want to do that by asking him about it. I know all of this is stupid and childish, but I can't seem to help it.

Our awkward moments of brief eye contact continue throughout the group's trip back to Phoenix Drop. At first, I'm pretty confident that no one is noticing them, but then I see Vylad's...suspicious expression as he catches one. Well damn, the cat's out of the bag now, isn't it? So now I'm left praying with every bone in my body that he won't question it. And he doesn't, thank Irene. I wonder how much strength he had to muster to do that. Well, at least he doesn't until he catches it again. Now he's managed to squeeze by Katelyn, somewhat smoothly, and walk in time with me. He raises his eyebrows a bit as he matches my pace, and in response, I copy the expression. It seems to crack him up a bit, causing him to snort. He continues by doing a quick nod in Laurence's direction. Trying to keep my composure, I smirk and nod in Laurence's direction as well. That's all I need to do to cause us both to start laughing. After a few moments, he shakes it off, "No, but seriously, what is that?"

I raise an eyebrow, "What is what?"

He rolls his eyes, my smile growing, "What's going on between you two?"

I blush a bit, shaking my head, "N-nothing! Heh, we're just messing around."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Vylad," I warn him.

His smile grows, "Annie.."

His nosiness continues for another half hour, and I manage to dodge having to tell him the truth pretty well. My responses vary anywhere from sarcastic comments to complete silence, which doesn't really matter because neither ends of the spectrum give anything away. I'd be pretty oblivious to my attitude at this point if I weren't to say that I'm a bit confident in my ability to hide what happened yesterday from him. Also, it's incredibly fun to annoy him sometimes. What can I say? I am the youngest. I manage to keep deflecting a straight answer before he asks his final question.

"What happened in the forest yesterday?"

My face erupts in a bright red blush as I shove him in the shoulder, hard. He starts to laugh, playfully putting his arm around me. All I do is roll my eyes and sink further into the jacket I'm wearing. He shakes his head, "Come on, that already told me something happened.."

I huff, keeping quiet as if I ignored his continuous poking would stop if I didn't acknowledge it...but it doesn't. I know he means well and I know he means to annoy me, but I really don't want him to get protective. For example, when I was a kid I tutored with this boy, Daxton. He was the son of another higher up in O'khasis, though I can't remember which one. One day he brought me a flower from the garden outside and after we finished all of our work for the day I ran home all excited and told Garroth and Vylad all about it. Next thing I know they're threatening this eight-year-old about what would happen if he broke my heart. The poor kid freaked out so much that his mother changed his tutoring time and he never spoke to me again. I don't blame them for being protective, especially Vylad for what he's witnessed, but...it's just a bit overbearing sometimes. So as Vylad keeps asking, I feel my patience begin to grow thin.