Take Me Home

8. Hay

Freya's P.O.V-

Freya walked out of the barn, closing the doors behind her and noticing her Grandpa heading back up to the house. She set off after him, catching up as he stopped in the middle of the trail that lead to the house to look at her.

His old eyes looked her up and down, noticing she wasn't in her nightgown and was fully dressed. He narrowed them in confusion and slight anger and Freya looked down.

"Where were you?" He asked, voice still croaky. He looked like he had just woken up not too long ago.
The sun rose in the distance, casting shadows of the two onto the ground as Freya guiltily avoided his gaze.

"I ran into town." She replied honestly, glancing back up at her Grandpa.

He frowned even more. "Before the sun came up? And without telling me?"

Freya cleared her throat, lifting her chin. "Yes. I needed to borrow something from Pastor Evan. Do I have to tell you every time I want to leave the house? I'm 17 now, I think I'm okay."

Grandpa sighed, turning toward the house and then looking back, his forehead wrinkled because of his narrowed eyes. "I know that your 17 now, but with the war going on I would appreciate knowing where you are whenever you want to go somewhere, and what's so important that you needed to wake up an hour earlier than normal to go get?" He responded, hands in his pockets.

Freya blinked, the rays from the sun brightening as it rose higher into the sky. "Again, I think I can take care of myself. And it really doesn't matter."

He sighed, frustrated. "Fine. Look, Freya. I'm just trying to take care of you. Until you get older and some man can, Grandma and I are determined to. Whether you like it or not."

She paused, then shook her head. "Well, I highly doubt that'll happen any time soon. Just remember, I can survive on my own two feet."

He nodded, looking back toward the house. "Why don't you help your grandma cook dinner tonight? She would like that, you know."

Freya sighed. "Alright."

Grandpa half smiled, relaxing a bit. "I'll leave you alone now. Just don't go too far. Or get yourself killed." He turned around and continued making his way up to the house, Freya watching as he opened the doors and disappeared, doors closing behind him.

She turned, unsure what she should do. She knew that she couldn't spend too much time in the loft with Axel, her Grandparents would figure something out and find out about it. But she didn't want to go inside the house, because then she might get stuck doing some chores or something else. She brushed the few strands of hair that had fallen out of her messy bun behind her ears and made her way back down to the barn. She needed to get some stuff done in there anyways.

Reopening the doors, she left them open so some light would shine through, creating shadows and outlines along the wooden walls as she made her way to the horse food. Picking up a few carrots, she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, drawing the horses attention as she held the carrots out, feeding two from their stalls. Apparently, she hadn't only drawn the horses attention, because she felt a few pieces of hay land on her head and she looked up.

Axel was leaning over the edge of the loft, elbow on the edge as he looked down at her, his beautiful green eyes wide in curiosity as he glanced toward the door questioningly. Freya smiled up at him, shaking her head and hoping he understood that her Grandpa was gone. She reached up and plucked the hay off her head and dropped it. Returning her focus on the horses, who had eaten the carrots and were looking for more, she headed toward the other two, grabbing two more carrots and feeding them.