A Glance Means More Than A Word

Part 4 - His eyes full of promise

There was nobody left at the ruins, Anne had not dared to leave the place before Gilbert, unconsciously she had hoped to be able to talk to the young man one last time. Unfortunately, he never came to her, several times in the evening she had felt his gaze on her, he had even shyly smiled at her from afar.

The redhead felt troubled every time she crossed the dark-haired boy's eyes, and of course the kiss they had shared earlier was totally the cause of this new trouble. Actually she had only been thinking about that all evening, how could she have been thinking about anything else? Gilbert had kissed her, whereas just a few days ago he was arm in arm with an elegant blonde. She still couldn't believe it. But to make it real, she had to have a talk with him. And as he was not deciding to come to her, and he was about to leave, she gathered her courage, and then she exclaimed unsure of herself, "Gilbert!"

The latter turned round and saw the young redhead holding her stuff in her hand and her lamp, she was also on her way out, but she seemed to be waiting for something.

She asked, hesitantly, "I... I wondered if we could walk a bit together?"

The dark-haired boy really wasn't expecting that, so he walked over to her and said surprised, "Uh, yes... of course."

Anne seemed relieved at his answer, but as she began to walk a little path, she thought about what she might say to him. Yet before, she had never had any problem talking about everything and nothing with Gilbert, each one understood the other's ambitions, and they could talk about it for hours if they wanted to. They could also discuss lighter topics and joking about them. Thus an idea crossed her mind, what if she talked about the exams? That would be the best way to start talking softly, wouldn't it?

Suddenly she was cut off in her thoughts by the young man when they reached a crossroads, "Do you want me to take you home?", he asked with a touch of apprehension.

The girl, obviously surprised by this question, also knew that according to her answer it could mean something, but she did not know what the right answer was at that moment. 

"Yes. I-I mean, no. We can split up halfway if you want, I-I don't want you to make a long detour for me. ». 

Anne was visibly embarrassed, and by the time she finished her sentence she was exasperated by her own response. An irrational fear that he understood her intentions too much, as if she was afraid he would make fun of her for no reason. Yet he had first kissed her earlier in the evening and his intentions were clear. But she always feared something, that it was all just a dream, or even that it was just a figment of her overly fertile imagination. Love was nothing like the love written in books after all, how she could understand this situation? An even worse thought crossed her mind, and if he regretted his act, after all a kiss doesn't necessarily mean that one feels? Jerry and Diana were examples of this. Or worse still Billy kissing poor Josie, there was certainly nothing romantic about the latter situation, it certainly wasn't about...love.

"I don't mind escorting you home.", said the young man with a small smirk on his face.

She nodded shyly, "Well..."

The two teenagers continued on their way and arrived in front of the Lake of Shining Waters, Anne had still not managed to start a discussion, and it was exactly the same for the young man who was apparently also in many internal conflicts.

She had asked him to walk with him, which was already a miracle in itself, but he thought she was about to say something, maybe argue with him about his behaviour, only none of that, she was incredibly quiet. Yet she was there so close to him that he could almost have touched her hand. Was this what she wanted? Would she like to get closer to him? Maybe she couldn't take the first step after all. Or was it something else? He thought back to the way he had kissed her, it was so sudden, he was surprised by his own move. It was not for this reason that he had come to the ruins, but... How could he have predicted that when he saw the young redhead in the moonlight she would be so lovely? Perhaps he was looking for excuses, the young man did not want to admit that this idea had crossed his mind many times since he knew Anne.