<span style="color: #FF0000">There was still the hesitation there, that was plain enough to see, but she seemed determined to try. After some more playful banter and splashing they headed home to get showered and changed for the coming night. For some reason he felt more excited than he was last time, less nervous and more upbeat than he had been for his first night out. The shower was quick, so as to allow Eilidh more than enough hot water to shower. <br/><br/>A trim of his beard, the scruff he had grown he was something he had grown fond of even if before the idea of facial hair had been off putting. <br/><br/>For clothing he decided to keep it simple and casual. A white t-shirt and some jeans with a pair of boots, nothing fancy, but he thought he looked pretty good. <br/><br/>“You about ready?”  he called to her from the livingroom where he waited.</span><br/><br/>His shower was quick, and hers was anything but. Her hope was that the warm water would somehow ease her tension, but it wasn’t working. If anything, it was only working to make her nauseated, overwhelmed with the urge to vomit the more she thought about how things were going to go tonight. Eidhin wanted to go, though, so she’d try...even if she was feeling awkward about the dream she’d had, and hadn’t told him about it to keep things from being awkward.<br/><br/>As the water turned off, she continued her mantra of “things will go fine, stop worrying,” in hopes that the repetition would get her to really believe what she was thinking. Did it work? No, but she gave it a hell of a try.<br/><br/>So, when he called out to her, she’d finished dressing, walking out of the room...and was met with the sight of his back. Eyes working from his legs up, she took in the curve of the muscles, the way they moved as he did, the subtle flex as he rose an arm or shifted. Without notice, her lower lip ended up in her mouth as her eyes honed in on the muscles of his upper back in that shirt, already beginning to remember more bits and pieces of her dream.<br/><br/>...And then she snapped out of it. What was a look of interest (that he thankfully didn’t see) was suddenly one of confused disgust.<span style="font-style: italic">No no no no no no no no no,</span>“No!” The last accidentally vocalized, without even meaning to, eyes wide as she was staring unseeing at Eidhin’s form, gaze wholly unfocused while she tried to tell herself to stop being an idiot.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Eidhin had been blissfully focused on checking out his wallet and its contents to notice anything else. About the only thing that he did notice was the vocalized, <span style="font-style: italic">No</span> which drew his attention and had him arching a brow in confusion. <br/><br/>“Um…if you aren’t ready you could just say that and not shout at me…” confusion clear in his voice while he just looked her over. “Though you looked ready to me…pretty even,” he remarked in an almost offhanded manner. “But, if you need more time that is perfectly fine. Don’t want you rushing on account of me.”</span><br/><br/>Her eyes suddenly focused, looking at his confused look and blushing terribly.<span style="font-style: italic">...I...I said it aloud?</span>came a mortified thought, mentally facepalming as she clambered for something, anything, to give as the reason for her sudden outburst. The compliment was momentarily forgotten as she focused on trying to find something to use as explanation. “No, no it wasn’t you!” she said with what she hoped was a convincing, smile and embarrassed laugh. “I was going over my checklist and the shoes I was considering were just...all wrong.”<span style="font-style: italic">Yeah, because you’re the sort to care about shoes. Right.</span><br/><br/>Walking past him, she slid her feet into a pair of sandals, standing back up when it hit her. “Oh...and thank you...for the compliment.”<span style="font-style: italic">He thinks I’m pretty...well, if he thinks I’m pretty, I must look go-NO STOP THAT!</span>“Thought I’d try something different for a change.” Then, without warning, her eyes traveled over him, mind going a lot further than what he was currently wearing even as she berated herself to knock it off. “You look…” A nod was given first while she struggled to find a word. “Good. You look good.” After that, all she wanted was air. Lots of air.<br/><br/>“Alright, you ready? I’m going to go wait outside.”<br/><br/>With that, she was out the door.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Dear lord, get a grip! Stop checking your brother out!<br/><br/>Well...he’s not my brother...not really…<br/><br/>STOP JUSTIFYING IT!</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Eidhin was not sure if she was acting weird because of what he had said, or because of latent concerns about going out tonight. For the moment, he chose to brush it off and instead checked to make sure he had everything before he followed her outside. Once outside, time was taken to lock up and then go about checking their traps. When it was all said and done he joined her, “Ready?” <br/><br/>Together they made the long trek back into town; the conversation was light and friendly. Jokes thrown about as per usual and he assumed that everything was perfectly fine as they entered town. This time they went to another pub, one that she was less known at but a warming greeting they still received none the less. It was with two frothy pints in hand that he returned to their table a big grin on his face. <br/><br/>“Nothing like a couple of pints to start the night off, right?” he said and reclaimed his seat at the table.</span><br/><br/>It was while they were walking that she fell back into their natural rhythm. Nothing felt awkward or forced, and it allowed her to relax, to put her own awkward feelings to the side and instead keep up with the conversation, the banter. And, where he picked the venue, she had no idea where they were going, so the feeling of excitement at the unknown was one she felt intensely, palms almost sweaty and nearly jittery with the idea of going out.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Not on a date, though,</span>she reminded herself.<span style="font-style: italic">Just going out with Eidhin, like normal.</span><br/><br/>So, when they walked into the pub, free of a bunch of happy-go-lucky, yelling drunkards, her excitement almost grew exponentially. Yes, they were greeted warmly, but it wasn’t one where she’d get picked up and put on the bar in front of her “adoring fans”, which meant that they weren’t as apt to be bothered. Not that she was counting on it being solely alone time…<br/><br/>His smile was met with a happy one of her own, hands accepting the tankard and taking a nice, long sip off, licking the foam free of her upper lip afterward. “My thoughts exactly!” she replied. “Perfect way to start the night; We’ll see how many I can drink you under the table before the night’s through, though. You may not think it so awesome when you’re staggering drunk.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">For some reason he had his eyes on her lips as she licked away the foam. He was not sure why his gaze had been drawn to that action or the reason for his fixation but there it was. When it ended he merely gave himself a mental shake and focused on the task at hand. Which was, of course, to drink her tiny ass under the table where she belongs. <br/><br/>“Did we not learn from last time?” he joked and then downed his pint. “Really think you can beat me?” he asked while he licked away the foam from his lips. “I’m going to get us each another one,” he stood. “You best be done before I get back,” he said in mock warning. From there he made his way over to the bar and ordered a couple more pints. <br/><br/>As he waited for them, his eye was caught by a cute brunette at the end of the bar. Cute would be about the only word he could use to describe her. As she was not what he would call pretty and there was something about her that one could only ever describe as just being cute. Perhaps it was the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose? Or the fact that her nose was indeed too small for her face making it looked pinched? Slender was her frame and what curves she might have had, they certainly were modest. <br/><br/>There was boldness to her hazelnut eyes, which is likely what fueled her trip over to him. <br/><br/>“Hello,” her voice was not as soft as he thought it would be. <br/><br/>“Hello,” he replied in turn with a friendly smile. <br/><br/>“I have not seen you around here before, new in town?” she asked as she leaned on the bar, he assumed the effort was to try and block his view of everything save for her.<br/><br/>“Nope. Lived here my whole life,” he remarked easily. <br/><br/>“Really? I think I would have remembered seeing someone like you before,” she replied with a coy smile on her lips, her hand with brashness was placed on his shoulder. <br/><br/>A look was spared to look at her hand for a moment, before he looked back to her face. “I like to keep to myself for the most part,” he replied easily enough. <br/><br/>“That’s a shame. I don’t think that anyone should be alone,” her hand rubbed up and down his shoulder. “Maybe you should have some company for tonight?” <br/><br/>Again his eyes went to her hand, though he still did not move to stop her. “I should, huh? Who should that be?”<br/><br/>“Hmm…I don’t know…maybe me?” she smiled.</span><br/><br/>She’d noticed how his eyes had fixated on her lips. She’d noticed it and secretly reveled in it, her mind focusing on the fact that he’d focused on her lips. Focus there was good, right? Coilin had certainly focused there before he’d worked up the courage to give her a kiss, and he’d readily focused there frequently. So if Eidhin was fixating there, then that mea-<span style="font-style: italic">It doesn’t mean anything! It was just the movement of it! You focus on things that move all the time!</span><br/><br/>So, when he got up to go get them more pints, she was already grinning, lifting her own pint in reply as she watched his fleeting back. His...muscled...fleeting back. A sound was made beneath her breath, something akin to the “mm mmmm” that you might hear when someone was eating and appreciating the taste, shortly cut off as she finished off her pint and turned her attention to the others around her. No one was jumping out at her, not initially, allowing her focus to then turn to the music. Humming along, she continued to people watch, oblivious to the scene at the bar.<br/><br/>Only when the song ended and another began did she notice his absence was growing long. Her brow furrowing, she glanced up toward it and growled. Once again, though, the sound was cut off.<span style="font-style: italic">You have no reason to growl. Eidhin’s just talking to someone...that thing you do where you hold a conversation with someone <span style="font-weight: bold">not</span> inside your head, or with your sister,</span>she told herself<span style="font-style: italic">Not that I’m his sister…</span>came the correction two seconds later.<span style="font-style: italic">We were having a conversation, weren’t we? He was getting <span style="font-weight: bold">us</span> drinks, was he not? And now he’s stalling? Well that’s just...rude, isn’t it? Stopping to talk to so-What is she doing?!</span><br/><br/>A hand. She was putting her nasty little hand on his shoulder and he was allowing it?! What is this?! Why is he letting her touch him like that?<span style="font-style: italic">And now she’s rubbing it?! Eidhin, get it off! Don’t smile at her! Wha-?!</span><br/><br/>Again, her thoughts cut off, this time by a pint that was placed in front of her. Clearly it wasn’t Eidhin as he’d not even gotten himself a pint yet. So who…?<br/><br/>“From the lad over there,” the waitress answered, as though she could hear her inner monologue. Eyes found the man in question, giving him a quick sort of smile, but in no way waving him over or, she thought, encouraging further communication. That drink was quickly lifted to her lips and a healthy haul was taken of its contents, suddenly in need of more of a drink while she continued to tell herself that things weren’t so bad.<span style="font-style: italic">I need something to focus on. Something. Anything.</span><br/><br/>“Hi.”<br/><br/>That something apparently came in the form of tall, dark and smiley. “Hello,” Eilidh replied from her seat, eyes eventually finding his with a smile. “Thanks for the drink.”<br/><br/>“Well, when I saw that your pint had been empty for longer than is acceptable, I thought I’d fill it for you,” he replied easily, the accent now noticed by her, along with his scent.<span style="font-style: italic">Foreign. England, maybe? Visiting...still smells of home, so he’s not been here long,</span>she rattled off, watching him sit down opposite her, taking Eidhin’s seat, and conveniently almost blocking her view. Almost. The skank in question was currently out of view, minus the hand on his shoulder, and Eidhin was still in plain sight, so she was fine for the time being.<br/><br/>“Perfectly timed,” she finally answered. “What brings you to Rathdrum?”<br/><br/>“Is it that obvious I’m from away?”<br/><br/>“You speak far too proper to be from around here,” she pointed out, as though it were blatantly obvious.<br/><br/>“Ah, I suppose that is true,” he replied with a laugh. “Touring the countryside. Stopping in town for a few days before going onward to Scotland.”<br/><br/>“Scotland? What would you want to see there?” Her brow perked up, distaste for the neighboring country there, but not overtly so.<br/><br/>“Now that I’m sitting here, not sure there’s anything I<span style="font-style: italic">do</span>want to see there…”<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Oh that was smooth…</span>she thought, letting out a laugh of her own as her eyes moved around him to look at Eidhin and see how things were going, waiting for him to return so their night could continue uninterrupted.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">For some reason, there was a part of him that was more attentive to the attention this woman was giving him. The bar was crowded and his drinks delayed for longer than he would have liked, so he continued with the conversation with the young woman who was definitely interested in him. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">He could smell it.</span><br/><br/>Though the moment he focused on scents was the moment he focused on Eilidh and when his eyes caught sight of another male in <span style="font-style: italic">his</span> seat, there was a silent growl that went unvoiced. <br/><br/>“You ok?” the woman in front of him asked. <br/><br/>“Hmm?” he replied his focus back on her. <br/><br/>“You started to grip the bar rather tightly,” she replied with seemly genuine concern. <br/><br/>“Oh…nothing…” he replied with a smile. “So, how about I buy you a drink for keeping me company while I waited for my drinks?” he offered as the bartender finally brought him his two pints. <br/><br/>“Going to leave me to drink this on my own?” she voiced with a slight pout to her lips. <br/><br/>A glance at her pouty lips and he was reminded instantly of how much better Eilidh’s lip had looked when she licked the foam from it. When he looked behind her to the table where Eilidh sat and he figured she had her company, so he might as well enjoy his own. <br/><br/>“I think I can enjoy a pint with you before I have to get going,” he smiled and raised his tankard in toast before he took a long drink from it. His eyes unable to stay away from Eilidh and her table.</span><br/><br/>“The name’s Dan.”<br/><br/>“What?” Eilidh automatically responded, having been lost in staring over his shoulder, his voice suddenly pulling her back. “Oh, Dan, nice to meet you.” A laugh coated her words, as light and melodic as she could manage. “I’m Eilidh.”<br/><br/>“Eilidh...Interesting name,” he replied.<br/><br/>“Bad interesting?”<br/><br/>“No...no, definitely good interesting…”<br/><br/>Here was where she’d normally have flushed, would have normally focused more on his eyes and honed in on him and him alone. She’d normally have started trying to hold more genuine conversation with two very obvious flirtatious remarks...What was she doing instead? Keeping tabs on Eidhin and the skank at the bar.<span style="font-style: italic">A skank he’s apparently <span style="font-weight: bold">buying a drink for</span>?!?!?!</span>How he had the<span style="font-style: italic">nerve</span>to finally get two pints and give one to her, she’d never know. But, if he was going to carry on over there, she wasn’t about to make Dave<span style="font-style: italic">(Dave...no that’s not right...Darrin? Dan! It was Dan!)</span>leave.<br/><br/>Lifting her own drink to her lips and<span style="font-style: italic">happily</span>aware of Eidhin’s seemingly undivided attention, it took all she had in her not to look over there and stare him down. “So, any specific areas you’re going to visit while you’re in the country?” she asked next, trying to keep the conversation going.<br/><br/>“I was planning on hiking over the mountains a bit, unless you’ve a better suggestion?” he answered back, taking a drink of his pint.<br/><br/>Falling back into a more relaxed mode, it was like she was back at work. Her smile came easier, her words flowed easier, her focus was clear. “No, I think the hiking is the best we’ve to offer. While we may not be as up-to-date on attractions, we’ve got beautiful scenery.”<br/><br/>“Where you seem so knowledgeable...and I’m new to the area...what would you say to showing me around? Taking me on a tour of the country-side?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“So, what’s the name of the man who has been so kind as to buy me a drink?” the pinched faced woman asked. <br/><br/>“Eidhin,” he managed to reply and seemed mostly interested in what she had to say. Though he could not help but look over at Eilidh and fuckface who was still in <span style="font-style: italic">HIS</span> seat. <br/><br/>“Nice to meet you Eidhin, I’m Mary,” she offered in kind along with her small petite hand, the other his eyes noted was occupied with a small cross on a chain about her neck. The action had been intentional of course, to draw his attention to her throat and chest. Which, though she lacked in the department, was still a chest and that was usually the only thing that a man needed. Most men anyway, Eidhin was not impressed or concerned with her lackluster assets, instead he was more focused on the cross itself. <br/><br/>That combined with her name prompted him to say, “Like the virgin Mary?” The moment the comment left his lips, he instantly regretted it, because of the way her body language shifted and the look in her eyes became a bit more daring.<br/><br/>“Oh no, honey. Nothing like that at all,” she put a nail between her teeth and chewed the tip with practiced ease. <br/><br/>He had to give her credit, her moves were all there and he found himself with a smile on his lips and he had not even meant for that to be. Before he could focus on a “proper” response, a comment from his former table stopped the whole world for him. Suddenly the dull roar of the pub faded into non-existence. Gone was the sound of glass against glass as bottles and glasses alike were clinked in celebration of various occasions. Gone was the steady sound of the ever busy tap that had been in near constant use this busy night. Even the scent of smoke faded into the background of his world, as both man and wolf focused on their former table. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">TAKE HIM FOR A HIKE?!!SHOWING HIM AROUND?!!!I DON’T THINK SO!</span><br/><br/>Man and wolf roared inwardly and he could not help the glare that he threw in their direction, while poor Mary continued to fiddle with her chain. Ignorant to the danger she had decided to cuddle up to this evening.</span><br/><br/>The glare caught her attention, causing her to perk a brow and narrow her own eyes at him.<span style="font-style: italic">What the heck is his problem?</span>she asked herself.<span style="font-style: italic">It’s not as though he’s wont for company, and he’s been chatting over there, buying her drinks anyway. What could he possibly have to glare at over here?</span>A quick sweep of the area told her it wasn’t directed at anyone else but them.<span style="font-style: italic">Well you can take that glare and shove it up yo-</span><br/><br/>Had Dan’s body not blocked the skank from view, she might not have been so easily torn away from her current staredown. But, as it was...<br/><br/>“Was it something I said?”<br/><br/>The voice that she was supposed to be talking with, who was directly across from her, brought her back into the here and now. Her eyes shifted back to him and his look of concern, and she frowned in confusion. “What?” Eilidh asked, genuinely confused as to what he was talking about.<br/><br/>“One moment we’re talking, and I’m asking you--poorly--to go for a walk with me at some point, and then you start glaring…”<br/><br/>“Oh!” she replied, shaking her head emphatically while laughing. “No, no, I was merely...trying to translate what you’d asked. English isn’t my first language so it was taking a bit for the translation to go through.”<br/><br/>“So, you’ve a wonderful accent...and you’ve managed to speak my language better than I can?” he teased, leaning forward a bit to hold her attention better.<br/><br/>“I wouldn’t say better...just with the natural Irish flare.”<br/><br/>“I’d definitely say there’s a flare there…” Dan replied easily, a hand snaking across the table to rest atop her own, thumb smoothing over the back of it casually. “But, is that something you’d be interested in? Perhaps taking me on a tour through the mountains?”<br/><br/>“Sounds an awful lot like work,” she replied with a laugh. “I don’t know if you’d want me to rattle off the usual spiel I give those that take the tours.”<br/><br/>“Who said you had to give me the spiel?” he replied back without hesitation. “I was more thinking that we could just...talk about anything and everything. I would, however, like to hear more about you so I’d be more apt to let you talk<span style="font-style: italic">at</span>me while I paid no attention to the scenery whatsoever.”<br/><br/>Another laugh was given, her hand not pulling back though her eyes diverted back over to Eidhin. He had his company...Why shouldn’t she enjoy hers?<br/><br/>“Maybe...just maybe...I’ll take you on that tour...for a price.”<br/><br/>“Oh? What’s the price to be paid?” he asked, his eyes fully attentive while his body leaned in just a touch closer.<br/><br/>After a pause, she grinned. “Another pint.”<br/><br/>“Is that all?” This time it was his turn to laugh as he stood, making his way to the bar. “I’ll be but a second.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">There was laughter and his hand had touched her own. Eidhin could hardly believe what he was seeing let alone how much it bothered him. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">None of this should bother me, right? I mean she has a right to be happy too and this…guy is not Coilin so I don’t get why I am all…unhappy? I mean she is my sister…well no she is not, but still I should just want her to be happy….right?</span> <br/><br/>This muddled and scattered thought plagued his mind and left poor Mary just standing there like a deer caught in headlights. Unsure of what she had done wrong to lose his attention there was not much she could do when he excused himself and headed over to the table now that it was vacant of the other male. <br/><br/>“Having a good time over here?” he asked her without a single drop of hesitation.</span><br/><br/>Barely a beat was missed as Derick<span style="font-style: italic">(No, it’s Dan! Ugh, Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan!)</span>left and a new presence was in the seat across from her. Her brow raised in response to his obviously fake expression of happy curiosity, leaning back in her seat as one leg crossed over the other. “Probably about as much fun as you were over there. Enjoying your drinks, are we?” she asked back, her face holding the same expression his did, arms crossing.<br/><br/>“Speaking of drinks, you seem to have forgotten mine with that over there,” Eilidh added with a head gesture in<span style="font-style: italic">it’s</span>direction. “What brings you back over here?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He released a long sigh and ran his tongue along the inside of his lip, “Well, your friend, um whatever his name is brought you one. So, I did not really see the point in wasting a pint when you already had one.” Hands were now clasped together in front of him while he tried to not look as bothered as he felt at the moment. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Why did her legs have to look so good at the moment…way better than what’s her face at the bar…</span> <br/><br/>“I mean he is even off getting you another, right? Since you have been laughing it up over here and touching him I am sure he wants to stay in your good graces so that he could have a better chance at having you…”</span><br/><br/>His hands were clasped, but they weren’t relaxed in their hold. No, they were tense, just like the rest of him.<span style="font-style: italic">What’s eating at him?</span>she wondered, answering his question instead. “I’ve been laughing it up over here while touching him?” There was a laugh as she glanced over at Dan’s back at the bar. “He touched my hand, and we’ve been talking. Besides, I think it’s you who’ve been having far more touches than I. How is she, by the way? By the looks of things, her mindset is exactly what you think De-Dan’s are, having you.”<br/><br/>Leaning forward her own hands clasped, elbows on the table as her chin rested upon her hands. “Why<span style="font-style: italic">did</span>you come back over here? You were having such a good time over there, and you just seem...agitated. Something wrong?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Love how you don’t even know his name,” he snipped and then shook his head. “Nope. Nothing wrong…I mean why would there be something wrong? Not like you are anything to me than a friend and I should not really care that you are just drinking with some guy who took my seat. So long as you are having a good time, who cares right?” he snapped with his voice ending in a bit of a growl. <br/><br/>Eidhin was not sure why he suddenly felt so strongly about her and the attention she gave the other man. It should not matter at all, at least not as much as it did. Yet, there he was on the verge of ripping the arms of this jerk just so that he could beat him with them.</span><br/><br/>The sudden snip had her leaning back, and his growl was met with a snarling of her own, her vision wholly focused on him at the moment. “For someone who doesn’t care you seem to be really angry about your friend talking to some guy that took your seat while you lingered at the bar to talk to someone else,” she snapped back, narrowing her eyes. “But it’s fine, be angry and bottle up some unspoken thing and take it out on me. Deal with whatever it is you have to deal with while you seek comfort in the arms of some slutty lit-”<br/><br/>“Everything okay?”<br/><br/>Her eyes suddenly snapped back up to Dan who’d returned with her drink, glancing back and forth between the two. Drink set down, he took up a stance closer to her while his eyes started to focus more on Eidhin. “No problem, is there?”<br/><br/>“No...No problem at all,” she replied back, standing and straightening out her skirt. “You wanted to go for that hike right?”<br/><br/>“Well, yeah, but I hadn’t meant righ-”<br/><br/>“Oh, that’s fine. I just need some air.”<br/><br/>“You sure?” he asked, his eyes looking her over before meeting her gaze again. “I don’t want to get in the middle of something.”<br/><br/>“What would you possibly be getting in the middle of?” she asked, that fake smile back on her lips as it’d been with Eidhin moments before. “As he just said, I’m a<span style="font-style: italic">friend</span>so there’s no issue at all who I talk to. Right, Eidhin?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Oh, how he wished the male had thought to try something. Even just the smallest thing, so that he could show him just what kind of a problem he could be for him. Instead he just held a look with her and slowly stood from his own seat. <br/><br/>“Yep. Just friends,” he stated far colder than he intended and brushed past the pair of them to Mary. The tab was blindly paid and Mary’s hand was taken and he left with her in tow. He was not about to stick around if she planned on going out with someone else. No, if it was going to be like that, then he was going to leave and have his own fun. <br/><br/>“Slow down,” Mary coyly protested. “I am in heels and that makes it harder for me to walk,” she informed him with a smile. <br/><br/>At her words he slowed down and she took the opportunity to cuddle up close to him. Already he regretted this decision, for everything about it was just wrong and upset him more than he had previously been. However, there was little that he could do about it. There was just this thing called pride and it would prevent him for changing his mind and his actions. <br/><br/>Nothing at all appealed to him at this moment, nothing at all. Mary was ready to go, he could smell that clear as day and he was not interested. “So, where are we headed?” she asked far too close to his ear. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">That was a good question. Where were they headed?</span></span><br/><br/>Her eyes narrowed, watching their movements until they disappeared from sight. And, for a long moment, her eyes remained on the door they’d left through, before Dan’s hesitant step into her line of sight caught her attention. Gaze focusing on him and his face, she shook her head and tried to recover as best as possible.<br/><br/>“...You’re sure you’re alright?” he asked hesitantly, quietly. “I don’t really want to get in the middle of you two.”<br/><br/>“You’re not getting in the middle of anything,” Eilidh answered, her voice quiet, too, the anger suddenly gone. He wasn’t getting in the middle of anything because there was no middle to get into. She and Eidhin were nothing. Friends at most, and even that seemed suddenly, weirdly, strained. Everything had been fine, hadn’t it? There hadn’t been any issue, and now he’d angrily stalked out.<br/><br/>“Well...why don’t we just...sit and talk, then? If, after we’ve talked and you’ve finished your drink you still want to go for that walk, then we can go for a walk...But, I don’t think that going out there right now would be the best thing.” Dan’s offer was a sound one in some respects, and a poor one in others. She wasn’t sure there was anything she wanted to talk to him about, and her night was clearly ruined. He was nice enough, though, and she wasn’t looking forward to going home, either (especially if there was a chance that he’d not be there...and if there was a chance he would be).<br/><br/>“Alright...lets stay and talk,” Eilidh conceded, lowering back into her seat.<br/><br/>And talk they did. At least, he talked while she tried to listen. That talk lasted for a good long while as she sipped off of her drink and he asked if she wanted to go for that walk. Where her mind was thoroughly elsewhere, she allowed him to pick the direction they walked in, which just happened to be toward where he was staying, a quaint inn just on the outskirts of the main city.<br/><br/>...But she couldn’t bring herself to go into his room. Instead, she wished him a good night, and he gave her his number should she wish to take him up on his request to take him touring and started to leave. As she passed the desk, though, the thought of what Eidhin could be doing with the slut from the bar had her anger spiking again and her steps halting.<span style="font-style: italic">Nope, not going home. Not going to have him think I didn’t go through with this and risk walking in on that. Not happening.</span><br/><br/>So, she rented a room, door closing behind her and curling up in the foreign bed just hoping the night would pass quickly.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Somehow, they ended up at her place and she was now in his lap trying her best to get his attention. When the kisses were avoided, she instead moved to his chest. It was when her hands had moved to slip beneath the material that he stood, which dumped her on the floor without ceremony or care. <br/><br/>“Ow! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” she exclaimed and rubbed her backside. <br/><br/>“I’m sorry. I just can’t do this,” he excused himself and left her place without another word. The walk home was slow and painful, as his mind tormented him with images of what he expect Eilidh and her….date to be doing. By the time he reached the cabin he was ready to just crawl into bed and forget everything about this evening. Unfortunately, for him that was not possible, even after a nice hot shower. <br/><br/>There he laid in bed tossing and turning, as he tried to not think about what they were doing together, tried to not think about how she might moan. If when she moaned did she bite her bottom lip? These were the thoughts that plagued him until he decided to give up and went for a run instead. The rhythmic foot falls of his feet were of no comfort, if anything they added a form of beat to the mental images that continued to harass his mind. <br/><br/>How he ended up back in town he could never say. Stranger still, how he ended up outside her door. <br/><br/>With care he leaned his head against the door and felt the important comfort that was the sound of only her breathing. A hand on the knob and it was only a quick hard turn and he was inside the room. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">This is crazy and insane…what am I doing?</span><br/><br/>He thought to himself because he knew that she had heard him enter and would certainly smell him now. Though none of this mattered, not anymore; things were about to change and there was no going back from it. The shirt he had put on after the shower was pulled over his head and tossed away as he continued toward the bed. Once there he loomed over, as he waited for her to sit up and look at him.</span><br/><br/>Tossing and turning, that’s all she’d done. The night wasn’t going by fast, but crawling by at a snail’s pace, her mind counting the minutes as she tried not to think about what Eidhin was doing and with whom he was doing it. Her mind, that had so helpfully (and confusingly) filled her dreams with images of him...were now using those same images and replacing her...with Eidhin’s...date. A growl loosed as she buried her head deeper into the pillow and willed herself to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.<br/><br/>But...she’d become vaguely aware of the steps outside of her door, half listening just in case it was a burglar trying for some hauls with out-of-towners. When the handle was suddenly jerked and the presence entered the room, she no longer wanted to find out what they wanted, curling up a bit more and staring pointedly at one spot on the wall that she could easily view with no issue. She was no longer worried of anything, but having another row with him if he’d come back to argue some more.<br/><br/>Then he got into her sight line, and Eilidh tried to ignore him and the fact that his abs were staring her in the face. A good fifteen minutes of nothing went by, until she rolled over and got out of the bed on the other side, slipping her shoes on and making way for the door. Not a word was spoken, not a look was spared in his direction.<br/><br/>All she wanted was to avoid this altogether.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Time ticked by and yet he did not care. This had to be done between them if they expected to have some kind of a life, whether with one another or without. So, even as the suspense became nearly palpable, he stood there and waited. He knew she was awake, could tell by the way she breathed and the speed of her heart beat. So in the zone was he that her movement startled him and it took him a moment to react. When he did he was at the door before her, his form in her way to stop her from leaving. <br/><br/>“We need to talk,” he said simply and then before she could protest he just began to talk. “I don’t want you to be mad at me…” his tone soft for the first time since this evening began to crash. “I don’t…like the thought of you with someone else,” he said after a moment. “It…bothers me…and before with Coilin I thought it was just him, but then tonight I did not want you to be with Dan…” his voice trailed off and he sighed. “I…just…well…like you…or more love you and not how it has been when we were younger…but more…” he sighed again and just stood there waiting for her to say something, anything. He hoped it would be that she felt the same way as himself, but even if not he just had to get it off of his chest and out in the open.</span><br/><br/>She should have expected it, his body blocking the door, but she’d hoped that she could have avoided this simply. Where this wasn’t the case, his voice was met with a quiet request of her own, barely audible. “Please move…” she asked, even as he continued, not making eye contact and refusing to even attempt to look at him; No, her eyes remained pointedly on the floor. Coilin’s name came up and she wasn’t surprised, as they’d never really gotten along that well. But then Dan came up and she was confused.<br/><br/>...When he sighed...and continued? Her breath hitched, her heart suddenly speeding up and skipping several beats at a time. His voice had long since trailed off, waiting for her to say something, and she just stood there silently. Her mind continued trying to process what he’d said, letting it sink in. There was a step taken back from him, and then another before she started walking in the other direction.<br/><br/>“...I would be lying...if I said the thought of you with someone else didn’t make me...angry or jealous…” Eilidh started, voice quiet, nearly inaudible at the volume she used, though she knew he could hear it. “Tonight confirmed that…” There was another pause, back still toward him as she struggled with how to next broach her point. “...I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t...love you more than it was when we were younger...different than it was when we were younger...but I don’t want to ruin what we have. What happens if this doesn’t work? What if this feeling is only because of the heat, and then when it’s done, you realize it wasn’t anything and then we’re left in this awkward stage of confusion where we can’t be around the other?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Of course he had not thought about any of that, but for the longest time, Eidhin only ever really lived in the present and not the future. It was hard to think about the future and to plan a future when the present was such an uncertainty. So, when she brought up a huge “what if” he was taken aback and he had to think about it. <br/><br/>Could he live his life without her? If something were to go wrong could he live knowing that their friendship and their bond would be forever changed?  Did he really think it was just the Heat? <br/><br/>At the last thought he looked to where she now stood from him and knew that it was not just the Heat. Certainly it had helped, helped him to realize that what he had been ignoring were feelings that were not going to go away. He could push them down and ignore it for as long as possible, but they would never truly go away. <br/><br/>“It’s not the heat and I can’t live the rest of my life like this…” he whispered back to her. “I can’t watch you be with another and you obviously can’t watch me be with another, so where does that leave us? Pining for one another but scared to take that step? Miserable and angry, we would end up fighting like we did tonight and then what? I would come and get you or you would come and get me? What kind of life is that?” he asked.</span><br/><br/>“It wouldn’t be a life…” she answered back, head turning a fraction into his direction, but still not enough to see him, even in her peripheral. “It’d be two people stuck in a state of being...not living, but being. We’d hate to see the other with someone else, but we’d be stuck in a neverending loop...The only way we could stop that, is if we cut ourselves off from everyone, but what sort of life would that be? Sure, we’d have each other, but we wouldn’t...have each other. We’d be there with the other, and still as awkward as we are right now…”<br/><br/>A hand rose to rub at her eyes, to rub at her forehead, while the other arm remained crossed in front of her, holding herself as though it were a security blanket of sorts; like it was protection. “If it’s not the heat...then what do we do? There’s still a chance that this will fail...and then we’d either have to live like we would have without remembering how the other felt...how it was to be with them like that...or one of us would have to leave...and we’d be back to where we were for five years…”<br/><br/>Then, for the first time since the conversation started, she looked back at him, really looked back at him. Her eyes found his and she felt her heart skip another beat, felt her body responding and wanting to close the gap if only for a hug. Something to ensure this moment was real and not a figment of her imagination, not another dream.<br/><br/>“...How can you be certain it’s not the heat?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Eidhin closed the distance for her, though he still kept from touching her. That was something that would have to come when they were both sure. <br/><br/>“For five years I watched you,” he began. “Five years I changed and watched you change too. Even before I discovered I was adopted I knew we just could not be related. Maybe it was because I had changed and I could sense it or something, I don’t know. But I knew it and I ignored it because you were the only family that I had,” he sighed and looked away. “I think the only thing the heat has done is helped us both to not be so…against this and ignore this,” now he touched her. His hand light and soft glided down along her arm in a simple caress. “This feels right…just like all the times we are together. When we hug, when we cuddle…when we are in bed together at night….doesn’t it feel right?” he asked her and allowed his hand to travel up along her shoulder then along the back of her neck. <br/><br/>“There were times I would want to do this, but….just didn’t…” he continued on as he stepped closer to her. “Wanted to hold you…,” his arm snaked around her waist to pull her close, while his hand slipped up to her chin and turned her face up to his own. “Wanted to…kiss you…” he whispered with his face close to her own, lips just out of reach of her own. <br/><br/>“Say that you did not want that too and I will leave…” he whispered.</span><br/><br/>As he got closer, she resisted the urge to step back, to keep that distance to help keep her mind clear; Having him so close, within distance where she could just reach out and touch him...it didn’t make for easy thinking. This was something that never would have fazed her before, and now the lack of distance was one that had her conflicted.<br/><br/>What else could she do? She had to hear him out, to listen to what he had to say; After all these years and what they’d been through, she owed him that much. This wasn’t going to go away with the avoidance she’d wanted to try so it needed handling.<br/><br/>If she could think.<br/><br/>Her lips parted to say something about<span style="font-style: italic">this</span>, but his hand touched her. It wasn’t a bad touch, but a light touch, one that trailed up her arm. Eyes leaving his, she glanced down and followed his hand’s trail over her skin, goosebumps following as a trail burned brightly wherever his fingers touched. As his hand went up her shoulder, she could no longer follow it, going out of sight, but her gaze remained averted. Now that the barrier of contact had been breached, a lack of eye contact was her only saving grace when it came to coherent thought.<br/><br/>This had been what she wanted, what she’d dreamt about. It’d been what plagued her dreams, just out of reach though she hadn’t known (at the time) who it’d been until he hugged her earlier that day. Then the realization of it all had come crashing down, and she’d been unable to ignore it. He may have had those five years to watch her change, to come to the conclusion that they weren’t related, but she hadn’t had that. She’d learned about it barely two months back.<br/><br/>Had it changed anything then? Not consciously. Now, the thoughts that’d been buried deep had seeped forth, and all she wanted to do was return the touch. If not for the nagging “what ifs” that were going through her mind at a mile a minute, she may have done just that.<br/><br/>He stepped closer then, continuing with what he’d wanted to do and hadn’t. His arm pulled her close, his hand lifted her chin and forced that eye contact as he said one of the very things she’d been dreaming about. Breath hitching and all but nonexistent, her eyes glanced down at his lips subconsciously as her tongue darted out over her own, pulling the lower in to bite down on.<br/><br/>His face was so close, his lips just barely not touching hers, almost not daring to speak if only to keep her lips from accidentally brushing against his. “...I can’t say I didn’t want that…” Eilidh whispered. “...But I also can’t help that I worry...I don’t want to lose this…” Her hand trailed up his arm before crossing over to his chest, trailing over his skin. “I don’t want to lose you…” Her eyes bounced back and forth between both of his.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“You won’t,” he whispered to her with a conviction he truly felt and then closed that small bit of distance between them and kissed her. <br/><br/>All thought left his mind then and he found himself lost in the kiss, a kiss that he had wanted to do for five years. It felt as he would have hoped it would feel, amazing. Truly there were no words that could properly describe it. His heart raced and hammered in his chest, while strong hands held her closer the longer the kiss progressed. <br/><br/>When it did end he felt breathless and for the first time in his life, complete. Now, it was his turn for his eyes to search hers to see if there was even the smallest sign that the kiss was not what she wanted. That it had not been just what she had wanted this whole time.</span><br/><br/>That kiss stole every ounce of her breath, and then some. The moment his lips touched down on hers, it was like a piece she’d been missing without knowing it fell into place. She suddenly felt like everything was right, that every horrible thing in her life hadn’t happened and didn’t matter because the one person she needed...the one person that meant anything to her...was right there, in her arms, returning the very affections she’d been struggling to keep at bay.<br/><br/>His hands held her closer, and hers were doing the exact same thing, pulling him close and holding him there. That moment...it was like time stopped. Everything else in the world disappeared and all that remained was Eidhin and this kiss, this embrace.<br/><br/>When the kiss ended, she didn’t dare move, dare open her eyes. Even when he looked at her and she felt his eyes trying to get her to look at him, she couldn’t open them, not yet. The fear that the moment would be ended and everything would be horribly wrong was there, nearly palpable. But...she had to open her eyes sometime. Slowly, they opened and searched the eyes looking back at her and a mental sigh of relief was given as there was no look of regret found in their depths, no look of disgust, and her eyes visibly showed that relief as did the rest of her features. She found herself relaxing a bit more before shifting her head to rest on his shoulder so she could just hold him.<br/><br/>What did this kiss mean? What did any of it mean? Was there still a chance things could fail?<br/><br/>In that moment, she didn’t really want to think about the whats. Right then, she just wanted to enjoy the embrace and hope that things didn’t get complicated from here on out.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">There was so much that he wanted to say, so much that he wanted to do. Though at the moment, he only just held her back and then guided her back to the bed. First he sat down and then he guided her down to him. Sure there was something that they both would want to do right now, but there was something that they needed to do more of right then. <br/><br/>“Let’s get some sleep,” he said softly. <br/><br/>The events of tonight had been stressful, emotional and overall exhausting. It would benefit the both of them to get some sleep. And there was nothing he wanted to do more than hold her right now.</span><br/><br/>Her mind was racing with thoughts of what could be and should be right then. Her body was trying to control what she did while her mind was telling her to do the opposite. So, when he’d guided her back to the bed, half of her wanted to protest that they had time while the other part wanted to crawl on top of him and do what her body had been asking for...but that didn’t happen. What happened was him pulling her to sit next to him and suggest they slept.<br/><br/>It was then that she realized how tired she was. Before, she’d been pent up and stressed, unable to relax. Now that she was relaxed, all she wanted to do was lay down with him as she’d been doing daily since they’d reconnected, and occasionally beforehand whenever she had nightmares. Sure, it’d be different this time as the cuddling would feel like...more, which it was, but it was what she needed. What they both needed.<br/><br/>Nodding, her sandals were slipped off and she was pulling back the covers to get under so that they could sleep. There was a niggling worry that this was a dream and things would be different when she woke up, which had her movements halting. “...How do I know this isn’t a dream like it was the other night?” Eilidh asked quietly, eyes cautiously seeking his.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He smiled and got comfortable under the covers before he held his arms out for her, “Even if it is a dream. Isn’t it better to enjoy it while it lasts? If you wake and find that it was, I will still be there beside you, because no matter how upset I get I can’t stay away from you. So, you will always have me at your side.” <br/><br/>The idea was to be reassuring to comfort her as best he could without seeming to belittle her concerns. “Let’s stop thinking about the what ifs and focus on the right now…” he beckoned her with his hand, his eyes ever on hers as he wanted her to see the truth of how he felt just as much as the tone in his words.</span><br/><br/>Her hesitation remained, but that smile, the way he held eye contact...she was putty in his open arms. Nodding, offering up a smile of her own, she climbed into bed, and nestled up to him, arms wrapping about him as she let out a sigh of contentment.<span style="font-style: italic">Here’s hoping this isn’t a dream...otherwise it’s a dream I’d rather not wake up from…</span><br/><br/>Lifting her head, she gave him another kiss, a light kiss. It was a kiss that was fleeting, if only because she didn’t want to cross any boundaries too quickly despite what they’d already shared, but it was a genuine kiss, slow and lingering. “Good night, Eidhin...Sweet dreams.”