Shit. This was not how I wanted to look when Adam finally came back for a visit. My hair was undone from my carefully plaited braid. I could see pieces sticking out in all directions. The overalls I had put on were messy, with the straps slipping down because of the fighting.

Contrary to me, Adam looked dressed to the nines. His hair was mussed a bit, but his dark green suit was pressed and tidy. He had on a brown bow tie and brown dress shoes.

I could feel my cheeks flush red, not from exertion but embarrassment. Adam said nothing, his expression neutral as he bent down to take my hands and help me up.

He looked like he’d spent the past month plus healing. I couldn’t see any long-term damage from Gavin, only a faint healing bruise on his forehead. We were nearly the same height, so I could get a decent look. Still, I wanted to make sure all was well. I lifted my hands to dig around further to examine it, moving Adam’s hair to look deeper.

Adam’s expression had a faint smile, but his overall well-being was very visible. “The door was open, and no one responded when I called out.” He said.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I ignored my eyes that wanted to grow wet and instead hugged Adam tightly. I spent so much time saying sorry and feeling sorry. There was one thing I forgot to tell Adam. “Thank you for protecting me against Gavin,” I said finally. I was so grateful that he helped me, guilty, yes, but grateful. “And thank you for coming back.”

His arms held on to me in response, and I could hear his heart pumping in his chest. My own heart jumped in response.

“I’m sorry it took so long,” Adam said, and I laughed at how his voice reverberated through his chest. It was like the dream I had last night. I froze, maybe a little too much like the dream?

“Welcome back, Adam! Glad to see you’re better.” Wyatt said, reminding us both of his presence.

I separated from Adam all smiles. The dream was coming true in various ways.

With Nips distracted adequately by the pool still, we could all go up to the treehouse. There were cushion chairs and a mini loveseat. I dove for the seat cushions. We were, of course, greeted by several cats who were soaking up the sun. I found a familiar chubby cat and picked him up to play with as we started talking.

“My father didn’t want me out of the home, so recovery was longer than necessary,” Adam said.

“The phone couldn’t go through,” I said, lifting my eyes to meet Adam’s dark brown orbs.

“That’s my fault,” Adam said without elaborating. “Both of you should know there’s a manhunt for Gavin, and he should be found shortly.”

Adam’s family should have the right resources, so how did Gavin escape? How was he still on the run? That was terrifying because he had entered the forest without disturbing anything and had been gone just as quickly.

“You’re not alone in this world.” My grandma’s words came to my mind, and I froze. Was Gavin like me? Someone not from this world? That could explain why he was after me. He seemed to want to send me off.

“Wendy?” Adam said my name, and I looked up, dazed. I tried to blink away my worries, but things became so complicated with these thoughts.

“Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts,” I said, smiling apologetically.

“You have thoughts?” Wyatt said with a chortle at me, reaching out to ruffle my hair. I dodged his hand, and for a moment, his expression froze. Maybe I averted it a little too dramatically. I just needed to make sure that Wyatt didn’t have a crush on me. I couldn’t blame him; I am amazing, but my heart belonged to Adam.

I was saved by Nips, who noticed that Wyatt was up in the tree. He was barking, and Wyatt sheepishly scratched his hand and said bye to us. Nips wouldn’t stop until Wyatt went down. We tried, and it was hard on everyone listening to him yip, whine, and scream until Wyatt showed himself.

“He used to be my dog,” I grumbled. It would be forever confusing how swiftly Nips forgot all affection for me, something I could never forgive when constantly reminded of the betrayal.

“He changed after the first break-in attempt,” Adam said, musing out loud, and I looked at him.

“Yeah. It was like Nips forgot me and attached like a baby duckling to Wyatt while I slept those two days.” I said. Lamentations wouldn’t change anything, but that betrayal was the worst.

Adam reached out to ruffle my hair, and I smiled at him before patting the cat in my lap. “His loss,” Adam said. “Did something happen between you and Wyatt? You two looked like you were fighting.” Adam said.

“He’s just overthinking my actions; besides, we normally fight,” I said.

“You strangely dodged his hand just now,” Adam said, and I flushed.

Could I tell Adam about the Dream Adam interaction? I looked up from the cat, my face bright red as a tomato, and blinked rapidly. “Did I? I’ll have to say sorry later,” I said.

Adam’s expression was strange, but I didn’t take the time to dissect it. Instead, I looked down at the cat, who was proving a great distraction.

“Did you fall in love with him?” Adam said. His voice was so soft I almost didn’t hear it over the pounding in my chest.

I jumped and looked up from the cat. “No. I like you, not Wyatt.” I said. My face turned even redder in color.

Adam said nothing at first, instead moving closer to sit beside me. He cupped my red cheek, and I saw a smile on his face that showed off his bright, neat teeth. “I like you too, Wendy.”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

My heart stopped. This was better than a dream.

“Why did you avoid Wyatt if you weren’t aware of him?” Adam said, removing his hands to pet a cat that came up to present herself to him idly.

“Dream…” I said, barely stopping myself from talking about Dream Adam to the real Adam.

“You dreamed of him?” Adam said, his eyebrows knitted.

“No!” I said, holding up my hands. “I had a dream of you telling me to stop letting him touch me.”

Adam’s cheeks turned red, and we awkwardly avoided each other’s eyes. This was so embarrassing. Most people can tell dreams from reality, but I was struggling. Adam knew what he was getting into by liking me, right? This wouldn’t scare him off? I looked up and saw him covering his mouth with a hand. His face was bright red, and he was trying to protect his expression.

This was the most frazzled I’d ever seen Adam. Typically, he was confident and always calm. Even when he said he liked me, too, he was smooth and practiced.

“What if it wasn’t a dream? And I wanted that?” Adam said through his fingers.

I don’t think I could turn any redder, but my body beat the odds as I noticed the color on my arms and hands.

“Then I’ll listen,” I said. We got quiet as we avoided looking at each other and focused on the cats we petted.

This was broken up by Wyatt, of all people. Never had I been more grateful for the interloper. I had no idea what to say to Adam; he seemed just as conflicted.

Adam left soon after but promised to return on Fridays like before. Wyatt caught a ride with Adam, and I watched them go, wondering what they would talk about.

Adam said he liked me too! I felt like I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day, let alone the days it took for Adam to visit again.

Wyatt came back after he caught a ride with Adam. He came back with bags, and I would complain, but it was nice that he took over the livestock and maintenance. I could focus on cooking again and plants.

Lucia and Lucas had stopped coming over as often. So it was special when they did.

The news that Gavin was captured and in prison came, and the tension that created terrible dreams went away. Adam came over weekly, and there were no more family emergencies to disrupt our time. I wondered briefly why his bodyguards didn’t escort him more stridently, but I suppose it made sense with Gavin locked up.

The one thing I didn't do, which I admit I was strangely nervous about, was ask any questions about his family. More than once, when I tried, strange things happened, or we were interrupted. My dreams also gave me no peace and countless scenarios where everything fell apart the moment I questioned things and held my tongue.

Things were finally peaceful again and Adam was back consistently. I didn't want to ruin it. Plus Adam was coming out of his shell and showing emotions and playfulness that weren't there before. Anytime his family was brought up that smile disappeared off his face.

Adam and I didn’t progress past sweaty hand-holding and smiles, but just being with him made me happy.

My relationship with Wyatt and Lucas stayed the same but my friendship with Lucia deepened. We had a guilty pleasure show called, 'What is Love.' It was rather scandalous for this small town given that unique variations of what people considered love were talked about and explored. The one that made most of the matrons of Green's Mountain ban it from their homes was the episode about self-love. In it a woman married herself and opted to forgo traditional marriage. The show called it Narcissus but the older generations called it blasphemy.

Lucia came over weekly to devour each scandalous episode with me.

The rest of summer passed in this way as we finally entered fall. A lot of harvesting and prep work needed to be done. It was all hands on deck, and even Adam was here with us, plucking pumpkins from the vine.

It was the perfect fall day to do it, too. The ground wasn’t too soggy, and the sky was bright and dry. Our wheelbarrows were full, and we had the chance to rest after all the hard work. Lucia took over the kitchen and made lunch while Wyatt trailed her. Nips trailed after him, and it was a funny sight. Lucas went to his sanctuary in the treehouse.

That left Adam and me in the field, watching everyone wander off.

We were resting under the apple tree. The ecosystem around it hadn’t been cleared, but there was a space I managed to secure a bench under. I wanted to be able to sit under the tree and have a connection to my plant network. I was too tired for power work, so instead, I laid down with my head in Adam’s lap. He was reading some kind of thick, complicated-looking book. It was peaceful, and I used this moment to look at my space ring.

I was growing and changing, and my powers and capabilities were developing, but this ring didn’t change. It was soul-bound and followed me, but what would happen if I left this world? It would just follow, right? I had it in my world when I returned to rob my family. But the ring prevented my grandma’s robe from being put into it. Wasn’t her robe soul-bound? I’d never been able to put it on before, and I’d tried. I even wore gloves as if that would hide the fact I touched it. The robe ran through me like I hadn’t tried to drape it on my shoulders. I could wear it here in this world now, though, well before it disappeared.

How did she take it off if it was soul-bound? And what powers did her robe have? By that logic, could Effaced be bound to someone’s soul? I couldn’t put that in my space either. Maybe it had nothing to do with soul-bound items but conflicting magical signatures, and all my previous assertions had different answers?

I didn’t realize my eyebrows were furrowing, and I was mumbling until firm, cold fingers poked my forehead. I looked up crosseyed for a second to see Adam had set aside his book to peer down at me.

“You’ve been muttering in what sounded like another language for the past ten minutes,” Adam said.

I hiccuped in shock and tried to cover it up by coughing, thankful I could cover my face and hide the guilt. Had I been talking in my native language? “I was just thinking out loud, I guess,” I said. “Sorry, Adam, for years, I was always alone. I got used to talking out loud because I didn’t have anyone to talk to...”

Adam pressed his finger on my brows, forcing them to relax. “What were you thinking about?” He said.

I sat up and brought my knees up to my chest. “I was just wondering about all the things I don’t understand. If I had studied more, maybe I would have the right answers…” I said this, knowing it was particularly vague. I had spilled the beans on a lot, but there had to be a limit to what I dumped on Adam or what he could believe.

“What differences would knowing more bring you in the here and now?” Adam said.

I blinked at the simplicity of his words. Aside from Gavin, who was dealt with, knowing all of these things didn’t change the present and how much I loved it. “I guess right now it doesn’t matter,” I said with a twist of my mouth at the sourness that thought brought for some reason. “I’m not used to feeling so powerless or not knowing things.”

Adam’s hand lifted some of my hair off my face, “You’re not powerless, and you’re not alone anymore.” He said as he tucked the loose hair behind my ear. “Talk to me instead of yourself, and let me do all the worrying.”

Why was Adam so sweet! I swallowed the squawk that wanted to come out. “We can always worry together,” I said. I didn’t want to rely solely on him without giving him something in return.

Adam’s lips quirked before a full smile grew on his lips, and a dopey one grew on my own face. “Soon, everything will make sense. There is no point in rushing it and growing wrinkles.” Adam said.

I jumped and covered my face. That joke could have come from Wyatt, but it slipped out of Adam’s mouth with far too much ease. I playfully moved to bonk him in mock retaliation, but he caught my fist and kissed the top of my hand.

We had yet to kiss or do anything else, and I would be lying if I said I was more than ready for my first kiss.

I leaned forward with my eyes closed, but instead of finding Adam’s lips, I got greeted by Old Tom’s backside. The dang cat had to fall out of the tree at that exact moment.

Adam’s choked laughter led to me chasing him and the cat around the backyard.