She froze, eyes widening before she looked away. I followed her, not letting her hide. When she finally met my gaze, a mix of resignation and hope shone in her eyes, and I smiled.

“I mean it. This isn't something to be embarrassed about. Sometimes we just need to talk out whatever is bothering us.”

The tension eased from her shoulders. Encouraged, I pressed on, aiming to dispel last traces of embarrassment.

“Besides, you already know that I made a pact with an unknown spirit. That could have ended horribly for me. I also have a habit of adopting stray children and stepping in to help, even when it could potentially hurt me.”

I shrugged. “People would say those are all questionable choices on my part, but you haven't judged me for them. Whatever happened in the past, you clearly regret it, so I'm not going to judge you either.”

Her demeanor darkened, potent guilt shadowing her face. Seeing that, only a fool would think she'd willingly caused harm. She'd tell me when she was ready, but it wouldn't change anything.

She shook off the melancholy and stared, caught between surprise and tentative happiness. “You're not going to demand more information? I just told you people died because of me.”

Technically, the dragon only attacked Dawncrest because I was there, so, if we're using that logic, I would be to blame for all the deaths it caused.

My stomach soured at the thought, but I shoved it away. Dwelling on it wouldn't help anyone, and if I could show her that, all the better.

Now, the hard part: convincing her.

“Clover, did you purposefully set out to kill people?” I asked, holding her gaze.

She shook her head, grimacing. “No, of course not, but––”

I cut her off. “Nope, no buts! Sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes they have awful consequences. I set us back a day of progress because I underestimated the monsters and got ambushed by a Giant Spider. I didn't mean to do that, though, so you forgave me despite the fact you drained your mana in that fight.” Not to mention, she gave me the restoration potion so we could continue on schedule. Those didn't come cheap, and I cringed to think how much it cost her.

I squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “I don't know what happened, but you clearly didn't want anyone to get hurt. That's all that matters to me.”

Her wary look lingered for a moment before she sighed, her expression shifting to reluctant acceptance. “Fine, fine. Have it your way.” Then she frowned and prodded one last time. “Are you sure you're fine with not knowing what happened?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Do you want to talk about it?” If she did, I'd set up camp right here, damn our time limit. This looked like something that had been bothering her for a while, and if she wanted to get it off her chest, I'd listen. Time could be made up, but sometimes you only had one chance to listen.

It didn't surprise me when she shook her head and snorted. We were basically strangers.

“Not even a little. It's just…people don't react well to it.”

Ah, that made sense. She thought I'd turn on her if I eventually found out. Well, that was easy enough to soothe. Stepping back to give her space, I offered a thumbs-up and a grin. “I think we've covered that I'm not most people. Whatever it is, it won't matter. That being said, don't tell me until you want to, alright?”

She stared for a minute before shaking her head and smiling. It was another small, genuine one, a perfect match for the one she'd given me back in the cave. Hopefully, I'd get to see it more often.

She nudged my arm playfully, pulling me back to the present. “Well, I'll keep that in mind. Now come on, we still have the rest of this floor to get through.”

I followed dutifully, only for her to turn and wink, that teasing grin back in full force. “Oh, and try not to stare at my butt too much. I need you focused in case of an ambush, and while I’d take it as a compliment, now isn't exactly the time for such things.”

I tripped, nearly colliding with the wall as heat burned up my cheeks. How did she casually say things like that?!

Her laughter echoed off the tunnel leading to the next room, and I sighed, easily stepping back in line behind her. My gaze slid to her behind, and I allowed it after a beat of hesitation.

She'd offered, so it was okay. Right?

It wasn't often I had the chance to openly appreciate a woman like this, and if she was alright with it, then there was no reason to abstain.

Of course, she glanced over her shoulder right that second, and when she saw where I'd been looking, she grinned. “Nice view back there?”

Heat built in my cheeks and I sighed. “You're a menace, Clover.” The affection in my tone softened the words, and she turned back around to lead the way, even adding an exaggerated sway to her hips as she did.

“And you like it!”

Yeah, I kind of did…

Her lighthearted teasing was a breath of fresh air after years of living in Dawncrest. There were no poorly hidden whispers behind a hand or backhand compliments with Clover. She said what she meant and didn't hold back anything.

She would get along like a house on fire with Beatrice. Maybe I'd see if she wanted to go home with me to meet the others. They were…a lot, but so was Clover.

Realizing just what I was thinking, I slammed the thought down before it could grow.

Clover was teasing me, like a friend would. Asking her to meet my family, purely for the sake of knowing them, was something saved for more than friends. She wasn't serious when she flirted, we'd only known each other for a few days, so of course she was messing around!

Even thinking of bringing her back to Dawncrest was out of the question and I wouldn't allow myself to entertain the thought, lest I get attached to it.

No, we were friends and I wasn't about to mess that up. Not when I hadn't felt this light in years. With her, I was just Frederick, and after years of being ‘Big Brother’, I was going to enjoy it as long as I could.

It would be a nice reprieve before I had to continue on my quest.