I sat up, tried to get my bearings. My body ached in a way that it never had before, like the muscles I hadn’t used since childhood were waking and unhappy about it. An unfamiliar blanket lay across me, and when I sought out Colm, he wore only his heavy coat. His knees were curled to his chest, arms wrapped around himself.

He faced me, eyes closed, and his expression wide open as the sky. I pulled the blanket tight around my shoulders. He’s kind of handsome, in a strange way. 

As if he could hear my thoughts, his eyes opened and found me. I spun away, lip sliding between my teeth from being caught. In my peripheral vision, he lay still. His lack of movement made everything more uncomfortable, so I rose and busied myself with gathering skirts and repacking them in my bag. I took care to smooth the creases of his blanket, folding it with intentional movements.

A shuffling sound approached, and I turned. Colm bent towards me, his eyes like the early morning yellow that touched the mountain tops, lips a firm line. My heart stuttered and I held out the blanket.

“You’re not prepared.” His waking voice was a low growl, mouth barely moving to shape the sounds. 

I frowned, “For what?”

“Travelling,” he grunted. He took the blanket and turned back to his things. 

“Its the first time I’ve been away from home, so you cannot expect me to be perfect,” I called, my voice pitching high like an indignant child. 

He whirled to face me, brows pinching and the centre of his lips curving up to form a comical frown. “Mention these things.”

“We hardly had any time to talk before we left,” I floundered, wringing my hands in their half-finger gloves.

Colm stalked over with a strange, bestial grace, and stood so close to me that I could smell the forest floor on his coat. I craned my neck to look up at him. Sunlight haloed his head, but it was his gaze that arrested me. He set a hesitant hand on my arm, gentle considering the aggression of his approach. Maybe he saw the same weakness that my family did. 

“Tell me things,” he whispered, his eyes darting between each of mine, “I need to know.”

I stilled for a few breaths, processing the proximity of his body and how direct eye contact made my heart palpitate. His eyes took on different shades each time I looked, and I found myself glancing at them more and more to spot each new variation. All I could manage was a nod, every word trapped between my teeth for fear that my breath might’ve disgusted him or the essence of my words turned him against me.