Shea’s POV

Her mistake seemed genuine but it didn’t erase the effect it had on my heart. I watched as she got the towels from the person who knocked on the door.

My mind the equivalent of a tangled ball of yarn, my thoughts so jumbled that there was no way I could untangle them to think clearly.

“Here you go”

She handed me a towel. I didn’t manage to say anything in return, not even a thanks.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to answer she turned around.

“Its better if we dried ourselves quickly, we don’t have a change of clothes so we are going to need to wait until they dry”

My words never left my mouth, whatever response I formulated never vocalized. I only watched as she started to take of her clothes, she pulled up the shirt that was glued to her skin, revealing a pale whiteness.

It was too much for me, so I turned around and started doing the same. Now that she wasn’t in my field of vision anymore I felt my breaths coming out easier, my tongue felling free once again.

“Thanks”

An ambiguous show of gratitude was the only thing that came out though.

“It’s alright”

The sounds of her struggling with her clothes stopped, was she finished already?

My mind got lost on that thought for a second before I could contain myself, this was most certainly not the time for that.

“I really mean it… Thanks for everything”

 This time she gave me no response.

“Thanks for agreeing to help me in this selfish quest, I’m sorry for always bothering you with stuff”

“I like it”

This time it was me who didn’t respond but started to take off the clothes that were glued to my skin.

“Whenever you came to ask for something or to simply complain about the princess, I liked it. It always made my day a bit better seeing you come to me for stuff like that”

I heard the sound of damp clothes being dropped on the floor, my entire body tensed up.

“I’m helping you on your selfish quest by my own selfish reasons, so there’s no need to thank me”

Her voice caried confidence, but also almost wavered, I heard footsteps getting closer.

I tried to say something but nothing came out, the jumbled mess of yarn that I had started to untangle was once again in complete chaos.

Before I could begin to articulate a sentence though I felt arms envelope me.

“Wha!”

The suddenness of it all sent my mind further into disarray. The feeling of her body being pressed against mine the only thing left.

I didn’t know how to react, words lost all meaning, I even forgot how to breath.

“You… You are shivering”

Her voice had lost its usual confidence, almost an whimper.

“Yeah, I’m drenched”

My voice was the same. We stood there unmoving for what felt like an eternity, I could feel her heart beating fast, and I am sure she could feel mine.

The feeling of a water drop going down my face to my chin before falling on the wooden floor took me away from that moment.

“We… we should dry ourselves”

My voice timid and full of uncertainty, I almost wished for this moment ot last forever but I knew that was not possible.

“Yeah”

She let go of me and stepped away once again, in doing so I felt like she had taken with her a piece of me. Even if I tried to hide what I had always felt, there was no running from it, with her so close and acting like this there was no way I could keep lying to myself that she was just a friend.

With thoughts like these I mindlessly took off the rest of my clothes and started to wipe myself with the towel, trying not to think about it too much.

“We should go to bed for today”

She said with a tinge of sadness to her voice, there wasn’t really another option for today, so I simply nodded even though I didn’t know if she was looking at me.

I heard the bed creak as she probably sat on it.

Was she looking at me?

 The thought finally crossed my mind as I noticed I was completely naked, not daring to look I simply made my way to the bed on the opposite to her and quickly got under the covers.

“Shea…”

I heard her voice like a whisper behind me, sending a shiver down my spine, she was so close I could almost hear her breathing.

The sounds of her moving bellow the blankets was the only thing on my mind, I couldn’t think anymore. My brain couldn’t focus on anything else other than her.

This was torture, why did destiny put me in this situation?

She was so close yet so far away. The physical distance between us was small but socially it couldn’t be more different, a mere maid fantasizing about being held by a member of the royal bloodline, how could I have any hopes?

A stream of silent tears fell down my eyes but I couldn’t stop my body from shivering, trying not to call attention to myself but failing to do so.

“You… you are shivering again”

The sudden arms that enveloped me once again, pulling my body closer to hers, sharing her warmth with me…

I couldn’t stop the tears anymore, I don’t know for how long I cried but the rain had already stopped when I noticed I did. My heart calmer but still overfilled with emotions.

“Ellen, I love you”

I let some of the emotion spill in the form of a whisper and hoped she didn’t hear it.

topoko

It has been a while... Just want to say that I don't plan to drop this story anytime soon, it's just that sometimes life gets complicated and motivation goes away so it might take a while for chapters. Anyways, hope you liked this chapter, thanks for reading and see you on the next one!