The Unpayable Debt

Chapter 25

XXV

"I feel terrible." Much declared unhappily to no one in particular. He was standing in the courtyard with Little John and Tuck who were both wondering if they really wanted to hear this right now. Their current situation was certainly not a happy one and the last thing they needed right now was Much adding to the gloom.

Eventually Tuck broke the uncomfortable silence. "What is it Much?"

"I can't help thinking about Allan..." Much was fidgeting with a bow and arrow, his eyes firmly fixed upon the ground, "...how we didn't believe him, how we treated him..."

Little John swallowed hard. He'd been trying not to think about it.

"Much I'm not sure it's a good idea to go over this now, I mean we could all perish on the morrow." Tuck was right but still Much was sorry for what he'd done. He'd had good reason to mistrust Allan for he'd betrayed them in the past, something that Much, who was so loyal to Robin, could hardly comprehend but then again he had done so much to help them since then...

They would never be great friends, he knew – they were too dissimilar and Allan could not seem to resist making him the butt of his jokes whenever possible but still he would never want anything to happen to the man and certainly not without having made his peace with him.

"At least he's out there..." Little John said quietly.

"...and he's not alone; Emma is with him, I'm sure if anything can take his mind off what happened with us, it is that." Tuck chuckled.

"Yes well that is something isn't it?" Much seemed to perk up at this thought.

"Come my friend; let us go see what the castle kitchens have to offer for supper, it is going to be a long night and we need to keep our strength up." Tuck clapped him upon the shoulder and Much began to smile. He nodded and they headed on their way but not before Tuck shot Little John an amused smirk.

Little John grinned. Food never failed to cheer Much.

**********

"You had me worried there for a minute!"

Upon regaining consciousness, Allan blinked hard several times before he was seized by an incredible wave of pain in his shoulder. He looked up at Emma who was kneeling beside him, she was smiling but her face was wet with tears. He began to panic, worried that Prince John's men were still on their tail but she quickly moved to soothe him. "It's alright; we managed to make it to the cave before you passed out. It is as you said - well hidden; they'll not find us here."

She stroked his forehead tenderly, pushing his hair from his face and for a moment, he closed his eyes, comforted by her touch but then the pain returned full force and all he could feel was a painful throbbing in his shoulder.

"You are very lucky Allan, had the arrow hit you further to the right we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

He could have no idea how terrified she'd been to see him fall; it was as if her heart had jolted hard in her chest and ceased to beat. The entire world had stopped for a split second and then all had been terrible panic, the likes she had never known of before. She knew not how she had managed to get him up and off the ground and away from their pursuers, she only knew that they'd had to hide and her body had trembled for fear of discovery and he'd had to bite down on his hand to stop himself from whimpering in pain...

God knows how they'd made it to the cave (another outlaw hideout that had been a godsend over the years) but it was a good job that they had for not long after Allan had passed out.

She took his hand in hers and he squeezed tightly, she grimaced but then began to laugh. "Don't crush it Allan! Last thing we need is me injured as well!"

He began laughing as well but the vibrations through his shoulder made him wince. "Trust me to go do something daft like take an arrow to the shoulder..."

"Well maybe next time one of Prince John's men tells you that there's an army on the outskirts of Nottingham you'll run away from it and not towards it!" she quipped mischievously.

"Well I figured they'd have no chance against you and me..." His smile was pure charm and her heart swelled to see it. She was on the verge of tears again because in passing out he had scared her and the relief she felt that he was back with her was overwhelming.

"Admit it, you were just trying to impress me!" she teased.

"Did it work?" He looked her directly in the eye, in that way that only he could and it made her feel afraid: afraid of the way he made her feel, afraid of what she might do or say, afraid that she had no control over herself. She could feel her body trembling, and was afraid that he would notice it, how could he not, lay at her knees as he was?

But then it was the strangest thing: she became calm and it was as if somebody had lifted all her fears and doubts from her. She had known for a long time that she loved him but in that moment, it didn't terrify her anymore. He continued to look up at her expectantly but she had completely forgotten what it was that he had just asked her - it didn't matter, nothing mattered now, other than that he was with her. She gave him a small smile and then let her body guide her to where it wanted to be: in his arms.

He for his part, was a little slow to understand, perhaps not trusting himself to believe what she was doing, perhaps just as terrified as she had been moments before. But his body knew, just as hers did, and without even realising it, his fingers curled around her waist pulling her into him.

It was then that it happened.

As it had been destined to happen since the very moment they had laid eyes upon each other...

...she kissed him...

...and he felt no pain.