Keeping Him Loved

Chapter 3

        They had gathered the rest of Add's belongings, gotten him back into his clothes regardless of the fabric's condition, and made their way towards Elder as quickly as they could. It was the nearest city, and Add lived just outside of it. Although he had been in pretty bad shape, (y/n) assisted Add in making the twenty minute trek back to his home that sat snuggled between two large trees barely within the city's outskirts.

        That was where they were now with Add quietly wrapping his own wounds. (Y/n) had insisted that she help, but Add quite rudely declined the offer leaving her to sit and watch. He actually gave a brief half hearted apology afterwards and replaced the bandages on her arm before he finished caring for himself.

        They sat on a carpet laid across the floor since there were no chairs inside the old house. There were only two parts to the home. A kitchen with a storage closet, and the main room that (y/n) now sat in. Despite its lack of furniture, the area was immaculately clean. It had (y/n) wondering just what type of person Add was other than blatantly irritating.

        It bothered her to watch his back tense up whenever he unintentionally hurt himself during the process of patching up his double attacked wound. Without his shirt covering his neck, she could see a scar that ran around it signifying some sort of dark time from his past. Once Add was done treating himself, he remained sitting with his back facing her. (Y/n) kept silent so as not to disturb his train of thought. Add hadn't even thought twice about letting her stay the night with him. She promised to leave first thing in the morning and repay him for the act of kindness, but he claimed there was no kindness involved in the decision.

        "Are you hungry?" Add looked back at her with his single visible eye. (Y/n) reluctantly nodded at him. She didn't want to turn down a meal, but it felt a bit awkward for him to have asked her that question. Her eyes remained focused on the carpet as he left the room. When Add returned, he was wearing a shirt and held two bowls of rice in his hands. One he passed to her and the other he kept. "You'll have to make due with this."

        "It's more than enough. Thanks." Seeing the black shirt he now wore reminded (y/n) that she was wearing a borrowed set of his clothing until her original outfit dried. They fit albeit loosely around her form which made things a little uncomfortable now that Add was facing her.

        "Why did they kidnap you? Do you know?" His sudden question had (y/n) pausing just before eating more of the rice she was given.

        "Who knows. Could be anything really. Humans think elves are pretty, so there are some fools who trap them like pets. I came from a village here in the human lands instead of from our original homeland. I'm only half elf, but these," she pointed at her ears. "They make things difficult to pass as human. I can't go back home. My village is gone, and I don't have any connection to Eldemyr. It was my father's homeland. So basically they thought I was a homeless elf with usefulness and figured that I wouldn't be missed." (Y/n) managed a smile. "Other than that, I can't think of much else."

        "Looks like you got lucky by escaping then, and you make it sound like you don't like the elf half of you."

        (Y/n) grimaced at his observation. "That's...not really true. It's complicated." She shook her head and ate a few more bites of her rice. "What about you? Got a reason that you were in range of a kidnapper's arrow so far away from home?"

        Add didn't answer for a moment. (Y/n) thought he was going to ignore her inquiry, but he put down his bowl and avoided her gaze. "I want to be stronger." His voice was firm and confident. She expected that from him at this point. "I'm sick of not being able to protect myself. When I first got to this era, I hoped that humanity had changed for the better. I was an idiot to think that." He crossed his arms. "I heard that you can find more medicinal herbs the further away you get from cities and villages," he quietly added.

        "You don't really seem weak to me. You took out that hunter no problem." Add's eye flicked over to glare at her. It spooked her for a second although he quickly looked away, and his expression morphed into a pout.

          "It's not enough." He looked down at his hand and balled it into a fist. "I almost died today. I've gotten into fights just barely escaping being beaten to death." He pointed at his eyepatch. "People prey on the weak. I'm still not strong enough, but I will be. If you hadn't been there, I...that can't happen again. It won't. And don't go telling anyone about it either."

        "I can keep a secret. As long as you don't sell me out to any kidnappers of course." Add appeared to be offended by her second statement, but made no comment on the matter. "Um...how old are you?"

        "What? What kind of question is that?"

        "A perfectly valid one. You said you were from a different era. I'm suspicious of your age. You could be one hundred and one for all I know. You can never tell even with humans these days."

        "You're one to talk. Aren't you an elf?"

        "Half elf. Just answer the question. I'm not anywhere near being one hundred by the way, in case you try pulling that card." (Y/n) crossed her arms to which Add rolled his eye.

        "Seventeen. I got caught up in some sort of time travel. Happy now?"

        "Very," she stated matter of factly. "I'm a year younger than you, ha!"

        "As a half elf, do you really think that's something to be proud of?" Add was genuinely smiling despite his condescending tone. "You sound like a child saying such things." She laughed at him. It was nice to see him displaying such positive emotion. It was a drastic change from the blank stare he kept on the journey back. It made the gravity of that day's predicament even more serious. Add, completely innocent as he may have been, had almost perished because of her. While she knew that the blame wasn't really on her, she recalled that Add would have been fine had she just gone a little further down the road. Maybe he would have gone straight home after gathering what he needed.

        "What's wrong with you all of a sudden?" Add's voice snapped her back to reality. He had his head tilted in confusion but his eye was analyzing her like some sort of machine. It felt like he already knew what was wrong just by looking at her.

        "Hm? I'm just really tired after today." She looked down at her empty bowl. "Oh, and thank you for the food." Add glanced at it but returned to staring at her. "What?"

        "Just...thinking." He reached over and took her bowl along with his own. He disappeared behind the door of the storage closet, but returned yet again with something new. Two blankets and one pillow were all bundled together and tucked under his arm. "It gets cold here around this time of year." He handed the items to her and sat back down to lay on the carpet. (Y/n) narrowed her eyes at his stubbornness. "What are you doing?" he questioned.

        "Just shut up and deal with it. I won't ask you to face the other way since you're hurt on that side of your shoulder, but if you touch me, you're dead. Got that?" She scooted over towards him and draped the two blankets over the both of them. "Good night, Add." She flipped over to face away from him, keeping to the edge of the pillow in case he decided to use it as well. Had this been anyone else under normal circumstances, she would have taken the hospitality and let them freeze without a second thought. Well, no. She actually would have declined to stay to begin with. She felt more at home out in the wilderness, and would have found somewhere to go whether it be a cave or an abandoned burrow. The only thing keeping her attached to this boy was the fact that he had almost died, and she felt responsible for that. It was the only reason. Nothing else at all.

        After a while, (y/n) fell asleep. It left Add wondering why he had even let her remain with him. His thoughts were unreadable, and his curiosity was peaked, but not once did Add touch her. Not even on accident.
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Until next time you amazing readers!