Abigail

--- 15 ---

His warm hands clutched my smaller, colder ones, his lip licked his lower lip, his eyes staring at me intensely, so much so that I wanted to melt away.

"Abigail, how did you know?" He asked again, I was at a loss for words, no story, no lie, only the truth, but I couldn't tell him that. I tried to pull my hands out of his grip, but he held them tighter, there was no way I could get out of it, I looked down.

"Just a gut feeling." I could feel the lump in my throat getting thicker, it was as if nothing in life could stay still, something would always go wrong and bite me in the arse. I deserved it though, I thought of my mum, and how worried she must be, after all I did disappear and I had no way of knowing if the time machine returned to 2017 or if the time machine itself is lost in the paradox of time. If it had returned, perhaps they'd come and find me, take me home.

My vision went blurry with tears, I missed home, as much as I hated it when I was there, when it was gone, I wanted it back more than anything. I wiped my eyes and looked up, he was frowning, the thick brow furrowed. He was deciding what to do next, he was probably deciding how to politely say that he didn't believe me. Then again, Mr Ridley wasn't polite, and I doubt he'd care enough to think about what he was saying.

"Why are you crying?" His voice was softer than before, he leaned in closer to me, wiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb.

"I miss home." I whispered, bringing my knees up to my chest, i was taking up a large area of the rock, my skirt gathered up on the rock too, hiding the grey stone underneath bright fabric.

"Me too, the palace isn't home." He said his hands resting on the rock, covered by my dress.

"You get to go back." I let out an airy laugh and looked at him, expecting him to be smiling, he was frowning again.

"You can't?" He sat up straighter, moving his hands to sit in his lap.

"It's a little bit too far away, it would take a very long time to get home."

"How long?"

"I don't know. The rest of my life maybe." I laughed.

"Well then how did you get here?"  He looked at me puzzled standing up from the rock and walking in front of me, holding out his hand to help me to my feet.

"Good question."

"I won't ask anymore, but I will find out, one way or another." His threatening words didn't match the smile that graced his lips. 

"Well I thank you for not asking anymore, but you won't figure it out." I sniffed, smiling, I looked up at him, he was smiling too, his expression wasn't heavy anymore, the subject was slowly fading into the past along with the emotions we felt with it. 

"You underestimate me Lady Abigail." He grinned and released a small chuckle from his lips, it was quite something and the butterflies came alive in my stomach for a few moments. I looked at him before walking past him and retracing our steps back to the palace, he followed behind me, soon catching up to walk along side me.

"I think I shall refer to you as a friend from know on, we've been through quite something together." He held out his arm for me to take, and so  I did without hesitation.

"Well then we are friends Mr Ri-"

"William." He interrupted.

"Well then we are friends William." I smiled, and his features mirrored mine.

 "Perhaps you will sit next to me at dinner now, seeing as we are friends."

"I guess you'll have to wait and see." I giggled lightly, he looked at me smiling, I don't think I'd ever seen him smile so much. There was a sudden drop in my stomach, like a stone had been tied to my heart and was ripping it through me. I don't know what brought the thought on, but I realised that if I returned back home, it would be without him. For some reason that made me sad, and my smile fell. He noticed, nudging me slightly.

"What are you thinking about?" He was curious, gentle too but the natural rasp of his voice was ever present, no matter what emotional state he was in, he waited patiently for my response, his soft features turning to a slight frown.

"Just things." I shrugged and breathed in deeply, releasing a sigh and letting the small smile creep onto my face again. He nodded in response, not pressing me for answers

"Keeping up the mystery." He was trying to up my spirits and I appreciated it, so I smiled to make him think it had worked. We neared the palace now, climbing the stone steps together. William dropped my arm arm and held them behind his back, standing straight his demeanour completely shifting, a group of politicians were cascading down the steps, all caught up in conversation. A few of them nodded to him in recognition, their eyes shifting to me for a few moments before returning to him. 

William sped up so he was in front of me, something about they way he moved made me feel like he'd forgotten everything that just happened, I felt like I was going to have to go back to calling him Mr Ridley again.

He entered the palace door a few feet ahead of me, and he didn't stop, I did, I watched him, my head bubbling over in confusion as he transformed back to his previous, sterner self. He walked with power and dominance down the halls, a contrast to the earlier smiles and laughs. I couldn't work out why he had changed so suddenly.

Then he stopped, turned and looked back at me a frown etched on his face, his lips parted, then he looked down and turned away, continuing down the hall. He left me wondering what on earth he was going to say.

A/N:

Word count: 1040

Sorry it's late, and sorry that it isn't very interesting. I'm still trying to work the plot out in my head, please point out any mistakes and let me know what you think. Enjoy and thanks for reading!!

-D.W