LOVE BUG

CHAPTER 10: 'TU ME FAIS PERDRE LA TETE'

I want to dedicate this chapter to Silenesea6 to thank her for her sweet support on my stories, and since it was Women's Day this weekend and that she's all about positivity and standing for ourselves (she even wrote a book like a guideline to face bullying and Slay the evil snakes! 😉 ), I thought it was the perfect time! 😊

"Wow! We're already done?" Anastasia breathes out about an hour later; well, it is what her watch is indicating, although, for her, it feels like barely a few minutes.

"Almost!" Nate nods towards the last crates near the entrance, finding himself wishing there was more.

"Almost," she agrees with a knowing smile, and he wonders if she can guess his thoughts, or could she be thinking the same as he is?

"But... Nathaniel," she calls his attention as he grabs another heavy sack of seeds – how could she have carried all of that alone? He doesn't even want to imagine it. "Thank you, you really helped me." She bites her lower lip, and the way she's looking at him is probably the best thanks anyone could ask for.

"You're welcome. It was a fun way to do my workout!"

It certainly hasn't been what he's planned, and it hasn't taken his mind off her, but his mood is definitely lighter, and maybe even more relaxed. 

Being around Anastasia – even if they aren't talking much – feels nice, and things are flowing naturally. There is this warm and pleasant feeling in the air, like they are alone in the world; maybe it's the calm of the nature surrounding them or the setting sun bringing a cozy, orangey lighting in the now tidy barn.

Whatever it is, he shakes his head, carrying the last sack and taking some distance, because forgetting the world outside is clearly not a good idea around Anastasia.

Though he runs back to her even faster when a loud thud followed by a foreign word echo around.

"Merde!" 

"Are you okay?" he asks out of breath as his gaze thankfully finds her silhouette still standing in the middle of the barn.

"Yeah, I just dropped the crate of first shoots." She frowns, kneeling and looking down at the ruined shoots and pots on the floor. "Merde, merde, merde, fait chier!" she mutters as she tries to pick up and save some sprouts, but her frantic movements don't seem to help.

"Sorry, I tend to curse in French when I'm frustrated," she adds as she must have felt his creased brows observing her. "It means 'shit', 'damn it'."

"It sounds way more poetic in French!"

She laughs softly to this comment, and he is glad to see her worried features relax slightly.

"Can I ask you a question?"

She nods, her hazel eyes, which have been lost on the mess on the ground, peering up at him as he joins her on the ground, kneeling in front of her.

"How did you end up here? I mean, you're French, so how?" he asks the question that has been burning his lips since he's first heard the 'Am I in heaven?' leave her lips in that steam room, her accent haunting him. 

Moreover, he wants to take her mind off the small disaster on the ground as worry is invading the light green-brown shades in her eyes.

"No, I'm not. I was born here." She grins, leaning back on her heels.

This girl is a mystery, the thought crosses his mind again, along with many others, which are more dangerous.

"My parents moved out for work when I was three," she explains with a gesture of her hand. "So I grew up in France, and we moved back here about three years ago. I guess my parents were kinda homesick, and they wanted to go back before I could get matched, so I could come back with them."