𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰

6 - Distances.

“Thirty one,” Elsa sheepishly answered, “If I haven’t been dwelling on Charlotte and Douglas’s momentous scene I would have been on thirty two already.”

“Well isn’t that just natural?” Aiden teased.

Her response was equally casual, but she had to summon every confident fiber of her being first before she really let the words fly out of her mouth. “When you put it that way, then yeah.”

His gaze remained plastered on her for a minute (and what a heavenly minute it was) as little by little, he could perceive the edges of her lips forming a faint smile.

A breathtaking phenomenon.

Aiden shook himself out of his stupor and glanced at the book to recover a bit of distance, and soon Elsa found herself longing for his eyes.

“You know I...” She bit her lip, “I’m sorry.”

There it was again. The discomfort, the wanted closure but Elsa found herself wishing to inch farther and farther away because why not, she’s already known to be a damn coward.

He blinked. “For what?”

“I know that.. that what happens everything between us isn’t... It’s all—pretend, right?”

His heart must have died a little.

“Yes. No matter how much I want it not to be.”

Aiden’s slip of the tongue elicited a faint gasp from the frozen woman next to him.

Happiness and panic surged through Elsa’s chest, and she even must have forgotten to move. She wouldn’t dare to wake up if this is a dream.

“I better go,” Aiden gulped as he rushed himself up from the chair.

“N-no, wait!”

Elsa didn’t know what triggered it nor did she exactly know why she wanted him to stay all of a sudden, but her hand immediately reached itself out to grasp Aiden’s wrist.

The latter stiffened at the woman’s touch, but immediately softened up when Elsa’s hand snaked itself downwards to clasp Aiden’s hand on her own.

Her hand was relatively small compared to his, but the thrumming tension in between them ended with the feeling of their skin brushing against one other.

“... Stay,” Elsa whispered softly; her voice fragile and meek and it was enough to send Aiden’s heart soaring as his eyes met hers; it was an icy blue–not the kind that would send a running fear down your spine, no, it was the kind of color that you’ll see on the surface of a frozen lake basked in the warm, early sunrise during mid-december.

Aiden gaped his mouth slightly, wanting to protest but no words seemingly came out of his mouth.

A moment of silence descended upon them with both figures staring into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever.

Aiden blinked.

Once,

Twice.

“... Okay.”

•••

“What other books do you read?”

Aiden asked after a long pause of silence. Elsa looked up at him and tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows furrowing as she slowly lifted down the book that she was reading.

Aiden smiled—a faint one.

“Aside from The Clockmaster, I asked if you’ve read any other books? I was hoping that you could tell me more about yourself. No shame in that, no?”

Elsa paused and blinked for a moment, not sure why she had to process this all of a sudden. She didn’t exactly know why she was making a big deal out of Aiden asking her such a simple question.

“Are you familiar with The Notebook?”

Aiden’s smile grew, “Noah and Allie.”

Elsa raised her eyebrow. “You know of it?”

Aiden grinned playfully, “Who doesn’t? A classic love story where its message is as simple as that: love conquers all.” He hummed and darted his eyes away from Elsa. “But does it really?”

Elsa furrowed her eyebrows at that as her frigid blue eyes remained focused on Aiden, trying to process what he had just said. “What?”

“There are different meanings to love–that is to say that other people see it differently as well. To some, love is something worth fighting for. While for others, it simply just doesn’t exist in their dictionary.” Aiden paused, “But with Noah and Allie, to them: love conquers all. No matter what tries to set them aside, no matter the obstacle, they still find a way to come back to each other–because it is what it is to them: love conquers all.”

Elsa blinked, trying to process exactly what Aiden was prattling on about as her eyes remained focused on him. Elsa gripped tightly onto the book that she was holding.

“What are you trying to say?”

Aiden casted a glance towards Elsa; bright eyes meeting his.

“It’s like I said, there are different ways to interpret love–whether be it through family, friends, companions.. Lovers, that is love. The word love will always be different in people’s eyes–

Which is why I’m asking you..

What about you?

What is love to you, Elsa?”

To be continued
on the next chapter...