"I'm sorry," you said before pulling him close and pressing your lips against his. He let out a surprised sound but didn't pull away. The eremite stepped inside and you took advantage of the moment to grab the evidence and shove it into Kaveh's pocket under the guise of pulling him closer to kiss him harder.
You heard the eremite clear his throat and you immediately separated from Kaveh, pushing him away. You knew it was just an act but you felt your cheeks grow warm and your heart was racing.
"I apologize," you heard Kaveh say. "I just...love her too much,"
At this, you looked at Kaveh and saw his expression dazed and his cheeks flushed. His ears were a deep pink and you quickly turned away.
"It's....alright," the eremite grunted. "The leader approves of your loan, now all you have to do is sign," he said, eagerly.
"Actually..." you said, fidgeting with the sleeve of your dress. "We've decided to give it one more chance. We are going to go back and try to convince our families and get them to accept our love," you said, feeling a blush creep up your neck.
"What...but-"
"My wife is right," Kaveh said, taking your hand. It felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest and you prayed he couldn't feel it. "We will give it another shot. You have been of great help, I will be sure to recommend you to my...acquaintances,"
"Yes, of course sir," the eremite said, making way for you two.
.
.
.
"We got the evidence," you said, looking around to make sure no one had followed you. You and Kaveh were currently meeting up with Alhaitham at a nearby cafe and you were explaining that the mission was successful.
Kaveh pulled out the papers from his pocket and handed them over to Alhaitham.
"Hm, yes, this should work just fine," he approved, nodding as he skimmed the documents. "But...why do you two look so on edge? Nothing went wrong, did it?" he asked, observing the way you and Kaveh didn't make eye contact the whole time.
Your cheeks were still warm despite the...event...happening hours ago, and you hoped it didn't show.
"It's nothing," you replied, internally flinching at how stiff you sounded. You stole a glance in Kaveh's direction and he seemed to be lost in thought. You noticed how his cheeks were still a light shade of pink.
"Alright..." Alhaitham said, too unbothered to push any further. "If the eremites show up again, I'll take care of it. Kaveh, you can pay Y/N and finally let her go. She's been of great help and deserves to be compensated before she leaves,"
"Let her go...?" Kaveh asked, breaking out of his train of thought. You thought you imagined it but you swore you heard a tinge of sorrow in his voice.
"Yes...unless there's another reason eremites are after your life...which isn't surprising to be perfectly honest," Alhaitham replied, carefully packing up the documents. "She doesn't really have a reason to stay any longer,"
"Oh...yes, I suppose..." Kaveh trailed off, finally turning to look at you.
.
.
.
"Well then...I guess this is it then," Kaveh said, watching you pack the last of your things in your bag.
With a grunt, you lifted the bag onto your shoulders and looked at Kaveh. "I guess..."
The two of you looked down and stood in an awkward silence for a moment.
"You shou-"
"Then I'll-"
You both looked at each other, surprised after speaking at the same time.
"I guess I'll get going then," you said, remembering how eager you were to leave just a few weeks ago. But now...you felt reluctant.
"Yes, you should go before it gets dark," he said, nodding. You watched as he pulled out a small, thick envelope and handed it to you. "Here's everything I owe you,"
You gingerly accepted the payment and it felt heavy in both your hands and your heart.
"Thank you for everything you've done, Y/N," Kaveh said, holding out his hand.
"It was nice to work with you, Kaveh," you said, accepting his hand shake. You noticed the way your hand fit perfectly in his and it lingered there for a moment longer than you had expected. You abruptly pulled away and he did as well.
You walked slowly towards the door, secretly hoping that suddenly a reason for you to stay would appear. But nothing happened.
You could feel Kaveh watching you and you turned to look at him once more before you left. He slowly waved goodbye and you could see internal conflict in his eyes.
You gave him another nod and turned to leave. This was it.
"Y/N!"
You turned around so fast that you almost broke your neck and looked at him eagerly.
"Yeah?"
He looked as if he was struggling to say something and eventually looked down. "I just wanted to say...have a safe journey,"
You felt something in your heart drop but you put on the best smile you could muster. "Thanks," you said, before stepping outside and making your way back to the settlement.
It was going to be a long walk back home.
.
.
.
A few days later
'I just...love her too much'
'You're much cuter than you let on,'
"Y/N!!"
You heard someone yell your name before feeling yourself being pushed to the ground. You braced yourself for impact as your back hit the hard ground and you grimaced in pain. You opened your eyes and saw a pair of worried eyes looking down at yours.
"Are you okay??"
You blinked, remembering Matriarch Babel had sent you out to the middle of the desert on a mission to look for food. You felt the hot sand gradually burning your back and you sat up.
"I'm fine, Azrul. Thanks for saving me," you said, getting up while dusting the sand off of you. You looked at the large lifeless scorpion that lay beside you. You hadn't even seen it coming. If Azrul hadn't pushed you out of the way in time and killed it, who knows what would have happened to you.
"What's wrong? You're so out of it lately. This past week you couldn't even spar with me without zoning out every five minutes," Azrul asked, crossing his arms. "Even Matriarch Babel gave you easy missions like looking for food because you keep getting distracted,"
"I know, I'm sorry," you apologized, feeling frustrated with yourself. "I'm just being a horrible partner right now, aren't I,"
Azrul sighed and walked over. "That's not true. What were you even thinking about? Is someone after you? Tell me, I want to help,"
"I was..." you trailed off, remembering the thoughts you were lost in. Kaveh's smile flashed through your mind and you heard his words over and over again. What was wrong with you??
"Y/NNNN" Azrul called out, waving his hand in front of you. "See, there you go zoning out again,"
You just hung your head in response.
"You know what, let's just head back for today. We got the food anyway" Azrul said gently, nodding at the scorpion that lay at your feet.
"Yeah...hopefully I'll be better after getting some rest," you murmured, following Azrul back to the settlement.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened ever since you got back. You thought you would have forgotten about Kaveh by now, but for some reason your stupid brain kept remembering him. You kept getting easily distracted, often putting you and others in danger. Your mind somehow found a way to think about him no matter what you were doing.
This was no way for an eremite to behave. Especially one that had been trained by Matriarch Babel. If she ever found out about how unprofessional you were being right now, you couldn't even begin to measure her disappointment.
You scolded yourself once more after realizing you had gotten lost in your thoughts again. You looked up and saw Azrul far ahead of you, carrying the scorpion back to the settlement. You quickened your pace to catch up with him but stopped when you heard a cry of help in the distance....
Just like you had when you first met Kaveh.
You turned towards the noise and strained your ears. The cry came again, this time much more desperate. You felt hope bubble inside your heart and you knew it was unrealistic that it was Kaveh but...you headed toward the cry anyway.
As you got closer, you saw a crouched figure surrounded by a couple of eremites. You strained your neck to try and get a better look of the poor soul who was getting beaten up, but you couldn't see anything.
You kept inching closer and finally made eye contact with the man. Your heart sank when you saw he had brown hair - completely different from the architect that kept plaguing your mind all day.
"Wait!! Miss, please help! PLEASE!!!"
Oh yea, you forgot about the saving part. With a sigh you ran over and swiftly took down one eremite, effectively scaring the others away.
You held out your hand and helped up the poor man who was still trembling.
"T-thank you so much miss, how can I repay you?"
"Ah, don't worry about it," you said, turning to leave.
"Wait..." he called out. "Are you by any chance...miss Y/N L/N?"
You immediately faced him, suspicious. "And who are you?" you asked, looking at him from head to toe. He seemed pretty harmless.
"Do you remember Kaveh?"
At the sound of his name, you felt something in your heart flutter and you looked the man straight in the eye. "Kaveh?? Yes, I know him. Is something the matter?"
The concern in the man's face grew and you were starting to get impatient.
You grabbed the man by the shoulders and asked him again.
"Something happened to him...he was taken!"
- x -
If you liked the chapter don't forget to leave a vote! (≧▽≦)