Y/n sighed, gathering her thoughts as she stood behind Carlos and Jay's dorm room door. Dude, sensing her nervousness, let out a small sound, drawing the girl's attention to himself.
Y/n smiled. "You're right, Dude. It's gonna be okay."
With that in her mind — and in her heart — she raised her hand, gently rapping her knuckles against the door in a certain pattern she'd come to use.
"The door's open, come in!" Carlos' voice announced from the other side of the door.
Y/n's brows pinched a bit, hearing the forced cheerfulness in her friend's voice, but she opened the door and peeked in nonetheless. "Hi," she said softly.
"Oh, hi," Carlos answered, closing his laptop. "I assumed you'd be Mal or Evie." Inwardly, he wanted to hit himself. What a stupid thing to say!
"Yeah, makes sense," Y/n said, trying to ease the tension as she fully entered the room. "I... You left Dude back at the field, so..."
"Yeah, yeah," Carlos exclaimed, coming forward. "Hey, buddy! I'm so sorry, I won't leave you again!" While he talked to the dog, Y/n carefully handed the canine over to him, watching as his eyes lit up.
"Hey, I'm..." the girl said, stepping away so she didn't invade the boy's personal space anymore. "I'm sorry about earlier."
Carlos' expression fell a bit. "It's alright, you couldn't have known it would all go down like that."
"No, I... I saw it earlier. I should've done something so... So it wouldn't have all started. I could've come to talk to Mal before she had a chance to talk with Queen Leah, or, or—"
"Hey, it's okay," Carlos assured, placing a hand on Y/n shoulder as he let Dude hop onto the floor. "Not your fault." He smiled sadly. "Besides... It was a given that there would be people who don't like Ben's decision."
Y/n smiled, looking down so Carlos couldn't see the surprise in her eyes that surfaced when her heart started beating faster. "Thanks..."
"Hey, tell you what," Carlos started. "Let's go to the archery range. Because of Family Day there will definitely be no one else." His smile widened, seeing how the girl in front of him was slowly cheering up. "Besides, I've wondered about that jump and shoot thing you do. Think you could show me that?"
Y/n chuckled, knowing full well that Carlos was just trying to cheer her up. "Sure."
☞♦♢♦☜
"Okay," Y/n nodded, observing the bows by the shooting range, weighing each of them in her hand before handing one to Carlos. "This should do it for you."
Carlos looked at the weapon in his hand with slight confusion. Y/n smiled. "I figured it would be better if you had your own, not that you and I switched constantly. It's more efficient."
"Oh, alright."
Y/n hummed, grabbing some arrows for Carlos, glancing at the tips of her own that were behind her back. I should send a letter back home and ask for more... Nothing like the North's arrows, that's for sure.
"Here," Y/n said, brushing the thoughts from her mind as she handed a handful of arrows to Carlos. "Show me what you remember from last time."
Carlos nodded determinedly, but when he started thinking about the last time the two of them were at the archery range, all he could think about was Y/n's happy smile. He looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I don't remember much."
Y/n chuckled. "It's alright, I can show you the ropes again."
And that she did, showing Carlos the basics again — which he picked up quicker than last time, obviously, as it was just a reminder and not a whole new skill — before moving on to more complicated things, such as shooting from further away and shooting while moving.
The whole time, though he listened, Carlos couldn't get his mind off of the elegance with which Y/n moved, even when she was handling a weapon. He figured it was because she was a princess, but what he couldn't figure out was why his thoughts kept straying from the sport he was supposed to be practicing.
An hour or so later, Y/n sighed contentedly, drawing the last of her arrows out of the mark. "I think that should be enough for today. Dinner is soon."
"Right..." Carlos answered, somehow sad that the whole ordeal was ending. "I suppose I should go find the others."
Y/n's mood dampened, thinking about what had happened a few hours ago. "Yeah. Well, good luck."
Carlos offered her a smile. "Thanks. And thank you for practicing with me, too. It was really fun."
Y/n nodded, watching as Carlos started jogging, calling Dude to follow him, before she put the borrowed arrows away.
She started walking, too, her eyes nailed to the figure jogging ahead of her. For some reason, her heart did a flip.