The force was gentle, but it caught Arwen off guard. Before she registered what had happened, she already felt his arms wrapping around her, holding her in a close, warm embrace.
"Stay for a mont," she heard him mumble, and she stopped for him. One hand clutched his jacket while the other rested quietly over his back, his palm still over his shoulder blade.
Seconds passed. Then a full minute. But she didn't move.
She let him hold her for as long as he needed, because she could feel sothing had shifted inside him —sothing he wasn't saying aloud.
She wanted to ask. The question was right there, sitting on the tip of her tongue.
But she knew now wasn't the right mont.
"I want to take you sowhere."
His voice reached her again, soft and low, yet clear.
A flash of confusion crossed her face as she pulled back slightly to look at him. "Now?"
He stepped back just a little, shaking his head. "After dinner. But tonight."
Her brows furrowed in concern. "But you didn't look well … We can go another day, when you are feeling better," she said, worry threading through her voice. He looked tired and worn —how could he plan to go sowhere like this in such a state?
Aiden, however, shook his head again, his lips curling into a stubborn smile. "I am fine. n are usually warr than won."
He ant he doesn't have a temperature.
Arwen wanted to roll her eyes at his logic. But she knew he would find every logic to outrule hers at the mont.
After all, she was stubborn, but he wasn't any less.
"Let's go," he said, already holding her hand to lead her out. He grabbed her back and gestured for her to take her phone before they left the office.
Arwen wanted to bring the diary with her, but on second thought, she left it in the drawer itself.
"Where are we going?" she asked, curious to know.
But he didn't reveal. "You will know when we get there."
————
After a while, their car pulled up at a specific location. Arwen looked out to check, but the trees around made it difficult to recognize.
Aiden passed her a jacket, and his movent made her turn and look at him.
"You will need this later," he said, before stepping out of the car and coming to her side to open the door for her.
She gazed up at him before getting out of the car as well. She wore the jacket and looked at him. "If you don't feel well, let know. We will leave."
Although he made it sound like he was okay, she wasn't convinced.
He nodded and held her hand. "Be careful," he said, warning, his gaze turning slightly serious, staring at the path ahead. "Hold onto tight. There are pebbles around."
"Pebbles," she asked, "Did you bring to so lake?"
He didn't say anything but led her carefully ahead. She held on to him, and he made sure she didn't fall at all.
She smiled whenever she felt stumbling over sothing, his arms around her held her secure.
And then suddenly, she caught the hints of brightness. When she glanced to check, glitter filled her gaze at the sight ahead.
She paused, only to have a srizing look at the scene that was worth beholding. The fairy lights around dazzled the ambience, and the tent not far from the lake gave it a warm, cozy touch.
She looked around and suddenly realized sothing.
She turned and looked at Aiden. "Did we co to the lake behind our high school?" She ant Cralens High School —the one in which they went together.
She might not recognize the way they ca, but now, seeing the lake, she could tell. This wasn't the first ti she ca here.
Even the last ti when she left Quinn's Villa, she found herself coming this way, finding solace.
But why did he bring her here?
She looked at him, waiting to hear him.
But he simply stared ahead, watching the place as if he shared so connection there.
After a long while, he finally answered. "This was my favourite place," he said, his voice laced with an emotion that felt familiar to Arwen. "I wanted to share this place with you."
"With ?" she asked. Although he had put it like that, she felt that wasn't just it. There was sothing deeper in his gaze, the way it lingered on the scene ahead.
But before she could read what it was, he turned to her, nodding and breaking off the string that would have allowed her to recognize it.
"The last ti you ca here, you didn't have a good mory of this place," he said, adding slowly, "And I didn't want you to have that as the only mory of this place."
Even though that reason seed viable enough to believe, for so reason, she could tell that was not just it.
But she just nodded to him. "Okay, then what are we doing here?" she asked, her eye flicking back to look ahead. Seeing the comfortable tent in the middle, she asked, guessing, "Are we spending our night here?"
That seed to be the plan.
She walked ahead, and he followed after her.
"No, we will go back after spending so ti here," he said, and she just nodded to him, walking closer to find a table set for them.
She looked at it before turning to glance at him. "You definitely didn't plan before. How didn't you manage it all in such a short ti?"
He didn't answer. He simply went to pull the chair for her before gesturing for her to sit. "We are yet to have our dinner."
Arwen accepted the seat and sat down. He also took the chair across, and soon after, they served each other.
As they ate, Arwen kept on stealing glances at Aiden. She waited for him to say sothing, but when he didn't, she asked, "Husband, did you ever have a nickna?"
She didn't know why she asked that, but she felt the need of confirming sothing within.
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