Ch 5: A date

The night was cold. Everyone in the barrack was sleeping, wrapped in thick woolen blankets. Well, everyone except a single girl who was sitting by a small window. She was looking at the beautiful stars and the moon. Unfortunately, that view only brought her back bad memories.

"Three days." (y/n) thought "Back then I was looking at the same moon and stars...but with HER." she sighed and her breath created a small cloud in the cold air "It was just three days ago. Why does it feel like it's been ages?!"

~~a night three day before~~

The party was over. The tavern was completely silent. However, that couldn't be said about the area behind the building, from where were coming sounds of pleasure and amusement.

(y/n) felt like she was about to explode. Merida was kissing her with such a passion and touching (y/n)'s naked skin with her silk hands...It was a truly amazing experience. When (y/n) thought she would drown in that pleasure, Merida suddenly stopped.

"What happened? Are you feeling all right?" (y/n) asked worried as the girl moved away from her.

"I'm okay." she smiled and grabbed (y/n) hand gently "Look, you're really amazing but I can't do it now..."

"Are you leaving me?! Why? Have I done something wrong?"

"No. No. 'Now' I mean today. I need some space and time to think about us... Are you mad?"

"Emm. No, I'm just confused...I guess."

"Me too." Merida chuckled nervously "So please give me a day! Tomorrow I'll meet up with you."

"All right, take your time." (y/n) said and took a lonely walk back to the barrack.

~~~~

Suddenly someone put a woolen blanket on her.

"You shouldn't sit here without a cover." she heard a familiar warm voice "You could catch a cold."

"Thanks" (y/n) smiled at her friend "Why aren't you asleep, Lydia?"

Lydia was rather tall, dark-haired girl from (y/n)'s village. She was very beautiful and wise, so no wonder that a half of the village's youth had a massive crush on her, including (y/n).

"It's so cold that I couldn't fell asleep." she rubbed her cold hands and pointed at the blanket "Can I?"

"Emm. Yeah! Sure!" (y/n) moved to make Lydia some space under the cover.

"So" the girl asked after she nestled down "Why aren't YOU asleep?"

"I was thinking about something, that's all."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lydia moved closer "You seem to be sad about something since the party."

"I appreciate that you care, but it's not a big deal." she lied "I'll... I just have to... I...I don't know what I should do actually." she tried really hard but she couldn't control her emotions any longer. A single tear ran down her cheek.

Lydia embraced her warmly. "I have an idea." she said "You need to refresh your mind."

Lydia stood up, put a warm jacket on and gave (y/n) her woolen coat.

"What are you waiting for." she pulled (y/n)'s hand "let's go!"

"Wait! Where?" (y/n) was really confused

"Quietly!" she whispered "We don't want to wake up the rest. We're going for a walk. That'll help you to relax. Trust me."

^^^

At first, (y/n) was skeptical about the idea, but when they reached the seashore, the girl actually started to feel better.

"It's my little secret." Lydia breathed in the fresh air "Whenever I'm sad, I sneak out and go to the shore. That silence, those peaceful waves and fresh breeze, aren't they beautiful?"

"They sure are" (y/n) admitted while admiring the amazing view

They decided to go for a short walk along the shore.

"We should talk to each other more often. Why didn't we?" Lydia said

"I always thought that you, a very popular person in the village, wouldn't want to talk to someone like me."

"Nonsense." she grunted "I think that you're a really interesting person." then she suddenly changed the topic "Isn't your friend dating Arthur?"

"You mean Clair? Yeah, unfortunately."

"He's a total prick. She should leave him."

"Well, legends say that Arthur was dumped only once...by a girl named Lydia." (y/n) chuckled

"Oh stop that! Of course I dumped him! I went out with him only ONCE, because very quickly I found out that he's up to only one thing. The thing that I'm not interested in doing with a guy."

"You mean..."

"I like girls."

"HOLY SHIT!" she thought. "That's nice." she said

The news was so shocking that (y/n) didn't notice that the path became slippery and she fell down.

"You sure are a clumsy type." Lydia giggled

"Shut up and help me!" the girl also laughed

Lydia took (y/n)'s hand and tried to pull her up but she also slipped and fell. (y/n) busted into laughter.

"Did you just fall for me?" (y/n) asked still laughing

"Well, I guess I did." Lydia said bitterly

After she noticed Lydia's serious face, she asked "Wait, what?"

"I'm saying that I like you." Lydia looked into her eyes "And I wanted to tell you that for a long time but I didn't have enough courage."

(y/n) just stood there speechless.

"Just don't fall again, please." Lydia giggled

"Heh. No, I won't. So...What now?"

"You wanna go on a date?"

"YES! I mean, yes I'd love to."

"Nice. Can it be today?"

"Sure!"

"7 PM?"

"Perfect."

"We should head back to the barrack and get some sleep then."

"You're right. Go first, I want to do one more thing."

"Don't stay here for too long. Goodnight!" Lydia waved and headed back.

(y/n) kneeled by the sea and without thinking, she splashed her face with freezing water.

"What the hell are you doing?! " she asked herself

^^^

About 2 PM, a horde of zombie-like walking creatures left the training field.

"Uh! I hate when the chief is the one to coach." (y/n) groaned while massaging her shoulder

"Yeah." the blonde haired guy added "I'm wondering what will kill me first, the army of enemies or chiefs' exercises."

"Well said, Olaf." the girl agreed with her friend

When they reached the marketplace, Olaf asked "I'm going to the barrack. What about you?"

"I've got a business in the town, so I'll meet up with you later,"

"Okay. Just don't be late for lunch. Today we're having a scotch pie!"

"After a week of eating that potato shit thing, I'd love to taste something good. See ya!''

(y/n) headed to the 'Radiant Raiment'. She heard that it's the best place to buy fine clothes without overpaying. She wanted to look good for that special occasion which was her date.

The saleswoman- an elder lady with a warm smile, showed her dresses in lots of shapes and styles (some of them were really ridiculous). Finally (y/n) decided to buy the (favorite color) one in the Nordic style.

"Good choice" the old lady nodded "It looks very good on you, dear. Unlike all those strange poses that you're making."

"Sorry, I'm just not used to wearing such elegant dresses."

"I can see. If I could advise you one more thing.." she took (y/n)'s cloth with her tribe's violet tartan "that'll look very fashionable with the dress."

"Thank you! What's the price?"

"120"

"Ohh...That's...well."

"If you can't pay for it, then take it off!" the lady said impatiently

"Please, can't you lower the price a little?" (y/n) begged "I can't meet that person with a potato sack on!"

"Hmmm. Well, it seems like it's really important to you. Then, how much money do you have?"

"90-something"

"So let's make a deal. I'll sell you that dress-"

"Thank you so much! You won't regret-"

"I didn't finish! I'll sell you that dress for '90-something' but you'll have to do me a favor. In a few days I'm gonna need someone to move all my merchandise to another place. "

"So it's a deal!"

(y/n) took the package with her dress and head to the barrack. When she was about to left the city, a little boy got in her way.

"I'm looking for someone from your tribe." he pointed at the violet tartan "I have a letter for someone named (y/n)."

"It's your lucky day then because it's me."

She took the letter but decided to open it later. She wanted to focus on a date.

When she reached the barrack she quickly ate lunch and decided to take the bath before she'll try her new dress on.

She jumped into the hot water and tried to think about her date with Lydia but she couldn't. She felt guilty. She was still in love with Merida. Maybe she should wait for their meeting.

"But Merida lied to me" she thought "I was waiting and she ignored me completely! I have a right to be mad and it's okay for me to go on a date with Lydia."

When she finally left the bathroom she decided to open the mysterious letter. What she found inside nearly knocked her off her feet.

Dear (y/n)!

I'm sorry it took me so long, but I wanted to be sure that I won't hurt you with my reckless words.

I'm ready to talk to you about our relationship in person. Let's meet today an hour before the sunset (I drew you a little map with the location).

Love,

Merida

(y/n) looked at a clock. I was 6 PM, two hours to the sunset and an hour to the date with Lydia.

"Damn." she whispered