How the heart thaws?

"So? Why the Shuzar Estate?" Isaac asked, looking at the anxious lady he had just decided to escort.

"You don't need to know," she said. Isaac smiled at the clear refusal.

"Then, perhaps, you could elaborate more on why you were jumping walls of your estate instead of a more conventional walking method?" Isaac said.

"Another thing you don't need to know," she said.

"How about an account on something I AM allowed to know?" Isaac said in a particularly sarcastic tone.

"The last time I checked, an account like that included 'NOTHING' in it," Evelyn said, looking out of the carriage window, possibly to ensure how much of the distance was traveled.

A sighed chuckle escaped Isaac as he repressed his slight annoyance.

"Look here, my dear lady, I am trying to make small talk that might help us improve our currently unhealthy relationship. And the way you're answering me certainly isn't helping," Isaac said turning Evelyn's face back toward him gently with his hand.

"What could possibly give you the idea that I wanted to maintain a healthy relationship with you?" Evelyn snapped.

"Maybe the fact that you jumped into my arms from a wall?" Isaac said delightfully. "I expect you to remember it despite your memory problems as it has been quite a recent occurrence."

"Oh! Believe me! It wouldn't have happened if I had a choice!" (Evelyn)

"Well, care to explain how you got into a situation where you had no other choice?" (Isaac)

"Do you wish to know what could improve our relationship?" (Evelyn)

"What, may I please know?" (Isaac)

"You shutting up." (Evelyn)

Isaac laughed out loud as he wiped a little tear from his right eye.

After calming himself down, he looked at Evelyn who was quite mesmerized by his face. There it was again, that feeling of longing she had given him recently. It made him feel quite loved honestly. But he was pretty much sure that this feeling wasn't directed at him. 

'Hani,' Isaac thought to himself. 'It's a bit unpleasant to hear this name. Such a crude and nonsense name."

And as his awareness ringed on him, he cringed at his own jealousy.

"That, my lady, won't be possible. Shutting up, I mean. Not when I am escorting knowing full well that Count Grace isn't aware of this little outing of yours," Isaac said playfully fiddling with Evelyn's bright red hair.

"It won't be good for your bones if you went and decided to snitch on me," Evelyn said grabbing a bunch of golden locks on Isaac's head.

"I won't if I'm an accomplice. Why not tell me the insider things? And who knows I might make myself useful," Isaac said, trying to resist becoming bald by moving closer to Evelyn who had a deadlock on his hair.

"Sounds like a headache to me, though. And the only use you have for me currently is a punching bag, I feel like beating the shit out of you," Evelyn yelled tugging on the hair in her hands.

"Ow! Nobody likes a bald fiancé, now! Please let me keep my value, dear lady," Isaac squealed as he felt his hair break. "And can we please have one conversation that doesn't involve you cursing at me!"

"I apologize but that is simply impossib...." before Evelyn could finish her sentence, the carriage stumbled on a huge rock on the mud road.

The damage wasn't quite severe and they never stopped moving. If it was physical damage only, though.

The sudden inertia flung Isaac towards Evelyn. Being a lot closer to her already to save his hair, he got thrown even closer. Right into her lap. And now, after the ordeal, it was looking as if they hugging quite passionately.

Isaac, red from head to toe the second time that day, didn't dare look up at Evelyn's face. He could feel her breathing as his arms were around her waist. He had instinctively held her like that as a defensive stance so she wouldn't get injured. But now it just looked like him taking advantage of her as the danger never came. So he just remained there, not moving an inch. Like some sloth attached to a tree.

A hand ruffled his golden hair and patted him on the head. A warm and soothing hand it was.

"As much as you might crave human touch, it's a bit too much, don't you think?" He heard Evelyn's snappy voice say. "I don't mind you staying there but it is quite a vulnerable side of you you're showing me, well for the second time today."

Isaac lifted his head a little to see Evelyn's face. She was looking down at him with a mischievous smile on her face. She found it, well, very entertaining that Isaac had made an utter fool of himself while trying to protect her.

"You don't seem to hate touching me," Isaac said raising his head, but never freeing her waist from his hands.

"I don't mind any physical touch if it is voluntary," Evelyn said looking out the window again.

Isaac looked at her face, dazed. 

"Is that so?" Isaac said holding her face towards him. "That's a dangerous thing to say, you know."

"What do you mea..." her lips were locked with Isaac's before she could finish speaking. It was a small daring peck, filled with anxiety, fear, and anticipation. But only on Isaac's side.

For Evelyn, it was like trauma uprooting from her heart. The familiarity of that small little peck on her lips made her aware of how similar Isaac was to Hani. And the fact that he was not HIM, crushed her, and filled her with grief, sadness, and anger. And in a split second, she slapped the boy who made her remember those feelings again.

Silence filled the carriage. Isaac remained where he was, never getting away after being slapped. Evelyn's hand trembled. That slap was not for Isaac but for Hani. For leaving her and for being an idiot. Yes, it was all she needed. A closure, a last response for that idiot she loved. This was what she would have done if she ever met Hani again. And it stripped her of all the grief she had within her. She felt free, at last.

She touched Isaac's face where she slapped him. Rubbing gently, she gave him a peck there.

"You're an idiot," she said and again laid his head in her lap.

Tears fell from Isaac's eyes and he cried like a child. Evelyn patted his head as if she knew this was what he needed. Isaac held her closer to himself as he cried.

This was the most loved he had felt ever since his mother died.

The carriage drove off to the Shuzar estate as the two healed each other from their traumas.