Chapter 105: A Problem Named Aria

Leah Pov

*A day before Aria decided to cook*

Lately, I noticed something.

"Pft—hahaha!"

She laughed, her back hunched over as she talked to Io. Sitting on a fallen tree, looking completely at ease, her hair caught the sunlight, almost glowing.

Aria.

I stared longer than I should have.

And, realization hit like a fucking horse running over you.

'Oh no.' I groaned as I face palmed myself.

I liked her.

Like, liked her.

And not in the "she's fun to mess with way." Not even in the "I respect her skills way." No, this was the dangerous kind—the kind that made my stomach flip when she smiled, made me notice the way she absentmindedly tapped her fingers when she thought, made me *care*

Which would've been great, except for one tiny problem...

I'd spent months being an absolute bitch to her.

No way in hell she didn't hate me.

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. What do I do now?

"Leah?" Io who left Aria walked towards me. "You okay? You're making that weird face again."

I forced a grin. "Just thinking."

"That's new," she muttered.

I ignored her.

If Aria hated me, I had two options:

One: I give up now and save myself the pain.

Two: I fix it. Somehow.

A part of me felt that would be for the best knowing I'm different from her, another part gave me a weird feeling.

I glanced back at her, still laughing, still completely unaware of the emotional disaster sitting ten feet away from her.

I noticed how lost I felt when I thought of giving up, so? No way was I giving up.

I just needed a plan.

---

Step One: Assess the Damage

I had to figure out exactly how much Aria hated me.

Which meant I needed to test the waters.

"Hey, Aria," I said casually, sliding into the conversation as naturally as possible.

She blinked at me. "...Leah?"

Okay. Not a great start.

"Nice weather, huh?" I tried.

Io looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "What are you—"

Aria raised a brow. "You hate small talk."

Crap. "Who said that? I love small talk."

"You once told me, 'If I wanted to waste my time talking about the weather, I should go find a wall and talk to that instead.'"

Double crap. That did sound like something I'd say. In fact, I remember saying that...

"Uh." I scrambled for a save. "I'm trying new things. Growth. Self-improvement."

Aria tilted her head. "You feeling sick?"

"What? No!" I laughed, too loudly. "Why would you think that?"

She frowned. "Because the last time you were this nice to me, you were trying to get me to do your work for you. An example being the gold coin issue before."

Io snorted. "She has a point."

Aria crossed her arms. "What do you want, Leah?"

Welp. This was going worse than expected.

"Oh, you know. Just checking in. Seeing how you're doing."

Aria studied me for a long moment, then narrowed her eyes. "...Are you up to something?"

"Why would I be up to something?" I asked, pretending to be deeply offended.

Her eyes stayed narrowed. "I don't trust you."

Ouch.

I forced another smile. "That's crazy. I'm the most trustworthy person here."

Io let out a low whistle. "That might be the biggest lie you've ever told."

I elbowed her.

I should've pushed her to follow after Serena and the others, then Aria and I would be alone.

Aria sighed bringing me back from my thoughts, clearly deciding I wasn't worth the headache. "Whatever. I'm going to get some food from the wagon."

She walked off, leaving me with the sinking feeling that yes, she did in fact hate me, or atleast she didn't trust me.

---

Step Two: Damage Control

Okay. So, my first attempt crashed and burned.

Time for a new approach.

I needed to rebuild trust. Show her that I wasn't a complete disaster of a person.

And what better way to do that than acts of service?

That's right. I was going to be helpful!

---

Attempt One:

Aria was gathering firewood. Perfect. I could help with that.

I grabbed a hefty log and strode over confidently. "Here, I got this."

She stared at me.

Then at the log.

Then back at me.

"...Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm nice?"

She didn't look convinced.

Still, she shrugged and took the wood, stacking it with the rest.

Progress.

Then the whole pile collapsed.

On her foot.

Aria hissed in pain.

I panicked. "Oh my god, are you okay? I can fix this—"

I tried to restack the logs.

They collapsed again.

Aria closed her eyes. Breathed in deeply.

"Leah," she said, in the tone of someone restraining themselves from murder. "Go away."

"…Okay."

---

Attempt Two:

Fine. Firewood wasn't my thing.

But cooking? I could totally cook.

Author: Yeah right.

I spent an hour preparing what I was sure would be a decent meal.

Then I accidentally set part of the pot on fire.

And nearly poisoned everyone.

Aria put her head in her hands.

Io just sighed followed by the nod of everyone, even Titan! "Please stop trying to help."

---

Attempt Three:

If actions weren't working, maybe a gift would.

I spent the afternoon looking for something Aria might like.

Eventually, I found a small, intricately carved wooden pendant while looking around inside Serena's wagon. It wasn't much, but it had a simple beauty to it—kind of like her.

I asked Serena about it and how much it was, she asked me why I needed it but I couldn't really say it. I know she already noticed anyway, she's just trying to be mean.

Still she did give it to me.

I sneaked around the camp so that she wouldn't see me leaving it near her sleeping bag, no note, no explanation.

When I checked later, it was gone.

No complaints. No comments.

I took that as a win!

---

Step Three: Acceptance

I sucked at this.

I was so fucking bad at this.

Trying to make someone like me was exhausting. How did

chief Fen and the other's do this all the time?

I sat by the fire that night, feeling my confidence disappear. Maybe I should just give up.

Maybe I didn't deserve to be close to her. What would I even do if she did agree? Very far fetched, I know.

Ugh! I hate the previous me! Why couldn't she just be kinder with her words?! Dang it!

I was alone with my thoughts, cursing at my own stupidity.

Then, suddenly—

"…Thanks."

I blinked.

Aria stood beside me, arms crossed, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

"For what?" I asked carefully.

She hesitated. "The pendant. It was… nice."

A slow warmth spread through my chest.

I smirked. "So you do like gifts."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I never said that."

"But you didn't not say that."

She groaned. "Don't push it, Leah."

I chuckled, nudging her playfully. "Noted."

She didn't move away.

And just like that, hope sparked again.

Maybe—just maybe—I still had a chance?

Little theater:

Aria *confused*: "Why is Leah acting so weird?"

System *side-eyes the author*: "You gonna tell her?"

Author *eating popcorn*: "Nah, this is way more fun（￣～￣;）"