Sherwood (17 page)

She tiptoed her way down
the empty area of the cabin, the area not lined with sleeping
bodies. She stepped past Enders when a lone, quiet creak echoed
slightly throughout the building. At first, she was scared that the
noise would wake up one of the men, but as she turned and looked,
she noticed that everyone was still snoring and sleeping
soundly.

She pushed the door open
and closed it with no problem.

The darkness outside wasn't
overwhelming. Instead, it was calming and relaxing. It was the
first time that Harlow really felt to herself, alone in a good way,
since she'd left her home, which she remembered didn't exist
anymore.

She didn't care much for
all of her now lost possessions, and luckily she'd taken all of the
letters Robin had sent her father when she'd departed to Sherwood.
Whomever raided their home would find nothing incriminating,
valuable, or even slightly important.

Silently, she passed the
pier on her right side, taking a long glance at the area that she'd
come to know as a peaceful getaway.

The dirt path was soft
under her feet, making no noise and causing a type of therapeutic
feeling on the soles of her feet.

It took three minutes of
walking on the dirt path until she came to a deviation of the path,
on the right, and took an almost invisible path to a secluded
portion of the lake front.

Silently, she tossed her
extra clothing over a branch and took a minute to look over the
moonlit lake.

She raised her hands to the
front of her shirt, to unlace the top few strands so she could pull
the shirt over head.

Just as she was about to
pull the shirt up, a noise sounded out in the secluded area. She
quickly dove behind a log and ducked out of view.

“
Henry?”
Harlow's heart skipped a beat as Enders voice called out her
temporary name.

Harlow froze, not able to
sit up and look at him. She was somewhat scared, knowing that if
he'd come only a minute later, she would have been
exposed.

“
You're not
very good at hiding, you know,” Enders said, obviously, chuckling
as the words left his lips.

Harlow tried not to smile
at his nonchalant, easy going behavior, especially when it was so
late outside. She finally stood up and looked at him. “Hey,
Enders,” She greeted, stepping over the log and taking a seat on
it.

“
What has you
up so late?” Enders asked, sitting next to her as he stared out
over the lake, taking a quick glance at her before taking a double
take and pulling his eyes back to the lake.

He'd seen her front laces
undone on her shirt. It wasn't undone very much, but it exposed
just a little bit more skin than normal, and Harlow supposed he'd
understood what she was going to do.

She shrugged and looked at
her hands in her lap. “I couldn't sleep.” It wasn't a lie, which
made her feel better about herself.

“
Ahh, I see.”
Enders nodded, looking down to his hands in his lap as well. “I
couldn't fall asleep either.”

Harlow sighed and looked
back over the lake.

“
How is your
wound healing?” Enders asked, exhaling deeply.

Harlow involuntarily
reached her right hand toward her left side, where the sword had
gone through her body just eleven weeks prior. “It's seems fine. I
feel fine, anyway.”

Enders nodded and looked
back at his hands. “That's good.”

“
Aye,” Harlow
said with a small chuckle.

The air around them got
thick and heavy. It was uncomfortable and strained. Enders opened
his mouth, but after a few seconds closed it awkwardly. He seemed
to be having an internal struggle.

It was the first time since
they'd met that they were shrouded in an awkward
silence.

“
Why do you
insist on coming back to the unit again?” Enders asked seriously,
his face turning to Harlow as she stared at her hands.

She raised her eyes to his,
which seemed to portray concern more than anything else. “I think
it's time I started helping out again.”

Enders shook his head. “We
don't need you to. You need to rest more.”

Harlow raised an eyebrow at
him. “I'm fine now. It's been six weeks since I woke
up.”

Enders nodded. “I know,
Henry, but you almost died. We really don't need you in the unit
yet.”

Harlow looked away from
him, slight irritation rose in her chest. “Why not? I'm fine, I'm
practically healed now.”

Enders shook his head,
irritation flaring in him just as hers had. “No, you're
not.”

“
Yes, I am.”
She insisted, raising her voice slightly and scooting away from him
slightly.

“
You still
walk with a limp sometimes. You should be resting, and I think your
father would agree.” Enders argued, raising his voice as
well.

“
Why don't
you want me to come back? Do you think I'm incapable or something?”
Harlow accused, angry at the mention of her father. She stood up
and looked at him as he stood in front of her. She crossed her arms
as she stared up at him.

“
No, Henry. I
don't think you're incapable, I --" Enders said, planning to say
more, but couldn't get out another word.

“
But, you
don't want me back on the unit.” Harlow said, pointing out his lack
of denial. “Do you want to lead this unit so bad that you don't
want me to come back?”

Enders looked taken aback.
“No, Henry.” He said, trying to explain, but not getting any
further than last time.

“
Then what is
it? Why do you want me to stay out of the unit?” Harlow turned her
voice up just a little bit louder.

Enders stood statue-like in
front of her, an expression of irritation mixed with amusement.
“It's not that,” Enders said, taking in a sharp intake of breath
and letting out an angry huff. He kept his eyes even on
hers.

It took Harlow a few
seconds to understand what was going on. “Are you hiding
something?”

Enders let
out a sarcastic laugh. “Me? What about
you
?”

Harlow felt her heart
freeze and fear spread throughout her limbs. “What are you talking
about?”

She felt her blood start to
boil. He wouldn't answer her questions. He was being strange and
oddly irritable.

“
You're so difficult! You're so annoying and outrageous and
plain frustrating! I can't tell if your blind or just stupid. What
a strange way
your
father
raised you, to be
ignorant of all your surroundings.” Enders said, taking a step
closer to her and crossing his arms. His eyes boring into hers. He
was edging her on, but in her rage she couldn't tell.

Harlow gritted her teeth
angrily, trying to hold herself back from what she was going to do.
Her blood started to boil, her vision started to blur. She felt
offended and misused. She felt thrown to the side. One second he's
being nothing but sweet and the next he's fighting her like she
were a wild dog.

“
Who do you
think you are talking to me like that?” She asked, using the most
angry, intimidating voice she could muster.

Enders huffed amusedly.
“You're to short to be a Commander, and quite frankly, you're
pathetic.”

Harlow had reached her
limit. She lunged forward at Enders, pushing him hard against an
oak tree behind him. Harlow quickly recoiled her fist and sent it
forward to his jaw. It didn't have time to collide. Harlow was
fast, yes, but Enders was expecting it and held one hand out to
grab it and moved his face to the left and dodged it
completely.

The fight didn't last long.
There was only about one more moment before Enders went to the
side, kicked his leg out and hit the back of Harlow's knee, sending
her flying backward and landing on her bottom.

“
Had enough?”
Enders asked when he'd squatted down to her eye-level on the
ground. He was instigating a fight, Harlow knew, but she couldn't
hold back her rage. She found the energy to tackle him again,
sending him onto his back and sitting on top of him. She picked up
a small, renegade branch and held it to his throat in the most
threatening way possible.

Enders smirked, knowing
that she had tried her best, but he'd been training while she'd
been resting. He reached one hand to her shoulder and the other to
her wounded side, digging his thumb into the newly healed skin. She
cried out in pain, the energy in her body giving way and weakness
taking over her. He took advantage of her moment of weakness and
grabbed onto her arms, flipping her on her back, and pushing his
body against her. He kept her in place and stopped her from
struggling, reaching his hands up and pinning her arms down into
the dirt beneath them, at the sides of her head.

Their breathing was ragged
and heavy. They breathed in each other's air, exhaling in each
other's space.

He looked down at her. Her
hat had lifted a little bit, several strands of her hair poking out
and hanging next to her face. Sure, she had an angry, enraged
expression on her face, but this was the first time, since they'd
jumped down the waterfall, that she really looked like a
woman.

And she was
beautiful.

Enders breathed in and out,
eying her for a few seconds. “Your wound is still healing. You're
strong. Don't ever think I don't know that, but,” He paused taking
in another breath. “You're out of practice. You need training and
time to heal. I know what makes you tick. I know your weaknesses
and I know that the second any one of us are compromised, you'll
jump into the line of fire to fix the situation.” He took another
moment to breathe.

Harlow sat, almost shocked,
but still frustrated.

“
You're right,” Enders whispered, holding onto whatever
confidence he had and staring into her eyes. “I don't want you back
on the unit. I
do
want to take your
place. It's because I'm selfish.”

Harlow was about to raise
her voice and yell, but Enders continued bravely.

“
It's because I can't focus. On anything.” He paused to
exhale, his eyes lingering on Harlow. “Not when I know you're
there. I can't think when you're near me. I can't
breathe
when I see you close to me. I'm selfish because I
don't want to lose you.”

She froze as she stared up
at him, somehow his face coming closer to her by only mere
centimeters at a time. She still felt the weight of his body on
her, keeping her still on the ground, but even if she could move,
she didn't want to. Her heart beat thumped wildly against her
chest, but honestly, she couldn't tell if it was hers or Enders'
beating that fast. Maybe it was both beating simultaneously. Harlow
felt bewildered and confused, but more so she felt intoxicated by
him.

“
What?” she
breathed out, barely audible to him. Unable to find the energy for
her fake, masculine voice, she let her real voice shine through, a
higher-pitched confusion coming from her mouth.

Enders' lips hovered just
over hers, threatening to come crashing down any second now. She
felt the anxiety rise in her chest as butterflies found their way
into her stomach.

There was a moment of pure silence and
stillness before she felt his lips collide onto hers. She'd let her
eyes stay widened for a moment before she closed them in a moment
of bliss. His eyes remained closed, his heartbeat racing so hard
Harlow could feel it through his chest, and his eyebrows knitted
together attractively. His closeness comforted her and made her
finally relax.

It had lasted about a minute and a
half before Enders pulled away from her, and looked at her
boldly.

An intense silence filled the air
after they pulled apart. It wasn't exactly awkward, but it wasn't
comfortable either.

Harlow felt absolute terror fill her
chest and stomach. She turned her head away from him and looked to
her left, her arms and body still pinned down under him. "I, uh..."
She tried to find the words to say.

"Uhm." She failed and resorted to
glancing back up to him.

"Harlow." He said, taking his right
hand off her arm and placing a finger under her chin and forced her
to look upward at him. “Don't be flustered around me
anymore.”

He raised one hand to the brim of her
hat and tugged up about an inch, revealing strands of brunette hair
underneath the brown hat.

Enders offered her a small smile,
twirling a strand of her hair in between his fingers, before
climbing off her and finding a comfortable patch of Earth to lay
on. Harlow stayed in the same position he'd placed her in, not
wanting to move, for whatever reason.

Enders let the silence fill the air
before sighing. "I saw your hair the day we jumped down the
waterfall."

Harlow turned her head to him
wide-eyed. "You've known this whole time?"

Enders nodded, "I never knew how to
tell you, so I kept it to myself, but," he sighed, "but, you're
father is here now and I'm fairly certain he knows that he doesn't
have a son."