"Take my hand," Lydine said, holding out her hand. I looked at her, confused.

"Why?" I asked. She smiled, that pretty smile that makes her face soft and bright.

"Why not?" She looked around her as if looking for something, and I was even more confused.

"I hardly know you?"

"I don't know you any better than you know me," she pointed out. I shrugged. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know."

"I don't know that, though."

"Trust me, just this once, and if you want, I won't ask you to again." Her smile slipped a little and her face lost a little bit of its light, leaving me wanting to see both again. She didn't look right without the smile and the brightness.

"Okay," I accepted, slowly putting my hand in hers. Her face lit up, and I felt myself smile back a little.

XxX

"I'm Lydine," I introduced myself to the pretty girl sitting in the square. She looked at me funny, pushing her long, brown hair out of her face as the wind blew it around.

"...Okay?" she asked, looking around like this was a trick or something. "So?"

"You're pretty," I told her, blushing a little because I didn't really mean to say that. She just blinked at me, then back down at the book she was holding, and then at me again.

"Again, so?" She scowled, either at me or the wind, and shoved her hair out of her face again.

"Well, I was hoping for your name..."

"Fadely. Will you go away now?"

"That's an unusual name." I grinned at her, happy to finally have her name after having spent the last half hour watching her and finally talking myself into talking to her.

"My parents were insane." She sighed. "What do you want?"

"Do you really want me to go?" I asked, hoping she didn't but trying not to let it bother me because it shouldn't. "If I'm really bothering you, I will..."

"Yes." Fadely pushed her hair back again. "No. I don't know."

I smiled again. "Maybe I could stay until you figure it out?"

"I suppose?" She frowned, but she didn't look like she didn't want me there, so I sat down next to her. She looked at me for a minute, and then opened her book again.

"What are you reading?" I smiled when she looked at me, trying to look sweet so maybe she would talk more to me. She had a pretty voice.

"A book." She sighed. "What do you want?"

"To talk to you. Being friends with you would be nice." I tilted my head to the side, confused when she sighed again. She looked like she didn't believe me, but what else would I want?

"Sure," she said.

"Trust me," I said, trying my best to look trust-worthy. I'm not sure how well it worked, since her face never changed.

"I have to go," Fadely said quietly, and hurried away before I could say anything.

XxX

"I think I really like you," Lydine said to me.

"You don't know me," I told her.

"I think I do." She smiled, in that way that starts in her eyes and makes them sparkle. "You don't talk a lot, but you say a lot in other ways, if someone knows how to look."

"And you do?" I raised an eyebrow at her, and she giggled a little.

"I'm learning." She ran a hand through her pretty hair. "This is where you tell me that you really like me too."

"You said that you think you really like me--"

"Oh!" Lydine interrupted. "You're just trying to be difficult!" She was still smiling, though, so I wasn't worried I made her mad. I'd never seen anyone with such an expressive face; if she was angry, or even disappointed, I would've seen it. I'd watched her for long enough to know at least most of her faces, and that thought made me sigh and remember that she was too pretty for me.

"I like you, okay?" I looked away as I said it, letting my hair fall around my face without pushing it back again so maybe she wouldn't see me blush a little, or if she did maybe she would just assume it was from being annoyed or something.

"I know," she admitted, and I glanced up at her. She was smiling her I-know-I-probably-shouldn't-have smile, and running a hand through her pretty hair again. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

XxX

"Are you going to run off again?" I asked Fadely the next time I saw her. We were in the local library, in the non-fiction section because she seemed to like non-fiction and I saw her here so I was there too.

"No," she said, and sighed. She pushed at the strands of her hair coming out of the braid down her back and falling in her face. I wondered if she was always pushing her hair out of her face, and then if I would know her for long enough to figure it out.

"Why did you last time?" I tilted my head to the side a little, an annoying habit to show I was curious. I untilted my head as soon as I realized I did it, and she smiled at me a little-- the first time I'd seen her smile at something other than the book she'd been reading the last time I saw her.

"I just did," she answered, the small smile fading like it had never been there. I bit my lip to keep from re-phrasing the question.

"Okay," I nodded, accepting and not thinking about how she just might not like me but is just trying to be polite or something, because she wasn't and I'd hope I'd see that if she was. "What are you looking for?"

"A book," she answered uncryptically this time, pushing her hair back again. "They don't have it in."

"Oh." I looked at the shelf she was looking at, wondering if I'd even be able to guess which book she was looking for. I doubted it, since there were so many books just in that one general section. "Well, then, maybe you could come get hot chocolate with me?"

"Um." She looked at me, then back at the shelf. "Sure?" She looked a little bit hopeful, even if she still didn't look like she really wanted to spend time with me. But, she didn't look like she didn't want to spend time with me either, so that was good.

"Okay." I smiled as she looked up. "Let's go." Her eyes moved up to me and then down to the floor, and she started walking away, slowly at first so I could fall in step beside her.

XxX

"Why do you keep pushing me away?" Lydine asked, laying on my couch and looking sad. It hurt a little, to see her sad and not smiling instead of bright and smiling.

"I don't mean to..." I told her quietly, closing my book and moving to sit in front of the couch so I could be a little closer to her.

"But you do," she stated, sounding as sad as she looked. "You do, and I try to ignore it, but I can't, because I really, really like you but you act like you don't like me and I don't know how to ignore that." She brushed away a tear and my heart felt like it was being wrung dry and I had to remind myself to breathe.

"I don't..." I started, taking a deep breath and trying to ignore that it hurt so much. "You'll get tired of me eventually, and I don't want it to hurt so much when I'm alone again. I don't think I could stand that..."

"I'm not going to leave," Lydine said gently, still sounding sad but running her fingers through my hair anyway and I realized I was crying a little. "You have to trust me when I say I won't, because I don't know how to prove that I will except by staying around and that would be a lot easier if you would open up to me some."

I nodded, leaning into her hand as it combed through my hair again and that almost made it worse because it reminded me that I still couldn't have her. But, she wasn't crying anymore, and maybe she was a little more relaxed since she was playing with my hair, so at least there was that.

XxX

"I like your house," I told Fadely as she let me into her small house. And it was a real house, too, not just an apartment like where I lived. I smiled when she looked at me and then ducked her head, being concerned with getting her coat off.

"Thank you?" she asked more than said as I looked around, taking my own coat off and toeing off my shoes after watching her do the same.

"I don't see many books down here." I smiled as she took a second to make sure I was teasing.

"I have a small library upstairs," she admitted with one of her small smiles.

"So, you know this isn't really what I had in mind when I said we should get hot chocolate?" I asked, still teasing. My smile grew as she took another second to make sure that I was teasing.

"It's cold outside," she informed me. I followed her into the small kitchen and watched her pull stuff out for the hot chocolate.

"Which is why I thought hot chocolate." I laughed as she rolled her eyes at me, watching as she started heating up the milk.

"My place was closer, and now I don't have to go back out in the cold."

I nodded, but didn't remind her that there was a place down the street that had good hot chocolate. I liked her house, and this was probably as much as she was going to open up to me for a while. In fact, I'd never actually thought I'd be able to see her place-- but then, I guess I never really thought I'd see her again, and that first time I was thinking more about just getting to know her.

"I like your house," I repeated. I ignored her sigh and focused on what I could see of her blushing. Her back was mostly to me, though, so I couldn't see much, even with her hair braided back.

"Do you want marshmallows?" Fadely asked, not turning around from where she was rummaging through a cabinet.

"Only if you do," I answered, ignoring her muttering because I really couldn't make out what she was saying but it wasn't in a bad tone so I figured she wasn't annoyed or anything, though her normal setting was probably 'withdrawn' and maybe I wouldn't know if she was annoyed.

A minute later she set an empty mug down in front of me, marshmallows already in it with the chocolate powder mix. She poured the milk in and handed me a spoon to stir it up, all mostly without looking at me and I'd be hurt but she didn't seem to really look at anyone, ever, but she did occasionally peek up at me. I grinned, figuring that was because maybe she liked me more than she liked other people and wasn't just being polite to me.

XxX

"If I told you I love you," Lydine started and I froze, "would you push me away more?"

"I don't--" I swallowed and took a breath. "You've known me for three weeks."

"So?" she countered, with her wonderful logic. She sat up on my couch so she was lying down anymore, and looked at me. "I think that's plenty of time."

"I don't know," I told her, looking away because she was so pretty to look at but looking too long left me wanting what I couldn't have again. And, she couldn't love me, because... she just couldn't. She was too beautiful and good to not get tired of me.

"I love you," she said to me quietly. "And I mean it, and I'm still going to convince you that I'm not going to get tired of you and leave."

I bit my lip, trying not to cry because she sounded so sincere, but I'd heard it before and then I was left alone again. My hair fell into my face like it always did and I didn't push it back, which was probably enough for Lydine to figure out I was hiding, because a few seconds later she was kneeling in front of my chair.

"I'm not leaving," she repeated, just as quietly, reaching out to brush my hair back herself, and I couldn't not cry because she was right there and being so nice to me like she always was when I was just another broken person and not worthy of her time.

She moved next to me and hugged me, brushing her hand through my hair and just being close to me. I wanted to tell her everything, but I couldn't because I couldn't say anything, but she made it seem okay and she was still holding me so maybe it was okay.

XxX

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" I asked, watching Fadely fiddle with... something as we sat in her living room. Or, at least, she sat while I layed on her really comfortable couch.

"I work until two," she told me, glancing up once then back down at whatever she was playing with.

"Could I come over after you get home?" I smiled as she glanced up again then back down, pushing random hairs out of her face again.

"Sure?" she said, making it sound like a question but she smiled a little so I could think that she was pleased or happy. Maybe she'd let me stick around for long enough to learn how to read her face and small smiles and pretty eyes since she didn't talk too much.

"I'll make you dinner," I promised her. "And I'll try my best to set nothing on fire while I do it." She smiled again after a second to figure out I'm teasing.

"You don't have to," she said, not really fiddling with whatever was in her hands, but actually looking at me instead.

"I want to," I assured her and she looked back down, probably just realizing that she'd been looking at me, and with her that would probably count as staring, and I couldn't help being pleased.

"Why?"

I tilted my head to the side, and then corrected myself when I realized I did. She sounded almost sad, which was not what I was hoping for.

"Because," was my wonderful answer. "I want to get to know you better. You're pretty. And nice. And really quiet, but that's okay because I'm not."

She glanced up at me, and then back down. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning or looking as sad as she did before. I wondered what she'd been expecting to hear, but decided it didn't matter.

"Anything specific you'd like me to make?" I asked, watching her push her hair back again. I figured it was a nervous habit of hers or something, but since she always seemed a little nervous I couldn't be sure. Maybe it just became a habit and she didn't realize she was doing it or something.

"Something good?" she said.

"I can do that." I smiled at her.

XxX

"I think I should move in," Lydine told me, and I dropped the book I was holding. She smiled when I looked over at her, one of her 'Opps, sorry,' smiles that made her eyes sparkle in a way that said she wasn't really sorry.

"Um. What?" I asked. I didn't know what else to say.

"I've spent more time here in the last year than I have at my apartment," she pointed out, and I just blinked. "It'd be cheaper if I lived here with you. And, you make really good hot chocolate." She winked at me, and I turned away so she wouldn't see me blush even though she probably knew that I was.

"Okay," I agreed. A year wasn't really enough to convince me that she was going to stay for good, but maybe if she lived here that would help, because I really wanted to believe that she would stay.

"Really?" She sounded so excited I couldn't help but smile. A few seconds later I felt her arms moved around my waist and her head on my shoulder and I leaned back into her because she was warm and I liked it when she did this. "You're the best, and now I'm really excited and I can't wait."

I laughed, and could practically feel her be happier at that. She liked it when I laughed; said I didn't do it enough.

XxX

"Take my hand," I said to Fadely, holding out my hand. I tried not to smile when she just looked at me, confused.

"Why?" she asked, and then I couldn't help but smile.

"Why not?" I countered. I looked around, wondering if there was anyone around.

"I hardly know you?" she asked, and I couldn't help liking how she said things and made them sound like questions, because it was cute.

"I don't know you any better than you know me," I pointed out. She shrugged. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know."

"I don't know that, though." She pushed hair out of her face, and I resisted the urge to play with it, glad she'd left it down today.

"Trust me, just this once, and if you want you don't have to again." My smile slipped, and I bit the inside of my lip.

"Okay," she told me, and put her hand in mine. I smiled again, really happy, and she smiled back a little in that small-smile way of hers that I loved.