“Just what have you been up to?” Jacob’s eyes flashed and a twinge of unease wedged its way into her chest.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Roselle forced her features to remain neutral, shoving away her anxiety and attempting to let her mind go blank.

“You know exactly what I mean,” he approached her, each step increasing her heart to speed up and causing her breath to stutter. “Did you think you could parade in front of my sister, and I wouldn’t find out that you were snooping around?” His voice was calm, almost light, but it didn’t stop the sting of his words.

“To be fair,” she held his gaze. “You weren’t exactly forthcoming.”

“There’s a reason for that,” he sighed, glancing away from her, watching a side path before returning his focus to her. “I didn’t tell Elaine it was you, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she figured it out on her own.”

“If it makes you feel better, she didn’t really tell me anything useful,” Roselle reached up and tugged at one of her curls, winding it around her finger.

“You were expecting Elaine to vent?” Jacob raised an eyebrow.

“There was a chance,” Roselle defended, heat rising to her cheeks.

“In hell,” he chuckled. “She only vents with her sword. Trust me, I’ve been on the receiving end a few too many times.”

Roselle winced. She did indeed remember the last time that had happened. It had been a night of anxiety as he recovered in the healing center. She had gone to check on Elaine, but the girl had locked herself in her room until Jacob had returned.

“Look,” he released a heavy breath. “I know you’re worried, but this is not the way to do this.”

“But it’s so fun,” she smirked at him. “Sure, it’s technically lying, but you haven’t exactly been honest either.”

He blinked at her for a moment before running a hand through his hair and letting his eyes drop to his shoes. Roselle watched the dark locks fall back into his disordered style. “I don’t exactly have a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” she murmured, waiting for his gaze to return to hers.

It didn’t.

“Whatever it is is clearly hurting you.” She continued, taking a step forward and her stomach whooshed at their proximity. “Just talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. I can help you.”

He shook his head and sighed. “No. No, you can’t. No one really can.” He held up a hand to stop her as she opened her mouth to protest. “The best thing you can do to help me is to forget today ever happened and stay away from this mess I’ve gotten myself into.”

She stared defiantly up at him and he sighed once more as he reached out and pulled her hand away from her hair, holding it gently in his. Roselle froze, her eyes now fixated on how her hand fit into his and how his calloused skin felt against her own.

“Besides, you have other things you need to worry about, remember?” He tried for a smile but failed miserably. “Promise me that you will leave this alone and I promise you that I will figure this out on my own.”

She bit her lip, contemplating what he said. It was true she had other things to focus on. She was still behind on her studies, but at the same time, she couldn’t focus on anything when she knew someone needed help.

“I don’t need your help,” he gently squeezed her hand. “But if I ever do, I will let you know.”

She looked back up at him, noticing the slight glow in the gold of his eyes. “Would you?”

His silence spoke for itself as seconds passed without a word. Eventually, a single word broke the hush between them. “Perhaps.”

She watched him carefully, just as he watched her with a melancholy look of fondness. “You better,” she muttered. “You wouldn’t be a very good friend if you didn’t.”

“Right,” he cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, looking at their hands. “Friends. I wouldn’t be a good friend if I did that.” His gaze shot back to her, and with it she could feel the weight in his chest from the churning fear, guilt, hurt, and above all, sense of protectiveness. “Just promise me that you’ll forget, and if you can’t forget it, then pretend like it never happened, that you don’t know anything.”

“Well, I don’t actually know anything anyway,” she gave him a look. That wasn’t exactly true, she had the beginning of a trail, but without following it any further, it was rather useless.

“Just like that,” he leveled her with a knowing look. “Promise me.” He gripped her hand tighter.

“That’s a big ask,” she let a humourless laugh slip through her lips. Why? Her mind screamed, demanding an answer that he was not willing to give.

“Please,” he whispered, staring directly into her soul. The single word was like a caress she had never felt. He was leaning closer to her, so close that she could swear that she could pick up the bittersweet scent of coffee on his breath.

“Okay,” she found herself saying. “I promise.” Instantly, her acquiescence sunk and twisted in her stomach. She closed her eyes as the wave of nausea crashed over her.

She could feel Jacob’s hand relax its grip and heard him release a sigh of relief that did nothing to relieve her contention. “Thank you,” his murmur shook slightly as his breath evened out.

Her eyes flew open at the gentle brush of his fingertips against her cheek before he quickly pulled both his hands back with an apologetic grimace. “Sorry,” he shoved them into the front pockets of his jeans, taking a few steps back to give her space.

Her hand dropped back to her side, already missing the warmth of his touch. She instead clasped her hands together behind her back.

“I-ah-” Jacob cut himself off and looked anywhere but at her, his sudden awkwardness almost cute if it wasn’t for the fact that it was him. “I should get going. There’s a lot I missed earlier that I still need to get to.”

“Yes,” she offered a small smile. “And I need to study.”

“Agreed,” he met her eyes, his sparkling with amusement. “I hear your Caldesarian needs a lot of work. I’m pretty sure Elaine was afraid you were having a stroke with how bad that was.”

“It’s not my fault you’re in a higher level!” She retorted.

“It’s not like you didn’t know that going in,” he returned with a grin.

“Taisez vous,” she rolled her eyes and bit back a smile of her own.

“Wrong language,” he teased, slowly backing away from her.

“Just go,” she laughed, waiting as he waved dismissively before he disappeared into the foliage down the small path that ran between observance buildings. She let a minute pass by after he was gone from sight before allowing herself to relax.

Her nausea wracked her as her promise echoed back through her mind. Truly, how was she meant to keep such a promise? Thinking about the desperation in his eyes and the coldness of his fear that he was hiding within caused her to pause. For now, at least, she could hold to her word. Once again, she thought about how Ryan was probably right, that she should wait until she had gathered more information to consider.

She already had the building blocks before her, now it was time to slowly and surely find where they connected to understand the full picture before her. She wasn’t the most patient when it came to waiting for such things, but perhaps this was something worth the effort.