Young Writers Society

James stood up slowly, his eyes lingering on the flower crown that still clung to her head, loosely. Her hair looked a little tangled in it now, but he kind of liked the way it hung crooked on her head.

He would've smiled, were it not for her somber response.

"Alright," he said. "I did have more thoughts, but I want to give you a chance to wake up first."

He brought his journal over to Elliot and tucked it away.

"We'll eat while we walk," he said.

Evaline looked up and noticed that James was staring at the top of her head, and suddenly she felt needlessly self-conscious, even when she realized that he looking at the flower crown. Without even thinking about it, she pushed some of the loose strands of hair away from her face, and then casually readjusted the crown so it wouldn't slip off when she walked.

She then quickly folded the blanket in her hands before hesitating and then following him over to Elliot.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she said, extending the blanket out for him to put away. She couldn't bring herself to look up at his face.

She had no idea if James was uncomfortable with this or not, but she certainly didn't want to talk about it. Not yet.

James took the blanket and started to tie it atop the saddle, and he glanced over at her.

"I do want to talk about it," he said, pausing as he looked back at the knot he pulled tight, then looking back at her once it was secure.

"Do you?"

"I... I don't know," Evaline said as she stared at her empty hands and then slowly crossed her arms.

She was probably sending mixed signals. Obviously he would want to talk about this. And she even said herself in the apology letter that she will try to be more honest and a better communicator. Pretending that this never happened was the exact opposite of that.

It was hard. But she had to try.

"Maybe I'll..."

She swallowed and looked up with him to show that she was sincere and trying her best.

"Maybe I'll mostly listen."

James looked at her for a moment, observing her expression. Meeting her eyes.

He smiled, just a little.

"That's fine with me," he said softly. "But if you think of anything you want to say, don't be afraid to respond. Okay?"

"Okay," Evaline repeated with a nod, returning a tiny smile herself.

She didn't really want this to happen. But she's willing to try.

For James.

James dipped his head and went to untie Elliot. He watched as Evaline reached into the bag and pulled out some fruit, and then started their walk down the river. He was quiet while she ate.

It was still before noontime, but the sun was high in the sky, and warm. James ended up rolling up his sleeves, to make the head just a little more bearable, but otherwise strayed into the shade of the trees by the riverside. The sound of the rushing water was a comfort and helped fill the silence between the two of them in the waiting.

Evaline finally finished the pink fruit - one of the ones he'd gotten from the cactus - and tossed its rough peel onto the ground. He saw a bird swoop down to grab it as they passed.

James decided to start slow.

"I hope you weren't too nervous to sleep," James said quietly.

Small talk.

Evaline wasn't sure if she was grateful or not.

"No, actually," she said as she wiped some of the sticky juices of the fruit on her sleeves. "Quite the opposite. I was so exhausted."

She hoped he figured she meant physically exhausted.

James nodded. He did the math.

“Fair. I’m just sorry you had to suffer a whole day waiting for me to find out,” he said.

Besides where this conversation was going to lead to, the last thing Evaline wanted to hear was an apology. It was time she pointed this out.

"You don't have to apologize," she said. "In fact, you shouldn't apologize for a lot of things you're not able to control... and especially if it is my fault."

“Ah - well, I wasn’t - I mean—“ James had to stop himself from apologizing for apologizing so much.

“All I meant was I can empathize with the anxiety or anticipation you felt yesterday when I didn’t know. That’s what I was trying to express.”

"You can just say that then," Evaline replied plainly, not caring that this was a bit hypocritical. "Apologizing infers that it was your fault. Which it wasn't."

James felt himself tense up a little, but he nodded.

“True,” he said. “I’ll try to catch myself next time and word it differently.”

Evaline didn't know what she expected, but she didn't think James would have agreed with her snippy comment so fast. Or maybe she should have expected this. This was James, after all. A man with a seemingly infinite amount of patience.

She sighed, once again taking note that he always seemed to know how to diffuse her.

"I apologize if that was brash," she said as gently as she could.

She paused.

"Now that's a proper apology, since it was my fault, and it was something I could have controlled."

James laughed, but it was weak, and short lived.

“It wasn’t like you were insulting me,” he said. “You were just pointing something out.”