Come Find Me

"We still have several hours before night," Will pointed out. "If we don't come across it soon we can head back though. Better to be safe than sorry, especially if its going to be cold."

He wasn't worried about the night or being cold. He'd had worse on the front. Being in a heated building wasn't something he was used to anymore. He was lucky if he had something to fan himself when he was hot, and luckier still to have a warm enough jacket on the cold nights. He was worried about when the real cold hit, but he wasn't going to express that while on holiday.

Margot nodded a little, resting her head against his arm as they walked. "Even if we don't find it, I've had a good time.. Thank you for inviting me, William." She lifted her head a little to look up at him, offering him a little smile.

She really liked William, and she hoped that he liked her too, although she knew nothing could ever come of her crush on him. He'd be shipped off in ten days to God knows where, and he'd likely never think of her again.

"You're very welcome," William stated. He was very glad she'd agreed to come along with him. He really needed a good distraction from what he was doomed to go back to. He didn't want the dread of the war to ruin his holiday, his little piece of make believe that everything was okay and that he wasn't going to die before he turned 28.

She was more than a distraction, though. She was very special. He knew he couldn't let himself get attached though - for her sake, not his. It wouldn't be fair to her to make a promise he couldn't keep, to give her hope she shouldn't have.

The pair walked in silence for a short while when finally they came upon the meadow Will had been told about. It was much more beautiful than the less than eloquent soldiers had told him - of which there were thankfully none around. The sun was shining bright and the tall grass was littered with small colorful flowers. He took a deep breath in through the nose, smelling the fresh air. It was a great reminder of how beautiful the world could be.

Margot's eyes widened a little in awe as they came to the clearing, smiling as she took in the beautiful sight. "Si belle..." She murmured, giving his arm a squeeze before releasing it to move further into the field, running her hand over the tops of the grass as she walked.

Eventually she took a seat in the middle of the field, the top of her head barely visible above the grass. She peered over the grass at William, smiling as she waved a little, giggling a bit before laying back to look up at the sky, smiling as she watched the clouds. It was so lovely out, and she was glad that she had gone with him. She'd be happy to relive this day for the rest of her life if she had the chance, especially if it meant spending more time with him.

William followed Margot into the field, staying two dozen or so steps behind her. He had a soft smile on his face as he watched her looking around and walking, and laughed when she peered at him through the grass. He slowly made his way towards her and sat down beside her, leaning back onto his elbows in a half laying, half sitting position. He'd have preferred to lay down completely, but he didn't want to give her any of the wrong ideas.

"It smells great here," Will commented. He was used to the smell of stinky soldiers and gunpowder. "I'd forgotten that wild flowers smelled so beautiful."

Margot closed her eyes peacefully as he came over to sit next to her, taking a deep breath of the fresh air once he'd pointed out how nice it smelled.

"The lavender is my favorite, it always smells so nice." She said before sitting up, a few stray flowers sticking in her hair. She turned her focus to picking the wildflowers and grass around her, carefully weaving them into into a flower crown before turning to William and carefully setting the crown on his head with a smile.

"There. Maintenant tu es le roi du pré." She explained with a little laugh.

---

Now you are the king of the meadow.

Will smiled as she put the flower crown on his head, sitting up fully and giving her a seated bow before returning to his original position, his eyes on her the whole time. She truly was extremely beautiful, he was surprised that she wasn't married or going steady with anyone yet. Even with her timid nature, he was shocked no one had put in the effort to get her to be with them. He counted himself lucky.

"You're beautiful," he said quietly, his eyes on hers.

Margot giggled as he sat up to give her a bow, laying back down in the grass on her side so that she could look up at him with a smile, her arms tucked under her head. She reached a hand up to adjust the crown on his head after a moment, blushing brightly when he said she was beautiful, her hand freezing where it was by his head.

She felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest as she looked into his eyes, her cheeks flushed red. "Thank you..." She murmured softly, brushing her fingers against his cheek gently before pulling her hand back quickly, her cheeks turning a brighter shade of red.

"You probably blush more than anyone I've met in my twenty seven years on this planet," Will said, normal volume this time. He laughed quietly, smiling at he looked at her. "I don't mean that in a bad way. It's endearing that you're easily made to blush."

For a moment he contemplated reaching out and feeling the heat of her reddened cheeks against his hand, but he decided against it. He wanted to, badly, but he knew it was for the better if he didn't. He had to put her feelings first. If she ended up caring seriously for him, he'd never forgive himself. He couldn't promise to come back to her, and he didn't want to hurt her.

Margot blushed again when he pointed it out, her hands quickly moving to cover her face as it to hide, although she spread her fingers a bit after a moment so that she could look up at him, a little smile on her lips as he laughed. She moved her hands after a moment as she rolled to lay on her back again, looking up at the sky as she let out a little sigh.

"Vous êtes l'homme le plus merveilleux que j'ai jamais rencontré ... Si je n'étais pas si lâche, je vous embrasserais.." She murmured softly, her voice barely above a whisper. She hoped that he wouldn't understand what she'd said, and even if he did, she hoped that he wouldn't have heard her anyway.

---

You are the most wonderful man I have ever met ... If I was not so cowardly, I would kiss you..

Will couldn't really hear Margot, and he wasn't sure if he had of been able to hear her that he would have understood what she said any better. The first half of the sentence was a complete write off, but he was pretty sure he'd heard her said something about a kiss. He wasn't sure though, so he didn't mention it outright.

"You know, I can't hear you if you speak so quietly," Will said in a falsely loud whisper. "Care to repeat that louder?"

Margot blushed brightly when she heard him whisper, turning her head to look at him with wide eyes. She shook her head a little as she rolled over until she was laying on her stomach, her face hidden in her hands , although she'd rolled towards him, so she was now closer than she was before, her side pressed lightly against his.

She was quiet for a few moments before she repeated herself a bit louder, although not by much, turning her head a bit to peak up at him nervously to see if he'd heard her this time.

Will was right then, she had said something about a kiss. He wasn't sure about the first half, still, but he at least caught the meaning of the second sentence she said.

He took a deep breath and sighed, probably sounding disheartened. "Look, Margot..."

He wasn't sure how to proceed. He didn't want to upset her by saying he didn't want to kiss her, but he didn't want to be presumptuous and say that he couldn't kiss her because he didn't want to get her hopes up. He wasn't even sure that she'd want to be with him and - okay, he was getting ahead of himself. He'd just be honest.

"You don't want to kiss me," he said plainly. "Well, I don't want to kiss you."

The moment he said it, he realized it sounded incredibly harsh, and he wished he hadn't. Even if he went on to explain why he didn't want to kiss her, he'd probably sound like he was back pedaling. In trying not to hurt her, he was sure she'd be upset by what he'd said, and by anything he'd say to try to correct the issue.

Margot turned her head to look away before he'd even finished speaking, not wanting him to see how upset she was. She felt foolish for saying anything at all, for getting attached to him when she should have known better... Although to be fair, he had told her she was beautiful, and he'd invited her out on this date and to dance again..

She sat up after a few moments, looking at him with hurt filled eyes as she stood, brushing off her skirt. "I.. I think I'd like to go home now.. I'll walk back myself, I wouldn't want to bother you anymore than I have. Please... Please forgive me." She said softly before turning and hurrying back the way they'd come, hurrying along the path.

She didn't want to spend anymore time with him, whether today or the next ten days, as she always seemed to make a fool of herself and end up with her feelings hurt. She'd already made a fool of herself enough in front of him, and she intended to hide in her room for the next ten days until he'd left.

Will opened his mouth to say something as she stood up, but closed it. He nodded as she took off, pursing his lips and looking at the ground. He was angry with himself to say the least. He hadn't mean to hurt her, in fact that was exactly what he was trying to avoid when he'd said his clearly malformed sentence. He'd still managed to do it though.

He didn't move, contemplating what to do, for a good five minutes or so. He couldn't just leave her thinking she was bothering him, or that he didn't care for her. To hell with it.

Standing up, Will took off at a jog down the path that they'd came down, needing to catch up with Margot. It took him a few minutes to catch up to her, she was nearly out of the forest by the time he reached her.

"Margot, wait," Will said as he finally caught up to her, reaching out to grab her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it the way you think I did. I know it just sounds like I'm covering my own ass here but I swear its not what you think. Please let me explain."

He didn't expect her to listen to him, or to want him to explain, but he had to try.

Margot turned to look at him when he grabbed her hand to stop her, looking at him with glassy, tear filled eyes as she pulled her hand away from him. "You said you didn't want to kiss me. I believe you, there's nothing to discuss. You were just trying to be polite when you asked me to lunch and brought me flowers and called me beautiful.. I'm just someone who's not a soldier to talk to, I understand."

She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked away for a moment before looking back at him, frowning as she reached over to take the flower crown off his head, clutching it tightly as she stepped away. "I'd hate for them to make fun of you because of me... I'll be going.
Au revoir, monsieur William." She said before turning and hurrying down the path again, dropping the crown a little ways down the road.

Will's heart near broke when he saw that she was crying. In one hundred years he never would have wanted to make her cry. She was a sweet, kindhearted woman, and she didn't deserve some idiot like him making her cry because he didn't know how to form proper, tactful sentences. He knew it would be easier in the long run for them both if he just let her go, but he couldn't. Even if it meant they both might hurt a bit more later, he couldn't let her go off thinking he thought bad of her.

"I wasn't just trying to be polite, Margot!" He said loudly after her. He picked up to a jog again to catch up to her, jogging past her slightly to stop in front of her. "Please. I know you hardly know me but please let me explain. I didn't want to hurt you. I wasn't just being polite."

Margot stopped again when he stood in front of her, biting her lip as she looked around the path, knowing that if she looked at him she'd start crying again. She gave a little nod when he asked her to let him explain, tugging her shawl around her tighter as she tried to force herself to regain her composure, feeling even more foolish for crying in front of him.

After a moment she met his eyes, giving him another nod of her head and a little look that told him that if he didn't start explaining soon she was going to leave, the poor girl not trusting that her voice would be steady if she tried to speak. She half expected this all to be some trick, that some of the other soldiers or her friends had put him up to it, and that his explanation would be that it was all a joke and that he and everyone else thought it would be funny to mess with her feelings, and that he'd laugh at her. She almost pushed past him to run back to her house at the thought, but kept her feet planted, wanting to at least give him a chance to try to explain, especially after he'd stopped her twice.

"I didn't mean that I don't want to kiss you, because lord knows I do," Will stated hastily. Margot looked as if she was about to shove right on past him, so he figured he needed to get his explanation out fast. "I meant I shouldn't kiss you. I don't want to kiss you because I don't want to end up hurting you. I realize my poor choice in words did that anyways, but I swear I didn't want to do that. I'm just an idiot Englishman, we're not as eloquent as you French are."

He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair, trying to figure out the best way to explain his thought process.

"Alright, look. I'm probably getting ahead of myself here but I don't want to kiss you because I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. I'm going off to war again in ten days, Margot. There's a very good shot I'll get shot, or worse. I don't want you to get attached to me and then me end up hurting you."

He paused, scrunching up his face, then continued.

"And I don't mean that I think you're some weak little thing who gets attached to every man who shows her attention or any of that, because I think you're spectacular and genuine and you could probably do better than a poor carpenter but- God I don't know what I'm saying anymore. You can leave, I won't bother you. I'm sorry I hurt you, that wasn't my intent. I just didn't want to hurt you more later, because while I'd love to just camp out here and see if we could make something out of us, I know I can't promise that. All I got is ten days."

It was a crappy apology and a worse explanation, but he hoped she'd at least see a little bit of his side.

Margot blushed as he spoke, biting her lip as she listened to his explanation of everything. He wanted to kiss her. William wanted to kiss her. But then he started to talk about getting ahead of himself, about making promises he couldn't keep, about hurting her and only having ten days...

"Then we have ten days." She stated, slowly stepping closer to take one of his hands in hers, holding it between them as she looked up at him. "After ten days, if you don't want to promise anything then you can leave and we'll both forget about each other... But if you feel this way about someone.. Isn't it worth taking the risk? To see if we could make something out of us?" She asked softly as she looked at him, her eyes still watery with tears, and she felt like she couldn't breathe, terribly nervous he would reject her again. But she had to at least try, considering they both felt the same way about one another after only knowing each other for such as short time, so they might as well give it a shot.