Status: comments would be appreciated :)

Sterling's Daughter

Chapter 23

Almost as soon as she let herself smile, she forced it to disappear, and fixed Will with a cold gaze. He sighed, and ran a hand through his dark hair.
"You are so hard to get through to, aren't you?" he asked, frustration evident in his voice. "Why are things so hard for you to accept?"
Laya wiped at the trails of tears on her cheeks and stuck out her chin in defiance.
"Look, I'll help you find your horse and after that you'll leave me alone, and then we'll go our separate ways," she said coldly. "Deal?"
Will gave her a disgusted look.
"No," he shook his head. Laya scowled at him.
"Just give it up!" she felt like tearing her hair out. "I'm not giving you any answers, no matter how hard you try to pry them out of me. I keep my business to myself for a reason."
"And that reason would be?" he raised an eyebrow. Laya opened her mouth to argue, then faltered. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, other than the fact that it was an enormous mess. She could barely even think straight. In fact - she'd almost forgotton whether she was supposed to be mad at him or not - and more importantly, what she was mad about.
"That's nothing to do with you," she managed to get out, but she'd clearly stumbled with her thoughts and Will saw that instantly. He sighed again. "It would be easier if you just focused on your own problems, mister."
"It would, wouldn't it?" he agreed, with a thin smile. "But I'm not going to am I?"
Laya probably could have handled that better, but her patience had been wearing thin and she finally let herself snap.
The next thing she knew was that she was very, very close to him and his hand had closed around her own balled fist. Time seemed to stand still as Laya got her first, real, true opportunity to study him. Yes, she knew his eyes were so dark they looked black at times, and yes, she knew how cute he was, but never had she dreamt what it would feel like being pressed up against him with his mouth only millimetres away. Her heart slammed in her chest, for some reason she felt like she was scared, timid, but at the same time she wanted to stay right there for a never ending amount of time.
"I know I can be a pain, but please don't try to punch me in the head; I prefer to be intact," Will said in a low voice, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. Laya just stared up at him, at a complete loss at what to say or do. So she just stood there, lips parting slightly as her neck craned back a bit to see his face properly.
She suddenly became aware of his arm circling her waist ever so lightly, as though she was a bomb that might explode if handled too roughly. Well, I pretty much am, she thought with a wry smile. But it felt nice. Different, but still nice. She was quiet for a few moments, sensing WIll wasn't about to do or say anything, then she decided she should do something before he got it into his head that he could hold her like this all the time.
Struck with a sudden boldness and daring, Laya placed her hands on his shoulders and rocked back on her heels. His arm tightened around her waist as he looked down at her. She smiled.
"I hate you so much," she said softly, still smiling. He looked a little confused, which actually made him look even cuter than ever.
"That's nice to know," he said, unsure. She smirked, and a second later her mimicked the action. "But it's also a weird piece of information, especially when you're feeling me up."
THat did it. Laya jolted backwards, cheeks flaming red. Had she seriously just...?
"Kidding," Will teased, laughing.
"You...you..." Laya spluttered, somehow unable to find the string of angry words that she usually had waiting for him.
"Sorry," Will apologised. "Please don't hit me."
"I'm not going to hit you, I'm going to KILL you," she was so humiliated and angry all she wanted to do was sit down and bawl. She started marching towards the barn, stamping each footstep into the ground with such force that she got groundshock.
"Laya," a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. She swung on her heel to face him. He was looking straight into her eyes with such intensity she thought she might evaporate, and looked so imploring that something in her heart snagged. His lips moved and she shook her head to clear it, and realised that he was talking. As she reached reality, she heard him saying, "That was a stupid thing to say, I'm sorry."
"I hate you," she heard herself saying again, and like last time, there was no venom in it but unlike last time it was because she wasn't thinking, and also because she couldn't find the anger in her.
"I know," he was shrugging, looking almost disconsolate.
Laya had to use every muscle in her body to turn around and walk away.
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what ya think?
havent updated for a bit so still kinda catching on ta where i left off...
thnx for reading please comment, rec., etc!!
:)