36 Realization of something undescribable

Without noticing himself, Cole was just blankly staring at her face.

'Her eyes are closing and opening in a slow motion as she blinks. The long, thick, auburn lashes of hers look as if they are fluttering. I didn't notice before but she has freckles on her face. Most of them are across her nose and cheeks, but there are a few that sprinkle the rest of her face. And her lips.... are peachy pink, the bottom slightly plumper than the top. They look soft and smooth. I wonder what they would feel like pressed against my own.'

"Cole?"

"Cole!"

"Oh!" Cole was startled.

"What is wrong with you today? What were you thinking so deep?" Merry said trying to stop her yawn.

'What am I thinking? Oh lord! I must have lost my mind.' Cole mulled the words in his mind.

"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking how to bring the subject matter which might hurt you all over again." Cole said after telling himself to pull together.

"Ahh.. you are talking about that. Needless to say, I am a little bit sad that Henry didn't agree with us. But it is understandable, more so I might be wrong."

"He will agree with us. It is possible, he hasn't seen what we saw. We haven't really talked with others about their living condition previously. They might never have seen kids collapsing and disappearing."

"True, but we can't rule out the possibility that I might be trying to head themselves in the wrong direction. What if this is the right place for us or if things escalate and this place becomes more dangerous to us because of our nosiness?"

"Merry, you worry too much. Someone as clueless as us, whoever it is would try to search for answers. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Moreover, I believe henry is just scared.. scared of unknown. We all are and we just need to assure him that we will all be together and support each other no matter what. Then, it would be no problem. We will move according to our plans and make further plans as we go."

"You are right. Even me, the first few days since we met, I couldn't trust you. So, yeah."

"Don't stress out yourself. All will be well in the end."

"I hope so. Thank you for talking with me otherwise I would not have been able to go to sleep with all these thoughts hovering in my mind. I probably would have been awake whole night."

"Don't mention. I will always be there for you. You can talk to me about anything freely."

"I really appreciate your concern..."

'YAWN'

Merry couldn't suppress that.

"You seem very tired. You should go to sleep. I am also leaving. Good night!" Cole said standing up abruptly. His chair nearly tumbling behind him as he bolted out of the seat.

'What is wrong with him today?' Merry thought while standing up to turn the lights off.

Without looking back, Cole immediately closed the door to Merry's room and stepped outside. He couldn't understand the reason behind the sudden nervousness he was feeling while talking to Merry.

He stood still resting his back against the wall and tried to calm his racing heartbeat.