A LITTLE LOVE

Selene walked slowly for the fear of hurting herself on splinters sticking out from the bushes.

"That's odd. There weren't any earlier....ouch!"

She looked at her ankle where she had hurt herself and saw some blood trickling down. She bent down and wiped it off with her hand. She stood up straight and looked around, noticing that the environment seemed different. Was she lost; again.

"Where am I?" she asked herself and her question was answered by a rustling bush. She held her breath and waited for whatever was in the bushes.

"Bartimus?" she asked and Bartimus revealed himself in his human form,"I was scared I had been found by Vancouver or some other witch."

"What are you doing here?" he asked her as he walked closer to her.

"I was looking for you." she answered.

"I already went back and helped Philippe. Where you thinking about something?"

"You helped Philippe? I guess I was walking even slower than I thought. I was trying to avoid hurting myself but I still did."

"Where?" he asked and then he walked towards her.

"My ankle. It's fine now."

"Let me see." he insisted and knelt at her feet.

He pulled up the dress to her knee and looked at the small cut and tender skin. He placed his hand over it and Selene felt the stinging sensation that had been there leave. Her heart felt warm and the subtle touch of his skin on hers as he let down the dress made it even worse.

"Your fingers are cold." she pointed out

"Why don't you warm them up for me?" he asked smiling at her as he stared into her beautiful brown eyes.

She blushed and then looked around to see if she could sit somewhere. As she was looking around for a place to sit, Bartimus was observing her and admiring her. She looked even more pretty when she was confused and shy but he certainly liked her better when she was smiling. When she caught him staring, he did not break the eye contact and he kept staring. She was the one to feel embarrassed and look away from him.

"There's no where to sit." she said trying to fill in the silence.

"There is a place we can sit." he said and she looked around again.

"Where? There is clearly no where to sit."

Bartimus moved closer to her until they were breast to breast. He said nothing to her and observed how Selene tried to find where to run.

" The trees." he whispered in a calm and deep voice.

She looked up at the tall trees and then smiled nervously at him.

"I can't climb. I don't know how."

"I'll carry you." he said moving even closer and when she tried to move behind, he pulled her closer by her waist.

She gasped at the closeness and it brought a smile to his face. He turned around and lifted her by cupping her bottom and wrapping her legs around his waist. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

He started climbing up the tree, making sure that Selene was alright on his back. Selene enjoyed herself on his back and dropped her head back to feel the stray rays of sun hitting her face. She could hear how he was starting to gasp for air and stopping frequently to rest and everytime he did so she would kiss his nape to encourage him. When he reached the highest top straight branch, he told her to sit on it and when she was sitting he did the same.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while as Bartimus took in deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" she asked but he did not answer,"Did you hear me?"

"If course I heard you. I'm fine, Selene."

Selene nodded and then stared at his side profile. He did not turn because he knew she would become bashful and he wanted her to watch him. They stayed that way for a while before he finally broke the silence,

"Do you like what you see?"

"Yes. You are amazing." she said dreamily and her response made him turn to look at her.

"Do you know what you just said?" he asked her when she finally snapped out of her daze.

Her eyes widened in shock and before she could make an excuse, he pulled her closer to him and planted a quick kiss on her lips. She closed her eyes when he pulled away. Bartimus watched her adorable expression with a smile. When he saw her turn brave enough to open her eyes he kissed her again. She pushed him away, completely forgetting that they were sitting on a brach, and he fell backwards.

"Ahh! she shouted, imagining the worst.

She lay on her belly on the branch and saw that he was hanging on to another branch.

"Are you alright?!" she asked and he he looked up at her smiling.

She waited for him to properly sit on the branch. He lay on his back and looked up at her while she looked down at him. Her hair was flowing down on one side with stray rays of sunlight going through the small spaces. They watched each other like that until she started dozing. Bartimus quietly went up to her branch and made her lay on him instead of the branch. He sat her on his lap facing him and he held her securely with his arms.

He fell asleep right after and hours went by. At the campsite, Grand tree was tending to Philippe who was much better but pretended to still be in pain so that his old friend would help.

"Shouldn't we be worried about Selene?" Gabriel asked.

"She is with Bartimus. There's no need to be worried." Grand tree said and Gabriel nodded his head.

"What if she never found him?" Vivian asked and they all fell silent for a few seconds.

"We should look for her then." Philippe suggested getting up.

Grand tree glared at Philippe who was walking fine and Philippe just smiled.

"Thank you for pampering me old friend." Philippe said jokingly.

"I should have known. Once a cheat, always a cheat." Grand tree said with gritted teeth.

They set out to find Selene and become worried when they did not see her by the grass that was still having the shape of Bartimus' dragon.

"Selene!" Vivian shouted loudly and everyone started doing the some.

Because of Bartimus' aura that still lingered they concluded that he was sleeping and they guessed it would be better to leave him asleep to keep themselves intact.

"We have to find her before he wakes up." Gabriel said,"let's go in pairs. I'll be with Vivian."

He rushed to Vivian's side but Grand tree went to pull them apart.

"You are both powerless and gullible. If you are found then you'll endanger us all. I'll go with Vivian, you with that creature." Grand tree said.

Philippe chuckled at the way Grand tree had addressed him then he went on with Gabriel. They were the lucky ones who headed in the right direction but because Selene and Bartimus were in a tree, they passed by them.

"Selene!" Gabriel shouted and the loud noise startled both her and Bartimus to wake up.

Because of how unstable they were, they fell. Bartimus was still holding on to Selene as she screamed like a crazy person. Her voice was heard even by Grand tree and Vivian and they started rushing over. Meanwhile Gabriel and Philippe had come back to the right tree and we're panicking as they watched the couple fall. Bartimus was the one at the bottom so Selene was unharmed but unconscious from fear.

"Are you alright?" Gabriel asked rushing to where Bartimus lay with Selene resting on him.

"I'm fine." Bartimus lied,"Let us remain like this until she wakes up."

Philippe did not mention that he could smell the blood that was dripping from Bartimus' wound. An old, dried and thin branch had pierced his side causing a lot of bleeding.

"Do I smell blood?" Grand tree said when he arrived with Vivian.

"Yes. It's definitely blood." Vivian agreed and Bartimus sighed and succumbed to his injury, falling unconscious a few seconds later.

They carried Selene and Bartimus back to the campsite and Vivian tended to Bartimus' wound. An hour later, Selene woke up screaming Bartimus' name.

"Bartimus!" she screamed,"Help! Bartimus!"

Vivian rushed over to Selene and calmed her down while the other three men watched.

"You're alright. Calm down." Vivian said patting Selene's back.

"Where is he?! Where is Bart....?"

Selene did not finish her question because she saw Bartimus lying on some fresh leaves, shirtless and bandaged.