A Secret (pt 3)

"Alex!" Ava exclaimed as she immediately rushed to kneel beside him and give him a hug. She could feel his body trembling as he stretched his arm to move himself out of her embrace, meekly replying as he wiped the tears away from his eyes.

"I'm fine," a forced smile crossed his lips.

"You don't look fine, tell me what happened!"

"I'm f-fine. Really." Alex managed to sniffle in and halt his crying. "But what are you doing by yourself this deep in the forest? Did something happen with you?"

Ava noticed he was trying to change the subject away from himself, rather than prying further she decided to vent out her frustrations to him. Detailing the horrendous meeting she had just had with Bernard. Despite the reserved and well-mannered demeanor her etiquette tutor tried to drill into her, Ava couldn't restrain her outspoken and animated self when it came to matters that affected her deeply.

She went on with dramatics about how annoyed she was by the whole married to some sleazy nobleman by eighteen edict her father was forcing upon her. Venting about the patriarchy and how she is the rightful successor to her father. She knew and cared for their lands and their people so dearly, and she knew she could do a better job leading and supporting them than any half brained man her father could arrange for her.

Alex chuckled watching Ava turn herself red in the face with the strong 'ARGH' that she huffed out at the end of her rant. Listening to her complain about her own problems helped him to ignore his own for a bit.

Upon hearing Alex's laugh, Ava snapped herself back to the present, taking a moment to calm herself down as soon as she noticed the dried blood on Alex's face. Her eyes widened and she quickly ran back to her horse to fumble with something before swiftly returning with a small cloth in hand. She poured a little water on it, then gently began rubbing the blood from off his face.

"Alex, what happened? Who hurt you like this?"

"..."

"You're a good friend and you patiently listened to me go off just now. Please let me pay back the favor, I can sit here quietly, or at least try my best; and listen to whatever it is you need to get off your mind."

Alex was quiet for a moment deep in thought, he and Ava had been best friends since childhood and he knew he could trust her, but he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if he told her, afraid of losing a friend, afraid of her looking at him with judgement and disgust when she found out the truth. But, seeing the intent look in her eyes, full of sincerity and worry for her closest friend, Alex mustered the courage to share with her his truth.

"My father," he muttered, "father is the one who caused my nose to bleed..." Ava shocked and furious by what she just heard, was about to go off, until she remembered her promise to just listen.

"He um... You know how I was sent to deal with those bandits? Well it was because he caught me kissing someone. Someone I'm not supposed to and he wanted me to send me far away to clear my head."

"You kissed someone?!" Ava couldn't help but blurt out. "Who? Was it Sara from the bakery? I always wondered why you went out of your way to frequent that place, despite it being furthest from your house."

Alex shook his head, his mouth opening in hesitation to continue his thought. "Um, it was, i-it was...it was the other person who runs the bakery," he mumbled out under his breath.

"The other person who works at the bakery?" Ava tried hard to remember who else works there, she knew there was Sarah and her older brother, Ian, but she couldn't think of anybody else. "Who works there besides Sarah and Ian?" Ava wondered out loud.

Alex's face immediately froze. He turned his gaze to stare at the forest floor, there was a cute little beetle crawling along the twig in front of his feet. His mind went blank for a moment, staring at the beetle fall off the twig and climb back on again, before muttering out, "It's just those two that work there." He then looked up at Ava and with a resolved look in his eyes he said, "It was Ian, my father caught me kissing Ian."

The words that came out of Alex's mouth shocked Ava, she was definitely not expecting that, but she didn't let it show on her face. For some reason she felt she needed to appear calm in this moment, so that Alex wouldn't run away and never come back. "I, um, I went to that bakery because I kind of had a crush on Ian," Alex continued. "Actually, today, I went back to see him again, but... but, he just ignored me like I was some insignificant spider that was crawling up a wall."

"Apparently father had one of his men tracking my movements since I got back a week ago, and he immediately reported to him that I went to that bakery again. When I got back home, he immediately punched me in the face and started yelling. He told me that I was the biggest disappointment to ever happen to him and he's sorry to my mother to have me as their son," a sad sigh escaped from his lips and his expression became crestfallen. His thoughts drifting off into space again as he stared outed into the trees.

Intently listening to his story, Ava's mind went to a couple years ago, when she began noticing Alex getting more quiet and odd injuries he would play off as training accidents from time to time. Processing what it all meant, she saw Alex's expression turn downcast. Torn by the agony she was witnessing in front of her, she moved to give Alex a hug, wrapping him in a comforting embrace, softly patting her hand on his back. "It's okay," she whispered gently, "I'm proud of you and you're an amazing person. If your father can't see that, then he's an idiot who needs to get his eyes plucked out."

Alex just laughed as he pulled back, wiping away the fresh tears that were running down his face. "I think you're the only person who thinks that way, Ava." A smile began to appear on his face. "Thank you."

"You know the future Duchess of Behrllan only keeps the best people by her side," Ava continued, seeing how Alex's mood brightened a little. "I have quite a discerning eye and only the best of the best can hang around me. And you're the best of all of them! My best friend, Alex!" she cheerfully declared.

And with that last remark, she gave a cheeky wink and ruffled Alex's hair before both their heads twitched to the right as they heard an unsettling growl, followed by a rabid wolf jumping out from behind the trees.