~Author's note~

Yay! An update hahah! I hope you guys liked last chapter! Here is this new chappy for all of you to enjoy! Merry Christmas since it's coming up!

Sincerely,

~Ms. AtomicBomb


They had stopped by several shops so that she could have dropped off her resume, and he even gave her a short tour of the town, since the sun proved that the day was starting to tire. The small village was nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it seemed exactly like any old small village out there. There was a farmer's market, a public library, city hall (although it was not much of a city) and an elementary school amongst other shops and homes. The architecture screamed Victorian era. It was a lovely village, as she thought it to be; cozy and homely.

They looked about the shops a little longer as the sun began to set and she finished gathering important things that she needed for her cabin. Her green gaze had been lingering too much at the comforter set that she very much needed if she did not want to freeze to death…but it was so expensive…

She heard the male next to her clear his throat and she turned to him, her eyes intently blinking up at him because she took it as a sign to pay him attention.

"We can lend you the sheets and a comforter…" The blue-haired male coughed a little embarrassed.

"Oh, I do not want to make you worry over that," she mumbled, "I already owe you too much and I have not even spent an entire day here."

"It will be our pleasure." He finally gave her a full fledged smile and then pushed her cart to the cashier.

"Are you certain? I really do not want to trouble you…" She followed after him with a low tone.

"Our treat," he smirked as he looked back at her, "I'm sure you've been through hell and back to land here, so I'm sure we would like to make your life better or hopefully a little easier."

She gave him a sincere thanks and then she paid for her items. They stacked the truck and then began to make their way to the back to their respectful hill, but they changed their course when he had seen the gas light blinking, "Mind if I stop by the Gas Station?" He turned to her for a short while before going back to focus on the road ahead of him.

"You do not need to ask for my permission," she deadpanned softly, "this is your vehicle after all."

The man chuckled lightheartedly and nodded, "I guess you are correct there," he cracked a delighted smile.

The car hauled to a stop in front of a retro gas station that did not fail to keep up the vintage appearance of the entire village with it. The red roof and green gas pumps told it to be part of the twenties and it actually made her feel calm. She sat patiently as the man jumped out and did what he had gone for. Truth be told, she was a bit weary of the family because they did seem rather odd and it made her uncomfortable, but they also seemed to be really nice people, and she guessed that it was all that mattered. In fact, she felt much more at ease than in her own home.

She turned up the radio as an indie band began to play and she settled back into her seat. The song filled the car and she closed her eyes as she tried to rid her mind of the image of her mother and father as they probably searched the house over and over. She had not failed to buy a new sim card a few day prior to leaving because she knew that if she had her original number, she would not be able to ignore her parents' calls.

She let the music soothe her ears until a knock on the window interrupted her. There was a smiling man as she rolled the window down, "Yes?" She blinked at CuChulainn.

"The Gas station is hiring, want to leave a resume? It's not as bad as you think, and it's the only way to meet other folk around," he chuckled and rounded the car to his door once again, "Got you a coffee, don't know what you like so just a plain dark would do." He handed her a coffee cup and nodded.

"Thank you," she nodded, "I will be back, I am going to drop the resume." She stated before sliding out of the truck.

"Great," he grinned, "glad I could be of some use."

She closed the car door and entered the small gas and stop. The wooden logo board in bright green and red as well hung low (she would be able to touch it if she stretched out her hand), complementing the building rather nicely. A little bell rang as she entered and a young teenage girl (about her own age) smiled brightly and greeted, "Hello miss, Welcome to our little town. Are you just passing by?"

Arturia blinked and returned the smile—yet a little less enthusiastic than the female before her—before making her way to the counter. She glanced about the shop and noted the many snacks and drinks that they offered. They even had souvenirs and paintings of the nearby hills and scenery. "Actually," she began with a short breath, "I moved here."

"Oh!" The girl's eyes lit up, "My name is Jeanne, nice to meet you." There was some sort of glitter in her violet eyes it seemed so welcoming that Arturia's heart clenched a little.

"Hello, Jeanne. My name is Arturia Pendragon." She bowed her head, "I actually just came around with CuChulainn and he told me that the station is hiring, is that true?"

Jeanne's eyes widened a little, "With Cu?" she tilted her head but quickly shook it, "Never mind that," she giggled, "Yes. Yes, we are hiring."

Arturia nodded, "Great, um, well here's my Resume."

"Don't worry about that. How about you come tomorrow and we can do your interview. I'll tell my father about it. So, is three in the afternoon alright with you?" She asked as she took a sticky note from beside the cashier register.

Arturia was surprised that it had been that quick and she immediately nodded because she was never going to turn down a job offer, "Yes, of course."

"Awesome. Okay, then see you tomorrow at three!" Jeanne clapped her hands together once with a big smile, "Can't wait to start working with you."

She gave one last smile and nod before turning to leave, goodness! She was not even working there yet and Jeanne was much more hopeful than she was.

Upon entering the car again, she turned to Cuchulainn and took a deep breath, "She seems sweet."

"She is…just don't get on her bad side or she'll snap at you," he chuckled, "I made that mistake before. Let's just say that I left the store smelling like soda, which I had to pay for."

Arturia smirked and looked back at the store and through the window to catch a glimpse of the girl before he started to move the car, "I like her."

"Her father owns the gas station along with the farm that's about two hills away from us."

"She's very pretty…"

"…Yes, she is."

The entire car ride back to the cabin was dead silent, even the radio had been turned off because Cuchulainn had said he was not in the mood of any music and just wanted to listen to the breeze and the roaring of the engine when need be. Arturia figured that it was because there was something wrong with the vehicle and he wanted to check if it was the engine.

He helped her with settling the many items in her living room and then left her to finish furnishing the cabin by herself because he had said something about helping his sister make dinner. After settling the cabin, she began to search the fridge for something that she could make for food. She thought about her mother for a while and remembered that she had not set her family picture on the fireplace. She stopped cutting the lettuce and washed her hands before leaving the kitchen.

After finding the picture in one of her notebooks, she took the picture frame she had bought earlier and then set it upon her window sill instead of the fireplace. She figured that she would be looking at the fire place more than the window and she did not want to feel guilty for trying to leave her life behind.

She walked to the door upon hearing a confident knock on it. She had to take a step back before seeing someone holding a huge pile of blankets that even covered their face.

"My bro said you wanted blankets, so my sister picked some out for you," the voice groaned as it was evident they wanted to drop the blankets at the door step. "Where do you want them?"

"Oh," Arturia shook her head, "You can leave them on the couch… I could help you with them."

"No don't worry about it." He hummed lightly and stepped into the cabin, trying his best to balance the blankets as he approached the couch.

"Here, let me help you," She noticed that the tower of blankets was looking more and more like the tower of Pisa. She had already started to put her arms around them by instinct.

Upon taking some of the blankets in her hands, she lifted them from his pile and finally got a view of the man's face. She stood still as he continued his way to the couch and set them down, "Good, now that that's settled…Scáthach invited you over for dinner as well." He turned towards her with a welcoming smile.

Okay, maybe he was the most handsome man in the village as his older brother had stated. He was much taller than her and there was a beauty mark on his right cheek, right below his eye. His eyes were like honey covered ambers and his hair was as dark as the midnight sky. He was very handsome, actually, much more than she had ever really imagined. Of course she had had handsome friends back in her home town, but he was definitely something else. Now that animal feces and feathers did not cover him from head to toe, she could truly admire his appearance. Not only that, but the smell of firewood and pine clung in a little cloud around him and she never knew a man could smell so refreshing.

Usually her father would smell like those colognes or 'Axe' but Diarmuid's smell was much more natural and did not cause her any sort of oncoming headache.

She brought her hand up to decline the offer after remembering what he had said, "Oh, I couldn't possibly…I've already bothered you enough for an entire day."

The handsome male stood before her but he furrowed his dark brows—alright so his eyebrow game was strong too—"I'm sorry?" He tilted his head to the right and she could see that he had been offended by her comment.

"What I mean to say, is that I really do not want to trouble you all any further," she bit her lower lip in a little bit of embarrassment as she felt that she was put in the spotlight.

He blinked a little and sighed, "You are not bothering us, and my sister would really want you to come. She really likes the idea of family and since you're here alone, she wants you to feel included and wants you to be a part of the village."

"That is not necessary, I really do appreciate it but you do not have to."

"Umm, you have to come." He gave her a nod as if he had not heard her.

"I really do not want to." The bickering was already starting and Arturia could see that even if he was handsome, he seemed like a real thorn on the side.

"My sister really insists. She feels like she made a fool of herself earlier and she wants to make up for it, and—In fact—I do too." She witnessed him rub the back of his neck and turn away in embarrassment. "Would you please have dinner with me and my siblings?"

The main reason she did not want to go was because she did not want to be part of a family so soon after she left hers. But she took a deep breath and nodded because she knew that the intentions of the Irish family were sincere and they only wanted her to feel comfortable in the village. "Alright," she nodded and ended the silence, "let me just put away the food I was making."

He waited by the door until she left the cabin and locked it, shoving the key into her pocket before hiking with him up the hill.

"So, um, where did you come from?" The male thought that the silence had been too deafening that he decided to speak and start a small conversation before they made it to the yellow house.

Arturia breathed out and looked over at the setting sun, "Uh," she then breathed in through her teeth, "London." She had actually thanked herself for not ending her life as she saw the colours that were splashed upon both the land and the sky as the sun was retiring for the day. There were things that she would still be able to enjoy, "the big city," she rocked her head slightly as she saw some birds flying.

He nodded in response and also glanced at the sunset, "Why so far from home?"

She flickered her gaze towards him and then threw her head back as she thought of something she could say to him, "Um, I don't really know. I like nature," she shrugged in response, "Plus, London's not home anymore. That little house on a hill is." She cocked her head in the direction of the small house she was renting.

He had not seemed convinced by the answer as he bit his lower lip, "You need not lie," he mumbled, "but you don't have to tell me either…"

For a few seconds after that they were silent and then she could hear his lips parting and the breath he took before saying something else. He stopped and began again, but stopped again, "Okay, come on." He hurried up the hill a little more and she knew that that was not was he was going to say.