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Chapter Seven

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His body stiffens as he strolls through the dirt path in the woods. Sunlight is peaking through the trees, and leaves were blowing in the wind. Birds were singing to each other and occasionally flew from branch to branch above him. He'd always felt at home here.

But not recently.

He brings his staff closer just in case something decides to pop out at him. His breath hitches as a few twigs fall from the wind. He hasn't seen any shadows that weren't his so far. Did they only come put at night? He frowns as he hears water trickling nearby.

He trudges through a few bushes until he notices a firey red amongst all the green. He forgets to breathe for a moment as he moves closer towards her. From afar, it looks like she's merely enjoying the view. But as he gets closer, he can see water lifting into the air, following her movement like a dance.

"Whoa," he says before he can stop himself. "When can you teach me that?"

She yelps and loses her balance, stumbling into the water. He stifles his laughter as a large splash of water engulfs her and soaks him. She exhales sharply as she emerged from the water, coughing and rubbing her eyes. Her red hair is loose (her cap must've fallen off) and clinging to her neck and cheeks. She glares at him.

"Why must you do that?" Beth huffs.

"Because it's fun."

"You have a strange definition of fun," she comments as she walks out of the water. She looks like an unimpressed puppy who just got out of its bath.

He shrugs. He's grown used to the amount of times he's heard that come out of people's mouths.

"Why were you doing that?"

"It's... actually relaxing," she explains. "takes my mind off things."

"What kind of things?"

He holds his hands up in the air defensively at the frown she throws him.

"You ask too many questions."

"I just found out about magic," he answers. He walks towards her and dips his toes in the water. "What did you expect?"

"Fair enough," she nods. She wrings out her hair, drying it. Drops of water fall onto the grass.

"I wonder why people don't come here that much," he muses as he breathes in the tree's scent. It's so much cleaner than the burning wood and smoke pipes in town.

"You really don't know, do you?"

He whirls around with a small frown on his face.

"What do you mean?"

There's a strange look in her eyes as she stares at the water.

"Did your parents ever tell you why you couldn't come to the pond at night?"

"Are you talking about that bedtime story?" Jack recalls. "About the one where people vanish in the woods."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he double takes. His jaw drops slightly. "You're it? You're what everyone's so afraid of?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." her lips press into a thin line.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," he back tracks quickly. "I meant that I can't believe people are frightened of you. I mean, you're not even scary!"

She wordlessly makes a hand movement and a wave of water engulfs him. He coughs violently as some water enters his mouth and stumbles back.

"Alright, Alright! Maybe you're a little bit scary!"

She must've been satisfied with the response because the water vanishes into thin air. There's a smug smile on her lips as he picks himself up from the ground.

"You're smiling," he sing songs.

Her smile instantly disappears.

"I don't understand you."

"Nor I you."

"Beth... I'm not like those people who threw rocks at you," he tells her softly. She gives him a sarcastic look. "I'm not! I like to tease people but I'd never unintentionally hurt someone."

"But what if you did?" she asks. "What if you got so caught up in teasing people that you don't even realize that you harmed them?"

Jack frowns at her, "I probably would never forgive myself if I harmed anyone," he says. "and if I did I'd always say sorry."

"Sometimes sorry never works," she mutters. His eyebrows quirk up at the bitterness in her tone. But he doesn't question it.

There's always an awkward silence between them. He's grown used to them. She isn't a talkative person and if he bothered her with his chatter, she never said anything.

Just how long has it been since she last spoke to someone if she kept to herself all the time?

His frown deepens at the thought. Maybe Piper is right.

"Would you like to come to the bonfire tomorrow night?"

"Bonfire?" she echoes, frowning. "You... want me to come with you?"

"I--I mean, one of my friends invited you to come," he says. His cheeks and neck are unusually warm even with the cool breeze in the air.

A look of surprise darts across her features.

"There's going to be a lot of people," she frowns.

"They're all really nice, I swear!" He exclaims. "Especially the kids. They're always so rowdy."

"I don't know about this, Jack," she says, tugging on her hat.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! And it'll mean a lot to Piper!"

"Really?"

"Really, really."

Just what was it about the water she finds so fascinating? He finds himself staring at it so many times but all he can see is his reflection and the sunlight glittering on its surface.

"Alright," she sighs. "I'll go."

"Really?!" he perks up, smiling so wide that his cheeks hurt. "You're gonna have so much fun, I promise!"

"You shouldn't make empty promises, Jack, " she frowns.

"I meant what I said, Beth," he says as she stands up.

"I know," there's a ghost of a smile across her lips. "I better get going. I have a feeling there won't be any demons tonight. "

He returns her smile and watches as she slowly disappears from his view. He's only known her for a month now and she's come a long way from the girl who didn't want any help. He hopes that she'll warm up to his friends one day.

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A/N: Yikes, I haven't updated this story in forever. I apologize! Writer's block has been such a damper and I've just come out of it!