Chapter Eleven: Growing Attractions
The rest of the day, they spent riding or trying to keep themselves occupied. Juliet and Holly had talked for awhile, catching up as the last time they had seen each other was two years ago. After awhile though, they ceased their conversation to listen to the one Artemis, Mulch and Rodney were having.
The three were sharing stories of past 'jobs' they had had. Mulch and Rodney had been partners for awhile at one point and so they had quite a few to share. Artemis and Mulch had partnered once or twice in the past but weren't about to say that in front of Holly.
Before Artemis had gone completely legitimate, he had taken to stealing works of art from people who deserved it and donated them to Museums. Occasionally, whenever Mulch and Holly visited, Artemis and Mulch would sneak out after holly went to bed or else when Holly was on a vacation or trip away from them. Rodney had heard many stories about the young genius and was interested in hearing about some of Artemis's greater plans.
A few years ago, Holly wouldn't have taken to allowing them to discuss such things in front of her as she had been a LEPrecon officer and could have had them arrested. But now, she knew it was no use. She wasn't an officer anymore and had already come to terms with the fact that it was a part of who her friends were. Just like her past involving the LEP would be a part of her always; their past as criminals helped to make them who they are now. Holly definitely wasn't one to complain as both Artemis's and Mulch's skills had saved her and the People more than once.
So she just leaned back as Artemis told one of his better plans unfortunately going wrong.
"Oh, I remember that one!" Juliet said, chuckling. "If it hadn't been for the fact that you knew both that officer and the detective, you would have been thrown into jail."
Artemis frowned. "Well, the plan itself had been flawless. It wasn't my fault the guard decided to take an early break to go to the restroom."
"I take it you didn't get the painting then?" Rodney asked.
Artemis smirked. "Of course I did. I wasn't one to admit defeat like that. I waited another month and this time we made sure to take care of any guards, learning from our previous mistake."
Holly shivered and Artemis noticed this and after tightening his arms around her, said, "Not like that Holly. We never killed anyone, just knocked them out or made sure they were far away from where we were." He then leaned closer so his mouth was near her ear and said quietly, "Holly, I thought you knew me better than that. I seem to recall a similar debate around seven years ago when you accused me of being as bad as Jon Spiro."
Holly turned her head to face him. "I also recall that debate and I also seem to recall your plan involving cutting off his, or as it happened, his cousin's finger." She said accusingly.
"First of all, taking his finger instead of his life; that hardly makes me a murderer. I also seem to remember you reattaching said finger. So as you can see, despite your comment that, given a few years I'll become a cold blooded killer, I have yet to do so."
"There's still time." Holly pointed out, just wanting to continue arguing. "You may yet stoop that low."
"Now honestly Holly, that hurts. I have no reason to go that low. I can get whatever I want without killing anyone, between my good looks and the fact that I'm a genius." He gave her a wide grin and she snorted.
"Good looks? I think you're getting a big head."
"Hardly. I'm merely stating the facts. Besides, must you always argue? You could try giving a compliment for once."
"Compliment you? Why? It's not as if you've ever given me a compliment."
"Fine." He thought for a second before smirking. "You know, you're pretty good looking yourself." Artemis knew he would get hurt for that comment but wanted to see her primary reaction. He was pleasantly surprised to see her blush slightly and for a moment he thought he might actually get away unharmed. He watched as she leaned forward and whispered in the horse's ear. All to late he remembered the fairies' gift of tongues.
He didn't even have a chance to hold on before he suddenly found himself flying backwards toward the ground as the horse reared up on it's back legs. Holly had grabbed the horse around the neck and held on and in doing so gracefully remained on the horse. Artemis hit the dirt road rather hard, landing on his rear. He sat there in shock for a moment as everyone laughed. Holly, atop the horse, smirked triumphantly. He stood up and glared at her while dusting himself off.
"That's the last time I compliment you." He grumbled.
"Well, someone had to knock you off that high pedestal."
Artemis glanced over and saw that the other three were still laughing, Mulch with tears in his eyes now. Wendell and his family had the decency to look away while chuckling at least.
"It wasn't that funny." he snapped.
"Yeah it was." Juliet giggled. Artemis frowned. Apparently he was losing his touch. There had been a time when no one would dare laugh at him. Well, except for maybe Juliet. He saw one of the guards smiling and he gave him a cold glare. The smile quickly left his face. Artemis felt a little better after that. It seemed it was just his friends who were no longer affected by his cold demeanor.
He climbed back onto the horse carefully, resisting the urge to rub his backside. He was going to have a lovely bruise there later, he thought wearily.
"Your 'leaning back' privileges have been revoked." He told her once he was settled again. He frowned when she flat out ignored him and leaned back anyway. He growled but any further protest or argument was held back as her scent hit him once again and she pushed back so she was right up against him. He felt the heat rise in him, and bit his lip rather hard. Once he had gotten himself under control, he narrowed his eyes at the back of her head, wondering if she had done that on purpose.
Holly had no clue what kind of effect she was having on him. Her mind was on his 'compliment,' and wondering if he meat it or was just trying to get under her skin. She doubted he meant it. It was Artemis Fowl after all. She had known when he said it that he probably didn't mean it and yet she had still blushed. That was what frustrated her the most. How many times had Chix Verbil or other officers said that to her and she had never once blushed!
Pushing those thoughts out of her head for now, she focused her attention to watching the scenery they passed. After awhile, she grew bored and started to drift off to sleep, her head resting against Artemis's chest.
Artemis had been listening to Mulch and Rodney's conversation, no longer feeling like taking part but having nothing else to do. He was surprised when he felt Holly's head nuzzle closer to his neck. He looked down to see that she had fallen asleep and, due to how she had been sitting side saddle, she had unconsciously curled up closer to him. He hesitated, not knowing what to do now.
Part of him felt that he should wake her up and she didn't deserve to be so comfortable after kicking him off the horse. He frowned when he realized that this was the second time she had decided to use him as a pillow while she slept. He was exactly getting the better end of this deal.
He surprisingly wasn't bitter about it either.
With a sigh, he admitted that perhaps he was going soft. He was supposed to be the cold, calculating, heartless criminal remember? He'd certainly been called it enough.
Yet here he was, allowing himself to be pushed around, talked back to, and used as a pillow. Oh this will do wonders for his reputation.
Ah well, perhaps there would be something he could savage at the end of this to make up for his temporary weakness and lapse of character. Gold maybe. He was bound to get some sort of reward for helping, right?
Feeling considerably better now he even admitted that he wasn't exactly uncomfortable. Not wanting Holly to fall off the horse in her sleep (although it was awfully tempting to let her), he resituated his arms so he was holding her up and decided to allow her to sleep this one last time. He then went back to listening to the dwarf's conversation.
They arrived at their destination early that evening while it was still plenty light out and were greeted by the entire town. To be more accurate, Wendell, Tony, Wolf and Virginia were greeted. Artemis, Holly, Juliet, Mulch and Rodney stayed in the background, which was perfectly fine with them all. Mulch might like to be the center of attention but not in front of so many unknown people.
There were at least a few hundred people from the town there to greet their King. They could all see that Wendell's people thought very highly of them. Anyone could see that these people came willingly to meet him and weren't forced by their mayor as Artemis knew was often the case when monarchs or dictators ruled.
Artemis and Holly, who had only been in the castle so far and hadn't been in any villages or towns yet, were curious in spite of themselves. In the crowd, there were a few dwarves, not at all like Mulch and Rodney though. They were merely short but possessed none of Mulch's unique skills. Artemis spotted what he guessed was a goblin. He was normal size, but his skin was green and almost bubbly. He continued to survey the crowd unnoticed as the attention was focused on the King and his family.
While Wendell talked with the mayor of the two, Artemis, Holly, Juliet and the two dwarves decided to walk around and explore the town for lack of anything better to do. Artemis had been fascinated with learning about the Nine Kingdoms and was soaking in everything that he heard and observed.
They came across what looked like a market with food stands and other various items being sold. Mulch darted over to the nearest food stand and began to gather a bunch of food. The others came up behind him.
"Mulch, I'm pretty sure you have to have money to pay for all that." Holly said and Mulch grinned, pulling out a pouch and handed the guy behind the stand a certain amount of gold coins.
"Don't worry Holly, I've got it covered." He said. Holly raised an eyebrow.
"Do I even want to know where you got that?" She asked.
"Knowing you, no." Mulch said simply before starting to devour all the food he had just bought.
"Well then, you're treating us to dinner." Juliet proclaimed cheerfully. Mulch glared at her and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Steal your own money' making Holly narrow her eyes at her partner.
After Mulch graciously bought them all something to eat, they continued their exploration of the town. Just after leaving the market, they saw a young lady about nineteen years old, drop her things all over. Juliet nudged Artemis and said quietly, "Go help her."
"Why?"
"She just dropped all of her groceries! Go over there and help her pick it all up."
"Why don't you?" He asked irritably.
"Because it was you she had kept glancing at in the market." Juliet smirked. Artemis's eyebrows shot up.
"Why would she be looking at me?"
Juliet rolled her eyes. "Beats me. In my opinion there are a lot better looking guys out there then you. Must not be the brightest girl then." She said smirking wider. Artemis glared at her and she quickly pushed him towards the girl. He would have protested but her push had ended him right next to the girl.
Juliet and Holly watched as he hesitantly asked if the girl needed any help. The girl turned red and said that it was okay. Artemis turned to leave but Juliet glared and motioned for him to help her anyway. He rolled his eyes and bent down and began to help gather everything. The girl looked up at him in surprise, obviously expecting him to just leave.
Once they had it all picked up, the others watched as Artemis started talking to the girl and after a minute Juliet said, "He's getting better at this. The last time I tried to get him to talk to a girl like this, he was downright rude." By now, Mulch and Rodney were watching as well. They all gaped as Artemis glanced over before walking away with the girl.
"Did he..he just-he ditched us!" Mulch exclaimed. "And for a girl!"
"Well that was certainly unexpected." Juliet said. Holly snorted.
"You're telling me? I never thought I'd see the day when Artemis Fowl actually became sociable and would leave us for some girl." She said dumbfounded. She wasn't sure what to think.
"What now?" Rodney asked and Juliet shrugged.
"Beats me. I wish I had a camera though. Nobody's going to believe us."
"I still don't believe it and I just saw it." Mulch said, still staring at the last spot he had seen Artemis. They were all silent for a minute until Holly spoke up.
"Let's just go. He left us, so we'll return the favor. No use waiting around all night for him."
They all agreed and continued with their exploring of the town. The town wasn't all that large and so they had seen everything and grew bored within an hour. They decided that they should probably head back and try and find Wendell and the others. At one point, Holly noticed Mulch eyeing some lady as she was in her yard, bending over and gardening, and rolled her eyes.
"What?" Mulch asked defensively. "Can't let Arty have all the fun while we're here."
"What ever happened to not dating outside your species?" Holly asked. Rodney burst out laughing.
"Is that the excuse you've been giving? When was the last time you had a date period?" Rodney turned back to Holly before Mulch could even answer or defend himself. "I used to have to set him up on blind dates and even then he couldn't keep the girl there for more then five minutes. Even for a dwarf he's got disgusting habits. I myself happen to be more civilized."
Mulch glared at him. "I can get a date if I wanted to. It's just that I'm always so busy. Saving the People, saving Arty and Holly, detective business-"
Juliet let out a laugh. "You're forgetting 'relieving people or museums of their artifacts.'"
Mulch shot her a look that clearly said to shut up. "I haven't done any such thing in years." But that did nothing to alleviate Holly's suspicions. She narrowed her eyes at the dwarf and glanced between him and Juliet. She had the feeling they were keeping something from her.
"Mulch…"
Mulch winced at her tone. It was calm yet he did not miss the dangerous edge to it. She had used that tone many times before. He gulped and quickly moved so Juliet and Rodney were in between them. It was times like these that he considered Holly Short just as scary as Artemis could be and that was no small feat. Fortunately for him, he was saved any further interrogation or harm by the arrival of Virginia.
"There you guys are. We were wondering where you had gotten off too."
"Oh, we just decided to walk around and explore the town." Juliet told her. Virginia nodded, but then seemed to notice there was one less person then there should have been.
"Where's Artemis?"
"He left us for some girl." Rodney answered. Virginia's eyebrows shot up and she glanced over to Holly but the elf was still glaring at Mulch. Holly looked back just in time to see Virginia's look and frowned, wondering what Virginia had been expecting. It wasn't as if she cared if Artemis was going to go off with the first girl he sees in a foreign town.
"Really? Already?" Virginia asked. "That was fast." She chuckled.
"Yeah, not even here for more then a few hours and he gets a girl." Rodney said almost bitterly. Virginia laughed and led them to the inn which had turned out to be not far from where they had been.
Holly noted that it was fairly large and homely looking. A welcome site after a day of riding on a horse. A lady who she assumed was the innkeeper's wife greeted them and ushered them in with, "Come in, come in" which allowed Holly entrance. They walked in to find Wendell, Tony and Wolf all talking gravely. Wendell looked up as they came in.
"Good, you found them."
Virginia nodded but was frowning now. "What happened?" She demanded.
Wendell sighed and turned to Holly. "Could you go and get Artemis, please? I need to talk to him. I believe they put him in room Twenty-Nine."
"He's back?"
"Yes, he arrived a few minutes ago."
Holly nodded and set off to find his room. She was more then a little frustrated that she was being forced to run errands instead of finding out what was going on. She'd never seen Wendell that solemn before. It also annoyed her that Artemis was apparently close to the King already. It had only been a couple days and yet he was summoned whenever something happened. Meanwhile, she had to retrieve him. It only added to the fact that she had already been frustrated with the Mud Man.
She found room twenty nine and knocked rather hard. There was silence for a few seconds and then, "Yes?"
"Open up Fowl."
There was another pause. "Can you wait just a moment?"
"No." Holly snapped.
"Very well." The door cracked open and Holly barged in. Artemis made a small sound of protest but it wasn't until she turned around that she saw why. It seemed he had just gotten out of a bath right before she had arrived.
The only thing covering him was the towel wrapped around his waist. His hair wasn't combed back but instead hung loosely everywhere, a few locks covering his forehead. She watched as a drop of water fell from his hair and she followed it down to his chest. She swallowed. She couldn't say he had a six pack but he definitely wasn't scrawny anymore either. His pale skin was flawless. She willed her eyes to not travel further down.
D'Arvit. Holly was suddenly finding it very hard to think properly. She raised his eyes to meet his blue ones. They held each other's gaze until Holly blushed and looked away. Artemis smirked slightly.
"You could have put some clothes on before opening the door!" Holly snapped at him.
He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Unless I'm mistaken, you wouldn't allow me any time. You insisted on coming in right away."
"Well, I didn't know that you weren't dressed." She grumbled.
"So what is it that was so important that it couldn't wait?" He asked.
"First of all, Wendell wants you out there. Apparently something happened."
Artemis frowned. "What do you mean something happened?"
"Just that. I don't know anything else because I was forced to come look for you. Now hurry up and get dressed." Holly was doing her best to keep eye contact or at least look anywhere except below his head. Artemis shrugged and disappeared behind the changing curtain.
"What else did you have to tell me?" He asked, still hidden. Holly was momentarily distracted as the towel he had been wearing was flung to the side of the curtain. Holly wasn't sure if she should thank Frond or not that the curtain was there. She cleared her throat.
"Sorry?"
"You said 'first of all.' Does that mean there is a second of all?"
"Oh, I was curious as to where you and that girl ran off to." Holly said nonchalantly.
"Ah, that. Michelle invited me to dinner."
Holly almost fell off the bed where she had just sat down moments earlier. "And you went?" She asked incredulously.
"Who was I to turn down free food?"
Holly rolled her eyes. "Pig."
"Hardly. If it makes you feel any better, even if the food was good, I've never met a more boring individual. Her attempts at conversation were dreadful."
Despite herself, Holly smiled. She felt a lot of her anger disappear. "I hope you weren't rude to her."
Artemis came out from the curtain, still buttoning his shirt. He feigned innocence. "Me? Rude? Why Holly, I don't know what you're talking about. But do remind me to get back at Juliet later. I feel I owe her for what she made me go through."
"It couldn't have been that bad."
"Holly, the girl could hardly get a word out with all her stuttering and blushing. When she did talk, her words were scarcely larger then two to three syllables. To top that off, she failed to mention the fact that she lived with her older, protective and rather large brother. I'll have you know that sneaking out the back door and trying to climb over a fence with a large man chasing you was not easy."
Holly laughed. "It must have been exciting though."
Artemis glared at her, not in the least bit amused.
They left his room and headed back to the main lobby where the others were still at.
"You know, I heard the most interesting thing while you were gone."
"Oh? What would that be?"
"Juliet let slip something about Mulch robbing museums and she made it sound as if it wasn't all that long ago. Now Mulch going behind my back is one thing, but I find it hard to believe that Juliet would know about it unless it involved you as well. Both of you were supposed to be completely legitimate." Holly said accusingly.
Artemis put on a surprised face but inwardly he was thinking that he definitely owed Juliet. Mulch as well. "Holly, that hurts. I haven't been involved in anything illegal for a few years now. How many times do I have to tell you that?" It was the truth at least. He had been completely legitimate for three years now. However Holly believed it to be five years. He hoped she would fall for the half truth. She didn't.
"And how many are a few years?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. They had arrived at the lobby now where the King and everyone else were waiting. Holly noticed the mischievous glint in the genius's eyes and wondered what he was up to now. He have her his most charming smile and replied truthfully, "Three years."
He then left and headed towards Wendell. It only took Holly a few seconds to put it all together. He had gone straight, but not when he had led her to believe. So for two years her partner and her friend had gone behind her back. She glared at Mulch and Artemis dangerously.
Artemis merely smirked from his position near the king where he knew Holly couldn't touch him. Her first reaction was anger but now she realized she also felt hurt and betrayed. It must have shown on her face because Artemis's smirk vanished to be replaced by a frown. He didn't have time to ponder anything else though because Wendell started speaking to him and Holly. Apparently everyone else had already heard it and it was then he noticed everyone's faces were grave.
"I've just received a message from one of my guards that went to retrieve the mirror with your friend. It seems that the Rebels have attacked again. This time, the village where my two guards and your friend were at."
Both Artemis and Holly paled. "Is Butler alright?" Artemis demanded, not caring about proper behavior to a king. Wendell didn't seem to mind.
"As of right now, I'm not sure. They had just retrieved the mirror when the attack happened. My guard, Thomas, said Butler told him to take the mirror to the castle while my other guard took off to the nearest garrison to retrieve more soldiers. Butler was supposed to get as many villagers to safety. My soldiers should be arriving to that village within the hour. I don't know anything else at the moment."
There was a deafening silence following Wendell's report. Finally, Holly asked the question on more than one of their minds. "Why would the Rebels attack after calling a peace conference?"
Wendell sighed and sank down into a chair. "I was wondering that myself. It makes absolutely no sense." He turned to Artemis. "Any theories?"
Artemis didn't answer right away and everyone remained silent and looked at him, waiting. "I have a few theories, however, I'm not quite sure if any of them are true. I have no way of knowing what's going on in their minds. My best guess is that it was just a captain or other attempting to make a name for himself. I have a hard time believing that they would go through so much to get a meeting with you and then ruin it just like that. I think you should wait and see what they have to say."
Wendell was silent and Tony spoke up. "Even if it wasn't their leader's orders, the fact remains that they still attacked. We can't just let them get away with it."
"Dad, you're forgetting that we can end this whole thing. If we attack them back, then they'll attempt a different method to get Wendell instead of this meeting. We may not be able to stop them if they were to try something else." Virginia pointed out.
"How can you be so sure we'd succeed with the meeting? I still don't understand what it is we're doing. We're going to willingly walk into a trap and somehow come out alive?" Tony asked, looking from Wendell to Artemis.
Wendell sighed again, rubbing his forehead. Wolf turned to Artemis. "You'll have to excuse Tone. Sometimes I think he's not all there in the head."
Tony glared at Wolf. "I heard that."
"You were supposed to." Wolf grinned.
"Anthony," Wendell interrupted before Tony and Wolf ended up in anther fight. From the looks on Wendell's and Virginia's faces, Artemis gathered they argued a lot. "It's more complex then just walking into a trap. Artemis is working on a plan but needs to talk to Red first and find out more about the Rebels. We don't have enough information on them, so we need to get to the Second Kingdom for that." Wendell told him.
It was Tony's turn to sigh. "I know. I didn't mean anything against you." He said to Artemis. "This whole damn war has me on edge."
"I understand."
"So what now Wendy? Are we going back to the castle?" Wolf asked. Wendell frowned at the nickname that only Wolf used.
"No, we're closer to the village from here then the castle and I need to be as close as I can to hear news and give instructions. I'm sure my general has arrived with the soldiers to the village by now. I hope to have a report later tonight. Everyone should get some sleep though."
Virginia, Wolf and Tony all got up and left for their rooms. Juliet, Mulch and Rodney all looked hesitant.
"You can all go to sleep too. If any news comes about Butler, I'll inform you right away." Artemis assured them. This seemed to help and they too left. Artemis turned to see Holly still there. "You should get some sleep too." To his surprise, Holly just glared at him. "What?" He asked, and then remembered their earlier conversation and the pain he had seen on her face. With a start, he realized he felt guilty and it didn't help that she had the same look even now.
Sighing, he took hold of her arm and led her outside, away from Wendell and anyone else that might overhear. "Listen, Holly, I know you're mad, but I can explain-"
"Explain what Artemis? That two of my good friends went behind my back for two years and lied to me? I trusted both of you!"
Artemis winced at the tone of her voice. He knew she felt betrayed and it added to his guilt. He hated feeling guilty. It made him feel weak. "Holly, we haven't done anything illegal in a little over three years now. We didn't tell you because we knew you wouldn't approve."
"Of course I wouldn't approve!"
"Wait, Holly, let me explain. Everything we stole, we gave away. I kept nothing for myself, nor did I benefit from it at all. I couldn't just stop stealing suddenly. It was more of a process. By the time two years were up, I was able to go without any criminal activities." Artemis wasn't sure why he felt the need to explain himself, but he couldn't bear to have Holly so hurt because of him. Holly just shook her head.
"Artemis, it's not so much the fact that you were partaking in criminal activities as it was that you lied. Truthfully, I had never really expected you to go completely straight. I knew it was a part of who you were. So that part doesn't matter as much. What does, is that I trusted you and you lied. That's what hurts the most." Before she had been yelling but now her voice was almost a whisper. Artemis couldn't hide the shame he felt. It irritated him to no end that Holly had the ability to make him feel guilty and ashamed. It was a quality that very few people possessed, his parents being two of them.
Artemis stepped closer so he was right in front of her. Through the darkness, he could see she was fighting back tears. He felt his stomach lurch. Holly had gone through so much and he was only making it harder on her. He forced himself to swallow his pride…again.
"Holly, I'm…truly sorry. I never should have lied to you. I hadn't realized how much it would hurt you." He paused and closed his eyes, not believing he was going to say this next part. "Can you forgive me?" Yup, it was official. He was going soft. He had apologized more in the last few days then he had in the past few years. And never, as far as he could recall, had he ever asked for forgiveness. He wondered why he was doing so now. He certainly didn't answer to Holly, so why should he care if she's mad at him? Even as he thought it, he knew it was easier said then done.
Holly had moved closer so she was inches from him. "What makes you think I can trust you now? Why should I believe you are really sorry?"
Now honestly. Couldn't she have just accepted the apology and said he was forgiven? Did she not realize how hard that had been for him? Artemis was just about to speak his mind when he saw a tear escape and make its way down her face. Holly furiously tried to wipe it away, refusing to cry in front of him. Damn. So much for giving her a piece of his mind.
He caught her hand with his to stop her from rubbing her face so hard. She tried to yank her hand away but Artemis didn't let go. Normally, Holly could have succeeded but she was exhausted from her journey and being mad and upset took a lot out of her. Holly mentally cursed her luck for being so emotional. She looked up to see Artemis's face extremely close to hers. Her breath caught in her throat.
Artemis had also stopped breathing. The moonlight was now reflecting off Holy, giving the impression that she was glowing. Artemis knew better but allowed himself to be deluded. Her eyes were watery and her face still upset but Artemis thought she looked breathtaking. Holly watched as his eyes traveled to her lips and she involuntarily licked them as it felt as if her mouth had gone dry. His blue eyes met hers again and she was surprised at the intensity there.
The next thing she knew, their lips had met. She wasn't sure who had kissed who and at the moment, she couldn't care less. He released her hand and moved his up to the back of her head, running it through her hair. Holly was finding it hard to get any thoughts across and finally gave up trying to think. He pushed her up against the side of the building, never once breaking the kiss.
However, the sound of a door shutting somewhere in the distance brought him back to his senses. He pulled back from Holly, his face flushed and his breathing a little labored. She opened her eyes and he saw they were glazed and not all focused. At least he wasn't the only one to be effected so. Shaking his head, he turned and left, decided he needed a long walk to clear his head.
Holly watched him walk down the street, still confused as to what happened.
