Chapter 11 – Not So Bad After All

"Guy, where are you going?" Hannah questioned, he had been organising guards to escort him and gathering his weapons up.

"Out." He replied bluntly.

"Where? Please tell me…" She pleaded with him as she blocked the exit from his room.

"Word around the castle is that Locksley is holding a party tonight at his manor." He spat out the word 'his' like it was repulsive.

"So? That has nothing to do with you, it is his estate."

"I object to him inviting all the villagers, they should be living off their own backs, not getting the easy life from him!"

"Guy! Leave it, let him have his celebration he's probably just celebrating being back at the manor."

"I have to go and put a stop to this! I can't have him thinking he owns the place now."

"But he does! Look, don't worry about him, he's unimportant… spend a little time alone with me instead…" She flirted with him, brushing her hand against his arm seemingly absent minded, but she knew very well what she was doing.

"Fine." Usually he would argue, or just push past and leave, but something in the back of his mind seemed to be telling him to be kinder to her.

She shivered slightly the draft through the castle sending a shiver down her spine.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, that same thing told him to ask.

"Just a bit cold, this dress is a bit thin."

"Put this on." He responded, grabbing one of his pullovers from the pile on the side and handing it to her.

"Thank you." She smiled, putting it on and cuddling up to him for more warmth.

His expression briefly broke into a smile, as he wrapped his arms around her, loving the thought that she needed him, then remembering it was Hannah he was thinking about. Perhaps, he considered, she's not so bad after all.

She pulled away from him, smiling lovingly at him, he smiled back at her, sitting down on the bed as she went to sit next to him. They sat talking for hours until it grew dark and they grew tired.

Eventually she fell asleep slumped against him, head resting in the crook of his neck and arm around his waist. He smiled looking down at her, he couldn't believe how beautiful and peaceful she looked. He slowly lowered himself down on the bed, wrapping his arm tighter around her.

And that was exactly how the Sheriff found them in the morning.

"Hey guys." Robin greeted Will and Djaq as they arrived.

"Hello." Marian smiled.

"Hi… the place looks great!" Djaq replied. There was a huge table covered in food, light music playing softly in the background, and most of the villagers had already arrived and were chatting in groups around the room.

"Thanks… wow! That ring is beautiful!" Marian exclaimed as the green jewel on Djaq's engagement ring caught her eye.

Djaq smiled. "Yeah, I think so too." She looked at Will, making him blush slightly.

Robin smiled too. "It is nice, good choice."

"Thanks, but it wasn't hard."

"I know exactly what you mean." They both smiled, noticing the two women hugging.

Another knock at the door meant Djaq and Will moved away, letting Marian and Robin greet the villagers who had arrived, and John who followed after.

Now the only people left to arrive were Allan, Katie and Much. Soon enough however, Allan and Katie arrived together. Allan still feeling awkward, wondering whether he should have held his arm out for her or something.

Marian thanked her again for taking him in.

"My pleasure, really, he's been an angel." She responded, a sweet, handsome and gorgeous angel, she mentally added. Allan blushed slightly, no one had ever called him an angel before. Katie smiled; she always thought it was sweet when he felt embarrassed.

Allan took her over to the rest of the gang, introducing them to her and her to them.

Robin and Marian were just wondering where Much could have got to, it was unlike him to be late, especially when food was involved. They decided it must be something important, when a knock came at the door.

Robin opened the door. "Much! Glad to see you finally got here!" He joked.

"Eve?! It's been way too long!" Marian said, she hadn't expected to see her again for a long time yet, if at all.

"Yeah it has."

"And who's this?" She crouched down in front of Megan, much like Much had earlier.

"I'm Megan."

Marian smiled. "You are gorgeous." She tapped Megan lightly on the nose, making her smile.

Robin crouched down next to her. "Yeah she is."

"You must be Robin…" Megan pointed at him. "And Marian!" She grinned, hugging Marian tightly, who smiled lifting her up.

"Yes, well done, you are very clever… how about we go and see the others?" She asked the little girl.

"Yeah." Marian put her back on the ground, ruffling the girl's hair before she ran after Eve and Much, who had joined the rest of the gang, and wrapped her arms around Eve's waist.

Robin couldn't help but grin at Marian.

"What?!"

"Nothing…" He lied, he loved the glow she had when she was around children, and she was always so good with them.

Marian rolled her eyes at him, then turned away to walk over to the others. Robin followed after her, continuing to smile; even after all these years he still found it amazing that she loved him back.

"So what have I missed then?" Eve asked, after she and Megan had been introduced to Katie.

"A lot, a lot! It's a long story." Allan replied.

"Well tell me then, fill me in!"

"So after you left…" Much began, but then changed his mind. "Actually I'll tell you later, it would probably take the whole party to explain!"

"Okay then." She smiled; she could see him eyeing up the food. "Anything you think I should know about you lot?" They all looked blankly at her. "Like you two…?" She couldn't help but notice that Robin had a protective arm around Marian's waist. "Did you finally get together?"

Marian smiled. "We got back together, yes." In a way, though, she thought, we never actually broke up.

"We're engaged, in fact." Robin added.

"Oh, congratulations!"

"Thank you." They both said in unison, laughing at each other.

"And us." Will interrupted.

"Engaged?" Eve asked, Will and Djaq nodded. "Congratulations to you too! Allan and Katie too?"

"No!" They both almost shouted, far too quickly for it to be comfortable, and quickly moved away from each other. Neither had noticed before that Allan had put his arm lightly around her shoulders; it had felt too natural for either of them to care.

The others had just smiled, they'd noticed his arm round her. It was obvious to them that they more than liked each other, perhaps possibly loved each other, even if they hadn't noticed.

"So what's up, Marian?" Djaq asked, noticing that she was gazing across the room at Robin who was sat at the other side of the room. "Marian!"

"Sorry, what?"

Djaq laughed. "I said, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" She wasn't really paying full attention, still smiling at Robin over Eve's shoulder.

"Well you've barely taken your eyes off him all evening and you have a constant grin on your face!"

"It's that obvious?" She hadn't really noticed she was doing it.

"Yes! So what is it?" Eve joined in.

"Oh, nothing…" She lied.

"Tell us!" She insisted.

"No I can't!"

"Go on, please!" Djaq was really intrigued.

"No, it's a secret, we promised we wouldn't tell anyone."

"Come on!"

"No! We are here to celebrate your relationship with Will, we're not going to overshadow you!"

"You won't, come on, whisper it."

"Don't argue with me, I said no and meant no!"

Djaq sighed, she knew there was no point in arguing, she would never win against Marian. "Okay then."

"I'm sorry, but we'll tell you all after the party alright?"

"Yeah okay."

Marian smiled, glad that Djaq had finally relented, then realising that Katie hadn't been paying any attention to the conversation. "He likes you."

"Huh? What?" She snapped out of her trance, she'd spent the whole conversation staring across the room at Allan.

"Allan, he likes you, I mean really likes you."

"What?!" She asked again, clearly not quite listening yet.

"You were staring at Allan, and trust me he isn't messing about, he's never like this around women."

"Really?" She smiled, she hadn't yet convinced herself that he could love her.

"Yes really, I think he might be in love with you, and you clearly love him."

Katie blushed, beginning to take it in; he had been acting strange, and not just flirty strange. "You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

"She's right." Djaq agreed.

"Thank you Marian." Katie responded appreciatively.

"No problem, but really I didn't do anything."

"I guess not." She sounded vague, staring back at him again with a smile on her face, slightly blushing as she noticed he was staring back.

"Go on then…" Marian urged.

Katie looked questioningly at her. "What?"

"Go over to him, say hello, and please don't pretend you're not interested!"

"But what do I say?"

"You tell me, you're the one he's in love with! Just ask him to dance, see where it goes."

"Alright… wish me luck." She took a deep breath and began to walk over towards Allan.

"She likes you."

"Sorry, what?!" Allan wasn't quite certain what he'd just heard Robin say.

"Katie, she likes you, more than likes you, I saw you staring at her."

"You sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure, I've seen the way she looks at you Allan, she loves you." He'd guessed as much, but hearing someone else say it made it all the more real. "And I can see you love her too; so do something about it."

"I'm not sure." Allan knew he loved her, he had ever since he'd set eyes on her, he'd just been denying it. And now, with Robin insisting they were in love, he was even surer they were meant to be. His heart was saying 'yes, be with her', but his mind told him not to do it, he couldn't trust himself; who knew what he would end up doing to hurt her? He just couldn't do that to her, he couldn't break her heart. No matter what he had to do, how much he himself got hurt, he would make sure that he didn't hurt the woman he loved.

"Allan." Robin's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Just ask yourself what do you want; I assure you that what you desire most will be the best thing for the both of you."

He still wasn't quite sure what to do; he knew he would have to decide by himself, no matter how much he wanted someone else to do it for him.

"She's coming over! What do I do?!" He asked frantically.

"You know what to do." Robin calmly replied, and moved away to give them some privacy.

"Hello Allan."

"Hi."

"So were you ever planning on asking me to dance, or were you just going to stare at me all evening?"

"I might have asked eventually… would you like to dance?"

"I'd love to." She smiled as he took her hand in his, kissing it then leading her to the centre of the room to dance.

Marian smiled, watching the two of them. It was a start at least, and it would go further, even if it meant she and Robin had to push them closer.

She switched her gaze over to Robin who was looking back at her, she smiled as he mimed a kiss at her, and excused herself from the others, not that she'd been paying attention to the conversation.

She walked over to him, seating herself in a chair next to him.

"Hello gorgeous."

"Hi beautiful." He responded, putting an arm round her as he lovingly kissed her.

"They were asking after us."

"Same here."

"Wondering why I've been smiling at you all evening."

"Couldn't you have just said it was because I'm gorgeous?" He smiled cheekily.

"No, they would never have believed me!"

"They wouldn't?!" He put on a wounded tone of voice.

"No, they wouldn't, but only because I'm not like that around other people… but believe me, you are very gorgeous." She leaned in, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"That's alright then, I was getting worried." Marian grinned at him. "What?!"

"Now I'm smiling because you're gorgeous."

"So are you." He smiled, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Would you care to dance, my lady?" Robin rose from his seat, taking her hand.

"It'd be my pleasure, my lord." She smiled, playing along with his game, as she stood up and followed him.

"I've been thinking about our wedding." He slid his arms around Marian's waist as he spoke.

"Oh really?" She asked, intrigued. "What exactly would you have been thinking about?" She put her arms around his neck.

"Just a few things, like nine days time."

"Nine days?!" She laughed. "You said soon, but I didn't think you meant that soon. Are you sure that's long enough for us to plan everything?"

"That's the other thing I was thinking about." He blushed slightly. "I've already got everything planned."

"Everything?! You really have been thinking a lot about this. So is there anything at all for me to do?!" She joked.

"Well you need a dress." He raised his eyes suggestively at her.

She smiled. "Okay, you're so sweet putting so much thought into this, and there'll be a little surprise for you afterwards."

"Thank you my love." He smiled as she kissed him, running her fingers through his hair. He pulled her into a hug and she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her ear, smiling as he remembered her twelfth birthday.

Her Father had held a massive party for her as always, inviting anyone and everyone that wanted to come, he had no problem catering for them being the Sheriff of Nottingham.

She had already received the majority of her presents, if she was honest she'd found most of them boring or useless, but had endured it, wanting to see what Robin had got her. But he hadn't handed it to her in front of everyone, she wasn't worried though; he had bought her a present every year since they were three and she'd loved every one of them, knowing him he wanted to give it to her in private.

Once everyone else had been distracted away from her, Robin took Marian into a corner where it was quieter.

"So obviously I did actually get you a present."

She smiled. "I knew you would have."

"And here it is." He produced a cord from his pocket, it had a bright blue, sapphire pendant hung on it, it matched her eyes perfectly.

"Oh, wow! It's beautiful Robin!" She exclaimed, hugging him.

"Here, turn around, let me put it on you." He tied it round her neck as she held her hair out of the way, she let her hair drop back to her shoulders as she turned back to face him. "It looks even more beautiful on."

Marian smiled. "Oh, you are so sweet Robin! I love you." She clapped a hand over her mouth, realising what she'd just said. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry Robin... I'm so sorry." Her voice faded away as she walked off, he reached out a hand in an attempt to stop her, but her arm slipped out of his grasp as she broke into a run, she ran through the crowd of people as she headed upstairs, he knew to her room.

He ran after her, he didn't care who was watching, he just needed to talk to her, sort this all out. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he heard Edward calling his name, clearly not happy that he'd just seen Marian run off upset.

"Robin? What did you say to upset her?"

But he ignored it, he hadn't said anything, that was partly the problem, he hadn't had a chance to respond, to tell her what he felt, tell her she hadn't made a mistake at all.

He ran on, up the stairs to the doorway of her room. He knocked on the door, two taps, a pause and a third tap, that way she would know it was him, and he hoped would let her in. He knocked again, she still didn't come to the door. He tried the handle, luckily it wasn't locked, he opened the door, letting himself in and quietly shutting the door behind him.

Even when he entered she didn't lift her head, she stayed sat on the bed with her head in her hands. She couldn't believe what she'd just told him, of course she had meant it, but she'd never meant to tell him like that, if at all, and now she'd jeopardised their friendship, the most important thing in the world to her right now.

Robin sat down on the bed next to her, putting his arm around her. She lifted her head to look at him, waiting to see what he'd say, hoping they could still be friends.

He wiped the tear from her cheek, locking eyes with her and slowly leaned to kiss her. It was a long, slow, delicate kiss as he took the time to explore her mouth with his tongue, relishing every moment of it.

He slowly pulled away, smiling at the huge grin on her face. "I love you too… I have for a long time."

"Me too… me too." This time she kissed him, but with more passion and need than before.

"You know I think deep down I've always known that." He smiled. "But I am so glad you let it slip."

"So am I." She hugged him, of all the outcomes she had expected this had not been one of them. "I really do love you Robin."

"I know, I love you too." He smiled. "So would you like to return the party now?"

"Only on the condition that you will come with me." She answered.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He lightly kissed her on the cheek, taking her hand and heading back downstairs.

Edward had been waiting impatiently downstairs, he knew Robin would have sorted out the problem, but he still wanted to know what was wrong with her.

"Marian, are you alright? What did he say to upset you?" He inquired when they appeared at the top of the stairs, he seemingly didn't notice them holding hands.

"I'm fine, more than fine, he didn't say anything to upset me, he never does. It was just …" She looked at Robin, trying to think of an excuse. "A misunderstanding." She continued, smiling at him as she spoke.

"Alright then, enjoy the rest of the party." Edward knew she'd tell him if something was wrong. But he knew there was something different about them, he just hadn't quite figured out what yet.

The young couple walked over towards the middle of the room, Robin wrapped his arms lovingly around her waist as she put hers around his neck.

"I wanted to say earlier; you look so gorgeous. Your dress, your hair… your eyes." He gazed into her eyes, leaning in to kiss her, but she pulled away. He pulled puppy dog eyes at her.

"Robin! People might see." She protested.

"And?!" He responded. "We are both nobility, we were both single and neither betrothed. I know for a fact that neither of our parents would oppose, and we both want this. But I think the most important reason is, that we are in love, so where's the problem?"

Marian smiled. "Well when you put it that way…" She kissed him, tightening her arms around his neck.

Allan took a deep breathe, this was it, he was finally going to tell her.

"Katie.."

"Yeah?" She asked, lifting her head to look at him, she had been resting her head on his shoulder.

"I, err… never mind." Dammit, tell her! He was kicking himself for not saying it.

"No, tell me." She wanted to hear him say what she knew he was thinking.

"Well… I was going to say I… think you're beautiful." Come on! He begged with himself, he'd got so close.

She smiled locking eyes with him, little by little they leaned in, and their lips met in a short sweet kiss.

"Say it." She said softly, pulling away from him.

"I love you." He'd finally said it, he couldn't believe it, the moment they locked eyes he knew that he had to be with her, he loved her so much, and now he knew he would never be able to hurt her.

"I love you too." She smiled. "Took you long enough!"

A/N: This chap was for my friend Katie, for her 16th birthday yesterday (sorry it's a bit late!) (btw the character Katie is not based on her but another friend!)

So that Hannah and Guy bit was just kind of spare of the moment, i felt like being nice to her! but I have to say this is my fave chap so far! I loved the memory and well it was all really cute :D grins lol im so hyper... anyway hope you enjoyed it, review please :D I love you all!