Note(s): I hope to not get rocks thrown at me for this one lol. It's sort of a tease chapter and any feedback on this will be appreciated lol. I'm sort of horrible at this romance stuff lmao.

Anders let her drag him and he did his best to keep up with Selene. The full moon made for a beautiful night despite the clouds rolling in, and to enjoy an event like this with friends made Anders forget about everything. He must have danced several times with Selene until it was time to head back to the warehouse. Selene wasn't tired but she understood they had to return for safety reasons not to mention the threatening look of the incoming clouds. She danced on the way back towards the warehouse high from the excitement of the festival and hummed the tune played by the gypsy band. She seemed to have forgotten the words of the old gypsy. Anders laughed a little and saw how carefree Selene was when she wasn't worried about those words. It was refreshing to see her this way.

She looks happy though I wonder about the words the gypsy told her. I know it's not real magic but she seemed taken aback by it all. I'm more concerned now despite that last card. The gypsy was right though she isn't alone anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted as the clouds decided to unleash the rain that had been threatening since midnight struck. Selene looked up and stood there for a moment before Anders took her hand so they could run for temporary shelter. She tried to use her shawl to cover her head as they ran but it only fell back to her shoulders where she had tied it earlier. She laughed at how silly she was being and felt that she was almost soaked already. It was pouring down now and the awning wouldn't protect them for long at this rate. Anders saw her shiver and frowned, "We should probably just make a break for it so we can get you dry."

Selene looked at him and smiled, "I'm fine for the moment, really. I haven't seen rain like this for a long time. It makes me think of the times I just enjoyed being in the rain. I got into so much trouble when I would take Quinn out to play in it. We would come back to the house covered in mud and mother would lecture me while father would just laugh. Mother would get even madder and tell father to stop encouraging me. Quinn would just give that goofy smile of his through the mud on his face. Those were such good times."

"I can imagine that actually." Anders laughed as he looked out at the rain, "Probably danced around in the rain naked to spite your mother I bet." He was joking but when he glanced at her she looked so serious.

"How did you know? Did you see me during one of your escapes?" Selene raised her brow at him then she smiled, "Maker's breath I'm joking though the thought of dancing naked in the rain has it appeals."

Anders grinned, "Just be sure to let me know. I'd pay to see that."

"You couldn't afford my rates." Selene laughed and felt a chill move over her body, "I think we should make a break for it." Her lower lip trembled from being cold but she moved out into the rain and it almost made her feel warm again oddly enough. She looked at Anders and her smile turned mischievous as she moved out from under the awning, "Let's make a game of it. Last one to the warehouse doesn't get Ser Tigger for the night." She ran for it after that and could hear Anders not far behind.

"Like hell! Ser Tigger is mine!" Anders shot back in a playful tone and almost made it past her but forgot that he had to turn which Selene took with a gleeful laugh. He doubled back for the turn and saw how far ahead she was, "Shit. If I had only learned that teleporting trick at the circle…."

He noticed Selene had stopped and saw why as he got closer. The path was being blocked by a trio of men asking her to pay their toll to pass. Anders walked up behind her and looked at the men, "Is there a problem dear?" He placed his hand on her lower back to let her know he was there and she tensed up. His eyes shifted to the men, "We need to pass here so if you don't mind."

"We do mind. You have to pay the toll to pass here and judging by how you two are dressed you can afford it."

Anders knew he had to watch his use of magic but this might have to be the exception to that rule. He noticed the other two men moving to flanking positions and could feel Selene getting even tenser. She was aware of what was going on and she was unarmed leaving her to rely on her fists if it came to defending herself. His concern shifted to her weakened arm and he felt more protective of her at that moment.

"We have no coin on us. We spent it at the festival." Anders replied and pulled Selene closer to him, "Now let us pass. We don't want any trouble."

"You don't pay the toll then you don't pass or…we can take payment in another way." He looked at Selene while one of the other men noticed the haircomb she was wearing.

"She has a pretty babble in her hair there."He tried to reach towards Selene's hair but she moved away and shifted to face him with a look in her eyes that told him to back off, "Well she's got some fight in her, boss."

"Must be something these two lovebirds have in common." The boss replied as he tried to stare down Anders. He pulled out a dagger and ran the blade over his thumbnail as he kept his eyes on him, "Well you can either give us that babble or we can just beat you and do what we want with her even if it means beating her too. Sometimes a woman needs to learn her place."

Anders felt his temper rising and that meant he could lose control. He tried to keep his calm as he looked at the boss but he was losing that battle quickly, "You're not getting anything from us. And if you even harm her you won't live long to regret it."

Selene noticed the tone in Anders's voice had changed and she touched his hand then looked at him, shaking her head. She looked at the boss, "The haircomb isn't mine to give. It is on loan from a dear friend and I'm afraid parting with it won't be happening…" Her hand reached for the comb and she pulled it out then spun around to use it as a weapon, slashing the face of the man that had tried to snatch it earlier.

Anders took the opportunity to attack and tried to keep in mind that magic was to be a last resort. He ended up punching the boss in the face, breaking his nose in the process but hurting his own hand too.

"Ow!" Anders shook his hand and realized he needed to figure out how to throw a proper punch.

Selene turned to look as the boss stumbled backwards and it gave the man she attacked the chance to lash out at her. He slapped her hard across the face sending her to the ground stunned. The comb still remained in her grasp and Anders turned quickly unleashed a mental blast to subdue the two men that remained. He knelt down to check on Selene who was shaking off the slap she received. Her lip was bleeding and he narrowed his eyes at the man who struck her. His eyes flashed as he stood back up and cast an invisible cage around the man and let it crush him before turning his attention to the remaining man who looked in fear at Anders.

"Stay away from me!" The man cried as he tried to scramble away from Anders.

Anders ignored him and began to conjure a ball of fire in his hand despite the deluge of rain. Selene saw what Anders was doing. She grabbed the dagger the boss had dropped then threw it as best as she could at the fleeing man. With luck she hit the mark but her arm hurt like hell for doing it. The boss was on the ground still knocked out. Selene walked over to the man she had thrown the knife at and made sure he was dead before moving to the boss. She didn't kill him but instead moved past him, and threw the dagger into the raging waters in the drainage canal. Without a word she started walking and Anders moved to join her.

"I know I didn't listen but what do you expect a mage to do?" Anders said as he looked at Selene with a frown, "At least I didn't let Justice fully take over…That would have been disastrous and possibly could have hurt you."

"I'm not angry, Anders just concerned." Selene replied as she kept walking and kept herself alert for any other problems, "Maybe I should have just given them the comb and bought Isabela another one."

"If you had done that then they would have asked for something else, Selene, and the end result would still be the same." Anders stopped her and turned her to face him, "I wasn't going to just let them get away with that, not when they threatened you."

Selene raised her brow, "You make it seem like I can't handle myself."

"That's not what I'm saying. You can't always do things alone and shut others out. Stop being so proud." Anders looked into her eyes and held her by the shoulders, "Let the people who care about you in. I see you laugh and joke but you haven't truly let anyone in. Don't make my mistakes by suffering in silence by yourself."

"So you did hear everything." Selene whispered then closed her eyes as she shook her head. She sighed then opened her eyes to look at him, "It's not pride it's fear."

"What are you afraid of?" Anders refused to let her escape so easily and blocked her from trying to move past him. He could see her getting angry but he didn't care.

She glared at him, "Do we have to do this now? We'll catch our death in this rain."

"I'll take care of that so answer my question." He replied flatly and looked at her sternly, "Tell me. If I learned anything from your cousin it is to be persistent and we're not going anywhere until you give me an answer."

Selene clutched the comb in her hand then threw her hands up, "Andraste's sake you are such an ass!" She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him then paced a little before stopping, "I'm afraid because I was burned by someone I trusted. Tarin made me question everything I believed in and then the Order nearly turned on me. I've been alone since I left home, since my brother was taken away and I thought I could learn to trust again but it's not as easy as everyone makes it seem. I'm just waiting to see who's going to stab me in the back next. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Anders frowned, "I'm not Tarin and we're not the Order but I understand how you feel more than you can ever imagine." He touched her cheek feeling how warm it was from her anger. She almost drew back but he saw her stop herself and her eyes closed. It was obvious the pain ran deep and it was something he wish he could heal. He carefully led her back to the warehouse and once they were inside he let her go first.

She took the time to wring the water out from her hair, shawl and clothes before she removed her shoes. When she glanced back at Anders he was doing the same and she thought about what he had said to her about him not being Tarin. She wondered if he meant…Her cheeks became red then the warmth she felt disappeared when a chill moved through her body. She headed down the steps to the dock where the ship was and saw the ship swaying thanks to the waves the storm created. Getting onboard was a fun exercise as she tried not to fall. Anders helped her as best as he could and once they were below deck it was a little easier thanks to the walls. They stopped at her room and he looked at her, "Go ahead and get changed then come see me for your lip. I'll try to make some hot tea for us…We'll need it." He smiled then brushed some of her hair out of her face before he left for his room.

I feel so strange…It's been too long since I've felt anything.

Selene retreated into her room then stripped off her rain soaked clothes, hanging them up while putting a bucket under them to catch the water that dripped off. The hair comb was placed on the writing desk beside her small pack. She rummaged around for some clothes opting for a tunic and a skirt Isabela gave to her because it wasn't her style anymore. Selene looked at herself in the small mirror, noticing how red she was from blushing or was it the onset of a fever? She shook her head then looked at her lip seeing it was pretty busted. As she touched it she winced and decided to go ahead to Anders's room. She carefully made her way down the hall once she left her room and lightly knocked on his door. The meows from Ser Tigger made her smile and when the door opened Anders was dressed in his usual attire sans the outer robes. He moved aside to let her in and went about drying his hair, "Forgive the mess."

"Oh my room is worse, trust me." Selene replied then sat down where she could. Ser Tigger jumped onto her lap and purred as she stroked his soft fur, "I wanted to thank you for standing up for me with those supposed toll men and I'm sorry for being ungrateful. You're right about everything."

Anders looked at her and pulled up a stool then gently touched her chin so he could examine her lip. He smiled a little, "You are welcome and it's rare for anyone to say I'm right about anything. I'm going to remember this moment."

Selene laughed but stopped when she smiled too widely. She winced then felt him use his magic to heal her. As she felt the wound close she watched him examine her again and she felt him take a damp cloth to wipe away the blood to make sure all was well. He nodded his head approving his work, "Looks like those precious lips of yours are cured."

"Good to know." Selene smiled then noticed his hand was cut, "Don't you heal yourself?"

Anders glanced down at his hand, "Well if I do that Varric won't believe I punched a guy." He grinned then watched as she got up to get the bandages and found it rather amusing that he was being catered to, "You do know what you are doing right?"

"Funny." Selene eyed him and took to cleaning the cut on his hand then carefully put a healing salve over it. Ser Tigger watched for a moment before trying to paw at the bandages. Selene smiled and took it away from the cat, "Not this time, Ser Tigger. Let me help patch up Anders."

Ser Tigger didn't listen and kept trying to paw at the bandages until Selene set him down on the floor. She went back to wrapping Anders's hand and wasn't too bad. Anders looked at her, "You learned some basics from the Order?"

Selene nodded, "I did so I could get by but when it came to the more serious injuries we relied on the professionals." She smiled softly as she finished up bandaging the hand then looked at him, "All done."

Anders smirked, "It still hurts you know."

"Is that so?" Selene noticed that smirk of his and laughed a little then kissed his wrapped hand, "There all better now." She looked at him smiling softly then blushed when he touched her cheek ever so gently. He seemed amused by her blushing then let his thumb brush her lips making her blush deeper. She closed her eyes being shy all of the sudden.

He smiled seeing her more vulnerable side and leaned forward kissing her lips. On the other side of the kiss Selene felt her heart racing and warmth that made the chills she felt before stop. She returned the kiss blushing still and when she opened her eyes she saw Anders smiling. Selene didn't feel this way with Tarin. There was more warmth from Anders and she wasn't sure why. Maybe she had forgotten how it felt to be cared for. He looked into her eyes as he caressed her cheek, "Getting warm again I see."

Selene rested her cheek into his hand taking comfort from his touch. Her lips formed a soft smile, "I blame the rain, and you still owe me tea."

"That I do but I thought the kiss was better." Anders grinned then kissed her once more before getting up, "I'll see about that tea now." He saw Selene grin in her playful manner. The kiss was mutual afterall.

The ship's rocking wasn't noticeable to them anymore and Anders was able to get some tea made despite spilling the water a few times. He handed her a cup and had one for himself. Selene took care in drinking her tea and made sure to finish it despite the taste. When she finished she wondered if that meant she should go or if she should stay. Her eyes met with his and he took the cup from her, setting it aside. He took her by the hand and led her to his bed where she hesitated for a moment. Gently he squeezed her hand, "We won't do anything you aren't ready for."

Selene nodded her head and laid in the bed with him. Being in his arms was like a warm blanket, safe and comforting, and in no time she fell asleep. Anders smiled watching for awhile then he too fell asleep. Just having her there was enough for him. He just hoped when he woke up she'd still be there and this wasn't some dream.