Cheeks burning, leg jumping, Gilan stared across the table at Will.

Will, looking down on the letter he was writing, didn't notice Gilan's fervent stare. He chewed absently on the end of the quill he was using, and when he wasn't doing that the tip of his tongue could be seen peeking out between his red lips. It was cold out, and he had just come back from Castle Redmont, where he had picked up the mail and collected Alyss and Jenny, who sat in front of the fire talking.

"Who's that for?" Gilan asked, hoping to start a conversation. The moment Halt walked in the door, Gilan wouldn't have a chance, considering he wasn't supposed to be here any longer. Jenny had invited him to stay for dinner, however, and Will had invited him to stay at the cabin overnight.

Gilan didn't know if that meant the same bed, or in the guest room.

Their relationship was confusing, at the moment. Will responded to any attempts at flirtation, and physical touches, but nothing had actually been spoken about. And, making things worse, Will seemed to be avoiding any attempts at communication.

"Crowley wants me to look into a kidnapping out in Seacliff. Clarke is sick, and he figured that I could look into it because of my experience there," Will answered, not looking up from the letter.

"When are you leaving?"

Will sighed, "He wants me to leave as soon as possible, so I guess tomorrow. Apparently a lot of kids are being taken, so he thinking a slave ring."

"Oh," Gilan said, not knowing what else he could say. "Do . . . maybe we could ride together. I'm going in the same direction."

"Yea," Will murmured absently, still staring at the letter.

Gilan fell silent, his eyes still locked on Will. It wasn't often that he felt uncertain, but right now was one of the few times. Unsure, he looked to his side, to see Jenny looking back at him. Realizing her partner was looking away, Alyss turned to look at Gilan as well. Both women smiled reassuringly. The chef nodded, and gave him a thumbs up. She was the whole reason he was here—he had told her how he felt about Will. They may have been exes, but they broke up on good terms, and Gilan wasn't ashamed to say that Jenny was probably one of his closest friends.

Taking a deep breath, Gil turned back to Will.

"Will?" he asked, trying to keep the waver from his voice.

"Hmm?"

"Do . . . do . . . do you want to . . . maybe, like . . ." Gilan fell silent, realizing how he sounded.

Will looked up from the letter, raising an eyebrow at Gil. "Do I want to . . . what?" he asked. Abruptly, he turned his head, narrowing his eyes in Alyss and Jenny's direction. Jenny was barely able to keep a giggle in, smothering herself with her hands.

"Have dinner? Sometime?" Gilan practically had to spit it out, knowing that it would never come out of him willingly. He hadn't expected being so nervous for this, but when the moment finally came . . . his heart was in his throat.

"We're having dinner right now . . . so sure." Will smiled, casting another glance in the girl's direction.

Gilan didn't get the message.

"Oh, well," he said, a bit flustered, "that's . . . that's not exactly what I meant . . ."

"Oh, then what do you mean?" Will asked, looking up and directly into Gilan's eyes. It looked as if he was trying to tell Gilan something, but he just couldn't figure out what Will's wide eyes and raised eyebrow and glances toward the bedroom doors meant.

"Well—" Gilan was cut off as footsteps sounded coming up the steps of the cabin. Seconds later, Halt opened the door, and his chance was gone.


Alyss and Jenny walked back to Castle Redmont hand-in-hand. Halt was staying a little later, so they walked without the grizzled Ranger.

"Could Gilan have gotten any more oblivious?" Jenny laughed, thinking back.

Alyss smiled, shaking her head. "Will was literally looking between Gilan and the bedroom door. I don't think it could have gotten any more obvious than that."

"Usually he's fairly observant," Jenny pointed out.

"I think he was just getting some butterflies in his stomach." Alyss looked up into the forest canopy, listening to the night's natural sound. "Will actually told me before we left that he's never seen Gilan like that before."

"If you think about it," Jenny said, smiling, "he is a sort of a hopeless romantic at times."

"So what do you think is going to happen between them?" Alyss said, looking down with a knowing smile on her face. She already knew, she just wanted to hear it confirmed.

Jenny shook her head. "Oh, you know Will is going to have to initiate all of it from now on."