Day Thirty, Continued.

It was night now, and The Merchant was busy in thought. He would have preferred to have escorted the young lady accompanying him to a lovely dinner in London at some posh restaurant, rather than...taking her out on a boat ride to a treacherous, armed-to-the-teeth island military base. He sighed, hard. If only...

He snapped out of his daydream when he heard that admittedly cute Southern accent.

"Is this the place? God, it has to be. What the hell, Merch? This place is huge!"

The island WAS huge. It was once a fortress long ago, its once splendid towers deteriorated and hidden by military structures that had been built to overpower them. There were searchlights, turbines, control towers...the place was a verifiable war zone.

It just so happened, though, that the people in charge of it had no clue that The Merchant ever set foot on the sandy ground.

"Yep, stranguh, we're here." The Merchant cut the power to the motor of the boat they were both soggily sitting in, standing up and taking the stranger Hope's hand, helping her to her feet.

"Wow, searchlights...?" she said, her eyes wide in awe. "And I thought Hollywood was lit up."

The Merchant shook his head. "Now listen, stranguh, we gotta go over some things before we head in." He looked around to make sure there were no Ganado soldiers patrolling the area. "First things first, ya stick with me at all times, ya hear? No runnin' off or takin' things without my say-so, yeah?" He glanced at Hope, who shot him an annoyed 'I'm not a child so don't talk to me like one' expression. "Secondly, this place is dangerous. If ya at any time think someone's followin' us, ya let me know."

The stranger nodded her head. "Sure, Merch, whatever. Let's go in, I'm curious where and how you're able to loot all these guns from these people...but pleeeease let me take some guns too. I'm feeling mischievous today..."

The Merchant chuckled. Hope liked to joke around a lot, even in tense situations, it seems. An admirable trait for someone that witnessed her friends being chainsawed to death by a man donning a burlap sack.

The Merchant brought a finger to his mask-clad lips, signaling to his new "friend" to be quiet. He began to walk forward, gesturing for Hope to come nearer to him. He put his right arm around her shoulder, his cloak somewhat raised over her to the point where it was a form of shelter. He felt her place her hand on his chest, clinging to him. She was a little shaky, and he could feel the skin of his cheeks start to warm by her touch.

Wait...what? He was blushing?!

His blue eyes widened. A grown man of fifty was really letting a cute girl get to him, already? He barely knew her. He admitted to himself that he had seen her in her most vulnerable state, he'd spent the last month with her...but he was putting her in immense danger by bringing her here, and he was worried. But he was blushing, really?

He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a flare fly up into the sky.

"Oh shit..." he heard Hope utter underneath her breath.

"Stranguh, it's fine...let's hurry, though." he managed to say, his head still racing. He lead them both into a darkened alleyway, near a decrepit old shack, and ducked into an open window, letting Hope climb in first.

The shack was filled with ammo, different guns of different types, grenades, you name it...it was just one of the many buildings to house weapons on this creepy island.

The Merchant shot a look at Hope, who nodded in response. It was time to start taking.

—-

"Wow! I can't believe we actually did that."

Hope was grinning ear to ear. She didn't know how, exactly, they were able to bring back over 15 guns and dozens of boxes of ammunition on the crusty old boat they were using to ferry themselves on, and frankly, she didn't want to ask. But holy shit. She and The Merchant actually were able to steal a good portion of weapons from a freaking military base.

It felt like hitting the Jackpot. Hope was smiling so hard that she thought she might look crazy to The Merchant, who was sitting next to her in the cave, surveying everything they'd managed to pilfer.

By the looks of it, though, he was smiling just as hard. The corners of his eyes were creased, and his irises were positively glistening with pride.

"Mate, maybe I should bring you with me more of'en." he proudly stated, making Hope's heart beat faster with joy. "This is more than twice the amount I'm usually able to bring back!"

Hope beamed. He was proud of her!

You know, ever since they got back, Hope couldn't help but think of The Merchant in a different light. She thought he was a friendly weirdo before, but now...maybe...no, no, there's no way she actually has a crush on him! She wouldn't allow herself to. But her thoughts began to fixate on him.

She didn't know what he really looked like, but he had some of the prettiest eyes she'd ever seen. And believe me, she thought, I've seen some gorgeous eyes before. Even tonight, she noticed they turned a certain shade of amber in the moon-lit evening, which must be a bi-product of his...affliction.

Oh, right, she thought. I can't have a crush on him because he's one of them.

Suddenly, she heard his cute, bellowing laugh interrupt her pondering.

"We're in business, mate." chuckled The Merchant, who was now shining some sort of handgun. "As soon as we get some customers, we'll have the best selection of weaponry this side of World War Three."

He glanced over towards her, his eyes narrowing from what she assumed was another smile.

"Thanks, stranguh, really. I shouldn't have doubted ya."

Hope wanted to smile in return, but instead sighed.

"It's no problem..." she began, looking towards her hands which were placed in her lap. She had bummed herself out by what she was thinking about just a second before.

She couldn't help it. She admitted it. She DID have a crush on The Merchant. His laugh, his eyes, his kindness...but she knew they couldn't be together, not in the end.

"What's the matter?" The Merchant was close to her now. He'd put his gun down and was listening intently.

Hope turned and flashed him a weary grin.

"It's nothing. I'm just tired. I'm ready to go to bed, it's been a long day..."

She rose to her feet and headed towards the single bed that was behind the shack counter. The Merchant also was standing, but didn't follow her.

"Goodnight, stranguh..." he whispered. "We'll try the island again tomorrow. You'll need your rest."

Hope didn't look back. "Night." she said bluntly.

—-

The Merchant wasn't sure what he had done to Hope, but he felt...a little empty.

He had taken the pontoon boat to a nearby shore, sitting amongst the dirt and watching the bass from the lake jump out of the water.

He had never really been that great with women. He was always a kind-hearted and attentive lover, but even before his accident, he was a little shy and distant. He chuckled to himself. He had also frequently been told he was too nice, too passive. Even with his shorter relationships, he reckoned that they got bored with him.

When he had served in the British Army, he was told that, too. That he'd never amount to anything because he was too soft. He thought the contrary. That because he was unattached to anything or anyone, he'd make a great soldier.

He then started to think about the accident. How he was trying to break up a fight when it happened, and how he was sliced with a knife so mercilessly by a fellow soldier that his face was never the same again.

The Merchant frowned. He hated when he got like this, when he began to get depressed over his past.

The thoughts began flooding in. I deserve to be alone. I deserve this Plagas. I'll never have a normal life again.

He kicked the ground with a boot, sending mud flying into the waters before him.

But...

He had felt less alone with Hope. He has blushed over her, he had felt his heart flutter when she had clinged to him...

Her scent filled his senses, and he closed his eyes.

He couldn't believe he had already pissed her off.

He was fifty years old and acting like a grade school boy by worrying about this, he reasoned. Just go back and talk to her like a man.

He felt tired though, and realized his eyes had shut themselves for the remainder of the night.

He curled up on the ground and drifted off to sleep.

—

Hope was so angry at herself. She tossed and turned in her bed, well, his bed. She couldn't stop thinking about him, where he was, why he'd left.

When she had checked the dock, she discovered the boat was gone and now she was worried sick.

She fought the tears forming in her eyes. She liked him, and she had already upset him. This was gonna go great.

As she attempted to not succumb to slumber, she kept picturing his face. His eyes. His kind eyes. She had upset him, and he didn't even do anything wrong. They'd had a great night looting, which is something she could finally cross off her Bucket List.

She snickered to herself. He was fun to be around.

As she began to sleep, she wondered if he was doing to same. Maybe he was even dreaming of her, if he wasn't too angry. The thought made her happy, hopeful.

And then the darkness took over.

—-

A/N

Heeere's Chapter Three! I'm still having fun writing but I'm starting to really doubt my pacing, hehe. Oh well. As soon as I finish this, which may take a while or not, maybe I'll rewrite it to be more thorough. I don't want to rush INTO their romance, but this is also a romance fic and I feel like no one will judge me that harshly if I do.

I've got Merchant's backstory completely figured out, so maybe from this point on each chapter will reveal more info about him. I don't wanna dump it all at once.

Thanks for reading!!!