Part Four

Things were definitely getting interesting on Ailene's end, and weirder at that.

Ailene desperately tried to listen in on the pair's discussion the other night, clearly a little heated, however it was difficult without being obvious. Something about a wedding, and she was not stupid to figure out the two were siblings, (which came as a surprising relief to Ailene).

A few days had passed without Marden at the shop. Once he showed up on a Friday evening, he walked up to the counter first and ordered his coffee. Then he carried it with him straight to Ailene's table.

"Mind if I sit with you tonight?" He asked her politely, and she looked up at him before nodding and quickly trying to organize her scattered papers in order to make room for him.

"How are you?" He asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Oh...well, I'm fine, thank you. Yourself?" Ailene answered, caught a little off guard.

"Tired, long day's work at the office." He smiled with a nod.

Ailene nodded, taking off her reading glasses and letting them hang from around her neck.

"What is it that you're working on so much?" Marden now the curious one.

"Schoolwork. I'm a music teacher. When I'm done with my day, I come here to finish grading papers and write lesson plans." She explained, and Marden seemed quite impressed, he smiled with raised brows.

"That's pretty amazing." He smiled. "Why do you come here to do all of these things?" He asked, examining some of her papers.

"Too loud at home." Ailene said quietly. "Here it's quiet, and I can drink all the coffee and tea I want. I've been coming here ever since I got the job." She explained. "And what about you?"

"Oh...just some stupid office job. Ah - insurance." He nodded. "I'm so exhausted every evening that I come here to get coffee before the journey home. I live out of the city."

Ailene nodded, and the two sat silently for a while.

"Was that your sister that came in the other night?"

"It was. She found out about what happened a few weeks back. She didn't like the fact that I was here again."

"Well, can you blame her?"

Marden watched Ailene, his icy eyes scrutinizing her. "No...I guess I can't... She likes to worry about me, but I remind her that I'm fine."

"I'm an only child, so I'll never have any older siblings to watch out for me. Must be nice." Ailene teased gently.

"It's a nightmare, especially with an older sister. You're not missing out on much."

Ailene nodded silently and glanced back down at her work. She was always jealous of those who had siblings. She certainly would have liked the company, especially now that both of her parents had perished in the blitz. Sure, she never had to share Christmas with anyone, she was always the one that had the attention at family gatherings, but she'd have appreciated the companionship that comes with siblings.

"You two must take the mickey out of one another?" She then laughed, looking back up at him.

"Oh, of course. We were in constant competition with each other, in school especially, since I always had the misfortune of walking in her shadow." He said softly, "But, I learned how to make my own path."

"What school did you go to?"

With this question, Marden took a sip of his coffee. "Some private school in Scotland, my parents are very conservative, strict. They keep bothering me to find a wife." He laughed slightly, more to himself.

Ailene slightly raised her brows, and she couldn't help but smirk slightly. Her cheeks were giving her away. "Any luck with that?"

He shook his head before looking at Ailene. "Well, no. Not recently, anyway."

"Oh? So there's a someone?" Ailene pressed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Go on, you can tell me. I think we're friends at this point." She smirked.

This time, Marden's brows rose at her. "Ah, well...no. Not really, it's hard, with work and all. I haven't got the time to go on dates and all that." His voice dropped slightly, taking another sip of his coffee, this time a bigger swig, perhaps to silence himself a little longer.

Ailene continued to smirk at him, her heart fluttering a bit when his voice dropped. There was something charming about him, almost cute. It had been happening a lot; her heart would do some sort of odd backflip every time she thought of Marden throughout the day, which was quite often.

"Closing time. Chop-chop" Rose reminded the two. For a moment, Ailene had forgotten where she was, what time it was, the world around her and the life she was in. Talking with Marden seemed to lift her to another level in the universe.

"Hmmm, already..." Marden let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ailene gathered her things and he helped her. Just as Ailene had counted her coins to pay for her coffee, Marden shook his head and gave enough to cover the both of them, this time in money that she recognized.

"Marden...no, you don't need to pay for me." Ailene said finitely, shaking her head and tried to hand him money. He pretended as if he didn't see her, and gave her a smile.

"No need."

"I insist."

"No."

"Yes."

Ailene had followed him all the way to the door, only a few seconds behind him. He turned the corner outside, and she was now quite mad.

"Marden please, I- "

Marden was no where to be seen.

Ailene stood there, quite defeated. Her eyes wide, now quite convinced she was interacting with either a ghost or some kind of spirit.

It was now a frequent occurrence for the two to sit together and enjoy each other's company. It had become so frequent, that Ailene sometimes would not finish her work, and was forced to finish it well into the night when she returned to her tiny flat.

They would spend it talking to one another about many different things, other times in complete silence, just enjoying one another while he sipped on his coffee and she graded her work.

Marden had seemed to come out of his shell more and more as they spent the nights together. He would talk more openly, laugh a little louder, smile a little brighter.

"You're a strange man, Marden." Ailene commented one night as she looked at his gray cloak.

"How so?" He asked with a small laugh.

"Well, for starters, you disappear into thin air. You carry currency that I have neither hear of or seen before. You've kept to yourself until very recently, Christ I didn't even realize you had been coming to this coffee shop." She said, setting her grading pencil down.

Marden shrugged his shoulders. "What do you want from me?" He asked her with a smile.

"I don't want anything." She said, smiling softly. "I'm just...stating a fact."

He leaned in slightly, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "You're quite an intriguing woman yourself." He remarked.

"Oh yeah?" Ailene asked, leaning in slightly with her elbows on the table. "How so?"

"Well, you're grading papers in a coffee shop. You are always alone, you take your shoes off underneath the table, your hair is a bit untidy."

Ailene smirked. "And what do you want from me?" She whispered to him.

His electric-blue eyes stared right back at hers. "Everything." He whispered.

Ailene's smirk dropped instantly, shocked. She felt her cheeks instantly burn, and her consciousness forced her to look away from him, down at her lap. This was the first time that he had ever said something like this. It had come after months of their rendezvous.

Ailene went on in silence again, grading her papers and she was sure she was giving all of her student's high grades. Her mind was swimming, and she was sure she could still feel his eyes on her.

For once in her life, she had finished grading her papers, probably because she nervously powered through them.

She looked back up at him, and he was taking the last sips of his coffee.

"I'm all done grading...for once."

Marden raised one of his brows. "Well, that's good, you have the rest of the night to relax." He said calmly and nonchalantly, how he normally behaves and talks. Where did that come from?

"Yeah." She said, scooping up her papers as she spoke. "I guess I can get going then."

Marden nodded at her, slowly getting up and putting enough coins on the table for the both of them. This time, she didn't even notice, her mind was elsewhere. Her legs felt like jelly, her insides twisted into a knot. He walked over and helped her place her coat over her shoulders, his hands warm and gentle. She could feel his closeness, a soft breath on her neck.

The two left the small shop and onto the bitterly cold street.

"I have to go this way..." She pointed east.

"Would you mind if I walked with you?" He asked. "It's late, wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Ailene was silent as she watched him before shrugging. "Sure, why not."

For the first few minutes they walked in silence, Marden to her right so she was on the inside of the sidewalk.

"So, how do you get home?" Ailene asked him, glancing slightly.

"The train out." He explained in a quiet voice. They walked by the local bar that got rowdy at night, and Marden closed the gap between the two just slightly. Ailene could sense that the distance between their bodies had grown small. He stayed that way until they came to her apartment building only a few more blocks away.

He diligently followed her up to the third floor. Ailene, on top of feeling on edge, also felt embarrassed, for her apartment building was not in the greatest part of town, and did not have the greatest residents. She had several locks on her door, and normally never opened the door when someone rang. Ailene wouldn't normally give out her address out, either. The paint on the walls were peeling on every floor, it smelled faintly of urine and mold, and there was a constant hum of loud talking, screaming and children crying.

Once they got to her door, she had stopped. "This is me." She said softly, looking at him. "Thank you for walking me, you didn't have to."

"There are a lot of things I didn't have to do." He smiled at her. "I wanted to do them, and I wanted to walk you home."

Ailene watched him, slightly cautious that he would take a step forward, perhaps welcome himself in. She unlocked her door and opened it.

"Well, goodnight." He said with a smile. "Same thing tomorrow night?"

She was silent and she nodded before turning back to him, something overcoming her.

"Actually, would you like to come in?" She asked suddenly. "It's a bit of a mess, but I can put on tea...or coffee." She offered.

Marden froze mid-turn to go back down the hall. He watched her a bit before looking at his watch. "Well...it wouldn't hurt." He said quietly, "Sure." He smiled, walking passed her and into her tiny flat.

She was right, it was a bit of a mess, but not terrible. There was a massive window on the opposite wall, overlooking the city. To the left was a small kitchen and dining table. Marden didn't seem to mind the clutter, though Ailene took to picking up some scattered clothes and straightening up. "It's nice," He said, hanging his cloak up.

"I've let it go a bit with how busy I've been." She said, moving to the kitchen to put water on. Marden moved to the sofa, looking towards the window with the view. Ailene then joined him. Next to the sofa was a somewhat large radio that Marden had become fixated with. He reached out and touched the dials, moving up the channels through the news, nightly programs and some music.

"That was my father's." Ailene said. "He loved to listen to the radio, he even tinkered with a few." She said softly, and Marden turned to her. There were a few pauses, and Ailene knew what he was thinking about.

"They both died in the war." She said softly. "Our house was hit by the blitz. I wasn't home at the time; I worked as a nurse stationed in France." She fell silent for a second. "I got a telegram a few days later, and I can't even remember how long I cried for." She then cut off for a few moments. "They didn't make it to the shelter in time." She looked over at him.

"I'm so sorry." He said softly, looking at her and placing his hand on top of hers. It was warm. "I didn't want to make you think about it."

"Oh...no, I like thinking about my parents, especially with the things that they used to do...and I'm incredibly lucky I wasn't home at the time, or I'd have ended up like them..." She said, looking down at their hands. She slowly turned her hand upwards and entangled her fingers with his before meeting his eyes again. They were so piercing, so handsome and captivating. Every time she looked into his eyes, she felt the breath catch in her lungs.

Marden slowly smiled, his eyes softening at her. He reached up and tucked one of her fly away strands behind her ear.

"Can I see you with your hair down?" He asked her tentatively.

"Why?" She asked.

"I've only ever seen it up, and I'm sure your hair is pretty."

Ailene moved her hands up to her hair, tugging at the ribbons and letting her hair fall to her shoulders. It was quite long, and she usually set it with curlers each night. Her curls had since dilapidated from earlier, but remnants still remained.

Mardens fingers gently twirled one of her golden curls. "It's beautiful." Ailene looked down again, breaking eye contact. His hand then moved to her cheek, cupping her soft skin. She looked back up, her smile fading slightly.

"You're beautiful." It almost seemed like the world had stopped moving. Like nothing else was going on, Ailene felt her body slowly lean in, wanting nothing else than to feel his lips press against hers.

She watched as Marden leaned in with her, and as gently as it happened, their lips touched in soft meeting. Ailene breathed him in, a mixture of his natural scent and a twinge of some cologne that she didn't really care to know the name of. Their lips parted, but only for a split second. She could barely open her eyes before she felt his soft lips kiss her once more. The couch shifted as he sat closer, the warmth of his thigh gently touched hers. Her hands moved, placing them on both of his cheeks, instinctively pulling him in closer for a deeper kiss. This was something that Ailene wanted for so long, but didn't know that she needed.

They pulled away when the water on the stove whistled to the high heavens. They stared at each other, delirious before she stumbled to her tiny kitchen and turned off the stove. Marden sat in silence, looking down at his hands. They said everything they wanted to in their kiss.

Marden had made a bold move in the café, even for him. Usually he was shy, especially around Muggles.

"Do you want tea?" Ailene asked from the kitchen.

"Uh...sure, yeah." He said, not thinking about tea in the slightest.

She brought the two cups over to the coffee table in front of the sofa. They sat for a while in silence.

"I... I didn't put anything in your tea...I didn't know how you liked it." Ailene said.

"Huh...oh. I don't really drink tea." He answered, chuckling softly.

"Then why did I brew it?" Ailene couldn't help but laugh along with him.

Marden turned and leaned in once more, instantly pressing his lips against hers. This time, he was much more fervent and took the lead. Opening his mouth, he invited her to join him.

They kissed like this for quite a long time, entangled in one another's arms.

Suddenly, there was a loud, violent knock on the window directly across from the sofa. The pair jumped and peered over to see a large, tawny owl peering in at them with bright, yellow eyes.

"Is...is that an owl?" Ailene exclaimed, getting up and walking over to the window. "What on earth is it doing on my windowsill?" She said, gaping at it with her lips red from their passionate kiss.

Marden stayed silent, slowly walking over. "It's probably just...sick or something." He said quietly. "Owls aren't normally out in the city."

The owl pecked again violently at the windowsill.

"I think it wants to be let in." She observed.

"No!" Marden exclaimed. "No... like I said, it's probably sick and we could catch some weird disease from it." He said, then looked at his watch.

"I have to go...it's Midnight." He said, walking briskly to the coat hanger and grabbing his cloak. "I'm sorry, but it's way too late." He said, patting himself down before opening the door. He let out an "I'll see you tomorrow."

He was gone. And so was the owl.