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Shadows stretched across the hayloft inhabiting every corner of the barn.

Outside, the rain had increased to a downpour, each raindrop pounding against the roof, creating a soothing sense of time passing…. Well soothing to some, irritating to others…

The girl, Bernie, was growing restless.

"I think your friend has dozed off again. Should we wake him?," she asked as she grabbed another apple from the basket and very carefully sat back down in the hay.

"Nah, let him rest," Robin answered, craning his neck to locate the other boy. It was too dark to see anything, but he could certainly hear him — and as far as he could tell, Much was indeed sleeping.

"Like a warthog with a cold," the girl commented as she followed his gaze in the direction of the snores.

He laughed at that, turning to look at her. "This is not so bad, is it?! We have food. We have shelter. We have comfort…."

"Comfort? You call this comfort? This stuff is itchy, I've got hay everywhere! In my hair, in my clothes, even between my toes!" she complained, while vigorously rubbing her bare feet together.

"This is a barn, what did you expect?! Rose petals and satin cushions? You sound like you've never rolled around in a hayloft before," the last part was said with a suggestive waggle of eyebrows as Robin flopped down in the hay next to her - a movement that caused clouds of dust to swirl around them.

"Don't get any ideas, Huntingdon!" she coughed and rose to her feet, only to end up banging her head against the low hanging wooden roof. "For your information, I'm not the attention-seeking, eye batting, hay-rolling, kind of girl!" she grumbled as she rubbed her sore head and sank back down into the hay.

"No, of course not, " Robin's eyes twinkled as he tried to keep a straight face. "You're what? Fourteen? Fifteen years old?! That's not too young to have suitors… "

"My dad would lock me up and throw away the key!"

"You just need to make sure you don't get caught then," he suggested with a sly grin. "What your father doesn't know won't hurt him… Oooh, hold that thought, I feel another question coming on."

"Enough with the questions already!," she groaned and rolled onto her stomach, propping her chin on her fists."…and stop hogging the ale!"

"I'm not hogging the ale. I'm drinking it. You're just stalling, my lady," Robin said, busting out in a huge smile "Do I have to remind you, I won that bet and you promised you'd answer my questions."

Bernie snatched the tote bottle from his outstretched hand and took a swig of the ale, letting its spices burn her throat and warm her stomach. "Alright, but this is the last one. This is the last question I'm going to answer, so you better make it a good one."

He grinned at her. "What's the most unladylike situation you have ever been caught in?"

"What kind of question is that?".

"The kind with an intriguing answer," he argued. "For instance, three summers ago, I was caught stealing undergarments from the maid chamber."

"That's not intriguing, that's disturbing!"

Ignoring her, he continued, "Or I guess I could tell you about that time when the head stewardess busted me with my breaches around my ankles," he paused for dramatic effect. "She was not impressed by my nake--… " He stopped mid-sentence, interrupted by a slap on his shoulder.

"Ouch!"

"You're nuts if you think I'm gonna sit right here and listen to that!"

"What?! Clothes can be itchy and constricting when you are four years old and have the chickenpox. Apparently I was running around naked, rubbing up against anything and everything that came in my way… or so I have been told…"

"Very funny" she rolled her eyes.

"It was, wasn't it?!," he smirked. "So, what about you? Any youthful indiscretions you'd like to share?… silly childhood memories… embarrassing moments…Come on, tell me something about yourself beyond your name!"

"Alright, remember what I said about my father locking me up?! He actually did that once, for about a week when I was eight. There was food of course but I wasn't allowed to leave my room or speak to anybody."

"Uh oh, what did you do? I assume you were being punished for something, right?!"

"I fell trough the church roof during ongoing service and landed on my rear end in the holy water stoup."

His face split into a wide grin. "Are you serious," he asked, barely stifling his laughter.

"Dead serious! I could have broken my neck, you know?! Thankfully, I got away with a sprained foot and a minor concussion. To make a long story short, some stupid boy dared me to balance on the roof ridge. I can't for the life of me remember why I took him up on it."

"Maybe you like a good challenge!?!," he suggested with a playful chuckle.

"Maybe I'm just plain crazy!" They both smiled at that.

"You're not a very girly girl, are you?! "There was no accusation in his voice, only curiosity." Little girls are supposed to play with dolls not climb on roof tops."

"You sound exactly like my father! He never knew what to do with me. When he realized he couldn't keep me looked up for all eternity he opted to send me away to get a proper education and some female guidance. Lets just say I have been under close supervision ever since!"

"That sucks, you got my deepest sympathies. I guess that would explain the whole 'sneaking around at night' routine you got going for you."

"Yeah, pretty much. The only thing worse than being mollycoddled by a well-meaning but overprotective father, is to be supervised by a bunch of well-meaning but closed-minded nuns."

"So no suitors then?," he asked and shifted a bit so that they were facing each other.

"No suitors."

"No rolling around in haylofts?"

"Nope!"

"No kissing in the moonlight?"

"Most definitely not…"

Carefully, as if testing the waters, he reached out and picked a few strands of hay out of her hair. "You have missed out…" His hand cupped the back of her head as he pulled her closer to him. "…but don't worry, my lady, I'll bring you up to speed on things."

And before she had a chance to respond, he dipped his head to tenderly capture her lips with his own.