So I guess I decided to take some time off huh? We'll just call it was sabbatical. Professors take them, why can't I? Anyway, sorry for the delay if you were checking for new chapters. Note: There is a small time lapse at the beginning, if I kept writing the story day by day we would've been here forever.

Chapter Thirteen

SAMANTHA

As the days passed Alex and I spent more and more time together. We became comfortable in each other's company. We met every day, took walks, watched television. But neither of us ever ran out of things to say, stories to tell. It was better than any letter or email might have been. And as each day moved into the next I found myself forgetting more and more easily how he looked. Thinking of how nervous I had been around him in the beginning was like examining another person's emotions on the matter; they were recognizable, but completely different to how I felt now. I suppose I should've started to feel restless, it had been more than few months since I had come to visit Alex, but I wasn't; the plan had always been for me to stay an entire year, and at times I found myself wishing that it could be longer. But Alex would ask, if there wasn't some place I wanted to visit; something I wished to see. "You've been in England all this time, without ever seeing it." he would say. But I brushed him off, telling him I didn't mind. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to see England, rather the thought of seeing it alone, with no one else to share the experience with, seemed, in my mind, a very unattractive idea. Besides, the whole estate I found myself on was so humongous that it didn't appear to me that I was very far away from the world at all.

One day though, Alex asked me again if I would like to go somewhere, act like a tourist for a little while. We were in the music room, and I was playing the piano as we talked. It had been the routine for some time to do so every once in a while after dinner. As he brought the subject up again I slowly finished the piece before turning to face him, leaning against the piano.

"Well that all depends on what you have in mind." I said teasingly, laughing a little. "Where would you have me go? What would you have me do?"

He looked away as if he hadn't even considered it. So full with trying to persuade me to go he had probably not planned out what he thought I should see if I went. "Anywhere," He said after a pause. "Everywhere. You can travel the whole of London, and then tell me all about it when you get back." His tone was still light, but a new thought occurred to me then: perhaps thoughts of my boredom were not the only reason Alex had of wanting me to go out and see the sights.

"All right, then. I'll go." I said simply and turned back to the keys to play a little more.

The next day, true to my word, I dressed and walked down the stairs, purse in tow, ready for my expedition out into the city. Jonathan was waiting for me at the doorway and I followed him out to the car I had travelled in the day of my arrival. I had hoped to see Alex before leaving, my plan was to get something for him while we were out, but I hadn't the foggiest idea of what he would want. I guess it would just have to be a surprise.

London was amazing, walking through the city was like walking through time, you would see a McDonalds or a J. Crew on one street but then, turning the corner, you would suddenly pass by an ancient stone statue of some long ago king or war hero and up ahead would be a massive building that looked like it had been there for a thousand years (it probably had) and could stand there for another thousand years if it wanted to.

We went to various shops for souvenirs and most of it was the usual cheap stuff, costing about ten bucks too much and made in such a way that you just knewit would break the minute you left. I couldn't find anything that Alex might want, need, or find any interest in whatsoever and I worried about coming back empty handed. I wanted to bring him something. Almost giving up hope entirely I spotted a tiny shop at the end of the street and I walked towards it, hoping that it might be something worthwhile, but my shoulders slumped when I realized it was only a scrapbooking store. I wasn't one for arts and crafts; I didn't really have enough patience any of it and had decided long ago that if I ever did try it at all it would be when I was really old and into stuff like cats and knitting. The air started to mist around me and I turned around to ask John if we could take the car back to the house, but just then inspiration clapped me on the head and I turned back around toward the shop, hurrying inside before I could change my mind.

We arrived back at chateau about an hour later and I hurriedly moved up the stairs and into my room. Throwing my packages onto the bed I headed to my computer. A while back I had been in a photography class, the teacher (a old man named Mr. Whastot who I'm quite sure hated me with every rheumatic bone in his body, though I'm not sure why) required that I buy a high tech digital camera for the class, it was so expensive and such a nice piece of equipment that instead of selling it to someone else after the class I had kept it and coincidentally brought it with me to England. Connecting the camera to a USB cord I proceeded to download and print all the pictures I had taken before flinging them out on the bed in front of me so I could arrange and organize them the way I wanted. Completely losing track of the time I jumped when I heard the knock at my door.

"Sam?" Alex voiced called tentatively from the other side. "Are you coming down for dinner?"

Dinner. I had completely forgotten, but the sudden groans emitting from my stomach pulled it up to the front of my mind.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec." I called before hurriedly stuffing everything back into their respective bags and under my bed. A few minutes later I rushed out the door, bumping into Alex I fell backwards. I shut my eyes reflexively, waiting for the moment when I would land painfully on the floor underneath us, but nothing happened. Slowly I opened my eyes and saw Alex standing above me. He pulled me upright and I was suddenly very conscious of his arms around my waist. All at once I felt incredibly dizzy and I gripped his arm to steady myself.

"That was close." He laughed. I smiled quickly before looking away. "Are you alright?" he asked, suddenly. "You look pale."

I looked back up at him and shook my head. "I'm just hungry is all, let's go down and eat." He nodded and we walked downstairs. But when we entered the dining room I realized that my hand was still grasping his arm and I blushed, hoping he wouldn't see.

I know this chapter is short but it's hard to start again after, like 7 months. I have some good ideas for upcoming chapters so this one is kinda a jumping off point to those.