A/N: I've been wanting to write this chapter since I wrote the last one, but I haven't been able to find the time to do it until now. I really can't thank you guys enough. If it weren't for your reviews and kind words, I don't think I'd have gotten this far. So thank you so much. Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVEN

Approaching the girls had been tough. Asking them to tutor him had been even more difficult. While Anna and Wendla seemed open to the idea, Martha seemed uneasy and Thea outright said that she was against it.

Luckily for Moritz, the final decision was in his favor. The five of them decided to meet up near the vineyard after church the next day. The whole concept was so exciting to Moritz that he had even more trouble falling asleep than usual. Melchior had gotten home at a reasonable hour, so Moritz couldn't even pretend that he was waiting up for his friend to get home.

Church rolled around and Frau Gabor didn't even bother asking Melchior if he was planning on going. Regardless, the two boys got up early and dressed themselves, both seemingly getting ready to go somewhere somewhat important. When Moritz asked, Melchior explained that he was going to go talk to a man, presumably about getting a boat to England or something. Melchior didn't question Moritz's own appearance, which was simultaneously upsetting and a relief.

He made his way to the vineyard as the bells rang out that church services had ended and waited for the girls. After a few minutes, Anna and Thea wandered into view.

"Wendla's not feeling well and Martha wasn't able to convince her family to let her come here," Anna explained when they had sat down by him. "So you just have the two of us."

"I was wondering if we could study Latin first," Moritz mumbled, pulling out one of Melchior's old books. "I don't know if you two know the language very well."

"We know it well enough to teach you," Thea said, folding her arms across her chest. "Anna does, that is."

As it turned out, Anna was the primary teacher while Thea hung back for emotional support and, once or twice, discouragement. At some point in the lesson, Frau Bergmann walked by them on the road. Thea got to her feet, quickly shouted something about having the opportunity to go see how Wendla was doing, and raced off after giving Anna a quick kiss on the cheek.

With the other girl out of the way, Moritz felt much more comfortable. He and Anna began to talk about more personal things. He was too afraid to ask anything about Martha, in case she hadn't told them yet, but he felt okay asking about Wendla and Thea. In return, Anna asked him about the other boys in the town. He told her than Hanschen had refused to tutor him because of his friendship with Ernst, and Anna told him that Thea wasn't as shallow as she sometimes appeared. He told her that Melchior had been showing up late every morning and she told him that Wendla was apparently anemic.

It was an accident, but the words slipped from his mouth without him thinking and filtering them: "When is Wendla having her baby?"

The shock on Anna's face revealed plenty about the girl's naivety and her ignorance in the matter.

"Baby?" Anna asked quietly.

"She's going to have a child. That's why she seems sick," Moritz said nervously, understanding that he hadn't been supposed to tell anyone about it.

"I think... I think I need to go now," Anna said. "Meet here again tomorrow after we get out of classes."

With that, the girl gathered up her own books and supplies, nodded a farewell to him, and ran off, probably to go join Thea at the Bergmann house. Moritz wondered if this would help or hurt the girls.

Whatever the ultimate result would be, there was no denying that he felt terrible at the moment.